Discord and Rhyme

Discord and Rhyme

Author's Notes: 15 exploding points if you can guess what wolf-related song I got the title from. Or if the exploding points from the last chapter didn't kill you.

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DOUBLE D WOKE up with a small yawn. The small room in the inn that he and the others had rented was just big enough for the four of them to share. Of course, since it had only two beds, Eddy and Ed were forced to sleep on the floor.

It took Double D a few seconds to realize something was wrong.

The window, which he was positive had been closed the night before, was wide open. There were several scratch marks on the wooden floor, as if some large creature had come in through the window and…

… Walked over to Edd.

The mage disgustedly realized there were several hairs on the floor and on his sheets. He carefully picked one op and inspected it. It was thick and brown. What's more, there was a certain… smell to them.

Double D crawled out of his bed as carefully as he could, trying not to disturb the evidence, and carefully stepped over Ed as he made his way to his clothes. They had been set on a trunk at the foot of his bed.

Edd picked up his orange robe and was shocked to see that a piece had been torn off at the bottom. He also saw that another one of the brown hairs stuck to his robe. Why would whoever broke into the room have stolen a piece of his robe?

It was then that the young mage looked down at his hand.

The three bite-marks had shifted. They now formed a complete triangle. Four unknown runes surrounded the triangle, vaguely resembling the placing on a compass.

Double D fearfully dropped his robe. He quickly opened up the chest at the foot of hid bed, where his and Ed's backpacks were. He knew he wouldn't have anything that could hide this, but maybe his friend…

Opening up Ed's backpack, Double D found a roll of bandage. This would have to do.

EMIL WALKED THROUGH the woods, just as Lamar had done the day before. Emil still wore his rock around his neck, and his gauntlet; his pants, however, were sufficiently torn.

The young leader sighed as he sat down under a tree. The leaves on the trees were already turning red and yellow. It was beautiful to the artist inside Emil, but it didn't take away his worry.

It had been dark last night. So dark that he wasn't able to see anything. He couldn't recognize his love by her smell, so he'd just bitten one of the two. Had she even been near that spot?

Emil licked his teeth in an effort to recognize the taste of whoever he had bitten. They tasted… different. Not bad, just… weird. It was like a lemon in a world of apples.

Sighing, Emil closed his eyes to look back at his life. He had been born a naturally lycanthrope and his mother and sister had died in childbirth. He'd been adopted by Lamar's father, and the two had been like brothers for years.

When Emil turned 10, his adopted father joined a group that he was convinced would fix the way the world was. He died six years later.

Sixteen—Emil was now the leader of the Brother Beasts; a member of the group that his father had belonged to arrived and asked him if he would like to join the council. Her name was Circe, and thoughts of what had happened still made Emil feel uncomfortable.

Emil had joined the group called the Council of 13.

A foot in Emil's side woke him up with a start. Had he been dreaming this whole time? Lamar stood over him, wearing a guard's suit from the city of Spatzburg.

"Are you insane?"

The question was low, gruff, and angry. Emil could tell Lamar was pissed. Or possible he had pissed.

"What the hell were you thinking?!" Lamar yelled. Birds flew from nearby trees at the sound of his fearsome voice. "Reports from Rattrap say you went into town and just attacked someone!"

Emil sighed heavily as he stood up. He was about a foot shorter than Lamar, whom he suspected was at most a quarter giant. "I had some important business and someone I needed to convert."

Lamar's eyes narrowed angrily. "Why do we need more of those infected bastards?" He asked harshly. "We're supposed to kill Two-Legs, not welcome them!"

Emil stared his brother in the eyes. "Lamar, I care for you." He said coolly. "That is why you were given a Stone of Slirva. Unfortunately, you lost the stone and our spy had to go through a lot of trouble to get it back. Do you think you're in any position to give orders to your leader?"

Lamar growled, and not in the sexy way. "This isn't how father wanted it to be. The full moon begins tonight; we need to attack Spatzburg!"

Emil shook his head at Lamar's anger. "We'll attack when we're ready. Until that time comes, we'll let our spies keep Spatzburg weak."

RHYME:

"I already told you, we don't got no butter for that bread!"

"But Ed needs buttered toast!" The tallest Ed pouted at the inn-keeper as he held a plate of bread, eggs, and something wet over the counter. "The best part of waking up is drinking buttered toast from a cup!"

Double D, Eddy, and Kevin ate their breakfast as Ed tried to get butter and invent toast. Nobody had asked why Double D had bandage wrapped around one of his hands. But then again, nobody asked why Ed had no chin; they just pointed and laughed.

