FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Alrighty, here we go, a wholly new series for you to read. This is a collabrative effort between myself and Lady Shalendrea Kit-ranth, hence the...well, you will see. The way we are doing this is I will write the first part of the story and she will pick up where I leave off when I finish.

But just so you are not confused, all the stories in this series are my work, done with the permission and at the request of Lady Shalendrea. My part of the story isn't finished yet, but we agreed to begin submitting anyway.

As always, comments are appreciated and requested.

---

15, 025 years After Monarchy Established

The corridor of grey stone stretched on for a hundred strides in either direction, the flickering flames of torches casting strange shadows across the floor and walls, dancing with the moonlight coming from the lone windows at either end of the hall, an endless mix of light and form, endless shapes dancing upon the floor as if the spirits themselves were engaged in celebration. On most nights, only the snap of dancing flames echoed within the stony confines of this place, only the ever mingling white moonlight and the orange glow of the torches decorated the flooring. On most nights, the oddly beautiful and entrancing patterns of torches and moonlight, patterns that would have been wonderful for an artist to capture on their canvas,went unmarked. On most nights, but not this one.

On this rare and wonderful night, the quite snap of torch flames was broken by the steady tread of a single pair of feet. The tread was wide, matching the ten foot height of the owner. Tonight, a dozen long shadows obscured the dancing lights on the floor, one each for the torches and windows, each meeting at the feet of the solitary man who paced back and forth in the corridor, looking like the aura of light of a star when seen through a pane of glass. Five strides, then a pause, a turn, then five more. On and on, the pacer paced, only his footsteps betraying his disquiet. Even though he had ordered this wing of the sprawling estate cleared, habit kept his face from showing emotions. In the realm of the shadow battles that the pacer fought, a single moment of unguarded emotion could be the downfall of even the most carefully laid plans. And then, another sound broke the quiet of the corridor, a sound that shattered the concentration of the pacing man. It was a strained cry of a woman in pain, not the first he had heard tonight, and likely not the last.

Lord Nael'eth would have given almost anything to be within the chamber past which he paced continually. But he knew, even as he wished to be inside, that all he could do was pace back and forth out here. For, as the head of the Kit'ranth family, one of the twelve noble houses, he had to do what was proper. And it would certainly not be proper for him to enter that room tonight. Past the now sealed door that led to his private chambers, his wife was in labor. And it wouldn't do for a noble lord to see his wife in such distress. It was even harder since his soul cried out for him to rush to his wife's side, to hell with courtly protocol. But he restrained the instinct, forcing himself to keep pacing.

But since he was unable to go where he most desired, he tried to focus on every little detail he could detect that didn't involve this maddening forced distance. Some dust had collected on his grey fur, dulling the black of one of his spots and he brushed a paw across the spot, combing the dust from his fur with careful motions, taking care not to muss the weave of his velvet tunic. When his fur was sleek and shining once more, he sighed, resuming his pacing, the broad wings that were furled tight to his body in the corridor giving a rustle of impatience, feathers flaring and relaxing in a rippling wave as they reflected his unrest. 'Another few seconds gone by.' He said to himself. As he turned to pace back the way he had come, he sucked absently on his fangs. The delicious, slightly coppery taste of his last meal still clung to the long teeth even now, hours later. He had ordered the cooks to prepare the meat near raw, only searing the outside of the steak. The juice that had flowed onto his tongue still tasted of blood, the true flavor of the meat coming with it. The taste alone made his stomach rumble, for he had concluded that meal many hours ago, when the day was still young, but he was far too preoccupied to eat again tonight.

Another pained cry echoed into the corridor to disturb the noble Lord's silent pacings and Nael'eth clenched one fist, again driving back the part of himself that demanded he go to the side of the one he loved most. A faint bite of pain told him he had instinctively bared his claws, the sharpened points drawing blood from his palm. As the echoes of the cry faded away, the lord raised his paw to his lips and absently sucked on the wounds in the pad of his hand, tasting his own blood upon them. It tasted not unlike the steak he had so enjoyed that morning, and he marveled for a moment at what a difference a reasoning mind made. It was what separated his kind from the animals, the creatures from which they took some of their traits. The coppery tang on his tongue took his mind off the pain his wife was feeling, so for once, he didn't mind the pain his savage instincts had inflicted upon him. Sighing, the lord returned to pacing, concentrating on stepping in the exact same space as he had before, every step covering the same empty space, the faint dust that had collected upon the stones cleared by his footfalls. As he walked his measured route, he thought of all his family had done in his life span and he managed a slight smile, his thoughts journeying away across the dozen worlds that House Kit'ranth controlled. Long ago, the magics that the nobility and their many servants commanded had allowed them to reach out to other worlds, worlds that had been wild and savage, worlds that were more than happy to swear allegiance to them. Those that hadn't, had been conquered. Regardless of why, all now swore fealty to the twelve houses.

