by Lexy Wolfe
With a nod and wave of farewell to the rest of the patrol, he picked Izkynder up to give him a bear hug. “Spent the day with Alysha, hm? Have fun?” He nodded, a huge smile on his face.
“I must say, it was a strange day.” The bard lifted his hat to run his fingers through his hair. “There were no songbirds in her garden today. The only times they disappear like that is if a storm is approaching.”
Jaison made a musing sound as he put the boy back on the ground. “Odd. The weather could not be more perfect. The birds that make Alysha’s garden their home are some of the most accurate natural prophets in Fortress. I wonder what—”
Commotion from the combat training area drew their attentions. Mureln frowned in puzzlement. “I thought today Storm and Skyfire were taking the day off from training with the Unsvets.” He glanced at the other man as he hopped up onto the edge of the central fountain to get a look.
The Desanti man blinked in surprise. “Well, that is unexpected.” He hopped down to rejoin the two. “It’s Ash and Terrence. Sparring.”
“That is a surprise.” He looked at Izkynder. “Want to watch Uncle Ash and Uncle Terrence?” The boy’s eyes lit up as he clapped his hands, then grabbed his father and tlisan by the hands to drag them after him excitedly.
“I guess that is a yes,” Jaison stated in droll tones.
Mureln chuckled. “Seems to be. He tends to forget to use words when he is excited.” The Unsvets and Adepts moved to allow the pair of Dusvets and Izkynder to reach the barrier to watch the two.
The pair of Forenten sparred, wearing only their boots and trousers. The younger man, unarmed, blocked swings with shields created by briefly time-stopping air across his forearms, or blowing the other a few steps away with gusts of directed wind.
With a gesture from Ash, a gust of wind stirred up dirt directed toward Terrence. The younger man uttered an exclamation, reflexively covering his eyes. He tapped him on the shoulder with the wooden sword, then stepped back, breathing heavily. “Not bad. You are a quick study.”
Wiping dirt and tears away, Terrence looked down when Mureln’s son wrapped himself around his leg. “Ah, hello there, Izkynder.”
Worry filled the boy’s face. “You hurt Uncle Terrence?”
“Little bruising to my pride, but nothing I won’t recover from.” He ruffled the boy’s hair then took a damp towel handed to him, finally getting the irritants out of his eyes. He squinted at Ash. “That was a dirty trick.”
“Storm calls it ‘using what is available.’ You have not seen some of the sparring sessions she’s put me through.” He tsked at Terrence’s raised eyebrow and faint smirk. “That was not a euphemism, brat. You have been hanging around Emil and Emaris too much.”
Jaison and Mureln joined the two as the gathered disbursed with the end of the spectacle of a pair of mages fighting, chuckling at the banter. Terrence affected innocence. “I don’t know what you are talking ab—” Without warning, they felt more than heard a deep rumble and the ground trembled under their feet. “What was that?”
A shrill, dissonant sound accompanied by a red blur flew by and landed on the place between Izkynder’s chest and Terrence’s thigh. The small, winged Desanti reptile desperately tried to burrow in between to hide against his human. The boy covered the chitan with both hands. “Chitta is afraid.”
Ash’s eyes dilated when his connection with Storm went abruptly mute. “Aelia? Aelia!” Heedless of the others’ questions, he ran to the tunnels’ entrance for the dormitory.
THE SIGHT THAT greeted the na’Zhekali as they converged on their home daunted even Tyrsan. Every object in the main room—save for Izkynder’s bed near his parents’ bedroom—had been broken. Marble, wood, as well as fabric had all met a dismal fate.
In the middle of it were Emil and Emaris, both numbly picking at various pieces. “We tried…puttin’ things back t’gether. But we canna seem t’ get time t’ cooperate.” He sat down heavily, looking at the shattered statue in his hands. “We tried talking to her, but…”
Mureln handed Izkynder to Taylin, hurrying over to his brothers-in-arms, alarmed to see them so distraught. “Emil, what happened? Who did you try talking to?” The smaller gypsy closed his eyes, shaking his head. Emaris signed slowly, looking at the senior mage. “Storm did this?”
