The story and characters of El-Hazard were created by Hiroki Hayashi and
Ryoe Tsukimura, and brought to North America by Pioneer LDC. They hold all
copyright to El-Hazard, we hold none. The following story is fan fiction,
and may not be sold or distributed for profit. It is a stand-alone story,
but it takes place in the same continuity as the fan fiction series "El
Hazard: Earth".
We are giving this story a PG rating, with warning of graphic depiction of
violence and some moderately suggestive content.
We would like to thank our pre-readers, Charlie Groark, Greg Smith and
Jerry Yen.
Mark Engels mark_engels@rocketmail.com
Ken Wolfe kenwolfe@mts.net
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------
Rough Justice: A Tale of El-Hazard
----------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
------
Eleven
------
Afura Mann sat cross legged on the forest floor, trying to regain her focus.
Tiny rays of sunlight pierced the thick canopy as dawn approached, making
visible the ragged clouds of moisture emanating from her nose and mouth.
Her pale face took on a peaceful visage as she attempted to clear her
troubled mind.
Damn her! What the Seven Hells was Shayla thinking, sneaking off into the
night like that?
Afura sighed, knowing she was partly to blame. Knowing Shayla all these
years, she of all people should have predicted Shayla might pull a stunt
like this. Her longtime friend and fellow Elder Sister had been despondent
ever since The Mourning began, but even she was at a loss to understand just
why.
But Afura knew she couldn't dwell on that now. Shayla was out there
somewhere wandering around by herself, most certainly in a foul mood. That
alone was cause for concern.
Afura's heart lightened as she listened to the winds. They sang their
familiar song, comforting her as she gathered her center. The winds had
been her friend since she was a little girl; the ethereal Intuition had
guided her through trouble time and again. The winds would not disappoint
her now. They would tell her what she wanted to know.
Struggle. The air currents told of a struggle. And Shayla's scent was
unmistakable.
Shayla was in trouble.
Afura was up with a start, sprinting off through the woods in the direction
the Intuition had shown her. She began to fear the worst, however, as
Shayla's scent became more and more desperate. If Shayla was trying to
fight off a foe herself, she wasn't faring well.
Afura's faith in the Intuition paid off once again. She could hear Shayla
now, cursing and grunting as if trying to free herself from something.
But from what?
She slowed her pace as the sounds of the struggle faded. Afura paused at
the edge of a little brook, looking up into the canopy to locate from where
Shayla's ragged breathing was coming.
Afura collapsed to the ground, laughing uncontrollably at the sight before
her.
"All right, all right, very funny," Shayla said. "Now how about helping me
down from here?"
Shayla swayed to and fro, hanging upside down from the top of a rockwood
tree. A length of cord held her sidewinder yakskin boots skyward while her
long red locks pointed straight towards the ground. It was several minutes
before Afura could even manage to sit up, let alone answer her.
"V-ver-very well then," Afura stuttered, trying to keep from
hyperventilating.
Afura couldn't recall seeing anything in her whole life funnier than seeing
Shayla so. She savored the thought of their long walk back to Floristica.
All that time to ponder all the future inopportune moments she would remind
Shayla of this.
She paused a moment to wipe away tears and her black bangs before setting
about to getting Shayla down. Shayla's face glowed as red as a landing
beacon despite her dusky skin. Her friend dangled almost fifteen feet above
the forest floor. Maybe Shayla had accidentally stumbled onto a boar
hunter's trapping line. Usually such a commotion would have brought the
hunter running, demanding an apology from Shayla for scaring away his game.
Afura marveled at the hunter's good fortune -- imposing upon Shayla in her
current state would certainly have brought about a fiery response in more
ways than one. Although the Roshtarian hinterlands bordering Cerulea were
usually thick with prospectors, trappers and hermits, they hadn't seen
another person in two days. Word of the Prince Justen's military campaign
must have spread quickly.
"Mark my words, Windy, Makoto OWES me now," Shayla fumed. "This ought to be
worth at least a week's worth of tubers n' beast from the Palace kitchen."
