*Galen*
*Day 14 - Afternoon*

Galen stared through the door, his chair creaking slowly with the soft 
steady motion of his rocking.  In some odd way, the office seemed more 
distant now, as it basked in the glow of the lengthening sun.  Selena had 
left him some time ago, but her words had pushed his mind off to other 
places.  It was his tendency to drift off to other places quite often, at 
least that was what his mother had always told him.  Always thinking about 
something.  But his mind wasn't creating thoughts this time, only recalling 
them.  Memories were a wonderfully odd thing.  The times you wished to 
remember most came back as fuzzy and indistinct feelings, while those times 
you try hardest to destroy slam into you again and show their reality with 
startling clarity.

He shook his head slowly, clearing the unclearable and stood.  Selena was 
going to meet him bright and early tomorrow morning so he could take her 
through the way things ran.  With any luck she'd be in the mix by the 
afternoon.  He just hoped that the Homeguard and T'rell would take her in.  
Open arms and smiles were far too much to expect, but he hoped after her 
demonstration there would at least be some respect.

He thought about it for a few seconds then decided he should find T'rell.  
No harm in testing the waters before hand.  And if those waters proved 
stubborn, well, he would have a few words to say about that.

And then there was Breezy.  Dinner tonight, wasn't it?  And those scouts too 
^� he had to find Cat tonight if he could.

First, though, a little workout was in order.

<..>

Galen's body moved with moving.  Although he remained rooted in one place, 
his arms flew.  The rapid movements could be distinguished into patterns, 
parries, and attacks, mostly those he had grown up learning. But he had not 
let his time here be in vain and he had added more than a few new motions to 
his regimen.

Anyone watching would not have believed he could move any faster, but then 
he was.  There was a time when he would have sustained his motions longer, 
but he knew where his limits were and although he was not quite as spry as 
he once was, he was much wiser.  A sore body at this point in time would not 
be the best thing.

He felt a pair of eyes watching him, but people often came in and out of 
this place.  The eyes continued though, so soon he began to let the motions 
slow and finally he came to a rest, shaking his arms and rolling his 
shoulders back.  He dropped his sword, picked up a towel and found himself 
looking at Selena.  The woman had a curious look on her face.

She knew that he had kept some part of his skill back from their last match 
as well.

"Good afternoon Selena.  Come to see what the warren has to offer for those 
inclined to exercise?"

"Something like that.  I hadn't expected to run into you though.  You strike 
me as the sort who would do their workout long before anyone else dreamt of 
waking."

"Normally, I do.  But things at Norwall have been busy and I find myself 
pushing the workout in at odd times."

She came across to where he was, and glanced briefly at his sword.  "You 
weapon and your movements are a bit different.  I knew from your voice that 
you weren't from this area, but now I think you come from farther away than 
I originally thought."

Galen smiled and replied, "My home is far, far away, yes.  It's a long 
story, but suffice to say I grew up beyond the Waste, and came here quite 
accidentally."

"I also noticed that you kept something back from our first fight."

"Just had to push you a bit.  I know you kept something back yourself."

The woman just smiled.  She moved over to the side and tossed off her cloak. 
  Her armor was missing, but it was clear she was ready for a sparring 
match.  She simply drew her blade and smiled at him.

Galen had to laugh.  This would be fun.

Both Galen and Selena felt the second pair of eyes, but by the time they 
felt them they were too involved in their match to stop.  What they didn't 
realize is that the eyes had been there before they were aware of it and 
they now sparkled with interest.  Imani smiled to herself as the two 
continued to spar.

<Tag Chris and Wil>

*T'rell*
*Day 14 - Afternoon*

The green shook with men.  Not just the Homguard, but their twins as well.  
As T'rell looked at their departing backs, each one had an exact double 
walking stride for stride with his twin.  Coughing and passing a shaking 
hand over his face, T'rell cleared his vision and told himself that people 
do no grow twins and he had to do something to get himself in better shape.  
There was only one real cure.

He needed a drink.

Needed didn't quite capture what was burning in his blood at this moment.  
Needed had applied for the first few hours.  This day had gone from bad to 
worse to a living hell.  Needing the drink had stopped just after his 
conversation with that shithead Marrsell.  Then desperation came into play.  
That too had ended sometime after his bout with Selena.  The thought of her 
boiled his blood and cooled, for just one moment, the almost break-neck 
urgency for a drink that was building in him.  She had screwed up his entire 
afternoon, his day, his life.  He knew what Galen would do, it had been 
written all over the man's face.  He was going to hire her, bring her into 
things and that would just make life one terrible place to be.

