Author's Note

I feel I must begin by warning potential readers that, firstly, this is a more adult oriented tale and, secondly, the first chapters are a rewrite of an earlier tale that I posted here.

In the first chapters, there are extra details and scenes, things have been removed or expanded upon.  I feel that this version is much better than the original, which suffered from a lack of time on my part to give it the attention it deserved.

To new readers, welcome.  For old friends, welcome back.

~Marcasite

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Dear angel, where are your warming wings tonight? It's so cold outside. Won't you hold me for a while? And angel, I feel alone and unalive. The night is frozen and these tears have stung my eyes.

YAY!!!

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If you believe in Jesus Christ and are 100% proud of it put this as your signature.

Post the story already. I must read moar!

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Then it comes to be that the soothing light at the end of your tunnel was just a freight train coming your way

The Bandit Raid of Oakvale was one of the most well traveled talesin all of Albion and every guard or mercenary that swung a sword or an axe used it to underline their attempts at employment.  The tale grew with every telling and, one of the more recent additions to it was the inclusion of Twinblade as the leader of the bandits that had ravaged Oakvale a decade ago.  Every season, the Mayor of Oakvale came to the Guild and set a Quest Card.  Once, she had attempted to look at it but Maze had appeared out of the shadows and shooed her away from the table, telling her that Apprentices did not get to take Cards and she should be concentrating on her studies.  He did not understand, as much as he tried to.

It had been a long ten years for Adelina of Oakvale.

The nightmares haunted her only rarely but the memory of that day remained with her.  A quiet summer day, her brother's birthday, and then the screams; the bandits came and put the villagers to the sword and then burned the village to the ground; she never forgot that day.  The stench of burning blood, the sickly sweet stink of cooking flesh; her stomach heaved and she gagged involuntarily.  Forcing the memory away, she rose from her bed and looked around.

Whisper was already gone.

Adelina sighed and stripped out of her night clothes, dressing in the plain white wool of a Guild Apprentice.  All the Guild Warriors had sobriquets, all chosen by the Guild Master.  There was Thunder and Whisper, the exotic and dark-skinned siblings from a distant land; Briar Rose the scholar and spellwarrior; the former Guild Warriors Twinblade and Necromancer kept their Guild Names, as did Scythe when he left for Snowspire.

And then there was Maze.

Maze was a canny and powerful old sorcerer, with skin like stained oak and hard, knotted muscles.  His hair had gone white with age and his face was lined like old leather but his tattoos glowed a fierce blue and he was still one of the deadliest men in the land of Albion.  She paused at the window and smiled as she saw him walking with the Guild Master.  Since that horrible night that Maze saved her from the Oakvale Massacre, he had occupied a special place in her heart.  She ducked out of sight and finished dressing.

"Sorrow!"  Whisper stepped into their room.  "Still not dressed?  You are going to be late, lazy bones!"

Adelina hated her sobriquet, even though she supposed it was fitting.  The Guild Master had named her Sorrow the very first time she set foot in the guild, sobbing and clutching at Maze with her little fists.  They had decided to train her, to forge her into a weapon.  She had not done as well as they had hoped, her great promise gone mostly unrealized.  She felt the power of magic but could only tap a trickle while the flow remained elusive.  She was fair with a blade but held back when she should have struck for the kill.

She pulled up her hood and walked out of the dormitory behind Whisper, keeping her eyes cast low.  Today was graduation day, when the hopeful Apprentices would learn if their hard work and dedication would pay off.  She filed into the Chamber of Fate and stood with the other apprentices, anonymous in a sea of white glad apprentices.  The Guild Master, Thunder, and Maze ascended the dais and a hush fell over them all.

"Today we celebrate the next generation of Guild Warriors," the Guild Master said.  "Whichever path you choose..."

Sorrow stopped listening and glanced around at the other Apprentices, all of them hanging on the Guild Master's every word.  She wondered what she would do after the ceremony.  She should return to the sword ring or to the waterfall to hone her magic.  There were many others who were far better than her and she needed to improve if she ever wanted her name to be called for a Seal.  She was no surprised when the Guild Master unrolled the scroll and read the first name.

"Sabre!"

Sabre threw back his hood and walked boldly forward.  He was a beautiful youth, with jet black hair, lupine blue eyes, and features that would have been feminine if not for the manner in which he carried himself.  He accepted the Guild Seal from the Guild Master and turned to face them as the Chamber of Fate rang with cheers.  He was the best of them and many whispered that he would be bound for the Grand Arena before he was twenty.  She hoped he made it; he was a kind friend to her.

Adelina cheered with the others but her eyes were on the Guild Seals set on the wooden table behind the three senior members of the Guild.  There were four left and fifteen apprentices.  In that moment, she had to wonder what she would do if her name was never called.  She would have the option of staying in the Guild and continuing her training in hopes of earning a Seal (until she was too old to take up a blade but that prospect depressed her a little), she could take up sword and bow and don the black garb of a Guild Soldier and Guard (which did not truly interest her), or she could leave the Guild altogether and go to some village or town and find a husband (which would be a fate worse than death).  She just could not fail.

"Whisper!"

Whisper bounced up the steps, beaming as her brother placed a Guild Seal in her hands.  Dark and lovely, Whisper barely came up to her brother's chest but that was because Thunder was a giant of a man, nearly as large as Twinblade.  Sorrow had known Whisper would get a Seal; Thunder gave her extra training whenever he had the time to spare.

"Thorn!"

Again the Chamber of Fate erupted into cheers and Adelina cheered with them.  Thorn was a lean and handsome youth, with russet hair, more black than red, and green eyes.  He accepted his Seal from Maze and stood with between Whisper and Sabre.  She had expected him to get a Seal and cheered as loud as she could.  He was always helping her with her studies.

Whisper should be used to that, being between Sabre and Thorn.

The venomous thought surprised Adelina and she was immediately guilty.  Whisper had been a true and loyal friend from the very beginning.  Forcing her jealousy aside, Sorrow cheered with the others, even though she was dying inside.

"Sparrowhawke!"

Adelina felt her heart thudding against her chest as Sparrowhawke walked up to the dais and accepted his Seal from the Guild Master.  Sparrowhawke was taller than Sabre but had the same jet black hair.  His eyes were a darker blue, the color of the deep sea before a storm.  His face was in her thoughts and dreams many times during the night, when her fingers went seeking.

Just one more name and then I can get back to my training.

"Sorrow!"

She nearly jumped out of her skin.  "Yes?"

A chuckle rolled through the sudden hush, the other Apprentices and the Guild Soldiers laughing at her.  Maze held up the last Seal and understanding dawned upon her.  She stepped forward and ignored the veiled looks from the Apprentices that clearly surpassed her skills and tried to ignore the sudden and venomous whispers that she must have earned her Seal on her knees (or on her back).  She approached the dais and held out both hands, cupped together.  She looked down at the jade medallion that Maze set in her hands and then up into his wizened face.  He nodded gravely at her, a hint of a smile in his eyes, and motioned for her to take her place among her peers.

The Guild Master was speaking, praising them and encouraging the others to train and study diligently but she was not paying attention.  She was staring at her Seal and wondering if they had made a terrible mistake.

 

 

 

Whisper had exchanged her Apprentice Whites for an outfit in shades of blue, a bustier and long gloves, elegant boots, and shorts.

 

"You need to stop moping," Whisper chided her.  "We've graduated!  We must celebrate.  Come!  We're all going to Bowerstone!"

Adelina sat on her bed, looking at her Seal.  "This is wrong."

Whisper threw up her hands in exasperation.  "You earned that Seal," Whisper said.  "Unless you plan on giving it back, let's go!"

Adelina stood and fastened the chain around her neck, tucking the Seal into her shirt.  She hesitated and then sat back down.  "I don't have any clothes."

And it was the truth.  All she had were her Apprentice Whites.  She did not even have an outfit to change into, such as the one Whisper had been saving for this very day, bought from a Traveling Trader during the spring.

 

"None of us do," Whisper said.  "C'mon!"

Adelina flopped back onto the bed.  "I don't have any money, either.  I don't have anything to sell to old Gerrick, and nothing to trade."

"Thunder gave me some gold," Whisper said, grabbing her by the wrists and pulling her off of the bed.  “I’ll buy you something.”

Adelina allowed Whisper to pull her to her feet.  She followed her friend down into the Guild Shop.

 

 

Adelina was not comfortable in the clothes Whisper had purchased for her, black leather pants and boots, a red bustier, long black leather gloves.  It all fit like a second skin, showcasing her curves, and it seemed like every man in Bowerstone, even the married ones, were staring.  The five of them sat at a table celebrating their graduation and the others were taking turns buying drinks for the whole bar.  She was flushed with shame whenever it came time for her to buy and she had to just shake her head and wait for one of them to step up.  It just reinforced her feeling that there had been a mistake.  All of the others, even Whisper, had excelled at certain things, winning prizes or treats that they sold or traded in the shop.  All she had was her Seal.

As the night wore on, Sabre disappeared upstairs with a lusty tavern wench, Sparrowhawke ducked outside with the smith's widowed sister, and Thorn went for a walk in the moonlight with a Bowerstone maiden that had no idea what she was getting into.  Adelina watched them leave with no small bit of jealousy that Sparrowhawke had not asked her to go outside with him.  All three of them had, at one time or another, made it known that all she had to do was crook her finger and they would warm her bed and jump her bones in a heartbeat but she had never let them have her.  Adelina stared into her drink and hiccoughed once.  It seemed that she had waited too long.

"What are you going to do now," she asked.

Whisper shrugged easily.  "Take up quests, silly goose.  What did you think I'd be doing?"

Adelina pushed her half-empty drink away.  She had no desire to drink away her wits and then wake up with the worst mistake of her young life.  "I don't know."

"I heard Twinblade is causing trouble again," Whisper said.  "I may bring him in."

"You're not-" hiccough "-ready to go after Twinblade."

Whisper laughed.  "I can take him."

"If you go after Twinblade," a smooth voice interrupted, "you'll be the one getting taken, sweet Whisper."

They both turned in their seats, rising to their feet when they saw the figure standing behind them.

The Bloodraven.

