Searching begins

Tallulah walked into the meeting hall, ignoring the sound of the ringing bells over the complex. She turned and smiled at the group of people that had already gathered. "This is a good sign. Even though I have a fair idea of what we're going to do, I still feel excited standing here amongst them." She nodded at Cliffhopper's wife. "Even she's here..." She looked at the firewarrior. "We have our next step. With thanks to the completion of our missions, something has come as a result of our actions... We need to face those new challenges head on."

She looked at the people around her. "They really want to fight with us."

"We have found that Marcule has made clones of himself, and those clones are still in control of the trolaiths... We need to find the clones and remove them... As well as find the hidden troliath army... We all need to work together to find the clones and the army." Tallulah nodded. "Yes... We got to find them, and remove them before the Supreme has died."

"Don't worry about the brothers... We'll be able to find the hidden army... That's something this family is good at doing." She took a step forward. "I'll find the locations of the clones... Than it will be up to us all to take them out."

"I have a question..." She looked at Harnio. "Can the clones make more clones?" Star shrugged her shoulders and looked at the firewarrior. "We don't know that yet... But we'll not give them a chance to even try." She nodded. "He's right, we can't let them even try, and we don't have the time to do any research on them... We have to remove them as fast as possible."

"That's right... Once we identify the locations of the clones we'll go for them first, and once we unite again, we'll be going after the hidden army... Priestess you're up." Tallulah nodded. "I can do that..." She turned and walked out of the meeting hall, and stood staring at the large map, hanging on the wall. "Are you going to do your trick out here for people to see?" She shook her head, staring at Drummen. "Not a chance monk... Go play with your wife and brother." She looked back at the map. "Why are you staring at the map than priestess?" She smiled. "Its because I like it... I'm good friends with the person who made it... I hope to bring her here soon."

"Is she one of your people?" Tallulah shook her head. "No... She's a seeker." She heard Drummen curse. "A seeker... Why do you become friends with the strangest of people?" She looked at him, narrowing her eyes. "Why do I have have to consult you first, before I make friends?" She saw his waving hands in front of him. "That's not what I mean... I heard the stories about them in the dome... We're destroying what they're seeking for..." He covered his mouth cursing.

She took a step towards him. "What do you mean?"

"I said nothing... Ahh look at the sun. I need to go now... I'm sure Raven will be looking for me." She jumped over him and stood between the exit and Drummen with her bow drawn. "You need to speak."

"I can't talk about it... I shouldn't of said anything..." She lowered her bow, nodding. "Fine... But I know the legends about the seekers and I know what they're looking for... But if you said was true... Than what's the reason for doing that?" She looked at Drummen baring her teeth.

"Don't blame him... He's an idiot at times, and he's said something he shouldn't of... Husband... What has your noisy mouth gotten into you this time?" Tallulah turned and put her bow on her back. "Raven, please let me know something?"

"Because of my husband... Its better if someone else spoke to you." She looked at Raven. "Who do you mean?"

"She's talking about me... Come priestess, we must talk... Thank you idiot monk." She looked at the cloaked man who had walked into the room. "How did you get in here?"

"The same as you... Come hurry up... I'm old too you know, and you also have to find the clones..." She smiled. "That's something that I can do, and find them without a problem."

Ohh? Is that right?" She nodded as she followed him out of the room, and onto the balcony. She watched as he closed the door behind her. "Yes... He spoke out of turn, but one day you'll know the truth, and the trial." She shook her head. "I don't think I can wait till then... I need to know something before then."

"Fine... Its part of the trial... You have a choice... To open something or to destroy something... That's it." She looked at him with an annoyed look. "That's it?"

"Yes... That's it." She waved her arm at him. "You took me out here, just to tell me that?"

"Yes... Are you happy now, that you now know?" She shook her head. "Not at all... That's nothing... Just useless information... Blast you." She turned and walked on the balcony railing, watching as a cloud formed, and stood on it, floating into the sky. She stopped and turned around. "When is my trial?"

"No idea... That's all up to you, and your desire to become stronger." She looked at him. "Its up to me?"

"Yes... Its up to you... What's with all these questions? You just ask the same thing... We'll both know when its time for your trial... Now just go and hurry up. They want the clones found..." She nodded at him and floated higher into the sky. She looked around. "This should be high enough..."

She closed her eyes, took a long breath, and focused all her attention in her eyes. "Where are you all?" She opened them, and felt a slight burning as faint light shot out of her eyes, covering a Athlos. She frowned as she took points of the different locations where a strong beam of light rose from the ground. Once she had made points of all the light beams rising from the surface, she slowly closed her eyes panting. "There're more of them than we thought..." She felt the cloud lower itself and stop when she was at the balcony. She opened her eyes, stepped off the cloud and back into the complex.

She walked into the meeting hall and saw the firewarrior staring at her. "Did you find them all?" She nodded with a serious look on her face. "Even though Mouse took out six of them... There're many left behind... We'll need to move quickly if we want to take out the army." She walked over to a map on the table and started to draw points for the others to see. She heard the firewarrior curse. "This does look like a lot of trouble... How did Marcule manage to make so many clones of himself?"

