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Horizons: The Battle for Stonegate
((Chapter One))
"Mother…" Kael complained; he was a young man now, and he had grown into adulthood quite strappingly. His hair was a dark-wavy gold that fell just below his ears. His eyes were a deep, intense blue. And his skin was hardly bronzed from the constant, glaring sun.

"Don't you /Mother/ me, Kael." The old woman scolded, her brown eyes filled with anger. "Now go! And don't come back until you have a woman…" She tapped his shoulder with the end of her staff, but she was careful not to ruin the clothing she had carefully made for him. The shirt he wore was still a pale gray and all the brass buttons were intact, and his brown pants were snug around his lower-legs.

Kael shifted his feet and stared hard at the old woman. He knew that she wasn't his mother and the old woman never attempted to pretend that she was. Half the time she would scold Kael for calling her mother and would tell him to call her 'Kula Reighsa'. And since Kula meant 'wise woman' the old woman was denying any blood ties to him. The old woman's honesty had hit Kael hard as a child, but as he grew he learned that the old woman wasn't so bad. Her honesty was needed, no matter how harsh and abrasive it was.

"Mother please, what woman will want to marry a man who lives in a shack at the edge of a swamp, with an old, spiteful crone…?" His response was filled with certain spears of resentment. "Be reasonable."

"Stop calling me Mother, idiot boy!" The old woman muttered, "Call me-"

"Kula Reighsa, I know… Mother." Kael twisted the corner of his mouth into a defiant smirk. He was stubborn, strong-willed and fairly even tempered. It was almost impossible to tell when he was angry because he let his problems stew and seep until he just bubbled out in a cold explosion. But there wasn't exactly room to argue when you lived our entire life with a bitter old woman who would prefer to sit out and stare at the sun than heed the will of a crying child.

But the old woman, in all her harsh words and ways, had taught Kael well. She had helped him learn his letters and numbers, and his penmanship wasn't half bad. He was more literate than most of the middle to lower class in Stonegate.

"Out of my house!" She shouted; this time she reinforced her words by swinging the staff she had clamped between her wrinkled hands. Kael tried to move out of the way but the old woman was surprisingly agile and she landed three swift bows to his back and shoulders before he managed to reach the door.

"And what if I don't come back you crazy old witch?" Kael asked as he rubbed the fresh bruise on his left shoulder. His brow was crinkled with twisted amusement. The old woman slammed the door in response. He scowled and shook his head, "Why must we do this every summer?" He asked himself before he turned on his heel and walked away from the shack.

Kael's golden hair fell over his eyes as he walked, sweat soon plastering it to his eyelids. After a while of walking, his eyes on the dirt road below his feet; he let himself drift off. He was a daydreamer, and the old woman had scolded him constantly about not focusing and staring off into the clouds. But when one lived in the solitude of a swamp with a cranky old woman, escape from reality was needed.

The sky and the trees soon were washed away by his mind and everything became still. The birds singing in the distance soon turned into a dull drone. He could shape reality in his mind once everything else was gone. New sights replaced the dusty scenery, and new sounds filled in where only a few animals had chirped before. He imagined a road of golden sand that snaked its way through a kingdom of clouds and marble.

This little world was his only escape.

In his mind he crafted unique structures, some with spiraling pillars and others with stained-glass domes. Regal arches framed the entrances to grand buildings and the streets were lined with columns capped with glowing orbs. And the people, he created people too.

Beautiful women wearing flowing gowns of every color walked the streets; some carried instruments and others sang with gentle voices. Handsome men guided some of these lovely creatures through the streets; their clothing just as colorful. And among all the adults were playful children of every age; from willowy teenagers to softly crying infants.

Kael felt so right in this city of idealistic bliss. He felt like he had created a perfect world; like a creator who had shaped a perpetual Utopia with only his mind. Nothing was amiss, nothing was lacking, and everything was flawless. Yet… There was something missing.

He looked from face to face and he saw no one was without a pair. No woman was without a man, and no child lacked a mother. Only he stood alone in the bustling streets of his imaginary city. Sadness filled him and the world of his creation melted away. There was a reason why the old woman was always insisting on Kael finding a woman. He was at times a hopeless romantic, and would spend hours blissfully daydreaming about pretty women when he was supposed to be cutting wood for winter.

The path ahead of him soon widened and the dirt became cobbled pavement. Kael looked up and let his blue eyes settle on the gateway ahead of him. Two guards in faded black uniforms stood at either side; in their hands were batons and on their hips were swords. Half-rusted chainmail and leather helms rested on their heads. Kael approached and glanced at both guards, they were hunched over slightly and their eyes had heavy dark circles beneath them. Neither tried to stop Kael from entering the city; known as Edonrii -which happened to be the capital of Stonegate.

Humming a soft melody, Kael walked beneath the crumbling stone gateway and into the streets. The old woman had once told him how Edonrii was chosen as the capital of Stonegate because of its lush farmlands and grand buildings. All Kael saw was dust and abandoned houses.

But he was in the poor part of town known as the Outer Ring, and the deeper he traveled, the better the buildings and the people looked. Though to be honest, as he looked from face to face; he felt guilty every time he walked past the hungry men and women of the Outer Ring. The old woman was a wicked old bat at times, but she somehow kept him well fed even through the drought.

His feet took him quickly through the poor part of town, he didn't want to linger since he had no weapons. There was no need to carry one on his way to town since the little shack he lived in was only a couple hours away over open ground. There were no trees to shelter animals or bandits, and if he was attacked on his way to town, he knew that the old woman would only scold him and tell him that he should have been more alert.

Kael shut his eyes when he saw a teenage boy drag an elderly man into an alley. Everyone was desperate for food, and if someone had money, there was a good chance it was going to get stolen.

"Hey mister, what you doin' in this part of town?" Asked a clearly female voice.

He glanced down to see a young girl, perhaps fourteen at the oldest; with tangled brown hair and too much colored wax on her lips. She was wearing a torn orange dress that had a low dipped neckline and fluffy sleeves. Kael frowned and looked up to see a graying woman watching from window. She had a hollowed out face and she was eying him with a kind of hunger that made Kael uncomfortable.

"I don't know what you mean…" Kael replied as his eyes fell back onto the young girl.

"I mean that you 'ave nice clothes and you don' look hungry like the rest of us. Only reason yer kind comes around here is if you want to prance around with a filly…" The little girl replied and she did her best to flatten some of the wrinkles in her dress.

Kael blushed and shook his head,"Ah, no little miss; I'm afraid that I'm not here to uh, prance… So go home to your mother…"

The little girl grimaced and gave Kael a pained look. "I can't go home to my mama with no coin. She'll hit me with her broom and lock me out until I get some money…" She told him and she folded her hands to beg.

"I don't have any money…" He replied, but he couldn't make himself watch as the little girl burst into tears. So he looked away and kept walking. Poverty, hunger, desperation; that was what most of Stonegate was like. Of course there were other territories and kingdoms, but they were not hit as hard as this one.

Dusk was nearing as Kael reached his destination, a local tavern that was a common hotspot. He strolled inside and looked around; the place was filled to the brim with people.

"Hey, ol' golden fingers is back." Called out a man and the whole room turned to greet him. The man who had addressed him was a muscular fellow with curly black hair and a lopsided grin. "How's you doin', Kael?" He asked as he clapped a hand onto his shoulder.

Kael chuckled and said,"Ah, I'm as good as one can be after being beaten by an old crone."

"Hehe, are those pretty fingers of yours still sweet on the strings?" The man asked, the grin on his face growing stupider.

Kael nodded and replied, "Why must you torment me about playing the lyre? My mother taught me."

"Aye, and playing the lyre is for fillies…" The man retorted with a chuckle,"Speakin' of fillies, look over there." The man pointed in the direction of a new arrival.

"That's no filly, that my friend is a mare…" Kael replied; he didn't catch himself falling into the city's slang. He grinned and watched the woman with his deep blue eyes; this had been the first who had even appealed to his tastes.

The woman was perhaps three inches shorter than Kael who stood nearly six foot tall, and compared to everyone else they were a pair of towering giants. Her hair was long and a glossy black and her eyes sparkled a serious gray. Her skin was strange and ghost pale, and her full lips were painted red. She didn't look at Kael or anyone at that matter as she entered the tavern and sat down at the bar.

Kael stepped a little closer to get a better view; the woman had an angular face and a strong chin. Her shoulders were narrow as was her waist, and Kael couldn't help but to let his eyes trace her not-so-subtle curves with his eyes. But as he scanned her figure he noticed a few things.

She was dressed like a man; her white blouse was tucked into deerskin pants and around her hips was a thick belt. On her left hip there was a naked dagger with a blade that shimmered with the colors of blood. The only thing she wore that was anything near feminine was a pair of slender, leather boots.

"Hello…" Kael said with an over-confident smirk as he leaned on the bar. "What's your name, pretty filly?"

