CHAPTER 1: THE WITCH & THE ROBBER

"Well-nigh the eleventh moon of the seventh era
When witch and robber ride together
Shall then the virtuous crumble and darkness enamour
So begins thus a reign of terror."
"Out of the ashes rises the valiant son of man
Between witch and robber shall among them dawn
Will then darkness be vanquished
And light bequest the lands once more."

Ruella slammed shut her book of portents angrily.

Anyss looked up, her eyebrows raised as she glanced at the normally calm and cool other woman. It had to be something really destructive to make Ruella lose her cool.

She decided it was best to pretend to ignore Ruella and simply concentrate on her own work. Anyss quietly returned to polishing her armour and broad sword. She always liked making sure her weapons were shiny enough so that one could see themselves in them.

"Well?" Ruella growled. "Aren't you even going to ask me about it?"

Anyss raised her head once again, a smirk playing about around the corners of her mouth. "Are you sure you want me to?"

"It involves our reign of terror," Ruella snapped at the dark head bandit. It always irked her that Anyss never took the prediction seriously.

"Ah. And our great fall when the valiant one appears," Anyss remarked mockingly. "That is, if he even appears..."

Ruella's eyes flashed with unsuppressed anger as she threw the book of portents across the room. A bolt of lightning followed soon after, striking into an urn, disintegrating it into a million pieces. She clenched her fists and glared at Anyss angrily.

"This is serious, Anyss." she said, her voice deadly cold.

Anyss hardly flinched at all at Ruella's sudden display of temper. She just glanced at the enraged sorceress coolly. She had been together with the sorceress long enough to know better than to let it perturb her. It was simply an everyday thing, after all. Like a fresh mint after dinner.

Ruella was always going on and on about the prophecy and how a hero would come between them but as far as Anyss knew, Ruella and her had been ruling Septonia for goodness - or would that be 'evilness', she silently chuckled at her own ingeniousness - knows how long now. Still there had been no *hero* in sight.

Unlike Ruella, Anyss just brushed the prophecy like the speck of dust it probably was. She was never one to believe in prophecies, future predicting, crystal balls and all that magick stuff. That was Ruella's department.

And anyway, if ever there appeared to be a hero in sight, Anyss would just very quickly put him out of his misery.

A low gnarl escaped from Ruella's throat as she stalked around in circles in the room she and Anyss shared. Much as she hated to admit it, she was worried. Her smooth forehead creased into a frown.

"I cannot afford to let the prophecy come true. Then all that I have worked for - all this..." her voice trailed as she envisioned what might happen.

"Valiant, shmeliant. I'll just have to kill him, that's all. It'll be like getting rid of a pesky fly," said a rather nonchalant Anyss as she carelessly brandished her sword in mid-air.

Ruella shot a glance at the sword Anyss was playing with. It glowed the color of burning coal, and turned just as hot. With a painful shriek, the bandit hastily released it from her hands.

"That hurt," Anyss said as she rubbed her hand, anger evident in her eyes as she glared at the other woman. "Don't ever do that again. I mean it, Ruella."

The fire in Ruella's eyes let up for a moment.

"I'm sorry, Anyss."

A sickly feeling wreaked through her stomach, as she ran a hand through her long dark hair. She hadn't meant to hurt Anyss. It was just...she felt so troubled with regards to the prophecy. And the worst thing was, she couldn't do anything about it. It was like waiting for the inevitable to happen. Waiting for their power to fall, waiting for their empire to be crushed. Just waiting, and unable to do anything else. Rendered helpless. And Ruella hated that. She hated feeling so helpless - she needed to be in control.

She could not let the second quatrain of the prophecy sound true. But where was she to begin? Ruella's brow wrinkled as she thought hard.

"Come!" Ruella's voice boomed through the room, as she ordered for one of her servants.

A few seconds later, a servant appeared. "Y-yes, my l-lady?"

"Send for Lord Zater."

The servant quickly bowed and hurried out of the room.

"What do you want with that dog?" Anyss asked, glancing at Ruella curiously. She never liked the man.

Anyss was right. Zater was, for want of a better word, a dog. Spineless and a coward, but still, he was a useful dog to have around. And Ruella needed someone to carry out her orders - someone who was ready to serve her without question, someone whom she could readily sacrifice if the need arose.

A tall, skinny man entered the room. His gait was that of a scared man - ready to run at the slightest indication of trouble. His eyes shifted nervously from side to side, as if he expected swords to come out of the walls to attack him. Approaching Ruella, he bowed low before her.

"M-my lady."

Ruella looked at Lord Zater in disdain. She wanted to laugh out loud. It seemed as though nobody could speak a proper sentence in front of her without stammering away on his or her words. It was pathetic, really. But she relished in the sense of power she felt when others groveled like a little dog in front of her.

"Zater," Ruella began as she circled the shaking man. "I want every man of marrying age in the kingdom to be put to death. See to it."

Anyss' ears perked up at the mention of the word 'death'. She looked towards Ruella expectantly as excitement gleamed in her eyes. This is my kind of party, thought Anyss.

"M-my l-lady? E-every m-man? Of m-marrying age? P-put to d-death?" Lord Zater looked at Ruella in total disbelief.

"Are you questioning me now? Dare you even question me, Zater?" Ruella stared straight at the cowering man.
"N-no...n-not at all," Lord Zater hastily replied.

"Good. Now go," she waved him off disinterestedly.

Bowing low, he hastily retreated from the room.

Anyss jumped to her feet as soon as Lord Zater left the room.

"Can I lead the party?" she asked Ruella, her voice full of eagerness, her eyes sparkling with excitement. She wasn't too sure why Ruella wanted to kill all those men but Anyss didn't care. When it came to killing, she liked nothing better. It gave her a chance to practice her sword skills, and her battle skills. She relished in killing. It gave her a sense of power, and total control.

Ruella turned and smiled at the dark haired girl. "Anyss dear, do you even know why I want those men put to death?"

"Does it really matter?" Anyss remarked with the demeanor of a six year-old. Still, she listened to Ruella expectantly.

Ruella sighed. "The prophecy. It speaks of the valiant one. And yet that's all we know of it. That being the case, killing all men of marrying age may be to our advantage. For I am almost certain that the valiant one may be among them."

Almost certain. But not quite one hundred percent certain.

It was a pathetic reason, and perhaps a fruitless effort, and Ruella knew it. But there was nothing else she could think of. She had to stop the prophecy from coming true. She did not work so hard just to see her efforts come to nothing after a few measly years. And for the moment, this seemed to be the best way to go about it. If killing men of marrying age didn't work, then it looked as though all the men of Septonia would have to go.

Ruella's lip curled disdainfully. The men were nothing, after all. They were weak and spineless. It wouldn't be any loss to Septonia without them. It made no difference with or without them.

"So," Anyss once again interrupted Ruella's thoughts. "Can I lead the party?"