Chapter 6: Call Me Rae
Calythé stared intently into her crystal ball. Then she tapped it with one finger and the image faded. She stood up and knocked on Monavelle's door. "Mona," she called, "I know you're in there. Get your green armor. You know the one I'm talking about."
She grinned as she heard Monavelle scream, "GREEN!" Then she summoned Ramisse to do the same thing.
"Get your sword and spear too," added Calythé, and she went to her own closet and extracted her chlorophyte armor. It was made of a green metal with a leafy motif. She slipped into the greaves, pulled on the plate mail and set the helmet on her head. Then she reached into her chest and removed a rod with a flower on the end. Twirled it around her hand. Slid it into the sheath on her back.
When Monavelle and Ramisse emerged, Calythé said, "I will go to the crimson. Monavelle, go to the hallows, and Ramisse, you should go to the jungle."
"Why?" inquired Monavelle, loading arrows into her quiver.
"Because the emerald-strength magician from the guild is going to be nearby. She can take us to see Embrea."
"And I can kill some jungle monsters on the way," said Ramisse, hopping up and down.
"Yes, of course," agreed Calythé.
Emi raced through the forest on light feet, her green robes swishing around her ankles. She didn't really care where she was going, although she did feel like she should go to one of the other guilds. She ran through forests and fought slimes. She ran through a snow biome and fought eskimos. She ran through a very rainy place and was followed by walking goldfish. One biome was made of meteorite and burned her feet. Another had bluish grass and mushroom trees. She sped across the deserts and jumped off the dunes. However, by now she was tired and an army of enemies was following her: eskimos; flying fish; flaming meteorite heads; fungus bugs from the mushroom place; a whole rainbow of slimes. So she ran behind a jungle tree and hid, breathing heavily, and slowly extracted her staff from her pack.
Then, Emi's eyes widened in shock, for more enemies were in front of her now. Big, ugly, tough enemies. The energy came back and she fled, firing her staff behind her. She knocked down several monsters, but the wave was still coming, and it was thick.
Emi was cornered. She sank down behind a dirt outcropping, covered her eyes and wished for a quick end.
The monsters never came. Emi opened one eye and stared in wonder; a stranger in green armor was slicing away at the monsters with a huge sword, then keeping them at bay with an even larger spear. A cape of pale white-blond hair flowed out from the green mask and sticking out from the cape was a pair of icy blue wings. A floating leaf crystal hung above her head, attacking as she attacked. Emi watched in wonder as the mysterious woman did away with the bats, the snatching vines, the fungi bugs and the vultures with sweeps of her sword and jabs with her spear.
Finally, when all the remaining monsters had been killed or ran away, the stranger sheathed her sword and spear. She turned to Emi, and she could see amber brown eyes glitter behind the chlorophyte mask.
"I have been waiting for you, Emidawn Rose," she murmured, her voice slightly tinny behind the mask.
"Um, how did you know my name?" Emi inquired timidly. This woman could slice her in half at the slightest provocation; Emi was smart enough not to let that happen.
The woman threw back her head and laughed. "My sister told me. She's a magician like you. She specializes in dark magic." Emi decided not to ask what that was.
"Are you a friend of Embrea's?" she asked, trying to change the subject.
"I know her," came the cryptic answer. "Come. Let's go to your guild and I shall summon my sisters."
"Who are you?" wondered Emi incredulously.
The stranger sighed and rested her hand on the hilt of her sword. "I have been called by many names. The Slaughterer, the Swordswoman, the Hallowed One, the Slayer of Cthulhu, and even She Who Trolls. My weapons have tasted the blood of many." She stopped, removed her mask and looked at Emi with her warm, dark amber eyes.
"I am Ramisse, the Blade," she intoned. Then she added, "Call me Rae, everyone does."