This is a reposting of this story for those of you who may have missed it. At 81 reviews and 17 chapters with 48164 words, and 4243 hits, I'm very proud of this story. I hope those of you who have never read it before enjoy. Following this chapter, new review responses, if any, will be posted at the end of each new chapter rather than the beginning, for the reason that at the beginning are where review responses from the original posting are.

Another reason I am reposting this story is simply because I have developed the sequel, which I hope those of you who have read this before will enjoy. It involves many things from the first story. Therefore, I am giving any of you interested in the sequel a chance to refresh your memory, and new readers a chance to… read. The sequel will be posted following the re-posting of this story, all 17 chapters. Again, comments, suggestions, all will be heard, though I doubt I would change anything in this story other than grammar mistakes.

Remember, read, enjoy, and dream. I hope this story is inspiration for others.

Oh, and it starts out a little stiff. Stick with it, I promise it gets good. In my opinion, anyway…

Takes place soon after the Second Fire Bringer war. Enjoy!

………

Chapter 1: Lost Control

The pale reflection in the water stirred in the breeze that disturbed the peace of Budehuc Castle. The owner of the reflection stared into the water with empty eyes. She was deep in thought and did not notice the knight staring at her from a couple yards away. He approached slowly, not wanting to disturb the serene sight before him. But he knew that his duty was more important than his own wants.

"Milady." He spoke quietly so as not to disturb her. She brought her head up, rigid for a moment. But within the second, she calmed herself again.

"Yes, Borus?" she said, without turning around.

"Pardon my disturbance, but it seems the Council has sent a message of great importance." He shifted.

She turned around now, and Borus was met with the stern face and empty eyes of his captain. "How important is it?"

"I do not know the message myself, milady, but Salome was… not happy."

"Than whatever it is cannot be good."

"Aye," he nodded. Chris took one last look at the sea, then followed Borus toward the meeting room, her armor clinking on the stone path.

Borus stole a glance at the woman behind him, only to see her stern face lost in thought, watching the ground beneath her. Her eyes did not mark the pavement; rather, they looked through it to a world unseen by those other than she.

The meeting room was empty of furniture except for seven chairs situated in a circular fashion, and an eighth behind an oak desk. The Knight of Gale, better known as Percival, stood when they entered the room.

"Milady, Borus," he greeted, pointing to two chairs at his right. Other than Percival, Chris, and Borus, the room contained Roland, Leo, Salome, and Louis. Salome, appearing to be in an uncommon bad temper, waved a scroll of paper in front of him.

"Milady, this note from the council just came in."

"As Borus told me," nodded Chris.

"What does it say, already?" came Leo's gruff voice.

Salome cast a glare in his direction, then continued, "It states that Lady Chris is to ride directly to Vinay del Zexay in a summons to the Council to discuss war methods on attacking the Grassland."

"What?"

"That's ridiculous," growled Borus, standing to prove his point.

"We've just finished a war with the Grasslanders, and went through Hell to sign a treaty that both the Grasslanders and the Council agreed on!" Leo fumed, smashing his armored fist against the wall.

"The very idea of going to war with them after all we've been through is sickening," Salome agreed. "But enough complaining. What shall we do?" Everything was silent as all eyes turned to Chris. She sat with her eyes closed, thinking.

"I'll go," she spoke, after a minute. "I will hear them out. But if they truly insist on going to war with the Grasslanders, they will receive a steady refusal."

"Who will you take with you, milady?" Salome asked, wiping a few strands of hair from his eyes. He was obviously not in the best of moods.

"Borus, Leo, and of course Louis. I want the rest of you to remain here and keep watch for any orders from the Council. Let no one read them, and do not act until my return, no matter what the order is. As for the message you carry now, Salome, burn it."

"Milady?" Percival said, surprised.

"Should that message fall into the wrong hands, war will rage again." She explained, standing. Percival nodded in sudden understanding.

"Right away, Lady Chris."

……

It was late morning when the group of four left for the Zexen Forest.

They arrived at Vinay del Zexay later that day. After the horses were stabled, and Louis and Leo went off to the inn to rent rooms for themselves, Chris and Borus decided to go see if the Council would accept her at the late hour.

"I'm sorry, milady," said the marshal at the door of the great hall, "but the Councilors have all gone home."

"This early?" questioned Borus.

"Yes, Lord Borus. They have been stressed lately by a particular problem, and decided to take the rest of the day off to relax."

"Lazy basta…" Borus whispered under his breath. The marshal looked to him.

"Pardon, Lord?" Borus shook his head.

