Young Writers Society

The silence that Seraph left in his wake was broken only by Cyrus' spluttering and a few stifled chortles from the soldiers. Beside me, Carmenia had pressed one slender hand against her mouth to hide a smile. For myself, I agreed with Seraph. Even if I didn't particularly like Harris or her men, it was only a fool who angered a standing army that outnumbered them by this much.

"That arrogant pup--" Cyrus began, the first coherent words of his spluttering.

"Ar'gant pup?" I questioned scathingly, cutting him off. "'F anyone a' this table's got th' righ' of it, it's Seraph Belfas'!" I slammed one fist down on the table and jumped up to strode angrily out. A few of the soldiers stepped quickly out of my way, and I could hear Cyrus calling somethin uncomplimentary at my back.

It wasn't difficult to find Seraph, not with that crimson armor he always wore. Catching up to him, however, was something more of a challenge; he towered over me easily, and storming about as he was, I had to break into a run to catch up with him. "Seraph!" I called. "Seraph!"

I caught hold of his arm just as he turned, and my foot slid over his, throwing me forward; he caught me by the arms and I straightened, looking up into his ruined face. ...No, not ruined. Different. I looked away quickly, face hot.

"I--eh--jes' wan'ed to tell ye tha'--tha' what ye did in there... ye did th' righ' thing." I laughed a little nervously and looked off to the side, uncomfortably aware of the fact that his hands were still on my arms, and in fact had slid down them a bit to a more comfortable position. "I mean--ye alw'ys are, en'tcha?" Damn that nervous laughter. "An'--an'--er..."

He was eyeing me curiously. "Are you feeling all right, Finn?"

My sheepish almost-smile quickly turned into my usual scowl. "A'course I am!" I said. "Odds an' embers, you people an' yer 'all right'--"

"I meant," Seraph interrupted me, sounding--of all things--amused, "you're acting very strangely."

"...Oh. Righ'." We stood there rather awkwardly for a few moments, and finally Seraph released his hold on my arms. "Ehm... think I'll jes' go kip a bit."

Running away is not something I was used to doing--but with the way my stomach was flip-flopping, it was suddenly no longer an option. I ran.

I watched her go. As much as I enjoyed being in her presence, there were more pressing matters to attend to. I rubbed my eyes in frustration. The slick, icy tattoos had not yet begun to recede, but they would, given time. I hoped. My eye, however...I did not know when, or even if, I would ever regain my sight.

I lowered my hands and looked to the stars. They were gorgeous, as always. A few spots in the sky reminded me of Finn's eyes...

I shook my head to clear my thoughts.

When I truly thought about it, my band WAS little more than a mercenary squad. Cyrus, Sirloaz, Valin and Henry held no allegiances, at least none to the armies of man, Adrian was unreliable at best, Ursa...was nowhere to be seen. It dawned on me that I had not seen the bear since Alden had tracked him out of the cave. Perhaps we were better off without him.

I refocused. Alden...was, in essence, a pawn of the king. But it was good to have someone who understood the military with me. I had not spoken with him since Sedgeley.

Tan'Quin...had become a mystery to me. I thought I understood him, but he became more and more reclusive as time went on. I would have to make sure he was all right...later.

My thoughts were interrupted by a yellow garbed man stepping into my field of vision. I started, but did not move my hands to my blade. A young man stood in front of me, holding a note. I waited for him to salute. He did not.

When he opened his mouth to speak, I raised an eyebrow. Blinked.

Hesitating, he opened his mouth again. "Mister Belfast, this--"

"Lord Belfast. Or GENERAL, if you prefer."

At the title, he snapped to attention. And saluted. "Sir, sorry sir!"

I snapped off a smart salute of my own. "What is that?" I asked, my tone sharp.

"Sir...orders from General Harris, sir."

I sighed inwardly.

I reached out and he handed me the slip of paper.

"Dismissed..." I said offhandedly, waving him away.

(OOC: Missed the placeholder, I'll edit if it conflicts.)

Alden had been summoned just a minute before.

"You called for me General?" he said.

"Come in. There is a staff meeting in a few minutes, but I wanted to chat with you first. Sit down."

I sat.

