Young Writers Society

Wondering how a fantasy storybook can be inspired by an amazing Christian band?
Well, this is how: http://flyleafonline.com/band/lettersfr ... mander.php
In the lining of Flyleaf's CD, "Momento Mori", where the lyrics usually appear, the band told a sort of story in the form of journal entries, with each song representing a different chapter. The story of a war between the Passerby Army, and the Dread Army.

This is where our story begins.

The Setting(s): Two rival war camps, preparing for 'the fiercest battle this conflict has seen.'

The Passerby Army: "Their mission is to to bring peace, faith, hope, freedom and above all, love to the entire world. Their mantra is "Memento Mori". These words remind them that their mission is urgent...These men and women are ready to live and die for love, yet somehow they've gone from fighting the enemy to bickering and fighting each other..."
They are led by the Commander, and fight for the glory of the King.

The Dread Army: "While the enemy was losing the battle today, they cried out to us, 'Memento Mori, we are human too! We are in pain and we are dying!'... The Dread Army is very rich. To them, everything has a price, even their own souls. Their people fall madly in love with money and rob their minds to serve her... The Dread Army lives in the dark... Everyone in the Dread Army is afraid of silence, so they fill every moment with empty, idle words. They all lie, so you can never truly know the genuine identity of a Dread Army solider."
They are led by their own Commander, a beautiful lying woman. They adorn themselves with jewelry, and many keep slaves.

As we join them, they are on their way toward one great clash - a battle that could decide the fate of their world.

Which will triumph? Love, or greed?

Weapons: The Passerby Army prefers swords, bows, arrows, etc. while the Dread Army - not caring about whether the fight is fair - tends to be more likely to use guns (though there are exceptions on both sides). To even up the score, the Passerby Army has powerful defensive power, with both their superior shields and armor, and the Protection of the King protecting them.

Pre-written Characters:
(These characters are referred to in Flyleaf's original 'Letters from the Commander', just like the two Armies. We've taken a few liberties, giving them names and personalities, but they are based off of Flyleaf's creation. We take no credit for them).

Commander Ennon - Leader of the Passerby Army. Once a member of the Dread Army, "a slave to death". He was captured and brought before the King of the Passerby Army. They released him, and not long after he joined the Passerby Army. He has occasionally been given prophetic dreams... A great leader, concerned for his people.
Fair hair, a light beard. Very strong. Light green eyes. Wears white armor emblasoned with the crest of the King - a simply drawn crown.

Laciena - Commander Ennon's daughter. After being abused by a man in her youth, she considered joining the Dread Army. Commander Ennon convinced her to seek truth by going to the King. "She fell in love with what she found" and asked the King to pick her husband. She is now joyfully in love and married to Ammor.
Light brown, curly hair. Delicate-looking, but not afraid to fight. Same light green eyes as her father.

Ammor - A valiant young soldier of the King's, deeply in love with Laciena, his wife.
Dark brown hair, a handsome face, tall. Blue eyes.

Captain Fairadell - The best Captain the Passerby Army has ever had, though her story is a tragic one. She and her husband went to join the Dread Army, drawn by the love of money. The Dread Army mutilated her husband, and he lost an arm. Ten months later he returned to the Passerby Army, begging to be nothing more than a servant... They made him a captain. Time passed. Fairadell came from a dark past, unable to trust, and she became sure that her husband was seeing another woman, so one day she followed him when he went out on a mission. The enemy captured her, and her husband gave his life to save her. Finally knowing that she was loved, she went before the Passerby Army and asked to be punished with justice. Instead, a man stood up and said, "Our captain loved us. He lived for this mission, but he would do anything this woman asked. He loved her enough to die for her, so he must have believed in her ability to do greater things that he himself did while he was here with us. She has already proven that she is just by her request to bring justice on herself. I say that we make her our new captain!"
And so they did.
White-blond, chin-length hair, broad-shouldered for a woman. Light blue eyes. Wears the same kind of white armor as Commander Ennon.

Commander Nessreis - The commander of the Dread Army. "A beautiful woman who always seemed to encourage tbem in their mission with eloquence and passion." She uses lies to motivate her soldiers, and there are holes in her stories. At least once, she ordered the death of fifty of her own people in an attempt to try and blame the Passerby Army. Commander Ennon was once one of her soldiers, until he confronted her and picked apart her lies, taking hundreds with him to join the Passerby Army. Full of hate.
Long, straight, jet black hair, often pulled back and full of jewels and elaborate ornaments. Wears makeup - pale face, dark around the eyes, which are dark, dark brown (almost black). Tall, deceptively feminine, actually very strong.


