Yet another journal-type place for Darcy to rant, rave, and/or recuperate from the world.

Monday, January 1, 2007

Darkhaven by DSDragon

Darkhaven

By: DSDragon

Runia woke up hungry. Eyes still closed, she stretched her arms and legs, lithe and sinewy as a jungle cat's, and reached toward the other side of the bed to find her lover.

The sheets were cold and empty. Opening her eyes-not in panic, but in mere curiosity-Runia glanced around the room. She spotted Balik sitting at his desk, shoulders hunched, head bowed, and hand resting over the parchment.

Deciding to satisfy one of her appetites, the Runia swung her legs over the bed and stood up, using her fingers to comb through the tangles of her raven hair, not bothering to cover herself before tiptoeing toward the man in the chair.

Seductively, the twenty-nine-year-old ran her hands up her lover's broad-

shouldered back, past his shoulders, and down to his chest, leaving feather-light kisses near the man's jugular.

She got no response, except for a grating snore. Disgusted, Runia realized that Balik had fallen asleep while working-again. That was the third time this week she'd found the Thane's second-most-trusted advisor asleep at his desk.

Angrily, Runia shoved the man's head into the table, knocking him even further into unconciousness.

She didn't care that she'd just given her lover a concussion. After all, there were at least a few other men, higher up in Thane Treichen's employ than pitiful Balik, who would willingly share a bed with Treichen's ranking mage.

Anger abating in favor of more pressing concerns, Runia donned her favorite set of robes. She pulled one side of the burgundy garment over the other, and held it under her armpit while she grabbed a braided cord of gold rope, wound it underneath her arms once, crossed over her breasts, and wound the remainder underneath her breasts, before tying a quick knot to keep the robe closed. Runia then fastened two pouches, of the same burgundy color, and lined in protective and warding runes, to the bottom of the rope. Pulling on her boots, made of the finest doe's skin, Runia made her way toward the kitchens, having decided that calling a servant to fetch her breakfast would take too long.

If she remembered correctly, there had been some unicorn stew left over from last night's feast.

#

Descending one of the many staircases inside Castle Treichen, Runia made her way toward the kitchens.

Unicorn was everyone's favorite delicacy, Runia mused on her way to the Thane's chambers. There were many of the majestic beasts in each of the forests, but although not rare, they were not easy to catch either. Unicorns tended to keep to the deeper parts of the forests, and were very cunning creatures. Any hunter, even the most skilled, would be hard-pressed to find one.

No one, good or evil, even tried to tame the beautiful animals if they found one - that was what horses were for. Instead, they either hunted the unicorns for food, clothing, and the treasures of their horns, or left the unicorns in peace.

And no matter who did the hunting, if any party managed to catch one, the occasion called for much celebration. The only difference was in the kind of celebration.

Those at Castle Treichen had spent the night before feasting in drunken splendor and shameless debauchery. Runia was certain that those in the army of Lady Marlain, Treichen's mortal enemy of some years, probably heralded the consumption of unicorn flesh as a gift from the gods, with much prayer and blessing of everything from the hunters to the dishes. The thought of all the ritual and rigamarole Marlain's priests were fond of made Runia's recently-filled stomach churn.

Having acquired a bowl of the tasty stew she'd been craving, Runia made her way toward the gardens, where her favorite willow tree was planted. For many years, she had come here when she wished to get away to think, to eat, or just to relax.

"Ah, Mistress Runia." She heard a familiar, lecherous voice from her cross-legged position underneath the tree's weeping, south-facing branches. A dark shadow fell over her face from the east. "There you are. Come to my study immediately."

"As you wish, Thane." Not at all eager to anger the Thane for delaying him, Runia stood and bowed, handing her bowl of stew to a nearby gardener to dispose of while she waited for Treichen to turn away, before following him back through the castle.

#

Thane Treichen pushed open the oiled and carved cherry of his chamber doors, and Runia silently followed. Runia knew better than to speak before the Thane had. Many a time during her apprenticeship, she had been subject to dire punishments for such small offenses.

Treichen moved behind his desk and sat in the cushioned chair behind it, picking up a few documents needing his attention. "Sit," he ordered, not looking up from the papers.

Runia made her way to one of the aged-pine benches in front of the Thane's desk.

Treichen passed his hand over a blackened orb on his desk, as Runia had seen him do so many times before. The black substance inside appeared to lighten into smoke, then clear away before settling on an image of an idyllic valley. Runia saw various tents pitched in the valley nestled between two grassy, rolling hills. The last vestiges of the night's fires smoldered as Runia witnessed camp's break.

