Once More, Unto the Breach

                            By:

                         Fox Cutter

    Chapter 2

It wasn't the welcome I was expecting to get if I ever had
to come back to this world. I had no intentions of ever
returning without the invitation we had received, but I had
at least hoped not to have weaponry pointed at as as soon as
we arrived.

"Begone fowl demons!" One of the guards yelled, jabbing his
sword a bit in our general direction. I saw Sora grin a bit
next to me, apparently finding some amusement in that
statement.

"I resent that." Fox said. "I am _not_ fowl!"

The guard who had spoke was taken aback by this, it not
being then answer he had expected. He finally seemed to
recover a bit. "You admit to being a demon then?" He asked
softly.

He smiled. "Now I wouldn't go as far as saying that."

Now the guard really was confused, the others edging forward
a bit.

"I would," A familiar voice said from behind us. Turning my
head around, I watched as Draz passed down the battlements
towards us. The guards behind us separated as there King
walked through there mists.

He stopped in front of Fox, sizing him up a bit. "You've
changed." He said, his voice soft in the chilled air of what
looked like evening.

"You haven't changed yourself."

"I suppose... I am glad you came back. Things have gotten
out of paw, badly." He then turned towards me, his cloak
billowing a bit in the wind. "Ken, thank you for being here
as well."

I nodded. "We happened to be together when you broke Fox's
'Coin' so we came as fast as we could."

He smiled, then looked towards over at Kalie. "I fear we
will need your mind for what is to come."

Kalie frowned a bit. "If it comes to that, yes."

Draz then looked behind us. "I see there are two more in
your misted."

Fox nodded, and stepped aside. "This is Oriana and Sora." He
said, pointed to each in turn.

Sora bowed her head, fanning her wings out from under he
cloak slightly. "It is a pleaser to meet you your lord."

He smiled. "I wish it could be during better times. All of
you welcome, and thank you for coming to our aid. The light
is starting to fade though, so I would like you to come in,
I can inform you of what has been happening."

Fox gave him a sharp glance. "No formalities please, what
has happened?"

Draz frowned a bit, then waved his paws at the guards who
were still surrounding us. All ten of them snapped to
attention, and seemed to vanish back into the castle in just
a few seconds time.

He then sighed. "Look that way." He said, pointing behind
us. Fox turned, pushing past us and walked down the castle,
until he was at the wall that looking in the identical
direction.

Fox let out a low whistle. "Guess who's coming to dinner.
Guys come here and take a look at this."

We walked over to where Fox was and looked out over the
battlements. In the distance, maybe twenty miles away, was a
low hill one side cut by a large canyon, the crest was dark,
a brown and black ripple. First I though I was looking at
the ends of a fire, then it finally came into focus.

It was a line of troops, close to a mile long. They where
all camped out for the night, with small camp fires dotting
the hill. They where only a day away by a still march, and
then, after a day of rest, they would attack.

The castle would only stand for a clawfull of hours.

* * *


"I knew Krege would eventually want this place back, but I
didn't expect him to bring in half his army to do it." I
said, walking down the steps behind Draz.

The wolf shook his head. "Which is what I don't understand.
Up until five months ago we had full negotiations with him.
Nether of us wanted a war, not over this valley. It came as
a shock when are last messenger returned with a message
amounting to give it back or else."

I frowned. "Before that everything was going well?"

He nodded, turning around a corning and walking though a
small door into the dinning hall. He walked over to the head
of the table and sat down in the larger of the pair of
chairs that dominated over the table. He then motioned for
the rest of us to sit with him. I sat next to him, the
others following down the table.

Finally he answered my question. "Yes, it was. He understood
why we did what we did and was willing to allow it to say
out of his kingdom, to just left us to live on are own."

I steepled my fingers. "From what I have been told about
Krege, this doesn't sound like something he would do. If he
was willing, he would stay willing. Something must have
changed..."

"Clearly Fox... but what? No messenger I have sent after has
returned."