"What is your opinion of Prince Valin," she said bluntly.

"Opinion?"

"I have enough facts, I want gut instinct."

"My opinion is that he is a very deadly soldier and is able to do a lot of different roles immediately. He's a very strong elf."

"You're reciting the obvious, do you like him?"

"I like him as a soldier, but I'm not certain that he is a leader, he's extremely reckless." General Harris didn't look surprised, but she didn't say anything either. This surprised Alden. She was looking at the fire instead.

"General?"

"Tell me about Lord Belfast."

"I don't know that much about him. He's also a strong warrior, the others look up to him for guidance. He also takes risks, but I think he is more measured in his actions."

General Harris was staring at the fire again.

"Is something wrong General?"

"Yes, terrible things are about to happen."

Alden was going to ask her what she meant, when the door opened and the officers filed in.

Seraph walked back into the tent. He seemed more calm, but still perturbed.

"Come with me into the command tent, Valin. We are summoned by Harris," he said, doing his best to look professional for the humans.

We strode into the command post, which held no fewer than five occupants, including Alden and Harris. All eyes were on us.

I reached into my robes and withdrew the necklace with the roayl crest on it, which I hadn't worn on the outside of my robes since I fled to the Human Lands.

"General Harris. I apologize for my rash actions, but you must understand--I am not used to following orders from one...such as yourself," I said. She just looked at me, with a face of utter hatred. I withdrew a peice of parchement from my cloak, and said to her.
"Read this please," I said. She began reading. "Out load, if you please"
She begrudgingly acquiesed.

"By order of the King, the Most High in the Realm:

Valin Norovir, Heir of the Elves, and his companions are under my protection and blessing and are to be treated as the Nobility they are. Valin will assume command of the army once battle planning begins

Signed,

The King"
Her face dropped.
"As you can see, Harris, I outrank you. I do not NEED to follow your arbitrary rules. However, I will, out of respect for you and your men," I paused, and glared at Cyrus, Sirloaz and Henry, before continuing, "So will my freinds. But be sure of this. I demand respect, and I will be shown proper decency afforded my station. Are we in agreement?" I asked, in as unthreatening tone as I could manage.

I extended my hand, tenatively.

General Harris looked at Valin. She felt sad for him. He believed himself to be a prince, but he was a prince of nothing, a figurehead at best and delusional at worst.

She examined the letter again. The KING wanted to relieve her of command and place a prince of a foreign power at the lead of HIS army? None of this added up. It had to be a mistake. But what if it wasn't? What if the King had intended to give his army to a foreign national.

A variety of unpleasant contingency plans emerged in her head, and she unconciously took a deep breath.

Stay calm, it's probably just a mistake. You're probably only supposed to help him get on the throne, not to transfer your command to him. She realized he was still holding out his hand.

"I must consult the King to ensure that this hasn't been messed up by some bureaucrat. I will treat you according to your station, but I'm not transferring this command until I recieve confirmation that you are in command. Is that acceptable to you- Prince Valin?"

"It is." They shook hands.

"In that case, let's get down to business. This is my command staff," she began introducing them by name and included their jobs.

Major Walker gave them the latest information of elven positions. They had been building up troops steadily on the border region, in preparation of a major attack.

"How soon before they are ready to attack?" Seraph asked.

"At the earliest, about two weeks, a month tops," Major Walker replied.

"How many?"

"A force of at least twenty thousand. Our forces are half that number right now. Other forces are being mobilized now, but it will take them a couple weeks to be ready and marching."

"You have ten thousand troops?" Cyrus asked.

"We have them hidden in the area. They're disguised as pioneers. They can make formations very quickly if we have need for it. We've no reason to suspect that the enemy believes they're anything more than peasants."

There was a murmur from the group but no questions.

"If we're going to win against an elvish invasion, we're going to need more time. I want you to focus your efforts on destroying the elvish supply lines. Do we know where these depots are?"

"There are only a few spots that they can stage out of, we can have those spots checked."

"Good, options?"

"We have several rangers keeping tabs on the elvish army, we can use them to ambush wagons or to block the routes. It would work in the short term. We also can also send in special forces, but the attacks would need to be done quickly. Another option would be to attack them from the air," this was from Colonel Brody. He looked at Alden.

