TITLE: LORDS OF MAGIC 1 - THE ELVES AUTHOR: DONNILEE E-MAIL: DONNILEE@SNET.NET RATING: PG-13 (This portion). (Yeah, I know. Miracles never cease! CATEGORY: MSR SPOILERS: NOT A ONE. SUMMARY: Mulder and Scully find themselves on a magical world no one ever knew existed. They must fight for their lives and the lives of others if they are to ever make it back home again. DISCLAIMER: All characters used from the show, The X-Files, are the property of Chris Carter, Ten Thirteen Productions, and Fox Broadcasting. No copyright infringement intended. No money made here. DISCLAIMER 2: All references to elements of the game, The Lords of Magic, belong to the creators of the computer game, Sierra Games. No copyright infringement intended. I have not just stolen characters as I have in the X-Files. This time I've stolen an entire universe! Just showing that I'm an equal opportunity thief! THANKS: To my beta readers Cratkinson, FatCat, and XochiLuvr, who keep me from making major boo-boos and looking stupid. I really appreciate it. Go team! Thanks so much. This one has been beta read to death! Any errors herein are mine alone. DEDICATION: I would like to dedicate this story to my late grandmother, Blanche Claire Wright Green Taylor, better known as 'Tot'. She was Mahopac, Native American, and was probably the first person to excite my imagination, as she was a storyteller to end all storytellers. She entertained my sister and me for hours by reciting epic poems and stories, filled with adventure and happy endings. She couldn't read well and she couldn't spell for shit, but she had what counted most; an unlimited supply of unconditional love and an imagination without limits. She died over a decade ago, in her own bed, at home, at the age of 84. I still miss her. So thanks to my Gramma Tot, for making me believe imagination can take you far. XXXXXXXXXX PROLOGUE (PG) SPACESHIP SOMEWHERE IN SPACE MAY 2004 We sat in an unadorned room on the floor. Scully was in my lap and we were just holding one another. We'd been abducted, again. At least this time they'd taken us together. So far, no experiments, no separating us. We had no idea what their plans were for us but we both knew they couldn't be good. Despite the assurance of the bounty hunters that had subdued us, I was not convinced that we weren't going to be killed. After all, being kidnapped, injected with an anesthesia, and waking up in a seamless grey room wasn't a real confidence builder. "What are we going to do, Mulder?" Scully asked again. We had been going over all our options since we woke up. So far, we hadn't been able to come up with a viable plan. I looked down at her and kissed her on the forehead. "There's nothing to do, Scully, but wait them out. I'll try like hell to make sure we aren't separated, but I can't make any promises." Her pale face spoke louder than words. Scully was terrified that this was a repeat of the previous three-month abduction she couldn't remember. At least this time I was with her and not frantically searching the ends of the earth for her. "I know you can't," she said. She wrapped her arms around my waist and settled down to sleep. In moments her soft breathing was slow and even. I was moved beyond words at the level of trust this implied. 'I'll do my best to keep you safe, Scully,' I thought. 'Or die trying.' The lights dimmed and eventually I fell asleep curled around her. XXXXXXXXXX THE NEXT DAY They brought us surprisingly good breakfast food, so I assumed it was another day. Lunch and dinner weren't bad either. I had no idea if they ate the same things we did. I had no idea if they even needed to eat, for that matter. However, they seemed to be interested in keeping us healthy. We had been kept in this barren room and given slim foam pads to sleep on, two blankets, and no pillows. We had searched the entire room, and the only openings we had found were for the small bathroom closet and the locked exit. We'd spent a restless night curled up together. We had planned a hike and picnic for a rare, free Saturday morning. I had just arrived early at Scully's apartment, anticipating the long drive to the park, when they abducted us. We were wearing jeans, boots and sturdy flannel work shirts over tee shirts. It was the end of summer, coming on fall, but still chilly at times. We had been thankful for the warm clothing during the night. Suddenly, the entire room shuddered. We gasped and abandoned our dinners, watching the trays slide across the floor and crash into the wall. Scully scrambled over to me on her hands and knees and I gathered her up in my arms, scooting back until my back was wedged in the corner of the square room and she was sitting between my legs. The room began to pitch and cant back and forth. I braced my feet on the floor, as did Scully and we held on to each other as best we could. It felt as if the room began to spin like that teacup ride at the fairs. I thought I was going to be sick and turned my head away from Scully just in case I was. I'm sure she wouldn't appreciate me blowing chunks all over her. I didn't get sick but I felt a sudden drop in the air pressure. I was gasping, trying to catch my breath, as was Scully when a high- pitched whining sound invaded our ears. I felt a huge wave of nausea and then everything went black. XXXXXXXXXX SOMETIME LATER I woke to find that I had a splitting headache. I groaned and tried to open my eyes. Only one would open. The other was swollen shut. I must have bumped my head on something. I spotted Scully; face down several feet away from me. The floor was pitched at a precarious angle so I slid on my belly to her and shook her shoulder. "Scully, can you hear me?" I nearly panicked when I got no response, my fingers racing to her neck. She had a strong pulse and seemed otherwise uninjured, so I carefully moved her onto her back. Spittle was dried to the corner of her mouth and there was a bruise on her cheek. I ran my hands all down her body looking for damage. I couldn't find anything obvious. I levered up onto my knees and pulled her head into my lap. "Scully, please wake up," I begged, petting her hair. She moaned softly and her eyelids fluttered. She opened her eyes and tried to smile. Then she groaned, closed her eyes again and tried to sit up. She was dizzy and fell back down. "Don't move just yet," I urged. "What happened?" "I don't know. We're not moving." "I couldn't tell if we were before," she said. "I couldn't either really, but this feels different. Remember? It felt like we were floating, sort of. This feels stable. There's no movement or vibrations." She finally levered up onto one elbow and looked at my face. "Oh my God, Mulder, you're hurt." I shooed her hands away. "Bumped my eye; it's nothing." I wiped the corner of her mouth with the cuff of my shirt. Once again I was thankful that my partner was going to be all right. "Can we open the door?" she asked. "I don't know, I haven't tried," I informed her. We gingerly got to our feet, bracing ourselves on the wall for support. After a few moments, I gained my equilibrium. "I feel heavy here." "Yeah, me too," she replied. The lighter gravity of the ship we'd been on had obviously been disconcerting to her, too. "It feels more like the gravity we're used to. Maybe we're back home." We made our way to the adjacent wall, noticing only now that the door was bent at the top. I pushed my hand against the bar that ran across it. The last time I tried this, it didn't work. To my surprise, it hissed and groaned and then flew open, as though a vacuum lock has been released. It whipped away from me and banged into the wall. We peered out into a nondescript hallway. The walls were the same material as our room. It looked like brushed steel. The floor was tilted, but not as badly as in the room. We walked out into the hallway, one hand on each wall for balance and gingerly made our way down the passage. Lights flashed on and off sporadically in ceiling above us. Several hallways branched off but we kept going straight. Finally the corridor came to an end and we had to turn left. I gasped as I turned the corner. This hallway was littered with bodies, alien bodies. They no longer looked like bounty hunters. They were tall, thin, and had gray skin and large, dark eyes. We carefully stepped over them and continued to make our way down the hall, peering into rooms with open doors. Equipment was sparking and trashed throughout the ship. Luckily, the ventilation system seemed to be controlling the smoke. "Jesus, Mulder. We have to get out of here." "Where is here?" "I have no idea, but we have to find a way to figure it out," she asserted. "Yeah, let's keep looking." After a while we came across what I could only assume to be their galley/kitchen. We found a large tote sack and stuffed it with edible foods and canteens of water. Moving down the hall we found another door that appeared to be on an outside wall. It was on the right and all the other doorways had been on the left. We couldn't open it. There were no handles. You could barely see the seams where it fit into the wall. We kept moving, exploring the rooms along this outside corridor. The next room we found had a collection of all kinds of primitive weapons. Scully chose what appeared to be a stiletto dagger of some kind. I took an old fashioned sword. She managed to put the dagger through her belt loop and I found a small scabbard harness for the sword that would loop over one shoulder. I whistled and said, "They must have collected these way back when." "Scary that they've been watching us for that long, huh?" she commented. We continued investigating and found what looked like a control room. We split up and began to push any buttons we could find