Chapter Six

Tracey was confused. Everything was a fuzzy blur within his mind from the moment that he had been attacked on the road. Whenever he attempted to look back at his memories a wall would appear and block him out; his head ached from the struggle of trying to remember anything that had happened before he woke up in the church of Tara. Bits and pieces would fall into place only to be ripped away at the last second by some unseen hand snatching them like paper in the wind. Pencast knew not of what had happened to him, or what he supposedly had done. All that the bishop was able to tell him was that the General had sent him to sanctuary and that the two familiars at his feet were hers. Very rarely had he interacted with the leader of the Human regiment, but the few times he had he would have been lying if he said that he wasn't impressed by her demeanor and sense of character. She was elegant, regal and poised, her guard seeming to never be down no matter the situation, an intelligent gleam always sparkled within her dark eyes as if she knew everything that was going to happen before it occurred. She was calculative and mysterious, the picture of leadership. Which is why he was surprised, yet not surprised at all, that she would interfere with whatever he had done. Why would someone he barely knew keep him from prison, or the more likely scenario given that he was being held in sanctuary, death?

If he could have one wish it would be that he could remember what he had done, that he could know of what crime loomed over his head. Whatever it was, it left his body weak. He could barely move his arms despite all the strength he possessed; the rest of his body was no better off. There wasn't any pain, but there wasn't any feeling either. It was like he had become completely numb.

The heavy footsteps of the bishop echoed towards his chamber from the hall. Pencast was humming as he walked, the cheerful tune bouncing through the air and making the atmosphere less desolate from its pure notes. Straining, he struggled to turn his head towards the door, anxiously waiting for it to open in order to, hopefully, hear some news about what was going on. He didn't have to wait long, the humming and footsteps grew louder until there was an abrupt stop in front of what he could only assume was his door followed by the jangle of keys – he hadn't known that he had been locked in this entire time – and in came Pencast carrying a platter of bread and a fragrant broth that wafted through the air and towards his nose almost immediately. In the instant it took for the broth to fill his lungs his stomach began to gurgle violently, protesting at him from the apparent lack of food.

"You will need your strength," Pencast blew over the broth in order to cool it before ladling it into a small copper spoon and gently raising it to Tracey's chapped lips, "the General has sent a message and she is on her way to speak with you," a flash of fear crossed over the keeper of the Logging Camps face for a fleeting moment but the bishop shushed him before he could protest and instead ladled more of the broth into Tracey's open mouth, "my son, no harm shall befall you in these walls. The General brought you here for your own safety and has sent her most powerful of familiars to protect you in her stead. Do not fear the one that hast saved you." Tracey visibly relaxed at the bishops soothing words, at the moment resigning himself to just be content and enjoy the food the chefs of the church had graciously prepared for him.

As Pencast continued to feed the wounded man before him, he rattled on about the comings and goings of the city, holding a one-way-conversation between himself and Tracey who decided to just eat instead of talk. Fury and Nightmare rested in their corner of the small room, both seeming to listen as well to what the elderly man had to say, their heads cocked to the side and eyes locked onto the bishop's form intently. Only a few spoonsful of the broth remained when a knock came at the open door, the bishop stopping his rambling abruptly to look at the figure behind him.

Tracey gulped nervously at the intruder, his mind not processing who the fiery woman with wings could possibly be, even though she looked strikingly familiar. "Ah," Pencast placed the bowl on the ground next to his feet then stood up, his bones cracking from age, "welcome General, I am glad that everything is well."

"There is no need for the formalities Pencast, I will no longer be going by that term for the time being, at least until my mission is over."

"Ah, yes. Well then Vuui I will leave you with my ward, though do remember that he is in a fragile condition," he walked towards the exit and gave Vuui a surprisingly stern look, "It is not my place, nor has it been in a long time for that matter, but Vuui," he placed a hand on her shoulder, "be careful and wary. For the past is lined in our future." With that he exited the room, his gentle footsteps echoing off of the walls in the hallway and receding farther into the church before disappearing altogether. Once the room was silent and Vuui and Tracey were fully alone the General closed the door behind her and took extra care to lock it in place, then sat were Pencast had been only mere seconds before.

"You don't recognize me do you?" It was more of a statement than a question.

"No," Tracey said honestly, "but you seem familiar, and from what I have gathered you are the General of the human regiment, though at the moment you do not look that human."

With a sigh Vuui kept her disappointment masked and focused on the goal at hand, "Do you know why you are here?"

The man shook his head as well as he could, "No, I'm afraid I don't remember that either, I've asked Pencast but the man had no answers for me. He said that you would fill me in when you arrived."

"You are here so that you will not be executed for treason by the kingdom," Tracey opened his mouth to interrupt but she quickly placed a hand over it so that he wouldn't speak. Once he finally relaxed, understanding that he needed to be quiet she removed her hand and cleared her throat and continued what she had been trying to say before. "This afternoon after the festival I had found you in the Logging Camp, transformed into a monstrous demon. After discovering you in said form you had immediately attacked me in which we had a battle and I defeated you. Do you remember any of this?"

