Eyes of the Dead (w.i.p)

[Under the moon]

That, my dear lady, was incredibly detailed and disturbing. :tup: Good job.

[Moogie]

No matter what you say Ayshe, I think the way you can describe the atmosphere is something I will always envy. Beautifully written, you can really feel the terror in poor Nilly as she scrambles away from that slithering corpse.

[Ayshe]

~ And on through the Darkness ~


The roaring was closer this time.  Nilaya woke to find herself lying on her back, staring up at an angry, seething black sky. She could feel relentless pressure on her leg, and a grinding, crackling sound. Terrified of what she might see, she looked down.

Ayshe was pulling her damaged limb, tugging the wound open as fresh blood ran out and pooled.

\"No! Augh!\" she cried out but Ayshe hissed at her to be still. She opened her mouth to start another feeble protest and stopped in awe at the sight.

With a tiny grinding sound, another shattered sliver of bone slid back into the flesh on her leg. With a series of crackles and pops, before her wide, horrified eyes the bones knitted together. After time, the flesh was slowly pulling together, closing without even the faintest of scars. It took a few minutes, but Nilaya watched in silence while her wound disappeared. Ayshe released Nilayas leg and wiped her grimy paws on her stained uniform. She offered a hand, which Nilaya took.

As she got to her feet and tested her weight Ayshe turned to sit on a nearby rock.

\"Ayshe... what just happened?\" said Nilaya, wonder erasing for the moment all other considerations.

Her friend shrugged noncomittedly. \"Not sure. It seems there is no pain or death here, no wound so great the spirit abandons the body.\"

Nilaya looked down at her hands. She felt very, very tired. Covered in dust, dried blood and dirt. And there, still faint but obvious in her paw glowed the shape of a lions head. The anger swelled up before she even knew.

\"You!\" she shouted, and struck Ayshe across the back of her head, a light blow motivated by sheer frustration. \"After the scare we all had, after all that has happened and you bring yourself back here! What were you thinking?\"

Startled, with hands raised in supplication, Ayshe managed a few words.

\"I had to! I had to find out-\"

Nilaya cut her off. \"Find out what? you know these glyphs are dangerous! Why are you playing with it? Do you want to be stuck here forever? Who cares what they do!\"

She pushed at Ayshe, knocking her off the black stone she was sitting on, to land in a jumbled heap in the dust. She shook her finger under Ayshe\'s nose. Nilaya was venting, unwinding her frustrations but still she was incapable of harming anyone. Always the healer.

\"And your friends? You can\'t just up and leave! You can\'t do this to us again! What were you thinking? What about your kin?!\"

\"I AM here for my kin!\" Ayshe shot back, anger and grief giving her words enough edge to cut through Nilaya\'s words and bring her friend back to sobriety.

Nilaya shook her head. \"What?\"

Ayshe stood, the black dust shaking off her as she gestured about.
\"What if this is where everyone ends up. What if there is no \'ancestor realm\'? What if he is here?\"

Understanding dawned on Nilaya. \"Flare?\"

Ayshe turned away. \"I am here to protect my own. It is my duty to them all. I won\'t go back until I know he is safe.\"

Nilaya came up behind Ayshe and put her hand on her friends shoulder.
\"Then I will help you\"

Ayshe dropped her head. \"I had hoped you would...\"

Nilaya managed a smile. She looked down at her leg, still amazed by the recovery. Under her feet, the black dust had been stirred by Ayshe and herself. Few other tracks, for the debris of decay was everywhere. Where to begin?

She listened. Ayshe\'s breathing, heavy and full of emotion. The low rumble from the clouds. High whistling of foul winds. And there in the background noise, that faraway roaring.

\"Lets head to the river first. There must be a settlement somewhere\"

Ayshe cocked her head. \"River?\"

Her friend nodded. \"Can\'t you hear it?\". To her surprise, the colour drained further from Ayshe\'s face. \"What?\" asked Nilaya.

\"Something you have to see, to understand this place. Come, I can remember the way\" Ayshe said, eyes not quite meeting Nilayas.