New Characters:
(The ones we made up. XD)
Passerby Army: Elai (silentpages), Corsa (irishfire)
Dread Army: Ani (silentpages), Zance (irishfire)

Name: Elai
Age: 18
Fights for: The Passerby Army.
History: Recently joined, formerly was in the Dread Army (friends with Ani). Switched sides after being captured and brought before the king, much like Commander Ennon. On fire for the cause. Wants to save Ani, more than anything. Still struggles with things like greed, and has a quick temper. A young, promising soldier. Has never felt so close to being whole.
Physical Description: Blond hair, hazel eyes, wiry with lean muscles. Tall. Wears the simple white armor favored by Passerby Army soldiers.
Weapon of choice: A sword - a gift from Commander Ennon.

Name: Ani
Age: 17
Fights for: The Dread Army.
History: Family sold her into the army. She was kind of friends with Elai, but feels betrayed and abandoned now that he's gone off to the Passerby Army. The only thing she hates more than the Commander of the Dread Army is the Passerby Army. Doesn't really feel any enthusiasm for the fight. She just does what she's told and tries to stay alive.
Physical Description: Dark brown, almost black hair, often pulled back in ornate bands and clips. Like the rest of the Dread Army, often wears jewelry, along with the ornamented black armor favored by the Dread Army.
Weapon of choice: A gun. Any gun. She's a really good shot with just about anything. Not really a fair fight, but who cares about that?

Elai shrugged his shoulders, trying to get the simple white armor he wore to fit more comfortably. It was so different from the Dread Army's elaborate black get-ups... He still wasn't used to it yet.

He walked through the bustling camp of the Passerby Army, head down and back hunched, trying to make himself small out of habit. Walking anywhere in the Dread Army had been a risk; he would've been assaulted verbally a dozen times by now if he were there. Maybe even physically.

Here, attacks were less discrete.

They weren't supposed to happen at all... There were some who claimed that they didn't happen... But Elai knew enough to recognize a dirty, suspicious look, or a set of clenched fists when he saw them. And he saw them a lot, walking through camp.

Even now, just to his right, there was a group of soldiers 'debating' some point, voices raised almost to shouts. Such squabbles happened often - too often - and though they rarely ended in violence, each quarrel made a sick feeling rise up in Elai's stomach.

If it does get violent, and I get pulled into it, he thought, I'll side with the bigger guy on the left, and his friend, the girl with a hand on her knife. Then as soon as I get a chance, I'll make a run for the mess tent...

He let his planning fizzle out, a wave of sadness crashing over him.

He'd thought his days of dodging fights were over when he left the Dread Army. Didn't they realize how lucky they were to be serving under Commander Ennon and the King? If they knew how Commander Nessreis handled her troops...

Ani. The thought came suddenly, before he could push it aside. The girl with the dark hair was in his thoughts more and more, lately. They hadn't been friends, exactly, but they'd been as close to it as possible in a place like the Dread Army. They'd watched each other's backs...

He hoped she was okay.

OK HERE I AM! (Hopefully this one won't get deleted... )

Name: Corsa
Age: 24
Fights for: Passerby Army
History: Feels great sympathy for the Dread Army and the conditions they are under, as her brother is among them. She constantly worries about her brother and dreads to one day having to fight him on the battlefeild. She is a very loyal and compassionate person, as well as sympathetic. She belongs to the troop commanded by Captain Fairadell, and is very inspired by her as well as friends with the great leader.
Physical description: Dark oynx colored, curling hair that goes past her shoulders. She normally wears it up but finds it doesn't stay that way for long. Has incredibly bright green eyes, some would say they even glow. Normal height and weight, doesn't look very strong but is when she needs/wants to be.
Weapon of Choice: Bow and arrow as well as the short sword

Name: Zance
Age: 25
Fights for: Dread Army
History: Feels incredible hate for those in the Passerby Army, believing that they stole his young sister's mind and filled it with lies and deciet. He longs for his sister to join him on the other side and frequently stalks the Passerby's territory looking for her, as well as spying for his Commander. He is one of her top spies and is incredibly proud of that fact. His greatest feat was when he managed to kill a Passerby Captain, after he captured the woman he loved. Knows that one day, he will be reunited with his sister.
Physical description: Has the same color hair as his sister, but it is cut short and isn't long enough to show it's curls. He has the same brightness to his eyes but his eyes are gold instead of green. He is a well-built man, very strong, but also very fluid in movement which makes spying easy. His face is pale and he often is adorned in many necklaces, which he takes off when he goes out to spy.
Weapon of choice: Pistol

*looks both ways* Ok... I'm gonna hit submit... *holds breath*

WOOT FIRST POST!

