3g“T Vill say that I have found a legend come to life,“ Juraviel answered. -O I will say nothing at all. The choice is yours, King of Tymwyvenne, A by your mercy and graciousness. I owe you this, at least, for my own d for Brynn’s. If you wish this entire episode to retreat into the realm ‘fVeUi’mar Juraviel’s hopeful dreams, then so it shall.“ 3 Eltiraaz spent a long while mulling that over. He looked to his Doc’alfar •ompanions, Lozan Duk, Cazzira, and several others he had invited to the meeting that day, gauging their silent answers.
„No „ he said at length. „You will tell your Lady Dasslerond that you
have looked upon Tymwyvenne and met your long-lost kin. You will tell her
that she, upon the invitation of King Eltiraaz, is most welcome to visit us,
that we might both learn if our peoples, Doc and Tou, should find theirlvay
together again.“
Juraviel could hardly believe what he was hearing, and in truth, he terribly torn at that moment. His immediate duty was to Brynn and their journey to To-gai-ru. Or was it? Was this potential reunification more important? Should he abandon Brynn here and now and head back to the north with all speed? Or perhaps he could take Brynn back with him and delay her mission to her homeland. There was no pressing issue there, after all, nothing more than had been going on since before Brynn had been taken in by the Touel’alfar.
But then Eltiraaz settled it for him. „But that is in the future,“ the king said. „For now, your road is, and must be, to the south. We will show you the Path of Starless Night and tell you more of what we know of the dangers that lie within the deep mountains. You may choose to enter, or choose to turn to the east. But not to the north, not now. My people are not ready for this meeting, and I’ll not force it upon them.“ Juraviel nodded his agreement.
And what if Belli’mar Juraviel does not return from the southland?“ ozan Duk interjected. „What if Belli’mar Juraviel does not emerge again the sunlight from the Path of Starless Night? Is this hope that we have lust shared of reunion to die with him, then?“
As he finished, Lozan Duk looked to King Eltiraaz, and Juraviel recog-Hzed then that the question was not likely spontaneous.
would speak with you privately,“ Juraviel bade the king, and with a wave: of his hand, Eltiraaz cleared the room of all but himself and Juraviel. you desire the meeting, and I cannot return, then send a trusted courier or two to the north, staying west of the human lands, to the mountain region three weeks’ journey from here. Once there, call out the name of Lady Dasslerond to the night wind, every hour every night. She will find your couriers, do not doubt, and the Touel’alfar will speak with them before passing swift judgment. Have them relay the tale of Belli’mar Ju. raviel and Brynn Dharielle, and tell of how they came to the lands of the Touel’alfar.“
„And they will not be harmed? „
Juraviel took a deep breath, „I cannot commit to anything,“ he admitted „My people are no less reclusive than are your own - it is part of our shared heritage, it would seem. The Lady of Caer’alfar is stern and strong, but she is blessed with the wisdom of the centuries. I trust she will choose correctly.“
„Though you have less to lose.“
„There is that,“ Juraviel admitted. „It is the best I can offer, King Eltiraaz of Tymwyvenne, and more, I fear, than I should have said.“
„And nothing more than we could have discerned, in any case,“ Eltiraaz answered with a chuckle, and he offered his hand to Juraviel, and the Touel’alfar took it in a firm shake.
„Stay with us a few weeks more,“ Eltiraaz offered. „Enjoy the customs of my people, walking freely about Tymwyvenne.“
„And Brynn?“
„Likewise! Let her be the most blessed of humankind, to have looked upon both Caer’alfar and Tymwyvenne! When you are ready, we will take you to the Path of Starless Night, and you may choose your course. We will provide you with ever-burning light and with all the supplies you can carry.“ He paused and assumed a pensive posture, his look quizzical. „And perhaps with more.“
Juraviel understood that he should not press for more than that cryptic statement at that time. Already he had been offered far more than he could ever have hoped for, far more than he ever would have dared to ask for!