Confused but decided, the Explorer followed Ayshe.

The path here was treacherous. Ancient stonework that looked as though it had been lost to the ravages of time centuries ago bespake of structures of exotic beauty. Their dark, marred features were crumbling and worn, but the sheer craftsmanship that had gone in to them shone through after time. But here there was another of those weird stone eyes in the rock, there some hard iron spikes. The eerie snake heads and flowing organic shapes melded seamlessly into and through the ancient structures until it was hard to discern what the original shapes would have been. It was as if a malign cancer of cold rock and steel was eating into the once warm and vivid structures, turning them black, shattering their smooth lines and utterly desecrating the beauty of the works.

It was suggestive that these lands may once have been bright and full of beauty, a place of light and warmth. And here the decay had seemed to etch away at that warmth, defeating the light forever. Or perhaps this is the way this place had always looked, and some attempts had been made to change it. Attempts that had failed and left the scars of decay across vast expanses of finely crafted, now destroyed and forgotten buildings.

Through the structures of death and stagnation Ayshe and Nilaya travelled. Twice they had to hide silent behind rocks as the sounds of feet and steel clattered near. They never saw the source of the noise, too afraid to sneak a look. This did not seem the kind of place one would expect a warm welcome to visitors.

As they passed a statue of a head with four eyes - some kind of stone death mask, again there was the sound of approaching feet. They ducked behind the statue and waited. Ayshe sat down and stared listlessly. To her surprise, in the gloom she could see darkness in the rocks. She crept forward and found a hole leading to a larger space. Silently, she nudged Nilaya and directed her attention. Together they dropped into the hole and squeezed through into a much larger cave.

This cave was ancient. Roughly rectangular, with stalactites hanging from the roof and rocks and debris scattered about Smashed stone benches and upturned pedestals suggested this was once a temple of some kind. And at the end of the room, there was an ornate doorway carved into the stone.

Ayshe felt an itch in her paw and looked down. The lionhead was pulsing slightly. Confused, she turned to Nilaya, only to see her inspecting her own paw. \"Nilaya?\" she asked.

They turned to look about the room, and fixed again on the doorway. As they made their way towards it, the sensation in their palms became more pronounced. Ayshe could feel her hand being drawn to the doorway, somehow. A look at Nilaya confirmed she felt it too.

It was a simple archway cut as a relief into the stone, with symbols and designs edged around it. A doorway of solid rock, smooth flat and utterly pointless, as far as Ayshe could tell. Yet they both felt their glyphs drawn to it.

Ayshe channelled more Crystal way into her glyph and jumped back in surprise as a purple glow surrounded the door. The pull on her glyph was stronger, undeniable. Ayshe reached out to touch the glowing rock in the archway. It yielded under her hand, and as her fingers sunk in to the rock, she felt warmth.  As the flat of her palm touched the surface, and the glowing symbol sunk in to the solid rock, there was a brilliant flash of painful purple light. Ayshe was thrown back sharply, to land in a heap halfway across the room.

\"Ayshe!\" Nilaya cried out and ran to her friend.

\"That hurt\" said the pale enki. \"I guess there is pain here, after all...\" She got to her feet. \"The glyphs are drawn to this doorway, yet don\'t like them?\"

Nilaya shrugged. This was just one more horror in a tapesty of them. \"Let\'s just get to the river\"

At the mention of the river, Ayshe\'s face again fell. There was something not being said. Nilaya wondered how bad it could be, if Ayshe wanted her to see if with her own eyes.

The climbed out and left the strange cave behind.

[size=0](c) All rights reserved 2005[/size]

[Ayshe]

~ Reunion ~


Three dark figures moved amongst the twisted iron walkways. The ancient, rusted metal was crafted into spikes and grates, and was lit somehow from underneath. The effect was a sinister uplight that was swallowed whole by their dark cowls. The three moved with purpose, at a steady pace across the reverberating, quietly protesting metal. Their thick black robes could have concealed anything, but the movements of the characters hinted at weapons tucked away. The air around them was filled with a kind of thick menace, well suited to this place.

