10. INTO CONQUERED TERRITORY (DURAN)
Waking up next to Angela in the Byzel Inn was nice, definitely. Especially after another few days of sleeping on the hard ground on the return trip from Forcena. Duran was able to allow himself a few minutes to relish the feeling before his mind wandered to the mission at hand, once more.
Reluctantly, he gently shook Angela until a "mmmmmmm" escaped her. "Angela, it's time to go to Palo." That opened her eyes for a minute, before she shut them again and burrowed under the covers. So much for morning-afterglow.
Well, he had done the best he could to wake her. He got up and dressed, heading downstairs to organize breakfast and give Angela a few more minutes to admit she was awake. Fortunately, by the time he had breakfast set on their table, Angela had arrived, back to her usual presence.
They found themselves within the hour on a ship for Palo.
They had already heard the news of Navarre's takeover of Rolante. The news of the "Castle That Never Fell" finally falling had been on everyone's tongues, even before Angela and Duran knew they would be going there. Still, they were in for a surprise when, stepping off the boat, two days later, they first saw the troops that had conquered the castle.
--
Angela tried not to stare at the Navarre troops that wandered through the town of Palo. Duran had taught her a little of the Navarre military structure on their sea voyage, though Navarre being a guild rather than a true kingdom, "structure" was pushing it.
She could see the Rangers, strutting around but causing little trouble, while the Ninjas lurked in the shadows in deadly silence. They used the ranking names casually, even for those who did not receive the Gift from the Goddess herself. That felt like cheating, to her. Something about the speed and stealth of the Ninjas reminded her of Hawk. Well, he was from Navarre, after all, he had probably gone through the same training. Among the hushed populace of the town, she even saw a merchant cat, of the Nekos, a race which did frequent business with Navarre.
The energy that hung over the town was foreboding. It was not as restrained as Jad - the Navarrians were not as violent as Beastmen, after all - but there was definitely tension in the air.
--
Duran thought Angela was crazy when she suggested going to the pub first. He tried to remind her what their goal was, to find the Wind Spirit.
"Do you know where he is?" Angela responded. "We need clues, and a pub is the best place to find them. All kinds of people go there."
Duran couldn't argue with her. When she wasn't angry over something, her logic was infallible. It was evening, anyway, they couldn't do much else.
After asking directions, they found the entrance to the underground pub, somewhat concealed underneath the main street. Crossing the threshold, they found themselves in a dark, windowless room. It matched the atmosphere of the rest of the town perfectly.
The barkeep, a woman, was leaning over one side of the U-shaped bar, talking to a woman in a full-length olive green cloak. Something about the golden hair peeking out of the hood tugged at Duran's memory.
He motioned to Angela to sit at the base of the U. Trying to appear nonchalant, he opened his ears, but all he could pick out was "mountain... garden... cave..."
"Hey! Where's my whiskey!" yelled the Ranger to their left.
"Coming right up, sir!" the woman called. She turned back to the cloaked woman, who gave a quick nod and moved to depart.
Duran's eyes followed her to the door. While the bartender met the alcoholic needs of the Navarrian, he hastily summarized what he had seen to Angela. Including the tinge of familiarity.
The woman behind the bar finally approached the two of them. "What can I get you, my lord and lady?"
"Uh, two of your house wine," answered Duran. Up close, he examined her with interest. Her blue hair was a color seen only in Navarre, but her revealing barmaid's outfit only emphasized that she was possibly the buffest woman he had ever seen.
"I think she's an Amazon," whispered Angela. Duran had reached much the same conclusion. It was too simple to assume they had all looked for alternative jobs once the castle fell; something was definitely up.
Bringing back a crisp mountain white, which was in fact quite refreshing, the barmaid looked closer at them. "You're not from around here." Nor are you one of the invaders, her tone said, so who are you?
Duran racked his brain for a quick lie, but Angela saved him. "I'm a junior magician from Altena, here to study wind magic. This is my cousin, my mother was worried about me coming here alone, with the Navarre raiders and all."
The barmaid barked a laugh. "Well, they won't bother a student here. Past forcing us the acknowledge their conquest" - her eyes seemed to glint angrily at the word - "they pretty much leave us alone."
Once they had been deemed no threat, the barkeep was open enough with them, giving them all sorts of background on the Rolante conquest. Apparently the winds that had protected the castle had stopped, and the raiders had used previously-unknown magic, a strange sleep spell, to put the castle to sleep. As the ninja entered the sleeping castle, an assassin had stolen into the heart of the castle and killed the king.
"But there was a heir, right? A princess." Angela added. Trust her to remember her political science lessons. "What became of her?"
