The Highhills......earliest rays of dawn....
Dawn was riding to the Highhills,
places of woods and misty rocky hills. that bordered the Dragoons and
Sabbath lands. The people here were splintered in many different
clans and factions, but the ones she sought were the GeordieMen. The
cleverest of warriors who didn't take no for an answer, or anyone's
bullshit for that matter. She had actually met a few Geordiemen years
ago in a village market somewhere. Wanderers far from home.
But now so was she.
The army was behind her, the wrong
army. It had been weeks of fighting, nearing a third month's worth,
and Dawn's army had broken some line within the forests of Holy Wood
and the Eastern freelands, many Spyders had fled or been killed. Dawn
herself didn't take prisoners, not many anyhow. Star and Richi had
staked their holdings on the boarder of Holy Wood and surrounding
touching lands, and were succeeding in fending off the attackers, but
they had recently closed in in the forests. They choked a pathway
around the main force and somehow, of course somehow, Star managed to
break off Spyder contact with the lands they had claimed. Forcing the
largest fraction of their army up a narrow crag in the earth that
went north by north east.
That is where she was now. In the heat
of this chase, and the battle that started their running, she had
taken off with nothing but her horse and she carried, trailing after
the enemy. She couldn't turn back for risk of losing them in the
rocky gorge, and so could not break pace and could not lose sight of
them. In this place, one day lost was an army lost forever. She knew
they were trying to get to the Hills, those misty hills where
Clansmen lived. If the Spyders got there before she did, they would
slaughter the natives and hide out for the winter fast approaching.
The hills were pitted with caves that
went deep into the earth, and the winters grew harsh. If the enemy
made it to the caves, Dawn and her army would be barred all winter,
and the Spyders would be free to take every advantage and flee to the
East before she could catch them. But she gained ground on the
Spyders, though her horse was ragged and so was she, she went on, she
had to find the GeordieMen, to tell them, to recruit them. For their
lives and her peoples'.
She missed her child, who was all the
way by the sea with her nursemaid. Dawn had been shaken by the death
of her childhood nanny, Tilda. Her mother seemed indifferent, until
her Bon was murdered. True while Dawn hated him, she didn't wish for
either of them to go through such violence. While she prayed to pagan
gods to protect her child, she also worried for her now war crazed
mother. The loon was going mad, Richi said she was not sleeping well,
and was mostly silent. This was a bad combination that hopefully changed if they won.
She shook her head to wake herself,
tired from the journey and the exertion she had endured to get this
far ahead. Behind her the Spyders were happily setting up camp for
the evening. She glared at them, wishing that she had Rosie's
potential power to harness and command the earth. Rosie would never
use her powers for such violence, but Dawn would have gladly used
them to stop this from ever having to happen. A big hole in the earth
would have sufficed.
Her own powers over the sun were too
vast and wild for her to control safely.
She was in the foothills when the
lavender tint of pre-dawn crept into the sky above and around her.
Below, the camps were surprisingly out of sight in the canyon below.
This would only prove her point, or make her look insane. These
clansmen were so secluded that she doubted their knowledge of the
outside world was up to date. Would all of this even matter if the
clan she found in these foothills wasn't even the Geordiemen? The
Spyders would stay in that canyon for days, probably sending spies to
scout these areas....she had that much time over them at least.
Maybe.
If the Georidemen weren't in this area,
if they exceeded her reach, she doubted she would win. She laughed in
her throat as she could almost hear her mother's voice in her head,
telling her to never doubt her own power. She was Lizard Blooded, she
would win if she tried.
“Its when you stop trying that you
really lose.” Dawn's voice echoed as she recited the words with a
sarcastic tone, mimicking her mother's. “Loon. . . “
Her horse suddenly stopped, panting
hard. Its breath rising and freezing int the chilly morning air. Dawn
shivered. The winders of ice were upon them, snow would be falling
within the month. By then the Spyders would be right at home with the
bodies of the dead left to the storm.
There was noise on the crag above her.
Her sword was drawn and pointed at the hills above her. In one fluid
motioned honed to even faster speeds during this current war. But she
saw no one near. She sheathed her sword, dismounted, and retrieved
the blade quietly once again. She led the animal by the reigns
carefully, and came around a mound of rock that blocked the paths
above. When she saw a man some ways above, on a path she now saw open
up before her, she stopped.
