I just wanted to say thank you all so much for waiting for me to finish this chapter. Major writer's block doesn't help the situation at all. But for all the readers who have been waiting here is chapter nine!
Chapter Nine: The Changes That Are Yet To Come
The green grass of the meadows moved gently with the wind as it caressed the landscape and all that surrounded it. Flowers danced to their own beat as though a peace would last forever in the small garden, as if a haven had been created. And in that haven Serena sat enjoying her morning hoping against hope that all would be well.
She sat gracefully on the exquisitely carved gray stone bench. Serena was never much for detail in anything but she did notice a story carved on the bench's legs and supporting frame. "Beautiful." She whispered to herself.
"A beautiful girl finds her love and in finding her love she unleashes both their powers and saves the world from a great darkness that threatened all." A gentle male almost feminine voice spoke from in front of Serena. When Serena looked up in surprise she noticed that the man was dressed in the same uniform as Malachite. "My name is Zoycite Alcott, I'm the prince's third general as well as the head of intelligence and defense. And I must presume that you are the brave Lady Serena. All in court have spoken highly of your courage in the face of fire."
Shorter than Malachite, he bowed at the waist to Serena. His blonde with a slight tint of red hair hung in a ponytail at the base of his neck, and when he stood straight again Serena saw that his jade green eyes held a intelligence of an elder but the spark of a young child. "Pleased to meet you." Serena nodded her head in acknowledgement. "Do all guards have a tendency to sneak up on a woman or is it just me?" Serena said lightly.
"May I sit?" Serena nodded. "Well I'm not quite so sure. In fact I was just walking in the garden myself when I spotted you examining the bench's carvings. If you wish to be alone I shall leave." Zoycite began to rise but Serena's hand stalled him.
"No tis all right with me. But I am surprised that no one would have warned you about my fierceness when caught of my guard and unaware. Surly you speak to his highness and Malachite, I would have but thought that they would warn against such a person like me." She smiled for the first time since her arrival.
"Aye that they did. But you have yet to meat the last two generals of his highness' army. Nephrite, Jedite, you may as well quit hiding behind the bushes." He talked a bit louder.
After some ruffling of the bushes two men stepped forward. Both in the same uniform as Zoycite both a little apprehensive. "The taller one is Nephrite and the other Jedite." He introduced.
"Ahh, allow me to introduce myself, please Zoycite. I am his highness' second general and strategists Jedite Wayland."
"Hgmm, I am his highness' fourth and final general and weapons specialist Nephrite Calhoun and tis a great honor to meat you."
Serena looked each of the two over. First there was Jedite his hair cut short and blonde reminded her of the barley meadows in the hot summer his eyes were of a light purple, like the purple in the sky as the sun began to set. The other Nephrite was taller and had broader shoulders than Jedite, his hair a dark chestnut brown and eyes that were azure blue. "Pleased to meat you both however, I am confused why did you hide and what the hell it going on?" Serena demanded as she stood.
"Well you see Zoycite here was claiming that he could approach you and not be the barer of an unfortunate hit to the jaw…" Jedite tried to explain but was cut off.
"So we took the liberty of hurting his pride and he then proceeded to prove both of us wrong. It is most unfortunate that you were in the middle of a shall we say mans brawl." Nephrite completed.
"Ah, so you like to fight do you? Hmm!" Serena began to think.
"Uht ohh, I don't think I'd like to know what you're thinking right now." Zoycite spoke as he began to back away.
"Well I would here now lass, tell us brutes what idea you're forming in your little head. Surly it would be better than just standing here in silence." Nephrite stepped forward.
"Well it seems that you have been told every thing, including the sword and combat lessons that I have been taught since I was but five." She looked at each of the three and saw them nod in agreement. "Then I guess since its been awhile I could use some practice, perhaps you would not mind if I joined you this afternoon in the courtyard while you all practice." Serena suggested.
"I would never fight against a woman." Zoycite bluntly stated.
"Mmm, then I guess you are more of a coward then your friends thought you to be. After all what harm can a mere woman like me do to a man like you?" Serena retorted slyly.
Jedite and Nephrite had to hold back their laughter as Zoycite's face darkened at the challenge. "Fine then meet us in the courtyard at five o'clock sharp." And with that he stomped away.
As soon as Zoycite was out of earshot the other two remaining guards busted up with laughter.
"Girl, you've got talent after all. Well we should be off, t'was a pleasure to meet you." Nephrite bowed and turned to leave only pausing long enough to wait for Jedite to fallow.
