Heart of Valor - V1 Dec 2004

by Lisa Jane Smith

  Soon they were fighting in the loops and curls of the great serpent’s body. Alys kept backing up against the coils, which were knee-high at this point. Prompted by some flash of instinct, she turned to jump on the dead Guardian’s body and ran up it. In a swirl of blue cloak, Merlin followed.

  *

  Charles blundered through the mist, shouting. The fight among Thia Pendriel’s people and the Council’s people had exploded into a panic. High and clear, the hunting call sounded and sorcerei of both sides ran.

  The serpent dipped and wheeled above, guided perhaps by some instinct Charles did not have. He managed to keep it in sight until it dropped suddenly with a hiss of triumph.

  “Janie!” She was right in the midst of it, purple eyes blazing. The Fava-se-rá sounded again, and she whirled and shouted something to someone.

  He grabbed her and whirled her back around. “Janie! Alys is in trouble. You’ve got to help!”

  Adults, grown-ups, were running with the hunters behind them. Charles beat down the panic that washed over him.

  “I can’t! The Wild Hunt is after everyone—not just Thia Pendriel’s people, but everyone! Morgana needs me!”

  “Alys

  needs you!” He shook her. “Janie, I think it’s Merlin she’s fighting—” Janie cast one agonized look toward a pocket of mist flaming with gold light. Then she spun back.

  “Where is she?”

  “This way!”

  They followed the serpent. At the door, Charles stopped.

  “Where’s Claudia?”

  They stared at each other. Then Charles gave her a shove. “You go on. I’ll find her.”

  “Don’t run!” He heard her voice distantly, and shuddered. It was hard, but he no longer felt the urge as strongly as he had before. As he began stumbling through the mist again, some great dark shape leapt over him to land in front. He flinched back automatically, ducking away. Silvery laughter made him fling his head back in surprise.

  “Now this,” said a voice like bells and birdsong, “is fun.”

  *

  Alys stood on the huge, flat head of the serpent. Behind her was nothing but air. Merlin was in front.

  So swiftly that she did not see how it happened, the sorcerer’s blade darted at her with a curious twist. The Gem flashed blindingly blue. Her own weapon rippled and seemed to melt into his like quicksilver, dissolving from her grip. She stared stupidly at her empty hand, unable to accept for a moment that Caliborn was gone. Like that, so easily. Then her foot, groping behind her, found empty space, and she jumped backward into it, spinning as she fell.

  She hit the ground and came up running. Merlin’s blue cape shimmered about him as he dropped. Once again she was backing up, and this time what she came against was the circle of flame. She jumped it and faced him. He was there at once, and the flames blazed up suddenly, encircling them, trapping her. As she turned frantically, seeking escape, her leg twisted under her and she fell.

  The next instant he was above her, and she was gazing up into that beautiful, eerily familiar face. Once she looked into his eyes she could not look away. Dilated, they were black and endless with a tiny distant flame burning somewhere within. The room sped away from her. Nothing existed except herself and Merlin and spinning darkness.

  *

  Janie took two running steps and leaped at the great bulk of the Guardian, the rough scales scraping her hands painfully. Virtue wand tucked into her belt, serpent twined about her neck, she heaved herself up, then half slid, half fell down the other side. From here she could see Alys cross the ring and turn, at bay. She reached the circle just as it exploded up in a conflagration. She gave back, then grabbed at the serpent.

  “No! Those wards are killing strength, and you couldn’t save her anyway.”

  “Then, my lady Janie, use your magic—” “Against a Gem? No magic will help now. Just be quiet!” Through the flames, she saw Alys try to dodge away from the sorcerer, saw her fall heavily and land hard. Janie, released from agonized thought, dragged in a breath, eyes widening. One chance. There was one chance. She plunged a hand into her pocket and drew the sprig of Worldleaf out. Crushing it, she threw it into the heart of the fire. As the pungent, stinging scent rose, she whispered, “Alys, remember. Merlin, remember. Remember …”

  *

  Above Alys, Merlin’s sword was a pure line of light, and she was falling endlessly into those endless eyes. And then everything changed.