Corsa

Brushing back a trendrel of hair that had escaped from her crude bun, Corsa looked down at the map once more. Sunlight fliltered through the the flaps of the tent, shining on the dust that swirled around them. She bit her lip, eyes jumping from one area to another and then back at the notes, crudely written with a quick, dying hand.

She sighed and sat down in a nearby chair, the wood creaking as she leaned back. "I find myself in need of honesty, brothers and sisters..." She murmured, gazing at the map again from afar as if it changed when she sat down. "These notes do not seem consisive with our spy reports do they not?" From multiple places around the rather large white tent, men and woman nodded gravely. She sighed. "This must've been written and dispatched by a spy, hoping to throw us off their track. Which is good and bad news as it must mean we're getting close, but they know exactly where we are."

"Well, we're aren't exactly making a great attempt to hide. Thousands of white tents in the middle of a barren feild?" A murmur from across the room.

Corsa's eyes snapped up, instantly irritated. "Dare you mock our colors?" She hissed at the perpatrator.

His eyes narrowed and his fists clentched. He was a rather large man, his muscles bulging from within his simple white adornment. Corsa's mind assessed slowly, a fighting strategy slowing coming together in her mind. "Do you think them the wisest choice?" He said, louder this time.

Corsa slowly rose from her chair, muscles tense. A table stood inbetween them. Maybe she could...

"Stop." A stern voice commanded. Instantly, the tense in the air diffused as both Corsa and the man looked toward the speaker and fell mute under the sense of authority in the speaker's voice.

Captain Fairadell looked at them sternly. Her pale eyes looked at each of them in turn. "Galen, you insult us by mocking the sacred colors of our King. We wear, and live within white to praise him and show our alligence. I do not want to hear such a remark again."

Like a young school boy just reprimanded, Galen flushed and settled down into a couch on the other side of the tent, while Corsa continued to gaze upon their Captain.

She had not been in charge for long, her husband only been killed a fortnight but they all treated her with the same, and perhaps even more respect. The authority in her voice, and eyes made it possible not to do so.

But beyond that brave facade, Corsa saw something else hidden deep within those blue eyes.

Sadness.

Corsa had known her captain for some time before the incident, and tried many a time to convince her that her instinct that her husband's unfaithfulness was a false assumption. And as Fairadell saw that, and the horrible consequence unfold shortly thereafter, she knew that the guilt of it weighed heavily on her shoulders. Not just for causing it, but loosing a man she truly loved.

Captain Fairadell met her gaze and they shared a silent moment, communicating to each other without word or movement. Her captain sighed. "I think the heat is beginning to get to all of us. Perhaps we should break for a bite of food?" She waved her hand in the air. "Dismissed."

Corsa stood and sighed, exiting the tent into the bright sunlight, heading for the mess tent.

Elai
Elai pushed away the thoughts of Ani, and slipped past the quarreling soldiers to the mess tent, brushing shoulders with a dark-haired woman on his way in. What's her name again? Corsa? He'd seen her around before, often standing alongside Captain Fairadell.

Warmth filled him at the thought of his captain. She was one of the few in camp who truly seemed to understand the importance of their mission. He hadn't been in camp very long - not long enough to have ever spoken to her - but he'd heard the stories, as they all had. Stories of her bravery in taking the position left behind by her husband - who Elai had never had a chance to meet. Others, filled with discontent, sometimes whispered he had been a better captain than she. But Elai couldn't imagine a better captain than Fairadell, and he respected her for the same reason others did not.

Like him, she had spent time mistakenly serving the Dread Army.

The mess tent was busy as usual. Not because the food was good... It was stale, and too salty, and there was hardly ever enough around for everyone to eat their fill.

