The Diary of the Exile: Chapter 4 ~ Truth in your Lies

[Jared]

((Closed to The Valkyrie...))


The year of the Lion, Date unknown + 83

I fear that we are nearing a dreadful end, because the more I contemplate on this, the more doubts are brought to life in my mind. It is as if the clouds are gathering and they are harbingers of frivolous destiny that may hold neither me nor Brynhilde in favor. I can’t tell this to her though. She seems captivated by her own thoughts, wrestling her own demons that more and more often erase that beautiful smile from her face and replace it with a sullen frown. I fear for her. I feel her drifting away from me and the tighter I try to hold on to her, the faster she squirms out of my grasp. I... I wish all of this would end already. It’s like walking with a noose around our necks, always expecting for the hangman to pull the lever and send us to our doom. I don’t mind much, as long as we are in this doom together...

***

“Yep, that is one fine pair of boots, no doubt about it.” an imposing husky figure spoke, his dominant meaty arms crossed over the ample muscles of his bare chest. He was the very apotheosis of a weathered warrior with his sunburned tan, squinted ancient eyes, brow creased with wrinkles and his voice as raspy as sandpaper. There was an air of barbaric brutality around him, but there was still enough eminent benevolence for Jared to classify the man as one of the good guys. He was Kalahad, the chieftain of the Esseker clan, and one of the renowned horse breeders in the Suravani’s Oasis that was currently torn by an insurrection.

They were standing in a rather rustic room that seemed to be used as an armory. Weapons and armors looked flimsy at best; most looked like toys made out of shabby tin compared to Jared’s scalemail and Bryn’s marvelous attire made out of mythril and divine metal. If this Kalahad was trying to set up some sort of a militia, he was doing a rather crummy job at it. Makeshift spears, woodcutter axes, shields made out of barrel lids covered with metal plates that might have been trays once. And in the midst of all that unsightly apparel a pair of boots that surpassed any other pair ever created. They glittered with uncanny vigor, as if they were emanating light instead of reflecting it, illuminating the room with clear silver light.

“We discovered them by sheer accident. We were digging another well in order to properly water our clover fields and we dug our way straight into a cave. Besides the inscription that we couldn’t decipher, there was nothing there but these boots. And only when the Dekrans attacked us I discovered the marvel of their enchantment.” Kalahad spoke, leading them out of the small wooden barrack and back into the day’s light. Jared was listening attentively following the massive man with Bryn in tow. She seemed a bit absentminded at the time, perhaps because once again a piece of Yarina’s armor was within their grasp and they couldn’t just take it.

Outside the day was glorious, basked in fierce sunlight that made the exile reconsider about taking off his massive silver robes as he followed the chieftain. Suravani’s Oasis was a dreamy place, idyllic with all the towering palm trees darting skywards at the side of the sandy roads, giving scarce shade to the box-shaped simple houses in which the Fallien folk lived in these parts. They were blue collar people, hard working simple kin that didn’t fear to break a sweat, especially when it came to breeding horses.

“You see, Dekrans occupy the west side of the Oasis and since river Attireyi is over yonder, they control the inflow of the water in the oasis. We Essekers control the east side and the clover fields that are necessary for the horse breeding. It was thus when my father was alive, and his father before him and... Well, you get the picture.” Kalahad smiled meekly, giving the pair a tour through the exotic place. Most people regarded the strangers with suspicion since few were allowed to venture this far into the land of Fallien, but Bryn and Jared managed to procure a pass from the officials back in Irrakam with a bit of his wisdom and Bryn’s harshness. It allowed them to venture here, to the resting place of the final piece of the Yarina’s armor, a final step in the long flight of stairs that the pair walked ever since they met months ago.

“It was all well until a couple of months ago. Meriem, the old Dekran chieftain, and might I add a fine woman at that, succumbed to illness and her son, Elihar, took over the governing of their clan. He’s a young runt, pompous and prideful, and he decided that all of the Oasis should be governed by his faction. Needless to say, battle ensued, since we weren’t going to surrender the ways of our forefathers because of a whim of some whelp. It was a battle we were bound to lose too. But those boots are uncanny things. They glowed miraculously and placed a barrier between us and our foes.” by the time he reached this point in his story, the trio reached a vast main square dominated by a dry fountain that stood in the middle, its ivory marble glistening under the sun. “And that barrier still remains.” Kalahad spoke with a touch of pride in his voice for knowing something these Outlanders didn’t as he reached out with his hand and pressed against thin air with a smirk. Jared hesitated, but ultimately followed the chieftain’s example and his hand soon struck an invisible wall that pulsated with power.

“So the boots are sustaining this barrier?” he asked, inspecting the nothingness before him and the tangibility that shouldn’t be there.

“Aye. Now you see why I can’t let you have them even for a short while. Not until the Dekrans are a threat to us. They want out clover fields and we need their water, but neither is willing to let it go without a fight.” Kalahad added as the exile peered through the translucent barrier. The life went on at the other side just as it did on this one, people obviously not worried about this invisible wall of energy that separated them from their kin. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some matters to attend to.”

With the brawny chieftain gone, Bryn and Jared were left alone in the bustle of the workday at noon. The exile had his pondering look on, the one that calculated and tried to foresee their course of action, taking all the factors in account and trying to conjure the beast path to take. His staff was tapping restlessly on the dirt below, then proceeding to cluck against the magical barrier. “So Bryn, I guess once again we are in quite a pickle. I find it amusing, in a rather bitter manner though, that none of these pieces is easy to procure. I mean, they were all hidden in order for people not to find them, for gods sakes.” he smiled mildly at this as he turned to face her, as per usual stunned by her beauty under the powerful sun rays that bathed her body in gold. “So, what do you think we ought to do about this?”

[The Valkyrie]

The sights and sounds of this beautiful desert wasteland amazed the Valkyrie, captivating her from the moment they'd set foot in the Outlander's Quarter back in Irrakam right up until now as they stood beneath the relentless outpouring of the sun in the blessed region known as Suravani's Oasis. If Jared had felt at home in Raiaera, Bryn felt at home here. It was not the climate, or the terrain, but rather these quiet honorable people with their resourceful men and wise women.

Although the people were obviously wary of foreigners, and restricted them to certain areas without certain documents and releases, they were polite and kind none the less. Dark eyes stared up above bright smiles of small children as Bryn passed by them with Jared, slowly falling in love with these quiet folk. Even now in the midst of the tribe known as Essekers, she felt welcome.

Her mind fled from the survey of this shimmering place as they were finally allowed to see the boots which had brought the two into Fallien to begin with. The final piece of Yarina's armor was within reach, and yet she once again could not just reach out and take it. She must wait, must fight, must prove herself to whatever twisted people chose to guard it this time. She almost expected Jared's sister to jump out of some corner and sieze the glimmering boots from their place of honor among these people. It wouldn't have been a suprise to see Mareena here, interfering as usual, trying to kill the Valkyrie and seduce her twin brother, Jared. But she was supposedly back in Jared's homeland, Ta'aleh, which he had once called Aletha and believed to be a beautiful place, rather than the cursed country it truly turned out to be. He had cast out his sister's demons, and supposedly turned her from her sins, and left her with their mother to learn a new life without corruption. Bryn snorted quietly at the thought - she'd believe it when she was able to see it.

As the chieftain explained the dilemma he faced, and the reasons why they could not just simply take the boots and finish the task of rescuing Eryk from the Underworld, the Valkyrie sighed. It could never be easy. They couldn't leave the Esseker tribe to face their greedy rivals, the Dekrans, without their only defense. And what made it harder was the fact that Bryn truly respected the Fallien people, and wished anything but ill on them. With a smile and a bow of her head, Bryn watched the chieftain leave to attend to the mundane business of leading his tribe. It seemed this tribe and its so-called enemy were strange in Fallien --- they were led by men instead of women, which were the typical leaders of the Fallien people.

Turning quietly to Jared, she took his hand and led him out away from the tents and huts that made up this makeshift village. The sun felt good on her skin, although she knew that too much would leave blistering pain on her pale flesh. Before long she spoke.

"It seems that our dilemma is fairly easy to solve," she answered softly, kneeling to the ground beside Jared and scooping up a handful of the fine white sand which she let slip through her fingers as she continued, "We'll simply have to go to Jya and ask her aid in finding a solution to the water and land problem here. She is a wise and benevolent woman, or she wouldn't be the Mother of Fallien, and her people trust her implicitly. I am sure she will want to help stanch out war and greed among the outlying tribes."

Standing once more, she pulled Jared closer to her, and landed a soft kiss on his lips, and then looked at him with a smile. She enjoyed travelling with him, and it was much more peaceful than when they were having to fight for the armor she must have.

[Jared]

It was beyond Jared’s comprehension what was the cause of the random gentleness that the Valkyrie served in a form of a suave caress, but by now he taught himself not to ask such silly questions. Every time he got a chance to kiss those full rosy lips that tasted sweeter then honey was his chance to once again touch the divine, the angelic, and he would be damned if his ever-pondering mind would ruin it for him. Instead he thoroughly enjoyed these moments of subtle intimacy, whether it was a matter of a kiss, a teasing glance, a sultry smile or just a sporadic touch of her hand on his own. It was the first time he was engaged in such a relationship and he was thrilled by it, exalted by the closeness. Her smile shone through the darkest of storms, her eyes melted the bitterest chills, and her touch... Ah, her tender touch sent the exile flying.

Her plan (that got sidelined for a couple of seconds during her kiss) was sound and simple as it usually was when she presented it. Jared would have probably dwell on the matter for a day or two, like a wizard that strokes his long beard and wastes all the time of the world, and then come up with more or less the same thing. But Bryn was the resolved one, and even though her harshness was sometimes a bit too fierce and straightforward, she usually came up with good courses of action. This seemed like such an occasion since this strife between the factions certainly looked like something best left to the officials. Still, that didn’t mean she would get away easily from being a wiseass.

“Well, damn!” the exile spoke, hitting the arenaceous ground with his staff as his face formed a frown as false as a wooden coin. “I really wanted to go over to the other side and, you know, cause some ruckus, crack some skulls, do some antics and get us into more trouble. But I guess we can go along with your plan as well.” By the time he was done, he couldn’t suppress a smile, teasing her with his subtle implication of their different natures. Because it was Brynhilde who was usually the harsh brute warrior while he was the refined diplomat, finding a way around the violence and bloodshed. But it seemed that during their journey and day-to-day communication some they brushed against each other in more ways then one. He uttered a muffled chuckle, pushing her playfully with his shoulder before he led the way back to their carriage.

Suravani’s Oasis was an oasis alright, a real sight for sore eyes with its picturesque tropical scenery and exotic folk that dwelled in the midst of this concealed paradise. The temperature wasn’t exactly up to Jared’s liking since even during his rather relaxed walk he could feel sweat dripping down his back, but everything else fitted the name perfectly. Eerily fruits nestled before the vendors in all their lively colors, strange attires that looked like togas combined with richly decorated robes (Jared reckoned that each family had their own style of decoration and their own dominant color), thousands of different scents plaguing the air, spices he never even heard of mixing to give the place an unique aroma that crept into his clothes. Fallien women didn’t stand out from the term exotic, slightly muscular and tanned, with ashy hair usually worn in a high ponytail, defiant as their dominant demeanor. Not that Jared noticed too many women though. He had everything that he needed right at his side; there was no need for his eyes to wander to another.

“It’s a nice place, don’t you think so, Bryn?” he asked, but one look at her face could answer that question instantly. He was glad to see this sweet serenity and satisfaction on her visage. It made her even more beautiful if such a thing was possible for somebody who was already an embodiment of perfection. And yet beneath the Fallien sun, she looked blissful and content, more so then ever during their voyage. “A bit hot, perhaps a bit dry as well, but people here seem somehow different, more... human. It would certainly be nice to live here.” At this thought he smiled meekly, almost coyly, his mind picturing Bryn out of her armor and wearing – as unlikely as it seemed given her current attire – a sleeveless azure dress, her pale skin shining under the fires of the sun, one of these small square houses of stone to call their own and maybe even a runt or two to run around. He could live with something like that for certain.

The sight of their carriage snapped him out of the Fallien-evoked fantasy and effaced the glassy look from his azure eyes. The coach that they rented back in Irrakam’s Outlanders Quarter was a rather crummy looking thing that looked like an oversized coffin with four wheels and a perforated canvas awning, dragged by the two horses that looked nothing like the purebreds of the Suravani’s Oasis. Perhaps once they were prideful mounts, but too many years worn them down, making them suitable only for dragging a carriage over the sandy roads. It was no wonder that the trader gave them up for cheap, and given the fact that the pair traveled on a rather tight budget, it was pretty much the only thing they could afford.

Jumping onto the creaky bench on the front of the carriage and throwing his staff into the interior of the carriage, Jared offered his hand to help Bryn climb before he took the reins in his hands. “So then, once more into the breach.” he mused, offering her a tender smile before he struck the backs of the beasts that responded instantly and restarted their journey through the sands of Fallien.

[The Valkyrie]

"Wait, let me tell Kalahad of our intentions - he deserves to know what we're attempting to do," Bryn shouted back over her shoulder to Jared even as she jogged away from their ragged coach to the hut where the clan's chief did most of his day-to-day business. Slightly breathless she popped her head in the door, catching Kalahad off-guard with a bright smile, that caused him to sit down abruptly on his stool.

"My lady," he stuttered, pretending to straighten some sheaves of papyrus containing plots for irrigation and calculations for horse sales, "What a suprise, errmmm, what can I do for you?"

"Nothing at all, sir, I only wanted to advise you that we are embarking for Irrakam once more," she stepped into the hut as she continued, "We intend to speak with Jya on behalf of your tribe. Perhaps some sort of arrangement can be made that will help both your tribe and the Deklans."

"I don't see how, but as long as it's your neck on the line and not mine I suppose I can't argue much. Thank you," Kalahad said, standing finally and stepping from behind his makeshift desk to take her hand.

"Oh no, please don't thank me Kalahad, I've my own reasons for this you see," Bryn smiled once more.

"Well whatever they are, please let me offer you and Jared two of our best mounts to ease your journey back to Irrakam - I saw your coach and the poor nags that you've got to take you back, and it will take you the better part of the week to get there that way," the chieftain offered graciously.

