“It did, yes. Chase and I barely made it through before it collapsed.”
“Exactly. And that may have been the precise moment that all of the ley lines failed.”
“Quite the coincidence, don't you think?” Chase asked the others. “That the portals stopped working just as Ethmira and I traveled here to Alderthal?”
“I do not believe in coincidence,” Diane told her with a smile. “At least not when it is involved in events like that one. We must get to Imrathstal immediately and speak with the keeper again. He may have discovered something important since we last saw him.”
“Do we need to take anything with us?” Malfiess asked her. “My pack is still up in my room.”
Diane shook her head as she stood up.
“No, we won't be traveling very far on foot. And this shouldn't take too long. But it might be wise for you two,” she looked at Ethmira and Chase, “to bring your weapons along, just in case.”
Both rangers got up from the table and Malfiess did the same.
“Good idea,” Ethmira said. “It won't take but a moment for us to retrieve them.”
“We'll all go,” Diane told her. “I'd rather Gate from the privacy of your room than out in the open. The fewer people who know of my abilities, the better.”
The group crossed the room and ascended the stairs.
Malfiess ducked into his room for a moment and came back carrying his sturdy staff. Ethmira and Chase had shared a large suite on the second floor and the older woman led the others inside and then closed the door behind them.
A comfortable sitting room greeted them, with a small fireplace on one side and many windows open to the morning breeze. The rangers' weapons were piled against one wall and Ethmira and Chase quickly strapped on their swords and hooked their quivers on their belts before slipping their bows over their shoulders.
“Ready when you are,” Ethmira told Diane as soon as they had rearmed.
“Good. I remember what Fiad's home looks like,” she replied. “So everyone take a deep breath and we'll be there shortly.”
Chapter 14
It was late in the day and darkness was falling when the group appeared on the edge of Fiad's clearing. His small house appeared to be silent and lifeless in the fading light and the forests around it were strangely still. There was no wind and a slight chill was in the air.
Ethmira stepped away from the others and turned in a slow circle, examining the shadows beneath the trees. Her eyes were narrowed and she was listening intently.
“What is it?” Diane asked quietly.
“I'm not sure. Something doesn't feel right.”
Chase moved off in the opposite direction, slipping her bow off of her shoulder as she did so. She pulled an arrow from her quiver and held it loosely in her offhand as she sniffed the air.
“Chase?”
The ranger glanced at Diane and shook her head.
“There's something...” she muttered.
“I don't sense anything,” Malfiess said softly. “But then I am not a ranger. This place does feel wrong somehow though.”
“Perhaps it's just the loss of the ley energy that used to rise close to the surface here,” Diane said as she stared at the dark house.
“Perhaps. While Ethmira and Chase keep an eye open for any threats, let's check on Fiad,” Malfiess suggested. “He might know more.”
“If he's even home,” Diane replied. “The place looks deserted.”
“Only one way to find out.”
Diane and Malfiess walked across the meadow toward the house while the rangers kept a watchful eye on their surroundings. The councilor gripped his staff nervously as he followed the mage. When they reached the door, Diane knocked on it and then waited for a response.
“I don't hear anything,” Malfiess whispered. “He may have moved into Imrathstal. No reason to live in isolation anymore.”
“Doubtful,” Diane replied with a shake of her head. “The keeper has spent his entire life alone. It wouldn't be that easy to suddenly move into a village and be surrounded by people. No, I think Ethmira and Chase are correct. Something is wrong here. I just can't put my finger on what it is.”
Without any warning, the door opened with a loud squeal. Both Diane and Malfiess stepped back in surprise and then stared into the pale face of Fiad.
“Yes? What do you want?” he asked them.
His voice was muted and strained and his face was expressionless.
“Keeper Fiad?” Malfiess said. “I am sorry to call on you so late in the day, but we wanted to ask you some more questions.”
“Questions? Ah yes, questions. Of course, of course. Come in if you wish.”
He turned away and walked back into his unlit house, the shadows embracing him as he went.
“That is not the keeper that I remember,” Ethmira observed as she walked up to the house.
Chase was behind her, still keeping a watchful eye on the forest.
“He's always quite testy,” Ethmira continued. “You all remember that, I'm sure. Even the last time we were here, he was rather short with us. Now he just sounds...odd.”
“Soulless,” Malfiess suggested quietly. “His voice lacks any texture, did you notice that? Very strange.”
“And why are there no lamps or candles lit?” Ethmira asked. “It's pitch black in there. We elves see well enough in the dark, but we aren't dwarves. Fiad should at least have a candle burning.”
“Not a problem,” Diane told her. “I always bring my own light.”
She made a gesture with one hand and a mote of white light appeared to hover in the air in front of her. Diane pointed upwards and the bright mote rose to float just above her head.
“There, that's better,” she said with a smile at Malfiess as he sighed with relief.
“Much better,” the councilor agreed. “Shall we go in?”
“Yes. I want to know what is happening here. Ethmira, would you watch the door please? I'm uneasy about all of this.”
“Of course. Leave it open just in case,” she added as she drew her short sword. “I'll be right here.”
“Thank you. Go ahead, Malfiess. I'm right behind you.”