"Sickening, isn't it?" Treichen sneered at a group of priests leading the other people of the camp in morning prayer rituals. "That is Marlain's elite. At this very moment, they are on their way here to destroy our stronghold."

"Begging pardon, Thane." Runia cringed, hoping the question wouldn't irritate Treichen any further than he already was that morning. "But how do they know our location? I myself put up more than half of the wards hiding the stronghold. I've not been informed if they've been broken."

"They haven't." Runia breathed a sigh of relief at this news. "However, Marlain's mages are close to breaking them, and meanwhile, her most trusted mages and fighters draw nearer to the Keep, whether they know it or not."

"You, Darkhaven, will join them."

At this, Runia's head snapped up in surprise. "But, Thane-"

"You will join them," the Thane interrupted, "and you will destroy them."

#

Runia watched from behind a nearby sycamore while Marlain's caravan come up the road. Sliding around the tree, further away from the road, she cast a glamour on her appearance. In place of a face with raven hair and green-eyes, Runia conjured a dirty, bruised, redhead with blue eyes, who looked as though she'd been beaten half-way to death's door. In addition, her red finery changed to shabby robes of softest blue, and the runes adorning her supply pouches changed from those of power and protection, to favorite symbols of benevolent gods and priestess' wards.

Calling up all her acting skills - though the spell looked real enough, it did not feel so - Runia staggered toward the middle of the dirt road, clutching her stomach.

She waved her hands as the group got closer, and when the leader stopped, jumping off his horse with a look of concern on his face, Runia knew she'd succeeded in her ruse.

"Ho there," the leader called his company to a halt. One by one, Runia saw three green-robed figures - mages, according to the runes Runia could identify on their carry-sacks - a couple of soldiers, and what looked like a blacksmith, a cook, and the leader's wife, come off their horses and out of various places in the wagon that made up the middle of the group.

"Are you all right?"

With an effort, Runia wrenched her attention away from the caravan and forced herself to reply to the leader in a weak, frightened voice.

"Please," she gasped, "I was attacked . . . on my way to market, left here for dead by bandits." Runia fell to her knees as though she was too weak to keep herself upright, and the woman she took to be the leader's wife ran to her side.

At just the moment the other woman reached her, Runia put herself into a trance that would allow her to appear unconscious. In reality, the trance was the method by which she altered the glamour to make her body appear to be healing, or becoming clean, as the others helped and bathed her.

Runia was carried into the wagon, and didn't come out of her trance until nightfall.

#

"Mmmm . . ." Runia felt a damp cloth on her forehead, and deemed it as good a time as any to "wake up."

As she fluttered her eyes as though really awakening from a long period of unconsciousness, Runia heard whispers of "Shhh . . . She's waking up."

"Mmmmm . . ." she moaned again, finally opening her eyes. "Wh-where am I?"

Runia felt a slight pressure on her forehead, and looked up to see what was going on. She looked into the concerned blue eyes of the woman who had run to her aid earlier that afternoon. The woman smiled. Runia focused her gaze a little closer to herself, and found that the woman was holding something cool and damp to her forehead.

"You're in the blacksmith's wagon," she heard a male voice say from her other side. Recognizing it as the leader's voice, Runia swivelled her head away from the woman's face.

Though Runia was sure she had never seen her before, the blue-eyed woman reminded her of someone. She just couldn't figure out who. Resolving to think about the matter later, Runia turned her head toward the leader, who had started to speak while she was thinking. She'd need to concentrate to keep her story straight.

"Those were some nasty bruises you had there," he was saying. "Who did that to you?"

"I-I don't know," she said, feigning confusion. "I was riding to market, and then I got thrown off my donkey when a tree branch hit me in the face." Runia put a hand to her temple, rubbing it while she grimaced in pain. "I never saw who attacked me while I was unconscious. I woke up in the woods by the road, left for dead, and was only just able to get up, discover that the gold I'd saved for the market had been taken, and stumble back out to the road when you came along . . ."

Raising her head to meet the man's eyes, Runia mustered up as much sincerity as she could, and said, "Thank you."

"Oh, think nothing of it, you poor dear." Runia had forgotten the other woman was in the wagon, and was startled by the voice.

"Sh-sh-sh, it's all right. Didn't mean to frighten you." The woman pushed a startled Runia gently back to the pallet she'd been laying on. "You just get some more rest, and call me or Seamus if you have any trouble."

The woman went to jump out of the wagon, but stopped when she heard Runia call out, "Wait!"

"Yes?" the woman asked, her chestnut-brown head swiveling toward Runia.

"What do I call you? I don't know your name."

The woman flushed and giggled in embarrasment.