"By my tally now you're up to three months' worth, Shay," Afura replied
while uncoiling her rope. "You'll get fat if you're not careful."
Shayla snorted, crossing her arms indignantly even though still hanging
upside down. "Not hardly. I've been keeping myself in shape, ya know. I'm
just as buff now as--"
"--as the last time you fell head over heels for an older man?" Afura
interrupted. Her brown eyes sparkled as she teased her old friend. "And
now you've fallen again, heels over your head this time!"
Shayla drew her fists to her sides as Afura lashed her rope around a tree
stump. "Damn your eyes, Afura!" she spat, green eyes flashing with anger.
"You've got some nerve picking on me when I'm like this! Let me show you
just how good a shape I'm really in!"
Afura hoped Shayla wasn't about to do what she thought she might, but saw
the familiar blue glow already emanating from Shayla's body. Afura shook
her hands hurriedly to warn her friend of the pending, and certainly
unconsidered, consequence of her actions. But her warning came too late.
The cord binding Shayla's feet snapped, burned clean through by the residual
heat marshaled by the former Great Priestess of Fire. She shrieked loudly
before impacting the forest floor with a dull thud.
Witnessing yet another of Shayla's productions would have normally sent
Afura into another round of hysterics. But she felt a twinge of sadness
seeing her old friend sob in an undignified heap. Afura was at her side at
once.
"Are you hurt?" Afura said before beginning to gently probing for any broken
bones. Finding none, she helped Shayla sit up against a tree. As Shayla's
sobbing grew louder, Afura began to grow anxious. Shayla had the
constitution of a mountain goat, after all; a little bump on her head
couldn't have brought this on. Maybe, Afura thought glumly, my needling
struck a nerve this time.
"An old maid like you wouldn't understand!" Shayla hollered. "I can't stand
it anymore. I need to know what happened to him," she blubbered on, her
voice trailing off as sobs again racked her body.
Afura shushed her, holding Shayla's trembling body to her own. "It's okay,
Shay. I'm not mad at you for sneaking off. I was only afraid you'd get
yourself hurt. I've lost too many friends lately," she said in a husky
voice. "I didn't want to lose you too."
Neither of them said anything for some time. It all made sense now.
Shayla, despite her being unusually thick-headed most of the time, had
learned well the lessons her life had taught her. Afura had long suspected
Shayla's new drinking buddy had come to mean much more to her than she cared
to admit.
Even though it had come as a shock to her, Afura was delighted at the new
development in Shayla's life. She had never bought the old saw that like
attracts like, but maybe there was some truth to it after all.
"That idiot," Shayla sniffled at last as she dried her eyes. "I told him to
be careful when he accepted his commission. He knew better than to wander
off alone with one of those blue-skinned bastards. What the hell was he
thinking?"
Afura pondered the notion perhaps Shayla was right -- maybe she was an old
maid. While Afura felt whole and fulfilled with only her meditations and
her books, she long knew Shayla pined for a soul mate. Through several
bizarre twists of fate, a crusty old soldier had managed to earn a special
place in Shayla's heart.
Afura recalled how her fellow Elder Sister had been quite vocal in her
support for the punitive expedition. Perhaps that was merely Shayla's way
of exacting revenge upon those whom she thought had taken him from her.
Despite trying hard to not let his disappearance affect her, Afura could
tell inside Shayla was hurting terribly. But before now, even she had been
unaware of just how much.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shayla seemed to be back to her obstinate self since they broke camp that
morning. Afura walked along behind her as they trudged over a range of
moraines marking the border. She only half-listened to Shayla's expressing
her displeasure with seemingly everything: the weather, her blistered feet,
the futility of their exercise, and on and on and on. While Afura
ordinarily might have found herself arguing with her, she figured this was
merely Shayla's way of dealing with her own sense of loss and uncertainty.
Their original route would have taken them near the Cerulean border through
a series of swampy marshes. Afura had suggested she and Shayla instead take
a short cut through a narrow peninsula of Cerulean territory that jutted
deep into her home province. Afura had come to know the area well during
her childhood wanderings; before the Treaty no nation had laid claim to it.
