"Until The Fall" - 37/48
Title: Until The Fall
Author: Rissy James
Characters: DG, Cain, Azkadellia, Jeb, Glitch, Raw, Tutor, the Queen, Ahamo, and some old & new OCs
Pairing: Established Cain/DG; established Jeb/Az
Rating: M
Summary: Sequel to " Of Light". After an annual of living in the O.Z., DG sets out to complete the task given to her by the Gale. Soon, she must learn that there is always more to everything than first meets the eye.
Extras: Cast Page on livejournal.com
Author's Note: Probably the longest transition chapter in the history of Tin Man fic. Sorry for the lag. Too. Much. Plot.
Chapter Thirty Seven
Jeb couldn't honestly say he'd ever found himself in more trouble.
Sure, he'd survived escaping Central City during the Last Stand, but that was mostly due to his mother's fierce determination and his father's quick action. The annuals with the Resistance; his incarceration in the iron suit; the siege on the tower during the Eclipse; following DG in a (debatably) failed attempt to rescue his father and her sister and the Emerald from the Outlanders... the list went on and on. As he thought back on it, he came to the unfriendly realization that there seemed to be a scrape for every day of his life.
Great Gale, but he'd been in some stupid places. The Forest, however, the bleakness, the darkness, the enemy camp amidst the ruins of the Ancients... no, he couldn't honestly say he'd ever found himself in more trouble.
Things were happening.
He wasn't with Catticalisa when she'd discovered the fate of Graham Hardy, the missing informant. No, he'd been in his tent, mercifully asleep.
A shrill scream had cut through the camp, awakening all those slumbering and jarring all those not.
Jeb hadn't gone to her side, had all but hidden under his covers, knowing that whatever had caused the witch to make that sound wouldn't be in his favour. But the truth had spread like wildfire through the camp, whispered and chuckled over amongst the men.
Hardy had turned himself over to the royal army, gone to hide behind Azkadellia's skirts. Locked away in a heavily guarded Tower cell.
Jeb hadn't really known how to react, kept to himself after discovering the news, until Lady Catt called for him again. No, Jeb didn't blame Hardy at all. He couldn't think of anywhere he'd rather be than behind Az's skirt...
Groaning, he had slammed the heel of his hand into his own forehead, hard.
But once in his head, it was hard to shoo thoughts of Azkadellia away. She persisted to haunt him, teasing him with delicate, fleeting memories. By way of subtle torment, he was forced to stand behind Catticalisa as she viewed Azkadellia over the course of that afternoon. Her voice was infrequent, but from his close proximity to the Lady's shoulder, he caught glimpses of her now and again.
“There is a council meeting late this afternoon. The council members -”
“I don't want to speak on the council at the moment, Ambrose.”
“Oh, this Queen is all woe and misery!” Catt exclaimed, pushing the book away but leaving it open. “Tell me Cain, are all the Gale women shrinking violets?”
Jeb cleared his throat, his eyes staying pointedly away from the book, though from its angle he couldn't see a single part of the magic picture. “No, my lady,” he said.
“Oh, I don't think this Queen could be the ball of fire that her sister is, could she? This dapper headcase advisor of hers, such a blessedly peaceful match,” she said slyly, her red lips curling into an unpleasant smile. “It seems almost a family tradition, marrying below their stations. Even Dorothy Gale herself married a City Guardsman!” Catt laughed cruelly.
Jeb only grit his teeth. The words piled up behind them, dancing on the tip of his tongue as he bit down on it hard enough to draw blood.
The lady smirked. “I grow tired of watching these two moon over each other,” she said, and reached out to flip the cover of the book shut. “Don't you, Cain?”
“Hadn't really thought of it that way, my lady,” he said stiffly.
She smiled at him then, her face softening, the glow in her eyes causing a twinge of suspicion to stir up in his gut.
“When is General Cole due to return from the village?” she asked him sharply, almost as if she were testing him. Jumpiest woman he'd ever met, and he'd spent more than a little time with DG.
Jeb cleared his throat. “No more than a few hours, ma'am. That is, unless he goes and meets trouble.”
Like the escort?
The bodies of the soldiers killed in the attack had been returned to the shield, and Travers hadn't been among them, which meant - as far as Jeb was concerned - that he'd smuggled away clean. That Hardy had something to do with it was a certainty. If his partner had made it to the generals or not was only a hope.
