Sword and Illusion

by Nancy S. Brandt

  Violetta had been vulnerable too, but in a different way. She'd been raised to be meek and frightened by anything that wasn't controlled by her father or her brother, Rillaur.

  He should have been quicker to see her side of things. Maybe they could have had a real marriage, and she wouldn't have taken his child away from him.

  Violetta had lacked the inherent strength he'd seen in Moonrazer, and not merely the Exalted Warrior's physical abilities. She had stood up to the disrespectful talk of a man who was supposed to be her suitor.

  Varian's wives hadn’t had such strong confidence in themselves. Even Elizabeth Louise had been more like his sister Gloriana than Moonrazer.

  Few women intrigued him like Moonrazer of the Sarl.

  ****

  As the sun began to peek over the Alitiano Glacier, Adazzra scowled at the herbs arranged on the table in front of her. Something didn't make sense.

  The healer never visited Moonrazer without enough flarezhar herbs to make at least three batches of the poultice she'd designed for the Exalted Warrior. It was the only thing Adazzra had found that worked to help the Warrior heal.

  Some of the herbs had been used the night before on Moonrazer's wound from the Oncilla. There should have been enough to make two or three more treatments. However, there wasn't enough left for one more.

  What could explain the missing herbs?

  She knew what it had to be. Sometimes, younger Trees smoked the herb, which caused hallucinations, in an effort to force visions or escape lives they saw as mundane.

  Adazzra sighed. It was likely that the Sarl knew of this property, and someone had gotten into her supply.

  ****

  The contests had been running only a short time, but Moonrazer was stunned at the report in her hand. The men had been dropping like dr’cala during a drought. Whiteshadow couldn’t have expected this. How could she have invited so many men who clearly had no business competing to be the mate of a Sarl?

  During the Contest of Strength, Lord Uldimir tried to push a cart piled high with rocks and had somehow managed to tip it backwards on himself. Moonrazer was still not sure how it was possible because the leverage was all wrong. Fortunately, he only broke a toe, and Adazzra had immediately taken care of his injury.

  Another Candidate had gone off the path while pushing his cart and wound up on a short hill. He lost control of his load and tumbled after it, breaking through the ice on a frozen pond. Varian managed to rescue the poor man, and both had taken a while to thaw out.

  Later on, the Endurance Run through the pines had proved equally disheartening. At the end of three hours, the challenge was long over, and two men had still not returned. Oakgold had volunteered to search for them. When she came walking back, the two men were with her, huffing and puffing, still running along the trail but somehow failing to overtake her.

  Even Whiteshadow had to agree that these men had to be sent home.

  There were a few men who had surprised her, passing these two challenges and making it to the Fortress Assault. There they had to climb a tall ladder to the top of Moonrazer's own Tower, then chop through seven heavy logs with an ax. This was a physically challenging task, and most men were sore from the previous day's Endurance Run.

  One Candidate, a rather rotund man, had simply lain down and given up upon reaching the top. Moonrazer praised his effort, but had to send him on his way.

  Lord Snell somehow managed to break eight ax heads while chopping. Whiteshadow had to take cover in the parapet for fear of being hit.

  With a sigh, Moonrazer rolled up the scroll and tucked it into the top drawer of the stand beside her bed.

  She stoked the fire and murmured, "I wish the competition was over. I am wondering if all this pain will be worth it in the end. I just hope no one dies on the Candidates' Hunt."

  Chapter Sixteen

  The day of the Candidates' Hunt dawned. Moonrazer left Wind Rider just outside the practice field, which was a short ride from the Tower. The well-trained war horse would remain there, pawing through the snow in search of vegetation to eat.

  Colorful banners and pennants hung from trees surrounding the practice field and the tiered seating area that had been set up on one side. Moonrazer knew the Sisters of the Flame were responsible for the decorations, probably at Whiteshadow's instruction. Sarl warriors would never think of decorating a battlefield in such a manner.

  None of the participants had arrived yet. She stood in the middle of the field, wondering what she would feel when this contest was over, and she had to decide which man she was going to spend the rest of her life with.

  The Candidates' Hunt was the final contest before the Choosing Ritual. On this hunt, they would kill the animals for their Offerings.

  The five remaining Candidates were required to ride a day and a half to the other side of the Northern Landmass and the Ice Frost Forest. This forest was twice as large as the area between it and the Tower, and it was home to at least seventeen different animals that the Sarl used for food.

  As a Sarl male, the Exalted Warrior's consort was expected to be, first and foremost, a hunter. Even though he would never be fully required to provide food for Moonrazer's family, as that task would be taken care of by all the people, he still needed to participate in the regular hunts, generally leading them.

  Two Sarl warriors would travel with the Candidates only as far as the forest. They would return to the Tower while the men hunted and each killed an animal that would be presented to Moonrazer in the Choosing Ritual.

