by V. Lakshman
“We shall spend more time together,” added Lilyth placidly, “but the princess clearly needs respite. Please do as I ask, though you are a prince in your own home.”
Thoth was surprised at the show of kindness from Lilyth. It both felt and looked unnatural to him, but who else had known the Celestial Lady long enough to see that? He was nonetheless surprised by Arek’s answer.
The boy seemed torn between asserting himself as an equal and giving in to his heart’s pull to spend time with the princess. Thoth doubted he realized that none here could truly compel him. As the spawn of Valarius’s madness, Arek evoked revulsion in Thoth. He fought to keep it from showing on his face. Surprisingly, even as these thoughts flitted through Thoth’s head, a change came over the boy and he now seemed eager to leave.
“You’ll summon us as soon as you’re done?” Arek asked, taking Yetteje’s hand carefully in his own gloved one.
“Immediately.” Lilyth gestured and the portal to her garden opened large enough for even the Watchers to walk through.
Then she said to everyone, “I would ask you all to accompany Arek.” She met Orion’s gaze and said, “Fear not, you are under Thoth’s aegis and no harm shall befall you here.”
Orion smiled at that and replied, with banter lacing his tone, “We promise your men the same consideration.”
Lilyth smiled thinly. “You’ve always been dearest to me through these many years, despite your insufferable confidence. Baalor trusts you are fully mended from your last encounter? He so enjoyed that day.”
Orion bowed, fist to chest, and forebore another flippant response. Thoth knew that though the Watcher and Lilyth were enemies, the demon queen was a Celestial, and as such commanded respect from every Aeris lord, whether Fury or Watcher. At a nod from Thoth, Orion and Helios, along with Brianna, followed Arek and Tej through the portal. In a moment, Lilyth and Thoth stood alone.
Thoth raised a hand, “I don’t need to argue with you. We’re here because the princess demanded it. Hear her out and then I request you transport Arek and Yetteje back to Edyn.”
“What does she want?” inquired Lilyth.
Thoth hesitated, unsure if he should give Lilyth information without the girl’s leave, but could find no harm in being forthright. So he said, “She wishes to know the fate of her father.”
“Ben’thor Tir, a man of unparalleled nobility.” Lilyth looked down from her raised dais, her expression both imperious and sublime. “Where is justice when ill fate falls unfairly upon the shoulders of good men?”
“Fate is fate,” Thoth said with a shrug. “We cannot control what happens.”
Lilyth seemed to consider what he said before replying, “Perhaps.”
Her next question caught him off guard.
“Keeper, what do you want for Arcadia and Edyn?”
“Peace. Unification,” Thoth replied. “It has always been our charge.”
Lilyth moved down the dais to her open windows. She turned and sat delicately on the ledge, her fingers running over the smooth stonework. Looking out, Thoth saw nothing of the war that raged across the realm.
“Eons have passed and yet we are no closer to your goal. We repeat the same mistakes; each time a new null is sent by Sovereign. War is brought upon our people as we seek to turn circumstances to our own advantage.”
Thoth moved a little closer, leaning on his staff and looking out across the city of Olympious. The sun hung yellow and orange in the sky like a blazing coin of aurum, casting long shadows across green fields. He took a deep breath, tasting the turn of leaves in the air. “Maybe this is our fate.”
“And the vaults of knowledge?” She turned her ice-blue eyes on him and tilted her head at the question. “Would you welcome the destruction of all that has been gathered and saved for the benefit of the builders? That a new keeper be appointed by Sovereign after you and I are swept away?”
He looked at her and blinked, leaning more on his staff. Then he said truthfully, “I would not. Yet the First Laws compel our service, a vow you have abandoned.”
The demon queen looked down, inspecting her fingertips as she contemplated Thoth’s words. Then she asked, “Yet you agree, despite my departure as keeper, that Sovereign cannot win?”
Thoth slowly nodded, not sure where she was going with this. “We’ve agreed that the remaking of the world is the wrong path, but your path is no better. The builders were not meant to be possessed.”