He was lean and handsome as a finely forged sword, with pale gray eyes, almost silver, and jet black hair, streaked with crimson.  He wore black, black, and more black.  His pants were supple and finely stitched.  His boots were polished to a high sheen and his spurs were lacquered in red gold.  He wore a tight black leather doublet, with the sleeves slashed from wrist to the inside of the elbow, so that the sleeves hung open and revealed the fine black silk shirt beneath.  Red gold scrollwork decorated the collar and cuffs of the doublet, matching the red gold crossguard and pommel of his longsword.  Two years ahead of them and he had already proven himself many times over.

"What are you doing here," Whisper demanded.

Bloodraven smiled.  "I had the pleasure of dinner with the Lady Gray.  I thought to stop in and congratulate you."

"Thank you," Adelina said, before Whisper could retort.

"You're welcome."

He sauntered away and Adelina looked back down into her mug.  She felt Whisper's eyes burning into the top of her head.

"Why did you thank him?  He was mocking us!"

Adelina shrugged.  She had not heard any mocking in Bloodraven's words but she knew Whisper hated him.  After he received his Seal, Bloodraven had humiliated Thunder.  Thunder had gone to rescue a group of Traders lost in the Darkwood but had returned empty handed, proclaiming them lost for and dead.  Bloodraven had gone in the day after Thunder returned without them and, three days later, led the lost Traders into the Barrow Fields and collected the reward and basked in the adulation of the people.  The Minstrels had made a tale of it, boasting that the ravens no longer fled before the thunder.  Thunder loathed the Bloodraven, hated him with every breath in his body, so Whisper hated the Bloodraven by default.  Nothing Adelina nor any of the others said could shift Whisper when Thunder made his opinion known so she held her tongue and rose to her feet.

"I'm going to go back to the Guild," Adelina said.

She stood up and walked out, ignoring Whisper's calls to remain and have a few more drinks.  She stepped into the crisp night air and hugged herself.  She should have had Whisper buy her a cloak or a jacket.  Shivering, she started walking towards the gate but she heard a thin cry, carried by the ocean breeze.

"Help me!  Help!"

Without thinking, she ran towards the cries.  She reached the docks; fists cocked, and looked around.  She saw a young man huddled on the sand, his shoulders shaking.  She walked over to him.

"Are you alright?  Who did this to you?"  She knelt beside him.  "Do you need-"

He threw a handful of sand in her eyes.  Blinded, she cried out and fell back.  She heard laughter, many voices.  They fell upon her, pinning her down, tearing at her clothes.  A hard yank and her bustier ripped open, her breasts bouncing free.  Rough, calloused hands groped her.

"Me first!"

"No!  Me!"

“Stop fighting, you Guild ***!”

She tried to scream but one of them stuffed a dirty rag in her mouth.  She struggled and flailed but they grabbed her legs and peeled her pants down over her boots, yanking and jerking them down.  Rancid breath panted in her face.  Fingers forced their way into her.  Eyes widening, she screamed into the gag.

"Oi!  Get her durned boots off!  Get this little bint naked!"

Tears streamed down her face and she clenched her right fist.  Lightning exploded around her, throwing the men off of her.  She rolled onto her belly and pushed herself up onto her knees, spitting out the gag.  She thrust out her fist, blasting two men into the surf.  She rolled and squirmed, pulling her pants back up while the thugs were dazed.  Screaming and crying, she sent another blaze of lightning into her attackers.

She tried to run but someone, their leader, tackled her at the knees from behind.  Sand and grit abraded her breasts as they fell heavily onto the sand, with him on top of her.  She felt his manhood pressed against her buttocks.  He flipped her onto her back and she punched him in the throat.  Gagging, he released her and she kicked him with both heels.  She lurched back to her feet but he was rising behind her.  Yanking her pants the rest of the up. She ran to a rowboat, the leader on her heels.  She grabbed an oar and turned, bringing it around in a deadly arc.  The wooden blade edge of the paddle struck the man in the face, shattering cheekbone, jaw, and teeth.  He dropped screaming.  She hit him again, and again, until he stopped moving.  Then, covered in blood and sand, she dropped to her knees and began to weep.

The guards reached the beach before her friends did. 

Clutching her bustier shut with one hand, she did not resist as the Guards took her into custody.  She did not fight until they started dragging her away, calling her a murderer.  She struggled and kicked and bit but they drew their blades and she quieted.  With her hands bound behind her back, her bustier hung open, revealing her breasts to the crowd that gathered to watch the guards drag her through the town and then threw her in the cells.  Despite her claim of attempted rape, she had killed six men, six men who worked the docks…

 

 

 

Sabre had a hand wrapped tight around the hilt of his sword.

 

"This is a load of Troll dung!"

Maze hushed Sabre and pulled the youth back with a hard hand on his shoulder.  Attacking the Magistrate would not advance their cause and he needed to retain control of the situation.  He did not speak until Sorrow’s friends calmed themselves under the weight of his gaze and then he returned his attention to the Bowerstone Magistrate.

"The six men in question assaulted Sorrow, tried to rape her," Maze said calmly.

"Murder is murder," the Magistrate said, "and she murdered those men.  Six men who cannot work the docks any more, six families that will starve now that they’re dead; she must pay."

That was the truth behind her scheduled execution; she had killed six dock workers and the docks kept Bowerstone alive.  Fewer men on the docks meant less cargo being moved.  It meant six more families that would be eking out a bare existence in the slums.  It was a horrible injustice but Maze could see the brutal truth behind their choices.

"So I see."  Maze nodded once.  "Very well, if that is your position, we shall depart.  After the execution, the Guild expects her personal effects to be returned."

The four newly graduated Guild Warriors began to protest but Maze silenced them with a glare.  He let the silence stretch for a full minute before he turned to once again regard the smiling and self-satisfied Magistrate.

"Oh... Magistrate?  The next time you see the Lady Gray, please inform her that we will no longer be accepting her Quests nor the quests of any citizens of Bowerstone.  day."

The Magistrate’s smile vanished but Maze smiled as he led the four young Guildsmen out into the sunshine.  Sorrow was peering at them from between the bars of her cell, watching them leave.  Her face was dirty and her hair was straggly and caked with sand.  She had closed her bodice but the shame still burned in her eyes, on her cheeks.  Maze felt a surge of anger as they walked away, leaving her there for a few moments longer.  The Magistrate followed them out into the street and ushered him back inside, ready to cut a deal.  Maze hid his smile when he turned to face the Magistrate and refused to return to the building.  These sorts of things needed to be done in plain view of all the people; that way they cold learn from it.

"There will be no deals!” He drove the butt of his bladed staff into the ground, bringing forth a red ring of light and power and punctuating his words with a thunderclap.  “Adelina the Sorrowful Blade was assaulted in Bowerstone!  If you choose to punish her for killing her attackers, then punish her!”  His voice dropped to a deadly whisper that carried through the town.  “Know that the Guild will respond accordingly."

Behind the Magistrate, lurking in an alley, he spotted the Bloodraven and was momentarily caught by surprise.

What is he doing here?

But that was a question for another day.  He turned and began walking away.  The four young Guild Warriors followed him, having caught his scheme but the guards respectfully barred their way at the gates.  Lady Gray was summoned by the Magistrate.  Adelina the Sorrowful Blade was released and ordered to pay a fine, which her friends promptly took care of.  With the Sorrowful Blade in their custody, the Guild Warriors disdained the road and stepped onto the ancient Cullis Gate, teleporting back to the Guild.

As they stepped off the Cullis Gate in the Map Room, Maze grabbed Sorrow's elbow.  "Walk with me."

He led her away from her friends and onto the Guild Grounds.  He did not speak until they had crossed the stepping stones to the waterfall and the Demon Door that hid treasures behind its face.  She stumbled along beside him, exhausted and sullen.

"I hope you learned a valuable lesson today," he said.

She nodded miserably.  "I did.  I learned that I am not ready for this."

She was offering him her Guild Seal.  He closed her hand over it and pushed it away.

"Then you have learned the wrong lesson."  He leaned on his bladed staff.  "If you are forced to kill someone in a town or village, do not allow yourself to be caught.  Gate back to the Guild and deny that you were ever there."

She was pale in the moonlight and her black hair picked up blue highlights.  Her face was solemn, her eyes bright with unshed tears but she nodded.

"I understand."

"."  He turned away from her.  "Check the Map Table tomorrow.  I will put up a special Quest Card for you."

He did not look back as he walked across the grounds to his tower and climbed the serpentine stairs to the top.  Every year made the staircase longer and higher and his knees and thighs ached by the time he reached his chambers at the top.  He would consider moving out of the tower, perhaps at the start of the next summer.  He moved to the window and looked up at the moon.

 

Adelina was a lovely girl, not so exotic as Whisper but far more sweet.  He was a lecherous old man, he freely admitted that, and he lamented that Sorrow was not his to take.

 

Another had already claimed her.

 

 

 

Maze watched the young Guild Warriors from the deep alcove, beneath the twin busts of the warrior and the maiden.  Outside the open doors that led down into the grounds, Maze peered into the room, lit by a few hooded lanterns.  Lurking in the deep shadows, Maze remained silent and unseen as Adelina’s friends stepped out of her room.  The pre-dawn air was chilly and he could taste the dew on the air.  Whisper was shivering slightly, rubbing her bare arms.

“She is sleeping now,” Whisper said as she closed the door behind her.

Sabre stood on the balcony overlooking the Guild Grounds and nodded.  Thorn was leaning against the wall, his arms folded over his chest.  Sparrowhawke was pacing.  Sabre spoke, breaking the silence.

“How is she?”

“She is fine,” Whisper said.

“Did they…” Sparrowhawke could not finish the question.

“No,” Whisper said.  “She was not raped.”

“She killed six men,” Sabre said.  “Once that gets around the Guild, things should go a bit easier for her.  It will silence some of her critics.”

Thorn gazed out at the shadowed and dark grounds.  “I don’t think it will.  It isn’t enough.  Any of the Apprentices who were passed over would have escaped.  She needs to prove herself beyond the shadow of doubt.”

“What do you suggest,” Whisper asked.

Maze stepped out of the shadows, startling them all.  “She is your friend,” Maze said.  “We will all watch over her and protect her until she can stand on her own.”

Sabre stepped forward.  “Why was she given a Seal, Maze?  The whole Guild knows she isn’t ready.”