The woman arched her thin eye brows before she glanced at Kael's elbow. "None of your business, colt." She told him before she reached out and grabbed Kael's elbow. After sliding it off the bar, Kael toppled over and out of his seat. He actually managed to not only fall to the floor, but also hit his chin on the bar's counter on the way down. "Oops, did I do that?" She asked coyly before taking the drink she was just served and dumping it on his head. "I am so terribly clumsy today…"

The tavern burst out in booming laughter as they watched Kael struggle to his feet and gape at the woman. He was drenched in honey ale, and his chin was red from where he had hit it. "Why?" He asked sarcastically; his eyes filled with insult.

The woman smirked and winked at him. "Because, I find it amusing to make idiot colts trip over their prancing hooves." She told him as she waved the bartender over.

Kael snorted and said, "You are a cruel woman… But for that I must say that I savor the abuse. Please, hurt me more." There was icy disdain in his tone as he spoke.

"I couldn't possibly hurt you more. I do not wish for this to get violent and that would be the only way to hurt you more than I already have." The woman replied as a cat-like curl appeared at the corners of her mouth and one of her slender hands rested on her dagger. Her delicate fingers gently stroked the hilt; red-painted nails glinting like bloodstained claws.

A tilt to the mouth was how Kael responded; a rather silly, almost mocking grin. He shook his head and chuckled, his blue eyes sparkling darkly. "What might your name be, shadowy mare? I must know what you go by, even if I do not deserve the honor." He asked her.

"Shadowy mare? My, my; aren't you bold? But I guess I do seem rather out of place, a black horse among white stallions." The woman remarked with a peal of pearly laughter, "And my name is still of no importance to you." The woman then took the mug from the bar that the bartender had refilled and took a small sip. The amber liquid was a favorite among locals and was known for its mild honey-sweet flavor that hid the fact that the alcohol was watered down and bitter.

Kael huffed and leaned back onto his seat; a scowl now playing on his lips. He then ran his hand through his scruffy blonde hair and said, "Most folk would lose their temper right about now, and try to put you in your place, you being a woman and all. But I've a bit more sense in my head. You are a strange, dangerous person who would most likely take that pretty red knife and run me through if I so much as raised my hand to you… So I think I'll say my good-byes and be on my way."

With those words said he rose to his feet and left the tavern with what dignity he still had intact. The exotic, dark-haired woman simply watched him leave; her gray eyes shadowed.

The street outside was dim; the golden-orange hues of dusk were fleeting, and lingering after dark had fallen was not the best idea. So with his head held low, Kael made his way down the empty road and towards his usual retreat. The building he walked into was like all the others, dark, dusty and filled with an ethereal presence.

Hollow halls; dark and empty, only a sputtering lamp provided any kind of light to see by. A long since faded rug covered the ancient floor, and wispy curtains dangled like ghosts at the sides of every window. This place, while dark, was like home to Kael –a home within the city, away from the old woman. It had been abandoned years earlier by its original owner, and it had remained so until Kael gave it new life.

He smiled as he walked through the small entry way, his shoes softly thudding against the floor. The echo of his every word reverberated through the halls, and provided a kind of relief and sanity. While ramshackle, the building was wonderful to Kael whom sought a way of escape from his life with the old woman. It was only by accident that he discovered this place and only by his patience and will did this place become anything more than a shack.

One day he hoped to make this place into more of a home, and he wished to fill it with memories. Kael knew that the old woman that he knew as his mother wanted him to be happy even if she displayed her affections in a crude way. But for now the building was simply a few walls, a couple doors, two rooms and only one glass window; the rest would have to come later.

As he moved through the building, he ran his fingers along the wall. Dust collected on his skin and he cringed away. Kael hated to live in dirty places, a fickleness that came from living with someone who made him scrub every inch of floor clean each day. Soon he came to the lamp; it hung from the wall by an iron rack, the flame encased in a bubble of hand-blown glass.  Blue eyes lingered on the glow and a meager smile drew upon his lips. The lamp had been a gift from a stranger that he had met long ago as a child and it had always been a source of great fascination to him.

Kael had been but seven years of age and the old woman had locked him out of the house. No matter how much he had banged on the door, or yelled or cried; the old woman never let him in. She simply told him that he had to grow up and conquer his fear of the dark. That night had been the longest he had ever endured in his life.

Angry, and frightened, Kael had run off into the swamp. His feet hit the ground and he simply kept going. With tears streaking down his face, he had gone too far into the treacherous swamplands without realizing it. Why he had run, he still didn't know, but when he stopped all he knew was that he was lost. All around him was darkness, and the trees towered above him like monsters. Never before had he ever felt such fear envelope him, yet that night was far from being over.

With his back against a tree, Kael felt as if he was going to die there that night. The darkness that he had feared was so close that he could feel tendrils of cold creep into his skin. Perhaps he might have died had a figure not come his way and taken pity on him. The stranger was dressed in gray cloth from head to toe, a hood covering its face. In one hand it carried a book and in the other it clasped a lamp. That lamp was the same that now hung on the wall of the building.

The gray-robed figure passed by him and a few steps later it had paused. It turned its head towards Kael, but even then he could not see any features that would have given an idea of who they were. Then it glanced at the lamp it held in its hand and then it nodded as if it understood. Kael recalled how the lamp was all he really saw, and how it drew him in; the light giving him a surge of relief as if everything was alright in the world once again.

The figure had set the lamp down on the ground and swept away gracefully with hardly any sway to its walk. Kael remembered how he had fallen to his knees and crawled towards the light and it was only later did he read the inscription on its base.

"The Light shall always guide those who do not submit to the Dark"

Beside that light he had curled up and fallen asleep and come morning he opened his eyes to a less frightening scene. He was nestled in a cradle of wild fern that grew thick and soft just on the outskirts of the swamp. How he had gotten there was something he had always questioned but never taken for granted. With the lamp clutched to his chest, young Kael ran to the shack that he knew as home and knocked on the door. The old woman had greeted him with a steady gaze, but she nodded approvingly. That night Kael realized that he was no longer afraid of the darkness that surrounded him.

One other thing he noticed quite quickly was the fact that the lamp always stayed lit even with no fuel.

Kael forced his eyes away from the lamp and brought himself out of his past. With a slight dip of his head he walked into what used to be a bedroom of some sort. No furniture remained since the owner more than likely sold it before abandoning the place, but Kael wasn't concerned about having a bed to sleep in. A friend of his, a man that still had a few coins tucked away under his mattress, had given him a bundle of old quilts to give to the old woman. Knowing that she wouldn't care to have dusty, moth-eaten rags in her house; Kael had brought them to the shack and used them to sleep on at night.

Though, the only reason that Kael still had the strange lamp and the quilts was because he wasn't as stupid as he seemed. He had 'borrowed' one of the old woman's locking devices and used it on the door. It was a simple thing to use; the device was -being it was a disk with a string looped through the middle. All he had to do was set the disk within a hole in the door and pull the string through to the other side. Kael was aware that such a thing would not work unless it was charmed to prevent intruders, but he did his best to ignore the fact that the woman he knew as his mother was a likely disciple of Norn: The goddess of mage craft.

Magic was something that many knew about and were aware of, but few understood. Mage craft, since it was centered on the use of magic, was a forbidden art since the church saw it as wicked and unholy. Yet he couldn't help but be fascinated by it. The old woman could make elixirs to cure most diseases and heal most wounds, but she always whispered chants over to the brew. And the woman always seemed to find a way to make a pot of stew last half the winter when it should have lasted a week. Magic wasn't wicked in Kael's eyes, but he was still fearful of what could happen if magic was wielded by someone of evil intent.

Shaking the thoughts that plagued his mind, Kael settled into the dusty blankets and fell asleep. It didn't take long to do, but a pang of hunger in his belly reminded him that he had not eaten all day. He shifted in his sleep a bit and curled his legs slightly, but after a while he forgot his mild hunger and fell back asleep.

***

Morning came and went without much in the way of excitement. Kael had woken up only to be reminded of the humiliation that he had endured the previous day. His clothes were stiff and itchy and smelled sour. Crinkling his nose, Kael did his best to move on.

He walked down the streets in search of something that he didn't hope to ever find, a woman that he could take home and show to the old woman so that he could have her approval for once in his life. Of course there were a few women who roamed the busy streets without a man by her side, but most were selling their bodies so that they could have a meal or two to sate their hunger.

And then there was the problem of the woman he had met the day before. He couldn't get her off his mind. From the way she looked and moved, to her cold gaze and blood-red lips; it all gave him a strange chill that made him feel giddy. So as he wandered along the dusty road, half-way caught in his daydreams; he noticed something at the corner of his vision.

Kael glanced over his shoulder and to his surprise he saw the woman from the night before walking hurriedly through the crowd. And she went /through/ the crowd. She was shoving people to the side with no effort in the least. His spirits lifted, Kael decided that he would try and figure out where she was going in such a hurry.

Grinning from ear to ear, he dipped lower to the ground. It was hard to follow people when you stood above most the crowd. Awkward didn't halfway describe his movement. So after a long while of scooting and stumbling, he eventually found himself at a place that he never thought he'd get so close to. The palace of Stonegate stood before him -the place where the ruler of the kingdom lived and reigned from. With his mouth agape, Kael continued to try and follow the woman.

