Chapter 2

To strengthen his position against of the Empire of Sayosia, Marnordir sent two of his Insiders on the continent of Monastia. He believed that these wizards would come across other creatures and forces of nature, other essences, who would create new Spells.

Aodh, one of two Insiders detached in Monastia, left for the mountains region of DursTor, whereas the other Insider, Ileina, gained the floating islands of Densara.

There, the Noras, half men half birds, known for their inclination for hunting, lived peacefully with the Vils-naimas humans. Both races shared their territory, their resources, traded together and united their strengths against foreign attacks. Until the day Ileina met Lord Norhilton.

Lord Norhilton was a Noras warlord known for his strategic victories. When Ileina fist walked on Densara territory, she had been venturing on the continent of Monastia for several weeks already. She was still unaware of what she was going to find on these lands. Fortunately she met Lord Norhilton on her arrival and he offered her bored and lodging. He hadn’t received any outlander in a while and looked forward of hearing about what was happening away from Densara. Ileina had nowhere to go so she welcomed his invitation.

Time passed quickly when they where together and after a few months Ileina revealed to her host the reason of her coming to Densara: She was impregnating herself with the country and it’s inhabitants so she could create cards to overcome the Empire against whom her people where at war. Lord Norhilton promised to guide his new friend through his country; impatient as he was to learn about this new form of magic he had never heard of.

Ileina and Lord Norhilton left for the floating islands of Densara. There, the Noras warlord thought the young Insider all he could about his country its inhabitants and its wildlife.

As they stopped in a Hostel one night, Ileina overheard a rather unfortunate conversation. She was studying a maps and Lord Norhilton was talking with one of his lieutants, Lieutenant Normington, when she overheard two Vils-naimas seated near her.

“The Birds are hatching a plot, I’m telling you!” said the first.
“Stop with this story will you!” answered the second.
“We’ve been hearing the same fable everywhere we go: the Noras have discovered something more powerful than anything we know!”
“Something powerful? This is nonsense! Maybe they will finally have the guts to try the chili peppers form Moho Valley.”

Both accomplices roared simultaneously. Ileina didn’t understand the joke.
“To get to Moho, they would have to unfold their wings for other affairs than the underskirts of their chicks!” he continued hilarious before starting again more seriously; “It means that they have a weapon. What do you think they would use it against?”

“A powerful thing isn’t necessarily a weapon! And they would never sabotage the peace that protects both our community against the outside world! And you know the Winkas are never far. Seriously the birds can’t be that foolish!”
“So you think! They say the warlord is walking around everywhere with some outsider that seems to know a lot about magic.”
As she heard this, Ileina hid in the Vils-naimas hood she had bought that very afternoon and prayed that no one would recognize her.
“My cousin followed the Vils-naimas, he saw them last month on the island of Dara. He said she looked like a young archer who didn’t finish her classes and has eyes that hide the wisdom and power only revealed in enchanters eyes.”
After a while, his friend interrupted.
“But that doesn’t mean they are scheming some kind of attack!”
“So is it because our warlord grew tired of playing with flying dolls that he’s walking around everywhere with a magician?”

Ileina did not want to hear anything more and left quietly. Lord Norhilton who witnessed the scene followed her outside. The young Insider was confused about what she heard. Was Lord Norhilton using her, to take power over his fellow countrymen? She decided not to reveal her doubts at once.

Three months later the Vils-naimas declared was against the Noras. Ileina deplored her silence. She could not refrain from thinking that if she had not kept silent about the rumor running between the Vils-naimas, the conflict would have been avoided.

Lord Norhilton didn’t seen things the same way. According to him the Vils-naimas declared war against the Noras for other reasons. He could not consider that people could declare civil war on the simple suspicion that the opposite camp possessed a weapon they might someday use against them. The Noras warlord, Lord Norhilton did not believe a single word of this. In addition, the rumor was about him, which irritated him above all things. Since Ileina had told him about the Spells, he considered the idea of getting some for himself, but never for war reasons; dominating his fellow countrymen was never in his plans. It was all about mastering an incredibly powerful form of magic, an unknown and merciless weapon. However, every night before falling asleep, he asked himself the same question. What would be the use of such a weapon, if it were not to wage war? Sometimes, he felt relief thinking he never dared to ask Ileina to make him – what was it – a Spell?

Then, Ileina settled the question once and for all. After the declaration of war was made, she decided to make an announcement to the Vils-naimas before returning to Juzil. Norhilton tried to stop Ileina from talking to the Vils-naimas but soon realized it would be vain. Than, he helped by organizing a gathering. When that day came, Ileina revealed, in front of a crowd of Vils-naimas, the existence of the Spells. She explained that she had not created any on the territory of Densara, because she hadn’t been there long enough to be impregnated.

The Vils-naimas paid no attention to it. They suspected the Noras of plotting against them and the crowed run riot. Ileina broke away with Lord Norhilton who had been waiting in the wings during the speech. The young woman did not know how to carry this burden. Thinking back, this disaster was her fault. She had disrupted peace on these lands, maybe forever. Lord Norhilton persuaded Ileina to stay. He showed her the duplicity of the Vils-naimas, portraying her a century of treasons, and begged her not to abandon him. Because… he needed her… Was he right? The young Insider could not abandon all these beings ready to be engaged in battle because of her. Because of her. This litany distracted her desire to leave the territory. She was going to stay and she, Ileina Wom Wersteimer, daughter of Wersteimer Knight of Ice, was going to fight. War finally broke loose.

Lady Vilseba, Vils-naimas warlady, had numerous friends in the imperial court where she had spent her childhood. She did not waste time and quickly asked Sayosia for some help.

Emperor Daryen, swamped by the conflict against the Alliance but frightened by the presence of an Insider on another continent, sent an army asked to eradicate all potential threat and all Noras conspirators. Soon, the reinforcements of Lady Vilseba turned up and the Noras, assailed couldn’t keep up.

The army of Sayosia soon identified Ileina as one of five Insiders wanted by the Empire. Things went from bad to worse and the conscious of Ileina couldn’t ignore the pleas of Lord Norhilton any longer. At the end of one year, Ileina was impregnated with all the chaos that reigned over the floating islands. She created destructive Spells. Pure abominations, she thought. But it was too late, the harm was done and History was on march. What could she do? Sayosia had summoned one of the traitor Insiders to the Alliance. And if she stopped supplying them Spell, the Noras would not survive.

The conflict was soon baptized « The Battle of the Enemies Brothers». It lasted seven years. The people knew all the troubles inherent to war. The earth was devastated, Densara was dying. Then the evening of the seventh year, the day before the summer solstice. Ileina created her last card.

The next day, Lieutenant Normington entered the apartments of Lord Norhilton to make his daily report. As usual, he knocked at the office door and waited in the small cabinet. After several minutes, Lieutenant Normington knocked again. Silence. He finally entered and found Lord Norhilton lying dead on the ground of blue marble, a mirror in the hand.

Soon, Normington discovered that all warlords and ladies Noras and Vils-naimas where dead. Later on, he found out that all of them, like his Lord had been found holding a mirror. The news spread like wildfire, the warlords where no more. Ileina and Sayosias Insider disappeared without a trace. Everywhere, the inhabitants celebrated the end of a war. As time went by the people took back the power.

When he arrived home on this warm night of the summer solstice, Lieutenant Normington found his wife and daughters, all three in a strange contemplation. He walked closer to them to see what they were looking at with such focus. A card.

The Mirror of Suffering was the last Spell created at Densara.