A silence. "She was not captured or killed, and that is all that is known for sure," responded the woman.
Duran did not want to push the issue, feeling they had hit a dangerous spot. "Well, Anny," he said, using the alias Angela had once told him about, "we should probably go see about our rooms at the inn." Angela, catching his meaning, nodded.
But before they left, she wished the barmaid goodbye. "I'm sorry, I never caught your name," she said, with a princess's politeness, for once.
"Eliza," the woman replied.
--
Angela was fully in agreement that the snippets of conversation they had heard were worth investigating. Eliza had told the truth; as obvious foreigners, they experienced no trouble from the Navarrians, and they retired to the inn for a surprisingly restful sleep. That night, the two only slept, collapsing exhausted into their twin beds, and the next morning, after a brief replenishment of supplies, they began to climb the mountain.
Oddly, Angela seemed to be handling the climb more easily than Duran. She hopped from rock to rock, using her staff to steady herself, while Duran struggled slowly behind her. His strength let him wear that armor across flat ground, and even fight in it, but this steep mountain climb was much more intense than the highlands near his home.
Rather than the slow ground creatures they had previously dispatched with ease, Needlebirds flapped at them, rushing quickly out of Duran's sword swings. Angela's magic soon became their dominant attack; the birds seemed especially vulnerable to the diamond missile spell used by Jewel Eater, which Gnome had readily taught her.
Eventually they came to a fork in the road, the left path continuing up the hill, while the right path led across a suspension bridge. Looking at Duran, who was putting on a good face while barely holding up after a half day of armored mountain climbing, Angela suggested they cross the bridge. Duran nodded, gratefully. They veered right, and after knocking out the latest round of birds, Angela stopped on the bridge and looked around. She caught her breath.
"Look," she said to Duran, coming up behind her.
The view was astounding. She could see past the mountains to the sea beyond, and to the south lay what appeared to be the Navarre desert. If she used her imagination, she thought she could see the Altena snowfields to the northwest.
And they were only halfway up the mountain. Forget the legendary defenses and copious natural resources, the view alone was reason enough to found a kingdom up here.
The two stood together for a long moment, indulging the feeling of being on top of the world. Angela turned to stare into Duran's eyes. Their gaze held, until he got a strangely romantic look, and opened his mouth as if to say something.
Suddenly frightened, Angela turned and began to stride towards the far end of the bridge, and an opening in the rocks beyond. A small natural tunnel sheltered a stone statue of the Goddess, then opened up to a hillside with trees surrounding a green meadow full of colorful pink wildflowers at the top.
Was this their destination, she wondered? The conversation on which they had eavesdropped told them only to go up to the mountain meadow. Too bad it appeared to be a dead end. What had the two women been referring to?
"Where should we go next?" Duran posed the question to her.
Angela hesitated, uncomfortable being without an answer. "Well, maybe, if we keep looking here, we'll find some clues." With no better ideas, she stepped forward into the meadow.
The flowers certainly were beautiful. Something about being up here, smelling the fresh air, seeing the flowers, made all her cares slip away. She felt almost euphoric, positive, as if everything was going to work out. She looked back at Duran with a smile on her face. What a wonderful guy he really was, she thought, and motioned to him to come closer to her. But he frowned back at her, before entering the field of flowers himself.
Wait... the flowers... the flowers!
Duran reached her side just in time to catch her from falling, as her eyes rolled back into her head and blackness took over.
--
Angela opened her eyes to see the roof of a cave above her. Groggily, she shook her head to clear the fog. She turned her head to the left and saw Duran in another bed next to hers, she apparently having regained consciousness before him. She had also been affected by the flowers first; maybe it was a time-sensitive thing, her brain suggested, the thought half-formed as clarity crept back. Well, based on the comfort of the surroundings, they weren't captives, at least.
She pushed against the bed with her hands, and forced herself to sit up... putting her face to face with a blond, toned woman holding a spear. Recognition tickled, and she recognized the woman as the one talking to the bartender in Palo - Angela had briefly glimpsed her face as she left. Only, here she was in leather armor, holding a brutal-looking spear as if she knew how to use it.
Amazon, thought Angela. The woman could be nothing else.
"You're awake?" the woman asked. Girl, Angela revised; she suspected the Amazon was younger than she herself was. "Eliza told me you were foreigners, I didn't expect to find you up here."
"W... who... where..." was all Angela could manage to squeeze out, shaking her head as if the haze would clear faster.
