ok, well, i updated. i'm totally tired and feel like crap so i'm surprised i managed to get this out at all...well...enjoy..

claimer: the plot, some characters, the idea of Shifters, and a bunch of other stuff belong to me, so kindly don't use them other than to read in this crap-tastic story of mine :P

oh, and people, i get tons of hits on each chapter, and i figured that if every person reviewed when they visited i'd have 1000 reviews in no time, so come on people, please review, even if it's just to say hi or something...PLEASE!! TT

60.-Preparations

I turned to Boden, unable to take the tension the generated between us any longer.

"Boden, I am so sorry for running off like that, it's just that…I don't know…I just-" but he put a finger of my lips to stop me from saying whatever word vomit would have come out my mouth.

"It is alright, I should not have pressured you like that, so I am the one that is in need of apologizing. Now come, let us forget such un-pleasantries and prepare for the war!" he laughed, thoughts of fighting and murder filling his mind like a sugar rush. What it was about war that made men happy I would never understand… with civilized, non-animalistic thinking anyway.

I rolled my eyes and nodded, ascending the root-woven steps that led to the double doors that opened without the aid of anything else. Queen Islanzadí sat atop her plant covered throne, her dress now a soft velvety green shade which only emphasized her dark hair and blood-red lips.

I touched my fingers to my lips and muttered the words of welcome to the queen, who responded with the reply until the short greeting ceremony was complete. Boden repeated the greeting to the Queen and then turned to me, his expression as expectant as the regal lady's behind him.

"Well now, my child, I believe that I have never seen you before, where do you hail from, and what is your business here?" she asked, her musical voice just as sad and beautiful as the last time I heard her speak.

I smiled, "My name is Kalanie, your highness, do you not remember me?" I said with false surprise, but my eyes betraying my silent laughter.

Her eyes narrowed as she concentrated, her expression confused as she tried to remember where she had seen me before.

"I can't say I do recall your face. There is only one being that I know of that has that name and she was a dragon, and unless you are hiding wings under that leather, I am afraid that I have truly never seen you before." She laughed, as if what she had said had been amusing and unrealistic.

I grinned, "But what if I am hiding wings?" I asked, then morphed into my dragon form in front of her, Boden, and the council of elder-elves that lined the walls either side of the room.

Their eyes went wide in astonishment as silver scales covered my body, then the Queen smiled, her dark eyes sparkling in amazement.

"I knew there was something different about you when I first met you, you and the dark dragon had different auras than Glaedr and Saphira. How is it you are able to do that?"

I sighed, "It is a long story, but basically Dorran was dying while holding a dragon egg and I was touching him and the dragon sent his soul into Dorran to ensure that he lived, and there for enabled us both to transform into dragons." I finished, surprising them again by speaking from my mouth. I kept my eyes diverted from Boden, afraid that he was repulsed by what I now looked like.

Islanzadi nodded, "And what news do you have for me?"

"Only that Lady Nasuada told me to spread the word of the beginning of the war that will start in two days, and wished me to ask you if your troops were ready."

More sadness flitted across her stunning face, her eyes growing darker and her white raven screeched a piercing cry that rang in my ears, "wyrda!"

I cringed at the word, fate, it seemed unnaturally fitting in the current circumstances.

"We have been anticipating this war for centuries, we are more than ready and will meet her army at the gates of Urû'baen in the dawn light on the scheduled day. What do you plan to do until the war?" she asked, her eyes and mind seeming far away in her thoughts.

I thought, "Well actually, I hadn't thought about it, your highness. I don't suppose it would be alright if I stayed here and went to battle with your troops?"

She smiled, "That's fine by me, and you can even go and see if you can find someone willing to give you some armor, although if you fight as a dragon it might be a bit more difficult to find a complete set that would fit you, but I suppose we shall see. I am afraid I have to go and discuss tactics with my generals, good day, Kalanie, Boden." And with that she left, her long silken cloak and skirts flowing out behind her as she descended the thrown and swept out of the room, accompanied by some of the council elves that stood from their places and followed her out, casting wary glances back at me as they walked past.

I grimaced, feeling as if I were a freak, which I supposed I was, but they didn't need to show their thoughts towards me so openly.