Unfortunately, he lost sight of her during his moment of awe. Cussing, Kael glanced from side to side in hopes of finding some clue as to why the woman might be here. While he didn't find the woman, he did see something interesting occur. A family from the Outer Ring was shouting vulgar remarks about the royal family and were throwing fairly large rocks at the guards that stood by the partially open gates. Eventually about four men gathered around the family to end the protest and that was when Kael caught sight of the woman again. Like a shadow she slipped through the gate while the guards were busy.

Kael, taking a risk, decided to follow swiftly and luckily he managed to duck behind a pillar before the guards returned to their places. His breathing was heavy at this point, and his heart beat fast. He had never done anything this risky or idiotic in his whole life; should he be caught, he was dead.

He didn't even bother taking in the scenery, he was more or less focused on finding out where the woman went so that he could follow her. Obviously she knew what she was doing. Luckily he saw her just as she was slipping through a servant's door that most likely lead to the kitchens. Panting, Kael dashed to the same door and went inside. He was thrown into complete darkness; that was his first clue that this wasn't the kitchens.

Now unable to see where he was going; Kael felt around to make sure he didn't trip over anything, and he failed. After falling on his face twice he did however find the exit. Careful to make sure that no one was around to see him before he did walk into the hall. Kael was speechless. All around him was grandeur.

The floors were made of rose colored marble and the walls had masterpieces painted upon them, as did the ceiling. Tapestries of the finest silk and threading portrayed brilliant scenes in abstract forms. Pillars from the floor reached over twenty feet into the air to support the roof, and the bases were engraved with ornate design. As he gawked at what he saw he almost walked straight into a statue. Halting only inches away Kael took in a deep breath and slowly glanced upwards.

It was a statue dedicated to the patron goddess of the royal family, Kaen. The figure stood over seven feet tall, not including the solid gold wings that protruded from between its shoulder blades.

It was a beautiful work of art, and it was so lifelike as well as too regal to be real. The figure had her head tilted so that its face was looking down at the sword that it held between its delicate hands. The end of the majestic blade touched the base that the statue was set upon and a rather real looking helm was placed at the statue's feet just inches away from the blade's tip.  Both the sword and the helm were magnificent and made of the finest of precious metals and gemstones. Little golden feathers decorated the helm, and were so detailed that they looked real.

The figure herself was just as glamorous as the sword and helm; her proud stone face had a strong jaw and piercing eyes made of pure sapphire. Fine threads of gold fell over her shoulders which Kael assumed was her hair. And the figure was dressed rather scantily compared to what the people saw as proper for women. She wore a female breastplate that fit more like bodice than armor; form suiting to display feminine curves –it was made of gold as well and covered in intricate designs and gemstones. Real silk cascaded from the hips in a pale river all the way to the ground where it barely crinkled. A split in the front made an 'A' shape that started just below her belly button would be down to the toes of her golden boots.

"Amazing…" He whispered; completely engrossed by the statue for a long time. If he were more aware of his surroundings he would have noticed how no guards had passed him, and that only the four that were out by the gates were the only ones to be seen. The palace, which should have been heavily guarded with regular patrols, was a ghost town. The halls were empty and quiet and only the faint scuffling of his shoes made any sound.

Kael's eyes fell to the plaque that was engraved with a familiar message:

As long as the blood of Kaen sits upon the throne, rain shall fall, and no man shall go without food or wine.

For a moment he considered the message and he asked softly, "If you are the divine goddess that watches Stonegate then why do you let them suffer? Why did you lie? The land is dry, crops can't be grown and animals starve in the fields that once made them fat. Divine Kaen…" He paused and then shook his head, "What am I saying? The Divine are a creation made up by the church to explain what they can't." There was bitterness to his tone as he turned away from the statue.

Looking up he found himself faced with another symbol of the royal family, the throne. He tilted his head curiously, why was no one here? He glanced around before he tip-toed closer to the regal symbol of power. The fabric was red and plush with golden trim, and the throne itself could have sat someone of the statue's size comfortably.  "It's just a fancy chair…" Kael mumbled and he sat himself in it "-and it's not even comfortable."

To his complete surprise a roar of thunder shook the building and the unfamiliar sound of falling water filled Kael's ears. "Rain?" He asked, blinking away the disbelief. Just as Kael rose up out of the chair the dark-haired woman came bursting into the room.

***

The sky above the little shack was blazing and relentless like usual as the old woman sat on her porch. She tapped her fingers restlessly on her wooden staff, her ancient eyes taking in every detail. But a familiar ache in her bones told her of rain, and she almost couldn't let herself believe that it would actually fall.

No clouds hung in the pale-blue sky and the air was stale and dry. Yet why did she sense rain? Taking in a ragged breath, the old woman let her eyes slip shut so that she could muse the situation. That was when thunder ripped through the air and the silence was slashed with deafening sound.

Her eyes flew open just as the first drops of rain fell from the sky, and her heart raced with disbelief. Soon the droplets fell in a torrent and made seeing impossible. The old woman rose to her feet and clutched her chest with one hand and her staff with the other. "Rain…" She whispered, "Is it a sign from Kaen? By the Divine sister who watches this land, is this a sign?"

And as she caught her breath she noticed something moving in the distance. A pale, ghostly figure moving with serene grace through the rain. The way it moved made it seem joyous, as if it was dancing. But as soon as the rain came, it went, and as the last drops fell; the figure faded.

The old woman bowed her head and began muttering a prayer under her breath.

***

"What in the name of the holy Divine are you doing!" The woman shouted; her eyes wide and wild.

"Er… I was sitting…." Kael replied with confusion in his tone.

The woman paused and glanced at the statue of Kaen and then back at Kael. "Who are you?" She demanded, but her voice was filled now with fear rather than anger.

Kael glanced from side to side for a moment before saying, "Nobody important last time I checked."

"Your name you idiot, colt!" The woman hissed as she looked over her shoulder nervously.

"My name… Kael…" He said with a shrug of his shoulders as he descended from the raised platform that the throne was upon. "Is it raining outside?"

The woman paused and just as she was about to say something, a graying man with a lopsided crown on his head burst into the room. There was fire in his eyes and Kael knew right away that now was a good time to run away.

"GUARDS!" King Doroth snarled with a booming voice, the color of his face a deep shade of purple. Still breathing heavily he approached Kael and the dark-haired woman and glared straight into their eyes. He stood shorter than both of them; in fact, he was a rather small man with an inflated ego and a massive temper. "You…" He breathed as he jabbed a finger at the dark-haired woman, "you brought him here, didn't you? I knew I couldn't trust an outsider, much less a woman!"

"I did no such thing; he got in here by himself." The dark-haired woman replied in a deadly serious voice.

"Well forget the treaty; Stonegate will not make agreements with traitors." King Doroth hissed through his clenched teeth.

The dark-haired woman paused; devastation written upon her face as if what he had just said was the most painful thing she had ever endured. Perhaps she was on the verge of tears but suddenly she snapped towards Kael and pulled her knife from her hip. The way she held it meant that she was serious about using it.

"I-I…" Kael stammered since he wasn't exactly sure of what was going on. He was almost relieved when the guards burst into the room -all four of them- then the king made him a little less relieved.

"Kill both of them." He shouted and to Kael's surprise the woman turned her attention to the guards. Without more than a moment of a pause the dark-haired woman was in motion. She ran up to the first guard and gracefully somersaulted herself behind him before she snaked her blade out and struck a kink in his armor. The guard moaned and crumbled to the ground. Before she could take another guard out, Kael decided it was time to play hero and get them both out before either of them were killed.

He grabbed the woman's wrist and pulled her away from the guards and fortunately she didn't struggle. Seconds later she was running too and she outpaced him in a matter of moments.

Seeing as the dark-haired woman seemed to know exactly where she was going, Kael followed like an obedient puppy. Before he knew it they were both outside and in the pouring rain. He might have marveled at what he saw but the shouts of the guards made him keep running for his life.

"In the name of the High Lord, what possessed you to be such an idiot?" The dark-haired woman scolded as she ran, but she didn't look back at Kael.

"It comes naturally according to my mother…." Was his rather sarcastic reply,"So I need no possession to do something I shouldn't by complete and utter accident."

Neither spoke again for a while, not until they lost the guards in the crowds of awestruck people. Kael veered off towards the little abandoned house that he claimed as his own and motioned for the woman to follow. The guards wouldn't be able to find them if they were out of sight and the locking charm also seemed to deter intruders from even having any interest in the building.

Once out of the rain and in the safety of the rickety old shack, Kael shook himself and sent droplets of water everywhere. "So uh, why was the King mad at you for my mistake?" He asked, though he was unaware of exactly why the King had become so enraged at him being within the palace walls.

The dark-haired woman scowled as she wringed her hair to dry it. "I'm a woman," she replied softly," and he wanted any excuse to deny my people the treaty /he/ offered us."