on the complex panel. We watched view screens display various areas of the ship. I finally found a button that activated a screen with four squares. Each square showed a door. "I think I found something, Scully," I yelled. She came over and looked at the screen. We couldn't read the strange markings on the panel but knew that it must identify the location of each of the doors. "What if we open that door and we die because of atmosphere or pressure?" she asked. I looked at her. "If we stay in here we're going to die anyway." She nodded and we stared at each other for several long moments. I pulled her to me and kissed her hard. Then it softened and she kissed me back. I felt myself shudder at the contact and a tear squeezed out of my swollen eye socket. "I love you, Mulder," she whispered. I tried to smile but it hurt too much. "I love you too, Scully. If we make it out of here alive, things are going to change." She nodded. "Let's go for it, Partner." "Or would you rather change things first?" I asked as fear of the unknown flooded me. "What do you mean?" "Do you want to make love?" I asked, suddenly bold in the face of our impending doom. "We've crashed. There's no telling what's on the other side of that door. We could stay in here a while." She shook her head. "We've waited this long, Mulder. Nothing is going to change my mind about my feelings for you. When we make love, it's going to be on a bed," she quipped. She was trying to lighten the mood and I appreciated it. "Okay, here goes," I warned her. I was disappointed, but I kissed her again, just because it felt so damn good and I finally felt I had the right. I just hoped we didn't die before we got the chance to consummate this relationship. XXXXXXXXXX PART 1 (PG) PLANET URAK SKULLDOWN DEATH TERRITORY We pushed a few buttons and it seems that there was still electricity, or whatever their form of power was, in some places on ship. We heard a loud pop and a rushing sound. We moved back out into the hall and the door we had passed earlier was partially open about two feet. The corner of it was buried in black, rocky soil. The tote had a long handle and I draped it over my shoulder diagonally so it would hang on my body and I wouldn't have to hold onto it. I had the scabbard over the other shoulder. We squeezed through the opening and looked up into a cloudy, gray sky. If I had to pick one word to describe our crash site, it would be desolate. The ground was black and rock-strewn, with no apparent vegetation for miles. We appeared to be in some sort of basin. I could see mountains in the distance. We made a circuit of the crashed ship and could see nothing for miles but the desolate, bleak landscape. The clouds roiled overhead as though a storm were coming. "Where are we?" she asked. "I have no idea but it doesn't look good." "At least the air is breathable," she commented. "Yeah, but it stinks," I replied. "I say we head for the mountains," she said, pointing to the horizon. "Why the mountains?" I asked. "More chance of finding water. We have these big canteens but they won't last long. We have to find fresh water." "I don't have any better ideas," I said dully. "There isn't anything in the other directions for as far as the eye can see." We held hands and began hiking at a fairly brisk pace. I didn't want to tire out too easily so we didn't rush but kept working our way steadily toward the mountains on the horizon. "Jesus, maybe there's nothing here," I commented. "Well, we're breathing the atmosphere. If we can survive here, there must be life somewhere." "It's possible we're still on earth, some sort of testing site or something," I suggested. No sooner were the words out of my mouth then I heard a screech that nearly deafened me. Over a small rise in what I thought was flat ground, a shape appeared. It was a man-type creature riding on the back of what looked like the largest Komodo dragon I'd ever seen. The thing was moving fast and coming straight for us. I pulled the sword out of its scabbard and Scully drew her dagger. We split up, each taking a side as it bore down on us. No way did these creatures exist on Earth. I could see that the skin of the rider was an inhuman shade of coal black and his hair was snow-white. As he drew closer, I noticed that his ears rose in points, almost reaching the top of his head. The rider raised what looked like a sickle, a long curved blade atop a wooden pole. He shouted again and swung it in an arc. I dove to the side and he barely missed me. I gripped the sword with both hands and swung around in a circle as I rose to my feet. Putting all my strength into it, I lashed at the large body of the creature he rode and sliced across its rear leg. It screeched again and I covered my ear with one hand. God, it hurt! He circled around to make another pass. I looked for Scully and couldn't see her. Then I saw a flash of red over to my left as she threw her blade at the rider. It landed with a solid thunk sound as the blade sliced into his chest. He screamed and toppled off the lizard. The beast continued to charge me and I dodged again, slashing at the front leg as it whipped by. The lizard bellowed again in pain, but as it turned this time its long tail whipped around and caught me in the side. I was lifted high into the air and flung nearly ten feet. I screamed in pain as the concussion reverberated through my whole body when I landed on the hard packed soil. I heard Scully shout, "Mulder!" She was trying to avoid the thing and circle around to me. I was relieved to see that she had retrieved her long dagger from the body of the man. The lizard set its sights on her as it raised its head, snorted, and then began to charge toward her with a limping gait. It now had one front leg and one back leg injured. Blood poured from the cuts. Other than the limp, it didn't seem to notice its wounds. I shouted, "Scully, run!" From behind me, I heard horse hooves and spun around as I bent over to pick up my sword. Nine horsemen and their apparent leader appeared behind me. The horses looked like regular horses except that they were pink. Pink horses! The tenth man sat atop what looked like a baby dinosaur. It was green and wore a saddle. He shouted to me, "Fort Too, Fort Too." I had no idea what that meant. He motioned for me to get out of the way. I ran to the side to avoid being trampled and dove for the ground. I saw Scully heading for me, the big ugly brown lizard right behind her. I was terrified that she wasn't going to make it. At the last minute, the horsemen cut in between her and the lizard, surrounding the beast. They rode in a circle around it, whistling and shouting, trying to confuse the dragon. Some of the men had long swords and others had bows and arrows. Scully took advantage of their attack and rushed to my side. They riddled the beast with arrows and cuts from their swords, nimbly dodging out of the way of its powerful jaws and tail. Finally, it groaned and fell to the ground, breathing hard. Its breath was even more foul than before. All but one of the horsemen backed off. He took careful aim and shot an arrow straight into the roof of its mouth. I cringed when I saw the gigantic, pointed teeth lining its jaws. It grunted once and then went completely limp. It was dead, or so I hoped. The man on the green dinosaur-like creature dismounted and walked up to us. He pointed to the ship on the horizon about a mile behind us. I nodded. "Cam dow langora," he said, or something like that. I shrugged and held up my hands to indicate I didn't understand. He tried several other phrases, but nothing made any sense to me. He waved to the man behind him. "Joachim!" One of the other men with both a long sword and a quiver strapped to his back dismounted and approached. They were both large blonde men, with long, straight hair that was easily waist length. I noticed their ears were pointed like the black man's were. He looked at us and said, "Are you an other-worlder?" He asked it in perfect English. I nodded, shocked to hear English coming out of his mouth. "We're from Earth." He frowned. "Earth?" "That's the name of our planet. We were abducted by the aliens on Earth before their ship crashed here." "The tall gray people?" he asked. I nodded. "Yes, we call them aliens. We aren't the same race. We are human." He licked his lips. "The other-worlders taught me their language and yours but never mentioned the name of your planet. We can have you outfitted with translators." "Translators? Where are we?" Scully asked. "You're on Urak." "Is that the name of this planet?" she inquired, looking around at the desolate landscape. He nodded. "Yes, but you happened to crash in Skulldown." "What's that?" she asked. "Death Territory," he said. "What galaxy are we in?" I asked, the question sounding strange, even to me. "The other-worlders have told us we are in the Andromeda Galaxy," he answered. Our wide eyes must have indicated that we didn't understand and were primed to ask a lot more questions. The man who appeared to be the leader spoke to him quickly in the language I didn't understand. Then he turned back to us. "We have to get out of here. We were on a reconnaissance mission when we saw the ship crash. We're on the outskirts of Skulldown, but we'll be discovered if we stay here too long. I'll take you," he said, pointing to Scully. "Dorian will take you," he said, pointing to me. "We'll get someplace safe and then we'll talk. What are your names?" "I'm Mulder, and this is my partner, Scully." He nodded. "Well, let's go." We followed them back to their mounts and they jumped up with surprising agility and then strong-armed us up into the saddles behind them. I took some time to observe Dorian as we began cantering