The Broken Portal

Tales from the Atreblan Valley

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Topaz
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The Broken Portal

Post by Topaz »

"Any sign of them?" Topaz asked of the Major as she sealed the last of the quickly written notes. The last detail taken care of, her concentration was now entirely on the mission ahead of her.

"No, sir." Major Julian derKorst turned away from the window. The liquid blue-green eyes had been regarding something far away, but then snapped back to hard crystal. "We'll have more snow over night."

"I will be fine."

Julian knew she would be. Not that one could tell by looking at her, but the fairy had proven her worth in similar situations many times over. He thought her an above average commander as well, or he'd not have asked Alex for permission to stay behind when the Star Fox left three years ago.

Topaz grabbed her gear as she rose and moved for the door, turning back just before she left. "Twenty-four hours."
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Post by Topaz »

The skies had been laden all day, occasionally flinging snowflakes along the icy winds. Snow was falling rather thickly, now, the large flakes dancing briefly and heavily in the still air before adding themselves to the white coating that layered the ground.

Julian had snagged his cloak and hurried outside to greet the group he had seen approaching the Beacon. As he approached the group he noted with relief no one was missing, though the adept and the sargeant appeared more dead than alive to his expert eyes.
"What happened?" The Major asked even before he looked at the Commander.

She looked cold. She looked tired. She was windblown and damp from snow drizzles that she'd probably been caught in more than once. She was too beautiful even with wind-chapped cheeks. She stared at him, and stared. She was probably too tired to muster a full report, Julian hoped.

"I will meet you in the council chamber in an hour. See if you can round up some of the other officers." It took only a moment for the implications to sink in.

"Yes, sir." Julian saluted and turned to direct the guards who had just arrived to carry their lifeless looking comrads to the infirmary.
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Post by Topaz »

Topaz sat at her desk. The coffee in her cup cooled unheeded as her mind worked over the events of the last few days.

She had found the missing patrol. But they were in a bad state. Though only one of them was badly wounded, they all appeared to be in a state of shock and confusion that could not be explained by a mere encounter with a wild beast and exposure to bad weather.

The weather had gotten increasingly worse, they had encountered a beast, and the beast was big and black. That had been the only bits all members of the patrol agreed on. In everything else their descriptions differed, widely even on some of the details. They had startled, been attacked, or been ambushed by a large cat, bear, or demon. One even thought that there was a woman dressed in dark clothes and that she had chanted orders at the beast.

It was that last detail that bothered Topaz the most. Years ago, just before the portal showed the first signs of malfunctioning, two suspicious women were reported to have been in the area. It wasn’t so much that someone or something was seen there at the time, but that the reports differed so much more in the details than is usual for eyewitness reports.
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Post by Topaz »

Topaz let Julian lead her up-wind from the stable and thankfully accepted a swig from the flask he offered. The Major corked the flask after having had a restorative drink himself and stowed it away in his coat. The sights and smells inside the stable had been ten times worse than any blood drenched battlefield Topaz had ever been on.

“Have you found anything yet of use in that mess?” Topaz asked after a few deep breaths of fresh air.

“Though whatever it was, was definitely animal like, it has enough intelligence to unlatch doors, and they were not doing their killing for food or protection.” Julian shook his head and added, “The tracks away from the stable lead north.”

“They?”

“Two.”

Topaz’s gaze fell upon a clump of violets. “Bad news upon bad news.”

“I’m taking two men with me to follow the tracks. I’ll have a full report for you this evening.”

Topaz acknowledged the Major’s words with a brief nod. “Does O Conner have something planned for Jonathan?”

“They’re having a funeral rite for him tomorrow morning.”
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Post by Topaz »

Michelle was working in deep concentration on her sketchbook as Topaz walked into the living room of the manor house.

"Hello Michelle. I'm sorry I'm so late."

"Hey." Something in Topaz's voice made Michelle look up from her work and study Topaz closely. "Jeez, you look worse than I did this morning."