"That's something that Tofana could also do... One of her abilities... That's how she was a one person army... She would flood the area with copies of herself... Just another thing he has stolen from her." She looked at the old shadow standing in the corner sadly. "Mouse will return what he stole from her." She saw his hand waving at her. "Don't worry about my apprentice and her... I think they've worked out some agreement." She looked at him in confusion, and watched in surprise as Mouse appeared out of a shadow, staring at her with a smile.

"We saw you coming back down, so we thought to come and see the damage." She looked as the brothers came back in with Harnio and Eiken, smiling as she saw the monk rubbing his arm. "Sorry priestess..." She ignored him. "Hmphhh." Turning to look back at the map, drawing more points where she saw the lights.

"That's all fifty of them... There're fifty clones that we need to remove quickly, and they're spread all over Athlos... If we just sit here, it'll be too late..." She looked at the firewarrior. "It seems we'll have to split up again... Its the only way to cover all this ground as fast as possible, or we'll have a troliath army to chase as well."

"We still don't know where they are, nor where they'll attack."

"I can make some predictions..." She looked at Harnio standing to the back of the group with the professor at his side. "Where do you think they'll attack?"

"I think they'll be either attacking the Capital or Eternia... Possibly the dome as well... As I think about it, the best place to attack first would be the dome, and then Eternia, finally the Capital." She looked at him. "Why do you think that?"

"To give time for us to return back to defend the Capital... My understanding is if they want to show the people and us that they're not on the side of the trolaiths. The easiest way for them to show us is to do just that... Start somewhere and bring the fight to the Capital, where we save the city, and its people... Protect the Supreme."

She nodded and glanced as Mouse started signing. "We both agree with Harnio on this one... The dome will be hit first, so the army will have to be around there somewhere hiding."

"Could it be coming from the sea? Like the thing that attacked the Nebi?" Tallulah nodded in thought. "That's a possibility... A large trolaith that could swim, and carry thousands of trolaiths inside it." She cursed as she looked at the map. "If that's the case, than once we finish destroying the clones, we need to head to the dome, and find this army, before they attack."

"There might be an issue with your plan..." She looked up and saw a bird of prey land in front of them. She smiled. "Cliffhopper... I'm sure you know who this is?" She looked at Cliffhopper nodding, and stepped forward with his wife. "He's the advisor from the queen in the mountains..." She looked at the bird of prey. "What do you mean there's a problem?"

"They've already started their attack... You're right, they're going for the dome first... Once they've finished there, they're going for Eternia... Firewarrior, we meet again... What do you suggest we do?" She looked at Stannir in confusion. "You've been in the mountains before, and met him?"

"Uhh... Yeah. I was chased out of the swamplands, and ended up in the mountain range... He saved my life, as I couldn't speak the language... They thought I was an iceman or something."

"Anyway... Enough about the past... I only came to inform you of that piece of information, and that the queen sends her love Star." She shook her head. "You know that's not my name, so I prefer you to call me by my real name." She saw his smile. "I see you've grown stronger, and brought justice to the tribes." She nodded. "Well than Tallulah... I will send your love back to the queen... She says she's bored without you there to brighten her day." She felt her face start to heat up. "Once I'm done here, I'll go visit... if I'm allowed to."

"You'll know the time to return... Now I must go... We're about to bring in another tribe to the holy mountain... Plan well... Firewarrior." She looked at the firewarrior. "Since we know that they've started, we need to plan what to do..."

"It seems the army is moving on its own... Nothing to do with the clones... Who should we hit first? The army, or the clones?" The firewarrior looked at the map in thought. "If we take the clones first, we'll lose the dome... If the army... There's a chance the clones will start making more of them... Not an easy choice at all... What do you all think? The army, or the clones?" She turned, looking at the old shadow. "The both of you are one men armies... Can't you do something?"

"Hohohohoho... We may be one man armies, but we're not a sledgehammer to destroy a mountain... We're the small dagger that removes a single pebble in a single strike... If you need a large force to protect the dome, I may suggest the dragon family, and the Unifier to search for their transport with Harnio and the professor also searching." She nodded in agreement. "What do you think Stannir?"

"That is an idea, that I like... The dragon family, to protect the dome from the trolaiths... Unifier with Harnio and the professor inside searching... The rest of us, we're searching for all the clones, and taking them down, before more of those beasts are made... Once we're done we meet at the dome, to protect it."

"Uhh... I may have a problem at the dome..." She looked at the monk. "What's the problem? Did you meet too many women while you were there?"

"No... My son in law is referring to the tradition of the monk trial... He's considered an enemy of the dome, until he's completed his trial... They wouldn't even like to see me there at the dome as well..." She looked at them. "Why don't you just skin change, and not go into the city... To stay outside of the dome, and protect it that way?"

"It depends on where they are attacking... If they're already in the dome area, we'll have to enter the city..." She looked to the firewarrior for help. "You both have to make a choice... Enter the city to save it, or defend it from the outside, and lose it... Your choice, since you're all there to protect it, and keep them safe from the trolaiths." She smiled as she heard Raven's mother and the monk curse at the same time.

"We'll do what needs to be done..." Tallulah smiled. "So shall we... We'll join you to remove the entire army... Just as the firewarrior says... Hold the line."