Chapter Two: Sixteen Years Down the Road

A/N: This chapter is in diary format. The story will probably change format throughout.

Dear Journal,

Going through this land is sort of like walking through a desert. Just so you know, I hate the desert. Well, it's not really deserted. There's water and food and everything, but the people are drones.

The reason I'm starting the journal is simple. Yet it slips my mind for a minute.

I'm from some place no one's ever heard of, which is just as well. But my parents aren't. They're from Elibe, somewhere. I guess that Mother's from the Western Isles, and that Father's from Ilia. Makes sense to me.

Anyway, I wanted to come to this desert/drone colony place for research purposes. Lord Roy, Queen Guinevere, and King Mildain, who have all recently turned thirty-six, has requested that I check out this place (which I forget the name of) to see if they're planning on blowing us up or something.

It's stupid, really. I'm pretty sure this drone-factory wouldn't think up gunpowder for another couple hundred years.

Walking along this one road, called the 'Wenn Del', I spotted some other travelers. I don't think I considered that they could be bandits. I just wanted someone to talk to who wouldn't balk at my hair. It's white with green streaks, by the way.

After I caught their attention, which I suppose wasn't much of an accomplishment, both of 'em pulled out swords. Well-made, these blades were. Especially the one the boy had.

Oh, I must have forgotten to describe them. The kid, who's about my age or younger, had black hair and these blue eyes that made me want to stab him. He was too trusting for his own good. But then, maybe I am, too. The older guy, who's got to be at least as old as the crazies who sent me to this drone-factory, had this bearish look to him, complete with brown hair and eyes, and this sword that practically screamed 'DIE, YE MORTAL FOOLS'. But it didn't actually talk, or else I would have already stolen it and mailed it to that moron, Blight.

Yes, it is perfectly possible for a normally cheerful person like me to hate someone that much.

In our sword fight, if we had actually had one, I think I would have totally stomped them. Instead, I sort of played the pathetic beggar and pleaded for my life.

The big guy kinda told me to get lost. And I kinda didn't listen.

Big advantage to being what I am – multiple disguises.

The next day, I was a bird (quite literally) and followed them.

You know, seeing someone being paralyzed by sub-humans and shuffled off to be a sacrifice to a pagan god is not nearly as disturbing as I thought it would be. Once the white freaks were long gone, I popped out of bird form and studied them.

Amazingly, they were still alive. The kid was even glaring at me!

The ensuing conversation was not friendly.

Me: "Hello. How's the weather down there?"

Kid: "Why are you not helping us?!"

Me: "You were kind of rude yesterday, you know. Plus, you were both being morons. What other type of person would come into this forest at all?"

Kid: "We had to!"

While I was thinking up a good retort for that, the big guy woke up.

Big Guy: "Lief, be silent."

Kid (Lief): "But Barda-!"

Me: "I agree with him, you know. 'Sides, I couldn't help you if I wanted to. Paralysis isn't something I've ever bothered studying."

About then, some random girl (who looked a little like what I imagined an Amazon to) with a bird on her shoulder showed up. She kinda ignored everyone, picking up that Lief kid's cloak.

Okay, I'm all for taking stuff that no one owns, but there's some sort of honor code that says people shouldn't steal from other people. Well, for me there is.

I grabbed the cloak. The girl pulled back. What she shouted at me, my mother would have slapped her for. I didn't know girls could curse like that.

Me: "Lay off! This isn't yours!"

Girl: "It will be soon enough!"

Me: "You witch! Get lost before that monster gets an early snack!"

Everyone else: "…What?"

Me: "You mean you can't smell it? It's sort of like rotting…everything."

Well, after a little convincing, like how the monster popped up out of nowhere, the girl and I grabbed the two handicaps and lugged 'em into a really big tree. And when no one was looking, I threw a rock into its eye.

That thing left real fast after that.

The Amazon introduced herself as Jasmine. Freaky girl, but I can't really complain. She's not the only one who talks to animals.

Yes, shut up. It's from my mother's side, if you must know.

We were sort of in a nest-like thing, way up in the treetops. I don't make a habit of climbing trees, though, so I was twitching every time the tree swayed in the wind. Solid ground was way safer than this.

Anyway, everyone else is going to sleep. I should probably hit the hay, too.

