Disclaimer: I own neither the WITCH cartoon-show nor Jackie Chan Adventures; they are the property of their respective creators, writers, and producers.

Author's Notes: Hey folks, how's it going? Here I come for another chapter for you all, a bit later than I intended, but what the heck, I've been on vacation. Anyway, hope you all are prepared for a long ride; because here comes the first of three chapters focused on Torus Filney. Read and enjoy people.


Guardians, Wizards and Kung-Fu Fighters

Episode Eleven

Infiltration on Torus Filney


World of Meridian; Infinite City; the first night; Taranee Cook

Taranee had never seen so many rebels gathered in one place before. And she knew this swarm of men, women and children wasn't the Rebellion in its full size, since Caleb had left some behind to guard some posts in the case there was an attack. The rebels weren't enough to take on the Capital and the Castle, with all their soldiers, Lurdens and traps, (and the prince himself) but they should be enough to take on a city like Torus Filney, which according to Drake was better fortified yet had fewer soldiers within it. The rebel had said that the Viscount, expecting an attack, had even taken forces from the Capital.

She flew over them through the halls of the Infinite City (one had to wonder if whoever had built this place was having flying people into consideration) surveying if they marched secure and in order. Irma was far ahead of her, doing the same for another section of the column, and the same could be said about Hay Lin behind her. From time to time, the Fire Guardian would spot Jade amongst the multitude, usually in her wolf form and carrying some of the children over her back. Taranee would shake her head then, letting a small smile to come to her lips. She knew that Jade knew how many of the rebels looked at her for being a Shapeshifter, yet the Chinese girl didn't seem to let that to go to her head. She just walked around, in either human or wolf guise, doing the best she could to help. In that last regard, Taranee had to admit that there was no practical difference between the otherwise so much different Jade and Hay Lin. Maybe the desire to help unconditionally ran in the blood?

Taranee yawned as she let those thoughts to escape her mind. She had not done anything tiresome the last day, yet they had crossed the Portal just hours ago, and after a quick 'dinner' (if what they had ate, which Taranee wasn't so sure about what was, could be called dinner) Caleb and his peers had instructed them with different tasks. Which meant no rest and no sleep, which meant tiredness even if being in Guardian form did something to soften the feeling. No, no rest for anyone, not until they had reached whatever chamber Caleb wanted to go to before the… the battle. That word alone made Taranee's tired mind to be filled with much more different thoughts.

Taranee Cook was not an arrogant girl, but if there was something she prided herself in was that she considered herself to be a rational person. The first book she had read in her entire life had not been one of facts or words, but one of numbers. Her mother, Theresa, had put her over her lap, opening the book in front of the two of them, letting Taranee, then a toddler, to touch the pages with her tiny hands. It was just an ordinary and quite simple math book, with an anthropomorphic plus symbol acting as some kind of guide for children. That had been the day she had learned that two plus two equals four, and that always will equal four. When Taranee had asked her mother why 'always' Theresa Cook had told her: 'that's how mathematics work, it's their rules, its rationality.' And since then, rationality had been Taranee's companion and explanation for almost everything. Everything had rules and a logical explanation, a fact that made Taranee feel safe. Two plus two equaled four in the same way that people acted in different ways due to socialization; or English and German had similar wording because they came from the same root language. Then this whole 'Guardian stuff' came along, and for some moments Taranee had felt her world of rationality to be shaken… yet not crumbled, since she had discovered even something as supposedly impossible as magic was rational too, in its own weird way. Magic, both Raw and Chi, had rules according to her talks with Tohru. Shapeshifting had rules, Hearts had rules, and even something as terrifying and out of the norm as the Shadowkhan had rules.

But Taranee Cook had not maintained herself just to the world of mathematics, feeling curious about almost every science and brand of knowledge in her world. She had picked a history book once, and discovering what war was. Taranee Cook didn't like the definitions and descriptions that her beloved text books gave to war. She understood the reasons for people going to war, but the fact itself… it was illogical, incomprehensible. And that made her afraid. What use had rationality, which she used to give explanation to facts, if she found herself into an irrational situation? And now they were in the verge of attacking a city, a freaking city! This felt so much bigger than anything they had been doing until now, and she had the fear of finding herself into one of those irrational situations. What would happen then? How would she react?

The column had started to advance at a faster pace while she thought, and seeing this she decided to let her mind to forget about those thoughts and continue with the task she had been given. It was distracting enough to keep her mind at ease.


Irma Lair

Boooooring… Irma thought as she looked down at the people below her. Why had Caleb made her do this anyway? This wasn't her field of work; her thing was shooting water and knocking people out; not something as boring as surveillance. But a small part of her understood how necessary it was. Caleb and Drake had explained to them that they needed to make sure that they didn't lost anything or anyone along the way, that the rebels needed to march at a pace that allowed them to be in their destination at time but to not tire themselves… Who would have thought that preparing an attack over a city could be so complicated? They never made it so complicated in the movies and shows. No, in those the tents and armies were already prepared, and the only thing that was needed was for the hero to make an epic speech and then everyone would rush to battle.

Her father usually called Irma impulsive. Well… he had a point. She really was an impulsive person; she had practically jumped when Yan Lin had told them all they were superheroes out of a comic book, or something. That was the reason all this calm preparation wasn't for her. She sighed as she looked down and saw how two rebels had started to argue about something, making the column to decrease its pace. She started to descend in order to put an end to the probably meaningless conflict.

Or maybe to punch them in the face and tell them to keep walking? Whatever came first to her mind at the moment.


Jade Chan

This was awesome. And Jade Chan loved awesome. It wasn't the same kind of awesome she felt with the girls, though. No, they were her friends and her companions, her equals both in and out of a fight, the people she could talk to about almost anything and then fight side by side against monsters, demons or any other wacky creature.

The current awesome however, felt completely different. It wasn't one born from equality, but from admiration. Did she enjoy the admiration? Probably, as she was clearly enjoying the praise and thankfulness the rebels around were showing her.

"You saved my husband!" said some of them. "You rescued my son!" said others. "Can we please ride on your back?" asked some children. And of course she obliged.

This was it, wasn't it? Not the fact that she was admired but recognized. Not adoration, but recognition of her skills, her effort. This was something that always bothered her about Jackie. He never asked for anything, always humble. Jade had even guessed that, when his work as an infiltrate in the Dark Hand came into fruition, Jackie wouldn't take any praise for it, leaving it to Captain Black. Like he had done with Valmont, Shendu or the demon's siblings. No prizes, no honors... and he had saved the world! Well, with her help of course. And Uncle's. And Tohru's, Viper's... Anyway, here she was saving a world with her friends, and this time they were recognized as the heroes they were.

And it felt good, or at least good enough that she was able to forget about the whole 'Uncle Jackie and Cornelia's dad are part of the Dark Hand' ordeal. More or less... She shook her head in order to get rid of that thought. Now it wasn't the moment for that. Fortunately, those jerks that always looked at her as if she had some kind of lethal and incredibly contagious disease weren't around to bother her with their stares, and that left her enough time to concentrate in what was going to be ahead.

Conquering a city... if this Meridian worked like the fantasy worlds she had read about in her books (and it had worked like that so far) then this was the next level. This wasn't going to be some prison or work camp protected by Lurdens, or a caravan directed by some low ranked guard. No, this was a city, a pretty big one according to Vathek's words and that was directed by a noble, no less. It was as if they were going to take Helm's Deep, except that this time they were attacking. The guards at the city were surely much more disciplined and capable than the ones fought before.

Stopping for a second and shaking her body a bit, she indicated to the children over her to dismount, which they did, running to their mothers while giggling. Jade then shifted to her human form and kept walking over her feet rather than her paws. Better to not waste energy absurdly.


Cornelia Hale and Sephiria, daughter of Sarah

Cornelia was one of the two only Guardians that weren't flying. Instead she was walking over her two feet alongside what Caleb had explained to be called 'Faithful'; or something like that. To be fair, she didn't put much attention to what escaped the rebel leader's mouth, instead focusing into the mouth itself and what the mouth could do instead of talking. But now she regretted not paying attention, as she found herself with no topic to speak about with these people. And none seemed very chatty to begin with, all of them dressed in strange attires that remembered Cornelia about those brown tunics that the priest of Robin Hood used to wear in the Disney film. Wait, 'Faithful'… these guys were priests or something like that?

Damn it, why had Caleb put her with these ones? He said something about them being very important, and that if there was some kind of collapse (which was more common than one would think) her powers would be the best suited to protect them. Why were they so important to begin with? Maybe she should ask. That would provide a conversation, anyway. She looked around them in the most discreet way she could, until she spotted locks of green hair.

There she is, Cornelia thought as she moved towards her a little tad more with each step. What was her name again? Selene, Seilah… Sephiria, that's it!

"Sephiria?" Cornelia asked to the green haired nun, using the most polite voice she could use right now.

