Do you think the whole part with Mariamne is a little confusing and perhaps...er...grotesque? Should I revise? Also, do you think the language later is too much? I know soldiers tend nowadays to have foul mouths, but...if you think it takes away from the story I'll take it out. It's not bad, but...Okay. Also, there's some awkwardness in the part where Dominic's talking to the soldiers. Any ideas? Enough worrying. Enjoy! ~Mademoiselle Kool

****

Mariamne pushed her essence through the grass, her senses spreading out throughout the entire camp. She winced away from the burned edges. Her inborn duty ached to be released, ached to heal and replace the ashes with fresh green blades. She restrained herself, knowing that if green started to overtake the black, burned border, the guards would suspect something was amiss. She felt around the camp, her mind spreading in a large circle to encompass the entire camp. Thoughtfully she sorted through the many images that assailed her: guards, soldiers, the king himself, and the King's Guard. Suddenly she was forced to pull back, feeling a sharp sting on her power.

There. Only deLucio would be smart enough to enclose his own tent in yet another protective circle of burned grass. It could only be the King's Guard's tent, and that must be where Annie was. Mariamne gathered her scattered mind together and centered it on the burned section. Her mind couldn't enter there, and she was unable to see it, but she knew it was there. Coming up to the burned section where her vision began to blur, she carefully pulled up her deep, inborn magic that eagerly pulled at her restraints. Pushing a little bit at a time into the ground, she forced a tiny green line of life to cross the burned section, and as soon as it had reached the other side, pulled her magic back inside herself and locked it safely away. Suddenly, the tent appeared in the air in front of her. She chuckled as she crossed her tiny, unnoticeable green bridge and entered the tent.

There sat Annie, and Mariamne hesitated only a moment before enveloping her. If she tried to actually speak to the girl, someone might hear, and that would cause trouble the forest spirit didn't even want to think about. She felt the girl struggle slightly as she sucked her down into the ground, using all her strength to dissolve Annie's body, making her part of the ground, like a temporary burial. Pushing her burden before her, Mariamne traveled through the earth, invisible to the humans above her. Using the roots of the green grass as levers to move forward, she was pulled to a painful halt by a sudden absence of green.

Puzzled, Mariamne left Annie's dissolved body underground and came up, looking around. She couldn't see anything past the burned section, the lack of growth blocking her senses. That meant that someone had moved the branch. Now what?

Sinking back down to Annie, she thought frantically. A human couldn't stay in a dissolved state for more than a few minutes, or else they would begin to awake, and it was extremely unpleasant to be conscious when one's body was partly decomposed.

Sighing, Mariamne pushed Annie's mass to the topsoil, just two inches underground. Gathering all of herself together, she bunched herself together underneath Annie. She had to act quickly, or Annie would die a very painful but mercifully sudden death. Unleashing herself as quickly as she could, she released Annie's body so it would start to reassemble itself. As Annie's form started to solidify, Mariamne used all of her strength to hurl Annie up out of the ground and across the burned section of grass.

"Ye gods, what in bloody hell was that?"

At the incredulous voice, Mariamne sank back down underground, hoping that she had thrown Annie to a place near to Seden, and that Seden would have the sense to take Annie quickly to safety.

Now she spread her awareness out once again in the broad circle that included the whole camp. Standing there at the border of the camp was a pair of astonished guards.

"Did you see that? It was like a blob of something hurtling through the air." One of them was gesturing wildly with his hands.

"Nay, it was a woman. A woman flying. Do you suppose it was that Valery? She can fly." The other one was somewhat calmer.

"But this one came from the ground! You saw a woman, you say? Maybe it was the forest spirit."

"But spirits can't travel when there's no life. That's why we burned the grass here," explained the calmer guard.

"We should tell the King's Guard."

Mariamne turned her attention away from the guards, as they posed no serious threat to her. She quickly found Dominic deLucio, who was walking with the king. She drew up underneath their feet, listening intently.

"But are you sure that would be wise?" The King's Guard sounded doubtful.

"Are you questioning me, deLucio?" The king's voice was petulant and angry.

"No, no," said deLucio hastily. "I would never question your majesty. It's just that...surely an attack with so little planning and preparation would be futile."