"One question, are you some sort of diplomat? I think I'm using the right term…" Kael asked as he ran his fingers through his own soaked locks of hair.

The dark-haired woman rolled her eyes and replied, "Yes, I am a diplomat. Are you as ignorant and sexist as you King to think that women cannot be taught the ways of politics?"

"I honestly don't know much about what you are talking about. Mother taught me my letters and laws so I assumed all women were educated. So for a woman to be a diplomat is not a thing that I ever thought to question." Was what Kael said in response as he let his blue-eyes scan her face. "What territory are you from if you're not from Stonegate?"

There was a slight pause but to Kael's surprise the woman did reply, "I am from Rhiinaan..."

Kael frowned and asked, "Wait, isn't that the capital Maeyad Wilds? Because you don't look-"

"What, I don't look what?" The dark-haired woman asked threateningly.

"Well, you look human to me rather than like a Nymph. I mean, you don't have wings or scales or strange skin color… Your ears are even rounded." He said in response as he took a cautious step back.

"I'm a Drynan, my people keep order in a land of primitive races who lack a common government." Was the dark-haired woman exasperated reply as she glanced around the room that she was in. "What is this place?" She asked after a second of looking around.

Kael scratched his head and looked around as well,"Uh, my house… But I'm not sure how long we'll be safe here since it's a bit run down. So if you're dry enough I think that we should get moving."

"Where do you think will be safe from the idiocy of these people…?" She demanded with a sharp snap in her tone.

"My mother lives just outside the swamplands, we could easily walk there before the sun sets." Kael suggested with a small shrug of his shoulders. He wasn't exactly sure how the old woman was going to react to him bringing home trouble yet again.

"In the rain? You want to walk in the rain?" The dark-haired woman asked scornfully with a crinkled brow.

"What, do you not like rain or something? I mean, around here it's a rarity to say the least but it feels good when it does fall." He said with a small tilt to his mouth. "That and I don't hear it falling anymore so…"

The dark-haired woman shook her head and mumbled something under her breath before she opened the front door. Kael followed quickly and asked,"Um, shouldn't you be following me?"

"I'm not going to trail behind you, colt. I'm not a follower, especially when the person whom whishes to lead is the reason why my life is ruined." There was a sudden darkening to her tone as she shot him with a venomous glare.

"How did I ruin your life?" Kael asked stupidly, "and where exactly are you going?"

The dark-haired woman paused and with the quickness of a snake she backhanded him across the face. "Don't ask questions, colt." She snarled, and Kael simply stood there with an incoherent expression written on his face. "Even for a human you are dim-witted."

Kael rubbed his face and replied, "Well pardon me for asking questions, it's part of /human/ nature. Are all Drynan so temperamental or just you?" As the dark-haired woman made to slap him again, he caught her wrist in his hand and said, "Stop that." Though, the situation wasn't made better when she began to struggle and curse. Kael glanced around nervously and urged her to stop making a scene, but before he could she had caught the attention of the guards. The same guards who were ordered to kill them.

Panicking, Kael ran and pulled the woman behind him. She didn't trip or stumble like a normal person would, no; she was graceful on her feet, more-so than most people. She did struggle until she saw who Kael was running from, when she spotted the guards; she behaved -mostly.

As their feet hit the road, water splashed up around their ankles. Kael had never seen so much water on the ground in his life; it was as if in ten minutes a year's worth of rain had fallen. He closed his eyes and forced himself to keep moving even when he felt his body tell him to give up and slow down. Only when he tripped over a dip in road did he slow down, and that was because he was thrown forwards onto his knees. Unfortunately for the woman he was toting behind him, he forgot to let go of her wrist when he did so.

Not only did he pull her to the ground but a distinctive 'crack' told him that something was broken. Kael gasped and released her wrist immediately but it was too late. The dark-haired woman hand her hand clutched to her chest and was gritting her teeth tightly together.

"I'm so sorry." Kael stammered, but as he reached over to comfort the woman she snarled and tackled him to the ground. Soon he was covered in scratches and bruises from where the woman had dug into him with her nails or rammed her elbow or knee into a sensitive place on his body. "In the name of the High Lord, you are strong." Kael complained as he wrestled the woman to the ground. "So please stop hurting me."

The dark-haired woman spat at him and said, "Why should I? You broke my wrist. Where I am from gives me perfect obligation to do the same to you, if not worse."

"It was an accident…" Kael told her apologetically, but he realized that she wasn't giving his plea any consideration.

"You're a clumsy, idiot! Get off me now before I lose my temper." She snarled as she squirmed and kicked. There was utter hatred in her eyes.

"I'd say you've already lost your temper, so calm down or I won't let you up. Please?" Kael asked softly and luckily the dark-haired woman did stop struggling, but the malice never left her eyes. "Thank you." He whispered as he slowly rose to his feet and stepped away from her.

The dark-haired woman frowned and glanced away from Kael as she cradled her wrist again. For someone who should have been incapacitated by pain alone, she seemed to be handling herself quite well.

"Now, if you'll keep from killing me for another couple miles, I'll get you to my mother, and she can heal you." Kael told her, each word spoken with caution. The dark-haired woman did not speak nor did she look in Kael's direction, so he simply sighed and began to walk down the road in silence. /At least the guards aren't following us anymore…/ He thought to himself, but he was still alert to every sound around him.

***

The sun was just falling behind the horizon as Kael and the dark-haired woman reached the shack. And like usual the old woman was sitting on her porch, gazing up at the sky, her wrinkled hands tightly clutched to the staff that always seemed to be in her possession. The dark-haired woman frowned as she looked from Kael to the woman he claimed to be his mother. There was no resemblance between the two at all. The old woman had dark skin, and sharp features. Kael had gold dusted tan and a strong jaw that complimented the delicate structure of his face.

The old woman rose to her feet as she saw Kael approach and with raised brows she greeted him. "Might I ask who she is?" The old woman inquired softly as she let her eyes fall to woman that was reluctantly following him.

"Ah, I don't know her name if that is what you're asking." Kael replied, and the old woman took her staff and gave him a solid smack on his left shoulder.

"Idiot boy, go, shoo. Be useful for once and make a place for this tired creature to rest." The old woman told him harshly, and Kael hardly protested as he slunk away inside the hut. "Now that he is occupied, might I ask why he brought a Drynan home? But formalities first, your name please." The old woman spoke with a serious tone.

"My name? Why should I-"The dark-haired woman began in protest, but she bit back her words as she felt the sheer forcefulness of the old woman's gaze. "I-I… My name is Delsina."

"And you may refer to me as Kula Reighsa. Now, why are you here?" The old woman replied as if there was no hesitation from Delsina.

"I'm here because your son decided to explore the royal palace, and sit upon the throne of Stonegate. I happened to walk in on him doing this and the King walked in as I was scolding him. So, as a result we both ended up running for our lives from the guards and, oh by the way; he broke my wrist." Was what came from Delsina in response, and the anger bubbled in her voice.

The old woman scoffed at the dark-haired woman's remark about Kael being her son and she said bitterly, "How many times do I have to tell him I am not his mother? He never learns no matter what I do." But she paused when Delsina spoke of Kael sitting upon the throne. Her eyes widened and she asked quickly,"Did it rain when he did so, sit upon the throne I mean?"

"Yes, but that had to have been a coincidence. Now, he said you could fix my wrist?" Delsina said as she dismissed the old woman's comment for some joke.

"By the name of Divine Kaen, it's true…" The old woman mumbled as she glanced back at the shack. She could see Kael's silhouette through the dark window.

"Kula Reighsa, can you help me or not?" Delsina asked impatiently.

"Yes, yes; give me your wrist." The old woman said with a slight shake of her head. As the dark-haired woman reached out with her injured hand, the old woman grabbed it and made her yelp in pain. "Hmm, not a clean break; seems a bit twisted and fragmented…" The old woman mumbled as she pressed the ends of her fingers along the break. "I'd ask how he broke your wrist since he's smart enough to not try and harm your kind on purpose. But I'm guessing that he was clumsy and did this by accident." A few seconds later she whispered some words silently and she ran her thumbs over the top of Delsina's wrist.

It wasn't a fast process, or a comfortable one, but within the next few minutes the old woman let Delsina go and said, "It's fixed, but it will need a few days to be back to normal strength. Now, how about you head inside? A good night of sleep will do all of us good."

The dark-haired woman did not protest, and with a quick bow of her head she entered the shack; leaving the old woman alone under the night sky.

"So what is next?" The old woman asked, her question didn't seem to be directed towards anyone or anything but air. Her eyes stared off into the starry sky and she sighed a deep sigh. "Is Kael your son, Kaen, or am I just an old fool who still believes in fairy tales? Is he supposed to save Stonegate when he can't even walk three feet without causing havoc? I need answers, and he needs guidance. Please, give me something."

There was only silence to answer the old woman's plea. Silence and the tiniest of sparkle of a distant star. What was to come would have to wait until morning.