  An odor, sharp and distinctive, filled the air. It was spicy and penetrating, and it seemed to shatter some barrier in her head, sweeping away all the darkness and the clouds and the confusion. In this new clarity she heard a voice, at first far away, but getting stronger.

  Remember. Remember …

  A great tide of understanding flooded through her and she gasped aloud. Then, slowly, she sat up. The fear was gone. She felt only great astonishment and awe.

  The sorcerer had turned sharply toward the origin of the scent to stare at Janie through the flames. Then, as the smoke wafted around him, his head jerked back, his eyes suddenly fixed on nothing.

  Alys stood up.

  Merlin turned, first his head, then his body, to face her. She remained quite still and met his gaze directly.

  “Merlin,” she said softly, in a voice of discovery, of wonder. And she held out her hands to him.

  They stood like that, eyes locked, for some endless time while the fire leaped and danced about them. Then the sorcerer smiled, a strange and beautiful smile. With an easy gesture he shrugged off his azure cape and placed the sword of Arthur across it.

  Then he laid it in her outstretched arms.

  EIGHTEEN

  The Weerul Council

  They faced each other at last. The gaudy trappings of fog were a curiously appropriate background. They had always been at opposite ends of the spectrum, Morgana thought.

  The Ice Silver had been raised against her before. So, for that matter, had Heart of Valor. But not together. Although Feathered Serpents winged toward her, although the Ar-chon and his councillors closed in, she knew that Thia Pendriel could kill her before being taken.

  Then she heard the Fava-se-rá.

  Thia Pendriel jerked toward it, caught off guard. The only terror the sound ever held for Morgana was the fear of being tempted to join it, and there was no danger of that now. She attacked without hesitation, throwing a spell of entrapment. After that the struggle was sharp, but there could be only one ending. When it was over, the red Gem lay on the ground between them. And Thia Pendriel, ragged and proud and hating, lay a little distance from it, waiting for Morgana to take the Ice Silver, too. Waiting for the Archon and his folk to arrive.

  The hunting call sounded nearer. Thia Pendriel stiffened, shuddering, showing the whites of her eyes. All at once she was fighting again. “Release me!”

  Morgana shook her head, but she was tired. She felt the binding spell break, crumbling under the impact of the Ice Silver’s desperation.

  “Pendriel, no!” Magic exhausted, Morgana simply tried physically to restrain her. But the councillor’s terror gave her strength. She had only one thought: escape.

  As the dark shapes swept around Morgana, leaped above her, she saw it was too late. The tall figure had disappeared into the fog, running. The call rang high and clear.

  Morgana picked up Heart of Valor.

  *

  Alys watched the golden tunnel of the portal fade and wink out. He’d left without once saying a word to her. And she hadn’t tried to stop him leaving.

  A soft sound like a sigh caught her attention. It was the ring of flames, dying down to a flicker. Janie stepped over it; the serpent swooped in to drape around Alys’s neck. Together, silently, they turned to the ivory casket on the pedestal.

  It was carved with battle scenes and inscriptions. Carefully placing the cloak and sword on the ground, Alys took the upturned golden hasp between thumb and forefinger.

  The lid lifted easily. Inside, three stones lay on a fie
ld of velvety darkness. It was not cloth. When Alys tried to touch it, her fingers dipped into the dark like water, but she could not feel anything but a slight coolness.

  The first Gem fit smoothly into her palm. It was pear-shaped and opaque, forest green swirled with deep blue.

  “Rill in the Lea,” said Janie.

  The second was amethyst, like a chunk of pansy-colored rock candy. “Twilight.”

  Janie reached for the last, a lump of translucent amber. “And Keep Thee Well.” She replaced it. “All here. The three Gems of the rebel councillors.”

  “And Mirror of Heaven.” Alys looked down at the clear blue stone in the pommel of Merlin’s sword—her sword. She shut the lid of the casket with a click. When she tried it again it would not open.

  “Well,” said Janie. “That’s that.”

  Alys found herself gazing again in the direction of the vanished portal. She shook her head hard, then turned back to Janie.