"By the way his highness also practices with us, so best be on your toes. Good day." Jedite called as he caught up with Nephrite and then left.
And so then Serena was left alone once again in the gardens. The prince is to practice with his men. Interesting most royals would only practice with their sword masters, of course Darien is no ordinary prince. Ahh, so much to do and very little time to prepare in. Perhaps I shall be able to fight the prince himself.
And as the day wore on so the hours slowly passed and in those hours Serena waited for the chance to prove herself to all the court. But most importantly to prove herself to the prince. For it is said that the prince is the most skilled person in all of Ireland with the sword. True that he had never truly fought in battle but he was fierce while at practice and mock battle. And so in the few hours before five o'clock Serena had changed from her frost blue day dress into her best fighting breaches and shirt, she strapped her five foot long sword to her waist and slipped her dagger into her boot. Unable to wait any longer she slowly made her way to the courtyard so that she could stretch and focus on how to improve her weaknesses.
Still in the wide courtyard when the giant clock tower struck five in the afternoon, Serena stood and waited for the generals, the prince and Mina to arrive. For Serena had also invited her friend and newly found cousin to join in, as Serena lightly called them the festivities.
The first to arrive was Mina and Malachite practically hand in hand. Mina smiled brightly as she walked over to Serena and gave her a quick hug. "I'm so glad that you invited me to come along. Perhaps now I will be able to prove to Malachite that I'm not as weak and feeble minded, as he seems to think all women are. Not that I don't mind now and then." She smiled as she pulled out her sword and began to expertly mock fight against an invisible foe. Her sword was almost exactly like Serena's only slightly shorter and instead of a moonstone in the hilt there was a garnet orange stone, that shone like fire if the sun hit the gem just right.
As Mina finished her warm-ups the last of the generals and Darien arrived. Each general had taken their swords out of the there scabbards and each in turn preformed a few warm up moves.
Malachite's sword was a plain blade of sixty-six inches but the most amazing thing about his sword was that the hilt was plated white gold and had a small diamond that shown blue in the late afternoon sun. Jedite's sword was sixty inches long, with nothing more than a jade stone dragon inlaid into the hilt of the sword. Zoycite's sword was a small blade in comparison to Malachite's, only forty-eight inches long but on the blade of the sword was a expertly carved vine of ivy, but what was even more amazing was that the leaves of the vine held a tint of green in them. Nephrite's sword was a blade of fifty-four inches though it was broader than that of the rest, and in the hilt of the sword at the very end a star had been carved deeply into the metal. Darien carried the same seventy-two inch blade with the doeskin on the hilt and the emerald in silver. To Serena all of the swords that each man carried were unique and amazing.
Serena, Darien noticed was not carrying the sword that she fought in the gardens with. Instead she held a blade the same length as Nephrite's with a design of moons and stars carved into the base of the blade, and the hilt of the sword was covered in doeskin just like Darien's was but at the end of her hilt set in silver was a stone that had not been see for many a thousand year. The stone looked like your average moonstone except for one thing, in the center of the stone there was a white eight-pointed star. Extremely rare and hard to find on earth.
"I must say gentlemen, that you all look quiet impressive with your blades unsheathed at your sides." Serena turned to each general nodding her approval at them. "So who shall take on whom?" Serena asked as she turned back to Darien.
"Actually we're still waiting for our other sparing partners." Nephlite said pointedly.
"Alright then how many more are we waiting for?" Mina asked rather impatiently.
"Well let's see…there's still the Amazonian woman, the mouse like doctor, and the fiery gypsy." Zoycite ticked each off on his fingers.
"Don't your sparing partners have names? I believe it is rather rude to describe people instead of naming them." Serena eyed Zoycite.
"Aye that it is lady. Allow me to be the real gentleman. Their names are miss Lita Masterson, Amy O'Brien and Raye of the flaming dragon clan." Jedite answered. Serena noticed the glint in his eyes as he said the last name rather oddly. As if he was infatuated with the girl but daren't say a word of this out loud to any one.
"Well then why don't we set up a challenge? We begin fighting in pairs, the winner of each pair then moves to the next round and so forth." Serena challenged as an evil little glint slipped past her eyes toward a certain ponytail blonde.
"Here, here, that sounds like a splendid idea." A voice called from behind the group.
Every one turned to see a tall woman with brunette hair tied back into a high ponytail and intense green eyes. A long side her stood a short girl with blue hair and clear blue eyes, and next to her a woman with dark black hair that shone purple in the late afternoon sun stood narrowing her violet eyes at the group.