The girl put one hand behind Angela's back to help support her. "This is Rolante's secret hideout. We've gathered the remaining troops from the Amazon army here, to retake the castle. I am the princess of Rolante, Lise. Our kingdom was attacked and conquered by Navarre's forces. I thought I was the only one alive... My younger brother, Elliott, was kidnapped, and I was looking for him when I went to the Priest of Light, who told me that my people had survived. My Amazon sisters established this base here, where the sleep flowers grow to protect it. I might have jailed the two of you, had I not recognized this one - " she jerked a thumb towards Duran - "from Jad."
Following Lise's gesture, she saw Duran was sitting up, though he looked as out of it as she had, felt, only minutes before.
"Ah... yes... the weapons shop..." mumbled Duran.
Angela, meanwhile, felt her brain begin to chug along again. "Wasn't there a Princess Rieszella? Your sister?"
Lise blushed slightly. "Well... that's me... but it's only my formal name, and I don't use it in front of my troops..."
"A royal name, then?" Angela surmised. "My mother always said she needed an intimidating name to be Queen."
"Wh... who are you?" the now-perplexed Lise asked.
Slick, Angela, she thought, way to remain incognito. But Lise had already been so open with them that she instinctively trusted her. "I'm Angela, Crown Princess of Altena, although I'm not so popular at the moment -" she grimaced; the long explanations could wait until later - "and he is Duran, a fighter of Forcena."
Lise inclined her head respectfully, but no curtsy, one royal to another. "I am honored, Princess. What brings you here?"
"We came here looking for the Wind Mana Stone... do you know anything about it?"
"Yes. that's in the Corridor of Wind, on the western side. But there are wind statues guarding the entrance. You might not be able to get in..." Lise paused thoughtfully for a moment. "I'm sorry, I must leave you now," Lise apologized. "We are undergoing a strategic meeting to retake the castle. I hope to talk to the two of you more later." Turning, she left Angela and Duran by themselves in the room.
Angela watched Duran shaking himself back to consciousness. She was feeling almost fully alert herself by now, so she knew he would be back to normal momentarily. "We should see if they'll let us join their meeting. If the Rolantish don't know the way to the Mana Stone of Wind, who will?" By way of response, Duran climbed out of bed and began buckling on his armor, neatly stacked at the foot of the bed. Angela had only to don her cloak and pick up her staff.
The Amazons did not block their entry into the meeting room; apparently, they truly were guests, not a threat. Angela was grateful for that not-so-small blessing. She and Duran entered in time to hear Lise say, "So, how are we going to get the castle back?" Armored Amazons stood at attention along the walls, and a frail old man sat beside Lise at the table.
"We'll need the Wind Spirit's help to restore the wind to the castle. Without the defense of the winds, the castle will vulnerable all over again."
"Then I will have to head into the Corridor of Wind to find him," replied Lise.
"But Miss Lise! It's dangerous to go alone! With your brother missing, we can't lose you as well!" spoke up one of the Amazons.
A sad look crossed Lise's face. Angela decided now was the moment to speak up. "We'll go with you."
Lise snapped to attention, surprised by the interjection, but quickly her expression cleared. "This is our fight. I can't ask you to help."
"Oh Goddess!" snapped Angela. "I have to get inside that cave! Don't be so stubborn! This is our fight too! And besides, you're going to need all the help you can get! You lead us to the Stone, we'll help you take the castle!"
Once of the Amazons, a younger girl, called out. "Miss Lise... Your return has raised our hopes... Please don't leave us!" Lise looked torn.
Angela was losing patience, although she did find it impressive how much the Amazons loved their leader. It was something to aspire to. "Well, Duran and I need the Wind Spirit's help. We'll bring him back to help you, but we're not waiting around anymore."
Lise straightened. "I'm going with you," she said, in a tone that brooked no argument. Outcry broke up from the Amazon committee, but she turned to them and they silenced readily. "Sisters, I will leave in order to find the guardian of our kingdom. I am not leaving you, for I shall be with you in spirit, and Goddess willing, I shall return with the power to save Rolante."
Her little speech was quite effective, as cheers rose from the gathered Amazons. Angela was much impressed herself, so much so that she did not realize that, in fact, Lise had never asked for permission to go with them. But with the admiring way Duran was looking at her, maybe Lise had just assumed acceptance. In any case, it was too late to argue, not with a host of fierce women in front of her.
"Besides," she added, turning to Angela and Duran, "Only I know the secret to getting in the Corridor of Wind."
Had Angela uttered such a statement, she would have been quite smug about it, but Lise showed no such inclination; she was just making a statement of fact. She seemed quite genuine in her desire to help.
"Lead the way, Lise," said Duran.