Chapter Four

Central Begnion, hidden within the Desert of Grann...

In the heart of a desert and within the walls of a canyon, Beorc, Bird, Beast and Branded lived in harmony; all equals, all refugees. Such a thing could not have been possible four hundred years ago. With the Branded caught in the bitter middle, Beorc and Laguz would have formed their own groups and isolated themselves from the rest. But now they were united by a common tragedy. Such fellowship between species was what the Order wanted to obliterate.

Stefan did not catch up in the four days it took Amy and Soren to return to the colony. To stay low, they had to skirt around the populated areas of Begnion and avoid traveling in broad daylight. The soldiers based in the province of Tanas guarded the main entrance to Grann, so they entered through a pass in the mountains that created a natural border around the desert.

As they neared the secret entrance grounds, a small peach colored bird flew above their heads, although it wasn't a desert avian. There was soon movement behind the sandy dunes around them as hidden sentries made themselves known.

Amy was greeted with a mix of puzzled and curious faces from the five laguz guards who welcomed them. These exhibited varying sentiments. She was someone they never expected to return. Soren inadvertently saved her from having to properly face them by shooing away the questions about her and telling them that it was urgent that they press on into the city below the desert surface. Two of the laguz guards led them there, less out of precaution to the colony's security and more out of concern that their exhausted forms might be injured on the steep and rocky descent that characterized the hidden path down.

The stone structures below were carved directly from the canyon itself. These had stood for hundreds of years and provided shelter from the harsh heat and extreme weather of the desert above them. Up there, the scattered constructions were of mudrock and sand to camouflage with the golden desert landscape.

They moved through the stone city, relieved at how the desert heat had dimmed considerably. Here, their arrival attracted even more attention and Amy was soon swarmed by more familiar people. Soren hastily pulled her away before she could break into a fit of tears, apologizing, or both.

Ahead, they finally reached the northern limit of the hidden city: an edifice that merged into the canyon walls from one side and overlooked the ravine from another. From its stone doorway, a smiling woman with unnaturally silver hair rushed out to meet them. No doubt she had sensed the mystic metal Amy held and knew that the trip had been a success.

It was finally time.

xxx

The childish voice that resonated throughout the room for all to hear was filled with mirth. "Oh, it's been so long, Micaiah!"

Micaiah, the shining blue medallion finally in her hands, laughed warmly. A peach bird flew through one of the room's two windows and alighted on her shoulder. "It has been a while, Yune."

"It takes much more energy to communicate like this so I'll be using you, this is acceptable?"

"She seems to have learned how to ask permission this time." Despite the completion of the mission, Soren was in a foul mood. He was seated at the table on the other end of the room next to Amy. She was eating hungrily, but his own meal lay forgotten as he examined a scroll. He was referring to the many times during the final stages of the last war when Yune would take Micaiah's body at a whim to talk to them, making the priestess the object of much sudden and random confusion among those that surrounded her.

A flash of light came from Micaiah's form and her legs buckled beneath her. Volug, who had been standing at her side, immediately caught her. They waited in tense silence as her head lolled gently on his shoulder, eyes closed. The bird was gone.

Micaiah's eyes suddenly flew open. A bright mystical red instead of the usual golden hazel.

The face whom those eyes belonged to twisted into an angry pout as she turned to Soren, who tensed and looked up. "Don't you lecture me on manners when you have none yourself!" Yune snapped in Micaiah's voice, something akin to a slight echo attached to it.

Although Yune had not communicated with him since that night in Serenes, he was somewhat annoyed from her prying words. However, angering a touchy goddess who was prone to juvenile tantrums wasn't the very best idea at the moment, especially not now that she had a physical body. Although she was still recovering her own powers, she had Micaiah. Plus, he knew that despite the strange sympathy she had expressed, she was a being who took pleasure and power from the chaotic energy and emotions of mortals.

Her swaying form was steadied by Volug as she tested her new limbs and stretched. She held a hand in front of her and studied the fingers, her expression morphing into something wistful. "It definitely has been a while, Micaiah."

