The Chronicles of Varus

[Angel Rosiel]

This is Chronicles of Varus, from my other site. It's not really a roleplay - it's just a story that I'm writing as I get bored. It's based off of people from Varus that I meet, and otherwise purely fantasy.

Enjoy.  

[Angel Rosiel]

Behold; the land before is possibly strange, and something that you are not used to. Here, they do not speak of years. The moons and the seasons are used to mark the passage of time. And time here has passed indeed. The hallowed ground has seen and been burned by the intense heat of the day, only to watch the life-blood of trees seemingly sucked away, their blossoms withering, and falling to the ground.

As if it weren't enough that the living planet should be ravaged by time, the snows and the blizzards and the colds will soon freeze it, turning it into a frozen desert. Finally, the snow will by melted by the sun, the ground finally nourished by the snow and the coming rains. Life is once again created, until Autumn comes by to sweep it all away with the wave of her hand.

The seasons are things that are never aged by time; infinite.

On this land, together walk the men, Angels, and Demons, as if they were brothers, amongst other creatures. This is a land still ruled by the kings and queens of old; a land where one will still find knights defending their honor, their lady, and their country. Here is the land where towns exist carefully guarded by looming towers of stone and doors of metal and strong wood.

One such place was called Varus. A large castle protected by its' stone walls, with its' heart in the middle. Varus was ruled by the Lady Serena. The people did not know where she was from, nor how old she was. She never appeared to age, and never hid herself from her subjects. Although she herself did not know where she was from, the people trusted and loved her. When Varus was a small town, Serena alone was able to drive away the invaders. She was able to build up confidence in the people, and once the people were willing to trust her, people who were once soldiers became masons and farmers.

Instead of working hard for war, these people were given the opportunity to experience a peace that had long been forgotten. Steadily, as the seasons came and went, Varus rose. Serena understood that peace is not a constant; as much as any good ruler would love it if there was no need for bloodshed and the loss of life in war, she understood that it was unavoidable in troubled times, and instead of leaving her city defenseless, she selected a group of knights, and trained soldiers.

For many long years, Varus prospered under the rule of the Lady Serena; Varus had established friendly relations with neighboring castles, towns, and cities, and had become a sort of trade center; merchants, traders, blacksmiths, craftsmen came from all of the different lands to sell their wares and services in the great castle.

It was a peace that was profitable for all.

But, it was a peace that was not to last.  

[Angel Rosiel]

Chapter 1 - Tethys

The Baroness of Varus was formally known as the Dragon Knight. She was one of the Knights that was cast in a shroud of mystery as very little was known about her. She was speculated to be human, but who ever heard of a human with the ability to command dragons? Her two dragons, Hurricane and Atropos, had a den just outside of the castle walls, although they occasionally came to the castle courtyard when summoned by the Baroness.

She was recognized by Serena not for her ability to command two dragons, but for her ability to reason and her skills as a diplomat, though that didn't mean she wasn't skilled in combat. She used a sharp lance as her weapon of choice. Occasionally, when summoned by the Lady Serena, the Baroness could be seen using her lance to scale the castle walls much more quickly than one would be able to run up the stairs.

To those visiting Varus, the Baroness was simply known as that. She didn't make a big deal about her position as many of those with power loved to do. In fact, she loathed those who abused their power and dealt with them mercilessly. She was referred to as a great diplomat, the kind Baroness, and many other things, but to those who lived within the walls of the castle she was Raine.

As the Baroness Raine took her orders from the Lady Serena herself, it was her job to relay these orders to the Knights, each of whom was held responsible for certain duties depending on their skills and attributes. These Knights, then made sure that the city guards were kept informed and did their best to defend the citizens and travelers.

The Knight that was in command of the medical ward in the castle was often called the Shaman Knight because of her ability to heal others using the element of water. Those who knew little of her thought that she was a Knight in name only, that such a gentle thing couldn't possibly be someone who fought. And in general, it was true; she loathed violence, but when she was forced to it, she was fierce in the defense of others and herself, though she never killed or heavily injured her opponent.

The Shaman Knight often used a stout wooden staff, if anything at all, as a weapon. Many an attacker found themselves on their backs, with one of the staff held fast at their throat, and would swear that they never even saw her move. But this was a rare feat; the Shaman Knight was very kind, but she was also very shy. While she would help someone if she was able to, it was rather difficult to get a word out of her about herself, though many knew her name. She was called Ayu.

The Knight whose job it was to make sure the castle and the town was protected was called the Rose Knight. He was the one of only male Knights in Varus and easily the most aggressive of them all. He oversaw the combat training that the soldiers guards received, and when there was any sort of threat to the castle, he went to scout it out and investigate it. The Rose Knight could leave one night and return many moons later, with a report for his Lady. He was rarely injured; he was skilled with his Great Sword and those who knew exactly how skilled rarely lived to tell the tale.

He was called the Rose Knight because of his love to sleep outside in the castle's front garden, which was composed mostly of roses. Despite his epithet, he wasn't gentle; rather, he was short-tempered, cynical, and blunt in his speech, though he wasn't mean-spirited. Many thought that it was because he wasn't human, and therefore, didn't know how to deal with humans in general. The Rose Knight was of the Angelic race, and he was called Rosiel.

The Knight whose duty it was to keep the citizens of Varus informed, and to make sure problems were addressed was called the Docent Knight. She made her home in the gatehouse of the castle, and could often be found in the Great Hall by those seeking answers and enlightenment. She, like the Rose Knight, was also cynical and blunt, and aggressive, although she tended to show it less than he did. She often aided the Baroness in keeping the citizens informed and preparing the various announcements and audiences.

The Docent Knight wouldn't go picking a fight, she wouldn't back down from a conflict that needed to be resolved, though she would always avoid physical violence if she could help it. Her weapon of choice was the crossbow, and her aim was deadly. She was famous for shooting and killed a dragon that had flown off with one of the children of the townspeople. Her name was known in many different kingdoms for this brave deed. She was called Faye.

The Knight who was in charge of caring for the animals of the castle, including the horses of the other Knights, was called the Damon Knight. She had her home built in the garden of the castle, close to the pond where all of the fish were kept. Every morning she would rise and the first thing she would do is feed her fish. Originally, the pond was used as a food source, but out of respect to this Knight, it was no longer used as such.

She used a warhammer as her weapon, but like the Shaman Knight, she tried to never kill her foes. Though she was very skilled with using her weapon, she was more known her her ability to communicate with certain types of animals. She could tame horses that no one else could go near, and no animals, not even the predators, harmed her. She was called Chibi.

Finally, the youngest and most recently knighted was called the Maternal Knight. She was quartered in the orphanage of Varus, caring for the children whom have not a home. She took in any child, no matter how old, how healthy, or how wealthy. Many of the citizens wouldn't dare wish her any harm; even thieves and cutthroats offered her their protection. She was granted the gift of being able to See; often she was consulted on her visions by the Lady Serena herself.

She did not use any sort of weapon to defend herself, as she did not need one; there were very few, if any, who wished harm on the Maternal Knight. Even the usually abrasive Rose Knight kept a civil tongue in her presence. But, if threatened, she was able to protect herself with her hands and her feet, letting her visions guide her actions if she found them true. When this Knight originally came to the castle of Varus, she was but a nameless orphan. In the seasons that passed, she was named Whisper-A-Lullaby.  

[Angel Rosiel]

All of the Knights, save for one, were preparing in celebration. All of Varus was preparing for a celebration; the Great Hall filled with tables upon tables of food. Whisper-A-Lullaby had the children from her orphanage gathering flowers in the eastern field, outside of the castle. They were joined by other children and a few of the villagers, while Chibi and the Baroness Raine were trying to decide on what dishes would be served once the feast started. Faye was in the Great Hall, commandeering a group of soldiers to move the tables around so that she could set everything up in time.

Serena was going from place to place, accompanied by Ayu, who for once, did not have anyone in the medical ward to treat. The Knight was glad to know that people were in such good spirits because of the upcoming feast that they could leave their worries and their ills forgotten for at least one day. She wished that it would last for more than a day, but supposed that it was best to not get greedy. The Lady Serena was rather quiet, but Ayu was accustomed to that, although she could see that the Lady was at ease, even in her silence.

The rest of the Knights were helping out the citizens prepare for the great feast, except for the Rose Knight. He had left the previous moon and had still not returned. It bothered Ayu slightly, and she went to the Baroness to ask about where he could be. The Baroness Raine said that she did not know where he was sent, this time, that it was a mission that the Lady had sent him on personally, but she was sure that he would return soon. When the Shaman Knight asked how Raine knew of this, she simply replied, "I know Rosiel. And I know he wouldn't miss this much free food for the world. He'll show up by nightfall, mark me, by the time all of the work is done."

Ayu and Raine had laughed at this point, but the Knight still remained uneasy. She couldn't explain the odd feeling of dread that was tugging at her insides, but there wasn't anything she could do, and there was no point in worrying others over her thoughts. She was still curious about the mission that the Rose Knight had been sent on; in all of her time at the castle she never knew the Baroness not to know what, when, why, and how something was going on. Ayu pondered this as she glanced at the Lady while on their rounds.

The Shaman Knight knew better than to ask the Lady about the mission. The Lady would not get angry, but it was obviously disrespectful, and if something was needed known, the Lady made sure that it was known.

They passed the Great Hall, where Faye had already dismissed the soldiers. The Lady continued on her rounds while Ayu stayed behind with the other Knight.

"You look pale," Faye remarked, glancing up from a book she was reading while waiting.

"I am troubled," Ayu whispered in return. "I am troubled, and I cannot see my Demon."

"Perhaps you are anxious about the prospect of being around so many people? I imagine that you are rather used to the solitude of the medical ward."

"I don't know."

"Or perhaps you are getting ill yourself?" Faye asked, reaching up and touching Ayu's forehead with the palm of her hand. "You do not feel warm, but I know that you have not been resting lately. You ought to go and get some rest before the feast starts."

"Mayhap I will..."

Faye nodded in return, watching Ayu slowly make her way to the medical ward, and her quarters. What she had not told the Knight was that she, too, felt troubled by something that she could not explain. Delight and happiness amongst the people; a night without worry. I should be happy, she thought, but I am frightened.



-++++-


The Rose Knight was certain that he had never run so quickly in his life. He wasn't far from the castle, but he was still traveling on an open road, with little to no cover, so he could not stop; anyone could attack him at any moment. The Knight was usually not prone to such doubts of paranoia, however, after seeing what he had seen, anyone would be panicking.

About two moons earlier, the Lady Serena had noticed that merchants from the town of Tethys were nowhere to be found. Upon having hearing rumors from the other merchants that no one had heard from anyone of Tethys at all recently, she called the Rose Knight and bade him to go to Tethys, to find out what had happened. Tethys was not very close; it was quite the distance from Tethys to Varus. The Knight ended up having to stop at two more towns on his way; Charon and Oberon. While spending the nights in various Taverns, Rosiel asked the patrons and almost everyone he could find of news from Tethys.