But that all changed after the geynosanium deposits had been discovered.
Between the political maneuverings in years since, the mineral deposits had
been mostly depleted. That had not defrayed prospectors from all over El
Hazard from congregating among the rocky outcrops, each trying to strike it
rich by reclaiming the low-grade ore left behind. One by one the crazed
inventions and techniques had failed, some spectacularly and tragically so.
Eventually the prospectors had all given up and left. The only remaining
inhabitants were said to be several small bands of Tribesmen who had kept to
themselves after Galus' defeat. Rarely seen above the surface, they lived
together in tunnels constructed by their ancestors long ago beneath these
lands. Together, they eked out a living reclaiming and reselling what
little geynosite they could.
This part of the countryside still being primordial steppe, there was little
to mark their passing into Cerulea proper save for a derelict wooden sign
along the footpath. Afura remembered from her schoolgirl days this area was
called Neen'dar, a name meaning "rich soil" in the Cerulean tongue.
Afura looked up hearing Shayla gasp, interrupting herself in mid-rant.
Shayla silently pointed at what had caught her attention. Far away,
somewhere over the horizon, an immense cloud of black smoke rose into the
sky.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shayla and Afura stood together before the mouth of a mine shaft, its single
entrance dwarfed by the rocky cliffs around it. They had followed a goat
path descending the cliff, tracing the column of smoke to this place. After
watching the fire consume the mine head for several minutes, they both
winced as the main timbers gave way. The ground shook underneath while
steam billowed forth from the entrance. Afura could only figure the burning
timbers supporting the above-grade tunnels had collapsed into flooded
tunnels below. The ground's trembling ceased as the clouds of steam
dissipated, ending with a low rumble far beneath their feet.
Afura turned toward Shayla. Her companion stood with arms akimbo, scanning
the craters freshly blasted into the rock above the mine head before nodding
curtly. "Yeah. I can see the residual plasma decay from here," she said,
confirming for Afura what she had already concluded but still did not want
to believe. "Ifurita's handiwork -- I'm sure of it," she said, drawing back
the hood of her cloak and shaking her hair free.
Afura sniffed at the air a moment before answering her. "I can smell it,"
she said. "I am beginning to think there was more to Makoto's hunches than
maybe we had given him credit for."
Shayla grunted, conceding her point begrudgingly. Shayla had practically
bit Makoto's head off when he had explained to them both his reservations
about the punitive expedition. But as they continued their exploration,
Shayla appeared less and less convinced of her position.
All at once, Shayla tromped off through the tall grass. She stopped several
yards to their left, kneeling down beside an enormous circle of scorched
earth. "Backwash from the engines of a Roshtarian military boat. The
expedition has definitely been here."
Shayla shook her head, grunting in frustration. "I don't get it, Afura!
You and I both know Elena and Kiku are more than capable of covering the
expedition's tracks. Why would Qawool let them be so careless?"
"Bread crumbs," Afura answered at last.
"Say what?"
"Sister Qawool must have been hoping someone would follow behind gather
evidence refuting the validity of their expedition," Afura said as she
glanced around. "She's leaving us clues, Shay, like bread crumbs in the old
fairy tales." Afura sighed as she placed her hands on her hips. "She must
not like this business anymore than Makoto does."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The sun was just setting as Shayla and Afura emerged from the entrance of
the ruined mine shaft. They had walked in as far as they dared, knowing
Afura's ability to sense even the tiniest air currents would alert them to
any loose or shifting rock. About a hundred yards from the entrance, the
horizontal tunnel plummeted downward. The cables and ladders along the
shaft suggested this was merely the foyer for a larger series of tunnels
below ground. Water had blocked their passage, as both of them had
expected. The drill seemed pretty routine -- flood the tunnels to force the
Ceruleans out, bombard the tunnels carved into the rocky cliffs above to cut
off any escape routes, call for their surrender and round them up into
waiting transports.
But neither had expected the sights they encountered.
