Woman of Sorrows-The Black-Veiled Woman

The Inevitable

So many years, so many souls. So many hours on the battlefield. So many lives lost. So many families torn apart. So many angry words. So many questions. All that time. All those unanswered questions. All those failures, those defeats. All those times he had watched his soldiers cut down. It had led to this. And it was worth it. This was what he had wanted, what he had sought, for all that time. The item of his desire. The promised treasure.

It called to him. As they were passing by a simple cave, green and vibrant with foliage. The vines had veiled the entrance, but it had not kept him away. He could tell what lay within. The necklace, the shard of glass that was promised to lead him there, one of five, finally had done its duty. It had begun to hum with life. A dark, twisting swirl of silver and blue tinged on his neck, alerting him of the nearby treasure.

"It's here, boys," he said, confidently. "I can feel it."

His heart nearly pounding out of his chest as he neared the cave, he tossed aside his short bow. He would not need it. There was no combat, he could tell that much. He had won, and whatever treasure lay within would grant him unquestioned supremacy over the lands for eternity. Hands shaking, he pulled aside the vine-veil, stepping inside eagerly, though slowly. Nothing could stop him now, not even death. For somehow, he felt as though he was to be triumphant even over death.

Inside, the cave sang with life. The walls were damp, though not unpleasantly so. As though the cave were behind a waterfall. Grass was sparse on the ground, though very much alive. Bushes sprang out of the walls, from between the cracks in the stone. His footsteps made no sound as he neared the single object in the cave, elevated on a stone pedestal. His men followed behind, keeping a distance, but not willing to stay behind. They too wanted a part of the treasure. Though it was strange not to be disappointed in the fact that the only object in the cave was a stone.

The perfect spherical stone, untouched, and even hovering above the stone pedestal. Hue neared it, extending his hand towards the perfect, unblemished surface of the deep, blue and silver swirl. Hue reached out to touch it, his hand hovering over it.

"Stop!" came a voice from behind.

Powerful, demanding, but a woman's voice. Confused, Hue withdrew his hand a little and turned only to see Chalandra herself standing in the entrance of the cave. It was only her silhouette, but it was unmistakably her. She wore a deep blue dress, over which she had laced her brown leather corset. Her stomach protruded beyond the corset, proving she was pregnant. Still, a child in her womb did not deter her from holding her bow in one hand and an arrow in the other.

"I forbid you to touch that!" she cried, setting the arrow to the string.

"Forbid me? You believe you have that power? To give me orders? I can assure you that you are incorrect! You are a woman, thereby have no right to tell me what to do!" he scoffed, laughing at the woman, "You have no power over me, you never have. You created peace when there should have been war. The divides were meant to fight, to dual for this jewel. It is more valuable than anything else in the world, for it holds the key to the Dendä's power. That is what you meant, isn't it? That this is the key to the power of the Dendä, including you? You simply don't wish to lose your power. For if I touch it, I will find myself power to match your own!"

"You are wrong. That stone holds power, but not the kind that you seek. You believe it holds the key to making your own race powerful? I assure you it is quite the opposite. That stone holds the darkest thing of this world. The one thing that must never again see the light of day. That is why it is here, why he is here. I am the protector, the warrior, of this world. It is my duty to protect the earth and all its inhabitants. And I intend to, by keeping that thing away from you."