"Ed seeks the tastiness of the toast and the butter!" Ed yelled at the inn-keeper. The old man was annoyed—and slightly scared—by Ed's bizarre obsession with buttered toast and gravy, which he'd already had two cups of.

"Listen, you little bastard," the innkeeper growled, "I get at least two customers in here every day who sprout gibberish; I don't need a third. So, why don't you just go along and—"

"I WILL FREE THE TOAST!"

Ed pushed the innkeeper down and ran over him into the kitchen, seeking that which he desired. He didn't find any buttered toast, but he found some nice, green stuff which he promptly ate.

After a bizarre ringing noise from his stomach, Ed passed out.

DISCORD:

Double D pushed open the door to the church of Yybell and, with the help of Eddy… and Kevin… and someone they'd met off the street; he dragged the unconscious and strangely green Ed into the place of worship.

A tall, dark-skinned cleric approached them. He looked at Ed and then pointed to a door on the other side of the room. Apparently he was mute.

Eddy and Kevin dragged Ed to the door, which had a green cross in a square on it. The door opened; many people were lying on beds. Many more were dying on beds. A cleric came and took Ed, setting him on an empty bed.

"He ate something and passed out." Eddy explained as the cleric opened Ed's mouth. There were bits of green mold clinging to his teeth. "Is he gonna die?"

The cleric shrugged. "Beats me, kid; it could either just give him some bad cramps or it could wind up killing him. Hard to say, really; it's not like a werewolf attack, where they're bound to die. They either die from infection or we kill them."

Kevin raised an eyebrow. "You kill the… things so they don't bother you?"

The cleric shook his head. "It's sort of for that reason, but also because of our religion. Lycanthropes are unholy so we kill them… unless they're one of ours; then we just lock them up and try to cure them."

The cleric pointed to the far end of the room. "The other night, a werewolf attacked a cleric guarding Lady Jenell. It's kind of funny, actually; we'd suspected she had been a spy."

Eddy and Kevin walked over to where the cleric pointed. On a bed, a person—presumably a girl—was lying under the sheets. A white cloth covered her face, inscribed with a red eye. The girl's arm was bandaged, though blood was visible through the wound.

"The cloth's on her face to draw out impurities."

Eddy and Kevin both jumped in fear. When had that cleric walked up behind them?

"Come back later tonight. Your friend will either be better or dead." The cleric, whose people skills were obviously why he became a monk, smiled. "Yybell save you."

DISCORD:

Urban sat back in his chair, comfortably reading one of his many books. Life was good. Then, the tranquility was ruined when Mute John opened the door and entered the office.

Urban sighed as he closed his book. "What is it, John? I'm a very, very busy man."

Mute John smiled. It was the smile you put on before delivering awkward news. "Sir, the cleric who was supposed to guard Lady Jenell was attacked by a werewolf last night. We're treating her as best we can, but… this means she wasn't the spy, doesn't it?"

The leader of the church's mouth almost opened in surprised. He quickly gathered his composure and put his hand to his chin. "Hmm… the guard who was with Lady Jenell look like Lady Jenell, doesn't she?"

Mute John paused. "Well, I guess so, Father, but—"

The bearded man stood up coolly. "I still believe that she is the spy; I just believe that her attacker mistook her for Jenell. After all, it would make more sense for a werewolf to attack a baron's daughter than a cleric who's only been here for a few months, doesn't it?"

Mute John rubbed his head, trying to think. What Father Urban said made sense eventually; still, the girl couldn't be a spy… could she?

RHYME:

"Lady Jenell, after the attack last night your father wants you to be better protected. That means that I will have to follow you everywhere. Now, I promise I won't look while you change."

Jenell sighed as she shoved the guard out of her room. Her father was as protective as any ordinary father; the only real difference was that he could assign guards to make sure that she was safe at all times.

Jenell thoughtfully walked over to her bed and sat down. She was almost certain that the werewolf who had attacked her last night was the same one she had spoken with; but he had seemed so peaceful… why would he—

"Mmurmph."

Jenell gasped and jumped up off of her bed. The muffled voice had come from underneath her mattress. Carefully, she took the mattress in both hands and lifted it up.

Emil smiled widely as soon as the mattress was lifted. "Oh, hello." He attempted to wave, but the tight space between him and the bed made this difficult. "I, er… I see that you're well."

