The Chaos Blade - Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Fresh from a battle the young woman glanced around at the strange setting she was in. It was night, but the stars and the full moon shone brightly upon the lagoon she found herself in. Tropical as well, from the feel of it and the silhouette of the palm trees surrounding the beach she was on.

Yamara glanced down at herself. She was a mess. She had no idea how many months or years it had been since she had taken a proper bath. She had always maintained her hygiene as best she was able, but the thought of a quick swim in the nearby water had her warming up inside. Never mind how vulnerable it might leave her, at that moment she did not care. She needed to wash away the stains under her fingernails and under her skin one way or another.

Yamara's armor and clothing was dirty and in need of mending. Her situation was not one that offered such amenities, however, so instead she simply let it fall to the sand unceremoniously. She stood naked on the unknown beach and wondered if she should have felt at least a small amount of trepidation. She shrugged for the benefit of no one other then herself. She was to drained to care what might come after her.

Yamara looked out over the lagoon. The faint light from the cloudless sky painted a faint picture of two islands, one closer and the other further out, but both fairly sizeable. She held no illusions as to her ability to swim out to one of the islands. Even the closer one was several hundred yards distant and she had never been that strong of a swimmer.

Instead she walked forward until the water lapped over her feet. It was warm and refreshing. She found myself sighing softly as she let some of the tensions that had been building up inside of her since my bath flow out of her. She glanced around. It appeared she was the only one in the grotto. Such a beautiful and peaceful place yet she was the only one in it. She shook her head and chuckled. As far as she knew she was the only one on this entire world. A ridiculous thought, but she entertained it anyhow.

Another glance around, wondering if maybe there was somebody hidden spying on her naked body profiled by the moonlight against the darkness. Her modesty was normally nothing so much as a lack thereof, however. Still, she felt a race of excitement at being so exposed in the strange environment. She shook it out of her head and waded into the water, letting the warm waters coax her further and further from shore.

Before she knew it, she was swimming. Powerful strokes that seemed to renew her instead of draining her. The water was salty, but not nearly as much as she had expected it to be. Her buoyancy in it helped keep her arms from tiring, but she soon started fearing she would get herself lost in the near dark.

She swam in place, treading water so she could get her bearings. She glanced around and saw how much closer the island was. Glancing back she did a double take to realize she was at least half the distance to that island. She took a quick stock of her endurance and decided that she had more then enough. She swam on.

Before she knew it her hands dug into the sandy bottom. She put her feet down and walked out of the surf, breathing hard but feeling alive. She stood on the sandy beech of the island and marveled at the distance from the shore of the land that she had swam out from. She could have grown concerned about that, but she was beyond caring at that point.

She had no idea where she was and no idea where she was headed. Yet, in spite of that, Yamara knew where she needed to go. Without weapons, clothing, or armor, she walked silently forward on the pads of her feet into the trees. Her path, as always, lay ahead of her.

She climbed higher and higher on the small island, always going up when a choice presented itself. The light had long since faded behind me but she somehow knew where to step and what not to walk into. Soon she crested the top of a rock and looked around, knowing she could go no higher. She was on a rocky crest overlooking the grotto. The other island was still nearly twice the distance from her as the shore with her worldly possessions on it, and she was more then a little relieved to feel no urge to head there. She settled down on the broad expanse of what felt and looked like weather-beaten rock, sitting in a thoughtful pose and staring into the blackness of the water below.

She fell so deep into her thoughts and memories that she lost track of not only time, but also her whereabouts. She was reliving those final moments again, tears of sadness leaving wet trails down her cheeks. Gone this time was the unrelenting guilt. In its place was only sadness but also a feeling of acceptance. Brina had forgiven her. Brina had confessed herself to her. They had truly understood one another at the last, and as she thought about it, had another fate awaited them there was no telling how messed up things might have become between them.

Then she noticed for the first time the light below her. A single light, glowing softly but steadily, was moving through the trees. She watched intently, feeling certain that it was no threat. She was merely curious. Something made her feel safe in a way that nothing else had ever done. She felt that it was bad for her simply because her senses would grow dulled if she spent to long there.

She heard a woman curse then. It was distant and she could not pick out the words, but the tone left no question as to the gender. She smiled softly and rubbed the tears away from her cheeks. The light moved closer and she had to reposition myself on the edge of her overlook to see it. She was on her hands and knees looking down the thirty feet that was the rock face on that side when suddenly the light changed directions. It started coming straight up towards her.

Yamara's mouth fell open in surprise. The woman rose out of the trees with nothing to propel her and no means of control. A ball of glowing light was held in her open palm, her other hand was at her side. Her feet were as bare as Yamara's, but she wore a loose shirt made of blue silk that fell loosely about her and clung to her curves. Crimson lace about the deeply plunging neckline and the sides completed the shirt, and matched the crimson trim on the black skirts that fell to her ankle. Her hair was as black as her skirt and shimmered in the light.

