A shadow has fallen across the continent as the Shadow Armies get ready to pour into the Land of Elves. Yet new arrivals might herald a flicker of hope for the Alliance, but a power struggle looms on the horizon as Master Mage Willow seeks to retake what is rightfully hers. While the armies mass outside the Human city of Larken the new Elfin Champion Litni Speed aided by her guardian spirit Angel, has to fight her way through Shirl, the Dark Capital of the Shadow's, in order to retrieve the Heart of Darkness and to face the man who betrayed her. Thus begins the third book of the Two Worlds saga and Prophecy's Twilight is upon us. // ... // indicates communication via thought Book Two of Two Worlds II PROPHECY'S TWILIGHT CILIA Chapter 1: Darker With The Day I don't know why I always end up on the battlements when I want to think, maybe it's a good place to go if you want to be left alone with your thoughts, the only people you meet are the guards watching the night. Put such philosophical questions are better left to another day. I've come here to try and make sense of the last couple of days. We have fallen back to the city of Agnoria, it was a quiet affair not the victorious return many of us had planned for and surely not the victorious return I had planned for. God I feel like such an idiot and my latest stunt; trying to goad Cordelia into fight rates very high on the list of stupid things to do and she won without even raising her sword. Aside from the humiliation I feel about my actions following the battle and the urgent need to beat myself over the head with my sword. I must remain focused and try and make sense of the events that happened at the Tower. It went according to plan and we did plan it well. After all we did have some of the greatest strategic planners in the Realm there, but it will be a long time until we are called that again. My memory of the attack is clear and I doubt I will ever forget what transpired that day. The Tower was guarded by a minimal force, elite, but still minimal and Theris and Cordelia didn't detect any additional forces. So we charged, Al'x let the cavalry charge over the hills into the glen the Tower rested in, and then we followed on foot and crushed what remained of the force and then it happened. The portals started appearing everywhere. None of us sensed it, but hundreds of them opened up all around us none-the-less, I remember feeling angry and I've never liked failure. I think it was at this point I started going over the limit, or going primal like Cordy calls it, drawing on the background of being too much. Not that I cared because it felt like the time I connected with the first Slayer and I could do anything. But I couldn't stop what happened next and that drove me over the edge I think. A portal opened up behind Willow, while she was trying to open up a portal to get us out, but a Shadow sneaked up behind her and that broke her concentration so the spell backfired. The blast killed everything within a thirty-foot radius, friend and foe alike and it somehow affected her voice, she hasn't spoken a word since it happened and I feel so helpless about it. Yet after all that the worst was still to come, something came over Poet, I'm not sure what it was but he just seemed to grow darker all of a sudden. He lashed out so fast that nobody really saw it happened, but in the space of half a minute everybody that had been standing around him were dead or dying. Aside from Litni, she saw it coming and the golden armor that Al'x had given her protected her. They fought with such fury that the battle around them stopped, but then we all saw it the Heart of Darkness, it had been in front of us all along, or at least its instrument had been. Poet lifted his hand and Litni just fell as a black nimbus overcame her and that caused Tark to go berserk. I have never seen him so enraged, hell I don't think anybody has ever seen Tark Dragon of the Third House so completely out of control. He cut through his enemies like a knife through hot butter. I see now why the Drow are so universally feared. After he cast an orb of darkness over the mind of one of his attackers and the poor being went insane and started clawing at his eyes I felt sick. But he never got within ten feet of Poet, the Shadow just struck him down with the same black light he had used on Litni, but Tark didn't give up, three times he crawled to his feet and four times he was struck down. In the end it was Tare who saved him, by firing an arrow into Poet's chest. He didn't even flinch just pulled it out with disgust and turned the full force of the Heart towards Tare. Willow came to her rescue and even without her voice my wife is the most powerful mage in the world and is a force all by herself, but while Willow protected Tare from the blast Poet fled with Litni through one of the portals. In the end it was Al'x who saved us, he had of course planned for this turn of events, god I hated him at this point always so in control and all the while painfully less powerful than the rest of us. Cordelia with me along with mom were told to stay and cover our retreat, while he led the army back into the relative protection of the Land of Sun. Willow almost refused to go, but I told her that somebody had to protect the army if we failed. So we fought a running battle, but we found out that even we, probably the most powerful beings alive, had our limits, then they stopped and I get a sinking feeling