  Standing out in the battlefield, as the sun was starting to peek over the mountains, Moonrazer took a deep breath of the cool air, and wished she'd been smart enough to accept any one of the numerous proposals, some less honorable than others, that had come her way over the blizzards.

  Maybe then she'd have found a man to love, and all this worry about losing her strength would be gone. In addition, she wouldn't have to deal with all these rituals and ceremonies.

  "Please, Holy One," she said, turning her gaze upward. "I know You have a plan for me and You know the man You want me to select. I need a sign. Please show me Your will."

  She felt a warmth under her tunic where the Ruby Medallion lay against her skin. She pulled it out. The red stone in the center of the pendent glowed brightly, and she felt the Sword of Justice in her weapons belt begin to quiver.

  The Exalted Warrior trembled in anticipation. These things only happened together for one reason.

  She looked up into the sky again and saw a dark form break through the cloud cover and descend toward her.

  A sound like an ice slide filled her ears, and she held onto the railing of the seating area as wind rushed around her.

  Soon the platinum yellow eyes of a Dragon stared unblinking into hers as Nightwind, Dragon Protector of the Sarl, hovered overhead. Larger than the castle, Nightwind was covered with blue, green, and black scales.

  "Nightwind." Moonrazer reached toward him.

  Gently, he landed and raised one of his enormous wings. The ground shook, and Moonrazer heard a cascade of snow fall from the roof of the Tower. She smiled, but waited for the tremors to subside.

  She walked about two hundred paces underneath it, and Nightwind folded his wing around her.

  Fire flowed through her blood in an instant, leaving her with an internal warmth despite the frigid air of the environment. Through some kind of magic Moonrazer had never understood, she was transformed into a smaller Dragon, about the size of a blacksmith's shop.

  She'd never seen Nightwind's wings move or any other indication of how he cast the spell, but for several seconds after she became a Dragon, her senses heightened. Rich colors swirled in the normally white snow, and birds she never heard with her Sarl ears sang songs of joy.

  When she had adjusted to her stronger senses, Nightwind made a nodding motion as though to confirm he was satisfied with the results of his magic.

  Now she and the Dragon Protector could communicate with their thoug
hts.

  "You have had several interesting days, my Moonrazer. A man died on our glacier."

  "His death was unfortunate."

  "He spoke against the Crystal Spirits."

  His thoughts surprised her. "You know of his words?"

  "I know many things, little one. I am always watching the Exalted Warrior and her people."

  "Did the Oncilla attack because General Poliard mocked the Spirits?"

  "The Crystal Spirits would never harm anyone over something so trivial." Nightwind made a small movement with his wing. "Let us not dwell on the Spirits now. We have something more urgent to discuss." The Dragon Protector shook the scales on his head.

  "The Choosing."

  "The Choosing is an important time in the life of an Exalted Warrior. It is true."

  Moonrazer spoke in her mind. "Can you tell me which man I should choose?"

  "That is not my purpose, my Moonrazer. I have not come to make a choice for you. You have been blessed by the Holy One and his mother smiles on you."

  "Will they tell me who to choose?"

  Nightwind made a sound deep in his body that on anyone else would have sounded like a laugh. "My child, you would not be happy to give this choice to another. You are the Exalted Warrior, and even the Mother Prioress of the Sisters of the Flame cannot make you do something you are unprepared to do."

  "But the scrolls say I must find a mate before I have seen forty blizzards."

  "And find a mate you will, in time. You need not, however, rush into anything that you might regret. Make your choice carefully. When they reveal their hearts to you, you will know who to choose."

  His words gave her much relief. She knew in her heart that she was not ready to choose a mate.

  "Nightwind, something else has been troubling me since the History Cycle. Do you know anything about Lullo, my father?"

  Nightwind made a rumbling noise in his belly. "Lullo was a good man."

  "Why did he never come back to us? Did he die?" Moonrazer felt a sick dread in the pit of her stomach. What if he had left because he was disappointed in her?

  "Lullo still lives, but more than that I cannot tell you."

  "Why?" she asked. "I need to know."

  Nightwind shook his enormous head. "There is a more important issue we must discuss."

  "Something more important than the Choosing Ritual?"

  "That is but a moment in the history of the Sarl. An important moment, to be sure, but merely a moment. There is something approaching that will affect all of the Known Worlds."

  "A war?"

  Nightwind paused before responding, looking toward the heavens. "I see a great storm coming. I see judgment, fire, death, and struggle. This is something to shake the foundation of every Known World."

  "Have the Navin returned?" This was the only thing she could think of that would cause Nightwind to react like this.

  Again, the Dragon made that rumbling sound in his chest. "When the Navin came, I saw a single storm cloud approach, full of darkness and smoke. I saw it breaking up almost before it arrived."

