BloodyCrystal: Hi, all! Welcome to chapter two of The Dream Master! (pauses for cheers) What, no cheers? Well, putting that aside, may I present: Chapter 2!
Disclaimer: I only own Lani, the bad guy, the plot, and a few other things that I can't seem to remember right now...
Ch. 2: Remember
"I don't know who ordered them to attack me, and I don't know who they were. There were about five or six of them, and they all wanted to knife me. It was a nice setup, though."
"'A nice setup?'" Hector roared, furious at Heath's casual demeanor and off-handed compliment. "They nearly killed you and you call it 'a nice setup?' What kind of-"
"Peace, Hector," Eliwood interrupted, holding up his hand to stop his friend's angry tirade. "Heath, why do you admire it?"
"I was in Bern's wyvern riders for quite a while. In any military organization, tactics and strategy are very important. Therefore, we were trained on effective ambushes. The rain gave my opponents an ambush, that's true, but I was in a plain. Do any of you know how hard it is to ambush someone in a field? Even if it's raining?"
Lani looked up from repairing torn clothes, a single eyebrow raised at Heath's unnatural vehemence. "It's hard," she replied. "The chance of alerting your opponent-on a field, in the rain-is 9:1 against." There were gasps and low whistles from the other commanders. "Impressive, isn't it? Particularly since Heath has been in more real military situations than most of us. What would have happened to, say, Flo'? Or Rebecca? Or even Bartre? Care to bet on their survival chances?"
"We get the point, Lani," Lyn replied, frowning-ever so slightly-at the Tactician.
Lani nodded gravely, and turned back to her sewing.
"Professionals, do you think?" Eliwood asked of the room at large.
Lani nodded almost immediately, but the rest thought it out more. "It's highly probable," Lord Pent said, a frown creasing his face. "But if they are, then this is distressing-for me and Louise, at least."
"Yes," Lady Louise agreed, her face wrought with worry. "You see, Etruria is known for not having mercenaries within its borders. ("I'll bet even Etruria turns to mercenaries in desperate times," Lani murmured, head down so no one else would hear.) The fact that there are...Our people would not be prepared!"
"I killed all those that attacked me, Lady Louise, so there are a handful less," Heath assured her.
"Thank you, Heath; it means a lot to know that even some of them can't terrorize my people," she replied, gracing the Wyvern Lord with a slight smile.
Heath bowed his head in acknowledgement, then turned to Eliwood. "Lord Eliwood, I believe that these men were highly trained, and might even be mercenaries. But I am not sure. For all I know, they were deserters from an army, or regular brigands." Heath's tone made it very clear that he did not think that the case.
"Heath, did these men wear anything...unusual?" Lani asked, sounding interested-in a casual-like way. "And how did they fight? What was their style?"
"They fought like berserkers, except that they always kept formation. They also didn't lose their heads; they played it strategically. And, now that you mention it, I remember that they all had a strange pendant on a chain."
"What did the pendant look like?" Lani asked urgently, eyes never once leaving Heath's face-not even to look. The Tactician had even put her make-work away; she was deadly serious about this question.
"I didn't see many of the pendants too clearly, but the one I did see looked like a silver human hand with black claws that were reaching for something," Heath said, slowly, eyes closed in concentration. "And the black claws looked slightly...reddish..."
"Jekran's Jackals," Lani whispered. The Tactician's eyes rolled up as she slumped in her chair.
"Lani!" Lyn cried, rushing to Lani's side. "She...fainted..." the Blade Lord gasped.
"What could have been so bad it made Lani faint?" Hector questioned. "I mean, we've seen what brigands and mercenaries do, so what's so special about these Jackals that makes her faint?" No one could answer, for the only one who could was out cold.
She was sitting on the hill outside her house, humming, when Lloyd and Linus approached her. "Heyla, Lanari!" Lloyd called. "It's too nice of a day to be sitting around, girl!"
"So? Th' two o' ya do't alla time!" she called back tauntingly.
"About that…" Lloyd started, his expression darkening over.
"What we're here to tell you, girl, is that we're being sent to train for the Black Fang," Linus told her.
