©1994-2001 Ian A. Ralph & Kelly C. Naylor Chapter VII: The Gathering Timor and Roark noticed Jehane's movement, and turned to follow her gaze. A light reddish mist was appearing in the center of the room, apparently flowing up through the floor. The mist quickly coalesced into a thick foggy pillar, and a shape was starting to appear. As the form began to take on a humanoid form, Jehane shuddered. Whatever it was, it was powerful enough to get past her shields. She pushed herself away from Roark, staring at the growing mist as she reached for the knives in her sleeves. "Oh, Shit." Roark shook his head and lowered his head into his hands. Timor yipped and grabbed Jehane's arms as she started to pull out the daggers. "You really don't want to do that, darlin'. It's okay." She struggled against Timor's unexpectedly strong grip as she sensed an aura of darkness and evil manifesting in the room. The form in the mist took on a humanoid form, about the same size and shape of Jehane. The column of mist began to shrink, drawn into the form as it took shape. It took shape as an attractive humanoid female with long black hair and coal black eyes, dressed in brown traveling leathers. As the last of the mist vanished, the strange woman heaved a loud sigh, and sat down, half collapsing on the bed. The sense of evil that Jehane felt lessened slightly, but there was no question that this stranger was the source of her concern. The woman took a couple of deep breaths, then smiled at them all. "Well, Roark, nice try. That was the toughest shield I ever went through, but it still wasn't enough to hide from me. You'll have to get someone better than her," the stranger glanced at Jehane with a glint of amusement in her eye, "to keep me away." As Timor released his pressure on Jehane's arms as he felt her relax, Roark looked over at the newcomer. "Hi, Cilcia. Actually, I didn't think you'd notice that I had left." Jehane shook off Timor's hands on her arms, glaring at Cilcia. "You two know this… this thing?" She was definitely surprised. Not only that Timor seemed to know the evil creature, but by the pang of jealousy she felt when she realized Roark knew her as well. She turned to the Elf. "You have some explaining to do, I think." Timor definitely looked uncomfortable at this point, but more embarrassed than threatened. Roark on the other hand, looked a little depressed, resting his head in his hands. The small dark woman eyes flashed in anger at Jehane. "Thing? You untalented little plebian mage wannabe. I am not a thing. Roark, would you mind telling this blonde tart just who I am?" Timor looked at Jehane apologetically. "Well, she kinda followed us home after our last adventure…" Before Cilcia could launch a retort back at Timor, Roark cleared his throat loudly enough to get everyone's attention. "Magess Jehane, allow me to present the Princess Cilcia, of the kingdom of…um, Newhome. Princess Cilcia, this is the Lady Magess Jehane." Roark turned to look at Timor. "Buddy, maybe you better explain to Jehane about Cilcia." He turned back to Cilcia, took her arm and led the dark woman to a corner, talking to her softly. "Princess??!" Jehane muttered to Timor. "Princess? What are you getting yourself into, Timor?" Timor motioned to Jehane to follow him to an opposite corner, and likewise began to speak in a low voice. "Uhm, sorry about that, darlin. Let me explain. Roark and ah, well, we met a few months ago. He hired me as ah guide into the darklands. Ah had been there a few times, an he was just looking to make a quick shield or two off a hunting trip or findin' stuff in an old ruin that lies near the entrance. Well, We kinda got lost… They were interrupted by a loud exclamation from Cilcia, and suddenly the room was draped in silence. She could see them, with her eyes at least. But her Mage-sense said they'd disappeared. She could see the manipulation of man around Roark and Cilcia. She turned again to Timor. "Princess? She's a Master Mage, Timor! Explain. Now." Whatever Roark was saying to the Princess was not making her happy. As long as it didn't interfere with her mission ot recover the Goddess Stone, Jehane did not care. Much. Timor gulped nervously. "Okay. Well, we stumbled into this village in the darklands, and there was a wedding going on, an the Lord of the place, Lord Gregory was getting married, but someone tried to assassinate his bride, well, it was Cilcia over there that tried, but we stopped it. Then like we found out that Lord Gregory was a vampire, and ruled a small kingdom called Newhome, and Cilcia was his daughter. Well, Roark decided that he couldn't let a vampire live, so we went to their main city with the intent of killing Gregory. During that, We sorta