Curaidhe Na Craiobhe Ruadh

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[Introduction] Welcome to the wonderful world of Celtic lore! This is a time of gods and elves, male and female warriors, druids and kings.

Some information:

This story takes place in the Ulster Cycle of Irish history. Iron weapons are all the fad. Mythology mixes readily with history, as the Tuatha De Danann (a godly Sidhe race) mix readily enough with humans, teaching and punishing them, and occassionally parenting children with mortals.

In Ulster, Conchobar has just become king. His rival, the Amazonian Queen Maeve, rules in the neighboring land of Connaught. Warfare is generally over petty matters (like cattle raids) and the idea of one on one combat (even to win a war) prevails. Thus, duals are all the fad.

Warriors fight with swords, bows, pikes, and shields. Most are footsoldiers.

The Curaidhe Na Craiobhe Ruadh (Knights of the Royal Branch) are the most elite military troop: personal bodyguards of King Conchobar, themselves landed nobles and commanders of smaller troops. They are the best trained warriors, mastering Cleas (show offy martial feats), driving chariots, and dualing.

Your characters are young warriors in the Boys Troop, an army and training academy of child warriors that feeds warriors into the Knights of the Royal Branch. You are all under the age of twenty one. Some of you have seen battle. All of you know the basics of fighting. All of you are young nobles.

Your Characters:
Setanta- male (played by ARIADNE)
Ardan- male (played by RAIDEN)
Fergia- male (played by COLIN)
Aeife- female (played by QUADDY)
Mebh- female (played by ANDARIEL)

Other Characters (you can't play them right now):
Conchobar: your King (of Ulster)
Maeve: the Queen of Connaught (Conchobar's enemy)
Scathach: Amazonian warrior woman from the Isle of Skye in Scotland (your teacher)
Fergus: Champion of Conchobar's court / Weapons Master (your teacher)
Cathbad: Druid and Physician of Conchobar's court (your teacher)
Amergin: Poet and harper of Conchobar's court (your teacher- also teaches Courtly Manners, Lore, History, etc)

The boy's name was Sesanta, and he didn't know what to think of these human lands.

He had spent the first fifteen years of his young life on the island Tir na nOg with his human mother Dechtire and his Tuatha De Danann father, Lugh, the King of the Sidhe after Nemain of the Silver Arm was maimed and no longer worthy of the throne. The Otherworld was a place of almost drunken happiness and timeless beauty, yet even now, only gone from that place for a few days, he found that his memories of his father's lands had faded as if with a dream.

Yet he was eager for the new life that stretched before him, tantalizing and dreadful at the same time. His mother had sent him to Emania, the palace of King Conchobar of Ulster, to learn the druid arts with his grandfather Cathbad. Sesanta, though, had his own plans, his own dreams, and he intended to follow them.

Sesanta wanted to be a Knight of the Red Branch.

And who could blame him? It was a noble desire, for a young noble born of two royal lines, to want to serve his uncle the King and gain fame and glory for himself. All that stood before him and that destiny were ten years of training with the Boys Troop.

Ten long, grueling years.

Yet he was content, as he stood at the boundary of the playing field, where before his eyes two and twenty young warriors played games with their toy spears and their hurley and silver balls. He would join them, for they were to be his comrades, his brothers, and, he felt sure, his friends.

Quaddy

Aeife of Connaught hated her Queen. Maeve had destroyed her family, killing them in a ruthless act of warning. They had done nothing, yet the Queen had decided to set an example by murdering them personally in front of a cheering crowd. Aeife had been been only nine summers old at the time, but the death of her father, a leading royal in Maeve's court, had been difficult to bear, even for her naive mind.

Her mother, Morrigan, had been furious. When the Tuatha de Danaan had heard of her lover's death, she had vowed that Maeve would pay. Instead of killing the Queen herself, Morrigan had taken Aeife away to the Otherworld. In her daughter, Morrigan had embedded a love of war, of revenge, and of magic. Aeife grew hard and dreamed of vengeance for her father. It grew bad enough for Lugh, the King, to order Aeife sent to Ulster, to live at the king's palace of Emania.

Aeife had hardly any memories left of the Otherworld- it was too much a magickal place to leave any memories. She had been seventeen when she came to Emania to study with the renouned teachers Scathach, Fergus, and Cathbad, all of whom knew of her maternal lineage and understood her love of blood and battle, and had thus trained her harder than the others.

Four years had been spent under their tutiledge, enough time for Aeife to become a great fighter. She could fight using weapon and body, mind and magick, and knew that her time had come. It was now that she would put her plan of vengeance into motion.

She would become a Knight of the Red Branch. No matter if she was a female- it would be easy enough to hide her femininity. And she was hard as any man emotionally. It would be easy.

And she would do it.

raiden

Ardan Desalort was the son of a great swordsman named Jasperiles.

He was taught to hone his skills even at an early age by his father.

He wanted to prove to his father that he could indeed become a great swordsman himself.

So he practiced day and night for years to perfect his skills.

By the age of 8 he was already a skilled swordsman but his father was even harder on him.

He demanded perfection and Ardan soon became frustrated with his father's antics.

A few months later his father finally decided to send him to the Boys Troop.

Ardan wasn't sad to be leaving in fact he found it to be a great change of pace.

It was obvious that his father would never accept anything but a perfectionist.

Ardan stared up at the sky as he read the only letter his father had ever sent to him.

It stated that even though he didn't always show it he was very proud of him.

It had been almost a year since his father died,and he wanted more than anything to prove once and all that he was worthy of his love.

Fergia looked down on those he would now be spending his life with. While he did not truly regret his decision to join the Boys Troop, he would miss his family, and his calling. His father was a great Bard, and he had wished to follow in his father's foot steps. But the world needed heroes more than it needed musicians, it seemed. Still, he had his father's lessons, and his harp. Some how, he would live up to his potential and make his father proud. After all, who better to chant the ballads of this group of heroes than someone who had become one of them?

With a lighter heart, he walked to the practice field.

Setanta stood at the edge for the field, staring out at the multitude of young warriors playing a game of hurley. They would hit their silver balls with the stick, and then run after it. He watched them for a while, disinterested, but slowly the game looked more and more fascinating, until he was determined to try it for himself. And so he started across the field, stopping only to pick up a stick and ball from the community pile that the other children had grabbed their equipment from.

The members of the Boy's Troop looked at him in surprise, then mischieviousness, as he walked toward them.

"Boy!" one of them called. "What do you think you're doing? This is a game for men, not little children barely weaned from their mothers! Get off our field and go home!"

The child who insulted him so could not be more than two years Setanta's senior. At first Setanta stood back, alarmed at the hostility in the boy's voice, then smiled slowly. This was just a ritual, a mindless ritual that everybody played. The boys were trying to assert their seniority over him, a mere first year. Well, he'd show them.

"I'm going to play, and I'd like to see you stop me!" he called bravely.

It started off as a small fight between Setanta and the other boy, but gradually all the others joined in on the fun, and they swirled in a snarling clump, fists flying with dirt. Setanta was loosing badly, but he had got in a few strikes of his own, and so he was content, through he wanted deliverance soon.

Meanwhile, on the outside of the field, the other new recruits watched the battle with interest, and the himself walked over to see what what the matter. When he asked what the fight was all about, and wanted to know who had been the troublemaker, the other boys pointed to Setanta.

"And who are you?" the man asked.

"I am Setanta," the boy said boldly. "My mother is a woman of the Tuatha de Danann and my father the god Lugh himself. I am the nephew of the King."

"Ah, then you are my kin, for I am the king. Let's end this fight now, shall we. All you go to the barracks. Setanta must be shown around here. Will one of you volunteer for the job?"

Quaddy

"I will, sir!" Aeife called out, stepping forth from the group of boys that had been playing. Conchobar smiled slightly, knowing who Aeife really was. It was he that has suggested her joining in the first place, although the laws decreed that she would have to at least pretend to be a boy. Nodding, the king turned to Setanta.

"This is Lodran, he will be taking you around the camp to show you around and tell you the rules," Conchobar said, referring to Aeife. Setanta realized "Lodran" as one of the guys to defend him and nodded. Aeife stepped forward and nodding her head.

"'Allo, Setanta. Follow me, will ya?" she said, continuing to disguise her voice. Setanta stepped up next to her and the two walked off, Aeife showing him the sights and sounds of the campsite. Once they were around the corner, however, and out of the eyes of anyone else, Setanta stopped.

"Aeife, you can stop pretending now. I know it's you," he said, crossing his arms over his chest. "Only you would use the name Lodran."

"Shush, Setanta, tryin' to get me kicked out? The King knows, but even he'd have to drum me out if I was found to be a girl! And I thought you were supposed to be the Son of Lugh..."

"You never change. Must me Morrigan's blood in you..." Setanta muttered. Aeife gave her childhood friend a big grin. Moments torturing the Tuatha de Danaan with him were some of the few momories she had of the island.

"Of course. Now, I must continue to show you around or everyone'll think I'm trying to shirk duty. And that's not something you wanna do around here..."

raiden

Ardan entered the barracks as he threw his letter beside the bunk and layed down.

He closed his eyes as he tried to erase all the horrible images he had seen in his young life.

He had already seen so many deaths thanks mainly to his father's no fear attitude.

He had saw him fight many a man just to prove his superiority.

Ardan wasn't going to be a carbon copy of his late father.

He wasn't going to fight everyone just to prove he was better than them.

He would fight only if needed and would gain the respect of the other boys in the Troop.

And in the process he would find his own destiny.

Fergia walked back to the barracks along with the others. That Setanta would bear watching. Might be a ballad there. Maybe even an epic. He hoped he would be able to find some time to keep his voice and fingers in proper shape for his true calling. He could feel the harp in his pack, poking him in the back, as though longing for attention. Oh well, maybe when he got to the barracks...

The thought went unfinished, as Fegia was suddenly forced to flail his arms to keep his balance. He failed at this, and fell face first into the dirt, to the laughter of those near him.

"What, haven't you learned to walk yet? You'll not last long here if you can't even manage that." The voice was the same as the boy who taunted the newest member of the troop on the playing field.

Fergia replied, "Hmm, I seem to have tripped over a piece of refuse someone has carelessly laid about. I wonder who could be so thoughtless."

The other boy's expression turned dark for a moment, but then he began to chuckle, and soon boomed laughter. "Ai, that's a good one on me. Well, let's get you dusted off and settled into the barracks then." The boy lifted Fergia off the ground and set him on his feet. Then he lead the way to the barracks. This experience was starting out more interested than Fergia had originally thought.

Mebh was the daughter of a knight. A knight that was the queens protector. When her father died (her mother was already dead) The queen looked after Mebh. For Mebh could make the queen laugh and remined her of herself at a young age.

Mebh is loud and spirited. She was trained by her father to fight with a sword and with her fists. She isnt much with a sword (average) but when it comes to hand combat shes your girl. Shes a daredevil and likes to fight and work.

She can be the nicest person in the world if she likes you. Shes pretty but dont every try to get her in a dress.

Setanta followed as Aeife led him to the barracks, and saw that two of the other first years were already there. Setanta looked around with disinterest and a little disappointment. He had just spent the first seven years of his young life in Tir na nOg, raised as the son of a Sidhe king, and to find himself suddenly without any luxuries at all, but instead standing in the middle of a cold, crowded boys' barrack with pallets littering the floor and no blankets whatsoever, was a little distressing. Yet he saw by the wall the rack where they kept their practice weapons, and he brightened. This may not be paradise, but it was where he wanted to be, training with other children like himself to become a great warrior.

"It's not much," Aeife said in her rough boy's voice, "but it's home. Choose a pallet, kid. The best places are already taken, of course, but I'm sure we can find somewhere to put you. How 'bout over here, with the other first years and with me? It's rough here, but I'll protect you little children."

Setanta smiled wryly. "As if we need protection. But I'll be grateful for the company, of course, and the other first years and I should probably stick together." Then he leaned closer to Aeife and said in a low voice, "And you and I, we're both children of the Tuatha de Danann, raised in Tir na nOg like brother and sister. It is right that we should live near one another. I can't say I like this place, Aeife, but I'm excited anyway. Was it like that for you?"

Quaddy

Aeife shrugged. "I was used to something like this before I joined. Remember, I was kicked out of Tir na nOg at seventeen and I grew up in the mortal realms. Nothing with this is new to me as it is with you."

"Ah yes...those nine years," Setanta said, nodding. "Were you exctited nonetheless?"

"I am eager to avenge the death of my father," Aeife replied, her voice becoming gruff not of her own accord. The blood of Morrigan ran swiftly through her veins now, and an angry glare rose in her eye.

Setanta nodded. "Calm yourself, Aeife," he whispered. "Don't give yourself away now."

"I won't. If it ruins my chances of torturing that Queen, I wouldn't risk it."

raiden

Ardan closed his eyes as he began to dream about his past.

He remembered all the late nights he had to practice his fighting abilities.

He remembered the constant pressure he felt from his father to become better.

Suddenly his mind was filled with images of death.

He woke up sweating as he looked all around"Are you ok?"one of the others asked him.

Fergia was still awake as the boy next to him bolted out of a sound sleep. "Are you OK?"

"Yes, fine. Nothing wrong, just a bit nervous about training tomorrow. I hear they're really tough on the first years. I should be fine, but I'm concerned that some of the others will get hurt."

Fergia thought for a moment. "Yes, I worry about that too. But you can't be in the sagas if you are weak, can you? Our king needs heroes, not children to fight by his side, and it's our duty to become those heroes. Right?"

"Yes, my thoughts exactly. War is no place for the weak, and the King needs strong men. Sleep well, I know I will." The other boy settled back down.

Fergia though, it seems this one also bears watching. He may have a place in the sagas of tomorrow as well. Joining the troop might be the best thing that could have happened to me, if I can live through the training.

Mebh was setting off to join the boys troops. She walked quickly through wilderness. Her head always kept down. She was walking so fast she didnt realize shed bumped into someone.

"Im sorry." she said quickly and looked up.

It was around midnight that the newest first year arrived. The door to the Boys' Barracks swung open, and the slight sound was enough to wake Setanta, who was having trouble sleeping in this new place. He rose onto one elbow, struggling to see despite the thin line of firelight that spread forth from the door. Beside him Aeife, Ardan, and Fergia were deeply asleep, though Ardan tossed fitfully and mumbled under his breath.

"Here's a new one," a brusque voice announced in a hoarse whisper, and the training master Fergus, who slept by the door to guard his young charges, looked up. "Found this little lad wandering around; seems he was lost."

"Welcome, boy," Fergus said in a low voice. "I suspect you are weary. The other first years are over there," -and his eyes met Setanta's in the dark- "and tomorrow you will be shown around. Young Setanta," he said, raising his voice slightly. "Do you think Lodran will take her under his wing as well?"

Setanta shrugged. "You'll have to ask him tomorrow to be sure, but I don't see any reason he won't."

"Good. Then, younglings, get some sleep, and I will see you out on the fields in the morning. Wakeup is at 6. You will bathe in the river, and then go to the practice field to learn the art of the sword. Do you both have your own pracice swords?" The two children nodded. "Good. Sleep well, then, for tomorrow begins the first of your days as a trainee for the Knights of the Red Branch."

He closed the door behind him. Setanta lay down, and the new boy-- no, new girl, he could see, despite her boy's clothing-- walked over and fell exhausted onto her own pallet.

Quaddy

Aeife was assigned to both Setanta and Mebh, the new recruit that had arrived the night before while the camp slept. Mebh was not as adept at hiding her womanhood as Aeife so Fergus, in an attempt to keep the girl safe, had assigned her to Aeife, whom could teach her a thing or two about being a girl in the Red Branch. And teach her Aeife would.

"Drop your voice and saunter a bit more. You walk and talk too much like a lady," Aeife muttered to Mebh as she trained with Setanta, demonstrating to him how to correctly use a sword. He was already adept enough, having grown up in the Otherworld, but it still helped to buff up a bit on the knowledge.

"Alright. Is this better?" Mebh asked, dropping her voice to a deeper pitch and relaxing her posture.

"Much."

raiden

Ardan sat up in his bunk as he looked at all the others sleeping,Fergia was right about the King not wanting weak soldiers.

He shook his head as he remembered all the training he had received from his father.

He was well prepared to become a great fighter like his father,he layed back down as he wondered if the others were as nervous about tomorrow as he was.

A mist seemed to rise from the ground on the new recruits first day. All the first years had their practice swords. For the first part of the day, the new boys learned how to walk properly with the swords. It was a lesson that some already knew well, but others had difficulty mastering.

After walking around, the youths were given some lessons on how to use a sword properly, then were told to spar with one another. Fergia picked up the basic techniques fairly quickly. He had learned some points about weapons handling from ballads and epics, particularly those that held illuminations showing the heroes actually doing battle. Actually using a sword in battle, even a mock battle, was a very different thing, however. Fergia frequently found himself weaponless, or with a point to his throat. Still he did manage to come out on top on a few occaisions.

He was impressed by several of the other new recruits. Some of them seemed to have a natural talent for swordplay. He would have to practice hard just to keep up with them.

Fergia was resting for a moment on the side of the field when his name was called for another spar. "Fergia, you and Lodran show me what you've learned."

Setanta sat back, dripping sweat, as he watched Fergia and Aeife go at it. Fergia was no match for Aeife; she was definitely giving him a run for his money, though Setanta was pleased to see that the boy was at least not giving up.

Fergia and Aeife ended their bout when Aeife managed to slip her wooden sword past Fergia's frantic guard and press the point to his throat. "You're dead!" she announced cheerfully in her boy's voice, at the exact moment the Weapons Master, Fergus, called, "Hold!"

Fergia and Aeife sheathed their swords and turned to Fergus.

The Weapons Master gestured toward Aeife. "Lodran is the top weapons student at this time in the Boys' Troop. You new lads, and the rest of the students as well, would do well to try yourselves against him as often as possible. It will give you a pretty accurate measurement of how much you are progressing, as well as what you have yet to work on."

Setanta beamed at Aeife, who refused to acknowledge that she had been complimented, though she stood proudly upright with her shoulders back.

"Now let's try something different," Fergus said. "I want... Setanta and Ardan to go against Lodhan. Let's see how you work in teams. Begin!"

Quaddy

Aeife watched the two boys approach her carefully, her green eyes eyeing them, the way they held their swords, and the way they held themselves. Setanta was the more experienced of the two, but Aeife knew his fight and knew his weaknesses. Ardan she knew less, though she had watched him during the training sessions. If she could plan things correctly, she could still win- even with the double teaming.

"Alright. Begin," Fergus declared, waving his arms in a small circle. Aeife ducked low, bending her knees and preparing to strike whomever came at her first. Or, preparing to have one "kill" the other if they attacked simultaneously.

Ardan, the lesser of the two boys, and the mortal, attacked first, his sword poised to run Aeife through, though it was only wood. Aeife spun around and caught him in the knees as he ran past, knocking him to the ground. She would've taken him out of the fight, but Setanta had taken the opportunity to attack, hoping to catch Aeife unawares. This is when the training not of the Red Branch or of Fergus, but of Morrigan, her mother. Fighting against another Tuatha de Danaan would take more skill.

Swiping her sword at his chest and then completing the arc in the other direction to "cut" his sword arm, Aeife swung around and sliced at the advancing Ardan, whom had come up from behind. It was difficult taking on two men at once, but Aeife knew she could take it well enough if she could just plan it right.

Ardan would need to take out Setanta, which would rid Aeife of the greater of the two opponents. Aeife could handle Ardan easily- alone, he would've been out from the get go. But, with Setanta there to assist him and take Aeife's attention, it was more difficult. So, with her plan formulated, Aeife just sat back and defended herself, waiting for the opportunity to put it into action.

It came in the shape of a particularly large sweeping attack by Ardan. Aeife, pulling back and close to Setanta, whom was recovering from a hard defensive blow from Aeife, ducked as the arc came full circle and winced as it hit Setanta square in the chest. The sweep had been powerful enough to knock Setanta over, where Fergus declared him dead. Ardan, shocked by what had happened, was easy prey for Aeife, whom faked an attack at the stomach and came up to the neck. "And you are dead as well, Ardan," she said, smiling slightly. "Good fight."

Turning around to help Setanta up, Aeife worked her invisible magicks, taught to her by Cathbad. She held the bruising and smiled at her old friend. "Good fighting, Setanta. Almost had be down, there."

"You too, Lodran." Setanta gave Aeife a conspiratorial smiling, knowing full well why Aeife had won- she was the daughter of a war goddess.

raiden

Ardan shook his head as he sat down on the ground and stared up at the sky,he wasn't one to sulk but his ego had been bruised.

He had trained his whole life to become the best and he ended up taking out his own ally.

He stared at Setanta as he apologized"Sorry about that it's my fault we lost".

Setanta shook his head as he replied"It's ok we were up against a really great fighter".

Ardan lowered his head as he nodded"Yeah I'll do better next time ok?"

Setanta nodded as he replied"That's all we can do is get better right?"Ardan nodded as he smiled.

Fergia watched the battle and was amazed. If it weren't for the accidental death, the other two might have taken Lodran. Then again, maybe not. He was already composing a verse about the fight when his name was called once again.

As he took his place for the spar, Fergia was chanting under his breath, trying to perfect the tones of the verse.

His opponent charged forward, and Fergia was driven back by the force of the blow. He was put on the defensive by the fury of the blows driven against his weapon. He knew he was going to lose, badly. For some reason an old war chant began running through his head, and he began to sound the words as he was beaten back.

Something changed in Fergia as he chanted. He began blocking the blows rather than simply pushing his sword between himself and his opponent. Then he began taking a more active role in the battle. His swings seemed to have more power to them, and they landed where he aimed them far more often then they had before.

His opponent swept Fergia's legs out from under him, but as he fell, he drove his blade into the gut, 'killing' his enem...no, just a sparing partner. He stopped chanting, in shock at his performance.

"Whoa." Mebh muttered.

"Did anyone else see that?" She asked flinging her hair back and catching the eye of a few boys.

"Yeah." They said staring at her.

Setanta smiled to himself. He'd heard of people summoning the Battle Rage to themselves (he himself had quite a temper that could be used give him the edge he needed to defeat his enemies), but never once had he seen someone simply chant to himself and go as blank faced as Ferdia had. He wasn't sure what he had just seen, but it wasn't the Battle Rage. It was some kind of... trance.

"That's enough weapons practice for today," Fergus announced. "I now have a fair idea of what level each of you is at, and beginning tomorrow the training will be both longer and more rigorous, so enjoy your break."

Several of the youngsters sighed. Fergus called this a BREAK? Their muscles were aching and sweat was running from them in streams. What would tomorrow be like?

"Now, go to the east side of the field," he pointed, "for your lessons with Scathach. She will be teaching you unarmed combat."

She? some of them wondered. Who had ever heard of a woman instructor.

"She's new," Aeife whispered as the students trotted across the field. "Some say she's an Amazon, and others think she's a warrior goddess. I think she's of the Tuatha de Danann, as we are."

"This should be interesting," Setanta murmured back. "I've never been taught by a woman before."

Aeife grinned and slapped him on the back. She'd been his drill partner for many years during their early weapons training in the Otherworld.

raiden

Ardan followed the others as he spoke to Fergia"You were quite impressive in battle my friend".

Fergia nodded as he replied"And so were you"Ardan shook his head as he sighed.

"I think I'm going to need a lot more practice maybe I'm not cut out to be a warrior after all".

Fergia shook his head as he replied"Of course you are you just need to perfect your skills".

Ardan nodded as he smiled a little"Yeah I think you're right".

"Well, that's why we're here, isn't it?" Fergia grinned. "I just wish I knew what came over me out there, and how to make it happen again. I guess I'll have lots of chances to try, though. Let's get some food, I'm starving."

As they walked off the field, they passed Setanta and Lodran. Setanta slid over. "Interesting technique out there. I'm curious to see how it fares against training and skill. Maybe tomorrow."

How odd, Fergia thought. He didn't seem hostile, but that sounded almost like a threat. What a strange person.

Mebh walked blindly through the night. She wanted to find a pub or something. She stumbled into someone. She looked up and smiled.

"Hello Setanta." she said with a devilish grin.

"Greetings..." he responded carefully. He knew full well that he was not supposed to be outside of the Boys' Barracks past nine, but then he relaxed. She could get him in trouble if she wanted, but then she'd have to explain to their teachers what she was doing out so late. "Where are you headed?" he asked a little more amiably.

"I want to find some ale. Perhaps there is a pub here somewhere?"

He shook his head. "I heard the Knights of the Red Branch do not approve of drunkeness. There won't be any pubs around here. But I think if you wander into town you should be able to find some off duty city guards sharing company by a fire. Perhaps you can persuade them to give you a little to drink..."

Her smile widened. "Care to come with me?"

He frowned. He was not into drinking. "I have things to do."

"Oh, come on. Live a little. Let's go into town. Nobody will know who we are, if that's what you're afraid of."

Setanta had to admit that she was right. They had both dressed carefully so that they could slip from the Barracks and into town without being noticed. They were both dressed in peasant's garb. Only Mebh's cloak could give her away.

"I'll come. But ditch the cloak."

"It's cold!" she complained. Her breath was white. "You're crazy, running around in the cold night air without anything more than a tunic and trousers!"

"I'm never cold. But you can wear the cloak if you want... you just might be noticed, that's all."

"I'll take my chances." They wandered beyond the shadows of the Royal House and into the village that sheltered within the palace Emania's walls.

raiden

Ardan tossed and turned as nightmares once again plagued his dreams,he awoke with sweat pouring down his face as he looked around.

Setanta and Mebh were both missing from the barracks"Hum that's strange"he thught to himself as he got up and put on his shirt and boots.

He walked out of the barracks as he looked all around"No sign of them out here"he whisphered to himself as he shook his head.

Fergia awoke in the middle of the night in a cold sweat. Looking around, he saw four of the recruits were missing. Wonderful, the troop was falling apart faster than the trainers could ever have dreamed possible. Something told him things would probably work out if he just let them run their course, so he went back to sleep.

Mebh saw the pub.

"Ahh real people.." she said in a somewhat far away voice.

They walked into the pub. It wasnt large and had wodden tables with drunk men and smoke wifting through the air.

"Hey cutie. Come over here and take a seat on daddys lap!" A man called over to Mebh patting his leg. He was fat and had many tattos and had a cigar in his mouth.

"No thank you." Mebh said in somewhat disgust.

"This doesn't look good, Mebh" Setanta whispered, though he was confidant if any trouble came, he and the other Knight Trainee would be able to handle it.

"I didina ask ye if you wanted to come o'er here, I tol' you, wench," the fat man said, after letting up a great puff of smoke. "Don' make me come get you."

Mebh glanced at Setanta and rolled her eyes. Then she smiled brightly at the large man. "In the time it would take you to lift your large, drunken body from that seat and lumber over here, my dagger would already be in your throat. I'm not here for your attention. I want some ale."

"Talks like little Lady, she does," the man drawled. "Where'd ye come from, wench?"

Setanta glared at her, and she winked at him. "Why, from the village, of course. I only sound educated because you're so stupid."

The man growled and pushed himself to his feet. "I get what I want, lass, and right now yer it. Come 'ere."

Mebh stepped lightly out of his way as he lunged toward her, so that it was now Setanta who stood in his way.

"Move, boy, or you're next."

Setanta blanched. Had the man meant what he thought he meant?

"You couldn't lay a hand on him," Mebh said from somewhere behind Setanta. "He'd beat you into the ground if you tried. You don't believe me? Go ahead, try."

"Mebh..." Setanta warned in a low voice.

Quaddy

"Darvin, step off!" called a figure from the doorway. The low, throaty voice didn't strike a chord anywhere in Setanta or Mebh's memory, but it certainly did for the men in the tavern. Darvin froze, sweat beads popping up on his forehead and fear shining in his eyes. Growling in his throat, he sat down on his chair and gulped down the rest of his ale.

"Yer jus' lucky that Lodran showed up," he growled to Setanta and Mebh, shooting a fearful glace over at the cloaked figure in the entryway. "Jus' watch out for 'im. He's go' 'imself...unnatural abilities, he does."