House Kit'ranth wasn't the most powerful of the twelve houses, but it was getting there. Largely due to Neal'eth's efforts over the last three hundred years, his family was climbing into a coveted position of power within the nobility. Ever since the monarchy had been established by King Shan'tar more than fifteen millennia ago, the twelve families had ruled with unquestioned authority. Nominally, all twelve owed allegiance to the current King, but it had been a long time since the monarchs had interfered with the affairs of their nobles. As a result, the conflicts that had been the norm between the twelve noble houses had continued, though, out of respect for the royal family, it had become a shadow war, fought with influence instead of armies, waged in secret, behind the scenes, while all houses, even those who were bitter rivals, were perfectly polite and friendly in public. But now, House Kit'ranth was on the verge of attaining a status unmatched since the Savage era, before the monarchy had come into being. But that status had long been in doubt because the mastermind of the family's meteoric rise had lacked something of vital importance. Nael'eth had had no heir.

If he had died without one, his brother Nael'an would have taken over his title. But Nael'an, always the more savage and battle loving of the two brothers, had neither the talent or the temperament to master the subtleties of politics as Nael'eth had. And, as the lord paced, he thought about something that had plagued the family for as long as blood histories had been kept; the near sacred lists that tracked the noble bloodlines, each kept by its house as a treasure beyond reckoning of worth. There was a savagery that lived within the blood of the Kit'ranth, something that had made them better warriors than almost any other family during the dark days of the Savage era, but it made for a handicap in politics. It had taken generations of careful manipulation of their bloodline through magical means to produce nobles capable of controlling that savage instinct, and yet there were still those, like Nael'an, in whom it denied all attempts to control it. And there were whispers among the other nobles and their many servants that trying to control something so wild only led to other problems, subtle problems that had no easy cure. Grimacing, Nael'eth continued his measured pace, trying not to wonder how true those rumors were.

And then, another, more protracted cry echoed into the corridor, one that finally ended in a quiet gasp of relief. Another, quieter cry came a moment later, and then silence. The pacing nobleman stopped outside the door, wondering if he should enter now. He wanted to know what was happening, and he started to reach for the door handle, but then stopped, stepping back. It would be more proper to wait, to act as if he were unconcerned for a moment longer, he decided. He waited for a few more moments in silence, and then the door's oiled hinges moved, sliding around as the door was pushed open from within. The heavy door swung wide, revealing a midwife, the only one trusted enough by the family to be allowed to care for the nobility's children. But he had never seen her like this, not even when his brother's wife had died in child birth. The old woman's eyes were wide in an expression of great surprise, as if she could not believe what she had seen. Concerned, Nael'eth watched her with interest, suddenly fearing that the same thing had happened to his own beloved wife. Seeing the Lord's serious glare, she swallowed nervously before speaking.

"Lady Lalun is resting, my lord." She said quietly, her old voice barely a whisper. She looked as though she were about to continue, but words seemed to fail her. She swallowed again, shook her head as if to steady herself, and then finally spoke. "Unisus has smiled upon your family. Come, see your children."

Nael'eth permitted himself a slight look of surprise at her pronouncement. Twins were very rare among the noble families, so rare that they were considered the blessing of the gods themselves. And, while this might be considered the blessing of Unisus, by tradition one of the eldest and most powerful gods, something in the surprised look of the midwife made him think otherwise. Walking inside the outer chamber, where he and his wife had often sat close before the hearth, enjoying the luxury of being able to leave the trappings of their titles behind, Nael'eth bypassed the servants that stood within as though they were invisible, scenting the blood of his wife, as well as two new, almost familiar smells upon the air. Brushing aside the hanging curtains that hung within the arch leading to the bedroom, Lord Nael'eth looked upon his wife and their new children with surprise. His wife was grey furred with black spots, as most of the nobility was, her broad, feathered wings badly ruffled by her exertions. But the two faces that peered out from within the bundles of cloth that Lalun held to her chest were not grey. In fact, they were rarer than rare. One, his face already having the distinctive strong features of the males of the Kit'ranth line, seemed to be all black, but his father's sharp eyes could pick out black spots upon him, barely visible in the dimly lit chamber. The other face, finer lined and obviously female, was bright, pure white, like freshly fallen snow, with clear spots of black so deep they seemed to be absorbing the light around them.

"Unisus be praised." Nael'eth finally exclaimed as he saw the contrast between them, ancient words coming to his mind, mystic words that spoke of a great and terrible burden that the newly born twins would have to shoulder, if the prophecy be true. Nael'eth shook his head slowly, knowing that the lives of his children, already more complicated than was the norm because of their high birth, would be even more tangled a web than he had thought...

***

15, 031 years AME

"Shalendrea, pay attention." The tutor scolded, leaning over the shortened writing desk, disapproval plain on her face. The young white snow leopard frowned and returned her attention to the page before her. A book had been propped open on the desk before her, its pages long since browned with age. Black writing in a twirling script covered the pages, writing that the young leopardess was trying to learn to duplicate. The trouble was that spring had come again, and the land outside the window was far more interesting than the dusty tome with its ancient writing. What was more, the servants that tended the estate's gardens were singing as they worked, their songs playful, undignified and, according to her father, not proper for a noble to learn. But the young girl felt attracted to the music, her feet unconsciously tapping out the beat as she worked. Her immature wings, as pure white as pearls, not yet strong enough to lift her in flight, flared slightly with irritation at her tutor's reprimand. But, as she reluctantly returned her attentions to her work, she heard a quiet voice in her head, swirling into her thoughts like a tendril of spider silk. 'Shandi,' it called and she surreptitiously glanced over at the study room's other inmate.

