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And the army marched on. Their pace was grueling, and even Will's tongue was lolling out of his mouth, his breath coming in pants as he raced to keep up with the centaurs. But he wouldn't give up and he wouldn't slow down--he had to get to Alhazad's castle, no matter how far away it was, and no matter how close he came to killing himself to get there. Amy was there, and only God knew what the wizard was doing with her. She was fragile. He had to save her.

Over the course of the day, little was said and stops were few and far between. During those times, Rydstrom and his commanders would talk in hushed tones about the lack of sentries and guards milling about the countryside. Was the wizard so distracted that he wouldn't guard his own land? Of course, they took this as an opportunity, but Will was more worried than ever. Had he already gotten his lucky artifact? How? He would've had to use Cade, get him to admit that he was the vessel, but what had happened to Amy?

They were within the sight of the castle when they finally saw someone.

It was a single messenger scout at the edge of the clearing, bearing the banner of the king. Not the wizard, Alhazad, the king.

"What in the bloody ******** is this?" Rok growled as he called his soldiers to halt, rearing back a little in agitation and stomping his feet.

"King Rydstrom," the man called, though he was clearly nervous. "The king has been expecting you.

"The king?" Rydstrom asked, flabbergasted.

"Yes, King Rydstrom. Alhazad is dead." There was a long pause at that as everyone absorbed that information. That couldn't be true, could it? They'd come all this way. Been prepared to fight. To die. It all seemed so anticlimactic. As if he'd been caged, the wolf began to pace.

"How...?" Usually so eloquent, even the king was at a loss for words.

"The kirin killed him," the soldier said, as if it were obvious. Will stopped dead in his pacing to look at the scout. "She's informed the king that the two kingdoms are to sign a non-aggression pact before the day is out, and told him that you were on your way. So if you would be so kind, sir? You all are invited to come."

The situation was so incredible, or at least so unreal, that the King didn't know what else to do but accept the messenger's invitation. He did, however, leave over half of the army waiting there in case it wasn't as it seemed and a daring rescue needed to be made. Will was glad, in a way, that Rok had stayed behind--he knew that the guard felt less obligated to help the kirin that Cade's brother. Rydstrom, at least, seemed to realize that the only reason she was in this mess was because she'd been trying to help them fight.

But...what mess was she in? Will had been confused, but now he didn't know what to think. Instead of thinking, he put his head down and his ears back, following the centaur king to the castle, where the king did, in fact, wait. He waited to the right of Amy, who was sitting in his throne, covered in blood. Wills hackles rose, and he heard Blank bite out a curse, uncharacteristic of the laid back chandra. He felt the same way--they couldn't do anything.

"King Nasser," Rydstrom said, voice icily civil.

"King Rydstrom," Nasser returned, much the same way. He was clean and shaven, but his cheeks were hollow, his eyes sunken in and haunted. He had not fared much better than Cade over the course of the past several weeks and had obviously just recently been fished out of whatever hole Alhazad had stuck him in. In terse words, he explained again that the Lady Amaryllis had unseated Alhazad and had returned the kingdom to him under the conditions that he sign an nonaggression pact with Rydstrom.

Uninterested in politics, Will whined softly and trotted up to the throne where Amy sat. Her hands were clenched into fists on the armrests and her gaze was far away--far away from where she was, as if she were hanging on by a thread. Hanging on to what he didn't know. What had happened here? There was blood on her dress, but it didn't smell like hers. It must be Alhazad's, but while it reeked of magic, he could only smell flowers. He whined again, and he saw her chest hitch.

"I want to go home," she whispered hoarsely. Grabbing the hem of the gown in his teeth, Will tugged lightly as if saying, Well, then lets go! But she waited just a moment more, eyes riveted on the kings conferring in the middle of the room. She must be waiting to make sure that it ironed out alright. Will wished desperately that she'd think about herself for once. She was obviously shell shocked. He tugged on her dress again, finding Blank at her elbow, just as concerned. She was as pale as the white of the dress.