off to the northeast, away from the westward trek we'd chosen. As we rode, I began to notice that although at first glance they appeared to be human, there were subtle differences. They all had surprisingly high cheekbones and narrow chins. They all had blonde hair, tucked behind ears that rose to a point and reached almost to the crowns of their heads. They were very tall, all appearing to be near or over six feet tall, but they were all willowy and thin, although clearly muscular. As demonstrated already, they were stronger than they looked. We reached the edge of the blackened ground and it slowly gave way to sand. Some stunted bushes appeared here and there and the ground now looked like red clay. We rode on and slowed from our hasty cantering retreat. We came to what looked like a pond and they all dismounted and led their mounts to the water, where they drank thirstily. Joachim approached me and said, "How are you doing?" "All right," I said. "I'm shook up, a little scared," I added truthfully. He nodded. "You should be scared in Skulldown. Nasty place." "You're not human, are you?" I blurted. He smiled congenially and said, "No, we're Plains Elves." Scully just stood there with a frightened, disbelieving look on her face. "You're Elves?" she asked, sounding slightly sarcastic. I shot her a glance that warned her to be polite. He merely smiled at her. "Other-worlders always have that reaction at first. We're not the only race here, either. We're about to pass through Red Valley. Our territory, Life Plains, lies on the other side of it." "Who lives in Red Valley?" I asked. He grinned. "Giants." "Giants?" I repeated. He chuckled. "They are fire worshipers." "Great! Fire giants!" I said flippantly. "Not to worry. We have an understanding with them. Their territory and city is called Cyneraayt. This valley at the base of the mountain range they call Red Valley." "What do you mean by 'understanding'?" Scully asked. "If we don't mess with them, they don't mess with us and they let us through their territory for patrols. Just don't kill anything or steal anything on the way through and we'll be fine." I took a deep breath and blew it out through pursed lips. "Is there any chance of our going home?" I asked. "What galaxy are you from? I don't recognize this planet you say you are from. Earth, was it?" "Yeah, Earth, in the Milky Way galaxy." "Hmmm, never heard of it, but I'm a warrior." He shrugged. He spoke rapidly to Dorian again and then turned back to us. "He said we will take you to Ashante when we get home. She's our spiritual leader." "Like a priestess?" Scully asked. He nodded. "She's one of the eight most powerful mages on the planet. She, along with Anzwen, her mate, rule over the Life Plains." "What is Anzwen?" I asked. "Besides a ruler," I qualified. "He's like what you would call a king." "Ah, so what is Dorian?" I asked. He glanced at Dorian. "He's the head of the military. All the captains answer to him. He answers only to Anzwen. He runs a full platoon of a hundred men. He's has ten captains under him, each with their own troop of ten men. He's practically Anzwen's right hand. We're a troop, which consists of nine men from our platoon that do reconnaissance. Our regular captain is getting handfasted this week, so Dorian took his troop out." "Are you at war?" I asked. He looked grim. "Not yet, but we'll talk more about that later." "You didn't answer my question," I reminded him. "Is there a way for us to go home?" "I honestly don't know. Ashante will have to tell you what your options are." XXXXXXXXXX CYNERAAYT RED VALLEY FIRE GIANT TERRITORY TWO HOURS LATER According to Joachim, we were skirting the edge of the Red Valley. We ran into a few of these giants he spoke of and he wasn't kidding. The first one was easily ten feet tall and had the shoulders and barrel chest to match. Their skin was red as though perpetually sunburned and they were all bald, even the women. The few women we saw in the villages we passed through were easily nine feet tall and bulky like the men, although slightly less broad, not fat, but very solid and broad shouldered. They watched silently as we passed through, not offering conversation but not bothering us either. They were obviously curious about us, staring openly. The red clay gave way to packed sand and that in turn gave way to areas riddled with rivers and streams of what appeared to be molten lava. It steamed and bubbled. I hoped nobody fell in. It was hot and our shirts were drenched with sweat by the time we left their territory, riding above the lava and on through a small mountain pass. I felt slightly claustrophobic as we traveled through the narrow pass, single file. To my relief, it opened up into a whole new world of rolling hills and grassy plains. The sky was bright and sunny. The cool breeze made the climate perfect. The Elves whooped and began to canter, and then gallop across the fields, obviously happy to be home. We passed through villages and small towns where vendors seemed to be hawking their wares on the street in true bazaar fashion. Finally we came to a great walled city. Joachim informed us that we were entering the capital city of Astarte. After passing over a moat on a large drawbridge, we entered a courtyard. The palace could be seen in the center, rising up several stories high. Great white limestone pillars spiraled into the sky, capped with gold domes. It was truly beautiful. Blossoming trees with yellow flowers on them ringed the palace. We followed a road that ran alongside the circular walls of the city, passing all kinds of shops. The streets were teeming with Elves. I didn't see one other human. Finally, we arrived at some stables. Grooms took the horses, and whatever this thing was that Dorian and I were riding, away. The men all grasped each other's forearms in camaraderie and then went their separate ways. Joachim and Dorian motioned for us to follow them and we crossed the street into what appeared to be a barracks, with rows of bunk beds and footlocker-type chests. Once we reached the back, we passed through a door into an office. A majestic-looking elf sat behind an enormous wooden desk. I'd noticed as we'd passed through the streets that not all of them were blonde. Some were redheads and some were brunettes. There were even a few with black hair but they seemed rare. This man had long black hair reaching to his waist on his six-foot frame. It hung unbound, unlike Dorian's and Joachim's, which were bound at the back of their necks with small leather thongs. He stood and came around the front of the desk. Dorian spoke to him the rapid language we didn't understand, pointing and gesturing to us as he did. We stood quietly holding hands. The man eyed us speculatively and said something in return. Joachim turned and said, "This is Anzwen, our King. He has told us to take you and let you clean up, give you new clothes and then take you to Ashante. He will send word to have a chamber made up for you in the palace. After that, they will meet with you and talk some more." Out of some sort of instinct, Scully and I both bowed to him. He seemed pleased and smiled. We turned and left, following our appointed guardians. Scully whispered, "Is it just me, or do you feel like we just fell down the rabbit hole?" I chuckled at her levity, glad that she wasn't freaking out. For all my belief in extreme possibilities, nothing had prepared us for this kind of extreme; a strange planet, teeming with foreign people of different races. On Earth, humans were the only sentient life form with complex language, clearly at the top of the food chain, dolphins and other such creatures notwithstanding. Here it seemed the Elves were not the only race. We knew of the Fire Giants and whatever that thing was that came after us. I didn't know what it had been, but it wasn't an Elf and it wasn't a Fire Giant. I had a feeling our education was just beginning. XXXXXXXXXX ASTARTE PALACE THE BATH QUARTERS We were led to a gigantic room with sunken tubs made of smooth, golden stone. Warm water was bubbling up into them from some mysterious place. "Must be warm water springs under here or something," Scully said reasonably. We were given clothes by young Elves that appeared to be servants and left to it. We climbed in one of the gigantic tubs naked. I couldn't help looking at her body. I actually blushed when she caught me and she smiled. "Go ahead, I'm looking at you too," she said. We both chuckled awkwardly but that didn't stop us from continuing to look at each other. We took what appeared to be cakes of soap from the ledge around the tubs, lathered up, and dipped under the water to rinse off. The water was easily five feet deep and beautifully warm. I wanted to kiss her again but didn't want to start something I couldn't finish. Our legs kept brushing against one another and I became tense. I wanted her badly but I didn't dare make a move right now. Once we were dried off, we dressed in the suede pants and gauzy tunics provided for us. They'd also given us leather sandals to wear and a couple of burlap-type bags to put our dirty clothes, shoes, and weapons in. There was a knock on the door and another very young, Elven girl we'd not seen before stood there. She motioned for us to follow her and we were led down a long hallway that made several turns. We finally came upon big double wooden doors that were intricately carved. Joachim was waiting for us there, flanked by two others that stood sentinel at the door. They were obviously guards of some kind but their uniforms were unlike those we had seen previously. He saw me looking the guards up and down and said, "They are palace guards. It's another division of the military that protects the