Her twin brother Shaden sat at an identical desk beside her own, separated from her by a pace or two. Like all twins, they shared a perpetual mental link, allowing them to talk silently if they wanted. Ever dignified, the black furred boy sat with his back straight as an arrow, his attention apparently focused entirely on his work, his emerald green eyes flicking back and forth as he read from another book. But, while she watched, one of his wings, as black as a raven's, slowly shifted upward, revealing that his other hand was not on the writing desk as the tutor thought it was. The tutor had her back to him, and Shandi, as Shalendrea preferred to be called, grinned as a golden flame flickered to life in his palm. Both twins had shown marvelous talent in the magical arts since they had first discovered their powers, more so than any member of their family had before. With the tutor's back turned, it was too easy. With a flick of his fingers, Shaden sent the golden flame whizzing across the room, settling on the tutor's stack of scrolls. For a moment, the paper only crisped and blackened with the touch of the magic flame, and then, with a suddenness that would have startled anyone else, the stack burst into brilliant flames.

Hearing the crackling sound, the tutor whirled around and cried out in alarm, dashing across the room to the stack of papers. Hurriedly, she snatched up the burning papers and threw them to the stones, stamping on them with her feet until the flames were extinguished. Furious,the woman turned back, glaring at her two students, but both of them maintained perfect composure, looking so innocent that they were beyond reproach. Still glaring, the tutor examined the blackened papers and sighed.

"With the day's lessons burned up, we will have to adjourn for the day." She stated, and Shaden nodded, carefully scraping the tip of his quill clean on a cloth and covering his ink well. Shandi quickly followed suit, making an effort to appear as if she regretted the quick end to their studies. The tutor gathered up the tomes and their writing supplies with a resigned sigh, and walked from the room, sure that one of the children was responsible for the fire, though she knew she would never prove it. When she had left, Shandi giggled.

"Nice one Shaden." She said, smiling at her brother. He smiled roguishly in return, giving her a wink.

"Serves her right." He replied. "She should have known better than to try and make you pay attention to her stuffy old tomes." Shandi was about to reply when voices came into the room from the hallway, voices that the twins recognized. Both immediately fell silent to listen.

"...small world, hardly worth the effort." One voice was saying. Shandi thought it must have been her uncle. "It doesn't have any rare resource we need either."

"Perhaps, but it does have one redeeming quality." Another voice replied. That was unmistakably their father. The pair were almost right outside the room by now and the twins crept up to the door to listen more closely to the conversation. "It has been a hot bed of conflict for longer than you and I have been alive, Nael'an." Shandi wondered what her father was talking about. A world of conflict didn't seem to be a redeeming quality.

"Bah." Her uncle replied. "We should just conquer it and be done with it. They aren't even felines, for Unisus' sake."

"They could be valuable allies Nael'an." Her father replied, waving away his brother's last comment. "And with House Kirinus' recent gains, we could use them."

With that, the pair nearly passed out of ear shot. Shandi felt a brief flash of anger stir in her with the mention of House Kirinus. House Kirinus was one of only two noble houses not populated by leopards. They were Lions, and the long standing rivals of House Kit'ranth. Currently, they controlled ten worlds, two less than house Kit'ranth, but they were also making a power play on three others, vying for the power that all nobles craved above all. Shaden looked across the doorway at his sister and jerked his head towards the corridor, inviting her to follow the two adults. Shandi considered for a moment, biting her lower lip in nervousness. She and Shaden were supposed to stay in this room until their daily lessons were over, but she was sorely tempted by the chance to sneak around the house. Shaden's eyes gleamed hungrily as he waited for her response. Her brother was always hungry for news of the politics of the noble families, the conflicts between the twelve houses drawing him like a moth to a flame. She didn't much care for politics herself, but it could be fun to sneak out. 'Come on Shandi,' Shaden pleaded across their mental link. 'Please?' Finally, Shandi nodded.

With a grin of triumph, like a hunter spying prey, Shaden pushed through the door and walked quickly and quietly after the two adults, his sister close behind. Though the two adults were obviously taking great care with their conversation, careful not to let their voices carry too far, they might as well have been shouting for all the good it did them. No one was better at sneaking around quietly than the twins. The two children snuck carefully up behind the two quick striding adults as they entered a chamber up ahead. This was a room where the twins were not allowed to go yet, a room that Lord Nael'eth used for planning his moves in the endless shadow play of politics. But, as the twins flanked the door once more, they listened intently to the conversation inside.

"...As I said, while the world is small, centuries of warfare have given their warriors plenty of practice." Nael'eth said, the creaking of a chair indicating that he had sat down.

"And I say they aren't worth it." Nael'an pressed, barely contained rage in his voice. "Let me prove it to you. I will take a legion of our warriors there and subjugate the entire world inside of a day."

