It had been three days and Nara had seen nothing that gave her any hope that Crioone was on Speed, or alive, for that matter. There were times when during the search she had wanted to give up, and maybe, just maybe, go back to a normal life the likes of which Taverna had suggested to her. Then she hated herself for thinking it. She had already betrayed Crioone once, even if in her own mind she had a good explanation for it, and she would not do it again. Nara began flying faster, scanning the ground more precisely, and her senses for any energy that resembled that of Crioone were at their peak. And yet, in the back of her mind she found that she knew the search was pointless. Crioone was not on Speed, and in the unlikely even that she was still alive, she would not be returning to Speed for a while. It was during these thoughts that Taverna spoke up.
"Crioone's not here."
"So you're just gonna give up?" replied Nara sceptically, even if she had been thinking the same thing for the past few hours.
"No. Only in the actual sense of stopping to search."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"She's not here, so why waste time looking for her. It's like trying to find a butterfly in an empty coccoon. It will never be accomplished."
"So what are you saying we do, oh great one of crazy plans?"
"Shut up. I don't need you insulting my plans. And this one happens to be good."
"Sure. Get on with it. Tell me your great plan of bound to be success."
"We can't find Crioone, so we take out Bellcast, bit by bit, piece by piece, until his empire of deamons is down to one: himself. Starting with the dog from hell."
"Yeah. That's a good one. How 'bout I just kill you here on the spot. It will be much simpler and far faster."
"Do what you want. I'll see you in two months time infront of Bellcast's fortress. We'll see who was smarter."
Nara and Taverna took off at the exact same time. They would not see each other for two months, but as they worked, they would be watched. Exaltoskull stepped out from the shadows and stood where Nara and Taverna had been quarreling. It had taken a lot of effort to explode his body, but with the power of a Deamon Shadow anything, almost, wa possible. But his dissapearence had been on purpose, and it had served its purpose. He had found out a lot about the two deamons who had accompanied hi through The Fog. They were both selfish to an extent, but they also hated Bellcast and what he had done with Speed. They would be the perfect pawns to use in Exaltoskull's great plan of redemtion. No longer would he be the exile of Speed, but the bringer of light. The recreator of Speed.
***
Taverna landed in the middle of Extapolis, Crioone's hometown. The village had suffered a lot since the dissapearence of Crioone, but it still thrived, since it prospered from it's location so close to the former Metawar. At once Taverna was recognised, and deamons gathered around him. He was, after all, one of the most respected deamons. He had faced Bellcast in a deathmatch only weeks earlier. And even if it had ended with Taverna being banished he had still gained enough respect that no one in Extapolis attacked him- if anyone had dared to move against Taverna he or she had been stopped by others and murdered.
" I need fifty of you who are willing to die in a revoltuion against Bellcast. The fifty of you will be trained in combat with me. Actually, make it seventy-five of you. Many of you are bound to die in this training, because when I make my move in rebellion against Bellcast I don't want anyone who's not prepared. The fifty who succeed my training will then march our way to Bellcast's fortress and die. But not before we make dammed sure that Bellcast knows what he's up against. I have a friend who will finish the job we begin, but anyone who follows me now is guaranteed to die.
"So who's with me?"
No one stepped forwards. Taverna waited. Five minutes passed. No one had moved.
"Okay. You're all dead. When you look at me on my way out, you'll be seeing some one who's proud to rebel. Proud to fight for a cause- not only to free the land of Bellcast's evil, but also to avenge a fallen friend, Crioone, from this town. But none of you can follow me now, because you know my true intent of the mission, and you'd be held back by that. So stay here. Don't do anything at all. Pretend I was never here."
Taverna turned around and flew off to the south, towards the remains of Metawar. It had been his true intent to recruit the slaves of Metawar, but he had to see what Crioone's own village thought of the idea first. After all, an army of one hundred is much stronger than an army of fifty, if not just a bit harder to control.