I nodded, leaning back a bit as one of the castle's servants
placed a plate of food in front of me. The same type of
plate was put in front of the rest of us, with the exception
of Ken who got a larger plate of very lightly cook meat.

Oriana, who was sitting accost from me, frowned. "So what
exactly are we suppose to do? We are slightly out numbered
by a few thousand to one. We just can't charge at them, it
would make a massacre look like small picnic."

Kalie, who was sitting next to her, nodded. "I suggest you
send a message out to them at dawn. Find out exactly what
Krege want's, we maybe able to save this situation before
there is any blood."

Draz nodded. "Yes, though I sent out the messenger just
before you arrived. He should return in the morning with any
news."

"How about recon?" I asked, causing Draz to give me a
perplexed look. I tried to explain, "what exactly are we
going to be facing if we do have to go head to head?"

Draz nodded. "The recon is in progress," he said with a
small frown, taking a sip of his wine.

Sora shifted a bit in her seat next to mine. "What about the
Captain of the Guard? Should he be here as well?"

He coughed. "She is doing the recon," he said with a deeper
frown.

I nearly gagged on the wine the I had been sipping. I forced
it down in a painful gulp. "Thrysten is out there?" I gasped
out.

The wolf nodded slightly, his ears twisting a bit. "She is
safer then you might expect. She is doing an aerial scout as
she calls it."

I pushed my plate away. "She doesn't have the wingspan or
the power to fly more then twenty feet of the ground. This
is not her world, she can't safely fly here!"

Oriana and Sora were now starting at me, Sora looking more
interested then anyone else. Ken and Kalie where just nodded
to themselves. They agreed with me.

Draz took another sip of his wine. "She has a toy the castle
wizard made for her, she will be safe enough."

I grumbled to myself, pulling my plate back and eating
slowly.

"Speaking of your wizard, I would like to speak with him. We
maybe able to create some kind of defense for the castle if
we come to blows."

"That will be a problem." A very familiar voice announced
from the main doors of the dinning hall. We all twisted
around to look down the length of the table. Walking through
the doors was the subject of the last bit of conversation.

It was Thrysten, she was a gryponess morph standing about
six feet tall. She was dressed in the clothing of this
world. A pair of lose cloth pants, in dusky brown colour,
and a green silk blouse which she was lacing up along her
chest. She gave it a final pull with her thin talons.
Steeping around us she sat down next to Draz, spreading her
feathered wings around her, her tail sliding easily though
the back of the chair.

I felt myself start to smile, this gryphoness was a great
friend, even if she had only been with me, Kalie, Ken for
only a couple of weeks before she decide to stay on this
world with Draz. I had missed her a great deal in the four
years sense I last saw her.

"What would that problem be?" Ken asked, leaning forward a
bit over his empty plate.

She reaching inside of her blouse and pulled out a small
sea-blue gem on a string that she let fall to her breast.
"The problem is that are castle wizerd was killing in his
bed four months ago. We have not found a replacement yet."

Ken frowned. "Then I will do what I can do alone."

Oriana sat forward a bit. "As there been any other
assassinations sense you last talked to Krege?"

She shook her head. "None that I have been aware of."

"Strange deaths in general?"

"Only the old Captain of the Guard. He was thrown from his
horse about a year ago." She then turned to me. "Fox, who is
this person and why is she so interested in this?"

"My name is Oriana Shripon, and have some experiences in
this field." She said, glaring at Thrysten.

I shook my head, not liking where this conversation was
leading to. Fortunately I didn't have to find out. The large
doors of the dinning hall opened and in rushed a guard
dressed in riding leathers. He was clutching a scroll in his
paw and panting hard. It was the messenger Draz had sent
only an hour before.

-----

This story is (c) 1997 by Fox Cutter, hardcopy reprints
limited to one a person, all other rights reserved. This
story may not be distributed for a fee except by permission
of the author, and this copyright notice may not be removed.