Kalanna Rai
Joined: 21 Jan 2006
Posts: 3102
Location: The Frozen North
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| Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 1:14 am Post subject: Chapter 3- Civil War |
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The much awaited first half of chapter three...Enjoy.
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Chapter Three pt 1- Civil War
Six hundred years after the curse first came to Maldon, the Heartless turned their war upon the mage nation of Xaltha. The Xalthain mages, who unlike their northern cousins in Althur and Cerdes had never studied the magics of open warfare, did not wish to fight a long and bloody war. Instead they ceded their land and themselves to Maldon in a single, bloodless night. Their only demand, in return for their complete surrender, was that they be allowed to govern themselves as they always had, under their own duly elected council.
-The History of Maldon
by Sage Dirus Romalffkin
Belart's grip tightened upon Fallon's shirt, pulling the material tight against his back, like a second skin. Those in the room could watch the muscles in Fallon's back, strangely defined for a mage, as he reached up and wrapped one of his own long-fingered hands around Belart's wrist. Applying pressure with a grip not unlike an iron vice Fallon forced the king to let go of him.
"I take it you're not in the mood to wait. Very well. A mage had Overshadowed Darith, for what purpose I know not save that he wanted very much to know why I remained in your realm. He was very clever about it, had spread his web of power through Darith's entire mind, turning him into little more than a clever puppet. Yet he was sly enough to make Darith believe that the things he was doing were of his own violation." Fallon nodded to the court mage who had come up behind the king.
"The mage was soft with his touch, a master of the art I would say. I might not have recognized him if not for his haste and choice of words. Had he taken time, picked through Darith's mind until he found a track he might have taken with me, he might have fooled me. Instead he forced Darith to be someone else, forced him to ask questions in ways he would never have asked. That and the fact he was afraid of me...Darith wouldn't have backed away from me like that. He would have been certain he was right and stood his ground." The king laughed mirthlessly.
"You've been here a month and you claim to know my son as well as all this. You lie." Fallon didn't so much as flinch, indeed he was watching as the court mage walked over and examined Darith. Yet his hands made a complex gesture, a faint orange glow tinging them. As he flicked his fingers swirles of light, the lingering mage energies in the room, became evident. Fallon could read these energies and, by the way the man's white brows knitted together, so could the court mage.
"Ah but I do know Darith that well, both from your own words and the words of others around me. Since I do not have feelings I have become adept at judging men by their actions, calculating their worth in my head. I'm sure you're familiar with this." Fallon stated the last bit without a chance in the cadence of his voice, indeed without feelings it seemed beyond him to reply with any barb or wit at all. Yet had he been other than heartless that's exactly how his words would have been taken.
"As I was saying, as soon as I realized I was dealing with a mage who had Overshadowed Darith I decided to kick him out. He wasn't very willing to leave and I'm afraid I had to fight him a bit. I will say this for Darith though...the boy has a great heart. Heart can, at times, be even more powerful than the mind. When the mage stopped hiding behind the mask of Darith's lesser mind Darith decided to fight him. Indeed if he hadn't given out there at the end I doubt I would have had to push quite so hard. But I'm not skilled in these areas. I've never studied Xalthian mind magics too deeply, only the defenses against them."
The king recoiled a bit. "Xalthian...are you meaning to tell me it was a Xalthian mage that did this?" Fallon's cold smile stole over his features once again.
"Indeed. No other master of the art would have perfected his craft so. Only in Xaltha can you still find Mind Masters."
"Impossible." The king practically roared this word, causing all save Fallon to take a step back from him. Even the court mage, who was known as Keen, stopped where he stood and looked around warily. Fallon stood his ground, unable to grow angered at being called a liar, incapable of fearing the king's ire. His smile faded.
"I told you you would not believe me. Perhaps it is best that you do wait until Darith wakes and ask him...he was there for all of it after all." With a deft movement Fallon sidestepped the king, calling over his shoulder as long, liquid strides carried him out of the Library. "I'll be in the Tower if anyone feels the need to find me. Master Librarian...see that those volumes are sent up if you will." With that he was gone, leaving them behind him.
