As I gaze through Time to that moment, gentle reader, I can see that Daelen has agreed that it would be best to camp for one more night and begin the final push to Kullos’ fortress at first light. Since there are no more plans to make, while the others head for their tents for the night, the shadow warrior has chosen to go for a walk alone to relax. He knows it will probably be his last chance to enjoy something so simple.
Even with all his power, the great shadow warrior always took pleasure in the smallest things.
The shadow warrior has been walking for close to an hour, when he comes across a female figure standing in the moonlight, dressed in white body armour much like his own, with white boots and a purple mask that conceals the upper part of her face.
“Greetings, Daelen,” she offers. “Ah, but it is good to see you like this again; it’s been a while.”
*****
If that opening seems familiar, gentle reader, then I congratulate you on your memory. My story, or at least this part of it, has, at last, come full circle to where we began.
This is where I’ve sent Aunt Mandalee to meet up with Daelen and seek his help. Thankfully, he’s agreed. But I have much more to write before I can meet with him myself, so I must continue to Freeze Time in a bubble around my house, to prevent the Black and Red Guardians from, well, basically doing their jobs.
However, we are at a point where I can reveal a little more. Specifically, to answer a conundrum that I left you with earlier in my writing. The same one Mandalee and I were faced with when I first came up with this ridiculous radical plan: How to find Daelen at a moment in history when he was (a) friends with Mandalee and Catriona, (b) at the peak of his powers, and (c) alone, yet in a precisely known location.
Clearly, this moment, on the eve of battle against Kullos and his forces, fulfils the first two conditions, but what about the third? Here’s how Mandalee and I made our case to the other two Guardians: Not one person even knew he’d left the camp that night and Daelen StormTiger was indeed alone, in the sense that there were no other people around him. There was, however, one curious leopard, who stealthily followed the shadow warrior without his knowledge. Shyleen is the reason we know about this moment at all. If not for her, I genuinely believe we would not be able to do what we’re doing. Which just goes to show you, gentle reader, never underestimate a cat.
The other two Guardians rejected this as ‘splitting hairs’ or ‘using the letter of the law to justify breaking its spirit’. They maintained that taking Daelen out of Time was too dangerous, especially at such a critical time. As you know, Aunt Mandalee and I disagreed, and took matters into our own hands.
So, just before Aunt Mandalee revealed herself to Daelen, she first had a quiet word with Shyleen. Of course, Shyleen is a clever kitty, so it naturally took only a moment for her to realise why her friend suddenly looked ten years older than when she’d seen her a moment ago.
‘This is because of the Time Magic that our mutual friend just unlocked, isn’t it? Your eyes have seen much, I think. But you are still my Mandalee.’
‘As always, Shyleen, your explanations are much better than mine, but I’m afraid I didn’t come here just for a chat.’
‘Of course,’ Shyleen replied. ‘How can I help you?’
‘Actually, you’ve already helped more than you know simply by being here, but you really need to go back to the camp, now, and share none of this. One day, a long time in the future, I will specifically ask you if you ever saw Daelen when he was completely alone. Then you must share this exact time and place.’
‘This is an important responsibility, Mandalee,’ Shyleen understood, shifting uncomfortably under the weight of it. ‘How can I be sure I will be able to give you what you need?’
‘I was hoping you would ask me that,’ Mandalee replied with a relieved smile. ‘If it’s OK with you, I’d like to use the gentlest bit of magic on your mind. It’s perfectly safe,’ she promised.
‘Like a mental block, or a magically backed promise?’ the leopard wondered.
Mandalee shook her head. ‘It’s based on those ideas, but much gentler. Following Daelen tonight will seem like just one of a million little moments in your life that simply aren’t worth mentioning. It’s not a secret – just unimportant. Until I specifically ask you. Then you will be able to recall it with perfect clarity. Is that OK?’
‘Of course. That sounds perfectly fine, and I trust you completely. Just one thing – I know I should not ask about my own future, but please tell me: am I still part of you, where you are?’
Mandalee knelt down and stroked her friend, who began to purr, as she assured her, ‘Always. Even before Catriona, there was you.’ She paused, shedding a tear as she added, ‘Even after she…’ She pulled away, shaking her head getting her emotions under control. ‘No, sorry, I can’t tell you about that. I mustn’t.’