Jeb would find out soon enough though. It was a miracle Travers hadn't been discovered missing yet. When he was, it would be as easy as leafing through a book to find him again, and Jeb didn't fancy being at Catticalisa's side for that moment.
This would be a good time to start planning your strategic, ingenious, and might I add poorly-timed exit, his common sense gloated, and he was hard pressed not to listen to it. It seemed that his one and only opportunity had passed him by.
No, he'd learned over the annuals there was no such thing as only one chance.
The expression 'Or die trying...' didn't come from nowhere.
Sit tight, and keep a close eye out, his father's voice whispered in his mind. He didn't question this fact, no; he'd been hearing Wyatt Cain in his head for a long, long time. His conscience was his father, his common sense his mother.
It was close to midnight when Cole's company arrived. With his three scouts standing at attention behind him, Cole reported all that he'd found in the village.
“Hardy's family had little in the way of information,” Cole told Lady Catt, his voice strained. “Short of pursuing him ourselves, which was in direct violation of your orders -”
Catt shook her head impatiently at her general. “Graham Hardy will be dealt with soon enough. Once all that is Azkadellia's is mine, and I'm sitting on the throne, everything will fall into place, won't it?” she said with a laugh like a greedy child. “What about our munitions shipment, General? Where is it?”
“We located the shipment on Hardy's property,” he said promptly, “locked up tight in a storage silo.”
“Waiting for us to fetch it?” she asked. Even from his position standing behind her, Jeb could see perfectly in his mind's eye, the image of the Lady Catt raising a sharply sculpted eyebrow in query.
“I wouldn't advise such a move be made at this time, my lady, but yes, it is merely a matter of retrieving it.”
“And if the royal army is laying in wait?” she challenged, razor edged.
Cole said nothing.
The Lady Catt heaved a deep sigh, and her shoulders sagged. As she let her head hang, her long red hair curtained around her face. Long seconds ticked away before she raised her chin again, and when she did, Cole flinched under the intensity of her eyes. Jeb bit back a smirk, but it was difficult.
“I want our perimeter fortified,” she muttered, so low that Jeb had a hard time catching what she said. Cole seemed to hear her, understand her, because he gave her a short nod as she continued to speak. “I want the guard doubled on all access tunnels. Shadow's Passage is to be the only way in or out, do I make myself clear?”
Cole nodded again. “Yes, my lady.” He left the tent immediately, taking his scouts with him.
“Azkadellia,” Catt seethed quietly between her teeth as the tent flap fell shut. “Gods' sakes, what is that witch plotting?”
***
The trees in the Black Forest were black. The trunks left an ashy residue on DG's gloves as she touched her hand to each in passing. She didn't know why she was compelled to run her fingers over each thick trunk, scarred bark ridged and ancient beneath each pass of her hand, she just did it. She'd long since lost count of the trees she'd graced with a faint trace of her fingers.
“You want to walk a little faster, Princess?” Zero asked, irritated.
She paused, letting her feet come to a complete halt. Tory had caught up to her in a matter of seconds, and he stopped beside her, giving her an inquisitive glance. “Why did we stop?”
“Princess needs a rest,” Zero spat.
DG craned her neck to look down the lane they travelled. Even to her untrained eye, she could tell that the road had been cleared recently. Underbrush that had been torn out of the ground was now piled unceremoniously along the side of the roadbed. Every which way she turned, there were trees stretching out into the distance, their high branches and broad leaves blocking out the light of the twin suns. When she looked upward, she had to shield her eyes from the brilliant white light that couldn't make it to the forest floor.
Grumbling to herself, she leaned up against a tree that grew closer to the road than any of the others. An afterthought skipped through her head, that her back would be covered in black soot, but she dismissed it. With a sigh, she stared down at the road without really seeing it, scuffing her toe in the dirt.
Her foot hit the rough, jagged edge of a stone embedded in the road. Chewing on the inside of her cheek, she put a little more pressure into the next swipe of her foot, and the stone came up a bit, loosening the soil around it. Her eyes widened when she thought she caught a glimpse of yellow. Giving the stone another prod with her foot, she unearthed it completely, rolling it onto its opposite side. A little orange centipede scrambled out from underneath what wasn't a stone at all... it was a broken chunk of yellow brick.