“But why?” Terrence looked at Ash. “What could possibly make her so angry that she’d do this?” The man could only shake his head, staring at the destruction.
“The question is why did it also upset the Timeless One,” Tyrsan stated in grim tones. “And where is she now?”
“I think I can…answer…the why…” Everyone turned in shock when Kendle pushed himself up from behind the fire pit. Bloody, bruised, the Roylat staggered a step with his arm around his middle, catching himself on the edge. He sat with a grimace. “Apparently, I said…” He winced. “…the wrong thing. A regrettable…talent of mine.”
“Zeridus!” Taylin handed Izkynder to Jaison, running to the divine servant. She frowned when he grabbed her wrists, holding her back. “Don’t be foolish. You need healing!”
“No!” Kendle’s face flushed with intense emotion. “This is only a fraction of what I deserve!” He coughed, closing his eyes. “I won’t die. She is too skilled at her art. If she intended to kill me, I would be dead already. The room suffered for her restraint.”
Tyrsan looked between the mage and divine servant. “I will go talk with Dulain Benilus and help him calm everyone. Ground trembles are signs of the mistress being highly upset here.”
Ash scowled at Kendle as the former Dulain headed back down to the main settlement. “What did you say to her?” He stalked over, grabbing the Roylat by the front of his shirt, fist cocked to punch him. “What did you do?!”
“Ash!” Taylin grabbed the wrist of the hand holding Kendle’s clothes. “Stop! He’s already badly hurt.”
Terrence took his other arm. “Let him go. Kendle suffered enough from Storm.” He spoke with quiet intensity. “I know you’re worried about Aelia and still angry with Kendle, but don’t allow your control slip because of Storm’s emotions overwhelming you.”
“It is not her emotions. I can’t feel her at all!” Ash growled as he released him, pressing the heels of his hands against his temples. He took a deep breath, exhaling loudly as he forced himself to calmness. “Thank you, Terrence. I will have to be more careful not to allow myself to be controlled by my own emotions.” He glared at Kendle. “Why are you even here?”
“I can only tell you I was sent to speak with her. Suffice to say right now, she feels more betrayed by the ancient trinity than me. Storm has never been one to kill the messenger.” He looked quizzically at the gypsies. “They were the ones that sparked her fury.”
“We dinna mean t’ upset her more,” Emil said dismally. “She dinna give us a chance t’ tell ‘er we figured out a way we don’t need ta leave th’ tribe.”
Taylin blinked, shocked. “Leave the tribe? Why would you even consider that? I know how much family means to you both.” She frowned as Emaris signed. “I do not understand. Why would she think you had to choose?”
“Because! We thought we woulda had ta so we could keep servin’ th’ Seeing One.” At the rest of the tribe’s consternated expressions, they explained. “We are what ye call ghost guard. It is supposed ta be a secret. No one outside th’ gypsy clans are s’posed ta know about ‘em. We had na e’en told Mureln what we were until…stuff happened here an’ it slipped out. It got complicated b’cause yer all family, but yer not…gypsy.”
Taylin frowned at the Roylat. “If you will not allow healing, I am going to bind your wounds at the very least. You are bleeding on our floor. Stay put.” She stalked to her room to get her medical supplies.
“I could not go even if I wished right now.” Kendle shook his head, smiling faintly. “I like her. A fitting companion for Zhekali.”
“She is not—!” Ash stopped himself, gritting his teeth a moment. “She is not Zhekali.”
The divine servant exhaled. “Ah, see, therein lies the problem.” He looked up at the mage. “Because of the testing to become Guardians of Time, she could be again. If she chose.” He glanced at Taylin as she returned, letting her begin tending his injuries.
Terrence grimaced, grabbing his right arm as both Dzee and the Knowing One communed with him. His eyes widened. “The gods’ laws state divine servants cannot be close to mortals because knowledge of past lives must not contaminate current ones and proximity risks accidental revelations.” He stared at the Roylat. “They were trying to make her abandon us! Don’t They know how she feels about family?”
Taylin grabbed Kendle’s chin when he began shaking his head. “Hold still!”