"We're not supposed to win the war here, deLucio! Ye gods! It's a statement. We're telling the slimy bastard that rules Rasmin that we're ready for war. We're ready to run him out of his own home. We're officially beginning the war." The king was breathing heavily and beginning to shout.

Mariamne kept with them as they paced the border of the camp, straining to hear important details about this attack.

"Very well, your majesty - we will do as you say." DeLucio sounded disgusted and resigned, and Mariamne almost laughed. The Nameless King was making a very bad move in planning an attack merely as a 'statement,' and the King's Guard knew it.

"When shall we carry out this...plan, your majesty?" Dominic asked.

The king quieted his voice, and Mariamne gathered her scattered essence together, muffling all the sounds of the camp and concentrating only on the king and deLucio so she could catch the whispered conversation.

"Three days from now. Will that be enough time to prepare the troops?"

"For a larger battle, no," said Dominic. "But for a small attack like this, we could be ready by tomorrow if need be."

"But that will not be necessary," said the king calmly. "Very well, deLucio, I leave it in your capable hands. I shall stay behind at camp - be sure that I am provided with guards, please. It would do no good for me to be assassinated during a surprise attack."

"Of course, your majesty," said Dominic. Mariamne waited until he had bowed and strode away before gathering herself together and sinking down to the lowest roots of the grass to think.

DeLucio would be smart enough to provide extra protection around the camp during the preparation for the attack, to make sure that no enemy could get in. Therefore, Mariamne couldn't stay around very long, or else she'd get trapped in. Knowing deLucio, he'd have something like a constant wall of fire burning night and day, leaving all of her escape routes closed.

Mariamne shook her head. She knew what she needed to know. The king was planning a small surprise attack on the castle three days from now. It would be better for her to leave now and warn him. Resolved, she began to move forward, searching for a long root or branch to send across the burned section.

"Dominic! Dominic, come here!"

Mariamne froze below ground, sending a little of her essence towards the new voice. It was the female Shyzel, no doubt about it. Valery.

She was standing just inside the burned section, folding up her large black wings, little ebony curls escaping from the golden net that bound her hair. Next to her was the other Winged Mercenary, Erik. He was holding - Cat! The redhead was struggling violently, but the tall Shyzel merely gripped her more tightly, holding her away from his body, no strain showing on his features.

Mariamne cursed silently. Erik and Valery had no doubt swooped in, snatched up Cat and were gone again before the Nitewalkers could even blink. Now she had to figure Cat into her plans of escape.

DeLucio strode towards the waiting Shyzel, his irritated expression still lingering on his face from his conversation with the king.

"Mission successful, then?" He surveyed the biting, scratching redhead. "Well, she's not much like her sister, that's for sure."

Valery grinned. "Ay, that she's not. It's like the difference between sun and starlight, these two. I suppose Annie's still sulking quietly in your tent?"

Cat's ears pricked up at these words, and she stopped struggling. "My sister! Take me to my sister, I demand it! Release us both!"

"Come on, Erik, bring her along," commanded Dominic.

Erik threw Cat across his shoulders and started after Valery and Dominic, shaking his head. "Why do I always get the nasty jobs? Little wildcat scratched my face in three different places!"

Mariamne followed then across the camp to Dominic's tent, crossing a pair of misty fingers, hoping that none of them would notice her little green bridge she'd created earlier.

"Annie? We've brought Cat to..." Dominic's voice trailed off as he stepped inside the tent.

Mariamne crossed her bridge and entered, grinning as she saw the King's Guard's astonishment.

"Where is she?" Dominic glanced around, as if Annie would be underneath some of the parchments on his wooden table.

"All right, give me Cat. Valery, Erik, look all around for -" Dominic's voice was cut off again as two pairs of footsteps dashed up outside the tent.

"DeLucio, sir! Please, sir, it's urgent!"

Mariamne cursed roundly as she recognized the voices of the guards who had seen her throw Annie across.

"What is it, man?" Dominic opened the flap and stared at the guards impatiently.