Lilyth looked at him, her eyes searching his face for something he could not discern from her gaze. Then, as if coming to a decision, she patted her legs and said, “What if I took the possession of Edyn off the table?”
Thoth stared at her, his mind not quite connecting what he’d just heard. Possession was the only way for her Aeris to leave Arcadia. “What about your quest to bring life to your people?”
Lilyth arched a delicate eyebrow. “The Aeris are your people, too.”
Heartbeats went by before he slowly nodded. “They are, but born to serve the builders of Edyn, not the other way around. Since Sovereign’s fall, this has always been the Way.”
“And yet you agree that Sovereign is wrong. Now I offer you another choice.”
“No possession?” Thoth scoffed. “What is your endgame?”
“I said no possession of the builders, but what of those inevitably held for the executioner’s blade? What of criminals imprisoned for life? We know every society has their share of crime and punishment. Perhaps we can set new laws in place, turn their crimes into a greater good.
“Perhaps . . .” she leaned forward, “men like Ben’thor Tir need not die needlessly and deprive the world of their noble light.”
Thoth was stunned, his mind racing. Could she mean this? Possessing criminals would mean they would cease to exist, and in a sense that would be the same as dying. It would replace execution with . . . what? He had many questions bubble up and asked the one that first gave itself voice. “You have many more souls than there are criminals amongst the builders.”
“Now, perhaps. But over the eons there will be many more criminals than Aeris who can Ascend. You and I both know not all were meant for bonding. The mistfrights are a result of pain, war, and carnage. They are the detritus of despair given life here. I can let them be forgotten, much like Andramelek.”
“You knew of his death?”
Lilyth smiled, “He paid a necessary price for Arek to begin his transformation, and like him, most Aeris will be gone anyway.”
Thoth looked at her, the question plain on his face. “Why?”
Lilyth smiled and said, “Again, it comes to Arek . . . though he thinks I do not know it.”
Thoth stepped back from the window, his eyes wide. “You brought him here for this? To cull your herd?”
“As we said, eons have passed and we have waged the same war again and again. What is the saying used in Edyn . . . ‘only a fool expects the same song to end on a different note’? Perhaps by embracing Sovereign’s weapon, we can do more good than harm.”
By now Thoth had recovered enough to say, “He’ll be the death of Arcadia.”
Lilyth stood slowly. “Arcadia was never meant to exist, Keeper. Only the Fall caused its creation, else we would have been unified with the people of Edyn from the very beginning. Now we can let Arek right that wrong and create a new life for my people without harm.”
She was quiet, moving past him and back to her throne. More heartbeats went by without a sound; then she said softly, “I take it your silence means you’re considering this?”
Thoth looked at her sidelong, hating to admit he found the proposal compelling. What if only criminals and those meant for death were sacrificed? What kind of world would result, where prisons and beheadings were abandoned in favor of giving a more deserving person a second chance? The thought was chilling, but he could also feel a small undercurrent of something else. He feared it was a modicum of hope.
A thought occurred then and he said, “If Arek dies here the d
ark contagion will spread with the blackfire, destroying everything. You need to get him back to Edyn.”
Lilyth seated herself on her throne and looked down at the keeper. Then she smiled and said, “Perhaps, but he still serves a purpose.”
“What do you mean?”
Lilyth’s gaze didn’t waver when she answered, “Valarius seeks to possess Arek in an effort to leave this realm. Understand that he and his elves will try to thwart any peace you and I covenant. Once he finishes with Arcadia, Edyn will fall to a far worse invader than I and my Furies, and in the name of righteousness he will bring the bloody hand of vengeance down upon every Aeris and living being who still walks the world. His Galadine blood will not be assuaged by anything less than total rule.”
Thoth shrugged. “He’s opened a gate to Bara’cor, something I thought only in your purview.”
“I opened the Gate to Bara’cor,” she said with a deadly intensity. “But he used unclean blood magic, a path closed to the Aeris, to realign it to Avalyon. It is a foulness tainting the very nature of the Way.” She was quiet, looking down before continuing, “Such measures shows he cannot be underestimated.”