Setanta tried not to let a smile show itself on his face. Of course Aeife would be well known around these parts. And the all likelihood that she would let him and Mebh wander off was slim to none.

Mebh, on the other hand, sighed. "Now we're in trouble..."

Aeife made her way into the tavern. "Three ales, man. On me." Turning to Setanta and Mebh, Aeife gestured toward a nearby table. "Sit down you two."

Mebh slipped into the table on one side and Setanta slipped in beside Aeife. "Mebh," Aeife said. "You cannot go out as a girl. Not ever. Not at the camp, not in the city around it- not until you've completed training. Heaven knows it's hard, but..."

"How would you know, Lodran?" Mebh challenged.

Aeife looked over at Setanta from beneath the hood and shook her head. "Very attentive, isn't she? Doesn't even notice when there's another girl at the table."

"You mean?" Mebh asked, astonished.

Aeife pushed the hood back, revealing her long, black locks. "Yes, I mean."

raiden

Ardan stared at the tracks as he shook his head"It looks like Setanta and Mebh went into town.

He got back up to his feet as he smiled"Well I might as well go and join them after all everyone else is asleep".

He took off towards town as the wind began to pick up"Looks like we're in for a storm tonight".

He pulled his hood over his face as he made his way towards town to join the others.

The bartender rang a bell and said.

"Who here wishs to try and out drink Heder the drinking champion?!" A few men looked down into their mugs and others at thier feet.

"I will." Mebh said standing up.

Setanta sighed. "Mebh..." he started warningly, but the girl was already standing up.

"Let her," Aeife said. "She'll still have to drill just like everybody else tomorrow, hangover or not."

"Still," Setanta grumbled, "if we're caught... it Fergus knows that we all snuck out and are down here drinking..."

"What," Aeife said, raising her eyes to the sky in exasperation, "you think he doesn't already know that Trainees come here? He doesn't really care, as long as you don't get hurt or in trouble. And as long as you perform to the best of your abilities the next day, of course."

"He knows?"

"And doesn't care," Aeife said again.

Setanta relaxed a little bit, then glanced sideways to where Mebh was gulping down frothy ale from a tin mug. "Still, I don't have to like it."

Just then Arden came walking in through the door.

"Hey there!" Setanta called, and the Trainee angled toward them.

"Now we're only missing Ferdia."

"Where you think he is?" Aeife asked.

"Probably sleeping like the goody goody he is," Setanta said with a grin. "Or trying to write a song out of today's practice session. 'Arden raised his sword high and true and gutted Setanta through and through...!'" he sang rambunctiously, his voice untrained but fair to the ear.

"You're drunk," Aeife said with a smile.

"Not drunk. I've not touched a drop. Don't care much for ale."

Quaddy

Aeife laughed and took a sip of her own ale. "That girl will learn her lesson tomorrow when it's discovered that she's a girl at the camp. And that she's a drunk girl to boot. Her lesson to learn for her stupidity."

"Don't like her much, do you?" Setanta asked jokingly, raising an eyebrow.

"You know me better than most, Setanta. When have I ever loved stupidity mixed with foolhardiness?" Aeife's eyes narrowed and darkened. "That girl will be her own downfall..."

raiden

Ardan sat there talking to the others when a strange looking man approached him.

"Hey don't I know you?"Ardan shook his head as he replied"I highly doubt it"he returned to talk to the others when the man grabbed him by the arm.

"You look strangely familar who are you boy?"Ardan crossed his arms as he replied"The name is Ardan and you are?"

The man turned his head as he looked over at 2 other men"Sorry for have bothered you".

He turned and walked back to his table as Ardan stared at the others"Well that was kind of weird don't you think?"

Fergia awoke later that night. Several of the trainees had still not been to their beds. Fergia was concerned at this. He supposed he would have to go into town himself and see what was going on.

Of course, he was just going to make sure the troop was not disgraced by the...Oh who was he kidding. He knew the disappearance of the others was just a very convenient excuse to go off into the town and see what it was like.

Fergia quietly dressed and slipped out of the camp. He found the path the others had taken on and off during the night and followed it to a seedy looking tavern. No point coming this far and not at least looking in to the place...

Despite Setanta's best efforts, his friends were thoroughly and disgracefully drunk by the time Ferdia came wandering into their midst, looking out of place but satisfied that he'd found the others. Only he and Aeife, taught to scorn drinking to intoxication by their Sidhe family (who knew these half-Tuatha De Danann youngsters could not hold alcohol as well as a full De Danann, who were thoroughly immune to the stuff), were unaffected, and yet even they were each holding frothy ales in their hands and having a good time.

"So th' bard-boy shows up af'er all!" he heard Mebh call drunkenly. "Gonna make a song 'bout our drunken exploits, Ferdia? Or wanna pull out yer sword and have a go with it?"

Aeife reached back calmly and pulled Mebh to her. "Watch what you say," she hissed. "Nobody here should know who we are. We're nobles, in case you forgot, and our like is not appreciated around here. Or should I say, is a little too appreciated, if you catch my drift. And that cloak of yours is probably looking like a nice commodity right about now, especially to those who know, without a doubt, that you're so drunk they could lift it right off of you. Don't expect Setanta and I to fight them off for you, because right about now you deserve it."

"Look, try to have a little fun, why don't you?" Mebh hissed back. "We're not hurting anybody. You two are so convinced you're better than everybody else here, because you're half Sidhe and a 'noble' besides. Perhaps you need to slum a little to realize you're no better than anyone else here."

Setanta frowned. Was she right? Were they stuck up?

This night was very quickly becoming no fun at all. He turned to Ferdia, who stood off to one side, watching Arden and Mebh drink. "Go ahead, have an ale," he snarled. "You mortals are all alike."

Ferdia glared. "And you Sidhe are all alike too. You stand here scorning them for drinking, while you hold alcohol in your own hand."

"Oh, shut up," Setanta said. "You're just angry because Aeife and I are better warriors than you'll ever be."

Ferdia glared at him for a moment, then turned his back and walked off. "Grow up, Setanta." He reached over and grabbed Mebh and Arden as he headed to the door. "You two have had enough. Arden, you're less drunk than she is. Take her back to the barracks."

"While you stay here and drink ale until you're drunker than them, huh?" Setanta taunted. "Why don't you go back to bed too, you baby?"

"Now why would I do that?" Ferdia replied sharply. "I'm the most responsible one here. If I go, who will keep you and Aeife out of trouble?"

raiden

Ardan stared at the rest of them as he replied"Are you guys coming?"Fergia shook his head as he replied.

"You two go ahead I think Setanta and I have a few things to discuss"Ardan shook his head as he sighed.

Ardan and Mebh went outside to get some fresh air as Fergia and Setanta continued to stare at one another.

Fergia's voice had quieted a bit, but he was still harsh in his criticism. "I'd like to know where you get the idea that you're fit to judge all of us 'mere mortals'. Maybe you need to look around you a bit more often. Most of the troop are mortals just like me. You'll be relying on them to watch your back in battle, unless you think you can fight of a raiding party alone."

"And I have no problem admitting you are a better warrior than I am." Fergia's voice fell to a whisper, so the rest of the bar would not hear. "Of course, it probably comes from your nature rather than any virtue or dedication on your part, so I'm not so sure it counts for much. I have more respect for the recruits that work themselves to exhaustion trying to become what the people need them to be than for you. You have the bearing of someone who's had everything in life handed to him, never had to work for anything. And you've got the attitude of someone who feels that it is his right to continue in that manner. Your arrogance and pomposity makes me sick. I certainly don't see a need to fight to show that I'm a better man than you, skill at arms aside."

Fergia glared at Setanta, waiting to see what his reaction would be.

For a moment, Setanta was struck speechless. Then a slow sneer spread over his face. "You think I have had life just 'handed' to me? I've lived all my life so far on Tir na nOg, which, though it may seem like all pleasure and safety to those like you who are uneducated in such matters, is a difficult place to grow up when you are only half Sidhe. You think I've just been born with my fighting ablities? True, fighting comes more easily to me than to a mortal, but I've had to work, and work hard, to be able to hold my own amongst the Tuatha de Danann warriors I trained with. And they don't exactly make you feel to welcome if you're not exactly like them. You critizice me for judging you, you who has been raised with two parents who actually have time for you, who care about you so much that they would spend all their money to get you into this training program? The only reason I am here is because my father Lugh no longer wants me in Tir na nOg to compete with his other heirs. You know nothing about working for what you want."

He paused for a moment, watching Ferdia store all this information away behind cold eyes. Then he leaned closer and whispered harshly, "And I won't fight you... you'd lose in two seconds flat."

raiden

Ardan paced back and forth outside as he wondered if he should go back inside to see what was happening.

Mebh stared at him as she shook her head"Come and sit down already will you?"

Ardan walked over towards her as he sat down on the steps and stared up at the sky.

The rain had ended and the moon had returned,Mebh stared up at the sky as she smiled.

"It turned out to be a nice night after all didn't it?"Ardan turned to face her as he smiled.

"Yeah it sure did"she nodded as she stared back at the door"You think they'll be ok in there?"

"I see. So you have built a shell of self pity and laquered it with arrogance. Such a productive way to live your life. Maybe if you bored a hole in your little wall you'd notice that hardship is a way of life for many besides yourself. You aren't the only one who has lived with hatred and contempt for being different. Well, fine then. Drown your sorrows in ale. I won't lose any more sleep over you. Try to make it back to the camp before we are expected on the field tomorrow."

Fergia turned and stormed out of the tavern.

Setanta stared after him, unable, for a moment, to believe he'd just been blown off. He glanced briefly at the mug of ale in his hand. It was his second, but he didn't feel intoxicated. "He doesn't know anything," he murmured, and tossed the contents of the mug on the ground.

"Hey!" a city guard lounging about with his company yelled. "I was willing to allow you kids to hang out here, but don't waste the ale like that!"

"If you want it," Setanta snarled, "you can lick it off the floor." He rose, and before the guard could respond, walked outside, where he found Arden and Mebh looking at him curiously.

raiden

Ardan stared at Setanta as he shook his head"What was that all about?"Setanta shrugged his shoulders as he replied"None of your business!"

Ardan turned his head as Mebh spoke"So it looks like you and Fergia aren't on the best of terms".

Setanta shook his head as he smiled"Fergia is a fool he actually believes he knows what hardships are".

Setanta turned to face Ardan and Mebh as he laughed a little"He knows nothing!"

Fergia stormed back to the camp. He stopped when he came in sight of the watch fires. He didn't want to be noticed on his return.

How dare Setanta judge him? Never worked a day in my life? What does he know about my life? He certainly isn't the only one who didn't fit in at his home. Wanting to play a harp or the pipes wasn't exactly looked upon favorably by the boys from the village. At least Setanta had a desire to fit in.

Fergia paced around the camp for some time before finally sneaking back to the barracks and settling back in. He drifted off to the thought that he may not be able to beat Setanta in a spar, but if they were matched up, Fergia would leave him remembering he'd been in a fight.

The next morning the five newest recruits faced a very displeased Fergus. "I know you were all out in the town last night, undoubtedly wandering drunk among the commoners and city watch." He smiled coldly at their dismayed faced. How had he found out? "You have not been here long enough to know that every night I make rounds about the camp, to check on all you little children to make sure you are safe and sound in your little beds." His tone dripped sarcasm even as he pitched his voice as if he were talking to a group of infants. "I have decided that since you all like the city guard so much, you can go work for them. For three days, you will report to them after your afternoon classes, and return here for your morning classes at sunrise. You will sleep in their barracks, get up for your night watch, and take your turns out in the city. Do I make myself clear?"

They nodded in dismay. The city guards had showed the night before how little they cared for the group of adolescents trying to get ale from them. They would be even less thrilled to learn that those teenagers were nobles who'd come out to the city to 'slum', and that they now had to spend their time with such youths. It was not going to be a fun day.

"This is your fault," Fergia hissed at Setanta. "If you and Mebh hadn't gone out, none of us would have either."

"You all made your own choices," Setanta snarled.

"Setanta and Fergia!" they heard Fergus thunder at them. Both turned to him in surprise. "Since you are so clearly best friends, you two will pair up for the remainder of the day. You will spar together, your will practice unarmed combat together..."

Setanta grinned at Fergia. "I will beat yout to the dust."

"...You will practice druidic offensive and defensive arts together..."

Fergia grinned as Setanta's sneer faded. "You may be the 'mighty' warrior, but I'm the bard. There is more than one way to fight. We'll see who grinds who into the dust."

raiden

Ardan stared at Setanta and Fergia as he shook his head"Those two aren't going to be able to get along long enough to spar".

"They'll probably end up killing each other"he thought to himself as he stared at them.

He started walking towards them as Fergus grabbed him by the arm"Don't worry about them they'll be fine".

Ardan nodded as Fergus stared at him"It's time to introduce you to the person you'll be sparring with".

Ardan stared at him as he nodded"Alright I'm ready who's my partner?"

Fergus smiled as he pointed towards Mebh"Right there's your sparring partner boy".

He pushed Ardan next to Mebh as he laughed"Good luck"Ardan stared at Mebh as he sighed"Yeah I'm going to need it".

The training went much as expected. While Fergia put up as good a fight as he could, and even managed to land one or two blows, Setanta repeatedly beat him down. On the plus side, by the end of the morning Fergia had picked up a number of tricks that would make him a match for most human opponents.

The afternoon was a mirror image. While Setanta's Druidic skills were formidable, Fergia's were superior. Setanta was able to block some of Fergia's attacks, and even land a few of his own, but by the end of the day, he was exhausted while Fergia was merely sweating. On the plus side, Setanta had learned almost as much in that afternoon as he had in the last year about the mystical arts.

They both ended the day glaring at each other, angry at their respective humiliations, but showing a grudging respect for each other's abilities.

When evening finally rolled over the land, they were all sent to the river to bathe before reporting to their next post. The autumn water was cold, with a light glaze of ice along the edges, but they were used to it. It was the celtic way to bathe young children in chill water and clothe them lightly during the cold months to make them stronger, hardier. Nevertheless, when they emerged from their icy bath they were all blue in the lips and shivering as they pulled their borrowed city guard clothing on.

"I don't know about you guys," Arden said, shivering slightly, "but this punishment doesn't seem all that bad to me. We'll actually be doing something, perhaps even fighting, even if we do miss out on some sleep."

"Yeah," Mebh grumbled, emerging with Aeife from around the corner where the two young woman had been bathing in private, "we'll get to spend our time restraining drunks and hauling them off to the dungeons to sleep their ale off for the night. Sounds just thrilling."

"It's better than sitting around the Boys' Barracks, and doing nothing," Arden argued.

"Besides, it could be way worse. We could be cleaning the latrines, or having extra arms practice," Fergia pointed out.

"I'd like extra arms practice," Setanta said. "I don't think it would be such a bad thing. But of course, you, Fergia, would obviously prefer to sit in camp and read books, or sing songs, wouldn't you?"

Fergia's eyes narrowed. "What if I would? At least I can read."

"What do you call what I was doing today?" Setanta shot back. "I can read just as well as anybody!"

Fergia snorted. "Yeah, but you can't follow the instructions you read. How many times did you screw up our sleeping drought when we were learning Medicine with Cathbad after Druid Arts?"

"I'm a warrior. I don't need to know that stuff. Leave it to the field medics."

"And when the field medics aren't near enough to help you, and you've only got other knights or your charioteer to help you? You'll be really happy then that someone payed attention to Cathbad."

"If I were hurt I wouldn't let you touch me with a ten foot pole," Setanta growled. "You'd probably give me poison to make me sterile."

"If you're not sterile already," Fergia mumbled to the sky, though he was more hurt than angry from Setanta's comment.

Setanta lunged for him, but Arden reached out and grabbed him by the shoulders to restrain him. Fergia crossed his arms sulkily, though a moment before he'd been reaching for the sword at his hip.

"You two are amusing, really, but this is getting old," Aeife commented.

"Shut up!" Setanta and Fergia snapped at the same time, then glared at each other.

Aeife laughed, and led the way into the city toward the City Guards Barracks where they were supposed to report.

The guard at the tower smiled when he saw the newest 'recruits' approaching. "Oh, good," he called down, "the Knight Trainees! We have just the thing for you... very respectable job. Our latrines, you see, are over filling. We need you to cover them, and dig some new ones."

The teenagers stared at him in dismay. "And you said we got out of latrine duty?" Setanta grumbled to Fergia.

raiden

Ardan shook his head as he sighed"Great maybe I should have just kept my big mouth shut".

Fergia and Setanta stared at one another as Mebh sighed"Oh yeah this should be loads of fun".

The night passed uneventfully, save for Fergia and Setanta's constant stream of personal abuse directed at each other. Even that died out as the evening wore on. Both trainees were working too hard on the digging to bother insulting the other. When the night was finally over, all the new 'guardsmen' collapsed into their beds.

The next day went much the same as the previous one, save that neither Fergia nor Setanta were able to muster the energy to hurl insults back and forth. The other members of the troop were pleased with the quiet. That night, the recruits were put to work at another menial, exhausting task.

The evening of the third day proved different, however. The recruits were given orders to search the town in pairs. There had been a brutal murder just outside the tavern late the prior night, and the killer had not been found. Ardan was paired with a formal guardsman, while Aefie was placed with Mebh and Setanta with Fergia. None of them wanted to test the guards so they simply complied and went out to do their duty.

For a while, Fergia and Setanta managed to keep their tongues quiet. They poked in shadows and walked down every dark alley they could find, but saw nothing unusual. Finally, Setanta broke the silence. "Of all the useless wastes of time. I could have been practicing or even sleeping, but no! I have to be stuck wandering the town looking for someone who probably doesn't even exist, paired with a useless baladeer instead of someone I could rely on in a fight. At least the others have partners that can watch their backs. I have to babysit..."

Fergia broke in. "Like I would trust you to watch my back in any case. You're so self absorbed I'm amazed you can see more than a foot in front of your face." He stalked ahead.

"How dare you. I'm tired of this tripe from you. Maybe we should settle this once and for all..."

Fergia turned to retort, but was shocked by a reflected glint off something just behind Setanta. "Look out! Behind you!" Setanta turned to see a dark cloaked figure lunge at him from the shadows.

He had been just about to snap back "watch out yourself" when he realized Fergia was not playing a trick on him at all. He had just enough time between his mistaken thought and the realization that he was wrong to dodge, and the dagger darted to the side whereas before it would have gutted him like a fish. As he whirled around, drawing his sword, he saw that Fergia was reaching for his own weapon as well, but their attacker, seeing that he was up against two armed 'guardsmen' instead of two, darted off into the alleys.

Fergia and Setanta didn't even pause to look at each other, both racing after the attacker, who they were sure they could catch.

It proved to be a trap; why else would an attacker go knowingly after two armed guardsmen, then, as soon as they turned to face him, run away again into the shadows? They'd been fooled into thinking the man was afraid of them, but they were little more than children, and apparently the man did not truly think they were much of a treat.

Especially against the five armed men waiting in the shadows when Setanta rounded the corner with Fergia at his heels.

raiden

Ardan searched the back alley with the guardsman as he sighed"I think we're on a wild goose chase".

The guardsman stared at him as he shook his head"Well I think you're wrong besides what harm is there to look?"

Ardan shrugged his shoulders as he replied"Ok fine we'll look down the next alley then".

They walked into the next alley as Ardan stopped and stared at his darkened surroundings.

"There's something very wrong here I can feel it"the guardsman failed to heed Ardan's warning as an arrow pierced his heart.

Ardan ran over to him as the guardsman stared at him"You've got good instincts lad they'll come in very handy in battle".

The guardsman's lifeless body hit the ground as Ardan blocked an arrow meant for his head.

"Come out and fight me coward!"he looked all around as he held his sword tightly,he had to be ready for anything.

"I think we're in trouble," Fergia said, surveying the opposition.

"Really? I'd not noticed. Make some noise musician!" Setanta brought his weapon ready, but waited for the enemy to advance on him.

"Noise, right." Fergia brough his own blade up, but rather than advancing, he chanted softly for a moment, the threw his left hand skyward. Light blazed from it, igniting the starlit firmanent. At the same time, he screamed like the Beahn Shide.

"Still staring at the attackers, Setanta muttered, "Not bad, musician. Not bad at all. Now if you can sing to charm these savage breasts..." His jibe was lost as three of the men moved forward to finish their task.

Setanta met the assault with the ferocity of his ancestry, and the ellegance of his training. He forced the three men back, shocked at his strength, but they were not untrained thugs. They began probing for a weak spot in his defences. One would lunge forward while the other two held ground. They were trying to wear him out. With their numbers, they were bound to come out on top in this.

Then Fergia began to chant. Softly at first, but the voice gaining power. Setanta could feel the words flowing in his blood. He looked at the five armed men, and grinned.

Setanta leaped forward and drove his blade through one man's chest. His blow was more powerful than ever before. He moved like water, but struck as stone. The remaining two fighters could not land a blow upon him. The struck, and his weapon intercepted every blow, effortlessly. The two that had remained out of the fight saw the shift in the wind and ran, but neither Setanta could do anything to stop them.

With only two fighters remaining, Setanta stopped worrying about defending and launched an all out assault on the two men. One tried to back out, and was run through as he turned to flee. The other tried in vain to defend himself. He blocked blow after blow. Finally, Setanta struck with all his enhanced might and shattered his enemy's blade and broke the man's arm.

The sounds of running feet came to his ears as the last fighting man feel clutching his ruined arm. The guard captain and two other guardsmen came into the alley as Setanta felt his strength leave him. Fergia fell silent and collapsed to the ground. Setanta muttered, "Figures. No one laid a blow on him, and he still falls. Still, that was a useful trick."

Setanta and Fergia had proven victorous, but what of the other knight trainees? Who knew if there were other assassins roaming the city? Setanta, not yet bothering to sheath his sword in case more foes attacked, bent over Fergia and tried to awaken him. To the arriving guardsmen he called, "Are there others? Where are my teammates?"

Quaddy

"I'm right here, moron," Aeife said, stepping out of the shadows with Mebh coming out after her. "And neither of us are injured. Now, let me at Fergia. My mother doesn't rule over magick for nothing."

The guardsmen stared at Aeife with confusion while Setanta stepped out of the way. Even the other trainees, who weren't completely sure of what Aeife was talking about, watched with awe. For the first time since the previous night, there were no arguments as Aeife leaned over Fergia and placed her hands on the side of his head. Whispering a few words, a light that seemed not light at all, but rather that the darkness was being sucked out of Fergia, appeared about Aeife's hands for a moment. When Fergia opened his eyes, Aeife stood up.

"You did good, Bard. I do believe Setanta here owes you an apology, though you owe me one, as well. And him. You know naught of life on the island for one that is racially different. Your life couldn't have been easy as a Bard, but mortal snubbery is nothing to that of the People. Apologies from both of you. And we should get back to camp. Fergus will want to hear about this."

raiden

Ardan dodged another arrow as he jumped behind some boxes to take cover"Well this isn't going so well"he muttered to himself.

He held his sword tightly in his hand as he caught a glimpse of a shadowy figure running.

He leapt out from behind the boxes as he knocked the mysterious stranger down.

He rolled him over as he stared at him"Well well if it isn't the man from the tavern".

Ardan stared at the man as he shook his head"So where are your 2 friends anyways?"

Suddenly an arrow pierced his back as he fell over on top the man in agony,the man got up as he laughed a little.

"You're every bit as brave as your father and thankfully every bit as careless".

The men ran off as Ardan dropped his sword and tried to pull the arrow from his back.

"You're right, Lodran. I'm very sorry I returned Setanta's ignorance with my own. And I also appologize if, in my rudeness I offended you. You have proven yourself a noble ally. Now, we need to locate Ardan."

Setanta glared at Fergia, but voiced no disagreement. The four recruits, along with several other guardsmen set out to find the missing men.

Several minutes of rushed searching yielded nothing. Setanta began to lose his temper. "They could be anywhere. How are we supposed to find them when we have no clue where to start looking? Too bad our resident singing druid can't chant them into existance.'

Fergia stopped for a moment. "Not a bad idea. My father once taught me a song that he said would keep a bard safe from stumbling onto a fight by accident. It gave the singer a sense of where violence was taking place. In theory, if Ardan has been in a fight, we might be able to..."

Setanta cut in, words sharper than his spear. "You idiot! Stop talking and start singing. What good are you if I have to tell you every chant to cast? Use what little talent you've got for..."

"So sorry, I'm still a little dazed from exhausting myself saving both our skins from the ambush you lead us into so skillfully. Now be quite so I can concentrate."

Fergia began a soft crooning as Setanta muttered under his breath. Aefie stood between the two, not wanting either to kill the other until Ardan was found.

Finally, Fergia pointed to the West and began walking, followed by the rest. The guardsmen were not sure what to make of this group now. They were beginning to question why two sorcerers had been assigned to guard duty at all.

Weaving through alleys and streets, the troop came upon the body of the slain guardsman, and Ardan, trying to wrest an arrow from between his shoulder blades. Aefie moved to assist him.

"You are damn lucky," Aeife murmured, as she bandaged Ardan's back up later. "Two more inches to the left and it could have severed your spine, and if it had been deep it could have punctured a lung. As it is, you're not going to be able to join in on any weapons, martial, or riding practice for the remainder of the week."

Ardan grumbled under his breath. "Still hurts like hell. I thought you could fix stuff like that."

"Well, it's a reminder that you almost got killed." She sighed. "And I have some tricks up my sleeve, but I'm no miracle worker. Besides, I had to wake Fergia up and help him regain some of his strength. There's only so much I can do in one night."

"Same here," Fergia said, looking a little gray in the face.

"And to think, you never even lifted a sword," Setanta said ironically.

"Yeah, well, I was too busy feeding strength into you to think of grabbing a blade."

Setanta's eyebrow arched and he smiled arrogantly. "Most of the strength may have been from your spell, but all the moves were my own."

"Well, I guess you're just Wonderman, aren't you?" Fergia said, his voice dripping sarcasm and scorn. "Perhaps if you weren't so stupid you could learn a few spells for yourself so I wouldn't have to do all the work."

"Enough," Aeife snapped, and the others looked less than pleased with Fergia and Setanta as well. "Ardan needs to get back to the barracks and rest, and we've all got to find the men who attacked him."

"It was a man from the pub," Ardan said. "He seemed to have recognized me... and he said I was as 'easy' as my father..."

Quaddy

"Don't think about it in your condition, Ardan. You need your mind to concentrate on stitchin' you back up completely. Let us figure it out for you. I remember the man well enough," Aeife said as she and the rest of the group carried Ardan back to the camp. Fergus looked less than pleased that one of them had gotten injured, but did compliment them on their quick thinking. To the side, he congratulated Aeife for the two successful energy transfers.

"Setanta...do you think the People could help us with this? I mean, find the man that tried to kill us? After all, we are still their Children." Aeife looked over at her friend and sighed. The two of them were the only ones up, needing less sleep than the others. "Surely they would be willing..."

raiden

Ardan layed in his bed staring up at the ceiling as he shook his head"How could I have been so careless?"he mumbled to himself.

He felt the pain shooting through his back as he rolled over on his side and continued to think.

"The men that attacked me must have known my father but how?"he continued to think to himself as he climbed out of bed and stumbled to his feet.

He walked a few steps before finally collapsing back on the bed,he was still too weak to move but that wasn't going to stop him from finding out about the men that attacked him.

He pulled the covers up over his head as he tried to close his eyes,he had came very close to death tonight.

As Fergia lay in the barracks that night, he pondered the events of the day. He was still furious with Setanta. Didn't raise a sword, indeed. He'd raised Setanta's as much as Setanta himself had. He'd also drawn the attention of the other guardsmen. The blasted sidhe was getting to be a real annoyance. Still, he did know how to swing a sword. Fergia decided to watch Setanta's moves while avoiding him as much as possible. If Fergus gave him the chance. Their trainer almost seemed to want the two of them together as much as possible. Fergia wondered about this as he drifted off to sleep.

Fergus' words the next morning confirmed Fergia's suspicions about the Weapon Master's desire that Setanta and Fergia work together.

He pulled the two boys aside. "I've already talked to Aeife about last night's events, and now I'd like to have a word with you two boys."

