2412, Diori 08, Reshpe

Canelis eyed the changing sky, dreading the time it would take to disable the enemy's weapons. She, along with three other pixies whom she barely knew, were tasked to go all the way from the barrier towards the enemy wall at the foot of the Glass Mountain.

Not exactly a tactical move but Canelis wasn't in any mood to argue. Even her battle-hardened mind had concluded they really were at a disadvantage now that the barrier had been brought down.

Still, sending one of their own into an enemy camp with slim chances of returning showed they were desperate. Canelis had never been with Reeca and the others for long but she analyzed their speech patterns and nonverbal gestures and got quite an accurate representation of them in her head.

Reeca spoke like an entitled brat Canelis sometimes disdained. These were usually the blood of lesser colonels in the Riogener's ranks who project a strong exterior to inflate their self-importance. The result was usually a mix of impudence and arrogance to rival the loft of the Temple of Light and Darkness by the peaks of the mountains in Xai-Ren.

Canelis snorted, careful of letting her companions notice her amusement.

Still, it wasn't entirely Reeca's fault. Canelis understood Reeca had to be that to be able to convince herself she was doing the right thing. Compound that with years of inflicting said belief on oneself, even if someone did mention it to Reeca, it would take years more to grow out of it.

Elred, meanwhile, was a force of nature and that's coming from someone who has seen much such as Canelis. The shard fairy didn't like showing it but she didn't like it when her side was at a disadvantage. Perhaps the nature of the Valkalin family and their long history of power-grabbing and betrayals have been ingrained in Elred's mind that she has to always be one step ahead. Always wiser and wilier than her enemies.

So this particular blow on the barrier has taken its toll on Elred. The shard fairy had never once talked about glamour or midnight soaking sessions since the barrier collapsed (though, for the record, Elred talked about beauty and perfection about sixty-five percent lesser than an average member of the Valkalin clan). Elred had only been focused on making a move that would mean something against their enemies.

That's how Canelis found herself with three under-trained pixies and out of the camp.

Lastly, Geradine, almost the matriarch of the Ice Sprites army, wanted nothing but to finish this war so she could relax. Canelis had been studying the ice sprite general with fascination. How could someone with so heavy of a burden be so calm?

However, after seeing how Kennen Jarmez, the ice sprite heir, could take in the damage of war with a passive stare, Canelis concluded it's natural of the Ice Sprites to be calm. After all, according to an Ice Sprite proverb—to succeed in life, always be cool.

Geradine, to Canelis, was like the Renagener—loved, respected, and idolized. Canelis had observed how the other ice sprite generals had a certain twinkle in their eye whenever they talked to Geradine even when she was giving orders. Such expression was something Canelis only saw in the young pixies' faces when they first saw the Renagener in the mass induction or in the memorial parade.

Canelis didn't know if she was somehow going rusty or that Geradine was better at reading people and had employed some countermeasures on herself, but Canelis couldn't get an accurate reading on Geradine's character. Canelis knew that Geradine was calm, has an eye for Alkaran fashion, and loves ajilte, especially when they're chilled. That's it.

Canelis had tried harder in her observation but Geradine always seemed to know that someone was watching. Then, Geradine would immediately change her gait and all of Canelis's observations would be scratched off, leaving her with another blank slate.

So, she was left with a vague prescription of Geradine. It didn't sit well with her that there was someone with a proximity to her person that she hasn't verified. Canelis sighed, earning a look of concern from Darhath, a pixie with shoulder-length dark hair. She waved him off and clicked her tongue at his apparent disregard of pixie regulations about the head.

Of course, she wanted to stop basing her safety on the people around her but it's not like she could stop her instincts. During her childhood at the walled fortresses in Yin Alora, she was taught how to analyze each and every thing that would be presented to her at any point of the day and at dizzying speed.

As the Riogener's own blood, she couldn't just give up and fail those classes. Therefore, now that she's finally out of the Pixie Capital, she has analyzed everything up to the last detail and couldn't calm herself whenever she had something she couldn't accurately read.

Hence, her distrust of Geradine. Hence, her frustration when she was ordered to go out of the fortress with three strangers. It didn't matter if they're the same race as her.

Canelis frowned. Rambling to herself wasn't a common character trait, either. Interestingly, it seemed it's all she had been doing since she got to Penleth. She shook her head. Focus on the task. She's a soldier. There's no time for other things.

Her fingers tightened around the reins to her paulsare. "How much farther?" she asked her three companions. It didn't matter which of them answered.

"A few armlengths, Excellency," said Satra, a female pixie sporting cropped jet black hair. At least this one was mindful of the regulations even though it's not required in females. Must everything be this backward with defectors? Canelis never really got them.

"Stop calling me Excellency," Canelis's temper bled out into her tone. "We both know you've never considered my family as anything such."