Oceanus

Dear Journal,

I can see why Roy wanted me to come here. Maybe he didn't completely understand, but I'm pretty sure I've found a reason for staying, if only for a while.

You see, these guys are trying to save their kingdom from the Shadow Lord's tyranny. That's going to be very difficult, especially when you think about the number of the Shadow Lord's minions they can't get a handle on.

The Shadow Lord is pretty much a very nasty mystery. If I were more the type to philosophize (that means guess, wonder, or think, I think), I'd guess that the Shadow Lord was some sort of quasi-deity or demon lord with a superiority complex.

There's a sort of monster thing in the middle of this forest. Or rather, in the middle of the middle forest. I lost you, didn't I?

Well, a long time ago my mother told me about this guy called Gorl who was part of the Jalis tribe. He and his two younger brothers, who were probably too minor for her to mention them, had come into the forest to find these things called the Lilies of Life.

Apparently, the people here, in Deltora, only have one place where the Lilies of Life grow. As it so happens, that's right where the monster is.

Now you see, Gorl wanted to drink a whole cup of the nectar from the Lilies to gain immortality, though there are other ways to get it. Not that I'm telling here, though, since journals can be stolen. Anyway, Gorl killed his brothers over that plant nectar, and the nectar just dripped away into the mud while they were fighting.

Unfortunately for us, Gorl was still alive and menacing when we got there.

I'm smart, so I figured out the nature of this Gorl guy a long time before Lief and Barda got caught by his low-level binding spell. Turns out, Gorl wasn't in that gold-colored armor. In fact, nothing was in there, absolutely nothing.

Nothing alive, anyway.

I was in disguise, as a ferret, so Gorl didn't really pay attention to me when Lief and Barda were already in his grasp, and struggling.

The thing with ghost-possessed anything is that you need to destroy the vessel. I was pretty sure I would be able to throw off the binding spell, since it's in my family's history that no one has yet managed to force us to act against our will. I was relying heavily on genetics; I'd never actually tested out that ability.

I figured a life-or-death situation wasn't really the best time to start experimenting.

I popped out of my animal disguise.

So, I stuck with the ability I knew I could count on, and that Gorl wouldn't be able to stop.

Just so you know, I learned then that the difficulty of the spell is directly proportionate to the weight of the target. I swear, I'm never using the gravity reversal spell again, or at least not on people who I know weigh more than 200 pounds.

At best, Gorl might've risen a foot or two into the air, but he did drop his spell on Lief and Barda. Instead, he went for me.

Now, I'll admit that Gorl was pretty good with magic. Unfortunately, he was dealing with me then, and neither my family nor I even feel stuff like that. It's just not strong enough to bother us.

Kinda cool, now that I think of it.

So, while he panicked that his binding thing wasn't working, I took out one of my hidden daggers threw it right over his head. At the same time, I heard a very thick branch above Gorl creak dangerously.

Then I used the increase gravity spell on my knife, just as the branch snapped. The combined weight of the two objects, for lack of a better term, squashed him like a bug.

What happened after that was all pretty plain – the Lilies of Life bloomed and Jasmine collected nearly a cup of nectar, Lief shook the topaz out of Gorl's sword (which explained why the heck they'd come here, though it didn't explain what the rock was for), and we saw the ghost of Jasmine's mother.

Yep, pretty normal.

Turns out, Lief and Barda are trying to restore the Belt of Deltora. The Belt was apparently the only thing that kept the Shadow Lord from invading Deltora all those years ago, up until sixteen years previous. When all seven of the gems were restored, they said, the Shadow Lord would be driven out of Deltora once and for all, but not destroyed.

I sighed at that. Nothing sucks more than evil that never dies.

After that, Lief and Barda asked if Jasmine or I would come with them on their journey. I agreed instantly, because I was bored, and Jasmine's mother had decided for her.

Another day, and we'll be setting off for the Lake of Tears. I can't wait.

I think I'll cut this entry off here – the others are starting to try and peek over my shoulder at my writing.

Oceanus

A/N: So, what'd ya think?

Thanks to Wii-Master and sandralenefatoren2 for reviewing this story. Hope you like the new guy, Oceanus. He's the only one so far who talks like a Gray Guard. :)

Happy Readings.

Lang