"NO." Her father shouted, slamming a fist onto a table. "For the last time brother, I said no and I meant no. You are far too bloodthirsty. Understand this, if we attack the world, all we will do is incite a war that we could very well lose. At the least, their armies number thrice that of ours and our allies combined. And they have been fighting wars for centuries. We haven't fought a serious conflict since our grandfather's time. Without our magic, we would stand little chance at all. As it stands, even with our magic, it is hardly a sure thing that we would win a conflict with the Antarians, but it would cost us far more than we would gain to do so."

"Then why do you keep persisting if they will fight us?" Nael'an replied. It seemed a perfectly reasonable question to the eavesdropping girl. She heard her father heave a heavy sigh and she got the immediate impression that this was something he thought was obvious.

"Violence isn't the only solution brother." He said. "The Antarian king is aging and sick. He will not last much longer. His two eldest sons are already gathering supporters among the noble families in the court. When he dies, it will likely turn to war. All we have to do is wait and watch, and when the time is right, we support the side that is the stronger. They will ally themselves with us in return and we will have gained another world in our alliance, a world filled with strong warriors ready to serve our ends. And then we can counter Kirinus with ease. Be patient brother, and our army will be stronger than ever."

"As you wish, brother. I will be patient. For now." Nael'an said, sounding mollified. Shandi heard her uncle bow and then turn, his footsteps covering the distance to the door quickly. Almost without thinking, the young leopardess raised her hands, magic flaring around them. In an instant, both twins seemed to shimmer before vanishing altogether, disappearing just as her uncle pushed through the doorway, a grumpy look on his face. "I still say we shouldn't be wasting time with such trivial matters."

It was clear he was less than happy with his brother's decisions, but Nael'eth was the head of their house, so he had to obey. When he had turned the corner and disappeared, Shandi let her spell fade, the illusion falling from them like a cascade of silver water that vanished into nothing before it touched the floor. As her spell faded, Shandi felt a wave of dizziness cross her senses as the spell drew off her strength. All magi had to be careful when using magic, since all spells drained strength from the user, whether or not the user had the strength required to cast them. Shaden looked at her with a relieved expression on his face, and the twins hurried away from the planning chamber, glad to have escaped detection.

"I wonder what planet they were talking about." Shaden finally said when they stood at the balcony above the entryway to the sprawling house. "I have never even heard of Antarians. They must not be one of the noble houses."

"I wonder what kind of folk they are." Shandi said, looking longingly towards the gardens outside the towering doors. "I have never seen anyone who isn't a feline before."

"Why would you want to?" Shaden asked, then turned towards the corridors into the house once more. "I think I will go practice in the armory. Care to join me?"

"No thanks." Shandi replied and he shrugged, giving her a wave before dashing off towards the storehouse where the family's guards kept their weapons. That was another thing that he loved a great deal. He loved to practice with swords and daggers, finding joy in mimicking the guards as they sparred. But such things held no interest for the young girl and she turned, running off, out onto the estate's grounds with a wide grin. To be outside on a day like today was joy enough for her...

***

15, 033 years AME

Shandi grinned to herself, her hands tingling with magic as she manipulated a small globe of copper with a spell. The young girl was standing in a room that was bare of all furniture and hangings. Only a single torch sconce on each wall was the only decoration, though none of the torches were currently lit. Not that the darkness bothered her. Shandi's eyes were glowing slightly, providing all the light the girl needed. This room seemed a little out of place in the noble estate, but Shandi kind of liked it. This was the space where the family practiced its magic, and, on the occasions where such things were needed, the place where they were tested by their teachers. And that was the very reason the girl was grinning so broadly. This particular test was reserved for those who were ready to become an Adept, a rank of magus right below Master. And no one so young had ever faced it in all the history of magic.

The globe of copper shifted a few millimeters as she adjusted its position carefully, biting her lip in concentration. She could feel the magic that held the sphere aloft steadily drawing off her strength, but she ignored the sensation, focusing all her attention on the sphere. The reason why she had to take to such care was simple. Spread throughout the darkened chamber, invisible to the naked eye, were walls of a rare type of magic, a form that the magi had named negative magic. It was said to have been developed on a world of total darkness that had been destroyed centuries ago. What it did was cancel out any magic that touched it, until the negative energy powering it was used up. It was always theoretically possible to overwhelm the barriers with her magic and therefore make the task she had been assigned easier, but these barriers had been created by an arch magus, and Shandi knew she didn't have the power to break them. But then, that was the point. This was as much a test of her ingenuity as it was a test of magic power. Finally, with a last small nudge of her power, the sphere was in place.

Her grin returned as she lowered one hand toward the floor, not looking as she used another spell to lift the only physical tools she was allowed during the test. Six flawless mirrors rose into the air from where they had been stacked, forming an odd procession as she guided them carefully through the air. She longed to hurry, to get the test over with, because each object she manipulated with her spells added to the drain on her body, but she knew she had only one chance at this. Carefully she guided the mirrors through the barriers and into position.

