Thirty-six - Tristram

People crowded the streets and the rooftops cheering as I entered the capital. Banners waved, bands played, and merriment overwhelmed the people :their savior had come. I walked with my head high, smiling and waving at everyone. The shackles were still on, but loose enough so that everyone knew I had come willingly. It was great seeing the capital again: a sight I only dreamed about! To see all the townspeople celebrating my return was even sweeter. In the past thirty years, my banishment had been one of the darkest days, especially with a war following, but my return would be seen as one of the greatest in centuries. At least, I see it that way. This was all I had hoped for....But I wasn't free yet. Despite what Galea said, retracting my banishment would still be a difficult task, especially is Legion or King Pontus knew what I was up to. 

The "parade" wound its way through the capital up to the prison. Galea had been sure to not only announce that I was entering the city today, but also to plan the perfect route to parade me through the city. It was all too soon when I was handed over to the prison guards, schackled a little more securely, then led into my cell. On the bright side, my cell was clean and Askimi had ensured two guards loyal to our cause would stand at the cell door. I could still hear all the celebrating from the city hours later when my dinner arrived. Tomorrow I would have to go and plead my case in front of the council but tonight, tonight I could rest. 

Then she arrived. Elane in a plain white dress. She actually came running for my cellar door as I jumped up to met her. At first we just looked at each other, hardly believing this was possible, then our hearts caught up and we grabbed each others arms, both of us radiating joy. She had thinned since I last saw her and her shinning blonde hair had dulled. Her green eyes , however, still sparkled with the life inside her. The guards seemed to have disappeared, leaving Elane and I alone to talk for the first time in months. But we didn't talk much. Mostly, we just sat there, holding hands, wondering how we ever could have lived without each other before. 

Thirty-Five - Tarka

I was enraged.

It took everything in me not to scream til my lungs hurt. The man I thought was dead was alive. The man I thought loved me betrayed me.

Maybe this was all a dream. Or just a mistake. Maybe I can reason with him. Surely he still loves me and will listen to me. That's my only hope...

I looked over at Alden. His arms were moving slightly behind him. He made eye contact with me, then motioned towards my hands with his eyes. I nodded slowly, wanting to be rid of the scratchy bonds.

Before he could scoot over to where I was, the tent flap flew up, and in walked someone I also knew all too well.

 His smile sent chills through my body. And not in the good way. He made his way over to where I was hunched over in the corner of the tent.

"This little rat looks familiar," Lesion sneered.

I tried to kick him but my feet were also tied. He gave an evil belly laugh.

"And who's your friend?" He turned to Alden. I kept silent.

"It doesn't matter, I'll both be rid of you soon anyway. For now, I --"

"Hey boss!"

Lesion turned and snarled, "What do you want?!"

Damian shrunk back, a bit startled. "You're needed in the other tent, the council wishes to speak to you. It's on important business."

"Ugh, fine. I'll have to deal with you two when I get back." The ugly son-of-a-snake humphed out of our tent, brushing away the tent flaps like they were gnats in his face. Alden silently passed his knife to me.

I slowly started cutting the ropes when Damian turned to us and raised his eyebrows at the two of us. Then, he turned specifically to me and knelt down by where I was tied up. "So how long have you two been running around together?"

"Not long enough. Damian . . . what happened to you?! I thought you were dead."

He stood up and paced with his tail swinging back and forth. "I thought I was going to be when they took me back then. I was scared for you. I longed earnestly for you." The look he gave me then almost made me pity him.

"They took me to the dungeon. Lesion's. I didn't even know he had one. He came in, and I was never so scared for my own skin. Do you know what he said to me?" We shook our heads. "He said, 'Damian, you're a young strong fellow. I would hate for you to waste your talents and energy on a false conspiracy.' Of course I didn't want that. He said to me, 'Damian, we are not the enemy! I don't know where you got the idea that we were doing bad things. Yes, we are behind something, but it's for the good of the people, our people, and the Brackins and Palkins. Don't you want to help make the world a better place?' I said, 'Well of course I do.' 'Good,' he said reassuringly. 'I want you to be one of my lead soldiers, to help thwart the plan of an evil man, whose name is Rhythmus. He's trying to destroy our plans! Because he doesn't care about our planet! All he does is live by himself in his little hermit hole.'"