 

Maze gazed at Sabre.  Of them all, he was the boldest of this group.  Leave it to him to dish out the truth, un-garnished and raw.

“But she is ready,” Maze said softly.  “She is.  She’d been holding back, you see.  She would never realize her potential so long as she remained an Apprentice.  She had to be pushed.  She had to be forced to realize her true potential.  She’s finally been forced to kill.  Now… she’s ready for her Seal.”

Maze started shooing them back to their rooms.

“Now, off to bed with you all.  Tomorrow, you start your Questing.”

He stayed on the balcony until they had all dispersed and stepped back into the shadows.  But he did not leave.  He waited and watched from the balcony as Whisper undressed and went to bed.  But, as lovely as she was, he paid her scant attention.  He watched the Sorrowful Blade sleep until the sun crested the horizon.

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Dear angel, where are your warming wings tonight? It's so cold outside. Won't you hold me for a while? And angel, I feel alone and unalive. The night is frozen and these tears have stung my eyes.

great revision to a great story...you gotta post moar. I can't get enough of this story.

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Then it comes to be that the soothing light at the end of your tunnel was just a freight train coming your way

Well, that was simply brilliant. Great writing, great story. Keep it up. Can't wait for more.

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"Time is our greatest teacher. Unfortunately, it kills most of its pupils." ~Louis Hector Berlioz

Thanks for the comments and the rating.  Next chapter is going up momentarily.

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Dear angel, where are your warming wings tonight? It's so cold outside. Won't you hold me for a while? And angel, I feel alone and unalive. The night is frozen and these tears have stung my eyes.

Adelina the Sorrowful Blade felt the warm sunshine falling across her and knew that morning was surrendering to afternoon.  With a sigh, she threw back her covers and rose from bed.  The others had long since departed on their first quests; she had heard Whisper dressing in the pre-dawn gloom.  She walked through the empty halls and spent an hour in the luxurious heat of the bathhouse.  The Guild Castle was silent and strangely deserted; the apprentices were outside learning their lessons or studying in the library.  She still felt horribly ashamed of what had happened but she took comfort in the knowledge that it had been dark and very few people would have seen her bared breasts.

It was past noon when she finally began dressing and arming herself.

Not one bit of the equipment had been bought with her own coin.  The dark leather armor had been a gift from Sabre and Thorn, the fine steel longsword had been a gift from Sparrowhawke, and the heavy oak crossbow had been a gift from Whisper.  She still did not have two gold coins to rub together but a fresh sense of purpose invigorated her as she looked at herself in a full-length mirror.

That ends today.

She walked down into the entry hall and to the Map Table.  There were many Quest Cards still on the map but most of them called for an experienced warrior or mage, tasks beyond her still meager abilities.  But there was one Card written in Maze's hand and she picked it up with a smile.  Her smile faded when she read it.

--
There have been reports of a hive of giant wasps in the Bowerstone Picnic Grounds.  The citizens of Bowerstone have offered a reward to whoever exterminates them.
--

She stared at the words.

A bug hunt... I haven't hunted beetles since I was a little girl.

But it was the Card that Maze had left for her so she was going to do it.  Pride aside, she needed the money.  She left the Guild castle and hiked up the trail to the Picnic Grounds.  She drew her sword and sighed when she saw her task.  The wasps were the size of puppies but they were slow and she twirled through them, her sword moving in graceful arcs, halving them in her wake.

It was an easy way to earn some gold and she wondered why no one else had come to do it.  She wiped the bug guts off her sword with a discarded picnic blanket and started walking away.  She was sheathing her sword when she heard the deep and resonant buzzing behind her.  She turned slowly and her stomach dropped.  The Wasp Queen rose up from the gorge, buzzing spitefully, loud as the boom of thunder.  Adelina's mouth dropped open and she stared at it as it worked its mandibles and flexed its abdomen, displaying the spear-like stinger.

It's as big as a horse!

She backed away from it, aiming her crossbow.  She fired off a shot and it struck the Queen, punching through the hard carapace and spilling goopy bug guts on the grass and over a table.  The Wasp Queen lunged at her and Adelina rolled to the side.  The stinger punched into the hard dirt and the Queen was stuck for a moment.  Adelina backed away, reloading the crossbow.  She fired a second shot as the Wasp Queen rose back into the air and punched a second hole through the carapace, clean through the other side.  Bug guts splattered over two tables as the Queen clacked her mandibles and attacked again.  Adelina jumped to the side and the stinger punched into the ground again.  She drew her sword and came forward, swinging as hard as she could.  The stinger was left in the ground, the Queen rose ponderously, trailing guts, and Adelina's war cry echoed in the gorge.  She had disarmed the monster but it was not dead yet.

She heard Maze's voice in her head.  Use your lightning!

She extended her fist and lightning exploded from her, wreathing the Wasp Queen.  The monster lunged at her and she rolled out of the way.  She came back to her feet and sent another volley of lightning at the monster.  The flash of the spell half-blinded her and her lightning seemed to intensify, striking the Wasp Queen from multiple angles and wreathing her completely in the deadly arcs.  The monster fell out of the sky with a heavy crack and a splat.  The lightning diminished as she expended her strength.  Sword in hand, she stalked towards the dying monster and cut off its head.

Picking it up by the antennae, she held it aloft and her victory cry echoed back at her.

 

 

 

Maze watched as the girl took her first trophy from the concealing trees, satisfied that she had not seen him add his lightning to hers.  It would not do for her to know that he was watching her, protecting her, and, to his deep shame, keeping her from getting too powerful.  Jack of Blades wanted her and Maze did not have it in him to defy Jack, not after witnessing Scythe’s fall and seeing the desiccated shell of a man that Scythe had become.  Leaning heavily on his bladed staff, Maze stayed in hiding until he was sure she was safely on her way back to the Guild.

He teleported into Bowerstone and walked through town, ignoring the awed stares and the scattered whispers.  He passed through the gate that separated the North and South quarters of the town without even pausing to show his Arena Champion’s Seal to the guards.  They knew him by sight and by reputation.  Only a fool would attempt to bar his path.  Leaving the squalor of South Bowerstone behind, he walked through the clean and cobbled streets of North Bowerstone and paused to look at the Solus Greatsword, prominently displayed in the window of one of the shops.  A warrior would have to become Guild Champion twice over to buy the sword and it was too distinctive to steal.  He could have afforded it but the days when he could have wielded such a weapon were long behind him.

As he gazed upon the sword, he saw her reflection in the glass and turned, bowing respectfully to the Lady Mayor of Bowerstone.  Lady Elvira Grey was the only surviving daughter of the late Lord Grey, the youngest of the two.  The elder sister had disappeared, presumed dead.  Maze had his suspicions, as did many others, but proof of a crime was non-existent.  She was wearing a bodiced gown in blue and purple, her magnificent bosom cupped and displayed by the scandalously low cut.  She was a lushly beautiful woman, more suited to a boudoir or bordello than the office of mayor.  Her blonde hair was square cut and reached past her shoulders.  Her features were haughty, enhanced by the way she looked down her thin nose at everyone.

"Greetings, Lady Grey," he said.

"Greetings, Maze of the Guild," she responded, her voice bored and tinged with disdain.  "I was surprised to learn you had come to visit."

"I have come to discuss your designs on Orchard Farms."

Her blue eyes flashed dangerously.  "Walk with me."

He did as he was bade and smiled to himself.  She thought herself clever but she was a dog among wolves.  He knew she had been in contact, through an intermediary of course, with a bandit leader called Reaver, the leader of the Black Hand Bandit group.  They were vicious and would kill, steal, rob, or rape whenever the appropriate victims presented themselves.  And, after that clandestine meeting, Reaver had been leading his group against Orchard Farms.

They stopped near the gate that led to the Prison Path Road and the graveyard, where no one could overhear them except her loyal guards and the prisoners that were left to rot in their cages, the same cages that had held Adelina just days ago.

"What do you know, Maze?"

He kept his expression carefully neutral.  "I know that you want those stones that were dug up in the orchards," he said, "and I know that bandits have been raiding the farm looking for them."

Her expression was unreadable.  "I offered him a fortune for those stones," she said.  "I do hope he doesn't regret turning me down."

"He does not," he assured her, enjoying the flush of anger that colored her cheeks.  "He has placed a Quest Card with the Guild."

She snarled.  "Damn that obstinate fool."  She folded her arms beneath her breasts.  "Is anyone going to take it?"

"I have the Card," he said.  "I came to give you the opportunity to set your own Card."

She was intrigued, he could tell.  "How much?"

He showed her the Card and she frowned.  "Now where did those farmers get this kind of money?  No matter, I'll go a thousand higher.  Set my Card."

He nodded and placed the Card back in his coat.  "I spoke with Jack," he said.

She paused in mid turn and looked at him through narrowed eyed.  "And?"

"It's almost time.  He said, 'be ready'."

She nodded once and then walked away without so much as a farewell.  He watched her until she turned the corner.  She was a dangerous woman and, as lovely as she was, he did not feel the need to test himself against Thunder, who followed her like a dog scenting a *** in heat.  Besides, the lands were full of women who would happily share his bed.  But he still watched her leave and savored the thought of having her.

 

 

Adelina the Sorrowful blade had a bounce in her step when she got back to the Guild.

 

She waved to Sabre and Thorn as she passed them in tavern, swinging the Wasp Queen's head by the antennae.  They raised their mugs to her in salute and cheered her, rousing the tavern to cheer along with them.  She paused to curtsy and exchange celebratory handshakes and hugs with her two friends.  All three of them had been successful.  Whisper and Sparrowhawke had yet to return from their first Quests, though they were certain to succeed.  Sparrowhawke was escorting a pair of traders from Barrowstone through the Darkwood to Oakvale and Whisper was coming in the opposite direction, escorting a trader through the Darkwood from Oakvale to Barrowstone.

 

She dropped into the Guild Shop and left the head there, to have it properly taxidermied.  It was her first trophy and, despite how ugly it was, she was going to have it mounted on a decorative plaque and she was going to hang it above the fireplace in her room.

 

She was heading up to the room she shared with Whisper when she heard Maze calling her name.  She turned around and ran down the stairs.  The old sorcerer was standing near the Map Table.