in my stomach when I think about how many we killed with just a thought that day. Now I'm faced with a new set of problems, the promise of a quick war has faded and I don't know how long it will take before the war is won. Yet I'm bound by my promise to Piratess and my love for this world to keep on fighting and hoping for the end. A new problem has presented itself, one that makes me think about something my mom said a while back that Al'x had foreseen that a child from our family would be placed in grave danger and with the arrival of June that prophecy too has come true. "Mom?" June asked as she leant on the battlements over looking the pass leading through the mountains that separated the Dark Lands from the rest of the world. "June," Elisabeth greeted and this still felt very awkward. "You looked like you were someplace else," the woman, who her daughter would one day become said to her. "Well I have a lot on my mind," Elisabeth said as she turned away from the Dark Lands. "You are not happy with me coming here are you?" June asked. "I'm confused, I know that your arrival here will but you in danger, but yet you say that I sent you here," she said in an attempt to explain how she felt. "I know it's confusing," June said and leant against the battlements, "and I don't pretended to understand it either, but this is something that has to happen," she added. Elisabeth shook her head and just looked at her daughter for a long moment, she was an alamang of her and Willow that was for sure, she had flowing reddish blond hair, while her face carried much of Willow's gentleness her eyes showed enormous intellect and a sharp mind. She could also see that she had received training, either by Giles or Faith, or perhaps both. She walked like a Slayer, but she was completely normal as far as she could tell. "I learned long ago that no matter how hard you try to fight prophecies they always come about in one form or another and only by realizing their full meaning can you hope to alter the outcome," she finally said with a sigh and June gave a small smile. "You used that same argument while trying to convince me to come here you know," she said. "June can I ask something of you?" Elisabeth asked. "Anything," June stated. "While you are here, can we put aside the fact that you are my daughter?" she asked. "This whole thing bothers you doesn't it? Seeing me and knowing that I'm your daughter, but not really knowing me," June said. "I..." Elisabeth started, but June just smiled and placed her hand on her mother's shoulder and smiled. "I understand and I think I know your reasons," she said. "Also my mother never told me about this part of her life and now I know why," she added. "I would never..." Elisabeth started, but her reply died when June shook her head. "You will and you must," she said firmly. "This isn't going to be easy is it?" Elisabeth asked. "These sort of things rarely are luv," Spike said as he came walking along the battlements. "And what's your story Spike?" Elisabeth asked. "And what's with the hair?" "He feels it makes him look more respectable," June answered and Spike shot her a dirty look before turning towards Elisabeth. "You told me to come Elisabeth and trust me twenty years from now you'll understand why I did just that," he explained. "So you aren't going to tell me anything about the future are you?" Elisabeth asked. "You know we can't do that luv," Spike said. "Willow, that is the one we know..." he said motioning between himself and June. "...wouldn't approve." "Oh my god Willow," Elisabeth, gasped as she saw her wife walk towards them supporting herself with a staff and leaning on it heavily. She rushed to her wife's side, but Willow just raised her hand for her to stop. //I am fine// a voice spoke into her mind. It sounded old and tired somehow, like the last ten years were catching up to her all at once. "You should be in bed," Elisabeth said out loud. //I wanted to see our daughter, or the person she will one day become. Is that such a terrible thing?// She asked and Elisabeth looked down as Willow walked over to June who looked close to tears at the sight of her mother. //You have such beautiful eyes// Willow spoke into her mind and June gave a small smile as the tears started to spill down her cheeks. //Oh don't cry child// Willow said as she reached out and stroked her cheek. I'll be alright, it takes a lot more than a backfiring spell to kill me. She then turned towards Spike. //Hello Spike// she said and a smile appeared on her face. "Hello Red," Spike said in a low voice as he took her hand and kissed it. //Age has done you good I see// she thought with a rueful smile. "I guess so," Spike said running a hand through his hair. //Very well then// she thought so they all could hear, I'll just hobble back to my bed then. //Coming dear// she added so just Elisabeth could hear. Elisabeth smiled as she took Willow arms and led her down from the battlements leaving June and Spike alone. "Should we tell them?" she asked him, watching as her parents walked away. "Do you really think they could handle it?" he asked calmly. "No, but they have a right to know," she said as she wrapped her arms around herself. "Maybe it would change things." Spike stepped up to her side and placed an arm around her shoulder. "We didn't come here to change things luv, we came here to fulfill one of those prophecy's Rupert's so fond off," Spike said softly. "And I think history will have its