“Huh,” she said quietly to herself, bending down to retrieve the piece of brick. It was an odd shape; part of its single smooth side was stamped with a '3' and part of what looked to be a '9'. Over and over she turned the brick in her hands, studying the ridges of its surface, as if it could tell her a story of times past, like layers of strata on a canyon wall. The brick kept its peace, and told her nothing.
“Is that what I think it is?” Tory asked her, though his words seemed distant and barely registered with her single-minded focus on the broken brick in her hands.
DG turned the piece over again, traced the '3' with her finger, dislodging tiny particles of dirt from the indentation.
“We gonna stand here gawking over debris we find in the road all day, or did we have somewhere to be?” Zero asked coldly as he stalked toward DG.
Distractedly, DG shoved the brick fragment into the ex-Longcoat's chest as she set off at a quick pace. Zero gave a quiet 'Umph' of surprise, but by the time he'd realized what the princess was doing, she had already broken into a run and was off down the road, heading deeper into the woods, alone. Her eyes searched the path at her feet as she ran.
“Damn it,” he muttered under his breath. He cast a dark, knowing look at the kid before he was hot on DG's heels. Tory picked up the piece of brick DG had dropped, pocketing it before following after Zero.
DG kept her eyes peeled, watching the ground more than she watched where she was going. Tiny flecks of yellow caught her eye now, standing out from the road as bright as gold to the girl who sought it out. Clumsily, she stumbled, but a hand on her arm stopped her from falling, the wrong hand. Not the protective, gentle but firm grip she'd become too used to feeling by her side, no, not Wyatt Cain's sure, thick fingered grip, but the vice-hold of Zero, flexing and squeezing, threatening pain.
She tried to wrench away, but he continued to hold her so she couldn't run again. “Thanks,” she muttered, “but let me go.” It was a quiet command.
“Not a chance, girl,” he said; she was more out of breath than he, her own breathing erratic while his barely held a hitch.
“Let. Me. G-”
“And I said not a chance,” he said with a derisive chuckle. “This isn't playtime, Princess.”
Tory caught up to them, a look of uncertainty on his face as his eyes fell upon Zero's death-grip on DG's arm. “Hands off her, Zero,” he said automatically, his normally easy and good-natured voice dropping a dangerous octave.
“Not until the little Other Sider understands,” Zero said, giving her arm the slightest twist, the tiniest pinch. “I'm not laying down my life so she can run amok like a harvest-drunk Papay.”
DG bit down on her lip. “I'm not running amok, I'm going the right way.”
Zero grunted disbelievingly, finally letting go of her arm; he stooped, picking up a stray piece of brick, bigger than the one she'd found, but still as crumbled and ancient. “I haven't heard it told anywhere to follow the yellow brick road, Princess.”
She glared challengingly at him, but said nothing. The voice of her Popsicle rang out through her mind, countering Zero.
“All of life's answers are found along the Old Road.”
Zero leered over her as he tossed the chunk of brick back down; it hit the road with a dull sound and rolled off into the grass. “We follow the trail Catt's soldiers left,” he said firmly, “not a trail of yellow brick breadcrumbs. You got that?”
Frowning, she didn't respond. With a growl that rumbled through him, Zero took up her arm again, roughly yanking her the few inches toward him. Leaning down, he did all but press his forehead to hers as he stared into her, eyes sharp. Tory let out a hoarse, guttural shout, but didn't lunge forward, didn't step in. DG was glad, wasn't about to let the kid think he could save her when she didn't need saving.
She didn't need saving.
“Its this way,” she told Zero, focusing her light and giving him just enough of a push to back off, just enough of a spark to sting. His hand snapped away from her, shaking off the shock her magic had given him.
Zero shook his head at her, was about to open his mouth and most likely throw a cutting remark at her when the sound of something moving through the woods tore their attention away from each other, and damn herself to hell, but she stepped back toward Zero and away from the trees.
“Not scared, are you?” he teased mercilessly, though his eyes were on the dense brush, moving back and forth restlessly as he sought out what skulked where they couldn't see. His every movement was calculated and calm, but he drew his gun from its holster at his side just the same. It caught her eye, and she noticed there wasn't a tremble to his fingers. “You two wanna get moving?” he suggested though clenched teeth, eyes and firearm still focused on the thick, impenetrable woods.
