The battle has been going on for weeks now. Food was being rationed and the arrows counted in hopes that they would last. The soldiers look wearily over the fields that they once played in that were now battle fields in the making. Would Eliy stand or would the enemy take her down in the end?
The first seventeen chapters can now only be viewed at their separate pages.
The rain beat hard against Illianna's armor though she was warmly encapsulated within, only the occasional shiver flooded her with a cascade of goospimples when a few droplets would stray down her collar. Her breath spilled fourth from her lips visibly in small cloud like formations as she began to slow, nearing her destination.
Her eyes focused intently upon a shapeless shadow as her feet carried her slowly closer towards the building within which, the reverberation of metal upon metal echoed rhythmically outward. She lifted her head in an important manner, casually allowing her feet to bear her in the general direction of what she knew was a waiting message.
In the dark he waited. He had been sent by their master. The one man that threatened the great city in which he hid. He had been sent to retrieve the spy, their master wished to speak with her. His body stiffened as he heard footsteps coming in his direction. He could hear the sounds of fists coming in contact with armor as men saluted their superior. The door to the small shack opened and a strike of lightning illuminated a lone figure before the door closed and darkness claimed the room once more. He sniffed the air and could smell her. There was a certain smell to a traitor, a sickly sweet smell that could not be duplicated. Slowly, he unfurled his body from the place where he had been hiding. The woman stiffened and her hand went to her blade as he showed himself to her. "Our master wishes to speak with you." His voice was soft in the quiet room. "He has a new task for you." He shivered in delight as the smell of her leashed fear wafted over him.
"Alright then," she inclined her head in a nervous gesture before reaffixing her eyes upon his own, unsteadily though it would appear. She slowly retracted her hand from the hilt of her sword, allowing it to fall along the side casually. She stiffened noticeably as she waited to follow.
A rumbling chuckle seemed to fill the room, not unlike the thunder that shook the sky outside. The figure that was previously like a shadowy mist seemed to take shape. It coalesced and came together finally in the shape of the one man that still struck a deep fear within Illianna's heart. Her response was immediate and seemingly fully ingrained in her mind. Her knees hit the ground with a dull thud, and her head immediately lowered so that her eyes were fixed at the ground just in front of her. She suppressed a shiver of disgust as she felt his hand on her chin, lifting her head so that her eyes met his. They were cold and black. Only death swirled within their depths. Hatred, and insanity. She fought valiantly to keep her eyes open.
"Ah, my most faithful traitor. I see that you have moved up in the world. You have taken over that filth's position. No matter, I have something much more important for you to do." The shadowy hand moved from her chin and the cold touch caressed her cheek. Again, Illianna suppressed the sick feeling rising in her belly. "What is it that you wish me to do M'lord?"
A look of insane ecstasy crossed his somewhat fine features. A face that may once have been called handsome, now twisted by the grip of madness. "What? No remarks about how I am here? 'Oh no my lord! They will find you!' " His voice pitching up to mock her voice. "They cannot feel me here, they do not have the power!" his voice snarled with maddening anger. "I am here among them, and they do not even know it! Powerful they call themselves, destined. Destined for what?! Nothing! They will all die here!" Illianna bit her lip until she could taste blood in order to keep her body where it was. When she had first agreed to help him, she was sure that he would have been able to change Eliy for the better...but now...she was not so sure. Raine, Feyarie, D'Hara, Soren...they were not as evil as he had made them out to be. They were constantly risking their lives in order to keep the people of the city safe. She wished now that she had never met this madman...but there was nothing to be done about it now. She was a woman of her word...and she would keep it, no matter that the man before her was totally mad.
When he had calmed, she asked again, "What would you have me do now m'Lord?" The man before her stopped and looked to her once more. His eyes were filled with insanity and with a voice so quiet she could barely hear what he was saying, he whispered his instructions in her ear. She wasn't sure how long she sat there staring into nothing. Her master had left long before, but still she sat there. His words burned in her mind. Slowly, she stood and stretched the sleep from her muscles. Illianna left the small room and walked back out into the rain. As she walked, his words whispered to her over and over.
Seduce the Earth. He is my greatest threat. His mind is simple, and will be distracted by your beauty and graces. Seduce the Earth, mold him, shape him, distract him so that I may destroy them all.
The City of Eliy
Stumble!