Chapter 4

Silude Mountain

Relena and Quatre laughed as Zechs tried to teach them the words to an old song he had heard. It was a bit difficult in that he couldn't remember them himself. The three were sitting around the morning campfire eating breakfast with Sally and her band. Noin was off teaching the healer a few tricks that didn't involve her special gift. It was the fourth day in the cheery camp and the four travelers were loathe to leave such a friendly atmosphere.

"Hum...dee..dum..la, la, la, something, something, something ...anyway you guys get the picture," said Zechs hopefully.

"Not really," giggled Relena, "But nice try. How about you Quatre? You know any songs?"

"Well, the lady who took care of me used to sing me this one song. I can't remember the words but I have always liked the tune." Quatre picked up a small wood flute that he had been playing with during the morning. He thought for a minute until he could clearly remember the song and then he played the little ditty for his friends. It was a catchy tune and soon he had the other gifted ones humming it and making up harmonies. All in all the morning was spent relaxing and having fun.

That evening the travelers listened to the musical performances of the troupes most talented musicians as they ate their evening meal. They talked about many things and established a plan for their journey to Silude.

"We should be able to reach the mountain in about three days if we travel hard. Once we reach the mountain we must look for the ruins of an old castle. It's said that is where the wizards conduct their business."

"Sounds good to me," said Zechs as he let out a big yawn.

"I grew up in these mountains so I know it won't be as easy as that, Zechs," said Relena archly. "These forests are dangerous. If you notice, they haven't been ravaged by the storms because the sorcerers like to keep their evil minions happy who live in this forest."

"That's the strangest thing I have ever heard," retorted Zechs. "'They like their evil minions happy.' I think they just like their section of the world to look nice."

That comment set off an argument between Relena and Zechs and Quatre felt he should stop it.

"Well in my home we never even had mountains. We had trees, but they weren't like the ones here. We mostly had beaches and lots of sand."

Relena and Zechs stopped arguing to listen and Relena was enchanted by the place that Quatre was describing.

"Tell us some more about your home. Was it hot there?"

"Yes, most of the time. It was a small island off the coast, a long ways from here. It was in the south so it was also humid. We did a lot of fishing and twice every year traders from the mainland would bring in exotic supplies and new gossip for the people on the island."

"It sounds wonderful," Relena gushed. "Why would you ever leave such a place?"

Noin had brought them blankets to keep warm in the cool night air and she looked over at Zechs. He too looked worried and they both remembered the day in the woods when Quatre had been so shaken about his past.

"Well, I've never told anyone this, but I was kind of sent away from the island."

"Hey! How come you've all of a sudden decided to tell her all about your past? You never told us! I bet it's because she's prettier than me! That's it, isn't it?" asked Zechs. He was acting so outraged that even Noin laughed at his behavior.

"Stop, stop!" said Quatre who was laughing so hard he could hardly get the words out.

Zechs smiled, glad that his remark had lightened the mood a bit. "But really, why were you sent away? Was it because of your gift?"

"No," said Quatre very seriously, all traces of humor gone from his voice. "I was sent away because the ruler of the island was very upset at me. You see, he had always been mad at me. So mad in fact that he made it so that I could never leave the house where I was being raised, and no one was ever supposed to know that was alive. I finally confronted him about it and he became so terribly upset that he banished me forever from that place."

"But why?" asked Relena in a deathly whisper. "Why was he so mad at you?"

"When I was born there during the birth, and my mother died. Her husband, my father, never forgave me for it." Quatre looked away but Relena could see that there were tears in his eyes.

"That wasn't your fault though, Quatre," said Noin who reached out a comforting hand to him.

"I know," he said quietly. "I hated him for it though. I hated him more than I have ever hated anything in my life, and I'm ashamed of that."

"You have every right to hate him!" said Relena defensively.

"You think so?"

"Yes, I do. If I were you, I wouldn't worry so much about it. You're here with us now and we're your friends!"

Quatre breathed out slowly and looked at her with his warm blue-green eyes. "Thank you Relena. You know, it really does feel better now that I've told you that." Zechs and Noin smiled and nodded their heads. That night the four of them felt closer than they had ever have, and ready to face anything that was to come.