The even his displeasure for mercenaries watered away in the face of his 
need.  It was far beyond anything he could hope to control now and as he 
nearly ran for his apartment, he realized he was already tasting the smooth 
satisfaction it would bring him, the safety and security, the^�

"T'rell!"

"Oh for the love of God!" T'rell hissed under his breath.  He took in a 
deep, steadying piece of air before turning to face M'lent and his twin.  
Damn, the doubles were back again.  He blinked trying to clear them, but 
every time he blinked another appeared.  Three M'lent's, then four, then ^� 
then they started to blur together in one falling M'lent, a sweeping band of 
color that had once been a man and now was just a wash of skin tones, 
clothing and green grass.  He head the voice that he had once attached to 
the man, but it was far, far away. All he had now was the color and it had a 
voice of its own.  It sang to him as he lay there on the ground, not hearing 
the shuffle of activity he had just caused or even caring much about it.  
Somewhere in the back of his brain, little men screamed for a drink, but 
even they were silenced before the sweet song of the colors.

<..>

M'lent drug the sweaty trainer in the Med Centre.  At first he was confident 
all the medical personnel had left, as no one appeared to be around.  
Finally, Lilliana herself appeared.  After taking one look at the man, she 
directed where he was to be laid and instructed M'lent to get out of the 
way.

Not one to stand in the way of medicine, he made his way out, heading off 
across the green.  If there was one person who should know about T'rell and 
there was probably only one who cared to know about him, it was Galen.  
M'lent shook his head, wondering how Galen had found such a rough guy and 
why in the world he had chosen him.  Ah well, he was sick and that was the 
important part, right?

<..>

Galen stood at T'rell's side, looking down at the pale, haggard face. M'lent 
watched quietly by his side.

"Do you know what's wrong?" Galen quietly asked Lilliana.

"I have a pretty good idea." She said and there was something in her voice 
that made Galen look up sharply.

"He's an alcoholic Galen.  He probably hasn't had a drink in a day and he's 
going through withdrawals."

"Really?" Galen asked, his voice a soft whisper.

"Yes, really."

"Damn.  How long do you expect he'll need to stay in here."

"I couldn't tell you that right now Galen.  It's really going to depend on 
how strong he is at resisting.  If he's too set on getting a drink ^� "

"I understand.  Let me know when he regains consciousness."

Lilliana nodded and Galen left with M'lent trailing behind.

He was walking down the hallway and happened to glance into a room on his 
way down.  What he saw made him stop in his tracks.

"Clainn?"

The young man looked up, the sleep circles deep under his eyes.  In the bed 
was Rei, looking far sicker than she had before.  He thought they had given 
her something to help her out, something ^�

"Is she alright?"

"I don't know.  She's been unconscious for so long."  The boy's voice was 
raspy.  Galen couldn't help thinking that she almost looked better than he 
did.

M'lent moved by him and placed a hand on the young girl's forehead.  He 
looked at Galen briefly and Galen could see serious worry clouding in behind 
the man's eyes.

Galen tried to say something encouraging to Clainn, but he knew how flat all 
of his words sounded.  What could he say to the young boy to make the world 
right?  Words were not up to a task like that.  All they could do was make 
noise.

Galen and M'lent parted company with a few words on either side.  The 
Searcher said he would check in on both T'rell and Rei and make sure things 
were going okay.  Galen thanked him and strode off, worried now.

<..>

*Cyrus*
*Day 14 - Early Evening*

A slow, rustling sound came from Cyrus's darkened room.  Outside one of the 
trainee's stopped, listened and then moved on shaking his head. The light 
wasn't on, it was probably just the wind.

Outside, Azhdeen rustled uncomfortably.  He hadn't been able to nap all day 
and it was starting to make him feel uneasy.  His snuggling companion blew 
out a sharp breath, voicing her displeasure at his inability to settle down. 
  He finally gave up and after an apology to the poor female dragon, he 
rumbled off, unable to stay in one place anymore.  His skin felt like it was 
rippling and he was sure that it was going to fly right off if he didn't 
start moving around.  He hadn't ever felt this unsettled and it disturbed 
him more than he cared to think about.

So tight was his focus on his own problem that the muttering voice of his 
rider's thoughts went completely ignored.

It was probably better that way.

