}{ Gild the Lily }{

Darkness had fallen over the city. The moon had risen and its soft glow left patches of shadows throughout, allowing some to roam freely. Most people were in bed already fast asleep, as they should be. Dangerous things came out at night around the White City. Spirits and monsters were free to wander the Forest and pathways when the sun went down. People who left the city walls usually went missing in the dark and were never heard from again.

But, this was her only chance though. She had to venture under the cover of darkness and brave whatever might be lurking about. The fear of what might be out there past the city walls would mean few would ever think to follow her into the forest. Spirits know, most the soldiers and warriors would feel the same way. The Forest was a sinister place for those who did not tread carefully; who went unknowingly into the darkness.

First, however, Rosalina needed to escape the Castle.

She stood by her door and pressed an ear to it. She could hear the boot falls of the two soldiers that were posted at each end of the hall as special protection for the Elders. She could also hear the muffled conversation of the two soldiers that stood on either side of the doors to her room. Extra protection for the newest member, Uinseann had told her. More eyes to watch her comings and goings, Avia had argued.

Rosalina was untrusted by the Elders. For good cause. She had been belligerent, rebellious and opposing them since before she had become one of them. The only reason she took the position was for her people and to learn the truth about her mother's disappearance.

She stepped away from the door and quickly looked about her room, her cloak swishing and swaying as she did so. Her quarters resembled something of a one story house. She had a small kitchen where Avia made most of her meals, despite her best efforts to cook for herself. There was a bedroom with a chest, a vanity, a bed fit for three, an armoire, and a bathroom that sat attached by a single door. There was also the main room where she stood now that had a table that could seat six, a couch, a small desk, bookshelves, and then the doors to the balcony that lay straight ahead of her.

Rosaline had a bag packed with essentials, such as clothing, some food, and her notes on her research. It sat on top of the table where she ate most of her meals with Avia, having vehemently refused to dine with the other Elders as of late. She didn't trust them and for good reason it would seem.

The balcony, Rose. Hurry now.

Rosalina walked to the balcony, grabbing her bag from the table as she passed. She threw the bag onto her shoulders and looked over the railing. It was a long drop to the bottom for a person to jump. Luckily, she wasn't just anyone. Rosalina took a deep breath and launched herself over the railing. The fall felt as though a lifetime, but took mere seconds to reach the bottom. She landed with her right knee on the ground and left leg bent, hands planted firmly on the dirt. She raised her head and looked about for any sign of movement or alarm.

She could make the jump, but the landing was hard to control how she would hit it. The fall had ended with a loud thump that may have woken someone. She knew she needed to be quieter if she was going to escape without notice… or a tussle with a soldier or two.

She picked herself up and started to walk in the very shadows that Uinseann had warned her about. She had grown up in these shadows of the White City unlike the other Elders. They had lived a life of luxury, had gotten their positions based on family lineage and bribing the right people. It disgusted Rosalina just as it disgusted many of the people in the city. She understood the people who resided in the shadows just as well as those who resided in the sunlight, but the shadows were her home. At least they became her home after her mother had disappeared.

The city had fallen into chaos after her vanishing. She had been an important member of the Council. She had been the Healer at the time. No one knew who was to blame or what had truly happened. It was all a muddled mess of lies and snakes. Rosalina had been just a child then. Father dead years before and mother missing, Rosalina was sent to live in an orphanage. Avia hadn't allowed that for too long before she decided Rosalina would live with her. The shadows of the city had become Rosalina's home because that's where Avia had raised her. She knew their ins and outs like the back of her own hand.

Rosalina moved on tip toe like some kind of wild cat on the prowl, keeping as close to the buildings as possible. She let her fingers glide along the building walls till she came to the end. She stopped, pressed her back to the building firmly and looked around the corner. Four Imperial soldiers passed in a march of their rounds with hands firmly placed on the hilt of their swords that sat at their hips.

Rosalina moved to the next building as soon as they were in the distance and then to the next in a well mapped out route she had taken as a child many times. She stopped before the gates to the city and watched, trying to note where all the soldiers were. Torches were lit and their orange glow helped Rosalina see the two soldiers that stood directly in front of the gates. Two more were posted up top looking for any incomers with a torch in one hand, pacing the wall.