"Of course you don't, dear! How silly of me!" She walked back toward Runia, holding out a hand to be shaken.

"My name's Dinah," she said. "My husband, as I just told you, is Seamus, and you can meet everybody else when you're feeling a bit better, but for now, you just call either Seamus or I, all right?"

"All right," Runia shook the woman's hand, deciding on an alias at the spur of the moment. "I'm Riseia."

"That's a beautiful name," Dinah replied. "What does it mean?"

"Nothing, really," Runia replied. "My mother just thought it made a pretty sound . . . or at least that's what she told me when I was little."

The women shared a laugh, and Dinah noticed that "Riseia" was staring at her.

"What's wrong?"

Runia shook her head. "Have we met before?" she couldn't help but ask. "You look familiar."

"Nope," Dinah replied. "I'd remember a name as pretty as yours."

As she watched Dinah descend from the wagon once more, the woman's face haunted Runia's thoughts, in tandem with memories from a time long ago . . .

#

-Ten Years Ago-

"Runia! Runia, look what I found!"

A nineteen-year-old Runia turned her head, smiling at the discovery the chestnut-haired child before her had made.

"That's very pretty, 'Nalah." A rare smile lit the other girl's clear, green eyes as she took the precious keepsake--a broach made by the master glassblower who lived in a town Runia had only been to visit once--from Dinalah's chubby fingers. "Where'd you find it? I thought it was lost."

"In Mummy's old things." The seven-year-old's response wiped the smile from her sister's face.

"What's wrong?" 'Nalah, ever the empathetic one, asked, concerned at her sister's somber demeanor. "Runia, what's the matter?"

Runia shook her head, forcing herself to smile at the worried child. "Nothing, 'Nalah," she answered, reassuring the girl with her favorite nickname.

"Why don't you go put that back in Mummy's box?" Nine years ago, the girls' mother, Crystia, had married 'Nalah's father, a priest of the benevolent god Furhaust, shortly after Runia's father, Lord Darkhaven, had died under very peculiar circumstances. Crystia had joined Furhaust's order before her first marriage. Although small daily ceremonies honoring the god were commonplace among his worshippers, Runia could not stand the tedious rituals and endless prayers her mother insisted upon at every meal, washing, and bedtime.

Over the years, Runia had become convinced that power such as Crystia had gained throughout her years as high priestess of Furhaust's order should be used, not bottled up and spit out in small, ritualistic quantities; it might grow weak from disuse. She much preferred to follow in her father's footsteps and become a mage. The day that Crystia had died bearing 'Nalah, Runia turned her back on the gods and their vaunted benevolence and vowed to acquire as much magical strength and experience as possible, no matter who got in her way. What use was power that seeped away from you when you needed it most?

#

At dawn the next day, Runia awoke to the sounds of Seamus, Dinah, and the others breaking camp and preparing for the long trip ahead. Deciding that this would be as private a time as she would find that morning, she sat up to meditate. A cloth that shielded the wagon's occupants from rain or predators the night before, and her head lifted up the cloth about a foot above the top of the wagon's walls as she shifted.

Removing an orb from one of her pouches, and being careful only to use the amount of power necessary–so as not to call attention to the other mages with the magical energy resonance–the woman renewed her glamour from the day before, so that it wouldn't vanish during the day.

Next, Runia closed her eyes, picturing Castle Treichen. She sent her mind to the Thane, in order to give her report of the previous day's successes.

What do you want?!?!? Runia was startled by the Thane's vehemence; she must have awakened him.

A thousand pardons, Lord, she sent in reply, But I'm Sending to give you my morning report.

Runia heard a sleepy grunt from the Thane's mind, and then he spoke again.

Ah, yes, Runia, he growled through the mental connection. You do realize you've just interrupted my morning meal?

A thousand pardons, Thane, she replied. I'm terribly sorry. I shall contact you later with my report, then. She made to break the connection, but Treichen's voice stopped her.

Just give it to me now, woman! Runia could tell that the Thane was more than angry as it was, so she made her report quickly.

I've managed to infiltrate Marlain's elite, Thane, Runia started. They believe me to be priestess of the Order of Shimrion, who had an encounter with bandits on her way to market.

And the Ordeal? Has it been prepared?

Very well, Darkhaven, Treichen replied. Contact me again once you've reached the gauntlet.

I will, Thane, Runia sent back when she felt the connection fade.

Just then, the wagon jerked, starting to move on its way. Runia was hard-pressed not to drop the orb in her surprise, but managed to return it to its pouch before lying back for a nap.