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It was a tearful farewell that brought the wonderful meeting between Sally's band and the four travelers to a close. The four stood on the pathway that would take them to Silude, home of the sorcerers. Sally and her brightly colored band were ready to head the other direction. The bridge which had been severed from the cliff top had been repaired and a new safe bridge spanned the gulf which the four had once almost fallen into.

"Are you sure that you won't come with us?" asked Sally one last time.

"No. We need to do this. We would like to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for the kindness that you have shown us. We will always remember you. If luck is with us, then we will be successful in our endeavor and return Tera to how it once was." Noin placed her hand on Sally's shoulder and smiled a reassuring smile. Sally smiled back and the two groups parted ways.

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The four traveled for two days before Relena started to complain. She had never had to do so much walking. Even her "adventures" in her own kingdom had involved her either riding her horse or just a short walk to the surrounding forest.

"Can't we just stop for five minutes?" she sighed.

"We got a late start so it would be better for time's sake to keep going until we make camp tonight," came Noin's logical reply. She and Zechs were used to walking and the day's march was far from strenuous. Quatre also had grown accustomed to hiking for long periods of time but he knew that Relena wouldn't be able to go much farther.

Finally Relena grew too tired to keep up with Zechs and Noin. She lagged far behind and Quatre took pity on her and stopped to wait.

"No, you go on ahead," she called up to him.

"I don't mind waiting," he replied and stood where he was.

When Relena reached him she was out of breath and red in the face. Quatre gave her a drink from his water holder and let her get her wind back. When she was ready the two continued on together at a pace that Relena could hold.

Quatre was glad that they had a definite path to follow because he had lost sight of Zechs and Noin.

Quatre, supporting Relena, reached the camp Zechs and Noin had made late into the evening. Zechs looked up at them and smirked. Noin just gave them an appraising look and settled back to look at the fire. Relena sat down and sighed with content as she removed her stiff boots and rubbed her sore feet.

"Tomorrow you two will have to keep up," said Noin, matter-of-factly. "We have a long way to go tomorrow and it wouldn't do for us to be separated."

"And if little Relena gets too tired, maybe we can just carry her on our backs, eh Quatre?" mocked Zechs.

Quatre smiled at Relena but she glared back at him.

"I can take care of myself, Mr. Zechs. You just worry about yourself!" said Relena who had obviously been offended by his remarks.

Zechs just laughed at her. He stopped laughing however and turned very watchful. He looked up at the cloud darkened sky and stayed very still. Noin too had gone quiet and was watching the sky. Quatre stood up and held out his hand as if he were seeing if it was raining. Relena was mystified by her friends' behavior but didn't ask for fear that she would interrupt them.

Suddenly a streak of red light lit up the night sky. A tremendous crash soon followed it. Zechs and Noin were hastily cramming things back into their packs and Quatre urged Relena to do likewise. Then Relena understood. It was a storm! In her home, she had never had to be wary of the storms because she was always inside, but out in the open, that was a different story. Zechs pulled her to her feet and in an instant the travelers were off and running.

"Where are we going?" she cried out, her voice muffled by the approaching storm.

"We have to find shelter or else we could be killed by that lightening!" yelled Quatre over the din.

The four stumbled in the darkness over unseen rocks and branches. The storm grew closer and closer until Quatre began to feel the drops of hot rain on his neck and hands. Zechs and Noin soon felt them as well and urged themselves onward at a faster pace. The red lightening lit the night and slashed across the sky like a dagger drawing blood. The noise caused by the wind and the thunder was terrifyingly loud. Relena felt her heart stop every time she felt the vibrations from the lightening and thunder pass through her. She managed to look back and see Quatre running white faced right behind her.

Another flash of light lit up the surrounding area and a rocky outcropping came into view. On closer inspection it was realized that amidst the rocks was a small opening which the travelers hoped would be a cave. They scrambled over debris and squeezed through the opening in the rocks.

Inside the mound of boulders was a tiny cave with just barely enough room for all four companions. Relena was wedged in the back where her back scraped painfully against the rock wall. Zechs was somehow tangled up with Noin so that they could no longer tell which hand or foot was whose. Noin and Quatre were pushed up against each other so that Noin's head was resting on Quatre's chest and the rest of her was fitted against the curves of the walls. All together in was a very close fit.