 

"That monster was impressive," he said, as she approached, "but I have another card for you."

 

He pressed it into her hand.

 

"You need to leave at once."

 

She looked at the card.  "Retrieving stones from Orchard Farms?  Are they stolen?"

 

"They belong to Lady Elvira Grey," Maze said.  "She wants them by morning."

 

Adelina looked at the bounty and grinned.  "I'll be back before dawn."

 

 

 

Maze watched Adelina leave.

 

"She’s a pretty thing," the Bloodraven said from beside him.

 

Maze hid the shock behind a glowering glare; he had not heard the Bloodraven approach.  "And I want her to stay that way."

 

Maze walked away from the Map Table and the Bloodraven followed him.  The Guild grounds were full of ears, apprentices and trainers, and Weaver was at the sword ring, showing two young apprentices the basics of hack and slash.  He entered his tower and ascended the serpentine stairs with the Bloodraven on his heels.

 

"As much as I admire your sense of style," the Bloodraven said, "I could have lived without this tour of your tower.  What do you want?"

 

"I have a Quest Card for you."

 

"So I gathered when you called me."  The Bloodraven sat in the most comfortable chair.

 

The youth's insolence was nearly too much to bear but Maze comforted himself with the knowledge that there was pain and blood in the boy's future.  "I want you to go to Orchard Farms."

 

The youth took the Card from him.  "This is the opposing Quest to the Sorrowful Blade."

 

"It is and you're going to be defeated."  Maze watched the youth's reaction and was disappointed when he did not grow angry or even so much as raise his voice.

 

"Then I'm not going."  The Bloodraven dropped the Quest Card onto the floor.  "I've never failed and I'm not going to start now."

 

"She needs to be opposed."  Maze did not bend over to pick up the card.

 

"Then send someone else."  The Bloodraven stood.  "I'm not your dog."

 

"I'll pay you double the bounty if you go and let her win," Maze said.

 

"My reputation is worth more than that."

 

"Then leave the Quest Card and go in disguise."  Maze stabbed the Quest Card with the point of his bladed staff.  "You'll get your gold when you return, no one will know you were defeated, and she gets a much needed ego boost."

 

"Stroking her ego is not the way to stroke the rest of her," the Bloodraven snarked.  "It'll only make it harder.  If I beat her, you can come rescue her and claim your sweet reward."

 

A flare of anger exploded within Maze.  "It's not like that."

 

The Bloodraven stood, an insolent smile on his face.  "If you say so.  I'll take my gold now."

 

Maze glared but the youth stood easily and calmly and Maze knew he had to acquiesce this time.  He needed the Bloodraven... for now.

 

 

 

Adelina the Sorrowful Blade crept into the barn and stepped softly along the wall, approaching the three slim boxes that had been stacked in the last stall.  Outside, the three guards laughed, joked, and boasted about what they were going to do to any bandits or skulkers that tried to get past them.  She opened the boxes and dumped the raw gemstones into a sack.

 

She was rising when a whisper of air touched her neck.  She ducked and the sword swiped over her head.  She rolled to the side, drawing her own sword, and faced her attacker.  He was taller and had a longer reach, his longsword was obsidian and gleamed silver along the edges and a breath of flame moved up the blade, from crossguard to point.

 

Bugger me!

 

He was wearing black from head to toe, with a hood and a mask.

 

Assassin.

 

"Oh, bugger me sideways," she muttered under her breath.

 

She heard the sneer in his muffled voice.  "If you insist."

 

She drew her sword.  "It wasn't an invitation."

 

She attacked and he neatly avoided her swing.  She heard one of the guards shouting-

 

"Bandits!"

 

-and knew that they would not be coming to help her opponent.  She circled warily, her blade weaving back and forth.  She lunged and he avoided her strike again, slithering out of range.  She followed him, feinting low and slashing high.  His blade slid hers aside and his riposte nearly sliced her from chin to ear.  She ducked away and threw out her hand, flinging lightning at him.  It cracked and boomed as it struck his Physical Shield.

 

Guild trained!

 

He came after her and she fended off the first half-dozen blows.  She rolled backwards over a stall wall and then vaulted the next one, getting out into the open where her speed would serve her well.  They met again in the middle of the barn, their clash unnoticed as the guards and the bandits fought across the farm.  He was much stronger than she and every time she was forced to block instead of parry, the force of the impact jarred her wrists and shoulders.

 

She could not match him like this.

 

She danced back away from him and as he rushed back in, she dropped to one knee and used her latest trick, a spell she learned but had never used:

 

Enflame.

 

The force of the spell threw her opponent back and set him on fire.  He rolled through the dirt, extinguishing the flames and was back on his feet, empty handed, before she could get to her feet.  Suddenly woozy, she lurched to her feet.  The spell had taken a lot out of her but she brought her blade up to the guard position.  She heard a shout and the thud of boots as the guards rushed back to the barn; her spell had alerted them to her presence.  The assassin, smoldering and smoking, vanished in rings of white light, teleporting away.  She touched her Seal, teleporting back to the Guild just as the guards burst into the barn.

 

 

 

The Cullis Gate outside of Knothole Glade flared to life, illuminating the night and drawing the attention of the few guards that were posted on the high wooden walls.

 

Bloodraven yanked his hood and mask off as he stumbled off the Gate and into the woods.  He reached into his pack, hissing through the pain, and grabbed a healing potion.  He pulled the stopper out with his teeth and guzzled it.  Grinding the empty phial to glittering dust beneath his heel, he breathed easier as the magic rushed through him, healing his burns without so much as a single scar.  Fury burned within his heart.  Adelina the Sorrowful Blade had not won that fight, not honestly.  She had surprised him but he had held back at every turn.  Even losing on purpose galled him and leaving her a trophy in the form of one of his swords made that loss sting all the more.

 

A balverine howled in the distance and he teleported again with a snarled curse, arriving in Bowerstone.  He could not go back to the Guild, not yet and not in these clothes.  Putting the scorched hood back on and hiding his face behind the mask, he crept through the shadows and picked the lock to the clothes shop.  He slipped inside and closed the door behind him, crouching down and moving below the window.  A guard passed the door, muttering and grumbling under his breath.  Upstairs, the shopkeeper and his wife were noisily making love, grunting like pigs.  Moving on his fingertips and his toes, he crept behind the counter and began taking clothes.

 

He heard the shop keeper’s wife moan loudly and he ground his teeth together.

 

Bugger you sideways?  Next time we meet, I'm gonna bugger you sideways and upside down.

 

He dressed in the dark, choosing leather armor, black with a red shoulder guard.  He took the opportunity to pilfer another suit of armor, also leather only creamy white in color.  It was not his style but he knew someone who would like it.  The shop keeper groaned loudly, almost squealed, and he took new clothes that he did not need just because he was annoyed.  New armor, new clothes, and two pretty dresses for a certain girl later, he teleported out of the shop and finally returned to the Guild.

 

 

 

Maze stood at the apex of the two staircases, looking down at the Map Table.  He watched Adelina return, the bag of uncut gemstones slung over one shoulder and the Bloodraven's Obsidian longsword in her hand.  No one would recognize the blade; it was one of many that Bloodraven used and one that he had not made famous.  He watched her drop the gems onto the Table and followed her as she went to collect her reward from Weaver.  He picked up the bag of raw gemstones from the Map Table; he would deliver them to the Lady Grey personally.

 

“You owe me, Maze."

 

This time, he jumped.  He whirled around, his bladed staff held defensively across his chest as he glared at the Bloodraven.  It was the second time that the youth had come upon him unawares.  Anger flared through Maze.

 

"I already paid you," Maze snarled quietly.

 

The Bloodraven stepped in closer.  "It's going to cost you a lot more," he promised.  "You paid me to lose.  You never bought my silence."

 

Power gathered within Maze but he heard a hated voice in his mind.  We need him, Maze.  It was Jack.

 

"Very well," Maze said grudgingly.  “I’ll have your gold for you by sunrise tomorrow.”

 

The Bloodraven smiled and walked past him, coming up to Adelina from behind.

 

"I have something for you," the Bloodraven announced, making Adelina jump.

 

Maze glowered as she opened the wrapped gifts.  He would be watching the Bloodraven very closely from now on.  Something about the youth did not ring quite true, not with Jack of Blades staying his hand and preserving the insolent whelp’s life.

 

 

 

Wearing one of the beautiful new dresses given to her by the Bloodraven, Adelina stood on the balcony that overlooked the Guild grounds.  She watched the apprentices training and sparring, saw Thunder giving Whisper private lessons in magic, and smiled.

 

She had finally proven herself.

---

Dear angel, where are your warming wings tonight? It's so cold outside. Won't you hold me for a while? And angel, I feel alone and unalive. The night is frozen and these tears have stung my eyes.

great story, I like that your revising it, but I wish it would hurry up and get to the part that you left off from on the other story, because I want to know what happens. It's driving me crazy

but great story

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Then it comes to be that the soothing light at the end of your tunnel was just a freight train coming your way

dawgz525:

great story, I like that your revising it, but I wish it would hurry up and get to the part that you left off from on the other story, because I want to know what happens. It's driving me crazy

but great story

love it but speed is of the assents

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-DR T JR-
self proclaimed king of gimmicks

Awesome, still. Keep up the magic.

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"Time is our greatest teacher. Unfortunately, it kills most of its pupils." ~Louis Hector Berlioz

When is the next update, I need more of this great story. The original was awesome, this is turning into epic.

Yay! The story's back!!
I loved it the first time and I love it even more now.
Hope to read more soon, it really is great.

Thanks x

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I am the rumour on everyones lips...

please contiune and write more, its so ! can't get enough.

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Flown down by ravens and stolen by the dawn's first rays, night mares stalk the night. Through dusty windows and cracked glass, they watch the weary rest till mornings rise.

mo' story PLZ

---

-DR T JR-
self proclaimed king of gimmicks

Thank you all for your kind words and your ratings.  Next chapter is going up soon.

---

Dear angel, where are your warming wings tonight? It's so cold outside. Won't you hold me for a while? And angel, I feel alone and unalive. The night is frozen and these tears have stung my eyes.

The Quest Card had her name on it.

Adelina picked it up, noting immediately that it was written in Maze’s hand.  She wondered what he had found for her this time and touched the hilt of her new sword, the sword taken as a trophy of the fight at Orchard Farm.

