by R A Oakes
As Chen was trying to catch her breath, she looked at Andrina in amazement. While running over to the great hall, the older warrior woman had been in the lead almost the entire way. For a few moments, Chen had kept a pace or two ahead of Andrina, but it had taken an enormous effort to do so.
If she’s this good now, what was Andrina like when she was my age? Chen wondered, but then the black leather panther focused on the present situation as she and the others looked down upon the dark sword.
“What’s the matter? Having a busy day?” Crystal asked.
“There’s a bit of a ruckus out in the courtyard,” Chen
replied.
“Do tell?”
“Maybe you’d like to help,” Chen suggested.
“Maybe another time, I’m rather indisposed at the
moment.”
“Eldwyn has collapsed from exhaustion and may soon be drifting into unconsciousness,” Chen informed her.
That got Crystal’s attention.
“Untie me!”
Kneeling down, Chen tried to remove the golden ropes, but they held fast. “They’re too tight, I can’t even loosen them.”
“Then kill him!” the dark sword screamed.
“Kill whom?”
“Kill Eldwyn!”
They all looked at each other.
“I don’t think so,” Chen said.
“If you want Crystal Castle, then you’ll have to kill that meddling wizard. I should have done it years ago when I had the chance.”
Chen glanced over at Andrina who was by a window overlooking the courtyard. The older warrior woman could see Eldwyn down below protecting the entrance. After observing the wizard for a few moments, Andrina walked back to the dark sword and said, “There are going to be some new rules.”
“You aren’t in a position to make rules. I can feel General Gornic’s troops getting closer. Have they penetrated the castle yet? They have, haven’t they?” Crystal asked mocking the older warrior woman.
“We could just choose to keep you tied up,” Andrina said.
“I can’t see through the prism-light shield emanating from Eldwyn’s staff. Prism light blinds me, so I can’t tell exactly how weak he is. But I can see in darkness, and I know who’s riding at you right now. Lord Daegal is on his way back.”
Kneeling down next to Crystal, Chen gently stroked her scabbard, and the dark sword felt chills rippling along the length of her blade.
“You don’t want to be owned by a man, do you? And if I had to go through life without you, I just don’t know what I’d do,” Chen said, and she began to sob. The black leather panther was quite an actress.
Crystal felt her heart opening up for the first time in a long, long while. Glenitant had never touched the dark sword on a deep emotional level. And before her, Crystal had no great affection for Glenitant’s mother, but Chen made the sword feel like a girl again.
Crystal’s inner spirit was so dark that, to her, Chen’s damaged soul seemed as bright as the noonday sun, and Chen’s spirit was so dark that even a night owl couldn’t penetrate its gloom. The black leather panther had physically survived her upbringing, but her inner self had not.
Yet it was to this damaged, shattered young woman that Crystal was turning for help.
“Chen, I’m responsible for Lord Daegal and his men being changed into fire-breathing, black crystal warriors,” Crystal confessed.
“Tell us something we don’t already know,” Andrina said scornfully.
“So change them back now,” Chen said soothingly. “You have me. You’ve got what you want.”
“It’s not that simple.”
“It had better be,” Andrina growled.
“You don’t understand. Lord Daegal has the Crystal Medallion and wears her around his neck,” the dark sword said fearfully. “If it becomes obvious that I’ve double-crossed him, the warlord might hurt her.”
“What’s the medallion to you?” Gwendylln asked.
“She’s part of my own trinity. With Chen, myself and the Crystal Medallion, I could become as powerful as when Baelfire, Zorya, and Lyssa, Aerylln’s grandmother, were together.”
“Why didn’t you do that with Glenitant?” Corson asked.
“That old crone was weak and stupid. She couldn’t have handled it. Plus, the Crystal Medallion was taken from me years ago and given to Lord Daegal’s father, Lord Glenhaven.”
“Before that, had you ever achieved a trinity?”