And Sephiria, the nun, the Soft Bishop; looked back at her. Her green hair was tied into a short braid now, as she walked alongside her faithful. The Earth Guardian had called for her, and she knew it would be improper of her to not address the blonde with the respect for being a servant of Kandrakar. But this was her, wasn't it? The Guardian Drake and everyone else spoke about, the one for whom Caleb's eyes seemed to become brighter. Sephiria knew it was a petty thought, befitting of people unable to control themselves… but she was envious. For years she had been there, tending to Caleb's wounds, to the whole Rebellion's! Supporting his decisions, his commanding! And now this girl appeared out of nowhere and gained his attention just by throwing some rocks to the enemy! Anyway, she was a Guardian, and the nun felt her duties to overweight her emotions.

"Yes?" she asked.

"I just wanted..." Cornelia started, not knowing exactly how to start the conversation. "You know, talk."

"About what?" Sephiria asked, passing a hand over her green hair as she stepped into a pebble and proceeded to kick it away. Was the Guardian just in need of some trivial talking? Well, that could be provided. And she would try not to sound bitter.

She saw Cornelia shrug. "About anything. So..." the Earth Guardian said. She then looked around for a couple of seconds before looking back at the Soft Bishop. "Caleb told me you're priests?"

Caleb told me, Caleb told me... she speaks as if she has known him for her entire life! Sephiria thought. "Yes, that is our occupation, more or less;" Sephiria answered using a forced smile and her usual meek tone. Light of Meridian...there were times she hated that meek tone of voice and that demeanor. This was one of those times. However, a part of her knew that it was a petty thought, born from a petty emotion. And the Guardian had come to her with no ill intentions. There wouldn't be any problem if she talked a bit with her, would be?

"We are worshippers of the Light of Meridian," Sephiria explained. "And also healers, teachers, and guides for the lost... or at least, we were."

Whoa, talk about being omni-disciplinary; the Earth Guardian thought before focusing in the last part of the phrase. "Wait, you were?"

A somber look took over Sephiria's visage, and her animosity shifted from the Earth Guardian to Phobos, in whom it focused with much more intensity than in Cornelia thanks to the fact that the Prince had caused so much pain to her.

"Yes, we were;" Sephiria said as her eyes lowered and looked at her walking feet, her usual meek tone changing to a hurt one. "Before Phobos came, we had numerous abbeys around the medium ring and even a small cathedral in a city named Lannion, not very far away from the Capital. But then Phobos killed Weira, and forbid any practice that worshipped the Light of Meridian."

So their Queens are like Jesus for them? Cornelia thought. And they say I'm the narcissistic one...

"Phobos demolished the cathedral all by himself," Sephiria continued her tale. "Or so I was told, I wasn't there at the time. Many abbeys were burned, included mine."

"And how did you end here?" Cornelia inquired.

"The rebels saved me when Phobos' Lurdens came to the village I was in and tried to take me and the others to the Underwater Mines;" was the answer. Caleb saved me; the nun whispered inside her own head, yet she didn't voice that thought. "I always was the best of my abbey in what entitled healing, either by low magical runes or natural means; and the Rebellion needed healers. The Mage put me in charge of the few that had also escaped the attacks."

And I thought I've got problems... Cornelia thought as her mind went back to Earth and the issue regarding her father and Hak Foo. It seemed so... unimportant in comparison with these men and women's problems. Yes, right now wasn't the time to think about something that she wasn't even sure about! Now wasn't the time.

Now wasn't the time...

And she hoped it would never be.


Hay Lin

To say that Hay Lin was a ball of nervousness would have been an understatement. She was beyond nervous. She just hoped that the people below her, marching steadily, wouldn't notice. She extended her wings and stopped their movement, letting gravity to take her down while slowing her fall.

She had been assigned to practically the end of the column in order to take care of the elderly and wounded; only a handful of meters away from where Cornelia and Sephiria were. However, in contrast with her companions, the Air Guardian had taken her post willingly and with high spirits.

Descending, she touched the ground gracefully, not even a hair of her mane fell out of place. She had landed at the side of a slowly moving old man, who walked leaning on a large stick and losing distance with the main group due to lacking his left leg at the end of the group.

"Do you need any help?" Hay Lin asked the old man. She felt a bit stupid after just doing so. After all, she couldn't just re-grow his missing limb.

However, the old man looked at her without any trace of being offended in his face. He formed a smile with his old and withered lips, the wrinkles in his cheeks widening as he did so.

"No reason to trouble yer head, lass;" the old man told her. "I've seen worse than a little walk."

"You sure?" Hay Lin asked the man.

"Aye," the man said. His voice was raspy. It reminded her of the voices of those people that had smoked too much had. "No need to help old Bren Forestson, no need for a lass as pretty as ya to keep him company."

Hay Lin giggled upon the old man's words. She didn't know why. Maybe it was because the tone used was polite at the same time that informal, something that no other rebel used to do with them. Every other rebel that she had met for a brief time, they all looked and talked to them as if they were some kind of divine creatures. This old man, this Bren; hadn't talked to her like that.

"Really?" Hay Lin insisted one last time, more out of courtesy than anything else. "Because the group is advancing, and…"

The old man produced a strange sound with his throat that Hay Lin couldn't identify as a laugh or a snort. "The group always gets ahead lass, but I always get to it;" Bren explained. "So, unless ya want some old stories from this old mouth, ya can go back to the air."

"Uh! I'd love some stories!" Hay Lin said, the small conversation having erased her nervousness and regaining her usual cheering demeanor. "Like some battle you were in or…"

A dry laugh escaped the old man's mouth this time. "Battle? Hehehe… I've never been to any battle, lass."

Hay Lin stared at the old man for several moments, her eyes showing confusion. Her gaze fell upon his missing leg for a few seconds before returning to his face. Bren understood.

"You thought of this old scratch as a battle wound?" Bren asked as he pointed to his gone limb. He then laughed again. "Nay, this something I got for not paying attention to a road!" the man laughed once again, seemingly accustomed to talking about his leg. "I've never been on a battle!"

"But, I thought the Rebellion…" Hay Lin started to say, gesturing to the group ahead, which was lowering its pace, she noted.

"Not everyone here's a soldier, lass;" Bren explained. "And I'm not. I'm only here for my son. The lad's a soldier; he's the rebel, not me. If not for the boy, I'd not be even here."

Hay Lin kept staring at the man. "You don't like the Rebellion?" Hay Lin asked. Why won't someone like him not like the Rebellion? Look at how many people they had saved!

"It's a long story, lass;" Bren told her.

"I love long stories," Hay Lin said with a smile.

Bren gave a smile in return. "I'm Bren Forestson. Ya do understand that? Forest's Son. I never met my mum or my dad. But I do have a son, my little Bob. And he's Bob, son of Bren. I gave my name to him, it's one of the only things we smallfolk can give to others. And when the Rebellion came, he joined them faster than a Lurden eats a boar!" the laugh came again, but this time it sounded different, tired. "It's our fault, ya know? That the youngsters rush to fight thinking they'll only find glory and heroism. We tell them about Grendal, and Didier, and Hoel, Brandis and Great Escanor and Fair Leryn… we fill their heads with so many tales, that some of them want to be on those tales. But tales are tales for a reason."

So he's just worried about his son, Hay Lin thought. The nervousness was growing back, but just before she could talk a bit more, Bren halted and pointed a finger ahead.

"See?" the old man said. "The group never gets too far away."

Looking ahead, Hay Lin saw how the column of people had crossed one enormous massive gate that had been sculpted in the greenish stonewalls of the Infinite City. Letters of a language she didn't recognize adorned the gate, and beyond it an enormous chamber was being filled by the rest of the rebels.

Thanking the old man for his talk, hay Lin apologized for not finishing their conversation before flying into the air once again. She was still nervous, but the talk had eased things. She hoped that could be said after the talk with the rebel leaders too.


Will Vandom

The Rebellion didn't need too much time to settle into their new base, if that chamber could be called a base. How could a sole room in an underground city be big enough to house something akin to a small army as the Rebellion was? Will didn't know the answer, and frankly, now it wasn't the time to seek it. Now it was the time for strategy.

The current room they were in was way smaller than the other one that was housing the rebels. And inside it were just a few selected people. Caleb and the Mage, of course; but also Aldarn, Drake, Vathek, a Galhot with skin of a green so dark that it could be mistaken for black if not properly illuminated that Will knew was named Rhouglar; Alistair Tharquin, Sephiria… and she and the rest of the Guardians, alongside Jade.

That first rescue mission into the castle the girls and Jackie and company had done in order to rescue her and Jade; and then Raythor, the Shapeshifters, Wong and those Masks… all of them seemed small in comparison with this. Everyone was showing serious faces, everyone feeling as she was feeling… this was, without doubt, a War Council. The Heart of Kandrakar felt heavier than usual while resting over her magically augmented chest, its beat calm and steady. Yet she was the Keeper of the Heart, this was something that had been entrusted to her, and as kidnappings and previous fights had proven during the last months, not something she could ran away from. And as Caleb disclosed a map and some other papers over a table that had been put in the room, she (and her friends) knew that this wasn't like anything they had faced before.