The other occupants in the room, Amy and Muarim, watched as she turned around and walked a little unsteadily to the room's southern window and lifted the thick purple drapes that covered it. With a hawk eye's view, she could see past the shadows of stone streets and the gorge that stretched below them to the east, to the sunny landscapes in the distance where the land dipped at different altitudes.

"So tell me, how have you all fared?" Her voice had become serious as she looked through the landscape and civilization outside with divine sight. "I do not see many familiar faces."

There was a brief silence before she turned back to the assembled group. Amy had been watching her every move in awe.

"What has become of everyone?"

After their failure to stop Ashera at the Tower of Guidance, Yune had tried once more to appeal to her sister. Ashera's wrath had turned on her, and Yune was reimprisoned inside the medallion. In her consequent weakened state, she had not personally beheld the destruction that had befallen their army after. She had not seen the death of their young general and his comrades.

Her striking red eyes turned on Soren and she continued. "What of Ike? Why, I had thought it impossible to not see you at his side."

Soren's expression darkened, but Yune moved on to address her words to other members of the group. "And little Sothe?" Her words were laced with a sort of escalating desperation and confusion. Her slumber had loosened her grasp on time, and even if her heroes had survived that fateful day, old age would have had them dead by now.

"Many years have passed, Goddess," the tiger laguz Muarim said calmly. "We've lost many since then. For us who are mortal, it has been a long time." He could feel the wave of melancholy assailing the whole group. Even Amy, who only had a vague recollection on the people mentioned.

Suddenly aware of how candid she had phrased her questions, she apologized. Micaiah was communicating with her, informing her. "I've forgotten how time is not the same for all. My consciousness has been fluctuating between sleep and wakefulness, and I've had little information on the state of the world during my absence. To me, that event is still as fresh in my mind as if it had happened yesterday."

Silence presided in the room for a few more seconds before Yune hastily shook her head, as if to clear away the sorrowful aura. "Then to honor their memories, we must succeed this time!" The childishness was returning. "That's why, we will grow in strength yet again, and teach my stuffy sister a lesson she won't forget!"

xxx

The desert at night was just as unforgiving as in the day, but the colony's walls could not offer the same protection. Frigid winds assaulted the sandy dunes above just as they howled through the stone streets below. Even so, many of the colony's more nocturnal residents, most notably the cats, lazed around during the day and were up and about around the city after dusk. However, since the colony was built into the cliffs underneath the desert outcrop that overlooked the canyon, moonlight didn't usually reach the stone city. Enchanted lamps had been created because wax was another scarce commodity, and the harsh winds would only blow normal ones out. Begnion wasn't the only one with scholars and inventors, and the lamps successfully lit the way through the main streets of the stone colony after dusk.

Sometimes however, some people decided to head to the surface for the night. The sky was a starry expanse of shining darkness, and outside of the canyon's safe confines it could be appreciated better.

The highest building on the surface was a watchtower, inconspicuously placed behind a large rocky dune and constructed partly with a hardy wood, a rare material that could only be acquired on covert trips to the woodland areas outside the desert.

It was at the top of this tower that Micaiah could see him, bundled up in his billowing dark robes and watching the stars alone.

She pulled her own robe tighter around her as she climbed the tower's steps. When she reached the top, she stood hesitantly, only a few feet away from Soren. Following his gaze, she looked to the stars, to the southwest.

"He will return," she said carefully, firmly.

The mage only sighed.

Micaiah ventured to his side, taking notice of his haggard appearance. The dim light of the moon and stars was enough for her to make out the dark circles under his crimson eyes and the weary droop to his shoulders. He had rested very little since he and Amy had arrived, whereas Amy had passed out in Micaiah's room hours before into a near coma-like state.

"Soren, you need rest."

She knew her words never had much effect on him. He would never willingly listen to her about his health, or anyone else for that matter. Only Stefan seemed to be able to force him, but the man's whereabouts were currently unknown. Micaiah wondered if Soren actually didn't mean to force his body so much, and that it was only his laguz blood calling out for more than a beorc form could handle.