"Thank you," was Topaz's dry reply as she poured a cup of coffee for herself before she joined Michelle on the couch. "What are you working on?"

Michelle ignored Topaz's question. "So why are you so pale? It's not the same reason as for me is it? Probably isn't, but tell me anyway."

Michelle of late had been having nightmares interrupt her sleep. Tormay and whatever trouble he had gotten himself into had Michelle worried more than Topaz.

"I was called out to the O Connor's farm." Topaz's stomach made itself felt again, and she wondered if Michelle was ready for the more difficult duties that came with the position of Lady of Arms.

"O Conners? Haven't heard much of them lately." Michelle prompted, as Topaz wasn't forthcoming with details right away.

'We get our milk and cheese from them. There won't be any milk for a while."

"Uh oh, why's that?" Michelle had already guessed the news to be terrible, but Topaz's next words still surprised her.

"All eight cows are dead, both their oxen, their cart horse and the stable boy. Every one of them had their throats ripped out." Topaz took a few slow sips from her cup in an attempt to calm her stomach.

Michelle went a bit white as her active imagination filled in some details to Topaz's extremely cleaned up description. "No wonder you look so sick."
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Post by Topaz »

((Posted for Michelle's player with thanks to the editor, Robert's player))

Michelle curled up comfortably in the lounge on the big black leather sofa. One of her favorite books "A Whisper in the Wind" clutched between her smooth slender fingers. As another page turned her concentration was broken as the door bell rang through the manor.

"Michelle darling can you please get that?" Requested her mother.

"Of course Mother." Michelle got up with a small groan and walked to the large double doors. She opened the old wooden handles and came face to face with Julian derKorst.

"Major!" The surprise in her voice was unmasked as the presence of her mentor at such an hour could not foretell of good tidings.

"Michelle" The Major's voice was even and he stood tall and firm as if he was a part of the ground itself. Michelle was at once calmed by his manner, there was no immediate danger, but she remained intrigued by his presence at such a late hour.

She moved aside to let the Major enter "Can I get you anything?" She asked as a mere formality, she knew the Major was here on business. All it took was one look at the straight back and the measured steps to know that the Weapon's Master was not present in her home to be sociable.

"Maybe later," Michelle knew there would not be a later so she just offered a smile and listened on ".I unfortunately won't be able to stay too long" he replied. Julian paused a moment taking in the paintings hanging on the wall by various artists and one or two by Michelle herself. When the Major was ready he looked at her evenly at began speaking in a tone that bespoke of a man who had issued a thousand commands."I am here at the request ofTopaz.She has informed you of the incident at the O'Conners?"

"Yes, she has." Michelle found herself straighting as she took in the words of the Weapons Master. It was hard not to hear his voice and feel the urge to act like a soldier even in the comfort of ones own home.

"Good, we have been informed that a pair of Martens are the culprits. They've been running loose and we need to eliminate them before they cause anymore damage. We have reason to believe that they are living by the broken portal. They are sly creatures, excercise caution. I have every confidence in your ability and that of Topaz."

"A hunt then..." Michelle's mind wrapped around the potential dangers in such a mission. One look at the Major standing at attention however eliminated any such fears and reminded her to focus on the task at hand. When would we leave?"

"Topaz will brief you sometime this week. I am sure she will remind you that due to nature of this portal you will not be able to use any magic whatsoever. This means that Topaz will not be able to use magic either, you will not be able to see her or use the benefits of her fairy magic. Are my instructions clear?"

Michelle nodded solemnly. "Yes I do."

"Good" Julian nodded shortly and was already moving to the door. "Keep safe Lady at Arms. I will be back from out of town by the time you two leave so I can see you off."

"Thank you, that's really quite appreciated." Michelle was unable to keep her emotions in check as she spoke her farewells but did manage to resist hugging her old tutor good-bye. He was out as quickly as he came leaving no time for further pleasantries. She shut the door with a soft click letting her youthful memories play around in her mind, so many things had changed in such a short time.Steeling herself she remembered her mother, it was time to tell her of her new mission.
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Post by Topaz »

Michelle was working at her easel in the Atrebla arena when Topaz came in.