Back in the day, Master Ros often told her that her temper would someday be her downfall. Canelis thought it to be ridiculous. How could a master suppose his student to someday fail? Satra was silent. Canelis expected her to be so. "And please, use exact values in reporting information," she closed her eyes and massaged the bridge of her nose. " 'A few' doesn't tell us how much farther we are from the enemy base. And what kind of measurement is an armlength? Use better terms like meters, distances, fortweres."

"Footwears?" Darhath called from his paulsare. He rode to Canelis's northeast. "What the hell would we use footwears for?"

"I think she means fortweres," Sylvis cast a wary glance at Canelis. He's a male pixie with curly brown-black hair and a hook nose common among Peltran nobles. "It's the standard system of measurement in the army back when I was still there."

Satra snorted. "No wonder you're that stiff," she said to Sylvis. Canelis analyzed that statement to be an offhand jab at the apparent social standing of Peltra's method of protecting the territory. Canelis didn't bother speaking nor defending. She had and must not have no opinion about the Riogener's policies.

Canelis stroked the neck of her black-and-white paulsare. She would have preferred a kraejen since they're faster and more personable but she would have to do with what was given to her. The cold, dawn wind bit at her skin and drove a few escaped strands of hair out of her face.

She gritted her teeth. Of all the people jammed into her team, she would have to deal with pixies who pushed everything she believed in out of their system and escaped the opportunity to serve the territory by running.

Cowards—the lot of them. They were too weak to stomach the military so they lived with other outlaws in the Underground Cities where Elred found them. Why were they here now, fighting in this war? Why were they in Penleth, accompanying Canelis in a sabotage mission to Rabante?

It was one of the mysteries Canelis had been pondering about when she couldn't sleep at night. Such displays of courage shouldn't have been found in people such as these defectors. "So, how far are we?" she asked after a whole minute of silence.

"I believe we're three fortweres to the wall in Rabante," Sylvis kicked the flank of his paulsare to match Canelis's pace, taking over the reporting from Satra. "Judging from the rate we are going, we're going to arrive in about three minutes."

"Good," Canelis breathed. "Although next time, don't include the word 'about'. It makes you look like you're not sure of your calculations."

Sylvis pursed his lips but never spoke again. Better for her. Out of all the things she hated, it's the yammering and the blabbering about banal subjects that contributed an insignificant addition to her overall knowledge. When it's quiet, at least she could reflect about the said knowledge as Master Khop taught her all those years ago.

Three minutes passed too soon. Canelis dismounted from the paulsare and stepped forward to run her hands along the rough surface of the wall. Disgusting. She wrinkled her nose as she dusted her fingers of the particles of whatever the wall was made of stained her skin. Her hands instinctively went to the folds of her robes and drove it away from touching the wall.

Another thing irking her when going with the defectors was that they were dressed in foreign clothes composed of scratchy tunics and trousers. Even their leather boots made an insufferable amount of noise every step they took. This was a stealth mission. They could have at least cared enough to be barefoot.

Also, the amount of dirt which seemed to find its way to her companions was astounding. Here she was, employing every trick she learned from her hygiene tutors to keep her white robes splendid and pristine. These defectors took all their time soiling their garments. What a waste of resources if they needed to wash themselves and their clothes all the time.

Well, judging from the smell wafting in the air since Canelis had been with these three, she supposed they weren't even doing that.

She clenched her jaw and inclined her neck up. The gray-green wall loomed above her almost like how Peltra's walls did before it crumbled. It would be a treacherous climb if they ever decide to mount a frontal assault. Canelis filed that in her memory and made sure to oppose it if it was ever brought up in the succeeding briefings.

What the four of them had to do now was to mess up the cannons so it wouldn't hit the Penleth camp and would destroy itself in the process of firing. Trix, the Underground mechanic with skills to rival that of Cyrdel's, the Brownie heir, gave each of them enough gadgets to deal with the cannons. They were only instructed to install them to their new homes.

Canelis sighed and summoned her wings. Her sword came out from under her robes. It was none other than the Lifecatcher, Peltra's never-dulling throne. She rose from the ground with a flap of her wings, catching the periodical draft to avoid making a noise. A dull pain throbbed at her chest as she stretched her hands and started doing her job.

She gathered enough of the visible light rays with her magic and began weaving it in such a way that it would hide her and her companions. They won't be invisible to a trail-checker but they certainly would be to the naked eye.

That's all Canelis hoped for in terms of security in this part of the wall. Just some sordid footmen the Heiress could dispose of any time. Canelis guessed the other side thought it was improbable for their side to resort to sabotage early on in the game.

But Reeca and the others did. Canelis could only pray to Umagi for guidance as she wove light rays and at the same time cast a glance around for any sign of unwanted life.

Satra, Darhath, and Sylvis set to work, bringing along with them a bag of Trix's gadgets each. Canelis didn't have time to understand the concepts the brownie had explained but it was enough to know that it would destroy the cannons from the inside out the moment they started firing.

"Go to the west side, Darhath," Satra was saying in a rather obnoxiously loud voice. Yes, why not scream with all her might, too? Uncouth. "Sylvis, you take the east."