Shyleen placed a gentle paw on her shoulder.
‘My fault for asking,’ she apologised. ‘Now you had better work your magic, then I can go back to the camp and leave you to do whatever you came here to do.’
Mandalee did so and bade farewell to that version of her friend, who left as silently as she came.
According to the current version of the Timeline, Daelen returned to the camp a few hours later, telling no-one anything of his midnight stroll. After all, it wasn’t as if anything significant had happened.
*****
At first light, the warband moved out, heading for Kullos controlled territory, remaining vigilant at all times, for they knew advance forces could attack them at any moment. Dreya walked with Ossian Miach Kaidool, and they used their different forms of magic to extend their sensory perception. Michael found he rather liked this Dark sorceress…though she had picked up the irritating habit of calling him ‘Mickey’. It was bad enough his ‘fans’ using it, without her joining in. Of course, Dreya knew it annoyed him, and that was sufficient reason to use it as often as possible, as far as she was concerned.
Dreya ran over her plans in her head, satisfied that there were sufficient contingencies built in, just in case certain people made different choices to the ones she expected. Everything fitted perfectly, but somehow the picture was incomplete. Or perhaps more accurately, there was something more to the picture than she yet consciously knew. It felt as if her plans were a jigsaw puzzle, and the image was there in front of her, yet there were pieces left over. She didn’t understand how that could be. For now, she firmly shoved it in a box in her mind and labelled it as ‘Guardian business to be dealt with later’.
Mandalee was receiving constant situation reports from nature, as she spent the journey getting to know Windell a little better. As an assassin, Mandalee didn’t often work with other people. However, much as she enjoyed solitude and her unique relationship with Shyleen, it was nice to have the chance to swap battle stories with someone. Being a physical fighter – as she was, predominately, despite her magic – Windell appreciated her stories more than Catriona did. Catriona’s response to the technicalities of swordplay was much like the cleric’s own response to Cat’s intricate explanations of the inner workings of magic.
At the same time, something was buzzing in the back of her brain. Something that seemed Guardian related, though she didn’t understand how she could know that. It was almost as if there was somewhere she needed to be and soon. For now, though, the coming battle required her full attention, so she suppressed the feeling lest it distract her.
That left Daelen walking with Catriona when she wasn’t patrolling in falcon, wolf or leopard form. When in the latter guise, Shyleen decided to accompany her rather than listen to Windell and suffer what she considered to be very uncouth stories next to those of her friend. For Daelen’s part, the shadow warrior had reluctantly agreed that Catriona should be the one to fly. After all, they wanted to have advance warning of the enemy, not give the enemy advance warning of their own approach. A bird in the sky was somewhat less conspicuous than a shadow warrior, and subtlety wasn’t exactly Daelen’s strong point.
The area surrounding Kullos’ fortress was a mini-city, surrounded not only by tents but also by permanent wooden buildings. As if these people believed they were here to stay. In the early morning twilight, Catriona could see how it had changed from when she had been there last.
Smiths no longer worked the forges and timber merchants had abandoned construction and repair to buildings. Where, only the day before, stone masons were starting work on an extension to the fortress itself, today they had downed tools and left. Only a few warriors practised their swordplay, and a scarce handful of wizards and clerics were up and about.
As the morning light spread across the Eastern sky, it was clear that the settlement was in chaos. Justaria had managed to sneak out of the camp so that she could meet up with the attacking group and fill them in on events.
The plan had worked perfectly. Plague and pestilence had beset Kullos’ army. Even after the flies had been dealt with, people continued to get sick. It took some time for the contamination to be traced to the already limited water supply. Winds had peaked suddenly, collapsing tents and wrecking the settlement’s poorly built structures. Many expected their powerful enemy Daelen StormTiger to appear at that moment. The battle alarm sounded, and those who were still able, ran to take up arms, many of those clutching their stomachs, but the shadow warrior did not appear. The storm was apparently natural. That incident served to embarrass the commanders and weaken the already fragile respect of the lower-ranked warriors. After the third or fourth storm, almost everyone had grown complacent, more annoyed that it was impossible to sleep than fearful. Kullos refused to keep coming out to deal with bad weather, so people, demons and other creatures clamoured to be let into his stable, secure fortress, but were turned away. That led to anger and violence.
