by M. D. Grimm
But even as Grekel came forward to chomp down on Dyrc’s neck, all the wichtln suddenly froze. I blinked. It was like they were in suspended animation. I could see their eyes moving, as shocked as I was. Who...?
I looked at Nanna, but she was only now coming back to herself. It couldn’t have been her. In fact, there was only one mage I had ever seen perform magick like this.
“Uzzie,” I whispered.
“Morgorth?” A clear, steady voice cut through the violence that had descended upon my forest. “Be a good lad and tell your minions to let me pass. I wouldn’t want to hurt any of them.”
My legs trembled, and I blamed the fever for causing the burning at the corner of my eyes. Aishe gripped me when my knees buckled and I sagged.
“Let him through,” I ordered.
Truls parted, and Master Ulezander, my mentor and first friend, came into view. He walked steadily down the trail toward us. Deep blue robes billowed around his legs as he moved. A gray beard covered the lower half of his face and trailed down to a sharp point against his waist.
Short, gray hair that reached his shoulders was braided and hung behind his head. Yet despite his age and gray hair, he looked quite young and moved with ease.
Master Ulezander was certainly the image most think of when they hear the word “mage.”
His blue eyes were fierce, and his face was stony. He didn’t look at me, his eyes focused on a stunned Nanna and a badly, maybe fatally, wounded Dyrc.
“That’s him?” Aishe whispered.
I nodded. The shock of my mentor’s appearance trumped the anger and hate for the other two mages. I managed to straighten, but Aishe kept his arms around me. I was grateful for his support.
Master Ulezander passed Nanna, who was struggling to stand. She looked lucid once more, if a little gray. Since the wichtln were still in suspended animation, Master Ulezander simply grabbed their thick bodies and pried them off of Dyrc, who was bleeding badly. Then he released the spell. The wichtln stumbled and swayed like drunkards.
I ordered them away and met Grekel’s eyes, and, while I saw pain, anger, and some humiliation, I didn’t see any indication that he thought me weak. That was a relief.
He staggered toward me, and I gave his head a few strokes and even scratched one of his ears. He pushed his shoulder against my leg, not hard, but enough that I felt his strength. Then he disappeared into the copse of trees. He wasn’t gone, he would continue to watch us, but I believed that his part in this battle was over.
Master Ulezander knelt in front of Dyrc, who was barely conscious and bleeding heavily. His clothes were ripped and shredded, and so was his flesh. I wondered if he’d make it -- and then I wondered why I cared. My mentor laid his hands on Dyrc’s forehead and his chest. He closed his eyes. Bright, warm, yellow light shone brightly for several seconds then diminished. The bleeding had stopped, but Dyrc still needed a lot of care before he’d be at full strength.
I looked at Lansa, who had stayed on my arm.
“Good work, Lansa,” I murmured. “But the fight is over.
Your brethren can disperse.”
“Yes, Master!” Lansa squawked and launched into the air, shooting straight up at the horde of fasion still circling above. In a few seconds they dispersed, allowing winter light to illuminate the forest once more.
“You brought this on yourself, you know,” Master Ulezander said softly to Dyrc. Then he stood and turned to Nanna. She looked faint but determined.
“I am ashamed of both of you,” my mentor said, his voice decidedly frosty. I’ve gotten that tone a time or two in my life, and it delighted me to hear it directed at someone else. His eyes were just as blue as I remembered, and I knew how easily and quickly they could go from cold to warm, and back again.
“Sir, the Council--” Nanna began, her voice croaky.
“Don’t!” Master Ulezander snapped. “Don’t you dare talk to me about a Council who neglects to inform one of their own, an Elder, that they are going to persecute one of his students.”
Well, that proved my thoughts about him abandoning me were really just childish fears. I sighed. I really should have known better.
Nanna blanched and visibly trembled.
“Now,” Master Ulezander continued, his voice cold enough that I fully expected to see icicles form on the trees around us, “this is how a trade is supposed to work.”