Gwendylln pressed her.
“No, the women who inherited me were always too
weak.”
“You mean none of them could handle the toxic nature of your own inner evil,” Andrina said. “You destroy all those who come close to you, don’t you?”
“Say what you will, but with the right woman, I could be the most powerful force in the land. I could shove Baelfire into a dungeon so dark and deep that even she couldn’t see her way out of it.”
“Wait a second. I thought we were coming to this sword for help. I don’t see a whole lot of benefit from this arrangement,” Corson said.
“Neither do I,” Andrina agreed. “Let’s try to get out of the castle and just leave Crystal to Lord Daegal.”
They all began leaving, except for Chen who played her part convincingly.
“Is there nothing we can do?” the black leather panther said to Crystal as she kissed the dark sword’s hilt and rested her cheek against it. Crystal almost fainted.
“Well, maybe I could go along with a few rules, if they’re small ones,” Crystal said lying languidly on the floor waiting for Chen to go further.
Instead Chen, who treated men like dirt and could do the same thing to women, jumped up and said, “No, I can’t give up my friends. They’re all I have.”
Quickly catching up with the others, Chen, Andrina, Corson and Gwendylln headed for the stairwell.
“This was a waste of time,” Andrina said loudly enough for Crystal to hear. “Let’s get our warrior women and head out before Lord Daegal arrives. Eldwyn should be able to put a shield around us until we can make our way up the eastern mountain on the other side of Crystal Valley.”
“Yes, let’s leave this sword for Lord Daegal,” Gwendylln said speaking loudly as well. “Once he finds out she’s of no use to him personally, since he’s a man, I’m sure he’ll let his warriors have their fun with her. Maybe they’ll pass her around so everyone can wear her.”
Laughing boisterously, the four women began walking downstairs pretending to ignore the dark sword as she shouted, “Wait! Let’s not be too hasty about this. Let’s talk.”
But Crystal’s words appeared to fall on deaf ears as the warrior women made their way further down the stairwell.
“Wait! I’m willing to negotiate!”
Silence.
“Help!” Crystal screamed. “Don’t let me fall into the hands of Lord Daegal! I can’t stand him! Help me! I’ll do anything!”
More silence.
Fear started seeping into Crystal’s heart, a fear of being abandoned. The dark sword knew she’d begun the alliance with Lord Daegal, but, Crystal reasoned, that was only after Baelfire refused to allow Chen to be her new master. It’s all my half-sister’s fault! Crystal fumed.
But I’m losing the woman I’ve been grooming for years, Crystal thought frantically. I had Chen’s father taken from her. I suggested to Lord Daegal that he make nighttime visits to Chen’s bedchamber. And now my foolish pride is pushing her away.
“Chen! Chen!” Crystal began shouting. “Come back!
I’ll do whatever you want! Anything!”
Reappearing at the top of the stairwell, the black leather panther began walking toward the dark sword with an air of cool detachment. Chen wasn’t playing a role now. This time she’d shown up as herself, a tough, decisive, no nonsense warrior woman, and a natural born leader used being in command.
“I want this battle with Lord Daegal ended now,” Chen demanded.
“I can’t do tha
t,” Crystal said.
Chen glared at the sword hating her, then spun on her heel and stormed off. But before the black leather panther had gotten even a few steps away, Crystal became hysterical shouting, “I’ll end it! I’ll end it! I’ll end it!”
The warrior woman turned around and stared hard at the dark sword despising Crystal and feeling no pity for her. The black leather panther wanted only one thing, the sword’s submission to her will.
“Could we please save the Crystal Medallion first?” Crystal begged.
“Why?”
“She could be a help to us.”
“How?”
“In a variety of ways,” Crystal said vaguely.
Chen began turning away once more.
“Wait! The medallion can extend your power over a greater distance. She can give you a greater range!”
“That could be useful,” Chen agreed.