Description
Horizons: The Battle for Stonegate
((Chapter One))
"Mother…" Kael complained; he was a young man now, and he had grown into adulthood quite strappingly. His hair was a dark-wavy gold that fell just below his ears. His eyes were a deep, intense blue. And his skin was hardly bronzed from the constant, glaring sun.

"Don't you /Mother/ me, Kael." The old woman scolded, her brown eyes filled with anger. "Now go! And don't come back until you have a woman…" She tapped his shoulder with the end of her staff, but she was careful not to ruin the clothing she had carefully made for him. The shirt he wore was still a pale gray and all the brass buttons were intact, and his brown pants were snug around his lower-legs.

Kael shifted his feet and stared hard at the old woman. He knew that she wasn't his mother and the old woman never attempted to pretend that she was. Half the time she would scold Kael for calling her mother and would tell him to call her 'Kula Reighsa'. And since Kula meant 'wise woman' the old woman was denying any blood ties to him. The old woman's honesty had hit Kael hard as a child, but as he grew he learned that the old woman wasn't so bad. Her honesty was needed, no matter how harsh and abrasive it was.

"Mother please, what woman will want to marry a man who lives in a shack at the edge of a swamp, with an old, spiteful crone…?" His response was filled with certain spears of resentment. "Be reasonable."

"Stop calling me Mother, idiot boy!" The old woman muttered, "Call me-"

"Kula Reighsa, I know… Mother." Kael twisted the corner of his mouth into a defiant smirk. He was stubborn, strong-willed and fairly even tempered. It was almost impossible to tell when he was angry because he let his problems stew and seep until he just bubbled out in a cold explosion. But there wasn't exactly room to argue when you lived our entire life with a bitter old woman who would prefer to sit out and stare at the sun than heed the will of a crying child.

But the old woman, in all her harsh words and ways, had taught Kael well. She had helped him learn his letters and numbers, and his penmanship wasn't half bad. He was more literate than most of the middle to lower class in Stonegate.

"Out of my house!" She shouted; this time she reinforced her words by swinging the staff she had clamped between her wrinkled hands. Kael tried to move out of the way but the old woman was surprisingly agile and she landed three swift bows to his back and shoulders before he managed to reach the door.

"And what if I don't come back you crazy old witch?" Kael asked as he rubbed the fresh bruise on his left shoulder. His brow was crinkled with twisted amusement. The old woman slammed the door in response. He scowled and shook his head, "Why must we do this every summer?" He asked himself before he turned on his heel and walked away from the shack.

Kael's golden hair fell over his eyes as he walked, sweat soon plastering it to his eyelids. After a while of walking, his eyes on the dirt road below his feet; he let himself drift off. He was a daydreamer, and the old woman had scolded him constantly about not focusing and staring off into the clouds. But when one lived in the solitude of a swamp with a cranky old woman, escape from reality was needed.

The sky and the trees soon were washed away by his mind and everything became still. The birds singing in the distance soon turned into a dull drone. He could shape reality in his mind once everything else was gone. New sights replaced the dusty scenery, and new sounds filled in where only a few animals had chirped before. He imagined a road of golden sand that snaked its way through a kingdom of clouds and marble.

This little world was his only escape.

In his mind he crafted unique structures, some with spiraling pillars and others with stained-glass domes. Regal arches framed the entrances to grand buildings and the streets were lined with columns capped with glowing orbs. And the people, he created people too.

Beautiful women wearing flowing gowns of every color walked the streets; some carried instruments and others sang with gentle voices. Handsome men guided some of these lovely creatures through the streets; their clothing just as colorful. And among all the adults were playful children of every age; from willowy teenagers to softly crying infants.

Kael felt so right in this city of idealistic bliss. He felt like he had created a perfect world; like a creator who had shaped a perpetual Utopia with only his mind. Nothing was amiss, nothing was lacking, and everything was flawless. Yet… There was something missing.

He looked from face to face and he saw no one was without a pair. No woman was without a man, and no child lacked a mother. Only he stood alone in the bustling streets of his imaginary city. Sadness filled him and the world of his creation melted away. There was a reason why the old woman was always insisting on Kael finding a woman. He was at times a hopeless romantic, and would spend hours blissfully daydreaming about pretty women when he was supposed to be cutting wood for winter.

The path ahead of him soon widened and the dirt became cobbled pavement. Kael looked up and let his blue eyes settle on the gateway ahead of him. Two guards in faded black uniforms stood at either side; in their hands were batons and on their hips were swords. Half-rusted chainmail and leather helms rested on their heads. Kael approached and glanced at both guards, they were hunched over slightly and their eyes had heavy dark circles beneath them. Neither tried to stop Kael from entering the city; known as Edonrii -which happened to be the capital of Stonegate.

Humming a soft melody, Kael walked beneath the crumbling stone gateway and into the streets. The old woman had once told him how Edonrii was chosen as the capital of Stonegate because of its lush farmlands and grand buildings. All Kael saw was dust and abandoned houses.

But he was in the poor part of town known as the Outer Ring, and the deeper he traveled, the better the buildings and the people looked. Though to be honest, as he looked from face to face; he felt guilty every time he walked past the hungry men and women of the Outer Ring. The old woman was a wicked old bat at times, but she somehow kept him well fed even through the drought.

His feet took him quickly through the poor part of town, he didn't want to linger since he had no weapons. There was no need to carry one on his way to town since the little shack he lived in was only a couple hours away over open ground. There were no trees to shelter animals or bandits, and if he was attacked on his way to town, he knew that the old woman would only scold him and tell him that he should have been more alert.

Kael shut his eyes when he saw a teenage boy drag an elderly man into an alley. Everyone was desperate for food, and if someone had money, there was a good chance it was going to get stolen.

"Hey mister, what you doin' in this part of town?" Asked a clearly female voice.

He glanced down to see a young girl, perhaps fourteen at the oldest; with tangled brown hair and too much colored wax on her lips. She was wearing a torn orange dress that had a low dipped neckline and fluffy sleeves. Kael frowned and looked up to see a graying woman watching from window. She had a hollowed out face and she was eying him with a kind of hunger that made Kael uncomfortable.

"I don't know what you mean…" Kael replied as his eyes fell back onto the young girl.

"I mean that you 'ave nice clothes and you don' look hungry like the rest of us. Only reason yer kind comes around here is if you want to prance around with a filly…" The little girl replied and she did her best to flatten some of the wrinkles in her dress.

Kael blushed and shook his head,"Ah, no little miss; I'm afraid that I'm not here to uh, prance… So go home to your mother…"

The little girl grimaced and gave Kael a pained look. "I can't go home to my mama with no coin. She'll hit me with her broom and lock me out until I get some money…" She told him and she folded her hands to beg.

"I don't have any money…" He replied, but he couldn't make himself watch as the little girl burst into tears. So he looked away and kept walking. Poverty, hunger, desperation; that was what most of Stonegate was like. Of course there were other territories and kingdoms, but they were not hit as hard as this one.

Dusk was nearing as Kael reached his destination, a local tavern that was a common hotspot. He strolled inside and looked around; the place was filled to the brim with people.

"Hey, ol' golden fingers is back." Called out a man and the whole room turned to greet him. The man who had addressed him was a muscular fellow with curly black hair and a lopsided grin. "How's you doin', Kael?" He asked as he clapped a hand onto his shoulder.

Kael chuckled and said,"Ah, I'm as good as one can be after being beaten by an old crone."

"Hehe, are those pretty fingers of yours still sweet on the strings?" The man asked, the grin on his face growing stupider.

Kael nodded and replied, "Why must you torment me about playing the lyre? My mother taught me."

"Aye, and playing the lyre is for fillies…" The man retorted with a chuckle,"Speakin' of fillies, look over there." The man pointed in the direction of a new arrival.

"That's no filly, that my friend is a mare…" Kael replied; he didn't catch himself falling into the city's slang. He grinned and watched the woman with his deep blue eyes; this had been the first who had even appealed to his tastes.

The woman was perhaps three inches shorter than Kael who stood nearly six foot tall, and compared to everyone else they were a pair of towering giants. Her hair was long and a glossy black and her eyes sparkled a serious gray. Her skin was strange and ghost pale, and her full lips were painted red. She didn't look at Kael or anyone at that matter as she entered the tavern and sat down at the bar.

Kael stepped a little closer to get a better view; the woman had an angular face and a strong chin. Her shoulders were narrow as was her waist, and Kael couldn't help but to let his eyes trace her not-so-subtle curves with his eyes. But as he scanned her figure he noticed a few things.

She was dressed like a man; her white blouse was tucked into deerskin pants and around her hips was a thick belt. On her left hip there was a naked dagger with a blade that shimmered with the colors of blood. The only thing she wore that was anything near feminine was a pair of slender, leather boots.

"Hello…" Kael said with an over-confident smirk as he leaned on the bar. "What's your name, pretty filly?"