Before the Valkyrie could argue, Kalahad had taken her by the elbow and was leading her back outside to a nearby corral which contained several beautiful horses. Kalahad whistled shrilly, and a young girl emerged from behind one of the horses with a smile.

"Nadi, I want you to choose two horses from these for our friends here," the chieftain directed the girl.

"Yes papa, what are they for?" Nadi responded obediently, her dark eyes dancing over Bryn's face curiously. The girl could not have been more than 12 or 13 summers old, but she was beautiful, and quite obviously knowledgable about horses for her father to trust her with this decision.

"They need fast mounts with great endurance to take them back across the desert to Irrakam quickly and yet comfortably," he instructed his daughter solemnly.

Without speaking the girl quickly winnowed two lovely steeds from the small herd in the corral. The first was a slight silver mare, who pranced happily around Nadi as she handed the reins to Bryn. The second was a lovely roan stallion with bright blue eyes and strong flanks.

"The mare will do best for the lady, and the stallion for the gentleman. They will need to stop for a rest at dark, and don't forget to give them plenty of water," the girl told Bryn knowledgably as she gave the reins for the stallion to her father. "Her name is Sita, and the stallion is Abran."

Bryn nodded her thanks, and together she and Kalahad led the horses to where Jared waited with the coach. With a bright smile Bryn approached her lover.

"We're in luck Jared," she told him happily, as Kalahad handed Abran's reins to Jared, "As thanks for what we're going to do, the chief has offered us the use of these horses on our journey."

With practiced grace, Bryn mounted the mare, and smiled down happily at Jared and Kalahad.

[Jared]

Jared wasn’t particularly exhilarated by the horses that Bryn procured with the benevolence of the chieftain Kalahad, but he restricted it from being apparent on his face. He courteously thanked the husky man, accepting the reins of a tawny mount and patting the beast gently on the neck. The horse was a marvelous creature, with a prideful dominant stature, a tousled mustang mane and enough muscles to carry four men, which made him pretty much the best horse that Jared ever had contact with during his life. He had seen one that could rival him, the pitch-black untamed mustang named Faust that was fabled back in Aletha, but a glance was the closest anybody ever got to the dark steed. He remembered that on dry summer nights, his sister Mareena and he fantasized on catching the mythical beast and subduing it to their wishes. She was good at subduing so Jared didn’t suspect she would be more then able at doing so. But after a couple of futile attempts she satisfied herself at making Jared her own Faust.

Abran, though, was within arms reach and more then eager to obey every whim of his new master, despite the lack of enthusiasm that came as a direct result of what stood at the back of the horse. Jared looked at the saddle as if it was his executioner, foreseeing the pain in his groins that was bound to ensue before the day’s end. Regardless of how deft of a rider a person was, the aching discomfort was a hallmark of fleet riding and these two beasts looked like they could ride the bullet. The coach maybe was rather slow and shabby and smelled of stale rotten potatoes, but at least he didn’t have a damned barrel between his legs. “Boats and horses.” he mused to himself with a weary tone of his mind’s voice. “There has to be a better form of transportation.” He remembered the airships that grazed the Alerar skies and thought those things were probably a smooth ride, but it was a meaningless thought and he brushed it aside, jumping onto the torturing device called a saddle.

Bryn seemed happy though, her lips curled in one of those innocent beaming smiles that outshined the sun itself. If the Valkyrie was ever a young lass, Jared thought that was a smile that graced her face more often then nowadays. And that was something worth suffering for a day or two. “Many thanks, Kalahad. I promise we shall take good care of your beasts and bring them back safely.” the exile spoke with slight mirth in his voice, inspired by the smile of his lover, nodding his head towards the chieftain.

“It’s the least we could do. You two be careful though. There are other things in the desert then just sand.” the strong man responded, but wouldn’t say more then that, giving the two a farewell bow and heading off back to his hut. Jared saved that thought for later pondering, paying no heed to it since it sounded like one of those usual things that the locals say to the outsiders. Instead he looked back towards Bryn that looked majestic on her silver mount, her armor almost blending with the beast and reflecting the sunlight vividly.

“Well, this is nice. At least we’re not taking the boat again.” he said in a jest, giving her a teasing simile before he trust his heels into the flanks of the steed, sending it trotting down the main street of Suravani’s Oasis.

***

Outside the settlement, Fallien was a barren wasteland riddled with occasional stringy bushes that seemed to fight for their existence in the midst of the never-ending sand. Dunes were endless besides the main road that darted towards the distant horizon in the south that shimmered through the tendrils of heat that rose from the ground. The faded blue sky seemed to add to the whole monotony, as if the relentless temperature faded it like an old cloth. In such an environment, the vigor of the horses was unimaginable. The beasts seemed untouched by the harsh scenery, pacing down the road with amazing lightness, lifting a substantial cloud of dust behind their advance. If it weren’t for their haste, Jared would for certainly go berserk from the heat. This way however, the wind in his face cooled at least a part of him down, minute brushes of it passing the collar of his robes and reaching his sweat-drenched undershirt. He refused to take of the bulky robes though. Sweat could wash off, unlike sunburns.

The night seemed to take its time and when it finally descended upon them, Jared felt as if they were riding for a week. His eyes were locked in an acute squint, his lips were dry and broken and the sand gritted in his teeth as if he was eating glass. If it weren’t for the hood of his robes, he was certain that his hair would be blonde instead of brown from the hotness he felt in his head. That’s why the miniature oasis that stood at the side of the road came as an incredible relief. It was a peculiar little thing, probably made mainly for travelers such as themselves, with about a dozen of rather short palm trees, a handful of tropical wide-leafed bushes and a pond that reflected the first stars that begun to appear in the east. A part of him wanted to ponder on a thought what would happen if they didn’t run into this little piece of heaven on the roadside. But that part was in minority right now. The majority of him wanted to throw himself in the cool goodness of that pond and die in its sweet embrace.

“Finally.” he said to the Valkyire with a dry raspy voice. “I swear, I have sand in places I didn’t even know I have.” he found a bit of joviality to serve at the end of the day as he looked towards her and smiled meekly. When they finally entered the embrace of the trees, Jared decided not to lose any more time. He jumped off his mount, leaving it carelessly beside a lush dark green bush, before dropping to his knees and dipping his head into the perfectly clear water that was almost like a mirror of everything around him. He drank deeply, drank through the coughs of his rebelling system, drank despite knowing he shouldn’t drink too much after dehydration. Frankly, he didn’t really care anymore. Extreme heat was never his type of environment and subsequently, when he filled his stomach with the cool clarity, he rolled over to his back and smiled widely, allowing for the water drops to slowly make their way down his soaked face.

“You know, I have no idea how these horses are so impervious to this heat. I mean, their endurance is just staggering.” he spoke, his eyes set on the stars above, his back enjoying the soft embrace of the grass threads. There was a prominent desire to fall asleep creeping in the back of his mind, but it seemed just around the corner, waiting for the right moment to pounce on him. For now, he just enjoyed the diamond sprinkled sky and the water circulating through his system.

[The Valkyrie]

It seemed as though the horses were not only impervious to the heat as Jared suggested, but thrived on it. It was though they drank the sunlight and the stifling temperatures and turned out speed and strength in their places. And although Brynhilde loved this wild desert land, even she found herself wilting in this heat. The women of Kalahad's tribe had insisted that she cover her pale skin, or she would blister terribly, and so she had given in and allowed them to wrap her in a gauzy material which did not block the breeze but still protected her unweathered skin from the merciless sun.

With an exhausted sigh, the Valkyrie dismounted her horse and set it to graze in the stubbly weeds surrounding the pool that fed the oasis. She knelt by it herself, pushing the silvery-blue veils from her face as she lifted a palmful of water to her parched lips, nearly choking on the welcome wetness.

"They're born and bred here, just like the people who I'm sure are quite as unhindered by the sun as Abran and Sita seem to be," she replied when she'd finished sputtering, delicately unwinding herself from the sheer garment that had indeed protected her. "But I agree with you, as beautiful as Fallien may be, it's dreadfully hot, and too sandy."

Pulling her armor from her skin, she winced slightly - dried sweat had glued the leather lining to her flesh and it was an uncomfortable seperation when combined with the gritty friction of unending amounts of fine white sand. Grunting as she threw the last piece of armor to the ground at her side, Bryn glanced momentarily at Jared before stepping into the pool they'd just drank from. She'd be damned if she was going one more moment without washing.

The horses looked stoicly across the still water at the Valkyrie as she broke the reflections of the stars above with her own brilliance. Smooth golden skin seemed to glimmer beneath the clear coolness of the water, the thin linen of her shift rising to her waist and clinging to her curves. Although chill, it was a heavenly departure from the sticky hotness of the day, and she let her body relax into the depths of it, her head sinking below the surface, and leaving it unbroken once more.

Looking up through the water at the stars overhead was like staring at them through some strange dream, and she wished she could hold her breath forever to gaze this way at the cosmos. They were beautiful, grand, but most of all constant - something which her own life lacked.

It's not going to get any better... especially after you find out the Truth. a soft voice whispered, sending Bryn to the surface gasping for air and searching for the owner of the voice. Jared was nearby, but obviously had not spoken to her.

You know who I am, so stop panicking. Do you want to know the truth or not? the voice reprimanded her, a gentle male voice tinged with mischief and laughter. It was Loki, the trickster god, come to play with Bryn.

"Go away Loki, I don't have time for your games," she hissed angrily, hoping Jared wouldn't hear her. Once more she sank beneath the surface of the pool, closing her eyes this time, and relishing in the total darkness and silence. But the silence was broken once more by Loki's voice.

For once I play no games as you call them. I grow weary of the games your mistress plays, and those of your beloved Eryk. They are malicious, and I don't care much for that. he interrupted again, his voice growing deadly serious. Bryn did not answer, only shook her head and tried harder to hold her breath and not return to the surface.

He doesn't love you, you know. You'll go to the ends of Althanas for him, and find that it was for nothing. he revealed, sending the Valkyrie fleeing to the surface once more. Her hair streamed the cool water of the spring down her shoulders, and she glanced to Jared who sat nearby.

"You, Loki, are the liar of all liars. I don't believe you. And it doesn't matter if what you say is true or not, because it will never be for nothing," she spat at the trickster god, who had obviously already left, because he had no answer for her. Tears pricked at her eyes, her anger bubbling just beneath the surface. Had she not already been through enough? Had she not already tried to serve the gods? Was her heart not already torn into enough pieces that they must rip into it once more, and with what - lies from the god of tricksters.

She splashed her face with water, the individual droplets turning into pearls and diamonds in the reflected starlight. The strangest thing perhaps was that he'd insisted he told the truth, and for once in all the times she'd heard Loki speak, part of her believed him. But it couldn't be true, she told herself, as she stared at her reflection in the water, her face revealing the doubt that had begun to creep through her mind.

With an angry hand, she dashed at her reflection, leaving ripples of moonlight where her face had been, and turning her gaze instead to the round belly of the pale orb above. She wanted to trust in Eryk's love completely, not betray him with her disbelief. And yet without realizing it, a small part of her was growing that wished Loki's revelation to be true - perhaps she wouldn't love him anymore, and could give herself fully to Jared then. But these thoughts weren't clear at all now, and as they tumbled about in her head like bumblebees caught in a jar, she turned her face away from the silent moon, and back to her troubled reflection once more.

Doubt was afterall one of the boons of mortality.

[Jared]

Destiny decided to bestow a piece of splendiferous art to the exile and for the time being he was content to relish in its beauty. He pushed himself up on his elbows, enabling himself a gaze at the pond and the seraphim that landed in its clarity. Beneath the starlit sky, Bryn was radiant, the ravishing beauty of the shimmering reflection surpassed only by the original that stood above the surface. Her hair was dripping pearls from the ends of the golden curls, scattering them over her sizzling body to which the damp shift clung almost like a second skin. Her skin was sheeny and wan under the argent moonlight, a spotless testament to beauty unsurpassed by any mortal that Jared saw in his entire life. Her clothing was teasing, embracing her voluptuous body and just transparent enough to spark a few ideas, but just concealing enough to allow the mind to fill out the gaps. He could spend centuries in this moment of bliss and never become jaded by this scenery.

However, in the midst of all his ecstatic thoughts that made his face blush and curl into a coy smile, he was reminded of an obvious fact that he too needs a bath. It was mostly the sight of the Valkyrie’s cleanliness that brought this realization, but the rather sickening malodor that crept from below his clothing and reached his nostrils could have had something to do with the recognition as well. Keeping his eyes on her blissful figure, Jared begun to rid himself of the layers of clothes that protected him from the sun and the sand. It did the latter rather poorly, since even as he removed his bulky robes and the glimmering scale mail, his undershirt clung to his torso like a jaundiced second skin, damp with sweat and covered with sand grains. Luckily, the linen shirt came off with substantially more ease then a layer of skin.

Just as he took off his left boot and proceeded to do the same with the right one, an abrupt spurt of words made his eyes dart to the only person present. Brynhilde was standing in the middle of the pond, her previously serene face now crinkled in one of those frowns he didn’t particularly fancy. It emanated the air of deathly seriousness around the Valkyrie, making her look as if she was in the middle of the decision that resolved the fate of the entire world. It was not the first time that she was consulting her gods, these invisible phantasms that came to her and freaked the exile out, because irregardless of how many times he saw it, her dialogue with thin air was always an obscure sight to him. This time there was anger painted over her lineaments, as obvious as the nose on her face, and it only made Jared hurry with his undressing and investigate what went wrong all of the sudden.

Once only in his gray denim pants, he entered the nippy pond and even as he dove under the surface he could feel the layers of clustered sand and sweat literary peeling off of the surface of his skin. It was an incredibly reposeful sensation, as if in that second he was being reborn and making his way out of his mother’s womb, but he scarcely had the time to enjoy it. Whatever vision the Valkyrie had perturbed her greatly and it was in times like these that they needed each other the most. He ascended from the lengthy dive and tardily approached her from behind, almost afraid to break whatever enchantment held her captivated in deep thought. His hands found their way around her lissome curvy body, leaning it onto his substantially bulkier frame as they rested on her flat stomach.

