by R. E. Fisher
“The sword was lost to the ages. Yet there have always been those who search for it. Some believe it will lead them to a great treasure; others simply wish to touch history; and for others, there is a much darker reason.”
“That’s an old wives’ tale, Authen!” Tacel said.
“No. The sword was real and was carried by Sir Reynil Dobryn right into the mouth of Asmordia to pursue Jerrous.”
“Those texts are more than six centuries old. We have no true understanding of their context, Sir Elf,” Yargo pointed out.
“It was written as it occurred; I have no reason to believe that it was embellished. Least of all by Peirswraith himself.”
“How does this lead us to the riddle, Authen?” Lleward asked, getting him back to his original train of thought.
“I don’t think they were searching for the Elfaheen, as she believes.”
“Why?”
“The riddle says, and I quote, ‘He is not of thy race, yet ye shall know him by his face,’ and she—” he said as he pointed at Tetra, “—is not a he. The riddle is masculine; she is not.”
“That means nothing…” Tacel began.
Cutting the Shadow Elf off, Lleward asked, “How does this accident lead to the prophecy?”
“Ask Pokmok…he knows. He summoned her for a reason,” Authen answered.
Everyone in the room turned and looked at the spectral figure, who took his time and stared back at each of them, nodding his head.
“If you know something, Pokmok, tell us so that we may take the proper course,” Lleward said.
“Forbidden,” Pokmok uttered in his ghostly voice.
“Can you tell us anything?”
“Wars…and outworlders,” he replied.
“What outworlders?” Lleward asked.
Pokmok remained silent, refusing to say anything more.
“Disturbing—and yet useless,” Tacel spat.
“When has he ever been wrong?” Lleward asked, seeing the looks of doubt around the table.
“Where would we even begin?” Veluna asked.
“Eod. The spirit said Eod seeks…” Tetra offered, remembering the desperate plea of the damned soul.
No one in the room noticed how bright blue Pokmok’s eyes became as she uttered her memory aloud.
Tetra donned her armor, knowing that she alone had to go after this mage and still unsure whether he sought her or others. She quickly learned that she would not leave her fate in the hands of others. Had Lleward not arrived, she was positive that she and Pokmok alone could not have defeated the demon. Tetra walked out of the acolytes’ hall and looked around for Telerex, but she did not see him. She decided to wait, knowing that Lleward had notified him that they would be leaving the Guarded Isle.
She turned her thoughts inward; according to Lleward, the mage most likely to have information was someone he had referred to as the Mad Mage—a man who went by the name of Eod, in the far north. Eod sold the primary components for magic to most of the mages and their guilds. Lleward suggested that he might know something, if only because of the number of people he saw and spoke with. Lleward had also warned her to be cautious, as he employed criminals and assassins to enforce his will. She had also learned that he was a mage of extensive power, well-versed in fire and necromancy. It was also rumored that he could summon beings from Asmordia, which is why Lleward was telling her. He was someone to speak with. She was pulled from her reverie by the arrival of Telerex.
As he walked toward her, he noticed that the smile she usually had for him was missing. Instead, she wore a look of worry and concern, which was understandable given the purpose of their journey; still, he sensed it was something more. After all, they had not faced any real threat yet. He also noticed the black threads that he had taken to be mythryl inlaid into her armor appeared to have changed somehow; it looked like there were more of them, and they wider than they had been, more prominent—looking more like spider’s webs than flaws.
He suspected that her demeanor might have something to do with what she had learned upon her visit with the mages, so he left it alone. Still, it was unusual for her. He sat on the ground next to her, and he immediately felt the same sense of dread he had felt when she had entered the clearing, when they began their journey.
“What’s our next step, Mistress?” he asked her.
“We have to travel to the far north. To a place called Ember Island, where a mage named Eod sits.”
“The Spice Mage? Why?” Telerex asked, choosing not to use the name he, too, had learned that others used for the greedy merchant.
“Lleward told me that he might have some knowledge, if only because of the number of other mages he trades with. One of them might have mentioned something of importance to him. We shall see,” she answered.
While she was speaking, Telerex looked at her; as he did, he realized he had gotten a sense that something was changing within her. Not in the life-altering manner that humans felt about change, or the contemplative manner elves did, or even in the inconsequential manner most dwarves do. It was something so minuscule that it wouldn’t even be noticeable to most. She was no longer projecting joy for life as she always had. It was a subtle change and not one most would have noticed, but he wasn’t like most. He was a dragon; his sense of empathy and awareness was so much more acute. He thought about it as they sat in silence. The only thing he could conclude was that she had learned something that weighed heavily on her. Something she wasn’t yet willing to share.
She looked at him and asked, “How long before we can leave?” She added, “And how long to get there, do you think?”
“A few days. This late in the seasons, going over the Central Range would be difficult. It’s so cold at those heights and the air is thin, so we’ll have to go around them,” he answered.
“And apparently, I need you to teach me many, many things while we are traveling.”
“Whatever you need, my lady, I will always be here for you,” he answered. Telerex stood and began to dismantle the camp.