Most people didn't know anything. There was no news of merchants being attacked on the highland roads. However, either by over-hearing hushed whispers or sometimes the drunken prattle of men in the Taverns, Rosiel knew about some kind of army. An army that was supposedly made up of corpses and all things terrible. Should he believe it? When Rosiel asked outright, these people told him that they knew nothing - yet when they had no control over themselves, they seemed to know a whole lot. Was it just alcohol loosening the tongue or alcohol twisting it?

In both towns, he couldn't find a single merchant from Tethys. People were reluctant to talk about it. Perhaps these two towns were in a disagreement with Tethys, and didn't want Varus interfering with it. It could be an explanation; Rosiel, who was carrying nothing but his Great Sword (not even his armor!) a small bit of food, and some money for more food and a bed to stay couldn't imagine making a trip from Tethys to Varus without stopping to rest in at least one of the towns in between. These merchants were carrying many, many things, and often had pack animals with them that they had to feed and also let rest.

Likely, if there was a disagreement between the two towns and Tethys, the merchants wouldn't be welcome, and thus, wouldn't be able to travel to Varus.

Rosiel was almost certain that that was what it was.

Until he actually reached Tethys.  

[Angel Rosiel]

Tethys was a large port town. Most goods from all over the world came to the other cities, towns, and castles via Tethys; without the port town, many other towns would be left defenseless, as their soldiers would have nothing to fight with. The King of Tethys, Crius, was thought by many to be a rather greedy man. He placed heavy taxes on all goods coming into the port and out of it. There was rumor that he had so much money from his taxes that the inside walls of his castle were lined with solid gold.

His poor reputation also caused many conflicts with the neighboring towns; no one wanted to pay high prices simply because the king put ridiculous taxes on the items. Tethys already had one major problem with another castle, Dione. Varus ended up interfering, although Rosiel wasn't present when this had happened, so he didn't know what was going on.

When Rosiel could barely see the walls of Tethys he already knew something was wrong. Great pillars of smoke rose from inside the castle walls, though he couldn't see a fire, yet. The Knight also noticed that the grass below him and around him was trampled, as if hundreds of feet marched upon it. He was worried then, and a little voice in his head had told him to turn back and run straight to Varus.

But he had to see what happened. He broke into a run, although his worry intensified the closer he got to the gates and the castle wall. Hundreds of bodies littered the ground. but curiously enough, the gates were closed as if nothing had happened. Upon closer inspection of the bodies, the Knight also noticed that he couldn't tell what killed some of them. He debated digging at least a large grave for them, but that would take too much. Instead, he satisfied himself by crossing himself and reciting a small prayer for the slain.

Upon walking up to the gate, Rosiel couldn't get it to move. Not surprised, he looked for some way to scale the walls. While he was looking, he thought he heard something behind him. Whirling around quickly, he saw nothing. The area around Tethys was a large plain, similar to Varus; there was no where for someone to hide. The vague feeling of unease intensified and he again thought of the soldiers that had died without a single mark on their body. The Knight tried his best to ignore this feeling, and had unsheathed his sword.

It was extremely disrespectful, sometimes to the point of provoking an attack, to enter a town when the gate is closed, but Rosiel had the feeling that no one was going to let him in, welcome or not, so he unfurled his wings and flew up to the top of the wall.

The town of Tethys was devastated completely. Corpses littered the streets; homes and shops were destroyed, some on fire, some looked as if a giant had simply swiped them out of his way. The Galleons that normally occupied the docks were burning, most of them already sunken. From where he was, above, some of the corpses looked curious, but the Knight dare not leave the safety of the wall.

Below him, one of the bodies stirred. Rosiel had smiled a bit; a surviver! It was a young-looking man. He was lying face-down on the ground, his clothing slightly blood-stained and torn. The Knight sheathed his weapon and immediately flew down to help the unfortunate person. He landed beside the man, and knelt down. As soon as he touched the man, the man mumbled something and bit into the Knight's hand. Rosiel yelped, more out of surprise than pain, and tried to withdraw his hand. The man responded by biting down even harder.

He tried to jerk his hand out of the man's mouth and succeeded in flipped his body over. The man's face was a churned mass of blood, muscle, and bits of flesh. It looked as if his face was picked apart by birds.

Rosiel then knew who was making the sounds behind him when he spent his time looking at the gate. He had looked behind him, yes. But he didn't look at the ground, where he likely would have noticed the bodies in different positions than they were when first discovered them.

He had sorely wished he'd listened to the voice when it told him to turn tail and run.  

[Angel Rosiel]

Rosiel smacked the man in the face, cringing at feeling the spongy flesh and muscle beneath his hand. It got the man to release his hand, and the Knight immediately backed up, falling over on his back in his haste to get away from his attacker. The man growled and crawled toward Rosiel, attempting to stand. Before he could, however, the Knight swiftly kicked him in the head, knocking him backwards on his back.

The Rose Knight reached back to draw his sword, but was prevented by a cold hand wrapping around his arm. He could feel something else wrapping around his ankles, pulling him backwards. He tried to move his arm, but the hand that had his arm in its' grasp pulled him back, and he ended up falling backwards. He landed on something soft and squishy. Not wanting to see what it was, he tried to get back up again only to be pulled completely down by a third pair of arms wrapping around his middle and pulling him down. A sudden sharp pain emitted from his right ankle; he supposed he was being bitten there, too. The pain caused tears, and now a fourth pair of hands found their way around his face. Through his tears he could see the man that had gotten him to come off of the wall in the first place get up off of his back and slowly make his way toward the Knight.

Behind the first man, he could see a small group of men and women making their way toward him. Then he couldn't see anything at all because the pair of hands on his face found his eyes and were covering them. Rosiel yelped again when he felt something bite into his neck, and start to tear at his clothes and stomach. He fiercely pushed himself backwards, the sudden movement catching his aggressor by surprised. Repeatedly, he kept bashing the two that he was lying on against the hard ground. At first, he kept hearing meaty thunks. The sixth or seventh time, he heard a crack followed by a splatter of something.

The hands that were on his face, covering his eyes, convulsed and then stiffened. The other that was trying to tear him apart and was munching on his neck, however, was still at it. Rosiel's shoulder was beginning to go numb and he didn't like that he could feel his clothes get sticky with his blood. In a panic he kicked the man that was chewing on his ankle with his other foot so hard that the man's head came off. The spray of blood that resulted hit Rosiel full in the face, and he sputtered as he grabbed the hair of the one biting his neck, and pulled him back, then bashed his head against the floor.

While he had the opportunity, the Knight quickly wretched himself from the other's grip, and flipped himself over, escaping the grasp of this other, and was finally able to draw his Great Sword again. The man who originally tricked the Knight into coming down and the small group behind him were very close. Rosiel swiftly used his sword to cleave the remaining one on the ground in two, and then turned to the small group.

He hastily wiped the blood from his face and instead of attacking tried to get enough ground so that he could fly up the wall and escape. It was difficult because his shoulder was almost completely numb and moving his wings was hurting him. However, he managed to gain enough speed and was able to fly to the top of the wall. Looking down, he noticed that the corpses at the gate were no longer still. They were standing, looking up at him dead and blank eyes. Some of them started to reach for him, their fingers grasping the air. With his injury he couldn't fly anymore, but staying on the wall wasn't an option.

Taking a great risk, the Knight jumped down with his sword drawn, landing on top of one of the former-corpses, completely running it through with his sword. Pulling out his blade with a grunt, the Knight wasted no time. He quickly ran back the way that he came. Rosiel stopped to look back only once, when he was close to the main road. He could see the following him, shambling on the matted grass like so many puppets whose master was still learning to control the strings. The sight of them made him feel sick, and once he had run a short distance ahead to get to some relative safety, then promptly vomited.

Once he was feeling well enough to continue, he ripped apart his shirt to create make-shift bandages, which he applied to his wounded ankle, and neck. His stomach was scratched, but Rosiel didn't think it was too bad, so he didn't bandage it. He used the smaller pieces of his shirt which couldn't be turned into bandages to clean off his blade, and then he sheathed it.

The Rose Knight ran back towards Varus as quickly as he could. The army that he heard of in whispers in the two towns was real. They had turned Tethys into a town filled with the living-dead. Innocent people, robbed of peace to their bodies even after death by some Necromancer.

"Blasphemer!" he growled as he ran. "Heretic, Demon, profane b*****d!"

And that was at least a day ago. It was nightfall, now. The Knight was now nearing the gates of Varus. The wound on his neck hurt terribly, but his shoulder was no longer numb. The wound on his ankle was the one that was worrying him the most. It burned as if it had been set afire, and Rosiel knew that the blood had soaked through the bandage. He could hear his boot sop as he moved, and knew that he was very possibly leaving blood foot-prints in his wake. The Knight hadn't even bothered to stop at any of the other towns. He was partly afraid that they were already being attacked, and he had no desire to repeat his experience at Tethys.

He was also worried that Varus was in the path of this army. That the man whose name he heard whispered as if it were something of legend was coming to destroy his home.

Rosiel saw that he was just in time for the autumn feast; the eastern field was neatly clipped of most of its' flowers, and he could see the smoke from the bonfires. He collapsed at the foot of the gate, groaning. There were few guards stationed if tonight was the celebration. He hoped that Kioskay, the captain of the watch, would be making his rounds soon and find him. He hadn't the strength to go on further.


-+++++-


Ayu was awakened by Faye in her quarters. The Shaman Knight groggily got to her feet and began to make her bed while Faye stood waiting behind her.

"How are you feeling?"

"I still feel uneasy. Except, now, I feel uneasy and I want more sleep," Ayu answered, smiling slightly.

"You didn't sleep very well?" Faye asked, cocking her head to the side.

"No, I didn't," Ayu said, having finished straightening her bed. "I kept dreaming of the castle being devoured in a sea of flames."


-+++++-


Kioskay strolled down the southern field, calmly waving his pike out of boredom. It was almost time for the feast to begin; this was his final around the castle. Strangely, he noticed that the other officers of the night watch seemed jittery. A few of them even took on extra patrols to convince themselves that nothing was wrong.

As far as the Captain of the watch was concerned, nothing was wrong. The cooking fires filled his nose with smells of good food, soon to be had, and the cool autumn air blowing around his face pleasantly. It was hard to imagine anything going wrong on such a pleasant night as this. Kioskay made his way to the eastern field , thinking of all of the food that was waiting for him once he was able to return to the castle. He was going to finish exploring the eastern field, then he would go to the northern field, and enter through the northern gate.

A sudden noise caught his attention. Slowly leveling his pike, the Captain looked around, but could see nothing out of the ordinary. Again, the noise was emitted. It sounded like something was in pain. An injured animal perhaps? Kioskay stood still and listened for the noise again. It was coming from the eastern gate. In the distance, he saw a dark shape lying on the ground. His expression lightened.

"Rosiel, is that you?" he called out. "Are you drunk again? You know Lady Faye will have your head if she catches you coming back drunk one more time."

When Rosiel didn't respond, the Captain slowly made his way to the fallen Knight.

"Too drunk to get up, eh? Rosiel?"

He knelt down and turned the Knight over, then gasped and almost dropped him. Rosiel wasn't wearing his shirt; it was torn and used to make bandages to wrap around his neck. The layer of bandages was thick, but Kioskay could already see that blood was seeping through. There were scratches on the Knight's stomach that looked like they were made by some kind of animal.

