A/N: Let me stop and make special mention of longtime contributor, Invader Johnny, who I stupidly left out of the shout outs from last chapter. I do apologize and decided to make it up to you publicly instead of PM.

Sorry this one took so long to update; I'm not usually like this. Things have been weird this past few weeks.

Jadelyn looked at a table full of weaponry laid out neatly. There were varying lengths of knife and sword. She was a little bemused by oddities such as the flail, a dastardly instrument consisting of a spiked metal ball attached by chain to a club. Jadelyn picked it up, marveling at its sheer weight. She cautiously moved her hands (she held it with both) back and forth, watching the spiked sphere sway in time.

"You must be careful, Princess"

The surprise made Jadelyn drop the weapon, sending the full weight of the ball hurtling down to the table. The spikes actually dug through the wood.

She turned around, annoyed as she saw Andre suppressing a chuckle.

"Forgive me," he smiled. "It was not my intent to frighten you."

"Maybe you ought to cease sneaking up on people."

"You have a point," he nodded.

Jadelyn looked up at the tarp tied down at an angle opposite the cliff, making a secure if not narrow shelter.

"I have been doing some thinking," Jadelyn admitted. "This Noxymis is very powerful and smart. He will not be easy to take down."

"You are right about that."

She turned to him, "Are you not afraid?"

"Of course I am but I look at these men out there and they are all looking right back at me for guidance and encouragement. That is the bane of those in positions like ours. He cannot show fear or anxiety or hesitation. We must be more than just ourselves. We need to be something the people can get behind. What king could I be if I were not prepared to serve as a general?"

Jadelyn really thought about this.

"And I suppose I could never be worthy to take my father's place when the time comes if I were to not do the same. If Rosym falls, then what? What stops Noxymis from setting his sights on another kingdom to conquer? Or destroy, for that matter?"

"I see that you mind is made up," he nodded.

"But...?"

"But what does your heart say?"

"There is..." the princess couldn't find words suitable enough. "The most wonderful woman..."

Her eyes wandered along with her train of thought. Andre understood.

"What was she like?"

A chill erupted Jadelyn's spine. There was something about hearing Victoria in the past tense that made her shudder. It gave her a real bad feeling.

"With all due respect, no. How could I? Even a poet at his most magnanimous would be unable to describe her. I have tried. Most people have always seen her as nothing; others less than that. But secretly she grew to become my everything."

Andre was about to say something but she cut him off.

"And right now, she could be in great danger. Noxymis knew how important she was to me; perhaps he had mistaken that we were betrothed. If he wants me, then she becomes a target. Maybe he had gotten to her already..."

Jadelyn looked like she was about to weep but restrained herself.

"But I will not know of anything until I get to that castle and nothing will stand in my way."

The prince was pleasantly impressed by the young woman. He had seen his fair share of princesses over the years but none of them had the kind of character in the woman that stood before him.

Jadelyn picked up a long, thin sword similar to a bayonet and begun to swing it about.

"She risked her life for my sake," she said. "I will not allow the darkness to take her."

It was dark. And wet. And had an odor most foul.

Victoria had some nasty duties with her chores about the castle. But she was grateful for what she was never responsible for. When someone was hung at the gallows, as they remained there dying; they would begin to void their bowels. Sufficed to say, somebody had to clean that up.

This right now smelled far worse.

She remembered being in a cave but it wasn't this black and dank. What had happened before was such a blur that she replayed the events in her head over and over until she understood what had happened. She was fighting this hairy beast. It picked her up and she then remembered falling and everything getting so so dark.

Victoria was not sure if she had past out at some point.

Fortunately for her, the behemoth had devoured her whole. Unfortunately for it, Victoria knew only one way out. She fished around for a time until finding her trusty sword. Victoria stuck it through the "wall" and proceeded to slice away at the incision she made.

Covered in the flesh, blood and stomach contents; Victoria had performed the first successful cave monster vivisection. Good thing it was already demised; she would not even know where to begin to put this creature back together again.

She had not coveted much about the finer things in life but right now Victoria could not fathom five more minutes without a bath. Victoria sighed when she heard what sounded like an underground waterfall. She quickly followed the sound of running water, too far to have seen a massive egg which had also been swallowed whole at some point in time.

What's more, she certainly didn't hear the shell begin to crack.

"I hear someone coming," Rob whispered to Catherine and Trina. "Let me check it out."

He wandered into the midst of the morning fog, with his quiver on his back and bow at the ready. He normally had keen eyesight but this mist made it impossible to see much beyond his nose. Rob was forced to rely on his other senses. He could smell something in the air that didn't bode well with him. He couldn't put his finger on it.