„The season means little in the Path of Starless Night,“ Eltiraaz went on. „In truth, the closer you wait toward winter, the more passable will be the dark tunnels, for the spring melt will have flowed from them by then, and the new snows atop the mountains will be locked frozen in the days it will take you to cross under.“
It was an invitation that Belli’mar Juraviel could not refuse, and - given that last bit of logic, one that he knew would calm Brynn’s eagerness - he believed that his companion would readily agree. Perhaps if they stayed in Tymwyvenne, their trip to the south would prove no less time-consuming than the long journey around the mountains, but in truth, it was more than the loss of time that had Juraviel trying to avoid that circuitous route. He had little desire to cross the human lands of Honce-the-Bear, and even less to try to find his way through hostile Behren. There Brynn would be can´t
no more than a pig looking for a slave owner and he, if his true as a Touel’alfar was ever discovered, would likely be put to a swift , a sacrifice to Yatol. this would be a most-welcomed rest, not for weeks, perhaps, but for “Do you believe him?“ Brynn asked Juraviel that same night, the two
, nding some quiet time trying to sort through the momentous events of
jay How swiftly their fate had changed! And how unexpectedly! 1 „If King Eltiraaz meant us harm, then why would he go to all this trou-ul?“ the elf replied. „He had garnered all of the information he will get
m me from us, concerning Andur’Blough Inninness, and he knows that. No he is sincere.“ As he finished, smiling, he noted that Brynn’s sour expression had not changed. He looked at her curiously, silently prompting her to elaborate.
„I meant about Diredusk.“
„They said he was running free with other horses.“
„But did they say that merely to calm me?“ the young woman asked. „Are they merely telling us what we need to hear? „
Belli’mar Juraviel settled back. „No,“ he answered with the calm of complete confidence. „Have you noticed the tables they set? The meals they have brought to us? „
Brynn tilted her head, staring at him intently, needing to find the same conclusions as he obviously already had.
„They eat the produce of the earth, the gifts of Ga’na’Tynne. They eat the fruits and vegetables, the fungi of the tunnels. But not the animals. King Eltiraaz spoke truly of his people when he said that they hold the creatures of Ga’na’Tyl in the highest reverence and would not harm them. Diredusk is running free and unharmed, I am sure.“
„They harm no creatures of Ga’na’Tyl,“ Brynn echoed with a sarcastic chuckle. „Except for humans.“
„Whom they believe deserving of their wrath,“ Juraviel was quick to point out. „Consider those of your race with whom they have had contact. Trappers and hunters, loggers and rogues who have been chased from their own lands. Humans who clear-cut the trees and slaughter the animals, often merely for a pelt to sell in the east. Humans who set traps that cause excruciating pain to their prey, without regard for the animal. If the Doc’alfar feel kinship to the living animals, then how could they not feel anger at some or the tactics that trappers and hunters of your race employ?“
Brynn merely shrugged and shook her head, hardly seeming convinced
the argument that the Doc’alfar were, in some way, justified in the hor-We executions they routinely practiced on humans inadvertently walking onto their lands. Juraviel didn’t try to convince her otherwise, didn’t believe that she would ever truly understand. For she was human, if Touel’alfar trained and To-gai-ru, and she understood there to be a redeeming side to her race. Ju-raviel recognized that as well, but, seeing the world as a Touel’alfar, he was much more sympathetic to th
e Doc’alfar view of things. In many ways, he saw these distant cousins as even more honorable than his own people, who hunted the deer, pigs, fowl, and rabbits of Andur’Blough Inninness. The Doc’alfar only did harm to living creatures they believed deserving of their wrath. It wouldn’t occur to Eltiraaz to have a great deer slaughtered to fill his own table with venison steaks. It wouldn’t occur to any of the Doc’alfar to kill foraging creatures that happened onto their gardens. No, but humans were not like the animals, for they were possessed of reason.
To the Doc’alfar way of thinking, then, that reason condemned them for actions against the precepts of Doc’alfar life.
When he thought of the horrid zombies, Juraviel shuddered and could not totally agree with the Doc’alfar ways. But neither could he deny that there was a consistent simplicity to that philosophy, and one that had more than a little justification.
He looked over at Brynn, who had settled back and seemed ready to sleep, and he did not press the point any further.
The pair felt the looks, most merely curious, but some truly suspicious, on them at all times as they walked the ways of Tymwyvenne over the next week. They were allowed practically free rein, except that they could not leave the city - King Eltiraaz didn’t want to give away too much of the exact location, after all - and could not enter anything other than public structures unless invited, which they were not.