"What happened? Were you attacked? Robbed?"

The Knight mumbled something about Tethys that Kioskay couldn't understand. He was examining the Knight for more wounds and he found another bandage around Rosiel's ankle. It was unwinding. The Captain unwound it to re-bandage it tighter when he saw the wound.

It was a bite.

Made by something human, judging by the marks.

Kioskay tightly wrapped what remained of Rosiel's shirt around the wound again and called out to the Watch Officer that was patrolling the top of the wall.

"Aurele! Get the Shaman Knight, Ayu! I've got an injured Knight here!"  

[Angel Rosiel]

Aurele quickly ran to the nearest tower and went down the stairs so quickly, he might have flown. He was told that the Shaman Knight was last seen walking around the castle with the Lady Serena, but that meant that they could be anywhere; the castle was huge. The Watch Officer decided that it would be his best bet to check the medical ward to see if the Knight were there, first.

He vaguely wondered if the Rose Knight was so drunk that he was seriously ill; the Knight didn't have the best of reputations around alcohol. If it was that the level of alcohol in his blood was so toxic that it was killing him, he figured time was of the essence. Taking a deep breath, Aurele forced himself to run all of the way to the medical ward.

Once he reached it, he was very surprised to find no patients at all. It made him glad that there weren't any, though. Aurele saw that Ayu's door was open and peeked inside; He saw the Shaman Knight sitting on her bed, and found the Docent Knight in the door way. He almost ran into her, in fact.

When she saw Aurele enter her room, Ayu stood up. Faye almost backed into the Watch Officer.

"I'm sorry, m'lady," he said.

"It's all right, Officer," Faye said. "Is something wrong?"

"I'm not certain; I was told to get the Shaman Knight to come to the Eastern Gate; Sir Rosiel has returned from his journy from Tethys, and he appears to be injured."

"He better not be drunk off of his a** again," muttered Faye.

Ayu stood up from her bed.

"Could you please take me to him?"  

[Angel Rosiel]

Kioskay stayed by the Knight, wondering where Aurele would come back with Ayu. Since today was the Great Feast, the Shaman Knight might be anywhere.

"So, what happened to you? Must have been one Hell of a bar fight, eh?" Kioskay said, chuckling while he turned the Knight over. "What did you do, try to drink the entire bar without paying for it?"

"No," mumbled Rosiel. "I'm not drunk. I must speak to the Baroness or the Lady Serena."

"Well, I've sent one of the Watch Officers to get Lady Ayu for your... wounds."

Rosiel sat up and leaned against the gate. He knew better than to actually try to stand up. By now, his ankle was larger than it normally was, and the throbbing was more than enough to discourage him. But this was an urgent matter, and if he could run all of the way from Tethys to Varus on that leg, he was probably able to stand. Rosiel grunted and used his good leg to push himself up against the gate. Kioskay helped him up.

"I made it to Tethys," the Rose Knight said, after he got his wind back.

"Oh? So, what happened to those merchants?"

"Well, I'm willing to bet most of them are dead. Some of them probably got eaten by the other good citizens of Tethys, and some of them probably tried to take a chomp out of me."

Kioskay gave the Knight an odd look. He stood closer to him and took a few great sniffs. Rosiel noticed.

"I'm not drunk," he said, stiffly.

"Well, if you are, it's with something that doesn't smell like alcohol."

The Knight had opened his mouth to reply when he felt the gate move behind him; someone was lifting it. He ended up losing his balance and falling forward onto the ground. The fall made his neck start to throb again and sent needles of pain shooting up his leg. He muttered curses into the ground as the Gate opened behind him. In the threshold stood Aurele, followed closely by Ayu and Faye.

Seeing the Rose Knight on the ground, Faye flared up almost at once.

"You got drunk again?"

"No!" Rosiel yelled, muffled, from the ground.

"What happened, Rosiel?" Ayu said, kneeling down beside the fallen Knight, and again turning him over. He tried to sit up, but Ayu gently held him down. "Not until I know what's wrong. Lie still."

"I made it to Tethys. Well, I didn't get there in one run... I stopped at Charon and Oberon first, to see if there were any of the Tethys merchants there, or if anyone knew anything."

"Mmmhmm," Ayu said, encouraging him to speak further while she unwrapped the make-shift bandage that Rosiel used on his neck to examine the wound. Faye stood behind Ayu with her arms crossed and a serious look on her face.

"There weren't any merchants in either of the towns, and you know that the Taverns and - ow, watch it! - pubs are the best places to get information. Yeah, I had a little to drink, but I didn't get drunk! I swear! I stayed for a few days in each of the towns so that the locals didn't think I was a bounty hunter or something, but still, no one would tell me anything. Except for the ones that were drunk off of their - Jesus, watch that, it stings! - asses, and then they made no sense.

When I got to Tethys, though... I found everyone dead. Literally. The Royal Guard and the soldiers were all slain at the gates! I couldn't see what it was that killed them; not a drop of blood was spilled on the ground. I decided to fly up onto the wall and see what had happened to the town. Dead! All of them! The men, the women, the children!" Rosiel was beginning to yell now, the same panic that had pushed him to run from his attackers welling through his body again. He strained against Ayu, who was almost done unraveling the "bandage".

The Docent Knight knelt down on the other side of Rosiel, patting his head and helping Ayu hold him down while she finally got the bandage off. Faye felt the Knight's forehead and withdrew her hand.

"He's fevered."

"I wouldn't be surprised... this is a large wound, it's probably infected," Ayu said, examining the wound on Rosiel's neck. "How did you get this?"

"They bit me," he gasped. "I saw someone stirring below, in the sea of the dead, and I flew down to help them.. and... and they attacked me."

Rosiel held up his hand which the unfortunate man had bitten. Compared to the other two wounds, this one was almost nothing. The flesh was barely cut, and most of the damage was shown as an ugly purple bruise, in the shape of a bite, looking as if something human had done the biting.

"First it was just one of them, the one that attacked me... but then it was all of them! All of them They came from behind me, from in front of me... everywhere. I managed to get away, to fly onto the wall, and the slain Guard was there, too, waiting for me, with their dead grins!"

"He is raving," Aurele said, taking a step back.

Ayu was silent for a moment, and then she turned to Faye. She leaned over, whispering something in the Docent Knight's ear. Faye gently let go of the Rose Knight, stood, then ran back inside of the castle. They could hear her footsteps echoing along the empty grounds.

"Rosiel," Ayu said softly, "You told me that the Royal Guard was slain when you first came to Tethys, but you were wrong?"

"No," he wheezed. "They were dead. I could smell the rotting and the bugs definitely found their dinner. But they were alive, too."

"Dead and alive?"

"Yes!"

The echo of footsteps again; Faye had returned. She carried something green in her hand, though she quickly hid it so that the Rose Knight wouldn't see. Ayu gently laid the Knight on the ground and moved away.

"I need you to calm down. I'll treat your wounds, and we'll find out what happened."

"No! I need to see Lady Serena! There is no time!" he said, trying to stand, again.

Faye wasted no time. She quickly shoved the green herb against the Rose Knight's nose and mouth, and held him still. He struggled in his panic, but gave into the drug; His arms fell limply to his sides.

"Kioskay and Aurele... Can you please take him to the medical ward?"


~******~


Terilen was coming.

Following him was an army of many and an army of none. Some living, others not quite so, all of his soldiers followed him until oblivion. They were armed with every kind of weapon imaginable to man. Swords, blades, knives, daggers, dirks, axes, battle axes, pikes, spears, halberds, bows, crossbows, staves...

And there were many. Hundreds of soldiers, wearing different uniforms.

Why the different uniforms? They were from different cities.

Terilen didn't start out with these soldiers. Oh, no. He collected them.

In his wake he left destruction, but it did not satisfy him. He wanted the castle that everyone spoke of. He wanted to eat from its' fields, to drink from its' wells and the nearby river, and to sit in the throne of the Queen.

He wanted Varus.

Terilen was coming.  

[Angel Rosiel]

The Rose Knight awakened to find himself in a warm bed. He felt that something was tightly woven around his neck, which throbbed lightly, and his ankle, which still felt as if it were on fire. He could smell mint and camphera all around him, but especially around his neck. Rosiel assumed that Ayu had put something on his wounds to disinfect them. He still felt hot and fevered, but it wasn't nearly as bad as it had been before.

The Rose Knight tried to get out of the bed he was in, but he found he could not. Moving the blankets, he found that he was stripped of his uniform, except for a pair of clean trousers, and that someone had tied a rope around his waist and bed, effectively binding him to the bed. His first thought was "What if I need to go to the bathroom?" but that was taken care of when he noticed the bedpan by him.

He tried to loosen the rope just a bit, to see if he could crawl out of it somehow, but it wouldn't budge. He felt a knot of anger well up in him. They were holding him as if he were crazy and dangerous. Did they really believe that what he was saying was a fever dream? Did they think they he bit himself in some weird frenzy of rage? His hand... yes, perhaps. His ankle... possible, but with difficultly, but his neck? No way in Hell.

"What the ******** is this s**t? Someone let me out!"


~*****~


Sitting around a large oaken table in the middle of the Medical ward, unknown to the Rose Knight, were his comrades. The Lady Serena sat at one side of the table, while the Baroness Raine sat on the opposing end. In between them sat the other Knights. All of them were drinking hot tea made by Chibi while discussing Rosiel's return and the information that he brought with him when they heard his shout of obscenities, from one of the patient rooms. Chibi's eyes widened as she put her cup down and stared at the closed door of the room. Whisper-A-Lullaby was so startled that she almost spilled her tea all over her front; she shook her head as she put the cup down on the table, gingerly.

Ayu merely sighed and continued to sip her tea. Faye, who was used to being around the Rose Knight, thus being used to his language, also looked towards the closed door which kept the Rose Knight from her view. The Lady Serena smiled, but said nothing, and finally, the Baroness Raine kept her eyes closed as she enjoyed her tea. Once she was done draining the cup, she put it down on the table and said, "Rosiel's awake."

"I told you it was a bad idea to tie him down like that," Faye remarked, pouring herself more tea.

"He would have snuck out, and would probably be giving us merry Hell right now. Best to let him cool off, and Ayu said she didn't want him walking on that ankle for a while, anyway," Raine replied.

"Shouldn't we at least let him know we're out here?" Whisper-A-Lullaby asked.

"No," Raine and Faye said in unison.

"Ayu," the Lady Serena said, "You were telling us about the wounds on his neck, leg, and hand."

"Yes, m'lady. He was definitely attacked by humanoids, and different ones at that. There's no possible way that he could have created the wounds himself, for not only is the bite on his ankle made by something bigger than he is, but there is no way he could have bitten his own neck.

"When I was removing his clothing to examine him, I also noticed dried maggots around two of the wounds. I checked the wounds themselves, but Rosiel hadn't anything in his wounds. This tells me that he was around the dead. A body that was just in the first stages of decomposition, possibly heated by the warmth of the sun," Ayu's voice trailed off for a moment, but she then regained her composure and continued.

"I also discovered several bruises on his body as well. On his waist, he's 5 scratches as well as a deep bruise that goes from his navel to his stomach. And, on his left arm, there is a bruise that holds the impression of a large hand print, that is clearly human except for one problem."

