16 - The Resonant

The first thing she became aware of was the throbbing pain.

How distinctive it was, from that white hot, burning pain that encompassed her whole body beforehand. Now consigned to a pulsing, burning brand in her head, it was almost a blissful contrast.

She slowly cracked her eyes open, relieved to see the massive blue lit apparatus that had hung over her head withdrawn to one side; above was only the far-off darkly lit ceiling.

"My...my head…" She groaned aloud, and she heard the sound of armoured footsteps turning around near her. A voice - the voice of Lord Zenos saying something, but it seemed too far away for her to hear properly.

Slowly, oh so slowly, she inched her head up to look. Down her scantily clad body that still rested on the operating table, to where Prince Zenos stood, one hand resting on the edge of the table.

"She lives. Impressive...or merely lucky. That too may prove a useful trait." His voice seemed throaty and far-off. Was he speaking to her or himself? She slowly pushed herself up, her body sluggish and unresponsive - as if weighed down with lead, but she managed to sit up, wincing with the effort.

"My lord...what have you done to me..?" She managed, flashes of what Aulus had said beforehand, flashing through her head - oh and the pain...that terrible pain. There was something else too...something that hid behind a veil of memories that already were fading from her brain like a lost dream. There had been a clifftop, clouds...the Warrior of Light.

Zenos had turned to look at the other side of the table and Fordola now slowly glanced to see Lord Aulus standing there. The scientist looked pleased but his infectious smile from earlier had been replaced with a more neutral expression. "Though we Garleans are intellectually and physiologically superior in almost all respects." The scientist gestured to Lord Zenos at that. "We lack the hereditary traits required for the reliable manipulation of aether - hence our unique inability to wield magicks."

Fordola nodded, some of his words sounded familiar, she had been told this, Aulus was still talking dispassionately, partly to her, partly to the prince. "This deficiency, for want of a better word, saw us subjected to decades of oppression by the lesser races, and we were eventually driven to seek shelter in the cold northern reaches of Ilsabard. Fortunately, said region was replete with vast deposits of ceruleum, which proved instrumental in the development of magitek: a revolutionary technology conceived to compensate for our disadvantage."

The scientist paused dramatically, but again Fordola found herself not really taking in his words, Gods her head hurt. "It was with magitek that we grew strong - that our nation became an empire. Yet ultimately, this was an extrinsic solution to an intrinsic problem. What I wanted was not a crude device to be used in lieu of magic. Through modification of the Garlean genome, I argued that it might be possible to enhance a subject's ability to manipulate aether, effectively empowering them to wield magicks. Alas my theories were met with consternation in the Imperial court. Only Lord Zenos, with commendable foresight and wisdom, deigned to support my research."

Yes...it was coming back to her. Could she see souls now? Could she wield aether? Did she have this mysterious 'Echo'? Fordola tried squinting at Lord Aulus; he looked no different to her.

She voiced her thoughts hesitantly. "...You gave me this treatment?" She cursed her words, of course he had, she remembered all too well and quickly added "But I'm not Garlean."

Now that sounded petulant, but the thought gnawed at her. Was she nothing more than a test subject? Or was she more, and to who?

"Ala Mhigan, through and through." Lord Zenos chuckled, a touch of mirth, of hunger in his voice. "What you have been granted is far greater than mere magic. Before that lesser light, it is as a second sun." He said the last seriously, the touch of mirth drained from his voice.

"I am informed that Ala Ghiri was recently occupied by the Resistance, and that an attack on Specula Imperatoris is considered imminent." Lord Aulus directed his words to Zenos, not even looking at Fordola. "This could provide an ideal opportunity to test her performance in the field."

"Your...Skulls was it?" Zenos yae Galvus looked over at Fordola. "They have joined the garrison at the watchtower?"

"...Yes, my lord." She replied, flexing her arms behind her back as she tried to massage them back to life. "By your leave, I would rendezvous with them, and lead a counterattack against the insurgents."

"No." Zenos spoke the words flatly and finally. "Even were you to leave now, you would not arrive in time. There is another duty I would entrust to you…"

Fordola waited patiently as the prince seemed to think over his words for a moment, before he favoured her with a smile. "Before I entrust this duty to you, there is a more pressing concern that needs addressing. Firstly, it is the next day after your return to Ala Mhigo...General Mattenix and his personal guard have been quietly attempting to locate you. He asked me a few veiled questions this morning and I deigned to tell him you were indeed alive and somewhere within Ala Mhigo. It seems he is most keen to make your acquaintance."