The one at the front stopped still and raised a gloved hand. The others halted, obviously followers. Without sound the figure pointed down, to a rock outcropping far below. There, for a moment shadows moved. Two of them, lithe, stealthy and cautious, but visible nonetheless. Without a word, the three picked up their pace and ran to an immense spiralling stone snake, beset with glowing red gems and hard, dull steel spikes. They decended along it\'s twisting arch around the rock, almost silently. The predator narrowing in on the prey.


Ayshe raised her hand and Nilaya stopped.

\"We\'re here\"

Indeed, the roaring was much closer, here at what seemed to be a cliff edge. Ayshe stood a little way from the precipice, hand raised and shoulder slumped. She slowly turned to face Nilaya. With a flat voice, lacking in much emotion she said \"Don\'t fall. By the Gods, don\'t fall\".

The butterflies in Nilayas stomach became angry ravens as she cautiously walked to the cliff face. She could hear the roar so much clearer here, and there was an odd edge to it. The pitch seemed alltogether wrong for water, and there were occasional clashes, too sharp for rock on rock. She dropped on all fours and crawled closer. She peered over the edge and saw a dark, seething mass far far below. The waters seemed very turbulent, and the light reflected oddly off the shapes below. Even at this distance the roar was strange and overwhelming, disturbingly organic and -

There was a flash of light from the seething clouds above and for a moment Nilaya thought she saw... no, it couldn\'t be.

With a nauseating suddenness, Nilaya refocused on the scene below. The blurred shapes snapped into being as she saw the true perspective, and adjusted in the gloom.

\"Oh, no.. Ayshe, no....\" was all she could manage.

Below her, at the bottom of what must have been a pit, or perhaps a canyon with impossibly deep walls were thousands and thousands of... people. And they were all scrabbling over one another, fighting, clawing. Glints of steel below hinted at weapons, kept fresh by blood and constant use, clashes of metal on flesh and bone, horrible bloodcurdling screams of anguish and pain and agony, mixing in and amongst, reverberating against the walls. Arms reached up to the cavern wall, fingernails scrabbled and found no purchase on the bloody rock. The screams of all these souls, their cries of pain as they slithered and clambered all over one another to be the one on top, lest be crushed by those above, oh Gods, the sight, the ... oh....

Nilaya felt nausea, dizzyness sweep over her. The world spun and she began to crawl back, trying to get away. Two strong hands grabbed her arms and held her steady.

\"Nilaya! Nilaya it\'s me, it\'s okay\" said Ayshe

All her friend could do was babble incoherently as she fought to get away, terrified and horrified. Nilaya choked back a sob, then lost control and burst into tears.

\"Aysheee\" she wailed. \"Oh Ayshe, what is this place?\". Ayshe, in response could only look on as the sight burned itself into her friends eyes, scarred her forever. Tears welled up in sympathy, in guilt as she realised that she had done this, she had drawn Nilaya here.

\"Nilaya, I\'m sorry... I\'m so... I\'m sorry\" said Ayshe.

With blurry eyes, Nilaya looked up at Ayshe. She crawled backwards, sitting half upright. Recognition and understanding suddenly came to the blue eyes, and she cried out and pointed at Ayshe, screaming, with tears running down her face.

Confused, and amost in full tears herself, Ayshe held out her hands and tried to apologise again, advancing carefully on Nilaya as she scrabbled away.

Just then she realised that Nilaya was not pointing at her. She was pointing behind her.

There was an ugly puffing sound and a rip of fabrics and flesh, and Ayshe found herself looking down at the bloodied steel of a sword piercing her chest and pointing right through. She felt herself lifted in the air by her assailant. She spluttered out a lot of blood, and the word \"run!\". In slow motion, she saw Nilaya stand and freeze, unsure of what to do. Ayshe twisted awkwardly and tried so slash at the face of her attacker, but had her wrist caught effortlesly. The sword was pulled from her body and she dropped to her knees, unable to breathe. No pain, but the body was not able to move. She looked up at a hooded cowl, black and without features. The figure semed to be staring at her palm, where the glowing design was. Ayshe slashed up and across the face of the cowled figure and there was a spray of blood. As the cowl fell back, Ayshe saw two yellow eyes, and a look of surprise. Then her attacker brought the hilt of his sword hard across her head. Ayshe collapsed.