Turning, I stalked out of the tree-woven hall, my talons crushing the roots more than necessary in my anger. I was surprised when I felt a hesitant hand on my side and I looked down to see Boden, his tawny eyes curious and his golden hair shining bronze in the now rising sunlight.

"It is strange, but after seeing you as an elf after seeing you as a dragon I was kind of drawn to you, as if I knew that you as a dragon, and you as an elf, were the same person. I know that sounds unusual, and you're probably wondering why I'm telling you this, but I just thought I should tell you that. Anyway, if you want I can take you to the best blacksmith in the entire city, she was the one that made the riders' blades and I'm sure she'll have some dragon armor somewhere. The only hard part of getting it though, is persuading her to give it up." He added thoughtfully, leading me down the twisting routes and passed the many interwoven tree houses. I morphed to avoid the many stares and exclamations of joy that were sent my way, being inconspicuous was much easier than walking through a crowd of staring elves.

We came to a stop at the entrance of a house that had been sung out of a circle of trees draped with creepers and exotic wild flowers. The scent of fire and burning metal drifted to my nostrils and I scrunched my nose in distaste, sticking my tongue out at Boden when he laughed at my expression.

A vast assortment of tools hung from the wood as if they were grown there, obviously having rested there for many decades and yet not a speck of rust clung to their glimmering surfaces.

There was no door to the ancient building and we entered the threshold to see a silver haired elf examining a chain-mail corselet and making satisfactory grunts as her veined hands ran over the beautifully crafted war attire as a mother would caress a child.

"That is quite a handsome piece of work there Rhunön-elda, how long have you been slaving away at your furnace, it has to have hit the 1000 year mark by now, am I right?" Boden asked jokingly after saying the first line of the traditional greeting, but to no affect and getting no reply in return.

The elf woman looked up and I noticed thin lines racing up and down her tired looking face, the first real sign of age I had actually seen throughout my entire stay in Ellesmèra.

"What is it you want Boden, I am busy." She said, her voice hard and rasping, quite unlike any other elf I had ever heard, but she smiled as she said this and I came to suspect that Boden was a frequent visitor to the wizened elf.

"Nothing really, only a set of dragon armor able to fit Kalanie here." He said, and I rehearsed the formal greeting yet again, which she surprisingly replied to, but with the measured patience of someone that was attempting to communicate to a mentally challenged person, which probably had something to do with the fact that we just asked for dragon armor for a human.

"Dragon armor for an elf? That's something I've never heard of in my time, are you a rider, girl?" she asked, her voice croaking from the force of not being used in so long.

I smiled, "Something like that." Then morphed, bending slightly from the absence of ceiling space.

Rhunön's eyes seemed to pop out of her skull, then she rearranged her composure and grinned, beaming up at me as if she thought my transformation was the greatest occurrence she had seen in her lifetime.

"Well, that would make more sense, but I am afraid that I burned all my dragon armor metal to create my tools and this corselet, I hadn't thought I would ever need them again seeing as there was no remaining eggs, before Saphira's egg was discovered of course, accompanied afterwards by the red and green eggs in possession of the traitor king himself. So I am afraid you are out of luck, silver child." She added, brushing a hand over my scales, examining the color.

"Are you absolutely sure you have no means of protection for her, the war is in two days after all and it will be difficult to find a set that large in time." Boden pleaded, his eyebrows furrowed in inconvenience.

The elf shook her head, her silver mane swishing from side to side. "I have nothing else, I have spent most of my time on this chain mail and have long ago stopped making weapons of death – But what is this?" she suddenly asked and I realized that she had caught sight of my belt and moon sword as her eyes widened and jaw dropped. Her finger trailed over the diamond-encrusted sheath delicately as if afraid to break its glimmering surface.

"How-how did you find this? I thought it was lost forever…" her dark eyes glazed over as she stared at the weapon, and I shifted uncomfortably under her piercing stare.

"Rhunön…Rhunön…it is just a sword, what's wrong?" Boden asked nervously, his eyebrows creased and his hand hesitant on her shoulder, as if trying to break her out of her trance.

Rhunön shook her head, clearing her mind, then stared into my eyes, as if accusing me of something.

"Werewolf." She whispered so low that I had to strain my ears to hear. How she knew that I had a werewolf soul in me I didn't know, it seemed as though there was definitely more to the sword than Tala had let on.

Oh, this lady had some explaining to do.

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