“Jules, Nia, get over here!“ Julia sprinted over and Nia buzzed erratically. “Jules, can you heal him?”
She looked stricken as she brushed her brown curls behind her ears and shook her head, answering sadly. “No, our skills only extend to natural creatures; pixies are magical beings. Alera might be able to do something with her talents, but…” Her answer and expression told me that he wasn’t going to survive long enough to make it back to Alera.
Having downed some water, the pixie waved away any further talk of moving him. He just seemed grateful that someone had found him before he died. Nia flew in and settled down beside him and shakily took his hand. Finally, his eyes seemed to focus and then they grew wide. I offered him another sip of water. and he weakly spoke to Nia.
“Neafauliateenix, you honor us with your return.” He smiled warmly through the pain. “Hopefully, this isn’t the delusional dream of a dying pixie.”
“I am here, Elder,” Nia whispered. “What did this? A Dragon?”
He shook his head and whispered raggedly, “A strange beast. It attacked for no reason, but we gave him a fight he won’t soon forget!” He coughed roughly, gasping for air and then determinedly shook it off and patted Nia’s hand. “Young lady, we - meaning the whole tribe - have followed your exploits at Xarparion and your triumph in the Wizards’ Tournament with a scrying pool. You have made us all proud to be R’dontha again. The entire clan is so very sorry for the way we treated you. We were stupid and ignorant and very, very foolish. The King was in the process of drafting a letter to invite you and your human companions to visit us so we could hold a feast in your honor…I guess that’s not going to happen now.”
What few tears Nia had left were pouring out now. “But why? Why did you sacrifice yourselves, when you could have run away? It’s not normal for pixies to stand and fight. What caused this madness?”
He wheezed and his whole body was racked with small spasms, but his face remained strangely serene, and he smiled and said simply, “You…without the Mother Tree to nurture our race, we were doomed anyway. We learned of the great odds you overcame to become the “Combat Pixie”. Your bravery and the love of your friends, inspired us all. If Neafauliateenix could accomplish so much when life handed her so little, how could an entire village run away in cowardice and allow our Mother Tree to perish? The world will someday know that the R’dontha were a proud people who stood for something in the end, and you are the best of us. You must pass this tale on to the next generation…your children.”
Nia’s mouth dropped open. “My children? What children, Elder, the Mother Tree is no more? What are you talking about?”
He chuckled and winced as he stretched a desiccated hand into his short coat and withdrew an orange-colored, inch-long, dry bean shape which he held up proudly in front of his face. “Seed pod,” he grinned triumphantly, before a coughing fit overtook him. Handing it over like it was the most precious of gems, he looked at Nia and whispered, “One last request…bury me under the old tree.” Nia started to protest, but he shook it off. “You know what you need to do, Neafauliateenix. Do it well and remember, at the end when it counted, we were all proud of you.” Another fit seized him, and at that point, my mage sight showed his little heart gave up for good.
Julia looked at each of us with tears in her big blue eyes and shook her head sadly, saying, “Now I’ve been blessed to know two brave pixies in my life.” She paused and then asked a question, “Nia…as a druid, I have to ask, why the animals?”
Nia didn’t answer for a long time, lost in her own thoughts; but finally she remembered the question and answered haltingly, “Another name for our people is ‘small spirit of the forest’, a pixie clan in residence basically ‘owns’ its forest. It draws its magical power from the forest. When the pixies are in mortal danger, the forest tries to defend us as well. It’s not something we can control, but I’ve never seen or heard of anything like this.”
Chapter 3
The trip back up the mountain was easier than the descent, but a lot quieter and more introspective. Before we left, Jules summoned Reginaldo and asked him to have the ground receive all the charred bodies of the defenders in the clearing so they wouldn’t be dishonored by scavengers, and the pixie elder was given a special place under the dead roots of the great tree. Lin worked at turning the tree’s stump from wood to stone to act as a stark memorial to those who died. Maya had tested out her armor even more by doing a running scout of the remainder of the trail through the pixie forest. Coming back, she indicated it was safe enough for the main party to pass through.
Nia just sat disconsolately on a branch. There were some tears off and on, but soon there wasn’t even any more of those. Every attempt I made to try and comfort her was politely rebuffed. Maya, who seemed more in touch with Nia’s feelings, told me to give her space.
As we were getting ready to leave the glade, Nia cleared her throat and activated her amplification spell. It still wasn’t very loud, but I doubt we could have heard her real voice in the shape she was in.
“Thank you for everything you’ve done, please…when we rejoin the others, do not mention this. There is enough heartache in the camp already, we do not need to add more. I will see that the memory of my people does not die.”
I could see the little bit of strength she had left leave her at that point as we all nodded and began packing up.
Riding back, Lin and Julia rode behind me on the stallion in their human forms. I could tell from what I heard of their limited conversation that both of them had grown up a bit as a result of what they had seen today.