"Soren," she called again. Yet he didn't seem to be aware of her presence anymore. He was in heavy thought.

She placed a hand on his shoulder, and she felt him give a slight start. He broke his gaze with the sky to finally look at her. Calm and unwavering golden eyes met uncertain crimson, and she tried to squeeze his shoulder in reassurance.

"Do not lose faith, he will return to us."

She knew he was pessimistic by nature, and although he would never openly say it, he had begun to worry for his companion's wellbeing. Her mind wandered back to Yune's words, earlier in the day.

Ike's death had left him devastated. The man whom Soren had sworn to serve and defend had been felled right before his eyes, and he blamed himself for having been so powerless to have done anything. Had it not been for Stefan who had restrained him at the time, Soren would have also gotten himself killed. With their remaining troops, they had fled the crumbling tower with their lives intact.

In the years that followed, it had been Stefan too who was able to reinstill the mage with a sense of purpose and life again.

She knew his pain. Micaiah's bond with Sothe had been just as strong. Although, he had been one of the ones who had made it out of the tower with them, he had never made it to Grann. A surprise ambush on their diminishing party had taken him from her only miles before safety.

He had given up his life to protect her.

For they who had lived so long, only time could heal such wounds. Yet even then, the sensitive scars were inevitable.

She was brought back to the present when her hand was shrugged off carelessly. "Faith?" Soren scoffed at her statement. "In what? Squabbling gods? You've met them, you know they can offer no pitiful salvation. "

Micaiah shook her head, unfazed by his response. "It is Stefan I say to trust."

They couldn't afford to lose the swordsman. He was the colony's leader and original founder. His presence inspired the strength and hope their people desperately needed. However, it had been days past the time he had estimated to return. They both knew that if any of them were ever captured by the Order, there would be no chance of saving them.

Perhaps it was a blessing of Yune's or some power from her Heron blood, but Micaiah had the utmost faith that Stefan would return. It was because she felt that he yet drew breath. It was this same heightened empathy that had caused her so much grief in the last war, but right now, she wished she could truly share this comfort with Soren.

He was silent again and he wouldn't look at her, but Micaiah didn't sense that he truly minded her presence despite the behaviour. No, close-lipped as he was, he would never say just how much he was actually grateful for it. They were the same, after all.

"...How did you find Amy?" she asked. Earlier, he had briefly told them about the events that had transpired during their mission and the information they had gathered. He had left out much about Amy, but the child was too tired to have shared anything or to have been offended. He had told them about her story and the boy she had met, and why Stefan had separated from them. If that boy was truly a Branded, Stefan would not hesitate to find him and bring him back. He was fiercely protective of their kind.

However, it had been a mission for information only, and Soren hoped he hadn't tried anything hasty to rescue the boy alone.

"The girl was fleeing," he began to answer her question. "My fight with that Order unit drew unnecessary attention. She heard that fresh new troops were combing the area and decided it was safer to leave. Then the little fool became caught in my storm."

"You give her too little credit," Micaiah smiled. "She was able to survive for so long on her own outside the colony. We're lucky to have her back in one piece."

"Perhaps," he said after a moment. "I hope she's realized the futility of her outlandish aspirations. She won't survive a second time."

They both turned back to the stars, and in a way, Micaiah wanted to agree with him. Amy had a young mind despite her age. She could not truly understand why terrible violence could befall their kind outside the desert. She yearned to return to the life she had been raised to, the one she could only possess fond memories of - a life that was long gone.

Crimea was in ruins, and any beorc she had once loved in her early days was dead. The mistrustful world that existed now would not hesitate to kill her if it simply knew of her mixed blood. Yet she still had so much faith in people and their ability to see through to right and wrong. She didn't take into account that those same people had grown into this new world, had become corrupted with its ideals and fears, and essentially become a part of it. She still held the notion that somehow, their kind could coexist with them if they showed them the truth.

Until the Order was gone, that would never be possible.