The woman arched her thin eye brows before she glanced at Kael's elbow. "None of your business, colt." She told him before she reached out and grabbed Kael's elbow. After sliding it off the bar, Kael toppled over and out of his seat. He actually managed to not only fall to the floor, but also hit his chin on the bar's counter on the way down. "Oops, did I do that?" She asked coyly before taking the drink she was just served and dumping it on his head. "I am so terribly clumsy today…"

The tavern burst out in booming laughter as they watched Kael struggle to his feet and gape at the woman. He was drenched in honey ale, and his chin was red from where he had hit it. "Why?" He asked sarcastically; his eyes filled with insult.

The woman smirked and winked at him. "Because, I find it amusing to make idiot colts trip over their prancing hooves." She told him as she waved the bartender over.

Kael snorted and said, "You are a cruel woman… But for that I must say that I savor the abuse. Please, hurt me more." There was icy disdain in his tone as he spoke.

"I couldn't possibly hurt you more. I do not wish for this to get violent and that would be the only way to hurt you more than I already have." The woman replied as a cat-like curl appeared at the corners of her mouth and one of her slender hands rested on her dagger. Her delicate fingers gently stroked the hilt; red-painted nails glinting like bloodstained claws.

A tilt to the mouth was how Kael responded; a rather silly, almost mocking grin. He shook his head and chuckled, his blue eyes sparkling darkly. "What might your name be, shadowy mare? I must know what you go by, even if I do not deserve the honor." He asked her.

"Shadowy mare? My, my; aren't you bold? But I guess I do seem rather out of place, a black horse among white stallions." The woman remarked with a peal of pearly laughter, "And my name is still of no importance to you." The woman then took the mug from the bar that the bartender had refilled and took a small sip. The amber liquid was a favorite among locals and was known for its mild honey-sweet flavor that hid the fact that the alcohol was watered down and bitter.

Kael huffed and leaned back onto his seat; a scowl now playing on his lips. He then ran his hand through his scruffy blonde hair and said, "Most folk would lose their temper right about now, and try to put you in your place, you being a woman and all. But I've a bit more sense in my head. You are a strange, dangerous person who would most likely take that pretty red knife and run me through if I so much as raised my hand to you… So I think I'll say my good-byes and be on my way."

With those words said he rose to his feet and left the tavern with what dignity he still had intact. The exotic, dark-haired woman simply watched him leave; her gray eyes shadowed.

The street outside was dim; the golden-orange hues of dusk were fleeting, and lingering after dark had fallen was not the best idea. So with his head held low, Kael made his way down the empty road and towards his usual retreat. The building he walked into was like all the others, dark, dusty and filled with an ethereal presence.

Hollow halls; dark and empty, only a sputtering lamp provided any kind of light to see by. A long since faded rug covered the ancient floor, and wispy curtains dangled like ghosts at the sides of every window. This place, while dark, was like home to Kael –a home within the city, away from the old woman. It had been abandoned years earlier by its original owner, and it had remained so until Kael gave it new life.

He smiled as he walked through the small entry way, his shoes softly thudding against the floor. The echo of his every word reverberated through the halls, and provided a kind of relief and sanity. While ramshackle, the building was wonderful to Kael whom sought a way of escape from his life with the old woman. It was only by accident that he discovered this place and only by his patience and will did this place become anything more than a shack.

One day he hoped to make this place into more of a home, and he wished to fill it with memories. Kael knew that the old woman that he knew as his mother wanted him to be happy even if she displayed her affections in a crude way. But for now the building was simply a few walls, a couple doors, two rooms and only one glass window; the rest would have to come later.

As he moved through the building, he ran his fingers along the wall. Dust collected on his skin and he cringed away. Kael hated to live in dirty places, a fickleness that came from living with someone who made him scrub every inch of floor clean each day. Soon he came to the lamp; it hung from the wall by an iron rack, the flame encased in a bubble of hand-blown glass.  Blue eyes lingered on the glow and a meager smile drew upon his lips. The lamp had been a gift from a stranger that he had met long ago as a child and it had always been a source of great fascination to him.

Kael had been but seven years of age and the old woman had locked him out of the house. No matter how much he had banged on the door, or yelled or cried; the old woman never let him in. She simply told him that he had to grow up and conquer his fear of the dark. That night had been the longest he had ever endured in his life.

Angry, and frightened, Kael had run off into the swamp. His feet hit the ground and he simply kept going. With tears streaking down his face, he had gone too far into the treacherous swamplands without realizing it. Why he had run, he still didn't know, but when he stopped all he knew was that he was lost. All around him was darkness, and the trees towered above him like monsters. Never before had he ever felt such fear envelope him, yet that night was far from being over.

With his back against a tree, Kael felt as if he was going to die there that night. The darkness that he had feared was so close that he could feel tendrils of cold creep into his skin. Perhaps he might have died had a figure not come his way and taken pity on him. The stranger was dressed in gray cloth from head to toe, a hood covering its face. In one hand it carried a book and in the other it clasped a lamp. That lamp was the same that now hung on the wall of the building.

The gray-robed figure passed by him and a few steps later it had paused. It turned its head towards Kael, but even then he could not see any features that would have given an idea of who they were. Then it glanced at the lamp it held in its hand and then it nodded as if it understood. Kael recalled how the lamp was all he really saw, and how it drew him in; the light giving him a surge of relief as if everything was alright in the world once again.

The figure had set the lamp down on the ground and swept away gracefully with hardly any sway to its walk. Kael remembered how he had fallen to his knees and crawled towards the light and it was only later did he read the inscription on its base.

"The Light shall always guide those who do not submit to the Dark"

Beside that light he had curled up and fallen asleep and come morning he opened his eyes to a less frightening scene. He was nestled in a cradle of wild fern that grew thick and soft just on the outskirts of the swamp. How he had gotten there was something he had always questioned but never taken for granted. With the lamp clutched to his chest, young Kael ran to the shack that he knew as home and knocked on the door. The old woman had greeted him with a steady gaze, but she nodded approvingly. That night Kael realized that he was no longer afraid of the darkness that surrounded him.

One other thing he noticed quite quickly was the fact that the lamp always stayed lit even with no fuel.

Kael forced his eyes away from the lamp and brought himself out of his past. With a slight dip of his head he walked into what used to be a bedroom of some sort. No furniture remained since the owner more than likely sold it before abandoning the place, but Kael wasn't concerned about having a bed to sleep in. A friend of his, a man that still had a few coins tucked away under his mattress, had given him a bundle of old quilts to give to the old woman. Knowing that she wouldn't care to have dusty, moth-eaten rags in her house; Kael had brought them to the shack and used them to sleep on at night.

Though, the only reason that Kael still had the strange lamp and the quilts was because he wasn't as stupid as he seemed. He had 'borrowed' one of the old woman's locking devices and used it on the door. It was a simple thing to use; the device was -being it was a disk with a string looped through the middle. All he had to do was set the disk within a hole in the door and pull the string through to the other side. Kael was aware that such a thing would not work unless it was charmed to prevent intruders, but he did his best to ignore the fact that the woman he knew as his mother was a likely disciple of Norn: The goddess of mage craft.

Magic was something that many knew about and were aware of, but few understood. Mage craft, since it was centered on the use of magic, was a forbidden art since the church saw it as wicked and unholy. Yet he couldn't help but be fascinated by it. The old woman could make elixirs to cure most diseases and heal most wounds, but she always whispered chants over to the brew. And the woman always seemed to find a way to make a pot of stew last half the winter when it should have lasted a week. Magic wasn't wicked in Kael's eyes, but he was still fearful of what could happen if magic was wielded by someone of evil intent.

Shaking the thoughts that plagued his mind, Kael settled into the dusty blankets and fell asleep. It didn't take long to do, but a pang of hunger in his belly reminded him that he had not eaten all day. He shifted in his sleep a bit and curled his legs slightly, but after a while he forgot his mild hunger and fell back asleep.

***

Morning came and went without much in the way of excitement. Kael had woken up only to be reminded of the humiliation that he had endured the previous day. His clothes were stiff and itchy and smelled sour. Crinkling his nose, Kael did his best to move on.

He walked down the streets in search of something that he didn't hope to ever find, a woman that he could take home and show to the old woman so that he could have her approval for once in his life. Of course there were a few women who roamed the busy streets without a man by her side, but most were selling their bodies so that they could have a meal or two to sate their hunger.

And then there was the problem of the woman he had met the day before. He couldn't get her off his mind. From the way she looked and moved, to her cold gaze and blood-red lips; it all gave him a strange chill that made him feel giddy. So as he wandered along the dusty road, half-way caught in his daydreams; he noticed something at the corner of his vision.

Kael glanced over his shoulder and to his surprise he saw the woman from the night before walking hurriedly through the crowd. And she went /through/ the crowd. She was shoving people to the side with no effort in the least. His spirits lifted, Kael decided that he would try and figure out where she was going in such a hurry.