royal family. Six are assigned to Anzwen and Ashante at all times." The guards opened the doors and we passed into a huge room with vaulted ceilings. The floor was pure white marble and there were skylights in the ceiling. I couldn't tell if there was glass in them, but the room was light and warm. We saw a raised dais with two ornate chairs on it but no one was sitting in them. We were led around the right of the dais and found another door. Joachim knocked three times and a sultry, low feminine voice called out, "Enter." Joachim opened the door and motioned for us to precede him. We passed through and found ourselves in a type of parlor room, with a large, round table, surrounded by eight chairs. There was a sofa in one corner. Sitting at the table was a female Elf draped in a toga outfit of bright yellow that reminded me of the ancient Romans. Over the toga she wore a flowing, yellow robe with white trim, which was more like a cape, open in the front. The collar of the robe was held together with a gold pin in the shape of a five-pointed star. Her hair was long, straight, and platinum blonde, almost white. It hung to her waist, fettered only by a gold circlet. The circlet was decorated with an intricate moon-shaped crescent made of crystal that rested in the middle of her forehead. The moon shaped crystal was obviously a symbol of some importance as well as holding her mane of hair out of her face. She smiled pleasantly and said in perfect English, "Sit down and be welcome. I am Ashante." We sat gingerly in the chairs offered, both off to her right. Joachim sat on her left. There were pastries and a pot of some sort of hot beverage on the table. "Are you hungry or thirsty?" We nodded. She pointed to the things on the table. "Help yourselves," she offered. We took the gauzy, linen napkins provided and put them on the table in front of us. We each took a pastry and poured what appeared to be tea into sizeable stoneware mugs. Once that was accomplished, she said, "I understand your ship crashed in Skulldown." I finished chewing the piece of delicious pastry and said, "It wasn't our ship, but yes, we crashed." "To whom did the ship belong?" she inquired. Joachim broke in and said, "The gray other-worlders, My Lady." She nodded. "Why were you with them?" I cleared my throat and took another sip of tea. Scully saved me from having to answer when she said, "They'd abducted us. We don't know what their purpose was this time. They've done experiments on us before," she explained. "We regained consciousness on their ship and found ourselves locked in a room with no furniture. We were only aware of two days and one night passing. The next thing we knew, we were being pitched all over the place." Scully took a sip of tea and then continued, "We must have been knocked out for a while when we crashed, because we woke up and discovered that we were the only ones who had survived. The ship was half buried in the ground so we assume the impact killed them. We finally found our way out you know the rest of the story." Ashante looked at us for a moment before she spoke again. "You are Human," she stated. I nodded. "Yes and we aren't familiar with your planet." She smiled. "Very few people know we exist. The other-worlders found us by accident. Since then, they have been back several times. They have abducted some of our own people from time to time. We are very cautious in our dealing with these beings. Dorian said you were set upon by a death warrior and doing a credible job of warding him off." I huffed. "I don't know about that, but we were still alive. We didn't even know what it was." She had a very serious expression on her face. "Skulldown is where the death worshipers live. They are lovers of evil only. We call them Drow. They study the dark arcane arts. Their mages are Necromancers. They are our sworn enemies," she explained. Scully put a hand on her forehead, shielding her eyes and looking down at the table. "Are you all right?" I asked quietly. She peered up at me and removed her hand. "I'm just finding this all a bit much to take in." Ashante smiled gently. "I'd imagine so, especially if your planet only has humans on it." "Well, we have animals and different races of humans, but we don't have multiple sentient species like you're talking about," I explained. She nodded. "Well, let's see if I can fill you in. Have another pastry, please," she encouraged. XXXXXXXXXX PART 2 (PG) ASTARTE PALACE She whistled and a door at the back of the room opened and a young girl came in, the same one that had led us here. "Dova, please get our guests some raw vegetables." "Don't go to any trouble," Scully said. Ashante smiled as the girl ducked out. "No trouble. I see you are hungry and pastry isn't going to satisfy you if you're really ravenous. Forgive me; I didn't have time to have a meal prepared." "Perfectly all right," Scully said. "We're very grateful to your soldiers for rescuing us. I don't think we would have survived if they hadn't come along." Ashante looked at Joachim. "Did you search him?" He nodded and opened a small pouch that was attached to his belted tunic. He withdrew some rough looking papers curled into a scroll, a dagger, and a length of purple rope about six inches long with a tassel on the end. He laid the items on the table. Her gaze went to the purple rope. She turned to us. "You are lucky. He was a Drow Chief. They are skilled warriors. By the Goddess, what was he doing alone, do you suppose?" she asked rhetorically. Joachim shrugged. "Maybe he met up with trouble on his journey." "Unusual," she said and pulled the papers toward her. She frowned heavily and spread them on the table, holding the curled edges flat with her delicate hands. They appeared to be thick parchment and blank. "Hold this corner," she instructed Joachim. He did and she lifted her right hand, wiping it over the parchment on a diagonal. She whispered to herself and then did it again. Black scrapings appeared on the page like hieroglyphs. I couldn't read it, obviously, but the words appeared before our eyes. Scully gasped and Ashante looked up, smiling. Then her eyes went back to the paper and moved back and forth over the etchings in what appeared to be black ink. She finally straightened and let go of the paper. So did Joachim and it rolled back into a scroll. Joachim asked, "What was it?" "Instructions to kidnap a Gnome named Trillbury." "A Gnome?" Scully asked, clearly baffled. Ashante looked at her and said, "Yes, they are smaller cousins of Dwarves, and live underground in caves with them. Their territory is called Stonehaven. They worship Mother Earth. They have powerful mages, but I don't recognize this one's name. The Dwarves mine jewels and minerals, their cousins, the gnomes, provide administrative and mage services. We have heard disturbing news that the Drow are kidnapping people for sacrifices." "Are you sure it's a mage?" Joachim questioned. She raised an eyebrow at him and he looked sheepish. "Sorry." "No, it's a valid question. The symbol the Drow use for mage is next to his name in this note. The head mage there is Duvanab. I'll have to send a messenger to find out who this mage is and what they might want him for. They should be warned." Joachim frowned, "Soil-sniffers. We don't owe them anything." She looked amused and irritated at the same time. "Joachim, these are hard times. You never know where you might need help from." "We have the Amazons on our side," he countered. Scully looked at me and mouthed, 'Amazons?' I shrugged. Ashante said, "Yes, and together with the Amazons we compose only a quarter of this planet's population. The Drow are growing stronger. There have been reports that Golgoth is behind this. If that is true, we are going to need all the help we can get. It's time to start forging alliances with these people, not pushing them away," she scolded. He hung his head. "I beg your pardon, my lady." She touched his arm lightly. "I know there's no love lost between you and the Dwarves or their kin, but no one kingdom is going to stand alone against the Drow. They are too strong and getting stronger, and you know what that means." "They are making sacrifices," he muttered. She nodded gravely. "Suppose they are making mage sacrifices." He pulled in a breath and said, "They wouldn't dare!" She just stared at him before saying, "Oh, I bet they would, and that may be why they are growing so strong. We need to learn all we can about their magic if we're going to counteract it." "We are the planet's best chance against the Drow. We know them best and our magic is the most destructive to them," he argued. "Yes, but we are outnumbered, Joachim," she reminded him. "Grossly outnumbered." He nodded. "Okay, so what of our guests?" She turned to us. "We've prepared a room for you." Scully asked, "One room?" Ashante raised her brows. "I assumed you were mates." Scully opened her mouth to protest and I said, "We are, one room is fine." The corner of her lips curled up slightly. "Ah, you are mates but not handfasted, right?" "Handfasted?" I asked. "It is our mating commitment to one another." "Ah, like marriage," I said looking at Scully. "I don't know the word 'marriage'," she admitted. "I speak many languages, but I'm not familiar with the Human word 'marriage'. However, it's probably so. It is a ritual whereby two people pledge themselves to one another as mates for life." "Yes," I said. "We call it marriage." "Ah, see, Joachim. You learn something new every day." She reached into her voluminous robe and found a pocket somewhere. She took out two objects. They were small, rectangular, yellow crystals with a piece of gold metal banded around the top. A flexible copper color wire made a loop on