But Micaiah also admired her innocence and resilience, the way she didn't seem to become discouraged. They needed more like her, who had the energy and determination to see better days come. The colony's morale was always bordering on low. They had survived four hundred years and maybe even thrived here in the desert, but how long could that continue when the rest of the world was against them? Any day, the Disciples of Order could find their desert sanctuary. Cut off as they were from their Laguz brethren beyond Begnion, they had neither the resources nor the weapons to fight them.

They needed to act before that happened.

"Yune has yet to recover all of her power," Micaiah began. "However, she cannot do this without also alerting Ashera about it. The two are connected, and until we are completely ready to face Ashera again, she cannot risk helping us with much."

Soren nodded, he had thought as much. As long as they did not heavily involve Yune, Ashera would not combine her might with the Order. They were her disciples, but she no longer controlled them. As long as the world was aligned with her law and her sister's chaos was kept unbalanced, she was content. The Order was a separate entity that had to be taken down first before reaching her again.

A thought came to her, and she remembered something she'd been meaning to ask, "Soren, in Sienne..."

"Micaiah!" They both looked down to see someone running towards the watchtower, calling her name.

It wasn't until the figure took to the air in their direction that they saw the large powerful wings behind their back, blending into the dark of the night.

"Vika?" Micaiah asked. The untransformed raven laguz reached them in a matter of seconds. "What is the matter?"

The normally docile laguz was carrying an urgent air around her. "Micaiah, it's Lady Almedha. She's... unwell. You must hurry to her!"

xxx

"She's not hurt is she?" Micaiah asked as she and Soren followed the raven laguz into a residence by the canyon walls that enclosed the western edges of the colony. They could hear the shouts of several people inside. They had rushed there quickly.

"It's bad, Micaiah, it's bad," Vika said worriedly.

They stepped into the bedroom chamber, and were completely taken by surprise when presented with the scene. The room was still lit by an enchanted candle, even though it had fallen in the corner. The few pieces of furniture the room had once held were turned over and scattered throughout. In the center, Muarim and Volug were struggling with a woman, neither in beast form. A small transformed cat laguz was growling a few feet away from them, tail flicking anxiously and showing his uncertainty over how to intervene or help.

From the beginning, Micaiah knew something was terribly wrong. There was a strange aura in the room, something at once intangible but completely perceivable. It explained the skittish behaviour from Vika and the cat laguz, who must have been able to sense it as well, but were left at a loss as to what it was.

"Imbeciles!" Almedha was screaming. Muarim had grabbed one of her flailing arms from behind, hoping to keep her from hurting them or herself. Volug had the other arm, and was trying to speak to her in the Old Tongue. She responded harshly in the ancient language and managed to kick him back, freeing her arm.

"Micaiah!" Muarim yelled when he noticed her. If two powerful tiger and wolf Laguz weren't able to restrain Goldoa's dragon princess, whatever were they hoping she could do?!

Micaiah had no time to ask what was happening. "Queen Almedha!" she tried to reason as she got in front of her, hands in a placating gesture. "Please! Calm down!"

The former dragon was fully wrestling Muarim now, and if the problem wasn't so severe, they might all be amused from the spectacle: Almedha, short and physically fragile looking, taking on a taller and bulkier tiger like Muarim and... winning? They watched helplessly as the woman punched him with a closed fist square in the face and he stumbled backwards.

Suddenly they were all thrown back into different directions by an invisible force. Not even Vika or the nervous cat laguz had been saved. Micaiah yelped as she was thrown on the floor. Volug and Muarim had been pushed to the furthest wall. The candle's enchantment prevented it from being put out, but its light became an erratic flickering.

Before any of them had time to comprehend what had happened, Almedha had already recovered from the magical force and staggered to her feet. She located the attacker quickly, reaching him in three long strides.

"H-how dare you...!" Her hands wrapped around Soren's neck. She slammed him against the wall beside the door, and he let out a pained cry as his breath was knocked out of him. A wind tome dropped to the floor from his hands.

Almedha was known to be prone to fiery outbursts of strange behaviour, but never this... She was in a state of murderous berserker fury and no one knew why.