  Moonrazer was speechless at this. What could be bigger than an invasion that exiled an entire race of people and left them as nomads for seven generations?

  "You will have a part in what is to come," Nightwind said. "You will ride the lightning in the storm's center. I see grief for you, tears falling like rain. Stand ready. You must resist the temptation to take your own life."

  Moonrazer was shocked by what she heard. "A Sarl warrior understands how sacred life is and would never—"

  Nightwind interrupted her. "The storm is strong, Moonrazer, Exalted Warrior of the Sarl. I fear it will bring more sorrow than you have ever felt before.

  "You will judge the Candidates, but understand that you will also be judged. Not by the men who have come to seek your hand but by history, destiny, and the storm to come. You must choose your mate wisely, or the coming darkness will swallow you, Carrick, and many Known Worlds."

  Fear filled Moonrazer's heart. Could she make the proper choice?

  Nightwind felt her anxiety. "Do not be afraid. Know that even when it seems that all have abandoned you, I will be watching over you."

  He moved back so their contact was broken. Moonrazer felt the loss, as she always did.

  Almost immediately, she was back in her original form. The loss of her Dragon self felt like something had been stolen from her soul.

  With a sigh, she watched him fly off into the heavens. His scales glittered in the sunlight, and she could see the many colors in them even with her normal eyes. A deep longing welled up in her. Almost involuntarily, she reached up as though to touch him.

  She could only be in Dragon form when Nightwind was touching her, so she'd never been in the sky with him. What would it be like to fly under her own power? To live as such a magnificent creature, free from the rituals and customs of people?

  ****

  Varian stood next to Everard on one side of the battlefield with Lucan, Lord Olivier, and Prince Raphael Rupert of World Taltano, waiting for Moonrazer to begin the Candidates' Hunt.

  All around him buzzed conversation about the massive Dragon that had landed in this field about three candlemarks earlier. Accounts varied as to what the creature had wanted, but all agreed that the Exalted Warrior had been here at the time.

  Varian did his best not to listen to the stories that grew more outrageous with each telling.

  He knew, possibly better than anyone here, that the Dragon Protector of the Sarl was a dangerous creature, as were all Dragons.

  Given that no one had even hinted at Moonrazer's death, he had to conclude that the Exalted Warrior of the Sarl was likely a dangerous creature in her own right.

  A raised seating area to Varian's right already held several dozen Sarl, both warriors and villagers.

  Moonrazer was talking to her friend, Adazzra. The Exalted Warrior was dressed as she had been that day on the glacier. However, even with her brown hair braided and hidden under her tunic, Varian had no difficulty seeing her as a woman.

  It wasn't the garments she wore. They weren't so tight as to be form fitting, but they weren't so loose that they'd be a hindrance in a real battle.

  As Varian watched her laugh at something her friend said, he marveled at the way the smile lit up her face as though there were candles behind her eyes. How could a woman who had lived her entire life as a warrior and who had chosen to live in such a cold, brutal environment still look more beautiful than any of the rich, pampered noblewomen on Tellan?

  Just then, she turned, still smiling, and looked at him. Their eyes met and held for a second. Then she moved down the row to her seat.

  Varian felt as though someone had sucked all the air out of his lungs. His heart beat against his chest, and he had to take several quick breaths to regain his composure and balance.

  He'd lost two wives already and didn't know if his heart could stand another loss. He had better guard his feelings.

  Moonrazer stood, drawing all eyes to herself as she raised the Sword of Justice.

  "The contest is simple," she said in a voice that easily carried across the battlefield. "The Candidates will travel to the Frost Forest, escorted by two of my warriors. There, they will each hunt, kill, and bring back an animal for the Offering that will take place in five days."

  She gestured to Mother Whiteshadow, who approached the men accompanied by three Sisters of the Flame carrying baskets. They handed one to each Candidate.

  "These baskets," the Mother Prioress said, "contain food to sustain you while traveling to the forest. Each one has been prepared individually by one of our sisters for a specific Candidate for whom she has been praying."

  She looked at the baskets now in the Candidates' hands and clicked her tongue. "No," she said, facing one of the Sisters. "You have given Lucan the basket that should have been given to Lord Olivier." She smiled. "You can easily tell the difference. The basket for the Candidate from Andarnnon is gray and green, t
he colors of the coat of arms of King Rillaur."

  "I am sorry, Mother." The younger woman immediately switched the baskets.

  Whiteshadow patted the younger woman's shoulder. "We would not want to give the wrong baskets to the Candidates. Sisters Graythorn and Whiteflower worked hard to prepare special food for these two men."

  "Yes, Mother."

  The Mother Prioress looked at the Exalted Warrior and nodded. "The men may be dismissed now."

  "Thank you." Moonrazer rubbed her shoulder where she'd been wounded. "Candidates, my warriors Darkwater and Strongshield will escort you to the forest. May the Holy One be with you."