“What’s wrong, Bryn? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” he whispered into her ear, his head peering over her shoulder for a second before he placed a tender kiss just below her ear. His arms gave her a little sensual squeeze, his lips making their way down her neck. She tasted fresh and suave, like a teardrop on a palm of his hand, shivering ever so slightly. However, even as he asked the question, a sliver of doubt pierced the calm of his mind. Did he really want to know what’s wrong? They were nearing the conclusion of their mission and if the gods had some reason to make an appearance, it was bound to have something to do with the destiny that awaited them at the end of their path. Ah, yes, the end of their mission, the taboo that the exile’s mind evaded in any way imaginable. What will happen at the end of their path? If Eryk is saved and his soul restored, will the Valkryrie’s love for him flourish once again? Would she go with him? And if she wouldn’t, how much of her would be Jared’s and how much would forever crave for the rescued warrior? No, he didn’t need to know, not now at least. He leant forwards minutely, glancing over her shoulder just enough to see both of their faces in the wavering pond in which they stood.

“Come on, take off that frown. It doesn’t suit your pretty face.” he spoke, making a motion with his finger through the reflection, passing over her lips and trying to curve them into a smile. The mirrored image was, of course, merely distorted to the point of where only the gold of her hair and the sullen color of is own was mixed with the argent moonlight above. But he hoped that the gesture would succeed to do with her face what his hand failed to do with the refelction.

[The Valkyrie]

A slight splashing behind her stirred Bryn from her reverie, and she waited calmly as Jared slipped his arms around her, his warm body welcome against hers. What was wrong, he had asked, but was anything wrong? Surely this was just the trickster god playing a game, and nothing to be concerned with. Pushing the doubt away that this was not in fact the case, Bryn found her voice as well as a smile and answered softly.

"It was only Loki. He seems to have decided that our lives aren't confusing enough as it is," she told Jared, staring down at his reflection in the water. The moon dusted the water in his hair with glimmers of silver, and left his azure eyes sparkling with the same, outlining his firm jaw and straight nose in its pale light.

Taking his hand, she tugged gently at him, leading him from the pool back to the sand beneath a stout palm tree. The horses whuffled nearby in greeting to their riders, their shadows growing shorter as the moon rose in the sky. Her clothing lay in a jumble on the sand, but she spread the gauzy linens out on the sand, and pulled a blanket out to lay over them, creating a soft barrier from the grit of the neverending sands of Fallien.

The day had been tiring, and she was weary, and guessed Jared might be as well, and after only brief lovemaking beneath the starred velvet of the Fallien sky, they fell deeply asleep in each others arms. No sounds disturbed them, and the night did not grow chill enough to require more than the thin layer of clothing they wore.

Late into the night the horses began to snort and stomp, standing closer to their riders and nudging them with their velveteen noses. Bryn sat up with a jerk, and rubbed at her eyes. She nudged Jared awake, and stared out into the blackness around the oasis. The moon no longer lent its brilliant light, it had set hours before.

A deep baying emerged from the darkness, breaking the stillness that had surrounded them. Another howl followed it only moments later, but from the opposite direction, and quite a bit closer. Yet another cry came from much closer, as the Valkyrie hurried in an attempt to quickly pull on her armor and find her sword, hoping that Jared would do the same. Whatever these creatures were, the horses didn't seem to like them, and neither, decided Bryn, did she.

[Jared]

Even though Jared’s sleep was usually as fragile as a crystal glass, Fallien and its blistering desert had taken its toll and him and, accompanied with the terse (but intense) moments of intimacy, made his slumber blissfully deep. It was a rarity for the exile to sink so deeply into slumber, but ever since he was falling asleep with the Valkyrie in his arms, this oddity started to shift into habit with each passing day. So it came as no surprise that the huffing and puffing of Sita and Abran failed to get recognition from his absent mind that inertly trudged through the realm of fantasy. Even when Bryn poked him in the ribs, Jared merely mumbled something that might have been an apology and moved a bit further from his lover, thinking he was leaning too much onto her substantially smaller body. His mind did, however, start to revert to the state of awakening, but even though a light sleeper, the exile was a dreadfully slow starter in the morning. There was something charming in the heat of the bed in the morning, especially if it still carried the soft scent of Brynhilde.

The first howl jumpstarted his slurry mind though, and even before the bestial vocalization was done, Jared lifted his trunk into a sitting position, fighting the crust in his eyes in order to get a proper survey of their surroundings. Unfortunately, the night was as thick as a canvas curtain and he could barely see the twinkle of Bryn’s armor as she wrestled with it in the darkness. The yawl was answered by a handful of others, all originating from a different direction, and by the time Jared counted seven he noticed that they were being surrounded. They needed illumination and they needed it before the howls turn into growls and bites, because regardless of what these beasts were, they obviously had a superior set of senses then the human pair. Luckily, the exile was fiddling around with his enchanted staff for the last two weeks and during that time he managed to unlock what seemed like a rather trite enchantment that made the wooden weapon glow with ivory light. However, while the fireworks didn’t seem all that amazing during the day (and he had Bryn’s inquisitive look as a confirmation of that), right now they would certainly come in handy.

Regaining his footing in a fraction of a second, Jared scudded towards his mount and the saddle holster where his staff was. But even his amplified vision failed to defeat the dense darkness and his foot caught what could have been one of Bryn’s armor pieces (then again, it could have been a stone as well), sending his body face down into the sand with a muffled thud. Coughing out the grit that stuck to his visage and sidelining the pain of his stubbed toes for the time being, he pushed himself back up and hobbled hurriedly to Abran. But even as he wrapped his hand around his staff, his peripheral vision caught something in the darkness, two specks or crimson that shone like enlightened gems. Soon enough there was one set for each side of the world, with another between each of them to form a circle of eight pairs and the pond site caught in the middle.

“This is not looking good, Bryn, and I am not happy!” Jared shouted towards his beloved, unfastening his staff and focusing his willpower in order to summon the enchantment. “You know how cranky I get when somebody disturbs my sleep.” he gritted through his teeth as his brow furrowed and his mind bent towards the staff. The jest was unintentional, a random output of his mind that called upon the force of the magical staff. It worked, though, since instantly the entire length of the staff burst with snowy-white light that illuminated the entire clearing. The man smiled mildly. “It’s not looking like a banal enchantment now, that’s for certain.”

But even as he finished that thought, his face was effaced of all joviality, for behind Bryn who was still in the process of fastening her armor stood a predacious beast. It looked like a coyote, only with what they fed them here in Fallien, Jared couldn’t tell, because the beast was huge. As tall as his waist and darker then the lightless night from before, the animal had foam all around its mouth, presenting an amazing set of teeth whose sharpness the exile had no wish to test. But by the time his mind recognized these details, Jared was already on the move, pacing barefooted over the sand and bringing his emanating staff in tow. “Get down!” he ordered to the Valkyrie as he leapt just beside her, bringing his staff to meet the pounce that was meant to rip Bryn’s back. The staff connected with the beast’s head and the amplified bludgeon damage crushed its lower jaw with a loud snap, making the beast roll off into the pond. By this time, the other seven were advancing from the bushes, bringing grim fate for the two travelers.

But Jared didn’t despair. Splaying his fingers and protruding his hand before himself, he summoned his telekinesis field that boomed around him instantly, uplifting a wave of sand and water that circulated within the energy dome that swirled around him and the Valkyrie. What surprised him was that the radius of the dome was nearly twice as wide as usual and powerful enough to keep the beasts from intruding into the vaulted space. Postponing this curiosity for further consideration (possibly when a pack of rabid wolves didn’t try to rip them to shreds), Jared looked down at the warrior beauty. “Hurry up! I can’t keep this up for long!” he spoke, his brow specking with the rain of sweat drops as he stood in the middle of the telekinetic mayhem in nothing but his pants. Destiny certainly had a twisted sense of humor.

[The Valkyrie]

Bryn fell to the sand, the grit sticking to her face and grinding in her teeth as she struggled to sit up, only to look through a web of power into the gaping maw of the beast that desired her blood. But Jared had struck the beast down before she could flinch, and was holding the shield around them both. She hurried to finish strapping on her armor, seeing the beads of sweat streaking down his face even in the dark. Later she would have to thank him for the wonderful casting of light that she’d mocked him for on the journey.

Even as the miraculous field of energy started to decrease in might, announcing the inevitable shutdown, Bryn was ready to face whatever stood behind the diffusing wall of sand and water. Her magnificent armor was donned, her hands securely wrapped around her broadsword, her emerald eyes keen, glowing with righteous flames, as though all she waited for was the drop of the curtain so she could enter the stage. The dome that Jared created with his sorcery started to diminish, shrinking in both radius and power, and in a matter of seconds it was gone completely, allowing her to enter the fray.

Charging through the uplifted sand, the Valkyrie held the broad blade at her right hip, preparing it for a side slash at the first of the remaining seven beasts. The black behemoth seemed stunned, the furred head swinging from side to side, and by the time it saw the woman’s silhouette, it was too late. Aisling sliced horizontally across the beast’s face, separating his upper jaw and half of the skull from the rest of the body. Surprisingly, no blood bathed the perfect figure of the bold woman since the animal simply vanished into thin air as if it was a mere apparition.

However, even as that thought went through her head, a proof arrived that these sullen creatures weren’t mere phantasms. Clawed paws gouged into her back and eliciting a crunching shriek from her armor even while sending her stumbling forwards, but her reflexes were trained by now and she rolled deftly over the sandy floor. Finishing in a crouching position, Bryn turned abruptly and thrust her sword in the direction of the beast that already struck her once and her sword struck home. The growling beast opened up its frightening jaws just in time to receive the last meal made of cold steel. Again, the disappearing act was preformed, but this time the Valkyrie wasn’t keen on making the same mistake of gazing at it in awe.

She took the initiative again, as the tawny maelstrom caused by her lover finally started to settle down, and advanced towards the next foe that responded in a similar manner. But unlike the mindless charge of the dark hound, Bryn moved with a purpose, pacing herself perfectly and sidestepping the overwhelming charge with immaculate accuracy. Her sword protruded sideways, ripping through the side of the beast effortlessly. However, by the time she was done with her move, another flanked her, its razor sharp teeth snapping at her side. Unfortunately for the beast, his teeth met the solid craftsmanship of the mythril gauntlet which easily deflected the attack, giving Bryn enough time to bring her blade from above and decapitate the horrid wolf.

[Jared]

It was amazing to see her battle the sullen demons. There was something, intangible but most definitely present, with women and swords that Jared found incredibly attractive. The way her muscles flexed as she moved with clinical precision, her eyes spewing fire, her brow painted with resolve and her hair following every motion fluidly... It was all so captivating that the exile almost enjoyed observing how she traded her moves for the death of her foes. She was a Valkyrie alright, both bonny and baneful. No wonder only the greatest warriors earned the honor to be taken away to the hallowed halls by one of her kind.

In all his Bryn-induced veneration, Jared completely disregarded the numbers. And the numbers were clearly stating that there were three more beasts out there that his beloved didn’t tranquilize with her blade. One of them reminded him of that, charging at him with such fleetness that the dour beast didn’t even manage to snap its foreboding jaws at the exile. Instead the black hound simply swept Jared from his feet, striking his knees from behind and throwing the illuminated man once again into the dirt. His hand dropped the staff, his chest and face striking the sand in sync as the beast regained its footing and circled around the come for another charge. By the time the man managed to roll over to his back, the second beast burst out of the bushes with a serious intention to bite Jared’s face off.

His hand burrowed through the dirt, trying to reach the staff, his eyes focused on the approaching beast and the doom that it brought, and just as the dark behemoth was to leap on his chest, Jared snapped his foot, kicking the beast sideways. His hand finally reached the glowing staff, but even it did, he had to put it to work because the wolf that attacked him first was back and flanking the man. The wooden weapon swept sideways, knocking the beast away, giving Jared just enough time to regain his footing. And then the third beast came. Its leap collided with the exile’s back, the massive claws making a triple gash across the entire length of his back as he once again found himself on the cold soil. The laceration on his back was exploding with pain, but he couldn’t afford more then a groan before he quickly sprung back to his feet, his staff still in his hands.

The three animals refused to give him a breather though, instantly charging again from three different sides. And yet all that Jared did was crouch and wait, as if he made peace with his own death. However, just as all three beasts were to collide with his figure, the exile pushed with his feet, propelling his body backwards. The two beasts that charged from the opposite sides struck each other fiercely, instantly evaporating as the third one leapt over them and at the exile. The man and the beast clashed in mid air, Jared placing his staff into the mouth of the beast as their joined bulky crashed into the water with an abundant splash. The claws instinctively scratched at Jared, lashing over his forearms, his thighs, his sides, one of them even across his face as the man held the beast submerged. Finally, after what seemed like an hour of twitching and scratching and growling, the dark beast went calm and then simply disappeared, leaving Jared in a pool of his own blood.

“Summons.” Jared spat bitterly in an extremely weary tone as he trudged through the water, dragging his staff behind himself. “Who the hell would send summons after us?” he muttered as he approached Bryn and sat beside her standing figure with a painful grunt. He discarded his staff and the item instantly stopped glowing, allowing the man to rest both his body that pulsated with pain from pretty much every extremity and his mind that used up a lot of his willpower in the battle. He would need at least a couple of minutes of rest in order to be able to heal his own wounds. His head shifted upwards, gazing at the angelic face of the war goddess. “You alright?” he asked with a mild smile that was forced through the grin of pain and agony. “I swear, that was the worse wake up call I ever had.”

[The Valkyrie]

The last of the beasts had fallen, taking Jared with it. It twitched and spasmed, with Jared beneath it. And then came the silence. That dreadful silence that makes one want to scream just so that it will go away. A silence which seemed to Bryn would last forever. The surface of the water grew still and smooth, and she stood there staring down at it, seeing nothing but her reflection. She should have damned her armor and fought without it - it was her fault he was gone. And as she fell to her knees in the sand at the bloody shore of the pool, Jared burst forth, sending her backward with a choked scream.

He was bleeding badly, his flesh torn deeply in places, and it took her several moments of staring at him blankly before she could answer him. Finally, she found her breath, her voice, and spoke, her words sounding loud after the overwhelming silence.

"I'm fine," she whispered at first, but finally crawled closer to him, and dipping her hand into the water in the pool beside them began to clean his wounds while she found the courage to speak louder, "Not even a scratch on me thanks to you, but look what I've let happen to you. You've been cut up, and on top of that there's sand in your wounds."