The prince stepped closer, the smile widening. "I also had the pleasure of receiving a debriefing from the head of the Vulpes, I believe you know him, Savlor Quo Catradia? I mentioned in an off-hand manner that you had been spotted in a top secret facility beneath the castle. By now, I fully expect him to have told General Mattenix this nugget of information and I suspect the good General and his men are on the way at this very moment…"

Fordola felt a mixture of emotions, including some semblance of panic flutter in her chest. Surely after all she had gone through, Lord Zenos did not propose to allow Mattenix to imprison her?

"Myself and Lord Aulus will now depart by a different exit." The prince reached out with one gauntleted hand and touched Fordola's cheek tenderly. She did not flinch away. "Your gunblade is in my quarters waiting for you to take it and depart for the front…"

He leaned in close to Fordola. "Again, I ask you to prove to me the Wolf I think you are." He held her gaze meaningfully for one long moment. Then, releasing her hand he walked away, towards the steps down from the apparatus.

Lord Aulus stepped forwards, the smile was back. "You probably have a few moments before the General arrives," he added. "The paralysis should have almost worn off and your aetheric reading proves that you should have the full benefit of our modifications, I expect a great performance from you."

He beamed one more time, but it was tinged with sudden malice as he favoured Fordola one more mock wave. "You are now a resonant, Fordola rem Lupis - don't disappoint Lord Zenos or myself. Rest assured I will be watching you very closely from a secure location...don't worry about making a mess." Tittering quietly at the last, the scientist started descending down the steps and out of sight.

Fordola slowly swung her bare legs around and rested them off the side of the table as she watched Lord Aulus join Prince Zenos at the back of the vast chamber where a small, partly hidden doorway stood. Zenos gave her one last look, a ravenous grin which even at this distance was obvious in its intent. The two men left, and the door slammed shut and she heard a latch turn

Fordola was alone.

She waited a few moments, focussing on steadying her breathing and clearing her muddled thoughts. Then, slowly she lowered her legs down to the floor, gasping slightly as muscles protested. Slower still, using her arms on the table as leverage, she steadied herself on the floor next to the operating table.

She falteringly took a step towards the steps that led down the side of the apparatus, back to the ground level of the massive chamber, but found her legs would only haltingly move.

Suddenly, she felt a pulse of pain in her head - like something eating into her brain - danger, it screamed to her, danger! There was a new noise other than the low hum of machinery, the noise of metal footsteps ringing on the floor.

She backed up to the operating table and half knelt behind it, facing back towards the far wall where she and Lord Aulus had originally entered the chamber.

Sure enough, just as she bent out of sight, the door was kicked open with a crash and an armoured Garlean soldier rushed in, gunblade at his side, opening the door for more troops to pour in at a rush.

There must have been over 20 men that steadily fanned before Mattenix sas Vandiatius entered, a further few soldiers entering closely behind before the door slammed shut behind them.

Unlike his armoured troops, the General was plainly attired in his dress uniform - unarmoured, a duelling cane and revolver at his side. The well armed Garlean troops however were fully armoured and helmeted...the majority wielding the short gunblade, the hauteclaire revolver, the personal weapon of Mattenix's Landis guard…

"What is this place?" Fordola could make out the Generals words quite easily, despite the great distance separating them, her ears seemed particularly keen.

"Some sort of research facility…" One of the troops close to him answered (a captain?) as the rest of the guard kept close to the door. "The Elzeen savage said she was trying to find some sort of weapon to lead a rebellion against Lord Zenos."

"Pah, preposterous!" Mattenix scoffed loudly, throwing his head back with the motion. "The things savages say to save their own necks...fan out men, comb this area!"

"You heard the general!" The captain loudly shouted to the assembled men, gesturing with a clenched fist. "Find the savage!"

The Garleans began to spread out across the room, starting to inch down the chamber towards the upraised apparatus on which Fordola hid.

Suddenly a cry echoed out, "Look captain!" Fordola peeked over the table to see a Garlean soldier emerge from behind the curtain where she had changed earlier. The trooper was holding aloft her smallclothes for the others to see. "Looks like she is here somewhere!"