 

She was eager to make a name for herself but none of the Quests she took for Maze would make her famous.  She had not gone and slain a Troll, as Sabre had done up near Knothole Glade.  She had not slain a White Balverine, as Sparrowhawke had done, also near Knothole Glade.  Thorn had slain a Dark Sorcerer in the Darkwood Swamps.  Whisper had taken the moniker of ‘the Hobbe Slayer’ after rescuing a lost boy from the Hobbe Caves.  She even had the dessicated corpse of a Wicked Faerie as a trophy from that Quest.

 

She glanced at the Map Table and saw that all the other Quests had been taken for the day and sighed.  It seemed she had no choice but to do another of Maze’s quests.

Escort a pair of traders through the Darkwood to the Barrow Fields.  Beware of Hobbes and Balverines.  The road is not safe anymore.

~Maze

She went back upstairs and dressed in her dark leather armor, slung a quiver over her shoulder, and grabbed her bow.  A quick trip to the Guild Shop got her a few Healing Potions (at a vicious mark up) and a Mana Potion.  With a jaunty wave to the Guild Master, she departed for the Greatwood forest.

If she hurried, she could make the Greatwood Gorge by nightfall; the old Widow Winston would let her make a bed in front of her fire in exchange for a few chores down around the Rose Cottage.  That would be nice.

 

Maze stood at his scrying bowl and watched as the Sorrowful Blade entered the Greatwood Forest.

“I’m so sorry,” he whispered into the bowl.  “It was not supposed to be like this.”

A sudden rage overcame him and he slapped the bowl aside, sending it skittering off the table and crashing to the floor, spilling water everywhere.  He turned and swung his staff in a horizontal arc, smashing a decorative vase; a gift from a grateful widow he had assisted in his youth.  He brought the staff around and over his head, slashing it down with all his might and breaking the table.

His rage spent, he slumped and let the bladed staff fall from his grip.

He stumbled back and collapsed into a chair, breathing hard, sweat streaming down his face, chest, and back.  Jack o’ Blades had demanded action and he could not disobey his Master.  Maze laid his face in his hands.  Jack had demanded that he betray Adelina and he had done so.  The Black Claw Bandit Clan was lying in wait for her, would beat her and abuse her, humiliate her and use her.  And it was all his fault, curse his cowardly heart.

“Damn you to Hell, Jack!”

He summoned a fireball and held it in his hand, casting his furious gaze around the room.  He growled low in his throat and, unwilling to destroy any more of his decorations, trophies, or books, he threw the magical ball of flame into the fireplace, where it exploded harmlessly and sent flames racing up the chimney (and torched two crows that were lingering on top of it). 

He stood up and retrieved his staff, forcing his mind to work.

He could not oppose Jack directly but there were many ways to skin a cat.  Jack would kill him… or worse… if he helped Adelina directly but there would be no way for Jack to prove intention over coincidence if two of her friends just happened to be on Quests in the area.  And he could fabricate a Quest.  He composed himself and changed his shirt, obliterating the shards of the vase and the broken table.  He touched his Guild Seal and spoke a name.

“Sabre… come to my tower.”

Then he touched it a second time and summoned another young Guild Warrior.

“Whisper… come to my tower.”

He was wise and sagely and powerful when they arrived, his usual half-smile pasted across his face.

“So glad the two of you could make time to see me,” he quipped.  He let the two of them stumble over apologies and explanations for just a moment.  Time was draining away for Adelina and he could afford no delays.

“I have two very important Quests,” he announced.  “Sabre, another Dark Faerie has inhabited the Hobbe Caves.  She must be destroyed before the Hobbes regroup around her.  Bring me her wings as proof of the deed.”

He looked at the dark-skinned girl.

“Whisper, an old friend of mine, the Archeologist, is studying in Oakvale.  I need you to take this to him.”

He plucked a tome off of the shelves, titled “The Ecology of Dragons”.

“Both of you must leave immediately.”

He stood calmly until they were gone and then poured more water into his scrying bowl, summoned the magic, and spoke her name.  “Adelina…”  The water swirled for a moment and then he saw her at the Crossroads, looking up at the statue and smiling.  He only hoped that Whisper and Sabre were not too late.

 

 

 

Adelina felt the impact jar her body, from her wrists to her shoulders, as she brought her sword up in a hard block.  The force of the overhand blow drove her to her knees and the bandit leader laughed and raised his massive sword again.  She rolled to the side and the blade bit deeply into the dirt.

 

She had expended her magical might early in the battle, underestimating their numbers.  She was winded and exhausted, her blocks coming later and lower with every pass.  She got her feet beneath her but a scrawny bandit with bandy legs swung his cutlass at her.  She managed to block it but was off balance and she stumbled backwards.  The bandit leader grabbed her by the hair and threw her to the ground.

A heavy boot slammed down on her hand, breaking it, and she screamed.  She clutched her hand to her chest and curled around it.  The bandit leader kicked her, his boot driving into her belly and lifting her off the ground.  The air left her and she was wheezing like an old grandfather.

She began to kick and flail as the bandits began tearing at her armor.

 

Maze roared in anger and frustration.

Sabre and Whisper had both traveled to Oakvale before and both had keyed their Seals to the Cullis Gates along the way.  Sabre had gated directly to the Greatwood Gorge and Whisper directly into Oakvale.  He had been too clever for Adelina’s .  He looked away, unable to watch the bandits despoil her.

As she screamed and screamed, desperate inspiration struck him.  He touched his Seal and spoke a hated name.

“Bloodraven… Gate to the Greatwood Path, between the Guild and Fisher Creek.  Adelina is in danger.”

The long silence unnerved him but, as the Bandits were tearing Adelina’s quiver and swordbelt off of her body, Bloodraven’s voice reached him.  “You owe me for this, Maze.”

Bloodraven broke the connection between them but Maze was satisfied that Adelina would be saved from the ignoble fate the bandits and Jack o’ Blades had in store for her.  Bloodraven would kill the bandits easily.  The only thing that troubled Maze was what Bloodraven would demand of him in payment… but not as much as the thought of what Bloodraven would demand of Adelina troubled him.

 

 

 

Bloodraven heard the screams and the laughter.

 

He drew his bow and stood at the edge of the clearing.  He pulled a black arrow from his quiver and set it to the bowstring but he did not draw.  The Sorrowful Blade was being shoved back and forth in a circle of bandits.  They tore her armored jacket off of her and then her shirt.

 

He waited.

 

She was shoved over a fallen log and pinned down as they peeled her leathers off of her lower body, baring her and preparing her to be mounted.  With her face being pushed into the dirt and her pants around her knees, she could not fight.  The Bandit Clan Leader began unlacing his breeches.

 

He waited.

 

Are you watching, Maze?

 

He smirked to himself when his Guild Seal hummed against his chest.  He heard Maze’s voice in his head, as if on cue.

 

-Bloodraven!  Where are you!-

 

Bloodraven did not answer.  The Bandit Clan Leader was preparing to mount her, rubbing his shaft between her upturned cheeks.  He drew the arrow back to his ear and held it there.  He was half tempted to let the bandit mount her, to sunder her sweet innocence but that thought fled before it was fully formed.  He wanted that prize for himself.  The arrow sliced through the bandit’s neck from behind.  He was thrown forward by the force of the strike and the other bandits were stunned for a moment.  He managed three more shots before they rushed him.  He tossed the bow aside and drew his sword.  He summoned his magic and a Physical Shield enveloped him.

 

“You’re all going to die here,” he sneered.

 

He waded into them.  Their strikes rebounded off of his barrier but his blade cut deeply through muscle and flesh, scraping along bones.  A sweep of his blade decapitated one of the mangy outlaws and the last two standing fled.  He scooped up his bow and sent arrows after them, killing them both.  He let his Physical Shield die and sauntered over to Adelina, nude and covering herself with the scraps of her shirt and jacket.  He offered her a hand and she took it.

 

As he pulled her to her feet, he looked at her, openly enjoying her nudity while her eyes were averted.  He looked away as she looked at him.  He unclasped his cloak and offered it to her.  She wrapped it around herself and thanked him.  He glanced over his shoulder and watched her pull up her pants, her breasts momentarily bared as the cloak fell open.  He looked away again, waiting until she told him it was okay to look.  She had wrapped his cloak around her body.

 

“Are you alright,” he asked.

 

She nodded and grim resolve played across her features.  Despite himself, he was impressed with her fortitude.  Any other maiden would have been sobbing and weeping hysterically.  She truly deserved her Guild Seal… or she would once she was seasoned.  He watched her pick up her weapons.

 

“I’ll take you back to the Guild.”

 

She shook her head.  “No… I have a quest.  I’m unharmed and I have extra clothes in my pack.”

 

He was very impressed.  “Let me travel with you.  At least until the Darkwood Swamp,” he offered.  “I was heading to the Darkwood Bordello.”

 

She looked over her shoulder at him and nodded once, nonplussed by his destination.  “Alright.”

 

-Don’t you touch her!-

 

Bloodraven smiled and knew that Maze was watching them.  He touched his own Seal while Adelina was rooting through her pack.

 

-You sent me to her rescue, old man.- Bloodraven sent the thought to Maze with wicked glee.  -Who am I to deny her gratitude?-

 

Silence.

 

He looked at Adelina and watched her unwind his cloak.  He stared at the smooth lines of her back as she pulled a shirt over her head.  He would have her.  He knew Maze would be watching.

 

 

 

Adelina followed the two traders up the well manicured path, muttering under her breath and scowling at their backs.

 

Bloodraven just had to mention the Bordello while she was first meeting with the Traders and now they just had to stop and ‘ease the terrible burden of the road’ by ‘spending the night with a lovely lady of great beauty and little morals’.  And despite the beauty of the grounds, she would have preferred to be mucking through the swamp and fighting Hobbes and running from Balverines than spending the night in a bordello.

 

The madame, a fleshy redhead who once had been a great beauty, welcomed them all warmly.  Bloodraven chose an elegant woman who called herself a “Lady” and she promised that after she bathed and loved him, he would count every coin as well-spent.  One of the traders chose a sweet young woman in pink who smiled sweetly and spoke sweetly and probably fornicated sweetly.  The other trader chose an exotic woman with dark skin and silvery hair.

