Chapter 2 The First Stone

"In one and half weeks you will need to send me an army of a thousand swordsmen, cavalry, archers, and the fastest horse you have needs to be ready for me." Leofwine commanded to the king.

"All of this, just to bring Conrad out of your king's prison?!" The king was surprised, and not prepared for all these requests.

"You want Conrad out of there? Give me what I have asked for…" Leofwine turned to leave. "And he is not my king." He stated. "I will leave at midnight."

Leofwine left the kings room without noise, Rahab followed him. He left the palace gates and walked through the market place, bought a few more items and pushed himself to go through alley. As he reached the end he noticed the same woman he had seen the day before, waiting.

"So you're Leofwine, am I correct that you are the man who left his country?" She asked, standing in his way.

"You speak rightly, but your intention of knowing this is only because you want money from who owns you."

The woman looked at him; their eyes looked directly at each other. Rahab curled her lip.
"Anything else to say before you try to kill an innocent person just to get pay?" Leofwine asked with a smirk on his face. "You will be the one to die before you even touch me."

Her hand clenched a fist and punched him in the face, but Leofwine was too fast and caught her hand an inch away from his dark face. He gently forced it down and walked away. Rahab hurried and followed.


"Well I'm glad to see you're still in tact." Gemariah laughed. "I felt you had met that woman again."

Leofwine nodded. "I did, or… she did. I'm sure we will see her again at Beryl."
"So the king accepted your request?" Gemariah asked.

Leofwine called for Sheraga. "We will leave at midnight, pack your things and leave nothing behind."

Suddenly they were stopped by a cry in the trees, the horses held their heads toward the wood, and Rahab's tail rose above her back.

"The sound of grave findings, and silent deaths." Leofwine said sadly.

"How come you know so much about her?" Gemariah asked.

"She killed my older brother and only friend; I vowed to kill the person who caused my pain. Later I found about this hired killer, she murdered for a living, it was her joy to see my people die for no reason." Leofwine paused for a few seconds, and then mounted Sheraga. "I'll be back in an hour, make sure everything is ready including yourself." With that He rode off.

In a few moments Leofwine was back at the palace. Requesting a few things. He entered the king's room.

"I would like to take with me now three of your best swords men, and one female." He said.

"The three I can get, but what do you want with a woman?" The king questioned.

"Don't you have a female warrior? Women make fierce soldiers. You must have at least one." Leofwine was sure he had one, but was going to be very disappointed if not.

"Well, I do have one, but she's…well, rather strange you see…"

"In what way?" Leofwine crossed his arms, slithering a smirk on his face.

"She's accompanied by two tigers, nothing else, no weapon. Loner, never see her." The king answered.

"Send for her, she will come." Leofwine was confident.

"But what if my men can't reach her in time for you to leave tonight?"

Leofwine paused, "Then I will go and find her, tell me, do you know where she is?"

"She's bound to be by the Raleigh River. That's the only place she calls home, always there when not traveling." The king answered quickly. "Be off now, the three you requested will be ready and will meet you on horses at the palace gates."

Leofwine thanked the king, and was off. He soon met Gemariah and packed the last of things onto their horses. Rahab carried the fire wood on her back, to which she was very excited to have a job.

Leofwine and Gemariah met the three men they were expecting, the first and youngest was Wiley, someone who would be able to cheer you up on a rainy day, his smile was broad and you'd never think that kind of a smile came from him. He looked like he wanted to beat you up, but you would love the minute you sat down for a conversation. The second named Bradley was of brave suture and swift skill of the sword. He was known to be a quiet man, and seems to hide something that he doesn't want anyone to know. And lastly the third is named Prasanna, his face is dark and you'd never be able to see him in an unlit room. Gemariah instantly liked Prasanna; he found that talking with him was comforting and soothing.

"Well, we're here, this is the Raleigh River. But I don't see her." Gemariah said, looking round.

"So you're the five who the king's servants were talking about…" Said a voice above them, the travelers looked and saw a tall dark skinned woman standing on a cliff about ten feet high, her pure black hair was braided to the side, and her brown eyes twinkled with a sweet song But one thing was very visible but could easily be seen if you looked for a minute. Her left eye was surrounded by a black tattoo, making her looked like she had a black eye. Her hands rested beside her calmly, no weapon was bound to her, sword or armor. They jumped at the sight of two adult tigers lying beside her. "Oh, you have no need to fear them," She chuckled. "Unless you are foe, well you won't have time to think about being afraid of my tigers." She said.

"What is your name?" Leofwine asked, after a short stare at her guardians.

"My name is Shamira, I am a messenger for the king's general, and am never seen inside the city. You have no need to wait for me if I shall fall behind, I will not slow you down."

Leofwine nodded, and whispered to Sheraga to move forward. And they started off for Beryl. Throughout the journey Gemariah made friends with Prasanna fairly quickly. He seemed glad for he hoped to be friends with Leofwine, but knowing that would take time he decided to speak with Prasanna.

Very soon they were out of Shlomit and in Aphra, one of the places between Beryl and where no one seems to want to live. There nothing but dust and stone, but something else was watching. As they reached Aphra, Leofwine fell back and said to Gemariah in a whisper.

"Watch your step." He said, as if reminding of him of the past.

Gemariah gulped and nodded. He studied the ground very closely, almost waiting for something to happen.

Shamira held up the rear, one tiger on either side of her. They seemed to smile with pleasure as they stepped onto the stones and rocks. The woman looked up at the sky as the sun fell and the moon took its place. "They will come out tonight, and watch the stones…" She muttered. "Just wait Nuada and Elfleda, there will be a fight. And I'll waiting with the moons."