“I need to know if I can trust you, Dreya,” Daelen began as they walked along together.
“Catriona trusts me. She loves me. Isn't that enough?”
“Catriona is young, inexperienced.”
“Catriona is only a couple of years younger than me, and she has more experience in affairs of the heart than I do,” Dreya countered.
“Perhaps she is blinded by love,” Daelen suggested.
“Perhaps you are blinded by jealousy.”
“You know I have feelings for her, then?”
“I know she returns them.”
“That doesn't seem to bother you.”
Dreya shrugged, unconcerned. “It is no crime to love two people at the same time, Daelen; it's all a question of what she does about it. I trust her to be faithful.”
“And you, Dreya?”
“I am always faithful to her,” she insisted. “In my own way.”
“What's that supposed to mean?”
“It means that the magic will always come first, my love a close second, though I cannot imagine a situation where the two would be in conflict.”
“And you would never betray her?”
“I cannot promise that. All I can say is what I once told Mandalee when she said something similar: It would have to be the advantage of a lifetime. Cat accepts that.”
“Maybe, but don't you think she deserves someone who would put her first?”
“What I think, Daelen, is that it is her choice and, since she currently loves only two people, your suggested option is not available at this time.”
“You’re saying I wouldn't put her first?”
“I am saying you would put the world first.”
Daelen found he couldn't honestly counter that, so he tried to shift the focus of the conversation. “We seem to be drifting from the point here, Dreya.”
The sorceress’ look was innocence itself. “You have a point? I thought we were just making polite conversation, getting to know each other. Is that not what we're doing?”
Daelen chose not to dignify that with a response, so Dreya continued, “If I were concerned with making a point, then I would simply say this: You cannot have it both ways.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Daelen asked, not understanding.
“It means that either I am in a relationship with a mature and sensible young woman who knows her own mind, or you have been trying to take advantage of an impressionable girl who is confused about her feelings. Which one is it? You cannot have it both ways.”
Daelen could see he was not going to win these word games, so he decided to just give it to her straight.
“Listen Dreya, if you do anything to hurt Catriona, I'll—”
“—I don't think you want to finish that sentence, Daelen,” she interrupted in a mildly threatening tone. It was the first emotion he had really heard in her voice. “After all, you are hardly qualified.”
“Not qualified?” Daelen wasn't prepared for that.
“I'm not the one who fired a beam cannon blast at full power at her unprotected back in a fit of pique,” she pointed out, pleasantly.
“That wasn't the real Cat,” Daelen argued, somewhat desperately.
Dreya was having none of it. “You didn't know that at the time.”
“Even if it had been the real Cat, she has proven she could have defended herself.”
“Ah, I see, so it's OK for me to use destructive magic against Catriona, as long as she has a reasonable chance of defending herself, is that it?”
“That's not what I'm saying. I just lost control; it won't happen again.”
“It should never have happened in the first place; once is all it takes. Fortunately for Cat, I don't lose control, so she will always be safe with me.”
“Dreya, you're twisting things,” Daelen objected.
“No, Daelen,” she returned. “You are making excuses. Tell me: if I were to try to harm Catriona, would you accept my excuses? Any excuses?”
“No,” he answered simply.
“Then you will understand if I am not particularly interested in yours. The simple truth of the matter is that you have already tried to kill Catriona, while I have never so much as raised my voice to her. On that evidence, do you still think you have the right to start issuing warnings and threats? Would it not be more appropriate if I were the one warning you?”
Daelen realised he had completely lost control of their conversation, and at his silence, Dreya the Dark continued in the mild tone she had adopted almost throughout, “But threats are such unpleasant things when we’re getting along so well.”
“I still need a reason to trust you, Dreya.”
“I have already given you one,” she insisted. “Catriona trusts me. For you to trust me requires only that you have faith in her judgement. After all, you expect me to trust you not to lose control and attack her again. The only way I can do that is through my faith in my girlfriend’s judgement. If she trusts you, that is good enough for me. If you cannot demonstrate that same level of faith, then I would suggest that says more about you than it does about me. Trust is a choice, Daelen, so let us simply choose to trust one another, for her sake.”
At that point, Daelen gave up, revising his earlier thought. He had not lost control of this conversation because he never had it in the first place. Dreya had been in complete control before they spoke a single word. He never stood a chance.
“Alright,” he agreed. “Please just remember, when it comes to the final battle, when you fire that energy beam of yours, you are aiming at Kullos' forces.”
Dreya smiled, “I'll try to keep that in mind,” she promised.