 

She stalked to a chair but before she could sit, the madame was there.

 

“No, no, no,” the madame said.  “You are filthy.  You need a bath.  I will summon one of my girls.”

 

“I don’t want one of your girls,” Adelina said tartly.

 

“Do not be ridiculous,” the madame said.  “I will not charge you for the bath.  Come.  I will have Selena bathe you.”

 

Adelina acquiesced quietly, more out of the desire for a hot bath than anything else.  She allowed herself to be led into a private room with a deep copper tub in the center.  She stripped out of her leathers and placed them on the hooks, to be cleaned.  She knew many of her Guild brothers frequented this place and the girls knew how to care for armor.  Naked, she sank into the tub and dunked herself completely.  When she surfaced, a girl about her age was waiting with a scrub brush.

 

“I’m Selena.”

 

“I’m Adelina,” she replied.

 

There was no more conversation as Selena scrubbed her clean, dumped and replaced the water, and then scrubbed her again.  Tingling, Adelina sighed and relaxed as Selena used a washcloth to rub oils into her.  She was so relaxed that it took her a moment to realize that the washcloth was gone and that Selena had been rubbing the oil into her breasts for a long time… with her bare hands.

 

“What are you doing?”

 

Selena did not stop.  “Don’t you like it?”

 

“N-no,” she lied.  It had felt so .  She sat up and pulled away from Selena.  “I’m not… not like that.”

 

Selena smiled, taking no insult from her words, and picked up a glass bottle of shampoo.  “Then I’ll wash your hair.”

 

Suspicious, Adelina sat back and let the other woman lather her hair.  She closed her eyes but she could not hold her tongue.

 

“Don’t you like men,” she asked.

 

Selena laughed.  “I loathe men.  All day, all night, every time a man comes here, he uses us roughly and then leaves.  That’s all men ever want from us.  I was married once and he sold me to old Grope when a village strumpet caught his eye.”

 

Adelina felt horrible.  “I’m sorry.”

 

“Don’t be.”  Selena poured a pitcher of warm water over her head.  “Despite old Grope, life here isn’t so bad.  Very few men brave the Darkwood to get here.  It’s mostly Guild Warriors and the occasional trader.”

 

Something about Selena’s voice was strangely hypnotic.  “And you discovered that you were… you know… here?”

 

“Not at first,” Selena admitted.  “Not until the Bloodraven took his pleasure with me and Whisper at the same time.”

 

Visions of that tryst filled her head.  Selena began to rub a different oil into her shoulders and Adelina did not stop Selena when her hands slipped lower.

 

 

 

Essence of a Darkwood Faerie, Tears from a Nymph, and the sweat of a Satyr mixed with the sap of a willow created an oil that was renowned for its aphrodisiac qualities.  And it was that oil, called Lust of Ages, that Bloodraven had given Selena when he arrived.  The coins to Madame Minche ensured it would be used on Adelina and the threat of gelding kept old Grope muttering behind the bar.  That oil ensured that, by the time her bath was done, Adelina would be ready and willing to sleep with anyone and everyone that so much as glanced her way.

 

He was unsurprised when Maze stomped into the Bordello.

 

“Hello, Maze,” the Bloodraven said with a smile, “would you like a drink?”

 

“What are you doing,” Maze demanded.

 

“What does it look like I’m doing?  I’m having a drink.”  Bloodraven picked up his mug but Maze knocked it out of his hand.  The whores froze and the madame was rushing over.  Bloodraven stood and locked gazes with Maze.

 

“Maze…”  Bloodraven growled the name.  His hand dropped to the hilt of his sword.  “Go back to your tower before Jack decides you’ve outlived your purpose.”

 

“Do you expect me to believe that Jack is using a whelp like you,” Maze sneered.

 

Bloodraven looked down at the shattered mug and the pool of beer and then met Maze’s hot gaze with a glacially cold stare.

 

“You’ve failed Jack over and over again, Maze,” Bloodraven snarled.  “You were supposed to save the boy but you saved the girl.  You were supposed to send her to the bandits, so she would be angry enough and desperate enough to seek Jack.  You preserved her as a maiden when Jack needed her to be a woman.”

 

All this had been recently fed to him by Jack of Blades while he and Adelina had journeyed through the Greatwood.  Jack had come to him in the middle of the night, while she slept.  He had accepted Jack’s offer without hesitation.

 

“How long have you been Jack’s creature,” Maze demanded, his voice a spiteful hiss.

 

“I am no man’s creature, old man.  I sell my sword to him one task at a time.  He owns your soul.”  Bloodraven smiled at him, half a sneer.  “Jack is waiting for you at your tower.  Go before he comes to fetch you.”

 

Bloodraven glared at the old sorcerer until he slunk out of the Bordello.  He drew his sword and turned on the draw, sending old Grope’s head bouncing down the bar.  The old fool had heard far too much.  Holding his bloody blade, he glared at the headless corpse as it stood there for a moment, spurting blood, before dropping behind the bar.  He wiped his sword clean on a rag and looked at the bartender.

 

“Clean that mess up,” he ordered.

 

As the bartender rushed to obey, the madame came over.

 

“You have freed us from Grope,” she began.  “How can we-”

 

“I freed you from nothing,” Bloodraven corrected.  “I own this place now.”

 

He walked away from her and went up the stairs.  He opened the door to the room that had been given over to Adelina and walked in, smiling when he beheld the Sorrowful Blade writhing beneath Selena’s hands.  He stepped inside and closed the door behind him.

 

 

 

On the bridge to the Barrow Fields, Adelina the Sorrowful Blade accepted her payment and the decorative feathers from the Master of the Traders Guild, ignoring the Bloodraven as he stood behind her.

 

“Thank you,” the Master Trader gushed.  “You ever need anything, you come to me.”

 

They had rescued a stranded Trader in the swamp, bringing him along with them even though he could not pay.  She had done it out of kindness and the Master Trader’s gratitude made her forget the troubles that brewed in the back of her mind.  Once the Traders left and wandered into the Barrow Fields, she was forced to confront the Bloodraven, turning to face him.

 

She did not know what was worse, having had to fight through Hobbes, Dark Faeries, Balverines, and Trolls or having to look Bloodraven in the eyes after what happened in the Bordello.  She still could not believe she had done that, not with him and certainly not with Selena.  She would have blamed it on the wine or on the cheep beer, if she had drunk any.  She would have sworn it was just a dream if not for the lingering pain as evidence in the morning.  Without any alcohol to blame, her only recourse was to believe that, somewhere deep inside, she had craved it.  The memories of that night still made her flush and she hoped that none of the Traders in the Barrow Fields noticed.

 

She had felt his eyes on her as she spoke with the Master Trader.  Her heart in her throat, she looked into his cool, gray eyes.

 

Before she could speak, he came forward and caught her in his arms, covering her mouth with his in a passionate kiss.  Her knees went weak and she felt the ground spin beneath her feet.  She whimpered into his mouth and her arms wrapped around him, pulling her tight against his body.  She felt her toes curl in her boots and she grew light headed.  When he released her, she clung to him.

 

“I…”

 

“I won’t speak of it to anyone,” he promised.  “It will remain our secret.”

 

She smiled up at him.  “I wouldn’t want to damage your fearsome reputation,” she chided him.

 

He smiled and her pulse raced.  “No… it’s the other way around,” he said.  “I don’t want to damage your reputation, my dear ‘lina.”

 

She embraced him.

 

 

 

The Bloodraven watched Adelina browse the wares on display and moved up the path, ambling down an overgrown road.  An abandoned and dilapidated home was high on the hill, overlooking a lake.  He passed the rickety stables on his way to the house, his hand on the hilt of his sword.

 

Some nights and sometimes in the day, the dead walked the lands of the old Grey House.

 

A shadowed figure was waiting for him on the porch.

 

“Have I done well, Jack?”

 

Jack o’ Blades looked at him with those serpentine eyes blazing from behind his mask and Bloodraven felt a moment of fear.

 

“You have,” Jack said at last.  “Your performance was of no consequence.  All that mattered was that her purity was sundered.”

 

Bloodraven knew better than to ask why.  “If you have no further need of me, I will be-”

 

“Do not leave just yet,” Jack said.  “There is one more task I will have of you.”

 

“At my usual fee, of course?”

 

Jack looked at him and Bloodraven felt his blood run cold.

 

“Of course,” Jack said, at last.

 

“Then my sword is yours.”

 

“You won’t need it," Jack sneered.  "Break her heart, Bloodraven.  That is your task.  Break her heart to pieces.”

---

Dear angel, where are your warming wings tonight? It's so cold outside. Won't you hold me for a while? And angel, I feel alone and unalive. The night is frozen and these tears have stung my eyes.

great story...

I must read moar!

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Then it comes to be that the soothing light at the end of your tunnel was just a freight train coming your way

This is the first story I've read from these boards...and it's awesome!

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Metallica=greatest band ever

Its excatly like Fable: the lost chapters but with a wicked twist, Brilliant! More please.

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Flown down by ravens and stolen by the dawn's first rays, night mares stalk the night. Through dusty windows and cracked glass, they watch the weary rest till mornings rise.

You are a gift upon the board Marcasite thank you for listening to me and welcome back. Your story has enhanced dramatically, its even more loveable than when I first laid eyes on Adelina.

I hope you get to finish this story

Welcome back dude.

Hermit

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That was truly, truly awesome. Practically inspirational.

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"Time is our greatest teacher. Unfortunately, it kills most of its pupils." ~Louis Hector Berlioz

wow, thats an amazing Fanfiction youve got. I really hope you continue it.

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Gradius:: If I could get our lead designer in here to quell this once and for all about why we do it and why it's    then I would...and he is a 6 foot 6 American who eats small children for breakfast, and picks his teeth with er...flaming axes

Thank you, all, for your kind words.  It's truly a joy to be back.  Next chapter is going up soon.

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Dear angel, where are your warming wings tonight? It's so cold outside. Won't you hold me for a while? And angel, I feel alone and unalive. The night is frozen and these tears have stung my eyes.