These tests were ingenious to say the least. Across the room, supported by a web of magic, a small crystal hovered about two meters above the floor. Currently, its surface was dark, and almost invisible. Her task was to hit it with a beam of magic, one of the more basic spells she knew. But the negative magic barriers made it impossible to hit it from where she was standing, since the beam spell could not bend in its flight. But she knew what to do. Working as fast as she dared, she manipulated the mirrors through gaps in the barriers, angling them just so. Finally, after a few minutes of effort, she quickly ran through her plan one more time, checking the position of each mirror carefully.

It would work, she knew it would work. Frowning slightly, she changed the position of one of the mirrors slightly, turning it a half degree to the right. Nodding once in satisfaction, she took a deep breath, and, making sure that her spells holding the sphere and the mirrors in place held steady, she pointed her palm at the first mirror. For a moment, the chamber was absolutely silent and still, then the young leopardess spoke a word of command. In an instant, a brilliant beam of white energy connected her hand to the first three mirrors and finally to the floating sphere. The sudden light of the spell had nearly blinded her, searing her eyes with its glow, but she could not waste a single moment clearing her sight; the beam spell had taken more strength than she had expected. There was a terrible pressure within her chest, as if the air of the chamber was pressing hard down on her. Shaking off the feeling, she quickly guided the sphere towards a gap in the network of barriers. The sphere, since it was made of copper, was temporarily storing her spell within it, making it glow brightly in her enchanted vision. To allow herself to see the barriers that complicated this test, she had cast a spell on her eyes that gave her the ability to see magic. But now the many spells she was using at the same time were starting to take their toll. She was getting weaker by the moment, her strength being drained away by the magic. She knew she didn't have long before the spells would start to fail.

The sphere darted through one gap, and approached another, but this gap was only just big enough for the sphere. The glowing ball slowed as it approached the barrier and Shandi focused all her attention on the gap, her brow furrowing with concentration, blocking out the distraction of her strength slipping away. Gently, she made a few minute changes to the globe's position, and then, she pushed it towards the gap, knowing she had mere moments to get it into position. The sphere approached the gap, and Shandi saw in her mind's eye that it was awfully close to one edge of the barrier. Gritting her teeth, she watched as the sphere soared closer, closer and then she smiled, for the sphere was through, her spell intact. But she couldn't take the time to congratulate herself. The globe could only hold her spell for a few moments longer. Already she could feel it starting to give. Quickly, she raised the globe so it was in line with the next gap, the final spell she needed to use welling up in her. She whispered the words, the sudden drain on her strength driving her to her knees, the pressure within her growing until she could hardly breathe and instantly a near perfect shield of magic appeared around the sphere and she held it in place, and not a moment too soon. The brilliant white light of her magic shot from the sphere where it had been held, the tiny pinprick of a gap she had left in the shield providing perfect aim. The brilliant magic beam connected the sphere to the last three mirrors, and then the beam shot through one final gap in the barriers and struck the crystal dead center.

In an instant, the barriers disappeared, dispelled by their creator. Shandi let her tools settle to the ground and then let out a gasp, panting as she released her spells, the pressure that had built within her letting up as suddenly as if someone had loosened a belt that had been clasped tight around her chest. Her eyes stopped glowing and she sucked in a deep breath once more, a tired grin coming to her lips. It was done. The strain on her young body had been immense, but she had made it, she had passed. The arch magus who had created the barriers entered the chamber quickly, followed by a pair of masters, one of whom was her usual teacher. All three were smiling broadly. But suddenly, she realized that something was wrong. Their outlines were blurring.

"Well done Shalendrea, you have passed the test." Her teacher said and she tried to reply, tried to speak but the words would not come. Her voice was gone, lost somewhere deep within her. She felt exhausted, so drained that she couldn't move, couldn't even think. The world titled sickeningly in her vision as her teacher continued. "Never have I seen a student so young display so much skill." She wanted to reply, to thank him for his kind words, but she couldn't seem to remember the words. Darkness began to creep into the corners of her sight and she fought with herself, trying to hold on, to make it go away. She struggled to remain conscious, to focus on her master's voice, but it was all fading away. She shook her head, trying to wake up, but there was nothing she could do. "Shalendrea?" She tried once again to reply, tried to acknowledge his voice but the lure of the beckoning darkness was like a siren song. A few moments later, with a sigh of resignation, she slipped into the black, smothering warmth that had crept over her...

***

'Shandi.' The single word swirled through the warm darkness that the leopardess lay in, stirring up currents of odd images. The young girl didn't know where she was or how she got there, but neither subject mattered all that much to her. And, as she lay in the warm darkness, floating in the void, images swam before her eyes, images that seemed to match vague memories that she only barely remembered. The first images were of being carried hurriedly through the halls of her home. She remembered the voices of the Arch magus and the masters discussing something near at hand, though she could not recall what it was that had been said. Their voices had been like little more than murmurs, as if she were hearing them through a wall. They had been worried, that much was clear, but she didn't know why they would be.

'Hey Shandi.' The voice was back, louder this time. She frowned a little, turning her mind away from the voice, trying to return to her dreams. The darkness was so warm and comfortable she didn't want to wake up from it. All she wanted was to sleep, to rest until the darkness faded away. 'Wake up sleepyhead!!'