"This is Torus Filney;" Caleb told them all, especially focusing into the girls. He was pointing to a paper in which a strongly fortified city crafted in the guise of a gigantic circle divided in three stages, each one rising a bit more onto the sky; had been drawn with almost every imaginable detail. "As you can see," Caleb continued; "the city is divided in three exterior levels, with another one underground. The first level is dedicated to house the barracks of the guards and the weapons for the city's defense. Second level houses the smallfolk, while the third level, the tower, is for the Viscount and his inner circle of servants, I think. There is also a chamber that occupies the center of the city, just under the Viscount's personal tower. Is there something else, Drake?"

"Architecture-wise? No;" the blonde answered. "But the city is prepared to repel an invasion force triple the size of ours;" Drake's finger pointed towards the first wall. "There are several overtures in their first defense line that connect the wall with the underground level that houses Sandpit. If we get close enough, they will let the creature out and we will be reduced to nothing. In case Sandpit fails to kill everyone before it returns to its pit, or if we retreat using horses or Hoogongs; around fifty cannons for middle range and twenty catapults for long range had been deployed all over the wall. And that's not taking their archers in consideration; even less their infantry and the Rhinoceros Cavalry the Viscount has brought from the Capital and that it's under Frost's command."

"Christ…" Jade swore as she let her breath out. Screw Helms Deep, this was practically the same as marching towards Mordor with half the forces Aragorn had!

"Okay, a question though;" Irma said then. "How're we supposed to conquer that?"

Caleb smirked in a prideful manner then. "This is the part that concerns you. Torus Filney may look impenetrable, but it has a weak point." Caleb pointed to one of the gates. "Every week a caravan with supplies enters the city by using this gate all the way up to the city's medium level. Even if an attack from outside is unviable right now, an attack from inside, perpetrated by a small group like yours will be effective."

"But soldiers must have that gate heavily guarded;" Will pointed out. During night and if they were fast enough, they could sneak in, but it could be risky.

"During the past weeks," Drake started, "I have been making many of the men under my command to enter the city posing as merchants riding the wagons. And I already had a contact within the city before that."

"Ah," Will said, falling into account of what the rebel leader and the blond strategist had planned. "So we enter the city in one of those, disguised I suppose."

"Alongside me," Drake told them. "Once inside, you will meet with my original contact and I shall gather my men. We will depart tomorrow at dawn and at night we will meet here," Drake said pointing to spot in the city, near the wall that separated the second level from the third; "and we will march to the creature's pit."

"What happens with the rest of the rebels?" the Fire Guardian asked.

"We will be divided in two groups and the attack will be done the next morning to that day," Caleb explained. "Aldarn and I will take the Hoogongs and the majority of our men in order to create a small distraction out of the city the Viscount will have to focus into and take some of his forces out, hopefully the entirety of Frost's Rhinoceros Cavalry and some others. We will be far away enough that his weaponry won't reach us. Tharquin and Rhouglar will take the rest of our forces, and wait for a signal you will made in order to start the real attack. Then Cornelia will do what I told you about yesterday, Will. However, once the defenses fall, we can't be sure of how long the battle will be. Even if we take the first level of the city, we can't be sure how long it will take us to conquer the whole of it if the enemy forces flee behind the walls of the upper levels. That's the reason I told you we would need five days for this. However, once Sandpit and their main force are taken out, the Viscount won't have any other option that surrendering. But we need Sandpit incapacitated, or the attack will fail."

"Good plan," Hay Lin complimented them even if she hadn't understood many points of it, but Jade wasn't in the same boat as her relative. It was a good plan but… she didn't know what it was, but there was a weird feeling rubbing at the back of her head.

"I suppose it's the best plan we can use against that thing," the redhead said while gesturing to the drawing of Torus Filney.

"You must be careful when you face the Sandpit, young Keeper of the Heart;" the 'Mage' intervened then. "The creature was the result of the Prince's experiments over a strange brand of lowly elemental. It does not think on anything else but eating, it doesn't differentiate between friend and foe, human or Galhot. If it takes you, then you will be trapped within its body and you will suffocate within its sand."

Wayyyyy to go rising our spirits, creepy lady; Irma thought.

"For the moment, the best we can do is rest and gather up energies;" Caleb said as he looked around him. This was it, his great movement, the one that would tip the war's balance into his favor. It was time to remind Phobos why the Rebellion had been a thorn on his side for so much time. It was time to make the Prince pay for his crimes. The faces of his companions and friends showed nothing else but support, and there hadn't been any complains neither by Rhouglar or even Tharquin. Would his father be proud of him if he was here? Only time would tell.

"Dismissed," the rebel leader said


A small room in the Infinite City; a couple of hours later…

A hand moved fast over paper, and the ink bathing the tip of a darkened piece of wood crafted in the guise of a pencil or pen was shaping the words over it. The writer had his mouth twisted in a gleeful grin; his body practically trembling due to the excitement.

Cyrus Ludmoore never was a man for poetry; that was Cedric and Charles' thing. He was more a man of emotions, of wine, music and women. Many would call him hedonist, yet he didn't consider himself but a man of multiple tastes. Hedonists were egoist men and he wasn't such, years within the Rebellion and his actions there had proved that fact. Or maybe that was something that he told himself in order to ease his mind. Anyway, since he never was a man for poetry, his messages to his older siblings or to Cedric's new brand girlfriend (Cyrus sometimes wondered if his nephews and nieces would turn out as Insectoid or Reptilian Shapeshifters. Or maybe something as weird and terrifying as Charles' other form) were often small and practically telegraphic. Just like this one. But this message was special; it was the good news that his family had been waiting for. It was the moment to start striking.

'The attack will be made in two days. We march to Torus Filney.' Cyrus wrote.

'Splendid;' Charles Ludmoore's contestation came as his words replaced the ones Cyrus had written into his blue book. 'It's time to complete our half of the deal with good Vathek.'

Once done, the little brother closed the object and proceeded to hide it carefully. He then walked out of the small, almost claustrophobic room. He needed his rest too.


Some hours later…

"Wake up," Alistair Tharquin's severe voice said as he kicked a middle aged half-breed woman in her belly. The woman, still half-naked from the previous hours' actions, woke up with a snort of pain due to the old man's kick. "And cover yourself," he ordered as his eyes tried to leave the woman's breasts. Once the woman did as said, covering her modesty with the dirty blanket that had been just over half her belly and legs just moments before, Tharquin spoke again. "Where is Rhouglar? I need to speak with him."

The woman, (the slut, Tharquin reminded himself) confused and still with her sleep fresh, looked at her side and then all around the improvised tent they were currently in. "Don't know," she whispered. "I fell asleep sooner than him."

Should he hit her again? He prepared another kick, yet he stopped once the sound of steps came from the entrance and Rhouglar stepped into the tent, wearing nothing but what seemed to be a piece of a blanket wrapped around his waist and that covered his modesty.

"Tharquin?" Rhouglar asked in a bit of confusion, but then his face shifted to its usual, grinning expression. "If you want to borrow her, do so;" the Galhot said in a joking tone; "but I expect some favor in return."

"You can keep your whores to yourself," Tharquin stated, not paying much attention to the frown of disgust that the woman had just dedicated to him. "We need to talk. Where were you?"

"Taking a piss;" Rhouglar answered while adjusting his improvised loincloth. "You know how this thing goes," the muscled man said while dedicating a lascivious gaze to the woman, then his smirk turned into one of mockery. "Or maybe not? Tell, old timer; how much time since having some fun?"

The woman giggled behind him, and Tharquin repressed the urge of kicking her again. "We need to talk. Alone."

Sighing in exasperation, Rhouglar approached the woman and planted a kiss over her forehead. "Go. But not too far, I think I'll be in need of you after this talk."

Giggling even more than before, the woman rose to her feet and left the tent with the blanket wrapped around her whole body. Tharquin watched her go, and a memory came to his mind.

"That woman… wasn't she the wife of one of the men under your command?" Tharquin inquired, seeing how Rhouglar's face changed to one showing faked sorrow.

"Oh yes, him;" the Galhot said, not even bothering to remember his name. "What a tragedy, to fall not on battle but thanks to a mere accident. What was that you wanted to talk about?"

Yes, Tharquin remembered as such. A piece of debris had fallen upon him, splattering the man in the ground. But I can hardly believe that it was an accident… especially since you are so willing to lie with his widow, or she is so willing to lie with you. But now it wasn't time for that. No, men like Rhouglar would receive their well-earned retribution in due time, but not know. "I wanted to make an offer to you."

"What kind of offer?" Rhouglar asked, the hint of curiosity already present into his voice.

Tharquin's lips formed… something. It was intended to be a smile, yet his lips only stretched their borders a little, creating a strange contortion of his mouth and cheeks. It was clear that the muscles weren't accustomed to do that movement. "What would you say to that, in exchange for a little favor, I can give you something that you desire? Something that even someone like you has yet to taste?"

Rhouglar's eyes narrowed at the man. This was strange, Tharquin asking for deals and favors? The muscled Galhot thought for a few moments before making a decision. It turned out to be a quick one.

"Continue."


The first day; the wagon

"You all own me so much after this," Cornelia said with bitterness as she tried to adjust the long skirt of her new clothes.