"Ahh, ladies glad to see you've finally arrived. Even if you are a bit late." Jedite spoke from the back.
"Shut up you twit. They were waiting for me to finish my flame reading for a costumer." The darker haired woman spoke forcefully at Jedite.
"My, my what a temper. Raye you really should learn to keep it under control."
Raye growled lowly before spitting out, "You will be my first challenge!!" And with that she stormed toward Jedite.
Before any others could call their partners Serena called, "I challenge Zoycite."
The smaller girl called out in protest, "Hey wait a minute, Zoycite is my sparing partner."
"Don't fight against women do you?" Serena asked.
"Well, I do not count Amy as a woman. She's more like a…a…" Zoycite stopped in mid-sentence, for Amy was glaring dangerously at him. "Well I prefer not to say."
Eventually Nephlite paired with Lita while Malachite paired with Mina and Darien went against Amy. And so when the clock struck half past the challenges began.
Sword met sword steady and true for each pair. (A.N. I am going to write out each scenario for each pair in paragraphs.) The clang and clatter of metal against metal filled the courtyard and in the distance the Queen sat upon her balcony and watched as each of the pairs fought strongly against one another.
Jedite held his own quiet well against Raye, somehow managing to escape whenever Raye thought that she had him pinned. Jedite moved gracefully and carefully as if he planned out each step before he took it. Slowly and methodically he slowed Raye down till she seemed to tire. But this proved to be Jedite's undoing at the last possible moment when Raye fell upon her knee, he loosened his grip upon the hilt of his sword. As he moved to strike away her sword and hold the tip of his own to her heart, she burst with a sudden unseen strength, twisting her wrist in an expert movement and disarmed Jedite in less then half a minute.
Lita moved cautiously around Nephlite before either of them advanced. Suddenly as if a storm blew past Nephlite, Lita leaped with an uncanny grace not known to many Amazonian women. Nephlite easily stepped aside and blocked the hard blow that made his arm tingle as the sword vibrated. They each fought hard, neither glancing anywhere but where it was necessary. Their blows were the loudest and most challenging of all, but eventually the victor to arise form this little challenge would be Lita. In just two swift movements she had disarmed Nephlite and had him pinned under her foot.
Serena thought that she could not have had an easier challenge. Zoicite was simply not cut out to be a swordsmen, perhaps that is way he is the head of intelligence and defense. Zoicite held his own quite well and Serena was toying with him, it wasn't until he slapped her across her backside with the flat edge of his sword that Serena put all of her strength and effort behind her blade. One, Two, Three and Zoicite was disarmed and begging for his life, so fearful was he for doing what he had done.
Amy the smallest and quietist of the group, was just about as good as Zoicite with a sword only more effective than he. She fought carefully just as Jedite had. Darien knew that it would only take a few sword strokes to disarm Amy, but because he was so kind he only fought her with a quarter of his strength. But in the end Amy had tired too much and her sword flew from her hand in the instant that Darien had struck a hard blow.
Mina swung her blade and angled it just below Malachite's heart. Malachite blocked the hit easily and sent Mina falling away. He was forceful when behind his blade, and fought with only one thought in mind, don't get killed! Mina he could tell did not give up easily and fought just as hard as he. She had never before met any who could beat her except for Serena and she was beginning to wonder if she had any chance against Malachite. As she fell to the ground though, Malachite made the worst mistake ever he thought he could have made, he thought he had won and turned his back. Mina sprung forward at her chance to take him by surprise and did, from behind she disarmed Malachite and had the flat edge of her blade at his throat.
"Now that we have the victors form each challenge let us rest for a moment or so to regain what little strength we have used." Zoicite said loudly as he passed around cool mugs of water.
Each nodded their thanks and drank quietly. "So who was the victor from each pair?" Serena asked slowly as she eyed the group before her.
"Raye." Jedite called
"Lita." Nephlite growled (He hates to lose.)
"Mina." Malachite answered quietly.
"Darien." Amy stated.
"And of course there's me. So that leaves five people to finish the challenge down to the last two. Who shall go against whom?" Serena asked as she stood and walked over to the victors.
"Why don't Raye and myself fight, while you and Mina fight? Then whoever is left from those two, one will go against Darien, whom ever wins from there shall be the last pair in the challenge." Lita suggested as she stood and stretched her muscles.
"Excellent idea. So shall we begin or do you all need more rest?" Serena asked as she drank the last of her water.
"Nye, let's get this over with, I find all this chatter rather boring." Raye answered as she took up a fighting stance against Lita.
