Marked Ones: Advent of the Demon Prince

Desmond and Snow arrived at the camp at the northern-most bridge, to little fanfare. In fact, if the camp leader had his say, he likely would have rejected them at first glance. They were a troop of elves that were being led by a human, which made them highly suspicious.

Elves nearer towards the central part of the country were naturally more prejudiced against other races because of the lack of exposure.

Seeing a human this far into elven territory was suspicious, to say the least. This was especially the case when considering that there was a civil war going on. The camp leader's tactical advisor recognized Desmond from a few days prior, which thankfully prevented any bloodshed from everyone involved.

At first, nobody paid attention to the words shared by the advisor because they didn't believe a human would be sent their way. Now, one of those very humans had arrived, proving the advisor's point.

The commander allowed Desmond and Snow entry into the camp, and they started discussing with him the parts of the plan that Lucius had given them permission to share. He was not keen on the idea of throwing their soldiers at the bridge yet again, knowing that nothing had changed since the last skirmishes. Both sides were simply throwing bodies at one another under orders.

Neither gained nor lost ground and it had turned into a war of attrition, though neither side seemed to run out of resources. The armies loyal to Letheya were backed by the massive concentration of resources within the central region of Aedrider. While those serving Ayalla had larger swaths of land from which to extract resources.

"Are you absolutely insane?" The camp leader demanded an answer from the two new arrivals at the camp. Desmond could not blame him for his concern, but he was resolute in making sure they carried out the plan.

"Yes. Come tomorrow, we will start a rush on the bridge, intending to gain a foothold on the other side. While doing that, the Earth Magic users will work together to create a massive dam in the river, blocking the flow of water." Desmond explained.

Though he had seen many people become angry with him or around him in the past, Desmond was sure this was the first time that he had witnessed someone nearly turn purple. The elf continued to ask questions and try to point out the stupidity of the plan, but Snow and Desmond worked together to shoot down every one of them with a countermeasure that they had prepared.

In the end, they could not convince the camp leader with words and had to resort to threats. "Look," Desmond said with eyes full of frustration and exhaustion, "You have two choices. First, do as we say and help us with the plan. Second, you refuse and we remove you from command. We are operating under the authority of Lord Lucius Kane, brought in directly by the rightful queen, Letheya din Aedrider."

Finally, the elf acquiesced to Desmond's words, which allowed the man to sigh with relief. Though he was prepared to act with force, it was not really his preferred method. Such actions worked well for Lucius, but Desmond did not have the constitution for such behavior himself.
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As the night was falling, Desmond and Snow retired for the evening. They had the provisions necessary already prepared for them to set up their own tents within the encampment. There were likely empty spaces among the already established tents, but just in case, they set up their own.

Since they were chosen as the leader's, they were provided with a much larger tent. It had a centrally shared area with two curtained off spaces meant for sleeping. Some of the men offered to assist them in setting up the complex structure, but they declined.

Neither of them was unfamiliar with such construction, and they silently agreed that it was enjoyable to focus on something other than the impending fight.

Once they set up the tent itself, they furnished the inside. Desmond was about to retire for the night when he saw Snow sitting down at the center of the shared area. She had turned on several lamps powered by light crystals. Laying in front of her was a small map of the bridge and river near their location.

He watched her for a moment, curious about what it was she was doing, but then shrugged before going to lie down in his own area. Desmond tossed and turned for a few hours, barely able to fall asleep. It was unclear if it was the excitement of the impending fighting or if it was the fact that dozens of lights were still lit in the central part of the tent.

The thought of the strange elf having fallen asleep before turning the lights off as if she were a child made Desmond smile to himself. He went to turn the lights off for her so that he could eliminate them being on as a possibility for his lack of sleep.

Much to his surprise, Snow was still sitting in the same place, overlooking a handful of books. None of them appeared to be important. He was almost sure he caught that one of them was titled 'A Royal Lady's Vengeance'.

"Can't sleep, I take it?" Desmond asked.

Snow looked up from her book lazily. Her eyes had dark circles around them that seemed from something a little more intense than a simple lack of sleep. It almost looked like she had been punched in both eyes.

"I never sleep at night." She whispered. "Not without Yue."

Desmond paused for a moment before he gripped the back of his own head and sighed. "Alright, talk to me about it. I know, I know. I'm not the first person you want to talk to about stuff, but I am kind of the only person you have at the moment."

Snow eyed him carefully before she slowly closed her book with a quiet snap. Desmond listened to her story carefully. Apparently, the poor thing suffered from the mark she was born with. At night or in intense darkness, she felt urges to do things that she never would otherwise.

Desmond was aware of intrusive thoughts. Many people suffered from them, though some were much more violent than others. According to Snow, this was not what she was referring to. These whispers, as she called them, came to her only in those scenarios. Whenever her sister used her simple mark that created a ball of light, they vanished.

Similarly, during the daytime or when surrounded by intense light, they did not affect her as bad.

"So that's the gist of it." She finished. By the time the story was over, Snow had slightly withdrawn into herself. She cradled her knees in her chest with her hands wrapped around them and her chin resting pitifully atop them.

Unable to resist the urge to comfort someone he considered an ally; Desmond quietly placed a hand on top of hers and patted it gently. He felt her twitch beneath his touch, but she did not reject his kindness. Her eyes observed him, but he had no negative intentions with his methods. All he wished to do was to provide some form of comfort.

"Well, I will tell you what…" Desmond offered. "How about we take sleep shifts? I would hate to return to Yue and explain I let you get yourself killed thanks to exhaustion on the battlefield."

"And you expect me to do the same if you lose enough sleep? I don't think I'm prepared to tell someone their twin brother died because he was trying to be some kind of prince charming." Snow rebutted, "Why are you even doing this in the first place? What do you have to gain?"

"Nothing. You and Yue remind me of my sister and me a little. I'm not so stupid as to not realize you two aren't related by blood, but that matters little in the end." He explained, "You two would do anything for one another. Honestly, you exhibit such loneliness that it reminds me of Jade before she met Lucius and his family.

"I don't presume to know everything, but if I can reach out and help someone else find an end to that loneliness, like yourself… well, then I have to try, right?"

The tent was silent for a good several minutes as neither said anything to the other. An elf and human simply sat surrounded by glowing lanterns with their hands touching. Were it not for the depressing context of their interaction, one might have confused the situation with something romantic.

After a short while, Snow smiled lightly before hiding her face in her knees. "Alright, I'll take my sleeping shift first, then. I doubt you'd trust me to do it after you, anyway."

"You go that right." Desmond said with a smile while giving her a simple thumbs up.

"Stupid human…"