top. She held them out. "These fit over your ear. Use the loop to fasten it on your ear." "What are they?" Scully questioned. "They are translators. You will be able to understand any of the eight languages spoken on this planet while wearing them. I have spelled them to translate into your human language. In turn, your language will be understood in their own tongue." "English," I told her. "We have many languages on our planet as well." "Spelled them?" Scully inquired, still skeptical. "What have we got to lose, Scully?" I looped it over my ear. I felt a little funny having a crystal hanging below my lobe but they didn't seem to think it was odd. Scully followed suit and then Ashante began talking in her own language. I could dimly hear her unrecognizable words and louder, hear her words in English. "Pretty neat," I said. "Neat?" she asked. I shrugged and said, "Just local slang on my world for 'very nice.' Thank you very much for your generosity." I looked at Scully and could see her urge me to ask the question that was on both of our minds. "Ashante, Joachim mentioned that there may be a way for us to get home. He said that if anyone knew, it would be you." She frowned in concentration. "There is a way but there are only two portals on this planet that may lead to the Milky Way, and you would require a guide. I need to consult my astrology books. The unfortunate thing is that one of the portals is in Skulldown, virtually impossible to get to. The other is in Arkia, Chaos Territory." "What race are they?" I asked. "Barbarians. They are much like you only a bit more primitive. Don't mistake that for ignorance though. They are deadly foes." "Are you on good terms with them?" I asked. "Not really, but we might be able to negotiate. It will not be easy. We're on the verge of a war here, so you couldn't have come at a worse time." "Great," Scully muttered. Ashante smiled at her. "You have much potential," she said. Scully looked at her questioningly. "What do you mean? Potential for what?" "Magic," she said calmly. "Your healing energy is particularly strong, but it's unfocused, shooting out of you in all directions. You would need to learn to harness it, control it, and direct it where you want it to go. I can teach you." "Magic! No, I don't think so. I don't believe in magic," she blurted automatically. "Scully, you just saw her do it in front of you," I chimed in. "There's some trick to it, disappearing ink or something - a chemical that brings it out." Ashante looked amused. "I guess we can talk about it later. Many are scared of it at first." "I'm not scared!" she declared. Ashante smiled wider. "If you say so. There will come a time when you will feel the magic. You will come to me when the time is right." "Is that a prediction?" Joachim asked. "We've never known a Human mage, other than the Barbarians." She looked at him meaningfully. "Yes, I see it." "Excuse me? See what?" Scully asked, sounding irritated again. I knew she was stressed out, as was I. On the other hand, these people had saved our lives and we were in no position to be giving them a hard time. "Scully, be careful. We owe these people," I whispered, not wanting to embarrass her, but feeling like I needed to say something. Ashante answered anyway. "I am a mage, child. The Elves call us enchantresses. I am also a seer. Do you know what that is?" "No," she stated bluntly. "I divine the future sometimes. I see things that will come to pass. It is not an absolute skill of course, and possible outcomes can be altered by our actions, but I often see things. Sometimes it's an event, other times it's something specific about a person. You are a mage-born child and you will find your power here, rather than your own world. When you do, you will need a teacher. I will be that teacher." "This supposes that we are going to be here a while. I want to go home as soon as possible," she countered. Ashante smiled. "You will, but 'as soon as possible' is going to be longer than you anticipated, I'm afraid." "How long?" Scully asked quietly. Ashante hesitated. "A while," she said vaguely. "Let me heal this bruise for you, Mulder, as a demonstration." She stood and approached me, looking at me tenderly. She laid her hand over my eye and chanted under her breath, the vibration of the chant sending shivers down my spine. I felt my skin move and feel odd. When she took her hand away, the pain and swelling were gone. I opened my eye wide and blinked several times. "Wow!" I exclaimed, unable to stop my fingers from feeling around my eye. Scully looked astonished but had nothing to say at this point. The woman had just healed my bruise right in front of her. "Now, why don't you go to your chamber and get settled? I'll have one of the chambermaids bring you some more clothes to wear. You must be exhausted. We'll talk more tomorrow. I'll have Anzwen join us and fill you in on what's happening from a military standpoint. You are strangers and we don't need you stumbling into any unnecessary unpleasantness." "Why are you sharing all this with us?" I asked curiously. Joachim looked at Ashante meaningfully again. "You see something don't you?" She nodded and looked me in the face. "You are going to be a great warrior for life and the forces of good. You have been a warrior for your own cause but now you will become a warrior for ours." I snorted. "You've got to be kidding me." Now I sounded skeptical like Scully. She just smiled. "It will come to pass. Now, go sleep and regain your strength. You don't need to worry." XXXXXXXXXX We were shown to our quarters, which turned out to be an enormous room with a gigantic bed, a sofa, two armoires for clothes, and a vanity desk with a mirror. There was a connected bathroom with a sunken stone tub big enough for two. The bathroom was stocked with all sorts of soaps and perfumes. We were exhausted. Two long nightshirts had been left on the bed. We donned these and crawled into bed. I half-way expected Scully to ask me to sleep on the huge sofa. The need to be close to her was stronger than it had ever been before. She must have felt it too. She snuggled her curvy little butt back into the cup of my hips and pulled my arm over her waist. I wasn't going to argue with her. We fell instantly asleep and didn't know anything else for another twelve hours. XXXXXXXXXX ASTARTE PALACE COURT YARD THE NEXT DAY After breakfast in the morning, we were shown to a table and chairs in a humungous garden area. Ashante joined us and was chatting with us while we awaited some others for a meeting. We were sitting off to the side of the area and admiring all the vegetation, when I heard a loud whinny above us and looked up. If I hadn't seen it myself, I wouldn't have believed it. I would have told anyone else, even Scully, that they were crazy. Soaring in the sky and coming in for a landing was Anzwen astride a pure, white Pegasus. His black hair and black clothing was a stark contrast to the horse. Scully whispered, "Oh my God. I know I'm losing my mind, now." I chuckled and shook my own head. The Pegasus landed lightly and Anzwen dismounted as if it were nothing out of the ordinary. He patted the gigantic beast that stood about six feet high at the shoulder. It tossed its head and gave another whinny. "Easy, Percy," Anzwen cooed to him. The animal snorted, folded its wings, and then put his nose into the lush grass at his feet and started to munch. Anzwen strode to the table, leaning over to kiss Ashante on the cheek. "Morning, love," he greeted her. Then he sat and turned his attention to us. Scully was pointing to the animal. "What is that?" she asked weakly. He smiled. "That's my mount, Percival, Percy for short." "It's ... it's a Pegasus!" she cried out. He smiled again, looking confused. "Yes, he is a fine specimen. He's very loyal, too." "They don't exist!" she asserted. He smiled again. "Maybe not where you come from." "This is too much," she mumbled. My heart ached for my partner. Her rigid, by the book, show-me- the-science approach had abandoned her here on this planet. She was foundering in a reality that held legends and fairy tales to be the everyday norm. "I don't think they mean us any harm, Scully. If they did, we'd be dead already," I said gently. "Quite right," Ashante asserted. "You will get used to things around here, but it will take a while. The other-worlders were surprised and alarmed at many of the creatures they saw here at first as well. They seemed to feel that many of the legends of your world came from the people and creatures of Urak." "There's more?" Scully asked. "Much, much, more," Anzwen confirmed. "First, let's get better acquainted. Tell us your story and leave nothing out." "Why should we?" Scully asked suspiciously. I gave her a dirty look. Anzwen did not seem offended. "Because the more we know about you, the better we can evaluate your strengths and weaknesses, if you have any. If you want to go home, you're going to have to help us in the coming war. Unless we wipe out the minions of Skulldown completely, the chances of your going home are slim." I swallowed. "What about the other portal in Chaos Territory that you mentioned?" Ashante said, "There is a rumor that a portal exists below Arkia, in their dungeon, but no one we have contact with has ever actually seen it." "Can we ask about it?" I asked naively. Anzwen jerked an eyebrow up. "We could, but we're not on good terms with the Barbarians. We're not on bad terms either, but we have no alliance. They are a fierce and independent race. So unless we had something to offer them, I doubt they would even consider the request. If they did receive us, they'd play games for sure. They love tricking people." I sighed. "We are quite overwhelmed," I