The figure knelt by Ayshe\'s body and looked up with mild interest as Nilaya started to run.
\"Get her\" he said quietly to his companions.

The figure looked down at Ayshe\'s body in fascination. He traced the intricate pattern in her fur with his gloved finger. As he turned to look at her palm again, the light fell properly across his face. An enkidukai, and upon his face was his own pattern, his Kei\'da.

His brow furrowed and he regarded the feline.

\"What do we have here?\" came the whispered voice, full of intrigue.




Ayshe clawed out of the darkness to find herself in a new kind. Her hands were bound, as were her feet. There was a dark cloth of some kind over here eyes, strangely soft for this place. As her senses returned they sent her strange sensations she had not felt in days. Comfortable, cushioned seat. She could feel a warmth to her left; the crackling could only be a hearth fire. And the subdued sounds of the faraway roaring might mean she was indoors. Ayshe wasn\'t sure but it felt like -

\"If you are done pretending to be asleep\" came a voice.

Footsteps approached and hands removed the cloth over her head, firmly but not unkindly. Ayshe looked into the eyes of an enkidukai. He was large, lean, muscled and with pale fur. He wore dark armor of some strange looking metal. But the thing that surprised her was the intricate pattern dyed into the fur of his face. A full Kei\'da. Ayshe had not seen one for months, years perhaps. He stood in this small stone room, filling it with his very prescence.

\"You\'re from a clan of old?\" she asked.

He looked her in the eyes. Ayshe was startled at the cold fury behind the yellow orbs. She felt a hard lump in her throat.

\"I will ask the questions\" he said, quietly. The implied threat hung heavy in the air.

The enki came up close to her, leaned in and smelled her fur, savouring the scent. Almost whispering, he continued.

\"I shall tell you a story, cub. May years ago my clan was visited by an ailing mage. With him he had many devices of magical nature. He was old, weak and sought a place to recover his strength.\"

The enkidukai turned away sharply, facing the door of the room.

\"Naturally, he was slain his first night in the vilage, for such was the nature of our clan. The spoils of his posessions we split amongst ourselves, but the choicest, a small box was given to our warlord.\"

Ayshe scanned the room while her captor continued his story. She didn\'t understand what this was about, but she had no intentions of staying.

\"This box was magically sealed. For a full month we worked to open it, then success came. Inside, a small token - a glyph. The scroll with it promised great glory to those who used it. It was no accident that the following dusk, the strongest mages gathered in the town centre and our warlord activated the glyph with the combined strength of his kin.\"

There was no exit. The chains were firm. Ayshe desperately strugged to free herself.

\"But we were all decieved. All of us. A portal was formed by the glyph. And then They came, attracted to it. The Riders\"

Ayshe\'s eyes opened wide. She stared at the back of her assailant, ears pricking up, hackles on edge.

\"The battle seemed long, but did not last to dawn. The wounded were thrown through, the survivors left to fight. I was one of the last, and I took a mortal wound. I died, on the slopes of some green hill on some damned land surrounded by dying kin.\"

The enkidukai spun around, fire in his eyes. \"We were all decieved! The old mage was an avatar of some God named Vodul!\" he spat.

