trying for getting a chapter up every couple of days. Like I said in
my profile... I owe everyone 33 chapters, because of my laziness and
writter's block.
Litine - Glad you likes
Shila - Yeah, everyone's been waiting for too long, sorries.
*snickers* Oh yeah, I can imagine Draco-dear bitching out all four of
my vice principals-- and the substitute Principal who attempted to get
me to stop wearing all my jewelery... *grins* I can't believe I hadn't
thought of Herm in Labyrinth until you brought it up! *shakes her
head* My head must not be on straight...
Mysterious666 - Will do, as long as my writter's block decides to stay
away. I will attempt to ward it off with my reviews. Ah-ha! Take
_that_, evil writter's block! *stabs at WB with review pages*
(Yes, I am rather hyper. It's rather strange.)
mortal enemy of inanimate object - I love that handle. It rocks.
*grins* A bunny on crack? *imagines that* Whoa, that's... really cool!
I wonder if I can be a crack-bunny? Eh, anyway... hope you didn't get
a concussion from slamming into those doors, although if you say it
happens frequently... No worries, BS is back so you hopefully won't go
into withdrawl... as for Herm's staff/flail/thingie... you'll just
have to wait and see, non? Mwahahahahahahahahahahaha!!
KoChenneo - You sleep sometimes...? Well, it's certainly better than
'never'. Had me kinda worried there. Yeah, I might take awhile to
update from time to time, but bs will only end when I have a definite
conclusion ^___^
Bryt - I hope I get past it soon, too. At least it didn't halt me for
this chapter, and I hope to god it doesn't for the chapter that I plan
to put up tommarrow. Pray for me ^__^ Ah... but _is_ it a weapon, or
something else? :P
CastusAlbusCor - *Laughs* Took my time indeed. You wanted to be in a
gloomy mood? I know BS can certainly cause it... but I didn't think
people actively seeked out gloominess. *shrugs* Oh well, it doesn't
really bother me ^__^
amythest - And here is the next chapter ^__^V
Mrph, I think I lost the majority of my regular reviewers... *sighs*
Oh well, nothing that a few chapters a week shouldn't fix!
Obviously, as this is a fanfic, and not a novel, I don't own Harry
Potter.
---
Blackened Sunrise
Chapter Fifty-Five - Agarwaen
The Itch
---
Whistling some abstract little song, Harry made his was through
Agarwaen, a sulking Sulnore on his left, and an amused Helkaer on his
right. The Warrior-Priestess-Princess had been shocked out of her mind
when she'd reached the more expensive districts of the city, having
not been near them in years. She was a border-guard, originally
designated there by her throne-stealing sister to keep her from
attempting exactly what she was planning on doing in the next few
hours. She had remained on the border-guard "shift" because she was
the best there was.
So she hadn't realized how down-hill things had gone since her
"beloved" sister took the reigns of the city out from under her. Their
mother's way of training the next ruler was the same manner as her
mother, and her mother before her-- slowly begin to turn over
executive decisions to the Heir over a period of time.
Sulnore had been exceptionally skilled at managing the city; so
skilled that she had often been referred to as a blessing from the
goddess. She had brought a period of great wealth and prosperity to
the city.
The single-eyed warrior had never thought that the reason why her
rations kept decreasing was because Agarwaen was going to hell. It was
hard to believe that the once immaculate buildings and sprawling
parks of the inner-city were these dilaplated constructs and
junkyards. Not with the increasingly opulent palace standing high
above it all. Sulnore's dear sister obviously had no idea what she was
doing.
Then again, Cath had never been one to think outside of her own
well-being. The woman was a narcissist of the highest value.
The former Heir had been angry at first, but had only begun to sulk
when she realized that despite the fact that her sister had destroyed
her city, her people would still follow Cath to the ends of the
tunnels.
It was rather depressing.
And Helkaer's snickering wasn't helping.
"Mani naa ta?!" she finally spat out, furious. The male drow lifted
his hands, although he was still chuckling softly.
"Calm down, Taraer Sulnore," she scowled mightily at him-- Lofty One,
indeed!-- and his smirk only widened into a shit-eating grin, "I was
merely musing over our dearest Kaiserin-to-be's lack of knowledge of
her own city."
Angrily, she spun her battle-staff off her back, jabbing it up to push
hard against the soft flesh of his palate, "Auta miqula orqu."
"I'd rather not. Who knows where it's mouth has been?"
"That's the _point_ of kissing an orc, amada."
"Didn't the Kaiserin ever tell you that you shouldn't insult people,
little princess?"
"Didn't Meiva ever train you to keep your mouth shut around your
betters, Helkaer-_amada_?"
"Ah, but whoever said you were my better, Sulnore-dearest?"
