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CHAPTER 6

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"What are you doing down here, you FILTHY DEVIL?" A man clad in green yelled as his hat flew from his head. His outburst echoed through the dank underground passages.

"What? Who are you?" Gizel asked, taken aback.

"YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW WHO I AM? YOU AND YOURS PERSONALLY TOOK AWAY WHAT WAS THE PROPERTY OF MY FAMILY! YOU DESTROYED US AND OUR REPUTATION! A N D T H A N K S T O Y O U I A M F O R C E D T O L I V E D O W N H E R E T O H I D E M Y S H A M E , Y O U F I L T H Y D E V I L!" The eccentric man screamed as his beard seemed to stretch from his face.

"Lord Gizel, this is Egbert Aethelbald. He…assisted us…during the conflict." Belcoot explained.

"YOU HAVE SHAMED THE HOUSE OF AETHELBALD AND WE WILL SEE YOU FALL!" Egbert's eyes bugged and turned bloodshot.

"Is he oblivious? The House of Godwin is no longer in power in Stormfist. Sure, I manage the city, but since the abolition of the Senate, there are no longer warring factions. And it seems to me, your preference of residence has nothing to do with me, but rather more to do with your own…temperament." Gizel chided.

"Why you…..FILTHY DEVIL!" Egbert lunged toward Gizel, feeling the moment of his revenge into the tips of his poorly groomed fingernails.

A sword quelled his anger and robbed him of his chance at retribution.

"Stop there, Lord Egbert. We've come to ask of your knowledge and talents for the good of Falena, not to inspire animosity," Belcoot whipped his blade back into its sheath.

"He's correct, Lord Aethelbald. If you agree to help us, I shall restore your residence and make you a delegate to the Falenan Parliament. You will regain what you lost. At this point, that doesn't matter. We simply need your cooperation." Gizel reasoned.

Egbert straightened his collar and secured the buttons on his jacket.

"AHEM! Very well then, Lord Godwin. If you so desire the assistance of the House of Aethelbald, we shall take the high road and show our benevolence. How may I be of service?" Egbert bowed.

"…quite an eccentric one…" Gizel mumbled under his breath.

"WHAT WAS THAT!" Egbert snapped.

"Nothing, good Lord Aethelbald. I'm simply thankful for your display of cooperation." Gizel smirked, with slight pleasure with Egbert's short temper. "Now, this is what we'll do…"

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"Despite the current situation, you did buy us some time, Kalinor. Instead of the immediate invasion that we feared, we now have to wait for Kardon to set his plan into motion. It won't be a lot of time, but it is time, nonetheless." Faroush said.

"I only hope I can be of as much service to you as you claim, My Lord." Kalinor bowed.

"I think we can show you how to control that rune of yours for our benefit. Kardon knew that as you were, you would not be able to control such a powerful rune. Between Miakis and myself, we should be able to help you with that." The Prince explained further.

Miakis entered the room with a pleased look on her face.

"Prince! Look what I've found!" She held up a spherical crystal with a symbol inside.

"What is that?" Faroush contorted his face in confusion.

"It's a Turtle Rune! This should counteract the berserk effect of Kalinor's rune!" Miakis jumped.

"It's worth a shot if he's up for it," The Prince looked at the swordsman.

"If it will keep me from killing my friends…" Kalinor said with a look of half-relief on his face.

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A mile east of Sauronix, Faroush, Miakis, Kalinor, and Roog gathered to train.

"Okay, Kalinor. There should be plenty of trees out here for practice. Take a few swings," Roog said as he pointed toward the nearest cluster of trees.

"Don't be afraid to use your rune, Mr. Kalinor!" Miakis chimed in hopeful glee.

Kalinor raised his hand as an orange light engulfed it. His veins pulsed as his muscles once again grew to incredible size. His grip tightened on his massive sword.

"How do you feel, Kalinor?" Faroush asked, testing for sanity.

"I feel…better…" Kalinor replied in a slightly distorted voice.

The warrior swung his blade and cleanly sliced through three trees in one swipe. While recovering from the maneuver, he used his free hand to punch directly through a fourth tree, tearing it from its foundation and toppling it to the ground. Suddenly, Kalinor shuddered, and returned to his normal size, his massive sword overpowering his arm and dragging it to the ground with a clang.

"What's wrong?" asked Miakis as she started to approach the man.

"I…I lost the power…I got so…tired…" Kalinor wheezed.

"I see…even with the Turtle Rune to help him, controlling the raw power of the Rune of War exhausts him. It looks as if he'll still have to work himself up to using it for any extended duration." Faroush observed.

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An expansive room gleamed in the sunlight as the rays reflected off of the impeccably polished white marble floors and walls. A single gold carpet a few feet in width ran from the massive golden chamber doors several meters to a raised section of floor. At the top tier of the stairs sat a massive golden throne. The man sitting upon the throne was adorned much like the room itself, with his flowing white robe and golden adornments. He sat alone with his cheek rested in his right hand.

A man burst through the chamber doors and rushed up the carpet toward the throne. Every few steps, the man stopped to bow. He eventually reached the first tier of the steps.

"Your Excellency, word has it that our forces were slaughtered twenty miles from the Falenan border! What kind of sorcery could have eliminated such a force?"

The man on the throne lifted his head and stroked his chin.

"Ah…so soon. This has worked out more favorably than I had expected. Margon, send word to the council. We are to meet over this matter immediately." He extended his hand toward the entrance, bearing his runic mark to the messenger.

"Yes, Your Excellency! At once!" The man scurried out of the room, nearly tripping over the golden flooring.

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"You'd be best not to touch the walls, Lord Wilde," Shula advised.

"What? Grrrr…what's going on here, Shula?" Boz asked as he withdrew his hand.