The mental shout jerked her out of the darkness as swiftly as if she had been dumped naked into a snow bank. Light began to return to her world. At first, it seemed to be nothing more than a smudge in the distance, a faint vision of some far off place, like something viewed through an old telescope. But gradually, as she returned to wakefulness, the image grew larger, clearer, until she could make out shapes within it. But, even as the vision filled her sight, battling back the darkness, it was still blurry and indistinct, so she could not see what it was. It was a surface that appeared to be light yellow, but there were flickering shapes across it, and then, sound began to intrude on the pleasant silence she had been in.

"How is she?" Her father's voice asked, sounding distant, as if he were standing at the end of a tunnel, the words echoing through her mind.

"Still alive, thankfully." Her teacher replied. The voices seemed to be getting nearer by the moment, the echoing getting fainter as they talked. "The effort nearly killed her. As for whether any damage was done..."

"If there was lasting damage done, I will hold you personally responsible." Her father stated, his voice filled with anger. "I can't believe you let someone her age take that test."

"I judged her to be ready." Her teacher said defensively. "And she did pass." Her father sighed and Shandi found suddenly that sensations were returning to her body. She was lying on something soft and warm, a surface that was yielding enough that her wings were not in pain, though she was lying on her back. A blanket was covering her, warming her up, for the chamber's air was cool. And then, she noted that a hand was holding her own, the hand nearly the same size as her own. Finally, she noticed that her eyes were itchy and dry, as if she had been holding them open for a long time. She blinked, and at once, the world came back into focus, and everything seemed to happen at once.

"She blinked!!" A third voice cried out from right next to her, a voice that was young. At once both her father and her teacher stopped talking, hurrying into view. Both looked worried, the flickering torchlight casting odd shadows over their faces. She tried to move, tried to look to the side, but she found that her whole body was so sore she couldn't manage to even make her muscles twitch. Finally, summoning her will to the task, she managed to turn her head a little, and she saw that Shaden was seated beside her. In the dim light, her brother looked all the world as if her shadow had suddenly become a person. It was his paw that had clasped hers, and his voice she had heard in her mind, the voice that had called her back from her slumber.

"Shalendrea, can you hear me?" Her teacher asked, looking in her eyes, his piercing gaze seeming to be seeking something he feared was not there.

"Yes." She said, her reply coming out like a whisper, though she had had tried to talk in her normal voice. Both of the adults smiled in relief.

"It would appear that no damage was done." Her teacher commented, helping her to sit up. Shandi found that she was weaker than she had ever felt before, and that she was as sore as if she had been pounded on by hammers for hours. She could barely support herself with her arms resting behind her. But then, her twin brother put a goblet to her lips and she drank its contents, her nose picking up the odd scent of many herbs, not all of them appetizing. The thick liquid contained within the goblet was the color of freshly drawn blood, and for a moment, the image turned her stomach, but the moment it touched her lips, she drank it with a sudden great thirst, greedily sucking the goblet dry and then looking around for more. Her strength swelled suddenly within her as she drank, the potion returning life to her body even as she nearly gagged on its bitter flavor.

"What happened?" She questioned while Shaden refilled the goblet from the glass decanter on the table. Judging from the faint glow that the glass container held, the potion had been freshly mixed only mere minutes ago. The black leopard handed the filled cup to her and she sipped it rather than quaff the whole thing as she had before, savoring the flavor like one would for a fine vintage of wine. Once one got past the initial urge to gag, the potion tasted vaguely like the spiced wine that her parents had made for her during the cold winter nights, the memories making her smile slightly.

"The magic you used in the test drained you nearly to the point of death." Her teacher replied, smiling. "You came so near to the brink that, for a while there, I thought you would cross the threshold. But now that you are recovering, I must go." He shot her father a dark look as he rose. "I have other duties to attend to, so if you would excuse me, my lord."

The aging wizard bowed to her father and let the room. The older leopard sat down at the foot of her bed, seeming to be about to speak, but a knock at the door made him rise again quickly. Shandi saw her uncle standing at the door, and he whispered something to her father that made him smile, though she was still too groggy to hear what had been said. Her father looked back at her for a moment, then sighed, and nodded to his brother, following him out into the hall.

'What did they say?' Shandi asked her brother, speaking for the moment across their link, so their father wouldn't hear them.

'Civil war has broken out on Antaria.' Shaden replied. 'Both sides are petitioning for an alliance with us.'

'That is horrible.' Shandi replied, surprised to find joy and anticipation in her brother's mental voice. She had always thought of war as something to be avoided, something so horrible that it should only be the last resort of anyone. But Shaden seemed to be glad that war had begun on a world he hadn't ever seen, among a people they knew nothing about. But, as quickly as it had appeared, the horrible joy and anticipation vanished, replaced by a warm affection that they had always shared for one another, making her wonder if she had only imagined them. For a few moments, the pair sat in silence while Shandi finished off the goblet. Then, Shaden spoke, his voice quiet in the chamber, as if his spirit was subdued.

"I thought you were going to die for a while." He said, looking at her with concern. Then he turned away a moment, looking at the ground. "It made me feel so..." he trailed off, unable to find a suitable description for the feeling. "Just don't scare me like that again." Shandi smiled and pulled her twin into a hug.