Matter of factly she reached across the sand to the bloody mess of gauze and linen that had been their bed, found some that was reasonably clean and soaked it in the water. Pulling his clothing away from the wounds she began to probe them gently, picking grains of sugar-like sand from the gashes, calmly ignoring his gasps of pain.

"Unless we want to chance anymore of those creatures, I think we'd best be on our way. I don't think I could sleep anymore tonight anyways," she added, finishing the wounds on his side and back and focusing on one of his arms.

Looking away from her work for a moment, she glanced around, half expecting the horses to be long gone, but they were slowly wandering back, their eyes rolling white still in the gray light of what would become predawn. Jared's staff did not glow anymore, but the silver hue at the horizon which leeched the light from the stars was enough to see by.

She decided to leave the wounds open for the air to heal, hoping this was the proper way to treat them, but not sure. Maybe now that they were clean, Jared could heal himself. At least she hoped so - she made a poor nurse. Carefully, she gathered the remainder of their things and began packing them away, finding what was left of the garment on loan from Kalahad's younger sister and throwing it over her head and shoulders. Even soaked in blood it was better than nothing, and when the sun rose - which it would all too soon - she knew she'd be happy of it.

Extending a hand to Jared, Bryn pulled him to his feet at her side. Impulsively, she threw her arms around him, clinging to him and fighting back a sob. She'd thought she'd lost him once more, and the feeling of incompletion had been almost more than she could bear. Taking a breath, she smiled at him, her eyes glistening in the early light - although it could have been hope that glinted there instead.

[Jared]

He didn’t mind the perpetual sting of his lacerations as her gentle hands worked on them. For every explosion of pain there was a sliver of her suave touch and he focused on those caresses, allowing them to take him through the ordeal. On top of that, her voice was there, worrisome, protective, almost apologetic because she was the one that got out of this strife unscathed. It made the exile smile, or at least attempt to do so, because every time he tried to curl his lips into a smirk, it was interrupted with a suppression of a painful hiss. But the fact of the matter was that there was no pain the he wouldn’t endure as long as none of it found its way to her. His hand covered her own and paused its cleaning motion over his forearm as she looked up towards her starry eyes.

“That was the point, you know? To get you out of harms way.” he spoke gently, giving her hand a reassuring squeeze before he allowed her to finish the cleansing process. “Besides, it’s not your fault that I’m still a novice with the staff.” he added in a more relaxed manner, trying to make her to lighten up and forget about his wounds.

It seemed to fail utterly though, since even as she helped him up, her hands embraced him tightly, the Valkyrie clutching to him desperately and affectionately, burying her face into his shoulder. And even though her clutch irritated some of his wounds substantially, Jared’s face and demeanor didn’t show it. Instead his hand found its way to her golden hair, slowly caressing the endless curls as he held her close, leaning his head onto her own. It was moments like these that effaced all the doubts from his head, these random sentimental expressions of affection that spoke of the true feelings within them, and there wasn’t pain strong enough to diminish their resplendency.

“Don’t worry. It will take more then a fistful of summons for you to get rid of me.” he tried to ease her mind once again. As if to confirm that, he closed his eyes and bent all his focus to his healing spell and after a couple of seconds their joint bodies were engulfed by a shimmering green light that warmed them both with its lustrous viridity. Instantly most of his wounds started to close until they were a mere shallow scar that was bound to disappear within the next couple of days. The only one that didn’t heal fully was the gash on his back, but the spell managed to close it and form a scab over its entire length. He moved away from her slightly, enough for her to see the effects of his spell. His face, once again ravishingly young and perky, smiled down on her.

“See? Now neither of us has a scratch.” he said before he lowered his head and planted a lengthy kiss on her lips. If all words failed, he hoped that this would ail her mind of the dour thoughts. When he finally broke the intimate caress, he moved away just enough to look into her green eyes. “But you’re right, we should get moving as soon as possible. Those beasts were summoned and whoever is behind this will have a harder time to conjure them in our vicinity if we are on the move.”

He broke away from her hands with reluctance in her heart; he surely wouldn’t mind spending a day or two in this oasis with nothing but the Valkyrie in his hands. But mind triumphed over the heart at this point and he moved away from her, gathering his attire and swiftly donning it. His undershirt, scale armor, boots and ultimately his argent robes were thrown over his athletic figure and soon he took his spot on Abran’s back with the barrel once again between his legs. The night above them failed to resist the oncoming day, rapidly lessening in the darkness of its hue just above the line of the eastern horizon. The air around them was rather nippy, but Jared know that in a matter of minutes after the ascend of the sun, the sand will heat up and emanate that dastardly heat that would follow them through the rest of the day. But with the roads being practically invisible during the night and with the darkness erasing any orientation point (unless one could navigate by the stars which neither Bryn not Jared could), traveling by day was their only option.

So they rode. The beasts below them once again tireless and as fleet as the wind, cutting through the heat and the sand like a tip of a sharp saber. The heat was once again unbearable, the accumulated sweat prodding on the scab on Jared’s back throughout the entire day, making the man feel every minute last twice as long. Needless to say, the flight to Irakkam was a miserable journey indeed.

[The Valkyrie]

Bryn was puzzled. No one had been sent ahead to announce their coming, and neither she nor Jared had ever been to Fallien before. They'd only been in Irrakam long enough to get their release from the Outlander's Quarter. And yet somehow Jya had known they were coming, and they were escorted immediately to the Keep in the northern part of the city immediately upon their arrival. They'd barely stepped foot off of the ferry across the river to the island, when they were met by a petite woman in dark veils. Her eyes were smiling though, big as saucers and dark as the desert night, and she greeted them with a deep curtsey.

"My lady, Jya, welcomes you and invites you to the Keep. Your horses will be taken to her stables if you will follow me," she said in a quiet voice, speaking directly to Bryn. Casting a quick glance at Jared, she looked to the priestess.

"We'd be honored," she agreed, following the woman from the pier in the Outlander's Quarter.

It had taken most of the morning to make their way through the city, a bustling bright place, with merchants hawking their wares in the street. It seemed every building was dripping with blooming flowers, and every crossroads held a rippling fountain. The buildings were all whitewashed, and cool passageways led through shadows into gated courtyards where people dined quietly.

The Keep was stunning though, its great bronze gates opening before the tiny priestess, who led them inside silently. A great fountain graced the grassy courtyard, its rippling water flowing from an urn tipped forward by a statue of a nude woman. Here were more flowers than before, fuschias and orchids overflowing from hanging baskets off of the eaves of all the buildings in the complex. She ushered them into the largest of the buildings, and left them standing in the shaded hall. The air was cool and moist here, a welcome change from the stifling dry heat outside.

Two more priestesses came out, and curtsied deeply to the two once more, their eyes sparkling happily. The first stepped toward Bryn, her lavender robes hissing as she moved.

"My lady asks that we make you comfortable before you are presented to her, if you would follow us, we will see that this happens," the girl, who couldn't be more than 15, said softly. The second, who was quite a bit older, and probably close to middle age, stepped toward Jared. She wore robes of saffron, and her hair was pulled back from her face in a loose braid.

"Please follow me, sir," the elder said, motioning to a hallway to her left.

The other nodded to Bryn to follow, and although reluctant, she squeezed Jared's hand and allowed herself to be seperated from him. The priestess took her down a hallway ahead, and into a large room in which a tub was sunk into the floor. It smelled of jasmine and ginger, and its shaded coolness lent an almost somnolent feeling to the room.

Stepping behind Bryn, the priestess wordlessly began to unfasten the armor, setting it gently on a nearby table, each piece gaining a moment of her attention as she seemed to inspect it.

"What should I call you?" Bryn asked the priestess, realizing that she did not even know this girl who was going to bathe her. She pulled the linen shift over her head, and stepped down into the water which was just warm enough to be comfortable, but cool enough to be refreshing.

"I'm called Ulia here," she answered as she knelt beside the tub and began to pour out various soaps and oils, bathing Bryn carefully. It was awkward, but relaxing, and seemed to be a ritual the girl was used to performing. Bryn sighed and allowed herself to relax, the roughness of the sponge, and the smoothness of the oils complimenting each other.

When she was clean and her hair washed, Ulia helped Bryn to step from the tub, drying her in a great soft towel that could have swallowed the Valkyrie whole. Then she began dressing the warrior in clothes that were much more feminine than anything Bryn was used to.

Ulia led Bryn through the hallways once more, and up a flight of stairs to an open airy room, which was much brighter than the others, although just as cool. Here a beautiful young woman lounged on a sofa, her robes a mixture of red and white, brilliant against her terra cotta skin and raven hair. She looked up at Bryn with a smile, and then glanced over to where Jared sat on a nearby sofa.

Bryn had been dressed in a tunica of palest jade, bound at the waist with a belt of darker green. Over her shoulders was laid a creamy white palla, of lightest linen, Her hair had been swept up into a twist which allowed her golden curls to cascade down over one shoulder, and tiny white flowers starred her hair. With a smile, she curtsied to the Jya and crossed to join Jared.

[Jared]

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, lady!” Jared spoke in an utter astonishment, his right hand holding for the buckle of his pants and his left mimicking to the woman in the yellowish robes that nearly took his pants off to move away. When she took of his robes, he considered it a mere act of courtesy. When she helped him take off his scale armor, he was mildly disquieted, but decided to play along. But when she reached for his crotch and started to undo his pants, the exile jumped back as if struck by an arrow. The woman, a gallant dame in her late thirties, simply looked at him with a confused expression, her large hazel eyes asking the question instead of her mouth. “Look, I thank you for your courtesy and your welcome, but this is getting a bit too intimate for my taste.” he continued, making sure his gray pants are pulled up high enough.

The woman merely folded her hands before her chest and spoke in a tranquil manner. “It is only customary for us to give the royal guests a bath, my lord. I do not understand what kind of intimacy are you implying to.” And she spoke it with such placidity that it nearly made Jared think that it’s a perfectly normal thing to be bathed by a complete stranger in a completely strange land.

“Implying?! I’m not implying anything. You... You went for my pants!” his voice, though rather silent, was starting to become frenetic, but the chamber maiden’s face was unfazed by his theatrics.

“Does the lord want to have a bath with his pants on?” again spoken in a perfect businesslike tone that started to vex the exile.

“No. But I can both take them off and take a bath by myself.” Jared retorted, no hostility in his voice, but rather just discomfort with the current situation.

“And I don’t doubt the lord’s ability to maintain his hygiene. But it is my job to rid the lord of the burden at least on this occasion. It is our symbol or heartily welcome, nothing more, my lord.” she explained, her tone still endlessly kind and calm. The exile wasn’t terribly ensured by it, still keeping his distance from the woman and her deft hands. “Would the lord be more at peace if I blurred the water and turn my back until he step in?” she finally gave an option that Jared remotely liked.

“Actually, he would. That is if it’s not too much of a trouble.” the man responded, this time his voice a bit more serene as the woman wordlessly made her way to the bath and poured a brownish liquid into the clear water. And even as she ran her hand through the clarity of the liquid, it started to become more and more murky until it the bath looked as if it was filled with hot caramel. With woman turning her back subtly, Jared reluctantly made his way out of his attire and slipped into the demure coolness of the bath.

He wasn’t completely comfortable with the hands of somebody other then Bryn passing over his body, but soon after the strange woman poured some oils that carried the scent of pine trees and something he couldn’t decipher (he could have sword there was a touch of cinnamon though), he felt his strained muscles starting to give in and relax. And before long his mind was recollecting on the weird occurrences that seemed to follow them on every step in Fallien. The queer barrier conjured by the final piece of the armor, the summons, the welcoming committee that escorted them to none other then the ruler of the realm, the servant woman that wanted to take his clothes off... It was too much in such short amount of time. He wished Bryn was there, right there with him in the tub and that the woman was gone. He loved the way her body glimmered, her perfectly clear skin all wet and glorious, her hair damp and instigating him to touch it, to touch her and make love to her until...

He suddenly snapped out of the thought, barring it out of his mind as his eyes shot open. With a pair of strange hands rummaging over his body, such thoughts could produce rather... interesting effects and there was no way he wanted for this peculiar situation to become ever weirder. Luckily for him, the chamber maiden was just about done and she left his side, leaving him a large towel and waiting for him to dry up with a fresh set of clothes.

Once he dried up, got fully clothed and his hair attended by the woman, Jared, who usually didn’t have too high of an opinion of his exterior, thought he looked pretty damn good. His hair was neatly combed and sprayed with some sort of an ointment that made it calm and constantly damp without sticking it to his skull. His attire was royal and ironed, his black pants tucked into his shined leather boots with countless brass straps. The shirt was made out of dark green sifan with buttons decorated with golden carvings. On his shoulders were twin clasps with Fallien insignia that held a velvety dark gray cape descending down his back and reaching just below his knees. On top of that, everything carried a fresh masculine scent of perfume and generally made a person feel at least a touch better then usual.

However, the exalted sensation was diminished once he was led to Jya’s chambers, because the woman was breathtakingly beautiful. She was stretched on a lounge, her relaxed position not ridding her of her dominant demeanor that flared out of her eyes. Her hair seemed entwined with darkness, falling over her robes like a sullen river. Jared swung his cloak over his shoulder, giving the woman a deep bow before her hand motioned him nonchalantly towards a comfy sofa.

But just as Jared was about to speak, in walked the most gorgeous creature he ever laid his eyes on. Wrapped in a light viridian tunic that clung to her body perfectly, with an ivory mantle gently falling over her suave shoulders, with her hair descending down the side of her angelic visage like an outbreak of liquid amber sprayed with modest flowers, Bryn outshined Jya with remarkable ease. Her jade eyes were glimmering, her beauty amplified and displayed in a proper womanly manner in her new clothing. Not that he really minded much about clothing. He loved the Valkyrie regardless of the attire, but he just couldn’t deny the fact that only now she shone in her true beauty. This was the first time he saw Brynhilde in truly womanly clothing and it nearly shattered his mind. She was like a piece of candy in an ornate wrapping; he admired the sugarcoating but craved for what was beneath it. Oh, yes, how he desired for what was beneath it. Despite being in a room with a ruler of the land in which they were mere visitors, Bryn captured his mind in such a manner that he stood hypnotized for nearly a minute. Only when she made her way to his side he managed to close his mouth and get up abruptly as a sign of courtesy for female presence. He took her soft smooth hand ever so gently, planting a kiss on it before they both sat down.

