§ Fourth Story – Six Years Ago §
The sun was sinking down below the horizon as he stepped up onto the ramparts. The battle had been raging for weeks, and neither side could gain the advantage. Mikal surveyed the field during a lull in the fighting, his eyes hiding the emotions raging through him. This whole war was pointless, a senseless waste of human life and all for the sake of some nobleman's bruised ego. If rumor was to be believed, this whole thing resulted from one noble being forced to sit in a less favorable position than another. Publicly Mikal rarely listened to such nonsense, and he wouldn't give an opinion on it, privately he wouldn't be surprised. It sounded like just the sort of thing that would happen. Whenever the courtiers got together for one of their dinners or gatherings, or whatever they called them, anything was possible.
Mikal was a soldier, first last and always. War was his business and it suited him very well indeed. His hand gripped the hilt of his sword making sure it was clear of its scabbard in an almost but not quite unconscious motion as he trained his gaze out over the churned earth that just a month ago had been a lush plain. The ground was gouged in places, the dirt having been churned up and muddied by spilled blood, until it was almost black in color and had the texture of a giant's stewpot frozen in mid boil. If this was really over a noble being snubbed at a dinner party he'd hate to see what a real insult would mean. Although to be honest, it didn't matter to him how it had started. It was his job to see it finished. The Empress herself had decreed that the war would be ended, and so it would be. As the first general of the Black Watch Guard he would make it so… by any means necessary.
For now the two groups had fallen back to their respective camps, to lick their wounds and marshal their forces for another round. Or so they thought. The Empress had other plans for the men who had brought such foolishness to the city of her birth. Come morning, the Empress' own damane would stand on the battlements, and both armies would face her vengeance by their hands. An involuntary shudder passed through him as he considered the form that vengeance might take.
It was said that a Damane could call on the elements themselves, forcing them to do her bidding. The stories went on to say how such women were evil, corrupted by their powers early on if not controlled by the use of the a'dam, or leash. He wasn't sure how the things worked, only that they did allowing those who had the ability to tear the kingdom apart in a fit of anger to become useful and valuable tools of society, property for those with the means to procure their service. As far as society itself, Damane were considered little better than animals. A woman discovered to be damane had her name stricken from the birth records of her home village, never to be acknowledged as a person again. Many of them were denied even the names of their birth. It was a fitting punishment for being born something so unnatural as far as he was concerned.
♥
The moon was high in the sky above her as Lorelei sat alone in the outer gardens. She wasn't tired herself, although she had sent Kira and the other damane to bed hours ago. The younger sul'dam had retired as well, finally leaving her alone with her thoughts. Thoughts that turned, to the three years since Kimera had been reborn as Kira, her perfect Damane, her dream made flesh. After the screaming stopped, and they had both had time to rest, the girl proved herself to be both quiet and tractable, learning every weave asked of her with almost preternatural speed. Surprisingly she was strong in earth and spirit as well as fire, which were the main components of a damane's arsenal.
Since she had been the one to break her, Lorelei had been made Kira's primary Sul'dam, and she was more than willing to take the time to teach her everything she needed to know. Together they had risen in the ranks, and now when the Empress, may she live forever, wanted something special on the field of battle it was Lorelei who was sent with Kira in tow. The walls of Kira's room were decorated with ribbons of every hue and shade. Each of them had at some point been worn by the sleeping girl as decoration for her hair, a custom to show how well the damane preformed their tasks. Many of those ribbons had been gifts of the Empress herself, for battles won. Not that the girl cared, Kira showed no emotion on her face and little through the a'dam, unless she was performing. It didn't really matter to Lorelei as long as she produced the wanted results.
The night was making her sentimental. Lorelei brushed a tear from her eye as she stood up and went to the damane quarters to look in on her charge. The silver chain of the a'dam trailed from the girl's collar to a hook on the wall allowing the matching bracelet to hang within easy reach of her hand. Kira was sleeping, curled up like a small child, her head pillowed on her arms. The older woman smiled just a bit. Despite the trials of her first six months, Kira had proven to be a good Damane, an excellent weapon.
Lorelei knew they wouldn't fail tomorrow; the fifteen year old damane was a far cry from the twelve year old child who refused to learn her place. Lorelei knew Kira would never disappoint her like Kimera had done time and time again. If that ever happened, Kira would die, it was that simple. While Lorelei would hate to lose such a valuable asset to the Empress's arsenal, there were times when examples needed to be made.
Lorelei smiled as she returned to her own quarters, drawing her shawl close around her shoulders. The warring nobles had no idea what was in store for them. Perhaps others would learn from tomorrow, perhaps not. After all, these nobles hadn't paid attention to previous examples. Fortunately for all involved that wasnt her concern.
♥
Moonset, the sun would rise soon. But that was a worry for later, right now Kira was enjoying her moment. She floated in the darkness, blessedly alone. Part of her knew that she was asleep, and that this was just a dream, but it felt so right. Here in the darkness with countless sparks of light around her there was no pain, no fear, and she was at peace.