"Hmm…" Chris sighed. Borus could practically see her eyes itching to roll. "Very well. We will speak with them tomorrow…." Though I do wonder, if this was so urgent, why did they not wait for us? The two turned and left the large building, wandering aimlessly down the street. Borus took advantage of their being alone to ask a few questions.

"Milady…"

"Hm?" came her reply.

"It… it was just an observation, but…" he started, his eyes showing he had thought carefully about what he would ask. "You have been distant, lately, milady… is all well?" He did not notice he was holding his breath.

Chris looked up at the sky, almost longingly. Then she looked at Borus and smiled. "I see your concern, but do not worry about me. We have more… bothersome things to worry about, now."

He looked into her eyes, and saw the usual hard, kind stare. But beyond them, he saw sorrow and pain, mixed in with the emotions she never let out. Her eyes widened slightly as she looked back into his. He finally said, "It is not selfish to worry about yourself, if I may say so, but it is, if you only worry about others, and do not let others worry about you." He looked down as though ashamed of the words he spoke, but his gaze remained firm. Chris was too shocked to say anything, and only watched him.

She almost failed to notice the slight movement and flash of steel coming from the alleyway behind him.

"Look out!" she cried, drawing her sword. Borus whirled around to come face to face with a blade flying toward his throat. But Chris was faster than the blade bearer. She pushed herself in front of Borus and brought up her sword just in time to block the attack. Then she launched into her own advance, pushing the unknown person into the wall of a building.

"I surrender! I surrender!" the man shrieked. Chris put her blade up to his throat.

"Who sent you and why are you here?"

"Milady!" Borus called. She turned her head slightly to look at him. Five other men had appeared, forming a circle around the two knights of Zexen. The first man took advantage of her surprise and escaped. Chris jumped backward and got ready for an attack, standing back to back with Borus, who had his sword ready as well. The men blocked all escape from their circle with their swords. Each were dressed in the same black outfit, similar to the ones Hugo had once described in a story of his travels to the caverns northeast of Vinay del Zexay.

"What is it that you want?" Borus asked, his rage building.

"We have come for the True Rune," said a tall man who seemed to be the group leader, represented by a white sash tied to his arm. "Give it here and we may let you live." His accent was slightly Harmonian.

"What rune?" Chris asked, all too knowing that they were talking about her True Water Rune.

"Don't play dumb, Captain, it's not yer style," spoke the leader assailant.

"Hold your tongue, knave. Talk not to Lady Chris that way." seethed Borus.

"I'll talk to trash the way I want to," he said mockingly. Borus's eyes flashed. "We're not here for Zexen small talk, miss," said the man, turning back to Chris, "so just hand over that rune, and we'll be on our way."

"I would never give such a thing up to the likes of you. In fact, it comes in handy sometimes." She closed her eyes and summoned the power of her True Rune, calling for its most powerful attack. Storm clouds began to block on the late afternoon sun. She had had very little practice with the rune, but she had made sure to use it every once and a while. Her hand glowed blue and bits of energy began to circle around her. She muttered an incantation under her breath. But something was wrong.

Chris cried out as her right hand began to spark with bluish energy. What… what is going on? Wind began to howl and rain poured down from the dark clouds. The attackers backed away from Chris as the bluish energy began to spread around her like lighting. Borus just managed to leap out of the way of a bolt that struck the ground near him. The bluish energy spread across the ground like writhing snakes and coiled up the attackers' legs, stopping them in their tracks. Their feet began to freeze, the ice traveling up their legs, to their torsos, and up to their neck. Their screams echoed off the surrounding walls to form one endless wail. When their heads were frozen over, the ice suddenly burst into millions of tiny shards, cracking the six men's bodies like glass. Red spilled in all directions.

Then the storm disappeared, the rain stopped. But dark clouds still hung in the sky. Chris had collapsed, tendrils of the bluish energy still coursing over her body. Her hand pulsed.

"Uhn…" Chris moaned as she tried to get to her feet. Borus stood, unmoving, staring at the disfigured bodies of what used to be six men. He absently wiped cold blood from his cheek with his thumb. Then, as if suddenly gaining consciousness, he turned and helped Chris up. She shook when standing, but stepped away from his support.

"Mi… Milady… what happened?" Borus asked, wide-eyed.

"I-I don't know…" she stuttered. She looked at the body parts scattered around the street, then at her right hand, and shuddered. Her stomach whirled like a ship on a stormy sea, and she struggled to keep down what was left of her lunch.

"Milady!" came a gruff call from down the street. Both Leo and Louis were running towards them. Townspeople were looking out of windows, passerby staring.

"Milady," Louis said as soon as he was close, "wh-what happened?" He turned away from the carnage.

"The rune…" she said, still looking at her hand. "I… lost control of the rune."