  “Janie. I—”

  In the blue light Janie’s eyes were the color of the pansy-colored Gem. “You’re welcome,” she said solemnly, and smiled. Alys smiled back and they stood just like that for a moment. Then Alys bundled the cloak and the sword together.

  “We’d better get back up there. Anything could be happening.”

  *

  But when they arrived, the battle seemed to be over. The Council chamber was not damaged, but where once there had been tranquility, now there was the stunned aftermath of Chaos. Councillors were scattered about the room, their robes bright splashes against the marble; serpents wheeled continuously in the air. Standing in the doorway, trying to take it all in, Alys saw Morgana and the Archon striding toward them. Claudia was with them, clutching—no, cradling—something in her arms. Alys and Janie ran. “Claudia, where’s Charles?”

  “I don’t know. He left—”

  Morgana, reaching them, broke in. Her dark cloud of hair was more unruly than ever, but her voice was steady. “He is in no danger right now, Alys. You need not worry over him. Nor over Thia Pendriel. That has been taken care of.”

  “All right,” said Alys. Wrapped in her new serenity, she was willing to trust Morgana’s word with her mind as well as her heart. “Are you okay?” she asked Claudia.

  Claudia nodded, chin bumping Benjamin. She didn’t say anything else, but her blue eyes were dry and almost calm.

  “You’re brave, you know that?”

  “Of course,” said Claudia, the stern look coming over her face again.

  Morgana spoke quietly. “Where have you been?”

  Alys started, remembering. “In the Lair. Fighting Merlin—” She would have gone on, but the Archon interrupted.

  “Merlin! Then it was true.. ..” He stopped. Suddenly the unlined face looked much older, the hand raised toward Alys trembled. “The Gems.”

  “They’re safe,” said Alys. “The Guardian—I’m afraid it’s dead. But the Gems are all safe.”

  Less haggard, the Archon turned aside and spoke to a flying serpent. It and several others departed.

  Morgana was studying Alys’s face intently. “I am glad,” she said, simply. “And surprised—but not astonished.”

  The Archon had turned back to them. “Morgana, / am surprised by all that has passed this night. Clearly, the Council has been blind and mistaken, but I would know the whole story. Can you bring order to this confusion?”

  Morgana’s eyes were still on Alys. “I might—but I think it would be better for you and your Council to hear it from these primitives. You may be more surprised yet before they are done.”

  The Archon lifted his brows, then, after a pause, inclined his head.

  “Let it be so, then.” Chairs were found and set up on the dais for Alys and Janie and Claudia. Morgana refused one. As the sorcerei took their own places Alys noted that there were only six councillors now. The dark man and Magistress Zoe were gone.

  In a few minutes the room had settled into stillness. Morgana broke the silence of the tableau.

  “Janie, will you do the honors? Or Alys?”

  “Not me.” Although Alys was no longer afraid of the councillors—at the moment she was not afraid of anything—she knew she was out of her depth. “I don’t understand most of it myself. Janie’s the smart one. If she has the answers I’d like to hear them as much as anyone.”

  Janie bowed her head, looking demure. But when she raised it again, she was serious.

  “If I do have any answers it’s only because I’ve just figured them out.” She paused a moment as if to gather her thoughts, and Claudia got up and sat in Alys’s lap. Alys, feeling quite comfortable with this, rocked her.

  “I’ll start,” said Janie, turning to include the Council, but ending by addressing Alys, “with the most basic question of all, the one you asked in the beginning. What did Thia Pendriel want from our world?

  “It wasn’t Heart of Valor. She could easily have escaped with that back to Findahl before the mirrors were broken.

  But she chose to stay. So there was something else she wanted.

  “It wasn’t power over our world: she didn’t want to rule a planet of animals. It wasn’t revenge on Morgana: she could have taken that right away. It was something she couldn’t do that night, something she had to wait for.”

  “Mirror of Heaven,” said Alys, but a little doubtfully.

  “Yes, she needed that. But, more important, she needed Merlin. “

  There was a responsive stir among the councillors. “Once again,” said the Archon, “it would appear we have been deceived. Merlin has long been thought dead, and Mirror of Heaven lost.”