If she wanted she could touch one of the sparks surrounding her with a feather light finger and it would open to show her an entire world. Sometimes, if she was lucky she would see people she knew or thought she could have known. There was no rhyme or reason to her choices. Choosing a world-spark was much like choosing a favorite star in the sky... one would just stand out in her mind each night and that would be the one she would watch.
Often the star sparks would show her visions of snow covered mountains, warriors engaging in fierce battle against twisted beasts in a jungle just beyond their borders. Those visions made her blood sing with some unnamable longing, a longing that had to be ruthlessly suppressed long before the bracelet was taken from its peg on the wall. Before anyone could discover that she still could feel anything not in keeping with what a damane should feel.
The sul'dam and Mistress Lorelei in particular, could have no knowledge of her nightly adventures. Kira had no doubt that if they did learn her secret they would find a way to take even this small thing from her. And it was small, after all they were her dreams, and even an animal deserved to have their own dreams. With a small sigh she allowed herself to slip from the star field, dropping off into the abyss of deep and dreamless sleep. She would need all her strength when she stood on the wall tomorrow.
♥
Fittingly, the stone walls of the city gleamed blood red under the light of the rising sun as the women arrived on the battlements. Mikal took note of the group as they advanced across the wall. As expected, three wore crimson embroidered blue the rest simple grey. The small group was led by Lorelei Sul'dam herself, with a raven haired girl in tow. Mikal recognized her from other encounters and racked his memory for the name.
It was considered the height of insult to a Sul'dam for someone to forget the name of her favorite charge, and there was no mistaking the woman-child at her side for anything less. Ah yes, the Damane's name was Kira, named by Lorelei herself. An interesting creature, she kept her eyes strictly to the floor just before her feet unless she was acting under orders, and to his knowledge had never spoken a word since she had first appeared at the end of a leash outside of the training compound. He knew that there were various stories surrounding her and her history, each one more fantastical than the last. The stories ranged from her being the daughter of a Sul'dam, to having been born of the Blood, to being a daughter of the Empress herself. An even more fantastical story discounted all the others, claiming that young Kira was from another land entirely, from the land over the ocean that the Blood originated from. As always, seeing her up close made him almost believe them.
Her skin was a pale milk white, in sharp contrast with her raven hair and deep green eyes. She kept her eyes cast downward, as was proper, but there was no mistaking the way she carried herself. She had a natural grace that the simple clothes or silvery collar couldn't diminish. It was the same grace he associated with the higher levels of the blood. In the end it didn't matter, she was damane and any status that she might have had was irrelevant now.
The young damane glided alongside Lorelei Sul'dam, reaching her position on the wall just as the morning light spilled its ruddy light across the plains below. Lorelei Sul'dam stood right behind her and to the right, close enough to whisper in her ear as they studied the battlefield together. Strangely enough the other two pairs stayed back. Mikal wondered at this but not for long, choosing instead to focus his attention on the two armies preparing for battle. High above them, from the tallest tower flew the standard of the imperial family. Bordered in gold, it proudly announced the presence of the Empress, may she live forever, in the city. Mikal wondered if she was nearby watching the morning's events from some unknown, and well defended, vantage. If she was he hoped she liked what she saw, otherwise they would all pay for her displeasure.
♥
The early morning breeze was cool against her skin as she studied the battlefield below. Behind her and to her left, Lorelei whispered her own assessments of the scene. Kira watched the two armies fall into formation under their house colors. Meaningless two toned banners fluttered above each group, blue/silver and red/gold respectively. She watched the fabric dance on the air, focusing her mind as she waited for the whispered commands she knew were to come.
Lorelei's voice whispered across her consciousness with tones of poison, weave names coming fast and furious to break across her thoughts like jagged glass. "Sky Shock, Forsaken's Tears, Stone Wave, and Eternal Fire" the names rolled off Lorelei's tongue effortlessly. In this way she was naming both the weaves and the order to release them. Four weaves in all. Kira was surprised that there wasnt a fifth, but it was no matter. Almost as quickly as Lorelei had requested them, she had them completed and ready for use, there were no hand motions or gestures to give their actual weaving away. Now she waited for the numbers to be called. Only then would she release the weaves, just like Mistress Lorelei had taught her. It was part of the show they gave for the nobility; part of what made them the best. No one ever hard the names of the actual weaves used, therefore no other could duplicate their effects. She stepped up onto the edge of the defensive wall as Lorelei stepped back a pace, allowing the length of the leash to play out between them. If she took even half a step more, she would fall from the wall to land on the ground far below. However thoughts like that had left her years ago, she stood on the razor edge of the wall with nothing between her and the ground below save for her own control.
Kira's thoughts were broken by the whip crack voice of her Sul'dam. She responded to the command words as she had been trained to, unleashing the devastating weaves that were assigned to them.