"Call me that again," she purred, "and I will rip your head from your
shoulders."
"That would be a little messy," both Drow jumped, having forgotten
that they were with Harry when they began to argue. Gleaming emerald
eyes shone with a strange mixture of insanity and calculating
intelligence, a churning mass of emotions and problems rolling beneath
their surface. It was always creepy staring into the eyes of the other
half of Weapon, "Besides, I need Helkaer, Sulnore; he'll be important
in things to come."
"Important how?" the woman narrowed her blood-colored eye sharply,
"There is no _way_ I'd _ever_ let some lowlife male become important
within _my_ rule, not even for one of the Living Weapons."
"Mmmhmmm," he nodded cheerfully, "You'll change your mind, soon
enough."
"Not bloody likely," scowled the border-guard, tugging her black and
silver cloak about her, "It's been too long since I came this far into
the city."
"We'll be at the palace in ten minutes, maximum," murmured Helkaer,
having interpreted her words for what they were really saying. Despite
Sulnore and Helkaer's mutual hate-hate relationship, they had known
each other long enough to be able to read each other like a book. It
was part of the reason why Sulnore despised the merchant. She hated
knowing that there was someone out there who knew her well enough to
read her every word and action for what it really was, and not what
she wanted everyone to believe.
They had met for the first time during the brief period that Helkaer
had been in the city's armed forces, prior to his becoming a seller of
edan slaves. When she had graduated from the course and been assigned
to the border of the city, she had 're-met' Helkaer as he was leaving
on an expedition with Elear to look for those edan foolish enough to
have gotten lost within the tunnels.
She had found that she still hated him.
Helkaer had been surprised by the amount of venom in her voice, having
not recognized her, due to only seeing her profile at the
border-crossing. It wasn't until his return with three edan chained
between himself and Elear that he had gotten to see her whole face.
Their on-again-off-again rivalry had been struck up right then and
there; Helkaer would always leave the city through the exit she
guarded, and would always return through it, as well.
He liked exchanging insults with her, since the former Heir actually
took the time to insult him, and would respond to his insults, instead
of skipping right to the beating like most female drow would. And it
always started out so pleasantly as well.
In any case, it wasn't time to dwell on past memories, so the pair
returned to their thoughts of what they were about to do. What they
were about to participate in and what they would be doing to the city.
Sulnore, despite all her love for her mother, knew she'd have to
remove the former Kaiserin as well. The head of the House of
Mor'kuunemegil was very traditional. She would refuse to have a
single-eyed drow as the Heir and next ruler of the city, for that
stupid reason that she wouldn't be able to watch all.
The scarred Princess didn't need both her eyes to see everything--
something she'd well proved during her post as a border-guard. Her
senses were enhanced by her training in the city's army unlike any
other Kaiserin or Daughter of the House for nearly seventeen
generations. And considering the lengthy lives of the dark elves, that
was an extremely long time.
Before she had lost her eye, she wouldn't have cared for the army. She
would have been content to have been taught by the best of the city's
philosophers, trained in the ways of managing a city, and that would
be that. She would ascend the throne as her mother had, and rule with
all the knowledge she had.
Then Cath had kidnaped her 'beloved' sister, and tortured her.
Tortured her for days on end, fueling an intense burning rage that the
true Heir had fostered in her breast for years. The final insult was
the removal of her eye-- Sulnore had been awake during the entire
process, thanks to Cath's skilled hand at torture.
What made it worse was that none of her sisters or brothers, not her
mother nor her oft-unseen father, would believe that Cath, sweet
little innocent Cath, would ever harm the older sister she loved and
admired so much.
A hand landed on her shoulder, pulling her out of an anger induced
haze. She looked up, surprised to find Helkaer's normally cajoling
crimson eyes staring at her worriedly, "Sully?"
She hated that insipid nickname, that Helkaer had insisted on using
when he felt like _really_ bugging her. Or when he was very worried
about her mental health.
"What do you want, Helkaer?"
He carefully lifted her clenched fists, hoping she wouldn't lash out,
and flatted her hands out, showing the four little half-moons that
decorated her palms from where she had been digging her fingers in.
She looked at them, startled, watching the blood well up in the cuts.
Then she looked up again, and the amusement and laughter was back in
his eyes, hiding what concern and worry there had been in them.
"Better watch out there; Wouldn't want you passing out due to
blood-loss, now would we?"
Her eyebrow twitched. Her staff was still in hand from her previous
threat.
Her staff said hello to the top of his skull.
---
End Chapter
I love how this ends. The chapter's all dark and sad and stuff, but
the end rocks. Sulnore whacking Helkaer upside the head with her bo.
Hmmm, wonder if Harry's going to fix it from when Helkaer cracked
it...?