Setanta and Fergia glared at each other for a moment. Resentment still smouldered in their eyes. They didn't like the fact that they were going to be complimented--or maybe chastized--together.

"At first I placed you two together because of your obvious inablity to get along. I thought having you work side by side would not only make you learn to respect each other, but would also help each of you learn more in the other's area of expertise."

A small smile slid over Setanta's lips. So Fergus was not pleased with their progress after all. Perhaps he'd let Setanta pair up with Aeife this time... what could be better than two of the De Danann learning side by side. Aeife was a better swordswoman than him, and perhaps she could teach Setanta how to heal in the De Danann way...

Fergus' next statement leeched all the hope from his mind. "I have found that my little experiement worked even better than I had hoped it would. Your respective ablities completely complement one another, and your cooperation during the fight out in the city secured you a victory that you would otherwise not have had, if you had been working alone."

Fergia and Setanta glared at each other, both convinced it had been their skills, and not the skills of their teammate, that had won them the fight.

"And so, I have decided that since you boys do work so well together, you are now a permanent team, at least for the remainder of your training. And perhaps when you both become Knights of the Red Branch, you will also be a team then as well."

Both teenagers stared at their instructor in dismay.

Fergus either didn't notice, or didn't care. "Today, the city guard will be trying to track down Arden's attackers. I would like you two and the rest of your group, minus Arden, of course, to report to the city guard barracks and go along for the investigation. You are to watch them do their jobs, and you are not to put yourselves in any further danger, though you may defend yourselves if the need arises. You will all report at lunch today. This will be the final day of your punishment."

Quaddy

"So, we're Watchers," Aeife said, plunking down at the table with the others. Setanta and Fergia, taking full advantage of the little time they had to be separate, sat on opposite corners. That didn't keep them from glaring at one another throughout the meal, though. Almost as soon as Aeife spoke her words, they were glaring again. Rolling her eyes, Aeife looked at both of them. "Honestly, you two, you're behaving like children. Setanta, what of our Sidhe traditions? You dishonor them. And Fergia, you are a Bard, well on your way to greatness- such trifles should not matter."

Arden, though not joining the group to watch the guards, had been allowed to join them at lunch. He have Aeife a cheery 'hear hear' before adding his own words. "The sooner you learn to work as a team, the sooner things become less of a hassle for both of you. Aeife is right- get over it."

"He insulted me and my abilities!" Fergia cried, at the same time that Setanta cried, "He degrades my People, my blood!". The two were at each other's throats for a moment, before Aeife slapped both of them.

"Goodness, it's good that I'm here. You need a woman's touch, you morons. No one can do anything to you unless you let them. Stop being so insecure about your own abilities and teach each other your strengths. Magick and swords have always gone well together- learn both. Friendship is not required, but respect is. And with respect almost always comes friendship. Grow up both of you. We're training to be Knights of the Red Branch! Act like it!"

raiden

Ardan stared at them as he held onto his back,pain was beginning to shoot through his back again as he excused himself and headed back to the barracks.

He layed down on his bed as he stared up at the ceiling,no matter how hard he tried he could never get the images of those men out of his head.

He touched his wound lightly as he sighed"They may have wounded me but I'll get my revenge against them".

He continued to talk to himself as he closed his eyes and tried to rest a little.

The day went by fast. Too fast for Fergia's taste. He wasn't about to admit it to Setanta or he'd never hear the end of it, but he was genuinely scared of going back out again. One of their number had been near death, he and Setanta had barely been able to beat back their attackers. Someone wanted the Boy's Troop out of the picture, starting with them.

They all met back at the guard house and were instructed by the watch commander. "Stay out of our way and let us do what we were trained to do. Watch out for yourselves. We don't have time to be taking care of you. If you can keep up with my men and I you'll learn something about what we do. If not, you'd better learn how to navigate the town alone."

With that inspiring speech, the four were told to follow along and keep quiet.

Fergia looked at his companions. Setanta looked bored with the whole thing. Figured, he probably had no concept of the potentail dangers. But a knife in the back would kill him as quickly if it came from a sneak thief as from one of the Sidhe. And Fergia just bet that if Setanta got killed, he'd get in trouble for letting it happen. He'd have to watch Setanta's back, since he obviously didn't have sense enough to do it himself.

The other two seemed to be more aware of their surroundings than Setanta. They looked nervous, but excited. Fergia wished he could feel like that. He fingered the small harp he wore on his belt opposite his blade. He hoped he wouldn't have call to use either one.

Quaddy

Aeife watched the others, as well as the night. She was in her element now, her eyes scanning the shadows with no fear of what dwelt there. If Aeife feared at all, it was for the others. They, at least, were not at home in the dark alleyways of the street. And least of all Setanta, who walked around without watching his own back, let alone the backs of the others. Fergia watched, as did Mebh, but their eyes were not made for night. Their mothers weren't the Morrigan. The night wasn't their element.

"Guys, watch out. I think something's nearby."

Everyone tensed and drew their blades. A screech howled through the air as a cat leapt past Aefie and ran into the night. Every one laughed a little as they put their blades away. Setanta asked Aefie if she thought they could take it. Fergia was glad that it was nothing, but he wished the rest hadn't stopped paying attention.

Then Mebh yelled, "Aefie, behind you! It's not a cat." The group turned towards Aefie.

Aeife's blade was out before Setanta's, but he was closer to the shadow that manifested behind them, and it was the point of his blade that was pressed to the intruder's throat.

"Stand down," a deep, gravelly voice said, just as Setanta had a chance to register the man's guard uniform.

"Sir," he said, sheathing the blade.

"You kids have good reflexes, but you're a little jumpy. We've got five of the men. There should be only about three left, so keep your eyes open, but remember that we far outnumber them, especially in our larger groups. Now, you younglings are going with me. You will do everything I say, and if you do it immediatly, I will give a good report back to your weaponsmaster. Perhaps a few of you will one day be worthy of the Guards."

Setanta snorted.

The man turned a sharp glare on him. "You have a problem, elf boy? Are the Guards too good for you?"

Setanta swallowed under that hawkish glare. "No sir. It's just... we hope to become Knights of the Red Branch one day."

The guardsman smiled. "I've seen many a knight-to-be end up in the Guards. But you," and he expanded his glance to include the rest of the group in his statement, "are an ambitious bunch, and you've already seen some action and survived. So maybe you will get what you wish." His grin widened. "Or maybe you'll end up working under me."

Quaddy

Aeife chuckled. "Not if I can control my own fate," she said, her sword at the ready, as always. She was always prepared for everything. It was her way. "And I plan on doing that with hard work and training."

"And a bit of Sidhe charm," Setanta joked, laughing. Aeife smacked him softly with the broadside of her sword.

"With hard work and training, you moron. C'mon, let's go get those bastards!"

raiden

Ardan paced back and forth inside the barracks as he shook his head"I'm sick of sitting around here I'm going to go join the others".

He grabebd his sword as he turned around to see Fergus standing in the doorway staring at him"Going somewhere?"

It took them a good three hours to track down the remaining men, and when the finally did find them, the result was a long, frenzied chase through the city, with the trainees following at the fugitives' tails while the City Guard, who though more seasoned could not run quite as fast as the youths, followed behind. Setanta, sheathing his sword as he ran, prepared to tackle the man lagging the farthest behind, but the man threw a bodice-seller's cart in his path, stopping him in his tracks.

Aeife continued on past him, simply leaping over the cart as Setanta had not had time to do. As the others went around and Setanta dragged himself slowly up, the half-Sidhe girl took the lead.

"They're headed for the river!" Mebh called as she ran past him.

Setanta cursed as he resumed running. If the fugitives reached the ferry, they might be able make good their escape.

Setanta, his breath knocked out of him by the cart, was a pace behind the others, so that when he finally caught up with them at the river, he found that Aeife and the fugitives were already knee deep in the icy winter river water, swords drawn. The other trainees waded in, drawing their own weapons as they found Aeife struggling to hold her own against three grown men while now standing hip deep in freezing water.

Setanta, taking a deep breath, waded in after them, drawing his dagger instead of his sword. A water fight would undoubtedly draw him much closer to the enemy than one on land would, and leave him less able to manuver, rendering swordfighting impractical.

There was a thin layer of ice on the banks where the flow of the water was not strong enough to break it up. Setanta gasped slightly as he stepped in. Aeife had taken down one man and was getting ready to attack another, but she was taken from behind by the third. With a great spash, both the man and the girl collaspsed under the water, and without their feet under them were pulled slightly downstream. Ferdia grabbed for them and missed, and ended up falling full into the water, before being dragged downstream with them. As he was swept past, Mebh reached out and grabbed hold of his cloak, then helped pull him to his feet.

Trying to move despite the confinement of his soaked, heavy cloak and boots, Setanta followed Aeife and the man downstream, just as the other Mebh and Ferdia engaged the remaining man. When Setanta arrived Aeife had already gained her feet, and held a knife much like Setanta's in between her teeth.

"You kids!" a voice boomed from the banks, and both Aeife and Setanta glanced over for a moment to see Boron, the man in charge of their little unit, waving an arm at them. "Get out of the water!"

What, does he expect us just to let this guy go? Setanta thought irritably to himself.

'This guy', finding their attention engaged elsewhere for a heartbeat, took that moment to lunge for them both, knocking their feet out from under them. Aeife was submerged again, and Setanta followed shortly afterwards. He was now completely soaked, and when he kicked away from his assailant and regained his feet, he heard another loud spash somewhere upstream, implying that the other trainees were just as wet.

There were City Guards wading into the water toward he and Aeife, and the man, seeing them coming, panicked. He reached immediatly for a solution to his problem, grabbing hold of Setanta, who was closest, and pulled him toward him.

"Stay back, or I'll kill 'im!" the man cried wildly, and Setanta froze when he felt the touch of cold steel against his neck.

The City Guards stopped in their tracks, but Aeife drew her knife and threw it blindly fast, so that it lodged in the man's neck before he had a chance to make good on his threat. The man fell dead into the water, leaving naught but a shallow cut on Setanta's neck.

"Are you alright?" Aeife asked.

He reached his hand up. There was a little blood, but it looked like much more than it was because he was so wet. "I'm fine. My thanks."

Aeife turned to the City Guards. "Are the others caught?"

"Aye," he said. "Now you kids get out of that water."

The next morning at weapons practice they found themselves standing before a very proud Fergus, who grinned as they stood sniffling. "A job well done, and all you've earned for your trouble is a touch of a cold."

They glared at him, not finding it very funny. They had long since changed out of their wet clothing, and as soon as they had returned the night before Cathbad, who was a physican as well as a Druid, had hurried them off for warm baths and a hot meal before sending them to bed for the remaining two hours of the night, but despite his ministrations they all had colds the next morning.

Fergus turned to the rest of the group gathered for practice. "Now, go run your laps, and then line up for sword practice."

The four trainees groaned, then set off around the yard with the others.

raiden

Ardan lowered his head as Fergus stopped him before he got a chance to start laps with the others. "You need rest lad. Your wound has still not completely healed yet".

Ardan shook his head as he replied. "I don't care. I'm sick of waiting around doing nothing!"

Fergus shook his head as he replied. "So you would go out before you're ready and hurt yourself?"

Ardan stared at him as he replied. "I appreciate what all you've done for me, but I want to go join my fellow comrades".

Fergus patted him on the back. "You have a strong heart and a hell of a lot of determination, lad. Go then. Stop if you feel ill even a little."

The training for the day went by relatively uneventfully. It seemed Setanta and Fergia were too tired after the events of the night to snipe at each other. They didn't even glare much.

In weapon's traingin, Fergia was paired with Aefie for a sparring match. He naturally lost, but he lasted longer against her than most of the other recruits. That lifted his spirits somewhat.

After dinner, all five of the recruits fell into bed. Fergia awoke from a strange dream that he could not remember except in fragments. At first he thought he was still dreaming, but he quickly realized the movement he saw in the room was real. Something was searching through the barracks.

A hand grasped Setanta's left shoulder and he immediatly came awake. Right shoudler was safe wakeup, left signaled danger. He woke with his sword in hand and sat up to find Fergia crouching in front of him. The boy gestured into the deepest shadows of the barracks, even as Setanta's Sidhe eyes spotted a shadow moving among the darkness.

Fergia already had a dagger out- all the warriers, even those still in training, slept with their own personal weapons near. Setanta nodded slightly toward the right of the figure, while moving stealthily himself toward the left.

Taking a deep breath in unison, both boys pounced in the darkness.

Quaddy

"Hey!" Aeife shouted. "Would you two morons gerroff?"

"Aeife?" They both asked, in unison. "What are you doing?"

"Same thing you are...there's something in here, I reckon. And I was looking for it until you two decided to jump with with your weapons. Thanks be to the Tuatha de Dannan that I have good reflexes..."

Setanta relaxed, but Fergia searched the night for whatever had been in the barracks earlier. "Did you see anything, Aiefe?"

"No. But, I can tell you one thing, it sure wasn't human."

raiden

Ardan layed down in his bed as he clutched his wound it might not have been the smartest thing to join the others in training but he didn't care.

He wanted to prove to all of his comrades that he wouldn't be a slacker just because he had been wounded.

He stared up at the ceiling as he noticed someone or something running into the forest"Hum I wonder who the heck that was"he thought to himself as he shook his head.

Aefie, Setanta and Fergia crept to the door of the barracks and opened it part way. Setanta had the best sight, so he looked through for signs of what had been in the barracks. Just on the edge of the woods, he spotted something moving, with a slow, loping gait. It seemed to almost be using it's arms as another set of legs. Aefie was right, it definitely wasn't human.

"We need to find out what that thing was, and what it was doing here. We need to follow it."

Aefie nodded, but Fergia paused. Setanta was about to leave the goody goody behing, when he gave a slow nod too. "You're right. Let's go."

Setanta glanced at Fergia in surprise. "YOU want to go? Aren't you afraid you'll get in trouble or something?"

Fergia gave him a cold look, then, as if talking to an idiot, said, "Do you think Fergus will give us all hugs if we ignore it and go back to bed without doing anything, and the creature harms someone somewhere?"

Setanta didn't bother to admit to Fergia that he was right; Fergia was a bard and as such was convinced that he couldn't possibly be wrong. Instead Setanta pulled out his sword, which he'd sheathed after encountering Aeife in the dark, and set off across the woods. He didn't see the wry smile that passed between his companions before they followed after him a moment later.

"It looks like a... ape or something," Fergia whispered as he watched the hulking figure in the distance. "A HUGE ape."

"Ape? What the hell is an ape?" Setanta asked, irritated that Fergia was breaking the silence of the chase but unable to keep himself quiet as well.

"An ape, my uneducated friend, is a creature much like man, except less developed mentally and physically. They are only semi-bipedal, prefering to walk on four legs instead of two, but they have hands much like ours, complete with a retractable thumb, though it is not as-"

"Enough," Setanta hissed. "I don't care for a biology lession! Do you think this creature is an Ape?"

"No," Fegia snorted. "Apes are not found in this region. I've only read about them. I just said it LOOKS like an ape, a little."

"Alright, then what is it?"

Fergia shrugged. "I have no idea."

"Shhh!" Aeife hissed, gesturing off in the distance. Her voice barely audible, she whispered, "It hears us!"

And it obviously wasn't pleased to find itself being followed, as it turned around from its path and tore wildly through the foilage toward them.

"Nope, this is DEFINITELY not an ape!" Fergia said, as the three teenagers slowly backed up, weapons drawn and pointed at the advancing, eight foot tall creature.

Quaddy

Aeife backed up slowly, her mind scourging records of mythical creatures. Perhaps this was sasquatch, but that was a Native American tale. Yetti survived in the mountains of Tibet- not here. She couldn't remember where she had seen it, but she instinctively knew that it was dangerous.

"Guys...let's get out of here. That thing is dangerous."

raiden

Ardan got out of bed and dressed he stared towards the forest as he grabbed his sword and made his way outside.

He walked into the woods as he slowly listened for any signs of life,he drew his sword and walked a few stpes towards the clearing as he heard footsteps.

He jumped behind a tree as he saw Setanta and the others running towards him,he whistled out to them as they turned around.

"Ardan what are you doing here?"he shook his head as he replied"I saw something run by the barracks and enter this forest".

"Have you seen it?"Fergia nodded as he pointed up above Ardan's head"You could say that we've caught a glimpse of it".

Ardan felt something hit his head as he looked up to see an ape-like creature staring down at him.

It was hideous looking with long slender arms and a face that could scare even a dead man"Um ok now that we've seen it let's get the hell outta here!"

They took off running towards the barracks as the creature jumped up into a tree and began swinging from tree to tree trying to grab them.

The creature kept geting ahead of them and lunging down. The four had to change directions several times, and quickly became totally lost in the woods. The Ape-like creature kept after them, until Setanta lashed out with his sword at a grasping arm, drawing a thick blue blood from the wound. The beast drew it's arm back and disappeared into the trees.

"Do you think it's gone?" Setanta stared at the oddly colored blood as he cleaned his blade off. "It's wounded, it'll retreat."

Fergia thought for a moment. "Depends. If it's just an animal, a wound will just make it angry. If it was ready to kill before, it'll be more so now. If it's intellegent, well we just let it know we can hurt it..."

Aefie joined in the discussion. "Great. You mean we just made it hide so it could lunge down and grab us later?"

"I don't know. I'm just trying to present possibilities!" Hollered Fergia.

"Well the only possibility I'm worried about is getting out of here and warning the camp!" yelled Setanta.

"Right," replied Aefie. "So which way's the camp."

The other three proceeded to point in three different directions.

"Wonderful. So none of you gentlemen know which way we came from, and we're stuck out here with an angry man eating ape. Is there anything else we should be thinking about right now?"

At that point, two long arms snaked out of the trees and grabbed Fergia by the throat.

Fergia was yanked backwards toward the darkness behind the trees, and though Setanta and Aeife drew their swords, they knew they could not attack without the risk of hitting Fergia.

Setanta heard a soft growl as he and Aeife took a few cautious steps forward. "Come no closer," the creature said in a growling, harsh voice, answering their previous question about whether or not it was intellegent. "I will kill it."

'It' was clearly not able to breathe, not even to cough. Fergia's face was slowly turning blue as he struggled again the hands constricting his windpipe.

Setanta and Aeife put their swords down on the ground slowly. "Let him go, and we won't harm you! I promise!" Aeife tried to pursuade the creature.

"The promise of a human means nothing," the creature responded. "You have already harmed me, and I did nothing."

Despite his words, the creature had obviously released his hold on Fergia, who immediatly began coughing before saying, "You chased us! We were just trying to protect ourselves!"

"I thought you were the ones who had come for me. If I had seen that you were little more than children, I would not have threatened you, but you had your swords out and you followed me."

"You were in our barracks!" Setanta argued. "If you meant no harm, then why were you doing there?"

The creature paused for a moment while the three teenagers waited impatiently for it to explain.

"Hiding from the Druid who made me," he said at last.

"MADE you?" Setanta asked.

Fergia's eyes lit up with scholarly excitement. "He's a Construct!"

"A what?" Aeife and Setanta asked.

raiden

Ardan sat down and leaned up against a tree as he shook his head"So what's this druids name?"the creature stared at them as it replied"Xenthon".

Ardan touched his wound as he pulled off a piece of cloth from his cloak and wrapped it tightly around it.

Running away from the creature must have opened it back up again he thought as the creature stared at him.

"You look very familar"Ardan shook his head as he replied"Yeah I was one of the guys running away from you".

The creature lowered it's head and gave Ardan a complete look-over"Xenthon created me specifically to run the people in this forest away".

"He said he needed the land to construct something important but never told me what his plans were".

Ardan looked at the others as the creature stared at him again"Xenthos has a picture of you in his hut I've seen it".

Fergia shook his head as he replied"How can that be?"the creature shook it's head as it replied"I don't know but I've seen it".

Ardan stared at all his friends and the creature as he shook his head"Well I don't know who this Xenthos guy is but it looks like he knows me".

Setanta nodded as he replied"Perhaps he was the one behind the attack on you"Ardan nodded as he replied"You're probably right".

Fergia sat back and massaged his neck while the others discussed this new bit of information. A construct was sitting here talking to them, and it knew Ardan. The mystery deepened it seemed.

Finally, Setanta suggested that they should all head back for the barracks before any one noticed they were gone. The construct agreed to keep hidden near the camp. They would all try to watch out for each other.

The next day at weapons training, all four of them were exhausted, having slept no more than a couple of hours. Mebh was in fine form, beating back all comers. The others were a wreck.

Fergia seemed the most distracted of them. During a sparring match, Setanta launched what he throught would be an easily blocked blow, but Fergia ended up taking it full on his head. And he didn't even make an impolite comment about Setanta's ancestry. They were starting to get worried about the bard.

"What is wrong with you four today?" Fergus demanded to know as Setanta gave Fergia a hand up.

Fergia shook his head. "I guess we just haven't caught up on sleep," he said.

"Or didn't sleep at all," Fergus suggested suspiciously. "What were you kids doing last night?"

"Nothing!" Fergia said, but they could all hear the lie in his voice.

"Go to the Knights' Barracks and wait for me in my office," Fergus said. "I will deal with you four in a moment."

"Good job, Bard," Setanta muttered under his breath as they walked toward the Knights' Barracks. "How is it you can be a bard and not be able to lie convincingly?"

"Perhaps I haven't had as much practice as you," Fergia hissed back.

"Yeah, well, look where you got us now. What are we going to tell him?"

"He doesn't have any proof of anything yet," Aeife pointed out irritably.

"Yet," Setanta agreed, glaring at Fergia.

Quaddy

Aeife rolled her eyes. "Honestly...Bards have a way with words. Weave your magic, Bard, or don't speak at all."

Fergia opened his mouth as if to speak, but thought better of it. Aeife wasn't known to snap- it was just lack of sleep that made her irritable.

"Now- what are we going to say to Fergus to get ourselves out of this?" Ardan asked, crossing his arms painfully.

Aeife sighed. "I say we tell him the truth. Setanta, did you clean your blade last night?"

"No- I collapsed when we got back to the barracks. What're you..." Setanta's face lit up in recognition of Aeife's plan. "I'll go get it. We'll tell Fergus everything, and prove it with the blood."

raiden

Ardan held onto his wound as Fergus walked into the barracks and stared at him. "I see that your wound has opened up again."

Ardan nodded as he replied. "Yeah I guess I overexerted myself."

Fergus shook his head as he stared at the others. "So where's Setanta?"

Ardan sat down in the chair as he replied. "He went to go get something. He'll be right back".

Fergus stared at them as he shook his head. "He was supposed to be here. He better have a good reason for being late."

At that point, Setanta burst into the room. "This should explain everything." He drew out his still bloodied sword and pointed it at Fergus' chest.

To say that this action did not have the desired effect would be like saying that the ocean was a little damp that morning. Fergus drew his own blade and disarmed Setanta before he knew another weapon had been drawn.

Aefie grabbed Setanta's sword and held it out to Fergus. "Look. The blood on the blade isn't a man's. It's something else. Something that dragged us out of our beds last night and out into the woods."

Fergus looked warrily at the blade at first, then he lowered his own weapon and took Setanta's in both hands and examined it closely. "I think you'd best tell me the whole story. Slowly. From the begining."

Setanta looked at Fergia. "Your area of expertise I think."

Fergia sighed. Sat down on the floor and began the tale.

Quaddy

As Fergia told the tale of the night before, Fergus' face grew more and more pensive. "I know of the creature that you speak of. He is what he says he is."

Aeife nodded. "Than...what is it doing here, at the camp of the Red Branch? What could its creator want it to do?"

Fergus shook his head. "I'm not sure."

"Well, if you're not sure, than you can't fault us, Fergus," Aeife continued. "We felt threatened and went out to check what was going on. Scouting out a situation is something that the Red Branch prides itself on, correct?"

raiden

Ardan sat down as Fergus stared at him. "So what's this about him having a picture of you?"

Ardan shook his head as he replied. "I have no idea."

Fergus stared at Ardan as he continued. "I only know what the construct told me, that his creator had a picture of me hanging in his hut."

Fergus shook his head as he sighed. "Well, we need some answers, so it looks like it's up to all of you to find them."

That night, the four, following Ferus' charge, returned to the woods. They bore some food for their new friend.

It accepted the gift gratefully, and sat with them. Finally Setanta brought up the subject they longed to ask. "I think we need to talk to your master. There are things going on that bind us togehter it seems. Can you take us to him."

The great creature paused and looked at each of them.

"Such a thing would be most unwise," it told them uncertainly. "My master is a very powerful man, and does not take well to failure. The fact that I have been spotted and spoken to by you-mere children-will not be looked upon favorably by him. He may take his anger out on you, and he will certainly punish me. Perhaps it would be better if you observed him from a distance."

Fergia looked thoughtful. "I think I know a couple basic spells to hear from a distance. Perhaps one night-"

"No!" the creature said. "My master is a sorceror, and a very powerful one at that. He would sense such a simple spell immediatly and come to investigate."

"Then we'll just have to do this the old fashioned way," Setanta said.

"Why is your master here?" Arden asked.

The creature shook its head. "I couldn't tell you. My master does not share such information with a lowly servant like myself. I am merely a sentry. This forest is important to him, and to his mistress. He wants it protected from intrusion by his enemies." He looked at them carefully. "I do not believe that you-mere children-could be a threat to him, but he probably would not agree. You are, after all, Knights of the Red Branch."

"Knight trainees," Mebh corrected him absently.

"You said that your master serves another," Fergia pointed out. "Who is she?"

The creature hesitated for a moment. "She is Queen Maeve, the Warrioress of Connaught."

"The enemy of our own King Conchobar..." Setanta said.

"This gets more and more interesting as time goes on," Fergia muttered.

Aeife voiced all their thoughts. "I think we have some spying to do tonight."

Quaddy

That night, the five trainees made their way from their huts and out into the forest, wearing all black and moving as shadows in the darkness. They wanted to stay that way, unseen by any of the other trainees in the camp. Fergus had told them to keep quiet and to do whatever they needed to do in all secrecy.

"Where is it?" Ardan asked, searching the forest for the construct.

Aeife and Setanta scanned the forest, their Sidhe eyes better suited for seeing in darkness than human eyes. "There," Aeife said, pointing. "It waits for us in the grove."

raiden

Ardan nodded as he stepped up out of the shadows and spotted 2 of the guys that were responsible for his attack. He moved back into the shadows as he whisphered to the others.

"Those two guys up ahead are 2 of the men that attacked me in that alley."

Setanta shook his head as he replied. "Are you sure?"

Ardan nodded as he touched his wound. "Believe me, I'll never forget them."

They stayed in the shadows as they watched the men talk to a hooded figure.

"Who do you think they're talking to?"

Ardan shook his head as he replied. "I have no idea, but whoever it is, you can bet they're up to no good."

Aeife nodded as she used her Sidhe eyes to make out a money pouch. "It looks like they're getting paid."

Ardan shook his head as he watched the men walk away. "Well, that was certainly interesting."

Fergia nodded as Aeife replied. "Let's go to the grove now. We may get some of the answers we're looking for."

Setanta motioned the other four back and pointed at the Construct. It was looking right at them, and shaking it's head. A difficult motion to see; it was clearly trying not to be noticed by the hooded man. The man paced around the grove, muttering for a while, then rounded on the ape like construct.

"A fine servant you turn out to be. Leave you alone for one night and you drag my enemies into my woods.You know my mistresses plans are nearing fruition, and you lure those children here with your stumbing incompetence. I should revert you back to the earth I drew you from."

The construct looked stricken at that. "But master, I thought..."

"You most certainly did not! Had you thought you would have stayed away from that accused camp and left well enough alone. Now I must work all the harder to keep the plan moving to its fruition. It is fortunate for you that I am more forgiving than my mistress. Now come, there is much to be done and we must move quickly to gather up what fragments we can. And if you ever make contact with those I specifically told you to avoid, it will mean your life!"

The two moved off into the woods.

Setanta looked at the others. "Well, that was productive. It looks like we won't be getting much out of here."

Fergia ran his hand over his head. "Not any more, but at least we know there is something going on. Something that threatens our king. The question now is who do we tell, and what do we do about it?"