With a sideways glance at Tory, DG did as she was told. There was a nervousness fluttering in her stomach like a trapped moth, more an annoyance than a threat but still a constant, palpable presence. To walk forward was easy, to follow the road as it laid itself before her was the hard part.
Zero was close behind her, catching up to her, suddenly wrapping that ever present hand around her arm and dragging her to keep up with him.
“What do you think it is?” Tory asked.
Zero cast a glance behind him. “Don't know. Could be a kalidah.”
Tory gave a tense chuckle. “Kalidahs aren't real... are they?”
“Never know in this forest,” Zero muttered darkly, looking down to find DG's wide blue eyes focused on him. She didn't know why her eyes were drawn to him, why something deep inside insisted on staring at him, drinking in the lines of greyish stubble along his jaw, the sweep of his blonde hair away from his temples.
“What's a kalidah?” she asked. Finally tearing her eyes away from the ex-Longcoat, she searched the trees behind them, the black trunks lining the road, the thick tangle of their roots and branches and the dry mess of tall grasses that grew beneath them despite the lack of sunslight.
“One of those big scary monsters that likes to gobble up little girls,” came Zero's short response.
Something in the trees moved again, rustling the grass and grabbing at her attention, sending her imagination skittering and her nerves to take a dive and hide somewhere in her toes. The moth trapped inside her had begun to do madcap pirouettes somewhere in the vicinity of her lungs.
The jutted dirt lane, littered with broken bricks came to a sudden halt as it intersected with a stretch of paved brick road. Their forward momentum ceased all together at the very edge, and for a moment DG could almost forget the quiet stirring in the underbrush that followed them. She stared in open mouthed awe at what seemed to be the Oldest of Old Roads. The gnarled black roots of the wooden giants towering about them had slowly overtaken the road, upturning and displacing the stones until the bricks were so utterly uneven, she couldn't imagine anyone navigating it pleasantly. Among the roots, thin red vines reached long-leaved fingers across the bricks, and perhaps it was the light tricking her into thinking the vines twitched the closer her feet got, as if they might suddenly spring to life and wrap themselves about her legs.
Behind them, the grasses were disturbed visibly, and a low snarl sounded from where she couldn't see. The air grew silent as the three reluctant companions all drew a collective breath. DG caught the barest glimpse of the massive creature as it pounced out of the woods onto the road. There was a scream and a shout and a curse, all from three different mouths, before DG tripped and fell back onto the bricks, scraping her hands despite her gloves. She scrambled backwards over a thick root obstructing the path, her eyes focusing on the massive cat that had landed gracefully on the brick road and now separated her from Zero and Tory.
The enormous mountain lion paced in a slow circle, its black-tipped tail snapping back and forth behind it as it regarded its prey. Its wise, golden eyes landed squarely on her and seemed to stare straight into her soul. Everything in the world seemed to stop in that moment as the lion walked languidly before her, its long, sinuous body mesmerizing her with its beauty. Her entire body seemed to have frozen in place, though her brain twirled through a thousand thoughts per second.
“Don't move,” Zero ordered. The resonating click of the hammer being pulled back on his gun shot through her, louder than she thought possible.
“Don't!” she cried out as the lion turned sharply on Zero and the boy. The great cat crouched before them, growling ferociously, working up into a deafening roar, shaking her to her very core. DG gasped, covering her ears; did the earth just tremble beneath her at the lion's anger?
Its finally happened, she thought to herself with a smirk as she pushed herself to her feet, her hands out defensively in front of her. I've gone bona fide insane. Well, it took long enough.
She focused on her light, though she held it in check, as the lion turned once again in a smooth circle, its paint-dipped tail flicking behind it. God, did lions get that big on the Other Side? Surely, the tawny paws were twice the size of her own hand.
So, so nervously, DG lowered herself into a curtsey before the great lion. “Your Majesty,” she said reverentially, keeping her own blues trained always on the golden eyes of the cat.
“Are you crazy?” Tory hissed.