When Damian turned around just long enough, Alden looked at me and made a slight motion with his head towards Damian, and I nodded in acknowledgement and agreement.

Damian turned back to us. "So, my mission is to send out for him."

I felt my face go hot. "What are you going to do with him?" I whispered, scared to know the answer.

"If all goes well, either Roman or I will have the honors of killing him." I gasped.

"But you can't! He's not the bad guy! Don't you see? Lesion's brainwashed you. He's wanting to take over the whole planet of Terraro!"

Damian just laughed. "You're a fool, Tarka. I thought you were smarter than that. YOU'RE the one that's fooled."

I didn't have much time to retaliate before Alden yelled "NOW!" and we both charged toward him. Alden socked a surprised Damian in the nose, and I stabbed him in the back with my knife that I had pulled out of my pocket. He fell back in shock just long enough for Alden and I to escape through the outer tent flaps and run for the forest.

Thirty-Four - Alden

A sudden brightness hit my eyes as a burlap sack was pulled from head, allowing the salt from the built up sweat to cascade into my eyes, adding another factor of pain that could not be relieved as my wrists chaffed against the ropes that are binding my hands behind my back. I shook my head and blinked my eyes rapidly, searching for Tarka as well as our captors. As my vision became clearer I saw a thin, scaly figure standing before me, pulling off a pair of gloves. What? I thought to myself, as I then glimpsed Roman with a burlap sack in his hands, standing beside the scaly man.

"Roman?" I asked, my voice cracking with the pain of thirst. I should have had something to drink while I had the chance.

Roman avoided eye contact and staggered back through a pair of door flaps. The Viridian watched Roman leave, standing with the posture of a soldier, before he walked over to Tarka, who was lying in the far left corner. As the burlap sack was pulled from Tarka's head, Tarka's eyes widened and she seemed to recoil from the man.

"How?" She gasped.

"There are things you do not know." He said, voice firm and pointed, as a glare passed my way. Grabbing Tarka's tied up hands, he secured them to the pole that held up the stretched out hide of the tent. Tarka said nothing, but stared at him in an enraged disbelief. 

Roman called from somewhere else within the tent. "Hurry up, Damian. He'll be here soon."

Now I looked at the man in disbelief. Damian walked to me so he could secure my hands to the far right pole. As he did I looked into his eyes, but saw nothing in them. It was as if they were a blown out candle. "I thought you were dead." I said, not really suppressing my disappointment.

Once my hands were tied, he looked to me. "How disappointing it must be for you." He sighed, leaving me and Tarka alone on the sandy floor. 

"How is this possible?" I asked Tarka, but she gave no response. My stomach seemed to sink. Tarka's has always loved Damian, and I knew that. Perhaps this is how I go out, losing Tarka to them, and being tied up like a farm mammal. Even my brother's best friend had shown no mercy, but betrayed me and led me to believe I was safe when I was not. 

I sat still for a long time, feeling nothing but emptiness, when the voice of Lesion filled the tent. An anger began to rise within me, and I tried to stand. I refused to look weak in front of the man who cannot even fight his own wars. As I was part way up, my back fell against the pole and a clanging sound, followed by a soft thud, was heard. Looking over my shoulder I saw a small glimmer of light. I squatted back down, and searching with my hands until I found the point of a knife. Pausing for a second, I made sure Lesion was still busy talking. Then I quickly took up the knife and began sawing away at the ropes. I worked as fast as I could, not even questioning where the knife had come from, and jumped up to make my escape.

But then I thought of Tarka, and looked at her sitting sullenly in the corner. Did she even want me to save her?

