Jareena Faye

*3rd person... sorry, gotta cheat!* Where the forest ended and the foothills began, a crescent cloud of insects buzzed in the sky. Below, a stream of evacuees flowed from the forest road and now balked at the sight before them. Those who had reached the opposite side of the valley before the syrakk were now being mercilessly dive-bombed--- unarmed men, women, and children could be seen scattering like tiny colorful dust particles. Remnants of guards, soldiers, and knights galloped across the clearing, appearing to move so slowly across such a great distance. They were scattered and few, but charging straight into battle nevertheless. To both sides of the battlefield rose great cliffs. Separated from the crowds, a man and a teenage boy were climbing and praying that the syrakk would not see them. "We should be fighting!" the young boy shouted breathlessly, still trying to climb. "Better to win the battle from a cliffside then waste your blood and lose!" the wiser man replied. The old soldier reached a ridge and pulled the teenager up beside him. He glanced to the west, where they had left Crystlin behind. "The city burns," said the boy. "Nay, boy, that's our signal. I am glad to see it still burns. It means our main army at the Hold of Bakurus saw it hours ago." "What are we doing up here?" the boy asked impatiently. Not yet familiar with the horrors of battle, he was eager to return. The soldier led him along the ridge until they found a dam. "Help me with these pulleys," he grunted, and the two of them managed to lift the wooden barrier. A dark river streamed onto the ridge, gushing across the cliffside in an ordered fashion. "Climb lower," the soldier told the boy, kneeling with his flint and stone. The boy protested and began to ask about the man's plan, but he was silenced, and with one meaningful look moved to do as the old soldier bade him. The soldier struck his flint. Sparks flew. He faltered and struck again, falling back with the simultaneous flare of newborn fire. A grim smile appeared on his hard face as he watched the river of oil ignite, lighting the man-made waterway. Then he quickly climbed down after the boy. He doubted they would survive. But better one or two in the place of many. ~¤~ JAREENA FAYE "Look!" some one shouted from amidst the throng I fought in. I had just killed the closest syrakk, and had just enough time to follow a few pointing fingers to a cliffside. Some one had lit the Black River. Most of the syrakk army surged toward it, perhaps expecting to find more humans where there was more fire. Whatever their assumptions, they were distracted, and I couldn't say for how long. "Flameshifter!" I roared, leaping back onto Brezza's back as he swept by. We neared the dragon scum riding on my dead friend's stallion, both of them too caught up in the thrill of battle to pay me much mind. "The main army is distracted!" I screamed hoarsely. "Lead the people into the secret caves, down that canyon. I'm going back for the stragglers!" I turned Brezza around and urged the tired steed to run to the back of the long crowd. A moment later, Ryuu blew past me in a black wind, reaching the end of the exodus in double-time. I glared at her--- obviously she wanted to be in the battle as long as possible ---and turned back to do her job. "Follow me!" I led the people down a canyon, my horse moving at a weary trot which the weary people barely kept up with. Using my Dwarven lance as a key, I unlocked the secret caves for the stone doors to rearrange themselves. The people needed no more direction. They ran into the fine-carved tunnels which eventually led to a secret entrance at the Hold, a three-day journey away. Confident that they would follow in a steady stream, I left them at the entrance and rode back to the battle. Just as I'd thought, the syrakk were not kept busy with the fire for long. It still burned, but they had now returned their attention to the stream of live meat in the valley below. Our few soldiers had regrouped, and fought the dive-bombing enemy as best as possible. I felt weariness weighing on my bones, but knew I had to keep fighting. No one could afford to stop. Just when I thought I would drop from mere exhaustion, an organized cry drowned out the screams of the syrakk. I looked up. Another black sea of individuals was swarming down the foothills toward us. It was an army. I smiled tiredly. My uncle the general, leading the reserves of the Hold to our rescue! Already their arrows riddled the bug-filled sky... ~¤~ The battle lasted long into the night. During that time, we managed to keep the syrakk busy enough to not follow the people to the caves. Amazingly, most of the retreating army made it in safely and locked all the syrakks out. The inner caves, however, held their own madness. There were no tunnels leading to the left or right--- only forward ---but didn't keep people from becoming loss. I remember a woman's frantic face being thrust in my own tired one, demanding to know whether I'd seen some one somewhere... I blinked tiredly, and she moved on. Soldiers and horses bumped me from all sides. I may have accidentally cut some one with my spear. Everywhere, some one was asking a question or fighting for a place to lie down or looking for a loved one. I barely managed to hoist myself onto Brezza one last time and allow him to carry me through the throng. Brezza, although equally tired, obviously had his own ideas. I looked up when he stopped to see we were standing near another sweaty horse, jet black, and standing next to him a wounded elf. I slipped from the saddle and leaned against Brezza for a moment, then began unfastening the saddle. "I see you made it in safely." "As safely as one can," Ryuu replied. She swayed, looking even more disoriented as I was. I wondered how much blood she had lost in the last few hours. "Any sign of Distarius?" "You would know better than I." Were he here, I suspect he would go on and on about the tidiness of his robes, moreso than he would even about people lost in the woods. Too tired to give Brezza the proper rub-down he needed, I simply dumped his tack on the stone floor and sank to use it as a pillow. I examined my arms and legs. Should have brought more armor... My dead friend's horse sank to its knees nearby, and Ryuu leaned against its side. "I did help you fight this battle, you know. You could show a little grattitude." "You just want my father's gold," I grumbled. "I don't trust magicians, and dragons even less. He never should have summoned you." "We're more help than you." I opened my eyes to smile at her sourly. "I killed a dragon once." When she looked at me with a mixture of rage and shock, I added, "He was destroying a village. What choice did I have?" She began to sat up, then winced as if in pain and sank back against the stallion. "You shouldn't judge me by my race. You knights are all alike..." "You shouldn't judge me by my profession," I replied with a smile. "Then don't judge Distarius by his." That was a good comeback. I was too tired to think of something to say to that. Ryuu's voice lacked the energy a good temper needed, as well. We both stared at each other for a long time, until we fell asleep.