After a sleep that had only lasted a few hours, the six girls (all of them in their human forms now) had been woken and guided through the Infinite City to one of its exits, courtesy of Vathek. Once there, they had been ordered to change into some clothes the rebels had provided them with, which had been quite problematic considering the low light. As such, once they had mounted into the wagon that had to be ridden by Drake fully dressed in their new clothes, they had quickly fallen asleep again, not knowing exactly how they were dressed. They had woken up much later, when the sun had reached practically its peak. That had been the moment in which they had realized exactly how they had dressed.

Their outfits were composed of very simple clothing, at least by meridianite standards. A long skirt of a brownish color (some brighter, some darker) that reached all the way down to their ankles and that they had to now adjust to their waists in order to prevent it from falling. The upper part was as mundane as the lower, composed of a long-sleeved shirt made of something akin to sheep wool, only covered by a small vest that left arms uncovered and that was of the same tone of the skirt. Clothing of commoners for girls trying to pass as commoners.

"C'mon Corny," Irma told her friend. "It's not that bad." Even if it's hard to move around the chest... of course the average Meridian gal has to be smaller than me.

Cornelia smirked, satisfied seeing how the Water Guardian's words didn't match her own situation. Well, at least the lot had been able to keep their underwear. Poor Taranee had to hide her glasses, since 'Meridian has not knowledge of that kind of science yet', in the Mage's words.

"Hey Drake!" Jade called for the driver, rubbing her legs and shoulders, the clothing making her skin itchy, though it was more of a psychological reaction to wearing such clothes than a real physical reaction. "Are we there yet?"

"We still have a bit of travel ahead," the voice of the rebel came from behind the curtains of the wagon the girls were in. Upon his answer, Jade let her back to fall and lean against what she supposed was a sack of potatoes. She wasn't the only one doing that, as Taranee was lying between two barrels and Hay Lin had a jar filled with what seemed to be almonds the size of a five year old child's fists. The same could be said about Will, Irma and Cornelia; sitting between the goods in the carriage.

"How do you think the Astral Drops are doing on Heatherfield?" Taranee asked to nobody in particular.

"Dunno," Irma said while putting her arms behind her head. "I just hope Chris doesn't annoy my 'not-me' as much as does me."

The group let silence to take over them, the only sound heard for various minutes the one made by the clatter of the wheels against the rocky road.

"Girls... you think everything's going to be okay?" Hay Lin asked. She didn't get an answer right away.

"C'mon, what's wrong with you all?!" Jade boasted then. She tried to get up, but the skirt got in the way, earning her a fall to the floor of the wagon; a fact that made her friends giggle. "Ha, ha... but really, have you all seen what we've been up to until now? And here we're, still fighting."

"We know, Jade;" Taranee said. "It's just… Remember what happened at the mountains with Wong and those other guys? Look at it as you like, but we lost there."

Just because that Ross jerk got in the way, Jade thought with bitterness towards the violent agent. She was just glad that the girls hadn't pushed into the matter and that they had believed her when she had just told them that Ross was in the mission of capturing Hak Foo before going to sleep, thus borrowing some Talismans and that he didn't know about them previously.

"If good news could ease things, then I've one;" Will spoke, making her friends' stares to be directed at her. The redhead took air in and let a pleasant smile of self assurance to come to her lips. "Matt and I kissed yesterday."

The phrase was met with silence at first. Then noise of the other girls rising from their spots in the wagon and rushing towards the redhead filled the air, practically falling over Will as they reached her.

"What?! Oh my God Will!"

"How?! When?! Why?!"

"That's sooooooo cool, gal!"

"It's he your boyfriend now?!"

"Was he good?! Were you good?!"

"It was just a kiss…" Will said timidly as her cheeks became red, her smile widening as each word escaped her mouth. Memories of her last encounter with Matt came to her mind, and she found them both pleasant and calming.

And for a moment, the wagon wasn't filled with Guardians, a Shapeshifter or some kind of rebel elite group preparing for an attack. There were just six teenage girls, talking about how one of them had given her first kiss, sharing their mutual joy. The happiness was forced to die down when Drake's voice came to them.

"Be silent now," the rebel said. "We have arrived."


Torus Filney looked truly breathtaking when seen in first hand instead of seeing it drawn in a paper; the city and its powerful, thick and tall walls rising in the middle of the barren; being the only vestige of civilization around. And like an oasis in a desert gathers the thirsty, it was natural for the city to gather the ones in need of a location like that.

The vehicle containing the girls and Drake approached the gate other carriages of varying sizes were approaching and crossing inside Torus Filney. While the girls were nervous, the rebel was confident in his little plan. He passed a hand over his now black hair, and carefully checked that the substance he had used to dye it that color was working as it should. His usual light armor had been discarded in exchange of a merchant's clothes, nothing too flashy but neither too common.

"Halt!" he heard a guard yell. At the gate, a dozen soldiers carrying crossbows were waiting, and glancing to the top of the wall above, he saw how archers were mending their time, yet if the signal was made they would take their weapons quickly, and he would be dead in seconds. He took the bag full of gold that rested at his side, and prayed that it would be enough, in combination with the effect the girls should have over him according to the information his men inside the city had passed to him.

"State your purpose," the guard, now nearer; spoke directly to Drake.

"Food for selling into the city," Drake said plainly. Merchants and guards were not known for being friendly with each other, the Prince's grip over Meridian hindering easy and free transaction. "Potatoes and some fine wine, along other, finer drinks."

The guard's brow quirked in curiosity, yet he had been able to pick into Drake's wordplay. He approached the back of the wagon and retired the cloth that served as ceiling and curtains for the vehicle; revealing the six girls alongside the goods. The sextet looked at the guard in surprise, yet the man just smirked after surveying them. Ah, so new girls for the woman from Heliosport. Well, it made sense. The gates of the city would be closed for a long time, and as such the more food and women they had, the better. And Vera's girls were always the best. He then closed the cloth and approached Drake again.

"Merchandise for Gentle Vera comes with…" the guard started to say, yet his phrase didn't get finished before the small bag of gold had been planted into his hand.

"I know, she told me;" Drake said in a whisper. "Everything is in order then?"

"Everything," the guard said. "Move along! Close the gate after this one!" he yelled, seeing how there were no more newcomers arriving. And so the six girls infiltrated into Torus Filney.


Viscount Roderick Servantis

"All the gates are finally closed?" the Viscount, fully dressed in armor composed of greenish plates, asked as he sat at the head of a long table he was sharing with Lothar, Tynar, Frost and his own wife, Lady Ishol. The chamber they were in wasn't as fancy or well light as many other in the nobleman's residence, but that was intentional. A serious room in order to discuss serious things such as the incoming clash.

"And the commoners are being guided to the central chamber, husband;" Lady Ishol said. "Even if the process is slow, the second level should be emptied around tomorrow morning."

"I don't know why so many precautions," Frost intervened. "I've seen fortresses with fewer defenses than this city, my lord. And my cavalry and that Shapeshifter are ready to charge and crush the Rebellion."

"I won't launch an attack so stupidly, Frost;" Servantis explained to the brute. "The rebels, who according to our scouts are already advancing towards Torus Filney; must know they are in disadvantage against us; so if I let you and the cavalry out, you could fall into a trap, and we would lose numerous forces. They won't attack us directly, surely preparing some kind of trap or…"

"Perhaps their intention is precisely leading our troops out," Lothar said. The Viscount had honored his word, and had provided Lothar with something worthy of fighting for. With the opportunity to bend his oath to the Prince without breaking it, the opportunity to finally feel he was doing something for Meridian's bettering. The smallfolk of this city… oh, how different were they from the ones of the Capital. They were happy, that was the only description that Lothar could give. They lived well, protected, under the care of the Viscount. He felt that the least he could do was protect them. "Something that we will have to do sooner or later, Lord Servantis; considering that the gates of the city are closed to any supplies from the exterior, which the rebels have access to in contrast with us. If we play the slow game, they hold the advantage. Frost and the cavalry should be let out, even if it's just them and the Shapeshifter; in order to at least weaken their forces."

"They cannot get closer to my city thanks to Sandpit," Servantis stated, a fact well known by all the people at the table. Sandpit was a fearsome creature; one so terrible that the Viscount had just used it against previous attacks a couple of times… and to say that the results hadn't been pretty would be an understatement. As such, Servantis had rescinded it to be the mean by which dispose of the lowest scum of society. Killers, rapists… Torus Filney wasn't a perfect city, after all; since there was no such thing. But no, the defenses weren't the problem, that was the city's greatest strength… yet it could also be its greatest weakness.

Servantis smiled, pleased upon Lothar's comment. Gaining the loyalty of the Captain of the Guard had been a good decision; the commander had provided good advice. "Frost," the Viscount addressed the brute. "Gather your men and the Rhinoceros. Once you have done that, wait until the rebels arrive and launch an attack. They won't risk slipping under the range of the cannons and catapults, much less Sandpit, so they will maintain the distance."

"Understood, my lord;" the brute answered with a small bow of his head, excitement in his eyes.