That face she knew only from paintings,
from dreams, from looking in the mirror. In leather brown pants, a
flowing white shirt, with soft brown hair in even softer curls, was
her father, standing above her, looking down with an lazy, expectant
look. He turned without a word, throwing a leather jacket over his
shoulder and walked up the rocks and boulders, leaving her behind.
“Father! Father wait!” She shouted.
She left her horse and began scrambling up the hillside path. The sky
was beginning to grow a lighter shade of lavender by the time she
straightened up and stopped in the middle of the a dirt switch back
with a wide turn, as if for a small cart or wagon. She stopped and
spun round on the spot. Her father was nowhere in sight.
But another man was. He was dressed in
a green kilt and a moss black long sleeved tunic. He wore leather
boots that rode up to his knees, fur lined the edges and insides. His
eyes were dark, made darker by the large, grey wool shawl he had
wrapped around his torso. His face was handsome, hinted with a tad
touch of being plain. His curly hair was a light brown and the wild
expanse was kept tightly under a dark grey cap.
She wasted only a moment's worth of
inspecting him before she realized that other, similarly looking and
clad men stood in places behind him on the hillside. She herself was
void of any identifying marks or colors. Her armor was a dark, grey
color that she had lost parts to some time ago. She now had her
platemail tied to her horse behind her, and it looked like nothing
extravagant. Her horse was tired, drooping, beginning to thin. Her
self wrapped in a large black cloak, her long hair was meant to be
kept in a netted cap but of course it broke free around her face and
sprouted from her head like wild vines. Her cheeks reddened by the
cold winds, her skin dusty from the road. She looked like a traveler,
but her eyes bore into their in such a way that they conveyed power.
“I am Dawn of the Lizard Blood!”
She used her more common titles. “Princess of Holy Wood, daughter
of Queen Star Dust and the Last Lizard King.” Her father was more
widely known as such. “I come seeking the leader of the GeordieMen.
I have traveled far to see him.”
The one nearest her took a moment to
listen and think. He nodded. “Well comma long then, you certainly
found who you were lookin for. I'll take you to the Jasper.”
She hurried to catch up to him and the
others dissipated into the rocks it seemed. She left her horse but it
plodded forward on the path, instinctively following her. She was
relieved that these were, apparently, the GeordieMen.
“Wait the who?” She stumbled but
was quick to recover.
“The Jasper, the leader, chief!.”
“Oh,” she remembered it. “What is
his name?”
“Ya came lookin for em but ya don't
know his na'iem?”
“Well no,” she admitted. “We know
little of you, if I hadn't crossed two of your people before in Holy
Wood, I wouldn't have known to come here.”
He suddenly stopped and turned to face
her. “Why do you come 'ere?”
She stopped gratefully. “Because a
war is coming your way wild man. A new clan called the Spyders have
started war and is below in That canyon.” She pointed, he looked.
“I see nothin.”
“They're hidden down inside.”
“ 'Ow many?”
“Five thousand? Eight thousand? Does
it matter? How many of You are there?”
“Ah, enough to take em.” He moved
on.
“I hope so.”
“Naaaah,” he drawled.
“You don't believe me?”
“Hardly even know who you are.”
“And I don't even know who I'm asking
for help here, so we're just going to have to get over that shit and
trust each other. Got it?!”
He shook his head and laughed. “I
like yeh! You're alright as far as princesses go and all.”
She gave him a “hmpf”, an act
committed in doubt that he had even met Real princesses who could
trace their blood back thousands of years.
When they reached what was the
encampment it was half in the caves of the hills and half out in the
open. Dawn cringed at the exposed targets, there was no fighting here
yet, but these people would be in harm's way when it did come. She
was taken through the camp, people watching and whispering in her
wake. She was from the Southern Kingdom called Holy Wood, they all
knew her Lady Mother. The man who led her took her into the caves and
led her through more throngs of people.
Dawn counted that they could match and
maybe hold the Spyder army with the men she saw present, but numbers
is all these men had to their advantage. She had her doubts about
them being able to hold their own on the battle field with such skill
and defense powers. There were warrior men and women here, but the
Princess didn't see them as being able to take on a trained and well
provisioned army.
They passed a fire ring with an old
white haired woman sitting near it, her back to a tent post. As Dawn
passed she reached out and grabbed her arm. The Princess tugged out
of reflex but the woman held firm.
“I see a son rising. The Queen of
darkness shall have one, but the Queen of light will have two. One
born of memories past, one born of a hopeful new future. Born of dark
and light, this second son shall take what was due to the first for
the first shall have no inheritance.