Mattenix came forward, laughing uproariously. He seized the small bit of fabric and held it high to the other men. "See these boys? No cobwebs - you're in for a treat if you find her!"

The mocking laughter was repeated by many of the soldiers and Fordola felt a burning anger spread through her. The ache in her arms and legs seemed to vanish as the white hot rage poured over her. It was like a dam had been opened in her body as energy flowed through her and she felt a trembling desire for movement, for violence.

Still, she was rational and hesitated. There were over twenty soldiers, well armed and armoured...she was wearing almost nothing and had no weapons to hand. She frowned, trying to focus her thoughts as the Garleans resumed slowly moving down the chamber towards her and for the first time...saw something.

Each soldier seemed to...glow with a very slight outline, a blue haze here, a red haze there, purple, white, black...a medley of colours. Some were similar, but always there was a slightly different intensity or shade. She became aware too, of a strange taste in her mouth, acid and sharp, like fresh blood and tried to ignore it.

The Garleans were now half way down the chamber, spread out, most in pairs, starting to examine the strange coffins that ran up to the legs of the apparatus on which Fordola hid. She noted that the gaps through which she had seen the Scion, Kryle, earlier through had been sealed, it was now impossible to look inside.

Then suddenly, the pulsing pain at her head intensified and her whole vision wavered….

Hear,

It was a dead rattle of a voice, like a tree cracking in two, sexless, ancient and distorted.

ThiNKKKKKKK,

The voice stretched out and jarring in her head, unbearable, she clenched her fists as she felt close to blacking out...

But then suddenly her head was clear again, and the Garleans were now very close to the base of apparatus. She had seconds before the first would climb the steps and see the table and Fordola crouched behind it. Time to move.

She searched around for a weapon, for anything! There, on the table of consoles was the strange aether measuring device Aulus had used on her earlier. Keeping low to the floor, she scooped it up and held it in her hand.

It was small, only a little larger than her hand, but reassuringly weightly and made of a hard material. She glanced back down, the soldiers were now clustering around the base of the platform, examining the coffins, murmuring among themselves. Mattenix was still near the far wall, examining something with two guards.

Then she heard the armoured footsteps on the steps leading up to the platform, three soldiers were coming up, time to choose! A quick glance down the far side of the apparatus showed it to be several yalms, but if she could jump it, she would be concealed among the Garlean coffins.

Bracing her legs, she slid off the side hoping nobody would see her fall and landed quietly, marvelling at how her legs barely jarred from falling such a distance! She was now obscured by two coffins on either side which towered over her. This sense of empowerment was fleeting however as she looked up to see the last of three guards reaching the top of the apparatus, noting that there were a dozen others on the ground lever very close.

"Have you found anything yet?" The captain's cold voice rang out from near Mattenix. "What's up there?"

"More machina." Came the shout back from above. "Some sort of...operating table."

"Keep searching!" Came the shout back and Fordola felt an overwhelming sense of danger, her skin turned to gooseflesh and she glanced back instinctively, crouching next to a coffin that shielded her view.

A Garlean armoured trooper was approaching, carefully examining the coffins and in a moment he would be standing next to her. She waited, poised. Hide? Fight? Flee? All the possibilities ran through her head in an instance.

FeeeeeeEEELLLllllllllllll

The creaking, ancient voice rumbled through her brain, thankfully absent of pain. Twelve be damned, was she hearing spirits or ghosts now?

"Come on men, we don't have all day!" Mattenix's voice shouted out, impatient and belligerent. "Find the savage whore if she's hiding here, drag her to my feet and you can all have a go!"

Fordola's mind cleared as again white hot anger pulsed, she looked out from the side of the coffin, the Garlean officer was examining the other side of it now, distracted and looking away…

She moved out, smooth and supple, and in one swift motion bent her right arm around the helmet and twisted as hard as she could!

To her surprise, the head immediately cracked fully round in her vice grip and there was a sickening (but thankfully quiet) sound of bones splintering and breaking. The man didn't even cry out as he slumped and Fordola caught the body, carefully to keep the fall as soundless as possible.

Gods, was she stronger as well? Was this what being a resonant meant? Was she some sort of monster now?

She felt a strong 'pulse' of danger spear through her brain and turned as two Garlean officers came round the other side of the apparatus and spotted her crouching over the dead man.

"She's here!" One of the men shouted as both raised their short handed gunblades.