"Lothar," Servantis addressed the Captain next. "I want you and your Lieutenant ready to command the infantry of the city, let my men to take care of the weapons and the archers, since they are already familiar with them. Maintain the men fresh but ready in the case you need to provide aid to Frost and the cavalry."

"As you wish, Viscount;" Lothar said, noting how Frost glared at him for the fraction of a second. The brute didn't want his help, it seemed; he thought he didn't need it.

"Dismissed, then;" Servantis told the men.


Lady Ishol

After the small meeting had ended, Viscount Servantis had gone directly to a balcony from which the entirety of the city could be seen. She saw how he looked down; the streets of the second level still hummed with life, much of the smallfolk had yet to be guided to security. She supposed it was hard for them, to do this in the middle of the day. But a single day was, at much, all the time they had left. And then battle. She heard her husband sigh in tiredness.

"Is something troubling your mind?" Ishol asked, her voice making her husband to practically turn his head to look at her, but in the end to leave it where it was looking down.

"Did I make a mistake, Ishol?" he asked. And he had called her Ishol, not wife. She sighed and walked until they were side by side. "With Weira, and Phobos and all… this;" Servantis spoke, gesturing to the whole city.

"Roderick," Ishol called him by his name too. With no others around, there was no need for formalities and complicated words. "I have told you this many times, you are not at fault here, as you weren't at fault with Weira. Everything, everything you have done, that you have sacrificed these last thirteen years, everything has been for the good of Meridian. Who maintained the nobility united after Phobos' ascension to the Throne? You were. Who was the one to save so many innocents by shielding them with these cities? You were."

"And yet, here we are, at war and under attack;" Roderick stated. "Did I not do my best? Yet they are attacking, the rebels."

"The rebels are a bunch of fools," Ishol said. "Just like Weira. Carhaiz is proof of how they really are. Even someone like Tharquin is with them, and I remembered him very well from his days as Captain within the Castle, oh yes I do. The only reason so many of the smallfolk have gathered around them is because they aren't able to think in the long term, and you know it. The rebels just offered Meridian an easy answer, and both of us know that the smallfolk loves those."

"That was the kind of reality Weira wanted to change," Servantis said, an image of the late Queen passing over his mind, from a memory long time forgotten. "And yet look how that turned out." So many fell… many of them were good people, some were close friends of mine. I can accept that there were some rotten apples within the bunch, but not all of them. Not in a million years. And Weira never pretended for that to happen, and yet… "You are right, Ishol, I shouldn't trouble my mind, not in a moment like this."

The couple of nobles didn't utter a word for several moments, until Roderick broke the silence again. "You… should go with the smallfolk, just in case."

Ishol made a lovely chuckle. "You are my husband, Roderick; I won't abandon you in the verge of a battle. And besides," she aid, approaching him and resting her head over his shoulder; "if what the scouts had said is true, then the Rebellion won't arrive until tomorrow. So… we have all the night for us."

The Viscount planted a kiss over the Viscountess' forehead. Even when his mind was in turmoil, he could always turn to his wife in order to calm and clear his mood.

"Do you think that the Guardians of Kandrakar will be with the rebels?" Ishol asked then.

"Surely," Servantis answered; "and that Shapeshifter of theirs too, that Black Wolf."

The conversation ended after that, and the married pair of nobles just kept staring at the horizon, no word needed between the two of them.


Captain Lothar

"Tynar," Lothar called for the other man. As soon as they had left the meeting room, the Captain and Lieutenant had done exactly as the Viscount had ordered them, returning to the first level with the infantry troops and starting to organize them for the incoming battle. Once that had been done and the soldiers had been granted a bit of time to relax, the Captain had called for his faithful second in command, who hadn't abandoned him even after… after the Mask.

"Yes, sir?" Tynar asked. Every one of their interactions since Lothar's recovery had been with others around. Now, however, Lothar had the opportunity to talk from man to man.

"Not here, in private;" Lothar said, gesturing to Tynar to follow him. They walked until they found a spot in, turning a corner, in which they could talk. There, Lothar spoke.

"I would… I must apologize to you, Lieutenant;" Lothar said, shame accompanying his words.

"Sir?" Tynar asked, not as confused as one would expect. The older man knew that this was going to happen sooner or later, considering how deep had Raythor's code sank into the younger half-breed's mind.

"For what I did to you under the influence of the Mask, and for what I forced you to help me do back in Sonder Hill;" Lothar explained. "Neither you or those innocent citizens deserved what I did because of petty revenge. It was dishonorable, and I don't have an excuse."

"You don't?" Tynar asked. "I think you are wrong there, sir. Raythor was a just and honorable man, truly a Captain that cared for every one of his subordinates as if they were his own family. Perhaps, considering his lack of a wife and your lack of a family of your own, it wouldn't be so farfetched to call him your father and you his son. So I think calling your desire for vengeance inexcusable would be an error. Yet my father used to tell me something about vengeance. He said 'Revenge is a fool's game. It's like a venom, son; it corrupts you until there's nothing of the one you were left.' I suppose that you have been able to let go of that venom, haven't you, Captain?"

"I suppose," Lothar said. He still harbored anger towards the Guardians and the rebel leader for what they had done to Raythor, how they had shamed him in his last moments. Yet he now understood what his reckless pursue of revenge entitled. It entitled a weakness very easy to exploit. So from now on, he would be on control of his wrath. "Thank you, Tynar."

"Anything else, sir?" the Lieutenant asked, and he saw the Captain's face turning from one of thankfulness to one of preoccupation.

Lothar looked at the strong, tall walls and then to the ground. "I need for you to take a small group of the men we borrowed from the Capital. No more than five, try to pass unnoticed;" Lothar told Tynar. "And I need you to go to Sandpit's chamber below the city and guard it."

"Why?" Tynar asked in confusion.

"This city's defense… it relies too much in that creature, even with the cannons and catapults. If it was to become useless, or worse, used against us by redirecting its course…"

"I shall look into it, sir;" Tynar answered, understanding the implications. "Do you suspect of rebels having infiltrated the city?"

"It is a possibility the Viscount didn't have in mind…" Lothar explained; "and there some within the Rebellion with very capable and deceitful minds, Tynar. I used to call one of them friend once."


The girls

Torus Filney's second level resembled something akin to a large meridianite village, similar to how the Capital was. Once they had entered and they had abandoned the wagon, Drake quickly selling the goods to some merchants thanks to lowering their prize to an absurd level; they had walked alongside the disguised rebel, blending within the smallfolk of the city. The majority of it was organizing their property and heading towards the entrance to the third level, but there were still some doing their average lives. Apparently, not even the prospect of a certain attack to their home was able to change their pace. And besides, the rebels weren't arriving until tomorrow… except the rebels were already there.

"This is the place," Drake told them as they reached a thin street in which end a house larger than the others (four stories tall instead of the others' usual two) and colored in an intense crimson, from which's windows red lights could be seen. "Torus Filney's Red House, owned by Gentle Vera. Ask for her once you are inside, she already knows you are coming. I must gather the others. I will see you this night."

"Got it," Will told the dyed Drake, who with a small nod, turned his back on them and left, merging with the people and disappearing within seconds. Once the rebel was gone, the girls started to walk, trying to avoid as much attention as possible. It wasn't as easy as it sounded, since the thin street was also filled with commoners, and six young girls, all dressed the same and heading towards the Red House wasn't a sight that went unnoticed.

But they walked, all six of them together; with decision and without doubt, albeit Taranee had to do so by grabbing Hay Lin's arm in order to not stumble upon one of the bystanders, since wearing glasses did hinder the walk a bit.

It was at that moment that Jade's eyes caught a glimpse of something, or rather; someone. Slowing her pace a little, she looked at one of the sides of the street to see a Galhot with brownish skin, body covered by a dark and dirtied cloak; movements slow. He tripped and fell to the ground, hitting the cobblestones with strength. And yet nobody went to help him up. So much for the every man's kindness.

"Guys, go ahead for a second;" Jade whispered, approaching the fallen man.

"Jade! What're you doing?!" Irma whispered as she tried to grab her friend, but the Chinese girl had already departed towards the fallen man.

"Do you need any help?" she asked kindly as she lowered a hand to the man, who albeit a bit reluctant at first, took it after a few moments, so Jade could help him up. It was at that moment that the man's eyes and Jade's met, and his expression changed from one of possible thankfulness to one of utter terror.

"Amber eyes," he whispered in the same tone that a child whispers the name of the monster that hides under his bed.

"What?" Jade asked, not having heard him clearly.

"Amber eyes!" the man yelled in pure fear, and dropped to the ground again. "Amber eyes! Amber eyes!" he yelled as he rose to his feet and tried to run, resulting in an awkward movement of his legs as he put the more distance he could between him and Jade.

"Agh, there is he again;" Jade heard a commoner, a girl she supposed by the sound of her voice, say. "Amber eyes, amber eyes… he doesn't know to say anything new, that mad beggar."

"Sssh, don't say that;" she heard another one. "You know what happened to him, don't you? He was maimed by that Wolf Beast of the rebels. Poor bastard… I suppose once your body is no longer of use, then you have no place amongst the guards, right?"