way with or without our help," he added and looked down at her with a smile. *~*~*~* Cordelia felt exhausted as she washed her hands in the basin at the makeshift hospital that had been set up. She had worked nonstop since their arrival at Agnoria, healing the wounded and being there for those who she couldn't save. Despite all her skills as a healer she couldn't save them all. She still felt some guilt over what she had done to Elisabeth and she had stepped into a very gray area with her actions, but at least her friend wouldn't be hunted down and killed by the other Guardians now. "Explain to me honored Ranger Knight what you did in order to calm our general?" a calm voice asked. Cordelia smiled as she turned around and there stood Tark in uniform. She could sense that he was still in considerable pain, but the man had drive like no other she had ever known. "You should be resting Tark," she said turning her back towards him and continued rinsing her hands. "I'll rest when the war is over Moondancer," he said as he sat down in a low chair and folded his hands. "I dislike mysteries and your recent actions and their motives have been bothering me for I cannot understand them," he stated. Cordelia shook the water off her hands with a sigh and turned around to face him. "Then you must promise me that what I tell you will remain with you until your death," she said with a serious tone in her voice. "You have my word that your secrets will die with me," he said. "Alright then," she sat down and crossed her hands in her lap. "The Guardians of Order have existed since the dawn of time. We watch over those who are primal and we do our best to ensure that they don't cause damage to the fabric of being. This applies to various situations, the most common being a mage or druid turning rogue. You see we can feel when this happens and we do our best to put them down. This is what happened to Elisabeth, she went primal and started doing things that went against the natural order of things in a way that is not allowed. She has always been my responsibility and from the moment I became a Guardian I knew that I would, one day, have to face her. Now that day has come and my mission is over," she explained. "So what happens now?" Tark asked. "I go home to Stjar'a. That's why I left in the first place," Cordelia answered. "I knew that I couldn't be tied down in case Elisabeth ever returned." "You spent the last ten year preparing for that fight," Tark stated. "Yes, learning ways to win without fighting and making deals with the other Guardians to stay out of the fight," she answered. "I didn't want to kill my friend," she added. "That's understandable," Tark nodded as he stood up. "There is more," Cordelia said looking up. "You have told me enough Lady Moondancer," Tark said as he left the makeshift hospital room. He stopped in the doorway and said something that would bother her for the longest time. "I thank you for trying to protect my daughter from her destiny," he said and then left. Cordelia stared at the door for a moment before burying her face in her hands. "Why Theris?" she asked. "Why?" "Because no matter how hard we try we can't fight destiny," a voice said. "I thought you had left," she said as she looked up and wiped away her tears. "I won't leave without saying goodbye Cordy," Al'x said as he knelt down in front of her. "You always know what to say don't you?" she asked. "You probably know more than I do about how the things have happened and still you are just going to turn tail and hide." "I'm just human Cordy," Al'x said. "I've walked with the gods and kept in stride for these past twenty years and it's bound to take its toll. So my answer to join you remains the same. I have people who are counting on me and I can't betray that trust," he said. "So I leave the fate of the world in the capable hands of my friends," he said with a smile that in twenty years had lost none of its charm. "Don't you feel guilty over what you did to Litni?" she asked. "Yes, every hour of every day I feel the guilt," he said and looked down. "But that's my burden not yours, so I ask only that you return home to Stjar'a and be happy," he said and looked up "I'll check in on you from time to time, okay?" Cordelia said. "Just to make sure that you are doing alright," she said and there was a long moment of silence between them that ended with Al'x standing up and slowly walking away. *~*~*~* Litni followed the walls of the prison, staying in the shadows just like Tark had taught her and masking her presence with a small spell she'd learned from Willow. Her golden armor concealed beneath a dark cloak she'd taken from the guards she had killed. She stopped in a dark alcove to catch her breath while at the back of her mind she could hear Angel's voice trying to reason with her. //Litni this is not a good idea// he said softly. //I know Poet betrayed you but you should be trying to get to the Heart instead of him.