Starfall (FJ)

Under Ashes

             Hans and Zïâ lit a fire once they reached the forest that separated Ash from the plains. They were extremely hungry, starving, because the plains were dryer than they had anticipated, and they had eaten and drank all of their food and water. The smoke from the fire dried their throats into dust. But the nearest water was in plain view of the rest of the Ash.

      "We know we can't pretend to be Glaceria-they're huge," said Hans as Zïâ finally managed to spear a rabbit with one of the weapons.

     "Or Ash. They're really wide."

      "And the Domicans are too muscly, and they also barely come here," Hans crinkled up his nose as he watched Zïâ clean out the rabbit, scraping off the fur and cleaning out the insides.

     "So we have to be Saberhais? We're going to have to blend in, which means deerskin clothes." Hans moaned, but then got up , and walked into the forest, as if he expected to bag a deer. The second he left, the smoke from the fire started twisting around, but there was no wind. It contorted itself to the shape of the demon they had met. It probably was. Zïâ suddenly realized why the demon wasn't hurting them. It was an exiled demon. It refused to be like others. It was thrown out from the demons. And it was the worst thing there was. It wasn't a demon anymore. Zïâ remembered when it had said that there were worse things than demons. She was talking about herself.

        "Glen, you are not to go to Ash."

        "I need to. Hans is dying, and he needs the magic of the Ruins," Zïâ knew she wasn't going to change the demon's mind, because the smoke was just a message sent by the demon, not the demon herself. And why would the worst thing in the Plains be helping them? Zïâ sat down to think, slowly turning the stick that the rabbit was on, wishing it would cook faster. Each invader had a monster that was their pet in the Great Castle, the castle that now made up the Mountains. And when the Great Castle was destroyed, the monsters escaped. They were all Asha's creations, and all had true loyalty to Asha. But all their other loyalties were to their true owners. And those loyalties clouded their judgement.

          "Let's see, what did the legends always say? Um, hellhounds for Sàber, firelions for Häus, shadows for Asha, Dominic's died in the accident, it was a dragon, and demons are...who's left? Oh, right! Glaceria!"

             "That's right," said a voice right behind Zïâ. She turned around, with a sharp intake of breath, to see the exiled demon. Her thin lips twisted into a morbid smile.

              "But Glaceria's for the good...and you were exiled....you're evil?"

              "No. I am the last free demon. All the others were captured by the Glaceria. They are tired of peace, and were revolting. They still are. I escaped, and I must save Glaceria before the take her magic and kill her. The only way to do that is...the help of an Amit. There is only one surviving Amit, and that is your friend. You see, Amit and Glaceria had a tie, a bond, where Glaceria gave some magic of hers that she had gathered from the ruins before she fled to Amit. Nothing can be done for Glaceria in the idea of saving her powers, because she never believed in giving magic to her people, so no loyal Glaceria can stop the mutinous ones. But. Amit gave magic to her people, so they have magic. He has magic. And he can save her. And she can save him. He is dying, right?"  Zïâ was stunned. She had no idea this was going on. But then...

                 "There are alot of things wrong with your story. First of all, why him? Why not an Ami? Second of all, he doesn't need Glaceria if he has magic. Anyways, how would her magic save him? And also, what does this have to do with not going to Ash? And finally, you said there are worse things than demons. If it's not you, what is it?"

                        "That's alot to answer. But, if you must know, Ami are not Descendants of Amit, only followers of her ideas of peace and seclusion. Ami had already existed before Amit was destroyed, but when a couple of people from Amit that were in other territories at the siege went to Ami, declared their loyalty to Ami, and gave up their powers because of that. Also, I said Glaceria gave her some magic, not that Glaceria split the magic evenly. So Amits don't have even half as much magic as Glaceria. Also, Amit believed in selflessness, so she modified her magic so that it could only be used for others, which was pretty foolish. Also, Glaceria's magic is to live forever, remember? And Ash don't take kindly to children. They send their own children off to Saberhaus, where they are trained, and then people there figure out which ones go to which territory. Glaceria for fur hunters, Domica for soldiers, Ash for weapon-makers, and Saberhaus for spies. All in preparation for war, except for Glaceria, who doesn't believe in that. You know, Ash-turned-Glaceria are the ones with horrible loyalty to Glaceria, because they were trained for war, not peace. And I me when I said that.If you refuse to help Glaceria, I will go against her orders and kill you. I will therefore be exiled, so I wouldn't technically be a demon anymore. 

                                "Well, when you put it that way..."

                                "Good. I knew you would see it my way.