The Shards

by Gary Alan Wassner

  The elf was sitting up and staring at them. He had obviously listened to the story that Conrad just related to Caroline. His face was stricken with sadness that could only be genuine, and Caroline was certain that she saw a drop of moisture glisten in the comer of his eye.

  “And our visitor is not a dying warrior,” she continued.

  Conrad looked at Caroline and then he quickly looked at Dalloway. They were both staring at one another like two children mesmerized by a spinning top. Stepping between them and breaking their line of vision, he began to speak to the elf.

  “What brought you here? How did you find us? What were you doing in Sidra’s domain?”

  “I cannot answer any of your questions, I fear, even if you asked them of me a hundred more times,” Dalloway replied. “My memory has been stolen from me,” he answered, but even as he spoke, his expression was confused and perplexed. He shook his head quickly as if he was trying to clear it or wake himself out of a stupor. “I remember something,” he began to speak again, “but it seems more like a dream than anything else. Every time I try to bring the recollection into focus, it disappears. I was leaving a very strange and beautiful place,” he said dreamily, “but I cannot remember it well. It seems as if the image I seek is right here before me, but a barrier of fog obscures it each time it begins to solidify and I start to envision it.”

  Caroline stood up and walked over to Dalloway, and Conrad jumped in response, frightened that she might get too close, frightened by the unknown, by fear itself. She looked at him reassuringly, and her gaze calmed his beating heart.

  “There is something important, very important, that I must do,” the elf strained to recall. “Some instructions that I was given.” His eyes clamped shut and the effort to remember was plain on his delicate features. “I was to go somewhere, to find something.” Finally, he sighed deeply, and his head lolled upon his chest “That is all that I can remember,” he said.

  “I can help you to remember,” she calmed him. “Will you let me?”

  “No, Caroline! It is dangerous,” Conrad pleaded.

  “If it is unsafe for you to do so, then you must not try,” Dalloway said.

  “It is safe,” she replied. “I know that it is safe, and I know that together we can bring back your memory,” she said confidently. “I too bear some of your past within me already. And I too see the path that you have been attempting to return back down. It is obscured for me as well, but it beckons.”

  “How can you be certain?” Conrad asked. “What if you are wrong and you become lost forever?”

  “I am not wrong, father. I was meant for this,” she insisted. “Mother’s legacy is strong within me, and I have had the opportunity to learn about myself these past few years. My animal friends have taught me well. Trust me,” she beseeched him.

  “Would that I could be as sure as you, my darling. I could not bear it if you were mistaken and if I willingly allowed you to try this.”

  “Trust me,” she said again in a mature and ineluctable tone.

  Conrad finally nodded his head and squeezed her hand.

  “I would welcome your effort if you two are agreed,” Dalloway replied graciously.

  Conrad stared at Caroline with a look that brimmed with love and concern, and she stared back reassuringly.

  “Do not worry, father. I know what I am doing,” she said with confidence. “I am not afraid.” She then sat down upon the floor next to him and took his hand in her own. They looked into each other’s eyes. “Relax and let me in,” she said to him. “I will teach your mind to speak just like I do with the animals,” she smiled.

  Within seconds, both pairs of their eyes closed, both of their bodies went limp, their heads lolled upon their necks trance-like, and Conrad could do nothing more than helplessly gaze upon the two of them as his heart began to beat within his chest faster and harder than it had ever done before.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Teetoo and Alemar joined Elsinestra and Treestar just as the sun began to rise over the far horizon. The Princess stared out across the quiet city, now slightly illuminated by the rays of light, and drew a deep breath. She backed away from the tower wall and turned to face the others, still seated at the large table in the center of the thickly carpeted floor.

  “Such a beautiful sight,” she said. “I feel as if I am in the heavens themselves. Is this how things look to you all the time?”

  “It is a different perspective,” Teetoo replied. “Looking down upon the tops of things, I see what others do not,” he acknowledged.

  “It seems so calm,” Alemar commented. “Why would anyone want to destroy this?”

  “What feels calm to you is torment to him,” Elsinestra replied. “A lost and unsettled soul can find no peace.”

  “Are there no other choices for him?” the Princess asked. “Need everything be destroyed in order to still his pain?”

  “It is a pain we cannot understand,” Treestar said. “He is not one of us.”

  “I am alone in this world too,” Teetoo reflected. “I am the last of my kind. There is something so frightening about being the last.”

  “Do you think that it is fear that drives him?” Alemar asked.

  “In part. Fear drives us all at some point. But we all react differently to it. Fear of the unknown, fear for those we love, fear for those yet unborn. There are many kinds of fear, but it cannot rule the heart,” Elsinestra said.

  “He has no heart,” Treestar stated. “He is motivated by anguish and hate.”

  “Is there no way to appeal to him?” Alemar asked.

  “He is beyond our help,” Treestar replied with certainty.

  “There was a time once,” Teetoo said. “Premoran is of the same blood. And there is none as good as he. But alas that time has long passed. Colton is no longer of this world.”

  “It is so tragic. Look at the city,” she said, and she rose and pointed to the horizon. “Is there anything you can imagine that could be so beautiful? How can he not see the simple beauty in life?”