“Bryn, you look... just amazing, simply amazing.” he blurted out, his compliment crude and simple and not at all what he wanted to say. He wanted to tell her just how gorgeous she was, how stunning, how splendorous, but such was her enchantment that he barely managed to find those few simple words.

[The Valkyrie]

Her hand flew to her hair, self-consciously, the style she'd argued with Ulia about the entire time the girl was decorating it. A blush colored her golden cheeks, burning her skin, and she smiled rather shyly as she took her seat by Jared, avoiding his rather pointed gaze while he kissed her hand. He'd always seemed to find her attractive, but she couldn't remember ever making him stupid.

Trying to push aside her discomfort, she turned to face Jya, who was watching indulgently, like a mother watching her only child on a first date. Jya smiled gently, and arranged her robes, her eyes fluttering around the airy room before settling back on Bryn.

"We are pleased to have a Valkyrie among us, and we welcome you both warmly," the woman said formally, but then seemed to relax a bit, "But I hear you've a bit of trouble to speak of."

"We're honored to be here," Bryn murmured, stunned that the woman knew she was a Valkyrie at all, "Unfortunately, we aren't here for a visit, but for more serious reasons."

"You can relax Brynhilde, you aren't among gods here," Jya smiled benignly, "What are the Essekers and Deklans fighting about now?" she continued picking up a cup of something and bringing it to her lips. Even as she did so, she motioned for another priestess to give refreshments to the pair. The drink was cool and fruity, tasting of lemons and some other citrus fruits. It was accompanied by a light pastry enveloping a delicately seasoned meat which sated one's hunger marvelously. Although a bit distraught by Jya's comment about the gods, she smiled and continued.

"Well, we went there to find the last piece of Yarina's armor. And Kalahad, the Esseker chief has the boots, and is using them to keep peace between his tribe and the Deklans. There has apparently been a change of power to the son of the Deklan matriarch, and he has begun instigating fights over water and fertile land," Bryn explained, trying not to leave anything out.

"Ahh, yes, the armor you must have to rescue your fallen warrior - Eryk is his name I believe," Jya sighed, not noticing Bryn's gasp at this revelation of knowledge - how did she know everything about the girl? "But those two tribes shouldn't be fighting. They signed a treaty hundreds of years ago, and then again they made a pact enforcing marriage between the tribes every 40 years. They are breaking their oaths to each other and to me by fighting."

The wise woman frowned, nibbling at one of the pastries, her fingers drumming a beat on the arm of the sofa. The tattoo between her brows creased, as she seemed to drill her mind for solutions.

"You'll have to go as my emissary and enforce the treaty," Jya said with finality, as though that were the only option. She looked up at Bryn and then Jared and smiled "You'll stay here for a few days of course, rest and get prepared for the return journey you know. Would you prefer to room together or seperately?"

[Jared]

With Bryn’s luscious appearance constantly luring his azure eyes and the dominant comportment of Jya governing the room solemnly, Jared felt rather befuddled and insignificant. He could hear the words spoken, but none of his eloquence found it appropriate to retort. It seemed that the women had issues under control, but given the matriarchal structure of the Fallien society, that didn’t come as too much of a surprise. Fallien women seemed different somehow, more resolved, more pragmatic, as if each and every one of them was a Valkyrie once upon a time. Needless to say, for a man, that was an impact to both his pride and the tranquility of his mind. It took some time to get used to the fact that the men were not the ones wearing the proverbial pants in these parts. On top of all that, Jya seemed to have insight in some of the more private aspects of their life, so much so that if the exile wasn’t still under the beauty spell, he would find it rather disquieting.

However, once their palaver received a closure with the question of the lodgings for the night, Jared felt that the matters were left rather unresolved. Well that, and he felt that if Jya needed to ask that final question, she wasn’t a particularly good oracle. But out of the two emotions that perturbed him at the time, he opted to address the former one first, regardless of how much some of his other body parts wanted to address the latter.

“My lady Jya.” he spoke respectfully, his tongue slowly returning with a vengeance, bringing his eloquence in tow. The woman gave heed to him with a rather formal, almost annoyed set of eyes, her lips curled into a minute courteous smile. “If you don’t mind me saying, but while there is indeed no bad peace, I don’t think that just a peace treaty would properly resolve this matter. While it would douse the tensions for a while, in the long run it’s only the matter of time before the bickering restarts.” with each word his certainty and courage grew and soon he was speaking with his usual grandeur that borderlined with royal. “The wisest course of action would be...”

“...to give both what they desire. Is that what you wanted to say, Jared?” Jya cut him short, her butting in into his sentence coming so incredibly natural and fluent that the exile nearly felt it was his mouth that pronounced the end of the statement. “Each of them has something that the other needs and the only compromise is to either take from both or give to both. While taking could teach them a valuable lesson, Suravani’s Oasis is far too important for Fallien. That is why I summoned my best irrigation and agricultural advisors that will accompany you on your journey back to the Oasis. They are not diplomats, however, while the two of you certainly seem silver-tongued enough to fit the role.” She spoke all of this with endless patience, although the patronizing motherly voice was striking mild annoyance in Jared. Nobody liked a wiseass. “Is that what you wanted to say, Jared?” she concluded with a mysterious smile and a twinkle in her incisive eyes.

“Yes, my lady.” he responded with a bow of his head, her intelligence and wisdom covering all the loopholes.

“Well then, that leaves us with the question of your lodging.” she added in a substantially more relaxed, almost jovial manner, her hand subtly nearing the cup to her rosy lips as she took a sip. Jared looked at her kind smile and fought the blush that was hitting his cheeks.

“Khm, well, we wouldn’t want to be too much of a burden, so a single room will do, my lady.” the exile smoothed his way out of the embarrassing situation, though who exactly did he tried to fool was an obscure question. It didn’t take a prophet to see which way that decision would go, regardless of how subtly it was sugarcoated and phrased. But Jya merely smirked tenderly and nodded her head. Her hand clapped weakly, but despite the sapless motion another chamber maiden, dressed like the two that led Bryn and Jared to their bathing “ordeals”, entered the room from behind a scarlet curtain. “Mina, take them to the Room of the Dusk and make sure they are comfortable.” and turning to the pair she spread her hands and added. “Rest, rejuvenate for you will need the strength for your journey back.”

Excusing themselves from her presence with a deep grateful bow, the pair exited the marvelous sunlit room and followed Mina through the ornate halls once again. Away from the hawk-like eyes of Jya, Jared allowed his own to scud to Bryn as they walked, unable to resist the temptation any longer. And every time they were struck with awe as he glanced at the woman at his side. “I think that went rather well.” he spoke, trying to start just some random conversation to kill the uneasy silence and the perpetual clicking of their boots on the polished marble.

However, soon then veered around a corner and Mina introduced them to their lodging. The word room certainly failed to accommodate the place that opened up before them. The living quarters were not so dissimilar to the one where they palavered with Jya, if a bit less enlightened. The woodwork of the sofas and the chairs was extraordinary, polished to perfection and glimmering in the tawny smoothness together with the golden details etched into it. To the left stood massive mahogany doors that probably led to bedchambers and to the right was a set of glass windows and doors that led to the balcony that overlooked the river. Mina faded away, excusing herself with a soft mousy voice, leaving just the pair to marvel what was probably the best damn room they got on their entire journey.

But marveling the room was not what was on Jared’s mind right now. He had another piece of art that by far surpassed all the ornaments that the keep could conjure. He approached the Valkyrie slowly, close enough for his arms to wrap themselves around her delicate figure as gently as if she was a ceramic doll that would break if clutched too tightly. “By the gods, Bryn. You look so beautiful. Not that you usually don't look gorgeous, but this new outfit... It really makes you shine. I couldn’t wait for us to get out of there.” he spoke in a demure soft voice, his luminous eyes sinking deeply into her own as her enticing refreshed scent assailed his nostrils. “Let us abandon our worries at least for today.”

[The Valkyrie]

They spent the next 2 days relaxing with each other, taking baths together, making love, talking late into the night. It was a lovely experience, and gave them much needed time spent together, without thought of anything or anyone else to bother them. Bryn also took this time to have some time alone with her thoughts, sitting in the quiet gardens downstairs.

It was on the third day in Irrakam that Eryk decided to grace the Keep with his presence. Bryn and Jared were talking quietly in the garden, discussing some inanity or other, when a movement in a doorway behind Jared caught the Valkyrie's attention. Looking past Jared, her mouth fell open as Eryk stepped into the sunlight, a worried smile on his face. He nodded to her, and then glanced to Jared questioningly.

"Eryk," Bryn said, standing quickly, "What..."

Jared had never seen the warrior before, and she didn't know if he could see Eryk now. All she could do was squeeze his shoulder before she crossed the garden, where Eryk pulled her into his arms. She stiffened though, Loki's words coming into her mind, and Eryk frowned deeper, looking down into her eyes with a concerned blue stare.

"Bryn," he said quietly, releasing her and looking over at Jared, "And Jared..."

He spoke as though Jared were his direst enemy, a reaction Bryn had expected long before, but certainly not now. Eryk dismissed Bryn's lover with a cold shrug, and turned back to the Valkyrie, his hand brushing a golden curl from her neck. She wondered if he knew of Loki's accusation, but one look at his face answered this question - he knew full well, and it weighed on him like a heavy snow on a frail tree branch.

"Eryk... Loki said..." she began, but Eryk put his fingers over her lips, and then replaced them with his mouth, a kiss so hard it seemed to bruise her tender mouth. His hands were hard on her shoulders as he pulled her away to look at her once more.

"I know what he said," Eryk answered in a dangerously quiet tone, "Do you believe him?"

Bryn started to shake her head, but then hesitated, looking down at her hands which seemed small and fragile now that she was here with the warrior. She never felt frail with Jared, she always felt strong, sure, smart. With Eryk, she felt inadequate and insufficient. Her gaze wandered to Jared's face, and she found herself smiling again.

"He's a trickster, and nobody should believe him," she laughed lightly, pulling away from Eryk and walking over to a little fountain that tinkled merrily in a pool of yellow sunshine. Distractedly, she sat on the rim, trailing her fingers in the crystal water, its coolness forcing her to focus her thoughts. "Should I?"

"Like you said, he's a trickster, although I don't know why he would find this something to lie about," Eryk said, seeming to evade the question as easily as Bryn had. Something wasn't right about this, and she jerked her head up to look at him, her eyes narrowing on his hard face, the reddish-blonde waves surrounding a weathered jawline, above which lurked a hawklike nose and piercing wintery blue eyes. Why didn't he just say he loved her, why didn't he deny what Loki said? Turning away from him, she crossed to Jared, and reached for his hand, seeking comfort from the one man she did trust.

"Jared, this is Eryk," Bryn explained the obvious, introducing the living to the dead. Eryk nodded, his blue eyes lingering for a moment on Jared's face, and then wandering back to Bryn's as though he didn't care who she'd lost her heart to.

"I just wanted to know who you believed," Eryk said quietly, but that was all he said, and when Bryn looked up from staring at her feet, he was gone.

The encounter left her numb, cold on this bright day, as though the sun had hidden behind a cloud and been replaced with a chill wind. Her eyes searched the garden, as though looking for an answer in the myriads of brightly colored flowers, or in the hapless flight of the tiny birds, or perhaps in the sparkle of the sunlight in the fountain. Shivering, she leaned against Jared.

"Let's go back to our rooms," she whispered, "I think I want to lie down."

[Jared]

Without the sweet, the bitter most certainly wouldn’t sting the way it did on that day. The last two days were a dream, a fragment of a perfect fantasy that Jared’s mind would create from time to time. There were no worries, no bricks of imperative on their back that pushed them down and forward, forcing them to stagger as they trudged down their destined path. Instead they were like feathers caught in an evening gale, playful and jocund, enjoying in each other and the time gifted to them by the benevolent Jya. Their mission was still present, still emanating the usual direness, but it was set aside for this short while, postponed on account of much needed relaxation. Without a shadow of a doubt, those two days was the most cheerful time that Bryn and Jared spent together ever since they met on that fateful Corone night months ago.

But when Eryk showed up on that day, the tower of cards that the two built during this short time crumbled with remarkable ease. The damned warrior was a dominant figure both in physique and posture, his eyes incisive and penetrating, his demeanor bold and intrepid. He looked like one of the warriors that a person could see on paintings that displayed epic battles, making Jared think that if he wasn’t here, he should be standing on some mound forgotten by time, waving a flag as a sign of victory. Of course, he also looked like the type that sat in a tavern with a two-coin hooker on each knee and a pile of downed ale mugs before him, completing the warrior picture, but that was beside the point right now. What mattered was that even though the exile was certainly no slouch when it came to the constitution, the appearance of a weatherworn warrior outshined him easily.

Suffice to say, it came as no surprise that enmity was born between the two on that day. Eryk shot him with and intimidating look from the get-go, but he was met with similar keenness in the similarly colored eyes and the most respect he got from Jared was a nod. The two collided most when the brute embraced Bryn and gave her a kiss, strong and intimate. Jared recoiled, made a move to stop this, but Eryk moved away and whipped him with his bullshooter eyes, making Jared pause his advance and clench his fists at his sides. His brow crumpled into a fierce, angered frown, displaying the fury that was building up inside of the exile, but he remained stoic. No, it would be no good to beat the living crap out of the man, not with Bryn around. The dick-measuring never brought good results, especially for the one that initiated such behavior.

So the exile waited and monitored the exchange with careful, focused eyes, swallowing all the details as if his life depended on it. The short moments of intimacy stuck with him the most, prodding at his pride and questioning the affection he had for the golden haired woman. They prodded because the Valkyrie, that for the last two days repeatedly proved her fidelity to him, did not move away. And the more he observed the two, the more eminent was the snake in his stomach that swiveled restlessly, amplifying his anger and jealousy with each passing second, embittering his insides and cooling them down to the point where even her touch failed to defrost them.

But when Eryk was finally gone and Bryn leant against him as if nothing happened, he couldn’t keep his mouth shut anymore. He recoiled from her touch, placing a couple of paces between the two before he started to speak.