You mean dungeons and dragons? I'd advise against it. I don't mean to say that everyone who plays is a sicko or pathetic or anything (we do know one guy who loves it), but in my opinion too many people have been hurt because they liked the game TOO much. I wouldn't risk it. All role playing has its dangers. Random person: Is that why you play it? Jareena: Um... yeah...

The sun was sinking now, the sky a glinting blood red. Black smoke drew sulfurous lines against it, the compliments of our mercinary friends. The mage and dragon scum were certainly making a mess of things. Thanks to the crystal in a staff, the flying scurges burst into flame and crashed into the homes we couldn't evacuate fast enough. Overhead, a black and red dragon tumbled and spun in the air, locked in combat with a giant, winged insect. Shifter to shifter. Leather flapped wildly, claws scratched madly. The two of them collided with the city wall, rolled over its edge, and tumbled out of sight into the forest. My eyes traveled to the mage, who had climbed onto a flaming roof to fight the syrakks. I doubted it had been flaming before he got there. He seemed to have noticed his partner's disappearance, as well. He fired two more hot blasts from his staff, then jumped onto a bug's back and vaulted himself over the wall, as well. I could only imagine how he had landed. Magicians... I cursed my celtic dress, forcing me to ride side-saddle as I helped the overworked soldiers to guide our people out of their homes and toward the gates. Shunning rules of conduct, I moved in the saddle to have one leg on either side of my horse. My skirts consequently pushed up to my knees, but it mattered little in this hubbub. I urged Brezza around and began galloping through the cobblestone streets, in the opposite direction of the gate. The people grew fewer as I traveled on. I caught sight of my father's face, red and angry, as Brezza and I passed. He began to shout for me to stop, knowing what I was about to do, but I never looked back. I am a warrior, not a noblewoman. I will not stand idly and leave our rescue to bumbling magicians. Brezza slowed to a halt in the now-empty castle stables. He and I were usually of one mind, and the horse knew I would jump from his back the moment we neared the ajoining armory. He waited patiently as I rushed inside to take off my dress, picking up the nearest squire-sized armor. My eyes wandered to my full suit for only a moment. It was heavy, and I would need more freedom and maneuverability in fighting the syrakk. No time for shin guards, either, I decided, and pulled on a pair of high boots. I fastened some wristguards, reached for a sword and dagger, and gripped a sturdy dwarven lance with gold blade. Despite the plight of Crystlin, I found myself sighing in relief; I felt the adrenaline rush of a wonderful battle. This was what I was born to do... I jumped onto Brezza's back a second time, much more freely I noted. He was excited, too. He reared and turned sharply, galloping into the courtyard and through the open castle gates, back to the city. ~¤~ Ryuu was slowing from loss of blood now. Perhaps it was not so easily regenerated. Weakly, she leaned against a forest tree for balance, swiping with her tail and claws. A dragon's neck arched and lunged, arched and lunged in a snakelike fashion. The Father Syrakk was in a half bug, half dragon form himself, and the senseless creature was smart enough to know it was winning. Other insects were present, smaller but equally dangerous. Distarius was standing between them and Ryuu, knocking, blocking and blasting with his magic staff. A beetle claw parried and nearly knocked it from his hand. He leaned to the left and groped, managing not to drop it, but leaving himself wide open. A claw tore his robe, and possibly his chest as well. I couldn't tell. My vision was blocked momentarily as I lowered a helmet over my head. I hadn't bothered to undo my royal braid, so I simply pulled it through the custom-made hole in the back. Groping my lance in both hands, I urged Brezza forward. He raised his hooves and burst through the brush into the small clearing. Six of the smaller bugs turned from Distarius in surprise. Brezza's hooves flashed and broke the first chitin body we reached. A second syrakk attached from the right. I swung the butt-end of my lance, turning to the left to jab at another Syrakk with the blade end. The sharp edge severed a head. The next attack rapidly succeeded the last. I leaned, Brezza's signal to whirl aside. He bucked at the syrakk all on his own. I whistled for him to run in a wide circle, freed my legs from the stirrups, and leaped away. My feet struck hard earth. A claw swiped at my head. I ducked it. My lance plunged into the syrakk's heart, or what might have been a heart. I sensed another attack behind me