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Please note this story was written way back before the Meridell/Darigan war
began and thus takes place in the timeframe of Meridell before it got destroyed.
Travelers to Illusen's Glade always assumed the winding
pathways through the forest were safe. No one gave a second thought to the safety
of this forest, after all, it was under Illusen's protection. No one even suspected
that even as they passed through the leafy canopy of the forest, they were being
watched. Well, sometimes.
The particular duo heading for Illusen's Glade
were like the rest, eager to help the Faerie in her quests, and completely oblivious
to the fact that two pairs of bright eyes watched from the brush nearby. Hidden
among the leaves crouched a shadow Ixi and a white Draik, the notorious exiles
Mharen and Tharen. Mharen used to be a personal attendant to the king, but was
exiled for a prank of hers that went awry. The Ixi was lucky that no one was
severely hurt, and soon found herself thrown out on her tail and banished from
the kingdom.
Mharen, the Draik, was a very unusual case.
Although he was a far cry from a model of law-abiding goodness, he was not exiled
for his own actions. Rather, his ancestors, specifically the knight Echelon,
accused of a crime he did not commit. Every descendent of Echelon had suffered
under this exile, but had really given the king no reason to recall it. They
tried to lead a couple rebellions, set fire to the castle once, and led the
most dangerous band of bandits for a couple years. In comparison, Tharen was
a saint.
The two watched the girl and her Gelert pass,
then retreated deeper into the forest.
"If you hadn't of bungled the job originally,
we'd have it done by now," Tharen snapped at Mharen.
"See these?" Mharen demanded, holding up one
hoofed foot, "You try it with hooves and then you can talk."
"Well, regardless of who's at fault, we don't
have much time to finish."
"Indeed we don't," the Ixi sniffed, "We can
cut through the forest. Come."
The Draik leaped onto the Ixi's back and held
on as she bounded through the forest, leaping across obstacles and around trees
with the grace that only came from years of practice. The two soon reached the
trail again, ahead of the pet and owner. Mharen posted herself a short distance
down the trail as lookout, and Tharen stayed by the large hole dug in the middle
of the trail…
It wasn't that deep as far as pits go. Only
about half a foot higher than the person they planned to trap, and it was quite
possible to climb out of. But the staff resting against a nearby tree would
ensure that they didn't try to get out. Tharen quickly gathered up the leaves
and branches that Mharen had clumsily dumped everywhere. He spread them out
across the pit, disguising it to look like any other part of the trail, albeit
a bit leafy. He finished just in time. A shrill whistle resembling a bird came
from further up the trail, Mharen's signal to hide. He grabbed his staff and
dove into the bushes. A couple minutes later, the girl and her Gelert appeared.
They didn't even give the trap a second glance, just walked straight onto it,
chatting amiably. The false ground dissolved under them and they both fell into
the pit with a yell. Tharen burst from cover and took up a stance on the edge,
his staff ready. He heard hoof beats behind him that signaled Mharen's arrival.
"Seems you're in a bit of trouble," Mharen said
with a wicked smile.
"I'd say that to be true," Tharen added.
The girl and Gelert looked up at the two with
wide eyes. Tharen could see the Gelert sizing up him and Mharen, debating the
odds of leaping out of the pit and avoiding the Draik's staff. With a drooping
head, the Gelert decided against such an escape attempt.
"Who, who are you?" the girl stammered.
"Doesn't matter. What does matter is how many
Neopoints you are carrying."
The girl was silent for a moment, then reluctantly
pulled a small wallet out of her pocket and tossed it up to the two. Mharen
caught it easily and started rummaging through.
"Hooves, eh?" Tharen hissed out of the corner
of his mouth, "Can't carry a load of blasted sticks but you sure can catch."
"Things change when money is involved."
Mharen finished removing the Neopoints and tossed
the wallet back down to the girl.
"Let's go," she said to Tharen.
"Wait!" the girl cried, "Aren't you going to
help us out?"
"No," Tharen said flatly, starting to walk away.
"Indeed, why should we?" Mharen added, "The
pit is shallow enough to climb out of. We'll just be gone and unable to conk
you over the head when you do get out."
She snickered evilly and trotted off, Tharen
taking wing and following, still carrying his staff.
The two stored their earnings of the day in
their typical place, a hollow oak tree in the deep forest, away from any trails.
"We now have a total of 9,592 Neopoints," Mharen
announced.
"That's good," Tharen replied absently, removing
a small case from the tree and setting it on the grass.
"Is that what I think it is?" Mharen asked slyly
as she replaced the Neopoints in their hiding place.
"Indeed it is. Pick a hand," the Draik instructed.
"Left."
"You're white."
She smiled and settled herself across from the
Draik, helping set up the rest of the pieces on the wooden board. The chess
set was probably the only thing of real value the two owned. Carved a long time
ago by one of Mharen's grandparents and handed down from generation to generation,
it was very old, and very special.
Mharen opened with queen's pawn, Tharen countered
by blocking with the opposite pawn. The two didn't speak, merely moved the pieces
in silence, the game wavering back and forth. A steady stream of pieces attacked,
defended, and regrouped across the board, every couple of minutes another piece
being removed from play. Eventually the piles off to the side grew bigger. With
a bark of triumph, the white Draik moved his rook up to take the white queen.