Meanwhile, his actual finger was gripping one of his arrows. Swiftly aligning the projectile perfectly along the bow, Rob was debating to himself as to where he would launch the arrow. A prickling sensation in his back made him jump but ever the professional he held onto his stance, refusing to let the arrow go until he had his enemy in his sights. Unfortunately, his adversary appeared to have gotten the surprise on him.

Moving ahead, away from the pain from behind, a sword appeared through the fog wielded by a tall man with blond locks. Rob turned about slowly like the shadow of a sundial, witnessing the other swords and their masters manifesting through the grey abyss. He realized too late that he was surrounded.

"My lady, is this man with you?"

Trina and Catherine turned and saw the last thing they were expecting; Rob apparently under arrest by over three dozen men.

"Yes, he is" Trina replied. "And what are you doing with him?"

Beckett emerged from the first wave of tall men.

"Excuse me, please" he said. "I am Captain Beckett of the Reinhart Royal Guard. My men were acting in good faith; for we were assaulted not too long ago you see."

The olive-skinned brunette was losing her patience.

"Well I can assure you that he means no ill will to you, despite your methods."

Beckett cleared his throat, not expecting to be dressed down by a woman in front of his men. A chuckle here and there made him momentarily turn around and collectively give his brood a deathly glare.

"My apologies," he told Trina. He turned to his men and commanded "Release him."

They complied and Rob walked away a tiptoe from his would-be captors.

"So he is with you," Beckett continued. "What whom are you?"

Catherine this time spoke. "We are but travelers from quire far. We seek Rosym."

"Oh?" Beckett queried.

"Our friend - my sister - " Trina corrected herself. "Sought to deliver your princess from her captors in Rosym."

"Indeed." Beckett then thought about what she had just said. "Did you say sister? Who was she?"

"Her name was Victoria," Catherine replied.

"Was?"

Trina gave a cold stare at Beckett.

"Yes, Victoria was my sister and she sacrificed herself to save us three. And for that we are indebted to her."

Rob stepped forward between Trina and Beckett.

"We will see her noble quest through," he sneered. "Count on it."

"Well you cannot do it alone," Beckett bluntly stated. "Come with us."

Trina put her hand on Rob's shoulder, silently telling him to step aside.

"Beckett, or captain...I appreciate your strength of numbers but do not underestimate what we are dealing with. The man who is the puppet master in this sordid affair is a practitioner of the black arts. He will not be easily defeated."

She didn't even have to say his name. Beckett understood just who she was talking about.

Trina suddenly turned around and lifted her head, listening carefully.

"What is it?" Rob asked.

"That," she pointed toward the distance. At first there seemed to be nothing there and then the others could see the form of a bird flying majestically toward them. Everyone ducked a little while Trina stood perfectly still and held out her hand.

Beckett shook his head, "How did you...?"

Trina wasn't listening. She was too focused on making a mental connection with the bird. "What have you seen?" she whispered to the winged ally. "Truly?" she asked it and the bird squawked and turned its head gesturing to a neighboring peak about a couple hundred yards away. Trina settled the bird down on a rock as she dug through her satchel and tore off a scrap of parchment. She then wrote a message on it, rolled it up, and tied it to the bird's foot with a string from her bag.

With that, the mighty blackbird took off and soared to the other side.

Everyone watched patiently for several minutes before they could see the bird taking off and starting to fly towards them once more. Once it landed, Trina spotted a different message was tied to the animal and her original message was gone. She carefully removed it from the bird's talon and unfurled it. It didn't take her long to read but she reread it twice to be absolutely clear.

"What does it say?" Catherine asked.

Trina looked at her compatriots and smiled.

"This man claims to be the Andre, Prince of Rosym. He has an army and has asked if we will join the siege of the castle."

Beckett looked back at his men who nodded in compliance.

"We are with you, Beckett" proclaimed Anton. "Until the end."

He had to admit; neither an alliance with Rosym nor with a sorceress were possibilities in his mind But these were desperate times and they were only going to get worse. The odds will be improved for him and his soldiers. Noxymis no doubt had Princess Jadelyn somewhere in that castle and he had no intent on letting anything jeopardize his duty.

"You tell the prince," Beckett said to Trina. "That he is now two score and ten stronger."

A/N: For those who don't know, "two score and ten" means fifty. That's 46 men, plus Beckett, Rob, Trina and Catherine. I could have had him say fifty but this sounded more appropriate for the world we were in and it sounded pretty badass.