Raye stood tall as the wind gently brushed her hair away from her face and Lita took up her place. Their swords clashed ringing out loud as they began to face off. Each fighting harder than they had before. Focusing only on each other and nothing around them. It was however only a few more swift and graceful movements later, by Raye that the challenged was finished between the two.
Serena and Mina having faced each other before knew each other's weaknesses and advantages. Their challenge lasted long and was more exhilarating. Their swords clashing into the dusk of the day and still neither had given into the other, but Mina was soon distracted by Malachite. For he was making fun of her and she let that stop her. Serena took advantage of this and disarmed her in two swift moves.
All four girls breathing hard took the offered water and drank slowly. "It seems that Serena must now face Raye. Hmm, this should make for an interesting scene." Jedite said as he ducked a slap that came from Lita.
"Well I will admit that she has bested us and fairly too. Heya, Serena who taught you all those fancy moves?" Zoycite asked.
"Let us begin shall we?" Raye asked impatiently, as she cut Jedite off.
Serena nodded at took her place before Raye. Each raised their swords high and began to fight. The clang and clatter of each sword sent sparks fling into the air. But all was for not, Serena had used a small amount of her magic to give herself an advantage and it worked. In two steps Raye was disarmed and on the ground with Serena's blade at her throat.
"Wow, the fury of a woman. Hey Serena how about answering Jedite's question where did you learn to fright so well?" Nephlite asked as he handed Serena some more water.
"Adam of the village Blackwolf. He has trained the guards at the manor who are loyal to my mother's family and myself." Answered Serena as she drank the last of her water.
"I believe we should finish this delightful conversation over dinner, but first the Lady Serena and I have a challenge that must be finished before it gets to dark." Darien then turned to Serena, "Shall we?"
Serena nodded her head yes, and then took up her fighting position as did Darien. Darien began to bow at the waist but stopped when he spotted Serena moving in closer to him. He was so unprepared for the blow that when their swords struck his hands and arms stung from the powerful blow. Serena concentrated on nothing but trying to anger him to the point of potentially unlocking his powers. She again took advantage of his reaction to move in for another blow. Unfortunately for her, he met her blow this time and began to fight back harder than he had ever had to with any one person that he had to go up against before. Blow by blow, strike by strike they fought. Sweat pouring down their faces teeth clenched in concentration, yet still they kept fighting. Slowly each began to lose their strength, their footing, and their balance. (A.N. If you've ever seen 'Red Sonja' you know what I'm trying to describe)
By the end both Serena and Darien had to call a truce. But Serena could not help but feel that she had won, for her an initial strategy had won out after all. Darien had released some of his magic.
The others had left when they found that neither Darien nor Serena were going to give up. So there they sat on the ground breathing hard and exhausted, back leaning upon back. "I take it that we'll have to finish this some other time?" Darien asked.
"Nye, I did what I intended to do. We are equals in fighting and in magic." Serena breathed deeply.
Darien not understanding moved so that he could face her. He moved to fast for Serena to catch on to what he was doing, so that her head fell into his lap. "What are you saying?" Darien asked as he looked down into her endless blue eyes.
"What I'm saying is that you have opened a small link to your magic. Healing. While fighting I felt a small surge of magic from you. Yes, it's true I cheated a bit with my own but when you began to feel weak and tired you tapped into your power source and pulled your strength from that. It was in the exact same way that I discovered my healing abilities. Congratulations you have now begun your training." Serena smiled as she noticed realization downing on his face.
"Thank you." Darien said before he leaned down and softly brushed his lips against Serena's for a stolen kiss.
The sweet and tender moment did not however last. A lone arrow shot through the air and hit Serena in the side of her stomach. As the pain raced through her body Serena gave a faint whimper. Darien pulled back wondering if he had done the wrong thing, he did not notice her injury until she looked past his face toward her lower body his eyes fallowing.
"Oh, gods!" Darien whispered before he found his voice. "HELP, SOME ONE HELP!!!!" Darien yelled.
"Darien, Darien…" Serena whispered. And he turned to look at her. "The arrow it's poisoned, pull it out before there is to much in my system." Darien shook his head. "Darien you must otherwise I die and he wins. You can do this. Darien I trust you. Do this!" Serena whispered again.
Darien took hold of the arrow shaft, he counted to three and then pulled the arrow shaft out along with the arrowhead. Serena's scream could be heard through out the palace. And while Serena slowly drifted into unconsciousness, Darien held her closely praying to the gods to keep her safe.