Setanta gazed off into the woods. "I think we should follow them. But we need someone to alert our king." He glanced at Arden. "Will you tell Fergus what we learned here, and have him send word to my Uncle the King at once? And Mebh should go with you. I don't think any of us should wander around alone right now."

Arden nodded. "I'll go at once."

Mebh turned to look at them as she started back toward camp with Arden. "As soon as we deliver our message, we will return."

Aeife shook her head. "Stay at camp until we return. It won't do to have you two stumbling about the woods in the middle of the night without anybody to follow. If we're not back by morning, have Fergus send some people out to look for us."

Mebh flashed them thumbs up as she disappeared with Arden into the night.

Fergia glanced off into the darkness into which the creature and his master had disappeared. "I don't like this," he said as they started forward.

For once Setanta agreed with him.

raiden

Mebh and Ardan made it back to camp as Fergus entered the baracks. "What happened? Where are the others at?"

Ardan sat down on the bed as Mebh replied. "We saw a hooded man pay off the men that attacked Ardan".

Fergus stared at them as Mebh continued. "We also heard the man berating the construct, telling it to never make contact with us again or else it would pay".

Ardan rubbed his wound as he replied. "The others followed them as we were volunteered to come back to camp and tell you what happened."

Fergus nodded as he replied. "Alright, we'll wait for them for a while and if they don't make it back to camp then we'll go after them".

Setanta, Aefie and Fergia headed deeper into the woods. Setanta was an excellent tracker and had no difficulty following the pair.

Fergia voiced an opinion. "Don't you think this is too easy? I mean, for someone who didn't want his plans foiled, you'd think he'd do more to cover his tracks."

Setanta shot him a glare. "He didn't know we would be there, so why would he waste the effort?" Setanta returned his attention to the tracks. After an hour of following them, the suddenly stopped.

Aefie helped Setanta look, but neither of them could find any further trace of the passage of the construct and its master. "Well, looks like the bard was right this time. It was too easy. But I wonder why they just started covering their tracks here when they didn't..."

Aefie quieted as rustling noises sounded around them. Several things were moving in the woods. They seemed to be circling the three trackers.

Fergia drew his weapon. "Maybe because this is exactly where the Druid wanted anyone who was following him to come?"

"Damn that creature!" Setanta hissed under his breath as he pulled his sword soundlessly out of its sheath. "It was probably sent to trap us..."

"We don't know that," Fergia whispered back, as the three teens formed a tight circle with their backs to one another. "It might just be an unlucky pawn. Perhaps this sorceror it serves has some strange means of detecting our presense."

"Does it matter why we've been detected?" Aeife asked irritably.

They fell into silence then, as the shadows moving through the trees surrounded them.

"Light?" Setanta whispered to Fergia.

The bard sighed. "Must I do everything?"

Despite his words, a small magelight appeared over their heads, the pale blue light chasing the shadows back and revealing their enemy.

Quaddy

"Shit!" Aeife muttered, drawing her sword and holding it in a fighting stance. "That Druid!" But something was wrong- these didn't look like the men of a mere Druid. These looked like trained mercenaries and assassins, all bearing the symbol of their mortal enemy:

Queen Maeve.

"Guys," Aeife whispered, "Those are Maeve's men. There is certainly some evil deed afoot. And it involves more than we are prepared to fight alone."

raiden

Ardan paced back and forth in the barracks. As Fergus walked into the barracks he sighed. "They're still not here?"

Ardan shook his head as he replied. "No, and I think it's time to go see what's wrong." He drew his sword as Mebh followed him outside.

Fergus stepped in front of them as he replied. "Alright, you two can go look for them, but if you're not back in two hours I'm sending some people to come find you."

Ardan nodded as Mebh replied. "We'll find them so don't worry. Come on Ardan."

Fergus nodded as he watched them disappear back into the woods.

Fergia plucked a few discordant notes on his instrument, then incanted a short chant. The woods exploded into a cacophany.

Setanta yelled, "What was that about? Do you want to bring...oh, right. Anything the noise attracts'll be better than what's here now."

The attackers circled the three for a while. None of them seemed willing to risk being the first to attack. Finally, one of the men stepped towards the trio. Even with the magelight, he stayed far enough back that he could not be easily examined. All that could be distinguished was that he was tall and broad, and wore the colors of the enemy.

"Things do not have to be this way, you know. Our queen could make good use of people like you. You could be generals, knights, even monarchs of your own lands."

Setanta spit at his feet. "Of course you expect us to believe your queen would trust a group of traitors, and reward them. If she's that stupid, I don't think I'd want to serve her anyway."

"You three are more intellegent that I would have thought then. I'm not a cruel man. Your deaths will be quick and as painless as we can make them."

"We're not here to die," Setanta said bravely.

He was that confident in the abilties of himself and his friends, despite the fact that they were half-trained and about to face five warriors who were Connaught's equivalent of the Knights of the Red Branch. After all, they had already successfully taken on five men just a few days before, had they not? And though these men were older and there were more of them, the Knight trainees numbered two half-Sidhe and a bard. How hard could it be to take down this lot? They weren't going to fight in the water this time, and they weren't chasing people throughout the city... it would be an easy victory, he was sure.

Glancing out into the dark, Setanta spotted the mage's shadow lurking in the dark. The cloaked figure was illuminated by a faint light much like Fergia's, and in its dim glow Setanta could see that the mage held an incantation book, a staff topped by a bright emerald gem, and carried a golden dagger on his belt. Not a poor mage, then... but not one who had all his spells memorized, either...

The man laughed. "If you're not here to die, then why are you here?"

Setanta didn't lower his sword, but he shrugged. Taking a moment to put two and two together, he made a guess and said, "We're here to talk to that spy that you and your men are guarding. We have something we'd like to say."

"Then say it, boy. He's listening."

Setanta shrugged and turned toward the figure in the woods. "Fine... Nice stuff you've got there! I think my friend Fergia here would liek to have that nice little spellbook and staff of yours, and I personally would like a closer look at that dagger. Come out, come out, little spy! We won't hurt you!"

The soldier's eyes widened in surprise, and Aeife and Fergia glared at Setanta as if to say, "Shut up, you idiot! Don't provoke them!". Then the soldier smiled. "You think you know much. That 'spy', as you call him, is a hardened mage, and he does not talk to mere children. Unless they taunt him. Then he simply kills them."

Setanta grinned back. "Come now, we all know that mages are not exactly the fighting type," he said, glancing wryly in Fergia's direction. The bardling glared back. "You're obviously here to keep him from being killed, and he's here to observe the Knights of the Royal Branch without detection. And if he knows what is good for him, he'll show himself now and talk to us 'mere children'."

There was a distinct pause. The soldiers did not turn around and look at each other or glance back toward the mage who undoubtedly was hiding in the woods, and the trainees did not drop their guard. Neither did either side attack.

Then the ebony-cloaked mage stepped into the light of Fergia's spell, augmenting it with his own magelight.

"You are obviously the leader of this little... band," the mage said to Setanta, and his words were greeted by the simultaneous snorts of Aeife and Fergia. "This is a cold night for children to be out roaming the woods and searching for mages in the dark. How can you have the audacity to challenge me? Why are you here?"

Setanta smiled widely, stepped forward, and planting his sword in the cold forest ground at the mage's feet, he leaned lazily against its hilt. "We're here to kill you and take your shit."

Quaddy

Aeife groaned, offering a small plea to her mother and fingering the knife she had hidden within her cloak. Her mother wouldn't help her with this- Morrigan meant to test her daughter; of that much Aeife was certain. And Setanta wasn't making things any easier on the trio.

The mage chortled, a deep sound akin to a toad's croaking, and clapped his hands together. "Listen to the girl- she alone seems to have sense about her."

"Do not presume to judge me. I am very much like him- just more diplomatic about it, is all." Aeife saw shadows in the darkness and concentrated on them- Ardan and Mebh were headed their way. If the quintet could pull it off correctly, than they might get what Setanta wanted. "I would watch my back if I were you."

Mebh took the hint, thankfully, and tossed her weapon at the back of the wizard. As she did so, Aeife pushed Setanta into battle and glared at Fergia to do so, as well.

raiden

Ardan flipped over two of the men. As he landed beside Setanta he drew his sword.

"What took you so long?"

Ardan shook his head as he replied. "Well it's nice to see you too." They blocked the guards' attacks as Ardan jumped and kicked one of them to the ground.

Setanta followed through with a well placed kick to one of their stomachs, knocking him to the ground.

Ardan smiled as he replied. "Not bad. Mine went further though." Setanta smiled a little as he kicked another one over Ardan's head.

"You were saying?"

Ardan laughed a little as he dodged one of the guards attacks. "Show off!" He tried to kick the mage but was knocked to the ground with a mighty lightning spell.

Ardan tried to flip back up to his feet but the mage shot him with another lightning bolt.

"You'll all pay for your insolence!" He stared at Ardan as he made Ardan's body hoover in midair until it came crashing into a tree.

Fergia and Mebh attacked the mage long enough for Arden to get back to his feet. They stared at the mage and the guards.

"Okay, things aren't going as good as I thought..."

Fergia nodded as he replied. "We need to take out that mage. He's replenishing their strength."

Fergia knew what had to be done. He sheathed his blade a brought forth his harp. The mage was concentrating on the warriors. He obviously didn't consider Fergia a threat. Fergia's voice rang out is a sound like crackling embers. The mage's cloak flared alight...and then died out. He turned and grinned at Fergia.

"Did you truly think your tunes were sufficient to deal with my spells? I have studied magic for longer than you've been alive."

Fergia rose from the ground as the mage lifted a finger. He floated towards the mage.

"Perhaps you should have tried studying books instead of tuning your strings. Although in the end the outcome would have been the same." The mage drew out his dagger and raised it. Fergia knew he had to act before the killing blow landed.

"My harp has an advantage you'll never have with your tomes, mage." Fergia tried to sound confident, but his voice broke on the last word.

"And what, pray tell, might that be boy?" The mage leaned in close. Fergia could smell the stench of the mage's last meal.

Instead of speaking, Fergia slammed his harp into the mage's face with all his strength. The harp looked delicate, but it was made to stand the weathering of travel and constant playing. It was sturdier than the mages nose.

Both magicians fell, the mage bleeding, Fergia just slightly winded. Before the mage could recover himself, Fergia brought his blade out and held it to his enemy's throat.

"Now call off your dogs."

The soldiers froze. The mage, casing a glance between Fergia and the soldiers, suddenly smiled.

Fergia hissed and dropped the blade to the ground where it glowed red from hilt to blade with heat.

The mage backhanded Fergia, who stumbled back to where his friends stood. Aeife caught him before he could fall, just as the mage commanded his men to "Kill them!"

Fergia glared at his hand, which was already starting to blister, before glancing with hatred back at the mage. Then he stepped away from Aeife.

"Perhaps it would be wiser if we ran," he called, backing up as the mage began to fire up another spell and the soldiers charged toward the group of teens. Their numbers were almost equal to their foes, but clearly their enemy was more experienced than they.

Setanta frowned. He did not much like the idea of running, but he could tell that he had drastically underestimated his foes.

"Split up!" he called behind him as he fled into the woods. He heard the running footsteps through the undergrowth as his friends raced off in different directions and their pursuers followed them.

"Mebh, go back to the camp and alert Fergus!" he heard Aeife call out.

Setanta ran, hoping to lead his pursuers around in a circle while he himself came up behind them. It was his only chance; he was well aware that he was not good enough to take any of them on face to face. He was merely a trainee; these men were the kind of warriors he and his friends were striving to become.

If he could just get beyond the meadow before him he would have cover in which he could hide and attack at the rear of his enemies as they passed him.

He raced through the meadow, aware that for the moment he was completely out in the open. Ahead of him he could see the outline of the trees in the darkness, and he pushed himself faster toward that cover.

Jaws snapped closed around his right ankle, dropping Setanta in his tracks. With a choked scream he collapsed to the forest floor. Pain shot up his leg, paralizing, so intense that he feared even to glance at the limb for fear that it had been torn off. Yet what he saw in the moonlight filled him with relief and fear at the same time; the foot was still attached, though bleeding heavily, but it was clamped firmly in the cruel teeth of an iron bear trap, attached by a heavy chain to a tree ten feet away.

He was trapped out in the open, with his enemies only moments behind.

Setanta tried to pry the trap open, and when that didn't work he reached frantically for the mechanism that would release the iron jaws. His fingers slipped in sticky blood, and he could not find the catch. Desperate now to be free, he drew his sword and hacked clumsily at the chain. He had to find cover, but he had to get free first!

There was a sudden footfall behind him. A small whimper of fear and frustration nearly slipped from his lips as he twisted around and leveled his sword at the newcomer's throat.

This time the whimper did escape his mouth as he lowered his sword in relief.

"Fergia."

Quaddy

Aeife slid through the trees, her mind running through every lesson her mother had ever given her. She stuck to the shadows, her eyes riveted on the forms of the men that chaced her. They seemed to sense that Aeife and Setanta were the threats- more men went after the two half-Sidhe more than any of the others. Unsheating her sword, Aeife waited as the last of the men passed by her hiding spot and then struck out at him. He fell silently, without so much as a sigh of death.

His comrades kept running, not noticing that one of their number was missing. Aeife slipped after them, slipping in and out of the shadows of the trees to take down the men from behind. As she came to the last one, Aeife heard a cry from the other men in the meadow. They had found a bloody bear trap. One of them was hurt.

"Shit," Aeife muttered, staying in the shadows as the men turned around to order his men to the meadow. Seeing the long line of dead bodies, the man tightened his grip on his weapon and glared at the shadows, but headed off for the meadow.

If Aeife knew her friends, they were heading for the group of trees on the other side. She had to figure out how to get into those trees and help them without getting caught herself.

raiden

Ardan pulled back a branch. As he stared at the two guards looking for him, he touched his wound and took a deep breath.

It was time to suck up all the pain. He needed to find his friends and fast. He stepped on a branch and the guards stopped in their tracks.

Ardan held his breath as they started checking the bushes. He got down on his stomach and crawled across the ground until he reached a tree.

He hid behind the tree as the guards continued to search for him. "Great, just great," he thought to himself as he sighed.

"We need to get you out of that," Fergia said, looking down at the trap.

"Gee, really? I'd never have thought of that by myself. Good thing you came along."

Fergia leaned down and began to pry the jaws of the trap apart. His eyes were clamped shut. At first Setanta though it was from the strain of the effort and nearly criticized Fergia for being so out of shape. Then he noticed the oozing bloody pus coming from one hand. Fergia was putting a lot of strain on his burned hand. Finally he got the jaws far enough apart that Setanta could slip his leg out.

"Let's see if we can get back to the camp and get some real warriors out here," siad Fergia through clenched teeth.

"First we need to find cover," Setanta told him, scanning the treeline for signs of their pursuers. "There were a couple soldiers behind me, and I was going to lead them here and then get them by surprise, but..."

Fergia nodded in understanding and extended his good hand to his classmate. Setanta pulled himself to his feet, testing his weight on the injured foot, and hissed.

"You alright?" Fergia asked.

Setanta nodded wordlessly. Then he said, "Help get me to the trees and I'll find out."

Together they stumbled toward the distant treeline. They were almost there when they heard a sharp crack to their right, and jumped. They both drew their weapons, though undoubtedly they made a poor sight, with Setanta standing on one foot and half leaning on Fergia, and the bardling clutching his sword awkwardly in his injured hand because his good hand was wrapped supportively around Setanta's arm.

Then Aeife stepped out of the woods and started straight across toward them. "They're coming!" she whispered, wrapping her other arm around Setanta's waist and trying to hurry him and Fergia toward the trees.

Finally they reached cover. Setanta leaned up against a tree and Fergia stepped away and quickly switched sword hands, glancing in dismay at his burned hand.

Aeife quickly glanced over them both. "You're both injured!"

Setanta smiled grimly. "At least we're still alive."

Aeife started to take a deep breath but Fergia beat her to it. "No thanks to you! What kind of crap were you pulling back there? 'We're here to kill you and take your shit?' I didn't think even you were stupid enough to say something like that to a mage, but obviously I was wrong!"

Setanta looked down. "Yeah, I guess I underestimated them just a little bit."

"A little?" Aeife murmered, glancing at Fergia's hand and obviously remembering the mage whose power had burned it. Then she sighed, and glanced off into the trees.

"I don't see anybody yet, but Fergia, will you keep watch while I take a look at Setanta's foot?"

Fergia nodded and crept toward the edge of the treeline, where he knelt in the dirt and watched vigilantly.

"Sit," Aeife commanded, pointing to the ground. Setanta obeyed, still not putting any weight on the foot.

She took the injured ankle in her hands and removed the boot, before prodding gently. "A bear trap?" she asked, glancing at the boot. Setanta nodded. She sighed. "No wonder you're not putting any weight on it. Those things can break a bear's leg. It's probably fractured, underneath all the blood." With a glance of disgust at the ruined boot, she set it aside.
"You're lucky you're not full Sidhe... that iron would have killed one of them."

Setanta hadn't even thought of that. He swallowed. What if one of their people were to wander into these regions and get caught on such a trap?

Aeife seemed to follow his thoughts. "The Sidhe are much more adept at spotting and disabling traps. They have wandered into the lands of mortals for thousands of years, and never once have I heard of a Sidhe being caught in a trap." She grinned. "You're the first half-Sidhe I've heard of, in fact."

Setanta glowered. Then he said, "We need to get back to camp, and I can't walk on this right now."

Aeife glanced at the foot for a moment. Then she said, "If we wrap it really tightly, and then put the boot back on, do you think you can hobble to a village with our help?"

Setanta grimaced but nodded. "I'll have to, won't I?"

Aeife smiled, then began ripping the bottom of Setanta's cloak into long strips for bandages. Finally, after wrapping it, she turned to the bardling.

"Fergia," she whispered. He trotted over. "Can you seal these so they will remain tight until we get to a village? There, we can get a horse and ride you both into camp and get the Knights of the Red Branch to deal with this...problem."

Fergia whistled a soft tune, and Setanta felt the bindings constrict around his ankle and foot supportively. When he stood and tested them, he found that they were quite stiff in fact, and that most of the pain was leeched from the foot so that he could stand and walk a few steps unaided.

"I added a little magic to take the pain away until we return to camp," Fergia said. "Not that you deserve it, after what you pulled back there with the mage..."

Setanta grinned at him despite the insult. "We would have been killed anyway. Just think of what I did as... a way to throw them off balance long enough for us to flee."

"Long enough for us to nearly get beaten into the ground and then flee," Aeife commented dryly.

She handed Fergia a long strip of bandage and helped him wrap it around his hand. "You may want to have that looked at back at camp," she told him. "I don't think it should be pussing so early... you only held it for a second..."

"What a sorry batch we are," Setanta murmured, shifting his weight uncomfortably.

Suddenly Fergia glanced off toward the woods. "I think we have company," he told them in a low voice as they all heard several sets of running footsteps coming towards them.

"Well, we'll see how well these bandages really work," Setanta murmered, picking his sword up off the ground and moving into the best combative stance he could manage just as the soldiers burst into the meadow.

"Shall we try to pounce on them in surpise or just charge?" Aeife asked them in a low voice.

Quaddy

Setanta and Fergia looked at each other and then back at Aeife. "Charge," Setanta said, simultaneously to Fergia's "Pounce on 'em". Aeife sighed. "Always up to the female. To charge would lose our advantage of being in the shadows. I can make it look like there are more of us, though, if we stay in the shadows. My mother loves it when I ask for illusions."

"That's for sure," Setanta muttered, remembering an instance that had almost gotten him killed involving a prank that Aiefe had pulled on him. "So...stay in and pounce?"

Aeife and Fergia nodded as Aeife went to work. "I don't know how terribly amazingly awesome these will be...I haven't practiced...but it's better than nothing. Bardling, assist me if you will."

Fergia nodded and brought his lips to his flute, whistling out a tune while Aeife quickly wove the illusion spell with her fingers. Almost instantly, sounds and shadows sprung up all around them. The men faltered, but soon charged, holding their swords in front of them fiercely.

Lucky for the three trainees, they fell for the illusions.

raiden

Ardan held his sword tightly as he took a peek out from behind the tree,the guards were still searching the bushes and soon they'd move over to the trees.

He grabbed a rock from the ground and threw it over his head towards the guards,they looked over towards where the rock had landed as Ardan crawled over behind some other trees and took a deep breath.

"Dammit I need to find the others"he thought to himself as he looked out from the tree and watched one of the men stop in their tracks.

Ardan stared at the blood trickling from his wound as he shook his head"Damn wound is going to end up getting me killed".

He tried to cover up the trail of blood he left with a fallen branch as the guards surrounded him and smiled.

Ardan shook his head as he flipped up to his feet knocking two of them into each other,he dodged the other guards attack as he flipped him down with a spinning kick.

The other two started to get up as Ardan took off running into the woods further and further he ran until he came to a clearing.

He sat down on the ground to rest as he ripped off one of his sleeves and used it to bandage his wound.

Quaddy

Aeife looked over at the others. "Someone has run through, but he didn't attack. It must've been one of us. You two take care of the oncomers and I'll go find them. Probably Ardan from the scent."

The others nodded as Aeife ran toward the clearing. "Ardan."

Jumping, he grabbed at his sword, but lowered the weapon when he saw that it was Aeife. "Oh...never been more glad to see you."

"C'mon. Setanta and Fergia are waiting back a ways. They should be fighting some perilously occupied soldiers about now."

raiden

Ardan followed Aeife back to the others as he watched them fight off some of the soldiers,he drew his sword as he and Aeife joined the fray.

He kicked one of the soldiers in the stomach as he dodged a sword attack from one of the other soldiers.

"Eight against four are better odds right?"Setanta nodded as he threw one of the soldiers into a tree.

"Yeah but we still have to fight that damn mage!"Ardan nodded as he replied"Yeah I can still feel the damn pain he gave me earlier!"

Ardan punched one of the soldiers in the head and flipped over his back delivering a massive kick to the next soldier.

Fergia and Aeife delivered some kicks to the other soldiers as Ardan blocked an attack aimed at Fergia and sliced the soldier in the stomach.

The illusions turned the tide, and soon only the four recruits and their shadowy counterparts remained standing.

Setanta looked at the fallen. "Well that narrows things down a bit, but we still don't know what happened to that mage."

Fergia looked at Setanta's leg and his own hand. "I'm not sure I want to know just now. I don't think we can handle him ourselves."

Setanta was nonplussed. "Sure we can. He took us by surprise, that's all."

A different voice sounded from deeper in the shadows. "Then allow me to repeat myself." The mage had found them, and it looked like a few of his men were still alive.

Mebh ran quickly, her steps silent, and her breathing thick and heavy. Her sword hung uncomfortably at her side, hitting her leg with each step. In a quick motion, she pulled off her sword and threw it on the ground. She did not care if the soldiers found it; they would never catch up to her.

She didn't know where exactly she was running to. She paused briefly, turning her chin up toward the sky. Staring at the stars, she located north and began running in the direction of camp.

After a short moment of sprinting, she could go no further. She doubled over, laying her hands on her knees for support. She sucked in breaths, as though they were sips of water.

She suddenly became very alert. She thought she'd seen something out of the corner of her eye. Then again, it was dark, and...

A cry of outrage erupted just behind her, and she spun around to find one of the mage's soldiers. His sword risen high over his head, he brought it down over her right shoulder. She spun away from the sword, and ran straight into a tree. Only momentarily stunned, she quickly turned so her back was now against the tree, just in time to see the soldier's sword once more coming straight at her.

Instinctively, she reached for her sword. Damn, she thought to herself, realizing it was far behind her now. She jumped to the side of the soldier, bringing her right fist up to meet with his face. She heard a satisfying crunch as it connected with the soldier's nose. He cried out, dropping his sword. Mebh drove her fist into his gut, then once more across his face. He fell to the ground, moaning softly, but not moving.

She backed away, watching him carefully in case he miraculously healed. Her senses alert, she started to turn to scan for more soldiers. An arm was reaching around her body, the daggar gripped in the fist ready to slice her throat. Mebh grabbed the newcomer's wrist, twisting it sharply until the daggar dropped to the ground. She brought back her elbow into the man's gut. Turning to face him, she kicked him hard in his groin.

Mebh wasted no time, and rapidly raced away. She stopped suddenly, once she was far from the beaten soldiers. She heard a murmur of voices. More damn guards, she thought to herself. She hoisted herself onto a tree branch, and sat poised, ready to battle more soldiers. Looking down, she saw her friends, surrounded by the Mage and his soldiers. She held deathly still, waiting for the right moment to leap into action once more.

Setanta looked from the mage to the three men accompanying him, and back again. "Will this night ever end?" he muttered to himself.

The blood on his sword dripped onto the cold forest floor as he lifted it before him. With the mage there were only four enemies soldiers to face now, and Setanta's group numbered four--no, five, he realized, spotting Mebh's dark form crouched in the shadow of leaves on a branch of a tree behind the Mage and his men--but he still felt the odds were definately again him and his friends. The recient action had undone the spell blocking the pain in his ankle, and it was all he could do to stand on it. Fergia, he knew, was no match for the mage, and his sword arm was hurt besides. Arden had a half-healed wound in his back and though he was holding up well enough, he, like everyone else, had a limit.

Aeife and Mebh were probably the only ones still fresh, assuming Mebh hadn't gotten herself hurt in the time she'd been gone.

Shifting his weight to his good leg as raised his sword barely in time to meet the first blow against him, Setanta stumbled back into his companions. Aeife quickly finished off the soldier attacking him, and he fell back behind Arden.

"You alright?" Arden asked.

Setanta nodded. "Yeah, it's just hard to keep my balance."

As the remaining two soldiers charged forward and Fergus stepped away from the group to meet the magical attack of the mage, Setanta seriously wished for backup.

The last of the three soldiers fell to the ground, dead. Mebh, who had sprung out of the tree on top of one, straighened and turned with the rest of the children toward their last enemy.

Now it was just them and the mage, but this time Setanta wasn't fooled into thinking it was going to be an easy fight.

"Hey Arden, how many Knights are coming to aid us?" he asked loudly, hoping Arden would catch on and help him bluff their way out of this situation by claiming that hundreds of men were on their way.

Arden shrugged. "Beats me. Fergus said if we're not back in an hour, he's sending people after us, but I don't know how many."

Setanta glanced at him. Arden wasn't bluffing, was he? If there really were people coming, perhaps they could hold against the mage long enough for one of the druid-knights of the Red Branch to finish the mage off.

The mage smiled darkly as if he had heard Setanta's thoughts. "You'll be dead long before they get here," he said, drawing a burning symbol into the air with his ornate dagger.

raiden

Ardan stared at the mage as Setanta replied"We've got backup coming so I suggest you get the hell out of here while you can still walk!"

The mage smiled a little as Ardan ran at him and tried to knock him down,the mage shot him with lightning as Ardan hit the ground with a thud.

"Fool you could never beat me"Fergia helped Ardan up as the mage smiled"You know your father was weak too".

"I took great pleasure in watching him suffer"Ardan stared at him with a look of pure hatred as he replied"You....You killed my father!"

The mage smiled as he replied"Of course I did he was weak just like you!"Ardan drew his sword as he replied"I'll kill you next!"

He jumped at the mage but to no avail as he was shot with numerous lightning bolts"Our father never was good at telling the truth was he?"

Ardan shook his head as he replied"What did you just say?"the mage laughed a little as he pulled out a small picture.

"Where did you get that picture?"the mage smiled as he replied"It was given to me by our father or shall I say our late father!"

"He never told you about me did he?"Ardan shook his head as the mage's eyes turned a crimson red"He left me for you and I hated him for it!"

Ardan lowered his head as the mage continued"I swore I would kill him when I was powerful enough and I did".

"I also swore something else and that was that I would hunt down his other son and destroy his life just as he had destroyed mine".

"So you see dear brother you're my next victim!"Ardan stared at him as he replied"I never knew about you,and our father loved us equally even if he never showed it".

The mage laughed as he replied"Loved...our father loved no one but himself but you dear brother have shown weakness".

"You should join me and gain strength yet you choose to stand against me....you'd actually fight your only brother?"

Ardan stared at his friends as he replied"My friends are my family you're nothing to me as far as I'm concerned you're my enemy!"

