The Flame Haired Princess
Chapter 2
It’s early; the Old One sits at the low table in the center of the cave and rechecks the supplies for our departure while I cook the last of the food that has not already been dried and put away. This will be our last meal inside the mountain I’ve called home since I was rescued from the nest of a Crested Death Raven by a hunter many years ago. After dinner I busied myself loading the cart I’d brought back from the market place three days ago while the Old One talked quietly to the small Carrier beast that had pulled it. Then she hobbled towards the entrance of the cave. “Finish up what you’re doing and change into the clothing on the bed, they will feel strange at first but you’ll soon get used to them. I will have no need of your help for the next hour or so.” “Oh, you might want to light the lanterns” she adds as she moves out of site mumbling to herself. Mother of the Earth it is time. Please seal our home from prying eyes until such time as we return or other of your followers have need of it. As Crone and Rememberer I ask this of Thee, As I Will So Mote It Be (“Mother of the Earth it is time. Please seal our home from prying eyes until such time as we return or other of your followers have need of it. As Crone and Rememberer I ask this of Thee, As I Will So Mote It Be) I can hear her chanting from the entrance in an ancient tongue. Suddenly the space around me fills with a noise like metal scraping slowly across stone; the air fills with dust and the room becomes dark. The Old One follows an orb of deep amethyst light into the room; she is no longer leaning on her cane. “We leave.” She said catching hold of the animal’s bridle and leading it to the cart. When everything is ready she climbs up and points to a stone about half way up in the back wall. “Turn that stone clockwise repeating the words ‘Open by the will of Bridget’ three times as you turn.” “Put the lanterns out, we will not be taking them with us.” Once through the wall I repeated the action, this time turning the stone Widdershan and saying “Close by the will of Bridget.” All traces of our home vanished behind seemingly solid rock as we follow the glowing orb into the darkness of the mountain. We walk the circular path inside the cavern, stopping only to rest and eat and I listen to the Old One while we walk. She never seems to tire as she tells her stories. I on the other hand, fall exhausted onto my mat and dream strange dreams whenever we stop to rest. After what seems like weeks we reach a large open area on the path where a small pool of cold clear water has accumulated. “We will make camp here, “the Old One says. She halts the beast and unhooks it from the cart while I lay out a simple meal. After dinner she hands me a quill, some ink, and a blank leather bound book that looks to be handmade. “You should begin writing down or drawing whatever you see, hear, and think from this point on. It is the appointed time for you to begin the remembering of who you are and were; you need to rediscover where your destiny lies.” Later while I am drawing one of the pictures that are in my head she hands me a cup of tea. “Drink it while it’s hot then lay down, the ‘Threads of Time’ are quickly beginning to untangle.” I dream My companions and I ride through the wastelands of Terra Prime, the land I was born in. Kardanis rides point; Manioc and I follow riding side by side about fifteen hundred yards behind him while we talk quietly. The others are a short distance behind us. There’s A-Naku and Thaddious, Elfin Swordsmen from the White Brotherhood of The Deep Ravine, Mantra, Crone Witch of the Spellweaver Clan and Dee-anna-nu, a Shape Shifter who can speak one hundred and eighty seven languages (Terraian and animal) and pick off a Flutterfly from twenty five hundred feet away with an arrow. Xanderay, a fellow Terranite and mate to Kardanis, is somewhere above on the back of a Crested Night Wing Swallow. I am Dawnreaper, mate to Manioc and of the same bloodline as the slain Royal Family of Terra: the flame colored streaks in my hair which are kept well hidden by scarf and glamour spell attest to this fact. We are scouts for the Resistance in the Gaian Wars against The Duke of Chaos and his Dark Master. Kardanis reigns in his Were Beast and waits for us to catch up. “Xanderay has messaged me; there are four mounted Rhinoroachs, maybe more, hiding approximately eight kilometers up the trail just inside the shadows of the forest. She doesn’t think they’re waiting for us though since they seem to be watching the other direction. What are your orders Commander?” “Message her back and see if she can get ahead of them and figure out what they’re up to without being noticed. Then we’ll have a better idea how to handle the situation, in the meanwhile we’ll make camp and give the rest of the battalion a chance to catch up.” Said Manioc dismounting from the silver horned leeper he calls Luma. A short time later Kardanis confirms that Xanderay has spotted a large caravan of Gypsies from the Eastern Highlands maybe a day out and moving into the line of ambush. “She reports they ‘seem well armed and on the