Where the Wind Ends

"Valda had a daughter?"

The king stood up suddenly, and came down from the raised dais to
scrutinize the young princess carefully. What he saw there, she did not
know, but he seemed unnerved by it.

"Yes, I am my mother's daughter. But why do you ask?"

She stared back at him with such a comical expression on her face that the
king was forced to chuckle.

"Nothing, dear, nothing."

"What do you mean nothing?" Angela said, suddenly angry. He obviously knew
something, and she wanted it out of him.

"Hey, don't talk to the king like that!" Duran interposed his large body
between the two royals, but the king called him down.

"Duran, I am in no danger. Stand down."

"Yessir." said Duran. And he did, leaving Angela to face the king once
again, still glaring.

"Well?"

"I told you, it's nothing that you need to be concerned with."

"But..."

:Majesty.:

Before Angela could finish her retort, the faerie manifested before her.
The king, unlike the others when they had seen the faerie for the first
time, did not recoil in surprise. In fact, he almost seemed resigned to
some unspoken purpose.

"You are a faerie from the Mana Holyland?"

:Yes, I am, Majesty. How did you know?:

"I was once a faerie bearer myself. Back in my dragon hunting days. But
those days are long past now, and that faerie died in the war, so you must
be a different faerie. Does this mean what I fear it does?"

:Yes, Majesty, the world is threatened once again.:

The king sighed, and turned to Duran, who was kneeling off to the side.

"So, I suppose this means that your companions were not here solely to save

my kingdom?"

Duran did not answer. Riesz spoke for him, instead, since Angela was still
seething over the king's unspoken secret.

"No, Majesty. We came to see you, yes, but we did not anticipate an attack.

We were ambushed on the bridge while on our way to see you."

:We are seeking the aid of the Elemental Spirits, Majesty.: said the
faerie. Gnome and Wisp teleported in.

:Howdy!: said Gnome.

:Hello!: said Wisp.

The king took a slow step away. Apparently, he had never seen an elemental
before, but was too well mannered to show any rudeness to such exalted
creatures. The faerie saved him from needing to say anything.

:So far, we've found the Spirits of Light and Earth, Majesty. Do you know
where the rest are in hiding?:

"The Spirits?"

Perhaps sensing the king's discomfort, the two elementals disappeared, back

to their respective homes. Richard's brow furrowed with deep thought, then
his eyes brightened suddenly, as if he were remembering something.

"There was an old legend, I seem to recall. I am not certain, but I
believe I can tell you where the spirits lie."

:Truly?: the faerie was excited, :They have been apart for so long that
none of them remember where the others live. Please tell us?:

"Very well," said the king, "but you will need to find Jinn before any of
the others."

"Why is that?" asked Riesz. "What does it matter how we go about looking
for them?"

"Well, you see..." The king did not blush, but Riesz could tell that he
was embarrassed. "The legend comes in the form of an old children's rhyme,
and it goes in a very specific order."

:I understand, Majesty.: The faerie turned to Riesz. :I think I know what
he is talking about. But the references of the rhyme are very vague. I am
not familiar with the world beyond the Mana Holyland, so I can't tell you
where to go.:

"I may be able to assist you in that capacity."

Richard turned and ascended to his throne once again, all traces of his
earlier loss of composure erased. He seated himself easily, and looked
down at them with an air of power none of the travelers would challenge.
He was definitely King Richard of Forcena now.

"The legend says that light and earth were the first protectors of Mana."

:The Goddess created Wisp and Gnome before all the others, yes.: agreed
the faerie.

"Jinn was the third protector, set to guard 'where the wind ends'. I
believe that the place in question is the mountain kingdom, Laurant."

Riesz gasped, and everyone turned to look at her.

"Riesz?" Hawkeye looked faintly worried.

"Not inside Laurant?" Angela said, her irritation with the king forgotten.

"No." Riesz recovered herself. "Not inside. I think I know where it is
now. Jinn must be in the Cavern of the wind Mana Stone."

"You know where the Stone is?" The king was surprised.

"Of course, my mother took me there when I was younger. I never met Jinn,
though. The mountains of my home are surrounded by a constant tempest, but
the Stone is in a cave, protected from the wind. So, it is where the wind
ends, the answer to the riddle."

"Wow, Riesz, I'm impressed." Angela did look genuinely proud of her
friend, and her white teeth flashed prettily at the amazon. Duran gulped
audibly.