"Sir, something's up. We were pacing our rounds, sir, and we saw a big blog of - of something - come up from the ground and fly through the air. Then in the air it sort of - turned into a woman, sir. I know it sounds strange, but both of us saw it, sir."

The guard related the whole tale in a hurried manner, as if afraid of Dominic's reaction.

Dominic nodded and sent the guards away with a gesture. Sinking down on the top of the table, he nibbled his lip. Mariamne could imagine what he was thinking. He was an exceptionally clever man. It wouldn't be hard for him to figure out that a forest spirit was involved in this somehow.

As she had expected, he suddenly leapt to his feet and glared at Erik and Valery. "It's that damned forest spirit again! It's got to be. There's no other explanation. Valery, fetch the battle mages and tell them to set up a fire wall around the entire camp immediately. You'll have to go back into the forest and find Annie. We'll trap the spirit in the camp, then have Annie destroy it - or at least seriously wound it."

Mariamne drew in a harsh breath. He was quicker than she'd thought. She had to act fast. Forsaking caution, she drew up out of the ground. Whirling herself into a tower of dark, swirling mist, she just had time to catch a glimpse of the astonished faces of Erik and Valery before she enveloped Cat. Shredding the tent walls in front of her, she whirled like a tornado across the camp, wrecking everything in her way, until she came to the border. Pulling up a huge burst of green magic from inside her nature, she pushed it hurriedly at the border. It spread like wildfire, healing the burned grass, green magic licking at all it could reach, causing tall blades of grass five times larger than normal to leap up out of the ground. The rest of the forest became visible to Mariamne and she hurled herself and Cat across the border and safely into the bark of a nearby tree.

Taking a deep breath, she wrestled her magic back inside her, struggling to maintain control on the wildly raging power. Spreading out her mind, she found Seden and Annie, struggling through the undergrowth not far away. Mariamne transported herself there quickly, and wordlessly enveloped both of them.

It was a larger burden than she was used to, but she still managed to gather them all together, covering them in her dark, disturbed, misty essence. She had to get them all to instant safety. No doubt Erik and Valery would be out searching for them even now. Picturing the Nitewalker's kitchen in her mind, she gave a mighty shove on her own essence, pushing herself and her large burden of Seden, Annie and Cat, forward to safety.

***

Dominic stared in utter astonishment. Everything had happened so quickly. A huge tornado of brown mist had sucked Cat right into the center, torn a hole in his tent and disappeared. Peering outside the shredded edges of his tent, Dominic could see that now, instead of a border of grey ashes, tall grass surrounded the entire camp.

"What the..." Valery came up next to him, her eyes wide.

Erik was looking down at his hands. His palms were bright red from the sucking pressure that had pulled Cat out of them so suddenly.

"The forest spirit?" Valery asked Dominic, with little doubt of the answer.

Dominic blinked and shook his head. Placing one long, calloused finger on his temple, he closed his eyes. Valery looked at Erik, shrugged and moved back. The two Shyzel watched Dominic for a long, quiet moment. Then Dominic stirred again, looking up.

"All right, friends. Change of plan." His voice was quiet and subdued, but business-like. "No telling how long the forest spirit has been in here, but it's more than likely that she heard our plans for battle."

"What plans are they?" asked Erik curiously.

"Never mind them, because as of now they've changed," said Dominic firmly. "Erik, go to the battle mages like I said before and have them set up a fire wall around the camp. It needs to be burning night and day until I tell them they can call it down. Valery, gather all the men together near the center of the camp. As soon as we've got a secure, burning border, we'll discuss new battle plans."

Valery and Erik exchanged glances. Dominic sighed, frustrated. "I can promise you that all your extra services will be compensated for, of course. Now hurry!"

***

In the middle of the Nitewalker kitchen, chaos reigned. Mother, who had been cleaning up after breakfast and getting ready for bed, was standing to the side, shocked expression on her face, the plates she had been holding shattered on the floor. In the center of the kitchen was a boiling, churning mass of almost solid brown mist. It began making gurgling and sucking sounds, pulsing and writhing, and Mother barely kept a loud scream from emerging from her stricken, frozen throat. Eating utensils and cups crashed to the floor as the roiling mass thrashed from side to side.