But they did not fire, they hesitated, oh - they wanted her alive!

She didn't think it through, just released all the bubbling anger, rage and fear within her as a raw pulse of energy. She pushed forwards with sudden speed, faster than a Hyur had ever moved, closing the short distance to the two men and brough Aulus' machina device down like a brick on the first man's armoured head.

It connected with a weighty, satisfying crunch and he fell and Fordola spun, pivoting into the other man connecting the device straight into the middle of his armoured face.

He crumbled, and as he fell his trigger finger tightened in a death vice, the gunblade firing echoing shots aloud into the air - and then all hells broke loose.

Time seemed to slow as she crouched there, the two bodies still falling - ablaze with otherworldly energy, with fire, with purpose, as Garleans converged on her from all sides.

The first to have a clear shot advanced as a group, four Garleans approached from around the apparatus coffins, raising gunblades. She didn't need to see the haze of aether around each man to tell her that any interest in taking her alive had now vanished.

Rather, she saw strange, wispy aetheric lines reach out and connect to her, as if they were focussing entirely on her, gunblades raised to shoot her dead. She could see the shots, like tracer fire, glowing from their revolvers, connecting with her bare throat, before it even happened!

She dived left, behind one of the metal coffins as the shots rang out in a crackle of energy.

She could hear movement above, the three men above! They would have a clear shot from the steps, she had to move! She glanced at her first victim, the corpse rested next to his fallen gunblade. She rolled, picking up the short, bladed weapon at the end of the movement and charged the four Garleans.

One tried to get a shot off but it flew wide as she closed the distance. A blur of movement, a fountain of raw power - a demon to behold before she was upon them, swiping the short blade with vicious, augmented abandon.

The Garlean soldiers seemed sluggish, and slow, and she - unstoppable. Their every move was clearly telegraphed to her in advance, a mist of shadows and visions kept her from death as she cut them down.

As she slashed the blade across the neck guard of the last man standing, she felt a pulse of danger, and a bloom of red danger blossomed around her.

There was a metallic tapping sound and she divided and rolled past the fallen men as a Garlean grenade exploded where she had been a moment ago, thrown from the three men descending the stairs above.

She came out of her roll as flecks of white hot shrapnel seared her back and levelled the gunblade at them, firing all three chambers in rapid succession. The first connected and the man fell with a death scream from the steps but the other two went wide.

Curses and insults filled the air as the Garlean troops continued to try and close around her. Several shot as they moved in but each time Fordola sensed it coming and ducked behind objects, or pivoted smoothly – her body almost moving on its own.

She danced between the slow men clad in their cumbersome, sluggish armour. Battering aside sword strokes, slashing viciously – they seemed helpless to stop her as she flew between them, barefoot and wild.

It seemed like ages, but in reality hardly any time had passed and all the Garleans near here were dead or dying.

"What are you playing out!" Mattenix's course tones rang out from afar, there was no panic in those commanding tones. "She's just one savage, cut her down!"

She looked up, a dozen or so Garleans were lined up in front of Mattenix, gunblades raised – advancing carefully forwards in a line, watching the mad, half-naked woman standing among the dead bodies of a dozen more men, gunblade dripping with blood.

"Go and get more men!" Mattenix gestured to one of the two guards standing by him who darted for the door and pulled at the handle firmly. It did not budge.

"It's locked General!" And that cry of panic did more damage to the Garlean cause then Fordola ever could. The aether around the advancing Garleans thrashed, she could almost see the doubt that suddenly gripped them, as unwillingly several half turned heads back towards the door.

Fordola leapt! Higher than a normal Hyur could ever jump; feeling the pulses of energy pounding her body and landed amongst the Garlean line. She ducked and weaved, blade stinging and weaving as the Garleans tried to hack at her as she danced through them, effortless and unstoppable.

Again, the bodies fell and she stood alone, amongst the bodies of the Garlean line. Blood trickled down her back from the earlier grenade, and now it was matched by blood from her arm where a Garlean shot had come close, but not close enough.

She dropped the hauteclaire revolve, its blade dented and sullied beyond practical use as more bullets whistled around her. One scorched her shoulder as she moved just a moment too slow and pain blossoming and more blood flowed as she picked up a second gunblade and threw it, arcing through the air to bury the shooter in the chest.