Grinning from ear to ear, he dipped lower to the ground. It was hard to follow people when you stood above most the crowd. Awkward didn't halfway describe his movement. So after a long while of scooting and stumbling, he eventually found himself at a place that he never thought he'd get so close to. The palace of Stonegate stood before him -the place where the ruler of the kingdom lived and reigned from. With his mouth agape, Kael continued to try and follow the woman.

Unfortunately, he lost sight of her during his moment of awe. Cussing, Kael glanced from side to side in hopes of finding some clue as to why the woman might be here. While he didn't find the woman, he did see something interesting occur. A family from the Outer Ring was shouting vulgar remarks about the royal family and were throwing fairly large rocks at the guards that stood by the partially open gates. Eventually about four men gathered around the family to end the protest and that was when Kael caught sight of the woman again. Like a shadow she slipped through the gate while the guards were busy.

Kael, taking a risk, decided to follow swiftly and luckily he managed to duck behind a pillar before the guards returned to their places. His breathing was heavy at this point, and his heart beat fast. He had never done anything this risky or idiotic in his whole life; should he be caught, he was dead.

He didn't even bother taking in the scenery, he was more or less focused on finding out where the woman went so that he could follow her. Obviously she knew what she was doing. Luckily he saw her just as she was slipping through a servant's door that most likely lead to the kitchens. Panting, Kael dashed to the same door and went inside. He was thrown into complete darkness; that was his first clue that this wasn't the kitchens.

Now unable to see where he was going; Kael felt around to make sure he didn't trip over anything, and he failed. After falling on his face twice he did however find the exit. Careful to make sure that no one was around to see him before he did walk into the hall. Kael was speechless. All around him was grandeur.

The floors were made of rose colored marble and the walls had masterpieces painted upon them, as did the ceiling. Tapestries of the finest silk and threading portrayed brilliant scenes in abstract forms. Pillars from the floor reached over twenty feet into the air to support the roof, and the bases were engraved with ornate design. As he gawked at what he saw he almost walked straight into a statue. Halting only inches away Kael took in a deep breath and slowly glanced upwards.

It was a statue dedicated to the patron goddess of the royal family, Kaen. The figure stood over seven feet tall, not including the solid gold wings that protruded from between its shoulder blades.

It was a beautiful work of art, and it was so lifelike as well as too regal to be real. The figure had her head tilted so that its face was looking down at the sword that it held between its delicate hands. The end of the majestic blade touched the base that the statue was set upon and a rather real looking helm was placed at the statue's feet just inches away from the blade's tip.  Both the sword and the helm were magnificent and made of the finest of precious metals and gemstones. Little golden feathers decorated the helm, and were so detailed that they looked real.

The figure herself was just as glamorous as the sword and helm; her proud stone face had a strong jaw and piercing eyes made of pure sapphire. Fine threads of gold fell over her shoulders which Kael assumed was her hair. And the figure was dressed rather scantily compared to what the people saw as proper for women. She wore a female breastplate that fit more like bodice than armor; form suiting to display feminine curves –it was made of gold as well and covered in intricate designs and gemstones. Real silk cascaded from the hips in a pale river all the way to the ground where it barely crinkled. A split in the front made an 'A' shape that started just below her belly button would be down to the toes of her golden boots.

"Amazing…" He whispered; completely engrossed by the statue for a long time. If he were more aware of his surroundings he would have noticed how no guards had passed him, and that only the four that were out by the gates were the only ones to be seen. The palace, which should have been heavily guarded with regular patrols, was a ghost town. The halls were empty and quiet and only the faint scuffling of his shoes made any sound.

Kael's eyes fell to the plaque that was engraved with a familiar message:

As long as the blood of Kaen sits upon the throne, rain shall fall, and no man shall go without food or wine.

For a moment he considered the message and he asked softly, "If you are the divine goddess that watches Stonegate then why do you let them suffer? Why did you lie? The land is dry, crops can't be grown and animals starve in the fields that once made them fat. Divine Kaen…" He paused and then shook his head, "What am I saying? The Divine are a creation made up by the church to explain what they can't." There was bitterness to his tone as he turned away from the statue.

Looking up he found himself faced with another symbol of the royal family, the throne. He tilted his head curiously, why was no one here? He glanced around before he tip-toed closer to the regal symbol of power. The fabric was red and plush with golden trim, and the throne itself could have sat someone of the statue's size comfortably.  "It's just a fancy chair…" Kael mumbled and he sat himself in it "-and it's not even comfortable."

To his complete surprise a roar of thunder shook the building and the unfamiliar sound of falling water filled Kael's ears. "Rain?" He asked, blinking away the disbelief. Just as Kael rose up out of the chair the dark-haired woman came bursting into the room.

***

The sky above the little shack was blazing and relentless like usual as the old woman sat on her porch. She tapped her fingers restlessly on her wooden staff, her ancient eyes taking in every detail. But a familiar ache in her bones told her of rain, and she almost couldn't let herself believe that it would actually fall.

No clouds hung in the pale-blue sky and the air was stale and dry. Yet why did she sense rain? Taking in a ragged breath, the old woman let her eyes slip shut so that she could muse the situation. That was when thunder ripped through the air and the silence was slashed with deafening sound.

Her eyes flew open just as the first drops of rain fell from the sky, and her heart raced with disbelief. Soon the droplets fell in a torrent and made seeing impossible. The old woman rose to her feet and clutched her chest with one hand and her staff with the other. "Rain…" She whispered, "Is it a sign from Kaen? By the Divine sister who watches this land, is this a sign?"

And as she caught her breath she noticed something moving in the distance. A pale, ghostly figure moving with serene grace through the rain. The way it moved made it seem joyous, as if it was dancing. But as soon as the rain came, it went, and as the last drops fell; the figure faded.

The old woman bowed her head and began muttering a prayer under her breath.

***

"What in the name of the holy Divine are you doing!" The woman shouted; her eyes wide and wild.

"Er… I was sitting…." Kael replied with confusion in his tone.

The woman paused and glanced at the statue of Kaen and then back at Kael. "Who are you?" She demanded, but her voice was filled now with fear rather than anger.

Kael glanced from side to side for a moment before saying, "Nobody important last time I checked."

"Your name you idiot, colt!" The woman hissed as she looked over her shoulder nervously.

"My name… Kael…" He said with a shrug of his shoulders as he descended from the raised platform that the throne was upon. "Is it raining outside?"

The woman paused and just as she was about to say something, a graying man with a lopsided crown on his head burst into the room. There was fire in his eyes and Kael knew right away that now was a good time to run away.

"GUARDS!" King Doroth snarled with a booming voice, the color of his face a deep shade of purple. Still breathing heavily he approached Kael and the dark-haired woman and glared straight into their eyes. He stood shorter than both of them; in fact, he was a rather small man with an inflated ego and a massive temper. "You…" He breathed as he jabbed a finger at the dark-haired woman, "you brought him here, didn't you? I knew I couldn't trust an outsider, much less a woman!"

"I did no such thing; he got in here by himself." The dark-haired woman replied in a deadly serious voice.

"Well forget the treaty; Stonegate will not make agreements with traitors." King Doroth hissed through his clenched teeth.

The dark-haired woman paused; devastation written upon her face as if what he had just said was the most painful thing she had ever endured. Perhaps she was on the verge of tears but suddenly she snapped towards Kael and pulled her knife from her hip. The way she held it meant that she was serious about using it.

"I-I…" Kael stammered since he wasn't exactly sure of what was going on. He was almost relieved when the guards burst into the room -all four of them- then the king made him a little less relieved.

"Kill both of them." He shouted and to Kael's surprise the woman turned her attention to the guards. Without more than a moment of a pause the dark-haired woman was in motion. She ran up to the first guard and gracefully somersaulted herself behind him before she snaked her blade out and struck a kink in his armor. The guard moaned and crumbled to the ground. Before she could take another guard out, Kael decided it was time to play hero and get them both out before either of them were killed.

He grabbed the woman's wrist and pulled her away from the guards and fortunately she didn't struggle. Seconds later she was running too and she outpaced him in a matter of moments.

Seeing as the dark-haired woman seemed to know exactly where she was going, Kael followed like an obedient puppy. Before he knew it they were both outside and in the pouring rain. He might have marveled at what he saw but the shouts of the guards made him keep running for his life.

"In the name of the High Lord, what possessed you to be such an idiot?" The dark-haired woman scolded as she ran, but she didn't look back at Kael.

"It comes naturally according to my mother…." Was his rather sarcastic reply,"So I need no possession to do something I shouldn't by complete and utter accident."

Neither spoke again for a while, not until they lost the guards in the crowds of awestruck people. Kael veered off towards the little abandoned house that he claimed as his own and motioned for the woman to follow. The guards wouldn't be able to find them if they were out of sight and the locking charm also seemed to deter intruders from even having any interest in the building.

Once out of the rain and in the safety of the rickety old shack, Kael shook himself and sent droplets of water everywhere. "So uh, why was the King mad at you for my mistake?" He asked, though he was unaware of exactly why the King had become so enraged at him being within the palace walls.

The dark-haired woman scowled as she wringed her hair to dry it. "I'm a woman," she replied softly," and he wanted any excuse to deny my people the treaty /he/ offered us."