  “Neither. Morgana put Merlin under a spell of sleep, sealed in a hidden place in our world. He should have stayed there forever, because she used Mirror of Heaven to seal it, before putting that in with him, too. Nothing could break through the seal of a Gem—except a Gem.”

  “Like Heart of Valor. Which Thia Pendriel had,” said Alys, in rising excitement.

  “True, with Heart of Valor she could have done it, as long as Morgana didn’t manage to stop her. But the seal could only be broken on the same day it was cast, which was May Day. Beltane, the festival of the spring. She knew Morgana would be most on her guard on that day. As for how she actually managed to get around her …” Janie frowned slightly and looked questioningly at the little sorceress. “She woke him up even before you arrived?”

  “Yes.” Morgana’s lips were tight, her voice flat with self-disgust. “She knew I would come in good time before Beltane to defend the place. And so I did, setting strong wards about it. But, though she was not able to release Merlin before Beltane, she had used her Gem to awaken him. He would have been dull and sluggish at first, I imagine, but soon he began to remember how to wield Mirror of Heaven. I should have recognized the signs of its rousing.”

  “All those things happening in the sky,” said Alys, eyes widening. “Mirror of Heaven. Rainbows and rings around the sun and the aurora …”

  “Yes,” said Janie. “That was Merlin. Still half-asleep and just reaching out to the Gem again, probably. But he woke up fully by Beltane. And at the stroke of midnight Morgana was there waiting, prepared for an attack on the wards from the outside. But Merlin and the tree were inside with her. When he used Mirror of Heaven to break out he took her completely by surprise.

  “Fortunately, the wards collapsed on her, and there was nothing more he could do to her. Besides, he had to cast a portal right away to get to Thia Pendriel and the Passage.”

  “But why?” said Alys. “Why was he helping Thia Pendriel? He’d never been on her side before.”

  Janie looked mildly impatient. “He wasn’t so much for her as against Morgana. And I imagine his cooperation was the price Thia Pendriel demanded for letting him out. Because he was absolutely essential to her plans. Which brings us back to the original question: what did Thia Pendriel want?”

  Alys tipped her head in the direction of the Lair. “Those other three Gems? The ones the serpent
was guarding?”

  “Yes, yes, but you’re still thinking too small. She didn’t want just three Gems, or four, or five. She wanted all twelve.

  She needed all twelve. Because she wanted to remake the Black Staff—”

  “—of Darion Beldar!” Alys stared at Janie, her mouth dropping open. “But how could she? All the other Gems were destroyed!”

  “Not destroyed. Lost. Forgotten. Think about it, Alys. The old councillors, the ones who fought the rebels during the Thousand Years’ War, knew they had to get rid of the nine Gems they still had so the rebels wouldn’t get them. So they put them in the one place the rebels would never find them, the one place the sorcerei could never go. Or at least not and stay sane. They hid them in Chaotic Zones.

  “I began to wonder about that when I knew Cadal Forge had found Heart of Valor in a Chaotic Zone. How he survived I don’t know. Maybe he was never sane in the first place. All he saw in Heart of Valor was the perfect means to take his revenge on our world. It didn’t occur to him to wonder what it was doing there.

  “But it occurred to Thia Pendriel when she heard about it—and she did hear, because he told her. She also knew that long ago Merlin had had a Gem. And where had he gotten it? He said he’d found it lying around while he was wandering. Which sounds like a joke, until you consider the kind of places he was likely to wander into. Chaotic Zones. He ran with the Quislais, and even followed them there.

  “So. Thia Pendriel figured out the connection. And that was when she realized she could have all the Gems. Only she couldn’t get to them herself, and no full Quislai would ever fall in with her plans. They wouldn’t be interested. But Merlin …

  “He was perfect. He hated Morgana. He had a grudge against the Council. And he could be bribed with his freedom. Of course, she wanted Mirror of Heaven too, but she didn’t tell him that.

  “And there you have it. She intended to bring Merlin back to Findahl, have him steal the three Gems in the Lair while she continued to deceive the Council, and then gather the other Gems one by one. And when she had them all …” Janie spread out her hands in a wry shrug. “What’s better than a Gold Staff? A Black Staff. The only Black Staff. She would have more power than all the rest of the Council put together.”