alert for trouble’. She is staying in the vicinity to see what she can glean, ‘perhaps landing amongst them to offer our help’.” “Dee-anna-nu, fly back to the main battalion and apprize them of everything; tell them they are ordered to push through to catch up to us by morning. Scout out any trouble spots on the route there and back, but be careful,” Manioc ordered; then turning to me he bows. “My Lady?” “You are in charge here, my husband, not I. The Crone and I will cast the stones and survey the Mirror of Destiny to see what we can divine,” I said walking away. The Swordsmen are gone when we return from our conjuring and Manioc and Kardanis are talking quietly off to the far side of the camp. Xanderay and Dee-anna-nu arrive soon after. Dee-anna-nu reports that the main body of warriors will arrive before dawn and that they had encountered a small group of archers shortly before she’d arrived. A woman was shot from the cover of a fallen tree. The enemy was pursued and killed but before the last one died he muttered something about killing every bitch to get the right one. Xanderay added that the Gypsies had told her they had intercepted a message from The Dark Lord to The Duke telling him to find the last flame and extinguish it once and forever. Mantra had insisted on reinforcing the glamour that had been placed on me to conceal the markings of my royal bloodline after she had finished casting the stones. I didn’t have to ask why; my mirror had already told me everything. We marched in force towards the ambush site. According to Xanderay it is a large group. The four mounted Rhinoroachs near the road are backed up by several groups of two to three enemy soldiers each scattered above in the rocks at strategic points and perhaps fifty or more soldiers hidden deeper inside the tree line. With warriors in the sky and Guardian Wolfs combing the woods we plan to attack from all fronts at once on a prearranged signal, the Gypsies have also been included in the battle plan. A wolf’s howl is our signal to attack. Arrows and spears fly from above, at first like rain then slacking as the enemy are cut down by Dee-anna-nu and her squad of mounted sky archers. Screams and growls interspersed by the sounds of a yelp here and there tell of the toll being taken by our allies in the deep woods. Two Rhinoroachs, are dead from our iron tipped arrows and swords, one is now rider less and running amok. Many lives are being lost trying to kill the other two before they can make a meal of all of us. I fight on foot beside Manioc who had been dismounted by a troll that had bashed Luma’s leg with a club to bring her down. The creature was rewarded for this action by being pinned to the ground under the weight of her body and quickly beheaded by Manioc as I leaped from the saddle of my Gargantuan Mantis to help him. The Mantis immediately rose up on two legs and took off to attack the last remaining Rhinoroach. A warrior off to my left screamed my name as she falls. I turn just enough to see a creature jump for my throat; I swing my sword. The battle is finished; we gather the bodies for burial and begin noticing something strange. Of the twenty seven dead nineteen of them are women and three of these have been scalped – all three were redheads. Add this to the statement of a woman named Sojornia from the Island of Tasmeene who swears the last thing she remembers before passing out from blood lose and shock after she went down was a scaly looking reptile thing grabbing her by the hair and putting a knife to her forehead and the reason for the raid becomes clear. She is a redhead too. When the Guardian Wolfs return to camp they bring news that at least two of the enemy escaped; a lizard like creature with green skin that just seemed to disappear into the deep woods and an old man dressed in wizard garb that was scooped up by a Bat Winged Mongrel and carried off. Word has leaked back to the High Council about the anomalies of our last battle and they are meeting to discuss the merits of ordering me and those I travel with as companions to the rear for safety sake. We joined them even though we weren’t summoned. “I refuse to be dictated to or to hide from The Dark Lord and his ….his Puppet. In fact, why don’t I just order the glamour removed from myself to make it easier for him to find me? That way he won’t have to keep performing all these unnecessary mutilations; perhaps the hunted can become the hunter and the rest of you can concentrate on continuing to undermine their forces.” I scream as we are escorted out. I walk quickly towards the tents trying not to attract attention and start throwing things into my saddle bags. “Where do you think you’re going?” yells Manioc grabbing my arm. “I’m leaving before they can stop me with their magic, the rest of you can stay or go with me as you choose.” “There is no choice to make My Queen; I’ll tell the others to get packed,” he said throwing some things in his bags and leaving. The six of them are waiting when I reach the outskirts of the camp, they mount and we ride. The others do not mention the obvious fact that my hair has taken on a noticeably more reddish tint.