“If you are as skilled with magic as you are with words, our enemies would do well to run away now.”
“When I was a child,” Dreya offered, “before I grew in the magic, words were the only weapons I had, and I learned to use them with precision. I now use my magic with that same precision.”
Daelen stared at her in pure astonishment. He never would have expected Dreya the Dark to volunteer such personal information, but he knew she had chosen her words carefully. With two simple sentences, she had told him everything he needed to know about her. This was what set her above and beyond any mortal wizard he had ever encountered in his long life. It wasn’t just her power; it was the precision and control with which she wielded it.
Daelen decided to change the subject entirely.
“So, you say you conquered Phitonia. How did that go?”
The sorceress was quite content to share the details as they continued to walk together. However, she did not tell him about the plans she had made with Sara and Jessica. He would find out soon enough.
*****
The two trackers quickly picked out the route Michael and the others were supposed to take to the rendezvous site. As they walked, Mandalee continued her instruction to help Cat learn how to speak the language of leopards.
They had covered quite some distance, and the light was fading when Mandalee told her friend, “You’re still relying too much on your sympathic skills, Cat; it's holding you back. You need to have more faith in your leopard speech and just go for it.”
“Sorry, but that's the way I've picked up bits of animal languages in the past; a gradual transition from purely sympathic to language.”
“In the past, you didn't have me to teach you. Trust me; it's quicker this way. Of course, it could be even quicker if you made the same trade I did.”
“Half my soul for complete knowledge of wild things? No, I don't think so.”
In leopard, she added, ‘No offence, Shyleen, but I can’t imagine talking to you is worth half my soul.’
In response, the leopard remarked, ‘Humans and Faery are diverse creatures. What one considers a good trade, another does not. Perhaps that is why you fight each other so much. Indeed, it is a wonder any of you get along at all.’
Switching off her sympathic abilities, Cat smiled and said, ‘I must admit, though, I am tempted by the offer. Discussing the finer points of philosophy with you is a truly fascinating experience.’ Turning to her cleric friend, she asked, “Did I say it right?”
“Almost…although, I'm not sure leopards have much interest in taking pictures.” Catriona looked blank, so she clarified, “You said you wanted to discuss photography.”
“Did I seriously say that?” Cat looked disappointed. “I thought I'd got it that time.”
“Don't worry,” her friend reassured her, “philosophy is a difficult word to say in leopard. It was a good show of confidence that you even tried.”
‘Your accent could use a little tightening, too, if I may say so,’ Shyleen added.
“It’s a minor thing,” Mandalee agreed, “and many wouldn’t notice, but if you pay close attention, you still sound a little too human in places.”
“Shut up!” Catriona hissed.
“Come on, Cat,” Mandalee objected, feeling a little hurt, “there's no need for that, we’re only trying to help.”
“No, Mandalee, I meant ‘shut up’ because I think I heard something,” Cat clarified.
“Oh, that's OK, then. What did you hear?”
Cat rolled her eyes, “If you'd shut up for a minute, you might just hear it for yourself.”
Mandalee listened. At first, she didn't hear anything out of the ordinary. Just the sounds of nature. Then came a brief ringing sound, way in the distance…a sound no animal had ever made…the sound of steel against steel. “A battle!”
Cat nodded. “Now consider that Michael and his group are supposed to be on this route and have been held up for some reason.”
Mandalee could see where her friend was going.
“You think this battle has something to do with them. They've run into trouble.”
The two women and one leopard increased their pace toward the battle site. They each knew how to blend in with the sounds of nature, to make their approach swift and silent.
“This isn't the first time they've been attacked I'll wager,” Mandalee speculated, keeping her voice low.
“You think so?”
“Yes, think about it: that’s why they're so late. It would make perfect sense. Most of the time, we've been either gone from this world or sailing on a ship that you couldn’t pick out in a fleet.”
“That’s true,” Cat accepted, “so I guess it's hardly surprising we’ve only had that one encounter with Kullos’ forces.”
“StormClaw was well hidden, so it took them a while to find us.”
“You're right,” Cat agreed. “So, while he couldn’t find us…”
“…Kullos has sent his forces after the others – that's what I'd do in his place.” As an assassin, Mandalee was more used to military situations than her friend, so she continued to share her expertise. “But the attack on StormClaw tells us something more about his strategy.”
“What’s that?”
“They were there specifically to kill me.”
“Taking things a bit personally, aren’t we?”