Then, quite suddenly, it was silent. The dark blob stilled on the floor, the mist began to dissipate, and three distinct forms emerged, huddled on the floor and shaking.

"Seden! I've never been this glad to see someone - and Cat! And you must be Annie." Mother strode forward to the three, a broad, welcoming smile on her face.

"By my faith, Mother, you regain your composure more quickly than anyone I ever saw." Mariamne's weary voice emerged from a tiny, weak trail of smoke that lay close to the ground.

"Oh, Mariamne. Do tell what happened."

"Well, it's a little complicated," said Mariamne, "but in the end, here's basically what happened: I got into the enemy camp and stole Annie, tossed her over to Seden, heard some secret enemy battle plans, discovered that Cat had been stolen by the two Shyzel, stole her back, and then came back here."

Mother blinked. "Oh." She looked at Mariamne, then at Cat, Annie and Seden who were still sitting on the floor, looking more than a little confused. "You know, I find it faintly amusing that I wasn't even aware that Cat was gone."

"Well, it's not even remotely amusing to me," snapped Mariamne. "Sorry, Mother. I'm not mad at you, I'm just tired. It's been a long day."

"Sad," replied Mother sympathetically, "since the day is only just beginning."

"Yes. Now I'm afraid I haven't time to stay any longer. I have to speak to King Raztik urgently. Explain to these poor, shell-shocked creatures what has happened as best you can, and don't let them go outside unless I'm here to watch them. I don't want those Shyzel getting their slimy fingers on Cat or Annie again."

"Or Seden, for that matter," remarked Mother mildly. "Very well. They shall all have a good meal and some rest, and not a foot shall be set out of doors until you've returned. Good luck, Mariamne. Come back soon."

***

Dominic surveyed the waiting soldiers who stood in silent ranks in front of him. It was a sizeable army, but not even half of what was available to the king. There were more reserve troops stationed in large Guardposts all around the border of the kingdom, waiting to be called into action.

Beyond the soldiers, Dominic could see the tall, flickering wall of flames that now surrounded the camp. Battle mages were stationed around the border, sweating and straining to maintain the large flames without fuel, and keeping the fire from straying to other parts of the camp. They were safe, at present, from any prying forest spirits, and could prepare for battle.

"Thank you for gathering here. The king wishes us to prepare for battle! It is to be a surprise attack, and it is to take place tomorrow morning! Prepare yourselves. Clean your weapons, oil your armor, and gather before dawn in this same spot. Tomorrow we'll march on the castle. Fight the men only - leave women and children untouched. Always keep an eye open for my signal, and as soon as I give it, fall back. We're not marching to win the battle...we're marching to begin the war."

Dominic waited for a moment, letting his words sink in. He'd never given a speech to soldiers about to march into battle before, and didn't quite know what was expected of him. Was he supposed to talk about leaving families behind, serving kingdom and king and dying honorably? He hesitated, reluctant to go into emotional or inspirational speeches. He was spared the decision by the appearance of the king himself. Dominic hurriedly stepped to the side, joining Valery and Erik as they stood quietly, watching the proceedings.

The king stood before his troops, swaying a little and blinking rapidly in the late morning sunlight. His face was white and puffy from staying inside too often and eating too much. His figure was muffled in the thick crimson wrappings he wore, but anyone could see that he was short, stubby and extremely out of shape. Not a very inspirational man, thought Dominic bitterly. Even if he was stupid, the soldiers might be inspired by noble features or a stalwart figure. Instead, they have a weakling, a sickly, fat and unintelligent weakling. Would I go into war for such a man? Dominic mused to himself.

Perhaps the king would redeem himself now. Perhaps he had an excellent speech-writer who had given him a few good words to say to the soldiers before the battle. Dominic was soon disabused of this notion when the king raised a hand and waved it weakly at the soldiers.

"Well, go on, like the King's Guard said. Get on with it." He sounded bored and irritated. Dominic watched as the king turned back to his luxurious camp, the soldiers scattering to do his bidding behind him.

Would I serve someone like that? Dominic knew the answer.

"I am serving him," he muttered, shaking his head. Perhaps he should rethink his notion of honor and run away before he did something very foolish in the name of his king.