In the Dread Army, the food is always fresh, and plentiful. And yet never satisfying. Elai tried to force memories of the rich fare from his head.

No, people did not come to the mess tent for the food. They spent time in the mess tent for the same reasons they milled about outside; to share words with their fellow soldiers.

He paused at the entrance of the tent, scoping out a place to sit.

One table was full of rowdy new recruits. Most of them were children who'd grown up in the Army, and had only recently become old enough to fight on the front lines with their parents. The few who'd come from the Dread Army, like Elai, hovered at the edge of the table nervously, picking at their food in distaste. He did not wish to sit there.

Another table was full of some more squabblers, though this lot was more subdued than the ones outside.

And there... In the corner... There was Laciena and Ammor, sitting across from each other with their heads bowed together as they shared some joke between the two of them. Their eyes shone with a light that startled Elai (Such emotions would never be revealed so readily in the Dread Army). He felt another little pang in his chest, as he thought of Ani once again.

His eyes quickly skimmed over that table. The young couple had been friendly to him in the past, but he was not yet comfortable enough in their presence to join them without an invitation.

Which begged the question... Where to sit?

Ani

The dirt in her mouth tasted like blood. Or maybe her blood tasted like dirt. That was what they'd always told her; she was no better than dirt.

The barrel of a gun was jabbing into her back, along with someone's knee. The heel of a hand pressed her face harder into the ground.

"Next time, think first," a cruel voice told her.

She didn't look up. Didn't bother to claim innocence. Didn't bother to tell the truth: that she hadn't been the one to mutter a rude comment under her breath. In her years of fighting for the Dread Army, she had learned quickly that it was best to take the punishments you were given, even if you didn't deserve them.

Because even if you hadn't done what you were accused of, you always, always deserved something.

The sky was dark overhead. It was always dark over the Dread Army's camp. The smoke from cookfires, and burnpiles, and fires started just for the sake of starting fires all joined together in the sky, blocking out any "sun" that might've been there...

But it wasn't just the smoke. It was something else, too...

He's messing up my hair. Ani thought the words dully, knowing that she wouldn't do anything about it. Even if she could've reached the gun at her own, jewel-encrusted belt, he wasn't worth the effort it would take to shoot him. It was no fun shooting at close range. She was a sniper; she liked shooting for distance. Letting a bullet fly and watching far-off, white-clad figures topple from their horses before they even thought of lifting their shield.

There were those odd times, when the bullets seemed to curve in the air... When the shot should've been perfect, but wasn't... But that didn't matter.

Elai.

She didn't know why she thought the word. He wasn't here. He'd left her. He'd let himself be captured, and spies had brought back news that he'd joined the enemy.

He'd left her behind.

If he'd been there, he would've helped her. Wrestled off her attacker, and the person who accused her of being the one to speak, too.

But he wasn't here.

Ani had never really understood why he helped her. It had been a gift with a sort of unspoken condition. She'd always felt that if she questioned it, it would disappear... So she hadn't questioned it. And it had disappeared anyway.

Elai.

The name came to her again. And at last, her anger began to build.

Corsa

Corsa made her way into the mess tent. It was much more cluttered in here than in the captain's tent, but at least it wasn't as closed in. It seemed that whenever she was in a closed space, her thoughts were more closed in and cluttered. She sighed and went over to the food tray, simply picking up one of the more fresher apples and taking a rather large bite out of it and strolling along in the shadows of the tent.

Her eyes gazed over the crowd of people silently, assessing. They hadn't lost many during recent battles, but to her, one who truly loved her brothers and sisters, one loss may have well been a hundred. She swallowed her bite and gazed at the bite in her apple, smiling half-heartedly. Her bite was almost as big as... Her face fell, as did her heart.

Zance...

She closed her eyes feeling all the thoughts coming on at once. Her brother, so loving and protective of her when she was young, gone to them... the Dreads.

Feeling her legs become suddenly weak with emotion, she sat down on the floor, not feeling up to going through the rigorous notion of trying to find a seat within the crowd.

She shut her eyes, trying to stop tears from forming. Behind her closed lids the image of her brother appeared to her the night before he left. His hair, curling and shining with enthusiasm that always seem to swell within him, his bright eyes - the trademark of their family - staring out at her, angerly. Even now, years later, she still heard his voice in her head.

"Heed my words, Corsa. You will one day realize the mistake you made. You will realize that one day, they have captured you and took you from me,"

She recalled the way the emotion shook his voice...