“That’s it?” he said, his voice intentionally caustic and low, though quite controlled at the time, regardless of how much the exile wanted to scream out. His luminous azure eyes that usually glittered with the dreamy gleam were icy and fading to a lifeless gray hue. “He walks in, kisses you shamelessly, before my very eyes, and all you have to say is ‘Let’s go to our rooms’?”

His arms were crossed before his chest, placid like his entire stature, but his fists just wanted to punch something. When he spoke again, his tone was rising in power, gradually portraying his true inner state. “I can live with the fact that you still care for him, Bryn, I told you that back in Raiaera. But this...” he paused again, this time his teeth clenched and his eyes looking away from her. “You didn’t even recoil! Makes me think what will exactly happen when we free him. Will you run to his arms every time that sliver of love in your heart stings and you remember his touch?”

He didn’t wait for an answer, turning away from her and kicking a stone into a nearby pond as he moved closer to it, leaning his shoulder onto an apple tree, his eyes peering into the diamond clarity of the rippling water. His insides were boiling, his anger so tangible that he could feel it pulsate in his veins as that goddamn snake made out of bitterness swam through his gut. He could look at her right now, not when those large hands held her moments before, not when lips other then his own touched her. She was sitting at two chairs and he was slowly getting tired of taking the substitute bench every time Eryk the Almighty would step in.

[The Valkyrie]

It was a damn good thing she was numb, Bryn decided, or Jared's words would have stung her to tears. As it was, they angered her deeply, tearing open a nearly healed wound, and rubbing salt into it. Closing her eyes tightly, and clenching her fists at her sides, she sat down again on the fountain whose lovely tinkling only annoyed her now. Finally, she opened her eyes, staring hard at Jared.

"You are absolutely blind aren't you?" she hissed, her words coming out very slowly, "And you know absolutely NOTHING about me!"

Furiously, she smacked at the water, sending up a shimmering spray. She stood and stalked around the garden like a wildcat provoked, her eyes burning nearly golden with anger, repeatedly falling on Jared's face and then looking away.

"What makes you think I wanted him to kiss me? I didn't ask him to kiss me, I didn't kiss him back even, and yet you accuse me of doing something wrong?!"

Crossing the garden in a flash, she was in front of him, her face inches from his own, her teeth bared in her rage. She could strangle him just now, and it was all she could do just to keep her fists at her sides.

"What do you think I am - some sort of whore? Just because of what I was, and what I did with him? You think that I somehow just take to bed whatever hunk of male flesh I claim to have feelings for? Is that how you feel about it all?"

Tears were streaming down her cheeks and she didn't feel them, her numbness growing, although in her center was an ache that she couldn't suppress. She shoved him roughly, wanting some reaction from him. If he wanted to be angry, then fine, be angry.

"Tell me what you think Jared! I want to know how much of a tramp you think I am? You bedded me - what does that make you? And I'm not even the one who runs around with my sister," it was a low blow and she knew it, knew she would hurt him deeply with those words, and didn't want to, but they were flowing now.

In a blind fury, she began pummeling his chest, her breath coming in broken sobs as she slammed her fists against him. Why the hell was she crying now? She didn't care what anyone thought, she was tired. She tried so hard to know what she wanted, but all she wanted was to not have to be brave and honorable anymore.

[Jared]

When she fumed and screamed into his face, he seemed unaffected by her words, and when her hands pushed his stoic figure, all he did was simply stumble backwards, regain his solid posture and look at the blonde with his dead eyes. The furious excuses, explanations, whatever she served him as a retort were futile now, feebly trying to add a different lining to the entire occurrence. It didn’t matter what he thought of her, it didn’t matter that he by no means thought of her as a harlot or whether or not she wanted to kiss Eryk. The fact of the matter was that she did kiss him. Even though she was rather lithe compared to the warrior, Jared knew quite well that the Valkyrie could react harshly when she wanted to. And if she wanted to, she could have pushed the husky man away, slap him, do whatever women do when they don’t want to be in an embrace of another. She didn’t do that and that was same regardless of the perspective from which she tried to present it.

But just as he was about to stop her before the conversation entered the part where things spoken are often regretted later, Bryn pulled out a caustic dagger and stabbed him in the back. At the mention of Mareena, the exile frowned deeply, his eyes exploding with righteous flames as they gazed down at the crying visage of his beloved. Not even her tears – those gentle trickling diamonds that usually defeated him effortlessly – managed to douse the anger she just invoked with the mention of his sister. Her hands started to hammer against his chest fiercely, but it took only a handful of beats before Jared reacted. His hand clutched one of her hand by the wrist, then the other, trapping her in an iron grasp that disallowed her from moving her hands away.

“How dare you bring her into this?” he growled into the angelic face that now inspired none of the benevolent sentiments that were eminent in their interaction the last two days. “You know damn well that she is a remnant of another life, another world in which she wasn’t my choice, but my curse. You know damn well that she’s a scar on my soul and yet you pick on it all the same. How many miles have to stand between her and me for you to just leave it be? How many days must...” he paused, shaking his head decisively, letting go of her hands abruptly and taking a step away from her.

“No, just forget it. This is not about Mareena and me.” he spoke, turning his back away as if he was to walk away, but just as suddenly as he moved away, he turned around once again and spoke.

“You want to know what I think? I think that you don’t know what you want, Bryn. But you know what? That’s life.” he spread his arms wide, in a patronizing matter-o-factly mimic. “Unlike when your actions are governed by the gods, down here you face difficult decisions and you have to make them on your own. And when he showed up, you decided not to push him away. And when he kissed you, you decided not to recoil from his touch. So I ask you this; if somebody just walked in here and saw what was happening, what would that person think with whom your fidelity lays?” he paused his rant, looking at her tear-stained face, her enflamed eyes, her clenched fists, and for the first time he didn’t feel sympathetic to her troubles. His heart was pounding as if it wanted to crush his ribs, his mind summoning enough thoughts for the continuance of the harangue, but he found enough reason to calm the situation down.

“I’ll leave it at that, before we speak more words that we’ll regret later.” Jared spoke in a demure, yet severely acerb tone of a man that felt betrayed. He pulled the robes tighter around his figure resolutely, turning away from her and striding away from the fountain, the pond and the venue of Eryk’s coming that stood at the root of the quarrel that ensued. He needed some solace, some time alone to ponder on this, and he couldn’t get that with Bryn at his side. However, once again he stopped, this time merely turning his face enough for her to capture his profile as his eyes refused to look at her figure. “I’ll tell you one thing though. Next time he pulls out the appearance act I’ll make sure that the Underworld is the least of his troubles... regardless of whether you want me to or not.”

And with that said and his fists clenched at his side so tight they became wan and bloodless, he paced away from her.

[The Valkyrie]

The tears ended as though someone had flipped a switch, her fury and rage turning cold. Slowly she stepped away from him, her face dark – it was as though a cloud had covered the sun. With a curt nod, she turned and stalked to the archway that led from the garden, her sandals left behind on the fountain by Jared. Before she left, she turned to face him once more.

“You kissed Mareena out of your own free will – you initiated it, and you enjoyed every moment of it. I on the other hand was forced to kiss Eryk. I know that he overpowers me, and that struggling would do more harm than good – not all of the warriors in Val Halla are gentle to the Valkyries,” she cast a steely glare at him, her eyes which normally glowed emerald were veiled and colorless, “You are right though, I don’t know what I want. I thought it was you though.”

She spun on her heel and walked away, losing herself in the meandering corridors of the Keep, which instead of a retreat now seemed more like a prison. Her heart pounded in her chest, in her ears, and she increased her stride, hoping to outpace her thoughts. The coolness of the hallways was no longer welcome – it was as though she could never be warm again, and she started to run through the halls, hoping that soon enough she’d find the rooms she shared with Jared. Of course, she didn’t really feel like returning to the bed they shared, and so she wandered aimlessly, her eyes looking only at the floor as it passed under her bare feet.

A collision was inevitable, and she ran headlong into Jya, who smiled at her as she steadied the Valkyrie. The smile faded from the woman’s face though as she gauged Bryn’s demeanor, and she nodded briefly.

“Perhaps you had best come with me, I think you need some tea,” the mother of Fallien said gently, taking Bryn’s hand and leading her into a series of vast apartments, which seemed to be the woman’s private chambers. They were simply appointed, and yet richly decorated, with bright colors that reflected the sunlight that shone through the high windows even late in the afternoon. She motioned to a low chaise, and crossed to a large chair which she sat in. Bryn collapsed onto the chaise and stared at her hands, trying still to catch her breath.

“You’ve fought with him,” Jya said simply, causing Bryn to look up at her with a startled glance.

“Yes.”

“Over the warrior he intends to help you rescue… how strange,” she continued, smiling as one of the priestesses entered and brought the two women steaming glasses of tea which smelled of jasmine and chamomile.

“Eryk… isn’t always bound to the Underworld,” Bryn struggled for the words to explain, but Jya nodded, and waved the Valkyrie into silence.

“Yes, he was here, and when he kissed you it made Jared jealous. He loves you, that boy does, and it hurts him very badly when his expectations are met with something different, especially when those expectations concern you,” Jya explained calmly.

“Well, he acts like I did this intentionally, as if I had some control over this situation!” Bryn exclaimed angrily, her rage beginning to grow once more as she thought about the situation. “I didn’t want to kiss Eryk, and I didn’t know what to do when he kissed me.”

“No, it would be rather a shock, wouldn’t it? And you do love the man, or did once. Or else you would not intend to travel to the Underworld to rescue him. But Jared is young, and innocent, and a man in love doesn’t always understand the feelings that his heart experiences,” Jya laughed, as though it were a joke. Bryn wanted to be angry, but instead she could only picture Jared’s face as she turned away from Eryk’s kiss. Tears caught in her throat, and she choked down a rough sob.

“I don’t know who I love…” Bryn whimpered, and Jya crossed from her chair to sit next to the Valkyrie, putting a sun-browned arm around the girl’s shoulders and pulling her closer. Her other hand went to Bryn’s hair, caressing the golden locks.

“Have you told him Brynhilde?” Jya asked quietly, not looking at the crying girl.

“T-told him what?” her voice trembled as she spoke, pulling away from Jya and frowning. Her tears were beginning to subside, and she wiped at her face embarrassed.

“That you are having his daughter,” Jya revealed, eliciting a surprised gasp from Bryn, whose hand flew to her belly. Since she had been mortal she’d only had her cycles once, and knew very little of how these things worked, but she realized that she hadn’t had them since she and Jared had first made love in what used to be Aletha. Blinking away fresh tears, she looked up at Jya in disbelief.

“No… I didn’t know,” she stuttered, standing from the chaise, “A daughter? I… I’ve got to tell him.”

“Perhaps that will mend things,” Jya smiled as Bryn rushed from the room to search for the father of the child that now grew in her belly.

[Jared]

Her last sentence was a soaring javelin and his heart winced at the wound inflicted, but the exile stamped through the garden grounds as if he had an urgent matter to attend to. And it wasn’t far from the truth; Jared desperately sought solace, answers to the rampaging questions that ceaselessly grew in quantity with each passing second. But while his feet managed to find the right path to trek in the ample garden, his mind kept charging the walls and striking dead ends over and over again. He felt like a blind man trapped in a maze, tapping his way in the thick darkness and hitting his head every time he slewed.

He realized that what he did moments before might have shattered the perfect little world that he was building around the Valkyrie. Words had a bad habit to inscribe themselves into the person’s memory, and the bitter ones, spoken in the heat of the moment, were often the very things to which people perpetually harked back. They were like a carving on a tree trunk; time could pass, tree could grow, but if they were struck deep enough, they endured and remained as a living proof of deeds done. And just like the wooden scars that couldn’t be effaced, words couldn’t be unsaid, regardless of the time passed and forgiveness granted. They were like the shadow, prominent during the day and overwhelming during the night.

And yet what he spoke was merely an utterance of what his insides were screaming at him. He didn’t want to hurt the Valkyrie. On the contrary, he made his duty to keep her out of harms way, regardless of the cost to himself. But what occurred before his eyes was something he couldn’t just take in with his usual phlegmatic serenity. While Eryk was a thought, a ghost, a mere soul trapped somewhere far away, Jared could cope with the sentiments he still inspired in Bryn. But the moment he materialized and placed his filthy hands on her, he became that excessive weight on the exile’s shoulders. And just like a twig that kept on flexing under the load, it was only the matter of time before he too would snap. And it wasn’t the kiss that made him break. No, now that he looked at it with more clarity and less anger in his head, Bryn was caught by quite a surprise in that moment. It was the indecisiveness with which she finally pulled away, those tiny slow steps and the timid look that seemed partially like confusion and partially like embarrassment. It was almost as if she was apologizing for being in love again, ashamed of it, of him when standing before Eryk. And that was what instigated the rant.

The garden around him passed in a mere blur, the blossoming trees spreading a carpet of soft petals before his feet, covering the gravel and remaining unheeded by the distant azure eyes. He admired the tantalizing garden for the last few days, its flowery aromas and vivid colors amplified by the vehement sun, but right now it was just a bonny tomb to him. Perhaps that’s why the interior of the keep didn’t feel that much different to him, making him merely slow his stride a bit and continued in his wandering ponder game.

Things just couldn’t be simple for them. Tales always spoke of great heroes, proud and gallant, and the stunning ease with which they dealt with obstacles in their path. Ride a horse, kill the dragon, get the girl and live happily ever after. Simple. And out of the myriads of such simple stories out there, the destiny decided to have a laugh and make him fall in love with none other then the very angel of death that is trying to save a man she loved - or loves - from the Underworld. Add some gods and an incestuous relationship and the stew turns out bland at best, or downright bitter at moments such as the garden encounter.

Whether his feet were advertently led by his subconsciousness or was it a mere game of chance, but before long Jared found himself standing in the Room of the Dusk and all the bright and tawny colors of it. He made his way to the bedroom, sat onto the massive bed with a weary sigh and closed his eyes. It smelled of her, the whole room carried her scent, invading his system and entering another set of thoughts in his mind. It wasn’t just the sweet scent of her perfume, but the enticing aroma of her skin, of her sweat, of her entire body entwined in the sheets under which they made love the last couple of days.