“Yes, Healer,” Kendle replied, contrite. He moved his eyes to Terrence. “They will not force her to do anything. But They are not always patient and are not above attempting to cajole a desired choice They wish through manipulation.”
Ash made a face as he looked at the destruction around the room. “I must thank Aelia for only destroying my table when she realized I was trying to manipulate her to change.” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “I always imagined the gods were vastly more intelligent.”
Kendle chuckled, carefully holding still when Taylin flashed a glare at him. “They are not perfect, as much as we all like to believe They are. And They have no power to control paradox. And Zhe— Storm is a paradox. Perhaps even more so now than ever.”
“Skyfire must be with her. Jaison, come with me. We’ll track them down. Terrence, watch over everyone here. Especially him.” Kendle looked away from Ash’s hate-filled eyes. “We’ll discuss matters as a tribe when we’re all together. If the servants ask about the mess, tell them Storm and I had a fight.”
“You’re going to take the blame for me?” the Roylat asked, shocked and amazed at the gesture.
“Ye mean fer us,” Emil stated, dejected.
He shook his head as he went to get his heavier robes. “I am taking the blame for no one. With two known mortal enemies like us? A lover’s spat is the most plausible explanation for the gossip vines. When you can’t stop something, you work with it.” He smiled faintly at Mureln. “A lesson I learned from the Vodani.”
The bard’s surprise shifted to pleased appreciation. “We will be waiting for your return. Bring her home safe.”
“With her temper?” Jaison quipped in droll tones as he and Ash headed out. “I hope we can bring ourselves home safe.”
The pair of drizzen tore through the thinning trees as they headed to the snowcapped top of Fortress. As the air thinned more, Skyfire called, “Storm! Please, stop! We cannot breathe up here!”
The drizar reared back with a shriek, clawing at the sky. Storm’s eyes belied the stone-cold impassivity of her expression. Her breathing was as labored as Skyfire’s, but she shook her head. “We can breathe. The air is thinner here, it will be harder.” She thumped the drizar’s neck. “We are almost there.” She urged her mount to continue, but at a more sedate pace.
“It is freezing here!” He tugged his tunic closer, muttering under his breath about wishing they had their cloaks. “Why are we here?”
He flinched when she looked at him, licks of flame haloing her head for only a moment. “Because I demand explanation why the ancient trinity have betrayed me!” She turned forward again, back stiff. “No one lies to me and does not suffer for it. No one!”
“You intend to punish Them?” Skyfire gaped at her for a few moments. “How? Why?! They are gods. They could destroy you!”
“But They won’t,” she growled. “Because They want Zhekali back. I was promised the choice was mine, and They have reneged on Their word to me.”
He frowned deeply. “I see.” He crossed his arms, rubbing his biceps to warm himself. He blinked when they approached a pavilion of marble with black, white and blue whorls throughout the stone. Beneath the roof were three circles. A rock resided within one, a pool of lava in another, and water between them. “What is this place?”
The drizar lowered to the ground, remaining there after Storm dismounted. “A forgotten altar to the ancient trinity. Fortress was not always so high or wide. It has grown, like the trees in Forenta.” She looked at him. “Few time shifters can endure here because there is little that lives here for them to feed upon. They are drawn to regions where living things flourish. So Guardians do not patrol beyond the line of snow.”
“They have forgotten this place.” Skyfire felt too much awe to notice the cold. “It seems an insult not to worship Them as we do our great father or the others do their gods.”
“It is not.” She approached the platform across from the three circles, kneeling. “They are worshiped through the others because They are a union of the trinity’s essences. The Raging One and the Knowing One balance the order and chaos within one another. I expect once we understand the Seeing One and the Singing One better, we will discover They also balance each another. Time flows through all, regardless.”
She drew her Swordanzen double-edged sword, dragging it across her palm before driving it into the stone she knelt on, as though it were butter. “But They are the ones who broke Their word. For that, They must answer to me.”
Skyfire dropped to his knees in the snow beside his crouched drizzen. Within the circles, fire swirled over the lava into a man, water snaked up to form the Timeless One’s mermaid body, and the rock shivered and unfolded into a female shape.