admitted. He nodded sagely. "I understand that, but nonetheless, we are headed toward a war against Skulldown. This planet is a hotbed of civil unrest. Our peoples have been warring since any of us can remember. This is the first time, however, that minions of Balgoth have left Skulldown and actually tried to conquer other territory. Therefore, something is afoot. We Elves have been mortal enemies of the Drow since the beginning of time, but this is more serious than anything we've ever seen." "So what is your plan?" I asked. "Who is Balgoth, for that matter?" "We are hoping to send an envoy of Elves and Amazons to the other territories and see if we can come to a truce and forge some sort of alliance. If we could band the rest of the races together, the Drow wouldn't stand a chance against all of us. Bolgoth is a powerful necromancer and the leader of the death warriors, a king, if you will. It is believed he is a half-demon. He worships their god, Golgoth. We have to unite the races." "Easier said than done," I concluded. He nodded sagely again. "Not an easy task at best. Most of them are probably going to want favors or tasks done to prove our good will before they will negotiate. Therefore, I need to send various people -- warriors, archers, thieves, and enchantresses. We would need to be prepared for whatever came our way. The problem is we don't want to send so many people that we leave Astarte and the plains unguarded at home." "Big dilemma," I commented, thinking that this whole thing sounded like a tactical nightmare. He nodded. "None of this is really your concern unless you end up being included in the envoy. Ashante tells me you will be, one month from now." "Really?" Scully asked skeptically. I shot Scully a look, trying to communicate with her our need to cooperate with these people. They had saved our lives, and in fact owed us nothing. She glared at me for a moment then lowered her eyes and nodded. "Scully and I are Special Agents for the Federal Bureau of Investigations on our world. We're policemen," I offered. At their quizzical looks, I tried again. "We're kind of like soldiers, but our use of weapons is limited. We try to find out who committed a crime by using our brains more than our weapon. Anzwen studied us for a moment before glancing back to Ashante. When he spoke his words surprised both Scully and me. "I would like for you, Mulder, to come with me and train with a long sword. The men said you were good with the one you had even though it was poor quality. I'd like to teach you to ride a Saurus mount and get proficient with a long sword in a battle situation. I'd also like to outfit you with armor. Scully, I am leaving you in Ashante's care. She is the head enchantress, as well as my wife, and our queen. No one knows the magical arts better than she. She will try to teach you what you need to know." "This is insane," Scully muttered for my ears only. She was clearly not happy that they would be splitting us up and I couldn't blame her. "I don't see as we have a choice," I commented quietly. She nodded. "I guess not. This is happening so fast. I keep waiting to wake up and find out this is all a dream," she said sadly. I patted her arm. "I'm afraid not, Scully. I'm afraid not." XXXXXXXXXX ASTARTE TEMPLE THE NEXT DAY The next day was a whirlwind of activity. We were introduced to the Temple. It was the most gigantic tree I'd ever seen, easily twice as big as an ancient California or Oregon Redwood on Earth, but it had leafy branches and yellow flowers sprouting all over it. It stood over five hundred feet high. Somehow the entire base of the tree was hollowed out without killing the tree. Upon entering, we could see that pews appeared to have been carved out of the very wood and were part of the tree. The same went for the ornate altar that stood at the front of the hollowed-out space and bore a carving of the tree on its front. There were no windows but the place was redolent with the smell of wax candles, which were encased in hurricane shades of spun glass to protect the tree. A fire would be disastrous in here. The glass domes protected the tree from the fire of the candle but allowed them to shed plenty of light. Ashante headed up the proceedings along with two others. They called themselves enchantresses. One was named Elvara and the other, Amandine. They led prayers and chants all worshipping nature and calling on the Sun God to aid them in their quests and provide food for the people. On the way into the city, we had seen that the villages mostly consisted of farming communities that grew the food for the entire population. Their diet was primarily vegetarian, which suited Scully fine. I was feeling a bit of a craving for red meat. Joachim assured me that they occasionally had venison or various other meats, but it was not the bulk of their diet. He said he would see what he could do for me. After temple services, he and Anzwen guided me to the military barracks where I was outfitted with a light long sword and a dagger. I was surprised by the gift of my very own horse instead of a Saurus. The Saurus mounts were about the size of a baby dinosaur and slightly larger than the warhorses. They were green and grey and apparently, only ridden by the captains of the army platoons. While a Saurus would have been a generous and respectful gift, I was delighted to be given the more familiar animal. Padriac was pink, like the other horses. This did nothing to diminish his status as a fully-trained warhorse. I was given riding lessons for the better part of the morning and learned how to steer the steed with my legs and with the reins. It was going to take some practice. I nearly fell off twice. We broke for lunch and I ate with the men in the barracks. The afternoon was spent learning the rudiments of brandishing a long sword. Fortunately, I was in shape, but I soon found out that I was no match for these light-footed soldiers. I was told that tomorrow we would have abbreviated lessons on what I'd been shown today and then they would take me through some exercises in sword play while balancing on the back of Padriac. Oh joy, I couldn't wait! XXXXXXXXXX PART 3 (PG) ASTARTE PALACE At dinner, I was exhausted from my work out and Scully didn't look much better. She explained that she'd spent the day having spells demonstrated to her and being given books to read containing a lot of arcane knowledge, which she was to memorize. She was afraid she would never learn it. Thus far, she hadn't been able to make anything happen, although Ashante assured her that she would be able to with practice. My only response was, "You have to believe, Scully." During dinner, our education on the peoples of Urak continued. Seems there were eight different territories, much fewer than on Earth, but each holding was vast. Death Territory was centered in their capital city of Skulldown. As near as I could figure, they were much like Satan worshippers, only their god was a deity named Golgoth and their primary leader was a necromancer named Balgoth. Anzwen explained what they were all about. What we had encountered was a death warrior. Their primary weapon was the large sickle mounted on a wooden pole. Their mounts were the giant brown lizards called bolus lizards. They had the distinction of only being found in Death Territory. Their footmen, or infantry troops, were fond of the halberd as their weapon of choice and their horsemen wielded pikes. Their missile weapons were javelins and their thieves were all trained as assassins. We were told if we ever encountered a Drow dressed in a solid black tunic with a cowl over the head, to run like hell and not look back. The black cowl was the trademark of the death assassins. Anzwen continued with his lessons throughout dinner. "The necromancers can summon death shades through sacrifice, animate skeletons, and summon vampires. Some of them become liches. The vampires and liches are particularly frightening as they can drain your life force," he said. "Great," Scully mumbled. "They have vampires?" Anzwen nodded and continued, "The disadvantage they have is that sunlight is painful to them. Therefore, they've kept to their own territory until now. Other than the occasional assassin, we rarely saw them outside of their own territory. Lately though, we have, which means that the Drow have found a way to endure the sunlight. All of Skulldown is covered in a clouded shroud, as you may have noticed. That particular gloomy weather is maintained by a cadre of necromancers to allow the Drow to venture above ground and go about their business." "Are you trying to figure out how they can endure the sun?" I asked. "That's exactly what we are trying to do," Anzwen answered. "If we can discover that secret, we could bring them to their knees quickly, if we could eliminate whatever it is. We have yet to discover it, though." Ashante broke in. "We don't believe it's a 'thing' that's giving them this power. We think its some sort of magical protection that the necromancers have developed or stumbled on. Unfortunately, no one else on the planet has spent time studying the dark arts. We don't understand their magic, except in terms of what it can do to us. This presents a real problem. If their protection is magical, we need to understand the spell that creates it in order to counteract it." Scully asked, "Do they have books on their magic?" "Probably, but getting a hold of them is a problem," Ashante said. "Plus, if they were exposed to sunlight, they would probably disintegrate." "Handy safety device there," I commented. There were nods all around. The serving girl, Idrin, appeared with freshly brewed coffee, heavy cream and a bowl of sugar on a tray. Scully asked, "You have children working for you?" She didn't say it, but the censure was in her voice. The girl appeared to be somewhere between twelve and fifteen years old. Ashante smiled and said, "Idrin, please explain to our guests who you are." She looked perplexed for a moment after setting down the tray. She looked at us and then said, "I am not a child. I'm sixty years old." Scully gaped at her. I asked, "Are you another race?" "We are cousins to the Elves, only we are Woodland Elves, as opposed to their being Plains Elves." "Forgive me," I began. "You look so small and young." "We are better known as Dryads." "Oh my goodness," Scully exclaimed. "This really isn't a dream, is it, Mulder?" I knew she didn't mean it literally. It was a rhetorical question. The shocks just kept coming and I had a feeling we were far from seeing the last of the fantastic things on this strange planet. I wanted to console her, give her a hug to help her hold it together. I knew how hard this was on Scully. Hell, I was having a hard time with it and I was willing to believe just about anything! So far she had been holding it together and I was very proud of her. "I have duties to attend to," she informed us, bowing slightly. "Welcome to Astarte," she finished. Then she turned on her heel and left. Scully turned to Ashante. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to sound accusatory." "That's all right. I realize all this is new to you. I'll ask, though, that you merely come to me if something doesn't seem right to you. I assure you we are not slave drivers. Our servants are paid in the currency of their choice. For the Dryads, they mostly prefer crystals, which allow them to maintain their youthful appearance. They have free room and board here at the castle. The others live in the forests that ring three sides of our territory." "We came through the mountains," Scully commented. Ashante nodded. "That's the fourth side, which borders Cyneraayt. It separates Astarte from Fire Territory." "What's on the other sides?" Scully inquired. "To the east is the ocean. To the northeast there is a strip of land that connects us to the Amazon Territory. Their capital city is Crestfall. To the west is Air Territory, occupied by Storm Giants. Their capital city is Atmos. To the southwest is Order Territory, occupied by the Knights. Their capital city is Symmet." "Is that everyone?" I asked. She smiled. "No, to the north of Atmos is Chaos Territory. Their capital city is Arkia. That's where the Barbarians reside. To the north of there are the earth worshipers, or the Dwarves. They live in an underground city called Stonehaven. Then as you know, the south is the fire worshipers, Fire Giant Territory and their capital city is Cyneraayt. Although a name has been given to each territory, it is generally known by the name of their capital city." "I see," I said, trying to take it all in. "So there are eight different, distinct countries or kingdoms here." "Yes, pretty much. It's a little more complicated than that." Scully added, "I assume each territory has strengths and weaknesses they are known for." "Yes, they do," Anzwen answered. "You will need to know about all of them and what constitutes their armies and weapons of choice." "You are allies with the water Amazons?" I clarified. "Yes, and we have a neutral relationship with Atmos." "What race are they?" Scully inquired. Ashante said, "They are an odd combination of Giants and Faeries." "Excuse me?" Scully asked. Ashante and Anzwen laughed. Anzwen continued to answer. "Their warriors are giants, often called Storm Giants. Their sorcerers are referred to as Storm Sorcerers. They have an odd kinship with Faeries who act as their thieves and provide missile weapons for them. They are delicate creatures, but quite deadly with slings. They call them fae slingers. Their thieves are Faeries also, but use short bows. Their ability to fly makes them hard to target." "What do the Storm Giants use for weapons?" I asked. Anzwen's answer was a long one. "The warriors use broadswords and the sorcerers use crystal spears to direct their magic. It's really quite something to see. Their territory is very mountainous and is at high elevation. Almost the entirety of their land is covered in snow. They have snow caverns hidden everywhere in the mountains. Most of them wear white or light blue clothing and blend with the landscape. They managed to breed our steeds with wild horses of the mountains and created a horse that is light blue in color and blends with the mountains and snow. They are taller and slimmer than our mounts, but incredibly fast. Their horsemen use long swords like we do. They call them wind riders." Ashante added, "They have a kinship with all flying things. Their sorcerers have been known to call Eagles to their aid and mystical beings called Will-o-Wisps." "You have Eagles?" Scully asked. She seemed relieved to find a species that was familiar, at last. She nodded. "Well, the Storm Giants do. The Storm Giants are kin to the Fire Giants, but long ago they went their separate ways, one set worshiping and harnessing fire, the other worshiping and harnessing thunder and lightning and other weather elementals. The Eagles nest exclusively in the mountains and caves of Atmos." We talked into the evening hours, but soon our hard work took its toll. Scully was practically asleep in her chair. I could barely move, but still found the strength to help her to her feet. We bid good night to our hosts and left to find our room. I didn't think either one of us would have a hard time sleeping through the night with the kinds of workouts we'd been through today. I stripped and fell into bed, too tired to take advantage of the fact that Scully lay naked beside me. Obviously there was no justice in this world either. XXXXXXXXXX ASTARTE PLAINS TWO WEEKS LATER The field was divided in half. One side was taken up with war games to practice battle tactics. I had been surprised at how easily I had taken to riding Padriac. He reacted to the slightest pressure from my legs. I'd been outfitted with a beautiful, lightweight Elven chain mail called mithral. It was a metal specific to the Elves that they mined in the mountains separating them from the Red Valley. It didn't weigh much more than a flannel shirt but was as hard as titanium. We also learned that they had gold and crystal mines in their territory. The Amazons, our next-door neighbors, so to speak, ran some of the finest breweries in the world and made ale, but lacked gold in their territory. Therefore, gold was often traded for ale with the Amazons. They did have crystal mines, but unlike the Elven mines that produced various shades of yellow and gold crystals, they produced deep blue crystals that looked like sapphires. These were somehow tied in with their ability to harness water magic. They mined the most powerful pure mana on the planet. To our surprise, we found out that the Amazon warriors were mostly women, as were the priestesses. The priestesses were the Amazon equivalent of the Elven enchantresses. We were quickly finding out that although possessing vastly different magic and creatures in their armies, most of the territories were set up in a similar fashion spiritually and militarily. It was a matter of what they chose to worship and employ in their own defense. The other side of the field was where Ashante was holding court with her noviates, as she called them. Scully was among them. I had just executed a particularly difficult move of charging at an opponent while arcing my sword and coming down in a swift angle and beheading the straw person set up for my practice. I was jubilant with my success and circled around to see Dorian pointing to the hills in the west. I could see the snow capped mountains from this field. We'd also been told that there were guard towers on all the borders of the plains to watch their neighbors. I couldn't see what he was pointing at right away, but then I saw six Elven riders galloping at top speed toward the field. Anzwen mounted Percy and prepared to meet them. We all watched them approach as they pulled up, forming a line in front of Anzwen. "Sire!" one of them exclaimed. Anzwen nodded to him. "Catch your breath soldier. What is it?" "Wind riders from Atmos, Sire," he gasped. "Three of them came to the guard post at Ixia Village. They say a troop of death horsemen and halberders are heading to their border. They have been holding them back but they are in danger of giving ground. The enemy has been reinforced with javelin throwers. They are requesting assistance." "Did they say what kind of assistance?" Anzwen asked. "They said they'd take any troops we can send. They need archers mostly. Half their fae slingers have been wiped out by javelin throwers." "Holy Stars!" he muttered. "Joachim! Dorian!" he hollered. They came trotting up and halted at attention. "Dorian, go to Ashante and brief her on the situation. See if she can spare any of her people. Joachim, ride to the city. Find Delelia and Elrorfil and ask them to send a quarter of their troops to meet me here, as quickly as possible." "Yes, Sire!" they shouted in unison and took off at a gallop, Dorian toward the other side of the field and Joachim toward the city about three miles to the east. Anzwen turned to the riders and foot staffmen assembled on the field. "I'll not make anyone go. I'm calling for volunteers to assist Atmos. They would not call for help if the situation were not dire. However, if the people of Skulldown conquer Atmos, they will be at our very door," he reminded them ominously. "You have until Joachim returns to make your decision. If you choose to stay, head back to the city and help Elrondie fortify the gates to