Striding through the palace Fallon passed many court ladies, in their floaty attire of pastel gauze, like a shadow across a field of flowers. Many tittered as he came close only to be left pouting as he passed without so much as a word. No smile, no matter how chill, sprang to his lips. His cold visage seemed carved of marble by some heavenly hand. Even the breeze that was stirred by his passage seemed chill and dire, warding off the fools who might seek his attention.
Pausing for a moment at the bottom of the tower stairs he looked through a window out across the courtyard. His eyes finding the place he sought he sent out a quiet thought. There will be no exercise today Carrius, there's been a bit of a change of plans. He stood for a moment until the answer could be heard, colored with an emotion Fallon couldn't experiance but could detect...dejection.
Alright then...but please could we go aloft soon? Being stuck here with only them to talk to gets boring. And oats! What I wouldn't give for one of those hounds that yap in the kennels. They spoil my contemplations... Satisfied that Carrius was at least being looked after Fallon resumed climbing the stairs. His steps were light and steady despite the climb being a long one, and his breathing never hastened a bit.
Coming to the door that led to his rooms, Fallon opened it and shut it swiftly behind him. Crossing over to the bed he sat for a moment, allowing at last exhaustion to creep over his face. Head in his hands he remained that way until soft footfalls and grunts could be heard from the stairwell. Regaining his cool composure he had the door open long before any knock sounded.
He took the heavy volumes from the pages that had struggled to bring them up the spiral staircase. After making sure they were resting on his bed he turned his attention back to the three young men. "Give the Librarian my thanks." Realizing that was as much as they would get from him the pages ceased their neck craning and gawking and shuffled back down the stairway.
Despite his weariness Fallon picked up the volume he'd been reading in the Library only a scant hour ago. Opening the window once again and getting comfortable on the sill, he turned the book to the exact place he had left off and began his studies of UnderDark once more.
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Asalia had never left Darith's side. Not when Fallon had so abruptly taken his leave of the Library, much to her father's ire, nor when they had moved Darith to his own bed. Several of the court mages, though not Keen himself, now sat around Darith's bedside. They were ready to assist him the moment he woke but not before that. Asalia couldn't understand why.
Fallon helped him. Fallon kept him from dying. Yet why? If he is the one who hurt Darith, why would he make sure Darith lived? Surely not simply because I asked him. In the eyes of the young princess Fallon could do no wrong. Though she loved Darith, would give anything even her Memory Book to see him well again, she did not find Fallon even the least bit sinester. He's a man, no more.
Asalia couldn't understand why her ladies both swooned over him and feared him. Often praising his looks and cursing his powers in the same breath. That wasn't to say her own heart didn't pound a bit harder when he entered the room, it just beat so strongly for a very different reason. With a small shake of her head she ushered these thoughts out and replaced them with others.
What if Darith never wakes up again? Who will take me for strolls about the palace and re-explain things to me? Who will swing me around when I do something funny and put on a brave face for me when I cry? Who will draw steel against my foes at risk to his own life if not Darith? Clutching his cold hand even tighter Asalia tried to will away the tears that beaded her thick lashes. I will not cry again...
But the soft-hearted maid lost her battle with sorrow once again. Tears fell like warm summer rain upon the silent shoulder of her sleeping brother. "M'lady, come away from there. You can do no good for him now." Lady Trebintha put gentle hands upon Asalia's fragile shoulders, exerting gentle pressure. But Asalia was not the weak-willed sibling. She could be as stubborn and headstrong as any foolish young maid when she so chose, more so even. And right now she chose to stay by her brother's bedside.
"Leave me. Or if you cannot do that at least speak no more of leaving. I shall be here when he wakes, even if I must sit up the night with him." Across from her, near the windows on the other side of the room, sir Varis stood with the air of a beaten dog. His large moustache, which had once been black but was now an iorn grey, drooped as much as his shoulders.
Catching his eye Asalia smiled, not her usual beaming smile but a gentle thing as frail as a rainbow. "You did all you could, he was the one that told you to wait." The knight looked at her for a moment with such sadness that Asalia wondered how he could bear it without tears. Then his entire frame stiffened, one gauntleted hand doubling into a fist so tight that the armored plates cried out in pain.
"The damn whelp! I tried to help him m'lady, truely I did! But that...that...creature. He's every bit as strong as they say he is, more so even. He not only managed to lock onto Darith but he put up a sheild like no other...it stole the energy from the air around it! Nothing I did could break the thing..." His voice trailed off as he brooded upon his own faults. Asalia smiled weakly again.