"Don't worry bro." She said. "I don't intend to..."

***

15, 039 years AME

The dozen candles stood thirty feet away, across the open space in the gardens. They were unlit, and seemed quite out of place, since the sun was still high in the sky above the estate, shining down brightly upon the white furred snow leopard. Shandi had commanded that the servants set them on a table she had dragged out into the gardens, insisting on doing that task herself. She had then asked that they leave her be and sworn them to silence as to where she had gone. She squinted up at the sun, judging that she had about three hours until sundown, a time when her father had required her to come in for some formal dinner he had planned for the evening. Once, she would have enjoyed such an evening, since they always meant she got to see all kinds of interesting people. From high ranking priests and magi, to political allies of her father and uncle, to members of the other noble families. Once, but not any longer. She had changed in the years since the test that had nearly claimed her life.

Soon after the test, like all Adepts, it had come time for her to choose what specialty of magic she was going to study. And she had quickly found herself attracted to the powers of the Mages of Light, an order of magi that served as a counterpart to the priesthood that served Unisus and the gods of good. The moment she had begun to study under them, she knew she had found her calling. Her powers had grown quickly, so quickly that it taken her only five years to become a Master magus. Smiling slightly, the young woman flicked her wrist, uncurling the long bullwhip she held. The thirty foot length of leather had been a gift from the Arch Magus of Light, the man who had taken over her tutelage when she had passed the test to become a Master.

It had been blessed by the High Priests, and held incredible power all by itself, but she could also channel her powers into it if it was needed. And she was powerful, more powerful than many magi. Only fourteen, she was the youngest to ever have achieved Master rank, a rank even her brother was only just achieving. Her teachers had often said that the tasks Masters were supposed be able to accomplish would be impossible for one her age, but she had always accomplished every task, no matter how daunting. It seemed that with every year that passed, her power doubled. But that was not why she was standing alone in the gardens today, nor was she there to enjoy the warm sunshine, as she had in the past. She sighed, her smile fading and waved a hand at the candles, magic sparking at her fingertips. Instantly, the candles kindled into life, bright flames flickering in the sunlight. Squinting a little, she flicked the whip back behind her, resisting the temptation to use her magic to guide her strike. This was something she wanted to do without the aid of her powers. That at least would make her father stop bugging her to learn to fight, like her brother had.

The trouble had all started two years ago, when an assassin had come so very close to killing her father and uncle. Immediately afterward, her father had begun insisting that she learn combat skills so she could defend herself. Though she understood the need, she had never been interested in fighting. It just hadn't sat right with her. Reluctantly, she had begun to learn how to fight with the whip, the difficult fighting style at least providing a challenge she could set herself against. Still, she had found the training to be a bothersome way to spend time she thought would be much more fruitful if she had used it to study magic. But now, it helped her to relieve the stress that had built up in her body.

Taking a deep breath, she settled her body's movements, holding her stance perfectly. Though still barely a teenager, the young girl already had the body of a full grown woman. Her body had become shapely and extremely beautiful, never seeming to go through the awkward stage that most went through when growing up. She now moved with a dancer's grace, having long ago defied her father's wishes and learned the dances the servants danced to their earthy, ignoble songs. Since she was nearing womanhood, her father and uncle seemed to expect that she would take a greater interest into the politics of the family, start taking on the responsibilities of a member of the noble house. Since she and her brother were the same age, by tradition, they were to share the position of heir, both taking up their father's title upon his death. But while Shaden had leapt at the chance, already taking on as much responsibility as their father was willing to give him, learning everything he could about every other family and every world that the nobility ruled, Shandi had almost no interest in it at all. Smiling grimly, she flicked her arm forward, expertly snapping the clawed tip of the whip at her target, snuffing out one of the dozen flames with a hissing snap.

She didn't want to learn to navigate the dangerous waters of the political seas. She hated the lying and scheming that was required to be good at political manipulation. And most of all, she hated the coldblooded way that it made people act. Frowning, she snapped the whip a second time, snuffing out a second flame. She didn't want to deal with it, and she resented being forced to act a certain way, simply because she was a noble. Sighing, she pushed her sleeves back up, the silken cloth refusing to stay put. She wasn't wearing a long elegant dress like her father wanted her too. Instead, she was wearing the baggy trousers of a dancer and a light tunic that revealed her curves well, both garments cut loosely so she could move with ease. Her clothes were clasped over her midriff by a golden belt hung with coins that jingled when she moved. Golden bangles hung around her wrists, throwing yellow reflections across her white fur with its black spots. Another snap, another flame snuffed out.

All that she really wanted was to study her magic, and to dance without having the weight of responsibility that seemed to follow the members of house Kit'ranth around. A frown creased her face once more and she snapped another flame out of existence. Sighing, the young girl looked down at the green grass beneath her bare feet, coiling the whip in her hand. The thing that was really bothering her wasn't the politics, or her families insistence that she act like a noblewoman, no, it was something that she had overheard her uncle say to her father. 'I wish she were more like Shaden.' He had said. Shandi twisted the whip in her hands, making the leather creak as her grip tightened. That hadn't been the worst of it. The thing that had hurt the worst was that her father had agreed with him. Snarling, she violently flicked her hand, the claw on the end of the whip slicing a pair of candles in half, toppling the wax to the table, the flames guttering out even as they fell.