Picking a third gunblade with a single remaining shot, she met three Garleans who charged her, blades raised high. The three fought as a unit, experienced, disciplined and undeterred by their dead brothers around them, nor the half naked, bloodied woman with a single eye that gleaned red.

Fordola was an experienced, vetern fighter but she would have fallen to the three men before her. However, she could hear their fear, their thoughts, their doubts. She could feel the whistle of air a blade would make before it was swung at her, giving her that split-second to dart aside, to parry, to duck. And she had all the time to think ahead, almost as if everything was in a strange slow motion.

For a moment she was held at bay, as the three Garleans pivoted, stabbed and hacked at her as she was denied an opening to counterattack. Then one slipped slightly on the blood dripping on the floor and Fordola swept forwards, blade slicing across the neck and then it was two against one. She was pushing forwards, growing in confidence even as the two remaining men faltered and the openings were suddenly obvious. Left! Right! Two more bodies slumped to the ground.

An echoing crack whistled out and a bullet zinged past her ear. She turned, raising her revolver and fired its last shot effortlessly at the man who had taken up a position back on the stairs behind. He fell with a cry and Fordola was left standing for a moment, no immediate enemies left to kill. Her chest heaved, but she did not feel tired, rather she felt alive, more alive than ever! Alight with a power, a crackling energy that coursed through her.

Red aether pulsed around her and she ducked as another shot cracked past where her head had been.

She looked up, towards the wall. Mattenix and his two remaining men were clustered at the door, one of the guardsmen frantically tugging at the immovable door. Mattenix had his small pistol out and was looking at her, his face a mask of fear and revulsion.

She strode forwards, picking up speed and sidestepping as the other guardsman sent a wild volley of shots at her. She charged down on the three men, even as her heightened senses heard the generals pistol click empty.

She took out the near guardsman first, arcing the blade up and through the weak neck guard, then she pivoted around Mattenix, bringing the blade crashing down on the second guardsman by the door.

And then, in a blink of the eye she turned and ran the blade through Mattenix's chest, driving it with such force the blade crunched into the wall, holding the general fast.

"That was for Mari." She whispered, releasing the blade and stepping back.

The eyes of Mattenix sas Vandiatius met her own briefly. "...you savage…" he whispered horsely as blood spurted from his mouth and the light in his eyes faded forever.

She stepped away from the body, almost slipping over the guardsman's corpse on the floor as the energy, the elation of battle faded. She stood alone, amongst the carnage she had wrought. Garlean bodies strewn everywhere, all the way back to the apparatus, blood splattered across the floor, the strange machina devices and...herself. She hardly noticed the pain in her body, it seemed distant and unimportant.

Was this what Lord Zenos had wanted? Would he now kill her for her murder of the top Garlean general in Ala Mhigo? No...she corrected herself, it was'nt murder, this was a twisted test set by the prince and Lord Aulus...and she had passed it, right?

Walking, almost in a daze, she turned and headed back the way she had come, stepping over fallen bodies, her bare feet padding through blood to the door which Zenos and Aulus had exited by earlier. She pushed and the door slid open revealing dark steps heading up which she climbed, leaving blood training behind her on the cold, hard surface.

The silence in the courtroom had never been more oppressive, or doom-laden then it felt now, akin to a morgue as Fordola finished speaking for a moment. She looked left, without meaning to,, at the Warrior of Light and saw, to her everlasting shame, pity flickering in those eyes.

"Don't you look at me like that!" She shouted, disgraced to feel sudden wetness in her eyes. Cursing this woman who blazed with golden light. "Anyone but you! You who've slaughtered hundreds of Garlean troops to stand where you stand, I don't need your...your pity!"

"The prisoner will be silent!" Admiral Merlywyb bellowed loudly and Fordola's shoulders shook as she tore her eyes away from Sara, the Eorzean champion.

Why did it have to be her?

Surely if anyone could understand Fordola...it would be her?

Her enemy, but also...the only one she could turn to...

"You did not think to hide, or even run?" The seedseer asked, no emotion in her voice. "Instead you chose slaughter?"

"I did not have a choice!" Fordola retorted, trying to keep scorn out of her voice and failing, grateful that the question brought her back to the present. "You cannot seriously expect that I could have hidden, or even had a chance to run in that situation?"

"No…" The seedseer said, this time with a touch of sadness. "No...I suppose I can't expect that of you."