"You did your best sir Varis. That's all anyone ever asked of you." A faint movement against her hand caught her attention, dragging her gaze downward to where Darith was just opening his eyes. With a cry of joy Asalia dropped his hand and flung her arms around his neck, tears of a completely different nature mingling with the sweat on his brow and running down to his soaked temples.
"Oh you're alive! You're alive! You're alive!"
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Darith was nearly smothered as Asalia pressed herself against him, her soft velvet overgown soft and cool against his still fevered skin. This close he could smell her rose perfume and sandalwood soap mingling with the sent of her body, her cries of joy pounding into his head like iorn nails. "Please..." That one weak word was all he could manage but it was enough. Asalia released him, returned to holding his hand in both of hers, light dancing in her blue eyes.
The court mages dispatched one of their own to find Keen and sir Varis was instantly at the other side of his bed. "M'lord! Awake at last! Do you need anything?" Darith desperately needed all the noise in the room to cease since his head felt like it was splitting down the middle but he couldn't very well ask for that.
"Water...please." He didn't realize how parched he was until the first few drops of cool liquid touched his tounge. Then he couldn't gulp it down fast enough, his throat working double time to keep it from spilling out the sides of his mouth. "That's better...might I sit up."
There was a whirlwind of activity for a while as more extra fluffy pillows were brought to prop him up and make him comfortable. He had just become settled when the door opened once more and a much desired hush spread across the room. The reason for the hush was not much desired though. Darith swollowed hard as his father entered, Keen right on his heels. "Out...all of you."
Slowly the lords and ladies, knights and mages, well wishers and those who sought to protect him filed out until only Asalia, sir Varis, Keen, and the King himself remained in the room with Darith. Sir Varis moved a chair over for the king who sat facing his son. "I am glad to see you awake son...you're feeling well I trust?" Aside from the splitting headache and the chill he couldn't seem to lose, Darith felt better than ever in his life.
"I'm fine Father, thank you for the concern." For a moment Belart and Darith only looked at each other. Under that intense gaze Darith was forced to remember that, even if he was only the second son, his father still had plans for him...plans that did not allow for any weakness.
"Son...what do you remember about earlier...about your conflict with...him?" So Belart couldn't even bring himself to say Fallon's name now? Darith didn't want to probe his memories, didn't even want to claim his head as his own at this point, but he closed his eyes like an obediant son should.
Instantly he was plunged back into that nightmare, back into that empty space where the battle had taken place. He could see it now, suddenly being shocked onto a flat, empty white plain. There had been no sun, no grass, no color. There had only been Fallon standing in front of him, a dark shadow casting a fierce halo of power. And the nameless presence behind him that had him wrapped in burning wire.
Fallon's eyes had glittered like chips of violet ice, a frosty malestrom had whirled around him. In his hands he'd weilded a blade of sheer energy, energy that had no color or taste but a feel. A feel of sharp cold conviction, the feel of Fallon's soul. Behind him, like an extention of shadow, a hazy shimmer of power flowed out like the folded wings of a great Roc. He'd looked like a Gallaen of legend.
He'd worn no armor, only his black garb, and he'd left no imprint. His posture was that of a ready man, a warrior as prepared for this battle as ever a warrior could be. Confidant. Yet Darith knew it wasn't that Fallon was feeling confidant...it was simply that he could not feel fear.
Darith hadn't been able to turn at first, to see the mage behind him, but he'd felt him clearly enough. He'd felt the burning drive in the man, the way he felt soft around the egdes...as if he were not really there. He could feel the poisonous malice that was the life blood of the man, the cold way he put Darith forth. His puppet warrior to fight his battle.
'Amazing stripling. You've managed to bring the three of us here...to the Non-World to fight our battle. Not many mages of your age could do that, great power or no. It is a credit to your Grandfather.' Darith had listened to that voice and felt chilled at it's coldness. Yet if his controller's voice had been cold, Fallon's was fridgid.
'I've prepared for this for many years. You can do nothing here old one. You were not brought directly, you have no form here.' A demonic chuckle issued from behind Darith.