Smiling maliciously, he handed the taken piece to Mharen.
"Your move."
She set it aside and stared at the board, her
face emotionless. The loss of a queen was a very dire event in chess, unless
the opponents queen could be taken out as well. However, Mharen was not in that
position. Instead…
A few moves later, Tharen was staring at the
board, his mind racing. Mharen settled back contentedly.
"Checkmate," she said with a smug grin.
Tharen studied the board for a few more moments,
then leaped to his feet. With a half-shriek, half-snarl, he kicked the board
across the clearing, sending pieces flying. Mharen merely collapsed on her back,
kicking her hoofed feet in the air and laughing hysterically.
"My winning streak is over!" Tharen wailed.
"It would appear so!" Mharen replied between
her laughter.
"A month! A full month of glorious victory."
"Hee heee!!"
The two fell silent though, as a newcomer unobtrusively
cleared her throat. Mharen got to her feet and glanced guiltily over at Illusen.
"I'll have you know," she began, "that I had
to give away some more of my quest items for free to compensate for what you
two did."
The two glanced at the ground guiltily.
"So now this girl is going to head to Meridell
and tell everyone how she was ambushed by a Draik and an Ixi, then how wonderful
ol' Illusen gave her some free quest items to cheer her up," she said, her voice
dripping sarcasm.
"Well, that's not too bad, is it?" Tharen asked.
"Indeed, it makes you look like a nice person,
which you are," Mharen hastily added.
"Flattery won't help this time Mharen," Illusen
said sternly, "and it's not me I'm worried about, it's you two. I swore to protect
you two since King Skarl has wrongfully upheld Echelon's exile. And when the
local knights hear about your latest batch of mischief, they'll probably come
after you."
The Ixi shrugged.
"Well, that's no problem. We've dealt with them
before, or rather, you have."
"Yes Illusen. Surely it's no trouble ridding
the world of some Floud-headed knights. Besides, Kiss the Mortog has gotten
very popular," Tharen said slyly.
At the mention of Mortogs, Illusen turned a
rather interesting shade of pink.
"If word of that ever gets out!" she snapped,
huffily folding her arms.
Tharen raised both his hands pleadingly.
"It's all right. We won't ever breath a word
about where the Mortogs come from. Honestly, we do appreciate your protection,
and we're sorry for our pranks."
Illusen sighed, a bit mollified.
"Very well then. Try to contain yourselves in
the future though."
She sat down on the grass, absently picking
up one of the scattered chess pieces. The Ixi and Draik took spots near her,
waiting.
"That's not all I came to talk to you about,
though," she said sadly, "though it is part of it. The anniversary of Echelon's
exile is coming up in a couple of days…"
Tharen dropped his head sadly.
"…And I highly doubt King Skarl is going to
repeal the exile this year. Meaning; we're probably going to have a silly group
of knights that get into their heads that going forth and slaying the notorious
villains, Mharen and Tharen, are going to make their yearly appearance. It'll
probably be worse than last year, as the more you two evade them, the angrier
they get."
"We can handle it," Mharen said quietly.
"Maybe not. A new leader of the knights has
come to power recently, a cloud Lupe named Davarain. He attracts those knights
that are hot-headed and prone to action without thought. Jaren will have a lot
of difficulty keeping them under control this year."
"So what do we do?"
Illusen took a deep breath.
"You need to leave. Leave the forest, leave
Meridell. Stay away for about a week, then return once the hubbub has all died
down."
Mharen and Tharen gasped simultaneously.
"You can't!" Tharen wailed, leaping to his feet.
"No, we can't leave Meridell," Mharen protested.
"It'll only be a week," the Faerie pleaded.
"But Meridell is our home!"
"We've only avoided leaving because of your
protection!"
"Honestly… you two…"
The Draik and Ixi sat down and started bawling
loudly. Illusen stood and regarded the two in exasperation.
"Now, stop it!" she said, struggling to be heard
over their sobs, "It'll only be a week. Think of it as a vacation. And besides,
there's a chess tournament coming up in Neopia Central, you can attend that."
The two immediately fell silent.
"A chess tournament?"
"Why didn't you say so in the first place?"
"Is there a prize?"
"Preferably money?"
Illusen sighed and took out a small piece of
paper. She unfolded it and handed it to them.
"Singles tournament starts… today?!" Tharen
wailed.
"Wait," Mharen said, still reading. "The… bughouse
tournament starts in three days. What's bughouse?"
"Probably a variation," Illusen said, "I imagine
you'll find out when you get there, right?"
The two nodded.
"Right. Come, let's start out."
Mharen nodded and gathered up the chess pieces,
putting them back into their case. She clipped a small strap to it and slung
is across her chest and shoulder for easy carrying. Tharen grabbed his staff
and hopped on her back, grabbing hold of her purple collar for balance.
"And we're off! See you in a week Illusen!"
The Faerie watched the two vanish into the forest,
headed for the boundaries of Meridell.
"That was quite easy," she said to herself once
they were out of earshot, "Why didn't I think of that years ago?"
To be continued...
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