  “Do not try to understand his mind, my dear,” Elsinestra said. “It will only frustrate you. There is no good in him to find.”

  “He is beyond good and evil,” Teetoo said. “He does not live within that perspective. In his mind, what he seeks is not wrong. He needs to escape this world and he cannot do so if this world continues to exist. There is no other way for him.”

  “So we must destroy him first,” she concluded. “It is ironic, is it not? Could he not simply kill himself and end his own torment?”

  “How can you annihilate a soul?” Treestar asked. “It would remain a part of this world as long as the world remains. The only way out for him is dissolution.”

  “And if we do kill him, then what? If we cannot remove his evil spirit from this earth even through his death, then how can we prevail?” Alemar asked.

  “We buy ourselves time, my dear. A respite,” Elsinestra admitted. “The quest for the Gem of Eternity must continue. If the boy can find it, perhaps your questions can be answered.”

  “Yes. First things first. Besides, what is the alternative?” Treestar asked. “We must confront him at every juncture. His desires are not new. It is only recently, since the trees have begun to die, that he has become so aggressive. They kept him in check before, when the Gem radiated freely and the world was safe.”

  “’Twas no safer then than now,” Elsinestra said, and she placed her palm atop her husband’s hand. “The danger has always been present. But Caeltin has truly become bolder.”

  “Why do the trees not come to our aid? Are they all waiting to die?” Alemar asked.

  “The fabric weaves of its own will, Princess. I am sure that they are doing what they can and must, though their actions may not be visible to us. You have communed with your own Lalas in Eleutheria. Did he not seem vital and strong? They do what they do beyond the scope of our vision and knowledge. Surely, they have only enmity for the Dark Lord. He is their enemy as much as
he is ours. He wishes to witness their demise as readily as he does ours. It is inconceivable that they would stand idly by, or simply withdraw from the fray during our time of need,” the Queen said.

  “If they do not oppose him actively, then they encourage him all the more,” Alemar persisted.

  “We cannot know what the Lalas think. All we can be certain of is that they would never conspire against us, that they are truly our guardians. We must have faith,” Elsinestra replied.

  Teetoo was unusually quiet during this exchange, and Alemar looked at him questioningly. He turned his gaze away from her, wounding her feelings.

  “What is it Teetoo?” she asked. “Why are you so sullen?”

  He was silent for another moment before looking at her once again, his saucer-like eyes tinged with sadness.

  “This discussion reminds me of one that I had with Premoran many times before. He had been tormented for tiels now about this very subject. He had been concerned about the Lalas’ role in the wake of Colton’s waxing power, and sadly he did not have the opportunity to mollify that concern. He gathered each and every shard, and he always hoped that in its death throe, one of the great trees would address his incertitude.”

  “And I too wonder,” Alemar said. She looked out over the wall, placed both hands upon it and leaned forward. She breathed as deeply as she could. “The air here is very much alive. It is hard to accept that our world is so imperiled,” she frowned.

  Elsinestra began to recite softly.

  “What if the air were pure as gold and the water to stone should turn?

  What if the birds were free and gay and the heavens commence to burn?

  What if the sun did shine so bright and the oceans doth seethe and churn?

  Why do we need to understand what is beyond our power to learn?

  We ask the questions and search for the truth.

  We encumber the earth with the burden of proof

  But we are no more than dust in the wind,

  We come and we go like ripples in a stream,

  In the eternity of time, we are but a dream,

  A wisp, a sparkle, a moment, a beam,

  A smile, a look, a feeling, a scene,

  A touch, a gaze, a memory, a scream,

  Here today and then no more,

  a wave upon a distant shore,

  the sand that through the sieve doth pour,

  a yearning to unlock the door,

  so fleeting, so transient,

  so ephemeral, so brief,

  so momentary, so short-lived,

  a vanishing thief,

  we yearn for the answers

  we tally the score,

  we shuffle our choices,

  we pound on the door,

  we cannot still the voices

  that cry out for more,

  for need’s a profligate and wicked whore,

  we crave so much more…

  always, yet more…

  Forever, still more…”

  They all remained still and quiet for a moment or two after she fmished speaking.

  “That is so sad,” Alemar finally said.

  “I always thought so,” Elsinestra replied. “But it is also comforting in its own way. We cannot always know everything. Must we always try to? What need drives us so?”

  “If knowledge can help us, then how can we not try?” Alemar asked.

  “One day not too long ago, Premoran and I were having just such a discussion,” Teetoo said. “I was also melancholy, and I yearned to know my place in this world,” he recalled dreamily. “Premoran reminded me that everything lives on in that which survives. Nothing passes from this earth completely. He told me this because I was afraid that when I die, the legacy of my race will perish with me, as I am the last of my kind. He made me see that once a living thing has been born, it can never truly die, since it has set into motion so much simply by being alive. The results of its actions and interactions cannot be wiped away short of dissolution, and its trail shall lead into eternity. The trees know this. They will not allow the Dark Lord to prevail if it is in their power to prevent it,” he continued. “We must have faith. Elsinestra is correct, Princess. We cannot know everything, and it is not even necessary that we do. Truly, the fabric weaves of its own will, and even the great Lalas cannot control the path of every thread and filament. Their perspective is different than ours, as much so as a bird’s is from a man’s, and I know that for a fact,” he smiled.