The dim glow from one of Shayla's luminescent orbs had been sufficient to
see by. In the muddy water beneath them, they saw flotsam from the
shattered caves far below. Furniture, spoiled food, dead animals that could
have been pets or livestock -- these things they expected. But the sight of
dozens of children's toys among the flotsam had even given the usually brash
and callous Shayla pause to consider.
"You'd think if the Cerulean network of spies and terrorists were all that
the Prince made them out to be, they wouldn't have let the Alliance get the
drop on them," Shayla said at last, plopping down roughly on a nearby rock.
"I mean, look at this place!" she cried, stretching her arms out as she
looked all round them. "No sign of any struggle, the only plasma discharges
I can find residue from all have Roshtarian signatures... it's as though
Justen's boats dropped from the sky and swallowed up everyone in sight!"
Afura could only nod pensively, lost in her own thoughts. She figured this
scene was playing itself out elsewhere in Cerulea but did not know where.
Ifurita had seen to it that none outside her inner circle had been privy to
exactly where the expedition was headed. "For security reasons," the
Queen's Champion had told her coolly.
She thought they might get lucky again and stumble upon another destroyed
mine, but figured it would have to wait for morning. "We're losing our
daylight, Shay. I suggest we make camp tonight on the Roshtarian side of
the border. We should--"
Afura's voice trailed off as her eyes followed where Shayla glowered behind
them. What appeared to be a pair of Tribe militiamen stood about fifty feet
away, drawing a bead on the both of them with their light crossbows. She
silently cursed herself for her carelessness.
Apparently the expedition missed a few, she thought ruefully.
"You-a hold there right, yeh! We to yew must talk," one of them bellowed in
a thick accent.
Afura looked toward Shayla, locking eyes with her as they silently argued.
Her companion was twitching her eyebrows, signaling she thought they could
take them. Afura rolled her eyes at Shayla disgustedly, silently reminding
her they had given up their Lamps years ago. Sure they had some of their
residual powers, but enough to fend off a pair of armed militiamen?
Shayla nodded, blinking twice. Afura closed her eyes tightly, just like
they had practiced.
The bright flash permeated Afura's eyelids, making her vision spotty when
she looked again. But the militiamen had dropped their bows as they had
collapsed to the ground. They writhed about, clutching at their eyes as
they moaned painfully.
Afura smiled. "You go girl," she yelled to Shayla as they sprinted toward
the rock face. Knowing they needed to find cover gave her an idea.
With a wave of her hand, Afura sent an air current whipping along the
surface of the cliff, then another. Her hearing detected the unmistakable
sound of an eddy current about fifteen yards to their left. Where there was
an eddy in the rock face, there was likely a place to hide. She silently
prayed for such as she waved to Shayla to follow her. Without the Lamp even
these cheap parlor tricks sapped her strength tremendously.
They met several yards inside the mouth of the cave a moment later. Both
panted while they tried to get their breathing under control. Afura glanced
over to see the militiamen unsteadily get to their feet again before the two
of them ducked into the cave.
"What the Seven Hells was that all about?" Shayla wheezed at last.
"I'm not really sure," Afura replied. While she had been surprised the
Expedition had left no sentries, she had hardly anticipated being drawn on
by Ceruleans. She wasn't sure whether these two had recognized them for who
they were or had simply been trying to ward off looters.
"We've gotta get out of here before they try to--" was all Shayla managed to
say before an explosion rocked the cavern.
Afura prayed the cavern roof would hold up while covering her head to
protect them from the pieces of dirt and rock that showered down on them.
"Oh, shit," she heard Shayla sputter.
"Do I want to know what that was?" Afura said, her eyes uselessly scanning
the darkness.
"No, Windy, you don't," Shayla replied curtly as a small fireball began
glowing dimly above her palm. "I'm pretty sure our friends out there blew
the damn entrance. We'll have to find another way out of here."
"I'm afraid a suitable explanation will have to wait, Shayla-Shayla. I need
your help and we haven't much time."
They both gasped and turned toward the voice that had come from behind them.
"B-but I th-thought...th-that y-you--" was all Afura could stammer as Shayla
stood speechless. She barely had enough time to make out the stranger's
face before darkness enveloped them once again.