The girl's eyes focused on Emil's calmly and coldly. "I can call guards in here and they will drag you into the deepest dungeon." "Yes, you could." Emil agreed. He slowly crawled out from under the bed and stood up cheerfully. "Um… I've been meaning to ask you your name."

Jenell glared at Emil calmly. "You tried to attack me last night and you want to know my name?" "I thought that was what you wanted." "I was being sarcastic!"

The lycanthrope rubbed his chin. "Huh. Yes, we don't really use that very much in the Brotherden. Still, I would like to know your name."

"It's Jenell." She answered. "I'm the daughter of Gilbert, the baron of Spatzburg."

"That explains why you live in a manor! It's very nice, you know. Er… I don't suppose you're a lycanthrope now. I mean, there are rumors going around that I bit your bodyguard…"

Jenell stared at Emil tolerantly as he talked. She knew he didn't mean her any harm; he was just… confused. But he had attacked her the night before; didn't that make him dangerous?

"… so there will be at least two slices of ham left." Emil concluded. He nodded, satisfied with this explanation. "Well, anyways, I think you need to come with me."

This caught Jenell off guard. Was he threatening her?

"I mean, I'm not threatening you…" Oh. He wasn't. "But Spatzburg is in terrible danger, both from the inside and the outside. I'm not sure it will be safe for you."

Jenell shook her head. "I'm not going anywhere, Emil. Thanks for the offer, I guess."

Emil's face suddenly became a picture of despair. "F-Fine… I-I guess that's okay…" he said. Was he actually fighting back tears? "I-I'll just go talk to my brothers; maybe I can stop the invasion."

Jenell's eyes widened in shock at the last word. Before she could ask Emil anything, however, he had jumped out of her bedroom window and ran away.

RHYME:

Spatzburg had a College of Magical Studies. By College of Magical Studies, of course, I mean that the town's wizards met in a tavern every now and then to drink beer and… well, drink beer.

Now, unless you were born yesterday, you'd be able to tell that a dirt town like Spatzburg couldn't possibly have an actual College of Magical Studies. If you were born yesterday, let me be the first to welcome you to the world, little baby, and congratulations on learning to read so quickly!

Apparently, Double D had been born yesterday and had aged fifteen years in the last twenty-four hours. When he had heard that there was a 'College of Magical Studies', he had sprinted to the tavern only to find a bunch of old wizards drinking.

"You know, I remember when it wasn't illegal to summon demons. Those were the good days, eh? Cheap work and all it cost you was some incense?"

"Ja, but demons are servants of evil gods. If we kept summoning them they'd have taken over the earth before you could eat some cheese."

"Oi, I can't eat cheese. It makes me gassy."

"I wonder if the gods ever get gassy."

"They're the belief of man combined with pure magical energy! If one of 'em ever let one rip it'd break a hole in the magic continuum!"

"So, what; they hold it in for eons upon eons?" "I suppose so." "That would hurt after a while, wouldn't it?" "I don't really think gods can feel pain, Alice." "I'm a man."

Double D had been sitting at their table for several hours, listening to them talk. He had tried to be patient but it was the kind of patience reserved for nursing homes and tutoring. Finally, after about two hours, something new finally happened.

The red-headed, shirtless man who traveled around with Sir Bruce entered the tavern, grabbed a chair, and sat down the wizards' table. They could tell something was different about him because of his eyes; one green, one brown, and no pupils. After a few minutes of him smiling pleasantly, one wizard finally spoke.

"Are you a wizard?"

"No. Now shut up, you old bastard." Nevan said without losing his cheery smile. The wizard stared at Nevan for several seconds before getting up and walking away.

Nevan reached for the beer the man had been drinking and took a sip of it. "Right. I hear this is where the town's wizards meet."

"Erm… technically, I'm a mage." Double D corrected timidly.

Nevan shrugged calmly. "Wizards, mages; same difference. You both need books and ingredients to cast your spells. Still, I suppose you're better than nothing. I have a few questions about that piece of metal the boar was wearing when he attacked."

One wizard stroked his beard. "It's dark magic, that's all I know. New stuff, too; nobody's seen anything like it. It's decidedly otherworldly."

"You're a load of help, you old fart." Nevan said as he sipped from his stolen beer. The wizard glared at Nevan before angrily getting up and walking away.

Nevan reached for the beer he left behind and set it next to his other cup. "Okay, there are three wizards left and one skinny guy in a hat." Nevan said calmly as he drank from his most recent victory. "Anyone wanna leave right now?"