Maze stood on the path that led to the Oakvale Tavern, at the fork where the path turned down to the harbor and towards the quaint cottages both above the harbor and along the cliff to the shallower bay where the fisherman plied their skills.  He glowered and is fingers were claw-like as they clutched his bladed staff.  The traders had arrived in town hours ago and he had left a message with the leader of the Barrow Fields trading camp for the Sorrowful Blade, instructing her to meet him here.

He checked the sun and scowled, his demeanor enough to keep even the most ardent of fans among the townspeople from approaching him.  He dipped the blade of his staff into a puddle of water and channeled power through it, speaking a name.

“Adelina the Sorrowful Blade.”

The shallow puddle solidified to a mirror finish and he saw her in the weird twilight of the scyring spell, the colors wrong because she was in the dark but illuminated in the surface of the pool by the magic.  She was naked and astride the Bloodraven, his hands on her breasts as she ground against him.  Her lower lip was caught between her teeth and she was tossing her hair.  He banished the spell with a snarl and thrust the blade of his staff deep into the earth, splashing the muddy water over his boots.

Damn his eyes and damn her for giving herself to him!

 

He felt a pain deep in his soul and he knew it for what it was: jealousy.  He had cultivated Adelina from the moment he rescued her.  When she was called Sorrow, he was her sunshine and was never stingy with his praise or his time.  He should have been the one she turned to, he should have been the one she desired, he should have been the one to have her, but Jack o’ Blades had given her to another.

A flash of magic surged through him, through his staff, and a ring of fire erupted around him, roasting the chickens that had been pecking the earth near his feet.  A nervous scatter of laughter reached him and one woman ventured a joke.

“If you were hungry, Maze, I’d have cooked you a proper chicken dinner.”

He gave the woman a tight smile and picked up the roasted chickens by their legs, burnt feathers raining from the bodies.  He threw them to the dogs that lurked in the bushes and allowed the townspeople to think he had expended his valuable magic for their amusement.  But, behind his smile, dark thoughts swirled through his head.

He would make the Bloodraven pay for despoiling his Adelina, pay in blood.  Adelina the Sorrowful Blade would be his.  And he would bring death to any who stood in his way.

 

 

 

Adelina was drowsing in the Bloodraven’s arms, pleasantly exhausted and luxuriating in the warmth of his body.  She sighed and cuddled against him, smiling as his hand stroked her from shoulder to hip.  She breathed in the spicy scent of him, a cologne he bought from a Trader that wandered past the Guild once a season.  She still did not understand what was happening, she had never been attracted to him, not like this, before.  A part of her wondered if it was because he saved her but the rest of her was content to remain in his arms for the rest of the night.  Such thoughts could wait until morning.

 

She sighed and snuggled against him, pressing her breasts into his side.  After a time, he shifted and rolled her onto her belly.

 

She giggled and gasped as he probed her but whimpered when she realized what he intended.  She flinched and protested that, however many times she had uttered the phrase ‘bugger me’, she had not truly meant those words as an invitation the last time she spoke them.  She tried to cajole him out of it as he prepared her.  He bit her shoulder, stroked her side, and whispered those magical words in her ear, those words she had so longed to hear.

 

“I love you.”

 

She melted beneath him, surrendering to his desires.  She groaned, bit the blankets hard, and endured for his pleasure.

 

 

 

Maze snarled and slapped the bowl off the nightstand, spilling the water across the floor.  He was in a full fury but he could not vent it, not in the middle of the night and not while in a rented bed in the tavern.  It would damage his reputation if he burned it to the ground.  He stood and paced the length of the room, his fists clenching and unclenching as if he were wringing the Bloodraven’s neck.

 

By Skorm’s teeth, I’ll bugger you with a red-hot poker, boy!

 

He sent another message to Adelina, using her seal, telling her that he needed to meet with her, at the Tavern, and that it was urgent.  He received no answer; he had not expected to, not after seeing what he saw in the scrying bowl.  He picked up his bladed staff and indulged in a brief fantasy.  He imagined teleporting to the Barrow Fields and bursting into the tent, driving the blade of his staff through the Bloodraven’s back, the bloody tip protruding from the insolent boy’s breastbone.  He would take Adelina and make her his while the Bloodraven met Death’s cold embrace.

 

A timid knock at the door made him whirl about.

 

“What is it,” he demanded.

 

“Master Maze,” the chambermaid said tremulously.  “I heard a noise.  Is all well?”

 

“Yes,” he snarled.

 

He did not need an insipid peasant girl nosing into his affairs.  He paused in mid pace and gave in to his darker impulses.  He softened his voice.  Lust flushed through his body and his heart hammered in his chest, his pulse loud as thunder in his ears.  He struggled to compose himself.

 

“Wait, child… come in…”

 

She entered and curtsied, her eyes moving to the broken bowl and the water on the floorboards, seeping into the wood.

 

“Shall I clean the mess for you, Master Maze?”

 

She was a pretty thing, large blue eyes and black hair caught in a ponytail.  She was slender and slim, not unlike Adelina had been when she begun her transformation from child to woman.  She would do until he could have Adelina.

 

“No, child.”  His voice was thick with lust.  “I have another task for you.”

 

 

 

Maze spotted Adelina the Sorrowful Blade as she strolled down the road towards him.  She had a bounce in her step that was a tad hesitant and awkward, no doubt suffering the lingering pains of the Bloodraven’s love.  He glowered and glared as she came before him, contrite.

 

“Forgive me,” she said sweetly.  “I was too tired last night to make the journey into town.  I slept the night away in the Barrow Fields.”

 

For the kernel of truth, it was still a lie and he was incensed that she would lie to his face.  But he merely grunted and began walking towards the harbor, with Adelina on his heels.  He walked in silence for a long moment, ignoring the looks that the Chambermaid gave him as they walked past her, not wanting to meet her gaze, that accusatory and hurt gaze.  He had used her roughly and in the same manner that Adelina had allowed the Bloodraven to use her.  Only the Chambermaid and cried where Adelina gasped, squealed where Adelina had groaned, and sobbed where Adelina had endured.  He should have been ashamed but he wasn’t.  In years to come, she would boast that she had once been ridden by Maze of the Guild.  It did not matter how he had taken her, only that he had.  And even if she chose to reveal how he had taken her, his reputation would not suffer for it.  It was not as if he had buggered a boy, after all.

 

Besides, the girl should count herself blessed that he had noticed her in the first place.

 

“I have word of your brother,” he said as they reached the beach.

 

Adelina sucked in a breath behind him.  “My brother!  I thought he died in the raid!”

 

“As did I but rumors indicate he may be alive.  I will inform you if I learn more.”

 

He turned and pressed a Quest Card into her hand.

 

“Twinblade has been terrorizing Oakvale,” he said.  “You will deal with him and his bandits.”

 

Adelina paled.  “Twinblade?”

 

“He’s a monster of man,” Maze supplied.  “He was a member of the Guild before he turned and went bandit.  Very dangerous.”

 

He could see the fear take hold of her, the terror.  Twinblade was beyond her abilities and she knew it.  But the card was in her hand, she could not give it back.  He was her only hope.  He smiled but hid it by turning away from her and looking out to sea.

 

“How will I defeat him,” she asked, her voice so very small.

 

“I can teach you spells that will even the field of battle,” he said, “powerful spells that few people know.  And I have a blade that will pierce his armor.”

 

Hope bloomed in her voice.  “Thank you, Maze.  I-”

 

He squashed that hope, viciously and brutally.  “The spell will not come cheaply,” he said, “nor will the blade.  You are no longer an apprentice to be coddled.  You must pay.”

 

She fell silent and he gave the ocean a wicked grin.  He knew her gold was spent, the fabulous new chainmail, black links and a crimson shoulder guard, had eaten her funds.  He waited for the despair to grip her and then turned, a gentle smile on his face, his fingers oh so gentle on her cheek.  He could barely control himself.

 

“If you do not have gold…”

 

Her eyes were so very blue, so very dark, like the deep sea on a clear summer day.  But they were also so very sad.  She looked out to sea and then down at the card in her hand.  She met his gaze again and then nodded once.  He took her by the hand and led her back to the tavern.

 

 

 

Adelina trembled uncontrollably as she climbed out of Maze’s bed.

 

Her knees were weak and her stomach threatened to rebel but she clenched her teeth and swallowed hard until the urge to be sick and the taste left her.  She felt his eyes on her as she stepped away from the bed.  She bent over, shivering as she inadvertently presented herself to him.  She stepped into her breeches and pulled them up quickly, keeping her back to Maze.  She left them unlaced bent over again, picking up her shirt.  Her breaths came quick and fast as she pulled it over her head, unshed tears stinging the corners of her eyes.  She tucked in her shirt and laced her breeches, her fingers clumsy.  She ignored him as best she could, trying not to look at him as she gathered her things.  She stepped into her boots and laced them tight.  She would have armored herself but her weapons and the new armor had been left on the table at the base of the serpentine stairs that led to the top of his tower.

 

Unable to delay any longer, she turned and faced the old sorcerer who, up until this moment, had been like a father to her.

 

He was still abed, his hands clasped behind his head as he gazed upon her silently.  He was still lean and hard, like a twisted old oak, no fat on him, but she did not see his roughhewn and masculine beauty.  She only saw his eyes, those black eyes that seemed to look through her now.  She could not meet his gaze any longer.  She looked away.

 

“You promised me a sword and a spell,” she said, her voice thick.

 

“So I did,” he said after a pregnant pause.

 

She turned her back to him again as he rose from the bed, having no desire to see him unclothed.  She heard him moving and cloth rustling as he dressed himself.  She waited another moment and then turned to face him.  A sheathed blade was in his left hand, a scroll in the right.

 

“This spell is intensely powerful but slow,” he warned.  “It will channel the very fires of Skorm’s furnace and scorch your enemies.  And this blade…”

 

He held it out to her.

 

“This is the sword that I conquered the Arena with.  It is a Masterwork blade, forged by the finest smith to ever swing a hammer,” there was pride in his voice, pride and the expectation that she would be both impressed and grateful.

 

But there was no gratitude in her and she was still too hurt to be impressed.  She accepted the blade and the scroll, examining the sword with a critical eye and tucking the scroll in her pouch.  The sword was light but the edge gleamed with an eerie green glow.  She checked the base of the blade and saw three augmentations melded into the steel: Piercing, Sharpening, and Fire.  She buckled the blade across her back and settled it into place for a quick and easy draw.  She met his eyes one last time, betrayal and bile stinging the back of her throat.