As they flew high above the Bedrin Sea and back toward the mainland, the two of them were forced to swing even further south than they had planned. Telerex had wanted to fly over the Bedrin Sea and land on the Plains of the Short Lives so his mistress could rest, but the seasonal storms that visited the coast each year had come early. She held onto Telerex as he struggled against the buffeting winds, and it seemed that each time the winds changed, it struck them as firmly as any blow that could ever be thrown at them in anger. Huddled down against her friend’s neck, she watched from heights rivaling the spires they had visited on the Guarded Isles as the seas rose and fell. Unable to make any direct headway against the cold, gale-strength winds blowing down from the Central Range and colliding against the onshore winds that continually blew in from the warm Bedrin Sea, he turned west. Even dragons and ancients couldn’t battle storms of that size. It was going to add days to their journey, but he had to make the change. He needed to make landfall soon. Telerex was growing exhausted battling the high winds, forced to suffer in such proximity to the thunder and lightning that boomed and flashed about them.
Lavalor was concerned about Tetra dropping him. The Shadow Elf had managed to influence her enough that her desire to rid herself of him had disappeared, as he had instructed. His future successes were going to depend on his ability to seduce her, to convince her of his desire to help. Most importantly, he was going to have to convince her that he wasn’t the madman she thought him to be. It would take some time, so his every moment was spent subtly weaving and crafting his lies for her acceptance. He could no longer be overt, as he had been at the start. His weaving of her to him had shown him that she would never trust or accept him. He reinforced her willingness to speak with him, and he began guiding her toward the acceptance of the anticipated lies he was going to have to tell her as truths. His corruption had to be absolute or he would fail. He knew Jerrous had returned—as whom or what he didn’t know yet, but there had to be the arrival of th
e other from another realm. He knew there couldn’t be one part of the prophecy without the other.
He had spent all their time since leaving the Guarded Isles pressing her to maintain a grip on him to ensure his security. He didn’t mind the elements at all; but the thought of spending eternity at the bottom of an ocean, getting buried below the sand and silt, petrified him. He was fine to a certain extent with being alone. So as her hand came to rest on his pommel and took a firm grip, he became a bit more at ease with the situation.
Tetra looked down at her hand as she tightly gripped the sword Quensi had given her. She had been gripping the pommel so hard that her hand had become cramped and stiff. She released her grip from the sword, flexing her hand open and closed to loosen its muscles. Had she done that, or had the sword done it? She placed her hand on the pommel yet again. “Why did Quensi give you to me?” she asked it. Silence greeted her question. Had she imagined the brief exchange that had occurred on the Guarded Isle?
Almost simultaneously, Lavalor thought, if only I could smile! while Telerex wondered to whom Tetra was speaking.
Exhausted, Telerex landed on a swath of land several leagues outside a town called Far Falls. The town sat at the base of a series of waterfalls known as the Weeping Sisters. There were three waterfalls cascading down several steps of the mountains into a large lake at their base. The tallest of the mountains had a straight drop of over a half a league. The force from the falls had carved a rather large lake into the base rock of the mountains that was now fed year-round by the snows from the eastern half of the Central Range Mountains.
Though the lake wasn’t as big as the Zahnne Sea in the Elflands, it was still huge—large enough to have several deaths each year. Deaths due to violent fights and arguments about over-fishing and fishing access, brought by those who fished it for their living. The lake had formed a deep bowl and through the centuries had carved a large river, which fed its cold waters into the warm waters of the Bedrin Sea. The fish from the ocean had learned that their offspring couldn’t survive in the churning waters of the sea and had developed an instinct to run up the river, then into the lake to spawn, where they died after spawning. The numbers of fish, in both quantity and type, were staggering to those who had founded the town. The waters from the falls were much too cold to swim in for most of the year, but the locals had spent years working and harvesting the fish and had developed quite the lucrative fishing trade with the capital city of Noli Deron. Now that trade was expanding to many other cities, feeding the greed of those who desired the power and wealth that would come with their success.
Telerex, starving and exhausted, knew that he was going to have to sleep and eat to go on. Whether he was in his dragon form or his human form, his appetites were based upon his true physical form—that of the dragon. He needed to rest for a while, so he transformed into his human form and set up the camp. While he was doing so, he realized that Tetra had become withdrawn during their arduous trip. He considered its cause and determined that because she had spent most of her existence in the tranquil land she called home, she was unaccustomed to the changing nature of the rest of the world and was finding it a bit exhausting.
After he finished setting up the camp, he walked away from it, resuming his natural form. He took flight, looking for a meal to satiate his ravenous hunger.
As he drifted on the air currents, those on the lake who spied him grew nervous and fearful, turning their boats toward the shores, seeking the shelter of inlets or coves. He watched them while they did so, realizing that they had no way of knowing he was no threat to them; he climbed higher, rising above the top of the falls to help ease their fears. As he climbed, he saw a small herd of mountain goats and swooped down, gathering several of them in his claws. He then landed, crushing to death those his claws hadn’t killed when he had grabbed them. He ate each of them, but hunger still gnawed at him, so he took flight once more.