“Don’t worry, Cat. I’m sure they would have got around to you eventually,” Mandalee quipped.
“Oh, well, that’s alright then!” her friend shot back, acidly.
“But I know they were after me, because why else attack Shyleen? I saw no evidence that they had injured or killed any other animals, did you?”
Cat agreed that she hadn’t.
“So why target a random leopard? Unless they knew she wasn’t a random leopard.”
“They attacked Shyleen to draw you out,” Cat understood. “More fool them.”
“Yes, but it tells me that Kullos is intent on removing Daelen’s support – us – and he’ll be just as keen to get rid of Michael’s group. Then the army can focus on Michael, forcing Daelen to either expend energy on fighting his army or face Kullos alone. Either one gives Kullos the advantage.
Cat agreed that all made sense.
“Just one thing,” she added. “Why haven't we been attacked since we left StormClaw?”
“Kullos may not even know we're here yet. As I said, he probably couldn’t pick out our ship among all the others heading this way. His resources are limited, and he's committed to fighting Michael and the others. He can't pull back his troops unless he’s certain there’s a bigger prize within reach. If he suspected, he would have to send spies, and I can't imagine any spies being able to hide from the three of us. Even if they did, they would have to send a message back to Kullos, and he would have to either send out a message of his own or risk further weakening his garrison by sending out more of his forces. Both would take time.”
“I see, so in either case, whoever is attacking our friends out there won't be expecting us.”
Mandalee smiled dangerously. “I'm sure they’ll be delighted to see us.”
The pair slowed as they approached the battle scene and crouched in the bushes at the edge of the clearing, with Shyleen, to plan their attack. Catriona recognised the Champion of the Gods, Michael, from their brief meeting when this whole adventure started. The members of his ‘fan club’ were not hard to pick out: they each wore a short tabard showing an image of the demigod's face. The warriors and mercenaries of Kullos' forces had them severely outnumbered.
It seemed that Mandalee was right about this being the latest of several attacks, judging by the torn leather, patched robes and damaged armour. Even Michael himself appeared to be limping slightly. At first, it seemed the one thing going for them was that there were no enemy wizards, but the sight of four dark shapes, directing the attackers from the edge of the battlefield, shattered that belief: four death knights. They reminded Cat of the similar quartet that served as Dreya’s servants and guards. They gave off similar levels of magic and higher planar energy. She surmised that they probably served as Kullos’ commanders.
Cat fervently wished that she had pressed Daelen for more information on what powers Kullos’ forces possessed. She didn't like operating in the dark, but the issue had always seemed distant until now. She said as much to Mandalee, but she was less concerned.
“As an assassin,” she explained, “I rarely have the luxury of having all the answers. Operating in the dark is nothing new to me. Understand enough to know my enemy truly is my enemy – which I know I failed to do with Daelen – and then decide that I am not going to die today. That’s often all I can rely on.”
Cat didn't like that. “I'm used to studying and analysing any potential threat so I can decide how best to fight it. How do you lay plans if you don't know what you're up against?”
“Who said anything about plans?” Mandalee shrugged, grabbing a bottle of beer out of a pocket and taking a good, long swig. “I just get drunk, armed to the teeth and sort of make it up as I go, improvise. Besides, there's no other choice at this point.”
‘I smell fear’, Shyleen put in.
“That’s the other facet of the plan, isn’t it?” Cat suggested. “Kill Michael’s support and demoralise him to make it easier to kill him, too.”
“Yes,” Mandalee agreed, knocking back more beer, “but in the more immediate term, if we don't do something soon, they're all going to die. They're hiding it well, but I can see the signs of exhaustion – perhaps mental more than physical. They simply don't believe they're ever going to make it to the rendezvous. They need something to give them hope. That alone could make all the difference.”
“Mandalee, you've just given me a ridiculous radical idea. That fear spell of yours, can you affect a large group like this at the same time?”
“I don't see why not, though I probably won't be able to sustain it for long.”
“I don't need long; I just need it to work. Would it affect our new friends?”
Mandalee finished the beer and pocketed the empty bottle. With a shake of her head, she replied, “Fear spells don’t really work on people who are scared already.”
Cat nodded. That’s what she had thought. “If you were in that situation, what would be your greatest hope? Or, to put it another way, what do you suppose the enemy fear most?”
“That Daelen StormTiger himself will appear and pull out their insides,” she stated.
“And what does Daelen always bring with him when he turns up to fight?”
“A storm,” Mandalee replied. She could see where this was going.
“One storm coming right up,” Cat declared.