Inside Cyrus's mind, he saw Jeneve getting on her dragon, laughing in 
pleasure at something Mentorn had said.  Inside Cyrus's mind, the scene 
stopped, started over again, a continual play of light and sound.  Inside 
Cyrus's mind, a dull monotone voice played over the scene, it's one 
sentiment grown into a mantra that held total sway over the memory of the 
past and the present instance.  Inside Cyrus's mind, all he heard was 
himself, whispering "I wasn't good enough.  I wasn't good enough.  I wasn't 
good enough. I wasn't good enough.  I wasn't good enough.  I wasn't good 
enough.  I wasn't good enough.  I wasn't ^�"

<..>

*Galen*

Galen found Cat sometime before dinner.  He had been looking for her off and 
on during the course of his day, and had yet to come across her.  She could 
be slippery when she wanted.  But he finally saw her bobbing head and caught 
up with her before she vanished once more.

"Cat?"

She turned around, seeming a little surprised to see him.  "Yes?"

"I've been meaning to talk to you."

"Oh?" She squeaked.  Evidently his training field mannerisms had convinced 
her that he was about to lay into her for something.

"But I'd rather not talk about it here.  It's about S'ron and the scouts." 
He whispered the last part and was glad to see a spark of recognition and 
interest in Cat's eyes.

They went to his office without speaking another word and when Galen settled 
down, he realized he didn't even know where to begin.  Cat, though, solved 
his problem for him.

"So S'ron left words about us.  I knew he wouldn't just leave us in the 
lurch.  Are we going to meet him somewhere ^� he's on a secret mission isn't 
he?  That's why he had to appear to leave, right?  I'd better tell Alex and 
Rei too, even if she is a little sick, I'm sure she'd want to hear about 
this."

She appeared ready to stand and Galen quickly cut in, not wanting to let her 
fully convince herself that what she was saying was indeed truth.

"Cat, Cat ^� slow down a second.  S'ron did leave word, but he isn't going to 
be meeting you anywhere.  He did really leave and I don't think we'll see 
him again for a while."

"Oh."  Her voice was supremely disappointed.

"But he sent me a message before he left telling me about you and Rei and 
Alex.  He asked me to start training you as he would have."

"Oh." Her voice was flat this time.  Whatever respect she had for him as a 
trainer, it obviously didn't stretch to the areas she had imagined this job 
entailed.

"I won't be the only one, of course.  S'ron had certain skills that I have 
never had and there is no way I would even try to duplicate his knowledge."

"Oh?" A small gleam of hope.

"We'll get to that later though.  For now, I need to get you and Alex 
together.  I'm afraid Rei is quite ill.  Until I know she is going to get 
better, I think we might need to find another scout."

"Well, Dargis^�." She stopped suddenly, aware of how odd it sounded to 
recommend Dargis for a scouting job.

"Dargis?" Galen sounded the name out, the young man's face coming to mind.  
He was quiet, in the background, as Alex herself often was.

"Well, he ^� I mean, we were talking and it looks like ^� he sees everything!" 
She finished in an explosive rush.

Something tickled in the back of Galen's mind.  What had S'ron had in mind 
for these riders?  He obviously wanted them to be more then just recon 
people.  He wouldn't have hidden it from everyone else if he had just wanted 
that.  And Alex ^� he had chosen her because she did melt into the 
background, staying unnoticed even when one was looking for her.  Dargis ^� 
Dargis would work.  Galen would never have thought of him, but once his mind 
was focused on the young man, he became more and more convinced that he was 
right.

He nodded slowly and spoke.  "Tell Alex and Dargis to meet here in my office 
early tomorrow morning.  I mean early ^� before training.  Okay?"

Cat nodded, still doubtful as to whether or not Galen was really qualified 
for this, but evidently not wanting to miss out on the chance.  Her 
imagination must have populated this job with all sorts of adventures.  It 
made Galen smile.

<..>

*Cyrus*

He was outside now.  The cool breeze tussled his hair, but it did little to 
lighten his face.  He walked around in a dark confusion, his mind seemingly 
refusing to process anything from the outside world.  It had, in essence, 
decided that it could only handle so much brooding and it was time to check 
out for the day.

Cyrus wandered.  At some point he passed Azhdeen but he failed to notice.  
He didn't see the faded color his dragon had taken on, or the twitching 
sleep he seemed to be in.  And Azhdeen, who had taken all day to fall asleep 
and was even now only in a light restless doze, failed to connect the dreams 
he was now having and his riders mental state.

Azhdeen slept on and Cyrus walked on.

<..>

*Galen*

Controlling her amusement the Sr. Wingleader said, "Seriously Galen, as to 
your question about Selena and I, well let's just say we come from another 
lifetime that I'd prefer not to discuss.  But she's a damn good soldier you 
couldn't do much better! I heard what she did with the Homeguard, pretty 
impressive!"