\"He knew what was to happen. He tricked us. He lured us to this place, to our fate. But we died! and instead of my ancestor realm I ended up HERE!\"

The enkidukai strode quickly to Ayshe and grabbed her tunic. He pulled her face close. He roared at her, anger in his eyes \"All our kin died, and ended up in this place. All our ways lost! Our warriors, lost in a pointless and honourless death! And you! you DARED take up our customs? Who are you?\"

He threw her back against the chair. \"I don\'t know how you found the designs, cub, but those patterns on your face have a meaning!!. They are not just decoration! You dare darken the honour of our clan?\"

Ayshe shook her head. \"These designs are my own!\"

He pointed at her face \"Oh? so you are a minor noble born, you have lost many, many kin, you have no mate and..\"
He grabbed her face and turned it, pointing at one line \"And you lead a clan?\" He laughed mirthlessly

\"Well, actually\" Ayshe said \"... yea\"

She looked at the enkidukai\'s startled, rapidly reddening face and looked closer at his markings. They were all unique. Memory supplied the name. Before the enki\'s rage could spill over, she spoke clearly.


\"You are Farvol Telchiad, son of Volduch the weaponsmith. You used to be a herder, and you had a daughter named... Eilfar\"

Ayshe stared defiant into the yellow eyes. \"How do you know that\" he growled.

She looked at him. \"Because I can read your Kei\'da. Because I remember you. Because I am Ayshe Alchamet, thirdborn litter of Yshen Alchamet of the Black Marsh Enkidukai. And if you do not take your hands off me, I will have you flayed to within an inch of your life\"


It was probably the most unlikely demand of any prisoner anywhere. But the startled enkidukai merely bowed, and then quickly unlocked her chains.



[size=0](c) All rights reserved 2005[/size]

[Under the moon]

8o then 8o and  8o!

Your details are astounding! Bloody great! I bow in your presence.

[keder]

beautiful Ayshe.

--- keder maloy

[Ayshe]

~ Farvol ~


Farvol stood back and watched silently as Ayshe stepped forward from the device she had been restrained to. His eyes were sullen and wary, and his arms were loose at his sides. A warrior awaiting attack. Yet in the eyes Ayshe could see a myriad of emotion. Anger, yes. But also curiosity and.. pity?

Sensing she would need to break the silence, Ayshe spoke.

\"I remember Elifar well. She was with us in the communal hut. She nearly made it out\"

The warrior looked away, fists clenching. \"Speak no more of her\" he said gruffly.

Ayshe pressed on. \"Is she here, with the rest of the clan? She fell, as you did, and-\"

The strike came far quicker than Ayshe would have expected. She sat back on the cold floor of the room, holding her stinging cheek. Farvol had moved so fast. He stood over her, eyes red with rage, but face composed and calm.

\"I asked you not to speak of her\" came his reply, voice quavering on edge.

Ayshe understood, suddenly. \"She is not here?\"

The fire in his eyes trebled and for a second, Ayshe expected Farvol to strike again. Instead, after what was obviously an internal struggle, his shoulders dropped slightly and the fight left his eyes.

\"A blessing. No, she is not here. Only those that passed on this side of the rift are stuck in these lands. In my dreams, I used to see her in the ancestor realm. With the rest of us. The ones who were not cursed.\"

He helped Ayshe up, and made superficial motions to clean down her stained and dirty tunic. His hand strayed over the silver lionhead that  was embedded into the fabric below her right shoulder. His eyes lingered on the pattern, for a moment. Then he looked Ayshe in the eyes again. He looked beaten, utterly.

\"I... I must apologise, kin. It has been so long. It was less painful to simply forget what I was and where I was from. My daughter, my wife. These things are my pain and being separated from them, in this place... the anger of the betrayal. I have not seen any with the Kei\'da for so long, and I never imagined any of our kin remained alive.\"

He smiled sadly at Ayshe. His eyes pleaded quietly.

\"Your passing, were you the last? Is the Black Marsh finally and truly no more? Can our shamed memory be laid to history?\"

Ayshe blinked.

\"No, Farvol. I did not die, and neither did the Marsh. A few survived that day. We were taken in by Dermorians. They took away our dead and nursed the luckier ones back to health. They were a fair and mirthful people, and the light of the world we found ourselves in helped us to heal the wounds that were not physical. Some took Dermorian wives and husbands. Others, like myself travelled far and wide. We are few, but there are cubs who wear the Kei\'da.\"

Farvol touched the symbol on Ayshe\'s tunic.