Instead of riding in her usual place on my shoulder, Nia choose to travel with Maya all the way back, with the mare lagging several lengths behind us most of the journey. The two of them talked in elvish, using low even-sounding tones, but I could still tell the occasional tear dropped from both of them. As time goes by, it occurs to me that Nia seems to see Maya more and more as a mother figure, and I guess at times like these, Nia just needed her mom…I can relate.
Before we even topped the last rise to the encampment, we could already hear shouting, and it didn’t sound like a party. Almost all of the servants and wizards were yelling at each other; even some of the guards were involved in the verbal free-for-all.
I looked at Maya and Nia, but they were both shaking their heads in utter disappointment. Maya reset the helm on her armor. Sighing, we rode up to where Rosa and the captain were trying to regain some form of control of the situation, but no one seemed to be listening.
Rosa spotted us almost instantly; then again, how could she miss us? She waved us over as we dismounted. “Thank the stars you two came back!”
Still confused, Maya looked at me and then back at Rosa. “Why wouldn’t we?”
Panicked, my master brushed off the question and pushed us toward the crowd. “Never mind that, you have to help me get them under control! Please, I have no idea how to be a leader!”
Maya had one of her famous gleams in the eyes; she was all over this one. She calmly walked over to a flat, elevated rock shelf and easily jumped on top of it, giving her a commanding view of the crowd. She stood silently for a bit, even shushing me when I was going to say something. After well over a minute, she finally answered my unasked question.
“I was listening to them in hopes of finding out what all this is about. It seems there are two major arguments going on at the same time with overlapping opinions. About half want to try and retake the school while the others say we need help. I even hear a few saying they just want to go home to their parents and never deal with magic again. The other discussion is about who should be in charge. The older students want one of them to lead, and the younger ones want the enchanters in charge. It’s really a giant mess!”
I sighed. “We haven’t even moved yet and we have dissention in the ranks, can this day get any worse?”
She laughed grimly at that. “Don’t worry, I like a challenge!” She stepped forward, cupped h
er hands over her helmet were her mouth would be and shouted the loudest call to attention I have ever heard. My ears were ringing after that, but it also worked perfectly because everyone’s attention was on her now.
“Listen up people! My name is Maya; I am the weapons trainer attached to the Enchanters Hall. As you all know, the academy has fallen.” Murmurs and cries rang out from the crowd. “Regrettably, we were forced to leave many of your fellow wizards behind, but those of you who are demanding that we charge back through the portal and retake the academy, I ask that you to look around! We’re barely over 250 in numbers and you want to fight a force of over 20,000? Grow up! Just because you’re wizards doesn’t mean you’re invincible; the friends you have already lost should be proof of that.”
Most of the servants and younger wizards were crying; most of the older students seemed to understand her point, but the guards looked like they just wanted to kill something. She always was one for tough love, but after a short pause for dramatic effect she continued, “But just because we lost this round doesn’t mean we can just give up and go home. There are still two towers of students trapped in Xarparion.”
A small blonde girl in a water wizard’s robe stepped forward. “If we can’t attack them, then how are we going to save my sister?”
“First things first - we are going to find a safe haven where we can regroup, tend to our wounded, and form a plan. There is a suitable fortress only a few days away from here. Thanks to the Earth Tower, the Wind and Water Towers in Xarparion are sealed up and should withstand assault from the undead for the immediate future. They also have enough supplies to hold out for up to a year. That will give us the time we need to formulate a counterstrike. And remember, the enchanters created the original portals; we can create more if needed.”
The group murmured quietly for a bit, but from what I could hear, most of them seemed satisfied enough that they would go along with our plan so far. Then much to my surprise, a familiar figure stepped forward. It was Naton, but he was wearing servant’s clothing. I switched to my mage sight and found four of his goons had also snuck in as servants. He pulled himself up to his full height and leered at Maya.
“And why should we listen to you? Since when did the enchanters take over? Last time I checked, you didn’t have a Headmaster on the counsel, nor do you have the numbers to be the most powerful tower. So just because that crazy old elf is the last master left doesn’t mean anything. Headmasters are chosen by the most powerful wizard, and that would be me!”
Somewhere from the back of the crowd someone piped up, “No, that would be the Combat Pixie!” Naton reddened almost to the color of his missing robes as the crowd chuckled nervously and then got increasingly louder and angrier as Naton’s demands were discussed among them. They might not necessarily like enchanters, but they all hated him. Calmly, Maya proceeded. “Is that all you had to say?”
“No, but first I have a question for you. Are you the one who was with him at the dance?” he said, jerking his arm angrily in my direction.
Everyone was quiet, wondering where he was going with this. “Yes, I am.”
He smiled, but not the good kind. “Then you’re a dark elf traitor! Probably a spy for the evil Duke! Seeing that the rest of the enchanters hall couldn’t not know, that means they too are traitors and the ones who opened the portal and killed our teachers!” All of the students and staff froze with surprise and confusion. Not at the venom Naton was spewing, but because after his first line, all the guards burst out in laughter.