// //Shut up Liam// she shouted back. //I will not see the gift we gave you go to waste like this Litni// he said firmly. //I didn't ask for this// she said and tore the glove which held the stone of her hand, but as soon as the glove was off the stone appeared on the back of her hand. //Yes you did and we did warn you of the implications of receiving it// Angel said calmly. //Honor demands that Poet pays, I can't go after the heart knowing that he's behind me// she said firmly. There was a brief silence in her mind as Angel thought it over. //Very well then, go satisfy your sense of honor, but before you kill him look him in the eye one last time// he said. //Oh I fully intend to// she said as she pulled the glove back on her hand and started down the corridor folding the ethereal wings around her body. Time moved strangely as she moved through the corridors in search of Poet. She had made it half way across the compound before her escape was discovered; she was in the officers quarters when the guards went for the alarm and she was standing in front of Poet's work desk when the alarm sounded. "Poet," she said as she appeared and unfolded the wings in a dazzling display of light. The wings appeared as ribbons of light streaming from her back. "Miss Speed," Poet said with a casual smile as he stood up from behind his desk. "Didn't take you long to escape now did it," he said and she could feel the aura of darkness that she had first sensed at the battle at the Tower and his voice which was once music to her ears sounded like breaking glass in the distance. "Quit playing games Poet," Litni snarled as she drew the swords she had taken from the guards and pointed them at his throat. "Such crude weapons," he commented. "Why don't you use the sword you keep stored in that stone of yours, you know the one Al'x Sun gave you," he said with a cruel smile. "You make me sick," Litni said as she lunged, but Poet was out of the chair in a split second and all the swords hit were the wood of the chair. Litni gave an angry yell and pulled her sword from within the gemstone in a brilliant flash of light. "Impressive," Poet said as he drew two obsidian blades from their sheaths. "But aren't you feeling the weight of the mantle?" he asked. "Shut up," Litni screamed as she charged him and their swords clashed. "There is that fury I'm so fond of," he commended as they broke apart. "Nice wings by the way," he said. "I'm so going to enjoy tearing them off." Litni just gave him a wicked smile as something Tark had told her flashed through her mind. Never tell those who you care about everything 'cause one day you might have to meet them in battle. "Poet guess what," she said as she curled her hand up into a fist. " "What?" he asked menacingly. "You are not nearly as charming as you think," she said and let her fist fly with incredible speed. It connected solidly with the side of his face and he went flying across the room, landing against the wall. "You're a monster Poet," Litni said as she sauntered over to him, returning her sword to the stone. "I rather like your idea of tearing something apart," she said as she picked him up with one hand and held him against the wall with a single hand. "Oh, by the way, have you ever felt the touch of ethereal fire?" she asked as she touched his shoulder with the tip of one of the ribbons that made up her wings. Poet screamed as the tip drove into his right shoulder. "You betrayed us Poet, " she said as she drove another ribbon in his left shoulder and stepped back from the wall as the ribbons held him aloft. "You wormed your way into my heart and into my bed," she went on as he squirmed against the light that pinned him in place. "In retrospect that night was as cheap as all your other lies," she said. Look into his eyes Angel spoke firmly in the back of her mind and Litni stopped her taunting and looked into the white eyes she had once felt held her world and there she saw it, a flicker of light and then he spoke. "Litni..." Poet said in a weak voice and the voice was soft like humming crystal. "Poet?" Litni asked her voice cracking. "Strike my heart my love," he said. "Free me," he bleated. "Poet is that really you?" she asked. "Yes," he said in a hissing voice almost like he was fighting something. "I..." Litni started. "No time for explanations.... strike now," he said in a firm voice. "But I'll kill you," Litni protested as she started to withdraw the ribbons. "No!" Poet shouted. "The light... is the only thing keeping me sane," he said. "Sane?" Litni asked. "The Council used the Heart to corrupt my heart," Poet explained in a strained voice as shouts started coming from down the hall. "Turned my love for you into hate, but they didn't fully succeed, so I beg of you end my suffering," he pleaded. Litni just looked into his eyes for the longest moment and then raised a ribbon of light and aimed it for his heart. "I love you," she whispered as she struck. "Love you too..." the words died on his lips as the light entered his chest, the ribbons faded and he dropped to the ground with a deafening thud and Litni's world went silent. *~*~*~* June Xare Summers knocked carefully at the door leading into her grandmother's quarters, she knew her grandmother would soon depart but there was a message she was supposed to bring, even though she dreaded it. She checked that the folded and sealed piece of parchment was still in the pocked of her cloak. //Leave it up to grandpa to think of everything// she thought with a smile. "Come in dear," Joyce said from within the room and June carefully opened the door and stepped inside. The room sparse, with just a double bed, two chairs and a desk perched under its single window. Twin armors, one gleaming black and the other white hung on the armor racks along with swords and shields. On the bed polishing a piece of armor sat her grandmother, she was every bit as beautiful and regal as her mother had described her in her stories. "Grandmother