Somehow they all managed to fall asleep in the narrow confines of their shelter. Exhausted, they slept deeply and didn't awake until Zechs began to feel stifled by the heat from the four bodies in the small space. He twisted and turned until he was able to reach the opening and pull himself out. He had awakened the others in the process and they too exited the cave.

When they were all out and fully awake they stretched and tried to loosen sore muscles and cramps from the awkward positions they had been in.

"Well, that shoots my idea out the window," mumbled Zechs as he scrubbed his face with his hands.

"What idea?" asked Quatre sleepily.

"The idea that the sorcerers want to keep their section of the world looking nice. Look what the storm did." Zechs pointed down the slope they had just come up during the storm. All the vegetation had turned a sickly brown and rivers of foul smelling mud covered the landscape. The small group of rocks that the four had sought shelter in seemed to be the break line. Everything downhill of it was dead or dying.

Relena wrinkled her nose in disgust. "How can they enjoy causing so much destruction?" she said.

"Let's keep going," said Quatre. "I don't want to look at this any more than I have to." The others agreed and they turned to continue their climb.

The night after the terrible storm the travelers came to the mountain of Silude. The mountain itself was pitch black in color and no living things grew on it. The sorcerer's "castle" was composed of one giant spiral of black rock that climbed out of the mountain's steep side. Over all, Silude left a sinister impression.

Zechs shuddered involuntarily. He noticed that Relena and Noin had the same reaction.

"Well, we're here," Zechs said nervously. "You all sure you want to do this? I mean, we don't have to..."

"Yes, Zechs, we have to," interrupted Noin.

"Fine," sighed Zechs.

The four made their way up the slope towards the immense fortress of blackened stone. Though the tower had looked close from down below the hike up to it was taking an extraordinary amount of time. Soon all the travelers were completely depressed by the scenery and the realization that they would have to make camp on the mountainside that night because it was already growing too dark to see.

They made camp in the most sheltered area they could because the wind was picking up. The feeble campfire that they made flickered in the breeze and threatened to go out. They huddled around it for warmth and wished that they had thought ahead a little at what type of clothing would be appropriate for the high mountain climate. Despite the cold and sinister atmosphere the travelers managed to catch a few hours of much needed sleep.

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Morning dawned a bright freezing cold. Frost lay everywhere that the body heat from the four hadn't melted. Relena awoke and realized she could see her breath. She crouched closer to the sleeping form of Quatre for warmth and wished the others would wake up soon.

Noin awoke several minutes later and nudged Zechs and Quatre awake. Zechs moaned and muttered something about the cold and lack of sleep and then took all of his companion's blankets and wrapped them around himself so that only his eyes were visible. Relena giggled and Noin smiled at him. Quatre quickly built up the campfire and rubbed his hands together briskly to warm them. Relena did likewise while casting longing glances over at Zechs and the mound of blankets that was covering him. He seemed in no mood however to share any of them with her so Quatre removed his traveler's cape and draped it over Relena's trembling shoulders. She smiled her gratitude at him because her teeth were chattering too hard to speak.

Noin had no such humility and walked over to Zechs where she managed to crawl inside the blankets and wound up in Zechs's arms. Zechs was in absolute ecstasy.

After they had sufficiently warmed up and the sun had melted the morning's frost, the four started on the last leg of the journey. The climbing was slow and rough going because of the steepness of the slope. Sharp rocks were loosened by the leading member of the party and they slid down to cut and knock painfully into shins. By early afternoon Relena, Zechs, and Quatre were scraped and bruised. Noin, who had been leading, switched places with Zechs who had borne the brunt of the falling debris.

After what seemed like an eternity the four reached the tall spiral of the sorcerer's castle. They all were acutely aware of the sinister presence of such a structure and what was inside it. The wind picked up again and they thought it best to find their way into the castle.

An hour and fourteen trips around the black rock spiral later Zechs began to rant.

"I can't believe this! We get all this way and we can't even find a way in. What a complete waste of time! Didn't anyone even think about what if we weren't able to get in?"