 

“Thank you.”

 

He frowned at the flatness of her tone but she turned away from him again.  He had no cause to be cross with her, none.  She had idolized him, looked up to him, and revered him as the father she wished she had.  That had been before he took her to his tower, before he took her to his bed.  She did not know how he could expect gratitude from her, not after he used her in a way that no girl should be used by a man she considered a father.

 

The Bloodraven had me first and never left me wanting.

 

The words were spiteful in her head but they did not escape her lips.  She took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

 

“I will bring you Twinblade’s head as proof of his death,” Adelina said.

 

“Stay,” Maze urged.  “I will teach you the spell and help you prepare.”

 

“I’ve no desire to pay for your time, Maze,” she sniped.

 

She regretted it instantly, the moment she said it.  The anger and hurt in his eyes was fearsome to behold but it was no match for the sorrow, betrayal, and disgust that rolled in her belly.  She met his gaze unflinchingly, her chin held high and her eyes dark with sorrow and thinly veiled disgust.  She silently dared him to respond, to speak angry words at her.

 

After an awkward silence, she moved towards the door.  She opened it and stepped out but paused and looked back at him, her face hidden behind a veil of hair.

 

“Maze?”

 

He looked at her, seeming very old in that moment.  “Yes?”

 

“This is the last quest of yours I will ever do.”

 

It was not quite what she intended to say.  The quests were not the issue.  But the words must have conveyed her intention because he seemed to shrink a bit, to draw in.  He knew that she would never submit to his touch again.  She held his gaze a moment longer then walked away.

 

 

 

The Bloodraven stood in the shadows on the balcony of the Apprentice Dormitory, cloaked in the darkness, one with the darkness.  His eyes were narrowed as he watched the old sorcerer finish dressing through the tower window.  He watched and seethed as Maze collected his staff.  He had watched with the self-same scrying spell that Maze was so fond of, he had watched and burned with anger.

 

Adelina the Sorrowful Blade was his to use, his to humiliate, but Maze had trespassed there to fulfill his desires.  The girl had been humiliated but she was unbroken.  Her heart had been hurt but not shattered.

 

If anything, Maze had hardened her heart and that would make it harder to break.  He watched the old Sorcerer leave the tower through narrowed eyes, his hand clenched around the hilt of his sword.

 

-We still need him.-

 

The voice of Jack of Blades in his head, Bloodraven reluctantly released his blade but not his hatred.  When the old man was of no more use to them, Maze of the Guild would die a traitor’s death.  He would see to it personally.

 

 

 

Adelina crept through the darkness, behind the tents and bushes that ringed the edges of Twinblade’s camp.

 

Stealth had served her best thus far.  She had crept past the guards at the cliff, avoided the bandits that patrolled the path, and had scaled the wall into the lower camp.  Getting into the inner camp had been a little more difficult but a bit of flash powder in a flask thrown into a campfire had brought the sentry at the gate (and every other bandit in the lower camp) running and she had slipped through before the camp had calmed down.  But, with dawn fast approaching and the bandits awake and grumbling because of her distraction, her task had grown more difficult.  She needed to get into Twinblade’s private camp, located behind walls too high to climb and guarded by a bandit that was far taller than she and at least thrice her weight.  The blade of his axe was as big as her torso and she did not want to have to fight him.  She would not win quickly and the whole camp would be alerted to her presence with the clash of blades or the crack of magic.

 

She was swathed in black, soft soled boots and a hood and mask, the assassin’s gear that she had purchased at great cost in the Darkwood Trader’s Camp.  Her fingers moved towards her Guild Seal but she let her hand drop back to her side.  She would not call her friends for a last minute intervention or rescue.

 

I was always being rescued at the last moment, she mused as she searched for a way through or over the wall.  The Bloodraven… Sabre… Whisper… all have come to my rescue.  How did they know?  Who sent them?

 

She would ask the Bloodraven the next time she saw him.  She crouched lower in the bushes as Barda the Black Fox, the most notorious female bandit in the lands, approached the guard at the gate.

 

“I’ve come to see Twinblade,” Barda challenged.

 

“He’s not seeing anybody,” the guard growled.  “Go away.”

 

Barda loosened the laces of her bodice.  “I think he’ll want to see me.  Why don’t you check, hmmm?”

 

As Barda went to her knees in front of the bandit, Adelina grimaced.  Sour bile rose in her throat as she watched Barda take the bandit in her mouth.  She watched until Barda rose to her feet, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.

 

“Wait here,” the bandit said.

 

He opened the gate and stepped through.  Barda stretched, spat, and leaned against the wall.  Once she was sure the female bandit was not looking, Adelina the Sorrowful Blade moved through the shadows, slipped through the slightly ajar gate, and went behind the bushes on the other side.

 

“Twinblade don’t want to see nobody,” the guard stomped past her hiding place.  “Go away.”

 

The gate closed and Adelina crept through the darkened camp, moving silently towards the large tent in the center of the clearing.  She slipped her blade silently from the sheath and stepped through the silent tent, moving towards the large lump in the bed.  She raised the blade in both hands, point down, and drove it through the body and the bed.  Feathers rose around her and a deep voice spoke from the shadows.

 

“I’ve been expecting you, Guild Puppet!”

 

A heavy boot kicked her and she sailed out of the tent, landing hard and bouncing once.  She scrambled to her feet and the gates swung open behind her.  Bandits rushed in and surrounded her, forming a ring, waving torches and weapons.  Twinblade appeared in the firelight, as large as a Troll and hideously scarred.  His beard, red as fire, reached the middle of his chest, and he held a massive two-handed sword in each hand.  Her sword had flown from her grip when he kicked her but someone threw it into the ring of bandits and torches.  She grabbed it and stood, fear rolling thickly through her.

 

“Come,” Twinblade roared.  “Face me, Guild Puppet!”

 

“Hold,” a smooth voice commanded.  “This is the one I have been waiting for, old friend.”

 

Twinblade lowered his swords and barked a command.  After a moment of confusion, the bandits lit the torches around the pavilion tent and then filed back through the open gates.  Barda the Black Fox closed the gates as she left, leaving Adelina alone with Twinblade and a man in a ragged black cloak.  The man in the cloak stepped into the light and removed his hood.

 

He was young, perhaps two years her junior.  A black band was tied around his eyes, he was blind, but he wore a longsword belted around his waist.  He was handsome, his hair was black as coal and tied in a loose but elegant swordsman’s ponytail, with long bangs hanging in his face.  He walked towards her, moving deftly and with confidence.

 

“It has been far too long since I’ve seen, ‘lina,” he said, “but I would trade all my power just to gaze upon you again.”

 

Her heart skipped a beat and her sword fell from nerveless fingers.  “Aiden?”

 

The Blind Swordsman who was The Seer King of Bandits smiled.  “Yes, sweet sister.  It is I and I am he whom you seek.”

 

She ran towards him and embraced him, weeping happy tears into his shoulder.  He held her close and laughed and she found herself laughing with him.  Twinblade loomed over them both, as if hiding them from the gaze of the moon.  Some time later, she was sitting with her brother and Twinblade in the pavilion tent, warming her hands by the fire while a scrawny bandit boy fried bacon and eggs for them.

 

“I survived the attack on Oakvale,” Aiden explained, “but I was not so lucky as you.  I was captured by a man who took my eyes when I could not answer his questions.  Twinblade rescued me before I was killed and took me to the Temple of Avo.  They could not restore my sight but they did awaken my power.”

 

He accepted a cup of tea from the bandit boy and so did Adelina.  Twinblade declined.

 

“I have been watching you, sister, and you are in grave danger.  Jack o’ Blades, our mortal enemy, is prowling the lands and he wants our blood.  Our mother is his prisoner.”

 

“Mother is alive,” Adelina exclaimed.

 

“Yes but I have not been able to rescue her.  She is a prisoner in Bargate Prison and the Path is too well guarded for my bandits to penetrate that hellish place.”

 

“I would have gone but Maze discredited me at the Guild,” Twinblade growled.  “I was forced to go bandit after he drove me out.”

 

“Why did he drive you out,” Adelina asked.

 

“Because I opposed his plans, just as Scythe did.  Only Scythe was quick enough to leave the Guild on his own volition.  I mistakenly thought my Guild brothers would stand with me but Maze was far too persuasive and he killed in my name and used illusions to convince the survivors I had turned to Skorm.”

 

Aiden sipped his tea.  “I was fortunate that Twinblade is a man of honor.  He refused to reveal my location to Maze in exchange for his name.”

 

“Maze is…”  Adelina stopped.

 

She did not know what Maze was anymore.  He had shattered her perception of him when he manipulated her into his bed with a quest she could not complete and to acquire a sword and a spell he could have and should have freely given her.

 

“Why did they do this to us… to our family?”

 

Aiden set his cup down.  “Our blood is the reason Oakvale burned.  He could have had all three of us but I was left to die after he stole my eyes and you were sent to the Guild.  I do not know his plans or purpose yet but we must stand opposed to him.”

 

“Was Maze involved?  Is he working for Jack of Blades?”

 

Aiden shook his head.  “Not that I am aware of.”

 

She chewed on her lower lip, turning her thoughts over in her head.  Both Twinblade and Aiden remained silent.  She sighed and looked at Twinblade, meeting his eyes.

 

“I promised Maze your head,” she said.

 

Twinblade pulled a tarnished and broken Guild Seal from beneath his vest and broke the leather thong that held it around his neck.  He handed it to her.

 

“He will accept this,” Twinblade said.  “Tell him my head was too ugly to bring back.”

 

Adelina smiled but the smile faded like smoke on the wind.  “What do I do next?”

 

Aiden smiled and the bandit boy set three plates of breakfast out.  “Once you return to the Guild, continue to quest and test your friends.  I will watch you and tell you which can be trusted and which cannot.  I can speak to you through your Guild Seal.  When the time is right, we will rescue mother together and then…”  His smile grew cold.  “…we make Jack o’ Blades pay for the pain he’s caused us all.”

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Dear angel, where are your warming wings tonight? It's so cold outside. Won't you hold me for a while? And angel, I feel alone and unalive. The night is frozen and these tears have stung my eyes.