"Almedha! Stop this now!" Micaiah yelled. The others were already rising to their feet, but she was afraid that they wouldn't be able to stop her ridiculous strength in time.

Soren was grasping futilely at the queen's wrist with one of his hands, but the other arm was frantically waving to something past Micaiah. He was breathless, but gesturing wildly.

As Muarim and Volug both rushed to restrain the furious Almedha, Micaiah turned and a glint caught her eye in the direction Soren had waved to.

Beneath one of the broken legs of a chair, something blazed a dark red. As she hurried to it, she wondered how she had not felt its concentrated energy as the source of the room's unsettling aura. It was a smooth rock, etched with beautiful letters of the Old Tongue and burning uncomfortably hot when she held it in her hands.

She looked up to meet Vika's concerned eyes. Before Micaiah could think about what to do, the raven quickly took it from her hands and jumped into the air, raising the stone high over her head before hurtling it towards the floor below with as much strength as she could muster.

The rock didn't crack or shatter as they had hoped, but it did let off a flash of light that engulfed the whole room. A sharp humming noise echoed off the walls, and the fallen candle that had been lighting the room seemed to have finally been extinguished, drenching the room in darkness. Yet its persistent flame returned only a suspenseful second later.

There was a distressed cry from the other side of the room.

Muarim was pulling a disoriented Almedha away. All the aggression had abruptly disappeared from her being. She had immediately released the small mage with a wail.

By the wall, Volug was checking Soren's limp form on the floor. He gently sat up the boy and they were all relieved to see the weak coughs that emerged from him as he struggled to breath. What they weren't happy to see was the blood on Volug's hand that appeared after he touched the front of Soren's tunic to steady him.

A blur of brown fur rushed past them and out the door. "He's going for a medic," Vika said as she alighted beside them, referring to the young cat laguz that had been present the whole time.

Micaiah knelt in front of Volug and Soren. She took a deep breath and placed her hand firmly on the mage's chest, uncaring of how the blood that carefully camouflaged with his dark robes soiled her palm.

Yet another flash of light enveloped the dim room, this one gentle and pure.

Four hundred years ago, she would be feeling weak and tired as the same wound appeared on her own body. But she had had that very same time to develop her gift, and now only a vague feeling of discomfort came with the use of it for minor wounds.

She withdrew her hand and smiled, confident that the cut on Soren's torso had finally healed. However, it was clear that previous days' exhaustion was combining with the exertion from now, and the mage seemed to be struggling to remain conscious.

"Micaiah..." Muarim called.

She turned to see Almedha on the floor, hands clutching her face and sobbing quietly. Muarim had now taken the uncertain role of consoler.

"Volug, please take him to rest." She said. The wolf nodded silently and slowly lifted the small Branded's weak body into his arms.

"No..!" Almedha had risen and was starting forward with panic. Galvanized by her sudden action, Muarim restrained her from going after Volug, but this time she offered little resistance.

"Forgive me... forgive me...!" she muttered frantically.

Micaiah stepped in her line of vision and tried to keep Almedha's focus on her. "My Queen, everything will be alright... Please attempt to relax!" She took one of the woman's shaking hands in her own.

'No," Almedha was shaking her head and wouldn't meet her pleading gaze. She wasn't listening.

"You were being manipulated," Micaiah continued, cradling the queen's hand as she tried to reason with her. She spared a glance to her side to see that Vika had found the stone again, and it was no longer a glaring red but its original blue.

"None of this is your fault," Micaiah insisted firmly.

Through disheveled hair, Almedha looked at her. Tormented crimson eyes met Micaiah's own golden ones and a pang of familiarity struck the priestess.

"I...I saw the blood."

Micaiah had seen how Almedha had attacked, but she was completely sure it hadn't been her who had caused the wound. It must have been a cut he had sustained during his earlier journey. Besides a hurt throat, Soren had been completely unharmed.

"It was a minor cut from before that became agitated and reopened. Soren is fine. Please, Lady Almedha, calm down."

Almedha shook her head vigorously at a helpless Micaiah. "You are...you are lying!" she accused.