There's more. There has to be.

Rosalina agreed. There had to be more. The Elders could be careless and unconcerned with the people at times, but for their own safety they would never allow less than eight soldiers at the gate. Especially at night, but she could only find four.

They're there. Do not move until you see them.

Rosalina trusted the voice in her head and why shouldn't she? If anything happened to her, then the voice was at risk as well. If Rosalina died, the voice died too.

There! By the fountain!

Rosalina's eyes shot to the large fountain thirty feet from the gates. Constructed of pristine white marble like most of the White City, a statue of a middle-aged woman resided in the middle. She had hair that was forever flowing in the wind, tattered Gunda uniform worn from battle and struggle, and a torch in one hand while the other clasped a Luximan sword. She was Lucretia, the woman who led Luxima out of slavery from a Gou'ald overlord a long, long time ago. Since then, the Luximans had preserved a Matriarchal society in her honor.

The soldiers sat on the fountain's ledge with their spears leaning at their sides and drinks in their hands. Their helmets sat at their feet as they spoke and laughed at something one or another said. One stood up and turned towards the fountain, relieving himself into the ever flowing waters.

"Are they… drunk?" Rosalina couldn't help but to ask aloud. Not so loud that anyone would hear, but so that she could make sure she was seeing what she thought. "Imperial soldiers, drunk on the job. This is why we have Gundas. If we placed some here as I suggested, then we wouldn't have this problem."

Focus Rosalina! You can worry another day about these men pissing on your heritage. Right now we must escape from the White City.

Rosalina shook her head at the men's disrespectful behavior, but moved quickly from her spot as ordered. She quickly scaled the wall and hopped down onto the ledge. She crouched and watched the solider with the torch from the shadows. His back was to her, having already walked and searched for anything suspicious in her direction.

Now! Go while his back is turned!

Rosalina crept to the other side and poised herself to jump. She froze however. Something in the forest had let out a booming roar. One unlike anything Rosalina had ever heard before. It sounded unnatural and moved across the air like rolling thunder.

"Gaenor," Rosalina breathed out and pulled herself back a step from the edge of the wall, "what the Hell was that?"

I don't know.

"It sounded big." Rosalina's eyes scanned the forest in earnest search of the beast the sound had come from.

Yes, it did.

"You truly do not know what it is?" Rosalina asked again and looked towards the soldiers. The two with torches continued their rounds along the wall as though nothing had happened. Their actions seemed peculiar to her.

Had they not heard it too? Were they not afraid?

Something is very wrong here, Rose.

"I'm noticing that, Gaenor." She breathed out and watched the light from the torch disappear. "They didn't hear it."

No, it would appear not.

Rosalina looked back at the forest. She could see more now that the glow of the torch was gone. She could make out a small dirt path that led through the woods. She knew that path. She had taken it many times as a child and as a Warrior on marches to battle.

"We have one shot at this." She breathed out, unable to locate the beast in the darkness. She licked her lips as her eyes continuously scanned the trees.

Run Rose.

Rosalina hopped over the side of the wall and landed as she had before on one knee with her hands flat on the ground. She picked up her head, but did not move a muscle. She could see something moving in the trees; a shadow. A shadow with glowing blue eyes.

Rose, I know what that is…

"I don't care right now. We need to leave." Rosalina watched the shadow and the shadow watched her, both waiting for the other to make the first move. She could hear its heavy breathing, see its body heaving with each breath.

Rose that's a–

"Phantom." As soon as the confirmation left her lips the beast gave another thunderous roar. Rosalina sprinted from her spot and into the forest, disregarding the path that the shadow was waiting by. Branches whipped at her, scratching and cutting her. She staggered a couple of times from over grown roots and rocks and holes in the earth, but she did not waver. She kept running as hard and as fast as she could.

Things clinked and clanked in her pack. She decided that the phantom would be able to follow her whether she threw her pack away or not. It could sense her in some supernatural way that could not be understood. Her only hope was to reach the Stargate and make it through without that thing following her.