"We've been taken to the headquarters of Nether Gate. This is their dungeon. The walls are laced with a potent form of Dark Arcanum. A mere touch will put you into a coma." Shula explained as he remained sitting on the floor with his arms around his knees.

"But sire, there has to be a way out of here…" Sharmista said with hope in her voice.

"I'm afraid the door is the only way," Nifsara replied dismally.

Suddenly, the door opened.

"In you go!" yelled a voice as two bodies were flung down the stairs, landing at the base.

Boz and his wife immediately ran to aid the two victims.

"Oh, my, are you okay?" Lady Wilde asked.

Moaning in pain, the two warriors rolled off of each other and rubbed their heads.

"I think we'll live…where are we?" The first warrior asked in a distinctively female voice.

"What do you think? We're exactly where we got ourselves! I told you not to go after that guy like some sort of hero! Master Roundier would not have approved." The other female warrior chastised.

"Shut up, Valeria! If you would have just helped me from the start instead of arguing, we wouldn't even be in this situation!" The first woman yelled.

"How dare you speak to me like that, Anita! If your fuse wasn't so short, we could have assessed the situation and resolved it without flailing our swords all over the place! It's because of your hastiness that we're in this dump!" Valeria screamed as she and Anita both scrambled to their feet ready to fight.

"You aren't my superior!---" Anita started.

"Hold on here, you two!" Boz stepped between the two women. "Instead of killing each other, how about you tell us how you got here, and who you are?"

"My apologies," Valeria said as she pushed her auburn locks out of her face. "I am Valeria, a student of Swordmaster Roundier Haia of Kanakan. And this…"

"I'm Anita, another student of Master Roundier Haia." Anita said with a chiding look at Valeria.

"Ah! Warriors! And what brings you to…well…here?" Boz smiled as only he could.

"We were actually sent by Master Roundier to find one of his lost students. He came to Falena nearly two years ago, and was supposed to have returned after a year." Valeria explained.

"His name is Belcoot." Anita blurted as if on cue.

"Belcoot! Ha! Ha! I know him well! An accomplished fighter, he is! I'm proud to say that he helped us defend our country in the recent War of Succession!" Boz boomed.

"Then you know where he is!" Anita responded with hope.

"Not that it would do us any good down here…" Valeria snapped.

"Why you…" Anita started before Boz interrupted the exchange.

"He was last said to be in Stormfist, training soldiers for the Queen's Army." Boz stated.

A loud noise came from upstairs. Everyone turned to face the door as a man flew through it. The door ripped off of its hinges and clanged down the stairs. The man hit the opposite wall then plopped to the floor with a resounding thud.

"Is anyone down there?" A voice asked from the top of the stairs.

"Huh? Nakula is that you!" Nifsara responded.

A silver haired spearman appeared in the doorway.

"Nifsara? Sharmista? Lord Shula?" Nakula asked in disbelief.

"Yes, Lord Nakula, we are here." Shula answered placidly.

"I finally find this place and kill them all, then I stumble upon one of the chieftains. It is good to see you, Lord Valya. All of you must come with me if you wish to survive." Nakula ordered as he readied his weapon. "I still have one left to go."

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"I hope you find these quarters acceptable, Your Highness. They were formerly mine and Roog's. And I apologize, Lady Miakis, as we had no other extra rooms." Rahal bowed.

"You've already done more than enough." Faroush nodded.

"That's okay, Rahal. We're just happy that you and your knights have agreed to help us. Since it's only one night, I can make do with this sleeping arrangement." Miakis smiled.

"Very well. I bid you both a good evening." Rahal exited the room only to meet Roog in the hallway.

"You're really letting them both sleep in the same room?" Roog asked.

"And why would that be a problem, Roog?" Rahal replied sincerely.

"Well, because he's a…and she's a…you know. That's just not right." Roog stuttered.

"Roog, it is not ours to say what they can and cannot do. He is the Prince of Falena, and the Commander of the Queen's Knights. She is a Queen's Knight. They are both responsible enough to handle themselves in a mature manner. We can leave it at that, or we can worry ourselves all night over a moot issue." Rahal held Roog speechless. The red knight sighed as he retired to his own chambers.

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"Alone again." Miakis actually had a hint of excitement in her voice.

"Yeah…it's a relief to be able to relax again…" Faroush sighed as he flopped onto his bed.

"Prince…" Miakis started as she moved next to his bed.

"Miakis, I told you to just call me Faroush."

"Faroush…you really had me scared when we were on the ship. You really looked like you were giving up. I'm so glad you're back to your old self now. I'm so happy to see that you have your confidence back." Miakis put her hand on the Prince's shoulder.

Faroush patted on the bed for Miakis to sit down next to him.

"You might not have thought you helped me at the time, but you really did, Miakis. Once again, you were there for me when I needed you. But it was also at that point and during the fight with Kalinor that I realized something else…" Faroush said as he sat up.

"What's that?" Miakis asked with an eyebrow raised.

"That I always need you." Faroush looked into her beautiful brown eyes. They started to well up.

"Faroush…" Miakis' head was a constant ramble now. All of her inner thoughts and feelings were unleashed, and the result was a complete cacophony inside of her head.

It's like he's reading my mind. It's like he knew exactly what I needed. It's like this was meant to be. Is he the one? What should I do now? What about being a Queen's Knight? Will this interfere with my duty? Is this wrong or right? Why should that matter?

"Miakis?" Faroush's voice snapped Miakis out of her daze.

She shook her head and ignored the voices as she grabbed the Prince and kissed him gently on the lips. In that moment, the silence was golden as a true love was formed inside Miakis' heart. At the same time, Faroush was able to let go of the past and live in the present, looking toward the future.