“I was just wondering that myself,” DG said in a choked voice as she righted herself, and waited; she didn't blink, didn't break eye-contact. Like staring down a damn hippogriff, she stood perfectly still, and waited.
Her patience was rewarded... or so she thought. The lion relaxed its tense shoulders, its corded muscles rippling beneath its fur. It stalked toward her on silent, padded paws; sidling up to her, it nudged her hip forcefully with its head, pushing her a few steps backward, farther into the black of the forest.
Ever so slowly, DG lowered herself to her knees so that she might stare the lion straight in the eye. She'd never done anything so stupid in her entire life, and in the back of her mind she could hear Wyatt Cain growling as much. “You're here to guide me, too, aren't you?” she asked the catamount quite seriously.
The lion blinked once, its only acknowledgement of her. It turned away from her, lithe form agilely passing over the tree roots growing over the road, a grace that DG wholly envied. The cat stopped before Zero, who still held his gun raised and cocked. It watched him passively for a moment before giving him the same not-so-gentle push it had given DG. Zero stumbled a bit as Tory hopped around the lion and made straight for DG.
“What's it doing?” he asked her, a slight tremble to him.
The lion plunked its huge body down in the center of the dirt road that bisected with the forgotten span of Brick Route. Stretching out, it gave a tremendous yawn. The beast watched the three travellers with lazy yellow eyes as it quite effectively blocked the way they'd come.
“No turning back then,” Zero said direly, jerking his chin toward the lion as he replaced the hammer. Holstering the gun, he gave DG a rough shove in the shoulder.
The lion growled deeply, and again the very bricks under her feet seemed to shift minutely.
Deeper into the forest they walked, leaving the great catamount behind. The trees were denser in this part of the woods, if that was even possible, growing so closely together, DG wasn't sure if she could have slipped between them, even if the grasses and brush didn't choke the way.
“I don't like this forest,” she muttered to herself, glancing upward, searching for the friendly sign of a winged shadow moving above her. Hass had done just as he'd said, didn't let himself be seen. No, DG didn't want anyone seeing him, but she wished she could see him for herself, just for a minute, just for the comfort.
“Dark and creepy,” Tory agreed.
An hour of walking passed, and then a second. Soon, something in the dimness ahead of them began to shimmer faintly, an illumination that grew brighter the closer they got. Though the suns were directly overhead, their rays did little to penetrate the thick canopy. Though the iridescence they rapidly approached was weak and filtered, it called as a beacon in the shadowed quietude of the forest.
Once again, they found their path had come to an abrupt end. The brick-paved path continued straight through the shield, and they were left standing at the edge - well, at a very safe distance to the edge. The shield gave off an energy that DG could feel sending every molecule of her body into a frenzy. The hairs stood up on her arms, as warmly clothed as she was.
“This is - this is incredible,” she said, her head falling back as she took in the sheer scale of the magical construct. Who could have this kind of power, to generate such a magnificent force? “Does Catt maintain this with her magic?” she wondered aloud, taking a careful step toward the glittering wall of the shield.
“No,” Zero said. He was kneeling on the bricks, looking both left and right, where faint trails cut off in either direction to walk the perimeter of the shield. “Machine runs this thing.” Groaning, he straightened. “Men headed North from here.” He motioned to the path that broke right.
“We aren't going to make it to the gate without them noticing us,” Tory piped in, chin raised skyward as his eyes searched for the very top of the shield, unseen through the branches above their heads.
“I'm a little suspicious they haven't already,” Zero said offhandedly. “Game faces, then. Where is the Emerald, girl?”
DG's eyebrows knit together as she patted the pocket of her slacks. The stone gave a warm pulse.
“I expect you know how you're keeping that damned thing safe once you're in there,” Zero muttered, and held out a reaching hand to Tory. The kid shrugged his rucksack off his back, and buried his head in it. After a few painfully long seconds he pulled out the length of rope he'd acquired searching the abandoned homestead of the tin woodman.
With a few precise, jerking movements, Zero looped the rope around DG's waist twice, then cinched it tight. The princess squeaked.
“What are you doing?” she asked, though it was obvious. She resisted the urge to shudder when his bare hands caressed her exposed wrists as he tied her hands behind her back.