The mage's dagger began to glow orange as his eyes turned white"Very well brother you've choosen the path of pain!"

As the mage advanced on Ardan, the forest exploded in noise. Torchlights bobbed in the spaces between the trees. Voices called out the names of the five youths. Fergus' voice, deep and strong rang out over the rest. "We'll find them, and may the Gods have mercy on any that have harmed them. I'll certainly not!"

A drop of sweat fell from the mage's forehead. "Damned be you all. I will return another time brother. Our reckoning will come." The mage vanished in a flash of pale blue witchfire.

As Ardan, Setanta, Mebdh and Aefie grinned at each other and watched the lights, they started to wonder why the voices and lights were drawing no closer. Then they looked over at Fergia.

His eyes were screwed shut, and he was giving off a muttering chant. Setanta went over and slapped him on the arm. The lights and voices vanished.

"All right, Fergia, great trick. Why didn't you pull it off before?"

"It's not something you can do fast. It takes some time and concentration. Ardan talking to the mage gave me the time to get everything in order. Of course it didn't hurt that the mage was more about brute force than subtlety. Illusions probably aren't his strong point. The fact that he's just a bully didn't help him much either. He'd naturally run rather than take the risk that it was a ruse. I think we're safe for the moment. Now, does anybody know the way back to the camp?"

All of them quickly disolved into near hysterical laughter.

As the group continued to laugh, Mebh's eyes wandered toward Ardan. He was distant, pulling away from the joyful group. She approached him, placing a hand on his drooped shoulder.

"My father's dead, too," she said quietly. "And...to have a sibling betray you, I...I can't imagine." There was no response, and Mebh was wondering if she was only making things worse. "But that's why we're here, Ardan. I don't believe in accidents. It's no miracle that we're all here, side by side, fighting together. It's fate. I truly believe that."

Ardan shivered, and Mebh pulled him around to face her. "And I love you like a brother, Ardan. I do." She hugged him, then pulled away quickly, and walked off toward the group once more.

Their laughter had dissolved, and they were discussing, maybe even arguing, over which way lead back to camp. Mebh looked to the stars alongside them, following the constellations carefully. "There," she said, pointing. Of course, none of her companions knew exactly which star she was pointing to, the heavens already filled with numerous bulbs of light.

Setanta followed her finger carefully, squinting up at the dark sky. “Yeah, that’s the one I said was North,” he said to her. The rest of the group’s eyes followed her finger, looking up to the sky to find the right star.

“All right, sure,” Aeife agreed. “But let’s get out of here.” The group turned to the North, and began trekking through the forest. All but Ardan followed.

“Ardan?” Mebh called to him. The group stopped, and turned to look at Ardan, all waiting for a response.

Arden stared miserably into the darkness. "My father never told me I had a brother..."

Setanta glanced at the spot where the mage had disappeared. "He is no brother to you, Arden. We are your family now. Come home with us."

As they walked tensely back to camp, jumping at the snap of every twig, and drawing their weapons at the hoot of every owl, they whispered amongst themselves their speculations about the events of that night.

"So Queen Maeve of Connaught is finally making her move into Ulster," Aeife speculated. "Or, at least, she's scoping out our land and sending spies in to observe the Knights."

Setanta frowned as he moved through the trees, leaning heavily on Arden's arm for support. "But why is Arden's brother working for Connaught. Arden, your father was a Ulsterman, was he not?"

Arden nodded, "Aye, and a Knight of the Royal Branch himself. Though he had traveled elsewhere in his life. He was actually stationed in Connaught once, a long time ago, as an agent for King Conchobar. Perhaps by brother was conceived on some Connaught wench while he was there."

"And then abandoned..." Mebh added. "That would explain your brother's hatred for you and your father."

"Perhaps," Fergia said, "Though I do not understand how he became a mage if Arden and his father do not have magical abilities. Usually that kind of thing runs in families. My own father is a Bard, and that is where I got my own abilities. In order for the mage to have the kind of power that he does, one of his parents, or at least a grandparent, would have to be exceptional at druidry."

"Perhaps his mother had such powers..." Setanta suggested.

"Aye, perhaps, but then who was she?" Aeife asked. "She would not be a peasant with such abilities. She must have been a very high ranking noblewoman under the warrior queen Maeve. In fact, I've heard most of the fighters surrounding the queen are female and magicians, just like their ruler. Perhaps the mage's mother was one of those women."

"That would explain a lot, if it was true," Fergia said. "Just say that while working in Connaught as an agent Arden's father lay with a Connaught noblewoman and got her with child. Then, when he was pulled out of that country again he left mother and child. His son grew up without a father, and under the influence of people who hate Ulster and its people. Then, somehow he learns that his father is an agent from Ulster, and in his anger he kills him and vows to kill his brother as well, who had the love of his father when he himself didn't."

"It's all possible," Setanta said, as they stepped into camp and walked past the boy's barracks. The camp was eerily silent, many of the warriors gone and the rest indoors. "However, it is also merely speculation. We should discuss all this with Fergus, and the King too, if I can somehow use my relationship to him to get us access."

Fergus stepped out of the weaponry as Setanta finished this statement. His face drooped in relief as he saw that they were alive, and then he took in their hurts and said, "Aye, you'll report to me and the King too, after all of you with wounds report to Cathbad. He's been slaving away in the infirmry for hours, preparing to dress serious wounds and nurse you all back to health. Luckily for him, and for you as well, he need not deal with any life threatening injuries, for we are still ill equipped." He frowned. "A group of our men went out an hour ago. Fifteen of them left, and only five returned, terribly wounded. They say that they ran into a mage and a small group of Connaught soldiers. Five of our men have been killed and another five taken hostage and dragged across the border to Connaught. Poor Cathbad is up to his ears in bandages. You may have to wait a little while before he can tend to your wounds as well."

The teenagers looked at each other in dismay. "This situation keeps getting worse and worse," Setanta said, as he, Fergia, and Arden made their way to the infirmry.

raiden

Ardan sat on the bed as Cathbad approached him"Let's look at those wounds"Ardan shook his head as he pulled away.

"No attend to the others first"Cathbad shook his head as he saw that Ardan's wound was dripping with blood.

"That wound is in need of some assistance"Ardan shook his head as he placed his hand over it"I'll be ok just tend to their wounds".

Ardan walked out of the infirmary as Fergus stared at him"You're bleeding son get back in there and have Cathbad tend to those wounds now!"

Ardan reluctantly obeyed his orders as he went back inside the infirmary and sat back down.

The group recuperated in the infirmary for three days. On the second, Fergus came to them with news. "One week from today, we'll be going on a little trip to chat witb the King. I'd suggest you be prepared. He'll be very interested in what you have to say about your encounter.

Aefie suggested that they get their story straight, although Setanta laughed at that. "There's not much to get straight. We all saw what we saw and that's what we should tell the king."

Fergia then surprised everyone. "I agree with Setanta. The information we've got is important. If we go with a rehersed story, the truth will end up sounding false. We need to just tell whoever we end up talking to what we saw and heard and let them make their own decisions about it."

Mebh just laughed. "Well, if those two agree on somethime it must be the right thing to do. Sign from the gods I'd say."

Quaddy

Aeife shook her head. "We all saw different things when we split up. I think everyone should know each other's story before we go in front of the King. That way we can anticipate questions the King will ask and not be caught off-guard."

"And you hate being caught off guard, don't you Aeife?" Ardan spat out, his tone still nasty since the encounter in the woods.

"As a matter of fact, yes, Ardan. Now get off my case because your brother wants to kill you. It's not my fault, alright?"

"Aeife!" Mebh called out. "Leave him alone. He's been through a big shock."

Aeife laughed. "We all went through the same shock and we're not taking it out on him, are we? It's not our fault. His anger should go into something more productive and useful than spite."

raiden

Ardan walked out and made his way to the barracks,he sat down on his bed as he begin to think about his late father.

He had been so hard on him and he never understood why,could it have been because he secretly missed his other son and used that to fuel Ardan's training?

He shook his head as he stared towards the forest,he looked at his sword and back at the forest as he made his way out of the barracks and headed for the woods.

Fergus stepped in front of him as he shook his head"Going somewhere?"Ardan shook his head as he replied"I'm going to go confront my brother if you must know!"

Fergus shook his head as he replied"That's not a wise decision lad you need to stay here with the others".

Fergia heaved a sigh. Things were going from bad to worse. Everyone was sniping at each other. Ardan was trying to run off alone. They were going to face the king like a pack of mad dogs at this rate. They had already shown that they could accomplish a lot together, but here they were once again tearing each other apart. He knew something had to be done, but was just too exhausted to figure out what.

The night before they left to see the King, Mebh slept uneasily. She was worn out, to be sure, but that often produced the opposite affect on Mebh. Her dreams were full of terrible things; of dying loved ones, of charred ashes, and of a world gone black.

She suddenly found herself awake. She bolted up, staring around in the thick darkness. She could see nothing. Waiting for her eyes to adjust, she heard another shuffle, like the one that had awoken her. Her hand went under her thin pillow, where she kept a small dagger. Drawing it out, she silently slipped from the cot. Standing unsteadily, she scanned the area around her bed slowly. She bolted at the sight of a dark human figure hovering over Aeife.

“Aeife!” Mebh screamed, running straight at the figure. The intruder caught her arm that was clutching the knife, twisting it hard and forcing her on her knees. He kneed Mebh in the face, stunning her. Mebh fell to the ground, blood flowing from her nose. Aeife was wide awake now, and she too clutched a small knife in her hand. Slashing wildly at the intruder, she missed each time, the figure too quick and skilled. Enraged, she sliced again, this time striking him, and deep. The stranger cried out, his voice deep. The man darted outside, away into the night.

Aeife bent down to Mebh, supporting her as she helped her up. Mebh made a noise that sounded much like an animal’s growl. Aeife set her on her cot, and turned to face Setanta, Ardan, and Fergia, who had just arrived, swords drawn. Before they had time to ask questions, Aeife answered. “Assassin, I think. He was good. Really good.”

Mebh was clutching her nose, trying to stop the bleeding, and still a little stunned. She added quietly, “Someone doesn’t want us to get to the King. And I’d bet that someone’s a certain friend of ours...”

Ten minutes later the teenagers stood before Fergus in Cathbad's infirmry, where Mebh sat pinching her nose shut to stop the nosebleed.

"Not broken, I think," Cathbad said, as Mebh carefully moved the rag away from her face and found that the bleeding had stopped. "Will probably be sore for a couple of days, however." He handed her an ice pack.

"I can handle it," Mebh said.

Fergus crossed his arms. "So tell me again exactly what happened."

"Not much to tell," Mebh said, pressing the ice to her nose. "I woke up and saw someone standing over Aeife, and tried to attack. He took me down before I could strike, and almost disarmed Aeife as well, but she managed to cut him a little before he ran out."

The King's Champion turned to Fergia, Setanta, and Arden. "Did any of you see anything else?"

Setanta shook his head. "It took me so long to get here," he said, leaning on the stick he was using as a crutch until his injured leg was healed. "When I came in the man was already running away. He was tall... maybe six three or so... but other than that I didn't see anything. Perhaps they did, though," he added, nodding his head toward Fergia and Arden.

However, the other two shook their heads as well. "No, I didn't see anything the other have not already pointed out," he said. "It was so dark," Fergia added.

Fergus frowned. Then he said, "I think for tonight I will have you all sleep in the Knights Barracks. They should be able to protect you until tomorrow from any more attempts on your lives. First thing in the morning we shall take a little walk up to the King's castle."

raiden

Ardan stared at Fergus as he nodded,they all went into the Knights Barracks as Fergus told the men what had happened.

The knights nodded as they made room for them to sleep,Ardan sat on the floor next to Fergia as he stared out the window.

He kept thinking about what all had happened so far,things were only going to get worse and he had to make sure it all ended and soon no matter the cost.

The mornind dawned bright. It made Fergia sick to think the gods were mocking them like this. Still, better that than to walk in the rain he supposed. The group followed Fergus to the castle.

They were ushered inside and taken to a large sitting room and told to wait. Fergia was impressed by a large buanfach board in the center of the room.

Setanta came over to the table. "You ever play?"

"Yes, father taught me when I was young."

"But did he teach you to play well, or did he teach you to play as well as you fight?"

"Why don't we find out?"

The pair settled at the table and began a game.

Mebh clucked her tongue, laughing lightly at them as they began their game. She looked around, memories flooding back to her. She had spent most of her life in this castle. Here, in these very halls, she had run with her childhood friends, playing all sorts of games. She knew the castle extremely well, and could find her way around in the dark. She had, once. The memory stung her, and she quickly pushed it aside, unwilling to remember that terrible night.

She sat on the hard floor and leaned against the wall. I wonder if the Queen will recognize me, she thought to herself. Wonder if I’ll see the Queen at all. It hadn’t been long since Mebh had last been with the queen, but the life of a knight had changed her very quickly. Dirt was caked all around her face, and she was dressed as a man, her long hair hidden. There were large circles underneath her eyes. She did not sleep the last night, afraid someone would try to harm her or her friends again.

Aefie sat next to Mebh, she, too, lacking sleep. She slumped her head down, her eyes closed, apparently trying to rest herself before the king. Ardan, meanwhile, was at the opposite end of the room, his eyes distant. He was no longer himself, and seldom talked to anyone. “Aeife,” Mebh whispered.

“Hmmm?” Aeife replied sleepily.

“What are we going to do about Ardan?”

Aeife’s eyes opened, and she stared at Ardan for awhile. “I don’t know. I don’t know if he’ll ever be the same.”

Fergus entered into the room, and all attention was focused on him. “The King is ready to see you now.”

Setanta glanced one last time at game spread before him--the board now overwhelmingly dominated by Fergia's pawns--before he stood up and grabbed his crutches.

"Good game," he said grudgingly, though he had to admit even to himself that Fergia was an exceptional player and that he had learned several new moves and strategies from the young bardling.

Fergus led the group through a long winding hallway to a large double door at the end of the corridor. It was heavy oak, beautifully engraved with leaves and stags, and in the center, outlined in gold set into the actual wood, was the symbol of a sprawling tree, the sigal of the royal house. One day, when the trainees became Knights of the Royal Branch, they would bear that badge on all their uniforms, marking them honorary members of King Conchobar's family.

There were no heralds or servants to usher them inside; in such an urgent situation, all ceremony had been ignored. The five trainees were herded into through the doors and into the spacious throne room beyond. To Setanta's amazement, the floor here was not packed dirt like in all other buildings, but actual polished wood. There were tapstries on the walls and a fire pit in the center of the room, and before the pit sat King Conchobar, Setanta's Uncle, and Cathbad, who was Conchobar's father as well as the physician in charge of healing all the Knights and Knight trainees.

My grandfather through my mother's side, Setanta thought with some affection, though in truth there was no real love between himself and his uncle and grandfather, because he had only met them for the first time a few weeks before. It hadn't occured to him earlier that this man, who had ministered to his wounds and the wounds of his friends, was also his family, the father of his mother. New respect for Cathbad blossomed in his heart.

He turned his eyes back to King Conchobar just as Fergus bowed low. As Setanta and the other trainees followed his lead, Setanta took a moment to study at this Uncle he had seen only once. The King was a tall man, massive but not fat, with dark unruly hair and a trimmed beard. To Setanta's surprise, he found that the man dressed much like the Knights themselves did, without any extra unnessesary displays of wealth. No armor did he wear, but over a deep green tunic he wore a cloak of scarlet, the color of the Knights and of the Royal House. His boots were well worn, tucked under his breeches. The only true jewelry he wore was a gold torque about his neck.

"So these are the brave new trainees who have done so much the last few weeks to help our land," the King said, looking over the ragtag group of teenagers. His eyes swept over Setanta with his crutches, and Mebh with her two black eyes and swollen nose, and Arden who had bowed somewhat stiffly to guard the healing wound in his back. "And I see your adventures were not without danger. So, Trainees, tell me of all you have seen and heard since you first encountered this Construct creature Fergus tells me of."

All their worry about what they should say and how they should say it was for naught. One or another would start telling the tale, and the others would add in details as they remembered them. All the while the King was attentive, interjecting a question here or there.

Finally, about an hour and a half later, they had finished their tale. By then the trainees were sprawled on the ground in front of their King, who not only didn't mind that they sat in his presence, but demanded it, while he himself had paced the room as he took in their story.

"This information has grave implications," he said, more to Fergus than the children. "As you know, the same night you were out facing the mage, a group of Knights encountered some of the Connaughtmen, and out of fifteen only five returned, all greviously injured. Five more of our men are being held hostage in Connaught, though Queen Maeve has not yet made her demands. We have reports that the number of Connaughtmen stationed just outside our border has nearly tripled, and there have been numerous reports of cattle raids and other mischief. It is clear Connaught is preparing for war, but when?"

Fergus thought about it for a while, then turned to the trainees. "Sire, it would probably be best to speak of this in private. These Trainees still need rest, and should probably return to the safety of the Knights Barracks after the attack last night."

The King nodded. Half an hour later the teenagers found themselves back at the Knights' Barracks, waiting for Fergus to return. When he did, however, they were rather dismayed by what he told them.

"You have all slept, I trust?" They nodded, though none had slept well. "Good," Fergus said, "then it is time that you all returned to weapons practice. However, starting today, you shall train with the Knights, who can protect you if more trouble comes."

The trainees looked at each other in dismay. "Even me?" Setanta asked, wondering how he was supposed to drill in sword play and other martial exercises with a broken ankle.

Fergus smiled grimly. "You have two arms. I know you are already reasonably proficient with the bow, but a little more practice can't hurt. Until your ankle is healed, you are to train with the archer company."

Setanta frowned. "But the archers ride on horseback, and I have no steed..."

Fergus's smile widened. "Well, that's where you're wrong. Come, I have something to show you. Come with me."

Setanta followed Fergus out of the Barracks and onto the field with the other Trainees at his shoulder. To his surprise, he saw that there was a group of Knights standing in a circle in the field, talking excitedly and looking at something that they surrouned.

As Fergus approached, the Knights seperated a litte so they could get through. And to Setanta's surprise, when they cleared out of the way a slim Sidhe man in deep blue robes stepped out from between the Knights and bowed to Setanta.

"Your Father heard of the adventures of yourself and your comrades, and your present dilemna, and gives you a gift to help you through the next phase of your training," the Sidhe said.

Then Setanta and the rest of the trainees gasped in surprise as a horse stepped up behind the envoy's shoulder and inspected Setanta with cool, violet eyes.

"A unicorn!" Fergia said in shock.

"A human!" the unicorn responded in amusement.

raiden

Ardan stared at the unicorn with a smile but his mind wasn't on anything except for the thoughts of his brother and all the hell he had put his friends and himself through.

He had to admit that deep down he did care for his brother after all a brother was the thing Ardan wanted the most when he was growing up.

How could his father have not told him? Could he ever truly fight his brother to the death? these were questions Ardan was faced with.

Mebh and the others stared at Ardan as they shook their heads"Isn't he magnificent?"Ardan nodded as he smiled"Yes he certainly is".

Fergia just stared at the Unicorn. He'd seen them in pictures of course, and read about them. He had never dreamed, however, that he would actually see one. And Setanta was going to ride one in training, and maybe into battle. He was such a lucky...No, not really. Riding was devilishly uncomfortable, even when the steed was intellegent. And Fergia was sure the Unicorn would be just as hard a taskmaster as Fergus was. No, he didn't really envy Setanta his new mount that much.

He approached the creature and worked up the nerve to speak again.

"What is your name?"

“Thorian,” he replied, his voice deep and wise.

“You’re black,” remarked Mebh, more to herself than anyone else. She’d never really seen a unicorn, or hardly any magical creatures during the days of her sheltered childhood. She’d heard of them only through bards and children’s books, and they’d always been described as white and heavenly. He was the quite the opposite, glossy and black, his main slick and silky, and at the same time wild and wispy. The stalwart, twisted horn that crowned his forehead had a razor sharp tip, and looked particularly deadly. His dark eyes found Mebh, and he gave a short laugh.

“Very good, young one. Have you only just learned your colors?” Normally Mebh would have blushed, but she was enraptured at the sight of this strange creature.

“You mean, Setanta’s going to ride you? As a steed?” she continued, generally curious. She ignored those around her, who were uncomfortably shifting the weight between their feet as the strange conversation continued.

“That’s the general idea,” he said. “If Setanta’s all right with it, anyway. It’s not as if I can force him upon my back. I haven’t hands, you know.”

As the other trainees turned to Setanta, as though expecting an answer, Mebh pressed on. “But you’re not a horse. Do you really not mind people riding you?”

Her questions could have been considered rude and informal, but Mebh was genuinely curious, wanting to know more about Thorian. To the surprise of those around, Thorian laughed. “No,” he said somewhat genially, “I don’t mind Setanta riding me...if he rides me correctly, and doesn’t pull my mane, or anything stupid. I’ve had riders like that, you know. One pull of my hair, and off they go.” As if to demonstrate, he reared up into the air, crashing back down and shaking his mane.

“Now, if you’re quite finished with this interrogation,” continued Thorian, his tone not unkind, “I believe I need to speak with Setanta. But I’d be happy to speak with you again, young one,” he added.

Mebh backed down, finally, and stepped back, allowing Setanta speak, at last.

"You're a gift from my Father?" Setanta asked in disbelief, as he and the unicorn walked a few paces away from the others. His Father had rarely shown him any favor whatsoever; after all, he was only half-Sidhe, and had two full Sidhe brothers that his Father could fawn over.

Thorian snorted, and Setanta wasn't sure if the sound was the unicorn's version of laughter or was really made in spite. Thorian's words, when he spoke, proved to be a mixture of amusement and annoyance. "I am no gift, Setanta, no matter what that lacky of your Father says." The Sidhe blushed and turned away. "Your Father and I have been friends for several long years, far longer than you have been alive. I have been away, however, for most of your lifetime, pursuing opportunities of my own. When I returned to the Bright Court I found that I was the only unicorn to visit in over a millenia, and some of the younger Sidhe, like that young fool yonder, do not understand that though I may look like a steed, I am not a piece of property but an individual."

"Why did you come? Why did my Father send you?"

Thorian hesitated. Then he said, "Your Father's scouts have recently brought news of the unrest in this region back to the Court. Lugh did not want to destroy your chances for a sucessful life in this world, but he does not want to risk you needlessly either. So he sent me to help train you and protect you."

Setanta frowned. "When I become a Knight of the Red Branch I will have to face many dangers every day. My father knew this when he sent me to Emania. Why all the caution now?" Thorian looked away, but not before Setanta saw the brief flash of sorrow in his eyes. "What, Thorain? What is it?"

Thorian turned to him slowly. "Setanta... I was not sent here just to train and protect you. I was sent to bring you ill news... this is not the only land where there is unrest. Tir na nOg has been having some unrest of its own. We had a skirmish with the Dark Court, about three weeks ago as mortals reckon time. Your half-brother, Prince Morgan slayed the heir to the Dark Court. We were immensely joyful until we discovered that he had been in turn slayed by one of the Dark King's lackeys. And your brother, Prince Aodohn... he died trying to avenge Morgan. Your sister, Princess Aine, is now Heir to the Bright Court, and you after her. There are now only two of you in line for the throne..."

Setanta stared at him, still too shocked for sorrow to hit. "My brothers are dead? Both of them?"

Thorian bowed his head and cantered away to let Setanta digest this news.

Despite the physical distance between them, Fergia heard some of what was said. What he didn't hear he could deduce. After all, knowing the mood of the crowd was something a bard had to excell at. He still didn't much like Setanta, but he had developed a certain level of respect for him. Besides, this kind of news was not deserved by any but the most evil of men, and for all his faults, Setanta was still a decent person, if irritating.

Still, there was little he could do. Setanta would not accept sympathy. Would be insulted by it no doubt. Best thing to do was carry on as if nothing had changed. And there was still Torian to consider. He had to craft a song about Thorian.

Mebh stood some few paces behind them, her arms crossed and a thoughtful expression on her face. She shrugged whatever she was thinking away, and turned back to a few of the others. "So, where do we go from here? More training, and then what? Stand around and wait for another attack? I'm restless."

And she was, very restless, but necessarily because of the danger and intrigue that surrounded she and her comrades. It was this place-her old home, being back. Memories flooded her, both the good, and the evil...but she had pushed away the evil ones, and was dwelling on all the adventures of her childhood.

"Anyone care to walk the grounds?" Mebh said slyly, clearly inviting them to sneak off with her. "I can give you all a very personal tour." She smiled invitingly, her smile sly and mysterious.

Setanta glanced about him, looking for an easy escape. The reality of the deaths of his Sidhe half-brothers had not yet hit home, and he really just needed some time to sit and think.

Some of the Knights were still on the field, talking to the Sidhe Envoy. He and Thorian had walked a few feet away to talk, and now they were surrounded by Trainees only. Mebh, seeming to understand that he wanted to be alone, was herding the other students off on some adventure.

He gave her a half-hearted smile of gratitude. "Thanks, but you go ahead. "I need some time to think."

She nodded knowingly. "We will see you later today, at weapons practice."

Setanta frowned. "Aye, at weapons practice. See you in three hours." He didn't like to think that he would have to summon the energy to work out, to ignore his own problems, but there was no helping it. The Knights of the Red Branch did not stop working to deal with personal problems, and the Knight Trainees were no different.

raiden

Ardan watched Setanta as he thought about reaching out to him,he had experienced the loss of a loved one more than he wished too.

Mebh walked by with the others as she stared at him"Coming Ardan?"he shook his head as he replied"Yeah here in a minute you go on without me ok?"

Mebh nodded as Ardan took a deep breath and walked over towards Setanta,he sat down next to him as he spoke"I know you probably don't want to talk but I just wanted you to know that I've been there and I know what it's like".

Setanta continued to stare at the ground silently as Ardan climbed back up to his feet and started to walk away.

"How do you do it?"Ardan stopped in his tracks as he turned around"How do you live with the pain?"

Ardan shook his head as he replied"You push on, you strive to be everything your loved ones wanted you to be".

"You fight in their honor and you never forget them"Setanta nodded as he replied"Thanks I think I'll stay here and think of them for a while".

Ardan nodded as he walked back towards where Mebh and the others were headed,he continued to think about his brother and the pain he had already caused.

Deep down Ardan loved his brother no matter how cruel he was,but the others were his family now,Mebh,Setanta,Fergia,and Aeife

If it came down to them and his brother he knew what choice had to be made.

Fergia spent most of the rest of the day alone. He wanted a chance to practice his composition and playing. He'd had so little chance to play outside of battle that he was starting to wonder if he could still actually perform music.

He found that he could, and spent some time working up some potential new songs for when he finally got the chance to play them for someone. That was the catch. It seemed like his association with the Red Branch was becoming a life long committment, and that it would be a short one at that. He wanted so very much to go back to the life he had chosen, but now that seemed all but impossible. Still, the heroes of the ballads seldom asked for the situations they got. They simply did the best they could with what they had.

Mebh, slightly disappointed that no one wanted to join her, slowly walked back toward the castle. She kicked at the dirt, her thoughts elsewhere, when someone came crashing into her from behind.

Mebh hit the ground and rolled, expertly landing on her feet. She rose quickly, her body in a defensive stance, ready for anything. Her assailant had also hit the ground, and was sprawled out laughing. He was a boy no older than 17. He looked up at Mebh with large eyes, his face in a mischevious and delighted grin. Brushing his long, choppy brown hair out of his face, he sat up, still laughing.

Mebh slowly dropped her arms to her side, astonishment across her face. Slowly, her astonishment turned into a beautiful smile of joy, and she ran straight at the boy. She rammed into him, and sent the both of them rolling across the ground again, each in a fit of laughter.

"Sean!" Mebh called delightfully, and surprisingly childlishly. "Sean, where have you been? Where HAVE you been?!"

Sean sat up beside her, breathing heavily. "What does that matter, Mebh? I'm here now, after all." He smiled impishly, playfully slugging Mebh's shoulder. "What I'd like to know is, where have you been? I came back here after years of being away, excited to greet my dear old Mebh, only to find you gone! And no one would tell me anything!"