"What is this problem?" asked the Baroness.

"On what would have been the ring finger, the impression of the finger narrows considerably and the bruising in that area is more severe. In my professional medical opinion... that would result in the lack of soft tissue around the finger."

"Bone," said Faye, taking a sip of her tea.

"The Undead are not a myth," said the Lady Serena, surprising them all, since she was usually silent. "They exist through the evil magics of Necromancy, and possibly other arcane elements not known yet."

"Rosiel did say that the Tethys guards were slain, but also alive." said Ayu.

"Did he mention anything else? Perhaps what he thought the cause was, or what he discovered at any other place he visited?" asked the Baroness.

"He said that he stopped by Charon and Oberon, asked for information in the Taverns," Faye said. "He mentioned that
he was able to get information out of the local drunks, but no one seemed to know anything, otherwise. He said that he couldn't find any of the merchants from Tethys in either town. And that's all, really. I knocked him out afterwards so that Ayu could treat him."

"Once he has calmed down, we should speak to him so that he may tell us what he knows. However, it ought to be before our council, and not just us." said the Lady Serena.

"I think he's all right to talk now," the Baroness said, standing from her seat. "I and Faye can support him. Lady Serena, will you please summon the council for us?"

"But... wait, right now?" Ayu asked, also standing. "He may still be hurt!"

"If he's well enough to have such a sharp tongue, I think he'll be all right to walk to the council. The Baroness Raine and Faye will be able to support him so that he doesn't have to walk on his ankle yet, " said Chibi, nodding.

"Well... all right, I suppose." Ayu replied.

"It is settled. Get the Rose Knight to the Great Hall, and I will summon the council," announced the Lady Serena, also standing. "We will find out what is happening."  

[Angel Rosiel]

The council was easy summoned as most of them were already in the Great Hall, getting ready for the feast. As most of these meetings took place in the Hall, the citizens already there were allowed to witness it as well. A table was set aside for the members of the council to sit, and they gathered at it as the Lady Serena called them. She sat at one of the large table, in between two empty chairs. One of the chairs was obviously for the Baroness Raine, but there was question as to whom the other was for.

On the section of the table that the Knights sat at, one of their chairs was missing, so the crowd had gathered that it was one of them. The Lady Serena had not stated the purpose of the meeting, so the council, and the citizens of Varus anxiously waited to see who would come down to join them. The Baroness Raine came into the Great Hall and sat down beside the Lady.

Up in the chambers, away from the eyes of the citizens, were three of the Knights. For the peace of mind of the Shaman Knight, Raine had allowed Ayu to take her place in escorting Rosiel back to his chambers. She re-dressed all of his wounds, and as she was doing so, she noticed a wound on his shoulder that she had missed before, because she had taken it to be a deep bruise. There was another gnash on his shoulder, very close to his left wing. It had been made by something very thin and sharp, and all of the bruising around it had caused her to miss it... not to mention that she was very tired. She apologized to Rosiel as she was dressing it, with him insisting that it was all right.

"What made that?" asked the Docent Knight.

"No clue," replied the Rose Knight, wincing as Ayu tightened the bandage and fixed it in place. "Maybe one of them had a knife or something. Not too sure, because I'm not certain how smart they were."

After all of his wounds were cleaned and dressed, the two Knights helped him into his armor.

"They're going to think I'm crazy, or that I was drunk," he mumbled.

"There is evidence of your words, and Ayu's medical expertise," Faye replied. "We believe you, and there should be no reason that they won't, lest they be fools... which some are, yes, but there shouldn't be a problem."

"And the Lady Serena will surely support you," said Ayu, fastening the Knight's cloak to him. "There, done! Let's head down, now."


*~~~*


Sitting with the rest of the council, waiting impatiently, was Archaic. He was one of the older councilmen, originally selected when the Lady Serena had been crowned the Queen of Varus castle. He was often viewed as being cold and cunning, though very wise, although, he wasn't much loved by the Knights. He and the Rose Knight were outright hostile to each other, and the Docent Knight barely tolerated him. The rest were civil, though weary.

When the Baroness Raine had taken her seat, he rose with the rest of the council, to be polite, but the look he gave her was anything but. He disliked her almost to the point of hatred. He felt that her position should have been his - he had been with Varus longer, and he felt the he was both wiser and a better diplomat than she was, yet she had the position of Baroness! He was jealous, but he hid it.

To let his feelings show would compromise him, and at the moment he couldn't have that. Archaic looked around impatiently to see what was keeping everything. The Lady was at her place, as was the Baroness, but he was curious as to whom the extra chair was for. The Maternal Knight and Damon Knight were at their seats, but the others weren't there yet, and one of their chairs was actually missing, so it was obvious that one of them was to be seated next to the Lady.

Archaic didn't have to wait long to find out who it was. The three remaining Knights came into the Great Hall. The Docent Knight and the Shaman Knight were supporting the Rose Knight, who was limping because of his ankle. The swelling had gone down slightly, and it now hurt him terribly to put any weight on it. He was very surprised when Faye and Ayu took him to the empty seat next to the Lady. Looking over the council, Rosiel could see Archaic glaring at him, as usual. The others looked puzzled and politely waited.

After the two Knights took their seats, the Lady Serena stood.

"As I believe many of you have noticed, merchants from Tethys have disappeared from our castle. I sent Rosiel to investigate the source of this problem a moon ago, and tonight he has returned to us, bearing news of the merchants and the city of Tethys itself. And the news may be terrible for us. I will let him explain what he has seen..."

The Lady motioned to the Rose Knight and sat down. He used the table to support his weight as he stood, and there were some whispers in the crowd. There were a few pieces of his armor missing for the purpose of showing his wounds. He waited patiently until all of the whispering had stopped before he started.

"As you all know, the Lady Serena sent me to Tethys to find out why their merchants haven't been seen. On the way to Tethys, I've rested at Oberon and Charon because, as you know, Tethys is quite far. Both in Oberon and Charon, I didn't see a single merchant from Tethys, and this got me curious. I asked around both towns, and no one see to know anything at all, so I thought I'd try my luck at the taverns and pubs while I rested..."

"And you wanted to sample the local ale, too!" someone called out from the crowd. There were a few sniggers. Rosiel took a deep breath and waited for them to subside before he continued.

"I was able to get information out of some of the patrons, but I questioned it considering that they were intoxicated. When I finally reached Tethys, I found that the entire city guard had been slain. They lay before the gate."

The Rose Knight stopped speaking, as a number of whispers started circulating the room at his words. He didn't wait for them to stop before continuing, though; he was sure he had their attention.

"I remembered what the people in the pubs and taverns had said in their hushed voices.. and I kept it in mind, though I didn't believe it. What they said was the cause of this... what, and whom. The gates to Tethys were closed. They were not splinted, or burned, or scarred in anyway. And the bodies of the soldiers... many of them had not a mark on them. I needed to find out what was wrong... so I flew up the onto the wall, and below, I saw the city."

Rosiel stopped, took another deep breath, and looked at the council. There were no murmurs or whispers now; everyone was looking intently at him. Once he found he words that he wanted, he spoke again to dead silence.

"The men, women, and children of Tethys were... slain beneath my feet. The streets were covered in their bodies... and as I was looking, I saw someone move below. Of course, I immediately went to assist him... and I was attacked by the very man that I had wanted to help."

"Why did he attack you?" someone else called. "Thought you were an enemy?"

"I... don't know why they attack. He was dead - he had to be. Hard to live with more than half of your face ripped off... but he was living at the same time. As were the others, that I had thought to be... completely dead."

"Are you sure that you weren't drunk, Knight? Because it sounds like you were," said Archaic in his harsh bark. "If you're seeing such things as that, you shouldn't touch the drink for a long while, as it may have affected your brain." Laughter greeted his words. Rosiel ground his teeth together, looking down at the table rather than out at the crowd. He felt anger boil inside of him, and looked for something that he could bring his attention to so he could calm down.

He looked over at the table where his fellow Knights were sitting. Chibi was looking at Archaic with one brow raised and her eyes partially closed, while she played with the handle of her war hammer. Faye was openly scowling at him, both of her hands were clenched into fists. Ayu was frowning at him, with her arms folded across her chest, and finally, the Whisper was looking at Rosiel. There was a slight red tinge on her cheeks; he supposed that she was feeling sorry for him.

Instead of calming him, this made his anger rise even more, but he bit his lip. He didn't want to lose control, not if he wanted these people to believe him. But Archaic didn't seem to be satisfied.

"You said that the people in Oberon and Charon told you who was behind this, Knight? So, who was it?"

"They told me it was Terilen," Rosiel replied quietly. This caused a ruckus, and suddenly the Hall was filled with whispers.

"Oh, of course, you're an Angel!"

"That's right, give a Demon a bad name!"

Rosiel swore that he could feel steam coming off of him, and wondered if the fever had actually risen because of his anger, but before he could say or do anything, the Baroness stood. She slammed her first on the table and roared, "Enough!"

Everyone suddenly got very, very quiet. The Rose Knight sat down, looking over at Raine in wonder and awe; he'd never seen her this angry before.

"I never thought I would live to see the council of Varus behave like a group of spoiled brats, sitting there giggling and laughing like babes! Rosiel is a Knight, your Knight, and you will treat him with respect! He is telling the truth... I have my word behind him, as does the Lady Serena! Do you doubt your Queen?"

Silence greeted her words.

"That's what I thought," she said, still fuming. "Rosiel, please continue..."

She sat down, glowering at the council, and Rosiel stood again, audibly grunting as he accidently shifted his weight to his hurt ankle.

"Ah... I was being attacked. This may sound silly, and I assure you that I am not lying, nor was I drunk. I was completely sound of mind, as I am now... the closest thing that I could come up with to call these creatures is... a zombie. The undead. And... uh... " Rosiel had turned to Ayu, motioning to her. "The evidence is in my injuries... injuries that I could not have caused myself... and injuries that were clearly not made by animals. The Shaman Knight can explain them to you and if need be..." he lightly touched the bandage that was wound around his neck, "I can also show you."

Ayu nodded and stood, then moved behind the Rose Knight. She unwound the bandage on Rosiel's neck, and a few of those closer to him gasped when the bite was reveled.

"This," she said, lightly touching the bruised skin next to the bite, "was caused by a humanoid. You can see the pattern that the bites, and I'm sure more than enough of you have seen yourself or your child take a bite out of something, so you know what this is... when he was first examined, he had maggots around this, and several other wounds.

"I don't need to explain to you where maggots are found, or how he would have gotten them... the undead are real. It's not some story to scare small children. They exist..."

"And," Rosiel said, softly, "If what I was told goes with what I have heard, there's an entire army of them heading towards us."  

[Angel Rosiel]

tunned silence greeted them from the council and the citizens. The Lady Serena took that as an opportunity to speak.

"If they are coming to us," she said as she stood, "then we will be waiting for them. But they will not come tonight... and tonight is our feast! If we let our enemy take all of that which brings us joy, then they need not even fight with us to have won. The food will shortly be put on the table.

Come! Let us enjoy our feast!"