When that day comes for you, I will be there ready to welcome you to the Dread Army with open arms, my dear sister. But until then, I dread the relation we share.

She shuddered a breath. Such simple words yet they'd given her a great wound, greater than anything she'd ever felt before. Despite herself, a tear made it's way down her cheek. She opened her eyes and scrubbed the tear away, standing. She looked at the apple in her hand and took another bite, looking over the crowd again, suddenly desperate for human communication. Anything to get her mind off her brother. Someone standing in front of the tent caught her eye. A new soldier, came from the Dread Army. She sighed and strolled up to him, taking another bite of apple.

"Maybe this is differant with the Dread army," she said simply to him, "but in the Passerby, you may sit freely. We are all brothers and sisters here, you are welcome here to all." She touched his shoulder gently and left the tent.

Zance

Rage flowed through him viciously, kicking, punching, jabbing with his gun, he took it out on another soldier. A normal occurence here. So although many walked by, none stopped him, not that they would be able to.

He gripped the dark hair in his hand and wrentched her head up, hissing her ear. "Remember this as a warning. Next time you make this mistake, the consequence will be far worse." He slapped her with the butt of his gun and dropped her, kicking some dirt at her face and walking back to his tent.

It wasn't so much the remark that had angered him, but it angered him enough to look at the accuser. All he managed to see was the dark hair before the red filled his vision. That dark hair... similar to... His mind seemed to spit the name,

Corsa.

He did not hate his sister. In fact, he loved and missed her incredibly. It was the Passerbys he hated for taking her. Filling her precious mind with lies, and false hopes about a King who did not exsist nor could stop them. He'd begged for her to join him, for he knew he would not be at his best without his sister by this side to help him, encourage him...

He shook his head, heading for his tent. Even now, so revered within the army, he knew he was still not his best, nor would he ever be, if Corsa never came to be with him. His anger welled up in him again, and he snapped his head around, singleing out a single solitary soldier, stalking up to him, and punching him in the stomach.

Elai

He blinked, startled, as the woman spoke to him, a half-eaten apple in her hand. Was that all she'd come in for?
A sort of cringing feeling overtook him as she mentioned the Dread Army. Was it so obvious to everyone that he'd come from there? That other person was dead; he had been given a fresh start when he joined the Passerby Army. If only his fellow soldiers would remember that.

Corsa was among the first to spare him words that weren't tainted with derision, or soured by overused authority. No one in the mess tent would show any great desire for him to sit with them...

After a moment of indecision, he followed the woman out. At least she seems somewhat open to conversation.

He regretted it a few seconds later, feeling like an uncertain duckling following behind its mother. He guessed that she now wished she hadn't talked to him. He could probably guess what she was thinking: "How do I get rid of this leech that's latched onto me?"

In an attempt to break the awkwardness, he began to talk, basing his words on the only topic of conversation that came to mind - the subject she'd brought up in the mess tent.

"You're right. It's different in the Dread Army. There you have to be cautious about who you sit with, because that dictates what alliances you're in. You must have allies if you're to survive," he said.

He was on the verge of what could be called 'babbling', he knew. He did that sometimes, when he spoke to someone for the first time. His rebellious tongue had gotten him into trouble more than once in the past. The first time he spoke to Ani, he blathered on for so long that she finally had to point the barrel of a gun at him to get him to close his mouth.

Since then, they'd settled into a more comfortable method of communication. Speaking when they felt like it, and spending the rest of the time in a companionable silence, occasionally lifted by a trivial quibble or spat. Elai had never been more comfortable with anyone, for all the time he'd been in the Dread Army...

Ani
Bristling with anger that had come to late to make any difference, Ani got to her feet unsteadily, spitting at the ground why her attacker had stood. She'd recognized his voice, dimly. Zane... Zin... Some 'Z' name. One of Commander Nessreis's favorites. Always sneaking off to spy on the Passerby Army. Had he been the one to bring back the news about Elai?

Probably.

Just another reason to hate him.

Dread Army shoulders swirled around her, laughing and joking. About her. Pointing their fingers and sometimes their knives. They'd forget about the disturbance in a moment; fights were common in camp.

One wormy little man with a flabby face and plump fingers looked her straight in the eye. Sneered. Admitting without words that he had been the one to make the inflammatory comment. Probably the one to blame her for it, too.