Thirty-Three - Tristram

Having been captain of the guard, the men at camp trusted me as soon as Askimi walked me in. About fifteen of the twenty guards had trained under me and remembered me for the man I was. What was so special about me back then? I don't know. I was very short sighted and honor-bound. I was very prideful of my race. Yet somehow, the men still looked up to me. I told them of Legion's plot over breakfast, a typical army ration of some wafers and salted jerky, and they listened without skepticism. Many of the guard welcomed me back warmly before heading off to their duties around the camp and I headed off to the showers. My first shower since I had been banished. I had washed in streams, but they carry dirt too so you can never get quite as clean as you want. A Brackin shower is another thing. The Palkins taught us how to rig up portable bags and tubing so that by heating up warm water, we could have the luxury of a shower out on the mine sites. Of course our king quickly adapted them for the guard to use when out on the border.
 
After my shower, I slept in Askimi's tent till noon. I went out to the mess hall/tent to see Rythmus sitting at the head table with Askimi and Galea, the head of this troop. Rythmus signaled me to come sit with them. As I walked over, I noticed the worry on their faces. They were all concentrating on a piece of paper on the table between them. As I got closer, I saw it was a map of Terraro. Rythmus rose to greet me. "We were just discussing the best plan of attack" said Rythmus. Galea looked up, gave me a short curt nod, then went back to focusing on the map. Askimi, who had been writing something on the lower left corner, suddenly noticed me and rose to greet me as well. "So," I asked, "What have you come up with?"
     Askimi replied, "Well our first priority is to remove the Viridi counselor, and possibly King Pontus if need be. Perhaps if we can get a new ruler in place, we can at least halt the war."
     "Yes, but the problem is, we have no idea how to remove either of them from power." Rythmus continued. "We need proof to remove either of them, and an heir if we want to remove Pontus. Who is next in line?"
     Askimi blushed and glanced at me. "Currently, the next of kin would be Lord Backus. Though I wouldn't want him in power. He's very snooty. He lives very grandly with little attention given to his household." Galea coughed... I could practically feel Galea and Askimi's eyes staring at me as I looked at my feet. Rythmus broke the silence. "Is there something you need to tell us Tristram?" I continued to state at the ground.
     "Tristram has a sort of relationship with Elane, King Nami's daughter. If Tristram was to marry her, he would have the strongest claim to the throne if King Pontus were disposed," Galea said, with just a hint of jealousy.
     "I'd have to be unbranded in order to marry her," I replied.
     "That won't be hard!" Galea scoffed, "With the war going south, convincing the council to unbrand you would be the easiest thing on our list!"
     "but... but I..." I stammered. It wasn't that I didn't want to marry Elane. I did, I really really did! Ever since I had met her I had wanted to marry her! I just didn't want to marry her only to gain the throne... I didn't want to even be king!
     "But nothing," said Rythmus. His glare seemed to the only rational thought in my mind. I knew I had no choice but to go along with their plan. I bowed my head and submitted the argument. "Well that's one thing" Askimi smiled, "now we just need proof of Legion's involvement."
     "I'm sure we can find something once we get to the capital." Rythmus replied, "shall we head out at dawn?"

The next morning, a small group of soldiers, including both Askimi and Galea, left for the capital city. They had one prisoner in irons... me. Rythmus followed behind at a distance. My chains were loose and mostly for show but I was still weighted down. Not by the irons, but by the burden fate had given me. Not only did I need to stop the massacre of two races at the hand of another and dispose my king of his throne, but I was to become king myself. I see that my punishment had only started with banishment. certainly it would end much worse.
    

Thirty-Two - Tarka

"Who was THAT?" I asked Alden, walking away from our interesting encounter with his so-called "friend."

He rolled his eyes and let out a huffy breath. "Nobody important. All he cares about is getting girls. I should have known he hadn't changed a bit."

"Huh," was all I could say about that.

"I didn't want him to get any ideas about you."

"That bad, huh?"

"Pretty much. I don't want anyone getting any ideas about you." I turned to look at him and raised my eyebrows. He realized what he had said and blushed. "I mean, uhh, you're such an awesome girl, and a good friend, and I'd hate to see you get tangled up in a love-mess and get hurt somehow."

"Riiiight. Not like I haven't already been hurt." I scoffed and looked at my feet as they went in front of each other.

"I'm sorry," Alden was sincere.