  “The lesson to be learned, my dear, is that we must continue to oppose, continue to resist, continue to fight and continue to search until we find the means to halt Caeltin’s advance. The struggle will never end as long as time marches on. The twins are free! We could not have made that claim a year ago! We did not even know that Tomas existed,” Treestar exclaimed.

  “The Quest has truly begun,” Teetoo said solemnly. “The prophesies have become reality once again. You and I, Alemar,” he said, turning to the Princess, “must now fulfill our own destinies. We must find a way to free Premoran from Sedahar.”

  “And may the First protect you both!” Elsinestra swore, as they made their way toward the stairway.

  “I am afraid that we must learn to protect ourselves,” Alemar said dolefully. “At least until the Gem has been found,” she replied, gazing once more over the balustrade and the tops of the buildings northward.

  “Do not underestimate a power you cannot fully comprehend. Though many battles are being fought simultaneously, we cannot determine to what ends,” Elsinestra responded, as she walked down the winding stairway.

  “The trees will not forsake us,” Treestar said, bringing up the rear.

  “Nay, Princess. They have taught us the meaning of honor. They could never betray us,” Elsinestra said confidently. “We must trust in their wisdom,” she concluded, as they stepped out into the courtyard where the horses awaited them.

  Alemar smiled affably at the others, but her heart ached and she knew not why. A terrible, nagging feeling crept silently and secretly into her soul, and she felt the desperate need to weep. She maintained her composure as they all made their way to the platforms and bid each other a final farewell. She suppressed the doubts that were threatening to overwhelm her as she mounted her mare, but the anxiety remained even as she and Teetoo boarded the lifts and commenced their slow drop to the forest floor below. The Princess looked up and saw Elsinestra and Treestar smiling down at them, silhouetted by the now bright sunshine beaming out from behind, and she raised her arm in salute. For a brief moment, their bodies blocked the light, and she felt a dark and ominous shadow descend upon her. It quickly obscured their smiles and muted the beautiful song of Seramour.

  Chapter Nineteen

  “Are you alright?” Cairn called to Robyn from about ten yards away. He was once again crouched over Filaree’s prone and motionless body.

  “Yes,” Robyn replied. “I need only a few moments to regain my strength,” he said, though he looked far weaker than he claimed.

  “When you are ready, it would be helpful if you could come over here,” Cairn said apprehensively.

  Davmiran walked to Cairn and Filaree, and squatted down beside them. Without speaking, he lifted the woman’s hand and pressed it between his own.

  “She has been stricken by the Dark Lord’s power,” he said almost at once. “I sense it in her blood. We must purge her of this or she will die,” he said as calmly as if he was telling them that she had a slight cold.

  “What are you waiting for then?” Cairn implored. “Can you do it, Dav?”

  “I do not know,” he answered. “But I will try.”

  “Robyn? Perhaps you should help us out here if you can,” Cairn urged.

  “I still need some more time, I am afraid,” he replied, his voice frail. “I am too weak to be of much use just now,” he said with his eyes only half open.

  “How much time does she have?” Cairn asked the boy, who was already humming oddly.

  “Yes, it is gra
ve,” Dav said. “The power is spreading like a virus in her bloodstream. If it reaches her heart before I can stop it, she will surely perish.”

  Calyx, who was standing guard behind Cairn, growled, though not in an angry tone, but the others were too preoccupied with what they were doing to notice him. Cairn watched Filaree and Davmiran as closely as he would a viper poised before him, ready to strike, and Robyn had slumped to the ground and sat there with his head lolling upon his shoulders. Davmiran’s eyes were tightly closed, trance-like. They did not even notice as the two strange women hastened over and kneeled down beside them.

  “Fetch Dahlia,” the dark skinned one said. “Make haste, Rose,” she urged. “We have no time to waste.” The younger girl turned and sped off.

  Cairn snapped his head around and stared at Emmeline. She smiled back reassuringly, and he was immediately put at ease. She laid her hand upon his, and he relaxed even further.

  “Welcome to Parth,” she whispered. “Would that it were under better circumstances. The Tower is secure, but it seems no longer to be safe as in the ages past,” she lamented. “My name is Emmeline,” she said, squeezing his hand affectionately.

  Cairn looked at her quizzically but he did not speak. He was far more worried about Filaree than he ever imagined he could be. His heart pounded with each passing moment that she lay senseless before them. Calyx nuzzled the small woman who stood beside him and she laughed in response. The Moulant seemed to have taken to her immediately and that served to further put Cairn at ease.

  “The boy seems to know what he is doing,” Emmeline said as she stared at Davmiran. “Has he had much training? He is quite young still.”

  “It comes naturally to him,” Cairn replied, though his eyes were once again upon Filaree and Davmiran. “Can you help?”

  “Me?” she asked as if the question was a very odd one. “I am not the best of our healers. But one of the other sisters has found her calling in this area. She will be here momentarily.”