Jade heard the conversation of the two unknown commoners and looked in the direction the man had gone into. Was… was that one of the guards she had attacked in those woods? Or in one of their missions within Meridian's border, in one of the working camps or prisons? That was stupid, she had just hurt them… she had hurt them pretty bad, hadn't she? Yes it wasn't anything that medicine couldn't cure, but she was thinking about earthling medicine back then. And she supposed the meridianite one wasn't comparable.

She walked back to her friends and they continued towards the Red House.

"What was that?" Will inquired.

"Uhm? Oh, it was nothing," Jade said. "Just a crazy dude."


Torus Filney's Red House

The Red House did honor to its name, since not only its façade but its insides were of the color of blood, roses and passion. Once inside the house, the girls had been greeted by a small, fat lady carrying heavy book. She had asked them if they wanted work, and she had looked surprised when they had answered 'no'.

"Well, we don't discriminate here;" the fat lady answered. "I've heard of rumors of noblewomen that take their handmaidens to the bed… I suppose we smallfolk had to emulate that sooner or later. Have you brought enough gold?"

The girls looked at the woman in dumbfounded silence. Was she implying that they were looking for…? Oh dear God, was this place a…? "What?" Cornelia was the one to break the uncomfortable silence, the word escaping her mouth flatly.

"Gold," the fat lady answered. "We don't accept silver, unless…"

"Griselda," the girls heard a voice from upstairs. Looking up they saw a slim, busty and dark-skinned woman in her mid thirties with short, blond hair (albeit a much more dirtied tone than Cornelia's) and sharp black eyes. In the moment her eyes fell over the girls, she smirked as a cat. "They have a meeting with me, bring them upstairs."

"Yes Vera," the fat lady answered. "Come then," she commanded, a bit startled by the fact that Vera had a meeting with some girls that seemed to have just walked into a Red House for the first time.

Once upstairs, the girls accessed a small office, composed only of four walls and a small desk in which several boxes were waiting open to be filled with gold, the coins also waiting patiently in some bags over the same desk. And behind that desk the dirtied blonde, the woman called Vera, had taken a seat.

"Erh… Hello," Will started. "Are you Gentle Vera?"

"How else could I be?" the woman answered with a playful, cat-like smile. "And you are those five rebel girls Drake told me about, aren't you? The ones that need to move around at night." Will felt a sensation of relief upon her heart. This woman didn't apparently know that they were the Guardians. Good, that was good. And yet there was something bugging her…

"Are… are you a rebel?" the redhead asked, and the woman in front of her chuckled.

"Oh, you could say I'm a friend of Drake;" she said playfully. "I've known him for many years. So many, many times…" the woman said, not without a hint of pleasure in her voice, and the very evident implications of those words made Will to blush.

"This… is this…you know, a…?" Taranee tried to inquire, Vera deducing what the question was before the girl could even phrase it properly.

"A whorehouse? Of course it is," Vera answered. "There are Red Houses in almost every important city of the kingdom. We aren't very knowledgeable, are we? I suppose you've been living with the rebels for much of your lives. Anyway, Drake told me that I and my girls would be under the Rebellion's protection when the attack starts if I helped him to get a group moving inside the city. And a group of young men and whores walking through the night of Torus Filney is pretty tolerable in the eyes of the guards, even when expecting an attack."

And it's something that Drake should have told me, Will thought with a bit of anger. She hated when this happened, when she didn't know all the details. Secrets and half-truths... how was she supposed to be in control if she didn't have all the information?

"So we will be passing as… prostitutes?" Jade inquired then, maybe a bit too enthusiastic about the idea, in contrast with Cornelia, who was making the biggest expression of disgust of her life.

"Not with those clothes. Uhm… let me," Vera said as she rose from her seat and approached Jade. She started to circle around Jade, until she knelt just in front of her but. Then she pulled a couple of pins from under her sleeves and started to sew Jade's dress, until the skirt had become much tighter around her behind, clearly accentuating it. "There, much better. Next one is…"

Vera incorporated and approached Cornelia, running a hand across the blonde's hair and her neck, sending a shiver over the entirety of the Earth Guardian's skin. "Pretty hair, very smooth skin;" she said as if she was putting a prize to a product… which was something very close to what she was doing.

Hay Lin was next, Vera placing both her hands over her cheeks; making the Air Guardian to giggle. "Good skin too, a good figure," she said as she looked Hay Lin all over. "And oh, such a lovely smile!"

Taranee was the one to follow, and with her Vera just had to take a look at her. "Oh, dark skin, exotic."

"Exotic?" Taranee asked as she folded her arms, a bit offended.

"The tales about the Knights of Escanor say that Hoel had a skin as dark as the night skies, and as such is believed that every dark-skinned human in meridian is his descendant of some shorts. Many nobles tend to have dark skin;" Vera explained. "Men find it exciting."

I'm feeling so uncomfortable right now…; Taranee thought.

Vera approached Irma next, and the woman retained a laugh. "Easy one," she said as she took the Water guardian and opened the first two buttons of her vest and shirt and buttoning them under Irma's bust, enhancing it.

"What?" Irma asked as she noted the amused look on Jade's face.

"Nooooothing," the other girl aid. Just wondering when your boobs are going to jump to say 'Hello!' to all of us; she added in her thoughts, not without the certainty of enjoying that possibility.

Vera approached Will last, passing a finger over her shoulders and then looking at her face. "Fiery hair, fiery eyes…" the woman stated. "Domineering, perhaps? There are many men that enjoy that."

Domineering? Had she just called her domineering? "I-I'm not domineering, or whatever;" Will said abruptly, earning another of Vera's cat-like grins.

"Give it time," she whispered so only Will could hear it. "I know how a woman is when I see one." She then turned to the whole group of girls. "Congratulations, you are officially whores!"

I hate everything… Cornelia thought.


The second night; Vathek

Back in the Infinite City, Vathek had volunteered to stay behind and take command over the ones that had been left behind. It wasn't so much, aside from Sephiria and the rest of the Faithful, the only ones left were the wounded, elderly, mothers, children, and some soldiers in case something happened.

But truth to be told, Vathek hadn't volunteered to stay out of battle just in order to protect these people or because he thought that the others may command better than him. No, he had done so because… because just in the same way he had friends amongst the rebels, he had made many friends amongst the Guard. And some of those guards, alongside Tynar and Lothar, had been called to Torus Filney. He wasn't in the highest of spirits to face them. A part of him also resented how many rebels, especially the youngest ones, referred to the guards. 'Dogs of the tyrant', they called them. True, the Guard was the enemy, and no doubt that the Rebellion was the one standing for the best of Meridian, but he knew many guards and soldiers were just men doing their jobs. The majority of the Guard was still the same of the times of Queen Weira, for the Light's sake! If there was only a way to make the Guard understand what kind of monster Phobos was…

"Vathek?" he heard at his side, a nasal and somehow voice calling his name. And if that hadn't been enough of a clue, the smell was.

"Blunk," the hulking Galhot addressed the Passling, the greenish dwarf standing mere inches away, carrying a scroll in his hand. "I thought you would be on battle."

"Oh, Blunk's no needed in battle, so say rebels;" the Passling said, Vathek frowning at how bitter he had said that last part. Had the rebels done something to him? He knew that Passling-folk weren't the most liked creatures in Meridian, mainly due to the unlucky combination of their smell and their obsession with shinny objects and deals, which sometimes gave them the image of thieves and smugglers. "And Blunk had business to attend, very important and good business;" the Passling handed the scroll to him then. "Mr. Ludmoore says 'I carried my part of the deal. I hope you will carry yours';" the Passling told him and then turned around and left him alone, leaning against one of the Infinite City greenish walls.

Vathek looked down at the scroll once Blunk was gone. He hadn't noticed at first, but the word 'Carhaiz' had been written over it in red letters. Now, of all times; and delivered by the Passling's hand no less? Ludmoore was a tricky one.

He searched for a spot in where to sit down and read appropriately. Once he did, he unrolled the scroll and read. As his eyes marched over the numerous papers that the scroll had turned out to be, Vathek's expression became more and more somber… until it reached the end of the text and he felt his heart to beat faster and faster, as if it wanted to escape his chest.

Protecting the innocents? Have you spent so much time between us as a spy that you have forgotten about your side's deeds?

Raythor's words from that fateful encounter between the two at the edge of the Abyss of Shadows seemed to come to him know, and this time Vathek understood perfectly what the former and now banished Captain of the Guard was referring to.

"No…" Vathek said in a broken tone. He wasn't even able to fight a couple of tears that rolled down his blue cheeks and fell over the scroll.

"No…"


The girls

"You should've told me," Will's voice, dripping with a slight mixture of anger and shamefulness; was heard as she, the rest of the girls and the again blond Drake and his small group of rebels (composed of no more than five other men besides him), walked through the now silent and dark streets of Torus Filney; "that we were going to stay on a whorehouse!"

"First," Drake began; "low your tone of voice, else you want us to be found. Second, if I had told you, would that have changed anything?"