"It's a long story," Mebh said happily, sighing. A voice called to Mebh, and she sat up quickly. Their romp had drawn attention, and Mebh came very close to blushing. "I'm fine!" she called to whoever was questioning her. She was far too happy to take notice of anything else except for Sean, her best friend since she learned how to walk.

Setanta had drawn his sword when he saw the man plowing into Mebh, but sheathed it quickly when he saw that Mebh was laughing. He watched them for a moment, then determined to join them, if only to ignore his own sorrow for a few more moments.

"Mebh!" he called, limping toward her on his crutches, but she ignored him, caught in the joy of finding her friend there.

"Mebh!" he called again with more determination, and this time she and the boy stepped apart and turned to face him.

"I'm fine!" Mebh told him, with a smile at her friend.

"Who is this?" Setanta asked, nodding politely to the young man.

"This is Sean, my best friend since childhood," Mebh said happily. "Sean, this is Setanta. He's in training with me."

Sean and Setanta clasped arms. "Are you here to train for the Knights as well?" Setanta asked.

Quaddy

Aeife snuck through the camp, away from the others that gathered around the latest arrival to the camp. Apparently, he wished to train for the Knights, but Aeife had no care for that. She wanted to speak with the unicorn.

"Ah, another of the children," Thorian said. "And a darker one. Child of the Morrigan, then."

Aeife nodded. "Aye, my mother is indeed the Morrigan. How does she fair, being in the middle of the Light and the Dark?"

"Not well. Her lair has been attacked by those on both sides. No one is sure who she will support."

Aeife bristled. "My mother may be a dark Sidhe, but she would not support the Dark Court."

Thorian snorted. "But neither would she support the Bright Court. That makes her a potential enemy to both."

"It makes her enemy to no one. She is a War Sidhe...she will grow more powerful from this...but she will not support either side. But she has not been hurt thusfar?"

"No. Not yet." Thorian looked up and sniffed at the air. "The other Child comes."

Aeife looked up to see Setanta walking toward the unicorn and stood up. "Hello Setanta."

raiden

Ardan sat down next to a tree staring up at the sky as he noticed Setanta and Mebh talking to someone.

"I wonder who that is?"Ardan pondered as he got up to his feet and walked over towards them"Is this a private conversation or can anyone join in?"

Setanta shook his head as he replied"Mebh was just introducing me to her old friend Sean"Ardan nodded as Mebh replied"Yes Sean and I have been best friends since childhood".

Ardan nodded as he extended his hand"Nice to meet you Shawn"he nodded as he replied"Likewise Ardan".

Fergia saw the crowd gathered and decided to go over and investigate. Sean was introduced once again, and then everybody knew everybody else.

"Well, I see you're traveling with some odd companions now. Not that different from when we were growing up."

Fergia took in Mebh and Sean together. "Why don't you tell us about that? We've been training together for so long, and I don't think any of us really knows more about the others than their names."

“I grew up here, at the castle,” Mebh said, her voice filled with contentment. “It was
frightening to me as a child. My mother was dead, and my father was hardly ever around, so I had to face my fears of ghosts and demons alone. Until I met Sean.” Mebh’s behavior was strange, and almost giddy. She’d never allowed herself to run away with her emotions, but now she acted as though she could care less.

Sean punched her playfully in her shoulder again. “Face your fears? What fears, Mebh? I distinctly remember a little girl who feared nothing and no one. It was I who was afraid of many things.”

“Many things is an understatement,” said Mebh slyly. She turned to her friends, laughter suffused across her face. “He once woke me up in the middle of the night to kill a spider in his room. I was ready to squash Sean, not the spider.”

Sean laughed readily, slapping his thigh. “And remember the time when I tripped on that fallen tree branch? I sat there and cried, and told you I’d broken my ankle. But you just stood there, and scolded me until I stood up. You always reminded me that most of my demons were just figments of my imagination.”

A small and dainty wild flower caught Sean’s eyes. He stooped and snatched it from the ground, fingering it softly. He tucked the pink blossom behind Mebh’s right ear, brushing back a strand of hair. The color in Mebh’s cheeks turned impossibly darker, and she turned away quickly.

Fergia stifled a laugh. Mebh glared at him, then hurried to change the topic of conversation. “Really, Sean, are you here to train as a knight?”

Sean turned to Setanta and Fergia. “No, actually, I’m not. I’ve been away for many years, and came back only a few months ago. My father was a Knight, and I’ve seen enough of the downside’s to it that I’ve no desire myself to be one.”

“Why did you come back, Sean?” Mebh asked quietly. “If not to be a knight, then what for?”

“For you, Mebh. I promised you I wouldn’t leave forever. And I didn’t.”

Fergia was about to burst with laughter by now. Mebh turned and slugged him, hard. The gleam of violence in her eyes silenced Fergia immediately.

“Where have you been all these years, Sean?” asked Setanta, trying to steer the conversation back to a safer topic.

Sean's grin was wide. "Oh, everywhere," he said. "I was traveling with a man named Ruairc. He came to Emania when I was twelve with his lute and his fiddle, and I became fascinated with his music and his tales. I told him that I wanted badly to study under him, and to my surprise, he accepted me as his apprentice."

Setanta glanced over at Fergia, and found that the Bard was listening avidly.

Sean continued. "We traveled north, to the Isle of Skye, and recorded some of the music and lore of that land. We stayed there for five years, and then headed south. I made Ruairc stop here so I could see you before we leave again. He is in the pub down in the town. We are on our way to Connaught now, to the palace of Queen Maeve."

The group of teenagers jumped as if someone had punched them.

"To Connaught!" Arden hissed.

"You don't want to go there!" Mebh said at the same time.

Sean looked confused. He glanced at Setanta, who had remained silent, leaning against Thorian. "There is going to be war soon between Ulster and Connaught," Setanta explained.

"If Queen Maeve realizes you and your master are Ulstermen, you may not be accepted well," Aeife added.

Sean nodded, looking pensive. "That's an understatement. I have heard rumors of border disputes, but I did not know it was that bad. Most of the country folk have no idea that there is a war brewing, and Ruairc and I have gotten all our information thus far from them."

Quaddy

Aeife looked up at the sky. "The sky grows darker daily, even in the light of the sun. When war approaches, my mother casts her shadow across the sky. My soul grows restless for battle. It is really close, this war."

The others nodded, accepting what Aeife had said as something second-nature. Sean cocked his head to the side and raised an eyebrow. "Your mother?"

"Aye, her mother," Setanta replied for her.

"But only the Morrigan casts her shadow over the sky before battle. Are you saying that this girl is..."

"The daughter of the Morrigan, yes," Aeife replied offhandedly. "But I'm not important. This battle is coming and you would be most unsafe if you and Ruairc traveled to Queen Maeve's realm at this time. And if the people aren't aware, that might be all the better. We can't have panicked masses rushing the palace until we are prepared for them."

Fergia nodded. "Extra provisions and protection. Camps set up. When they come, we must be prepared."

"And they will come. This war will be the greatest Ulster has ever seen, and we must be ready for it. If not, Ulster will fall."

raiden

Ardan nodded as he replied"Yes war is upon us Ulster must not fall we can not let it!"the others nodded as Ardan stared at them.

"We shall protect Ulster from Queen Maeve's forces it's what we were trained to do after all right".

Setanta nodded as he replied"Yes we will but for now let us rest and get something to eat"the others nodded as Ardan replied"Will you be staying with us Sean?"

Sean shrugged his shoulders as Mebh replied"Come on surely you can stay a little while".

Sean shook his head as he replied"I should go and check on Ruairc first"Mebh nodded as she replied"Ok then I'll go with you".

Sean started to speak but thought better of it,he knew how stubborn Mebh could be"Alright then but try and keep up with me".

He winked at Mebh knowing how to press all of her buttons as she replied"Oh don't worry about me you just make sure you can keep up with me".

Fergia made a mental note to talk to Sean and this Ruairc later about the music of Skye. However, now he had to worry about other things. He had not even considered the liklihood of refugees from the front lines and borders of Ulster. It would take a lot of preparation and organization to be ready to meet that trial. Someone would have to record every plan and track every resource available. He knew that task would likely fall to the court scribes, but he could at least offer his assistance when the time came.

Setanta called after the departing Sean and Maeve, "We'll meet the two of you back at the dining hall, Three candles and now more."

Mebh called back, "Right. See you."

Sean and Mebh walked slowly toward the castle. Mebh stared steadily at her feet, unsure of what to say. She'd never felt so uncomfortable.
Something was terribly wrong, and she could feel it.

"Sean, I know you weren't telling the whole truth to Setanta. You've never been fond of music. You didn't leave to study music."

Sean stared at the ground, and suddenly stopped. Taking Mebh gently by the elbow, he led her away from the path. "I never could lie to you. You always see right through me. No, I didn't follow him for his music. Ruairc is a musician, but I left with him for another reason entirely."

He looked around nervously, as though the birds themselves were listening in on the conversation. "Ruairc is a visionary man," he said slowly and carefully. "He has many great plans for the future, plans to rid the land of evil. He has been training me in his thoughts and ideals, and even in some magic to help him carry out these plans."

"What are you talking about?" Mebh asked uneasily. She'd never heard Sean speak this way. His voice seemed to be filled with malice and anger when he spoke of evil. But there was something different to it, menacing and cruel.

"Ruairc follows a mage of some sorts. I've never met him, but Ruairc assures me the mage is very powerful. He will lead us to destroy evil."

Mebh grabbed his chin hard, and pulled his face toward hers. Looking him steadily in his eyes, she said, "Sean, you've changed. What has happened to you? What evil is there in the land?"

Sean swiped her hand away from his chin. "I can't say. But you are apart of it, Mebh, though I don't think you know it. That's why I've come back. I have to get you away from the evil."

Mebh was frightened at Sean's change in character. And then it dawned on her. Could the same mage she and the others had fought in the forest be the same Sean was now following? It was a long shot. She needed to clear her head, find her friends...

Mebh bolted away from Sean and towards the castle, never looking back. Sean stood where she left him, only watching her go. Muttering a word under his breath, he vanished, leaving no trace behind.

The Boys' Barracks were busy that evening with trainees completing homework by lantern, wrestling, and preparing for Lights Out in one hour. Setanta was sitting in a circle with Aeife, Fergia, Arden, and Mebh, whispering about the war they all knew was brewing and Mebh's strange encounter with Sean.

The heavy wooden door burst open, admitting moonlight and a single Cadet Knight. The students ignored him; it was not unusual for some of the younger Knights to socialize with the older trainees in the evenings. But when the Cadet stood stiffly at attention and shouted, “To me!”, the trainees rose quickly to their feet and turned to face him.

“There is a meeting over at the Knights’ Barracks,” the Cadet said when they had all quieted down. “The following trainees are to attend: Aeife, Setanta, Fergia, Mebh, and Arden. You are to come immediately.”

“Yes sir!” the five trainees said in unison.

“Dismissed!” the Cadet told the group.

“Thank you sir!” all the students replied, bowing.

As the others pulled on their shoes and headed for the door, Setanta fumbled around for his crutches.

“Youngling,” a familiar voice called, and Setanta turned to find Thorian’s ebony head peaking in the doorway. Several students froze, staring in open-mouthed amazement at the unicorn. “I’ll take you on over. Hurry up!”

With Setanta firmly on his back, Thorian trotted after the others to the Knights’ Barracks. When they arrived they found all the Knights standing in the Common Room facing Fergus.

“Good,” Fergus said, nodding to the trainees in greeting, “now we can begin.” The room held its collective breath in anticipation. All had an idea of what was about to be said, though Setanta wondered why he and the other four trainees had been called to this meeting. “As you already know, Connaught has been testing our borders for the last three years, occasionally attacking and burning our villages, but usually just stealing our cattle and committing other minor crimes against our people. Thus far, our regular troops have been enough to deal with the problem, to protect our borders and drive the Connaughtmen back.” He took a deep breath, and all could see that he had bad news to tell them. “However, Connaught has finally begun its war against us. The armies of Queen Maeve have taken the tuath ruled by King Conchobar’s brother, Prince Sualtam, killed our men, raped our women, and enslaved our children. Your King sent the Knights in to meet the threat, and drove the foreigners out of our lands.”

Fergus allowed the cheers to rise briefly, then raised one hand to command silence again. “Aye, rejoice for this victory, but mourn as well. In that three-day battle we lost one-twentieth of all our Knights to death or serious injury, severely reducing our numbers before the war has ever truly begun. And worst of all, we have just received grave news from our spies within Connaught. Queen Maeve has forged an alliance with the Sidhe Dark Court. Right this very moment the Connaughtmen and their Dark Sidhe allies are regrouping behind their border this very minute, preparing to attack again. As we are right now, we are unprepared to fight and win. We need time, at least a month, to build up our troops and try to secure an alliance with the Bright Court, and until that time our borders must hold! Therefore, I am sending all the Knights to the border, and because your numbers have been so severely reduced, I am supplementing your troops with the best of the City Guard, the Regular Army, and some of the youngsters among the Knight Trainees.”

The five trainees drew their breath in sharply. Some of the Knights turned to look at them. In their eyes Setanta saw a mixture of dismay, pity, relief, pride, and respect. He himself didn’t know what to feel.

Fergus continued. “All Knight Trainees age fifteen and older are being called to this cause. This will increase the size of Troop One by three hundred persons, in addition to the six hundred gained from the Regular Army and City Guard replacements. The trainees will serve in groups of two as squires to the Troop One Knights from Emania itself, continue their training among the Troop One Knights and also under my tutelage and the tutelage of the other instructors they’ve had here at Emania. They will be used as couriers--and in some cases, medical assistants--behind the battle lines, and should they find themselves in battle, they will under the direct leadership of their own fellow trainees.”

Fergus turned to the trainees. “Among the Troop One Knight Trainee Division there will be four Trainee Platoon Leaders answerable only to myself, the Troop One Captain Ciann, and your Division Leader, Aeife. Each Trainee Platoon Leader will be in charge of a platoon of about seventy five trainees making up this special division of Troop One. Setanta will be in charge of the Archer Platoon. Fergia will be in charge of the Mage Platoon. Arden will oversee Sword Platoon A and Mehb will be in charge of Sword Platoon B. Unlike the other trainees, who will serve in groups of two as squires, you four and Aeife will serve as squires for the Troop One Captain, Ciann, as a unit. Knights, bow to your Trainee Platoon Leaders and their Division Leader, for they are the finest of our trainees and will serve our cause well.”

The Knights bowed solemnly to the five incredulous trainees, who, at Aeife’s discreet nudging, bowed back, saying, "Thank you sirs!"

"And Platoon Leaders, bow to your Division Leader, for it is she who will personally command you in the months to come."

Grinning, the four trainees bowed low to a blushing, proud Aeife.

"I will meet with each of you one at a time to fill you in on the details of your duties, the nature of your Platoon, and its role in the campaign to come. I will speak to Aeife first, then Arden, Fergia, Mebh, and finally Setanta. After I brief you, you are to immediatly round up the trainees serving under you and brief them. Understood?"

"Yes sir!"

"Dismissed!"

"Thank you sir!" the trainees said, bowing.

raiden

When it was Arden's turn to be
briefed by Fergus, he bowed his head and replied"I will not fail you".

Fergus nodded as he replied"I know you'll all make me proud"he stared at all of them as he smiled a little.

"Alright trainees you have one week to prepare for the biggest battle of your lives".

Arden led his men outside to prepare a strategy as he stared at the stables"I will ride on horseback for the upcoming battle".

His platoon members nodded as he replied"We will not let the evil take over... we will fight it back and destroy it!"

His men nodded in unison as Arden stared at the horses,finally picking one he would use when the time arrived.

When Fergia was called to Fergus to be briefed, he finally was able to articulate how he felt. "I'm honored by your decision, sir, but you can't be serious."

"Lad, you'll find that war is a serious business, and so I'm very serious about wartime decisions. What exactly are you referring to?"

"My appointment! I'm not a leader of men. My magical abilities are not traditional magery. I've never planned a battle in my life. I can't see how I'm in anyway qualified to lead troops. And a troop of mages at that. Mages don't exactly have a lot of respect for bards, sir."

"Well, young Fergia, you're in for a rare treat. I'm going to explain this choice to you. Enjoy it, because it's likely the last time it will happen. Hence forth I expect you to go back to doing as your told without questions. Understand?"

"Yes sir."

"Good. That's part of why I chose you for this. Most mages don't quite comprehend that following orders in a war will keep them alive better than doing as they think best. You seem to have grasped that idea far faster than most. As for your experiences, as a Bard, you've heard tales of all the great battles have you not?"

"Well, yes sir, I've learned them by heart but..."

"Those lessons will serve you well. Keep in mind how the old masters handled a war, and adapt as need be. As for the rest of mages not respecting you, well it's a Bard's job to make people like him isn't it? If you can't do that, then you wouldn't be much of a bard at all, so just do what you do naturally and keep the trainee Mage Troop in line. I have faith in you lad, you just need a little in yourself. Now go out there and whip those boys into shape. We'll need a competent force of battle mages when everything starts."

Fegia sighed. "Yes sir."

“Come in, Mebh.” Fergus beckoned Mebh to come closer. She took a seat near him. “I heard about your friend. What do you think?”

“Think?” said Mebh quietly. “I don’t know what to think. It’s preposterous, I know. How on earth could Sean possibly be working with the same Mage we’re up against? But at the same time, I can’t get it out of my head. I’m sure of it, Sir...I’m sure Sean is working with Arden’s brother.”

Fergus nodded knowingly, focusing on Mebh’s down turned face. “Mebh, he could be invaluable to our cause. I know he was once your dear friend, but you must now acknowledge that if he is truly working for this Mage, he is our enemy.” Mebh nodded solemnly. “Mebh, if at all possible, find out what you can. I don’t mean to be a spy, or to endanger yourself, or anything of the sort. But if you learn any thing more, come to me directly.”

“I’m just...worried,” Mebh said after a space.

“About?” pushed Fergus.

“About my friends. About us. The trainees. I can’t help but think that Sean has come back to hurt us.”

“I don’t believe Sean has any real power here, in the castle. But if he dare tries to hurt you, or anyone else, use any means to stop him.”

“Naturally,” Mebh agreed.

“Call for me at once if you need me.” Mebh nodded again, very silent. Her face was thoughtful, and yet so very sad. Fergus broke the silence to begin her briefing. “As I said, you’re the Sword Platoon B. Your platoon will be mostly affiliated with swords. And yes, I understand how you feel about swords-but don’t worry. I have faith in you. Just because you don’t see yourself as a very good swords woman doesn’t mean you aren’t one. Also, your platoon will be mostly on horseback, so go saddle yourself up a horse. Is everything clear?”

“Yes, sir.” Mebh said, attempting a smile.

“Good. And remember-if you need anything, you only need to ask.”

“Thank you,” she said as she began to rise. Turning to leave, she said quietly, “Thank you for your guidance, Fergus. You’re the closest thing I’ve had to a father figure in a long time.”

“I knew your father, Mebh. He was a good man.”

“His greatest dream was to make me a knight.” And without another word, Mebh took her leave.

The next morning the five youths found themselves standing before a large group of astonished trainees who were shocked to wake up that morning and find themselves under the command of their own classmates and preparing for war.

“Obviously, we have much to tell you,” Aeife said with a slight smile. “So I will try to make this quick. We’re going to war, kids, in only two weeks. The Knights need us, and so we will be serving with them as a special of Troop One. Troop One will be led by Captain Ciann, but the Knight Trainee Division will be under my command. You will be divided into four groups to form Platoons, each which will have a leader reporting directly to me. Those leaders are standing before me now. Setanta is the commander of the Archer Platoon. All of those under his command will be mounted. Fergia will be in charge of the Mage Platoon, made up of bards, mages, and a few of the Druids-in-training amongst you. Arden will oversee Sword Platoon A, which will be on foot, and Mehb will be in charge of Sword Platoon B, which will be mounted. You will discover which Platoon you belong to after breakfast. Now, run your laps, bathe in the river, and assemble back here! You have one hour! Go!”

“Yes ma’am!” the trainees called, running off to do what they must.

The trainees looked at each other solemnly. Then Aeife grinned, and said, "This is going to be an interesting two weeks." The trainees laughed.

Thorian, standing behind Setanta, nodded his dark head. "Yes, it will," he said, his violet eyes full of worry and his voice serious. The five students quickly sobered, thinking of what was coming.

raiden

Ardan stared at his troop as he instructed them to pair up in twos and practice some of their swordplay.

He noticed Mebh doing the same thing to her troops except they were to be on horseback during their drills.

He walked over to her as he stared at her"Are you ok?"she nodded as she replied"Yeah just trying to get this troop ready for war".

Ardan nodded as he replied"Listen Mebh if you ever want to talk about anything I'm here for you ok?"

She looked into his eyes as she nodded"I know but right now we've got to get these trainees ready".

Ardan nodded as he walked back over to his troop,watching them practice their swordplay and hoping some of them would still be alive when this was all over.

Fergia was not having a good day with his trainees. The bards were all right, but somewhat undisciplined. The training druids were very attentive, but few in number. And the mages...Several times Fergian thanked Oghma that he carried a harp. The temptation to break one of those wooden instruments over someone's head would have been too great.

Fergia tolerated the jibes for most of the day, not really knowing what to do about it. Finally, however, there was just one too many.

Fergia was explaining how the three types of mystics could work together to perform greater feats than any one type might do. The oldest of the mage trainees, who had been at the center of most of the insolence that day, had to make another comment. Fergia suspected the boy thought him out of earshot. "Naturally he's used this knowldge on the battlefield. He's clearly had much experince with..."

It was like the one sparring match with Setanta, except Fergia managed to remain cognizatn of what he was doing, although he saw the world through a red haze. He rounded on the trainee. "So, in addition to everything else you have questioned today, you wish to malign my experience?"

"Well, you're no older than I am so..."

"How many mage's duels have you fought?"

"Unlike a bard I've trained to..."

Fergia advanced on the trainee. "I didn't say how long have you trained. In case you misunderstood my words, I'll speak slower. How...many...duels...have...you...fought?"

The boy took a step back, and the two flanking him stepped away from Fergia. "I've sparred with at least a dozen..."

"LISTEN TO MY QUESTION! I did not ask about sparring! How many mages who were actively trying to kill you have you done battle with?"

Another step back, the boy looked a bit frantically at his former supporters. They were conspicuously avoiding his gaze. "I'm just a trainee, I've never fought..."

"Well, I am a trainee commander, and I have fought. I have battled a mage who was many years my senior in experience and wanted very much to tear my heart out and dine on it while I watched. And I damnned near beat him. I have also battled along side the other commanders against assassins and warriors. If you have any questions about my experience or my fittness to command, then I suggest you take them up with the field commander I report to. I'm sure your tale of my inexperience of the mere bard who fought on her side would amuse her. If that isn't satisfactory, then perhaps you'd care to report my inability to Fergus. He's the one that appointed me to this position, so I'm sure he will be eager to hear about how flawed his choice was."

"Whoever you do choose to complain to, however, it will not be me. I have been assigned the task of making sure that you survive your first encounter with the enemy, and that is what I intend to do. If any of you makes that task even the slightest bit more difficult through thier unwilingness to get along with their fellow troops, then I will report them immediately, and if they are lucky they will face army discipline."

One of the other mages found his voice. "What if they aren't lucky?"

"Then the army discipline will not get to them before I do. Because if you've infantile behavior puts any of my charges at risk, then you are no better than the enemy, and I will treat you no better. Do I make my self clear?"

"Yes sir."

"I wasn't asking one person! Do I make myself clear to everyone here?"

All voices rang out. "YES SIR!"

"Good. Then let's get started."

It was very late in the evening. Mebh had trained her troops hard, harder than she should have. She was so upset that she had transferred all of her rage into training the poor, unexpecting trainees.

She had worked herself very hard, as well. Her arms were sore, and a very large bruise covered her right forearm. She wandered the castle grounds aimlessly, hardly knowing what to do with herself.

A slight movement stole her attention, and she turned quickly, ready for anything. It was Ardan, sitting on the ground and throwing rocks lazily. "Hello, Ardan," Mebh said weakly.

Ardan smiled, and motioned to the ground next to him. "Care to join me?" Mebh smiled half-heartedly, and slowly moved to join him. They sat silently for some time, watching the brilliant stars above them.

"I understand how it feels." Ardan spoke softly and compassionately. "It feels like your whole world is ripped apart, just when you were feeling like every thing was all right."

"And you feel like there's nothing you can do to fix it," added Mebh. She sighed, resting her chin on her folded hands. "It's so difficult to comprehend...it's like I want to go to sleep, and wake up to the way life used to be."

"That doesn't work. I tried." Ardan's voice had some humor to it, but also spoke the truth. "Whatever you need, I'm always here. I promise."

Mebh was about to reply, when footsteps alerted both of them to an approaching figure. In the pale moonlight, Mebh recognized the face. It was Sean.

***

One hand on Thorian's flank to support himself and the other holding his short-bow and pouch of arrows, Setanta limped in front of his new platoon, a ragtag group of seventy-five boys and the occasional girl, most older than him and all staring at him with a mixture of open hostility and amusement.

“Great,” one particularly arrogant little bastard commented, “We have a lame commander who has never once practiced with the archers and probably couldn’t ride a horse if his life depended on it.”

“The unicorn obviously will have to do all the work,” a second boy said.

Setanta allowed his bag and his bow to slide down to his elbow, and then grasping Thorian’s mane with that hand and pushing on Thorian’s back with the other hand, he vaulted himself onto the unicorn’s back. Thorian, took a few steps away from the platoon, already guessing what Setanta was planning and helping give him room to do it.

“Can you even shoot?” another trainee, this one a young woman with bound curly hair, asked rudely.

That was the question Setanta was waiting for. In one smooth motion he fitted an arrow, lifted his bow, aimed, and shot. The arrow thudded home in the wooden wall an inch behind the girl’s left ear, and girl and arrow stood there, quivering. Only her horse made a sound, whickering softly in surprise.

“Don’t insult me by believing I just missed,” he told the silent, astonished trainees in a quiet voice. “Next time one of you talks other than to say ‘Yes sir!’, I will aim for your eye instead of the wall behind you. Now mount your horses and come with me. I have set up targets in the fields. You will line up and, at a full gallop, you will shoot three times, once at 100 feet, once when you are right in front of the target, and a final time over your shoulder at 100 feet past the target. Until you make two out of the three shots perfectly, you will remain out there on the field with me. I have nothing to do but whip you into shape, so this can take all day and all night, for all I care. Do you hear me?”

“Yes sir!” the trainees said.

“All right, get out there,” Setanta commanded.

“Yes sir!” the trainees responded, mounting their horses and filing out of the huge covered arena where they normally trained.

That evening, when Setanta returned to the Boys’ Barracks, he found Fergia looking as exhausted, sweaty, and grimly satisfied as he felt.

“Tough day?” Setanta asked.

“Ugh,” was all Fergia said.

“Ah, yes, the eloquent bard,” Setanta said. “You found the perfect words to describe my own day.”

raiden

Ardan jumped up to his feet with sword drawn as Sean shook his head.

"Hold up I bring you no ill will"Ardan stared at Mebh as he replied"What brings you here then?"

Mebh climbed up to her feet and stood beside Ardan as Sean smiled a little.

"I'm a messenger I have a message from your brother".

Ardan stared at him as he replied"My brother's messages mean nothing to me.

Sean stared at Mebh as he replied"I see you two become quite close".

Ardan nodded as he replied"Yes Mebh is like family to me".

Sean smiled as he replied"Yes Mebh is quite amazing but you already have family".

"Your brother wishes to see you"Ardan stared at Mebh and then at Sean as he replied"My brother is responsible for all the hell this world is going through".

"I wish only the worst things for my brother for it's what he would wish for me".

Sean laughed a little as he replied"He told me you wouldn't come to see him...he was right you truly are a coward!"

Ardan grabbed Sean by the arm as he threw him against a tree.

"I'm no coward so shall I prove it to you or have you seen enough?"

Sean climbed back up to his feet as he replied"Your brother will not be happy you didn't accept his invite".

Ardan laughed a little as he replied"Well I guess he'll just have to be disappointed then".