the city until we return." "Are you going, Sire?" asked one of the foot Staffmen. He swallowed. "Yes, I'm going." There were nods and then the murmuring began as they decided who would go and who would stay. I pulled up next to Anzwen and said, "Do you want me to go?" He looked at me. "I don't know if you're ready," he said honestly. At that moment, Ashante rode up on the next thing to blow my mind, a Unicorn. It was pink as well, but sturdier and more muscular than the horses, much like a Clydesdale. It boasted gold hair around its hooves, a golden mane, tail, and a golden spiral horn on its head. Scully arrived shortly after Ashante, riding a regular horse and carrying a staff made of white birch wood and yellow crystal. It was nearly as tall as she was. Ashante bowed her head to Anzwen. "I'll go." "We can't both go, Ashante," he said gently. "What if something happened to both of us? One of us needs to stay behind." "Stars," she cursed. "I need you to help Elrondie fortify the city, just in case. Can you send some of your people with us?" "Yes, I knew you were going to say that," she said without malice. "I'll send Elvara and Amandine, along with Scully. She is working close with Amandine." Another Elven enchantress rode up and flanked Scully. She had long, straight, red hair and beautifully delicate features. Scully could have been her sister. However, where Scully's eyes were bright blue, Amandine's were bright green. Amandine smiled at me. I said, "If Scully goes, I go." Anzwen looked at me. "Are you sure?" "I won't have us be separated," I said firmly. "Very well. Stick as close to me as you can as soon as Percy lands. In the meantime, ride with Dorian." Joachim had returned and said, "Elvara is sending three of her adepts as well." Anzwen announced, "Six enchantresses. That's plenty. Ashante, have the rest retreat to the city. Tell Elrondie he's in charge of the fortification of the city until I return." She rode close to him and their legs brushed. She leaned over and her blonde hair entwined with his black locks, which were blowing in the wind. He kissed her tenderly. "Be well, love. I'll try to send word of how things are going." She nodded stoically and turned her Unicorn toward home. She waved over her shoulder at the approaching enchantresses that were gathering from the far side of the field. She took off at a lazy lope across the fields. "I don't envy you," I said. Anzwen cleared his throat. "Why is that?" "Having to be separated. You love her very much, don't you?" He smiled. "She is my life, Mulder. Believe that. Ruling a kingdom has its advantages. It also has its disadvantages." "I can see that," I said simply. Scully jostled her horse closer to me. She had also taken to riding like a pro. I figured it must be something about the magic of this place that made us exceptionally coordinated. She said, "I knew you would want to go when Ashante picked me. I'm glad we won't be separated." "Have you managed to do any spells that can protect you?" "Not really. Small things, mostly. I have my staff, but she's given me a stiletto and a light weight crossbow to use to protect myself in the meantime." "Good." "You any good with those?" she asked, pointing to the sword and dagger, which were now in their scabbards at my waist, hooked to a sturdy leather belt that cinched my tunic over my Mithral. "I'm getting better," I said honestly. In less than an hour, a small army was amassed. Anzwen and Dorian each headed a platoon of sixty horsemen. Delelia, come to find out, was a thief or spy for the Elven people, and the head of a guild that trained other spies and the archers. She was proficient with a long bow and a deadly, six-inch, double-sided blade. She was the archer's equivalent of a captain. Glimmerwynn, the head of the Thieves Guild, was remaining behind to assist the others in protecting Astarte. Calling them thieves had confused me initially until Joachim explained that thieves were spies. They went around to other territories and gathered information. They could, if the need arose, pick various and sundry locks to get at said information they wanted to steal, often in the form of governmental papers or war plans. They didn't generally steal material goods, although they wouldn't pass up the opportunity to do so in another land. They were experts at stealth and passing unseen. There was an honor among them, however. They NEVER stole from their own people. Their biggest claim to fame was being experts with whatever missile weapons they chose. In the case of the Elves, they were deadly and second to none with a long bow. Delelia assembled her troop of forty archers behind the horsemen. Thirty Elven staffmen brought up the rear, proficient with quarterstaffs and hand-to-hand combat. They were a last resort. I'd been told that in every battle, victory was usually won or lost with the horsemen and archers. However, the foot troops were the last vanguard against invasion or retreat in any battle. The six enchantresses were to ride behind the staffmen. Percy and Anzwen took to the air and circled the assembled mini army. He looked up in surprise as a screech cut through the air. Everyone's eyes turned skyward. Gasps were heard as the largest bird I'd ever seen came streaking toward us. It was brilliant with red and yellow feathers, huge black eyes and a gigantic, pointed beak. It was easily twice the size of a horse and had a long, skinny neck. The enchantresses' horses skittered to either side as it landed between Amandine and Scully. "What the fuck is that?" I asked Anzwen as he flew near me. He seemed to recognize my phrasing as a curse. As the powerful bird brought its head to the ground and lowered its bulk to the grass, Anzwen said, "It's the sacred guardian. Ashante must have summoned him." "The sacred guardian?" I asked. "It's a phoenix, Mulder. Even we rarely see them." "Why is it here?" "I have no idea." He flew to the rear of the group and landed, to the side of the enchantresses who were all openly gaping at the large bird. He looked at Amandine. She had closed her eyes and her arms were outstretched. Her lips moved and it appeared that she was receiving some sort of message. Dorian leaned toward me and said, "She is talking to Ashante. Many of the top enchantresses have telepathy. Only the High Enchantress can summon the phoenix, though. Since Ashante isn't coming, I'm baffled." He finished talking and Amandine swayed in her saddle and opened her eyes. She turned her bright green eyes to Anzwen and said, "The High Enchantress has spoken." Everyone seemed to hold his or her breath. She looked at Scully. "You are to ride Isis into battle." "WHAT?" Scully asked. "I'm a novice! This is crazy!" "Are you afraid of heights?" Amandine asked calmly. "No, but that's not the point!" Amandine smiled. "Ashante has had a vision. You will ride the phoenix. Her name is Isis." "I don't know how!" she exclaimed. "Isis will guide you," Amandine said confidently. Scully swallowed hard and balanced her staff as she slid off of her horse. She carefully approached the gigantic bird, looking like a sprite in comparison. She was wearing the long white robe of a noviate. The bird slowly turned its head and Scully startled, jumping back. To everyone's surprise a sibilant whisper came from the bird. "Climb aboard, special one, behind the third red ring." Scully looked at the bird's back. Sure enough, rings of feathers adorned its body behind its white neck. They alternated yellow and red. She gingerly stepped on the bird's neck and it said, "You cannot hurt me, special one. Go ahead." I could tell Scully was scared out of her wits, but unwilling to back down. She climbed onto its neck and made her way up the rows of feathers like a ladder. When she sat down behind the third row of red feathers, her legs disappeared under the layer of feathers. She gasped slightly and said. "Oh my God, she's holding my legs to her body with the feathers!" Everyone smiled. The bird spoke again, "Grab the feathers with your hand left hand and hold your staff in the other." Scully did as instructed. The giant bird lifted her head and lumbered upwards onto her feet. It almost waddled as it weaved its way through the horses and staffmen to open ground near Anzwen. Percy backed up out of its way. She flapped her giant wings. I gasped at the wingspan. It must have measured nearly fifty feet across. She took two running steps and flapped hard, lifting into the air. I heard Scully whoop in a mixture of fright and exhilaration as I watched her lean forward. The bird seemed to glide on the currents, circling the assembled army slowly, giving Scully a chance to get used to flight and find her seat on its back. From where I sat, I could tell its plumage was lush and the feathers were in layers. It looked as though the feathers surrounded her lower body up to her waist as though she were sitting in a saddle. To my and everyone else's surprise, Scully smiled and waved as she flew overhead. I glanced at the enchantresses and saw one girl frowning. She was obviously not pleased that this honor had been bestowed on the newcomer. The rest of them seemed to accept it as the will of their High Enchantress and smiled genuinely, simply in awe of the creature more than anything else. I made a note to ask whom that woman was and mention her frown. She might bear watching. Percy took flight and flew out ahead of the pack. Everyone marched after him as he led us out of the plains and we started up the side of the gently sloping mountain that would take us to Storm Giant Territory, the mysterious Atmos. From the sounds of things as we drew near the battlefield, Scully and Anzwen weren't going to be the only ones flying around up there. THE END.