"One question, are you some sort of diplomat? I think I'm using the right term…" Kael asked as he ran his fingers through his own soaked locks of hair.

The dark-haired woman rolled her eyes and replied, "Yes, I am a diplomat. Are you as ignorant and sexist as you King to think that women cannot be taught the ways of politics?"

"I honestly don't know much about what you are talking about. Mother taught me my letters and laws so I assumed all women were educated. So for a woman to be a diplomat is not a thing that I ever thought to question." Was what Kael said in response as he let his blue-eyes scan her face. "What territory are you from if you're not from Stonegate?"

There was a slight pause but to Kael's surprise the woman did reply, "I am from Rhiinaan..."

Kael frowned and asked, "Wait, isn't that the capital Maeyad Wilds? Because you don't look-"

"What, I don't look what?" The dark-haired woman asked threateningly.

"Well, you look human to me rather than like a Nymph. I mean, you don't have wings or scales or strange skin color… Your ears are even rounded." He said in response as he took a cautious step back.

"I'm a Drynan, my people keep order in a land of primitive races who lack a common government." Was the dark-haired woman exasperated reply as she glanced around the room that she was in. "What is this place?" She asked after a second of looking around.

Kael scratched his head and looked around as well,"Uh, my house… But I'm not sure how long we'll be safe here since it's a bit run down. So if you're dry enough I think that we should get moving."

"Where do you think will be safe from the idiocy of these people…?" She demanded with a sharp snap in her tone.

"My mother lives just outside the swamplands, we could easily walk there before the sun sets." Kael suggested with a small shrug of his shoulders. He wasn't exactly sure how the old woman was going to react to him bringing home trouble yet again.

"In the rain? You want to walk in the rain?" The dark-haired woman asked scornfully with a crinkled brow.

"What, do you not like rain or something? I mean, around here it's a rarity to say the least but it feels good when it does fall." He said with a small tilt to his mouth. "That and I don't hear it falling anymore so…"

The dark-haired woman shook her head and mumbled something under her breath before she opened the front door. Kael followed quickly and asked,"Um, shouldn't you be following me?"

"I'm not going to trail behind you, colt. I'm not a follower, especially when the person whom whishes to lead is the reason why my life is ruined." There was a sudden darkening to her tone as she shot him with a venomous glare.

"How did I ruin your life?" Kael asked stupidly, "and where exactly are you going?"

The dark-haired woman paused and with the quickness of a snake she backhanded him across the face. "Don't ask questions, colt." She snarled, and Kael simply stood there with an incoherent expression written on his face. "Even for a human you are dim-witted."

Kael rubbed his face and replied, "Well pardon me for asking questions, it's part of /human/ nature. Are all Drynan so temperamental or just you?" As the dark-haired woman made to slap him again, he caught her wrist in his hand and said, "Stop that." Though, the situation wasn't made better when she began to struggle and curse. Kael glanced around nervously and urged her to stop making a scene, but before he could she had caught the attention of the guards. The same guards who were ordered to kill them.

Panicking, Kael ran and pulled the woman behind him. She didn't trip or stumble like a normal person would, no; she was graceful on her feet, more-so than most people. She did struggle until she saw who Kael was running from, when she spotted the guards; she behaved -mostly.

As their feet hit the road, water splashed up around their ankles. Kael had never seen so much water on the ground in his life; it was as if in ten minutes a year's worth of rain had fallen. He closed his eyes and forced himself to keep moving even when he felt his body tell him to give up and slow down. Only when he tripped over a dip in road did he slow down, and that was because he was thrown forwards onto his knees. Unfortunately for the woman he was toting behind him, he forgot to let go of her wrist when he did so.

Not only did he pull her to the ground but a distinctive 'crack' told him that something was broken. Kael gasped and released her wrist immediately but it was too late. The dark-haired woman hand her hand clutched to her chest and was gritting her teeth tightly together.

"I'm so sorry." Kael stammered, but as he reached over to comfort the woman she snarled and tackled him to the ground. Soon he was covered in scratches and bruises from where the woman had dug into him with her nails or rammed her elbow or knee into a sensitive place on his body. "In the name of the High Lord, you are strong." Kael complained as he wrestled the woman to the ground. "So please stop hurting me."

The dark-haired woman spat at him and said, "Why should I? You broke my wrist. Where I am from gives me perfect obligation to do the same to you, if not worse."

"It was an accident…" Kael told her apologetically, but he realized that she wasn't giving his plea any consideration.

"You're a clumsy, idiot! Get off me now before I lose my temper." She snarled as she squirmed and kicked. There was utter hatred in her eyes.

"I'd say you've already lost your temper, so calm down or I won't let you up. Please?" Kael asked softly and luckily the dark-haired woman did stop struggling, but the malice never left her eyes. "Thank you." He whispered as he slowly rose to his feet and stepped away from her.

The dark-haired woman frowned and glanced away from Kael as she cradled her wrist again. For someone who should have been incapacitated by pain alone, she seemed to be handling herself quite well.

"Now, if you'll keep from killing me for another couple miles, I'll get you to my mother, and she can heal you." Kael told her, each word spoken with caution. The dark-haired woman did not speak nor did she look in Kael's direction, so he simply sighed and began to walk down the road in silence. /At least the guards aren't following us anymore…/ He thought to himself, but he was still alert to every sound around him.

***

The sun was just falling behind the horizon as Kael and the dark-haired woman reached the shack. And like usual the old woman was sitting on her porch, gazing up at the sky, her wrinkled hands tightly clutched to the staff that always seemed to be in her possession. The dark-haired woman frowned as she looked from Kael to the woman he claimed to be his mother. There was no resemblance between the two at all. The old woman had dark skin, and sharp features. Kael had gold dusted tan and a strong jaw that complimented the delicate structure of his face.

The old woman rose to her feet as she saw Kael approach and with raised brows she greeted him. "Might I ask who she is?" The old woman inquired softly as she let her eyes fall to woman that was reluctantly following him.

"Ah, I don't know her name if that is what you're asking." Kael replied, and the old woman took her staff and gave him a solid smack on his left shoulder.

"Idiot boy, go, shoo. Be useful for once and make a place for this tired creature to rest." The old woman told him harshly, and Kael hardly protested as he slunk away inside the hut. "Now that he is occupied, might I ask why he brought a Drynan home? But formalities first, your name please." The old woman spoke with a serious tone.

"My name? Why should I-"The dark-haired woman began in protest, but she bit back her words as she felt the sheer forcefulness of the old woman's gaze. "I-I… My name is Delsina."

"And you may refer to me as Kula Reighsa. Now, why are you here?" The old woman replied as if there was no hesitation from Delsina.

"I'm here because your son decided to explore the royal palace, and sit upon the throne of Stonegate. I happened to walk in on him doing this and the King walked in as I was scolding him. So, as a result we both ended up running for our lives from the guards and, oh by the way; he broke my wrist." Was what came from Delsina in response, and the anger bubbled in her voice.

The old woman scoffed at the dark-haired woman's remark about Kael being her son and she said bitterly, "How many times do I have to tell him I am not his mother? He never learns no matter what I do." But she paused when Delsina spoke of Kael sitting upon the throne. Her eyes widened and she asked quickly,"Did it rain when he did so, sit upon the throne I mean?"

"Yes, but that had to have been a coincidence. Now, he said you could fix my wrist?" Delsina said as she dismissed the old woman's comment for some joke.

"By the name of Divine Kaen, it's true…" The old woman mumbled as she glanced back at the shack. She could see Kael's silhouette through the dark window.

"Kula Reighsa, can you help me or not?" Delsina asked impatiently.

"Yes, yes; give me your wrist." The old woman said with a slight shake of her head. As the dark-haired woman reached out with her injured hand, the old woman grabbed it and made her yelp in pain. "Hmm, not a clean break; seems a bit twisted and fragmented…" The old woman mumbled as she pressed the ends of her fingers along the break. "I'd ask how he broke your wrist since he's smart enough to not try and harm your kind on purpose. But I'm guessing that he was clumsy and did this by accident." A few seconds later she whispered some words silently and she ran her thumbs over the top of Delsina's wrist.

It wasn't a fast process, or a comfortable one, but within the next few minutes the old woman let Delsina go and said, "It's fixed, but it will need a few days to be back to normal strength. Now, how about you head inside? A good night of sleep will do all of us good."

The dark-haired woman did not protest, and with a quick bow of her head she entered the shack; leaving the old woman alone under the night sky.

"So what is next?" The old woman asked, her question didn't seem to be directed towards anyone or anything but air. Her eyes stared off into the starry sky and she sighed a deep sigh. "Is Kael your son, Kaen, or am I just an old fool who still believes in fairy tales? Is he supposed to save Stonegate when he can't even walk three feet without causing havoc? I need answers, and he needs guidance. Please, give me something."

There was only silence to answer the old woman's plea. Silence and the tiniest of sparkle of a distant star. What was to come would have to wait until morning.