Shayla had fainted.
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Ryoe Tsukimura, and brought to North America by Pioneer LDC. They hold all
copyright to El-Hazard, we hold none. The following story is fan fiction,
and may not be sold or distributed for profit. It is a stand-alone story,
but it takes place in the same continuity as the fan fiction series "El
Hazard: Earth".
We are giving this story a PG rating, with warning of graphic depiction of
violence and some moderately suggestive content.
We would like to thank our pre-readers, Charlie Groark, Greg Smith and
Jerry Yen.
Mark Engels mark_engels@rocketmail.com
Ken Wolfe kenwolfe@mts.net
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------
Rough Justice: A Tale of El-Hazard
----------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
------
Eleven
------
Afura Mann sat cross legged on the forest floor, trying to regain her focus.
Tiny rays of sunlight pierced the thick canopy as dawn approached, making
visible the ragged clouds of moisture emanating from her nose and mouth.
Her pale face took on a peaceful visage as she attempted to clear her
troubled mind.
Damn her! What the Seven Hells was Shayla thinking, sneaking off into the
night like that?
Afura sighed, knowing she was partly to blame. Knowing Shayla all these
years, she of all people should have predicted Shayla might pull a stunt
like this. Her longtime friend and fellow Elder Sister had been despondent
ever since The Mourning began, but even she was at a loss to understand just
why.
But Afura knew she couldn't dwell on that now. Shayla was out there
somewhere wandering around by herself, most certainly in a foul mood. That
alone was cause for concern.
Afura's heart lightened as she listened to the winds. They sang their
familiar song, comforting her as she gathered her center. The winds had
been her friend since she was a little girl; the ethereal Intuition had
guided her through trouble time and again. The winds would not disappoint
her now. They would tell her what she wanted to know.
Struggle. The air currents told of a struggle. And Shayla's scent was
unmistakable.
Shayla was in trouble.
Afura was up with a start, sprinting off through the woods in the direction
the Intuition had shown her. She began to fear the worst, however, as
Shayla's scent became more and more desperate. If Shayla was trying to
fight off a foe herself, she wasn't faring well.
Afura's faith in the Intuition paid off once again. She could hear Shayla
now, cursing and grunting as if trying to free herself from something.
But from what?
She slowed her pace as the sounds of the struggle faded. Afura paused at
the edge of a little brook, looking up into the canopy to locate from where
Shayla's ragged breathing was coming.
Afura collapsed to the ground, laughing uncontrollably at the sight before
her.
"All right, all right, very funny," Shayla said. "Now how about helping me
down from here?"
Shayla swayed to and fro, hanging upside down from the top of a rockwood
tree. A length of cord held her sidewinder yakskin boots skyward while her
long red locks pointed straight towards the ground. It was several minutes
before Afura could even manage to sit up, let alone answer her.
"V-ver-very well then," Afura stuttered, trying to keep from
hyperventilating.
Afura couldn't recall seeing anything in her whole life funnier than seeing
Shayla so. She savored the thought of their long walk back to Floristica.
All that time to ponder all the future inopportune moments she would remind
Shayla of this.
She paused a moment to wipe away tears and her black bangs before setting
about to getting Shayla down. Shayla's face glowed as red as a landing
beacon despite her dusky skin. Her friend dangled almost fifteen feet above
the forest floor. Maybe Shayla had accidentally stumbled onto a boar
hunter's trapping line. Usually such a commotion would have brought the
hunter running, demanding an apology from Shayla for scaring away his game.
Afura marveled at the hunter's good fortune -- imposing upon Shayla in her
current state would certainly have brought about a fiery response in more
ways than one. Although the Roshtarian hinterlands bordering Cerulea were
usually thick with prospectors, trappers and hermits, they hadn't seen
another person in two days. Word of the Prince Justen's military campaign
must have spread quickly.
"Mark my words, Windy, Makoto OWES me now," Shayla fumed. "This ought to be
worth at least a week's worth of tubers n' beast from the Palace kitchen."
"By my tally now you're up to three months' worth, Shay," Afura replied
while uncoiling her rope. "You'll get fat if you're not careful."