"Good. We'll let the special forces deal with a few depots if Alden can't, then we'll have the rangers harrass their efforts to resupply. Is there anything that our Elites would like to add?" General Harris asked.

"Oy Sirloaz, where you going?" Cyrus said as Sirloaz got up and staggered over to the door, balancing on a post.

"Out, need some fresh aire', you and your bloody lorae" Sirloaz said as he stumbled through the door tripping on a rope. "I hate you" he said to Cyrus as he laughed mirthfully. Cyrus plodded over helping him up.

"What'd you do without me mate" Cyrus said as they walked off towards the barracks Henry stumbling trying to keep up with the pair.

"stay sober?" Sirloaz said laughing as he stopped waiting for Henry to catch up. "A bit much eh henry?" sirloaz said laughing as he caught Henry and then fell to the ground in his place. Cyrus just grabbed onto Sirloaz by the collar and began to drag him around. "oy what're you doin?".

"Walkin"

"Stop that" Sirloaz replied as he struggled to get onto his feet resting at a large tree.

"Ey Henry, last one to the that branch sleeps on the floor?"

"Hope yous like the cold ol' boy, cause you gonna lose"

"we shall see" Sirloaz said laughing, as they began to climb the tree; henry soon fell off too intoxicated to climb any further he just lay on the ground as Sirloaz kept climbing, his training and equipment barely keeping him from falling.

"that's not fair" Henry said commenting on sirloaz's climbing equipment.

"Fair? It's your fault you're so buggered up by that lorae o' his" Sirloaz said as he heaved himself onto the broad branch.

"What're you doing up there" Cyrus said rubbing his temples.

"erm, I can't" Sirloaz said looking at the ground.

"What're you talking bout mate? you got up there, you cant get down?" cyrus replied waiting for the answer a smile growing on his face.

"course i can, just don't want to."

"Why not?" cyrus replied perplexed by Sirloaz's logic.

"No more of you and that Lorae of yours up 'ere!"

"BAh!"

"dont try to lie, i know it was you who slipped that into my food" Sirloaz said sternly as he almost fell off.

Scoffing Cyrus replied "Naw, it were henry, don't you remember?"

"'ey, just cause i'm drunk don't mean i can't undershtand you" henry said as he glared at Cyrus.

"and now i'm sporting another one of them hedeaches..." Sirloaz said as he began to chunk pine-cones at Cyrus

"gargh stop that" Cyrus said as he batted away with his large hands.

"Go 'way, I'll sleep up 'ere tonight"
_________________

Carmenia watched scornfully from a distance. They were drunk. Again. She abhored alcohol or that Dwarfish brew, Lorae, and watching the trio stumble about just renewed her resolve to stay as far apart from men as possible.

She lifted the tent flap and went back inside, green eyes were perhaps mesmerizing, but they were also deceiving. Henry was most likely a drunk, just like her father, and she should want nothing to do with him. She should. But did she? She wasn't sure. She was so confused.

"Yes general," I said. All eyes turned to me.

"Ma'am, Prince Valin was able to extract some information about the intent of the elven army from an elven prisoner."

"Oh?" Harris said.

I nudged Valin with my elbow, slightly. He shot me a look that cried outrage, but I stared him down. He turned back to face Harris.

"Yes. There is a small unit of elven scouts located East of Sedgeley, located at the cemetary there."

Harris contemplated this information a moment.

"Bring me a detailed map of that area." A page hurried off to comply.

"Why would the elves be interested in the old cemetary?" she asked.

"We don't know. Prince Valin, I would like to request that we be allowed to investigate the cemetary tomorrow, and report our findings." I said this to Valin, but my eyes were on Harris, silently asking her permission.

Valin drew himself up proudly.

"Yeah--we'll do that," he said.

I stared at Harris and raised an eyebrow in inquiry.

She nodded, almost imperceptibly.

"Permission to be excused?" I asked of the room.

Harris nodded. "Granted."

Valin looked at me, a slightly confuddled look on his face. "Yeah, go."