"So!" Raubahn spoke up loudly, although - Gods, even his voice sounded a bit uneasy. "You slaughtered the top general of Ala Mhigo mere days before the city was to come under siege, what happened then?"

"I followed the stairs." Fordola took deep breaths, steadying her voice and raging emotions. "Several times again I came to abandoned corridors, branching routes but I...I could sense Zenos's aether, like following a faint scent. Which way he had walked and climbed and I kept on following the passages and the stairs as they led higher and higher. Finally a door slipped me out into the palace proper. I was somewhere high up and the afternoon sun was beaming through windows. Ahead, I could see a grand double door which I knew were the chambers of Lord Zenos. There were two guards outside and as I approached, half dressed and covered in blood they simply stood aside and opened the door. They had been expecting me, and I walked past, into the personal chambers of Lord Zenos."

The doors slowly shut behind her, as Fordola took in the opulent surroundings.

This was the royal quarters, where Kings and Queens of Ala Mhigo resided; where King Manfred himself had planned and directed his Autumn War against Eorzea. The great room spread out, rich with history and thick purple carpets. There was a crackling fireplace which blazed with heat beneath a stuffed griffin's head mounted high on the wall, bookcases that were filled with scrolls and texts and golden mounted candles which flickered around her.

Ahead, was a great hardwood table next to a massive panoramic window affording unrivalled views over the city of Ala Mhigo and far below, the dusty stretches of the far-off Lochs.

"So you are the wolf I knew you to be."

The prince's tone was practically purring and she turned to see him reclining on a long, rich sofa, a glass of wine casually in one hand. The armour was gone and he was dressed casually, for the prince, in a fine white linen tunic and black breeches. He was smiling at her, but Fordola's gaze was drawn to her gunblade, which rested against the sofa by the prince's leg.

He gestured, towards the table by the massive window. "There is a wash basin and a towel, clean yourself up."

She didn't move for a moment, her eyes flicking from the prince on her right and the gunblade at his side. Strangely, this caused the smile on Lord Zenos' lips to widen, and he gestured again with the wine glass towards the table. "Your blade will still be here for you wolf."

Slowly, she moved, spotting the golden basin that had been placed on the table, a fine woolen towel resting on the table besides it.

She looked down in the basin, seeing her reflection for the first time and let out a startled gasp.

Her left eye was the green it has always been, but her right eye was that of a stranger. It glowed a faint, pinkish - otherworldly - red. As Fordola stared she began to see patterns in the red glow, tiny arcane symbols seemed to swirl on her pupil within.

"Lord Aulus was most pleased." The prince's tones washed over her, as if from a great distance. "The procedure was a complete success. Some of the first experiments had the eye but not the complete mandala pattern that allows you to see aether like no other. Some of the first, successful experiments had the eye, but then the aetheric pressures would eat them alive...it was most messy. Lord Aulus found that an external pressure applied to a subject soon after the procedure, a quickening, if you like - creates a balance of sorts within the resonant. You are the first successful proof of his life's work."

Fordola was still dumbly staring at her eye, ignoring the blood, the dirt and her askew hair. "Is...is it real m'lord?" She asked hesitantly, "The eye?"

"What does it matter if it's real or artificial?" Lord Zenos replied, his tone sounding a little more bored now. "Were Lord Aulus here no doubt he would talk at length about the procedure, but he will now have returned to the lab, to clean up as it were."

She turned at that, staring back at the prince as he supped from his cup of wine. "General Mattenix...is dead." She stated flatly, sure he already knew.

"Yes I know." Zenos didn't bother looking at her, staring instead into his wine. "I was quite impressed. Of course it's a shame to lose a good general, but his successes were behind him and I gained a new, sharper weapon in exchange." Now he met her eyes and gestured again to the bowl firmly.

She turned and again stared at this unfamiliar face, before hesitantly beginning to wash.

The water was blissfully warm, and she carefully washed her hands in it, following it with her arms and shoulders, wincing as her own dried blood was soaked away. Realising suddenly she was doing things in the wrong order she took a breath and punged her head in, losing herself for a moment in the warmth surrounding her.

Lord Zenos waited patiently as she used the towel to dry herself, and then wipe down her legs. Finished, she looked again into the bowel. No reflection now, the waters were deeply sullied with a dark crimson.