\"Your clan? Do you follow a new warlord in the name of the Marsh?\"

Ayshe shook her head.

\"None took up the name of our clan. I would have, but our customs forbade it. But there is one who holds the right to form a clan and call it Black Marsh; my littermate Jityshe. He resides with the clan of Enkidukai that I am honoured to lead\"

The mention of a female leading an Enkidukai pack would have shocked, even scandalised a true Black Marsh enkidukai, but here the sign of whatever hells Farvol had undergone showed through. He nodded, smiling widely. And when he heard the name Jityshe his eyes lit up.

\"The favoured son of Yshen. Yes, he would make a fine warlord\"

He paused, considering Ayshe\'s words.

\"Wait, you said you are not dead? How are you here then?\"

Ayshe opened her palm and showed Farvol the glowing symbol. \"A special glyph allows me to pass into this world. I am here to seek one of my kin, by the name of Flare. He was a mere infant when I carried him from the hut that night. I did not know his name or family then, but he is my blood, as I was the one to save him.\" Another custom of Black Marsh: The life you save becomes your kin.

Farvol pulled one of his gloves off and held his palm out for Ayshe to see, There, embedded in his fur was a remarkably similar symbol, that glowed blue. His was in the simple shape of an elongated six-sided crystal.

\"The Black Marsh Enkidukai glyphs. Why is yours different? I trust you know what they are for?\"

Ayshe nodded. \"The one I have used is a modified copy. The normal ones trap the bearer\'s soul on death and sends it to the Ancestor Realm. Mine sends me here when used, but allows me to return still\"

Farvol put his glove back on.

\"I don\'t know quite what to do with this information you have given me. For the first time in so long, I have heard news of life and happiness. If only I was able to-\"

He was interruped by a large, heavyset Enkidukai in black chainmesh, as he stomped into the small room. Farvol fell silent at the heavy footsteps.

\"You let your new toy walk free in your hut? you are soft, Farvol. But who am I to comment on the way you treat your conquests\" the newcomer growled harshly.

Ayshe reddened, outraged at the implication, but Farvol merely lowered his eyes, his mood darkening.

\"Come, chain your morsel. We must present todays catch to the Dark Lord\" the newcomer said.

Ayshe opened her mouth to protest but the look in Farvol\'s eyes silenced it.

His face set with disgust and loathing, Farvol growled.

His shoulders fell futher as the newcomer began to smile, seeing Farvol\'s obvious struggle.

He looked at Ayshe, face drained of emotion. His eyes looked so tired, so worn out.

\"Put these chains on\" he said, motioning to some heavy dark bands behind Ayshe.

\"What? Why! Farvol!\" said Ayshe

Farvol stepped forward and grabbed Ayshe by the tunic. He roared in her face, much as he had done before. This time his voice was tinged with more emotion, and a tinge of shame.

\"Do it or I will dismember you and drag your bloody corpse behind me! It is your choice!!\"

Ayshe was stunned. \"But.. No! You are honour bound to me, kin! I am the last of Yshen\'s litter!\"

Farvol shook his head.

\"We are not sworn to Yshen, or any mere mortal now, Ayshe. We serve another. You will see\".

He handed her the chains, roughly.

\"I am sorry. There is nothing I can do.

The heavy enki leered at her as the confusion and fear swept back across Ayshe\'s face. All she could do was stare at Farvol, and the pity and sorrow in his eyes as he drew his crossbow and motioned.

[size=0](c) All rights reserved 2005[/size]

[Under the moon]

Finally I have found the time to read this, and was not disappointed in the least. I await the final chapters with great eagerness.

*pays in advance with a turnip*

Also, this will be added to the long overdue updating of \'The Book\' thread....as sone as I update it.  

[Quietus_Silivren]

Ayshe, you write like a pro. This is the kind of thing that takes passion and an understanding of the hearts, minds, and spirits of people, and you clearly have both. I look forward to the next installment. This is my chosen profession, and so it is a thrill to be witness to so potent and engaging an example of the art. *smiles* Well done.