The three wizards left quickly got up and walked away, each of them leaving behind their beers (which Nevan promptly took). Double D looked back at them as they left.

"Why in Sam Hill did you make them leave? I was going to ask them to help identify something for me!"

Nevan downed one of the mugs quickly before looking first at Double D and then at his bandaged hand. "The only thing a wizard can do is mistake something for something else. What's the problem?"

Double D looked around cautiously. When he was certain nobody was looking, he unwrapped his bandaged arm. The bright-red markings on his hand were now surrounded by a bright-red circle.

Nevan took Double D's hand curiously. "These symbols… they're Night Elf runes."

"Night Elves?" Double D repeated. His mind flashed back to the Night Elf attack a week ago.

"Yes. They're some sort of religious marking, if I'm not mistaken. Most likely they act as a connection to some Night Elf god."

"Oh." Double D sighed as he took his hand back. "That's good, right?"

"Not really." "Why?" "Well, for one thing, the Night Elves worship death gods."

RHYME:

Ed opened his eyes sleepily. A tall, shadowy figure hung over him impatiently. Ed couldn't make much out, but he knew he was in some sort of infirmary. Or Sesame Street.

Come on, kid, I can't wait forever.

"Big Bird?" Ed asked. His throat was dry and scratchy. What had he eaten, anyways?

Hardly. Now hurry up; Laroror is waiting for us both.

"I like buttered toast."

You're dumber than most mortals, aren't you? That's not saying much, though, considering the way they measure time. Listen, I'm expecting a lot of horrible deaths tonight; can you hurry up and DIE?

Ed grinned happily. "Sure thing, stretch!" He winced his eyes and strained his body in an attempt to comply with the stranger's demand.

Huh. Must have you mixed up with someone else, then. Er… just to be clear, you never saw me.

"I'M BLIND!" Ed screamed as he sat up. He was sweating heavily and a monk of Yybell stood next to his bed.

"You must have been hallucinating." The monk said calmly. Ed looked around and saw several sick and/ or dead people lying on beds.

"I'm surprised you survived. I owe Mute John quite a lot of gold, you know. Uh… I don't suppose you could die anyways?"

The doors to the infirmary opened and Ed saw his friends (and Kevin) walk in. "My friends!" Ed exclaimed happily as they reached his bed. "You're here! I met a funny, not-talking man!"

Double D sat a plate of food on Ed's lap, smiling pleasantly. Something about him seemed on-edge, though.

Ed happily took a handful of… whatever was on the plate and ate it. If he paid attention to what he ate, would he have wound up in an infirmary? He stopped eating suddenly.

"Uh… guys? My tongue peels punny."

Ed stuck his tongue out. It was swollen.

"Yes, it turned out your friend had eaten some Dynian Mint." The cleric held up a waxy-looking, green leaf. "It's a holy plant used in Yybell ceremonies. It seems he's allergic to it."

Ed grunted something awkwardly. "Eyes! I hink I han swell a puppy!"

It took Kevin several seconds to decipher that mess. He watched as Ed stood up and sniffed the air, excited at the thought of finding a puppy. He jogged to the end of the infirmary with his tongue trailing behind him.

The others chased after Ed as he reached the bed with the girl cleric in it. Her face was still covered up and nothing had really changed. Ed happily reached for the cloth covering her and pulled it off.

The four heroes stared in shock. Ed was the first to speak. He looked at the girl in the bed curiously before asking his question.

"Blarah? Guyth… it's Sarah!"

DISCORD:

Jenell awoke in shock at the sound of footsteps. There was a sound like nails going into wood from above her bed. The full moon shown in from outside her broken glass window.

The lady stood up and got out of her head. She reached for a candle on her nightstand and looked around. There didn't seem to be anyone nearby. She opened her mouth to call for the guards.

There was a springing noise from above and a furry hand covered her mouth. A plant was forced into her mouth. It tasted bitter.

"Jenell… I'm so sorry I have to do this."

The voice was gruff. It was the voice of a creature that shouldn't be able to talk but, through some miracle or curse, could. It was also the voice of a sad man.

"Please know that I'm protecting you out of love… I can't stop the invasion."

The creature's words became slurred in Jenell's ears as her eyelids became heavy. The room seemed to warble, like it was a mirage. Everything seemed fake…

"You'll be safe with me, Jenell… I really am sorry."

Author's Notes: Meh. You can look forward to some action in upcoming chapters. Also, I'd like it if everyone reviewed and was awesome. Thank you.

Next Time: Dances With Wolves