A look of shock fell over his features, his face growing pale and sickly at what Vuui had described, "N-N-No, that cannot be… I would never-," Vuui held up her hand, silencing Tracey before he put himself into a fit.

"I take it you don't remember this then," he was about to speak once more but she silenced him again, "just nod or shake your head. I'll try to keep my questions worded that way so that you don't stress yourself out any further. I'm afraid I hadn't recognized you at first during our battle and I am not one to hold back. Do you understand?"

Tracey nodded. "Good. Now, do you remember our fight?"

He shook his head. "Do you remember turning into a demon?"

He shook his head once more. "Have you been conspiring with those of Cessair's forces?" Again he shook his head. "Alright, do you know what day it is today?" Again his response was a no. "I will need you to speak for this next one, but please answer this calmly and shortly. What is the last day that you remember? And have you been attacked recently?"

"I'm not sure what the date was, I never keep track of them. But I had been on my way to Emain Macha to deliver a package to an unknown sender that had been sent to me by mistake. I've had mistake's like this in the past that I had handled so I thought nothing of it. But," he paused and coughed, "do you mind giving me some of the water over there," Vuui helped him drink it without question, "thank you. Now as I was saying, I thought nothing of it so I went to Emain Macha planning to give the package to its rightful owner. I hadn't even looked at it. When on the road, only a mile away from the gates, I was attacked by bandits. That's the last that I remember. Did you say today was the festival?"

"Yes, today was the day the new recruits for the Alban Knights graduated from their training," Vuui replied casually.

"Then it must have been a little over a month since I was attacked. From what I can remember the festival was still pretty far away, I had been planning on attending it in fact."

Vuui sighed, "Thank you, Tracey," standing up Vuui made her way towards the door, "The only ones who know about what had happened today are me, the Captain, Pencast, and the Princess. Until everything is clear you are to remain here for your own safety. Though I was able to obtain your pardon from Lady Eirawen herself and I trust Talvish, I do not trust his subordinates. There have been way too many deaths of people in your position to my liking and I wouldn't be surprised to find your body in a few days despite promises given. You have been placed in my custody on orders of the Princess, and in hand, I place you in the care of Pencast. There are things I have to take care of."

"Why did you help me?" She was about to leave but the question stopped her in her tracks.

"A life for a life…" With that, Vuui exited the small room and closed the door once more behind her. She could remember as if it were yesterday the day the keeper of the Logging Camp had saved her life. Tracey had saved the Blood Mage, the most feared bandit in all of Erinn, without even realizing it. All he saw was a young teen covered in her own blood, her wild mane chopped in disarray, a feral look in her crazed eyes looking more like an animal on the defense rather than a person, and a soul-deep pain radiating from her at all angles. He knew that she was a bandit, he didn't know which one of course, but never-the-less he healed her. Never once asking for her name, only asking about how she got hurt and the occasional question about her life until one day she was fully healed and had left feeling confused more than relieved about being finally able to leave and go back to her crew. The day she left Vuui spent the entire day and night following into the next week just walking. Not even caring where she was going. She didn't even bother contacting her crew, content for the time being to be lost in her thoughts. When Vuui had finally stopped walking she had somehow made it all the way into the Sidhe Sneachta and knew what she wanted to do. It was then that she had gone to Tarlach and he had made her the limiters that, until today, she hadn't taken off since unless there was no other choice. It was also the day that the Blood Mage had officially died and Vuui had emerged, dominating the entrance exams and training camp for the military and leading her to eventually take over it and be where she is today. She owed everything to Tracey, this is why she would keep him alive and end this war with Cessair once and for all, because now… it was personal. They had gone after the wrong person this time.

Taking out the piece of paper the hawk had given her she looked over the whereabouts of her old comrades and couldn't suppress the feeling of dread that had washed over her. All of them were dangerous, each of them becoming leaders of their own groups at this point in life and each having a hefty bounty on their heads. It would be a struggle to get all of them to cooperate with her and help her with what she had to do. Part of her said that it would never work, not after her disappearing on them like she had, the other part of her, though – the one that was more hopeful – said that the loyalty they used to share would outweigh the negative that would more-than-likely now hang between them. But she had to try, not just for Tracey's sake but for all the innocents that have been killed in this pointless war.

Vuui didn't bother saying goodbye to anyone else as she made her way back out of the church, leaving her familiars behind with Tracey in order to add just a little more protection in case things went sour with the Alban Knights. Paper still in hand Vuui looked at it once more as she stood on the steps of the church, the night air cool against her face. Scattered all over Erinn in every direction were the seven members of the infamous bandit group the Hunters, now leaders of their own bandit groups. None of them suspecting that the Blood Mage, their old leader and most feared ally, was coming for them. Smirk plastered to her face, Vuui began to hum a tune she hadn't thought of in years as she casually walked away from the church and into the streets of Tara. Guui was going to be in for one hell of a surprise when she arrived in the morning at his base.