#

That afternoon, shouts and sounds of battle pulled Runia from her slumber. She grinned maliciously before opening her eyes and getting up. Runia noticed that the wagon had stopped, and correctly deduced the cause; Seamus and the others had reached the first stage of Runia's gauntlet.

Feigning lethargy, the mage made her way out of the wagon.

"Wh-What's happening?" she asked, digging at her eyes with her knuckles.

Dinah looked up from the wounded man she was tending. "Not to worry, Riseia," she told the other woman. "Everything is under control."

Indeed, it was under control, Runia observed. Seamus and the mages were working to repel a group of the most fearsome and mentally capable monsters Runia could summon, and they were succeeding where so many others had failed.

"Is there anything I can do?" Runia hid her surprise with false concern.

Dinah seemed to consider a bit. "Do you know anything of the healer's arts?" she finally asked.

"Some," Runia answered. "The local healer in my village taught a little bit to anyone who would listen. What happened to him?" She gestured toward the man lying between them. It was the man Runia had thought was a blacksmith the night before. Up close, he looked even more like a smith than she'd thought. His cow-hide pants clung to his legs, and his light-weight shirt was tucked into the waistband to prevent the garments from catching fire if he got to close to the forge.

"They," Dinah pointed toward the monstrous beings her husband and the others were conquering, "set a fireball spell on Tersken's portable forge. He had taken out to repair one of Seamus' knives before we left. Blew him twenty-five feet away, the blast did."

#

I've never seen anything like it, Thane, Runia reported, once the battle was over. No one ever survived the first part of the Ordeal before, and yet the most this group suffered were minor cuts, some scrapes, and a few bruises. Although the blacksmith was more seriously injured, he lives.

Of course they survived, Lackwit! Treichen's voice raged in Runia's mind. They are the elite - the very best - of Marlain's forces, individually. In a group, they are even more formidable!

Yes, Thane, I understand, Runia apologized.

Have you prepared the next part of the Ordeal? Treichen growled through the mental link.

No, Thane.

Do it. I want these vermin eliminated!

It shall be done, Thane.

As the connection faded, Runia slipped into her trance to ready the next stage of the journey.

#

The rest of that week passed uneventfully for the unknowing group.But, on the afternoon of the third day, Runia was jolted from the front of the covered wagon bed, to the opening in the back.

Catching herself before she fell, the mage realized that the caravan had stopped, and went to see what was going on.When she saw the fifty-foot walls of thorn, Runia smirked in pleasure.

Marlain's elite had walked straight into the second obstacle.

#

Many hours later, the group was still trying to find a way around the wall of thorn hedges. They'd each walked at least a mile in both directions, but the thorns seemed to stretch on for eternity.

"What's this?" the still-recovering blacksmith remarked, staring at the spot he had just fallen through. Even up close, the hedges seemed to form a solid wall of thorns.

The group hurried to his side.

"What is it, Tersken?" Seamus asked.

"There's an opening, here in the wall," Tersken answered, gesturing into said opening. To those with their eyes parallel to the wall, Tersken's hand seemed to disappear into the wall of thorns.

When the others caught up, Tersken stepped through the opening and turned around. Instead of an unbroken hedge, as the group had originally expected, Tersken had found an entry. To the blacksmith's right and left, a corridor stretched between the outer wall and another wall of hedges behind the blacksmith.

"Looks like a path of some kind," he said. "There's a path in both directions from here, but they look like dead-ends."

"They could be corners," said one of the mages. "The entrance blended in so well with the outer walls, none of us could see it until Tersken fell through. What's to say there aren't any more places to get through?"

"All right," nodded Seamus. "Let's go then."

Cautiously, the group made their way through the maze, leaving scraps of cloth from extra blankets, cloaks, and robe hems to mark paths they'd already taken.

As they reached the only dead end that they hadn't explored, the ground rumbled and shook, hurling most of them to the ground.

"What's going on?" someone shouted over the din of moving earth.

"Everybody, stay close to the thorn walls!" the travelers heard Seamus shout. "It's an earthquake!"

Gingerly, everyone got as close to the thorns as they dared.

The earthquake intensified, and the latest dead-end they'd come up against seemed to be the focal point.

In front of the wall, a hole opened in the ground, and a large statue surfaced. The group stared in awe as a giant, stone dragon was revealed.

The dragon was made of what looked to be rose quartz. Its eyes were two large sapphires set into the pink stone. The statue itself stood on a pedestal made of pure, uncut diamonds.

"Who dares enter the Labyrinth of Delmar?" a voice boomed as the dragon's sapphire eyes flashed in the rhythm of its words.