He held out one of his hands to me, still not looking in my direction, and the other hand to Nanna. Without hesitation I stepped forward, Aishe still holding me up, and handed over Rambujek. Nanna gave him Puejuek, though I could still see the reluctance and resistance in her eyes. My mentor switched the pouches and then handed me the one that contained Puejuek.
I took it gratefully and gripped it tightly to my chest.
“But Master Ulezander, he....” Dyrc murmured, apparently conscious. His hand flopped a little, and his body jerked. Master Ulezander looked down at him, his slim eyebrows bunched over his eyes.
“Dyrc,” he said with a hard, quiet tone. “You have lost what respect I had for you. Do you not know what honor is? Have you learned nothing from the lessons I taught you? From the years you studied under me?”
Dyrc stilled.
“You shame me,” Master Ulezander said. “And you shame yourself. I was your mentor, and your actions during these recent days have reflected poorly upon me.”
He paused. “I have been watching your actions since this scheduled exchange, and I am very disappointed.”
Watching since the exchange? What? Damn it...that was just like Master Ulezander. Watch and wait, observe and calculate, and then jump in. Tests. It was always tests with him. But even with these thoughts, I felt a wicked glee in my mentor’s reprimand. I hid my smile, just in case Master Ulezander turned my way -- I didn’t want to get some of that reprimand for being smug. There was nothing my mentor hated more than smugness. He had loved bringing me down a size or two during my years of training.
“We had a mission, Master Ulezander,” Nanna insisted, gaining strength now that my minions had left. “Given to us by the Council. We were to use whatever means necessary to reclaim Rambujek from Morgorth.”
“I see,” Master Ulezander said slowly. “So, you decided from the start to discard civility, honor, the guest-host relationship, and to stumble about invading another mage’s territory?”
I wanted to punch a fist in the air in triumph. But I only grinned at Aishe, who looked shocked but delighted at my mentor’s support.
“Master Ulezander--” Nanna started, her tone complacent.
“Enough,” he snapped. “I will keep Rambujek. I believe that will satisfy the Council, who should have come to me in the first place when their mission involved my student.”
Master Ulezander’s voice lowered. “I will speak with them later.”
Defeated, Nanna bowed her head.
“Now, take Dyrc away and see that he is looked after,” he ordered. Nanna nodded and helped Dyrc to his feet.
Neither of them looked at me as they staggered away. I turned to meet Grekel’s eyes in the dark. He knew what my look meant, and his eyes glimmered with anger but obedience. The wichtln would make sure the mages got out alive, which I found ironic.
The three of us stood in silence a few minutes after they left. Then Master Ulezander sighed deeply and turned around. The fierceness in his eyes had gone, and weariness replaced it.
“What took you so long?” I asked, smiling slightly.
Master Ulezander snorted, and I grinned.
“That was close, Morgorth.” My mentor held my gaze.
“Allowing your minions to kill messengers of the Council was not the best idea you’ve ever had.”
I sniffed. “They started it.”
“And you would have started a war.”
I glared. “They would have started the war, Master. With all due respect, you don’t have the slightest idea what I’ve had to deal with.”
I wouldn’t back down from my mentor’s gaze, an
d he never shifted his. He narrowed his eyes.
“When I learned of the vote without me, I knew what the Council was trying to do, Morgorth. And with this little show, you would have allowed their plan to succeed.”
My hands clenched into fists. “What the fuck was I supposed to do then? Lie down and die? Roll over, and let them fuck with me?”
Master Ulezander sighed and shook his head. “Why did you not send a querian to me? Why must you be so stubborn?”
I heard the weariness in his voice, and some of my defensiveness disappeared. “I was trapped, Master. I wanted to handle this one on my own. I can’t... damn it, I can’t run to you every time the Council decides to entertain themselves by attacking me. I can’t...” I looked at the ground. “I won’t put you in that situation.”
“Morgorth, my infuriating student, look at me.”
Reluctantly, I did. My mentor gazed at me with those patient eyes. “When will you learn, Morgorth, that when it comes to the Council, I am your greatest ally? You will not succeed in any business with them without my assistance.”