Diane followed him indoors, her conjured light floating ahead of her as she moved. Just inside the small house, the air smelled stale and there was an unpleasant sourness that made the visitors grimace with disgust.
“Smells nasty, doesn't it?” Malfiess whispered over his shoulder.
“Definitely,” Diane agreed.
Fiad had crossed the room and was now sitting in the only chair in the room. In the white light, he looked even paler than usual and he stared at Diane and Malfiess without blinking.
“Why are you here?” he asked them tonelessly.
“Keeper Fiad, do you remember the last time we spoke?” Diane asked him. “The other day? You asked us to return when we had some news about Kallistra and the changes to the ley lines.
He stared at them blankly, his steady gaze unnerving.
“Did I? Oh yes, so I did. And do you have any news?”
“We do. You will be relieved to know that Kallistra is alive and well. We managed to save her and some of the villagers of Othallis from a horrible infestation of some kind.”
Fiad's expression didn't change, but a soft growling sound came from deep in his throat as he fixed his unblinking eyes on Diane.
“Alive, you say? How...comforting. And where is she now? I would love to see her again and discuss some things.”
“And how do you propose to do that, Fiad?” Malfiess asked him hesitantly. “As you said yourself not that long ago, you are powerless now. Cut off from the other keepers and the rest of Trillfarness.”
“That is still true. But this young woman can Gate me to Kallistra, can she not?”
“I could, yes.” Diane said cautiously. “But I am not sure that I should. Kallistra told us that the breakdown of the ley lines may have begun here, in this very spot. I do not mean to offend you, Keeper, b
ut that revelation makes me doubt your veracity.”
Fiad finally blinked in the bright light and then he rubbed his eyes wearily. Malfiess noticed stains and creases on the keeper's robe and he realized that the sour smell in the room was coming from Fiad himself.
“Keeper, have you even moved from this house since we last saw you?” he asked Fiad gently.
“No. No, I have not,” the keeper mumbled as he looked down at his robe. “I have been sitting here and thinking through the events that led up to the failure of the ley lines, trying to trace its origin, find some sort of pattern.”
He looked up at Diane and she was surprised to see fear in his eyes.
“I believe that you have been deceived, young woman,” he told her, his voice trembling with fatigue. “You have been misled into thinking that I am some kind of threat, while the actual source of our peril is someone else entirely.”
“I don't understand, sir,” Diane replied in confusion. “What are you talking about? What source?”
Fiad sighed weakly.
“Kallistra, of course. It all makes sense now. She is the one who controlled the nexus where all of the world's ley lines converged. Hers was the initial point where the power began to fail. What followed was a cascading surge in wild ley energy that burned out the paths of the ley all across the planet.”
He shook his head and smiled ruefully.
“And now she has sent you to me, to throw you off the scent. Tell me, young lady, where did you last see Kallistra?”
“We left her in Alderthal,” Diane replied cautiously.
Fiad surged to his feet, an expression of alarm on his face.
“Alderthal! By the Mother, you have left the Council undefended! Are you all blind? You say that you can control ley energies, but you could not sense the peril that Kallistra represents?”
Ethmira stepped into the house at the sound of Fiad shouting and glared at the keeper. She had raised her sword, but now she hesitated as she realized what he was saying.
“Now wait just a minute, Fiad,” Malfiess thundered angrily. “Kallistra is one of the oldest, most powerful keepers on Trillfarness. How could you think for a moment that she poses a threat to our people? That's absurd!”
“Is it? Lady Diane, can you not see the pattern?” Fiad asked her desperately. “Look inside yourself. See what has happened and try to do so dispassionately. You are a human. You do not have the preconceptions that we elves have. Even I had to sit here for hours trying to accept the reality that Kallistra must be the source of the corruption in the ley. Do you not see that as well?”
Diane frowned in thought, looking past the disheveled elf as she tried to arrange the pieces of the past few days and make some sense of them.
“Kallistra was able to flee from her home and make it to Othallis ahead of the infestation,” she said slowly, working it out as the others listened silently.
“She saved a few of the townspeople and made it to the hill outside of the village, just in time to be rescued by us,” Diane continued. “Did she know that I was observing her? Or did she sense my presence? I cannot say. But in the story she told us afterward, she may have revealed more than she meant to.”
“What do you mean?” Ethmira asked her.
“Don't you remember?” Diane said, glancing at the ranger and then at Malfiess. “She mentioned a dark shape cavorting through the meadow outside of her home. She said that it was vaguely humanoid in the early morning light, just as the sun was beginning to rise.”
“So she did,” Malfiess agreed. “But what does that have to do with anything?”
Diane sighed and shook her head.
“Fiad is right,” she told them wryly. “I've been a fool not to see it. My only excuse is that so much has been happening that I missed such a trivial lie. It was meant to distract me, I suppose. And it did.”
“What lie?”
“I know exactly when the ley lines failed. You, Keeper Fiad, told me as much. It was when you opened a portal for Ethmira and Chase to travel to Alderthal. Do you remember?”
“How could I forget?” the keeper replied thickly. “It is burned into my memory.”