“So, what are these rules Andrina was talking about?” Crystal asked.
“There’s really only one rule.”
“And it is?”
“Whatever I want, whenever I want it.”
“Why am I not surprised?” Crystal asked.
Chen smiled.
“So, how do we go about rescuing the medallion?” Crystal asked.
“I want to meet with Jewel and flame.”
Immediately, Jewel stepped out of a wall to Chen’s left, and Flame walked out of the roaring fire in the great room’s hearth. Looking sheepishly at their new master, both were painfully aware that they hadn’t met on the best of terms, Crystal having made them join with Glenitant to fight the black leather panther. When Chen had killed Glenitant anyway, it made things awkward for Jewel and Flame. Chen was their new master, at least until Baelfire and Eldwyn had blocked the warrior woman from inheriting the dark sword.
But that was all in the past, provided Jewel and Flame could deliver on what Chen wanted now. And what the black leather panther needed most was an army of her own.
“How many others like you are there?” Chen asked.
“Just us,” Jewel replied.
“Come look out here,” Chen said.
Jewel, Flame and their new master went to a window looking out over the castle’s western wall.
“The warriors defending that wall are having a pretty difficult time,” Jewel commented.
“Lean over the edge, crane your necks out a bit and look at the southern wall,” Chen told them.
Hesitantly they obeyed. Jewel and Flame recalled how Chen had kicked their former master, Glenitant, out this very window. Gingerly, the ruby-red woman and the woman of fire leaned out and looked south. Hundreds and hundreds of General Gornic’s warriors were now massed on the southern wall and in the courtyard directly below it.
“This isn’t good,” Flame said.
“What if I were to send you down there to fight your way through that horde of men?” Chen asked.
“That wouldn’t be my first choice of how to spend my day,” Jewel said.
“Nor mine,” Flame added.
“Take a look out this other window,” Chen said.
Walking to a window overlooking the front courtyard and the fields beyond the castle’s entrance, Chen pointed at the bits of flame moving towards them in the darkness.
“More bad news,” Jewel sighed. The ruby-red woman and the woman of fire both knew what they were looking at, they’d seen it before.
Feeling jittery, Flame looked at the roaring fireplace, and Jewel looked at the black crystal walls. Both women wanted to make an exit.
“Don’t even think about it,” Chen warned them. “You two know Crystal Castle, and I want to know my options. What are they?”
“There’s a trapdoor leading to the roof of this tower. We can lock ourselves in up there,” Jewel suggested.
“It has a nice view in the daytime,” Flame added.
“Listen to me,” Chen said angrily. “You’re either going to come up with an alternative, or I’ll use the two of you for a welcoming committee when Lord Daegal and his men come riding through the castle entrance.”
“Why? There’s that nice, elderly man who’s already blocking the entrance with a very sturdy looking walking stick,” Jewel said as she smiled at Chen awkwardly. “But I do have something to confess. We aren’t exactly warriors. We’re mostly for ornamentation.”
“What do you mean?” Chen asked nervously.
In response, Jewel and Flame both began walking around swaying in a very seductive, inviting way.
“Oh, spare me! I can do that much myself. What can you do that will actually be useful at a time like this?”
“We can multiply,” Jewel and Flame said at the same time.
Instantly, an exact replica of Jewel stepped out of, well, right out of Jewel herself! The same thing happened with Flame as a duplicate walked directly out of her own body. Next, the number of ruby-red women doubled from two to four, and they kept on doubling until there were eight, 16, 32 and finally 64 of them. Once again, the same thing happened with Flame. The humanoid woman made of shimmering coals duplicated herself over and over until 64 bodies of fire were standing before Chen.
Some of the women, now numbering 128 in total, began swaying and moving languidly as they walked around. Others just stood in one place, put their long, slender arms over their heads and proceeded to slowly rock back and forth.