[Karii_Winterwalker]

Originally posted by Quietus_Silivren
Ayshe, you write like a pro. This is the kind of thing that takes passion and an understanding of the hearts, minds, and spirits of people, and you clearly have both. I look forward to the next installment. This is my chosen profession, and so it is a thrill to be witness to so potent and engaging an example of the art. *smiles* Well done.

...Must I say it? You\'re right, of course, but...

[Ayshe]

~ Bonds ~


A heartbeat and a world distant, the Azure sun found it\'s sleepy way into a modest room in the top level of the Felines Lair guildhall. The late afternoon glow lit dust motes as they gently played in the light breeze. The air was scented, bringing with it the promise of the spring flowers native to the immense underground cave that was Yliakum.

The soft light enveloped two figures, set almost side by side on sleeping pallets. Both Enkidukai, and both utterly still. The warmth from the Azure sun could not reach these two though. There was not a trace of life in the bodies, and had not been for some time.

By the window was a small sand glass. The top bulb was completely empty and the light scattered off the curves of the elaborately designed timekeeping device. The last grain had slipped down the curves and landed in a tiny puff of fine sand hours ago.

There in the room, watching the glass with a hateful glare as if it were a deadly creature, was a lean and lithe looking enkidukai. His fur was very dark, almost black. He leaned back against the wall with a casual ease, but his eyes were not relaxed. Daikan Dornsoul, of the Scouts fold of Explorers blinked and realised that enough was enough.

\"Do it now\" he said quietly.

Mordon looked up from where he was sitting on the wooden floor. He looked tired, and was nowhere near a book. Bad news.

\"Are you sure?\" Mordon asked

Daikan nodded firmly

\"I cannot allow this to continue. She should have found Ayshe by now\"

The plan had been hastily arranged, but simple. Since the glyphs were controlled by the users in the death realm, Nilaya has one simple task. Enter the death realm, find Ayshe and get them both to release the bonds of their glyphs. Starved of mana, the glowing that surrounded their paws in the real world would fade and those in the small room would separate each from their crystals. They would then wake up, and the glyphs would be destroyed.

They had agreed that Nilaya would not release her own glyph until she had found Ayshe. That had happened hours ago, well before the sand had run out. Because Ayshe still held on to hers, it was obvious something unexpected had happened.

But Daikan would not allow Nilaya to be in any more danger. Their agreed time before they pulled Nilaya back, for better or worse had passed too long ago for any of them to feel comfortable.

Uvyn stood and walked over to Nilaya\'s prone form. Kneeling slightly, he gently pried the now dark lionhead from her cold grip.

As soon as it broke contact with her flesh Nilaya\'s eyes opened and she gasped. The sharp intake of breath became a scream as she clutched her stomach and frantically searched with her hands.

She looked down and moaned \"oh Gods, they were cutting me open.. oh gods, oh no no no...\"
Nilaya hugged her midriff and cried softy, repeating it over and over.

Hart had rushed forward at the scream and had proffered a glass of water. Daikan was on the other side gently holding Nilaya\'s head.

\"Oh my....\" said Uvyn

In his hand, the lionhead was smoking and crackling, the blue turning black as it crumbled.

\"I\'ve never seen someone unbond a glyph quite like that before\" Uvyn said. \"And coming from me, that is quite a thing to say.\"

\"I can\'t, I can\'t\" Nilaya said. \"I don\'t want it, I can\'t use it again oh Gods...\"

What they all knew is that to use a glyph, a mage must first purify it. The purification is a bonding process, whereby the mage will connect spiritually to a glyph. once the bond is made, they can push energies in to the glyph and use it\'s focussing properties to create magic.

By the same token, it was possible to unbond a glyph. This almost always results in the destruction of the glyph. But normally one had to hold the glyph and meditate.

Nilaya had unbonded the glyph out of revulsion purely by reflex. Such was the intensity of her trauma, it seemed.

Nilaya took a large draught of water and coughed, spraying an unamused Uvyn with liquid.

\"Sorry\" she muttered, regaining her composure.