became allies with his daughter, Cilcia, who didn't like the idea of her father living off the peasents." Timor sighed. "Well, We lost, but instead of killing all of us, Gregory banished us, along with his daughter, and commanded Roark to show Cilcia what life was like in the "civilized" world, which he and his people forsakened 400 years ago. Seemed like a good deal at the time." Jehane just stared at him, waiting for him to continue. It was hard to tell exactly what she thought of his tale, but whatever her thoughts were, they weren't good thoughts. "Anyway," continued Timor, "We started on our journey back through the darklands. Turned out that she was a good camper, and held up her end of the chores while we made our way back. Actually became pretty good friends." Timor's neck blushed slightly as he glanced over at the silently screaming couple. Roark towered over the diminuative dark woman, and he was waving his hands around rather wildly, his neck puffed out and red, while Cilcia stared up at him, her face alternating between rebellion and indifferance, her arms crossed in front of her. Suddenly, her expression went demure, and she leaned up to kiss him on the lips. Roark froze, arms in midair, obviously surprised, and the spell of silence evaporated. "Okay, darling. I'll meet you on the north road tomorrow with supplies. See you all tomorrow." Cilcia smiled at Timor and Jehane, and the room thickened with magic, and Cilcia's form desolved back into smoke. As her face started to disappear, she blew Timor a kiss and a wink. Then the smoke disipated and the room was quiet as before. Jehane looked from Timor to Roark and back to Timor. Emotions flickered across her face… anger, dark amusement, frustration… until her features settled on an emotionless mask. Her eyes caught Timor. "He is the best? He is the only one who will be able to help us retrieve the Goddess Stone?" Without waiting for Timor to answer, she turned to Roark. "And you are going to bring your… girlfriend along?" The young Mage glared at the two men for a moment. "You both disgust me." She turned her back on them, breathing deeply to regain her composure. If the truth be known, she wasn't so angry at either of them as much as she was angry about Cilcia breaking through her wards to easily. That hurt. "She's not my girl…," Roark roared at Jehane, then his voice dropped to a normal tone. "Aw, forget it. It was a bad idea anyway." Roark turned and stomped out of the room. "Chasing after a dragon…magic swords….witchmages…" Roark's muttering could be heard as he walked down the hall. Timor grasped his hands together, torn between his two friends. Finally he turned to Jehane. "He really is the best. You can check in town. Cilcia's…well, she's just very headstrong and used to getting her way. Not that anyone can do anything about it. I'm sorry, Jehane. They're just…good friends. Really. And I wouldn't want anyone else with me. They're the best. Cilcia can be a pain, but she's really good. I wasn't expecting her to show up, but having her along will be a big help. She's at least a master mage. Probably even more powerful. " Timor went silent, waiting for Jehane's next outburst. Jehane turned around and only glared at him though, hands firmly set on her slim hips and lips drawn into a tight line. "She's evil, Timor. Can't you feel it?" Timor visibly twitched. "No, not really. Well, she hasn't been to us, anyway. Look, I know her aura's a little warped. Yours would be too if your father had been a vampire, but she really is a …well, not evil, really. Bitchy, aristocratic, snotty, and acts like a spoiled brat some of the time, maybe." Seeing that answer wasn't really satisfying Jehane, he continued. "Well, her mage aspect is death. I suppose that some might think she's evil, but she's really not." His voice ended on a plaintive note. "You'll get to like her, honest." She stared at him as though he'd grown another head. "Get to like her? A Death-aspected Mage?" She was astounded that he would even suggest such a thing. Jehane's own aspect was Life. You couldn't get more opposite than that. But did she really have a choice? She needed Timor… and apparently Roark, too. And where Roark went, Cilcia followed. Or so it seemed. She sighed and shook her head. "It appears I have little choice, dear Timor. If I want to save Gunstov, I must trust you and your friend, and put up with a spoiled princess." She shook her head again, and muttered under her breath, "And no doubt meeting Gretmak will be a relief after this adventure." "It'll be okay, honest," said Timor. "I'll be right back. I have to go calm down Roark. I gathered he wasn't expecting her to tag along as well." Timor scurried out of the room after Roark.