Dawn glared at her. “You ramble
woman. Of Whom do you speak?”
“The Queen of Mars.
“There is no such person.”
“There will be....”
She was silent for only a moment,
recalling that her mother's prophecy predicted none of her mother's
daughters shall rule on Earth.
“This second son will give rise to a
new era. An era long desired. Balance, once corrupted, will return.
When no sons were born to rule, now let them come forth to take their
places as rightful Kings of the thrones they are due.”
“Eh , don't mind 'er, crazy that
one.” Her guide warned her.
They went on and were quickly led into
thew largest tent. Inside was a man dressed as the others. But he was
far shorter. He stood his full height but Dawn's reach was nearing
six feet tall, he had to be just over five feet. By the way the
ornate wooden chair sat in one corner, nearest the fire pits, she
guessed this was His tent and he was their Jasper.
“Look, I don't know how to approach
you as the leader, the Jasper, if that is who you are,” she was
harshly direct. “But I need to speak to the Jasper here, its life
or death for you and your people.”
“And who ar' you?” He asked, a
smirk tainted his mouth.
“I am Princess Dawn Abithia Morrison,
daughter of the Star Queen and Lizard King. I come your way because a
war ravages the lands beyond your hills, and those who which to
enslave you and use your caves for themselves are not far away.”
“She was sayi' 'ow there is an army
in the Canyon, the one below us. Says we can't see em but they hide
within.”
The Jasper looked from his man to the
Princess. “How do we know you're tellin the truth woman?”
“Why would I lie about this? If you
don't believe me, then fine. Go ahead and I'll leave you all here and
you'll be slaughtered in your sleep. Our kingdoms are not familiar
with each other, true. You have no reason to trust anything I say.”
“And If I act crazy like and do?”
The Jasper asked.
“Then I will prepare your men for
battle, and it doesn't even have to be a battle. Its a defense. They
have you out weaponed, my mother's army comes from the south-”
“How do we know that's not a trick?”
Someone asked.
Their leader raised a hand to silence
whoever it was. “Silence ye!”
“ My mother's army comes to crush
those who would destroy you!” She shouted. “I came to help you,
despite our lack of knowledge of each other. If these Syders get
passed you, they will hide in the hills you call home and desecrate
them. If I am wrong, there will be no defense, no fighting. If I am
not. . . .”
The Jasper stared at her, looked to the
fire and then nodded. “I've 'erad of ye. All of ye. Yer whole
family. If you tellin' the truth, and we win this defense of yers, I
want to see yer castle.”
She grinned, “You'd be the first.”
She held out her hand. “Dawn of Holy Wood.”
He held his and drew a black stone
blade, its glossy surface cut across his palm with ease and he didn't
flinch. “Brian of the Geordiemen Hills.” He slid his blade across
her flesh and they grasped hands.
Their bloody palms connected and she
smiled.
"Show meh to the canyon now Princess," Brian said. "I wish teh see what yer ravin' about."
"Come with me and I'll show you more than the army, I'll show you how to win," she replied with a smile.
"Show meh to the canyon now Princess," Brian said. "I wish teh see what yer ravin' about."
"Come with me and I'll show you more than the army, I'll show you how to win," she replied with a smile.
>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<
Star and Richi rode up behind their
army, through the ruins of the Spyder camp. Any Spyder soldier was
killed, any officer taken prisoner for questioning. As she and Dawn
had discussed, she would not receive word if all went well with her
daughter's mission, she would have to carry out her attack on the
Spyders no matter Dawn's outcome. But when Star came, the hills the
Spyders would travel through lit with fire. Balls of fire were
launched from hastily constructed trebuchets. They had successfully
held the Spyders at bay, all too easily it appeared, giving the Queen
enough time to bring her army in and over run the enemy.
The defeated Spyders ran to the hills
to the east, to the high, rocky mountains already piled with snow and
covered in stormy clouds. They would face a death by frost that way.
Star did not pursue them, the mountains were the biggest in the
lands, bigger than the Dragoons. They ran thousands of miles in
either direction and no one had crossed them for thousands of years.
No one ever came back if they lived.
Suddenly a large group of the so called
Geordiemen came forward. The group split and Star and Richi paused.
The men made a path from the Lady and her Companion to Dawn and her
companion. A gruff looking man far shorter than she. Star was
instantly intrigued. She dismounted and couldn't reach Dawn fast
enough o embrace her.
“Oh my child, I am so relieved.”