"Indeed." said the king.

But Duran was not so calm.

"Who are you people?" he blurted. The king gave him a withering look, and
he subsided, but Hawkeye was content to answer the question.

"Princess Angela," he pointed to the girl with the violet hair and golden
eyes, "of Altena. Riesz probably has a similar title, but I don't know
about Laurant politics."

"I'm not sure what I am anymore." Riesz muttered.

"And you, young man? Are you a prince?" The king asked dryly.

"I'm a thief, Majesty."

"A thief?" Duran actually pulled out his big sword.

"Put that sticker away, fool." said Hawkeye. Incensed, Duran started to
rush him, but Angela caught his clothing with her staff, and Riesz swept
his feet out from beneath him.

"Duran, please stop acting like a child." The king sighed, and favored the
three travelers with a pained gaze. "I think it is time for you three to
go. Goddess be with you on your way."

"Goddess bless." replied Riesz. They bowed in unison, and left the throne
room. As they descended the stairs to the courtyard, they discussed their
next movements.

"Are we off to Laurant, then?" Angela asked tentatively. She was not sure
if Riesz would be willing to go backt to her home country so soon after the
loss of the castle.

:It's necessary, if we are to open the gate to the Mana Holyland.:

"Yes, we have to." Riesz bit her tongue to keep from saying more.
Memories of her amazon sisters struck her like blows.

"So we'll get Jinn, and retake the castle in one move. I think it's a
great idea."

Riesz looked at Hawkeye, not comprehending his words.

"What?"

"I said..."

"I know what you said. How can we take the castle, all by ourselves?
We're just three people." She spread her hands in a gesture of
helplessness. "It doesn't matter, anyway. Everyone is gone."

"Are you absolutely sure?"

Riesz blinked. Hawkeye was failing to make sense again.

"You aren't, then. What if even one of your people survived the attack.
Could you really forgive yourself if she died because you didn't come to
save her in time?"

"And we aren't exactly helpless, you know." said Angela. "Do you have
people that throw balls of light around there? I doubt it. We laid siege
to this castle by ourselves, and won."

"Well, sort of." Hawkeye interjected.

"Shut up ninja boy, you're not helping our point."

"Just trying to keep it as truthful as possible."

"Anyway, if we did it once, we can do it again. I doubt this...what was
her name again?"

"Isabelle." said Hawkeye.

"Bigieu." said Riesz, at the same time. They looked at each other,
bewildered.

"We are talking about the same person, right?"

"It doesn't really matter. I doubt that she is any stronger than Koren,
and he ran away as soon as he saw us."

:Regardless,: said the faerie, :we must go and seek Jinn in the mountain
zone. We can decide along the way.:

"Wait!"

They turned around quickly. Duran was running down the stairs, huffing and
puffing as usual, and clanking in his heavy armor. He screeched to a halt
in front of them, and took a moment to catch his breath.

"Good, you haven't left yet. King Richard says to tell you that Bon
Voyage's cannon should be ready. It's out in the courtyard."

"Duran..." Angela began.

"I'm coming with you." said the big warrior. When the other three started
to shake their heads. "You can't leave me behind. You'll need every man
you can get if you're going to take that castle. So I'm coming with you."

"Duran, you can't...you can't leave the king now! Forcena's defences have
massive holes in them. YOU need every man you can get." Angela stopped as
she saw him grin. "What?"

"You think we sit on our mundane asses here in Forcena?" He laughed. "The
king has spies in Altena, we've already got a detachment on the way there.
Altena is gonna be way to busy to be attacking anyone for a while."

"What if the Beast Kingdom attacks?" Hawkeye asked. "They're just south
of here. How will you protect the city from them?"

"Oh, them. They're no problem."

"You didn't see Astoria when they were done with it." Hawkeye said
grimly. "I think you underestimate them."

"One man isn't going to make a difference. I found that out when Koren
attacked the first time. I've already made my decision, so let's get
going."

He started down the stairs, and would not listen to any further arguments.
Angela, however, was having serious second thoughts.

"Bon Voyage? Cannon? Not again!"

The rest of the group laughed, and they made their way into the courtyard
with smiles on their faces.

*******************

Okay, hope you guys like it. It's kind of a filler chapter, no fighting,
but I thought it was necessary. Sorry about the Angela's father question,
I didn't feel it was the right time to answer it.

Ja ne!

~Truewind