we need to talk," June said in a low voice. "Don't call me that dear," Joyce said. "I have done nothing to earn that title," she added a little sadly as she continued to polish that armor plate. "But you have done so much and we share more than just blood," June said as she sat down and placed her delicate hand over hers and Joyce's eyes grew wide as something passed between the two and June nodded as she went on with her story. "Mother told be endless stories of you when I was little," June said with a smile. "And to me you're very much my grandmother, although most grannies don't ride around in full armor and purge other worlds of evil," she said with a smile, one which Joyce shared. "I'm... sad that I didn't get to see you grow up June," Joyce said with a small smile. "I wish I could sit here and tell you all about my life, I really would, but I'm here on a mission," June said in a very serious tone of voice. "It must have taken Rupert some time to convince you off that," Joyce commended with a smile. "Grandpa can be very convincing if he wants to," June said with a smile. "So what is this message you bring from the future then dear?" Joyce said as she put the armor aside. June drew the parchment and handed it to Joyce. "In thirteen years from this day give or take a week, the seal on this parchment will break," she said. "There are instructions on it of course about what you must do then," she said. "And you are not going to tell me what's on it are you?" Joyce asked. "Only mother and Rupert know the full details, but this is important grandmother," June said firmly. "Important in a world shattering, apocalyptically way," she added and Joyce couldn't help but not to smile. "Very well then," Joyce said as she laid the parchment to her side and took a breath. "Now dear tell me about yourself and a bit?" she asked and June smiled. The next morning, June stood along with her mothers, Spike and various others as they watched Al'x and Joyce mount their horses as the sun was just peaking above the mountains giving a calm light to the pass leading into the Dark Lands. There was a multitude of hugs that had lasted until Gymli, blushing after Joyce had smothered him, declared in typical dwarfen fashion that it was.... "Enough wid da'mushyness," the stout dwarf and his daughter the Priestess Ziel had chosen to remain with Elisabeth and her troops and help them in the upcoming struggle. He had said that of course he longed to see the Halls of his Clan again, but everybody knew the dwarf was looking for a good fight after years of playing nurse mother to peasants as he had so colorfully put it the night before after his third tankard of mead. "See you around short stuff," Joyce said and bent to down to rap her knuckles against the dwarfs helmet. "Get going lass, the lil'un is waiting," he said with a smile. "Get going you two," Elisabeth said as she valiantly tried to hold back her tears. And with a slow leisurely pace the pair rode through the gates facing north. The group thinned out until only Elisabeth and Spike remained. The General looked up at her friend, or the person her friend would become, but that kind of thinking gave her a headache so she just thought of him as Spike. "Will they be alright Spike?" she asked. "Oh they'll be just fine," Spike said in a reassuring voice. "They'll be just fine," he said placing an arm around her shoulder and turning her away from the gate. "Will we see them again?" she asked in a small voice. "Don't know ducks, but I'm time traveling so anything is possible," he said with a smile. Above them, high above them just below the thin morning clouds two beings very much alike but so very different where also saying their goodbyes. "So they summoned you back?" Cordelia asked. "Yes the hierarchy is concerned about this latest development," Theris answered in a low voice. Cordelia gently took her hands with a certain sense of urgency. "Make them understand Forestwalker," she pleaded. "Make them understand that things are beyond their control now and that guarding her may be impossible even for you." "I'll try Moondancer," Theris said. "But I doubt they will listen," she added with a distant look in her eyes as the familiar rift in the fabric of reality opened up and revealed the Shinning City of the High Elves. "Godspeed my friend," Cordelia said. "And remember no matter whatever may have passed between us that you have played your part and I have played mine," she said and Theris turned back from the rift and smiled. "Go be with the one you love," she said and then stepped through the rift. Cordelia watched it close with a sigh. Her friend was in for some difficult times. For the life of a Guardian was an ungrateful one, but she took solace in the fact that, unlike her sister, she could now, for the time being, be with the one she loved. To Be Continued... Next in Prophecy's Twilight, Chapter 2: Flickers of Hope Elisabeth returns to Larken to join up with Grimm and his army, but Ziel and Grimm have past that comes back to haunt them and might cause frictions within the alliance. Willow retreats into solitude as June and Spike get caught up in some old fashioned Old World style entertainment with Gymli. Also the return of two characters that I promised would return someday. Cilia Speaks: In case those of you on the lists haven't figured it out yet this is continuation of Two Worlds II. Tally bloody ho!
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