She felt a flicker of recognition. She'd taken a pastry he'd wanted in the mess tent last night. It seemed he'd held a grudge, even though the other pastries had all been exactly the same.

You ought to pull your gun. Now. Shoot him. Not like anyone will care. It happens often enough here.

But Ani wasn't that kind of person. She and Elai had always scoffed at the idiocy of those who shot others for such trivial matters. She and Elai had always...

Yes, Elai. Such a goodie-goodie, always obeying the rules, thinking he was so much better than you. Had such a high opinion of himself... He belongs in the Passerby Army. He'll feel the sting of your bullets someday.

And until that day comes, why not have a bit of practice with this fellow who's done you wrong? It's not like he doesn't deserve to die. We all do, here.

Go ahead. Pull your gun. Pull the trigger.

And she might've. If Commander Nessreis hadn't chosen that exact moment to emerge from a tent, her dress sparkling with the gems sewn into the fabric (too elaborate to be worn in a war camp. But that was Nessreis). Once the Commander appeared, all thoughts of murder left Ani's mind.

"Nessreis doesn't like it when her soldiers fall in their own camp, unless it's by her order," Elai had always joked. He hadn't held the Commander in very high regard, despite her pretty words. He'd always been able to pick through the grand phrases to the ugly truth beneath.

He'd always felt the need to share that ugly truth with Ani. And she hated him for it.

Was remaining oblivious really too much to ask for?

The gaze of Commander Nessreis skimmed over the crowd before locking onto Ani, who felt a short of shudder run through her bones.

The woman's pretty mouth curved sympathetically as she took in Ani's filthy, straggled appearance.
"Oh, my, you look a sight," she said, stepping forward to address the girl. Her soldiers moved out of her way, making a path. The wormy man scowled at Ani resentfully as he slipped away. "Well, we'll get you cleaned up soon. Come with me."

Ani followed, without question. One did not question the Commander.

Particularly not if one was - technically - owned by the Commander.

Corsa

Corsa frowned, hearing footfall behind her. She stopped, seeing the soldier she'd just spoken to following her. She smiled sympatheticly, it was hard to be the newest soldier, they'd all felt it at one point or another, and she did her best to welcome all of them, show hospitality like she wished the rest of them would do. But since they could not, she made sure she could.

She listened silently as he spoke, breaking a slightly uncomfortable silence which had grown between them. Frowning, she bit her lip. Was it so dangerous there that you couldn't sit with someone just for the sake of having a seat? In what venemous world was her brother living?

She shut her eyes, cursing herself for allowing herself to think of her brother once more. She would not cry in front of this man, who hardly knew her. Yes, they may be fighting for the same side, and brother and sister, but she'd only spoken to him for the first time half a minute ago, it was too early for such personal questions.

She sighed. "Mayhap, but here it is differant. I know not all of us are glow with the glory of our King, we still have petty fights and nonsense," she winced remember her almost-fight in the captain's tent, "but we will not judge you for whom you sit with." She paused, looking over his face. "Nor where you come from." She added with a smile. She took another bite out of her apple, her teeth prying away another bite to reveal the core, and sighed, she would give the core to her mare later.

Glancing at the soldier again, she chewed thoughtfully. Should she? Or would she regret it always? Her gaze caught his and she stared deeply into his eyes, assessing his honesty. She sighed, and looked at the ground below her.

"I know I will regret such a question... but do you have any knowledge about a soldier named Zance?"

Elai
"Zance?" Elai repeated, surprised.

A moment later he understood. She was looking for information - probably to pass on to Captain Fairadell. Of course. He should've known it would only be a matter of time before he was interrogated. After all, he was one of the most recent recruits from the Dread Army, and would therefore have the most recent, most accurate information.

He wondered if the Passerby Army used the same torturous methods the Dread Army favored, but dismissed the thought immediately. Corsa was right, at least partially. Even if she was wrong about people not judging him. The Passerby Army was different than the Dread Army. Any information Corsa received, it would be given by him willingly.

"He's one of Nessreis's top spies," he said flatly. "Dark hair, a bit like yours. Gold eyes, quick to shoot, wears as many necklaces as others in the Dread Army. I never exchanged many words with him, thank the King, but the ones I did have with him were..." He hesitated. "Unpleasant."