"I am Seamus," the leader spoke up, stepping forward. "These are my people."

"Why do you trespass in this domain?" the dragon boomed.

"We had no choice," Seamus answered. "Our path was blocked, and we couldn't get around. What must we do to gain passage?"

"There are four riddles you must answer–one at every statue you will find. Either answer correctly, or die a painful death."

The group scurried away from the walls as they saw that large, steel blades sprout from the foliage.

"All right," Seamus conceded. "We will answer the riddles."

"Very well," the dragon's voice seemed a bit disappointed as it began its verse.

Through all my days, I've been trampled underfoot,

At length, I'm gone and quite decayed.

And he whose power and wisdom made

Me - Cannot save my sole!

What am I?

Each word was written in fire across the dragon's outstretched wings as the voice spoke the riddle.

The group hesitated to speak a single word, for fear that any speech would be taken as their answer.

One of the mages - Silvaina, if Runia remembered correctly - looked at the ground, scuffling her feet in thought.

When her eyes rested on those feet, she gasped and spoke up, checking the fiery words one last time.

"A shoe! It's a shoe, isn't it?"

The dragon didn't speak a single word. Instead, the writing disappeared from the dragon's wings, and the earth rumbled once again as the statue returned to whence it came.

The rumbling continued after the hole in the earth was covered over, and the travelers watched the blades retract.

More rumbling, and the dead end wall of thorns collapsed into another hole in the earth.

Runia fumed as she watched the group pass through the new opening. I thought no one would be able to answer that riddle!

#

Once everyone was through the new opening, Seamus decided that it was time to set up camp for the night. The wall had opened up into a large courtyard, perfect for his group to spread out in. Luckily, the corridors of the labyrinth were wide enough to bring at least one of the wagons through, or else many of the supplies would have been lost on the road.

Without the wagons, Runia would not have had anywhere private to make her reports to the Thane. Lacking regular reports, Treichen, suspecting Runia's failure, would have come to the labyrinth himself, thereby foiling Runia's plans. Not wishing to risk her career–or her life–in such a reckless fashion, Runia had deliberately fashioned the maze to accommodate wagons or horses.

Climbing into the wagon, she made her report.

The Thane was not pleased about the group's continued survival, but he knew of the riddles Runia used, and knew that each of the four was more difficult than the one before.

The mental conversation closed, Runia pulled out the blanket she had been given that morning. Wrapping the blanket around her shoulders, Runia drifted to sleep.

#

After awakening, the group broke camp and walked most of the day, again marking passages in the maze of thorns.

At length, they came upon another dead end, and once the stragglers caught up, another statue rose from the ground, shaking the earth.

This time, a lion made of luminous, yellow jade and with eyes of emerald sat on the diamond pedestal.

"You've done well," the same voice as the dragon's spoke while the lion's emerald eyes flashed. "But this will not be so easy."

The group watched the obligatory blades appear in the wall of thorns, but in addition to the deadly weaponry, the travelers saw another wall of thorns rise behind them, trapping them in place should they fail.

"Seamus," Dinah whispered urgently. "We're trapped!" The obvious comment seemed to voice the whole group's anxiety.

Seamus took a deep breath to bolstering his courage, exhaling slowly before replying.

"Very well," he spoke. "Give us your riddle."

The group listened as the lion spoke, and backed up as claw marks appeared on the stone path at their feet, spelling the words of the second riddle.

I view the world in little space,

Am always changing place;

No food I eat, but, by my power,

Procure what millions do devour.

What am I?

Since they had not been struck down by Silvaina's earlier exclamations, the group decided that it might be permitted to discuss the solution amongst themselves.

Indeed, the lion ignored any words not spoken directly to it, so the group breathed a collective sigh of relief as they discussed the riddle.

Eventually, they came up with a solution, and broke their circle to answer the lion. The blacksmith was chosen to answer this time.

"The Sun," he said. "The answer is The Sun."

Again, the words, blades, statue, and dead end disappeared, and the group found themselves in another courtyard.

#

The next evening, the travelers stood at the third statue. This time, it was a sphinx made of gold, with eyes of pearl.

As they approached the sphinx, blades once again blossomed from the thorns on either side of them, while a third hedge wall sealed off the passage from which they had come, blades sprouting toward the group and the sphinx.

"You must solve this riddle before the sand runs through the hourglass," the sphinx intoned. With the statue's words, a large stand, with an equally-large hourglass suspended on it, broke the earth in front of the sphinx's diamond pedestal.

Its eyes did not flash, but the words of the riddle showed up like mist on its flanks.

What goes on four legs in the morning, two legs in the daytime, and three legs in the evening?