“I need an army not a harem!” Chen yelled. Then, sighing in frustration, she looked over at Crystal who was still tied up and lying on the floor. “I could use a little help over here! Last time I saw those two they were carrying swords and were real fighters! What happened to them?”
“You’ve got to get these golden ropes off of me,” Crystal said. “They’re robbing me of my strength.”
Chen looked down on the courtyard below and saw Eldwyn still holding his staff and blocking the entrance with its energy. Feeling desperate, the black leather panther began glancing around for something to toss at the old wizard to knock him unconscious.
Fortunately for her, Eldwyn took that moment to collapse. An energy field of prism light was still covering the wizard, Aerylln, Baelfire and Zorya providing them with protection, but the entrance was now wide open.
Chen ran over to Crystal and tore the golden ropes off of her.
“Take me out of my scabbard!” the dark sword shouted.
“Not yet,” Chen said wanting to get the feel of her sword’s powers before unleashing her even more so. “Just get those women ready for battle.”
“With pleasure, but first send them downstairs to the courtyard. Once I give them horses and swords we’re going to need more room.”
“All right ladies, let’s head downstairs,” Chen said.
They stopped and looked at her moodily.
“Please!”
Appeased momentarily, they began walking towards the stairwell.
In exasperation, Chen glanced at Gwendylln who said, “Don’t look at me. I wouldn’t take any of them even as raw recruits.”
“I’ll get them whipped into shape in a minute,” Crystal promised.
“You had better do something,” Chen said.
Once all the women were in the courtyard, the first thing Crystal did was reseal the entrance. Chen looked at the dark sword and said, “Not bad, at least for starters.”
“Well, I may be sluggish, but I’m not stupid,” Crystal said.
However, Chen and Crystal watched in amazement as the women began waving to General Gornic’s men who were staring back at them dumbfounded.
“You’d better put a stop to this nonsense, and I mean now!” Chen said glaring at Crystal.
“Take me out of my scabbard, even just a little. Let me get some air!”
Chen slid the dark sword ever so slightly out of her
sheath.
In an instant, the women were mounted on magnificent warhorses some of which were ruby-red while others looked like bonfires, and all the women were holding shields and wielding swords.
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But far more important, from Chen’s perspective, was the change in their attitudes. The women in front of her now appeared to be battle-hardened veterans. Their bodies were leaner, firmer and tougher, and they radiated a sense of grim determination.
“Nice job,” Chen said. “I could use 200 more just like them.”
“Not without the Crystal Medallion,” Crystal informed the black leather panther. “Without her, I’m not up to my full potential.”
“Not you, too? I thought Baelfire was the one with limitations. You gave me the impression of being more self-reliant.”
“With only Glenitant around, I had to be self-reliant. But Baelfire and I are half-sisters. We both have our strengths and weaknesses.”
“Well, you picked a great time to tell me,” Chen said.
“Forget the battle inside the castle, that won’t make or break us. To win, we must focus on getting the Crystal Medallion. Once we get her, I can give up any pretence of supporting Lord Daegal, and I’ll change his black crystal warriors back to normal.”
“But in the meantime, my warrior women will be getting slaughtered by General Gornic’s men.”
“It’s the price of war,” Crystal countered.
“No, that’s unacceptable. I grew up with those women.”
Striding over to a ruby-red warrior, the black leather panther asked, “Are you Jewel? And if not, which one is she?”
“We are all Jewel,” the woman informed her. “We share the same mind.”
“You mean a communal consciousness?”
“No, there’s no one else here but me. We’re not made up of a collective of minds. There’s only my mind. Go ahead, talk to one of the other women. Ask her name.”
Walking past three or four of the ruby-red women, Chen turned to one and asked, “Are you Jewel?”
“Yes,” Jewel said. “In battle, if you tell one ruby woman what you want, then all the others will automatically know. No matter which one you talk to, you’ll be talking directly to me.
There’s no one else here, just me.”
“It works the same for both of us,” Flame added.