Yamara's gasp of surprise changed direction then. She was still surprised by the strange woman's magical ascent, but now she was gasping at her beauty. Her wavy black hair framed her nicely tanned face and fell to her shoulders. She smiled at Yamara and stepped forward when she was at her level, putting her feet on the rock and letting her spell dissipate.

"Hi, I'm Alesha," she said, offering Yamara no chance to recover. Her hand was extended. Yamara climbed to her feet quickly and shook her hand, forgetting completely about herself. Alesha's eyes wandering over Yamara's body, examining her in a way that left her feeling vulnerable and mildly turned on at the same time. She blushed slightly under her scrutiny in spite of herself.

"I'm sorry, I've just been alone here for a very long time," she said, noticing Yamara's slight discomfort.

Yamara waved it away and asked, "I was up her looking for some peace and quiet, is there anything I can do for you?"

"Oh, you were? I'm sorry," Alesha said, looking disappointed.

"Wait a minute, you've been alone for a long time? How long?"

Alesha's expression brightened slightly in the pale moonlight. "Many years," she said. "A great many years."

Yamara filed her answer away, ready to think about it later. Then her curiosity get the better of her. "With your magic you can leave this island, can't you? Why make a hermit of yourself."

Alesha smiled sadly. "You have no idea, do you? How did you come here?"

Yamara shook her head, a tinge of sadness dulling the edge of her curiosity.

"Sorry, none of my business I guess," Alesha responded. "To answer your question, this world is dead. I am the only person that lives here. I was imprisoned her a long time ago, that is why I am lonely."

"An entire world with no people on it? No humans, elves, dwarves, or anything else?"

Alesha nodded. Yamara took a deep breath and tried to decide if that was for the best or not. She would be safe from any of the calamities that seemed to befall her around other people, at least. Still, as much as a loner as she was, she was not sure she could survive without others.

"You did not come here of your own volition then?" Alesha tried again, hoping to break through Yamara's defensive mask.

Yamara was having none of it. "Imprisoned, you say?" she asked, Alesha's earlier words suddenly flashing back to her and saving her from reliving her own memories so soon.

Alesha gave her a shrewd look, her smile fading for a second. Then she laughed rather harshly. "Alright, fair enough. Why should you tell me anything if you don't know anything about me. Have a seat and let's do this then."

Alesha sat down on the rock beside her, pulling her skirt up to avoid tearing or snagging it. Yamara watched her and noticed her very faded and worn her clothing was. She was mildly irritated at how she had invited herself to her private moment. Then Yamara let out her pent up breath and sat down facing her, ankles crossed in front of her and her knees on the ground. Yamara made no move to cover myself, trying instead to make Alesha uncomfortable with herself exposed to her so openly. Alesha's smile and wink instead served only to infuriate her.

"So talk," Yamara said gruffly. If she had offended her she showed no notice of it.

"This world is my prison," she explained. "I was put here because this is the only safe place for me, short of killing me. I was a bad girl."

Given how she had found Yamara directly in her hidden spot and used what seemed like powerful magic to do it, Yamara was not inclined to disbelieve her. Still, she seemed harmless enough. Then again, So had Brina before she had been twisted into that hateful thing she had become.

"I sold my soul to the devil," Alesha told her after a moment of introspective thought. She offered a bitter smile and followed it with, "it seemed like a good idea at the time."

She had piqued Yamara's interest there, and the way in which she tried to lighten the conversation the blond woman appreciated. "How did you manage that?" she asked her.

Alesha looked at her, appraising her for a moment. Finally, having made her decision, she plunged on. "I was a fool. Simple enough. I was in over my head and I wanted to help out the men I admired and even loved. The only way I could do it was to accept the candy a stranger offered me."

Her analogy baffled Yamara, but the context was enough for her to reason it out. Yamara wondered at how she could have let herself get in over her head enough to take and survive the dangerous trek she claimed she had.

"I'm from a boring world with a lot of technology but no real beauty or magic. Mankind has all but killed nature there, and even humans grow docile and tame in spite of trying to kill each other over stupid reasons," Alesha explained.

"Humans always find stupid reasons to kill each other," Yamara offered. It was true enough. After all, she had even done her share of killing for no good reason. Yamara shivered and hoped that she had washed her hands of it. Then she gritted her teeth and vowed that she was finished with it. There were better ways to live and she owed it to myself, to Brina, and to Evart to find those ways.

"I suppose they do," Alesha agreed. "But anyhow, some magic spell went wrong and summoned me from my bathtub to Viconia. The wizard ended up dead thanks to the two I mentioned, and they took me under their wing and helped me out. I had to learn how to do everything in a new world, it was scary and exhilarating. Till we got separated and one of my protectors was hurt and I had to make myself useful."

Yamara nodded, it was an interesting story and other then her being helpless and useless, not terribly different from Yamara's own world-hopping. She even felt that she knew how she had gone down the "wrong" path. "So you made a deal with a demon to help your friend out?"

She nodded, sighing slightly and looking out over the water of the lagoon. "Long time ago, eighty years or so now, I've lost count."

