Awesome! Okay, when I posted chapter 4 I thought for sure I'd get my ass handed to me by everyone because of the long wait, mainly by PP. But, thankfully, that's not the case at all! --happy to no end-- So, here we go with chapter 5! Yay! XD

By the way, I'm really happy about all the positive responses I've been getting from PP, Kaia and Faithless. You guys ROCK! X3

Disclaimer…do I really have to do it? And I'm posting this at my school again…(meaning still no internet on my laptop)

Okay, long awaited continuation…COMMENCING!

Chapter 5 for you all!

Chapter 5, part 1:

Exploring the Peninsula

Saria, Tomi, and their new-found friend Majandra, made their way through the Peninsula district and all the prisoners running amuck. As they sliced their way through the convicts, Saria noticed how particularly agile and strong their companion was. She wielded her swords with incredible speed, which nearly left her and Tomi next to nothing to kill. On the way, when they were not bombarded with hordes of prisoners, Majandra explained that her swords had names, both of which held an essence of her.

Rekkei-maru, she told them, embodied her more darker side. When Saria heard this, she remembered the ominous glow she saw around the dark blade when Majandra yanked it out of the dead thug's skull. Tekkei-maru, however, personified her good-natured, more sensible side. Saria considered this.

"So…if those are your lighter and darker sides…where does that leave you?" Saria asked.

"I'm basically in the middle. The spirits inside my blades can actually appear before me, their forms identical to my own body, but only I can see them."

"Sure," Saria agreed. "That makes sense. After all, they are your personas. They're just…in the form of a deadly instrument."

Majandra laughed.

"That's right."

"So, m'lady, what kind of breed are you exactly? If ya don't mind me askin," Tomi inquired. "I mean, it's not every day you meet someone with enchanted blades that has horns and a tail stickin' out of 'em."

Saria looked at Tomi with disbelief.

"You can't tell?"

"You can?" Majandra asked Saria in the same tone.

"Well, at the Neverwinter Academy I was one of the best at identifying and classifying numerous races and clans," Saria said, feeling a bit smug.

Majandra smirked.

"Is that so? Well then, miss Academy smart-ass, what race am I?" she asked playfully.

"I'm guessing…fey'ri?"

Majandra's eyes widened.

"Damn, how the hell did you guess so easily?!"

Saria raised an eyebrow.

"Was that sarcasm or are you serious?"

"I'm dead serious! Not very many people can identify a fey'ri…even though it's not that hard…" she said, muttering the last comment.

"Well, like I said: I'm one of the best. In other words, I was a bit of a bookworm," Saria added sheepishly.

"I see," she said.

"I mean, don't get me wrong. I'm no scholar," Saria said quickly, seeing a bit of hesitance in Majandra's eyes. "I just…"

"Studied way the hell more than everyone else?"

"Yeah, pretty much," Saria said, laughing.

The group came across a stately-looking manor near a wall of the district that overlooked the water below. Majandra and Saria looked at each other questioningly before turning their heads forward and going to the door. Tomi glanced between the two and rushed for them, keeping up. Saria tried the doorknob and found it locked.

"Hey Tomi, do you think you could pick this for us?" Saria asked.

"Eh, I don't think I could," he said after examining the lock. "It looks like there's some magical wards on 'ere. Ones I can't even touch, m'lady. Sorry."

"Let me have a look," Majandra offered, stepping towards the door.

As Majandra examined the lock, Saria began looking around. She looked down and saw the welcome mat. It was a plain one, but it was nice. She knelt down to see what texture it was, out of curiosity, but found a lump when she ran her hand over it. She blinked.

"Hey…I think I've found the key," she said, turning the mat over.

Sure enough, there was an ornate, silver key sitting on the cobblestone ground beneath the place mat. Saria took it and placed it in the lock. She smiled.

"No better way to break into a house than to use the proper key," she said.

"Oh? An' why's that, m'lady?" Tomi asked.

"I dunno. Better to go in unnoticed and unsuspected rather than having to bash something in and announce our arrival."

"Humph. With the district the way it is, I don't think there'll be anyone in there to announce to," Majandra snorted. "Either that or they just won't care."

"Huh?"

"Well, with prisoners everywhere, I'd imagine whoever lived here high-tailed it out. And by the look of the place, I'd say they'd have more than enough money to do it any way they liked."

Majandra looked the place over, then looked to the prison.

"My guess would be they're related to someone high-ranking working for the prison, considering the relative proximity between the establishments and the value of the home."