Shandi sighed and let the whip fall from her hand, its length coiling up in the grass. Closing her eyes and shaking her head dejectedly, she sank to the earth, sitting beside her weapon and crossing her arms across her chest. Even a couple of years ago, she would have been happy to be compared to her twin brother. She might even have wanted to change to be more like him. But he too had changed in the last five years. Worse, she didn't know how it had happened. Her twin had been her closest friend and confidant throughout their childhood. They had had their differences of course, but they had still been a lot alike. For instance, Shaden had loved to train with weapons, and he had had an incredible talent with offensive magic, while she had preferred the defensive skills of the Light magic. But any time they had been challenged or insulted, they had defended each other, until everyone in the house knew better than to try and separate them. In one thing only had they truly differed. And that was in their attitude towards politics. While Shandi thought it was repugnant and distasteful, Shaden seemed to live for it, to crave it. And then, something had happened. She didn't know what, but something had changed in her brother. He had started drawing away from his sister. It had been a subtle change, something that she was slow to notice. But when it finally came to her attention, it had been immediately apparently. So much so she was surprised she hadn't noticed it before.

She still remembered the first time she had truly noticed how much he had changed. They had been sitting against the wall in the planning room, listening to their father discuss the brutal war on Antaria, which had been in its sixth year and, if anything, was intensifying, despite the horrid bloodshed that had swept across that world. And, while she had been tuning most of the news out, Shaden had been hunching forward, listening eagerly as her father talked lightly of casualties and which of the two sides had the advantage. She had been bored out of her mind and had decided to sneak off, and while in years past, Shaden had snuck off with her, this time it was different. She had asked him silently, speaking across their mental link, but he hadn't so much as acknowledged that she had said anything. That was nothing new, he had been doing that for a while after all, as had she for that matter, but only when she didn't want to be distracted. Then, she had touched his arm, trying to get his attention. It had been a light touch, an innocent thing, but it had provoked a response, one that she had never expected.

He had yanked his arm away from her as if he had been stung, but it had been the look on his face that had startled her most. It had been angry, and more than that, it had been cold, as cold as deepest winter. The look had been so cold in fact that she had almost reached for a defensive spell, thinking he were going to attack. In his eyes, she had seen something that hadn't been there before. It was as if a stranger was looking through her brother's eyes at her. The look was gone in an instant, replaced by his usual grin, but that instant had been enough. She had cloaked herself with her magic and left without a word, hurrying out into the gardens, to the same secluded space where she now stood, hidden by hedges and trees.

And in the days that followed, Shaden hadn't even seemed to think he had done anything wrong, to say nothing of apologizing. Since then, he had grown more and more distant, until now, little more than a year later, she barely recognized her brother. And there was something else too, she had learned from the Arch Magus who was tutoring her in magic that Shaden had stopped showing up to his lessons, and yet, she knew, from what she could sense through her mental link with her brother, that his powers were growing all the time. Already he matched her strength, though she had gained Master rank before he had. Which meant that he had found another source of magic, a source that granted him more power than his conventional studies had. And that worried her more than his behavior, since the only sources of power that the Arch Magi didn't use were, with little exception, forbidden or worse, lethally dangerous.

Shivering, the young woman rubbed at her arms, suddenly cold, though the day was warm. Something else was bothering her too, something she couldn't seem to shake. It was the reason why she was blocking out the link she had with her brother, the reason why she was out here in this secluded space out in the gardens. Ever since she had started to mature, ever since her body started to grow into a more adult form, she had noticed some of the young nobles that had visited her family starting to look at her with more than passing interest. Some were simply smiles, appreciative glances, but others, others made her feel more than a little uncomfortable. Some of the servants too had been looking at her that way when she had come out to dance with them, and she was beginning to wonder what it all meant. Whatever it meant, she knew it was dangerous. The trouble was, now that Shaden was so distant, she didn't know who she could trust with her concerns. Her father had taught her long ago not to trust the servants, since some were certainly in the employ of the other noble families. She could not trust any of the guards, who, though more loyal than the servants, universally served her father. And she did not even truly trust him, since she knew that he considered everyone around him to be tools; in the case of family, valuable, and useful tools, but tools nonetheless.

Sighing, Shandi picked up her whip once more and stood, facing the table. It did her no good to sit there feeling sorry for herself. Sighing once more, she flicked the whip back behind her. Then, she focused her mind upon the remaining candles. Maybe the answer was that she couldn't trust anyone besides herself. Giving a half smile, she flicked her wrist forward in an intricate pattern, the whip lashing through air quickly. Six snaps in rapid succession and she coiled the whip once more, hanging it on her belt, smiling a little more broadly in satisfaction before turning her back and walking away toward the house to change her clothes. Behind her, six winding trails of smoke were all that remained of the candle flames, each extinguished by the snap of her whip...