Unchanged, however, were the elementals, the undead, the demons, and of course Kullos’ four death knights. Justaria had described this in detail, so they were not surprised, but to see it for themselves was quite a heart-stopping sight. The allies were outnumbered about fifty to one.
The allies decided that they should enter the camp using the tunnel Catriona had created, Justaria using illusion magic to make them…not invisible, but unnoticeable to any who were not specifically looking for them – and after last night, vigilance was at an all-time low. There were just two exceptions to this: Daelen, who levitated high above the barrier with his perception filter active, and Catriona herself who passed the barrier with ease in falcon form and was best able to co-ordinate. Cat waited until everyone was ready and in position, then called out sympathically to Daelen, Mandalee and Dreya, simultaneously.
‘Begin.’
All the small campfires around the settlement suddenly grew into enormous columns of flame that raged around, spreading fire, fear and confusion. It also began to rain molten rocks. A blazing wall was heading for the medical area, where more than ninety per cent of the humans and Faery, along with many aliens, were being treated by clerics who were no better off themselves. Before the flames endangered them, however, a wall of sand rose up high and fused in the heat, protecting them all behind a screen of thick glass.
A trained assassin, side-by-side with a vicious golden leopard, threw herself back into her old demon-hunting career with a vengeance, slashing her way through them at speed. A cry began to ripple through the settlement, as the army realised they were under attack. There was no clarion call, no organised formation, no planned strategy. This was not how it was supposed to be.
At the right moment – orchestrated by Catriona Redfletching, embracing her flair for the dramatic, just as Kullos’ army began to assemble – Daelen revealed himself, flying overhead and bringing a fresh trademark storm with him. All eyes turned to him, and the enemy hesitated. That was fatal as Mandalee and Shyleen were forgotten, and the defence ended before it had really begun. Equally unnoticed, was a group of fifty warriors that had slipped in while the enemy was distracted. They cut down two hundred or more before anybody knew what had happened. Elsewhere, a towering giant of a man slashed, hacked and magicked his way through the awe-stricken crowd. A trio of shimmering ghouls appeared in their midst, sucking energy from more demons and sending them tumbling back down to the lower planes. Four undead death knights charged unopposed on ghostly black steeds with red glowing eyes. Even Catriona had no clue where her girlfriend had conjured those undead horses from. She made a mental note to ask later. A Black robe sorceress appeared; her hood pulled low over her head. Silent and deadly as a wraith, she was a lethal shadow.
Her own theatrical entrance helped many of their enemies to believe they were visited by the very embodiment of Dark magic. She tried to focus on the elementals and other supernatural creatures that would cause problems for physical fighters. They were no threat whatsoever to her.
The horde was decimated before any semblance of resistance began to form.
Watching from the sky, still in her falcon form, Catriona was thrilled to see her special effects had worked so well. But there were still too many to face at once, so it was time for some mathematics, namely division. As chief strategist, it was not yet her part to enter the main fighting. Much of her druid magic could function equally well from a distance. Including earthquake creation. This would take significant power by druid standards, she knew, but she could see no other choice. She needed to keep half the remaining active force out of the fighting and a gaping split in the ground, stretching for miles, would do that quite nicely, except for those few with flight magic. Switching to her natural form and standing on her Windy Steps, she concentrated on the line she wanted Nature to draw. It had to be precise so as not to endanger her friends or those in the medical wing. She gently altered the natural movement pattern of the ground, coaxed opposing forces and enhanced them, so the ground ripped apart in a more-or-less straight line halfway between her friends and the fortress. Many fell in and were killed, but far more were left trapped. Sure, there were archers among them, but they were useless – they were more likely to hit one of their own. A thick wall of ice further bisected the enemy and Cat decided it was time to embrace her reputation as a handful of trouble.
Her time spent demon hunting with Mandalee, when she was younger, stood her in good stead. From what her friend had taught her, she knew that many of the species of demon below were not the happiest of bedfellows. It would only take a small push to get them to ignore the invaders and fight each other instead.