Feeling more refreshed then she carried to admit she stretched her limbs and looked out at the city below, basking in the late afternoon sunshine. She touched the window, real glass, it must have cost a fortune.

She turned and padded back across the room to stand before the reclining prince, who watched her appreciably. A small part of her had wanted to drape the towel across her scantily clad body and conceal herself before his hungry eyes. But she had resisted, choosing instead to confidently walk, unafraid, over to him - knowing it was what he wanted to see.

Once she would have been afraid to meet his eyes, to show proper respect and deference, but now she met his eyes, knowing he was pleased by what he saw.

"What would you have me do my prince?" She asked as he looked up at her, an open question.

The prince's eyes lazily rovered over her body and Fordola waited, allowing him a moment to enjoy playing out this moment.

"Your mandala is fading." The prince finally noted. "At a glance, your eye look normal now and I see your wounds have closed. When you are engaged again in battle I expect the mandala will reappear responding to your exertions...in time you will learn to control it at will."

"Control it?" Fordola repeated, wishing she could do more than just dumbly repeat the prince's word.

"Once we have vanquished our enemies, you will lead a 100 others, a century of resonants like you." The prince leaned back, holding the glass of wine casually. "You and your century will spearhead my thrust into Eorzea once the alliance has been crushed before the walls of Ala Mhigo. Lord Aulus will see that your training is complete and you learn to fully control your abilities. Without control your grasp on your new power is likely to be...tentative and unpredictable as time pases. You are now my finest weapon, but you are still a wild wolf. With time and training, you will burn as that second sun I promised you would be."

"I see m'lord." Fordola felt some of her misgivings fade away, but then 'before the walls of Ala Mhigo' reminded her. "With your leave, I must head for Specula Imperatoris immediately." She blurted out suddenly.

"I told you." The prince replied lazily, gesturing with the wine glass in a wide circle. "It is too late. My scouts report the outpost is surrounded by 4,000 Eorzean irregulars with more arriving. Directed fire from Castrum Abania keeps them at bay, but it is just a matter of time until she inevitably disables their fire."

"You mean, the Warrior of Light?" Fordola suddenly nodded in realisation, feeling her fists clench which earned her a nod of approval from the Prince.

"Exactly." He purred. "I want you to go to Castrum Abania and wait for her. Extend an invitation to the walls of Ala Mhigo for her and all who wish to follow her. There I will personally take her body and soul to the facilities beneath Ala Mhigo and Lord Aulus will unlock her every secret. She will be ours, mine - forever and ever."

His voice took on a strange fervour, and he half closed his eyes as he spoke the last and Fordola shivered at the thought. Still, her orders were clear, but…"My men, Prince Zenos. I would not abandon them."

"Nor should you." Prince Zenos said, looking her directly in the eye. "But their position is untenable, they are surrounded and all our forces are now pulling back to Ala Mhigo. You must decide their fate from Castrum Abania, I think you will know what to do."

She met those eyes and this time looked away quickly, shivering, as the thought appeared in her head, perfectly clear and perfectly terrible.

"All that matters now..." Prince Zenos's voice whispered, intensity burning in every syllable "...Is that you bring me Sara Alexander, their Warrior of Light. Bring her to me...and I will make you viceroy of Ala Mhigo. You will rule this city in my name as you see fit, as my Warrior of Ala Mhigo, first of my resonants. Can you do this, Fordola rem Lupis? Can you finish what we have started?"

The prince had risen to his feet, the wine placed down on the carpet, her gunblade held in one hand and she looked at him, and met those terrible eyes.

"Yes, my lord." She whispered. "I will not fail you."

"You will not." He reached out idly with one bare hand, caressing her hair softly, softer than she would have believed. "I know you burn with the same fire I feel for that woman...but she is mine, don't forget this."

He withdrew the hand and again, a smile spread across his face as he offered her the gunblade. "You have destroyed nearly all your enemies within, soon you will help me destroy all our enemies without."

She took the weapon in her right hand, a feeling of power, of purpose coming within it and it must have shown on her face, for Lord Zenos smile broadened. "You are most pleasant to look at currently, but I would not have you depart for Castrum Abania dressed as such if you do not wish it." Again a hand reached out towards her hair, but this time he hesitated, and dropped it slowly, turning to look instead out of the far window.