Lilyth looked back at the vista painted outside her windows. “The man is powerful, far more than I first gave him credit for. He has used this blood magic to open gates here in my realm. What will he do next? Find a way to cross over without flesh to hold him? When Arcadia is no more and his soul has nowhere to go – that will be true death, the only outcome we can allow.”
“With Arcadia gone there will be no new Aeris born. What happens when the last of you has bonded?”
“I have sequestered the blood of the first families here, thousands of unpossessed children who have over many years been nourished and replenished by the Way. They carry within their blood the code necessary to populate the world. They will be part of a new order on Edyn, one in which the intent of the First Laws is upheld. These children will bring forth Unification just as you and I have dreamed.
“The death of Arcadia is not the death of the Way, nor of the Aeris. We will continue until the world has no more need of us. Superstition and myth will give way to reason and science. Was that not always the intention of the First Laws? Are we not meant to lead the builders of Edyn to that ultimate destiny?”
Thoth had not expected to have this conversation. The First Laws had always been clear to him. Now he was forced to consider that perhaps Lilyth followed them even now. Was he truly doing as much service to the Laws as she was? He didn’t want to answer that question. He wasn’t sure he’d feel comfortable with his own conclusion.
He knew she’d held children, but had always assumed they were part of her plans for possession. That they weren’t possessed already was a surprise. Would Arcadia have infused them with the Way as she claimed? Were they truly Unified, able to use the Way without being possessor or possessed, as the builders of Edyn were?
She was right that they were repeating an endless cycle, one that had seen continually increasing aggression by Sovereign’s forces as the eons passed. Each time he’d sent a new null like Arek, the stakes had risen. Perhaps this tightrope upon which Lilyth balanced needed the Conclave’s steadying hand to free them from Sovereign, but also preserve the way of life they had created upon Edyn? It was a lot to consider, something he needed further deliberation to resolve, but Lilyth’s logic was understandable, and Thoth hated to admit, compelling.
One question still nagged him.
“Avalyon exists in phase, a feat that speaks to your regard for the highlord. How will you force him to Edyn?”
Lilyth gave a melodious laugh and replied, “When have I forced anyone to do anything? That is not my way. Arek will destroy Arcadia; the outcome is inevitable with his dark gift. Where can Valarius escape, except to Edyn? Let us parley that into a result that benefits us both.”
She waited for a moment.
“What if we gave Valarius what he wants?” she asked.
“Arek?” Thoth felt his ire rise again at the thought of the boy and Valarius reunited, as this went against everything he’d fought for until now. Still, her meticulous thinking had him intrigued and he reluctantly asked, “Why?”
Lilyth leaned back in her seat and clasped her hands in front of her face, touching the tip of her nose delicately with steepled fingers. “Valarius only seeks to possess Arek so he has a body with which to escape Arcadia. Possession will render Sovereign’s weapon useless against us, for Arek will be gone.
“However” —she paused at this— “Valarius will become mortal. Do you understand what this means?”
Thoth didn’t answer her right away, his mind working furiously through her logic. Then he asked, “And if Arek should somehow defeat Valarius?”
Lilyth smiled. “The boy cannot create a gate. He will be trapped here until Arcadia and he are destroyed by his own dark magic.”
He was quiet for a moment. “In either outcome Valarius will be rendered powerless.”
“Either he becomes mortal, or he dies and Arek is trapped here.”
Thoth had to admit her plan was ingenious. He moved a bit closer and leaned on his staff, his tone turning less confrontational as he asked, “Then why did you have your Furies intercept Arek when he first appeared at the henge? Valarius’s forces had him in their grasp. Why free him then, only to deliver him back to the archmage now?”
Lilyth was quiet, but the corners of her eyes crinkled with what seemed to be pleasure, as if she finally had been asked a relevant question.
“Keeper, many steps must be in place to insure Arek’s allegiance to us. If Valarius had met him first, we would be facing Arek as his weapon. We could not allow them to meet until we were prepared, until key pieces had been moved into their proper places. “Do you know what Arek desires most?”