Dinah's eyes widened. She knew this riddle. As the sand poured through the hourglass, she wracked her memories for the solution.

#

-Six Years Ago-

"Hey, Dinalah," Runia called to her sister. "I've got a riddle for you."

"What?" her eleven-year-old sister asked. "Is it a new one?"

"Yes, I found it in another one of my father's old books," the twenty-three-year-old replied. She had been looking for a spell book of Lord Darkhaven's that she had seen many times before. Instead of the tome she was looking for, however, Runia had found a previously un-read volume of her father's old journals. In that account, Runia read about fascinating places and cultures her father had seen, not to mention the riddle she wanted to ask her sister.

"Are you ready?"

At Dinalah's nod, Runia continued.

"What goes on four legs in the morning, two legs in the daytime, and three legs in the evening?"

The other girl scrunched her nose in thought for several minutes. Finally, her face relaxed, and she shrugged in defeat. "I give up."

"A human, Dinalah," the raven-haired woman answered. "Babies crawl, grown children and adults walk, and old men use canes or walking sticks."

#

"A human!" Dinah shouted, seconds after the hourglass had started. "My sister told me that riddle when I was eleven!"

Runia, who had been staring at Dinah since the woman's outburst, thought aloud, "Dinalah?"

She didn't realize that she had spoken, and Dinah abruptly turned to her.

"How do you know that name?" Dinah demanded. "No one knows that name, save my husband, Seamus!"

Runia knew she'd been caught then, and, muttering the counter-spell, let her glamour slip away.

Her disguise as a red-headed priestess melted away, revealing Runia's raven tresses and blood-red finery tied with golden cording. The runes on her pouches changed back to mage runes as she met Dinah's denying blue eyes with her piercing green stare.

Dinah gasped. "Runia?" she whispered aloud. As she realized the implications of her sister's presence, the chestnut-haired woman's eyes widened in horror. Dinah paled as she realized that her own flesh and blood could have thought up such a sick and twisted contest.

"Everybody, back off! She'll kill us!" Dinah - no, Dinalah - warned. Runia was stunned to recognize that she was hurt by her younger sister's warning. What have I done? she thought. My own sister hates me.

At this revelation, the mage fell to her knees. The group heard a broken sob as Runia covered her face with her hands.

"What have I done? What have I done?" Runia's anguish drifted over the group in piteous whimpers.

The rest were startled when, suddenly, Runia lifted her tear-streaked face to the sky and let out a mournful scream before falling further toward the ground, clutching her stomach as the grief wracked her frame.

"Dinalah," she called, at length. "Dinalah, please . . . I'm so sorry . . . Please . . ."

Unable to deny her only sister comfort, Dinalah went to her sister, wrapping her arms around the other woman's waist and helping her to stand.

"Shh . . ." she soothed. "It's all right."

"I-I-I thought . . . He told me . . ." Runia stuttered through the hiccoughing finale of her tears.

"What? What did you think, Runia?"

"Thane Treichen," Runia replied. "He told me you were dead."

#

Five Years Ago-

"Dinalah!" Runia called, frantic. "Dinalah, where are you?"

After the two of them had sold the best of their garden vegetables at the fair, Dinalah had run off. It was nearly nightfall, and she hadn't come back yet. Dinalah never stayed out after curfew rang and the gates of the town closed, even when young Tiernan came around to woo her.

"Dinalah!" Cries from helpful neighbors echoed in the distance while Runia ran frantically through the forest, hoping she'd merely been beaten home, as she had so many times before, by her more athletic younger sister.

Runia, not paying attention to the path in her haste to find her sister, collided with something solid. She looked up to see a man blocking her course through the darkness.

To Runia's horror, she saw that he held a familiar cloak. This object normally would not have panicked Runia–Dinalah was almost always forgetting her cloak somewhere if the day had grown warm–but this particular cloak was torn, mangled, and stained, as though it had been dragged a long distance and stomped upon.

"No!" she whispered, shaking her head at the implications. Pushing her rump off the ground with her hands and feet, she backed away from the man as though she were terrified of him and of all the bad tidings the cloak in his hands brought with it.

"I'm sorry, Miss," the man said, holding out the cloak. "But is this your sister's?"

#

"He told me that he'd seen one of Marlain's soldiers push you into the river," Runia explained. "It had just rained a few days before, so the current was too strong . . . He told me you'd drowned."

"No . . ." Dinalah comforted as she directed the caravan into the third courtyard. "No, Runia. Someone grabbed me while you weren't looking, and I couldn't get back home until the next week when I managed to escape. By that time, you were gone.

