Voyage of War

Chapter 12

Alphira's actions were mechanical, the plastered on smile, light small talk that had no purpose what so ever, occasionally sipping from her Crystal glass and fluttering her eyes at the young centleman standing opposite her. She was sickened by all this waste of time, this unnecessary, pointless talk of noting. She wanted to slip away and demand an update on the situation in Aevan and Deimir. She had no intention of making her move surrounded by hundreds of people, thus she saw no need to attend the ball any longer than absolutely necessary. But it was easier said than done, the royalty of Casima held their pointless catherings in highest remark and it is unethical to be found missing without good reason, such as the young man standing opposite her. She had set her sights on him and had not ceased in her flattery since the ball began and naive as the untroubled people of Casima are he did not suspect any hidden motives.

He gullibly followed her to her chambers. Once inside all her delicate porcelain ornaments and jars served their purpose well by distracting from the lack of a bed or fire warming the room and also Alphira's hand tipping a strange purple substance into one of the Crystal glasses. Alphira handed a glass to the young man who sipped thirstely still fascinated by her trinkets. Alphira watched as the strength drains out of the man's body and he sank to the ground. Having done this before Alphira catches the half full glass before it hits the ground and empties it's contents over a potted plant.

Alphira walks over to a side of the wall curtained with heavy scarlet drapes. Pulling them aside she began to chant under her breath. Standing before the blank mirror she waits, unlit a flat nosed face appears within it.
"What news do you have to report?" Authority rings from Alphira's voice.
"Everything is going as planned. The troops have set out and the Shadows have their orders. Queen Adira deployed a troop and as I hear they are to meet ours at the Pantano Swamp."
"Good. Good...What orders did you give the Shadows?"
"They are to attack Aevan as soon as the battle at Pantano Swamp begins."
"Excellent." Alphira exclaims.
She closes the drapes over the mirror and turns to the limp body of the man, staring but not seeing. Soon she will have the entire Pelgrima at her mercy and they will pay for what they refrained from doing so many years ago.

                     *    *    *

Princess Sybil backed up moving closer to Resa and Cassy. A rustling began on their right and they swirled around to face they direction. Princess Sybil could feel her heart pounding against her chest. Not knowing where, what or how big the threat was, was worse than standing and waiting for it to attack first. A twig broke more to their right and leaves rattlednto their left. Resa and Princess Sybil found themselves back to back, both eyeing a potential entry point.

It happened all at once, two short flat nosed men stepped out of the concealment of the leaves and Princess Sybil let out a battle cry and ambushed stopping a few feet short of the men, realizing that they pose no threat. Princess Sybil lowered her swords and gave a step backwards.
"Mighty offensive aren't they?" The one asked the other.
"Well, we expected something big and dangerous." Resa answers although the question was not aimed at them.
"The most dangerous thing in this forest would be you."
"How so?" Princess Sybil found his statement quite curious.
"Haven't you been told the legends of your own world?" They ask incredulously.
"What legends?"
"We have some work to do."
"Sit down. Sit down." The men leads them to a patch of grabs near the lake as if they were leading guests into a living room.
"Centuries ago Pelgrima had been one, a prosperous place. A perfect balance between light and dark, good and evil..."
"There were three kingdoms each with their own unique protection. In the North high up on the tallest mountain was the kingdom of Olderon beneath it living within the mountains were powerful dragons. Found nowhere else..." The men did a good job at taking over the story from eachother and as they told swirling mist rose from the surface of the lake, following their voices and painting pictures of what they told.
"South from Olderon was the kingdom of  Wellden, now known as Casima ,built in the middle of a great lake known for the huge white wolves that patrolled the shores surrounding the castle..."
"Then East of Wellden there was the kingdom of Aedirse, now split into Aevan, Deimir and Secor, built into the great black mountains, guarded by giants."
"A power hungry and powerful sorcerer named Lord Belgarath ruled this kingdom."
"Ignorant to the delicate balance between good and bad, he created a force so evil they caused Pelgrima to rip in two..."
"A mighty earthquake shook the ground, mountains trembled, that is when most giants got crushed beneath the great avalanch while bodies of water got swallowed and some expanded, most of the great wolves were swallowed by water, others took refuge with within humans.."
"The Splitting Concentrated all good on one side and all bad on another side. Unfortunately there was no category for a third split..."
"The dragons emerged from the mountain and turned on the kingdom they once were sworn to protect. The kingdom was engulfed in flames and in perishing so did the dragons for lack of purpose..."
"Everything settled peacefully after the Split. Casima enjoying there careless lifestyle and the rest of Pelgrima struggling to survive with all the threats. Until now..." The conclude their tale and the mist sinks back into the lagoon.
"Wait, what happened to Lord Balgarath?"Resa returns to the present first.
"Yes and what was the force so powerfull that it split Pelgrima?" Classy pipes up after her.
"Lord Balgarath became what he intended to make."
"And what might that be?" Princess Sybil repeats Cassy's question.
"Shadows, dear Princess."
Resa and Princess Sybil are too caught off guard by the answer to notice that they had never mentioned Sybil's title.
"What are you?" Cassy changes the subject.
"We're dwarfs little one."
Resa only now registers that they have an alarming resemblance to Balthazar. Resa jumps up and once again takes a defensive stance , earning strange looks from both Princess Sybil  and Cassy.
"You might not by any chance know a Balthazar?"
"Why, he is one of our kin."
Resa pushes Cassy behind her.
"He is the one who helped kidnap Cathy and imprison Drakar." Resa answers the question shown on Princess Sybil's face. She gets up slowly, unsure. If they meant harm they could have made their move already.

That moment the men step out from behind a clump of tree's. All wearing quizzical gazes at the scene creating them. Drakar immediately take up a defensive stance when he glimpses the dwarfs.
"I see you've been given a hearty welcome then." Captain comments.
"Seemed to eaze a bit before Balthazar came up." The dwarfs answer.
"Ladies please don't kill our escorts."
"Escorts!?" Resa drops her stance and turns an incredulous gaze towards Captain.
"I thought you knew the way." Drakar speaks.
"I only know how to find the lagoon," Captain gestures towards the glassy body of water,"not how to find the city."
All stare at Captain with amazement mixed with shock and anger. They've been followimg him blindly and he wasn't  even sure where he was going. Yet Princess Sybil could not muster it within her to get furious ,because the worst that could have happened is that they would have gotten lost. As they were on the good side of Pelgrima there were no dangerous creatures. That is to say if the legend was true. It explaind a few things, but in turn awoken so many more questions. About the island in between. Why did everybody not just move to Casima? About Olderon. What was left? Where there any survivors?