"Please brief me on my orders at the earliest possible time." It was almost painful to submit myself to two people I considered equals, in order to keep the peace between them. As I walked out of the small cabin, I balled my fingers into fists.

I looked around for some unfortunate private to take my anger out on. Then, at the edge of the camp, I saw three shadows; one small stout, one tall and limber, and a third of average height, and lean. All were standing as if a slight breeze would knock them over.

I grinned. There was no amusement behind it. The lion had returned.

My fists still clenched, I strode determinedly toward my companions, who were standing next to a large tree, laughing as only drunks could. The taller one, Sirloaz I guess, was climbing to his feet. To me, it looked as though he had fallen out of the tree.

I first looked to make sure none of them were armed, then stomped forward. Sirloaz saw me first, and went to point me out to the others.

"Hey Sheraph! How'sh the planning goin'?" he asked. I strode to within arm's reach of him, then slammed a mailed fist into his face. I felt something give beneath my knuckles, then he was against the tree behind him, his nose split and bleeding. My blow had caught him completely unawares--his eyes crossed slighlty, and he slid down the tree.

I turned to Cyrus next, for I knew, even drunk, that the dwarf was a capable warrior. He was stunned for a moment, and I took advantage of that. I threw a right cross that caught him in the jaw and knocked him to one knee. The drink had affected his balance greatly.

I felt a hand on my shoulder; it was henry. I pivoted out of his grasp, spun, and elbowed him in the stomach. The breath flew from his lungs in a great burst of air, and he dropped down on his hands and knees.

"You're pathetic.

"Some champions you are. Drunk to the point that the three of you cannot defend against the attack of an unarmed man.

Sirloaz had come to rest in a sitting position at the base of the tree. He still didn't look like he knew where he was.

Henry was still gulping great amounts of air, trying to catch his breath.

Cyrus had climbed back to his feet, and looked livid. I was wary of an attack.

"You." I pointed at the ranger. "I don't know you. I had come to trust you, but the incident in the Duregar caverns cannot be ignored. If you do not start acting like someone I can trust, I will leave you in Harris' custody. If you are to scout for us, and to do your duty as a ranger of this land, you have to be sharp. Ale and Lorae make you soft. Fuzzy."

"I'll kill yeh, yeh--" At Cyrus' voice, I rounded on him.

"You claim that I am unfit to lead because I could not restrain my emotions, and yet here you are, unable to restrain yourself from your precious drink, even to the end of forming an alliance with these men, who we NEED. General Dagna, of the dwarves of Mithral Hall, would be ashamed. He is a true leader."

I turned my back on him. He blustered a bit, and breathed heavily. I kept an ear turned his direction.

Henry was just starting to get up.

I reached down and grabbed him by the collar with both hands. Hauled him to his feet, and then lifted him so that his feet dangled an inch off the ground, and his face was level with mine.

"While we are here, yopu will put aside your hatred for the army, and direct it at the elves that destroyed Sedgeley. You WILL work with these men, or I will, as per my authority as a General, have your hands removed for your thievery."

I dropped him back to his feet. To his credit, he retained his footing. I slowly rotated in place, eyeing each man in turn.

"I've had my round. Which one of you would like a go at me?"

I waited patiently for a response, my hands spread before me in a show of helplessness.

Adrian stood in command tent. He was still amazed by what had happened in Sedgeley. He had been given a great gift yet he feared it. What had happened at Sedgeley? He had been amazed yet terrified. He pulled a chair out and sat down. Where was his area in the group. Finn had Seraph, Henry had Carmenia it seemed and Cyrus had anyone who would drink with him. So where he fit in? He looked noble, but had he ever acted noble, most of his actions were cowardly. One thing bothered him most. What if Harris looked up his military files? He had fled the battlefield. He stood and pushed chair back in. He felt a stern tap on his shoulder.

"Hey you mute or something? I don't care if you are you're still capeable of work." Adrian swung round "Hey your one of those mercs.

Adrian turned his back and headed out.

"Not getting away that easily boy!" The soldier implied trottering after him

Adrian stopped "What your problem?"

"You are kid you and all the other mercs, The man clenched his fist "It's people like you that I hate, always in lap of luxery while us soldiers do work.