Ayu gently touched Rosiel's shoulder as people began to move about and talk, and whispered in his ear, "Come to the medical ward - I want to give you a fresh dressing for your neck, and I haven't an extra bandage with me."

Rosiel wasn't too keen to be moving on his injured leg, so he shook his head and whispered in return, "You've still got the one you just took off of me..."

"Absolutely not! You need a fresh dressing, and that was just for you to not have an open wound! I didn't get a chance to apply any ointment to it."

"But, Ayu..." Rosiel whined.

"Whatever it is," Raine said as she had gotten out of her seat on her way to the kitchens to help bring the food, "I'm sure she wasn't asking for your opinion, so shut it."

Without waiting for an answer, Raine walked off, smiling and humming to herself.

"What the Hell...?"

"You heard her," Ayu said, also smiling despite the worry nagging at her, and offered her arm to the Rose Knight. "She said that your opinion didn't matter, so let's go... besides, " -she dropped her voice to a whisper again- "there are some things that I want to talk to you about in private."

Rosiel frowned.

"Well, all right, but take it slow, this really hurts."

He took her arm, and leaned against her as they made their way across the Great Hall, and went outside. The air had gotten much cooler than it was before, although it may have seemed humid because he had been running for kilometers and kilometers*. When they had reached the outside of the medical ward, Ayu suddenly stopped. She was staring at the tapestry which hung on the wall. It was white with a bright red border and a red cross in the middle. Her mouth was slightly ajar, and the Rose Knight had noticed that she had begun to tremble.

"Ayu?"

No response. Her eyes had gone wide with fear, and her skin had gotten clammy. Rosiel thought that perhaps she had seen one of them, but he didn't have his sword with him; they'd left it in his quarters. Instead, the Knight raised a fist, but he couldn't see anything around them at all, nor hear anything, and Ayu's gaze had not shifted from the tapestry.

"Ayu," he said again, this time more loudly and firmly. He looked into her eyes, totally confused. There was an odd orange-colored glow in them, and he looked around again. He couldn't find anything that would have produced this glow. There weren't any lit torches adorning the wall to the medical ward; they weren't needed for the moon shining down on them.

"Ayu!" Rosiel said, this time grabbing the other Knight by the shoulder and shaking her. This seemed to work. She blinked at him, the orange glow disappeared from her eyes, and she closed her mouth.

"What happened, Ayu?"

"Fire... everything was on fire," she mumbled, placing her hand on her forehead.

"Um... Ayu, where is the fire? I don't see a fire and..." -Rosiel paused, taking a great sniff- "I can't smell any smoke."

"I... nevermind... let's just go get you that bandage..."

"Are you feeling all right? Perhaps you need-"

"I don't need rest," she replied, cutting him off.

"If you're sure," he said softly, leaning on her again.

She opened the door to the medical ward and helped Rosiel inside. Guiding him to a wooden chair, she had him sit down while she prepared a fresh bandage for him. Rosiel looked around while he waited. The clean bed that Ayu used to sleep on caught his attention. It reminded him that he was hurt, hungry, and still exhausted. He sighed and fought the sudden urge to just drop off to sleep.

The Shaman Knight had taken a bolt of white cloth and was now cutting small ribbons of it. She looked up and noticed that he was starting to nod off.

"Perhaps it is you that needs to rest?" she asked, cutting more ribbons.

"And miss all of that food? Woman, why do you think I came back?"

"You're terrible," she replied, smiling again. "I'll just be a second. I'm going to get some water to clean the wound again."

"You're fussing over me too much."

"Too much is better than not enough," she said, picking up a small glass bowl and stepping outside of the ward, walking toward one of the wells, with the door shutting behind her. Rosiel unbuckled the clasps that held his gauntlets to him and lightly touched his own forehead. It still felt very hot to him, and he felt a chill suddenly, as if someone was watching him. He quickly whirled around, expecting to see something behind him.

There was nothing there. His heart was hammering in his chest, and his breath was now coming out in short little bursts. He had felt this scared when he was at Tethys, when he saw them start to move and come after him. Was one of them here? Here, in the ward? He suddenly became more aware. There were a few torches which provided light, and several lanterns on the tables. Every shadow became a prowling monster, every breath of wind a snarl.

"How am I going to be able to sleep at night?" Rosiel muttered to himself.

At that moment, Ayu opened the door, carrying her bowl of water. Rosiel yelped, unfurled his wings, and they immediately went their fuzzy, poofy state. He jumped in surprise, and toppled off of the table. There was a dull clunk as he struck the stone floor.

"Ow."

"Are you all right?!" Ayu said as she quickly put the bowl on the table and knelt down beside him.

"You just startled me," he mumbled, taking Ayu's hand, as she helped him up. She took one of the pieces of cloth she had cut up, dipped it in the bowl, and pressed it against the bite on Rosiel's neck. The water felt pleasantly cool against his swollen and bruised skin, pleasant to the point that he barely felt the stinging.

"It's going to need some herbs if we want to stop that swelling, although it will hurt you terribly tomorrow, and I'm worried that you'll get very sick..."

"I'm sure that I'll be fine. I'll get plenty of rest, I promise."

"Will you be able to sleep all right...?"

"I... am not sure. Perhaps.. if... er... is there something you can give me to... um... help me along?"

"Yes, I'll give you something to eat. Just come with me after the feast and I'll give you some herbs."

"Thank you," he replied, folding his wings again as Ayu crushed some dried herbs, mixed them with some water, and applied this mixture to a new piece of cloth.

"... was it horrible?" she asked.

"Was what horrible?"

"Them. Those things. Seeing all of those poor people."

Rosiel didn't reply.

"I'm sorry... I shouldn't have-"

"It's all right... it was..." -he paused, looking thoughtful- "I don't know if there are words for that feeling.. it was horrible, yes... but horrible sounds too weak. It was suffocating, drowning... I don't know..."

"No, it's ok... please."

"... you said that there was something you wanted to talk about, privately?" Rosiel asked, sliding off of the table, standing on one leg, then gingerly putting the other down.

"Oh... yes..." Ayu mused, folding her arms across her chest again after putting the extra pieces of cloth away. "There was a man that had come here, looking for you, while you were gone. He was a tall man, another Angel."

"Another Angel... what did he want?"

"He just asked about you, wanted to talk to you. Didn't say about what."

"His name? What did he look like?"

"He was pale, but that's a typical Angel. Short silver hair, silver eyes, too - those were stunning. His eyes. Felt like I could look at them forever. He had a large bow with him," she giggled softly. "It would have made Faye jealous. But... he didn't say his name."

"It's him..." Rosiel gasped. "Where did he go? Did he say if he would be staying?"

"I don't know... I assume he's staying at one of our taverns, if he's still here. Who is it, Rosiel...?"

"It's... uh... don't worry about it," Rosiel mumbled, turning away, feeling his face go slightly red. He was certain that he knew who it was, but didn't want to say anything.

"Hmm..." Ayu looked at Rosiel for a little while longer, but decided not to press it. "Well, that's all that I wanted. If you really insist on getting back to the feast, we should be making our way back now, though I'd rather you rest."

"Food first, sleep later. You should know me by now," Rosiel said, holding out his hand.


*~~~~~~~*


The master chef, Surreal, was glad that Lady Serena had decided to go on with the feast anyway. She and her crew had spent days gather the harvests and crops, as well as all day to prepare the food. There were many different dishes, hundreds to choose from. She vaguely wondered if the people would actually enjoy the food, though. It was hard to enjoy a good meal when you're worried about an army of zombies coming to rip everything apart.

She helped Raine and Faye supervise the placing of all of the different dishes at each table. People passing by her would always complement her on the looks of the dishes and how they smelled wonderful, but she hardly noticed their comments. Some of them sounded forced, like the people were trying to not think about what was happening...

... but it was hard to not think about it. Surreal hadn't been in Varus for too long, but she had grown to love the place. She'd recently had her home built inside of the castle walls, she'd grown used to the busy town streets, to the laughter of the children from Whisper-A-Lullaby's orphanage, which was next to her home. Surreal didn't want to imagine a whole army of the undead, the creatures of darkness and nightmare, trampling all of that.

Her life.

So she concentrated on her food, and on the feast. On the light.

* 1 mile is about 1.6 kilometers - "Fun Fact"  

[Angel Rosiel]

Rosiel and Ayu slowly made their way back to the Great Hall, and upon entering it, found everyone bustling to and fro, many people carrying dishes of food to the tables. Ayu helped Rosiel to the table where the Knights sit. His chair had been moved back to its' normal place; not because he wasn't welcome next to the Lady and the Baroness, but more because he would put up a fuss if he were not moved back. Once she made sure that he was seated, Ayu ran off to help with the food.

Rosiel looked around on the table. There was a lot of food, and to his pleasure, a lot of flasks filled with various types of alcohol, and other sorts of drink. He took one of the flasks with red wine and poured himself a drink. Two tables over, he could see Whisper-A-Lullaby ushering the children from her orphanage to the tables and fussing over them. He smiled, and raised his glass to them, but before he could take even a sip of his drink, a stern voice cut across him, and he almost spilled his drink.

"What the Hell do you think you're doing?" he heard Chibi say behind him. Sheepishly, he set the glass down on the table and turned around in his seat as much as he could. Standing behind him was Chibi, with her arms crossed, and behind her was Faye, giving him a look that could kill.

"I'm thirsty," he said in his best 'Who, me?' voice.

"Cut that out," Faye said, sitting down next to him. "We don't have enough cheese in our larders to go with your whine."

"You're not supposed to be drinking, Raine'll kill you," said Chibi, also taking a seat beside him.

"If she doesn't, we will."

"So, you may want to have some water instead," Chibi said, offering him another flask, filled with cold water.

Rosiel was speechless.

Faye took his glass of wine, drank it off herself, and then Chibi poured water from the flask in it. She then handed the glass to Rosiel, who was still looking back and forth between the two of them, flabbergasted. After a few moments, he decided that it was safer to just not say anything and drink the water. He sat in his seat, sipping the water, still glancing at the two other Knights. Chibi grinned, and Faye actually laughed.

"How are you feeling?" Faye asked. "What did Ayu say?"

"I'm a bit sore all over, and Ayu's afraid I've got an infection, but I'll probably live," he said between sips.

"That's good," Chibi giggled. "We need someone to wash the dishes after all of this is over."

Rosiel almost choked on his water.

"What?" he croaked.

"I'm just kidding."

Rosiel shook his head, but didn't reply. People had now begun to take their seats around them; all of the food was on the tables. Chibi moved one more seat over, as she was in Ayu's seat, and Faye stayed where she was. Soon, Whisper-A-Lullaby took her seat next to Faye. She was followed by the Baroness and Lady Serena, who took their seats at one end of the table. Once everyone was seated, the Chef, Surreal, stood up and made her way to the table that the Knights and the Queen sat at. Following her, several people carried a large roast goose, and set it before the Lady.

"I present to the people of Varus, and to the Lady Serena one of my finest dishes," she said. "A roast goose, but not a normal goose! No, this is one that was provided to us by the Angels.. and now, may the Lady have the first taste!"

Surreal cut a piece of the goose, and handed the Lady her fork, watching her anxiously. The Lady took the piece of meat, and put it in her mouth, closing her eyes as she chewed. After a few moments, she opened them again, and smiled.