'Very good, very good indeed. You must have devoted many many hours to realize that. However, you've still got my puppet to contend with and killing him here will surely kill him in our world. He hasn't the will to resist my commands, he will fight you.' Darith's heart had lept in his chest.
Fight Fallon! It was suicide. Even if Fallon didn't crush him with some magic had not Weaponsmaster Volon said that Fallon possessed great skill with a lash-blade? Looking at the blade made from sheer force of will that was clenched in Fallon's right hand Darith knew he had no chance. He'd decided right then and there he wasn't going to do it, wasn't going to fight the man that was trying to help him. Fallon was his half brother for gods-sakes.
When the mage behind him told him to attack he hadn't been able to resist. But as he had struck at Fallon with a blade made of nothing at all his heart hadn't been in the blows. Fallon had easily avoided them, slipping behind him and...with a single blow he had severed one of the blazing wires that made him obey the other mage.
Slowly, as he had regained himself from the mage, he had put everything he had into resisting. With every ounce of, not his nearly non-existant will, but his heart he had wished the mage away. His movements had become even more sluggish and he had turned even more slowly, allowing Fallon to sever more and more of the wires. But then, when only one wire remained, the mage had struck back with all his fury, toppling Darith's resistance.
Fallon hadn't offered any apologies or any warning when he had run his blade square through Darith's chest, severing the last tie when it came out the back. The blow was amazing. It had indeed gone through a lung but was not an instantly fatal wound. After the last tie had been severed Darith got a momentary look at the mage that had been controlling him.
The man was old and bald, his eyes rolled back into his head as he held hands without fingers before his face. A strange flower-like tattoo had covered the right side of his bald pate. He had vanished like a whisper leaving only Fallon and Darith alone in the Non-world. Darith had clutched his chest wound and Fallon had laid a hand on it for just a moment, closing it.
"That's all I remember. I'm sorry..." Asalia was wrapped in sir Varis's arms, weaping and being led away. Belart was looking at Keen.
"Well man?" Keen turned weary eyes upon the king of Maldon.
"There is only one mage I know that bears a mark like that. I am ashamed to say it is Councilor Zanaldan. He was known, back in the days before your ancestors outlawed such practices save at your order, as the Master of Mental Manipulation. Overshadowing was his special talent. I am also afraid to say that I picked up traces of his energy in the Library. It seems that your...son...was telling the truth."
Darith watched as Belart stood and walked to the window, gazing out at the deepening evening dusk. "So they have finally struck against me? I knew it was foolish of my ancestor to allow the mages of Xaltha their surrender." Keen, who had been alive at that time, merely shook his head.
"Some of us remain loyal majesty. Indeed perhaps this treachery has already been stamped out. This incident might be the end of it." Belart shook his head.
"Nay. I believe that the rebels may have more than just one sympathetic ear on the council. Many of the mages have written letters to Fallon, letters my spies intercepted. They were all the same, thinly veiled inquieries into his disposition on the matter of Xalthain independance." Darith gasped.
"Surely you don't think Fallon has..." Belart looked at his youngest son with cold eyes.
"No I don't think Fallon has anything to do with this. He has no need of another mage kingdom, nor of any of the things the offered him. The way the letters were worded, it was clear this was the first time such things had been said. It was also clear from the way they followed each other that the Council members were each writing him individually because they thought he was slighting the others by not replying."
Keen laid gentle hands on Darith. "Easy boy, I must check something." Relaxing Darith felt Keen's energies swirled over him before they tapped against his mind. But that's all they did for several minutes, tap against the outside. "Fallon was right to leave the boy to his own devices. Even with the magics Fallon worked on him Darith's mind has sealed itself against unwanted intrusion."
Belart nodded. "Then that's one less weapon against them." He sighed in angery frustration, pounding his fist against Darith's windowledge. "It's too late to do anything tonight and they know we're onto them at any rate. In the morning I'll ask Fallon for his...help." The last word came out very strangled. Darith was amazed...it must have taken everything his father posessed to even say it.
Slowly Keen removed the pillows from behind him, laying him down again. Speaking quickly he drew heavy wards and shields around Darith. "That will keep you safe young Prince. Sleep well." As Keen's hand touched his brow Darith found himself falling off into a deep dreamless slumber.
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I hope you like...I'll have the second half up in a few days and don't worry...it'll have a DP. |
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