Sean stared at Mebh one last time before disappearing back into the shadows.

Ardan lowered his sword as he sighed"I should have taken the invitation maybe my brother would spare some of the troops lives".

Mebh shook her head as she replied"No Ardan you did the right thing...we'll defeat your brother and the evil surrounding us together".

Ardan nodded as he grabbed her hand"Yes together".

Fergia and Setanta exchanged their stories, each one, oddly, listening quietly to the other. Finally, they were both done, and both just leaned back against the walls.

Fergia broke the silence. "I never wanted to be a soldier. Now I'm going to be marching troops to battle. Probably to their deaths. It makes no sense, I'm not a leader of men. I'm just a musicain."

Setanta was quiet for a moment. "I always wanted to be a warrior. I thought I was a born leader. Now that I've spent a day in command, I have to wonder if generals are crazy. Why would you want to do this day in and day out all your life? But then I remember, if I'm in command, then I'm in a position to make sure that as many of those boys as possible won't be marching to their deaths."

"Maybe, but I'm not like you. You trained for this all your life. The first time I saw a real fight was on the sparring ground."

"True. But you know more about magic than anyone in the troop, and that's what you're here to do. Let the warriors worry about fighting and do what you're here to do."

The two sat quietly again.

"Thrust, I said THRUST!" Mebh's angry voice rang hoarsely around the trainees. "Don't you dare parry when I tell you to thrust! 10 laps, now!" The frightened trainee ran as fast as he could away from Mebh, and began his long and tiresome laps.

Mebh sighed, then glared at the rest of the trainees, who were staring like startled deer. "Well? Let's see some more work! Unless anyone wants to join him?" Immediately the trainees resumed their sparring, and the clanking of metal filled the air around them.

Folding her hands behind her back, Mebh walked tiredly away from the group for a moment. She stared at the castle, some few hundred yards from where she stood. The memories, they kept haunting her. Her dreams of the last two nights had been startling and upsetting, and Sean was in all of them. It was making a clear dent in her training, for she was becoming crueler each day.

"Mebh?" It was Fergia. Mebh hadn't even noticed him approached.

"Oh, hi, Fergia," she muttered tiredly, rubbing her left shoulder with her right hand.

"Mebh, let's go for a walk," Fergia continued. Mebh shrugged, and slowly followed him.

raiden

Ardan stared at his troops as he instructed them to practice their defensive skills,he walked around them watching their techniques as he nodded.

"Good..very good now show me how you handle yourself one on one against a stronger opponent"Ardan drew his weapon as he stared at the boy in front of him.

"What's your name?"the boy shook his head as he replied"Berov...sir"Ardan nodded as he replied"Well Berov I've watched you and you indeed have some skills with a blade".

"Now show me what you can do against me"the boy stared at him hesitant to move as Ardan shook his head.

"Come now in war every second you hesitate could be your downfall"the boy rushed at Ardan with sword drawn.

Ardan blocked all of his attacks as he knocked him to the ground"You're putting too much weight on your right foot it's keeping you off balance".

The boy adjusted his fighting style as he defended against Ardan's attacks,knocking him to the ground.

Ardan nodded as he smiled a litle brushing the dirt off his pants"Well done now keep practicing".

Berov nodded as he went back in line with the others,Ardan walked by them as he smiled"Alright we'll take a 10 minute and then get back to work...dismissed".

Fergia lead Mebh away from the training grounds. Then he started talking. "Is that the best way to train your troop?"

"Oh come on Fergia, I get enough of this from the trainees. I know what I'm doing."

"I know. And I don't. That's why I'm asking you. I have no clue what I'm doing out there most of the time. I'm not a soldier, I'm not an officer, I don't know anything about war other than what's in the ballads. But I'm in charge of making a group of trainees into an effective fighting unit and I haven't a clue if anything I say is even getting through to them."

Mebh slowed a bit. "Oh. Well, you have to let them know who's boss for sure. I don't think my methods would work for you, though. Magic fighting isn't like real fighting. You can't be too rough on them or you might break them in two."

"Oh, you're not that rough, Mebh."

"Maybe, but I've seen your troop. You could take any of them in a real fight. But you'll find your own way to deal with them, I'm sure. That's what you're good at. I gotta get back to mine now though. Take care."

Mebh sat down where she was, watching Fergia walk away. She suddenly longed to talk with him, with anyone. Her emotions were out of control, and she knew it.

Not since her father's death had she been so distant. The pain of betrayal was making its mark very clear. Now Mebh truly understood how Ardan must have felt.

Slowly, she rose from the ground, and made her way back to her troops. They all stiffened as they saw her approach, fear thick around them. Mebh only mumbled weakly, "Continue." She stood in their midst, watching half-heartedly as they practiced the moves she had taught them.

The day seemed to last forever. Finally, she dismissed the worn out trainees. She followed at a leisurely pace, making her way to her own barracks. Without bothering to change or wash her face, she slipped silently into her bed.

She fell asleep instantly. Her dreams were startling, filled with images of hidden pain. She tossed and turned, trying her best to fight them.

A whisper brushed across her ear. "Mebh." Startled, she jerked up, covered in sweat, but wide awake. She looked around hurriedly, knowing full and well whose voice it had been. But there was no sign of Sean. With a helpless sob, she sunk back down into her bed, and spent the rest of the night fighting more nightmares.

Thus proceeded the next two weeks.

The day before they moved out was hectic, to say the least. All the trainees met that morning on the field with Fergus, who threw them through one of the most exhausting workouts they'd ever had, then commanded them all to take a knee and listen to him. He gave them a brief pep talk, but they all knew it for what it was, and they could see his emotions crossing his face even as he spoke of how brave they were, how much they had progressed over the last mere week, and how well they would fight. He was afraid for them, and Setanta and his friends, standing at attention before the large group of trainees as Fergus paced the field and spoke, could see that, even if the other trainees could not.

Then they were released to drill with their own individual platoons. Setanta led his men (and occassional woman) to the field, and without a word gestured for them to mount up. He led them across the field, then over the hills to the river, where they spent their last day as innocent trainees racing up and down the riverbed, having fun. He was proud of them; they had forged into a strong group, and if they were not yet as good as the full Knights, they would probably surpass them when their time came to formally join the Knights of the Red Branch.

If they lived to adulthood.

In the early afternoon he led the platoon back to camp, where they grabbed a quick lunch. Then it was off to Cathbad the Druid, who was seeing each platoon one at a time to make sure all were healthy enough to be sent out. He examined Setanta's healing ankle and instructed him in how to wrap it. "Another couple weeks and that will be as good as new. I see you are walking all over the place on it now; just take care that you do not overwork it. I don't want to see you in here again."

Neither of them mentioned that Cathbad, who was moving to the border with the Knights and trainees, would undoubtedly be seeing many of the trainees again in the time to come, and in far more dire circumstances than a mere fractured ankle.

After the checkup Setanta led his platoon back to the stables, where he inspected riding equipment and made sure that their primary bows and arrows were ready, for those would be the ones that they were to take on the trip with them and he didn't want anyone to be caught unawares with faulty weaponry. When they reached the border there would be more supplies available, and they would have time to fletch their own arrows on the way and repair broken bows, but he wanted them to start off prepared.

By evening they were packed, armored, fed, and grimly determined to perform well in the time to come.

Morning came almost too quickly.

On the day of the first march, Fergia looked over his Platoon. Children. Children marching to war. Eevery one of them had probably been raised on tales of the glories of battle, of heroes and their comrades. None of them had ever seen what a battle was really like. Fergia would be surprised if they all survived their first skirmish.

Too many of them were over eager for the first fight. Too many of those thought that victory would go to them simply because of who they were, or who their fathers were, or some other idiocy. And it was his job to keep them alive long enought to have their illusions dashed into pools of blood on the field. Hoepfully blood not their own.

Fegia sighed. Why on earth had he been placed in command in the first place?

Mebh organized her troops, commanding them to line up in the orderly fashion they had been taught. Proudly, Mebh took her place at the front of them, glancing them over as she walked past each line.

The last two weeks had been very successful, Mebh was happy to say. Somehow she had pushed thoughts of Sean to the back of her mind, hiding her anger and focusing only on the upcoming challenges. Her platoon had a newfound respect for her, realizing now that she was a capable leader, when not incited.

A treacherous tear made its way down her cheek. She had promised herself she would not display any of the fear or dread that raged inside of her. A small part of her fear for herself, but the she feared overwhelmingly for her troops. She'd heard it dozens of times from the most skilled of warriors; never become attached to your troops. But that had proved itself impossible as she taught them, discovering that these were not mindless drones, but living, human beings.

She brushed the tear aside with her right fist, displaying a huge grin for her troops, filled with false confidence. She pivoted back to the front. Catching sight of Fergia surveying his own trips, she smiled slightly at him. She could see that his feelings mirrored his own.

Gripping her sword slightly, she shuffled on her feet, waiting for the command to move out.

It took them two weeks to reach the border, and it was then that they found out what soldiering was really all about. Waiting. That was all they did. They were constantly on guard for trouble, but none ever came. They took turns on watch at night. The Platoon Leaders met with Aeife or Fergus each evening. They heard rumors of war in the villages they camped outside of, but never got a glimpse of the enemy.

Until they reached the border.

raiden

Ardan sat quietly among his troops as he heard a strange noise,his troops were quick to rise to their feet but Ardan shook his head.

"Get some sleep ok I'll go check out the perimeter"they nodded as Ardan drew his sword and walked around the corner.

He searched the perimeter with a watchful eye as he spotted a rabbit laying half dead on the trail.

He bent down to check on it as he felt an evil presence surround him,it was a familar presence though as Ardan shook his head.

"What do you want...brother"loud laughter filled the air as his bother replied"I've come to see how my dear brother is after all we're so much alike you and I".

Ardan turned around to face his brother as he laughed a little"We're nothing alike with the exception of the man we both called Father".

Ardan placed his sword back in it's sheath as his brother replied"Join me brother we would make an unstoppable force".

Ardan stared at him as he smiled a little"I'd rather let wolves eat the flesh from my body than join you brother".

"So leave now brother my new family and I will be coming for you"he shook his head as he replied"Very well Ardan you have made your decision when next we meet it will be in battle!"

He disappeared in a cloud of smoke as Ardan made his way back to the others to tell them about his encounter.

After he finished relating the encounter to the platoon leaders, they all started debating about what was to be done. Setanta and Aefie both thought Ardan should have taken the wizard captive, although they didn't elaborate on how. Mebh thought he was an idiot for going out alone like that.

Fergia said nothing, but finally asked to be shown the site of the encounter. The others thought this was odd, but hardly the strangest thing the young bard had ever done. They all went out to see where the wizard had appeared.

Fergia examined the area intently. He checked the grass and other plants around the area, sniffed in the location the wizard had vanished from, and made a number of other observations. The others were beginning to think he was losing his mind when he finally stood and said, "Ardan's brother was never really here. It was just a projection. There's nothing Ardan could have done to hurt him."

Setanta snorted. "And I suppose you could have?"

"No, not without some advance preparations. Perhaps now that we know he's up to this sort of thing, I could arrange a little surprise for our errant mage next time."

Mebh frowned. "And just how are you going to do that?" Her question was general and honest, and there was no hint of sarcasm in her voice.

"The same way he created a projection. With magic." Mebh's frown deepened. Ardan's face lit up with hope.

"You know how, Fergia? You can do that?"

"I believe so, with the right materials. It may take me some time to search for them. Certain plants and herbs are needed, for one thing. I'll have to scavenge the nearby forest."

"Can I help, Fergia? I have some knowledge of plants," Mebh spoke up.

"Who will watch our platoons?" Fergia asked.

"We'll all be able to keep an eye out for your troops," Setanta said encouragingly. "You and Mebh go find whatever it is you need. It's probably best if Fergus doesn't find out. We'll do our best to not draw attention."

"Just hurry," added Aefie. "We can't hide your disappearance forever. Fergus is on edge as it is."

"We'll be quick, I promise," Fergia assured them. The group parted. Setanta and Aefie headed directly for the troops, while Ardan anxiously watched Mebh and Fergia leave. After a time, he turned to head back to camp.

Mebh and Fergia made it to the forest within minutes, since their camp was not too far from it. Their walk was quiet for the first portion. Fergia finally broke the silence. "Most of what we need will be found deeper in the forest. We still have a bit of a walk ahead of us."

"I don't understand magic," Mebh said shortly after. "My father always taught me that it was useless. He preferred a sword to any spell. He wouldn't ever answer my questions."

"What questions do you have, Mebh?"

"Well...I just don't understand any of it. How can words hold so much power? And how can ordinary plants be used for magic? It's all so strange to me."

"Not all magic is contained in words. Magic begins in a person, of course, but can be released through many ways. There are simple ways, and harder ways, depending on the kind of result you're hoping for. Some use runes, symbols to channel magic. Others use plants, like I do. Many use words, and a small number have found their own unique ways."

"Hmmm. I still don't really understand," Mebh said sullenly. "But don't bother. I hope that after seeing it for myself, I'll begin to catch on."

"I'm sure you will," Fergia said with a slight grin. They continued on into the forest, rarely speaking, and both with their hands resting on their weapons. They were careful, so very careful, trying their best to remain stealthful. The sooner they were out of the forest, they both knew, the better.

That afternoon, during the drill in the camp, Setanta and Ardan found themselves in charge not only of their own platoons, but also a platoon of slightly irritated mages and bards (who wanted to know where their own platoon leader was and why they were being drilled by a half-elf who knew practically nothing about his magic heritage and a human who had no magic to speak of--Aeife quickly took over that group) and a mounted group of swordsmen. Ardan took charge of half of Mebh's platoon and drilled them with his foot soldiers, while Setanta took charge of the other half of the leaderless platoon and put them to work riding the obstacle course with his own archer platoon.

Three hours later it was almost time for dinner and the three youths thought they could pull this off... but twenty minutes before drill ended, Fergus ventured over to inspect the platoons and immediately wanted to know where the two missing platoon leaders were.

"They... um..." Setanta searched for something to say just as Aeife blurted out, "They were feeling a little ill, so I relieved them of duty and told them to go to bed."

raiden

Fergus stared at them as he looked at Ardan"Is this true were they really feeling ill?"Ardan nodded as he replied"Yes and Aeife relieved them of duty and we helped take over their troops".

Fergus nodded as he replied"Well it's tme for dinner so let your troops eat..I'll take some food to the others".

Ardan shook his head as he replied"No that's ok I'll take their food to them"Fergus shook his head as he replied"I think it would be best if I took their food to them don't you?"

Ardan looked at the others as he sighed heavily"Yes sir"Fergus smiled as he replied"Alright then move out troops..lunch will be served in the mess tent".

The troops took off to the mess tent to eat as Ardan,Setanta,and Aeife moved over into a corner to think of a plan.

"Alright me and Aeife can go take Fergia and Mebh's place in their barracks...we can hold the covers over our heads and pretend to be them".

Setanta nodded as he replied"Ok then I'll be right here in case Fergus comes back looking for both of you".

Ardan nodded as he and Aeife took off towards the barracks"Ok good we made it here before Fergus".

Aeife nodded as they climbed into Fergia and Mebh's beds,they pulled the covers over their heads as they heard Fergus coming in.

As they got deeper into the forest, Fergia began to list what he needed.

"We'll need mguwort, some dandelion tops, at least ten aspen leaves, and at least a handful of mistletoe. If we can find some holly that would make it more potent."

The two began to look for the herbs. It took some time, but they did manage to find what they needed. Fergia suggested that he should prepare the brew back at the camp to reduce the risk of being caught away.

On the way back, Mebh got curious. "I thought you were a bard. Don't they use music to make magic?"

"Of course, and I plan to make use of that too. Our dear sorcerous enemy is going to remember this confrontation. But I learned Bardic knowledge from my father. My mother had a vast knowledge of natural lore. She wasn't a druid, but she could blend potions from natural ingredients with a great deal of skill."

"Okay, that explains that. How did you know what you needed?"

"It's all in what you want to do. We could have used a number of different plants to make the individual effects, but these tend to work together the best for the exact effect I want. Plants are living things, just like people, and each plant has a personality and some mystical energy stored in it. If you understand the personalities of different plants, you can make some very potent brews. Now, we should probably try to sneak back into camp. I think we may have been gone longer than we intended to be."

"Right," Mebh agreed. Night had fallen on the camp, and the low light of campfires lit the dark sky. Sentries were positioned around the gamp, each holding a weapon and carefully scanning the black night for any signs of movement.

"Maybe we should go one at a time," suggested Mebh.

"Probably the best we can do, I suppose. You go ahead first, Mebh. I'll follow shortly after."

With a mischevious grin, Mebh quickly and stealthily made her way closer to the camp. Fergia watched her as long as he could, until the darkness of the night swallowed her. He waited for a seemingly very long time, and began making his own way back to camp.

He hadn't made it very far when something caught his eye. Startled, he he jumped around, defensive and ready to fight. Far off in the distance, he could make out a large body of humans quietly making their way towards the camp. "This can't be good," he whispered to himself, taking off towards camp. He had to find Fergus, find anyone, and warn them.

Setanta really wished Fergia and Mebh would get back soon. Aeife and Arden had successfully pulled off their trick without Fergus noticing, but he was worried that, if tested again, they would not prove so lucky.

Finally, as he and the other two were settling into the barracks for the night, Mebh slipped into the room and came over to them.

"Thank the gods you're back!" Ardan whispered. "Fergus almost caught us tonight! Twice!"

"Where's Fergia?" Aeife demanded.

"Coming," Mebh said. "We came back into camp one at a time. He'll be here in a few minutes."

They waited a few minutes, and then a few more. They were starting to get worried.

"He was right behind me..." Mebh said helplessly.

"Damn it," Aeife said. "I--"

Just then the camp's battle horn sounded.

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Ardan stared at the others as he replied "Sounds like trouble" Mebh nodded as they rushed outside of the barracks.

Fergus stepped in front of them as he stared at them with a look of confusion on his face.

"Where's Fergia?" Mebh stared at the others as she lowered her head "He's out there we sort of got seperated on the way back".

Fergus shook his head as he hit his fists together "I knew something was up with all of you now tell me what's going on..and it better be good!"

Ardan started to reply as an arrow nearly missed his head "Um can the explanation wait for another time?"

"I suppose it'll have too," growled Fergus. He left to rouse the rest of the camp.

The troop leaders moved to their own soldiers and got them as ready for battle as was possible under the circumstances.

The archers fired back into the attacking troops, covering the cavalry and infantry as they readied their more cumbersome gear. They're shots were less effective than they could be, though. The camp was lit by watch fires, but the enemy was shrouded in the night shadows.

Suddenly a loud sonorous chant went up. When it stopped, multiple bolts of light flew from the camp into the opposing forces. Several of the enemy troops lit up with wytchfire, letting the camp see their targets. Mebh looked over at where the chanting came from, and saw Fergia and his magelings in the centre of the camp. Protected from the arrows, they had taken the enemy's chief advantage from them.

With targets marked, the infantry and cavalry moved in, covered by the archers' fire.

Mebh's horse galloped through the fray, and Mebh struck down with her sword in a hacking motion. Again and again she struck the swarms of enemy soldiers, hoping for a fatal hits with each blow. All around her she could hear the noises of a battle; frightened and dying horses, screams of pain from injured soldiers, shouts of encouragement from troop leaders to press on.

A flurry of arrows flew into her troops, hitting several of her trainees. Mebh bit back a desperate cry, and pressed on into the battle. She knew the only way to help her troops was to stop the enemy. A small thought was in the back of her mind; who was this enemy, anyway? Where had they come from? Were they the Mage's army, or soldiers of Maeve?

Mebh felt little emotion as she jerked her sword free from a fresh victim. She glanced around her, looking for a glimpse of one of her friends. It was a mistake, she realized, as an arrow pierced her just below her left shoulder. She cried out, her world spinning around her. She slid off her horse, stunned as she hit the ground. As she faded out on consciousness, she thought she saw Sean's face hovering above her. And then it was black.

Setanta, mounted on Thorian at the head of his platoon, saw Mebh go down, but he was seperated from her by a sea of trainees and could not reach her. However, her own trainees were fiercely loyal to her, and when she fell a group of them immediately converged to protect her.

"Back!" he heard Fergus calling over the chaos. "Trainees, back! Troop One can clean the rest of this mess up! Platoon Leaders, move your Platoons to the end of the line! Now!"

"Yes sir!" he heard Aeife call somewhere, and he and the other leaders responded similarly a moment later.

"Fall back behind Troop One!" Setanta commanded his trainees.

"But sir, we can fight!" one boy protested, fitting another arrow against his bowstring.

"Yes, but Fergus doesn't think so," Setanta called back, his own annoyance at being pulled back making him forget himself for a moment and say something so inappropriate. "Now gather the wounded and fall back!"

The trainees fell back. Fergia and the mage's platoon started working healing spells on the wounded, or dressing the injuries of those not in need of magical healing.

The sounds of the battle rang out around them. Periodically, other wounded were brought to the back to be tended to. The other platoons formed up around the mages, to keep their support power available and not at risk. Fergia felt embarassed at this, but he had his orders. He was more scared of Fergus than of ribbing from the others.

Mebh woke at the touch of a healing mage. Her shoulder bandaged and her wound sealed, she quickly made her way to find the rest of the platoon leaders. She was incredibly embarassed that she had fainted from her wound, and her cheeks seemed to be permanently flushed.

She found the trainees grouped around Fergus, having a somewhat sober conversation, despite all of the activity around them. Mebh slid into the circle, Setanta and Aeife on either side of her.

One look at her face told the group not to mention her wound. They continued their conversation without noting her arrival.

"The question remains-who were they?" Setanta persisted.

"We're looking into that," Fergus said quietly, but gruffly.

"They could have been my brother's men," Ardan was quick to mention.

"Or they could be Maeve's men," Aeife added.

"Or just hired mercenaries," Mebh said quietly.

"We need to follow them," Setanta said boldly. "We have to know where they came from, and who sent them."

"Out of the question, Setanta," Fergus growled. "This mess here needs to be cleaned up. We can't have you all leaving your trainees now."

"Then send one or two of us," Mebh pled. "I would like to follow them. I'm fast on my feet, and I've always been good at tracking. Besides, with a number that large, they won't be hard to find."

The group looked at her shoulder, and Mebh quickly interjected. "I'm fine," she said passionately.

Fergus still frowned. "I don't know. Who else will go?"

"I will, of course," Setanta said.

Fergia raised an eyebrow. "Of course?" he echoed skeptically.

Setanta grinned, "Well, you are hardly fit for the job!"

Fergus looked from one trainee to the other with an expression of quickly growing exasperation. Then he smiled brightly. "You'll both go, and more than that, you'll be partners."

"What?" Arden and Mebh protested at the same time, and Aeife groaned, "But sir!"

Fergus held up a hand to still their protests. "Aeife, you are a Division Leader and must remain here with the trainee platoons. There are meetings this evening that you must attend along with the other Division Leaders. Mebh, you are hurt and should report back to the infirmry so Cathbad can take a look at the work the healing mages did on you and decide for himself whether or not you are fit for active duty. Arden, you need to help Aeife; someone has to be here to oversee the trainee platoons. No offense to Fergia, but that should be a simple warrior, not a bard; some of the warriors among the knight trainees might protest being drilled by a musician, so it must be Arden who stays with the Platoons, not Fergia."

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Ardan nodded his head as he replied "Alright I'll stay and help but be careful my brother is very tricky".

They nodded as Fergus replied "Alright you have your orders" Fergus walked away as Ardan sat down on the floor.

The visions of the battle still fresh in his mind, was the men sent by his brother or just simply hired mercenaries?"

He tried top ponder the questions as he heard his name being called, he snapped out of his thoughts as he joined the others outside.

Just outside of the encampment, Setanta began his complaints. "What was Fegus thinking?"

Fergia responded, "I have no idea."

"What use is a musician in tracking a band of warriors?"

"I don't know."

"We need stealth and silence, not a recital."

"True."

"You know, you're not making this very easy. You're supposed to be arguing about everything I say."

"I happen to agree with you. I have no clue why Fergus would send me out on this, except for the perverse joy he seems to get in sicking us together."

"If you didn't want to go then why did you start up back there?"

"I just thought that Aefie could do as a good a job tracking as you. Like you said, I'm hardly fit for this job."

Setanta was quiet for a moment. "Well, I guess we'll just have to do the best with what little we have. Now be silent, I think we're getting closer."

The two continued on in silence for several more minutes before the came upon the enemy encampment. There were many more than had originally attacked. The survivors were in the middle, too far away to be heard in their discussions.

"I wish we could hear what they're saying," Setanta whispered.

"I think I can do something about that." Fergia softly hummed and chanted, and a light breeze picked up around them. The words of the men in the camp were carried on the wind, softly to the two trackers.

"We attack at midnight," a youthful masculine voice announced, and the two boys looked at each other in dismay. "Their camp will be sound asleep; they won't know what hit them."

"Shh!" a second voice hissed. "We are being overheard!"

The conversation came to an end as the wind abruptly dissipated.

Fergia's eyes widened in surprise and a little dread, and Setanta's eyes narrowed. How had they known?

"They must have a Bard with them," Fergia whispered. "That's the only thing I can think of."

"Midnight!" Setanta said. "Let's get back; we need to alert Fergus!"

"I'd really rather you didn't," the voice from the enemy camp said, only it was much closer now.

Setanta and Fergia whipped around just in time to see Sean and an older man carrying a small flute emerge from the woods.

Sean pointed at the two Trainees with his sword. "You two won't be telling Fergus anything. Ever again," he said, and advanced on the two boys with the Bard at his side.

Mebh went about the camp with a scowl on her face, still angry at being left behind. The aftermath of battle was not a sight she especially enjoyed.

The soldiers under her charge were recovering as quickly as they could. Only a handful had died, but the loss was hard for them to take. Mebh threw herself into her work, hoping to push aside the pain she felt. She had failed them, she knew. She had fallen, wounded, and left them to fight for themselves. Though anyone of them would quickly have reassured her that she was a great leader still, she was convinced of her failure.

It was much later on when Mebh finally retired to her tent. The camp was still very much aware, with several more sentries patrolling the area. All found it difficult to seek rest after tasting the fear of battle. With an angry cry, Mebh threw her cot across the tent, venting her rage at the day's events. Still infuriated, she kicked it, again and again, until it barely resembled what it once had been. When Aeife entered some few minutes later, she said nothing, slipping into her own cot. Mebh was on the ground, holding her knees to her chest, wishing that things were different.

The tent flap folded back and Ardan appeared, his face eerily glowing from the campfire outside. Finding both of them awake, he entered, making sure no one was behind him.

"I'm worried," he said quietly. "It's been several hours, and they haven't returned. Should we go after them, or wait still?"

Mebh and Aeife rose, standing for a moment hesitantly. "Fergus will be very upset..." Mebh cautioned.

"They need us," Ardan pleaded. "I can feel it."

Aeife nodded curtly. "Let's go."

One moment Setanta was facing Sean and the Connaught Bard with Fergia at his side, and the next he was lying face down with his arms tied behind his back and a headache throbbing dully at his temples.

He was cold, stiff, and hungry. The light of a fire somewhere behind him barely reached the tree beneath which he lay, and its warmth touched him not at all. About 100 feet behind him he heard the sound of many men speaking in low voices and moving about--the sound of an army anxious for battle.

Something struck his calf, and only Fergia's quick "It's me!" kept him from crying out in alarm.

"I'm tied up behind you," Fergia whispered. "No, don't turn to look; they may realize we're awake and come over here."

"What happened?" Setanta asked, carefully trying to loosen his bonds but to no avail.

"We've been captured, obviously," Fergia. "The fact that we haven't been killed can only mean one thing... they intend to--"

"Interogate you first, yes," a new voice--Sean's--announced. He stepped out of the shadows of the trees with the Bard at his side and scowled down at them. "When we get the information we seek, we'll go ahead and dispose of you. But first thing's first."

He and the Bard came to stand over Setanta, who was suddenly frightened that they were going to beat him and Fergia. However, Sean only laughed. "No no, that's for later... if we need to do it at all with the drug we're going to be getting into you."