"One" Kira drew on threads of earth and water, with lesser amounts of air and fire to form a dense weave. Elements from the blood soaked battleground were drawn up into the air to form a cloudbank the color of soot darkened steel that swirled across the skies above the massed armies with a crash of thunder. The thunder rolled as the clouds rushed in low and fast forming an oppressive ceiling that obliterated the morning's light, changing it to a greenish glow that painted both the land and the men on it with a sickening pallor.
"Two." The second, lighter, weave overlaid the first like fine lace over a tablecloth. Earth and water combined with the faintest touches of fire and spirit to cause a black rain to fall from the oppressive cloud cover. The surprise of the men caught in the rain quickly turned to shock and pain. Whenever the sulfur tinged liquid touched skin it burned like acid. With their thoughts of battle forgotten, men on both sides of the front lines turned and ran for the safety of the walls. Officers were hard pressed to keep order, especially among cavalry units where horses plunged and reared trying to escape the painful downpour. It wasnt long before the orderly battle lines became mass confusion rushing towards the city. Exactly what the women had waited for.
"Three" A low inhuman groan could be heard from below, rising in tone and volume to rival the thunder above. The observers on the wall could feel a trembling beneath their feet as, impossibly, the earth between the wall and the panicked men boiled up, cresting like a wave in the ocean before reaching out to smother the mob below. Screams could be heard as the wave began to move away from the walls and toward the battlegrounds. The men on the wall watched with horrified fascination at the soldiers who thought they were approaching safety were caught and buried under the wave.
When the dust settled only one of every five soldiers were still visible. The thunder roared its defiance above, reminding Mikal and his men of a hungry beast on the hunt. The nobles at the center of it all were far removed from the men that had been crushed beneath the wave of earth, fighting to keep their wounded horses under control. For her part Kira remained calm and impassive as if carved from alabaster, while Lorelei smiled in grim satisfaction. Now was the time for the final stroke. The face of the Sul'dam was cold as the final command dropped from her lips like chunks of ice. "Finish this."
The very air around them seemed to grow heavier, a sent of scorched metal filling it, threatening to suffocate the observers. In the distance, above the banners of the warring nobles, the sky turned black, a pregnant silence falling. The Black Watch Guardsmen who had been called upon to stand witness to the mornings events stood on the wall, holding their ground, despite the feeling of danger that was growing up around them. To a man, they were unable to tear their eyes away from the few who had escaped the land's upheaval. Kira stiffened, raising her arms towards the sky as a corona of light surrounded her. Her skin glistened in the light, her eyes flashed with emerald fire as she trained her gaze on the survivors below. She brought her arms down, almost as if she were reaching out to them. Seemingly in response to her actions, thick cables of lightning burst from the skies striking the remaining fighters down singly and in small groups.
Once the last man had fallen, Kira dropped her arms to her sides and bowed her head. Only then did Lorelei Sul'dam cross the distance between them coaxing her charge back from the edge before putting an arm around her shoulders to lead her off the wall. The other women parted to let them through then followed silently to leave the Guardsmen alone on the wall to face the aftermath. The tension the small group left behind was thick enough to choke on. Each man's gaze flickered between the field below and the doorway the women were filing through, varying degrees of disbelief and shock on their faces.
Mikal watched them go refusing to allow his expression to give him away. His eyes raked the field looking at the raw carnage left by the morning's events. He had worked with Sul'dam and their charges before, knew what they were normally capable of and this was far beyond anything he had seen before. He prayed never to see it again. One half grown girl child had done this, a small voice kept repeating in the back of his mind. He dreaded the thought of what would happen when that one reached maturity and her full strength. He thanked the creator that such women were under the control of Lorelei Sul'dam and her kind. He couldn't imagine what would happen if one the likes of Kira ever found her way to freedom. Remembering how the other two damane had been kept back, he wondered if there were any others like that one. For all their sakes he hoped not.
♥
Lorelei slipped through the door from Kira's room, closing it quietly behind her. It was late and the girl was exhausted from the day's events, as well she should be. The morning's battle alone would have been enough to exhaust any two damane. After a brief rest and a chance to freshen up, they had been summoned to the Crystal Throne and the Court of the Nine Moons for an audience with the Empress.
It had been everything Lorelei had dreamed of and more. The Empress, may she live forever, had been watching the mornings events from her tower chambers. With her had been the Der'sul'dam, first among their number. They had been so impressed with the morning's events that they had given her the title of Empress' Sul'dam, and named Kira as the personal property of the Empress. As of this night, they were to follow the Empress; serving at her right hand throughout the empire, and as part of her personal defense. In celebration Lorelei had decorated Kira's hair with pearlescent ribbons, embroidered with silver. Lorelei had to admit that all the effort in the past two years had been worth it. Now all she had to worry about was keeping her position. With a damane like Kira she thought smugly, that wouldn't be a problem at all.
♥