and whirled to face it, but my lance would not come free from the syrakk. I let it go for now and made a defenive somersault over the new attacker's head. I landed behind it, the monster out of sight for a moment. When I turned to face it, I felt my mind freeze. I was facing myself. The syrakk had mimicked my height and width, the very design of my armor, the flow of my unbraiding hair, perfectly. How could it be so powerful? I crossed myself and whispered a prayer, reaching for my dagger a moment too late. Still grasping the handle, I was tackled by my clone and knocked to the grass. The helmet's dark eyes were before me. I was aware of the heavy breathing in my own helmet, the blast of Distarius's staff somewhere behind me, the weakening snarl of his dragon friend. This strange eye in our storm lasted several moments, and I wondered what a carbon copy of me could possibly do to me. Then I felt an excruciating pain in my shoulders were the syrakk gripped me. It was growing claws! I struggled, but the claws continued to curl deep into my flesh. I bent my knee under the syrakk's stomach. Its weight lifted and I was finally able to unsheath my dagger. Its incredibly sharp blade plunged straight through the mimicked armor and into a heart just like my own. There was another drawn out pause. The claws recoiled from my shoulder, and the syrakk fell aside. I jumped to my feet, thanking the Father for the rush of adrenaline temporarily numbing my pain. Five lines of blood ran down each of my shoulders as I drew my sword. The first syrakk I saw took three successive slashes and fell. I was about to turn to its partner when a line of fire knocked it out of reach and into the trees. I sent a hot look to Distarius, who couldn't see my face but probably read my body language. Then we turned away from each other to fight the fresh bugs approaching from the trees. I speculated that they were being called by the humming abdomen of the Father Syrakk, whom Ryuu was still fighting. Or trying to fight. ¤Can't keep this up much longer!¤ the strained, echoing voice resounded. "Fall back!" Distarius said to her. "You're no good dead!" I could sense the dragon shrinking back behind me. I peeked in that direction between swordthrusts to see that she was shifting into a small bird. The Father Syrakk advanced, but she flew away into the trees. ¤I'll be back!¤ My opponent crumpled in pieces. I spun a wide circle. There was Distarius. There was Brezza. There was the Father Syrakk. No others were in sight. Distarius managed to quip as he caught his breath and took a battle stance. "Father Syrakk down, and we'll be collecting our payment before the sun disappears." Judging by the color of the sky, I'd say that time was close. Well, the Two had not done much to earn their payment yet, if my opinion counted for anything. Unfortunately, it rarely does. We were about to face off the humming mantis-dragon when a loud buzzing reached our ears. Our opponent seemed to be expecting it, as he did not move. Six yards away, we glanced up at the sky, I cursing the obstructed view within my helmet. The sky went from red to a sudden, ominous black. The buzz was deafening. Thousands of winged creatures streammed overhead, going east. The Father Syrakk crouched low and buzzed one more time, then flapped his dragon wings and shot into the air with the rest of them. Distarius and I were left standing in the field as the horde passed overhead. I pulled off my helmet and gulped the fresh air, ignoring the stenches permeating around me. (Especially from Distarius). "The Thinron Mountains," I said. "They're headed for the Thinron Mountains." Distarius glanced at me before returning his gaze to the flying horde. Then he looked at me again, eyes wider. "Jareena Faye?!" I nodded. With my helmet removed, he recognized me as the lord mayor's daughter. "The Hold of Bakurus is in the mountain pass. That's where most of Crystlin's people are going, trying to find refuge from the Syrakk. They'll be overcome by dawn, most likely. Sooner, if those monsters fly the whole way." I whistled, and Brezza trotted over to stand behind me. "Do us all a favor and leave your weak magic behind. I don't think we require your... services." I pulled my lance free and jumped onto Brezza's back. "Weak magic?" Distarius demanded. "Who's got weak magic!" I smirked at him. "Weren't your robes white this afternoon?" He looked down at his robes, torn here, singed there, stained halfway to the waste with sewage, and completely covered in blood. I nudged Brezza, and we galloped into the trees for the road to the mountain pass.

Hey guys look I joined! I'm gonna write okay? Can I? Just nobody shoot... I'll be back tomorrow morning. It's 11:30 right now and I don't want to give the effort. I can't even make a good sentence right now. Night... love you.