On+the+Other+Side+of+Fate+-+Chapter+1

Taern was sick of following orders. Some stupid spy of Lord Balax's had reported that the one claiming to be the Juel was heading for the Wood Kingdom. He didn't say why or when, oh no, just "Go take care of it, Taern." The least he could have found out was //where//. Despite the fact that the Wood Kingdom (now under Air rule) was the smallest of the nations, it was still a kingdom, and that was a lot of ground to cover. But Balax didn't care about that, only about inconveniencing Taern. In fact, there was no doubt in Taern's mind that the Juel //wasn't// there. If he was, Balax would have commandeered the entire operation in order to gain some more personal glory.
 * On the Other Side of Fate: Chapter 1 - The First and the Last**

To those who saw him, Taern was a young noble of the Air kingdom, trained in combat from the time he could walk. He had military-cut black hair and unusual dark blue eyes. Taern was a lesser Air Lord, which meant that his domain lay outside of the Air Kingdom itself. Instead, he supervised the land bounded by the Hydra River, which covered about half the Wood Kingdom and a small corner of the Earth Kingdom. It was the Air King's order that they no longer be called Wood and Earth Kingdoms, but the only ones who obeyed that decree were the ones who were looking for brownie points. Taern wasn't looking for brownie points. Instead, he was walking through a dismal Wood village in the middle of nowhere, looking for a Juel that probably didn't even exist.

The villagers stopped their work to stare at the battalion of airsighters. Taern led them down the main street, without any attempt at secrecy. It didn't take long to spot the old man who was obviously the "leader" of the rabble. He was standing next to the "best" house, which was little more than a wooden hut. "You! Have you seen any...strangers around here recently?" Taern asked, his dark blue eyes staring the older man down. "Only you." The old man replied, managing to look nervous and regal at the same time. "Really." Taern's voice carried only the slightest hint of disbelief.

As he opened his mouth to ask another question, he was interrupted by an earth-shattering //CRACK.//The words died on his lips. A pillar of water shot up into the sky not 5 miles away, then disappeared. It was followed by the low rumble of a rock slide on the nearby mountain. The gasps of the villagers hissed all around the roadside. "No strangers, hm? Then what is //that?//" Without waiting for an answer, Taern spun on his heel and began to run, and his men fell in behind him. Perhaps there was some truth to the spy's tale after all.

With the power of the air behind them (literally), Taern and his soldiers covered the distance in about ten minutes. But this still wasn't fast enough. If anyone on the mountain saw them coming, they were long gone by the time the soldiers arrived. What they found was destruction.

A small village had one lived and thrived on the side of the mountain. It had a great view, and it had had a rock ledge overlooking it. Now the rocks had been shattered and scattered all over the remains of what was clearly a battle scene. Trees had been uprooted and, though there was no river, the ground was soaked, and puddles of water had gathered in places. If there was a village, it would have been decimated. But there wasn't a village any longer. A scorched ring of earth perfectly encircled the land where the primitive habitations had once stood. The smell of charred flesh hit them like a wall, and Taern's entire battalion halted at the edge of the ring. Taern's eyes narrowed, but for the moment he ignored the remains of the massacre. A faint sound was being carried on the breeze, right to where he stood. The sound of breathing. Someone was alive.

Skirting the edge of the ring of blackened earth, Taern followed the sound. It was coming from the remains of the rock slide on the other side of the former "village". That made sense. If anyone had survived, they would not have been in the village. Half of the battalion (about 10 men) followed him, while the other half began to search the area for any further clues. Taern was not one to lead from behind, so he led from above. All airsighters had no problem jumping. From the top of the slightly unstable pile of rocks, he watched the other airsighters search the rocks. Suddenly, one of them called out. "Over here!" Leaping down from on high, Taern ran over to where the soldier was standing. Here, the rock were splattered with blood, which obviously came from the village's sole survivor.

A girl was half-trapped underneath a large boulder, and made nearly invisible by her gray-and-green Wood Kingdom garb. Her skin was slightly tan, doubtless from spending all her time outdoors, and she had long, dark brown hair. But none of this was important. The important thing was that she was a witness. But it looked like she wouldn't be that way for very long. A long spear of rock, obviously created by earthsighting, was the source of all the blood. Her brownish skin had an unhealthy green pallor to it. "Get her out and take her back to camp. Have Dusa treat her." Taern hated having to rely on the Wood Kingdom healer, but she was the best. A group of three took the girl back to the camp, and the rest stayed to examine the area. Taern left them to their work, and they left him to his thoughts. //Why would the Juel - if this was the Juel's work - wipe out a harmless little Wood village?// The obvious answer was that he wouldn't. Which meant that there had been someone else. //Why would// anyone //want to wipe out this village?// The area was of no consequence, no tactical value. Which meant that it had been personal. In that case, there was no way to know. But if the girl was from the village, then she might know who would burn it down. //Was the Juel really here?// The obvious answer was "yes". Wood, earth, air, water, and fire had all been used here. So unless there was a large group of Saits working together, it had to have been someone with a knowledge of all the elements. //The real question was "Why was he here?"// Taern looked around the decimated mountainside and his eyes narrowed thoughtfully. //Why was he here...and who was he fighting?//