Shayla snorted, crossing her arms indignantly even though still hanging
upside down. "Not hardly. I've been keeping myself in shape, ya know. I'm
just as buff now as--"
"--as the last time you fell head over heels for an older man?" Afura
interrupted. Her brown eyes sparkled as she teased her old friend. "And
now you've fallen again, heels over your head this time!"
Shayla drew her fists to her sides as Afura lashed her rope around a tree
stump. "Damn your eyes, Afura!" she spat, green eyes flashing with anger.
"You've got some nerve picking on me when I'm like this! Let me show you
just how good a shape I'm really in!"
Afura hoped Shayla wasn't about to do what she thought she might, but saw
the familiar blue glow already emanating from Shayla's body. Afura shook
her hands hurriedly to warn her friend of the pending, and certainly
unconsidered, consequence of her actions. But her warning came too late.
The cord binding Shayla's feet snapped, burned clean through by the residual
heat marshaled by the former Great Priestess of Fire. She shrieked loudly
before impacting the forest floor with a dull thud.
Witnessing yet another of Shayla's productions would have normally sent
Afura into another round of hysterics. But she felt a twinge of sadness
seeing her old friend sob in an undignified heap. Afura was at her side at
once.
"Are you hurt?" Afura said before beginning to gently probing for any broken
bones. Finding none, she helped Shayla sit up against a tree. As Shayla's
sobbing grew louder, Afura began to grow anxious. Shayla had the
constitution of a mountain goat, after all; a little bump on her head
couldn't have brought this on. Maybe, Afura thought glumly, my needling
struck a nerve this time.
"An old maid like you wouldn't understand!" Shayla hollered. "I can't stand
it anymore. I need to know what happened to him," she blubbered on, her
voice trailing off as sobs again racked her body.
Afura shushed her, holding Shayla's trembling body to her own. "It's okay,
Shay. I'm not mad at you for sneaking off. I was only afraid you'd get
yourself hurt. I've lost too many friends lately," she said in a husky
voice. "I didn't want to lose you too."
Neither of them said anything for some time. It all made sense now.
Shayla, despite her being unusually thick-headed most of the time, had
learned well the lessons her life had taught her. Afura had long suspected
Shayla's new drinking buddy had come to mean much more to her than she cared
to admit.
Even though it had come as a shock to her, Afura was delighted at the new
development in Shayla's life. She had never bought the old saw that like
attracts like, but maybe there was some truth to it after all.
"That idiot," Shayla sniffled at last as she dried her eyes. "I told him to
be careful when he accepted his commission. He knew better than to wander
off alone with one of those blue-skinned bastards. What the hell was he
thinking?"
Afura pondered the notion perhaps Shayla was right -- maybe she was an old
maid. While Afura felt whole and fulfilled with only her meditations and
her books, she long knew Shayla pined for a soul mate. Through several
bizarre twists of fate, a crusty old soldier had managed to earn a special
place in Shayla's heart.
Afura recalled how her fellow Elder Sister had been quite vocal in her
support for the punitive expedition. Perhaps that was merely Shayla's way
of exacting revenge upon those whom she thought had taken him from her.
Despite trying hard to not let his disappearance affect her, Afura could
tell inside Shayla was hurting terribly. But before now, even she had been
unaware of just how much.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shayla seemed to be back to her obstinate self since they broke camp that
morning. Afura walked along behind her as they trudged over a range of
moraines marking the border. She only half-listened to Shayla's expressing
her displeasure with seemingly everything: the weather, her blistered feet,
the futility of their exercise, and on and on and on. While Afura
ordinarily might have found herself arguing with her, she figured this was
merely Shayla's way of dealing with her own sense of loss and uncertainty.
Their original route would have taken them near the Cerulean border through
a series of swampy marshes. Afura had suggested she and Shayla instead take
a short cut through a narrow peninsula of Cerulean territory that jutted
deep into her home province. Afura had come to know the area well during
her childhood wanderings; before the Treaty no nation had laid claim to it.
But that all changed after the geynosanium deposits had been discovered.