The phantom kept on her. Its movements were jerky almost jolting forward in short bursts like electricity might do. Rosalina had seen many things in her days on the warpath in the service of the White City, but this was something new; something old. Perhaps even ancient.

It's gaining ground. You need to move faster.

"Shut up." Rosalina snapped at the voice inside her head. She needed to concentrate on where she was going. She was far from the path that led a person safely through its center. She was creating her own in the hopes that she could lose her tail. Unfortunately, she was the only one seeming to become lost.

Then she saw it.

"The Falls." She breathed out and willed her legs to move faster towards the waterfall. If she could make it passed the sheet of water guarding the entrance and into the Grotto, perhaps the phantom might lose her or at least it would stall it for a moment so she could escape through the Stargate.

"What is this?" She felt the ground shake beneath her and then it began to crack like an earthquake. Stones rumbled and rolled away while others fell into the cracks.

The phantom's presence has upset something.

"Upset what though?" She snapped back and continued to run. She could hear the bustling waters, could smell the falls, the wet rocks.

There are a lot older things on this planet than I or that phantom, Rose. Things that the Gou'ald wanted to exploit, but never were able to control.

"You have a lot of explaining to do." Rosalina chided the voice, who had on many occasions claimed to know nothing about the planet. Despite Daniel's insistence that it did. "Daniel's going to be so pissed with us."

She could see the end of the line ahead. A cliff awaited her with the promise of freedom. She grabbed hold of the straps to her pack and braced herself. She leapt into the open air, moon shining brightly above. She spun herself around and watched as the phantom held fast at the edge, blue eyes jerking left and right. It was unsure of what to do. This was a good sign that she had made the right choice.

Then it too leapt into the air after her.

Rosaline could feel water misting her skin as she fell. The phantom falling with her, blue eyes locking on her form. The sound of the falls faded away and only her heavy breathing was left accompanied by the sound of the wind whistling by her ears. Everything seemed to slow. A second became a minute as they continued to fall towards the dark, rushing water below.

The phantom reached out a long, dark arm with claws, towards her as though to grab her mid-air. Rosaline spun herself and straightened, propelling herself into the ice cold waters. A moment later the phantom hit like rock. The dark mass floated downwards seeming to be in shock of the hit as Rosaline swam as quickly as she could. She could see where the Falls waters hit the river. She needed to get to the sheet of water guarding the entrance to the Grotto

She came up for air, gasping and sputtering. The icy water stung her skin and slowed her muscles. She turned towards the Falls and began to swim. The phantom surfaced a moment later with a screech as though the water was acid eating away at it. She looked back at it, treading water.

No! Swim Rosalina! To the Grotto!

Rosalina tried the best she could, but she was beginning to slow down. She was tired and the water was so very cold and the entrance to the Falls so very far away. She had landed further than she had planned to, than she had hoped to.

Something caught her foot and pulled her under the surface in one fell swoop, arms flailing as she disappeared beneath the dark waters. She turned and looked below her, barely making out the glowing blue eyes and the claw that had wrapped itself around her foot. She kicked and screamed under the water, trying to release its hold on her. It was too strong.

Keep fighting!

Rosalina struggled to reach the surface. Her arms flailed and she kicked, but she was losing the battle. The phantom dragged her further and further down into the darkness.

Rosalina!

She begin to feel all the air leaving her lungs. Pain replaced it and soon water followed, flowing in like a stream. She slowed, gasping at the water for air. Arms and body soon went limp. With eyes wide open, she looked up at the moon above the Falls through the surface of the water. Her hands outstretched towards it in some hope that it could save her.

Rosalina!

A figure stood atop the falls staring down at her through the water. They were cloaked or a shadow. Rosalina's mind was falling away too quickly for it to register which was correct. It raised their hand, a soft blue light emitting from it and stretching towards the water. It touched the surface just as Rosalina blacked out, sinking further down with the phantom and its glowing blue eyes unwilling to release her.


Gaenor = Ghost

Gunda = Female Warrior