Most of the time, Elai's retorts had been in defense of Ani, who was a regular target due to her status as a bought fighter. She belonged to the Dread Army - sold by her family for a little coin and Commander Nessreis's fleeting favor.

"I know he spies on the Passerby Army, but I've never seen him work. I don't know how he avoids capture. I'm sorry. If you ever capture him, I would execute him on the spot if I were you. He'd turn on you in a second. I've no doubt of it."

Why would she regret such a question? Elai wondered.

Ani

"There's a very important job for you, my dear," Commander Nessreis said sweetly as she led Ani into a tent. "If you succeed in the task I give you, you will be glorified among all our people. Your name will be hailed for generations - spoken in reverence equating all the great heroes of our army!"

She sounded so excited. So happy for Ani. Her words would've lifted the hearts of other soldiers in a second.

But Ani had spent too much time with Elai. Her curiosity about this grand task was tinged with bitter doubt. Hailed for generations, whom? And do you even know my name? Or do you only know of my ability with a gun? That was doubtlessly why she'd been chosen for the job. And by great heroes, who do you mean? Yourself? Zance? The few names everyone knows? You are not heroes. I know of no heroes among our ranks.[i]

"We have been watching you." Commander Nessreis's eyes seemed to gleam darkly. [i]Who is 'we'? "Your skills with firearms are unrivaled among our people. Even our best soldiers - our most honored spies - cannot match your accuracy."

Ani already knew that. She could kill. Oh yes, she could kill. That was not the question. The question was, what great and horrible 'task' was this, that the Commander felt such a need to stroke Ani's ego?

"I've sent a messenger to retrieve Zance," Commander Nessreis breezed. Ani's confusion only increased, mixed with a sharp anger.

"Why Zance?" she snapped. The Commander's eyes turned cold, and the girl realized her mistake. She had spoken out of turn, and she had questioned her superior.

Ani fell to her knees. "My apologies, my lady."

"You are forgiven." The Commander touched Ani's shoulder, sympathy oozing from every pore. Ani could read between the lines of the gesture, thanks to Elai. "It's alright, stupid, stupid girl. I don't expect you to know any better. But don't let it happen again, or else."

"You will be working with Zance on this mission," Commander Nessreis said, tone adament.

Perfect. Ani groaned inwardly.

Corsa

Corsa looked up at the soldier, frowning. Turn on her? "No doubt he most likely would..." she murmured, more to herself than to the soldier. What was his name? Elai?

She sighed and put a hand on his shoulder. "Thank you for your words, though they wound me greatly. I had hoped he would have less of an influence..." His gaze seemed to question her words.

She smiled, painfully. "The Zance I ask about, and the Zance you speak of, are two differant people, young soldier. The Zance you speak of sounds to me like a vicious man, driven mad by power and the influence that the evil lady has brought onto them," tears rose in her eyes and her heart ached for her to speak this way of a man whom she believed to be her brother, but seemed an entirely differant man altogether. Yet some part of her was relieved he still lived. "The Zance I ask about, though there is a doubt in my mind that he still exsists within the confines of a corrupted mind and body in a world of hate and distrust," she looked at Elai, "just so happens to be my brother."

It felt somewhat odd, confessing to this man what she'd confessed to no other before. But then again, he had helped her without asking her notions, nor seeming offended by the question. She felt tears making their way down her cheeks and found she could not bring herself to stop them.

Shuddering a breath and looked at him. "Your words have answered many questions for me, Elai... but they will do nothing to ease the pain I feel. But, for telling me without question truly proves you alligence to all of us here." She smiled sadly.

"Thank you, brother."

Zance

Strolling into the Commander's tent, Zance wondered what she needed. Mayhap another spying mission? Perfectly alright with him.

It amused him greatly to see the idioticy those of the Passerby Army. Their tents were able to be seen from at least a hundred miles away. Their people, spending much of their time, in their tents, wasting precious time praying so some upper lord, when they could be practicing their defense. Then there was always the fragile hope that he would see Corsa again...

He sighed and walked up to the Commander, bowing to her and smiling charmingly. "My most gracious lady," he said, touching his forehead to the ground.

He felt her briskly touch his shoulder, a silent order to rise. He obeyed, suddenly noticing the little wench in the corner, glowering at him. Hadn't he taken care of her earlier? Inwardly, he sighed. He didn't know or care.

He looked at Nessreis, expectant. "Another mission, I presume, my lady?"