Will rolled her eyes. Today's had been a really... long day, for the lack of a better term. They had to spent all the time until dusk in the Red House, doing otherwise would have meant... Will didn't want to think about what it meant. They had have enough with the noises, both from the people and the hits on the very walls. She had to admit that her friends and her would have been much more reluctant to participate in the mission had they known this. "Okay, I get your point," the redhead said.

"What was all that talk about the Rebellion giving protection to Vera?" Taranee asked then, walking a couple of feet behind the redhead and the blond man, fighting the urge to not yell to one of the men under Drake's command due to the looks he was giving her. She supposed Vera was right in her previous statement.

"We are going to attack and invade this city," Drake proclaimed, putting emphasis in the 'invade' part. "When these situations occur and the fear of death grows," Drake said as he looked over his shoulder to Taranee; "some of the men, no matter which side they are fighting for, can develop some... ideas concerning women. And whores are a very easy target."

The Fire Guardian shivered. Her history books never deepened so much in the darkest descriptions of the Middle Ages as to outright state that women (especially commoners in war zones) were usually victims of rape. The implications of the blond man's pretty brutally honest statement didn't help to ease her mind's trouble over their current predicament. Her companions, however (and probably for the best) hadn't noticed it.

"Here," Drake said then, as he made the group following him to turn around a corner. "Now Jade, if you could..."

"Got it, got it;" she said as she stepped forward.

Ahead, guarding a gate in the wall that separated the second level from the first was a group of three guards. Jade approached them with calm, making sure to remember how Viper used to move and act and imitate it. It worked, as the guards didn't show any ill intent as they looked at her walking towards them. Like Taranee, the actual Ben-Shui Chosen One supposed that Vera had been right in her statement about attention. The guards let her approach them completely, but before they could do or say anything, Jade unleashed a wave of white chi, sending the trio of guards flying a couple of meters and knocking them out.

"Too easy!" Jade proclaimed, folding her arms and showing pride. She was getting better and better at this day after day! She wondered what kind of awesome things her chi power could do…

"Jade, your voice;" Will told her in the same way Drake had told her moments before; the other girls and the rebels approaching the gate.

"Sorry, sorry, geez;" the other girl apologized, more or less.

The group crossed the gate, entering a tunnel illuminated by torches that they supposed went all the way through the wall and connected both levels. Drake started to pass his hands over the nearby wall, searching for something. Her hands passed over and pressed almost any detail that seemed out of place. Come on, I know you are here, somewhere… he thought as he continued his search, until his hand pressed what at first glance seemed like a badly collocated brick. He heard a 'click!' and then the sound of a mechanism activating. Yes!

The mechanism did its job, revealing hidden door to another, bigger and darker tunnel as a piece of the wall moved away. Drake took one of the torches and entered it. The tunnel went down into the earth straight away, and Drake wasn't able to see its end.

"This must be part of the net of tunnels that lead to Sandpit," Drake said while his companions entered the tunnel and closed the hidden door behind them.

Now away from the suspicious looks of strangers, Will took the Heart from under her shirt, holding the pink jewel up. "Well, we can finally get changed," the redhead proclaimed. "Guardians, Unite!"

The usual flash of light to which Jade had grown accustomed since her first day on Heatherfield illuminated the entirety of the tunnel for a second before dying out, and the five Guardians of Kandrakar stood where the first girls had just moments ago.

Irma stretched her arms up, finally feeling that she could move freely. "So much better!" the Water Guardian said.

"I'd say," Taranee corroborated, adjusting her glasses, glad of being able to see again.

Not wanting to be less, Jade was quick to let her hair to grow into a mane that quickly enveloped her body and transformed it into a growing ball of black fur that became her wolf form afterwards. She patted the ground with her claws and smelled the air. Deep down the tunnel, she was able to smell… something. Something with a very, very weird smell that she couldn't recognize and that overpowered all the other odors.

"I… I think that I can smell that Sandpit guy," Jade said. "I don't like it."

Seeing how his forces were ready and how the Guardians and the Shapeshifter should be enough, Drake looked at his men. "Scatter," he ordered. "Block the entrance and don't let anyone in until we are back."

"Understood," the men said in unison as they did as Drake had ordered them.

"Now," Drake directed himself to the girls. "We should start moving. According to the information I gathered, this net of tunnels is very large. We should search for other paths and use them in order to find the central chamber where Sandpit resides."

"Alright," Will said. "Taranee, a bit of more light?"

"Yes," the Fire Guardian said as she manifested a fireball in her palm that acted as a torch for them

After that, the Guardians, Shapeshifter and rebel blonde started to move; travelling deeper under Torus Filney.


Tynar

The Lieutenant took a small leather bottle that hanged from his waist, pouring water into his mouth. This place made his whole body uneasy. He was now in a huge, circular chamber made of rock bricks that had been built over a natural cave. However, even if huge, the chamber didn't have a lot of floor over where to walk. The majority of the chamber was a hole in the floor, surrounded by a thin line of bricks that acted as floor and that gave the place the look of a giant wheel. And from the border of that wheel, Tynar was looking at what contained.

Deep into the hole was a massive, moving mass of sand. It was moving in its own, since there was no wind here. This was Sandpit, albeit Tynar thanked everything in existence that now it seemed to be… resting? Sleeping, perhaps? Could something like that rest? Did it need rest, to begin with? Tynar knew of how this thing operated. How many had been eaten alive by this strange, amoral creature?

The Lieutenant's hand touched the bracelet that Tash had made for him. This place was unnerving him, filling his mind with troublesome thoughts. This wasn't the moment for those, not now. After all, he had heard the steps as they approached.

He unsheathed his sword quickly, turning around almost instantaneously and guarding himself with the weapon. A throwing knife cashed against the blade and fell to the floor with a dim sound, and Tynar looked up, his eyes meeting with Drake's.

"Quick thinking," the rebel praised him, Tynar narrowing his eyes in response. The Captain had been right; the rebels were inside the city. Now, where were his…

"If you are expecting your men to come to your aid," Drake began to say as he unsheathed his own sword. "I think they met with the Guardians and our dear Good Wolf. I suppose they will end either trapped in vines or maimed by Jade."

The Guardians were here?! Why?! It would make much more sense for them to be with the rebels in order to help with the attack. Unless… unless the attack wasn't an attack at all, and it was just a diversion. Shit! Tynar readied his guard, rising the sword over his head. He needed to get rid of this one quickly; else Lothar and Servantis would fall directly into a trap! He rushed towards Drake, weapon ready to deliver the strongest of blows. However, instead of parrying or blocking the attack; Drake just jumped out of the way, and decided to counterattack with a fast strike. Tynar blocked it, but in the moment he was preparing for a counterattack, Drake just jumped backwards, the blade hitting the floor instead of him.

"Is there something wrong?" Drake taunted. "Want to end the fight quickly in order to go and ring the alarm? I believe I can't let you do so."

"You think of this a game?!" Tynar yelled in return of the rebel's words. "How many people in this city will suffer after your attack? Do you have any idea how much will they lose?!"

"Do you have any idea how much everyone could win?" Drake asked in return. "This city is a key to controlling the medium ring of Meridian. Once we have taken it, then our chance of winning this war increases exponentially, and as such deposing Phobos and ending this conflict becomes more of a reality."

"And then what?" Tynar asked.

A strange looking smile came to Drake's lips then. And for a second, Tynar could have sworn that his whole body language shifted, and his eyes changed from blue to a yellowish tone. The rebel took his sword in one hand and lowered his stance. Then, he spoke. "Then? Then everything begins."

Tynar raised his sword almost instinctively, because in the blink of an eye, Drake was mere inches away from him, raising his sword from below in an ascendant blow. The blades clashed, and due to the sheer intensity of the impact, both of them broke into shards. Tynar was so shocked by this that he missed Drake's hands graving his torso, elevating him in the air and throwing him against the ground. Then proceeded a kick, and afterwards a punch as the Lieutenant tried to incorporate, followed for another five. Blood poured from his lips and ears due to the savagery of the rebel's punches.

How can he be so strong? Tynar thought in confusion. The rebel looked human, yet his blows were able to break some of his bones. Galhots were naturally more resilient and strong than any human being!

Drake approached the still lying Tynar, and rising one leg, he delivered a powerful blow to the Lieutenant's knee, breaking his leg. Tynar let out a powerful cry of pain, but that didn't halt Drake from continuing punching him in the face, this time transforming the Galhot's nose into a bloody mass of pulverized bones and cartilage. His face completely dirtied by blood, Tynar lost his left eye's sight after the next punch. Bones broken and effectively unable to move, Drake took him by the throat and dragged him towards the border of the hole. In the way, the bracelet slipped from Tynar's wrist and fell to the ground.

Wait, Tynar thought as Drake dragged him away from his son's gift. Wait, I need that. My son made it, give it back. He put a lot of effort; he's not very good now, not until he practices more. Wait please, let me take it back… my wife will be so angry at me… Please, Tash made it for me…

"I know you are probably a good man," Drake told him as he halted at the border of the hole. Down, Sandpit continued to rest. "But you would get in the way. And I cannot tolerate that. You know something? My father used to tell me the family's code when these things happened. You know what he used to tell me, soldier?" Drake asked as he looked down on Tynar. From where he was and how he was, the Lieutenant could barely see, yet the blue in the man's eyes had returned. That blue… it looked identical to the one of Cedric's eyes.