"Runia, where did you go? Where have you been?"

#

-Six Years Ago, A Few Days Later-

Runia didn't have much money, but she held a small memorial for the sister whom she believed to have perished earlier that week.

"If there's anything I can do . . " the stranger who'd told Runia of her sister's "demise" began as they sat in front of the cottage Runia and Dinalah had shared.

"No," the young woman replied curtly. "I won't be staying much longer." Runia didn't think she could stay in the house with memories of her sister threatening to choke her every moment.

"Where are your parents?"

"My father was a mage," Runia explained. "He was killed before Din-" she changed her mind about uttering the name. "When I was ten. My mother died in childbirth."

"How did your father die?"

"Firebolt," came the answer. "In a battle with other mages."

"What was his name? I've met many mages. I might have known him."

"Lord Selbert of Darkhaven," Runia replied. "When he was killed, my mother sold our home to his employer."

"The name rings a bell," the man answered. "Tell me, Runia, have you studied any magics yourself?"

"Here and there," she answered. "I used to watch the town healer when she'd come around, and I've found a few useful spells in some old caves just outside of town."

"Would you like to learn more? Find a way to avenge your sister?"

The pure fury in the woman's eyes was answer enough, and it was just crazed enough that Runia missed Treichen's diabolical look of accomplishment.

#

"But, look at you," Runia stared at Dinalah in awe. "You're alive, and one of Marlain's elite . . . How did this happen?"

"When I got back to the cottage, you were already gone," Dinalah began. "I sat for hours, waiting for you, but one of the neighbors told me you'd gone, and they didn't know where to. I went to Lady Marlain's castle to ask for help finding you, and in exchange, she asked my help in her army."

The sisters talked a while longer, and then Dinalah had a thought.

"Wait. This maze-" she bagan. "It is your doing?"

Runia nodded, eyes on her sister's.

"You know the answer to the last riddle, then?" Dinalah asked. "Could you tell us?"

Sadly, the raven-haired woman shook her silky tresses. "It doesn't accept my voice as a solution, and the thorns have ears. If I told you the answer, it would mean death to us all. Blades would swiftly behead us, the harpies would be released, and anyone who did not perish from either peril would surely bleed to death from all of the scrapes and gouges they'd get when the thorn walls closed in."

Dinalah nodded in understanding.

"But there is one thing . . ." Runia provided.

"Yes?" her sister prodded.

"When you reach the end of the maze, and ambush will be waiting for you. Twenty of the most powerful of Thane Treichen's mages await you at the labyrinth's exit." Deciding to let the information sink in, Runia rose, starting to head toward the wagon.

"Where are you going?" Dinalah grabbed her sister's arm.

"I must make my report, or else Treichen will suspect something, and come here himself to finish us off," she replied.

#

The next day, Runia cast her glamour once more - the statues, after all, had eyes - and the travelers made their way to the last riddle.

They reached the dead end, and after the statue - this time, a silver tiger with amethysts for eyes - the blades, and the hourglass had appeared, it told them the last riddle.

"Not only are you trapped and risking death by blade," the tiger's bejeweled eyes flashed as it spoke. "But, should you fail to answer correctly within the allotted time, anyone who does not perish at the blades' edges will die a slower, more painful death."

At the last word, a cage filled with harpies broke through the ground to the tiger's right.

There was a collective swallowing of fear at the sight of the harpies, but did not waver in their conviction to see the ordeal through, and Seamus nodded for the riddle.

There's not a kingdom on the earth,

But I have traveled over and over,

And though I know not whence my birth,

Yet when I come, you know my roar.

I through the town do take my flight,

And through the fields and meadows green,

And whether it be day or night,

I neither am nor can be seen.

What am I?

The tiger's stripes metamorphosed into lines of verse as it spoke the riddle, and as soon as the statue had finished speaking, the hourglass tipped, sand trickling to the bottom.

The group - minus Runia - put their heads together, though not without some trouble. The harpies obviously had not been outside of their cage even when underground, since a foul stench permeated the small enclosure. The stench, coupled with the harpies' taunts and the pressure of the hour glass's steady timekeeping, made some so light-headed that they could barely think of their own names, much less the answer to the riddle.

Runia caught one of the other mages looking suspiciously her way, and gritted her teeth as her back stiffened defensively. They were bound to think her motives treacherous; she had surely given them cause to do so over the past few days. However, Runia could not help her reaction to such suspicion. She was not a hypocrite. If she were given a logical reason to give up her lifestyle, then she did it without turning back. She reminded herself that the mages would not know this about her, since they'd just met a few short days ago.

