by James Hunt
"When I found her, I met their leader, Tamain." Kalek reported, but paused as his Queen turned away to continue gazing at her monastery. The distortion that was their camouflage started to move and grow until Kalek felt it surround them both. Of course, he chided himself, these are not words to be spoken carelessly. He mentally kicked himself again. "He has proposed an alliance."
"Has he?" Niyana was genuinely shocked.
"He has also seduced Kelria, but I can vouch that she is with him willingly. If one considers what his kind were doing to her when I found her, for her to trust him is quite the accomplishment." Niyana took a moment to digest that.
"That is very true." She finally admitted. "Then this Tamain has suddenly become very interesting. Please continue."
"The Discarded are exiled Zecairin nobility that failed at being corrupted. Tamain seems to be their leader. I do not know how many there are. But he expressed his congratulations at your besting the curse, and offered his assistance as an ally. He seems an honorable man, fearless, but also very intelligent and crafty. If this was a trap, it is not for us."
"You suspect he wants something else?"
"He offered me his hand in friendship, but said that others would have to earn it."
"Hmm, an interesting leader." Niyana mused. "What did Kelria think?"
"She was as just as surprised as I was that he offered it to me. I felt she expected us to attack each other."
"Perhaps she was just a lure then? And I was his real goal? As exiles, I would imagine revenge against other Zecairins to be his likely goal. What do you think?"
"He seems far too idealistic. I imagine he is like us in a certain way -- trying to find a place to belong." Niyana slowly looked up to him and mulled over his words.
"That is surprisingly optimistic for a Knight." She commented, giving Kalek a measure of praise.
"As a Knight, I would say use him before he uses us. As a friend, I would explore a much more long term relationship." Niyana rolled her eyes.
"That sounds more like the male talking." She turned back to her monastery. "Let your eyes sink into the Longsight, and watch as they train." She said and pointed. "These men are incredibly skilled. Their total number is more than three to one more than us, but only a few are as skilled as those there are. See how they strive for quickness of the blow over power. Every strike is at a vital area, if the blow did not slay outright, it would disable immediately. They train to take their opponent down with minimal effort -- I have never seen humans think that way about combat before." Kalek scowled as he watched from a great distance.
"This bothers me." He finally said.
"The mystery of corruption has led us here." Niyana said and folded her arms over her chest sternly. "There is an answer to be found in this place, but if it is not given freely I doubt we could take it without suffering for it."
"And if we lose too many, the answer will do us no good." Kalek concluded.
"I owe them a message of condolences, for their man Rad. He was my rescuer, and my friend." Niyana said uncertainly. "That could create an opportunity to discover our answers on a friendly basis. But if it does not..." her brow scowled.
"The Discarded?" Kalek offered.
"Would suffer for my miscalculation just as much as we would." Niyana grumbled. "We do not know The Discarded's numbers or their abilities." Something suddenly dawned on her. "Could they be those two fools we met on the road back? They were not corrupted... Of course! How else would this Tamain know I was purified?" she rubbed her temples as a ladylike expression of exasperation. "I have already met him. That one is a fool. He would be useless here! They are not that skilled."
"The Tamain I met, was." Kalek corrected her. "He only pretends to be a fool. That is his trap waiting to spring." Niyana thought all this over. It was a dangerous territory they were about to cross into.
"What would Iala think?"
"She would follow your orders, but she would be the first to stick a blade through him if he insulted you."
"Good. Take her with you, and make contact. I'm willing to hear him out."
* * * *
"Another one?" Came a familiar grumble of disapproval and a Zecairin came out from behind a tree. Tamain didn't spook, apparently he had known he was there, but Kelria squealed briefly in surprise. They had been walking along silently for some time and she had been lulled unawares. She looked up to the speaker and saw a face she thought she recognized, but he was the quicker. "That's the bitch that shot me!" he growled, but his bow remained still at his side and he did not draw.
"-I- shot at you once," Tamain rolled his eyes. "-Everyone- shoots at you... and misses. Thanks to that deflection magic I taught you." The archer ground his teeth, but reconsidered his words when Tamain started to grin smugly.
"Why her?" his voice seemed to have a perpetual growl quality to it, even when there were no emotional undercurrents to his words.
"Fate?" Tamain shrugged. "Do I need a reason?" something about their familiarity to each other bothered the archer. When he figured it out, he slapped his own forehead and dragged his palm across his face.
"You are a slut Tamain." The archer gritted out, and turned away to leave.
"Kelria, may I present my man Rollis. He is one of my trusted associates." Kelria gave Tamain a disapproving look. His smooth introduction did not overlook the circumstances of their first encounter. "We would not have seriously harmed you when we first met. Nothing your healers could not cure anyways, and we would never take a lady against her will."