"Simply because they're relatives…?"

Tomi caught a glimpse of a gold plate near the door and called the females' attention to it.

" 'Tanglebrook Estate,' it says," Tomi read.

"Yep," Majandra said, nodding. "Lady Tanglebrook is the cousin to the Head Gaoler in the prison, if I'm not mistaken."

"How do you know all of this?" Saria asked, placing her hands on her hips.

Majandra grinned.

"I have my sources. C'mon, let's raid the place and see if we can find anything good."

The companions walked inside and found the furnishings of a modest but well-endowed home. It was, however, barren of all signs of recent life. Majandra probed the air with her own senses, Saria with her partial elf skills, and she tensed.

"We're not alone," Majandra growled, pulling out Rekkei-maru.

"No we are not," Saria agreed, pulling out her staff.

Tomi whipped out a dagger and stood before the two ladies.

"Well then, if there's trouble afoot, I can't let the women take the risk of scouting now can I?"

Saria smiled.

"Well, what a gentleman you are. However," she said, her face turning more serious, "Do be careful. I don't want you getting hurt."

"Aw, how sweet," Majandra cooed, looking to Saria with a mocking love-smile. "Saria cares about the halfling rogue. Oh, that's so touching."

"Oh, stop," she retorted, smirking. "I just don't like seeing my friends in danger, is all."

Majandra smirked back.

"All right, I'll quit. Let's just raid the damn place and get out. I don't want to be in this district any more than necessary."

"Here, here."

All three walked forward cautiously, with Tomi in the lead. Almost immediately, Tomi spread both his arms and they stopped. He knelt down and examined the ground, untying trigger strings that would normally be overlooked by the average person. Within moments he was done disabling mechanisms and breaking down levers, throwing a pile of metal, string and acid pouches aside. Saria blinked.

"Wow, Tomi…I'm glad I brought you with me. I would have completely missed that trap."

Majandra nodded.

"Yes, I second that. I missed it, and my eyes are as sharp as a hawk's."

Tomi just shrugged and said, "No problem. Just doing my job, m'lady."

They walked further in the house, looking around cautiously. Majandra probed again with her senses and pointed to a back room with one of her blades.

"Back there," she growled.

Saria looked at her friend through peripheral vision and saw that Majandra's expression had changed, to the point where it worried her. Her face bore a slight, feral grin that showed intimidating fangs. Her stance became more offensive-looking, and she looked ready to pounce at any given moment. But what really troubled Saria was the look in her eyes. She realized, with a chill down her spine, that it was the same red gleam she'd seen when Majandra had been fighting the prisoners.

That same demonic, bloodthirsty gleam…

"What are we waiting for?" she asked in a husky, dangerously seducing voice.

Saria looked to the darker blade in Majandra's hand and noticed it was giving off a more ominous glow than what she'd seen while they were chopping down prisoners outside.

"Rekkei-maru embodies my darker side…"

If it really did hold her darker side, and the skills she displayed before this moment were already deadly enough…she didn't even want to think about what she was capable of when backed by Rekkei-maru.

"P-please," she said, trying to keep her voice level. "Lead the way."

Without saying a word, Majandra's supple body glided across the room; making no noise, she prowled across the room like a cat quietly stalking its prey. Saria could barely breathe, feeling the heavy, foreboding energy nearly suffocating her like smoke from a fire. The influence was so strong, in fact, she was sure she'd faint if she went any further. Her head felt light as a dull ringing sensation filled her ears. The next thing she knew, her staff clattered to the ground as she fell to her knees. The ringing was replaced by a subtle chorus of humming, growing louder as she began to lose consciousness. As she entered a feverish sense of mind, she could hear fragments of sentences fading in and out of her head.

"…you are my instrument…my puppet…you cannot…fight me…"

Saria's eyes looked frantically around, but all she could see was darkness. Her hands shook as she raised them to her face, covering it.

"No…no more…" she whimpered.

And then…darkness.

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So…what do you think? Pretty wild, huh? I thought I'd show Majandra's darker side in this chapter, even though it may seem like a waste to the people that know what's waiting for them in the foyer of the Tanglebrook Estate. I thought I did a fair job on portraying the first of the many upcoming mind-transfers of Majandra, but I wanna know what my readers think. Did I go into enough detail for a first-time deal? Any suggestions? If so, press that little 'Go' button and R&R!

Much love,

tf-fan