Between the political maneuverings in years since, the mineral deposits had
been mostly depleted. That had not defrayed prospectors from all over El
Hazard from congregating among the rocky outcrops, each trying to strike it
rich by reclaiming the low-grade ore left behind. One by one the crazed
inventions and techniques had failed, some spectacularly and tragically so.
Eventually the prospectors had all given up and left. The only remaining
inhabitants were said to be several small bands of Tribesmen who had kept to
themselves after Galus' defeat. Rarely seen above the surface, they lived
together in tunnels constructed by their ancestors long ago beneath these
lands. Together, they eked out a living reclaiming and reselling what
little geynosite they could.
This part of the countryside still being primordial steppe, there was little
to mark their passing into Cerulea proper save for a derelict wooden sign
along the footpath. Afura remembered from her schoolgirl days this area was
called Neen'dar, a name meaning "rich soil" in the Cerulean tongue.
Afura looked up hearing Shayla gasp, interrupting herself in mid-rant.
Shayla silently pointed at what had caught her attention. Far away,
somewhere over the horizon, an immense cloud of black smoke rose into the
sky.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shayla and Afura stood together before the mouth of a mine shaft, its single
entrance dwarfed by the rocky cliffs around it. They had followed a goat
path descending the cliff, tracing the column of smoke to this place. After
watching the fire consume the mine head for several minutes, they both
winced as the main timbers gave way. The ground shook underneath while
steam billowed forth from the entrance. Afura could only figure the burning
timbers supporting the above-grade tunnels had collapsed into flooded
tunnels below. The ground's trembling ceased as the clouds of steam
dissipated, ending with a low rumble far beneath their feet.
Afura turned toward Shayla. Her companion stood with arms akimbo, scanning
the craters freshly blasted into the rock above the mine head before nodding
curtly. "Yeah. I can see the residual plasma decay from here," she said,
confirming for Afura what she had already concluded but still did not want
to believe. "Ifurita's handiwork -- I'm sure of it," she said, drawing back
the hood of her cloak and shaking her hair free.
Afura sniffed at the air a moment before answering her. "I can smell it,"
she said. "I am beginning to think there was more to Makoto's hunches than
maybe we had given him credit for."
Shayla grunted, conceding her point begrudgingly. Shayla had practically
bit Makoto's head off when he had explained to them both his reservations
about the punitive expedition. But as they continued their exploration,
Shayla appeared less and less convinced of her position.
All at once, Shayla tromped off through the tall grass. She stopped several
yards to their left, kneeling down beside an enormous circle of scorched
earth. "Backwash from the engines of a Roshtarian military boat. The
expedition has definitely been here."
Shayla shook her head, grunting in frustration. "I don't get it, Afura!
You and I both know Elena and Kiku are more than capable of covering the
expedition's tracks. Why would Qawool let them be so careless?"
"Bread crumbs," Afura answered at last.
"Say what?"
"Sister Qawool must have been hoping someone would follow behind gather
evidence refuting the validity of their expedition," Afura said as she
glanced around. "She's leaving us clues, Shay, like bread crumbs in the old
fairy tales." Afura sighed as she placed her hands on her hips. "She must
not like this business anymore than Makoto does."
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The sun was just setting as Shayla and Afura emerged from the entrance of
the ruined mine shaft. They had walked in as far as they dared, knowing
Afura's ability to sense even the tiniest air currents would alert them to
any loose or shifting rock. About a hundred yards from the entrance, the
horizontal tunnel plummeted downward. The cables and ladders along the
shaft suggested this was merely the foyer for a larger series of tunnels
below ground. Water had blocked their passage, as both of them had
expected. The drill seemed pretty routine -- flood the tunnels to force the
Ceruleans out, bombard the tunnels carved into the rocky cliffs above to cut
off any escape routes, call for their surrender and round them up into
waiting transports.
But neither had expected the sights they encountered.