"They're just hammering out the details," he said, eerily observant as always. "You can go home. We can go home." Nodding stiffly, she rose, leaning slightly into Blank's hand as she did so. Though her head was high and her shoulders were back, Will could still smell the adrenaline and fear that clung to her like bad perfume. With a glance between her and the king, he knew that something serious had transpired here. Something that would threaten the king. Something that allowed her to make the rules here, despite her clearly shaken condition. But no more words passed between them, her walking by all of them to the door. In front of it, she stopped.

Ask and ye shall receive. Will remembered this. "Is this the door back?" she asked, her voice shaking badly. She waited a moment.

Seek and ye shall find. Amy hiccuped, calm facade breaking. "I want to go home." More than a knock, she beat her hand against the door three times in quick succession, pushing it open and running through without thinking twice, stumbling into her living room on the other side.

Once they were back on the other side, Will whined and tried to stick close to Amy despite Blank's attempts to usher her into the bathroom. Almost immediately, Harlequin, Cornet and Kururu were also there.

"Hogodwhathappened?" the pixie burst out, fluttering nervously.

"And why is it that Dontaine got to go?" Harlequin huffed.

"We'll catch you up in a second," Blank said, taking control of the situation, "but we've got to get her cleaned up a little bit." Amy's face was buried in her hands and tears trickled out through her fingers, mingled with blood from her hands. Though Will desperately wanted to follow her, he could see that she was at least physically fine, and couldn't much fight about it when Harlequin put herself between him and the master bathroom where they ushered the kirin.

He whined, and Harlequin patted his head. Though he laid his ears back, he tolerated it for the moment. Long enough to see how Amy was.

With Cornet's help, Blank stripped Amy of the bloodstained gown and got her into a steamy bath, hoping that it would help. It didn't seem like she'd been...treated the same way that Cade had, but bit and pieces of the story spilled out as they continued. Cornet, to surprised and horrified to say anything, remained speechless while Blank assured her that she'd done the right thing.

"I w-wanted to do it," she stammered, shivering despite the warmth of the water. "I w-wanted him to d-die." For what he'd done to Cade. For what he'd done to everyone. I wanted him to die. That thought was not comforting; quite the opposite. That in itself made it murder more than anything else. When she fell silent as well, Cornet, Blank and Kururu (who was unusually quiet and tactful) filtered out of the bathroom and into the main room.

"For the love of God, put some clothes on!" Harlequin shrieked. She whipped around, covering her face with her hands as she whipped around. Will had obviously gotten tired of not having thumbs or being able to communicate and had shifted back in the living room.

"How is she?" he demanded, slipping his pants back on. Cornet made a strangled noise while Kururu's was more intrigued, but Blank seemed not to notice at all.

"Could be worse," he said on a sigh, "but could definitely be better." To the best of his knowledge, he relayed what had happened while she'd been there, from being next to Cade's room during the Wizards 'visits' to her making him the vessel for the artifact and stabbing him herself. Will ran his hands through his hair. Usually, he'd laugh and say 'good girl,' but a first kill was hard for anyone, much less Amy.

"Damn," he muttered. Blank studied him for a moment, He wouldn't usually suggest this but...

"She'll probably be done in a moment," he said quietly. Meaningfully. Will nodded.

Will waited a few more minutes before following back into Amy's room. While he wouldn't be too concerned if she wasn't decent--and for once, not just because he wanted to see her naked--he didn't imagine her furry guardians would approve. He did, in fact, find her wrapped in a fuzzy bathrobe and sitting on the edge of her bed, staring at the wall. Settling in beside her, he didn't know what to say, so instead of trying, he simply reached over and took one of her tiny hands in his.

Outside of the bedroom, Blank walked over to the wall that Dontaine was holding up, settling in beside him just in case it needed a little bit of additional support. Though he was still calm on the outside, his shoulders just brushed the demons, his tail touching the back of Dontaine's leg. In small, simple ways, Blank drew support from him.

While Harlequin still continued her mantra of "ewewewewew," Cornet quietly asked for the rest of the story, which Blank conveyed, toned down slightly. If Amy wanted to fill them in on the rest of it, she would. About Cade's torture and her subsiquent capture, and about the trinket that she still clutched in her hand.

