Alone in his chambers, the Lord Khush'Ranada reflected on the information that had come to him in the past week. From various sources he had gleaned that Abiara was now in a state of full mobilization of their forces. His spies abroad reported that the cities were being maintained with only half the normal compliment of soldiery as the Council of Dukes prepared for battle. The royal family of Abiara had already seen sad decline, and one of Treize's own people was in charge of their battle forces.

The Dukes however had determined to stand against the irritating raids that bandits had been making across the narrow borders that joined the two countries. Their armies were marching to gain the border and in the words of their last missive, "protect the people of our realm from the depredations of lawless mercenaries of Ganwyng."

Their plan was sound, their military strategy flawless, and yet it would avail them nothing in the end. Abiara and the Council of Dukes would fall, not for lack of strength, but for lack of loyalty. They were already betrayed by one in their midst. The Duke of Elleone had already formed a pact with Treize, recently cemented by the secret marriage of Treize to his daughter Leia. Treachery would take the army from the rear when the high commanders fell, sowing confusion and death among the ranks.

His assassin was already in place. No one could withstand the Masked Knight.

Standing now next to the window, the Lord looked out upon his gardens. The roses climbed up the wall, filling the room with their fragrance. His thoughts turned to the elves, keepers of the forest. 'They would love this place with its connection to nature. And yet they will betray their only hope of deliverance and fade away from the land.'

He reached forth a gloved hand and plucked one of the blossoms that grew nearby. 'Their blood shall be their undoing.' The hand brought the flower nearer to his face where he examined it minutely, taking note of the stem and its miniature thorns. No rose in his gardens was without them. "Beauty is never without danger. But for him who knows where the danger lies, the beauty is greater for the knowing."

Moving to the center of his chamber where a carved pedestal stood, he uncovered the shallow bowl that sat upon it. Gazing into the water that filled the bowl he muttered the arcane sentences that activated the scrying spell. Darkness rushed through the room, blotting out the daylight that fell from the window and the candles that remained lit on the walls. The only luminance remaining came from inside the water itself.

Inside of the enspelled waters, two figures could be seen as though they were a great ways off from the viewer. "Yes Master of Light, continue to walk your path. You will not serve to stop me and nothing will save you when you need it most. You walk a light unbound, shadowless. The blood will destroy you when it calls for its own. In turn your kindred will fall."

His voice darkened, till it seemed that another spoke through him. "Heir of a prophecy, death and shadows will be your bane. Blood will fall until the end of the world, striving for peace that shall not come. The blind will grasp for truth and eat lies because they cannot see the darkness that overtakes them. Confusion and strife to all the peoples until they acknowledge me as the sovereign of all."

The rose fell from Treize's hand into the water and vanished.

At the same instant as if on some unseen signal the darkness withdrew and the waters returned to normal. Treize rested his hands on the pedestal and smiled. It was time to further ensnare the elves.


The air on top of the mountain was crisp and clean.

In his own way, the swordsman salutes the day. His blade flows through the forms as he dances from one opponent to the next. Graceful is his carriage, sure his strikes. When he stops, sweat shines upon his bronzed skin.

Wufei prepared to run through his last exercise of the morning when he saw her again. Hair the hue of the raven's wing blew in gentle breeze that sprung up on her appearance. Her almond shaped eyes gazed upon him questioningly. "Say now Son of the Dragon, have you found that which you seek?"

Humbly the one addressed bowed his head. "Nay, I have not. There is no sword here, no matter how hard I search for it."

A look of disappointment crossed the messenger's face. Wufei turned his gaze upon her and worry lay heavy upon him. "I have searched long, and longer waited. No weapon has ever been forged here, for it was forbidden by the gods."

How does one sound reproachful when they can only sing? Nonetheless the being managed it, though she looked with some compassion upon the warrior who knelt before her. "No blade e'er forged? Can it be that your eyes are blind to Justice? Open then your eyes and behold it as it was created!"

As if moved by her declaration, the scene before him changed in an instant.

Eyes wide, Son of the Dragon watched the air before him warp and rise like steam from a cauldron. In the very center of The Cathedral appeared a raised dais. On the dais stood a pedestal upon which rested the hilt of a sword, the blade residing inside of the pedestal itself. Wonderingly he stepped forward, fearful of disturbing the magic that revealed all this to his eyes.

Upon the cross guard was carved a pair of scales, the eternal symbol of justice. Balanced now, they gave the impression that they might sway to either side if brought into a courtroom. Tremulously a hand reached forward to grasp the hilt, drawing forth the blade with resounding ring. The blade itself shone silver in the shimmering heat of the sun that streamed into the temple. With his senses attuned to the magic, Wufei could feel the link to creation singing through the blade.

'Right is right and wrong is wrong!'

'He who wields us walks the line, for edge of Justice ever fine

Will never yield the scales lie, and he who wields us never dies.'

The voices that rang in his mind carried the warning of the sword, and yet again its promise. The cause of Justice was the cause of a lifetime, one that no one but the gods had the right to dispense. Yet the responsibility had been laid at his door. There was no hesitation. Lifting up the blade in the middle of the temple, he cried aloud.

"Here I am, Son of the Dragon! In the presence of the gods and Ancient ones I take this vow; Ever Justice shall be my watchword. Never shall it die!"

And thus it came to be that Wufei Dragonson became Judgment, Wielder of the Blade of Justice.

"Then behold the Judgment, he who wields the sword!" The messenger's voice rang out clear as the tones of a bell. "He shall stand between and divide good and evil, life and death. Chaos shall find that even cloaks of thorns or shadows cannot hide forever from the blade that the gods made! The Son of the Dragon has come!"