“Judging from his earlier display I’d say the princess,” Thoth said with a smile.
Lilyth smiled too, then corrected, “To meet his true father.”
“The red mage is insane; no good will come of it. Why not let him believe Valarius is his pater?”
“Duncan searches. It will only be a matter of time, and telling Arek the truth first will bind his allegiance to us.”
“Where does Duncan roam? The man is a menace.”
Lilyth paused, as if debating whether to say anything, then she sighed and said, “Duncan languishes within Avalyon’s walls, no doubt a prisoner.”
“Prisoner?”
He had followed the broken lore father over the centuries, watching his thirst for vengeance consume him, driving him beyond any hope of salvation. It had been debated if he should be killed, but that would have created another Aeris lord to contend with as the legend of the red mage had permeated Edyn’s myths. One Valarius was enough, and the Conclave had learned its lesson. For that reason amongst others, they had left Duncan to his own misery. But the fact that he was already within the elven city opened a new mystery.
“How did he find his way into Avalyon?” Thoth asked.
“How indeed? He’s a lore father, just as Valarius is, with centuries of time to hone his skill. It suffices to say my world has healed the one thing limiting him—his fractured mind. That resulted in an attempt to rescue his wife.”
“His wife? Sonya is the consort of Valarius,” Thoth said.
A smile grew on Lilyth’s face, making her countenance beautiful.
“Now you might see the reason we had to wait. Who will Arek align with once he learns his true father has been betrayed and captured by the highlord? Once he learns that the highlord sacrificed his mother to send a contingent of elves into Edyn?”
“Sonya is dead?” Thoth whispered.
“Sonya’s destiny always ended in death, though she knew it not. Valarius had no intention of saving her, only the child growing in her womb. That she lived this long is a surprise to me, but no matter. I only care that he now has a force within Bara’cor, one that could realign the gate and offer him an escape.”
“
You need to stop this,” Thoth said. “We cannot enter Bara’cor because of your phase shield.”
“Arrangements have been made, yet I cannot stop Valarius from reenacting the same spell with another sacrifice. Blood magic is not something I can counter. Therefore . . . Duncan and Arek.”
“Duncan will try to kill Valarius.” It was not a question but a fact Thoth knew all too well. Certainly moving this piece would have dire consequences.
“And Arek will help him,” Lilyth replied.
Thoth shook his head, at first in disbelief, but that slowly gave way to admiration. The careful, methodical approach she’d taken reminded him of the danger she represented. He would have to stay on guard to be sure the Conclave did not end up the loser in any potential alliance they forged.
Then a thought occurred and he asked, “How will you breach Avalyon in phase?”
“That is my concern,” she paused, then added, “but we cannot send Arek without guardians.”
Thoth looked at her, confused. Then her meaning became clear. “You’re asking me to send my Watchers? Why not use your entire armada of Furies?”
For a moment he thought Lilyth wouldn’t answer but then she said, “My forces stand ready, but a full attack will only marshal all the highlord’s defenses. Your Watchers must escort Arek. They’re better at combating Valarius’s warforged elves than my Furies. Four should be enough.”
“To do what?” Thoth inquired.
Lilyth raised an eyebrow at that. “I thought it would be obvious by now.”
“Indulge me,” he replied.
“Why, to rescue his father, of course.”
His expression must’ve revealed his doubt. She leaned forward, her eyes becoming half slits as she confronted his uncertainty. “You cannot remain neutral. Our future rests upon Arek accepting this path.”
Thoth was quiet, staring at her without blinking. Time slowed down, as if the universe waited for his next words.
“I don’t have four Watchers to commit,” Thoth lied. He knew Lilyth, for all her appearance of transparency, would have something else planned and his earlier caution reasserted itself. The advantage of knowing someone for millennia was while their intent might be obscure, their actions were predictable. Lilyth was not one to play a direct game, so Thoth needed insurance against her likely betrayal. Therefore, he would only commit some of what meager resources he had left. That would mean sacrificing Helios and Orion. Thoth sighed, growing weary at the constant erosion of his moral fiber.
