Chapter 6: A fool's errand

"Rythian!" Lomadia called, desperately trying to keep up with him as he strode deeper into the forest. "Rythian, listen to me!" The truth was that he could hear her, but was in no mood for a conversation. At any other time, he would have appreciated her company. She lived up to her name, Lomadia, the Elvish word for "grace". He often imagined that she was part-elf, with her flowing locks of golden hair and expertise with a bow. At times, she could be very graceful, but at others-

"RYTHIAN, you sodding twat, LISTEN TO ME!" This caught his attention, and he turned around. "Flippin' heck, you really are going deaf." "What do you want, Lomadia?" He replied with as much patience as he could muster – which wasn't much considering his sour mood after the meeting. "You aren't alone, Rythian, even if you want to be. There are enough others that agree with your plan to start a pre-emptive attack. We wouldn't need too many people, and we could wipe this guy out before he even becomes a problem." "Well, aside from the fact we have no idea where he is, or what he's capable of." Rythian responded. "Well, you and I are no strangers to stealth – once we've found where that coward is held up, the hatters can create a diversion while we sneak in." It was true, both had experience with assassinations in the past, but Rythian thought he had put that behind him. Then again, I thought Israphel had gone to the grave, he thought to himself.

"OK, let's be optimistic about this. He takes the bait – which isn't likely – and we sneak up behind his guards. You think he will let us get close enough to stab him in the back? If I remember correctly, he is a master of shadow magic. He would subconsciously be able to kill us before we got anywhere near him." Lomadia thought for a second, and then replied. "I can still use magic, Rythian. I can curse him so he is unable to use his." This was true. Everyone knew that she was just as good at witchery magic as Nano, if not better, but Rythian still doubted that she would be able to subdue the powers of the dark lord.

He sighed. "I suppose this is our best shot. When did you want to go through with it?" "As soon as we find where he's hiding", she replied with a grin.