"What you mean, I don't understand all of us are here to help?"

"Sure and we wipe your asses. the man sneered.

Adrian stood trasfixed "What you mean special treatment?"

Oh quit charade you ordered it I bet before you came you just had to be in lap of luxery."

"We don't want special treatment at all Adrian pleaded."

"Suuuure I know your type arrogant bastards son of a goat's wife."

"What, leave my Mum out of this where orders come from for this special treatment."

"And you wouldn't know yourself... General Harris now bugger off."

Adrian clenched his fist and tried to remember where Seraph had gone too. He just needed to tell Seraph this that they're getting special treatment.

He remembered and headed in the direction. No one was going to like this.

Every muscle in Henry's body, every thought process in his mind, everything, wanted to smash Seraph's face in. He wanted to watch the warrior cower, see his face ground into the dirt.

He pulled his fist back.

And stopped.

He thought better of it. The drink Cyrus had spiked as a joke had made him drunk instantly; he hadn't wanted it. He had wanted to sit in the tent peacefully, sipping his water, trying to keep his mind together. But the alcohol had made it fall apart even more, and now he was being made a fool of for something he didn't want, and every inch of him wanted to attack Seraph.

But he also knew that it wasn't Seraph's fault. He must have seen them toppling about like idiots in the camp, destroying everything Belfast was trying to create.

Henry walked away. He felt Seraph's eyes follow him. Whatever Cyrus and Sirloaz did to Seraph, he didn't care. He just wanted to be alone.

Carmenia drew back as Henry entered the tent. Hiding in the shadows she studied him as he slumped against the wall, the features on his face, surprisingly, sad.

She felt her scorn and anger melt away, and she felt sorry for him. He had, after all, witnessed something horrific at Sedgeley. Perhaps he had even had a family or friend who had died. Thinking of all the dead's wounds, made her think of Henry's. It was probably still a little sore.

Coming out of the shadows, Henry started slightly, but Carmenia smiled slightly to show no ill feelings.

"How is it?" She asked softly. Henry looked confused.

"Your wound," She pointed to his side.

"Oh, it's..." He hesitated, no doubt weighing whether or not to tell the truth.

"It's sore." he admitted. She nodded.

"No doubt. That was a nasty cut you received, I'd better check and see if it's healed properly."

Once again a confused look passed over Henry's face, but a moment later he realized what she was meant, and took off his shirt.

Crouching beside him, she examined the scar on his side. This does little to mar his handsomeness, she thought, and realizing her thought pattern, forced it to end.

She could feel a blush rising slightly in her face, and tried, but failed, to forced it down. Gently probing the wound area, she was shocked at the tingles it sent up and down her spine. Frustrated with herself, she harshly told herself not to mix affection and work. But she couldn't help it.

"I-It's healing nicely," she muttered, and sent up a quick prayer that he would put his shirt on again. If he didn't...well...she'd certainly do something she'd regret later. These emotions shocked her to the core. He was a human for pity sake!

Thankfully, he pulled on his shirt, and she quickly retreated outside, were she could breath. The chilly air stung her burning cheeks, and she breathed deeply. Had she really been holding her breath?

The blood dripped down Sirloaz's face as he stood up staring Seraph in the eyes. The blow he had received had momentarily purged the alcohol from his system, leaving a throbbing headache in its stead. "I may not have your trust, but be aware, you never had mine" Sirloaz said calmly as Seraph returned his gaze with his one good eye. "You are on slippery ground Seraph Belfast, watch your step" Sirloaz said shoving past Seraph.

"Are you threatening me?" Seraph retorted.

"It's all dependent on your point of view" Sirloaz said lightly walking out into the woods. Bastard Sirloaz thought.

"Kill him for this insolence" A voice said slyly into Sirloaz's ear.

"No!" Sirloaz said his head spinning.

"I will always be here, to protect you" The voice said quietly. "Always"

"No, no, no no no no" Sirloaz said as he crouched down grabbing at his skull.

"Do not worry Child, I will take care of you" It said as Sirloaz felt a hand grip his shoulder as he began to weep.

General Harris frowned.

"I don't like this."

"If your army pre-emptively attacks the elves, than it will be difficult for them to accept me as their leader."