He knelt beside Setanta, who now had the opportunity to see that the young man had a dark green flask in his hand. Signaling to the Bard, who held Setanta down, he forced Setanta's jaws open and poured something vile tasting and foul smelling into his mouth. Setanta tried to fight, but bound and with the weight of the Bard preventing him from moving much, he was forced to drink several large swallows before they left him and turned to Fergia.

Fergia, however, had been busy. While Sean and the Bard were busy drugging Setanta, the bardling had been quietly humming to himself. When Sean and the Bard turned to administer the drug to him next, they found him standing before them, frayed ropes lying on the forested ground and a song already pouring forth from his lips.

Sean and the Bard fell immediately to the ground and began snoring. Fergia grinned, and nodding to the sleeping Bard, said, "I thank you for that Song of Sleep... I never heard it before meeting you today."

He came over to Setanta and hummed quietly. Setanta felt the bindings on his hands simply fall away. With Fergia's help he rose somewhat unsteadily to his feet.

"Now wha?" he asked, speech already slightly slurred.

Fergia glanced toward the Connaughtmen's camp, which was only a few hundred feet away. "Now I get a little closer to that camp, and see how many men they have. Then you and I get the information back to Fergus as quickly as possible. Can you sit here and be quiet until I come back?"

"I'm coming with you."

Fergia shook his head. "No you're not. From the reek of that potion--yes, please stop breathing on me!--that drug is going to take full effect in a couple minutes. You're staying here."

"I'm coming with you," Setanta said again. "We were both sent on this mission."

"Stay here!" Fergia hissed, and moving stealthily through the trees, moved closer to the camp to a place he could observe without being seen.

Setanta followed behind him stubbornly.

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Ardan,Mebh,and Aeife quietly made their way past the sleeping trainees laying close to the camp fire.

They made their way quickly into the woods, dodging hanging branches as they ran to try and catch up to Setanta and Fergia.

They ran for a little ways as they stopped to catch their breaths "I hear something do you?" Mebh replied as Ardan and Aeife nodded "Yes let's take a look".

Ardan pulled back some of the hanging bushes as he spotted a group of soldiers talking amongst themselves.

As they listened to the soldiers talk, they learned that Setanta and Fergia had been captured.

Ardan drew his sword as he motioned for Aeife and Mebh to take positions over next to the closest tree.

"We'll take these guys out and then find the others" they nodded as Aeife spotted two figures moving through the trees.

She pointed towards the two figures as Ardan replied "We better go check that out...we'll take care of these guys later".

Fergia blamed the drug for Setanta's stubornness. Still regardless of the cause it was slow going trying to sneak around with a drugged warrior following behind him, and sneaking wasn't Fergia's stongest skill to begin with. He thought they were doing well, since none of the soldiers had leapt into the bushes to drag them back to their prison tent, but he wasn't really learning very much. It would be so much easier to figure out how many men were there if they'd quit moving around so much. When this was over, Fergia vowed to ask Aefie, or Ardan or even Setanta how you went about figuring out numbers from wandering around the perimeter of the camp. The heroes in the ballads always seemed to know how to do it.

He was just about to give up and return the pair of them to camp when he heard a twig snap nearby him. He hauled Setanta under cover, and watched as a few armed figures passed through the space they had just vacated.

"Whose soldiers are these?" Mebh questioned aloud, albeit quietly, as she and her companions watched from their hiding place the armed figures pass.

"Haven't you guessed?" came a voice from somewhere behind them. Grinning, the three turned to find Setanta and Fergia smiling back at them. Setanta hauled Mebh to her feet, while Fergia helped Aeife and Ardan back up. "They're the Mage's men. We saw Sean, too," Setanta added, glancing uneasily at both Ardan and Mebh. "Sean seems to be giving the troops commands. I'm sure he sent them after us, under the Mage's order."

"Things aren't adding up," Aeife said uneasily. "He must have thousands of men under his command! Who are they all? And where are they coming from?"

"Hired mercenaries?" questioned Ardan.

"I'm not sure," replied Setanta softly. The group froze at the sound of more footsteps, and they all quickly hid into the thick foliage again, waiting until more of the armed men passed.

"One thing's for sure; we're grossly outnumbered," Fergia said, after the soldiers had passed. "We need to get back to camp and warn Fergus."

"No!" screamed Setanta, Mebh, and Ardan at the same time. Aeife and Fergia glanced at each other, then turned back to the three. "We must stop my brother!" Ardan protested.

"Yes, we have to stop him!" agreed Setanta. "It might be too late, even if we warn Fergus in time. They're going to be marching very soon."

"I need to face Sean," added Mebh, her eyes distant and thoughtful. "I can't believe he's really has a role in all of this. Perhaps the Mage has some sort of power over him..."

"No, Mebh," Setanta assured her quietly. "The Sean you once knew isn't there any more. He's evil, Mebh. Evil."

"Fine, fine," said Aeife at last. "We'll compromise. I'll head back to camp and warn Fergus. You can stay here and see what you can do to slow them down. Just be careful!"

"Of course, Aeife," Fergia replied, and the others readily agreed. Aeife clasped hands with the boys, embraced Mebh, and then silently made her way back to the camp.

"We need a plan," Mebh said. And silently the four companions huddled together, a soft and silent rain falling gently.

"You should go back with her," Fergia said.

It took Setanta a few seconds to realize the bardling was talking to him. Fergia's words seemed to float across a great distance between them, and meaning was even later in arriving.

When he understood that he was being spoken to and what Fergia was saying, Setanta paused for a moment to curse Sean silently, before saying thickly, "No. I mean yes, I should, but she went already, and I'm not sure I can find her... right now."

Fergia cursed. "Yes, you'd probably wander the woods all night, if you didn't flat out stumble into their camp and alert the enemy."

Arden and Mebh looked from Setanta to Fergia curiously. "What's going on?" Mebh asked.

Setanta giggled. "I'm drugged out of my mind," he said, a little too loudly, because Fergia clamped his hand over his mouth and glanced around nervously.

After a moment Fergia explained. "They were going to interrogate us after drugging us. I didn't take any, but Setanta got a full dose, and it is starting to take effect."

"You're kidding me," Mebh said. "That's all we need right now!"

"Well, it isn't like there is anything we can do about it," Fergia said. "It is too late to send him back with Aeife; he'd get lost. And we can't leave him here either, because I doubt he'll stay put. If we want any hope at all of taking that camp by surprise--and surprise is vital to our victory--then we need to keep him with us. At least that way we can try to keep him under control."

"You don't need to keep me under control," Setanta argued, but couldn't seem to stop laughing about it. "I'm perfectly ca...capib...capible of taking care of myself, thank you very much!"

The other three exchanged glances. While Setanta was busy staring at sky, watching in drugged fascination as the rain fell softly down, Fergia whispered to the others. "If need be, we can always knock him out, and tie him up somewhere safe until we finish what we need to do. That would keep him out of the way and quiet, as well as keeping him safe."

Mebh looked at Setanta in concern. "Let's leave him alone for a little while. Maybe the drugs will wear off before we need to take those kinds of actions."

Arden looked skeptical. "They gave him something that they believed would have him incapacitated enough that he would go through an entire interrogation telling them what they want to know without a fight. I have a feeling it is not going to wear off quickly, nor leave him too incredibly... capible... of anything."

Fergia glanced at Setanta. "Lets wait and see, and then, when the time comes, act as we feel we must."

"Okay then," Arden said more loudly, and Setanta jumped. "What is the plan for infiltrating the camp?"

The plan, as it turned out, was a simple one, but the only one that made any sense. Fergia and Setanta could not infiltrate the enemey, as the camp would be looking for them when Sean and the Bardling awoke. Ardan also could not as he might be recognized by his brother. So it was up to Mebh. Fergia was wishing Aefie had stayed, since she already had some experience with disguise, but there was no help for it.

Fergia managed to lure one of the patroling soldiers away from the camp, deeper into the woods, where Ardan and Mebh subdued him. Fortunately, Fergia selected someone who wasn't too far off Mebh in size, and with a bit of hasty alteration, Mebh looked like one of the soldiers of the camp. Thanks to her upbringing among knights and her training under Fergus, she was able to walk like a soldier as well. The other three waited as she entered the camp.

Mebh moved through the camp with ease, moving smoothly and calmly. The camp itself was in a rushed frenzy, the soldiers bustling about to prepare for their next strike. Shouts were ordered and tents were hastily pulled down, while weapons were sharpened and wounds attended to.

Seeing nothing of consequence thus far, Mebh continued further into the camp, ignoring an order shouted at her from another soldier. She paused carefully when at last she saw Sean. A pang of doubt and regret, and a sorrow that was almost overwhelming hit her fast and hard. She pulled herself together, covertly watching Sean leave the large tent he had been in.

As soon as he was far enough away and the coast appeared to be clear, she slipped nonchalantly into the tent. As she had suspected, it was vacant. On top of a table were dozens of parchment spread here and there, some even on the floor. She carefully picked one piece up, carefully reading the hastily scratched message.

It was of no consequence, and she moved onto another piece of parchment. She read one after another as quickly as she could, and the pieces of the puzzle began to fall into place.

Their guesses had been correct. These were not Maeve's soldiers. It was the Mage's army, and from what she could tell, its strength was incredible. Her eyes grew wide as she realized what was going on. The Mage hoped to pit Ulster against Connaught, longing to eventually take over them both and seizing power for himself. Altogether, it did not exactly surprise Mebh. She and the others had suspected that all the trouble they had experienced had been the Mage's doing in his quest for power.

Snatching up a few pieces of parchment, she tucked them into her shirt, leaving the tent. Once outside, she moved quickly, anxious to be away from the camp and back to the others. A man rubbed shoulders with her, and she stumbled. A single piece of parchment slipped from her clothing, and she stared up at the man in confused disbelief.

As luck would have it, it was Sean himself who had bumped into her. To her advantage, he did not seem to recognize her, for her face was all but hidden beneath a hood. Recognition dawned on his face as he picked up the parchment, his own handwriting scrawled across it.

But it was too late. Mebh was already long gone, her legs furiously pumping as she made her way to escape the camp. Behind her she heard Sean shout orders, and she continued to run, praying that she could get out undetected.

Setanta had been talking nonstop for the last hour and a half, and after the first five futile minutes of trying to get him to shut up, Fergia finally expended a little energy in conjuring a sound barrier. It would only keep people more than ten feet away from hearing Setanta's drugged monologue, but if the enemy did step within the boundaries of that shield, Setanta, Arden, and Fergia would have bigger things to worry about than being heard.

It was exhausting maintaining even so simple a spell for so long, and Setanta could tell, through a drugged haze, that his incessant one-sided conversation was not helping Fergia's temper at all. Yet he couldn't seem to stop pouring his heart out, sharing every passing thought, no matter how nonsensical, with his two irritated comrades.

"Betcha this is the first time you've ever seen a drunk Sidhe," he told Fergia in a slurred voice.

"You're only half-Sidhe, and you're not drunk, you're drugged. There's a difference," Fergia said wearily.

Setanta scratched his head and tried to make sense of Fergia's words, which seemed incredibly slow and far away. "Are you sure?" he asked at last when he'd puzzled out their meaning. "I seem to remember having had a drink of something earlier today. Whiskey, perhaps."

"Oh, you had a drink of something, alright," Arden mumbled from where he was keeping watch.

"This would be funny, if it weren't so goddamn annoying," Fergia said.

"And if it were at a more... humerous time," Arden pointed out, gazing warily into the woods.

Fergia chuckled. "If we survive though, tomorrow should be really amusing. Well, for us. Not for Setanta, who I suspect will be feeling the like he's had a year's worth of those hangovers--which, being half-Sidhe, he's never had--being piled onto him all at once."

"Yes," Arden said, "but and it should be even funnier to see him try to lead his Platoon into battle," Arden contributed, but he looked worried.

The slightly nervous banter was brought to a halt by the sound of a sudden flurry of footfalls to the left. Fergia and Arden jumped, hastily grasping for weapons and cursing their inattentiveness. Setanta stared dully into the dark woods, trying to remember why he and the others were out here in the rain so late at night.

Mebh came crashing into their little hiding spot, and for a moment everyone looked at one another, weapons drawn, before they sighed in relief and lowered them.

Mebh did not allow them a long respite, though. "I was detected. I think I lost them for now, but I'm sure they'll be here soon. We need to leave, and bring the information I got back to Fergus."

Fergia looked down at Setanta, who sat slumped against a tree on the wet forest ground. "Can you walk?"

"Sure, if I stay sitting," Setanta told him ernestly, and failed to understand the look of exasperation and desperation that passed between the others.

"Great, what are we going to do?" Arden demanded.

Before anyone could answer, another sound of footsteps came echoing toward them, and the group grimly raised their weapons.

To their surprise, it was not the enemy, but Thorian, who stepped toward them.

"Do you know how long it took me to track you," the unicorn demanded petulantly. He fixed Setanta with a glare. "Where do you get off leaving without me? And... what is wrong with you?"

"We'll explain later," Mebh said. "Right now, we need to leave, quickly."

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Thorian nodded as Ardan helped Setanta onto the unicorn, Fergia and Mebh got on the unicorn as well as Ardan heard the noises getting closer.

"Take them back to camp as fast as you can!" Ardan drew his sword as Mebh looked at him "What are you doing?"

Ardan shook his head as he replied "I'll give you the time you need to get away...just get Setanta and yourselfs to safety!"

Thorian took off running as fast as his legs would carry them, as Ardan found himself face to face with Sean and his brother's army.

"So it seems as though we havemore than one intruder..where's Mebh?" Ardan shook his head as he replied "You know I really don't know...but if I did I wouldn't tell you either".

Sean raised his hand to strike him as Arden's brother intervenued "Stop don't touch him...at least not yet!"

Ardan looked at his brother as he laughed a little "I never knew you cared dear brother" he replied in a sarcastic tone as his brother motioned for his men to take him back to camp.

The three raced back to camp. Mebh had her hands full keeping the drugged Setanta and the exhausted Fergia from falling off the Unicorn's back. In their haste they crashed through a sentry patrol and nearly trampled Fergus.

Fergus looked very critically at the group. "Didn't I send out five? If so, why have only four returned thus far? I can understand the rush to send Aefie back, but what has happened to Ardan?"

Mebh told Fergus everything she had learned, and what had happened to Ardan. Fergus shook his head. "You lot do seem to run into a lot of trouble, don't you? Well, there's nothing for it now. We'll likely have to arrange to rescue Ardan, as well as get this information to the King. And here I thought it would be just an ordinary day."

The group made their way to Fergus's tent, gathering around the small table to create their plans. Setanta sat in the corner, still fighting the effects of the drug. Fergia sat nearby him, exhausted, making sure Setanta did not get any worse, though the drug was starting to wear off.
Thorian, too, kept a watchful eye on Setanta.

"They'll no doubt move the camp now that they know they've been discovered," Fergus growled. "If we don't move quickly, they'll be gone, and we'll have lost Ardan."

"Then we bedduh be quick," Setanta said slowly.

"It's quite simple what needs to be done," Mebh said softly. The group looked at her, distrust in their eyes, for they knew what she was going to suggest. "I'll trade myself to Sean."

The group readily protested, knowing the idea completely ludicrous. "Sean would never hurt me," she argued. "And besides, I could find out loads of information. Ardan is too proud to even pretend to join them, but I'm not. I could easily fool Sean into thinking I decided to join him. I know him fairly well, after all."

"Knew him," reminded Aeife. "You don't know Sean any more. You hadn't seen him in years before now, and it's clear that he's a very changed man."

"He's nothing more than a boy still," pressed Mebh. "He's confused, alone, and angry. This bard of his tricked him, that's all. Sean's not evil, he's just confused."

"We need to get the information to the king," interjected Thorian. "I can go. I will do whatever is needed of me."

After their brief audience with Fergus, the group broke up to go prepare for the coming chaos.

Thorian set off at a full gallop back toward Emania where in about a week he would reach King Conchobar and be able to give him a full report of what was occuring on the border between Connaught and Ulster.

Mebh, with Fergus's reluctant permission, left camp lightly armed and armored and set out in search of Sean and the Mage's warriors. As she departed the others silently sent prayers to the gods that she would reach Sean unharmed, be able to arrange Arden's release, and be able to remain safe in Sean's care.

Fergia and Setanta were sent to the barracks to try to get a few hours of rest before the Connaught army was due to arrive. Fergus left Gergia with orders to claim command of Arden's Platoon in the morning--hopefully only until Arden's return--and to tell Setanta, when he was a little more aware of what was happening around him, that he was in charge of Mebh's Platoon.

"Yes sir," Fergia said, though inside he winced at the idea of having to lead not one, but two groups of trainees into battle.

Setanta, for his part, tried not to think too much about what tomorrow would bring. For now, he was just pleased that he was able to think clearly again, although he still had little control of his muscles. Cathbad dropped in briefly to examine him, and announced that the immediate effects of the drug should be completely worn off within the next couple of hours.

"You'll probably not like the after effect too much, especially since those of Sidhe-blood like you have practically no experience with hangovers, but you'll just have to cope with it as well as you can. Tomorrow I'll give you a potion to counteract the headache and any lingering fatigue that you may have, but for now rest and plenty of water are all we can do for you; I don't want to risk drugging you with something new while the other potion is still running through you."

"Ah'm sure Ah'm nah gonna need anything tumarrow," Setanta said, silently cursing his mouth for not being able to form the words he wanted to say. "Ah'm sure Ah'll be able thoo deal."

Cathbad chuckled. "Trust me, you'll change your mind tomorrow. I've seen full Sidhe knocked flat on their backs by the withdrawal from that drug. We're just lucky it was you, and not Fergia, who was drugged. We 'mere humans' can't handle the sudden absense of those herbs as well as Sidhe can, and Fergia's recovery would have taken up to a week, even with my potions to help him."

Fergia looked pale at that pronouncement. "Thank the gods, then, that I was able to get us free before they drugged me. We don't have that kind of time to waste."

Cathbad nodded grimly. "We don't even have time for you two to rest. There's so much that needs to be done before tomorrow. But," he said, before either of them could suggest leaving the barracks to work, "you will rest, because we need you both to be as strong as possible tomorrow. The Connaught army will arrive at daybreak, I hear."

"Even worse than that," Fergia said, and when Cathbad looked at him questioningly, elaborated, "the mage's army will arrive at daybreak. Connaughtmen we can handle; we've fought them before and we know how to defend ourselves against them. But the Mage's army? Who knows what they have in store for us?"

raiden

Ardan was led into a large hut where he was chained to the wall by his brother's men "So dear brother are your friends really worth dying for?"

Ardan stared at his brother as he replied "Yes see unlike you dear brother I have a family and they're safe from you!"

His brother's eyes turned red with anger as he hit Ardan in the head with his fist "Damn you tell me where they're camp is now!"

Ardan raised his head, blood pouring from a cut from his eye and mouth as he spit blood on the ground next to his brother "Never I will never tell you anything except for you to go to Hell!"

His brother started to raise his fist to strike him again as he stopped "No I have a better idea..before this night is through you will beg me to take your miserable life!"

While the rest of the camp slept, save for the guardsmen, Fergia lay in his bunk and worried. It was bad enough that he was leading a troop of half trained mages. At least them he knew something about. But now, he had to lead a troop of warriors into battle as well. He was a bardling, what did he know about fighting?

Then it occured to him that maybe he didn't have to know how to fight. He wouldn't be the one thrusting the spears or firing the bows after all. What he needed to know was how best to use the men under his command. And that he did know a little about. The epics and ballads were full of stories of war and leadership and battle. He began to pore through them in his mind searching for the best strategy to use in the morning. When dawn broke, he had a plan.

Mebh rode into the Mage's camp as they were moving out. She knew if she didn't hurry, they'd have changed their location. Not that it would have been hard to track down a camp of thousands of men, but the Mage's magic did make it somewhat difficult. Immediately she was surrounded by armed men, and pulled off her horse. She wore a simple white shift, a symbol of her surrender.

She was before Sean in moments, led to his tent that still stood. He stared back at her in astonishment, for the last time he had seen her she had been in soldier's clothing. In a dress and with her hair let down, she was very feminine. Though she still had dirt and grime caked on her face and arms from her adventures, she was a very welcome sight to Sean.

"Let him go," she said immediately, trying her best to sound demanding, not desperate. "I have come to trade myself for Ardan, my companion that you hold here. I warn you, if neither Ardan nor I return, our camp will come after you."

"You care this much for him? I doubt that your friends would be as loyal. Do you realize what you're doing?"

"I understand. Just let him go, unharmed. Let him return to our camp."

"Mebh, Ardan is not my prisoner. He is the Mage's, and the Mage is higher in the food chain than I. He is not mine to trade. However, since you've come all this way, you might as well stay." He smiled, though it came out as more of a leer. Mebh shuddered, arguing at once.

"I told you, my camp and my troops are aware that I am here. They will come after you if Ardan isn't returned. They know where you are!"

"I hardly think that matters!" Sean retorted. "You haven't had a glimpse of the Mage's power. We have thousands of men, and outnumbder you. We could disappear in an instant, and your camp would never find us."

"Let me plead before the Mage," Mebh said quietly, locking her icy stare with his.

"Do what you will, darling," Sean said. "But you're not leaving." He paused, just looking at her, a strange expression on his face. His voice was suddenly soft, gentle. "I knew you'd come. I knew that you'd come back to me, and that we'd be together."

"I have not come for you! I have come for my friend!" Mebh screamed desperately. "You may once have had my affection, Sean, but you are nothing to me now. I hate you."

Sean only smiled, taking her firmly by the arm. "Well, then, let's go talk to the Mage."

Morning came far too early for Setanta.

The carnyx player’s call sounded three hours before daylight, and the camp rose to the familiar sound of a cross between the scream of a fresh-skewered boar and the roar of the Loch Ness monster.

Setanta, startled out of a deep, healing sleep, by the trumpet's call, came immediately to full wakefulness just as he always did and sprang from his cot to prepare to meet the day.

Or tried to.

In truth, he'd only managed to sit up and swing his long legs over the side of the cot before the searing brightness of Fergia’s magelight, the piercing howl of the carnyx, and the agonizing sensation of thousands of knives being driven into his skull felled him back onto the cot with a low groan.

“Are you all right?” he heard Fergia question distantly.

Setanta didn’t answer for a moment, curling his arms around his head and trying to breathe in a way that didn’t cause further pain. Distantly, he felt that his whole body was aching and trembling with weakness, but the ferocity of his migraine blocked out nearly all but its own painful fury.

“Fergia,” he said at last, and winced at how his choked voice, sounding overly loud to his ears, drove more daggers into his head. “Will you tell Cathbad that I changed my mind about that potion?”

Fergia laughed, and Setanta covered his ears and tried to squeeze his eyes shut to escape the sound. “Cathbad already knew you’d change your mind. The potion is sitting on the ground below the head of your cot. No, on the left side. Be careful, you’ll knock it over! Here, just let me give it to you. Lift up your hand.”

Setanta fumbled with shaking hands to get the potion to his mouth, and when he finally succeeded he almost gagged at the taste of the bitter liquid pouring down his throat. But swallow it he did, down to the last drop, and then laid back down again with his arms wrapped around his head.

“See you out on the field, soon,” Fergia said wryly.

Setanta grunted, hoping the herbs would take effect quickly.

raiden

Ardan tried to wiggle his arms free from his bonds but the chains were too strong to break free from.

One of the guards laughed a little as he took his hand and slapped him across the face "The mage is quite powerful...it's a surprise to see that his brother isn't".

Ardan spit some blood onto the soldier's boot as he replied "Well keep telling yourself of my brother's strength because it's going to get you a one way trip to Hell!"

The guard grew furious at this as he starting hitting Ardan in the ribs, face, and chest as another guard stopped him.

"Enough! the mage told us to guard him not to hit him....do you want to evoke the mage's fury?"

The guard shook his head as he replied "No I definetely don't want that...very well I won't put my hands on him again until the mage gives the orders".

Ardan shook his head as he replied "Tell my brother to come here I want to talk to him!" the guard shook his head as he replied "Sorry but he's already got a visitor".

"It seems as though one of your friends has decided to trade herself for you...think the name was Mebh".

Ardan's eyes grew bigger as he replied "Tell my brother to let her go free...I will cooperate as long as he doesn't hurt her or the others".

The camp made ready to move out. The platoon leaders checked their troops and rechecked them. Plans were discussed, reevaluated, and decided upon. There would be nothing too elaborate. With this many people involved anything complicated would soon fall apart.

For Fergia, the main goal was disabling the mage. In a fair magical duel, he knew he had no hope. Fortunately, in war, no one expected you to fight fair. What he had in mind would be difficult, but not impossible, and if it worked, it would mitigate much of the mage's advantage of numbers. Then it would be up to him to deal with the mage himself. He shuddered at that thought, but he had little choice.

No sooner had Ardan finished speaking, Mebh stepped from behind the guard. "Ardan, you big idiot! I'm not going anywhere! Stop being such a damned hero. I came to trade myself for you, and that's what's going to happen. Sean has no intention of hurting me, but we have no idea what the Mage is planning to do with you. I'm staying, you're going." Everyone was well aware of Mebh's boiling temper, but once it burst over, it was still surprising how angry she could truly be. Ardan sat stunned for a moment, and the guard merely smirked, then spat on the ground.

"Mebh, I'm not letting yourself trade yourself for me! You're my friend, and I don't want you to be in Sean's hands."

"Well, I don't want you to be in the Mage's hands!" She quickly retorted.

"Then I guess we're both staying," Ardan said stubbornly.

"Fine," Mebh said haughtily, crossing her arms. "I guess we are. But if we get out of this, I'm telling Setanta it's your fault!"

"Children, children," chided Sean's lazy voice, and both Mebh and Ardan turned to see him entering the tent. "I don't know what you're arguing about. You pled your case before the Mage, Mebh, and he's given me his answer; you both stay. Honestly, Mebh, for as smart as you are, I didn't think you'd come to me with this ridiculous notion. But, all the better. This way I didn't have to come after you."

Ardan immediately began straining against his chains, and the guard was quick to slap him across the face. "Don't be a hero for me, Ardan!" Mebh pleaded. She knelt beside him, taking his hand in both of hers. In a quiet whisper, hoping that Sean wouldn't hear her, she said, "Just wait and be aware. I'll talk to you soon. Don't get yourself into any more trouble; we'll get out of this."

"Well, Sean," she said in an arrogant voice, "Why don't you show me your little plans you've been so anxious to bring to my attention."

"Good idea," Sean said, grinning. Turning his attention to Ardan, he smirked. "Have a nice time. Don't worry; I'll take care of your friend." Taking Mebh by the elbow, he led her to the doorway and out of the tent.

Ten minutes later Setanta arrived on the field. Fergia, standing in front of the entire group of trainees, glanced over his shoulder with no little relief as Setanta rode up.

A moment later Aeife joined them, with two young men riding their mares behind her. "Fergus has promoted Connor and Darragh temporarily to Platoon Leaders!" she called over the noise of the field. "They will take over Mebh's and Ardan's platoons!"

"Welcome to the team!" Fergia said, clasping the arms of each of the new Platoon Leaders. Setanta forced a smile on his face and nodded to the two other boys, trying to ignore the hint of headache that woke at the motion.

Fergus himself came riding up next, and the silence descended upon the army as people quieted to hear his words. "The Mage's Army has been spotted by our sentries," he cried. "They approach even now. They will be very surprised, to find our army so prepared to meet them, instead of sleeping unaware in our tents! Now, prepare for battle! For Conchobar!" he cried, raising his war axe to the sky.

The army took up the cry, and so loud was the ruckus that the sound of the approaching enemy was almost blocked out.

raiden

Ardan stopped struggling to break free as he watched Mebh and Sean leave the tent the words of just wait and be aware rang through his mind.

He wanted to make sure Mebh was safe though no matter what Mebh and the others were important to him and he would risk it all to save them.

The guard stared at Ardan as he slapped him in the face "Don't even think about trying to break free boy".

Ardan stared up at him as he held his hands out and replied "Why don't you unlock these chains and then we'll see which of us is really the boy!"

The guard seemed amused by this comment as he laughed a little "You wouldn't last even a minute against me...besides the mage has more painful plans for you!"