“I can’t have you cleaning up my messes,” I muttered, thinking of what Dyrc had said.
Master Ulezander smiled softly. “They aren’t your messes, Morgorth. You know that. Don’t let their words affect you now. Self-pity isn’t at all attractive.”
I glared, but part of me was heartened by his words.
Master Ulezander then turned his gaze to Aishe, who had remained silent and steady throughout our exchange. My mentor’s eyes warmed.
“And we are being rude, Morgorth. Who is your friend?”
I had to smile a little at my mentor’s obvious interest.
“Master Ulezander, this is my companion Aishe. Aishe, this is my mentor.”
Master Ulezander smiled and bowed in greeting. “It is an honor to meet you, Aishe. I had heard that my student had taken a companion and I apologize for not greeting you sooner.”
“No apology needed,” Aishe said with his own smile.
“And it is an honor for me to meet you. I have heard much.”
“I’m sure you have.” Master Ulezander eyed me, and I shrugged. Then my mentor held out his hand to me, holding Rambujek’s pouch.
I stared at it. Then at him. “But--”
“Don’t argue, Morgorth.” My mentor raised an eyebrow.
“Finders keepers, after all.”
Grinning again, I took the pouch. Rambujek still sung to me, but the song was no longer sweet.
“That was well done, by the way,” Master Ulezander said. “With Kayl. I’m glad Enfernlo assisted you.”
“I think he had fun,” I said. “It’s not every day he gets to battle revenais.”
My mentor chuckled.
“So,” I started, and unable to resist anymore, I sat down on the trail. It was either that or fall down. It was getting difficult for me to breathe. Aishe knelt beside me.
“Are you all right?” Aishe asked.
“Fine,” I said, hating to show weakness but seeing no other option. “I just couldn’t stand anymore. The fever and all.” I added for my mentor’s benefit. Then I told him about the necromantic armies.
“I see,” Master Ulezander said, nodding. “I’m surprised you can stand at all. You must have done some great magick.”
“Well, necromants aren’t flies you can just swat with a scroll,” I said.
“No, they’re not.” I heard the bitterness and pain in his voice. Some of the joy of his scolding Dyrc diminished.
Master Ulezander would sincerely be shamed by Dyrc’s actions. And they would reflect poorly on him as a mentor.
I hated Dyrc even more for that.
“How did you know what the Council was doing?” I asked. “If you didn’t know they even had a meeting?”
“Elyssa,” Master Ulezander said simply.
“What?” I asked in surprise.
“Dyrc and Nanna stopped in her village.” He explained.
“They knew that she knew you, and their questions made her suspicious. She sent a querian to me, but because of the weather, it reached me later than intended. I arrived only minutes ago.”
“Well, I owe her a great big thanks,” I said. “But why didn’t she send one to me?”
Master Ulezander frowned. “I would assume she would.”
Elyssa was Master Ulezander’s great-great-something niece. She had been my first friend of similar age to me, and my first lover. She lived in a town several kirons west of my home, their resident mage. She was trustworthy, and that was rare quality. She would have sent a querian to me if she knew trouble was coming my way.
Which meant... “Dyrc and Nanna must have intercepted it,” I realized.
Master Ulezander nodded. “I feared that might be the case.”
I muttered curses under my breath.
“You wanted to be a dark mage and feed their fears about you.” Master Ulezander smiled humorlessly. “And they do fear you, never forget that. Fear breeds hate, and hate breeds violence.”
“They never gave me a choice in the matter,” I countered, eyeing him. It was an old argument he and I had had for years now. Neither of us ever won. Or lost. “I cannot change their minds. They will think what they will of me. And damn them for it.”
Master Ulezander knelt in front of me, his eyes understanding. Aishe wrapped his arm around my shoulders, and I blamed my burning eyes on my fever and exhaustion.
“Even without Elyssa’s querian,” Master Ulezander started, breaking the silence, “I would have come here anyway. Though, perhaps not at such an advantageous time.”
“Why were you headed this way?” I asked.
Master Ulezander face grew very serious. “It’s time, Morgorth. It’s time for phase two of your training.”
