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The cool breeze blew through the tree branches, letting the sunlight dance on the forest floor. In the azure sky above, a large black bird soared, surveying the forest below. She held her hand to her eyes, to block the sun, and watched the bird as she sat on a smooth rock in the clearing.
"You goddesses and your birds," shouted Rupert, emerging from the forest, "and you wonder about our love of axes!"
Adeleise turned around to look at the strange little dwarf, a curious smirk on her lips. "Axes, though I grant you that they can fly, don't possess the amazing grace of a bird with wind under its wings," she remarked kindly. The dwarf huffed and strode up next to her.
Short pudgy fingers stroked his long white beard, "Perhaps not, but I fear dear Lady, that my axe has a sharper bite than any bird, on any day." Adeleise smiled, looked up at the circling bird, and snapped her fingers. The dark bird gently swooped down, landed on the rock next to her, and began to preen its midnight feathers.
"Yes, my Goddess," said the bird.
"You are a good bird, Drisden," the woman said as she gently ran her pale hand over the bird's soft, shimmering feathers.
"Oh bother," sighed Rupert, "look who's coming." Visible through the trees trotted a golden centaur, his head held high and his pale hair shinning in the sun. The goddess smiled at the approach of her friend.
"Gada-Gada-goo," said the centaur cheerfully, with a wave.
"The same to you, friend", Adeleise said and smiled as her bird flew up and alighted on the centaur's broad shoulder.
The centaur smiled, and let the bird peck his finger, saying, "How light be your touch, sweet bird of dark mystery."
The dwarf rolled his eyes, "Aye... These bloody Centaurs and their words... My axe may not be as elegant, but I'll guarantee you it says a lot more." Drisden, having found Beledrun's fingers an unsatisfactory snack,
returned to Adeleise's outstretched wrist where he found seed on
her palm.
"I bring news from the front," Beledrun informed the two, "and all of it is not good. In fact, some of it is bad." Rupert took a whetsone from his tunic pocket and began to sharpen his axe, chipping dried flakes of blood from the edge as he did so.
"It *is* the edge of the Solar System," reminded Adeleise, "bad news should be expected."
The dwarf grunted, "Aye, along with sad and mad ones."
"Galebin is dead," the centaur said gravely, "his dragon was shot and crashed into an asteroid." The serene smile did not leave Adeleise's face; she continued to stroke Dresdin's feathers as she waited for more news. "There were four hundred and twelve casualties in the last skirmish, two dogfighter carrier Dragons and a zero-gee marine transport."
"It's getting worse," Rupert said with a scowl.
"We still have a hundred thousand troops," reminded Adeleise, "and we have yet to use the Desponia Cannon --- we can win this yet."
"Does anyone think its bloody stupid for us to be sitting around here in the middle of the forest when there's a war going on?" asked Rupert grumpily.
"It wouldn't be if we were warriors," the Centaur said with a chuckle.
"I'm an old, slow woman," said Adeleise wearily, in stark contrast to her effervescent youth, "leading by example isn't that easy anymore." Adeleise rose to her feet, shaking off her weariness. "We must act to end this madness. Drisden," she commanded the bird, her voice gaining authority, "prepare to fly to the outer rim -- we are going to need your diplomatic skills, Ambassador."
Adeleise woke. As she opened her eyes and sat up in bed, she realised she had been having another one of her dreams. Surely she wasn't a goddess, or old, or tired, and despite how real it had all seemed she knew there was no war on, no invaders from another star, and her own solar system wasn't filled with air, or clouds or thousands of tiny worlds swirling around a magic blue sun; it was quite impossible, really.
"Why am I having these dreams?" she thought as she held her head in her hand.
"Adele! Are you awake yet? The English lecture is on in 15 minutes!" Her infinitely cheerful roommate, Kella, knocked impatiently at the door. Adeleise sighed, swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood up, her nightshift falling gently to mid-thigh, and thought about the advantages and disadvantages of attending Mistophaele's Academy of the Magical Arts. Old Professor Kikumalin would be teaching Alchemy today, she remembered, and that would be the best time to catch up on some sleep. Stifling a weary sigh that quickly turned into a yawn, she stretched and took a step towards her clothes chest, only to have her foot land upon something soft, instead of the expected wood of the floor-- a tiny black feather. Adeleise rolled her eyes and yawned again as she sleepily picked up the feather and gently placed it on her roomate's dresser, wishing Kella would be more careful about picking up after her companion animal.
Adeleise rubbed the back of her neck and remembered home. I could sure go for some of Mother's cooking, she thought as her belly rumbled. Dorm food wasn't quite what she had expected, and especially at Mistophaele's, where 'Student cook' days were often followed by a rapid increase in the talking frog population. She shuddered, briefly, remembering her own close brush with amphibianhood; only an overly-protective chef hovering over his concoction and swatting away all who tried to sneak a taste had saved her from that particularly potent brew. She grabbed her pack, including her English book and notebook, and closed the door carefully behind her before racing down the hall to her lecture.
English class went like so much treacle -- one minute it had started, and a few hours later, well, it seems not to have moved much from that position. Adeleise's gaze wandered out the window as she sighed and began to return her sight to her notebook, when something caught her eye.
"Is that Jiminy Cricket?" she exclaimed, staring unblinkingly at the cricket in a top hat that stared back at her from the window sill. She shook her head, rubbed her eyes, looked again, and it was gone. Embarassed, she glanced about herself at the other students, but only a few returned her glance curiously; she mustn't have spoken loudly enough for others to hear. She returned her gaze to her notebook, gave a slight gasp, and quickly put her hand over the edge as she realized that she had scrolled Raoul's name over and over in the margin.
Raoul was the young elf-boy who sat three rows in front of her; a real stud with high cheekbones and flowing silver hair, not to mention a fine rear end -- of course, he had all the intelligence of an unripe beer-nut, but who really cared about that? His father is the High Magician Elkhauser, who is one of the Council of Nine.
The Council were a funny lot, what with all the purple robes and mascara and pink wigs, but Adeleise somehow found them to be cute -- she wouldn't mind seeing Genevieve in a bizarre yet sexy number like that, after those long boring days in alchemy class. Genevieve was her best friend from home, with whom she had snuck into many taverns and other forbidden places. She and Genevieve also got into their share of forbidden experiences together (after all, what was a good friend for if not to learn with?), oh what fond memories there were there, they -almost- fully drew her attention away from Raoul.
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If you want to add to this story, e-mail me at jasujo@hotmail.com.
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© 2000 jasujo@hotmail.com