The dim glow from one of Shayla's luminescent orbs had been sufficient to
see by. In the muddy water beneath them, they saw flotsam from the
shattered caves far below. Furniture, spoiled food, dead animals that could
have been pets or livestock -- these things they expected. But the sight of
dozens of children's toys among the flotsam had even given the usually brash
and callous Shayla pause to consider.
"You'd think if the Cerulean network of spies and terrorists were all that
the Prince made them out to be, they wouldn't have let the Alliance get the
drop on them," Shayla said at last, plopping down roughly on a nearby rock.
"I mean, look at this place!" she cried, stretching her arms out as she
looked all round them. "No sign of any struggle, the only plasma discharges
I can find residue from all have Roshtarian signatures... it's as though
Justen's boats dropped from the sky and swallowed up everyone in sight!"
Afura could only nod pensively, lost in her own thoughts. She figured this
scene was playing itself out elsewhere in Cerulea but did not know where.
Ifurita had seen to it that none outside her inner circle had been privy to
exactly where the expedition was headed. "For security reasons," the
Queen's Champion had told her coolly.
She thought they might get lucky again and stumble upon another destroyed
mine, but figured it would have to wait for morning. "We're losing our
daylight, Shay. I suggest we make camp tonight on the Roshtarian side of
the border. We should--"
Afura's voice trailed off as her eyes followed where Shayla glowered behind
them. What appeared to be a pair of Tribe militiamen stood about fifty feet
away, drawing a bead on the both of them with their light crossbows. She
silently cursed herself for her carelessness.
Apparently the expedition missed a few, she thought ruefully.
"You-a hold there right, yeh! We to yew must talk," one of them bellowed in
a thick accent.
Afura looked toward Shayla, locking eyes with her as they silently argued.
Her companion was twitching her eyebrows, signaling she thought they could
take them. Afura rolled her eyes at Shayla disgustedly, silently reminding
her they had given up their Lamps years ago. Sure they had some of their
residual powers, but enough to fend off a pair of armed militiamen?
Shayla nodded, blinking twice. Afura closed her eyes tightly, just like
they had practiced.
The bright flash permeated Afura's eyelids, making her vision spotty when
she looked again. But the militiamen had dropped their bows as they had
collapsed to the ground. They writhed about, clutching at their eyes as
they moaned painfully.
Afura smiled. "You go girl," she yelled to Shayla as they sprinted toward
the rock face. Knowing they needed to find cover gave her an idea.
With a wave of her hand, Afura sent an air current whipping along the
surface of the cliff, then another. Her hearing detected the unmistakable
sound of an eddy current about fifteen yards to their left. Where there was
an eddy in the rock face, there was likely a place to hide. She silently
prayed for such as she waved to Shayla to follow her. Without the Lamp even
these cheap parlor tricks sapped her strength tremendously.
They met several yards inside the mouth of the cave a moment later. Both
panted while they tried to get their breathing under control. Afura glanced
over to see the militiamen unsteadily get to their feet again before the two
of them ducked into the cave.
"What the Seven Hells was that all about?" Shayla wheezed at last.
"I'm not really sure," Afura replied. While she had been surprised the
Expedition had left no sentries, she had hardly anticipated being drawn on
by Ceruleans. She wasn't sure whether these two had recognized them for who
they were or had simply been trying to ward off looters.
"We've gotta get out of here before they try to--" was all Shayla managed to
say before an explosion rocked the cavern.
Afura prayed the cavern roof would hold up while covering her head to
protect them from the pieces of dirt and rock that showered down on them.
"Oh, shit," she heard Shayla sputter.
"Do I want to know what that was?" Afura said, her eyes uselessly scanning
the darkness.
"No, Windy, you don't," Shayla replied curtly as a small fireball began
glowing dimly above her palm. "I'm pretty sure our friends out there blew
the damn entrance. We'll have to find another way out of here."
"I'm afraid a suitable explanation will have to wait, Shayla-Shayla. I need
your help and we haven't much time."
They both gasped and turned toward the voice that had come from behind them.
"B-but I th-thought...th-that y-you--" was all Afura could stammer as Shayla
stood speechless. She barely had enough time to make out the stranger's
face before darkness enveloped them once again.
Shayla had fainted.
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