"Zechs!" scolded Noin. "Stop your yammering and do something constructive."

"LIKE WHAT?? We're stuck on a stupid freezing mountainside next to a stupid black rock sticking out of the ground and we're too stupid to find a way innnn.....!" On his last explosive word Zechs smacked the curved rock wall with his hand and fell into the castle. A cunningly hid entrance had swung open and allowed them passage into the castle.

Noin helped Zechs stand up and for a moment simply stood in the doorway and smirked at him.

"Well, I did something constructive, didn't I?" he replied sarcastically.

Relena silenced him with a firm grip on his arm and pointed beyond the entrance. Past the doorway was a flight of steps and beyond that was complete darkness. They had reached Silude and the castle of the sorcerers!

Zechs winced with pain as Relena's nails bit into his arm. He carefully pulled her away from him and then noticed a strange glow emanating from somewhere in the dark entryway.

"Relena, look," said Quatre in a low voice. "Your necklace, it's glowing!"

Relena looked down and indeed her pendant had turned a fiery red. Relena took it up in her hands and was amazed to find it almost too hot to touch. When she held it though the color deepened and the heat began to pulse through her. The morning's cold had been soothed away from the heat and she felt stronger, revived somehow.

"Quatre, come here. Hold it in your hands and see if it does anything like it did that other night."

Quatre seemed very reluctant however to touch the pulsating stone.

"Come on. At the least it will warm you up." Relena beckoned him over and Quatre approached her nervously. He held out his hands under the pendant as he had before as Relena let it slip into his hands. A wave of almost unbearable pain flooded through Quatre and he let the necklace fall back against Relena's chest with a gasp of pain. He staggered backward and rubbed his hands which felt like they had been doused in boiling water.

"Are you okay?" asked Relena with such concern that Quatre managed a weak reply. Inwardly though, Quatre was terrified and repulsed by the stone that had suddenly turned a blood red. He almost fainted with fear as Zechs suddenly gripped his shoulder and shook him slightly.

"Come this way. I think that this is the way we should be going if we're going to meet the sorcerers," said Noin. Zechs was relieved to notice that Noin had taken command of the situation. The olive skinned woman started up the stairs with Zechs following closely on her heels. Relena went next and Quatre lingered behind trying to put as much distance between himself and the necklace as possible.

Noin had just reached the main floor that the stairs led up to when a brilliant white light lit the stairway and burned into the travelers' eyes. By the time Quatre had adjusted to the darkness again Noin had fallen to the floor and Zechs had stumbled to her side. Relena and Quatre ran to her as well. She lay very still on the hard floor of the castle. Zechs cradled her in his arms and was shaking with anger and intense worry. Relena bent down and examined the limp form of their friend. She finally determined that Noin was unconscious and probably injured some way but still alive.

A snort of cruel laughter brought their heads up sharply as they looked around for the source of the sound. Quatre was the first to pick up the slight movement of someone in the shadows of the room. Relena saw it after her eyes finished adjusting to the gloom. The creature in the corner flicked out its arms in a relaxed manner and then the room was filled with light. The light though wasn't the white glare they had seen before but a pale orange color. It was then that they were able to see Noin's attacker.

The man in the corner was dressed in fine black clothes and had jet black hair. He could have been considered handsome by many but his good looks were masked by his soulless stare. His eyes burned with an unholy fire. Relena shrank back against Zechs who still seemed too occupied with Noin to do more than notice the other man's presence.

The man in black snickered and turned his gaze down at Noin.

"Fool," he drawled with a hint of amusement in his voice. He then looked back at Quatre and squinted his eyes a bit. "Hmm, how strange. Diatom, what in Hell's name are you doing with these...these people?"

"What? What are you talking...I don't...what?" Quatre stammered, unable to grasp what the man was saying.

The man stepped from his corner and with a sigh began to speak again, "This is truly sad. Here I thought that you had been clever for once and led our enemies to Silude, but I see now that if anything you were stupider than I could have ever imagined."

"Look, I don't know what you're talking about but if you try to hurt my friends again I'll...I'll..." seethed Quatre in fury.