Galen smiled at the retreating form of Breezy.  She had caught him, that was 
for sure, but somehow he hadn't felt quite as embarrassed.  Somehow he knew 
he could talk with her and not be afraid of what she would say.  For the 
most part, he knew what she would say.  He understood her in an odd way.  
Not completely, of course, he didn't think he would ever be able to 
understand anyone completely, much less a woman.  They seemed always to 
confuse him.

He focused once more upon his present and chatted for a while with S'ran.  
Naomi's brother had always been around, but it had taken a trip to the 
Dragonlady for the two of them to get to know each other. Somehow the shared 
experience was enough for them to be comfortable with each other.  They both 
knew enough about the other and they had both seen a great deal of Norwall's 
past.  He chatted with the man for a while, then departed.  Although it was 
only early evening, Galen decided to turn in.  Not that he would sleep ^� he 
still did very little of that.  But he hadn't spent much time in the place 
he called his home.

He had moved from the apartment he had shared with Zera.  It was designed 
for a dragonrider and much too spacious for him.  Not to mention the other 
nagging problems it brought.  He was back in the room he had first lived in 
and right now it looked quite the bachelor's residence.  It was high time he 
fixed that.

*Sabian*
*Day 14 - Late Evening*

Sabian sat in the glow of his fire.  He looked at the piece of paper he held 
in his hand and smiled.  If only S'ron could see him now.  He would be so 
angry.  What had he promised?  To come back if he heard a whisper.  If this 
went right, he would hear more than whisper.  Timing was key though.  The 
whispers Sabian had heard were none to pleasant for Norwall.  And although 
he didn't consider himself their enemy, he surely wasn't their friend.

He would have to move tomorrow.  Sneak in, dance with the Dove, make a 
statement with the Warrenlady and see if S'ron would come.

For a second, the plans he was making stared back at him.  It was 
foolishness.  When had he taken a job for reasons other than money?  When 
had he let himself be guided by his own ambitions?  What sort of assassin 
was he becoming?

The answer came back sharply: A bored one.

Life had ceased to mean as much these days.  He had done more than he had 
ever dreamed of.  He had enough wealth stored away that he could flaunt away 
the rest of his days.  But his blood hadn't cooled yet and he still wanted 
to feel the adrenaline flow through his veins as he stalked a target.  They 
held no challenge for him though, targets who didn't know he was out there.

And he knew that whether or not he lived in a face-off with S'ron, or any 
number of the names he now knew were around Norwall, he wanted to play 
against someone who knew he was there.  He wanted them to know his skill, to 
plan against that skill and to play the game as it should be played.

He began to laugh then, his mind aware that his voice verged on unstable.  
But at this point, he decided he didn't care.

*Galen*
*Day 15 - Early Morning*

Galen sat thinking of the three young riders who had just left him.  Cat was 
still obviously doubtful about his ability to lead the scouts, but it was 
hard to tell what the other two thought.  Alex listened quite attentively, 
but her face was still unreadable.  Dargis seemed more confused as to why he 
was there than anything else.  But Galen had a feeling there was more behind 
all three than he initially thought.  He had explained to them that he was 
going to be leading the training of the scouts and that they would shape the 
duties of the scouts as time went on.  What they didn't know was that he had 
no idea what they're duties would be, nor did he have any idea what S'ron 
had envisioned for them.  But they would fit in where they were needed and 
Galen thought he had an idea of what they would do.

He ran into K'tarr on his way to breakfast and the new wingleader asked him 
if he had found out anything about the scouts.

"Actually, I did.  Cat was in on things and it turns out S'ron had picked 
Cat, Alex and Rei.  I still am not completely sure what he had planned for 
them, but knowing S'ron I would guess along the lines of scout and spy."

K'tarr nodded then asked, "I've got an idea to get things organized.  You 
mind if I run it by you."

Galen nodded and listened as the hunter's words went by him.  He was mildly 
surprised at the level of organization involved, but then K'tarr was always 
full of surprises.  After he was done, Galen nodded in appreciation.

"That's a fine bit of organizing.  The only thing is that Rei is quite sick. 
  I'm not sure what it is, but Lilliana seems to think it's serious.  I 
thought Dargis might be a good replacement for her."

"Normally, I would say go ahead, but we need all the good riders we can get 
and Dargis is one of them.  Until we're sure what's wrong with Rei and 
whether or not she'll be able to return to duty soon, let's keep Dargis with 
the main body of riders.  Can you manage with just Cat and Alex?"

"Sure, not a problem.  I look forward to your meeting."

"Thanks."