"Wha'? Ye're leavin' already? But-ah thought-ah thought…" the seven-year-old stared at the two of them, shocked into silence for once.
"But, if you work really hard at your lessons, then you'll be able to be our Tactician when we're full-fledged members! That'll be fun, Lana. I promise," Lloyd told the devastated girl. He ruffled her hair in consolation.
"That means no slacking, pipsqueak," Linus said, teasing her just a tad. "You have to learn to speak proper, girl-child, or we won't take you."
"Jus' ye wait an' see! I'll be the best Tactician eva'!" the girl promised.
"You do that, Lana; you do that," Lloyd said, a strange look in his eye.
Lani sat bolt upright, eyes wide. Have nae-oops, I have not had that dream in a while. I could have done without it for at least a little bit longer.
"Lani's up!" Serra's annoying voice said from beside her. Lani winced at the Bishop's volume level-Serra really could wake the dead without trying.
At Serra's shout, the "Command Group" came in, shooed Serra out, sat down, and looked at Lani. Lani gulped, slightly. Somethin'-something tells me I don't want to be here right now.
"Lani, what can you tell us about Jekran's Jackals?" Hector asked, almost immediately.
"They're a mercenary group..." she began, cautiously trying to read their body language in the hope that it would give her a clue as to what this was all about.
"You went and fainted the last time you mentioned them an hour ago, and now all of us want to know what it's all about," the Great Lord snapped. "So tell us, now."
"All right. Jekran's Jackals is a group of mercenaries from Bern. They never gained as much support as the Black Fang, so they headed elsewhere for 'work'. This elsewhere turns out to be the northern continent, where inter-country wars are a way of life. The Jackals also fit in there, mostly because they're bloodthirsty, lowlife scum. They enjoy," here, Lani's voice sounded uncharacteristically bitter, "rape, death, blood, gore, loot, anything. They'll also do anything for money; anything at all. They will rape, kill, and loot even when it's not necessary; they do it even when they're told it's not needed. That's how much they love that stuff."
There was a pregnant pause before Hector cleared his throat and asked, hesitantly, "Then what are they doing back on Elibe?"
"I don't know. Maybe our enemy hired them; we are getting quite close to Eirelm-Mea, you know. If he did, then he's the kind who doesn't care that Etruria will be wrecked by these monsters who call themselves mercs. He doesn't care that they'll turn on 'his' island of operations. All he cares about is killing, stopping, or slowing us. With an enemy like that, who needs Nergal?"
The others exchanged looks before Lady Louise gasped in horror. "What have they been doing to my poor people?" she cried.
Lord Pent paled, gulped audibly, and looked beseechingly at Eliwood. "Of course we'll track them all down," Eliwood declared. "We'd have to face them eventually, so better sooner as compared with later."
"Very well, milord," Lani said, standing. "Give me a map of Etruria and I'll tell you where they probably are."
"You can give us a good enough estimate?" Lyn demanded.
"Based on what passes for their 'entertainment', I can give you a six in seven chance of finding them," the Tactician replied, completely business once again.
"See to it, Lani," Eliwood ordered. "Lord Pent, Lady Louise, I'd like you to stay with Lani to help her with the map."
Lord Pent nodded gravely, one arm around his wife as she dried her tears.
And so, preparations for the next battle commenced. If only I could command my blood-sibs as well; then I would not be so worried about the outcome of this battle with those bastards who call themselves mercs. We'd pay 'em-them-back for what they did to Nadi and her group..., Lani thought as she bent over the maps Marcus had-quite literally, by the smell-unearthed.
BloodyCrystal: Well, how was it? I hope you all enjoyed this little snippet of Lani/Lanari's past. More to come next chapter, and maybe a glimpse into Heath's life. Expect at least a pinch of romance, quite probably more. And, sorry about the day late update, I was 'kidnapped' by my sister to play games. (shudders) Trust me when I say that you don't want my darling sibling after you-or mad at you...(shudders again)
Well, I must be going to dinner-and practice. At least this is one of my last weeks before the real thing, and then I'm done 'til next year. Buh-bye for now!