"Great," Blank murmured, glancing out the window and seeing Dark and Lyra there. He remembered, barely, what Dontaine had said about Dark turning into a cat, but he wasn't sure what to expect up until then. And, of course, Lyra would be following since she couldn't speak for herself at the moment. Usually, he would be a lot more sympathetic, but he wasn't sure how much Amy could deal with in one day.

So that Lyra didn't start pounding on the door and calling for her, Blank beat him to the punch, going to the door and opening it himself.

"Uh, hi," Lyra said, somewhat awkwardly as the door opened before him. "Is Amy in?"

"In a manner of speaking," Blank said wryly, not moving from his place at the door. He did, however, look down (way down) at Dark, who was close at Lyra's side. Damn--what were they hoping for? Some sort of cure from the kirin? A wish? That was the last thing she needed right now. The kath scowled at him.

"Well, can we see her?" he asked crossly, wondering what in the hell being there 'in a manner of speaking' was supposed to mean.

"Hey dad? I--oh, yeah, I got back a little sooner than expected." Will gave his dad a quick rundown of what had had happened. By the short pause, he knew he'd surprised his father with the events, though he wasn't sure why he was surprised. It was a pretty outlandish tale, even for him. "Dad?"

"You sure she's a kirin, boy?"

"Uh, yeah, last time I checked they were the only things with a horn on their head, tufty ears and granted wishes compulsively," he said, somewhat sarcastically. "Why?"

"Just doesn't seem like something a kirin would do, is all." Will had to think about that for a second. To most Gothalis-natives, kirin seemed to be an overly aloof species, controlling, manipulative. She'd shown those traits to be sure--she'd had to to survive. To get Cade out of there, like she'd gone for. Kirin usually manipulated the situation for their own means.

"She's not an average kirin," he said with a shrug. Amy wasn't an average anything. "But she's not the reason I'm calling."

"Well, I'm not doing you any more favors," the older wolf harrumphed. "I've taken more than enough days off work for this lifetime."

"This one won't involve any days off," he clarified, "and I'll be back to work soon. Just...I've found something, and I don't know what the hell it is." Glad to be off the topic of Amy, Will told his father about Dark and everything he knew about her. He heard a quick puff and thought that his mother must not be home with his father smoking cigars, but it helped the old man think. Plus, giving him a puzzle would help.

"Those angel wings, sounds like a Fallen," he said, though it was more to himself than anything. "But a snow leopard?" He paused again. "You sure she's from those islands?" They talked back and forth for a minute, and Will felt closer to an answer than he ever had. He just had to get a bit more information about Dark herself. He was sure that once he rattled the Kath up a bit, Lyra would be happy to give him some answers. Thanking his dad again, he hung up the phone, turning to make his way back inside.

Inside, Blank nodded. He didn't realize that Dontaine was hauling him off to have a Talk, but he did agree that he was exhausted and rest would be good for everyone involved. Even the chandra that had stayed behind looked a little worse for the wear, having counted days, hours and minutes since the others had left and not being able to communicate.

Instead of wasting words, he gently brushed a hand across the demon's shoulder as he walked through the livingroom, down the hall and into the guest bedroom that was sort of 'his'. There wasn't much in it, and it was still one of the rooms that was largely unfinished, but it suited his purposes. A full bed tucked in the corner of the room was neatly made up where Amy kept things tidy, even though the carpet was threadbare and the windows were bare. Once the door shut behind him, he sighed a little, rubbing the back of his neck.

"It's good to be home," he said wholeheartedly.

Though the sun had only just begun to rise, Will stirred, arms automatically tightening ever so slightly around the girl in his arms. Sometime during the night, Amy had turned to face him and rested one hand on his chest, the other still clutched around the artifact she'd brought back with her. That had is going to be so cramped, he thought to himself, though he'd already tried (and failed) to pry it from her deathgrip. She'd fought hard for that thing, killed for it, and she wasn't about to get it go. He couldn't blame her.