“Oh Mother, you shouldn't have been
so worried.”
“How could I not be?! You ran off to
find a group of clansmen we know nothing about. And managed to get
them to fight with us I see.”
Dawn stood proudly to her mother's
side. “Mother, I present theJasper of the clan himself, Brian.”
The man tipped his hat. “My day
Queen.”
Star smiled without understanding, “Um,
greetings Jasper Brian.”
He reached out a hand tied in a blood
stained cloth and took her gauntless hand and pressed his lips to the
top of her hand. She was sure she felt the tip of his tongue lash out
to perversely touch her sweat covered skin. She saw him lick his bottom
lick ever so subtlety. Her heart ached for another man but she
accepted his greeting.
“My day is their way of addressing
royalty Mother.”
“I see,” her smile deepened in
understanding. “You made quick work of this, for that I am grateful
to you Brian.”
“And I to yer kin Star One,” he
replied. “I hope that jour'ney to yer castle will not be too long.
I've never been to another kingdom's castle befor'.”
Star had to take in his words. “Ah
yes, the journey to Ao'o, should not take long at all. I will be most
pleased and honored to have you as a guest.”
“Ah good. Since I'll be taking place
as Lord Brian I'd like to see this place. Now excuse meh, I ned to
make arrangements.”
Her dutiful cousin leaped into action.“I shall go with you, we must speak
of our kingdoms and come to understanding each other. I am Lord Richi
of Blackmour, advisory to the Queen and Lord of the Courts.”
When they were gone, Star spun to
around to face Dawn. “He's coming with us?” She asked with a
stony voice.
Dawn smiled,” Of course Mother, as a
reward for helping us. I wasn't going to give him nothing.”
“We did not discuss this.”
“You're not angry I'm bringing our
ally to the courts are you?”
“No. . .Of course not.”
“Oh and I also gave him the Power Band as well, which is what will make him status of Lord in the
court.”
At this Star bristled. “You WHAT!?”
“It came up in conversation,” Dawn
went to a nearby wagon filled with medic women and water barrels. She
thankfully received a deep bowl of water to rise her face in. “After
procuring his alliance, he wanted to know if this entitled him to a
wife, to which he was two. I said it may. He then asked how to become
a lord of the courts, to become more involved in the Kingdoms. I said
that Lords were either of noble birth such as he, or leaders of
Greater bands of musical men.”
“How did the Power Band come into
this I wonder?”
“He heard tale of a mighty band form
the Far Far south, and wanted to know if there were many bands like
that in Holy Wood” she took a long drink. “I said that band was
now without a frontman, to which he said his own band had just
bisdanned. I said Perfect!” She splashed her face. “He said he
become more than our temporary allies, he would bend his knee to you
if it meant he was placed with the Power Band, thus making him a Lord
of our court.”
“Dawn how could you!? I can't just
give up Bon's place to a stranger,” she eyed him walking with
Richi. “A handsome stranger, but strange all the same! How can you
demand this of me?!”
“Because without him you would have
lost this battle. Had he not heeded my warnings when I must have
sounded insane, all this would not have come to be.” She grabbed a
towel from the medical supplies and went to a tent that was being
constructed for the commanding officers, which included her. Star
followed to bag.
Before she could, Dawn was right behind
her. “He is dead mother. I am sorry it happened but he is gone and
you must accept it. Brian will ease the pain felt by the people who
loved Bon. Somebody has to be this way and I will take the burden.
Now do not deny our newest ally the rewards he was promised. It'll
make you look bad.”
Star turned and left the tent as her
daughter began dismantling her chainmaille and armor plates. Though it
pained her to give up the Power Band to this, Brian, she would have
to. He was the reason they had fortified the small hill paths that
would have be free for trespassers otherwise.
The show of fire as they lit the hills
a'flame. The balls of red that rained down on the Spyder camp in the
night, without warning. Fire is what greeted the queen when she
arrived, fire and chaos. She nearly had to wait for the flames to go
down before she could go through the camp. It wasn't as spectacularly
drenched in blood as she had hoped, but those fleeing would never
last. With a bittersweet victory she walked through the devastated
Spyder camp, the words of the Kilmister echoing through her head.
“We come from the same place.”
The Spyders seemed to know and hold
onto a part of the Martian culture they hailed from. She was envious.
They knew more of their home than she did. If what the Kilmister
said, if what her dreams really meant were true, then she was no
earthling and these enemies she destroyed were her people.
She wanted to go home. . . .