No, it was wrong to call their relationship bland. They had their rough patches, this one being the roughest one so far, but regardless of how angry or betrayed he felt, he just couldn’t erase all the good memories. The ones that made his heart prance in his chest, the ones that even now brought a smile on his face. He could almost see her, stretched on the bed and smiling at him with that unique smile that usurped her calm with remarkable ease. His hand picked up one of her mythril gauntlets and he could almost feet her tender touch beneath the metal. No, they were not bland. There was ache and many things seemed to be going wrong, complicated to the point when a person just wanted to drop everything in the water and just move on. But it was all worth it. She was worth it. Love was worth it. Even if his words just ended the affection between the two, the time they spent and the moments they shared were worth all the pain and confusion he was feeling right now.

He wanted to talk to her, needed to talk to her now that their heads were cool and their shock died down. Would they be able to iron out their differences was beyond him, but silence was not a way to find it out.

[The Valkyrie]

Blind anger had given way to stunned wonder. The world around her faded, as Bryn ran barefooted back to the garden where she’d left Jared – of course he wasn’t there, and her heart fell at the emptiness of the place, but she kept going. Hiking up the long flowing skirts of the tunica, she took off running for the apartments she shared with Jared. She wanted only to tell him the amazing wonder of the child they shared growing in her belly.

As she reached the door, she paused to catch her breath, her face flushed both with the exertion of running in the heat of the evening, and with the joy of what she was about to reveal to Jared. She hoped he wasn’t still angry at her.

Quietly, she pushed the door open, and stepped into the darkening room. The sun was low on the horizon, and the priestesses had not lit the lamps which hung from the ceiling yet. It leant an air of magic to the room, and she stood there entranced for a moment as she stared at Jared, as beautiful as one of the gods in the golden light and silver shadow of evening. His back was to her, and he’d not heard her enter, she supposed, so she maintained her silence as she crossed the room and sat at his side on the bed they shared.

After a long moment, she took his hand and placed it on her belly. Bryn wasn’t certain why she did this, but it seemed right, and she followed her instinct. Turning to him, she allowed a slight smile to curve her lips, brighten her eyes.

“I’ve something important to tell you,” she whispered, searching his face for the remains of his jealous fury. Unable to wait any longer, she grinned and revealed what she’d just found out.

“You’ve given me a daughter, Jared. Even now she grows within my belly,” she told him, hoping that the wonder and excitement she felt, he experienced too rather than the fear and trepidation at this new obstacle.

“Jya told me just now, and I wanted you to know first.”

[Jared]

Her entrance, however stealthy her bare feet tried to keep it, failed to go unnoticed by the exile, but it merely stiffened his calm figure, caught him almost in a cramp. True, he wanted to talk to her, but he didn’t know what to say. He needed more time, more pondering, more blind running through the maze of calculations and what ifs to conjure something sensible. An apology was due, that far he managed to get, but an attempt to shape that apology into something that would both reconciling and yet solid enough to satisfy his side of the argument was like trying to balance an egg on a tip of the sword. On one side, it seemed perfectly reasonable to be angry and jealous. Even worse, it felt right to be both. And yet that right thing was pushing her away from him, hurting her, doing something that was never his intention. He sincerely hoped that she managed to find some middle ground because he was in no man’s land.

Wordlessly she moved through their quarters, the patter of her bare feet and the rustle of her clothes clearly distinguishable in the silence pulsating with anticipation. He didn’t look up at her, not even when she sat gently at his side. His eyes were stuck on the gauntlet, his insides quivering with anxiety and fear. Perhaps she came here to tell him it’s over. She would look at him with the cold fire in her eyes, put on one of those mesmerizing firm expressions and speak with reason that could not be disputed or opposed and he would feel like a child that just got sent to kneel in the corner for his transgressions.

Only when she took his hand and guided it to her stomach he looked up at her face. His fingers trembled at the touch of her flesh, always trembled at the touch of her angelic body, as his eyes, weary and apologetic, looked towards her visage. Her smile managed to take off some of the tension. It wasn’t her heartily smile, not the one that could shine so brightly, night would flee before it. This one was much more timid, much more reserved, careful, afraid. But it was a smile and it was more then he could summon on his own face.

And then her words, uttered in a hushed, decrepit whisper, simply crashed through all the formulas, thoughts and calculations in his head as if nothing was there, establishing themselves like the new governor of his mind.

Jared’s eyes widened significantly, his hand stiffening against the warm softness of her torso, his entire body simply stopped in a moment of complete and utter shock. He could feel beads of sweat pouring down his skin as if somebody just threw a bucket of cold water into his face even though the sensation was purely on a mental level. He couldn’t tell if his heart stopped pacing or did it speed up so fast that the beats couldn’t even be recognized anymore. Breathing was not even an option, his breath paused sometime between the first and the second sentence she spoke. The gauntlet that he held gently in his other hand fell to the ground, but he didn’t even hear the thud.

“P... Pregnant?” he managed to squeeze through his lips, the pronunciation of the word the first sign of life on his face after what seemed like hours. And as if this was a trigger, his bodily functions were restored. His hand retracted from her stomach, his legs pushing him up to a standing position, taking him a step away from the bedside as his eyes remained locked on the emeralds that once again radiated warmth. “You... you’re pregnant?” he repeated.

His hand went to his half-open mouth, covering it feebly as he simply looked at her fair face, nodding to him reluctantly. He took another wavering step backwards, struck a commode, then turned sideways to support himself on it, turning slightly away from her. “After all this talk and anger... arguments and everything...” he spoke, his words uneven, almost coming out at random. “...and then you go and tell me something like this...” he kept speaking, closing his eyes and trying to accept this piece information, trying to absorb it completely for what it was. And once he did so, once he realized that in the woman that he loved more then life itself grew a product of their love, a small person, a child that was both of them combined, the result was inevitable. Jared was crying. He turned to her and opened his glassy eyes, not trying to hide the tears that streamed down his cheeks. “...and make me the happiest man in the world!”

He almost flew back to her side, scooping her in his arms and picking her up effortlessly, his crying eyes locked on her own as his lips finally formed a wide smile. “By the gods, Bryn! Please, tell me it’s for real! Tell me it’s the truth! Tell me that we’re going to have a child!” he spoke in an elated tone, his eyes still disbelieving and begging for confirmation, holding her in his arms as if she was going to evaporate and take away all his joy with her. All that transpired was simply erased in the blink of an eye, lost importance in front of the human being that was to be the very confirmation of their love, the seal of what was so strong between the two of them that not even gods could break it. He held her in his arms, took them both spinning through the vast room, kissing her lips, her cheeks, her neck, screaming with joy, exploding with mirth that she granted him. Ultimately he collapsed on their bed, taking them both down, looking up at her cherubic fairness that stood above him. His hand cupped her cheek gently, moving away the stray locks of her curly hair.

“I love you so much, Brynhilde. I’m sorry for being such a fool earlier. It’s just that you... You’re everything to me...” he paused, managed to smile in a slightly knavish way. “Well, not just you anymore, I reckon.” he added, his hand touching her stomach ever so gently. “Gods, now I’ll have to marry you. And just when I started to enjoy my bachelor life.”

[The Valkyrie]

They made love that night with all the fury and passion of their fight that morning, and all the glowing joy that Jya’s revelation brought. All of their anger, their fear, their uncertainty burned itself away in the fire that burned between them. In a mess of tumbled sheets and a sheen of sweat, they finally succumbed to exhaustion in the silver glow of the hours just before dawn.

The next day, in spite of their exhaustion, they prepared for the return journey to Suravani’s Oasis. Clothed once more in light-weight, protective garments, they mounted the horses they’d received from Kalahad, and waited in the courtyard for Jya’s blessing. They would be accompanied by engineers, builders, lawyers, and two priestesses. The priestesses were each from one of the tribes in question, and would represent their interests in an objective way. They would travel along with the elder engineers and lawyers in lightly curtained carriages over the desert. The rest were on horseback or on foot.

The sun was slipping below the horizon when Jya entered the courtyard. A hush descended upon those gathered there, as she stepped forward. She had dressed in her best ceremonial robes, pure white and brightest red. Her blue-black hair was caught up in a gold comb that resembled a crown, and her blue eyes had been lined with kohl. Bryn thought to herself that not only did Jya resemble a goddess in her actions and thoughts as she was required to do, but also, at least this night, resembled her goddess physically as well.

“You go now,” Jya intoned, “into the desert to perform a task which has failed before. But you go with two who will surely make it successful this time. Bring peace once and for all to Suravani’s Oasis. And go with her blessing to do so.”

The travelers murmured their assent, some making holy signs over their chests, or bowing their heads in prayer or meditation. Jya approached Bryn with a benevolent smile, and laid her hand on Byrn’s knee. Her other produced a small pouch, about the size of maple leaf, which she handed up to the Valkyrie.

“Traveling through the desert is stressful, as is negotiating treaties between warring tribes. You must not lose this child, a child of prophecy to be sure. In this bag is an herb which will guarantee the child’s life, and make your womb secure for your daughter no matter the circumstance. You must take it when you awake and before you sleep. If you forget, your child will not be protected. Only use a tiny pinch at a time. This bag should last you the entirety of your pregnancy, and will make your labor easier as well.”

She pressed the bag into Bryn’s hand, and bowed her head to the Valkyrie, as royalty to royalty. Bryn frowned, but bowed her head in return, placing the pouch on its chain around her neck. Jya lifted her hand, and in the purple darkness of twilight the group left the courtyard and boarded the ferry which would take them across into the desert for their journey northward.

That was the easiest part of the trip, although the journey through the desert was by no means as eventful as the journey from the Oasis had been. They traveled quickly that night, moving with lightness over the dunes, and stopped just before dawn at a tiny oasis in the heart of the deepest desert. Bryn wondered briefly if it was the same as the one they’d been attacked at previously.

[Jared]

If love could elevate a person any higher then it hoisted Jared after Bryn’s mellisonant piece of news, that person was bound to hit his head against the argent moon above. The exile was carried on the wings of affection, jubilant despite the long dry miles of the desert, his face at worst touched by a sublime smirk and at best beaming widely. The latter mostly occurred when he would deter his eyes from the humdrum road ahead and gaze at the Valkyrie that rode at his side. And even though he was certain that there was no sentiment more powerful then the one that he cherished before the events in Fallien, he knew now that this being that they created uprose it to a whole new level. They were lovers before, companions bound by a mission and profound affection, but now there was a link between them that could not be undone. She, a divinity of astonishing beauty, carried their progeny and that was a gift and an honor that Jared didn’t deserve.

Despite the scarce light of the oncoming morning that barely enlightened the small haven in the middle of the wasteland, Jared was rather certain it was not the one where the summoned hounds attempted to rid them of their lives. The scout that Jya entrusted with the leadership of their caravan was leading them via a route that swiveled significantly more eastwards them the one Bryn and Jared followed to Irakkam. It wasn’t as well-trotted and it took them closer to the heated center of the desert, but since their guide was a deft navigator, they were able to travel by night, spare the horses and still make a good time back to the Suravani’s Oasis. By Jared’s calculations they were bound to reach the Oasis by tomorrow morning and with a number of workers and pencil pushers in tow, they were making quite a remarkable time.

As soon as they came to a full halt, Jared descended from his mount and rushed to Bryn’s side, offering her a helping hand to get down. He didn’t usually resort to this gesture, knowing that the golden-haired woman was more then able to do it herself, but then again, usually there weren’t two people in that perfect little body of hers. “You alright?” he asked once she was down and he made somewhat of a fool from himself by not helping all that much. Around them the single file of riders broke and scattered into little groups, burly tanned builders with their rugged tawny waistcoats and heavy boots staying away from the refined lawyers in their pricey robes who didn’t seem all too pleased by the accommodations. None seemed in a mood to mingle and chew the fat after fourteen hours of riding with only three breaks that seemed a lot shorter then the alleged half an hour. The dawn was still some half an hour from breaking but the sky was already changing the dark nightly robes for the more lively bluish ones and that meant that their resting hours were afoot.

“I think I will never again argue about taking a boat ride.” he spoke with a sigh and a brisk smile as he loosely tied his horse to the nearby palm tree. However, as strong as his urge to be close to her was, there was another one that right now overruled the intimacy. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some water that should have been passed some fifteen dunes ago.” Jared added with a jesting smile before he slipped through the massive dark green leaves of the foliage entered the thick shade of the palm trees.

Once he was done, he didn’t return to Bryn straight away. His eyes managed to pierce the fading darkness and the viridity of the huge leafage and reach her stretched figure, blissful and placid, getting her well earned rest. And even though up until recently he always looked at the Valkyrie as just that, a Valkyrie, a strong determined woman, able to take enemies down by the dozen, she looked so vulnerable right now, so fragile. She was always a warrior to him that just happened to be a woman, but this child that was growing in her womb somehow changed that. And he knew it was his responsibility now more then ever to be there for her and protect her at all cost.

“Quite a prize for a mere mortal such as yourself, don’t you think?” a voice, tranquil and eerie in tone, ripped through the rapture of the moment. But the exile was so deep in thought that at first he merely answered reflexively.

“Aye” his reply was distant, his hazy eyes slowly regaining focus as he turned around to face the inquirer. But focus brought reason in tow and Jared’s brow furrowed. “Wha... Who are you?” he asked, not recognizing any of the people form the caravan in the lissome man that stood leisurely leant on a tree trunk with his eyes closed and his lips smirking knavishly. The man’s hair was like threaded fire, his visage fair and wan almost elvishly so as his gallant attire glimmered in all its subtle azure splendor.

“Do not tell me Brynhilde never spoke to you about her ally in this strange carousel that you two are riding on?” the man spoke eloquently, his voice royal almost to the point of divinity. His hand moved to the side of his face, pushing one of the scarlet locks away before he opened his eyes with agonizing slowness, revealing a pair of luminous azure eyes. “Loki is the name, mortal.”

Jared was transfixed by the man’s appearance and movements despite them being basic and unimportant. But through them pulsated such exalted refinement and fairness that the exile couldn’t find an appropriate manner to respond to it. But the initial spell was soon washed out by the reason of his mind that recollected the stories that Bryn told him. “Ah, yes, Loki, the trickster deity. Have you come to amplify the difficulty of our plight by one of your jests?” Jared managed to conjure enough boldness to speak openly.