With this final pronunciation, she vanished into the sunlight, leaving the warrior alone. With but a moments hesitation, Wufei placed the sword in his sheath before gathering the meager items that formed his supplies. By the end of the day, no evidence of his presence remained in the temple. Only the setting sun fell onto the pale stonework, turning it blood red.


Spellbound, she stood at the edge of the forest. The tower was ancient, woven of stone and magic long before Ganwyng had ever graced the tongue of men or the pages of history. Never before in the memory of men or elves had the tower ever glowed.

Beyond that, the smoldering ruins that had once been the barracks building spoke of the storm that had just burst over this secluded hamlet. Hilde shuddered as the thought came to her. Whatever it was had been awfully powerful to do this. In fact, if it was still around here she might be in very big trouble.

A quick scan of the area didn't reveal anything extraordinary, so she withdrew further into the shadow of the trees. Safely hidden she watched a few of the villagers start to come out of their huts. Village life would proceed as normal, barring the return of the garrison. A soft laugh from behind her caused the girl to spin around with all haste. Fire wreathed her hand, ready to take on whatever evil had spawned here.

"I had not expected to find one so fair at such great distance from home." The stranger's posture was easy as he leaned against the trunk of a tree. "Of course, in my line of work it's not often that I get to view faces by daylight."

"Who are you?"

Even as the whisper passed her lips, Hilde stared at the boy. His ears were elflike in their appearance, while his hair was restrained in a braid that reached to his waist. Violet eyes sparkled as they studied her in return, and his mouth curved up in a sly grin. 'All in all,' Hilde concluded, 'he's gorgeous!'

"Most folks," he drawled out, "call me the Shadow of Death. But since you're so cute, you can call me Duo."

"My name is Hilde." The girl colored brightly as she spoke, suddenly realizing that she was speaking to this specimen of godhood. "I live around here."

Duo seemed to consider that for a moment. "Hilde is it? A good name, short and to the point. So what are you doing so far from the shadows? I didn't think that there were any of us wandering around on the world anymore."

It took a moment for the question to register. When she comprehended it, she shot her companion a strange look. "Shadows? Away? I live here. Why would I want to live in some shadow? How would that even be possible?" Hilde bit her lip and asked one last question. "And what do you mean 'one of us', what are 'we'?"

Duo's face took on a look of comic shock. "You don't know lass? How could you not know one of your own people, who are called by others the Shadow Elves. The features tell the tale to us, and the magic in our blood. You've called fire before, and when you felt threatened you withdrew into the shadow of the forest. True signs all. You're a shade just like me."

Hilde blanched. "Does that mean that we're evil?"

"Evil?! Never!" Duo scoffed at her fears. "If you want evil you look to the gods like Mahlah or Ikkesh. Even the humans, who profess to be good; you can find the darkest hearts among their kind. It was they who spawned the vile beings who drove us out of the world. They and Magor-Missabib, god of terror."

His ears pricked up to the sounds of the villagers coming around, venturing to walk nearer to the forest as the daylight grew stronger. Motioning to the girl to follow, he started off deeper into the woods. Hilde stood motionless for a moment before hurriedly gathering her baskets together and following the departing figure. Her mind was full of questions and the handsome shade in front of her was the only hope of getting answers.


Later that evening as the shadows deepened in the forest, the two wanderers sat in front of their small campfire. After a brief stop at Hilde's lake, Duo had insisted that they keep moving south for the greater portion of the day. He wasn't worried about himself, but it seemed that he had a shade on his hands with too little knowledge and he didn't like the thought of having to stay in an area where she was known. Someone might come looking for her, and it was best to have them think that she had been kidnapped by whatever the monster that set the garrison ablaze.

Truth be told, he would rather have earthwalked, but he couldn't have carried her with him very far. Shade she may be, but her connection with the earth was not high, and he had no other bond to use to keep the way open for her. 'Still the risks were worth it.'

He watched her singing softly to herself on the other side of the fire as she prepared the quail that she'd snared for her supper. Slender fingers that had plucked the bird with surprising speed now turned the spit to ensure that the meat was not too well done on any side. The fire played shadows across her face while she absently brushed a strand of hair away from her face. She was, he decided, extremely beautiful.

Of course it had been a long time since he'd seen kin and a woman.

Perhaps it was a sign that he should consider keeping company more often now. 'Much more often.'

His sigh of contentment caused Hilde to glance up at him. "What? Have I got something on my face?"

Laughter. He'd made her laugh. Good. Duo allowed himself to grin, cocking his head to look sideways at his companion. "So what was it then? If not something smeared across my fair features, what pray tell?"

She laughed again and raised one hand to wipe away the tears from her eyes. Slowly she shook her head shook a finger at him. "No distractions or I'll burn the food." Never did she cease turning the spit, despite the minor distraction of humor.

"I do want to know..." Sudden hesitation crept into her voice, and she ducked her head to gaze upon the spitted bird. "About what you told me before, the evil, I mean. And about our people."

"I want to know."

"Very well." Duo's tone of voice became very serious and the sparkle in his eyes darkened. He sat up straight, the proper posture of a storyteller with his arms folded in front of him. "You shall now hear the shortened history of our people, and how they were driven to their present sanctuary to ever more be only a legend and tales of the bedside for children."


AN: Well, here's more Duo for you that wanted it. He gets to give a little speech next chapter, so stay tuned to see Hilde find out about her ancestry. Or something like that. He very nearly got himself cut entirely to the next chapter just because he was talking so much...

Just a warning, Treize is going to be EVIL in this work of fiction. Zechs may surprise some people, not many but a few. Things are actually starting to shape up, so I should be able to update with the next chapter soon.

Thanks to all who review this work!