"Time is short." He spoke more curtly now, leaning back casually. "I have an airborne magitek unit that will take you to Castrum Abania waiting in the courtyard. Should you wish to wear your customary garb and tie up one final witness, know that it has been taken into custody by a certain Elzeen...let me tell you where his quarters can be found."

The quarters of Savlor Quo Catradia were easy to find with the prince's directions. Using the back passageways, Fordola had snaked down steps until she reached the base level of the palace. There she had emerged from a side passageway onto the correct passageway which was pleasantly abandoned.

Lord Zenos had assured her that General Mattenix had not raised a general alurm for her, preferring to settle matters quickly with his personal guard. Nevertheless, in her current garb it may be best to avoid unnecessary attention.

She scrutinised the door, it was unlocked, and she carefully pushed it open with her free hand, her gunblade held ready in the other and walked in, as silent as possible.

His quarters were spartan, a simple desk and chair, a bedroll and a small skylight that lit the room. He sat with his back to her, scribbling away at the desk but his ears were twitching and he turned as the door slid shut behind her.

"Fordola…" He whispered, in disbelief, eyes widening as he took her in, the garb, the gunblade ready in her hand.

"Hello Savlor." She smiled. His aether was so much easier to see then the other Garleans, it pulsed, a green haze that flickered around his head - just above those twitching eyes she'd always hated. "I've come for my things." She indicated the budle on the floor by the bedroll before looking back at him. "I'm not sure how you came into their possession but I will have them."

"Lord Zenos presented them to me this morning." Savlor replied, and she saw the sudden realisation flash across his face. "Where is General Mattenix?" He now demanded, rising slowly out of his seat, facing her. He was wearing plain Garlean red robes, Fordola could see no visible weapon on him.

"He's dead." She replied, smiling as she saw his aether flicker and pulse as she said the words, as if he was thinking his next move, what to do, what to say…

Suddenly his aether flared, it reached out in a sudden line to Fordola faster then the Garleans before and she swayed left as the Elzeen's hand blurred in his robes, flicking two serrated knives in a single motion at where her head had been a moment ago.

The knives thudded deeply into the door behind and Fordola lunged forwards. Despite her unnatural speed, Savlor managed to throw a third knife before she closed the distance, but she saw it coming before it was even thrown, and deflected it off her gunblade before slicing it up diagonally across his unarmoured body, opening him from hip to ear in a single cut.

Savlor stumbled back, knocking over the chair and falling against the desk and looked down in surprise at the blood welling out of his chest. His surprise was compounded as he looked back at Fordola standing before him and tried to reach out for her face with one hand, "Your...eye..." He muttered and then slumped and fell with a crash to the floor.

Fordola looked down at the Elzeen, not without some small level of pity. Like her, he had been an outsider that had fought to attain a place in the Garlean ranks for his countrymen. It was too bad things had to be this way.

She checked her gear, it was all in order and appeared to have been cleaned and polished by someone. She quickly dressed, conscious of the dead body next to her and strapped the gunblade reassuringly at her side.

"Farewell Savlor." She muttered, and surprised herself by nodding at the body, noticing the green aetheric haze was slowly drifting away towards the ceiling. "May your soul find its way to Silvertear Lake."

She walked away, carefully shutting the door behind her with one further, regretful look behind.

As the distance between Savlor's room increased, she walked with increasing confidence. Striding through the palace, feeling a new woman, she reached the courtyard in quick order.

True to the prince's words, a small, open-topped, Garlean magitek flyer was waiting for her, twin rotors spinning in readiness as several guardsmen nearby watching in interest.

She approached at a run and the Garlean pilot nodded as she vaulted the left wing, clambering into one of two passenger seats behind the pilot.

No words were exchanged as the ceruleum engine whined to new heights as the unit took off and rose into the sky. Before her the palace loomed and she looked up, at the great panoramic window at the top of the castle and swore she saw the shadow of Lord Zenos gazing at her from the lofty heights.

Then the unit was turning, and diving out across a city bathed in twilight, for Castrum Abania and the Warrior of Light.

(Thank you for some of the lovely recent messages/comments/kudos, it really gave me a boost in writing these last few chapters :)

This one was a long time coming, but writing an 'extended combat sequence' proved horribly difficult - in the end I had to almost D&D it out on a board complete with dice rolls, hm! I need to read more Wheel of Time or something...

Anyway, thank you very much for reading, one more chapter and then we'll break for a recess.

Much love)