Both boys—Canelis liked to think of them as a few years past being flower-children and they haven't displayed behavior proving otherwise—nodded and went on their way. Good and getting better.

Canelis kept her eyes peeled for any sudden movements, tracking her three companions' motion as they went over their designated regions, installing the gadgets the fastest they could.

Something flashed at the corner of her eye and she dodged just in time as a dagger sailed past her ear. Her arm instinctively shot out and caught the weapon by its blade with her non-dominant hand. The blade split her skin like a cutter splitting parchment which shouldn't be possible. Out of all parts of her body, her calloused palms were the hardest to cut.

She opened her palm and regarded the pooling red liquid from her own skin. It had been so long since she saw her own blood. She tried calling her magic to the surface and winced when it didn't come as she expected it to. Gritting her teeth, she tried again. And again.

At the third trial, she got avail. Magic wrapped itself around her palms, crackling with energy as it licked her new wound. It didn't heal. Canelis frowned. So it was that weapon. "We're discovered," Canelis called to her companions. "Quickly!"

There was no reply. Let Canelis hope they were all too focused on their missions to answer. She cursed as two more daggers sailed for her. Perhaps she should collect this and bring it back to camp?

She clenched her jaw and ran her gaze at the immediate surroundings, tracing where the three daggers came from. There. By a small hole in the wall. Canelis spread her magic towards the sunlight creeping from behind the clouds. A small grunt later and she sent a ray of pure sunlight at the hole. There was a weak scuffle and a shrill scream before it went quiet.

It's only a matter of time...

Canelis gathered more light from her fingers and proceeded to play a game with herself. She shot rays into the similar holes she found lining the wall. They were arranged in an erratic manner so as to prevent being detected swiftly and Canelis took that as a challenge. Why, this was fun.

She flapped her wings and sent two more daggers dropping from their intended trajectory. They dropped lifelessly into the grass below. Canelis whipped her hands here and there, enjoying the little screams coming from the holes. They're like the little pheasetis she used to burn with a looking glass when she was bored as a child. If those animals would emit a sound as they die, it's probably those tiny shrieks.

"Excellency!" a voice called from below. Canelis knew who it was, anyway. She rolled her eyes as the female pixie flew towards her place.

"I told you to stop calling me that," Canelis noted the girl's empty satchel. "Are you done?"

Satra nodded. Canelis sent three more light rays into three holes from different coordinates. Darhath's messy hair appeared later and helped Canelis in blinding the dagger-shooters along the wall.

"Make sure they didn't see us," Canelis said just as Sylvis flew up towards them. His bag of tricks limp by his side.

They nodded at each other and together, they moved towards the clouds for their exit. Canelis hadn't felt this free in such a long time. This mission was done successfully and going back to camp should be smooth-sailing from this point onwards.

That's where Canelis was wrong and she rarely was so.

The moment her head popped out of the layer of clouds, her throat dried up as an enormous shadow loomed over her. She raked her gaze at some sort of an island which wasn't tethered to anything. It was...a flying castle. It's a castle which could defend itself. A fortress. A flying fortress.

"Stay back," Canelis hissed to her companions and turned her attention back to the flying island lazily hovering above them all. Her stomach dropped into a pit and her throat constricted. They were all just being played. They didn't know the extent of their enemies' might until now.

A sudden realization filled Canelis's soul with dread. That's why the enemy has been focused on destroying the barriers. It would be an easy move for them to swoop in once the barriers were down. It would spell Penleth's doom.

She turned to her companions with an urgency she hadn't felt in such a long time. "Down," she ordered in a tone she only used when addressing soldiers or taking command of a battalion. "Haste."

The three pixies understood and nodded. Together, they flew as fast as their wings could take them, the rising sun chasing their tails as time raced against them. Canelis cursed. So this was what they were up against all along? It's clear now. They wouldn't stand a chance the moment that flying island decided to attack.

So why wasn't it attacking?

It was waiting for something.

Canelis narrowed her eyes, fighting the oncoming drafts from stinging her eyes. Her hair had escaped its bounds and was now ruining her vision by flapping around with the wind. She let it and focused on flying. Penleth's meager walls edged into view.

No one stopped her when she alighted, followed by her three companions, alive and whole. But for how long? Canelis left it to the gods to know.

As soon as her feet touched the dark soil, she was off, heading towards the center quadrant to tell the others what she witnessed.

That's when she noticed the scattered supplies thrown about in the expanse of the inner quadrant. Soldiers were running around, trying to clean up the mess. Keepers were scampering around, trying to document which supplies were lost. Who...

Reeca was running towards Canelis, a distraught look on her face. Guilt? Or perhaps, anger? Canelis had been too shaken to know which. Either way, the varichria didn't look happy. "Intruders," Reeca reported, confirming Canelis's earlier assumption.

"Intruders," Canelis echoed. She bared her teeth. "And a spy."