A seductive smile. "You are correct, Zance. A very special mission; crucial and important. So much so, I am pairing you with our best gunman." She gestured to the wench in the corner. "You know Ani."

Zance turned to her, feeling his heart sink. He forced another charming smile. "Of course. Always a pleasure, Ani."

Her eyes narrowed and again, Zance noticed that hair. It came to him then that she was the little pest he'd beaten earlier. He felt the anger in his chest rise, and fought to keep it from controlling him. Not here, not now, later maybe.

He forced himself to widen the smile. "I look forward to working with such a skilled gunman as yourself." He said, lying through his teeth.

Elai
Her brother?

Elai couldn't believe it. Though he'd never spoken to her before, he'd seen her around camp, and she'd never let it slip that... that she might have someone important to her serving the Dread Army. That she could share blood with a monster like Zance...

He squirmed uncomfortably as tears began to run down her cheeks. He hated seeing women cry. It was almost as bad as seeing men cry. Since joining the Passerby Army, Elai had seen both, more than once, as soldiers of the King were moved with compassion for those in the Dread Army.

He felt sorrow whenever he thought of Ani, but he'd never cried for her before... And honestly he couldn't think of anyone he'd once fought beside who he really missed.

When Corsa said that he'd proved his allegience, Elai wished that he could believe her. He knew, however, that it wouldn't be as easy to convince her fellow soldiers. More and more, he was beginning to get the idea that this woman had a very simple belief that everyone would always do what was right.

Not everyone would be so willing to look past his history.

"You're welcome, sister," he said quietly. "If there's anything else you'd like to know, don't hesitate to ask."

Ani
The girl scowled at Zance and his false smile.

He had to have noticed her dirty clothes, her scratches and scrapes, the way her hair was mussed. He had to know that it was she he'd fought mere minutes before.

Unless he beat up too many people to remember all of their faces.

She didn't believe a word he said.

This was the war camp of the Dread Army. Everyone lied.

Including Ani.

"Likewise, I will be honored to work with such a distinguished spy," she said with a dip of her head.

She turned her attention to Commander Nessreis, looking away from the man who made her skin crawl. "What is the mission to be?"

"An assassination," the Commander said with quiet glee, her sweet smile widening at the thought. "The assassination of a very important person to the Passerby Army."

Ani nodded. She'd killed people before. It was nothing new. This just meant she'd be picking out a single person to shoot. "Who?"

"That foul new captain, Fairadell. Commander Ennon. That precious daughter of his..." Nessreis shrugged her shoulders carelessly. "I don't really care. Whoever comes into range first." Her eyes gleamed. "Whoever's loss will be felt most. Whoever's death will cripple the Passerby Army."

"When?" Ani asked. "As soon as possible?"

"No," the commander said. "They have a sort of holiday approaching. A day of worship to their nonexistant 'King'. Supposedly, he gives them protection... To lose someone close to them on such a day will destroy them, utterly and totally."

She makes it sound so simple... As if it will end the war entirely.

What if it just makes them fight harder?

"You will stake out the camp," Commander Nessreis said. "Make a plan. Ani, Zance will be your guide."

Corsa

She smiled at his words, reaching up and scrubbing her cheek rougly, wiping away her tears. Feeling slightly embarrased to have done so in front of him, obviously making her fellow soldier uncomfortable, Corsa sighed. "Thank you, Elai. And likewise. No doubt you have very many questions about us?" She asked, raising her eyesbrows expectantly.

Corsa had always known the ways of the Passerby Armies from stories and from being in it for several years now, but when she thought about it, it must be confusing.

The more she thought about it, the more she looked at Elai, really looked at him. He seemed shrunken into himself, isolated and quite afriad to reach out to anyone. But he'd reached out to her, hadn't he? Or would he had just remained to stand there in the mess tent for all of time if she didn't go up to him and speak?

Corsa knew that there were many from the Dread Army, but she'd never really spoken to any of them at length such as she was with this young man. Narrowing her eyes slightly, she wondered if they were all like this...

Zance

A grin slowly spread across Zance's face. He was her guide? It was almost too perfect.

He bowed to the Commander and looked to Ani. "Shall we commence planning after a good night's rest?"

Without waiting to hear the wench's response, he turned on his heel and strode out of the tent.

(Sorry it's short, I ran out of time.)