I don't remember signing on for this, a scared little voice in the back of her mind whispered. She glanced over at Tory, expecting to see the same astonishment she felt sketched upon his young face, but instead she only found a compassionate acceptance in his eyes as he viewed the ex-Longcoat binding her.
Once the ropes were secured fast and firm, Zero dug his hand into the hair at the back of her neck, knocking her hat to the ground. He tangled his fingers at the nape of her neck, gaining control of her head. With his other hand, he took hold of the ropes around her waist.
“I hope you're ready, Love.” With his two handfuls of her, he pushed her ahead of him. She struggled against him, and it wasn't for show. Tears threatened, and the only thing that kept them at bay was her fierce determination not to let Zero have that to hold over her as well. Cowed and bound as she was, she wouldn't let him have that so very personal satisfaction.
The path that circled the shield was as wide as all the roads they'd travelled that day. Even if he held an unforgiving grip on her, Zero wasn't cruel, though he never extracted his hand from her hair. As close to the shield as she was, she could feel the static charge of it, and after twenty minutes had gone by, she began to feel a bit dizzy and weak. The Emerald was now radiating such a heat against her leg that she wondered if she might be burned by it.
Soon, a broken stone wall on the inside of the shield towered up beside them. The architecture was old, a period unknown to DG though she'd spent a good deal of the past year - annual - soaking in everything she'd been able to learn about the Zone. The soldiers standing guard on the single-level battlements called out a warning to them, derisive shouts as they recognized Zero and his prize. There were catcalls and whistles, guffawing laughter.
Ahead of them, the groaning of the portcullis drew her attention, though she really couldn't look anywhere but where Zero trained her head. A company of five armed men came out, weapons charged and raised. DG's heart gave a leap and she closed her eyes. If she could just stop herself from shaking or showing fear...
“That's a real pretty package you got. Now, state your business, Zero,” the officer in charge barked.
With one smooth motion, Zero forced DG to her knees. She whimpered as he finally released her hair. Though she desperately wanted to, she didn't give into gravity and let her head hang. She glared long and hard at the soldiers pointing their rifles at her, the blue of her eyes turned icy and sharp.
“I got something Her Ladyship will be mighty interested in,” Zero said, running his hand over DG's hair as she knelt in front of him. She jerked her head away and nearly lost her balance in the process. The soldiers before her chuckled. “Take us to the witch now, let her be the one to ask the questions.”
***
As DG was being roughly escorted through the gatehouse at Shadow's Passage, Wyatt Cain was a day's journey West, helping Azkadellia down from the truck. He could have sworn he felt a cold draft as the Queen walked past him without so much as a sideways glance. He couldn't say he blamed her; once he'd informed Az of just where DG was and who she was with, the silent treatment had quickly settled in.
The last hour of the drive had been spent wheeling along at a snail's pace over the deeply rutted, overgrown dirt road. Completely hidden by large stands of trees, the royal army's camp was a small one, out of the way and off the Brick Route. There was a sense of urgent activity about the place, but what Cain saw was nothing compared to pressing need that had been building deep in his chest since he'd watched DG disappear into the trees with Zero, a man he'd once sworn to make suffer for his crimes.
The Northern general was there to greet the Queen, his weathered face devoid of expression. Without a word, he bowed to his monarch, then motioned for her to follow him. The group of four - Azkadellia, Raw, Glitch, and Cain himself - were led to a series of connected tents at the center of the camp. The flaps were held open for them by guards flanking the entrance. Once all had passed through, the flaps fell shut once again, cutting out the afternoon light and leaving them in semi-darkness.
“Your Majesty,” Peter Andrus said with another bow of his head. “If I might request - that is to say, a degree of protective enchantment would not go amiss.”
Azkadellia raised her hand, and a wave of light energy swept around them. Standing close behind the Queen, Cain felt the strong pull of the magic, reminding him so closely of DG, and yet there was a different feel to it, a quality brought by Azkadellia herself, though what more there was to it, Cain couldn't quite tell. Magic was just plain out of his league.
“Thank you, Your Majesty,” Andrus said, relieved. “Now -”
“What is the meaning of summoning me here, General?” Azkadellia demanded. “Your dispatch was despairingly vague.”
“There have been some unsettling developments,” Andrus said, unaffected by the coldness of Azkadellia. Anyone who worked closely with the woman was almost impervious to it. “With my apologies, the other three leaders are unable to meet with us. They've gone to bring in more of their own men.”