"No, that we would never do." Rollis growled out. "Even in war, 'atrocity' has a meaning to us." He pulled his cloak tightly around his hunched shoulders; it slimmed his profile and hid the short bow he tucked under an arm. "That is what separates us from the animals. But the animals are growing in number." He fell into step with Tamain and Kelria as Tamain led the way.
"The Discarded are very similar to your companions," Tamain explained to Kelria when she caught up. "And for remarkably similar reasons -- we are not as extreme, nor as fanatic, as our kin from our homeland."
Escorted by her two darkly clad guardians, Kelria was led through the trees and bushes, around a hill to a rocky alcove protected by the lee of two giant boulders smashed together. The air was growing cold this morning, and there was dampness in the air that foretold rain was coming. But it was more than that, as the fog suddenly poured out from the ground and the air around them. It engulfed them until they could not see two feet away. Rollis led the way forward by putting a hand on the boulder and pushing through. He disappeared as if it did not exist.
"There is a barrier," Tamain explained. "A solid illusion." He took her hand and placed it on the boulder. It was solid, but it did not feel exactly like stone either. "Push." He instructed, and she did. Kelria found herself on the other side and inside a bear cave. The ground flowed downward steeply, worn out of the earth and stone from a small brook she hadn't noticed before. She turned behind her to see Tamain following through. The fog started to clear away and she could see the familiar trees they had left behind.
"An Lunarin, Tam? Are you serious?" Came a disapproving female's voice. "Is that why you stole my dress? You are such a pervert." Kelria spun around, embarrassed and a bit shocked to be staring at a Zecairin woman with long black hair, a charcoal leather vest with matching pants, and her disapproving hands resting on her disapprovingly curvy hips. Her sexuality was obvious, as her posture seemed more to make Tamain jealous than to truly scold Kelria. Even her vest was buttoned only halfway, giving a generous view of her cleavage. Kelria blushed and looked away.
She noticed the others gathering to meet the newcomer. There were five more shadow elves, men and women all in dark cloth or leather, with simple weapons -- swords and bows --, and each one had a cloth mask that was down to show their faces. The darkness of their complexion was different, showing more of the natural grayish tones of the Zecairin skin color. Their hair color varied -- black, auburn, brownish -- but none of t
he stand-outish hues to which she had grown accustomed. They also wore no jewelry or tattoos, as these were simple people. It soon became clear to her that they must purposely choose to look more plain, most likely so as not to be confused for their kin.
"These are my friends, my family-at-arms." Tamain said and placed a reassuring hand on Kelria's shoulder. "We are the soldiers of The Discarded. There are others, but they cannot fight. So they are somewhere safe. We are all you have to worry about."
"Should I worry?" Kelria challenged him.
"No. Not at all."
"She's clever," the woman said, and approached Kelria. "Well, well." She said as she looked the girl up and down. "Our first Lunarin Discarded!" She put her arm around Kelria's shoulder and led her down to the others. "My name is Corella," She whispered in her ear "I only bite if you want me too."
"All bluster," Rollis growled as he came to sit by the cook fire and inspect the morning stew, "She's a cocktease and she knows it." There were a few hearty laughs, and one impish giggle from another woman.
"My name is Kelria," Kelria said politely, and took a deep steadying breath. This group was not nearly as intimidating as the patrol that had captured her and Niyana, or as vicious as the two that had attacked her. Even so, she fought back the fear that was making her legs tremble ever so slightly. Corella must have picked up on that as she gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze.
"If any of them give you trouble, just tweak their ears." Corella whispered and stepped away politely. "Katral, Ut'van, Faosen" she began pointing out the others. Each one nodded, saluted, winked, as their name was called. "Pemmy..." Pemmy, a hawkish girl with large blue eyes blew her a kiss "and Gerick."
"Have a seat," Ut'van patted a rock next to him. He had the soldier's look to him with a chiseled jaw and close cut black hair. "Stew?" he offered casually. "Come, tell us your story." He had this brotherly tone in his voice that disarmed her, and against her better judgment she was sitting beside him and spooning vegetable stew into a wooden bowl. It looked very plain. "That's my mate, Katral," Katral nodded her head and folded her arms over her chest with a scowl. She had a very athletic body, and her sternness reminded her of Iala. Kelria wasn't sure what to say, if anything.
"I was a packmaster for a group of Leaf Knights. They didn't need me anymore," She half-lied. But it was enough to sate the curious for now.
"She's not a half-bad shot, but a bit too innocent to be out here if you ask me." Rollis grumbled as he worked through his stew. Kelria mingled a bit, answering their questions briefly, and asking some of her own. She learned that all of them were exiles from their homes, tossed out as young adults. Their stories all started out the same, they had wandered lost and afraid in this world of light and trees until Tamain had found them. He showed them a kindness that broke through their defenses and fears and brought them home to join the rest of The Discarded. Most of them were fighters with a little magical training, but Tamain and Corella were the ones with real talent as magic-casters. Faosen, a shy, very skinny male that looked barely a year or so into his adult years, had apprenticed himself to Corella. Pemmy was the more free spirited of the group, who watched and listened with the wide eyes of youth. She smiled and laughed, and joked whenever she could. Kelria felt an immediate resentment towards this girl... if only she knew what was out there, her levity would disappear.