"Excellent! Superb! I haven't tasted something this good in a very long while."

Surreal smiled in return. There was a great cheer that came from the people, and the loud glassy ding as people brought their glasses together. The feast had begun.  

[Angel Rosiel]

There were so many different dishes that the Rose Knight didn't know where to start. He took small bits of everything, and was going to pour some wine for himself, finally, but then thought better of it. He looked around to see what the others were doing. The Lady Serena was in a heated conversation with Archaic, barely having time to touch her food. He couldn't hear what they were talking about, but Archaic glanced at him several times, giving him a loathing look, so he guessed that he was at least some part of the topic.

Next to him, Faye was eating her food, also watching the Lady and Archaic. She occasionally glanced around the Hall, but her gaze always returned to the pair.

"b*****d," she muttered, and continued to eat.

Chibi and Ayu were talking amongst themselves in hushed tones, though occasionally, Ayu would glance at someone in the Hall, standing in the distance. His curiosity was piqued and he tried to follow her gaze. He was standing there, at the very entrance, looking directly at the Rose Knight. Rosiel put his glass down and stood. Ayu and Chibi looked at him.

"Are you going to go to him?"

Rosiel didn't answer her. He didn't know if he should go to him or not. But, before Rosiel could do anything, the other Angel turned and walked out of the Great Hall.

"Wait," Rosiel shouted, holding out his hand. Then he withdrew it. Everyone from his table was looking at him. He felt his face go red, and sat back down. Faye nudged him.

"What was that all about?" she whispered. "That guy's been staring at you forever."

"He's... someone that I haven't seen for a long time. And... wait, you knew? Why didn't you say anything?"

"Heh... how do I know you wouldn't have up and grabbed your sword, then cut the guy into pieces? I don't know why he was staring at you."

Rosiel sighed. "Well... I suppose I'll see him later... I hope..."

Faye gave him the same look that Ayu had given him before, but like Ayu, she also didn't push it. But, throughout the night, she kept her eye on him. As did Ayu. Rosiel continued to eat, and smile, but it was obviously so forced. The Baroness had gone over to Whisper-A-Lullaby to see the children. When she came back to her seat by the Lady, Whisper and the children had followed her. And then they noticed the Rose Knight - and his wings.

"What's that?"

"Huh?" Rosiel immediately sat up straight... and then let out a high-pitched whine as a little boy went over to his wings and plucked a feather. Tears began to well up in his eyes, and he turned to the boy, whining.

"Wow, mister! S'fuzzy," he said, as he turned to his friends to show him the down feather he'd gotten. The rest of the children squealed and gathered around Rosiel. He quickly stood and folded his wings tightly to his back, whining at them, and wincing as he put weight on his hurt leg. Raine cocked her head to the side, not having see the boy pull out a feather, but Whisper saw. She rushed over to him, and took the feather.

"No, no, don't pull out his feathers! You'll hurt him!"

Rosiel whined again, and Whisper gave him back his feather. Raine and Faye giggled, while Chibi just stared. Ayu sighed.

The little boy apologized, and then his face seemed to brighten up.

"Hey, mister, maybe we can take some tar and put it back?"

"Fu--"

"Rosiel, langauge," Raine said.

"--uuubbbpth... uh... no.. that's a bad idea. That'll hurt more... uh... here..." Rosiel said, offering him the feather. "Why don't you keep this? For good luck, ok?"

"Really?"

"Yeah..." he said, sitting down again, then turning to look at the children again in his seat. "It's an Angel's feather, so it's holy." The boy grinned and took the feather back to the table they were all sitting at, followed by the other children. Whisper mouthed, "Thank you" and went with them. The Baroness took her seat next to the Lady, who was still speaking to Archaic. Upon her sitting down, however, Archaic decided to drop his conversation with the Lady, and return to his seat.

The Lady Serena then engaged in a conversation with Raine, both of them speaking in hushed voices. Rosiel decided that he wasn't really hungry, and he was certain that some of the food would be left-over for tomorrow. Chibi had gone with Faye to go feed her fish, both of them chatting animately. People everywhere were talking and laughing. It was giving him a headache. Ayu was sitting beside him, looking at him.

"Are you tired?" he asked her.

"Not particularly, but I wouldn't mind some sleep. Why?"

"Can you help me get to the medical ward?"

"Certainly... you'll be spending the night there?"

"... yes."

"All right, let's go... but you'll eat something in the morning, right?" she asked, motioning to his mostly full plate.

"Yes, of course," Rosiel replied, holding out his hand. Ayu took it, and helped him up. She first helped him get over to the Baroness and the Lady. When they approached, the both of them stopped talking.

"You're heading off to rest?" asked the Lady.

"Yes, m'lady. Rosiel is exhasted, I'm sure, and I'm just not feeling myself. I apologize."

"No need. Please, rest much... and Rosiel, when you're awake and you've had breakfast, please seek me out. I have another mission for you - but only if you're well enough to go. If Ayu says that you aren't, I'll need to send another Knight, because this cannot wait."

"I'll be fine!" Rosiel said, looking flustered.

"We'll have to see tomorrow," said Raine. "Goodnight, you two, and sleep well."

Ayu and Rosiel bade them goodnight in return, and again, made their way across the Hall and outside. The fresh cold air and the silence felt good to the Rose Knight. The moon was still out, although, the sky looked slightly lighter. He could see the guard still patrolling the castle walls. Standing close to the eastern gate was a man - no, an Angel. It was him. Ayu looked at Rosiel.

"Do you want to go to him, now?"

Again, as before, Rosiel did not reply. After a while, he shrugged, and looked down at his feet. The Angel turned around, and looked at the both of them. He didn't say anything, but he drew his bow and knocked an arrow. He drew back the bowstring, and let it loose. The arrow whistled through the air, and landed right next to the Rose Knight. Then, he turned on his heel, and left through the gate.

Ayu raised a fist, "What was that?"

"Nothing..." Rosiel said, bending over to pick up the arrow, grimacing because of his leg. He picked it up, and held it to his chest. Ayu raised a brow, but didn't say anything. She simply continued to lead Rosiel to the medical ward. Once there, Rosiel was shocked to see that it was completely dark inside. He stopped.

"I didn't anticipate returning from the feast until morning, so I blew out the torches and lanterns," Ayu said quietly. "That's ok, though, I've got this..." she said, reaching inside and pulling out a lantern. She opened the small glass door on the lantern and held it out to Rosiel.

"Can you do the honor?"

Rosiel reached out, and extended his ring finger. He touched the wick of the lantern, and it was suddenly alight. He withdrew his hand. Ayu closed the small door, and held it out in front of her. They went over to the torches, and Rosiel lit one the same way. He then used to light to light the other few torches, lanterns, and sconces that weren't lit before. Then, he returned the torch to it's place while Ayu placed the lantern by its' place by the door.

"You like it light?" she asked.

"I... I just like to see everything," Rosiel mumbled.

"I see... well, where do you want to sleep?"

"Where will you be sleeping?"

"Um... my bed is right here," Ayu said, pointing to her bed. "So, I'll be sleeping here. Did you want to sleep there? I can find another bed--"

"No, I'll sleep right here. Just get me some blankets and pillows and I'll be right at home," Rosiel said, pointing to the spot next to Ayu's bed, on the floor. Ayu stared at him, looking confused. Rosiel stared back.

"Er... you probably don't want to get all of that dirty, eh? Well, that's ok. I'll sleep without them."

"No, no... that's perfectly fine. I just thought... you don't want a bed?"

"The patient rooms only fit one person, unless we were to sleep in the same bed."

"I don't under-- ah... all right. I'll go get you some pillows and blankets."

Rosiel nodded, and sat down on the floor, waiting. He was blushing slightly, ashamed. While he waited, he played with the arrow that the other Angel had shot. The shaft was made of a dark brown wood, and the tip was silver. Small crosses were etched into the silver, and the shaft had many different verses etched into it as well. The feathers were dyed silver, like the tip, though Rosiel couldn't tell what they came from. He hugged it to his chest and closed his eyes.

Ayu went around the patient rooms and gathered up a few pillows and lots of blankets for the Rose Knight. She had figured out why he wanted to sleep near her, and why he lit everything he could. He was simply afraid. Not that she blamed him. She had no idea what he had seen at Tethys, but it was more than likely disturbing...

He just didn't want to admit that he was scared. In a way, it was kind of cute. One she had enough blankets, she returned to him. He was sitting on the floor, learning against the wall with his eyes closed. Thinking that the Knight had already fallen asleep, she began to layout his make-shift bed as silently as she could, pondering how she'd remove his armor without waking him. When she had finished laying out his bed, she looked at Rosiel again and found that he wasn't sleeping at all. He was watching her intently.

"I thought you were sleeping," she said, softly. "Will this be ok?"

"It'll be fine," he replied, starting to undo the straps that held his armor together. Ayu went over to help him, and when he had all of it off, neatly put it on the nearest table. When she was helping him get to the bed, Ayu noticed that he was clutching his chest.

"Are you all right?" she asked.

"Huh?"

"Your chest."

"Ah."

He held out the arrow to her.

"It's just this. My chest doesn't hurt," he said, placing the arrow by his "bed".

"I see," she said. "Well, wait here. I'm going to change, and mix up that herb to help you sleep. If you wake up because something is hurting you, especially your neck or your leg, wake me up so I can have a look at it."

"I will."

The Shaman Knight went to where she kept her various medicinal herbs. Once she found the ones she wanted, she put some of each inside of a pestal, then ground them all together with a mortar. Once she was satisfied, she poured the contents of the pestal into a flask of water, and added several more liquids. Since the mixture needed to sit, Ayu decided to go change while it was sitting. She grabbed her night clothing and went into one of the patient rooms to change.

Once she had changed, she went back out and picked up the flask. The Rose Knight was looking at her sleepily, playing with that arrow again. When she knelt down beside him, he put it down.

"This doesn't taste very good, so hold your nose, and try to drink it all in one gulp. Putting things to sweeten it would render it useless, so I'm afraid I cannot do that."

"All right. Give it here."

Rosiel accepted the flask, holding it in front of him. He shook it a little bit, watching the contents swish around. They were a transparent emerald green. Telling himself that it was mint, he pinched his nose, and then drank the entire thing in one gulp. There were no words to describe the taste, but it burned like fire going down. He coughed, and hurriedly put the flask down before he flung it.

"Ugh," he groaned. "Piss."

"I told you it wouldn't taste like something you'd like."

"Didn't think it was this bad."

"Do you want some water?"

"No, it's all right... you ought to get to bed. I'm already running you as it is."

"It's fine. I've taken that myself, so I know it tastes horrible."

The Shaman Knight took the flask and placed it on a table, and them climbed into her bed. Rosiel had already closed his eyes, and turned on his side. She watched him for a while, only closing her own eyes when she heard that his breathing had become slow and deep.  

[Angel Rosiel]

Faye and Chibi had seen Rosiel and Ayu leave the Great Hall. They had also seen the stranger draw his bow, and shoot at Rosiel. Chibi had gotten ready to attack him, but Faye stopped her. She was watching him carefully - and she knew that he hadn't missed. She assumed that some sort of message was attached to the arrow, or perhaps his action held some kind of meaning for the Rose Knight.