"It's getting better. But I'm not completely over Damian yet."

"Oh," Alden sounded surprised and disappointed. "I guess it's going to take a while, huh?"

"Well, yeah. We were in love. Nobody gets over something like that quickly."

"I wouldn't know, I've never had that happen to me before. I've never loved a girl before."

I stopped. My eyes got wide. "Never? Not even a crush?"

"Well, yeah, I've had a crush on a girl. But she never knew. I'm not the aggressive type." He avoided eye contact.

"I guess I should give you some pointers then."

Alden grinned. "I'd like that," he said warmly.

We continued walking and talking, and we continued to search for potential food. The whole time, I was hoping and wishing he would really take these pieces of advice to heart. Because even though I wasn't completely over Damian yet, this Palkin boy, this young man was growing on me, and I was wrapped around his finger like a vine on a tree trunk. Even if he wasn't as masculine as the other men in his country, he had a heart of gold. He was protective, caring, and brave, whether he believed that for himself or not.

We finally came to another field, where there were large wild birds trying to scavenge for their own food. We stood really still, and lowered ourselves as close to the ground as we could. Alden whispered, "Do you have something to kill one or two of those? They would make a feast compared to what we've been eating lately."

I nodded and lifted my bow and arrow ever so slowly, so I wouldn't be noticed. 1... 2....

Something hit my back like a brick wall, and I let the arrow fly, of course missing the bird I had been aiming for. Before I could turn around, a gloved hand flew over my mouth and one over Alden's. Another set of hands tied our flailing hands, and then we were gagged and dragged away from the scene.

I looked up to see who had kidnapped us and couldn't believe who it was.

Thirty-One - Alden

When I had woken up the sun was already high in the sky. I had stayed up late trying to clean up Fastus' room, but hardly anything could be saved. Peering into the small closet Fastus had made, I found piles of dirty shirts. I grabbed one of the cleaner ones and pulled it on, sick of wearing my own torn up clothes, and left Fastus' room to see Tarka and my mother sipping tea in silence. For the first time I recognized a likeness between them. Before I would have rejected any kind of notion that said anyone was like my mother, but the truth was my mother did make me better in her own way, and so has Tarka. They're both the strongest people I've met.

My mother glanced up at me and did a double take. "Alden, you're awake."

"Late as usual." I said, sitting next to Tarka and across from my mother. "How are you feeling this morning?"

She gave a small sigh, but I could tell that the confusion and strangeness from yesterday was already starting to subside. "I'm doing much better now." She said, laying her calloused and worn hand on top of mine. "I quite like Tarka." She added, taking another sip of tea.

I nodded and looked at Tarka who seemed transfixed on the tea. "I'm going to go look for food today." I said, standing up from the table.

"I'm not sure you'll be able to find any." Mother said, eyebrows furrowed.

"I think I know a place." I muttered, thinking of what I had seen yesterday. On my way towards the door I grabbed a machete and a burlap sack. "I'll be back in a bit."

Taking a deep breathe I headed towards the cattle's tent. Peeling back the flaps to the entrance, my eyes began to sting and several hundred bugs seemed to swarm at me, as if even they didn't want to be trapped inside. I found my way to the last remaining cattle that I had seen yesterday. It looked up at me with bulging eyes, and a dry tongue hanging out of its mouth. Kneeling down, I put a hand again the short, tan hairs on its head. It gave a low moan, and leaned into my hand.

Gosh dang it, I thought to myself. How can I kill something so helpless? 

"Here for a mercy killing?"

I jumped up to see a young man standing before me, helmet held in one hand. "Roman!" I exclaimed, giving him a good punch in the arm. Roman had been my brother's dearest friend, and was just like Fastus, with the exception of his outstanding record with women, which Fastus never wasted time with. "What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing." He said, kneeling down to pet the dying creature. "I left the war." He shrugged, standing up straight.

"What do you mean?"

"I got sick of it, so I left. Callow has basically given us all a death sentence out there, and I'm tired of seeing people die."

"Well you came to the wrong place then..." I said. "There's hardly anyone around here, it's a ghost town."