"Tam, she's damaged." Corella whispered softly out of earshot of the others as she came to stand beside him and look out the opening at the morning forest. "She holds it back with all her might. But there is a darkness in her that wants to tear us apart. Was this a good idea?" Tamain leaned against the rock wall and looked thoughtful.
"She's tougher than she looks, and she's a sweet girl that's been given a shit hand." He answered candidly.
"Having her with us will complicate things," Corella argued.
"It can also make things better. It can grow more trust. For everyone. We need to start healing."
"Are you serious about her? Or is she just part of your plan?" Corella took the moment to readjust her leather vest and button it back up the rest of the way. Tamain wasn't even looking anyways.
"The Lunarin Princess succeeded. She cured the Demon's Blood. We need to know how." Tamain explained. He looked like he wanted to say more but stopped himself. "The Lunarians are just like us. I met one of their Leaf Knights and I proposed an alliance."
"You did what?!" Corella grabbed his arm fiercely, barely able to keep her voice low. "They'll murder us all." She hissed.
"Not these. They are renegades following a queen in rebellion. They need allies. They're just like us." Tamain tried to convince her. Corella let go of his arm and walked away. When she looked up, she saw Kelria was looking right at her along with a couple of the others who were wondering what the tiff was about. With a flip of her hair, Corella's scowl melted into a smile and she waved it off.
"Just an old lover's quarrel. We're an old story." She deflected it. Kelria caught the twitch of Rollis's upper lip that said otherwise. There was a sudden breeze and the whole troupe grew quiet. Rollis placed a finger over his lips to inform Kelria to stay quiet.
"There are a group of slavers at our back door," Tamain said softly. "Pebbles informs me they've caught a pretty pair of harpies." He turned around and joined the group with his arms crossed over his chest in a brooding way. "Three blooded masters, two human mercenaries, one Cutharin slave, and five lesser Zecairins."
"Harpies..." Gerick rubbed his chin distastefully. "Hard to justify interfering."
"Agreed, they are not always the most civilized." Corella added.
"Are we saving them, or the servants?" Faosen said a bit contemptuously.
"If we go in, we leave no trace or no survivors." Tamain decided. "Rollis, Kelria and I will see if they are worth the risk, or if they have any supplies worth taking. The rest will form up into scouting pairs and run the usual tracks. I expect we'll be seeing some Leaf Knights in the area soon looking for Kelria. Shadow any you find, but do not provoke them. Run away if they spot you."
"Me?" Kelria squeaked.
"You shot me..." Rollis nudged her as he stood up and collected his bow. He handed it to her. "Here, I'll be your spotter. Let's see what you can do." Kelria took it reluctantly along with the quiver slung over his shoulder.
Tamain summoned the fog again outside the barrier wall, and the three left just as they had come. Tamain was a fast taskmaster and she had to run hard to keep up with the two Zecairin men. Rollis fell back beside her.
"Keep your ears sharp at all times. Listen to the sounds in the background, and pick out the ones that don't belong. Also listen for the ones that sound like they belong too much. If we're spotted, you'll only have a moment to get a shot off before receiving one, so make sure you know where to look." He managed to get out despite the heavy run. Kelria nodded and focused her attention on the sounds and not the sights. She understood why; Lunarians focused more on masking their sight than their sound.
Half the day had passed by the time Tamain motioned for them to stop. Kelria never thought she could cover so much ground at a dead run. Her lungs were burning, but the rest of her was still good for more. Rollis had a smug look on his face as he approached and put a steadying hand on her shoulder.
"Calm your breath, it's too loud." He whispered. "Focus on the sounds, what do you hear?" Kelria tried to do as he instructed, but little presented itself. Tamain signaled in another direction and changed course for it. "Now comes the hard part girl," Rollis growled hurriedly. "we don't dance in the trees like you do. Slink from tree trunk to tree trunk, using the shade as concealment. Tam says you have some good magic ability; use it to make your skin and your clothes turn the color of the wood."
"I c-can't!" she protested in bewilderment. "that's too advanced!"
"Learn fast!" Rollis growled and followed Tamain through the trees. The two of them blended their outfits to shadows just as he had suggested, and she was quickly losing them. Having no other choice,
she followed their movement pattern as best as she could. She paused at every tree to try and make herself blend in, but found she couldn't quite do it. So she kept her attention to the sounds ahead of her and quickly picked out the crackle of a fire and the screams of a woman in pain. Those sounds were coming from the direction they were headed. Kelria continued on. She had lost track of her protectors; they had left her behind or had completely masked their presence.