Naton looked around, visibly confused. He obviously felt he had thrown down a card that trumped all others only to meet with derision from mere hired swords. He ended up trying to glare to death the offending guards, with no results as they continued to laugh at him. In his anger, he readied two fireballs in each hand and looked like he was going to use them on Maya. Almost instantly, Corporal Higs and eight guards with swords drawn had him and his friends surrounded. In fact, the entire remaining contingent of forty guardsmen all drew their weapons and eyed the crowd suspiciously. Naton just looked flabbergasted as the fire wizards were forcibly placed in bindings and held in place by several tough looking warriors.
With Naton no longer a threat, Higs approached the base of the boulder platform and looked up at us. “You may just want to come clean on this one and get it over with, ma’am.”
Maya nodded and removed her helmet with a flourish, clipping it to her belt and facing the crowd for the entire world to see. I saw the beautiful, stunning face of the girl I desperately loved, while they apparently saw the hated face of a lifelong implacable enemy. The reaction was a period of almost complete stony silence, followed by a palatable wave of shock and anger. Thankfully, no one was throwing spells or getting violent yet. Looking into the grim faces of the determined guards may have kept their intentions peaceful, but there was no doubt they were very, very upset. I jumped up onto the rock next to her and looked out over the assembled faces. The few friends I had in the group almost caused me to laugh out loud, but I snuffed that immediately. Lin’s and Julia’s faces were a picture of open-mouthed entrancement. Hons look extremely uncomfortable, and if I had to guess, he was shifting back and forth between anger and wanting to date her. As for Alera, her expression was almost unreadable; she didn’t look mad, more like happiness mixed with realization.
Naton, of course, was fighting his bonds animatedly and screaming out remarks like “See, I told you so!” and “I told you she was evil!” But no one seemed to care; they were too busy shouting at each other, at Naton, and at the guardsmen. Maya took it all very calmly; I can only imagine what Winya was saying to her throughout all this. My dark elf waited patiently for a few minutes for the din to die down, but she never got the chance.
“Enough!” In the confusion, Alera had climbed up and joined Maya and me on the rock shelf. She stomped angrily and slammed her staff end into the stone creating gravel shrapnel that sprayed out into the crowd. “I didn’t just spend the better part of a day healing you people to have you turn around and undo all my hard work!” She glared fiercely at the people in the front rows, and almost like guilty children, they quieted and waited for her to continue. “You all know me, and you all know my friend and protector is a nebulia. We will put this accusation of evil to rest right now!” Instantly, she triggered the summoning spell, and a pinkish light arch formed on the rock face next to her. I recognized it as the same process she had used in the tournament ring. A few seconds later, the bulldog-headed golden nebulia stepped through in full battle armor, with his greatsword strapped across his back. He stopped and scanned the crowd with no expression, then turned to Alera. She spoke a few words in his odd language and nodded toward Maya. With a visible start, he turned his full attention to her, taking her hands gently and looking into her face. Maya smiled warmly at the creature as they stood motionless for a short while. Suddenly, he stepped back and drew his greatsword with practiced precision - it barely made a sound as it cleared leather. A number of people in the crowd drew quick breaths in surprise, and Naton and his group started to smile in vindication.
Instead of attacking, though, the nebulia uttered a very doglike whine and performed an intricate sword salute which finished with him dropping to one knee and reverently placing the greatsword at her feet. He lowered his head and remained there motionless until Maya put a hand on his shoulder, and with a regal nod, beckoned him to stand. Throughout the crowd, there was outright astonishment, as if this couldn’t possibly be right. Alera grasped her companion’s shoulder affectionately as he got to his feet, reset his sword, and took his place by her side. She glared harshly at the prisoners.
“Naton Rad, you will need to look for evil elsewhere this day; perhaps in your own mind and heart would be a good place to start!” Turning to face her nebulia, she smiled and gave him a caress across his doggy ears, and then nodded toward the portal. The great warrior bowed deeply to Maya, and with a respectful nod toward me, walked back through the pink arc
hway, which closed immediately after him with a flash and a slight rush of air. I breathed out a sigh of relief and took a quick peek to see how Maya was holding up. Her countenance was as stone-faced as I have ever seen as she calmly awaited the crowd’s verdict.
In all of this, I had lost track of Julia and Lin, but now I spotted Lin plowing through the onlookers with two angry-looking twins in tow. Arriving at the rock, she motioned for Dawn and Dusk to lift her up, which they did easily with one hand each, somewhat belying their appearance of young girls.
Lin stood straight and defiant on the rock and faced the crowd, her eyes blazing. “If that wasn’t enough to convince you people, do you even know who her handmaidens are? What, no clue? Well, let me introduce you!” She motioned angrily up into the air, looking to the two Enchanters Hall staffers still on the ground. With an enormous clap of leathery wing thunder, the two white robes slipped to the ground and the two silver dragons leapt into the sky, twisting and turning as legs, tails, scales, teeth and banana-sized claws formed above the crowd, coalescing into two large, mean-looking reptilian forms that hovered just tens of feet above the platform, glaring at the assembly.
Return To Sky Raven (Book 2) Page 4