"All men are Evil"

The next thing that Tynar knew, he was falling. Then he heard a grave sound as he fell over something soft and that yet felt raspy against his skin. Sand, it was sand; sand that was moving, faster with each second. Next thing Tynar saw was a thick tentacle of the matter rising over him. The tentacle lowered. And the last thing Tynar saw was sand.

Atop the hole, Drake had just a couple of seconds to get away from the border before the entire Sandpit shot upwards, a mass of formless quicksand that towered over him and that twirled and twisted over itself furiously. It was clear that consuming the Lieutenant had done nothing but increase its hunger.

"Drake!" the rebel heard Will's voice coming from the nearby tunnel. "Are you alright? We heard screams, and…" the redhead's eyes fell upon the creature of sand that was twirling over them. "What the heck is that?!"

"That's Sandpit?!" Irma screeched as she and the other girls entered the chamber. "It's freaking enormous!"

The mass of living, amoral quicksand twirled over itself once again. The creature could feel the presence of something in its home now, something brighter and far more delicious than regular humans or Galhots. It wanted to eat it!

Thick tentacles of sand shot from the main body of the creature, this time completely ignoring Drake and Jade, and pursuing the Guardians, who quickly flew across the air in order to dodge its attacks. Seeing that the monster wasn't focusing on her, Jade readied her claws and formed the most similar thing a wolf could do to a smirk with her lips. She then enveloped her body on chi and rushed towards Sandpit.

"Jade!" she heard Will.

"Don't worry guys!" Jade said in confidence. "I got this!" she then slammed into Sandpit's body with her full strength, the wave of white chi creating a momentary hole in the creature's body… which quickly closed.

"Erh… that was supposed to hurt you;" Jade said as she tilted her head. She jumped backwards as a tentacle stroke the ground below her, and once in the air she shifted back to her human form in order to evade more attacks by being a smaller target. In the moment she touched the ground she shot more chi beams towards Sandpit, which just produced more holes that quickly closed. She then shifted again into a wolf, the boost in speed being much more useful to evade attacks in land. "How do we beat this guy?!"

"How do you defeat sand?!" Cornelia said as she took two chunks of rock from the nearest wall to use them as shields against the creature's tentacles.

Taranee's mind was able to find an answer to that between the practically endless attacks. "Hay Lin!" she shouted. "I need this thing back on its pit!"

"Alright!" Hay Lin said, before moving her eyes from one side to another. "How?!"

"Air pressure!" the Fire Guardian instructed.

Making an 'okay' sing with her fingers, Hay Lin gathered air in a huge tornado and shot it towards the upper part of Sandpit, hammering the creature back into the hole it had identified as his home for the last years. However, the hunger was huge, and the creature fought against the air with all its might.

"I… I can't hold up!" Hay Lin called as drops of sweat started to fall from her forehead, showing the enormous effort she was doing. "It's too strong!"

"Don't worry," Taranee said as she charged a gigantic fireball over her head. "This ends now:"

Taranee shot the fireball to Hay Lin's descending attack, and her fire was maximized by the strong wind. Then, the flames enveloped Sandpit, the creature letting a sound that the girls and the rebel identified as an agonizing screech of pain. The sound died moments after, and Hay Lin felt how her wind was finding no more opposition. Dispelling her and Taranee's attack, she found that the mass of living quicksand was gone, replaced by a plain, clear piece of glass at the bottom of the hole.

"Sand, plus very high temperatures," Taranee said as she flew down to the ground; "equals glass."

"You just made science class sound awesome there," Jade joked as she shifted back to her human form.

"Hey, the laws of thermodynamics are pretty cool," Taranee joked too, making Jade to laugh between her teeth.

"We won," Cornelia said as she looked at the defeated sand creature. "I can't believe we won so easily."

"We only won because Taranee was here," Will complimented her teammate.

"And this is only the first stage of the plan," Drake intervened. "We still have to…"

"I know, I know;" Cornelia said. "I've got to open a way for the others… What could you do without me?"

"Well then," Drake said, dedicating a last gaze to the now frozen Sandpit. "Let's finish this part."


Later

Torus Filney had been built over a net of underground tunnels, hoping to use them to its advantage. The thing Roderick Servantis didn't have in mind was that they could be used against him. After all, who could just access his city by underground? The group of people whose base of operations was already underground, perhaps?

"Are you sure this is the place?" Cornelia asked as he clapped her hands in order to get dust out of them.

"According to the Mage," Drake said. "And the Mage hardly commits any errors."

Cornelia didn't say anymore, she needed concentration. She placed her hands over one of the walls in the tunnel they were currently in. Concentrating and forgetting about anything else, she felt the earth in the wall, the meters and meters of rock, dirt and roots behind it… until she felt a complete different kind of stone, more akin to marble. This was the place.

Cornelia let a haughty smile to come to her lips and she sunk her fingers into the wall, a tremor running across the tunnels as she commanded her element to do her bidding and basically step out of the way. Which it did, the wall opening up and revealing a practically cleaned path sans a couple of roots hanging from the new tunnel's ceiling. And at the other end of the path, was the greenish light of the Infinite City, now connected to the tunnels under Torus Filney. After a couple of moments of waiting, rebels appeared in the tunnel, half the Rebellion's forces leaded by Tharquin and Rhouglar, all of them armed to the teeth and ready for battle.

"Welcome to Torus Filney," Drake greeted them, earning a playful grin from Rhouglar and a dry nod from Tharquin.

"You bastard, you did it again!" Rhouglar congratulated him.

"I barely did anything," Drake said humbly. "That honor belongs to them," he said, gesturing to the Guardians and Jade.

"Yeah!" Jade interrupted. "We beat that Sandpit thing!"

Rhouglar let out a clacking laugh out. "I wasn't expecting less!" he said with a grin. "Nice dress, by the way," the Galhot told Jade, who then just realized that she was still wearing the clothes from before. Damn, why couldn't she get instantaneous magical clothing like the girls?

"How much time do we have left?" Tharquin, always focusing in the matters at hand, asked.

"Just a couple of hours before dawn, I believe;" Drake answered.

"Then its better if we rest," the Old Worm proclaimed, and the huge amount of rebels started to disperse across the tunnel. Before each one went in their own way, Tharquin put a hand over Rhouglar's shoulder. "Don't forget our accord."

"Who do you think I am?" Rhouglar asked; his usual lascivious grin widening. Then he looked in the direction the girls were going, eyes falling over Jade. "I'm a man of my word."


Cyrus Ludmoore

Everything was going smoothly. Yet he reminded himself that he needed to be more cautious, he had left his mask and his human form to almost fall during the clash with the guard. It didn't matter, he was dead now, and the mask was going to become useless in a year or so, he supposed.

Drake had served Cyrus and his family well, earning big brother Charles eyes, ears and a growing voice in the Rebellion over the years. Just like Cedric's inside the Prince's court, Cyrus' wasn't the strongest and only voice, but that provided him with enough room to move freely and grow in authority amongst the rebels. Anyway, the first stage was soon to be completed, and once the second one had been fulfilled, there would be no more use for Drake. But for now, Cyrus enjoyed and liked Drake; he liked the women, drinks and fights he had experienced and tasted. And Cyrus had to admit that he liked the friends that Drake had gained. But Cyrus was real, while Drake wasn't. He sat down and took a small bottle from his pocket, filling his mouth with wine. He had noticed that, since this whole operation began, he had been drinking more and more. Bah, he liked wine, and if we could survive from it instead of water, he would gladly do so. Anyway, battle was imminent.

And as Cyrus Ludmoore enjoyed a last drink before fighting once again (he wondered where could he find a new sword), the rebels gathered their forces under and outside Torus Filney. Above and in front of them, Viscount Servantis readied his pieces for the defense. And at dawn, it would begin; the event that, in the years to come, would be known in Meridian history texts with one single sentence.

The Sack of Torus Filney


All men are Evil. Conrad Ludmoore; father of Charles, Cedric and Cyrus


A/N: There we go. I was going to insert another fight scene in this one, but I think that it's best to leave it like this, dedicating the next chapter completely to fights and action and the third one to a very long aftermath; thus leaving the two bombs I dropped in this one to sink in. Yes, the rebel that seemed to be most levelheaded and rational turns out to be a spy. Yes, Tynar falls, and now hear me on this, I have no difficulty with disposing of secondary or even primary characters if it fits the situation and narrative. Here I did it in order to make one thing clear: This is a war, and surprise, very good people die in those. Albeit Tynar's fate is going to be left inconclusive, like some of you may be figuring considering what happens with Sandpit at the Start of season 2; others are going to die during these chapters, and the events of Torus Filney are going to be a huge change on the status quo of both Rebellion and the Prince's court. If this was a show, this would be the midseason episode that makes the plot of the season to become more intense. But enough with my ramblings, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please, leave a review and until next time.

Bye, bye!