The kran managed a weak smile. \"No problem\"

Daikan spoke to his leader and friend.

\"What happened?\"



The cosy afternoon light faded to twilight as Nilaya recounted the events that had taken place. Through it all Ayshe lay motionless. As the light dimmed, the glow from her palm mocked them all by appearing to increase in intensity.

\"I couldn\'t tell Ayshe to release her glyph. She wouldn\'t have listened anyway, not with her feeling she had to find one of her own.\"

Mordon nodded. \"And then you were separated...\"

Nilaya shivered unconciously. \"They chased me down and... they..\"

Daiakan took Nilaya\'s hand. \"Think of it as a dream. You\'re safe now\"

Nilaya motioned to Ayshe. \"And her?\"

Jityshe\'s voice came from the doorway.

\"Much as I hate to admit it, we are out of options. I will have Uvyn create enough glyphs so that I may lead those in the guild who are able to fight into the Death Realm. We will take Ayshe from these keha by force and make them bleed.\"

Hart stood and faced Jityshe. \"No, I will lead them. I failed in my responsibility to protect Ayshe, and it should have been me going in after her, not Nilaya\"

He nodded at Nilaya. \"Respectfully, my lady\"

Nilaya shook her head but said nothing.

Jityshe snorted. \"You, cub? Come off it. I have lead armies! why should you, an untested youngling be the one to parry in to deaths embrace for one who is merely a guildleader to you!? Stand back and let a warrior show you how it is done, fool\"

The younger enkidukai growled and leapt, bristling at the insult.

Harts movements were quick. Jityshe\'s were quicker. Hart rolled left and ducked a spinning kick, leapt again and ran halfway up the wall. With his right hand he reached back and pulled out a long thin blade, but at close quarters it was slow and clumsy. As he brough it up to bear Jityshe\'s bracer clattered across the flat of the blade and knocked Hart off balance. Jityshe stepped in close and brought the hilt of his sword heavily down upon Harts hand, causing him to drop the sword. In that instant Hart found himself on the wrong end of a short blade, pressed uncomfortably close to his throat. Jityshe\'s grinning was infuriating. Yet it stopped and faded suddenly. He saw a similar grin spread across Harts face.

Jityshe could feel the cold prick of steel against his side.

He looked down and saw that one of Ayshe\'s small palm crossbows was held in Harts left hand. The bolt, jet black and with a razor sharp tip, was set against  Jityshe\'s ribs, positioned in a tiny gap in his armor. The bolt pointed straight at Jityshe\'s heart and if the younger enkidukai squeezed but a fraction harder, the bolt would be through Jityshe and buried in the wall behind him in an instant. Jityshe looked over to the wall and noticed an empty space in the weapon rack. Clever.

\"She is my kin, Jityshe. She bleeds my blood\" Hart said, inches from Jityshe\'s face.

Jityshe\'s surprised look broke into a grin of delight.

He pulled his sword back, spun it and proffered it hilt first to Hart.

\"I am your armsman, kin. You may lead\"

Nilaya rolled her eyes. \"Black marsh pride...\" she muttered.

Jityshe scolded her.

\"No, Nilaya. I would not follow any who do not have the strength and will to do what must be done. I am trusting the life of my kin with this youngling. He understands what it is to be an enkidukai warrior of old\"

Hart placed the palm crossbow back on the wall where he had grabbed it.

\"Then let\'s do this\" he said. \"How long to prepare a dozen glyphs, Uvyn?\"

The weathered kran shrugged wearily. \"Give me... two hours\"

Hart nodded. \"Master Uvyn, I\'m afraid I need them sooner than that\"

Uvyn sighed.

\"I knew you would say that\"

[size=0](c) All rights reserved 2005[/size]

[Jjairr]

/me repeatedly clicks the space where the arrow should be that leads to the next page

Aww... I guess I have to wait for the next chapter, eh?

It\'s absolutely brilliant, Ayshe, I love it to death... Amazing, I can\'t wait for the next installment.

/me wonders if she\'ll ever be able to write something this amazing...