"So my army is supposed to let the elvish army sweep into Javor, just so you won't have to deal with political fall from elves that aren't loyal to you."

"No, but neither will it launch a pre-emptive strike."

"How many more Sedgeley's need to happen before I can unleash my army?"

"General, we would be ill advised to attack the elves," Alden said.

"And why is that?"

"If we attack them, we'll be fighting in woods, where the elves are at their best. They can send their orders with trees and they can swallow whole columns in well coordinated ambushes. If we fight, we should fight in the plains, where the elves can't hide. We can make an effective stand right here. If they attack somewhere else, we can wreck havoc on their rear."

"Attacking them first can weaken them," General Harris said.

"I'm not saying you shouldn't attack, but let them come across the border first. That's an order," Valin said.

General Harris stared daggers at Valin.

"Very well. Colonel Dublin, I want an engineering team to present plans to build defensive fortifications to me tomorrow morning. I want my men to be ready to put these plans to work by afternoon. Alden, I want you to fly over Elvish positions, I need to know what's going on over there. If they have any siege equipment, if they're building any, I need to know it. That's all."

The meeting ended.

Alden left and took flight immediately, he flew high above the moonlit camp. He turned and headed towards the elves.

Henry followed her out. Carmenia had showd him the first affection he had seen for a long time, and he didn't want her to go just yet.

"Lass?" he said softly, taking in the satisfying curves of her body from behind.

She turned, her cheeks a little pink, and her movements a little restrained.

"Thank you," Henry said, smiling for the first time in days. "Thank you for ... thank you for just being here."

"What do you mean?" she whispered.

His hand instinctively came up to her face, and he brushed away a hair from her eye. "I'm glad yer met up with us, 'n all. 'Oever ye are. I don't know ye, but I don't need to," he managed to stammer out. He wasn't used to these sorts of confessions.

"It's okay," she said, smiling back. "I'm not going anywhere."

Henry sighed in relief. "Good. Not many people can make me smile anymore, and that's a special talent."

The thief pulled his hand down from where it had lingered at her cheek, and stalked uncomfortably away. He wanted to stay, but knew he shouldn't.

CYRUS (as per Jiggity's request)

"I've had my round. Which one of you would like a go at me?"

Cyrus felt his blood boil. No human insults a dwarf like that and stays alive!

Something in his brain told him to grab out his axe and lop his head off as a response. The drink had damaged his responses and balances and he wondered whether he could get the better of the one-eyed warrior.

He eyed up Seraph vehemently, and gave a short, deep laugh. "Aye, laddie. Maybe what you say is true, but have yer ever tried achieving anything without violence? I've seen yer kill, I've seen yer fight. But I never seen you solve anythin just with yer mouth," Cyrus said, still smiling. "Is there any soul in there at all?"

Seraph looked stung for a minute, and his fists started to rise, but Cyrus just laughed again at the warrior.

"See? See what I mean?" the Dwarf said.

Seraph shook his head and turned away. As he did so, Cyrus saw his opportunity and smashed his foot into the back of Seraph's leg, behind the knee, and Belfast crumpled onto the ground, falling awkwardly. But the warrior wasn't totally incapacitated and rolled to one side, getting back onto one knee.

"Never turn yer back on a drunken Dwarf," Cyrus said, grinning. "Didn't they teach yer that one?"

Seraph ignored him and threw his body weight forward, dodging an ill-judged punch from Cyrus's right. Seraph slammed his left into the Dwarf's jaw, before following it up with his leg that struck Cyrus's unprotected belly. The Dwarf tumbled backward onto the floor.

"They didn't teach me that," Seraph muttered. "But I learnt other things besides."

Cyrus rolled over, pretending to be in pain, groaning to add to the effect. Seraph seemed satisfied by the Dwarf's plight, and looked over at Sirloaz, who was still stumbling and mumbing in his drunkenness, unable to do anything threatening.

Cyrus lashed his leg out.

It caught Seraph unawares. The warrior fell in a hap next to the Dwarf, landing heavily on his back.

"Now we're equal, manling," Cyrus said, smiling once more. "Aye, both at the same level."