I stared at him, my mouth slowly falling open. My territory had been invaded, my relationship with Aishe had been shaken, my village had been terrorized, and necromants had been unleashed upon me that caused my magick fever. And now my mentor showed up out of nowhere to say my second phase of training had begun.
By the Mother. I was exhausted.
“I’ll wait until you have fully recovered, of course.” That damn spark of humor returned to Master Ulezander’s eyes.
I scowled.
“Well, now you can work on those things you’ve been slacking on,” Aishe said cheerfully.
My scowl deepened as Master Ulezander laughed.
“You are so not helping, Aishe.”
“Oh, but he is,” Master Ulezander said. He stood and smiled down at me. “I have matters to discuss with the Council, but I will be back in two weeks’ time. Rest, Morgorth. Recover. I will see you soon.”
Then he was gone.
I could only imagine what “matters” he had to discuss with those passive aggressive old fools. Aishe helped me to my feet, and I leaned heavily on him.
“Let’s get you home and--”
“Not yet.”
Aishe frowned. “Why not? You heard your mentor. You need rest.”
“I know I do. But there’s something I have to do first.”
Aishe looked down at the pouches clutched in my hand.
He smiled at me, understanding in his eyes. “I agree.
Come on.”
It was slow going for both of us. The last of my strength was waning quickly, but my determination (and Aishe) kept me on my feet. The dome around Happy Valley shuddered slightly as Aishe and I walked through it, but it remained intact. The villagers were busy as bees, still hammering away and occasionally quarreling. Small scuffles were breaking out here and there between different species.
Some gVattaren were heckling a morag, and some flayn were harassing a female seela. I shook my head at their childishness. Didn’t they know that their survival depended on them working together, like it always had?
Aishe and I walked past the village on the outskirts and climbed up the short hill to the place where I had seen the hole and the box. But when we stood on the to
p of the hill, the female seela was kneeling beside it once more. She had the box in her hands, and she was weeping again.
I sighed.
“Who is she?” Aishe asked.
“I think she’s the keeper of Puejuek. Come on.”
He helped me down the hill, and the seela didn’t notice us until we stood right next to her. Her head came up sharply, and her eyes widened comically. You would have thought we’d suddenly appeared right beside her out of thin air. A gasp escaped her, and she stumbled to her feet, her hair and coat nearly tripping her.
I stood on my own with Aishe near just in case. I had a reputation to maintain, and he knew it.
“You-- you’re the--” Her voice was shaky and shrill enough to make me wince.
“Lord Morgorth, resident Dark Mage,” I finished for her.
I would have bowed with a flourish, but I knew I would fall over if attempted.
“Why are you here?” she asked, her voice calming down.
She didn’t leave the hole or the box, and I realized she was trying to protect it. Silly girl.
“It looks like you’re missing something,” I said.
The seela’s eyes suddenly narrowed, and her fists clenched. “Was it you? Did you steal the stone? How could you? That stone is the only reason Happy Valley exists! Do you know what my ancestor sacrificed for it? Her life! I’m named after her, and...”
And so her rant continued, whether I wanted it to or not.
I learned that her female ancestor, Kyla, ran away from the northern kingdom, away from an arranged marriage.
Apparently, the male had been a philanderer and a violent drunk. Kyla took the only thing her family cherished -- Puejuek -- and left. She didn’t know it was a stone of power, but when she managed to survive and have great luck during her journey, she realized the truth. There had been a small farming community where Happy Valley is now when she arrived. She found a nice male seela, married him, and the community began to flourish, because of the peridot.
But, of course, rumors of the blessed community reached the wrong people’s ears, as these stories always go, and soldiers were sent to investigate. Kyla gave the stone to her husband and child to hide, and then she went to confront the soldiers. They killed her. Then the child, a daughter, being far smarter than her mother, ran to an isolated spot and prayed over the stone, wishing that it would protect the village and make it flourish -- and make it a paradise (that explained the rainbow). She buried it, and suddenly the soldiers were struck down with a disease, killing them all.
