[center][h3]Ally[/h3][/center]

Alecto's careless swings were interrupted all of a sudden when she felt an encroaching presence upon her. Signals in her mind fired, trying to spur her body into action, but she managed to rein her reflexes in time, as the other presence engulfed her. She quivered ever so slightly, spasming in genuine surprise as she suddenly noticed how the old champion had followed her into the courtyard, and was now prying the sword out of her hand.

"m-MLord!" Her voice squeaked, half genuine, half acting as she decided the play the role that was given to her. Even though in her inside, she could not help to point out this man, who still smelled like the food he had been served was perhaps, a hound in more ways than one. [i]Ye gods, Lord Volkshart, you really can't help but seek a woman to touch your sword.[/i] She wryly noted in her insides, as she sheepishly followed the flow of events. She was not Alecto, the Knight of Sin, but a hopelessly lost and clumsy maid. Her whole body quivered upon feeling the somewhat diseagreeable cold touch of the old man on her hips, but she made no attempt to fight or rebuke him. After all, he was supposedly well above her station. A myriad of options were displayed before her, perhaps she could try planting the seed of doubt in this man's ear rather the prince, and entince him with false love.

All fell flat, when she examined the sword she had been provided. Truly a beatiful, eerie sword, that resembled something not of this world, was not set in her hands. A true sword of a champion. She couldn't help but break her disguise slightly, allowing herself a concession on the craft. "Such a beatiful blade." She said with applomb as she held it tightly with her hands, following once again the instructions of the captain. Briefly inebriated by the quality of the blade, she pondered if she should aswell reward the man with a show of her true skill, probably worthy of that blade.

Her eyes again rested on the prince and his aide, and she realized this was not such a time for concessions, for she could be easily discovered if she did so. She then tightened her grip, and proceed to swing, timing the release of the grip of such a weapon that was sent flying against a wall, ricocheting in a rather spectacular manner, and finally falling in a pile of mud, as she skipped a step in the most clumsy of manners. 

"Whoops...I'm sorry m'lord, So sorry." She snapped in a exaggerated bow, hiding her entire face in shame.

[i]Serves you right, old man. Pity there's no manure or a well nearby.[/i] She mentally added.

[hr]

[center][h3]The Witch[/h3][/center]

Laborious sounds. A blade soaked in crimson. A human and a beast gasping for air, both trapped in a deep crevice under the surface of the earth. The shades muddled their senses, and the cold accentuated the pain of the grievous wounds both beings had caused to eachother. On one side, a woman dressed in dark rags, stained with the colors of earth and blood, with a dagger in hand, which, despite being bathed in crimson still glinted ocassionally whenever the odd ray of sun licked the bare blade. On the other hand, a creature of myth, akin to a white horse, and yet not. Cloven hooves, a tail not unlike a lion and a prominent horn with a twisted pattern, but beatiful in its design. An unicorn, one of the last of their kind, probably. The woman gritted her teeth. Such a wonderful beast, who had put a fight for its life with all of its might. Red oozed from the various spots where the horn of legends had gored and pierced the flesh, and numbness and breathing pains where its hooves had smashed bone and muscle. Brown eyes from beneath a frazzled raven mane eyed at the beast. Her chapped and cut lips uttering a whisper.

"Forgive me, but I have to end your life." Lucrecia gritted her teeth, as she willed her body once more, the dagger describing a fatal arc into one side of the animal. A final, painless blow to an epic struggle that had started hours ago. The Witch of the Black Blood felt cold, miserably and numb. She had lost so much blood in life threatening wounds. And yet she did not waver in the slightlest.

[i]Adhémar needs me. Even if he will never admit it.[/i] Lucrecia bit her lip, as she collapsed to her knees, the efforts finally taking the toil on her old body. Gripping the mud, she crawled towards the deceased beast, intent on taking the horn. According to her books, and her own mother's teachings, an unicorn's horn was the panacea. The universal remedy. A remedy she was risking her life for. And yet...

The feeling, the sensation of helplessness, and the pain she was feeling in her soul was beyond any kind of physical wound. She still remembered clearly, clutching her locket. Her only rememberance of the days she had once been a queen, and a mother of princes and princesses. The glass of the locket had two cracks. The first one had appeared years ago, when her daughter Ariana had died during childbirth. So when the second appeared, she knew Death was stalking her eldest son. She could feel it in her bones, and her divination sense pointed this was true.

It had happened a cold day, not unlike this one. And one man had braved enough to venture in the forest, to deliver her a message. Clad in the sigil of the Kingdom of Hiertania, he carried a single missive, a letter with the royal seal. That's when the locket cracked again, as a harbinger of things to come. The letter delivered the news, in the penmanship of her youngest son. The king was sick, and he had been made regent. 

And even if she was hated for what she was, a witch, it was equally true that they were her flesh and blood. Her children. And they needed her. So, after writing a quick reply and entrusting it to one of her trained crows, she set forth to hunt one of the most elusive beasts of the Black Wood. A legendary creature, with the power to purify and heal. She had spotted it several times, and each of them, she just respected the life of the majestic animal. But it was different now. She had already lost a daughter. She couldn't bear to lose another so quickly. It took her no small amount of effort to find it, but she persevered. Her efforts bore fruit, but not after a long and strenous chase. Her magic could not help, for such a blessed creature would never be affected by all the curses she could weave. As the unicorn turned to confront her and pierce her shoulder, the ground gave in, sending both of them tumbling down a deep crevice in the forest. 

Inside the forest's belly, she had fought to the death with the beast, armed with naught but a knife, all other weapons rendered useless with the fall. And she had emerged bloodied, but victorious. But she could not rest now. She still had so many things to do. Pushing herself to the point of almost losing consciusness, she crawled outside the pit, the excised horn now firmly attached to her back as a trophy. The blood continued to flow as wounds kept being reopened and flayed, but her stoic demeanor resumed. She could not afford to even use magic to cure herself, as she would need it for a greater miracle. The ability to travel long distances in a blink.

[i]Just...hang in there, my son. I'm going back to the castle.[/i] Lucrecia bitterly reminded herself, as she staggered towards her hut, where she would employ the magic circle to spirit herself away with the cure. Only a few preparations remained, and she could finally rest...

[hr]

Deep inside the castle, the black presence loomed. In swift movements, it skipped from shadow to shadow, evading the guards.  It had one objective in mind, and it kept a steady pace. It would not be uncovered before it was due. A task had to be done, a mission had to be accomplished.

Also that was a nice stack of papers. Maybe there could be even bugs hidden in there. The black creature stared in awe, as the shadows revealed its true avian form. Black feathers. Black bill. Bigger than a songbird. Smaller than a falcon. The crow's black beady eyes looked at the stack of papers, and the figure which was signing them. 

"CAW" The beastie said, in its strident voice, as it began to peck the "sum of all taxes of all Hiertania for the current year" greedily, perhaps probably thinking that the letters were bugs. It stopped frustated after a while, and twisting its head so slightly, its tail wobbled ominously and...

...THAT wasn't the kind of signature these documents needed. 

Of course, for all the crudeness of the bird, something else could be noticed. It had a small strip of something tied to one of its claws. Lucrecia's answer. If one were to catch the stupid crow, the letter would announce its purpose in clear penmanship.

[i]Dear Son,

Your news have reached me. And my heart aches. But, I shall not falter. I shall bring a cure to your brother. I shall bring an unicorn horn, the Panacea of all remedies to cure your brother, the King. Stay strong, Adrian. I love both of you, even if you are grown men right now.

With maternal love,

Lucrecia.

PS: Watch out for that bird, it has a tendence to relief itself in the most incovenient of places.[/i]