A woman entered the room in a rush at this moment, followed by the brown cat who had set out to find her. She was a descendant of the beorc refugees who had also come here, but although she carried laguz blood in her veins, she wasn't branded. A small population of beorc did exist inside the colony, some of mixed blood whose brands had failed to manifest in them but would surely do so further on in their bloodline. They were people who had lived their whole lives among laguz and branded, and knew little of the world outside.

All for the better to not know, the healer believed. She knew no other home than the colony. She could imagine no other place.

The healer's entrance had distracted Almedha, and Micaiah took this chance. She began to sing a Galdr. The song wasn't as powerful as it would have been had it been sung by an actual heron, but it was enough. The soothing song's magic quickly took effect on everyone in the room.

The healer lifted her staff and set to work. She carried a Heal staff too, but the one she was currently using was of the Sleep variety. This wasn't the first time the distraught queen's mind needed to be set at ease with rest. Many times, it was the only way.

Almedha soon fell into a deep slumber, and Muarim laid her on her bed, which Vika had righted. Wood and other supplies were not easy to come by, but the damage to the furniture wasn't bad. The healer checked for injuries and made sure she was comfortable before she departed. Micaiah bid her thanks and the five of them exited the room.

Vika handed Micaiah the stone. She could not sense any more hostile energy around it anymore. She fingered its smooth surface, recognizing it as the sending stone Almedha always kept near her. The Daein queen could no longer reach her relatives in Goldoa because the Order had gone as far as setting interference barriers around Begnion's borders. However, she could stay in touch with Nasir, who was the only other dragon in the colony. A master of disguise, he was often away in the outside world, searching for other lost laguz or Branded that had managed to escape the Order. He learned essential information of different kinds, and as long as he stayed inside Begnion, he could telepathically relay it to Almedha through his own sending stone.

Only individuals who shared close bonds were able to reach each other through the stones. Not only that, but a high degree of magical sensitivity was required to use them. So what sort of curse had been sent to Almedha through it? And who had sent it?

Micaiah asked Muarim what had happened, and the tiger gestured to the little cat laguz beside him who had run for the healer. "Kedil was there when it started," said Muarim.

The small feline ears on Kedil's head twitched as he felt the attention now settling on him. He shifted out of beast form, and because he was small in stature, Muarim looked like a giant at his side. He had a slim build, and his green eyes were always wide and alert. It gave him a frightened appearance. His nervous nature would have him jumping at the slightest noises. Although he was young, he didn't partake in playful roughhousing like the other cats and was much more reserved.

"I was heading to the well when I passed her house and heard a scream," Kedil's eyes flicked back to the door behind them. "So I rushed inside to the Lady's room and asked her if she was alright. She um, threw a ch-chair at me." They could only imagine the poor cat's terror as he barely avoided the flying furniture and bolted from the room. "I went out to find Muarim after, but I ran into Vika first."

Micaiah nodded. "Thank you. That was a good thing to do." She could still see the confusion in his eyes over the event. Almedha, although she was often quiet and brooding, was not violent. Everyone kept their distance from her, but he couldn't understand why she had gotten so angry.

"You can go now, Kedil," Muarim said. "Thank you for helping. Do not talk about this with anyone."

The laguz nodded gravely. They went outside the house and he waved a goodbye before scampering off.

"We'll wait till morning before we discuss this with the others," said Micaiah. She pocketed the stone. "It may be a good idea to have someone keep watch on Almedha for the night, to inform us when she wakes and if she exhibits strange behaviour again."

"I'll send someone," Muarim agreed.

"It has definitely been an eventful day for all of us," Micaiah said with a hint of a smile. "But we should all go rest now. Tomorrow will be busy."

Vika nodded. "If you have need of us, you need only call."

~xxx~

..

I am returned!

Not much to say for this chapter. The plot begins to unfold...

Many characters made an appearance. I hope you like Kedil... he's new.

Thank you for continued interest! Lots of stuff was happening here. Tell me what you think of this chapter?

May2015 Edit on the usability of the stones.