Closing her eyes and pointing her face to the sky for a moment, Runia calmed her nerves and turned back to the discussion at hand.

"Well, whatever it is, it gets around," the blacksmith, Tersken, remarked, pointing out the first two lines.

"And," Silvaina spoke up, pointing out the fourth line. "It's very loud."

"But," one of the other mages questioned the rest of the riddle. "An invisible, flying thing? What could it be?"

Runia closed her eyes, clenching her fists when she realized time was halfway through. Come on, she urged silently. You can do this, Dinalah, I know you can. I can't lose you now, not when I've just found out that I didn't before!

Runia, worried that the group would not find the answer in time, chanted a quick spell under her breath and surreptitiously waved her hand in Seamus' general direction. A light breeze whipped through the labyrinth, rustling everyone's hair and clothing. Seamus looked up contemplatively as the cool breeze caressed his weathered features.

"That's it!" he cried, startling even Runia.

"What is it, dear?" Dinalah thought he had shouted in aggravated defeat, but realized her mistake when she saw the smile on her husband's face.

She looked to the hourglass, and realized the sand was almost gone. "Hurry, Seamus!" she urged. "Time is almost up!"

Seamus swaggered toward the statue. When he was face-to-face with the tiger's violet eyes, he gave a cocky smirk, and uttered a single word.

"Wind."

#

The tiger, harpies, hourglass, blades, and walls disappeared at Seamus' word. In fact, the entire labyrinth seemed to wither into nothing before the group's eyes.

They began to panic, but Runia shouted, "Don't worry, this is normal!"

Quickly remembering what was to come next, Runia dropped her glamour again, running for cover in the wagon.

"Run for cover!" she warned the others. "Treichen's mages have been ordered to attack as soon as the labyrinth has died!"

#

The battle went on for days, but Runia, Dinalah, and the others managed to defeat the best of the Thane's mages.

A few days later, Runia led the group into the main gate of Castle Treichen, having falsely reported to the Thane that Marlain's elite had been defeated, instead of the Thane's own mages.

She told Seamus and the others to stay and fight anyone who contested their presence in Treichen's keep, and led her sister up the many staircases to Treichen's chambers.

Runia didn't bother to knock. Instead, she swung the heavy doors around their hinges with a bolt of fire, and stepped inside.

Confidence radiated off of the raven-haired woman as she rushed through the door, tackled Treichen to his chair, wrapped her hands around his throat.

Treichen wasn't so confident when he didn't have the upper hand, Runia noticed as her sister walked up beside her, arms crossed.

"You listen to me, Treichen," Runia hissed, squeezing a little tighter when the man tried to speak. "In my opinion, you should have your intestines pulled through your eye sockets, but my sister - whom I was told was dead - has convinced me to let you live.

"Now," she continued. "We are taking back the castle you forced our mother to give up when your mage spies killed my father, and you are going to leave. Do you understand?"

At the man's nod - he really is a coward, despite all that power, Runia thought - she let the Thane go, releasing his throat.

Quick as lightning, Treichen pulled out the dagger he'd been hiding from its secret compartment under the desk, and spun Runia so that her back was against his chest as his arm wrapped around her collar. Holding her in place, Treichen brought the dagger to Runia's throat.

"No, Darkhaven," he hissed into the woman's ear. "You will die."

Fortunately for the sisters, Treichen hadn't been watching Dinalah while he pulled the knife on Runia.

Sneaking around Treichen, Dinalah unsheathed the ceremonial dagger she'd been given the day that Lady Marlain had put Seamus in charge of the group of elite, stabbing the fiendish Thane in the kidneys.

"Well, at least it'll be slower than if you'd stabbed him in the heart," Runia shrugged, stepping away from the dying Lord.

#

A year and a half later, Lady Marlain's elite joined Runia, Dinalah and Seamus at the newly-restored Darkhaven Keep for a celebration. Dinalah and Seamus' firstborn was a month old, and the old group was invited to her naming.

After the feast and the obligatory entertainments, everyone crowded around the couple, remarking on the bundle in Dinalah's arms.

"What have you named her?" Runia asked her sister as she played with her newborn niece's soft, tiny fingers.

"Well," Dinalah smiled impishly, remembering their adventures of the year before. "Since it sounded so pretty, I thought I'd call her Riseia."

#

Disclaimer

I did not make up the riddles in this story. The Riddle of the Sphinx, I found at Old Riddles - Kids Ark on the internet. The address is http://web.ukonline.co.uk/conker/puzzles/puzzle-may.htm.

The other riddles, I found at a page called A Few Old Riddles at http://oaks.nvg.org/re2ra5.html.

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