He drifted up on the cold, high currents; arriving at the snowline, he spied something he hadn’t seen before. It was a Wintershorn: a snow-white beast resembling a bear in size, but its body was muscled like the tigers he had once hunted. Its paws, though buried unseen in the snow, had claws of black. It also had pointed ears with tufts of black on the tips and a pair of horns curving upward above its head; they, too, were black in color. The horns were only about as long as Telerex’s claws, the dragon observed. Must be a young one, he thought. It was a solitary beast, but ferocious and deadly. He was curious as to what its senses were like, so he dipped down lower on the air currents and began drifting toward it. He was still more than a league away from the monster when it turned and began watching him. Quite the predator, he thought. Let’s see what kind of fighter it is. He started a dive toward it. He tucked his wings, using them and his tail to guide him as he let himself begin falling toward the beast. He watched as the Wintershorn realized he was no match for the dragon, and he turned and began sprinting up the snowline toward a series of boulders and outcroppings, managing to dive into an opening between them before Telerex had to pull up or land. Pulling up, he elected to keep flying. He was too tired to dig the beast out of its warren. The downdrafts were pushing him down the mountain and toward the town again, so he adjusted his flight to take him away from it. He flapped his wings to gain more altitude and flew further away from the human settlement, hoping once again that they hadn’t noticed him.
His new course took him above a large pool of water that had formed on one of the steppes, and from his height and because of the clarity of the water, he could see that there were some fish in it. Not a lot of them, but more than enough to fill what remained of his hunger. The dragon landed on the shore of the pool; unable to change again, he began pawing at the water trying to catch the elusive fish. Working without success and having a bit of fun, he waded into the pool and then kept his body still. He then began plunging his head into the water, trying to catch the fish in his mouth. He would capture one, toss it up in the air, catch it in his mouth again, then swallow. He repeated this until his hunger was obliterated. He stopped, content that his belly had been filled, finding the cold-water exhilarating; it was then he noticed the view. The spot was secluded, with a wonderful view of the village and the land surrounding it. He could see the whole basin of land that flowed outward until it met the sea. From that height, the river was only a small silver ribbon, cutting through the landscape and eventually into the sea. He waded out of the pool and took flight, diving from the cliffs; he flew back to the campsite he had established for Tetra and himself. Upon arriving, he curled up next to her tent, assuming she was sleeping. He tucked his head under his wing to block out the light from the afternoon sun and fell asleep, tired from both his exhaustion and his slight overindulgence of seafood.
Tetra had watched in silence as Telerex set up the camp, saying nothing to her as he did so; he remained silent as he flew off to gather his own dinner. She had seen the village as they landed. Being only a couple leagues away, she decided to investigate the human settlement nonetheless. She figured that the people within the village would be nothing like the mages, and she was determined to find out more about the races. She began walking in the direction of the village, glancing up to watch Telerex’s beauty as he drifted on the currents of the winds, losing sight of him as the forest canopy grew thicker and higher. As she walked the woods, she realized that the forest had forgotten the Elfaheen as well; she had to push aside plants and walk around the trees. It was sad for her, realizing how much the world they’d created had changed.
It’s what we deserve, she heard.
“So, now you would speak with me?” Tetra asked Lavalor.
I was resting, he replied a bit too condescendingly for her, but he continued. I am speaking with you now, though, dear Tetra.
“Save your attempted charm, Lavalor; I know who you are and what you were.”
That wounds me deeply! Do you not believe one can change? he asked her, feigning innocence.
“I do;
but I have trouble believing that any mind that conceived of Asmordia would want to,” Tetra replied.
I did envision them, yes; but after spending all these centuries with Quensi, I have also learned to appreciate how hard our brothers and sisters worked to bring into being your Realm of Light. I now realize how my brethren and I took the easier route, and I apologize for doing so, he said.
“What do you mean, the easier route?” she asked as she continued walking.
The idea that one should only have one view is what I mean. One is simple. If all follow the established view, then there is peace. Does this realm strike you as peaceful? he asked her.
“It is what we were tasked to do, remember? To reflect the will of the gods—for them.”
This is where we differ, my lady. I took their edict to mean that those beings we were to create were to follow them. I heard nothing of free will. Why would we create them to choose, when we could simply tell them to worship each of them?
“In equal manner?” she asked.
Yes, in equal manner. In doing so, one wouldn’t be above the other, nor would one be less than another. Harmony ensues by all following their predetermined, mandated course.
“Slavery is what you really mean. One must have choice in order for one’s actions to have meaning. Meaning for themselves—and for the others they share their lives with.”
Semantics, my lady; semantics. We don’t need to revisit those things that caused such division. You would know why Quensi gave me to you, yes? Lavalor said, changing subjects.
“I would,” Tetra answered.
Because you seek to prevent Im’Shallene, yes?
“Yes. I must.”
As do I. I have not been to what you call my home in centuries, so I don’t know what has transpired there. You wouldn’t happen to know, would you? he asked the white elf, curious to hear her answer. Silence greeted his question, and after a polite pause, he continued, I thought not. I do know that forit to occur, a soul from one of the other countless realms will have to cross into ours. I also know that ours is the oldest of them all—the most ancient, the most set in its path—because of our direct involvement in the creation of the races.
