~THE LAST STAND~

by IceAngel

SUMMARY - 'The Deltora Quest rushes to its thundering climax' yet only Lief's story is told. This is Jasmine and Barda's story and what happened to them as Lief was going through the underground passage to the palace.
MAIN CHARACTERS - Jasmine, Barda, Lief, Doom.

Part 1 - The Forge

Wake the Bear
Do not Fear
Scurry mouse,
Into your house
Lift the lid
Be glad you did

A rhyme. A simple childhood rhyme. That was all.

Jasmine's heart was pounding so hard she could hardly comprehend what was happening. Doom was her father. Doom, leader of the resistance. Doom, the man they had suspected of betraying them. And yet though it seemed impossible, she knew in her heart it was true.

But why did Lief and Barda stare at her so? The hand which held the scrunched piece of paper containing the rhyme she held out to her unconscious father trembled slightly. What did it mean? It was just a rhyme.

Suddenly Lief made a quick movement. He lifted his shirt and unclasped the belt. Jasmine suddenly realised what he meant by the action. Lief reached out, holding the belt out to her with determination.

Jasmine shook her head, dizzy with denial and a feeling that all was not as it should be.

"Jasmine, put it on!" Barda yelled, and Jasmine could see the desperation in his eyes. "Doom is Endon. You are his daughter. You are the heir to Deltora!

"No!" Jasmine shouted, backing away from Lief's outstretched hand. Her foot struck the table leg as she moved backwards and she fell heavily to the floor. Kree flew screaching from her shoulder on to the windowsill. As her back struck the hard boards of the bedroom floor, a sudden flash of light filled her vision.

~ She saw herself in the palace. The horrible palace of stone that shut out all of nature.

She was the queen and yet the people rebelled against her. 'A wild girl from the forest,' they whispered behind her back. 'she should go back and live in the trees where she belongs!'~

"No!" Jasmine cried again, wrenching herself away from the dream. "It cannot be! I do not want it! I cannot do it!"

She looked up at the faces of Lief and Barda. She knew they were thinking back over the quest. They were wondering how they could have come so far, faced so many perils, to have failed here, because of her stubborn reluctance to do her duty.

"You can!" Lief said gently, "you must."

Jasmine looked over at Doom, her father. How much he had suffered to see his daughter take her place upon the thrown. He had lost his wife, been taken to the Shadowlands, and barely escaped with his life. She could not disappoint him now. She would do her duty.

Jasmine stood very still as Lief approached cautiously and began looping the belt about her waist. She held her breath, waiting...

Nothing happened. Jasmine sighed, not from disappointment but from relief. She knew it was selfish, and she knew she should feel horror that their quest had failed, but in another way she knew she could never have been the queen Deltora needed.

"What we have been told about the belt is false," Jasmine said in a flat voice, realisation of their failure beginning to dawn on her. "We have pinned our lives, and our hopes, on a myth. My father has been right all along."

Lief bent and lifted the belt from the floor, his face distant and confused. Barda's eyes grew dark and he sank into a chair by the door, his head in his hands. Jasmine hated to see their hopes die this way. The only thing she was grateful for was that Doom had not been forced to witness it.

Jasmine knelt by her father and tentatively brushed a strand of hair out of his eyes. She hardly noticed Lief moving slowly from the room.

There was a moment of complete silence, in which the only sounds Jasmine could hear were Barda's heavy breathing and the rustling of Kree's feathers. All at once Kree let out a loud screech and flew from his perch on the window. The door flew open and grey figures burst into the room.

Jasmine felt for the knife at her belt and realised with horror that she had left it on the bedside table. Kree swooped at the first guard's head, causing the man to curse and swipe at the bird with his sword. Jasmine lunged for the table, knowing that without her weapon she would be defenceless.

Barda had risen and drawn his sword the moment the door had flown open, but being so close to the entrance he was immediately overwhelmed by the first guards to enter.

Jasmine positioned herself in front of Doom. She heard him groan and begin to stir, and she preyed he would recover his wits quickly enough to aid them.

There was a mighty crash as one of the guards body-slammed Barda into the glass of the window. He fell, his forehead drenched in blood. They were upon him in a moment and Jasmine realised she was alone.

"I have him!" one of the Guards holding Barda to the floor shouted. "Now, the girl! The girl!"

Where was Lief? Jasmine thought feverishly as she blocked the trust of a sword, swiftly cutting under his blade and driving her own into his chest. He must be still in the other room, she realised, but when he hears the sounds of battle . . .

"Keep away!" she shouted as loud as she could. "Keep away! There are only three of us here, and there are ten of you! Ten!" It was a desperate effort, and Jasmine preyed the guards were too stupid to realise the stupidity of her words.

All of a sudden, a foot was flying at her leg. It struck her shin and swept her feet from under her. She was thrown to the ground, still gripping her knife. The same foot slammed into her hand and with horror she felt the knife fly from her grasp. She was grabbed by rough hands, hauled to her feet, and dragged from the house biting and struggling.

The only hope now was Lief. She hoped the risk she had taken in warning him would not be proved worthless.