Storm did not bother with ritual or greeting. “All of You lied to me.”
A delicate frown touched Time’s expression. “Lied to you? I have done no such thing.” She looked to the man. “Do you know what she speaks of, Chaos?”
He looked affronted. “Of course I do not.” He turned to woman. “Order?” The rock goddess only crossed her arms.
“Do not mock me! You sent Kendle to coerce me into abandoning my life. My family! There is nothing You do that is not in concert. I was promised a choice, and You think to shame me into obedience?”
“My Dusvet warrior, I assure you, I did no such thing. I would certainly not send Kendle, knowing his part in the scars you bear.”
Storm shook her head once in a sharp gesture, her bleeding fist clenched tightly. “He is Roylat. His kind once served You, mistress, as well as the Unchanging One and Changing One. He did not lie that someone sent him to me.”
“Fine.” Rocky arms remaining crossed. “I told him to go to you. Zhekali is needed.”
“So you use deception? Lies?” Sparks of flame danced around her hair in her growing anger. “Do you think I am so blind I would not see them? For thousands of years, I have lost family after family after family. You force me to remember my past lives and then expect I could throw away yet another without thought?”
“Mortals are weaker than immortals. If you became immortal again, you could protect them better than as you are now,” the Unchanging One pointed out. “And you would be returned to Desantiva and your Totani family.”
“By Your laws, if I became a divine servant again, I could never be a part of their lives, even if they sought me out!”
The Changing One offered consolingly, “You would get over their loss in time.”
“I would get over their loss…? Shall we see how You will ‘get over’ loss?”
Skyfire looked up when he sensed Kailee’s alarm through his Githalin bond and scrabbled to his feet, trying to reach the woman as she drew her knife. “Storm, no! Don’t—!”
But it was too late as she turned the blade inwards and stabbed herself. The ancient trinity reacted with sounds of anguish, recoiling at the abrupt and unexpected sharing of her memories and all the senses within them. Skyfire put his arms around her, keeping her upright. “Aelia! What have you done?”
She looked up toward the three gods, a trickle of blood at the corner of her mouth as she pulled the knife from her chest. “What needed to be done. If I must lose my family, it will be on my terms. Nor will I allow them to t
hreaten any of you to force me back. They know now what I have known since the beginning.” She closed her eyes, leaning against him. “I do not forget anyone. I cannot.”
Skyfire’s eyes shone gold when he focused on her soul. A cold knot settled in the pit of his stomach when he realized what he saw. “No…your spirit is dying,” he whispered in anguish. “Aelia, no. You are Alanis! We can’t—”
A tear escaped. “It is the only way to protect the tribe,” she whispered. “My curse will no longer haunt you. Forever.”
“Oblivion? I think not.” The Timeless One put a hand on the wound, closing it. “You are My mortal servant, Aelia na’Zhekali. I will not lose you again.” She caressed Storm’s hair with maternal tenderness. “Not this soon.”
The Changing One looked at His sister. “You cannot force her to make this choice, Order. It would make the problem worse than it is now.”
“Fine!” the rocky god snarled. She fixed a hard look on the pair of Desanti. “Then find another to take your place! I care not how or who, but someone must be the neutral focus We require.” With that, she curled back into a ball, returning to the inert rock from earlier.
“Zhekali.” Storm raised her head weakly at the Changing One’s contrite tone. “Forgive Us. We had no idea what you suffered to serve the great balance.” He closed his eyes. “I am grateful for your sacrifice before and I will welcome you when you are ready to resume the mantle you had chosen for yourself so long ago.” He flicked a look at Skyfire, then back. “Good hunting, Warriors.” The flames spun wildly before extinguishing.
Storm went limp from blood loss and the energy expended to call and hold the three gods on the mortal plane. The Timeless One commanded in gentle tones, “Remove the blade, Radisen na’Zhekali. This is My domain, I can remain a short while longer without causing her more duress.”
He obeyed, feeling the last of the woman’s tension evaporate as he pulled the sword out of the rock. He slid it, then the knife back in their sheaths. “Where should she begin, Timeless One?” he asked in a low voice. “I will aid her where I can in her task.”