“You have yet to explain why you feel the need to fetch reinforcements,” Azkadellia pointed out.
Cain stepped away from Azkadellia, walking a purposeful circle around the tent. He kept both hands firmly on his belt, his head down, as his eyes had taken in every corner of the tent upon entering. The dirt floor itself was marked over with a thousand footprints, all melting into the next. Pacing had been done recently, and quite a lot of it. He cast his eyes upward to Andrus as the general responded to the Queen.
“One of our scouts has returned from the Black Forest with disturbing reports,” Andrus explained in short order. “It -”
“One scout?” Azkadellia asked, incredulity shaking her voice. “Where is the second?”
Andrus cleared his throat, a wholly regretful gesture. “Lieutenant Cain chose to remain in enemy territory against orders to return.”
Cain felt something heavy settle into his gut, akin to guilt, fear, hope, all rolled into one hard, painful ball. So Jeb had indeed gone undercover into the Black Forest, and was now in as much danger as DG. Damn that bullheaded - Cain tore that thought out from its very root.
Andrus was continuing his brief. “... The one leading the Longcoats, a woman by the name of Catticalisa.”
“Yes, I'm aware,” the Queen said.
Andrus shook his head. “She is in possession of a... well, the reports are a little unbelievable, but -”
“A book,” Azkadellia interrupted. “Magic. 'The Record'.”
Andrus coughed lightly, a little taken aback at the Queen's well-informed understanding of the situation. “If you'll excuse me, Your Majesty, but this information was brought in by my scout only -”
“Captain Cain briefed me on the situation, General.”
Astounded, Andrus turned to Cain. “And how might you have come by this intelligence, Captain?”
Cain smirked, staring down Andrus. “Crystal ball,” he said, deadpan.
“A crystal ball?” Andrus repeated, a vague smile finding its way onto his lips. “Wait,” he said, realization dawning. “Do you mean to tell me that -”
“DG went to see the Reader, yes,” Cain interjected. “Almost a fortnight ago.”
“And where is the Princess Royal?” the general demanded, his query directed at the Tin Man who stared at him with unfaltering intensity.
Cain cleared his throat, and let his eyes go to Azkadellia. She watched him carefully, her posture stiff and regal. She was every bit the fiery, determined woman her sister was. “DG's got a mission of her own needs dealin' with,” he said. Azkadellia gave him the faintest nod, her eyes softening, so he continued unabated, returning his harsh gaze to the general before him.
“She hopes to rid the Zone of the burden of the Emerald,” Azkadellia clarified.
Andrus narrowed his gaze. “And how does she hope to accomplish this?”
“By travellin' to Deadwood Fall,” Cain said through clenched teeth. Speaking on this was more than a little disconcerting. He thought he might start feeling actual pain at repeating all this to Andrus. “Seems there's somethin' there that can help her get it done.”
There was a beat of silence, and then another, and then Andrus was lifting his hand and pinching the bridge of his nose between two fingers. “Deadwood Fall, at the center of the Black Forest,” he said slowly. “Are you aware, Captain, that there is an entire army of fugitive Longcoats surrounding that area? Not to mention the enchantress that leads them, or the shield that protects the lot?”
Cain's jaw tightened. “Yes, sir,” was all that he could manage.
“You sent that little girl in there alone?”
“Not alone,” Cain said with a firm shake of his head. “Corporal Jeremy Hass travels with her.”
The lie hung in the air between the general and the Tin Man, and Cain worried for a moment that Andrus would see right through the delicate front. It had been almost impossible to get Azkadellia to agree that keeping the presence of Zero and Tory at DG's side was imperative. Even now, he refused to look at Azkadellia for fear of giving it all away.
“One soldier?” Andrus almost laughed.
Until that moment, both Glitch and Raw had remained blissfully quiet, but Glitch stepped forward then. “It would seem that the time to argue over tactics has already passed, gentlemen,” he said easily. Cain threw him what he hoped would come across as a grateful look. “What's done is done. If I've judged the distances properly - and I'm quite certain I have - DG will be too deep in by now to get out herself. If we're going to help her, it needs to be done immediately.”