Whatever it was, it obviously wasn't their business. The stranger left after shooting the arrow, and the two other Knights made their way to the medical ward. Chibi and Faye reached Chibi's fish pond in silence. Faye sat down by it, watching the various fish swimming while Chibi went and got their food. When Chibi returned, Faye noticed the war hammer attached to her belt.

"Do you always carry that around with you?" she asked.

"Never know when it's going to come in handy. Besides - between you and me, this thing makes me look tougher than I really am," Chibi replied, winking. "Wanna help me feed them?"

"Sure," Faye said, standing up, and walking over to the Damon Knight. Chibi had a sack filled with small bits of some kind of dried plant. She poured some into Faye's hands, then put the sack down on the floor, and then grabbed a handful of the stuff, then started to sprinkle it along the water.

"Get the other side," she said, scanning the water. "I want to make sure Marco gets his share first, so that he'll let the little ones eat, too."

"Who?" asked Faye, moving over to the other side of the pond, watching Chibi sprinkle the food, then copying her.

"Marco," Chibi said, smiling and pointing a very large yellow-red oval that had appeared on Faye's end of the pond. The yellow-red oval got large and large, until a rather large fish popped its' head out of the water, then swam a little under to eat the food.

"Damn, he's huge."

"Isn't he cute? If he gets close to the edge of the pond, he might let you pet him."

"What kind of fish is he?" Faye asked, edging close to the water to pet Marco.

"He's a Red Drum fish... oh, when you pet him, he might nibble on your hand a bit. It won't hurt you - tickles, actually."

Faye was about to stretch out her hand to pet Marco when she thought she heard something behind her. She slowly turned around, and saw the silhouette of a man in standing in the street, with the moon behind him. He was standing at an odd angle, and the noise she heard was him shuffling around. Chibi hadn't noticing him; she was still busy feeding her fish. Faye stood, silently watching him.

Faye's first thought that perhaps it was a drunken citizen, trying to find his way home, but she ruled that out as soon as the man turned to face her, and she could see that a part of his head seemed to be caved in. She immediately knelt down and started frantically waving her hands to Chibi. Chibi noticed her, and also knelt down when she saw that Faye had done so. Moving as quietly as she could, she slowly made her way to the Docent Knight.

"What is it?" she whispered.

"Look," Faye whispered back, pointing to the man.

"Ugh, what happened to his head?"

"I don't know... but I think one of Rosiel's friends followed him home."

"Should we attack... or get closer to see what he's up to?"

"Let's see what he's doing... I want to know how he got past the gates and the watchmen."

Faye motioned for Chibi to follow her, and still crouching, she slowly made her way up the moon-lit street. Chibi followed her, taking her heavy war hammer out of her belt and slinging it over her back, ready to attack at a moments notice. Faye darted behind a building, and went around it. Both Knights appeared directly behind the man, and considerably closer. They could now make out the details of his body.

He was wearing bits and pieces of a dark armor that looked like it was made of leather. He had a few small bags attached to his belt, and he was carrying a satchel. Whatever he was wearing, it wasn't covering his arms, which didn't seem to have any flesh on them from the elbow down. It looked like he was hit by a rock on the side of his head, which was likely the cause of the caved-in skull. Everyone once in a while, he would give off a dry-sounding grunt and shift around again.

As Faye and Chibi were about to move again, they heard another grunt answer him. Soon enough, another one came to join the first, shuffling excitedly.

"Oh, s**t," Faye whispered. "There's two of them."

"There could be more. What should we do?"

"We need to get back to the Great Hall, find Kioskay, and have him alert the entire Watch. We can't take these out, because we don't know how many of them there are, and I really don't feel like being a part of tonight's menu."

But, before Chibi could reply, both of them heard a growl behind them that sent shivers up their spines. Chibi instantly whirled around to find that a third one was directly behind them. He was missing one of his eyes and his jaw entirely. When he saw them, he gave a loud howl, and jumped on Faye. Faye allowed herself to fall, and then used the force she obtained from it to first pull him close to her, and then kick him off and over her. Chibi quickly swung her hammer, hitting him in head with such a force that it rolled off. The body shivered, then fell in a heap.

Faye quickly regained herself, and looked back into the street where they had originally seen the first one. She saw one of them lurching toward them, the one that the first one had called. The one with the caved-in head was actually running in a different direction.

"Chibi, one's coming"

"I see him. Come on, ******** and Chibi both charged at him, with Faye running up to him, and then sliding and kicking him behind his knees, forcing him to fall face-first onto the ground. Chibi ran up behind her, raised her war hammer, and brought it down on the back of his neck. He gurgled, twitched, then stopped moving.

"Where did the other one go?" she asked, panting.

"I don't know, but where the Hell is the Watch? They've still got to have a few men patrolling. But... let's see who these guys are, first."

Chibi used the head of her hammer to turn the man over. Faye knelt down and took his satchel off, opened it, poured out the contents, then examined them.

"Compass, stylus, maps... these are scouts."

"Tethys scouts, to be exact," Chibi said, pointing at the scout's tabard. It was a a royal blue color with a golden yellow border, and it had the picture of a golden yellow anchor with a sword crossing it.

"This is really bad," Faye whispered. "Is the other one Tethys too?"

"Yes," Chibi replied, checking the other's tabard as well. "He's got a rope on him, this one. Maybe they got over the wall?"

"Makes sense. Three of them could easily over-power a watchman."

"Are there more of them?"

"Probably not, if they're scouts. They'll be sent here in groups of three usually, four at the most. We just need to find the one that ran away, and we'll have killed them all."

"We're near the south gate. These guys probably got over the wall here. Maybe the other one ran away there?"

"We can check the south wall before we go back to the Great Hall, then. Let's go."

Chibi and Faye slowly made their way to the south gate, sneaking behind buildings, and constantly checking behind themselves. Upon reaching the south gate, they found that the street was stained with blood. Following the trail, they discovered the body of a watchman, partially dragged behind a small gatehouse.

"Poor guy," Chibi said. "They practically bit his head off."

"Listen... stay here with him. Another watchman will surely come by, and maybe if that one decides to make his escape here, you can catch him. I'm going to the Great Hall."

"All right. Watch your back... and here, take this. Won't be good for you if you run into that guy unarmed," Chibi said, handing Faye the pike that the was formally the watchman's.

"I'll do my best," Faye replied, taking the pike, and sneaking off again.

The Damon Knight knelt down to examine the slain watchman more closely. The man had died with his eyes open, so she bent over and closed them. She then took his cape and covered his body with it. Feeling that she'd done all she could at the moment, Chibi leaned against the wall, scanning the horizon. She could see the glow of the torches, but most noticeable was the moon illuminating the medical ward.

Wait, she thought. The medical ward? That's the most obvious place out of them all, from this angle. What if he ran in there...? With Rosiel and Ayu... who are both probably sleeping...

Feeling slightly panicked, Chibi moved away from the wall, and pondered her situation. Should she stay where she was, or run to the medical ward, in the hopes that she would reach it in time? While she was thinking, she wasn't paying attention to much else. What she didn't notice was that the watchman's hand was slowly making its' way towards her ankle.


~******~


Rosiel was having a horrible dream. He was walking through Varus, and everything was on fire, but he couldn't do anything about it. He didn't feel like he belonged, and everything seemed to be happening in slow motion. He could see people screaming and yelling, but he couldn't actually hear anything. He couldn't hear the fire, either. Rosiel could hear someone screaming, a woman, but he couldn't tell who.

He walked around the castle, utterly confused and not understanding what he was supposed to be doing. The Great Hall had actually collapsed, and people were running out of it, some of them on fire. For some reason, the screaming was getting louder, and after a while, he recognized it to be Ayu. But where was she? The only place she could be: The Medical Ward. He made his way to the medical ward, and sure enough, the screaming there was the loudest. He tried to open the door, but it wouldn't move.

The Rose Knight pushed against it with all of his weight, but it stubbornly refused to budge. Meanwhile, Ayu was still inside.

But this is just a dream, he thought. I'm sleeping.

Still, he felt that he needed to get inside. So he tried to kick the door. Nothing. Ran up against it. Still nothing. Angrily, he punched it, then stood there.

"Why the Hell won't you open?"

While he was trying to figure out how to open the door, he noticed that the fire was starting to disappear. The place got darker and darker, until finally, everything went completely black, but he could still hear the screaming.

Rosiel opened his eyes to find himself in a dark medical ward. He was confused; he knew he was awake now, but he could still hear Ayu screaming. He also remembered falling asleep to a very well-lit room. Why was it completely dark now? He sat up and his head hit something. That something grunted, and hit him back. Rosiel moved back, the pain of the hit causing him to completely wake up.

And Ayu really was screaming. She wasn't anymore, because it sounded like something was covering her mouth. The Rose Knight quickly threw his covers off, and threw a blind punch at whatever had hit him before. Another grunt, then an odd crunch.

"Get the Hell off of me!"

Another odd crunch. Then a loud crash and the sound of glass breaking and wood splintering. It sounded like Ayu had thrown off her attacker. The door leading to the medical ward was wide open, letting in the moonlight. He could make out Ayu, sitting up in her bed, clutching her wrist. Her sleeping gown was stained in something dark.

"Are you all right?"

"Watch out!"

Whatever had attacked Ayu threw itself onto Rosiel. He felt cold, clammy hands, like those he felt in Tethys, close over his throat, then squeeze. Rosiel clawed at them and sputtered, but he couldn't get them off. Whatever had him growled, and all of a sudden he could smell. That wet and rotting smell. His vision was starting to get blurry. He could barely make out Ayu grabbing an empty flask, and getting up off of the bed, and then dashing towards him. He heard the sound of glass breaking again, and the hands around his throat seemed to loosen a bit.

Rosiel tried to flip his attacker over him, but they were too heavy and he didn't have enough force. He could hear Ayu shouting something, and he felt one of her warm hands touch his face as she tried to pry the cold fingers away from his throat. Ayu grabbed a piece of broken glass from the ground and then stabbed at the hands, but it didn't do anything. But whatever it was got irritated. It smacked her away. She wasn't expecting it, and fell to the ground.

His vision was nearly gone now, and his struggles were becoming weaker. His legs gave way under him, and his attacker lifted him up in the air, and then, he found himself on the ground. He blinked, wondering what had happened. A hand was beside him, oozing with blood. And then it withdrew; he could see it forming a fist before it left his vision. Above him, Ayu was standing with a knife, panting. Rosiel quickly got to his feet and whirled around. His attacker was on the ground, growling at them both. In the moonlight, it appeared that something was wrong with his head, but Rosiel didn't care to stare at him long enough to find out.

Taking the knife from Ayu, he drove it into the man's oddly shaped skull. Two hands gripped his arm and pulled him down. He wasn't dying. The man had a surgical knife embedded in his skull (whatever was left of it) and wasn't dying. His attacker started to growl again, and suddenly charged at the Rose Knight, knocking him backwards. Ayu tried to come to his aid again, but the man with the deformed skull held Rosiel down with one hand, and grabbed her neck with the other. She started to sputter, and choke, clawing at his hand like Rosiel was before.