Galen made his way to breakfast, then to find Dargis, and finally to the 
Homeguard.  With T'rell still out of commission, Galen was going to take 
care of the Homeguard himself today.  He would introduce Selena too.  They 
had decided yesterday that she would function as an intermediary between 
Galen and the ready troops.  T'rell would stay on as a trainer, and once 
thing settled down, he would have a new class to start working with.  One 
thing was sure, though ^� the first class of the Homeguard were ready for 
duty.

<..>

He told as much to Breezy after K'tarr's meeting.  Both the new wingleader 
and the new warrenlady had done marvelous.  Galen felt now that whatever 
would come, Norwall would be ready.

He caught up with Breezy shortly after the meeting, more to warn her than to 
tell her what she most likely already knew about the Homeguard.

"Hey Galen, what can I do for you?"

"Just wanted to warn you about something.  I'm sure you noticed that T'rell 
wasn't around this morning."

"I just assumed he was sleeping off his night's revelries."

"Actually, quite the opposite.  Turns out he hasn't had a drink for at least 
two days and he's in the Med Centre now as a result."

"Really?"

"Yeah, and I don't think he's going to be up for anything for a while."

"And with you going to investigate things in Fairlight, that means ^� "

"Yep.  You get to work with Selena."

"Great."

"Are you going to be okay with that?"

"I'm not thrilled about it, but I'll be professional, don't worry about that 
Galen."

"Okay.  I'll meet with Selena and make sure she knows all the tactics.  The 
Homeguard is ready."

"I'm sure they are.  Have fun at Fairlight."

Galen smiled and left.

<..>

Galen met up with Alex and Cat later on in the afternoon.  He had spent the 
day with Selena, getting her up to date.  She was a remarkably quick learner 
and as he mounted Anthra behind Cat, he felt quite confident in her 
abilities to take care of things.

"Ready Cat?"

"More than ready."

"Alright, let's get going then."

Anthra lifted off, Alex and Prayer right behind them.  They winked out ^�

^� and appeared above Fairlight, ready to start their first real assignment.

*Cyrus*
*Day 15 - Evening*

The day had been spent fruitlessly trying not to dwell.  He had flown the 
search patterns, gone through the routines, done all he could to not think 
about anything but what was right in front of him.  Azhdeen was strangely 
silent.  The dragon said not a word during the whole day and had Cyrus been 
focused on anything but not thinking, he would have questioned his dragon.  
As it was, the two had passed the day in mutual silence, both lost in 
thoughts that neither wished to share.

He was sitting now in the Dining Hall, stirring his food around aimlessly.  
He didn't even really remember getting the food.  He didn't remember sitting 
down even.

He wasn't far enough into himself to miss the alarms.

Oh no, he heard those.

*Sabian*

The darkness cloaked the assassin as it always had.  He watched the passing 
of the people, cataloged where people went, who was where.  When the alarms 
sounded, everyone was everywhere, but Sabian knew where he wanted to be.  He 
knew.

*Cyrus*

Cyrus burst in and time froze.  Jeneve was on the floor.  Antwin was a 
shadow on the floor.  Two bulky women stood, vague surprise on their faces.  
When time started again, Cyrus was moving, for once not frozen, for once 
thinking quite clearly.

What he thought and what he screamed as he tackled the first woman was, "I 
am GOOD ENOUGH!"

<Tag Wil ^� he doesn't stand a chance, I know, but he's going to fight like 
all hell>

*Sabian*

Antwin stirred and the voice brought him quite rigidly out of his stupor.

"I've got favor to ask Dove."

"Angel ^� oh god my head ^� " he clutched his head and his knife, staring at 
Sabian.

"I'm not going to kill you Dove.  You know I would have done it already."

"What ^� what do you want?"

"I've been thinking of Death.  My own actually."

"What?"

"I'm bored Dove.  Bored to the point that I can't quite stand living 
anymore.  I came here tonight looking to kill your Warrenlady.  Got a 
contract and everything.  Not getting paid much, but that wasn't the point.  
I wanted to fight you, to fight S'ron, to fight anyone that would give me 
half a real fight.  But here I am, too late.  The Warrenlady is gone and 
you're a crumpled body.  I don't know what I'm doing anymore Dove."

"Jeneve?!  Gone?  I've got to find her!"

"You're not going to do it, are you?"

"What?  Angel, I've got more important things right now than your 
depression."

"Then let me go with you."

Antwin stopped and looked carefully at the assassin.

"What did you say?"

"These people are serious Dove.  I know you need the help and God knows I 
need to do something.  Come on Dove, you and me, on the same side.  Maybe 
I'll get lucky and get killed along the way."

<Tag Wil>

______________________________________
Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore!"

Submitted by
Ben Tate

For

Galen,
Cyrus,
T'rell,
and
Sabian





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