~*~

Their "camp" was a white ship on the Hydra River. Since there was no telling how long Balax would keep up the search order, they had needed a semipermanent home. A ship was ideal, because most of Taern's domain was within one day's air travel from the river. The ship was made of wood, because it had been built in the wood kingdom. The Fire Kingdom, famous for its technology, had metal ships, but the Wood Kingdom was more of a backwards (and backwoods) society. This constantly irked the young Air Lord, who wanted everything to be done as efficiently as possible.

Taern only returned to the ship after he was certain that his troops had completely scoured the area near the mountain. The only of interest that they had found was another charred body, this one a short distance from the battleground and the village. While it seemed important, it gave no answers. It only raised more questions.

When the battalion arrived back, most of the men went straight to the kitchen for dinner. Taern passed it without a glance, instead descending into the deepest room on the ship. This was Dusa's room. The healer was an odd, reclusive older woman, and she often decked herself out like a shaman. She had insisted that her herbs and tools must be as undisturbed by the air as possible. Taern did not come to the sick room (as it was called) very often. It was the one place where his authority was questioned. It also stank of the herbs that the old woman was constantly burning. But no one, not even Taern, could deny that Dusa knew what she was doing. She had saved their lives more than once. The Air Lord reached the door, hesitated, then knocked sharply. "I know that's you, Taern. Get in, but do be quiet!" An annoyed, cracking voice hailed him from the other side of the door. Taern pushed it open and was immediately assaulted by a veritable wave of herbaceous scents. Trying to resist the temptation to hold his nose shut, he entered the room and closed the door behind him. It was not a very large room, but it seemed even smaller because of the many herbs, tools, and odd trinkets that hung from the roof and every side of the room. It was lit by numerous small braziers and incense burners, which created a mystical sort of atmosphere. The healer herself was seated in an old, creaky wooden chair a few feet away. Dusa looked about 60 years old, with short, curly gray hair and a heavily wrinkled face. Her eyes had almost disappeared, but he could tell that they glanced reproachfully at him as he entered. At the center of the room, there was a ship's cot. It's occupant was none other than the girl they had brought back from the battlefield. The lighting in the room made her face look pale and green.

"Status report, Dusa." Taern said crisply. The old healer glared at him for a moment, but decided to answer. "She'll live." For once, Dusa sounded tired. "But it'll be a long time before she recovers. That spear of earth just missed her heart. And that's in addition to several broken ribs and a fractured arm." "Good. I expect to be notified immediately if she regains consciousness." Taern turned to go. But, inevitably, Dusa decided to argue. "I'll notify you when I feel she's in any state to talk to you, and not a minute sooner." She said. Taern turned slowly around. "//I// am the captain of this ship, and //I// will decide how prisoners are treated." Dusa snorted. "Oh you will, will you? And what if your prisoner dies, hm? Let me tell you, //child//, those injuries would have killed most people. If that had been you, I have no doubt //you// would be dead. Fortunately, we Woodlanders are made of sterner stuff, not fluffy air like you." Taern ignored the insult to himself. He was done arguing. The door let in a draft as he opened it, making the dried plants sway as if in a wind. "I expect a status report every day." He said as he left. Then, almost as an afterthought, he turned around. "And if Woodlanders are made of 'sterner stuff', then you should have no problem telling me when she wakes up." The door slammed shut behind him with a bang. Fortunately, Taern was out of the room before he could see Dusa stick her tongue out at him.

~*~

No sooner had he returned, then Yusha was ushered into a formal meeting with the Water Queen. This time, he found himself in a long conference room, with about 15 of the Water Lords seated around a long table. "Now then," Xera said, taking her seat at the head of the table. "With one trouble out of the way, I think it's high time we decide exactly what we are going to do about this war." Her cold blue eyes stared accusingly at the Juel, daring him to refuse her. Kra put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sure the war will be over as fast our first task was, with Yusha on our side." The old Earth Sait showed the boy where he was to sit, in a fancy chair near the Queen. Xera looked at Kra, then jerked her head to the side, indicating that she should leave. Kra bowed and exited the chamber. "Is there anything you wish to say before we begin, Yusha?" Xera asked politely. Without standing up, the boy raised his piercing green eyes to look at everyone in the room. "I cannot promise a quick end to the war. But I will fight for you - for freedom - with all the power I possess. And we will win."

On the Other Side of Fate - Chapters