Daelen was staying out of the battle for the moment. It was vital that he retain as much power as possible for the real fight against Kullos himself. Cat made her way over to him and told him her plan.
“I’m going to be sending my Mirror Image down there and making her shapeshift, but it’s going to take a lot of concentration, which means you get to be my hero and protect me.”
“First time for everything,” he chuckled. “Don’t worry, nothing’s going to harm you. Do your thing.”
She then proceeded to send out her copy in the form of a blue-scaled Mazroth demon that deliberately wounded a red Yarzoth demon with runes tattooed all over its skin. The Yarzoth lashed out and killed the Mazroth, and another Mazroth killed the Yarzoth in revenge, then another Yarzoth (again, really Cat’s copy) killed another Mazroth in further retaliation, escalating the conflict. In moments, all the Yarzoths and Mazroths were fighting each other to the exclusion of all else, until another of Cat’s copies enticed a green Vegroth demon to lash out with magic at both. She then spent some time reprising her Trickster form. Even other demons found them annoying and if they weren’t careful with their attacks, other demons were quick to retaliate. With just a few more interventions, that entire section of demons forgot who they were meant to be fighting and tore at each other, instead.
Mandalee glanced over at Dreya, even as she cut and sliced her way through the enemy with her blades. Occasionally, she threw in some cleric magic or her returning blade, but mostly she stuck to her knives. Maybe it was her new status as White Guardian, she wasn’t sure, but she felt a connection to the Dark sorceress that hadn’t been there before. It wasn’t just a sympathic connection via Cat, but something more direct. She couldn’t read her mind, as such, but she was getting a general sense of what was going on in her head. Her emotions were under tight control, her face impassive, as she continually analysed and calculated a precise response to everything that was around her. Every time she used a power word, she had to compartmentalise part of her brain to reconstruct it, ready to be used again later. Whenever demons came at her with magic, she seemed to make an instant decision about whether that power was compatible with hers and if so, how much she could take for herself, all according to some arcane rules Mandalee knew nothing about. Mandalee thought she must have a thousand spells in her head. How Dreya selected the right one at the right time was beyond her, but she did.
At the same time, this was Dreya’s first opportunity to see Mandalee in action, the Cleric of Nature, demon hunter and assassin. In the same way, Dreya was feeling their new connection through the Guardianship and getting the essence of what was going on inside her. Everything about Mandalee was instinct honed by training and experience. Her emotions were ablaze, every nerve in her body sending her a million separate signals that she somehow forged into a single impression of the world around her. She was using her cleric magic without conscious thought, so it seemed to the assassin that she wasn’t using it at all. She was. It just wasn’t about discrete spells. It was more about enhancing her speed, her agility, her focus, her balance, her grace. Dreya had seen fighters succumb to an unthinking battle frenzy, lost in the lust for fighting. Somehow, Mandalee seemed to dance on the edge of that without ever crossing the line.
Dreya believed magic was more than a tool; it was an art. In the same way, Mandalee’s fighting style was a thing of beauty to her. The White Assassin fought not because she enjoyed killing, but because she loved life. These demons, Kullos’ army, they would take that precious thing from her and from other innocent people. Mandalee had decided she wasn’t going to allow it.
Catriona could feel the two of them sussing each other out, forging a bond between them, even as they fought to keep their lives and everything that they valued. It lifted her heart to witness her girlfriend and her best friend beginning to realise what she saw in each of them. Recognise also that, if one was prepared to look beneath the surface, they were not so different. It was easy to see fire in Mandalee and ice in Dreya, but that was far too simplistic. Many times, Dreya had kept her warm when she was cold, and equally, Mandalee had cooled her down when her temper was running hot. Even the way they fought was similar. Yes, they each used a different set of tools, but Mandalee’s knives and Dreya’s magic weren’t the real weapons – the true weapons were the minds that guided their actions. They both fought with the same precision, wasting no energy, nor giving their enemy a second chance to kill them. Doing no more and no less than what was necessary to eliminate the threat, permanently. They both had the same desire to improve, to be the best at what they did, because the best got to survive.