Yamara's eyes widened. "Eighty years? That's a long time to be stuck in one place. Especially to look as young as you do."

She smirked. "Yes, immortality is a blessing and a curse. Do you have any idea how boring this place can be after a while? I've done it all here: fights in the arena, served beer and food in the tavern, even spent my time in the brothel as both customer and employee. It gets boring quick when you know the walls of your prison."

"Immortality?" Yamara asked carefully. Only very powerful beings that dealt in magic made claims such as that. Elves, though long lived, still had the decency to die at some point.

"Yes, my gift left me untouched by age."

Yamara glanced around. It seemed large and filled with places to explore, but she knew better. She nodded her head after a moment, signaling her understanding to Alesha. The raven haired beauty smiled sadly.

"I haven't seen my jailer in years now either, at least twenty or thirty. I wonder if he has forgotten me." Alesha's voice caught in her throat a little at the end and she looked away again. If nothing else, it fit with her story about loving the men she had journeyed with. Obviously the man or men who had imprisoned her here were one and the same.

"That long, perhaps the worst has happened... perhaps he has died?"

She chuckled, still looking away. Her hand brushed her face, certainly wiping tears away, before she looked back. She had a wry smile on her face. "No, he's an elf, and no ordinary one. I don't think he can be killed, at least not by anything Viconia has to offer."

Viconia was clearly the world she spoke of. Another one Yamara had never heard of. And apparently the elf she spoke of was far from ordinary himself. "Even elves can die of old age, but 20 years is not so long to them."

Alesha nodded. "On Viconia elves do not die of old age. I thought all elves the same, but if you know otherwise then I will take you at your word. Kelnozz was around 5000 years old when I last saw him. I hate to admit, after all this time, but I miss him still."

"And without his pardon you can not leave here?" Yamara asked her. Alesha looked at her and shrugged. "I think your love is misplaced, but I am no expert in affairs of the heart."

Alesha shrugged again. "So then, that is my story. You sound as though you have one to tell as well.

Yamara looked at her, studying her carefully. They met each others gaze, not challenging either but also not backing down either. Yamara nodded after a long moment. "Alright, I suppose you've earned it."

And so she told her. Not all of it, but enough for her to understand. From the beginning to the present, including the sordid details of her relationship with Brina. Yamara tried to shock her a few times, but to her own surprise Alesha was nonplussed by any of it. Even her meeting with Dagrazt, the Dark Lord of Malatoria, did little in the way of putting Alesha off balance. Yamara learned more about Alesha in the telling of her tale then she did when she had told Yamara hers. Yamara also learned that she had an old soul and had seen far more she had. Alesha had trafficked with great things, greater then Yamara had imagined, and she thought she had seen it all.

It was only a matter of time, really. After the great disclosure they had both made, though Yamara's seemed far greater to her, they were both feeling a little open and vulnerable. Before Yamara's story was even finished Alesha was holding her hand. Shortly after, their lips were together. Thing progressed naturally then, and for the first time in a very long time, Yamara knew the pleasure of the release that only another women can give. And again and again. It was easily the next day before they returned to the beach where Yamara's clothing remained on the sand.

The two women spent much time together, becoming fast friends quickly. They both had their mood swings, but they helped one another forget about them and move on and survive in their harsh but beautiful surroundings. During one of Alesha's she again expressed her desire to escape the abandoned paradise, but did not think she had the strength alone. Leery, Yamara nevertheless asked her for details.

Alesha told Yamara of her sword then. Of how with it she had managed incredible amounts of power, using the sword as an antenna or conduit to tap into the magic around her. With her sword she felt she would have power enough to escape and be able to command strength enough to be left alone wherever she chose to go. Viconia was forbidden to her, that much she knew, but other worlds existed. Other worlds where her past would be unknown. Other worlds where she could live as she wanted and be left alone. It made Yamara think of returning to Evart, but she dashed the thought quickly, such a thing was not possible.

Yamara could empathize with her, all she had ever wanted was enough power to be left alone. The abandoned Eden they were in would be perfect for her except she now found she craved the occasional contact with other sentient beings. Kelnozz had told Alesha she was forbidden to leave the world without his pardon, but no such thing had happened to Yamara. Yamara had taken so much from so many people she felt it was time she gave something back. She offered to do her this favor, to retrieve her sword for her.

Alesha told her then of her world and of who had it when last she knew, as well as how to find him. The rest was left to Yamara. A new quest and a new stairway in life to climb, Yamara left soon thereafter, stepping through a magical gate that Alesha opened for a brief period of time with her magic.

She appeared in the dark again, though the smell of rotting garbage and the noises of the bad sections of a city assaulted her and reminded her of her childhood. She shook her head and glanced around, immediately unfamiliar with her surroundings. Even the buildings looked different to her. They were made out of small rectangular red stones that she had never seen before. Nearby was a green bin forged of steel that was the source of the worst of the smells that assailed her. She shook her head again at the oddity of it all and moved down the alley cautiously into the new world beyond.

Continued in Chapter 2

---