"You'll what? Kill me? Oh, dear god. This is very bad," said the stranger who sat down on a larger black stone with a contemplative look on his face.

"Quatre," whispered Relena, "What is he talking about?"

"I really don't know," he whispered back.

"Of course you don't know what's happening," said the man in a surly voice. "You screwed up! Now it looks like I'm going to have to refresh your memory, so just sit there and listen up because I'm only going to tell it once."

Noin stirred in Zechs's arms and slowly opened her eyes. She looked and the sorcerer and glared at him. He laughed scornfully and then placed his finger to his lips in a signal for her to keep quiet.

"Once, a long time ago, two sorcerers came to Tera and took over the planet. It wasn't hard considering the weaklings that lived on such a dismal little mud ball. Anyway, those sorcerers' names were Faitom and Daitom. They were the most powerful people that had ever walked this planet. Then something happened and a child was born that was stronger than the sorcerers. That little brat went after the sorcerers and killed them in a hideously painful way. But those two guys weren't stupid. They figured out a way to get back and to come back with their memories and powers intact and conquer Tera again.

"A long time passed and the lead sorcerer, Faitom, decided that it was time to return. He came to Tera and did a pretty good job getting it back to the way it was. Unfortunately, his partner Daitom was an idiot, and for some unknown reason came back with his powers intact but not his memory! But all that aside, I would be willing to reeducate my blundering friend and help him find his mind so that we can get on with our original plan. So, Daitom, what do you say? "

Faitom stared for a long time down at Quatre who seemed paralyzed with fear. He couldn't seem to make his mouth work well enough to answer the sorcerer. Relena stared at Quatre with shock filled eyes and then reached out and grabbed him by the arm. The pain that shot through Quatre numbed his arm and made him scramble away from the girl with as much speed as he could muster. He held his arm to his chest and tried to ignore the pain. He looked over at Faitom who had curled his mouth up into a hideous snarl. His eyes burned with loathing as he stared at Relena.

"You!" he managed to rip out at Relena. "You have the power of Isis! You monster!"

"Look who's talking!" screamed back Relena as she jumped to her feet.

"This time you die for good brat!" shouted Faitom and with one wild move let loose a burst of bright energy at Relena. Relena screamed and tried to dodge the ball of light. It was almost upon her when she felt someone push her aside. Her rescuer took the blast in the chest and fell back against the wall. He slid to the ground where he gasped for breath as the killing blast slowly numbed his body. Relena turned and her eyes widened in recognition.

Jymon turned pain filled eyes toward her and she quickly stooped to his side.

"Jymon? Why..why did you save me?" she said.

"You...are very important...to this planet. 't let you....get hurt. I tried...to protect you...keep you in the kingdom...until you could defeat the sorcerers. I never meant to...hurt you...but I had to keep you safe...no matter what. The young man you're with...will try to kill you...he's a sorcerer...don't die...defeat them...I'm begging you..." Jymon trailed off and slumped over dead. Relena clenched her hands and gritted her teeth. He had only meant to protect her.

Relena stood up and turned purposefully toward Faitom. She wouldn't let Jymon's death be for nothing. She would do what she had been born to do. She would destroy the sorcerers and end the darkness that enveloped her beloved home.

Faitom wasn't going to go without a fight. He concentrated and fired another attack at Relena. She tried deflecting it with her gift but she was no where near strong enough to block it. She ducked just in time and tried an attack of her own. What she was able to produce was a feeble ball of green light that Faitom deflected easily. Even that miserable attack made her weak and shaky. She planted her feet firmer to try and ward off the next attack that was thrown at her by the sorcerer. Faitom was so much stronger than she was though and his attack would have easily hit her had Quatre not stepped in the way.

"What are you doing?" yelled Relena and Faitom at the same time at Quatre.

Quatre didn't answer but spent his energy in putting up a shield around Relena and himself. Faitom bounced several attacks off the blue wall that separated him from his enemy. Finally tired of that approach he tried a more diplomatic stance.