“I do not appreciate that tone, Jared. I come here as a friend, something you two are in dire need of given your situation.” Loki continued, seemingly unfazed by the bitter question. Jared opened his mouth to retort, but the realization that he was out of line given the fact that he is speaking to one of the divinities steadied his tongue. “I come bearing a warning. You two are on a fool’s errand and regardless of how much you try to hide it behind honor and loyalty, you know it is the truth. However, the matters have gone too far by now and cannot be undone. But at the end you will be presented with a choice, Jared, and whether or not your daughter becomes the child of prophecy will depend solely on your decision.”

These words were spoken with such seriousness that they nearly sent a shiver down Jared’s spine as those flaring blue eyes peered straight into his own. “What are you talking about? What choice?” he asked in a perplexed tone.

“Between your heart and your soul.” Loki responded with a smirk.

“What? I... I don’t understand.”

“Well, that is the point, is it not? Life is all about making the difficult decisions.” the deity continued in a light-hearted tone, pressing his finger against his chin as he started to walk away from the man. “I wonder who said that. I could have sworn I heard it just recently...” the voice faded together with the figure that gradually became transparent until there was nothing but the thick undergrowth of the oasis looking back at Jared, bathed by the first beams of sun.

It took the exile a couple of minutes to gather enough composure in his mind that now became littered with questions that Loki’s words evoked and he managed to stumble out of the bushes and into the clearing. His face was pale and stern, his eyes distant and glassy, but as soon as he saw the Valkyrie, he managed to procure a smile. She didn’t have to know. Even if Loki wasn’t just yanking their chain, this was bound to be his decision and that was not a burden that Bryn had to bear right now. He freshened up his face in the pond, took a couple of sips of the water so cool, it sent a bolt through both of his temples, and planted himself by her side. His eyes met the two emeralds and his smiled changed from the fake to the genuine one. Whichever of the two option Loki mentioned was the price to keep her at his side, one look into her eyes made it clear that he was willing to pay it. She was worth his heart, his soul... his life.

[The Valkyrie]

She was no more pregnant than she had been on the trip to Irrakam, but Jared insisted on pampering her as much as she would let him. And it took all Bryn's self-will not to push him away, to let her pride take over and do it herself. But she knew that his pride told him that taking care of her was the right thing to do, so she let him. When he checked on her every 5 minutes, she smiled and did not stop him; when he insisted on helping her down from her horse, she let him; when he tried to feed her like a baby, she decided that was too much and raised an eyebrow at him.

The moments alone were precious now, for they were more rare than they had been before the revelation of her pregnancy. So when Jared wandered off alone, she laid back against the warm sand and let it cradle her body as she stared at the mesmerizing colors of the sunrise. She was too distracted to notice the look on his face as he returned, and returned his fake smile with a genuine one, barely noticing that he was distraught.

They slept that day soundly, with no attacks as there had been before, and woke at sunset to the gentle nudging of one of the priestesses. All night they travelled, and reached Suravani's Oasis and the tent of Kalahad sometime before the sun rose but after the moon had set. With a bow, and a suprised smile, Kalahad helped Bryn down from her horse, and pulled her aside. She quickly and discreetly explained to him the situation, and he hurried off to make preparations.

For three days negotiations were made, accompanied by loud arguments, raucous laughter, and sometimes the occasional fist fight. But in the end, an agreement was reached with the help of the priestesses, and it was decided that Kalahad's daughter Nadi would marry the son of the Dekran chief. All anxiety seemed to melt away with the setting sun. That night was spent in grand celebration, with drinking and feasting and dancing.

Kalahad pulled the couple aside before everyone had a chance to become too drunk to have intelligent conversation and smiled at Bryn, as he held something behind his back.

"I know you needed these," Kalahad admitted, "The priestesses told me why, and I honor you for your courage. Take them as a token of our gratitude, for it is because of you that we no longer need them."

Bryn gasped in suprise, not imagining that he would part with the boots so easily, and quietly took them, hugging the suprised chieftain before turning and placing the boots in the tent with the rest of her armor. Her joy was complete this night.

The Valkyrie danced in and out of the torches with Jared, sometimes in his arms, sometimes finding herself in the arms of others there, and staring across the smiling faces of the Esseker and Deklan tribes to the face of her love. It all seemed like a dream, and they collapsed in each other's arms after sunrise in a tent that they'd been offerend, smiles still painted on their faces.

As she fell asleep in Jared's arms, knowing that tomorrow they would begin the journey that would end in the Underworld, she sighed, her mind filled with thoughts of the past months. With a sad realization, she opened her eyes and looked out the flap of the tent at the remaining feasters.

"You know," she said slowly as she drifted to dreams, "Eryk never did say he loved me."

spoils: Yarina's boots - Leather boots with protective/decorative mythril plates which provide a shield of protection around Bryn and her allies against their foes. Foes of a level greater than Bryn's can penetrate this shield.

[Jared]

The negotiations didn’t go with without a hitch. In fact, during the three taxing days there were so many hitches, hiccups, glitches and misunderstandings that even the usually tranquil Jared started to feel the need to slap these tribesmen like children and send then to kneel in the corner with a dunce cap. Petty arguments, prissy explanations of inane matters and stubborn claims based on factoids became their breakfast, lunch and dinner and at the end of the day, the exile was grateful that Jya was wise enough to send the real diplomats. These stoic emotionless people nodded their heads where nods were needed, listened to the endless yammering and ascertained the situation, providing the best solution in the end. They even managed to make the Deklan shaman to apologize to Bryn and Jared for the summoned beasts he sent in pursuit.

In the end, it was the blood that settled the dispute, but despite the fact that at certain points it seemed like the two parties would go at each other throats, it was not the drawn blood that reconciled the tribes. No, the two bloodlines were to be joined, offspring of the two chieftains were to marry, leading by example the merger of the two tribes that for years now saw each other as direst enemies. And at the end they all shook hands and hugged and greeted each other as if they were friends for eternity. Bryn said that none of this would have happened if the chiefs were actually women, and Jared had to agree despite his male pride. Because it was the pride that was the problem here, the chest-beating that was hallmark of alpha males, regardless if they were men or beasts.

The celebration to commemorate the peace was supposed to be the manifesto of things to come for the Suravani Oasis, a harbinger of the better years, the good years. People were radiating with genuine elation, Bryn was like a porcelain-skinned fairy amidst the savages and Jared... Jared was trying to stay in the high spirit of the environment. But no matter what he did to occupy his mind, his thoughts kept going back to the talk he had with the hoaxer deity. The choice. The choice that was to be made. Every time he looked at his beloved, the accursed choice managed to break through the sentiments she inspired. Luckily, the chaos around him was too extensive and too overwhelming for his concealed worries to be noticed.

When they finally made their way to their own sanctuary situated in one of the tents, the dry heat of the Fallien sun drained them so much that they merely foundered into the sheets and locked each other in an embrace. Away from the fiddlers and the dancers and the tipsy tribals that despite their intoxicated state still pertained a lot of rhythm, the silence was an invitation of glum thoughts. But when she spoke of Eryk, he opted not to respond. Eryk was the reason for the mess, the denominator that Jared would like to cancel out as soon as possible, and talking of him became a fight waiting to happen. So he kept his eyes shut, pretending to sleep, and trying to chase away the dire thoughts with the vast emptiness of dreamless slumber.

No dice.

About an hour after Bryn fell in sound sleep, Jared was still wrestling the demons that his doubtful mind produced, and it gave birth to so many that they ultimately made the exile rise from their bedroll and step outside in an attempt to clear his head. The center podium, where only hours before the dark-skinned Fallien folk celebrated their own little victory, was an unsightly heap of litter and food remains. A couple of mutts, strays whose bloodline was pure maybe seven generations before, made a feast out of it. Jared paid no heed to them. He sat at one of the tables, pushed the try with a half-eaten cake aside, and provided his diary. Under the dying light of a torch, looking like an old sage lost in time, he started to note down in his usual refined writing:


The year of the Lion, Date unknown + 83

I fear that we are nearing a dreadful end, because the more I contemplate on this, the more doubts are brought to life in my mind. It is as if the clouds are gathering and they are harbingers of frivolous destiny that may hold neither me nor Brynhilde in favor. I can’t tell this to her though. She seems captivated by her own thoughts, wrestling her own demons that more and more often erase that beautiful smile from her face and replace it with a sullen frown. I fear for her. I feel her drifting away from me and the tighter I try to hold on to her, the faster she squirms out of my grasp. I... I wish all of this would end already. It’s like walking with a noose around our necks, always expecting for the hangman to pull the lever and send us to our doom. I don’t mind much, as long as we are in this doom together...

((SPOILS:

Amplification – During the fight with the summoned hounds, Jared managed to unlock the enchantment contained in his staff. The enchantment is twofold. The first and most prominent result is that he can now make his staff glow with a pure ivory light. This, however, is a mere side effect. The real result of the Amplification is that it doubles the power of Jared’s spells. Right now, however, it can influence only one before the staff has to recharge for at least one hour. The enchantment can be broken if Jared looses contact with his staff in which case the recharge lasts for half an hour since the amplification never took place.))

[Sighter Tnailog]

A great quest, guys. You have shown considerable improvement, but there are still a few problem areas that need some work. If I may venture a guess...your next quest will be gold.

Quest Judging

Introduction ~ 8. A solid introduction.

Setting ~ 8.5. Your descriptions really did help set the stage, and you made good use of the settings as places for interaction, not merely "backdrops." I felt like you were working on more than minimalist canvas, that's for sure. I kept you back from full marks, though, for two reasons. One is related to Writing Style -- sometimes your descriptions bordered on superfluous. The other is that, while the interaction was good, it could have been better. However, since you did an overall impressive job, I only stole away one and a half points.

Strategy ~ 9. I didn’t see anything particularly amazing about the strategy. Normally, I’d give the staffwork and swordplay I saw here a 6. However, one thing you did places you head and shoulders above the rest: you seemed in danger. So many battles, even ones with extremely unique elements, rarely leave the reader wondering how they will turn out. Yours, however, left me guessing, and for that you receive high marks.

Writing Style ~ 7. Both of your styles can be too verbose. For example, “It was beyond Jared’s comprehension what was the cause of the random gentleness that the Valkyrie served in a form of a suave caress, but by now he taught himself not to ask such silly questions.” Try instead, “Jared could not comprehend the cause of the Valkyrie’s sudden gentleness. But, when faced with a suave caress, he didn’t ask any questions.” You say the EXACT same thing, but in half the words. “The sights and sounds of this beautiful desert wasteland amazed the Valkyrie, captivating her from the moment they'd set foot in the Outlander's Quarter back in Irrakam right up until now as they stood beneath the relentless outpouring of the sun in the blessed region known as Suravani's Oasis.” My, that’s a lot of words. “Valkyrie was captivated by this beautiful desert wasteland from the moment they’d arrived in Irrakam. And here in Suravani’s Oasis, the relentlessly outpouring sun made the whole region blessed.” This version has the same content, but cleaner. Work on saying what you mean in as few words as possible.

Also, Jared…be careful with your vocabulary. Accurate or unique words can be good, but don’t overdo it. For example: “demure coolness of the bath.” “Demure” means shy or reserved. While it’s true the bath was murky to protect Jared’s modesty, “Demure” is a word you’d apply to Jared himself, not to the bath – and ESPECIALLY not to “coolness.” Make sure you’re using your modifiers in intentional ways, not simply because you want to throw in an impressive word.

Rising Action ~ 8. Good job. You kept me wondering what would happen...I really have no complaints, EXCEPT that some of what you promised fail to deliver. More on this in conclusion.

Dialogue ~ 7. For the most part, I loved it...but the extraordinarily rushed end, when I was looking forward to boisterous debates between the negotiating party, really hurt you. However, take heart: you two are getting good at character interaction that seems genuine and credible.

Climax ~ 7.5. No comment...my discussions in character and conclusion will suffice.

Character ~ 9. This was VASTLY improved from your last work. You were seriously and honestly dealing with the gritty work of emotional roleplaying. Your characters reached that point of blissful confusion when they don't know who they are or who those they interact with are, when thoughts are rushed and ideas fail to simply appear in perfect form in a character's mind. The whole "I'm-pregnant-therefore-everything's-great-again" thing keeps me from giving COMPLETELY full marks on this, but you definitely exhibited admirable progress from the last thread.

Conclusion ~ 6. I felt a bit cheated, I'm not gonna lie. I was looking forward to a nice long negotiation, with intrigue and so forth, and then it was all summed up nicely in a few paragraphs. I understand that we had a break, but c'mon guys. Throw at least a few substantive posts, PLEASE.

Wild Card ~ 9. All in all, this was a great quest. But a few problems -- CONCLUSION -- keep me from, in good conscience, throwing all 10 on the scoreboard. Your considerable showing in Character does impress me, but I can't grade entirely on improvement or a single category. I must take this as a whole, and knock off one point from the top.

TOTAL ~ 79

A great showing. It may not be a Judge's Choice, but it is still something to brag about.

EXP REWARDS

The Valkyrie gains 1275 EXP
Jared gains 850 EXP

(EXP, as always, based on level and on quality)

ABILITIES AND ITEMS

Jared learns Amplification, as follows. Note the modifications:

Amplification – During the fight with the summoned hounds, Jared managed to unlock the enchantment contained in his staff. The enchantment is twofold. The first and most prominent result is that he can now make his staff glow with a pure ivory light. This, however, is a mere side effect. The real result of the Amplification is that it doubles the power of Jared’s spells. Right now, however, it can influence only one spell before the staff has to recharge for at least one hour. The enchantment will be broken if Jared loses contact with his staff, but the recharge period remains the same.

The Valkyrie earns Yarina's Boots, subject to the following modifications:

Yarina's boots - Leather boots with protective/decorative mythril plates which provide a shield of protection around Bryn and her allies against their foes for three posts. Foes of a level greater than Bryn's can penetrate this shield.

As with all gained abilities and items, approval is contingent upon the agreement of the Realm of Greeting moderator during the normal update process.

SPECIAL REWARDS

Because I'm the mod and I can do what I want, both of you receive a book. Entitled Celestial Cartography, this book provides detailed instructions on astronomy, specifically relating to how to find your way using only those landmarks in the sky. I leave it to you to figure out how you got the book IC. Maybe Jya gave it to you.

[Thoracis]

EXP added!!!