"Ah yes... but there are women here." He smirked. "Surely Callow wouldn't mind my helping us create the next generation before we completely die out."

"You're disgusting." I said, giving him another good punch. "By any chance can you help me with this thing? I have no idea what I'm doing, all I did was shovel their manure... "

"When you showed up to work at all." Roman scoffed, but he knelt down anyway and took the machete from my hand. "Why don't you wait outside."

I gave a shrug and headed out of the tent, grateful to breathe the fresh air, when I spotted Tarka heading this way.

"What are you doing out here?" I called to her.

She came up to me and gave me a half-shrug. "Your mother decided to take a nap, so I thought I would wander around. I've never been outside of my terrain before."

"Well, you should be careful, I don't know who all is around here." I said, just as Roman burst through the tent holding my burlap sack.

"The animal has been put out of its misery!" He exclaimed. "Now--" he stopped having seen Tarka. "Well, well, well... who do we have here?"

"No one." I said, taking the bag from Roman, and pushing him away from Tarka. "Thanks for your help." I grabbed Tarka's hand with my free one, and pulled her quickly back towards home. "Good luck with your women!"

Thirty - Tristram

The moonlight shone on our swords, mine was a thin, but long, blade Rythmus  had given to me and his was the heavy sword standard to the guard. His name was Askimi and I knew him well. We circled around each other, swords held ready, yet hesitant. "Tristram, please turn back. I can pretend I didn't see you," he said. 

     "I can't Askimi," I replied. 

     "Elane isn't worth you dying for!"

I stopped and lowered my sword, stunned by the name I thought I might never hear again. Askimi stopped too, though his sword remained up. "Tristram, She misses you, probably more than you miss her, but trying to see her will do you two no good. We are in a tough spot with the war and there has been talk of asking you to return, but King Pontus would never allow it if you discovered you crossed the border. Please go back across and maybe we can try and get you reinstated as head of the guard..." 

War? Tough spot? King Pontus rather than king Nami? reinstated? She misses me? To many questions came up just in that short statement alone! Askimi started to speak again but I held up my hand and he stopped... he still respected me as his leader then, but did he still see me as his friend? After a minute I spoke "if I go back across the border, do you promise to stay and talk with me? tell me what has happened since I left and of this war we are in?" Askimi actually smiled. I walked back to the edge of the forest and sat down, so did he. He let out a heavy sigh and laughed! "I've missed you so much Tristram! I thought you were actually going to make me fight you there for a minute!" I smiled myself. Of all the guards I had to meet at the border, it had happened to be the only who could present a challenge to me in a dual, my best friend. 

Askimi and I talked for several hours. I asked him about the war first. A month ago a Palkin caravan was lost in the desert yet they blamed it on us, the Brackins. They retaliated by razing a border village. King Nami attempted diplomatic negotiations but he was poisoned apparently by a Palkin scientist staying in the palace. His son, Pontus, took the throne, brought in a new Viridi advisory, and declared war on the Palkins. While we have the strength and materials, the Palkins were currently winning due to their inventions. Askimi had yet to see any fighting having been posted on the neutral zone border in case the Palkins invaded it. I then told Askimi about my time in the jungle, meeting Alden and Tarka, and about Legion's plot to take over both the Palkins and the Brackins. 

Light, warmer and brighter than moonlight, shined on our both our swords. Dawn had come. Troubled by the fact that the Viridi could be the masterminds, Askimi invited me to his camp to discuss this with the rest of the men. This was news to share and discuss, not to keep secret. I crossed the border this time without being confronted and followed Askimi with a new fire in my heart. I was a Brackin again and I had my best friend back. But the warmest fire was the one Askimi had so recently kindled, that I might see Elane soon. 

Rythmus watched the events unfold from the trees. He did not particularly like the company of men and preferred to dell with his own thoughts. And dwell he must do for he heard troubling news in Askimi's story. To think that Legion had actually planted a counselor in the Brackin counsel and murdered the king was grave news for it wasn't what he had seen in the future. Legion's wish to change the future might actually be coming true...