Sighing, Will brushed a tendril of hair out of her face, wondering why she'd been dragged through all of this. He wanted to blame Cadeon, he really did, but it wasn't really the centaur's fault. It wasn't anyone's fault but Alhazads, and he'd gotten his in the end, even if it had cost Amy. But the were had other things to occupy his time, at least for a little while. He had to figure out what Dark...Saige...was, so she could shift back. If she could shift back.

He couldn't for the life of him figure out why she could shift, but not shift back. And why had she gone so long? Werewolves and other similar creatures were governed by the moon--on the new moon, it was all but impossible to change. When it was full, it was impossible not to. But she'd gone for years (he could only guess how many) without, or someone around here would know more. Would know something.

Unfortunately, he wasn't going to get any farther in his investigation by laying here in bed with Amy, as nice as it was. Kissing her cheek softly, he pulled away, trying not to hear the soft sound of protest she made as he did so. Rummaging through the disorganized piles of clothes that lay around the room, he found a pair of his pants and shirt that he'd left before they'd gone to never-never land, slipping it on so he didn't traumitize Harlequin again. Not that it wouldn't be entertaining, he thought with a wry twist of his lips, but he had enough trouble with that particular chandra as it was. Cornet didn't give him a lot of trouble anymore, and he thought that he might have actually won Blank over--

--But what was the point, really? he wondered as he pulled his shirt over his head and moving towards the door. They all liked the perfect Prince Cadeon, and nothing was going to change the fact that he was just Gothalis scum, at least in their eyes. Oh, yes, he knew that Blank and Cornet had been over there, had seen the city that he called home, and they had been shocked. Horrified even. They hadn't liked him before, but how could someone like that possibly care for someone like Amy? The Wolf stirred and he ignored it, deciding to push the subject away altogether. He'd seen a computer in the front room, close to the phone, and he could use those just as well as the ones in his office. His secritary could do almost any of the legwork that he'd require.

Stepping quietly out of the bedroom, he noticed that no one else was out and about yet, but that was just as well. The laptop he'd seen was on the windowseat, no doubt where Amy had been working diligently in an attempt to come up with his fees so he'd find Cade for her. He sighed again as he booted up the out-of-date little thing, miandering into the kitchen to grab a drink before returning. Predictably, she didn't drink coffee, so he settled for a glass of juice instead.

Settling down at the table instead of the windowseat, Will began to do a little searching. Different catalogues that he wasn't supposed to paw through, records that he'd had to pay a lot of money to have access to. And he still didn't find any information on Darkness.

If its something that resist the call of the moon, Will thought to himself, its gotta be old. Real old. A few rapid-fire keystrokes sounded, and he swore quietly. There was something like that...in Gothalis. Something old. They were supposed to be gone, though, the last of them killed off long before he'd been born.

"Well, damn," he said quietly, gazing at the screen. No one liked the Monere much, mostly because they had all of the strengths and none of the weaknesses of the more modern Lycanthropes. He didn't think that his father's pack had anything to do with it, but the weres weren't the only ones that'd had problems with them. Vampires, dark elves, hell it didn't seem like anyone liked them.

But the angel wings? Will shook his head. That he coudn't figure out. Maybe she was some sort of breed, but those were very, very rare on Polaris. Each side hated each other with a passion that eclipsed just about everything else. A couple that would dare cross those boundaries, well...

"Well, s**t." He reached for the phone, dialing his father again. After the initial grumbling passed and Will relayed the rest of the information to him, they put their heads together. He affirmed the fact that the snow leopard was almost definitely Monere. As his father relayed a grim tale, Will thought, This is getting good. Thanking his dad, he hung up the phone.

Glancing over at the bedroom, Will wondered if it'd be right to bother Amy with this. Yeah, probably not. But he still should probably get over to Dark's manor, wherever that was. He liked baiting the kath, but it'd be more than that if he dragged this out for long. Well, at least there were a couple of people in the house that knew where it was.

A couple of hours had passed since he'd started this endevor, so at least it wasn't obscenely early anymore. Hoping that they wouldn't be sleeping still, or busy, Will made his way to the back of the house, knocking quietly on the guest room door.

Somewhat tousled, Blank peeked out from under the covers and around Dontaine's form on the bed.

"This had better be important," he muttered.