"We need to get ready for the hunt Michelle" Topaz said, for once not showing any interest in what Michelle was working on. Usually, the fairy was happy to get a peak at the young lady's work. Her not giving into the temptation now was a certain indication to Michelle that the situation had gotten a lot more urgent over the morning hours.

"Alright then," Immediately Michelle set down her tools and got up. "First thing we'll need to do is get supplies. What shall we start out with?"

"We're going to need rope, first aid kit, fire kit, water skins, buckets, shovels, weapons," Topaz rattled down an endless seeming, well thought out list. She finished with, " and if you still have that old compact tent we could use that, too."

The two woman got to work hunting down the needed suplies. It wasn't until they were in the were in the storage room shifting around piles of boxes and crates, that Topaz broached the subject of Julian's report.

"What are martens?" Michelle took the chance to ask while Topaz paused to inspect the contents of a field medicine bag.

"Usually, they're cute little creatures of the weasel family, smaller though, black from head to tail. Their coats are sleek, almost waterproof and have a handsome shine to them. They kill for fun as much as for food. They are usually night hunters. When they bug humans it's that they got into a chicken coop, killed every chicken there, destroyed the eggs, ate pieces of one or two, licked blood of the rest or just tear out throats. When in such a frenzy, they do not make sure everything is dead."

"Lovely." Michelle crunched up her face. "So, with these being so much bigger, has Major derKorst found any evidence of hightened intelligence?"

"Mhm," Topaz nodded and looked up from her task in time to see a stack of boxes and Michelle tumble to the ground. Before she could jump up to come to Michelle's aid, the yound lady already had scrambled out from under the pile.

"I've found the water skins and rations!" Michelle proudly held up a satchel.

"Major derKorst thinks them capable of booby-trapping the area." Topaz continued while helping Michelle re-stacking the boxes. "And he found evidence indicative of our pair having young."

Michelles eyes lit up and she hurried off, muttering to herself. That was not the reaction Topaz had been expecting. Topaz followed at a slower pace.

Michelle had stopped in front of a storage shelf and carefully pulled down a black leather case. She opened it to reveal a dagger in a black sheath with dark green ivy decorating it. The hilt was of the same design with an inscription that read, 'For My Beloved Michelle'.

"It was a gift for my sixteenth birthday from my mother. She said it would come in handy one of these days."

"Is it magical?" asked Topaz.

"No, just a dagger." answered Michelle.
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Post by Topaz »

After a light lunch Topaz and Michelle headed to the Beacon and visited the armory. The first place Topaz lead them to was the bows. "How good are you at archery?"

"Decent, I know the basics but I'm no master."

"That'll do, take your pick."

Michelle looked at all the bows and chose a long bow of a particular make; a strong oak type of wood with a good strong but thin string. The hand position was tilted in a way that was usually of most discomfort, but to Michelle was natural.

"I like this one" she announced.

Topaz picked a light short bow and they each had picked up some practice arrows on their way to the archery range for practice.

"Why don't we take a horse to carry some of our load? If we needed to walk we could but it might make our trip go by faster for the first day." Michelle started and took careful measure to set the bow and aim. Her first arrow hit the target in the second ring, her second arrow hit it in the third ring and her last arrow hit it in the center.

"We could do that, but we might need to drop some supplies if we couldn't carry it." Still, Michelle's suggestion was a good one. "I'll get us that horse." At Michelle's signal Topaz stepped up to the plate. The fairy didn't take time to aim but she let loose several arrows in quick succession in the general direction of the target. Roughly half her arrows now were quivering in the target disc.

"I think we'll do fine." Topaz smiled confidently to Michelle. "I'll make some final preperations and we can leave bright and early."

"Of course" smiled Michelle. "I'll get some things cleared, packed and wrapped up on my end as well."

With that, they seperated to meet the next morning.
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