"Look, you fool! Why are you protecting her? She's going to kill you! And if she doesn't, I will! Now get over here and help me. Don't you want to be on the winning side? Can't you see that she isn't strong enough to defeat me? "

"I don't care what you say," said Quatre very calmly. "I only know that if you try to hurt her I will gladly sacrifice my life for her. She is the only one who can truly get rid of this awful darkness that you've caused. I don't care if I was a sorcerer once. I'm not now. And I won't ever be again! I won't let you hurt her. I won't!"

"Oh, you poor stupid fool! Don't you see that even if you defeat me, which you won't, you will never be able to be close to her? I can see it in your eyes that you care about this girl, but that won't make much difference. You still have the abilities of a sorcerer and so with that comes the curse that if she touches you, you'll die! Is that what you want?"

Relena suddenly understood. It wasn't her gift that was stronger than the sorcerers', it was her as a person. All she had to do was to touch him and he would die! Fired by that knowledge she quickly advanced toward Faitom. Quatre seemed to understand her intentions too and redoubled his shield around her to protect her.

Faitom growled with rage and launched attack after attack on Quatre as Relena came steadily closer to him. Relena looked back and saw that she had better hurry. Quatre was using up all his energy to protect her and so had left himself open to Faitom's attacks. Relena ran forward and threw herself on Faitom. The sorcerer easily shrugged her off though and she fell heavily to the ground.

Quatre felt weak and a cold icy pain was shooting through him. He went down on his knees as he felt the pain overtake him. He was just about to give in to the blackness that was enveloping him when he saw Zechs step up beside him. Yellow energy spewed forth from his fingertips and Faitom howled in pain as he felt the fires engulf his cloak. Relena used that distraction to leap on Faitom again. She grabbed hold of him and held on for dear life. She felt her energy being poured into stopping him. Faitom yelled again and then shook with horror at the thought of his approaching death. He fought violently in the last seconds of life and then gave a piercing shriek and collapsed in a bright ball of white light.

The last thing Quatre saw was a ball of bright light that knocked him backward with such force that his head hit against the dark stones. As everything went black he smiled with relief and he knew that he had protected Relena. She was safe.

Relena reached out to support herself against the stones of the rock wall and gave in to the horrible shivers that racked her body. She sank to her knees and for several minutes tried to calm her racing heart. She sprang back alert as she saw a flare of light in the room. She looked around her and saw that Zechs was lighting the room with torches. Noin was completely revived and was kneeling beside Quatre. That was when Relena realized that something wasn't right.

She crept over to him and saw that Noin had tears in her eyes. She didn't even bother to brush them away as they rolled down her cheeks. Quatre lay very still and after a while Relena realized he wasn't breathing. She let out a strangled cry that brought Zechs over to her side. Zechs looked down at Quatre's still form and then pulled Noin into his arms to comfort her for she was sobbing in earnest by that time. Relena also began to cry and she let her head drop to her chest to hide the tears that streamed down her pretty face.

She jerked back when she noticed that the necklace was glowing again. A bright blue that swirled around inside the stone. She carefully removed the necklace and cupped it in her hands. She bent over and placed the stone on Quatre. The blue stone began to burn with such brilliance that it was almost painful to look at. Then Relena bent over and held her friend in her arms. The stone began to swirl with a soft minty green color. The stone became too small for it to contain the combined energies of Relena and Quatre and it burst forth from the necklace and surrounded the two young Terans. Zechs and Noin looked on with amazement as Quatre slowly opened his beautiful eyes the color of the sea. He took Relena in his arms, and feeling no pain what-so-ever, he kissed her.

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The sunlight made the four travelers squint as they walked out of the castle. Relena was holding tightly on to Quatre. With her free arm she lifted it as if to try and catch the rays of light in her hand. Zechs laughed and soon his infectious laughter had his companions in fits as well.

After they had calmed down enough to speak, Quatre asked Zechs why he had been laughing.

"It's sunlight!" he said joyously. "I haven't seen true sunlight for years! And look! Not a cloud in the sky!"

His companions looked up and giggled and shouted with happiness. Zechs quickly wiped away the tears that had been stinging his eyes and pulled Noin over to him. She hugged him briefly and gave him a warm smile. He laughed again and looked out over the world before him. It was a world filled with light, color, and happiness.

The End