Andrus considered the advisor for a series of seconds before he gave a resigned sigh. He walked to a table in the middle of the tent, and unfurled an old map.
“Then what is it you suggest?” he asked, motioning to the map.
Ambrose raised his eyebrows conspiratorially as he shot Cain a knowing smile. “I thought we might dance.”
Hours later, however, no steps had been taken, deliberation and caution winning over the Queen's passive nature. Azkadellia seemed to be flat out refusing to acknowledge the annuals of militaristic expertise she'd gained during her possession. She'd staged a takeover of an entire country at the age of only sixteen annuals, hadn't she? And here, she hemmed and hawed over the borders and the significant risk of losing men while her sister could very well be -
Cain stepped away from the table and out of the tent so quietly, he was sure no one had noticed him go. A headache was raging behind his eyes, the lines drawn on the map and the tiny carved quartz figures meant to symbolize the resources of both armies coming in flashes he couldn't chase away.
The last time Cain had found himself in a position where so many things could go wrong, he'd been standing on a hillside with DG waiting to storm the Tower, staring into those baby blues of hers and wondering faintly if he'd get the chance to do so again, half-expecting to die during the siege.
Now, he stood on the brink of another great battle, and honest to the Gods, could do with a bit of encouragement. Walking toward the closest stand of trees, he leaned back against the first sturdy trunk he saw. With his hat angled low over his eyes, he took a moment to regain his bearing. A cold wind was shuffling the leaves above his head, and he turned up the collar of his duster.
This sitting, this waiting... his feet wanted to move, his hands to act.
Someone was approaching. Though he didn't look up, he knew by the careful, slow steps that it was Raw. Surely enough, the Viewer came to stand near him, leaning against his own tree. He said nothing, his quiet presence a comfort and an aggravation all at once. Seconds ticked into long minutes before Cain finally opened his mouth.
“No words of wisdom?” he asked with a grim smirk.
Raw considered this, and after a moment said, “Never make camp under Mobat nest.”
Cain chuckled, an oddly placed relief seeping through his chest. “Yeah,” he said. Raw was smiling at him.
“DG only want to keep Cain from dying. Witch kill Cain to hurt DG.”
“That so, now?” He was disbelieving, though it was cold truth.
“DG not scared to go alone.”
Cain growled low in his throat with a shake of his head. He shoved himself away from the tree, straightening his hat. “Well the damn fool girl should be. She keeps putting her life up for others, its gonna catch up to her.”
“DG think same thing about Cain,” Raw said sadly.
The words stopped Cain in his tracks, hands hanging at his sides loosely. His head fell, chin almost touching his chest. “She sent us to get help from her sister. I don't reckon this was the kind of help she was expectin'.” When he looked up, Raw was shaking his head.
The wind gave a great howl, and the trees around them groaned in protest as they were tossed about. Cain looked up, watching the torrent of autumn colours.
“Captain Cain!” Azkadellia cried out over the wind. When Cain's eyes settled on her, he saw she'd gone pale and her eyes were blazing. She reached him, holding out her hands. He took them without hesitation; her skin was cold. Behind her, Ambrose was running to catch up, shrugging his arms into his frock-coat as he went. “Are you confident you can get my sister out of there?”
“Never crossed my mind that I wouldn't be able to.”
Something in Azkadellia lit up. “Have you a plan?”
“Mighta had one stewing.”
Azkadellia nodded, conviction shining through her now. “The generals and I will keep the witch's attention - and her book's - on us. Hopefully our diversion will be sufficient enough for you to infiltrate the camp and retrieve my sister and your son.”
Cain studied Az carefully for a moment. She looked up at him,eyes burning with a courage reminding him so much of DG that he had to look away.
“This is against what your sister wanted,” he told her.
Azkadellia smirked. “DG has to be wrong sometimes. Just go get them, bring them both home.” A ripple of emotion coursed through her face, and for a moment, the strong, unfailing Queen looked close to tears. She gave Cain's hands a last squeeze before dropping them, and suddenly the air around them seemed cold again, the world cruel and moving fast. He watched Azkadellia return to the tent, to the general and the battle plans that still needed to be drawn.
But for Cain, Raw, and Ambrose, it was time to go fetch their princess.
Author's Note II: *holds out hat*
Table Of Contents:
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