“And as Kallistra herself told us, that is when the ley lines collapsed. It was early evening at the time, isn't that so, Ethmira?”
“Yes, the sun was just setting.”
“But in Othallis it was still nighttime. Kallistra could not have seen any mysterious shadows 'cavorting' through her meadow. In fact, she couldn't have seen anything at all. As you said, Ethmira, elvish eyes are not made to see in the dark. That is the tiny lie that gave her away. Kallistra made up that entire story.”
“Such a small misstep,” Malfiess said as he stared at Diane in wonder. “You are even more clever than I realized, my friend.”
“Not clever enough,” Diane replied irritably. “I may have allowed our enemies to gain the upper hand.”
She looked at Fiad.
“Keeper, if you are right, Alderthal is in grave danger. We must go. Will you come with us or do you wish to remain here?”
“I want to come along,” Fiad replied firmly. “Kallistra has much to answer for and I want to be there when she does.”
“It could be dangerous,” Ethmira warned him.
“More dangerous than just sitting here waiting for the Darkness to fall upon me?” he asked with a sad smile. “I think not. I will go.”
“Come along then,” Diane told him. “Ethmira, get Chase, would you? We have to move.”
The group appeared on the edge of the forest just in sight of Alderthal. Diane looked at her companions and smiled at their surprised expressions. Even Fiad was looking at her in amazement.
“I didn't want to Gate into the middle of town,” she told them. “If you are correct, Keeper, and I believe that you are, we mustn't alert Kallistra to our suspicions.”
“Good point,” Ethmira replied approvingly. “If she is indeed the source of the corruption, she may still be able to control the ley energies. Which means that she could summon a portal and escape if we give her reason to do so.”
“My thought exactly,” Diane agreed. “If necessary, I should be able to stop her from doing that, but I can't guarantee it.”
Ethmira slipped her bow off of her back and looked at it.
“This will stop her if you cannot, Diane,” she said harshly. “I do not wish to harm any elf, but if Kallistra has turned to evil, then I will not hesitate to defend my people against her.”
Chase also readied her bow and Malfiess looked at both of them, his expression tinged with sadness.
“That it should come to this,” he said with a shake of his head. “Elf turning against elf. Why would Kallistra do such a thing in the first place?”
“I'd like to know how she did it, rather than just why,” Diane told him. “What was that infestation that we saw outside of Othallis? Did Kallistra cause that? How? And if she did, how did she cause the ley lines to fail? Those are the main questions that I have.”
“Then let us go and find some answers, shall we?” Ethmira suggested. “Follow me.”
She moved ahead of the others and strode toward the village, with Chase striding closely behind her.
“Stay alert, Councilor,” Diane told Malfiess. “And you too, Keeper. We do not know how Kallistra will react when we confront her.”
“I am ready,” Malfiess replied grimly, his knuckles white as he gripped his staff with his right hand.
Fiad remained silent, but he nodded once as a sharp gust of wind blew his fine hair across his face.
The three of them followed the rangers across the grassy clearing toward Alderthal. In this part of the world, the sun was still high and birds were singing merrily from the trees all around them. Malfiess found it hard to believe that evil could be lurking ahead when life itself seemed to be thriving and healthy.
As they passed the outermost houses of the village, Ethmira abruptly held up a hand and everyone stopped moving immediately.
&nb
sp; “What is it?” Diane asked in a hushed voice.
“Listen,” the ranger hissed. “Do you hear that?”
All of them listened intently. Except for the bird song though, Alderthal was eerily silent.
“I don't hear anything,” Malfiess said with a frown. “What's wrong?”
“That is the point,” Ethmira told him as she turned her head slowly, scanning the area ahead. “Where are the sounds of the children? Where are the people who should be out working or socializing? We've been away for no more than an hour or so and yet the village looks deserted. Why?”
Diane suddenly grabbed both Malfiess' and Fiad's arms and yanked them forward as she moved closer to Ethmira and Chase. She uttered a word in a harsh language that the elves did not recognize and a bubble of translucent blue energy appeared around the group.
“Diane? What is it?” Ethmira asked her in astonishment.
“Danger!” the mage said as she looked around the area suspiciously. “I can feel something evil and threatening close by, an overwhelming sense of dread that I have never felt before. It's so heavy and thick. Can't you feel it?”
Fiad shivered as his eyes darted from side to side.
“I can now,” he said in a trembling voice. “It is so alien. I can feel a touch of ley energy mixed in with something else. Something dark and poisonous. I have never experienced anything like it.”
The village remained silent and there was no movement anywhere except for the bushes and grasses that were planted neatly in front of the small houses waving in the breeze.
“I don't see anything,” Ethmira said to Diane. “Should we move forward?”
“Yes, but everyone move together,” she replied. “I will keep the shield centered around us as we go.”
“Can it hurt us?” Fiad asked as he looked nervously at the hissing barrier that extended several feet around the group. “I have never seen something like it before.”
Diane smiled at him.
“No, Keeper, it cannot. Not from the inside, at least. But if you bump into it, you might fall or bounce off of it and get injured. So please, watch your footing as we advance. Go ahead, Ethmira. We will follow.”
The Fall of the Elves Page 18