He threw her against the wall, where she slid down and lay very still, then focused his attention back to Rosiel.

"You son of a b***h," he croaked.

He kicked the other man in the stomach as hard as he could, but again, it didn't have any effect. He tried to flip the man, but that didn't work either. The man lowered his head and started to snarl at him, and Rosiel realized that he was trying to bite him, and realization suddenly dawned on him. He groped around for a piece of broken glass. He found one, grabbed it, and this time drove it into the man's neck. The man started to gurgle, and Rosiel used the opportunity to get away from him. He slid under him, stood, then kicked his back, forcing the man to fall, and driving the piece of glass in further. It stuck out the back of his throat. The man thrashed around and gurgled until Rosiel stepped on the back of his neck.

Regaining his breath, he quickly knelt down beside the Shaman Knight.

"Ayu?"  

[Angel Rosiel]

On her way to the Great Hall, Faye was practically jumping at every shadow she saw. She had the pike that Chibi had given her, but it wouldn't do her a lot of good if someone sneaked up behind her. When she was finally close enough to the Great Hall, she was dismayed to see that the door was closed, and the windows were dark. It was finally late enough that the feast was over and people had returned to their homes... and possibly to an attacker.

That meant that Kioskay was either out patrolling, in the guard barracks, or at his home. And she would have to head through the Great Hall to get to anyone else. She muttered a curse under her breath, and was about to turn to head back to Chibi when she heard someone's voice. Stopping, she strained to listen. The voice was coming from the door to the medical ward, which was wide open. Quietly making her way inside, she heard Rosiel clearly saying Ayu's name.

Suddenly scared, thinking that something was wrong, she rushed inside, yelling,

"What happened? Rosiel? Ayu? It's me, Faye"

Faye felt something fly toward her, and stop right in front of her face. In the semi-darkness, she could make out Rosiel standing in front of her, his fist just centimeters from her face.

"What's going on?" she gasped.

Rosiel lowered his arm and grabbed Faye by her arms, shaking her rather violently. She could barely make out what he was saying because he was speaking so quickly and his voice seemed distorted.

"Faye, I was sleeping and a guy came and attacked her and she kicked him off, then he went to attack me, and she tried to help me and he smacked her and hit her against the wall, Faye she won't move and she's bleeding help me help me help me--"

"All right, Rosiel! Calm down!" Faye yelled, reaching up and grabbing his elbows. "Let's get some light in here. Can't see s**t in the dark."

Rosiel whined, and she could hear something swishing. Silence, then after a few seconds, she heard a soft fwoom and Rosiel was before her again, holding a lit torch. He moved to the sconces and lit them, while Faye grabbed another torch, lit it using a sconce, and lit the lanterns. Once the room was light again, she saw the body of the third scout that had gotten away from Chibi and herself. He was more of a mess than he was before - his arms were cut badly and scratched, and he had a surgical knife sticking out of the top of his head. Something was driven into his neck; she could see it shining from the back of his neck.

A wave of guilt swept her. He had gotten away from Chibi and her - gotten away when they should have captured him, and they hadn't attacked him because she wanted to watch him. And what did he do? Attack her friends in their sleep. But now wasn't the time to feel guilty. Ayu was lying down in her bed, with her blanket wrapped around her right arm. There were dark crimson stains on her night gown, the floor, and the bed sheets. Her eyes were closed, and a small trickle of blood ran down her face, coming down from her forehead, moving across the bridge of her nose, dribbling across her lips, and finally dripping down her chin and onto her gown.

Rosiel stood beside Faye, looking at Ayu, and whining. She glanced at him. He looked paler than usual. There was a dark bruise forming at the base of his neck, and his face was tear-stained. Otherwise, the Rose Knight looked all right. But he wasn't very calm. The Docent Knight couldn't remember ever seeing the Knight so distressed before.

"Rosiel," she said with a hint of urgency in her voice. "Tell me how she's hurt. What's that on her arm? Why is it wrapped?"

"He bit her," Rosiel whispered. "I was sleeping, and he must have stepped over me, and did something to wake her up. I don't know if he growled at her, or he stepped on something, but she obviously woke up, and she must have put her arm up to protect herself. And he bit her. She was bleeding a lot. I didn't know what to do, I'm not a doctor."

"All right," Faye replied, looking around at Ayu's medical supplies. "Listen... clean up this glass that's everywhere. I'm going to see if I can help her, all right?"

Rosiel replied with another whine.

The Docent Knight looked around the ward, then slowly went over to where Ayu kept her various herbs, carefully making sure not to step onto the glass. She knew how to make a basic ointment to help stop bleeding and keep out infections and bacteria, so she looked for the herbs that would allow her to do so. Rosiel was picking up the broken glass carefully and, having no where else to put it, piled it on top of one of the tables. There wasn't too much glass, so it didn't take him long to pick up what he could. After he was finished, he went over to Ayu again. She hadn't moved.

He whined again and knelt down beside her bed, unwinding the blanket that he had wound around her arm in the darkness so that Faye could apply whatever it was she was making. The blood had soaked through a good portion of the blanket, and Ayu looked very pale in the light. He could see broken remains of veins and bits of muscle tissue, as well as bone, from the bite. It looked very painful. The Rose Knight turned to Faye.

"What are you doing?" he asked, still keeping his voice very quiet.

"Making an ointment for her wound... speaking of which, let me take a look at--- holy s**t!" Faye exclaimed, turning around and seeing the bite. "Move, quickly!"

Rosiel moved away so quickly that he lost his balance and went sprawling across the floor. But Faye didn't pay him any mind. She quickly applied the ointment that she prepared to the bite, and got some cloth that was on one of the tables to hold it with. After she wrapped it tightly around Ayu's wrist, she took another piece of cloth and wet it by dipping it into a bowl of water that had Rosiel's armor laying beside it. She cleaned off the blood that was on her face, and then got yet another piece to dry her off.

Rosiel was still lying on the floor.

"Are you all right?"

"I'm really tired..." he mumbled. Faye noticed an arrow on the floor, by the Rose Knight's foot. She disreguarded it for the time-being.

"I don't know what to do," she sighed. "I don't want to leave her here," -At these words, Rosiel immediately pushed himself up, then stood up and looked at Faye, glaring at her angrily- "but it's not safe to move her if she's received trauma to her head. And I can't just leave Chibi there all by herself..."

"I'll go - you take care of Ayu. Where is Chibi?"

"Are you all right to walk? I mean, you've still got your injuries from last time, and--"

"I'll be all right."

"Well... fine. All right. Chibi's waiting by the south gate. These pricks managed to kill a watchman, and she's waiting by his body. Try to see if you can find Kioskay, or anyone else who can rally the watch. I want guards to be on alert without causing a mass panic."

"I'll check out the south gate, get Chibi, then go straight to Raine and Serena. Kioskay should be out patrolling, but I don't know where, and I'm not about to search the entire castle for him. We don't have time."

"Got it. Listen, these are scouts. Chibi and I got 2 of them, and this was the third one. Be on your guard. Take the pike...?" she said, offering Rosiel the pike.

"No," he said, taking his armor from the table and putting it on. "Keep it. I'll see if I can grab your crossbow and your quiver on my way. You need something to defend yourself with."

"What are you going to defend yourself with?"

"I'll worry about that," he said, turning and leaving, closing the door behind him.

Faye shook her head. The Rose Knight usually wasn't so distracted. He was nervous and jumpy - not on form at all. But there wasn't any choice. Out of the two of them, she was the only one who could offer Ayu any sort of medical assistance, and they couldn't leave her alone.


~***********~


Kioskay felt sleepy and full after the feast. It irritated him that he had to go on patrol again right after so much food and alcohol, but such was the life of the Captain of the Watch. There were very few officers out at this time, and with the Rose Knight's latest revelation, he felt uneasy leaving the streets unguarded. So, his sacrifice was a necessary one. He patrolled the wall tops, and occasionally went down onto the grounds to check behind some corners for his peace of mind.

The Watch Captain was certain that his uneasiness would disappear after the feast, but it seemed to intensify. He kept feeling like he was waiting for something to happen, and it never did. But that something wasn't good. He was filled with some kind of dread that dragged him down like a weight. Near the south gate, he saw someone standing in the shadows on the ground. Who would be out at this time of night? It was nearly dawn.

Quietly climbing down the wall, Kioskay thought he recognized the figure standing below, but he didn't want to take his chances. Once on the grounds, he clutched his pike, and slowly approached the figure. However, once he was almost directly behind the figure, they turned around, and-

"Christ, Kioskay! Trying to give me a damn heart attack?"

Kioskay took a deep breath and lowered his pike.

"Nicolai... what are you doing here? Surely you can't drop your routine at least on the night of the Autumn feast?"

"I'm not trying to rob anyone-"

"Funny thing to be hearing from a thief."

"I'm serious!" Vechnaya Nicolai said, putting his hands on his hips. "My head hurts, and I thought some fresh air would help it a little. I was walking around here when I heard a muffled cry, and something weird. Couldn't tell you what it was, exactly. Like something wet being pressed against something."

"Well, where's your pal, Genkio?"

"Sleeping, like all normal people would be at this hour. Really... can we check it out? Please? I'm not fibbing."

"Lead the way," Kioskay replied, after a while. Nicolai made a gesture - shhhhhh - and turned around. He looked around him before pressing on forward, almost crouching as he moved. Nicolai's freaked out, too, Kioskay thought. He can feel it, whatever it is. Nicolai ended up leading the Watch Captain around the south gatehouse, and suddenly paused.

"I heard the sound from here and... well, look," he said, pointing to the pool of blood on the ground. There was something in the middle of the pool, something like a giant hammer.

"Watch my back," Kioskay said, crouching low to the ground and moving slowly towards the object. He slowly made his way to it until he heard Nicolai hiss something. He froze and looked around him. There was someone standing in the entrance to the gatehouse. In the darkness, the Watch Captain couldn't make out who it was.

"Who are you?" Nicolai called out.

The figure didn't answer. It just grunted. It wasn't standing straight, either. It was swaying, and something was wrong with it, but the Captain couldn't place what it was. It gave another grunt and started to moved toward Kioskay.

"Wait a minute!" he called out, but the figure ignored him. As the figure got closer, he could make out that it was actually one of his men. The uniform and armor were stained with something dark, and he seemed to have his head cocked at an odd angle.

"He's not listening..." he heard Vechnaya Nicolai say nervously.

Kioskay stood to his full height, and slowly began to back away from the watchman, his pike at the ready.

"I- I said wait a minute! Stop!"

He heard a grunt and some odd gurgle as an answer.

"I warned you!" the Watch Captain shouted, and charged at the watchman, his pike in front of him. He pierced the man in his middle, and drove the pike into the gatehouse wall, pinning the unfortunate watchman against the gatehouse. Kioskay quite expected him to be dead, and was very surprised when the watchman struggled to move away from the gatehouse.

"What in the Hell?"

"Lively guards these days, eh?" Nicolai whispered.

"His head," said a weak voice from inside the gatehouse.

"Another one?" asked Kioskay, raising a fist.

"No," said Nicolai. "It's Chibi. Where are you?"

"In here," she called. "I can't get out. It threw me into some kind of pit. Help me out!"