It was pleasant enough, though, and surely interesting. For Brynn, this was yet another new world, widening her already wide horizons; and for Belli’mar Juraviel, this was a glimpse into a different branch of his own history. Many of the Doc’alfar customs were familiar to him, the notes of their communal songs so similar to those of Caer’alfar that at times he was able to join in. But so much else was different, and strangely fascinating! His own people worked with the living, with great trees and flowers, blending into the harmony of the flora and fauna of Andur’Blough Inninness. The Doc’alfar, though, worked with the dead, with cut logs and zombie slaves. Their artisans carved masterwork pieces on the walls of every structure. Their armorers turned slabs of wood into fantastic shields and body pieces, backing them with thick mosslike blankets the gatherers brought in. Their culture seemed somewhat coarser to Juraviel, as much a matter of destruction as creation, but in truth, it seemed strangely beautiful to him, and equally harmonious with the ways of nature, if in a more severe manner.
Their guides through all of those days were again Lozan Duk and, surprisingly, Cazzira. The female Doc’alfar seemed much different to Juraviel and Brynn after the proclamation of King Eltiraaz, almost as if she now wanted to learn all that she could of the strangers, though whether that was of any desire for friendship, or for the information to give her the edge ver an enemy, neither Juraviel nor Brynn could tell. While Cazzira con-•tantly peppered the pair with questions, Lozan Duk took the lead in point-’ out landmarks and particularly interesting artworks. But it was Cazzira, nd not Lozan Duk, who called Brynn aside into a building where the fe-nales of Tymwyvenne used paints and oils to highlight their beauty, to style
their hair.
By the end of the week, Cazzira and Brynn were spending much time together, with Cazzira listening to Brynn’s tale over and over again, leaning forward eagerly as the young ranger recounted it each time. Juraviel watched the pair curiously and closely, fearing that Cazzira was trying to pry valuable information from Brynn, but he did nothing to warn Brynn away from speaking too openly. The Doc’alfar were in complete command, and Juraviel and Brynn had no choice but to trust them and simply go along.
Still, Belli’mar Juraviel had a feeling, or perhaps it was just a desperate hope, that something good would come of the unexpected encounter.
„Belli’mar Juraviel was correct in telling us that this ranger is not akin to humans,“ Cazzira reported to King Eltiraaz one evening after hearing Brynn’s tale yet again, from beginning to end. „If humans have such/poten rial, then perhaps we should not be so quick -
Eltiraaz held up his hand, stopping the uncomfortable thought shorj/ „Our ways were created for prudence and survival,“ he explatnectTThey will not change quickly, whatever exception we might make for this unusual pair.“
Cazzira sat back and considered the grim reality of Eltiraaz’s words. She could be among the most hardened and callous of the Tylwyn Doc, but only through putting up an emotional wall, a barricade against guilt. Cazzira, however tough she might talk, did not enjoy the killings, even of inferior beings such as humans, though she surely held no love for the big and bumbling creatures.
„It may be time for some of our ways and tenets to change,“ King Eltiraaz admitted, catching his subject by surprise.
Cazzira looked at him curiously, blinking her blue eyes repeatedly. It may be time for us to explore beyond the boundaries of Tymwyvenne,“ the king went on after Cazzira had recovered.
To the north or south?“ Cazzira asked, her blue eyes narrowing as she scrutinized Eltiraaz, trying to discern his meaning. Did he want someone to head out to the north in search of Caer’alfar? Or was he suggesting that one of the Tylwyn Doc accompany the two strangers to the south, through the 1 ath of Starless Night and onto the southern steppes?
I think we would be ill-advised to approach this land, Andur’Blough In-ninness, that Belli’mar Juraviel has told us about, without Belli’mar Juraviel to serve as our guide,“ Eltiraaz clarified. „Or to offer a formal introduction to his Lady Dasslerond, that she will take the time and effort to better learn of us before making any rash judgments.“
„Are you asking me to walk the Path of Starless Night?“
„I am suggesting that perhaps one of the Tylwyn Doc should accompany Belli’mar Juraviel and Brynn Dharielle,“ Eltiraaz replied, somewhat defensively, sitting back in his throne and holding his hands up as if to fend off the legendary explosive wrath of Cazzira. „Am I asking you? No, not asking, Cazzira, not if you mean that I am somehow imploring you or commanding you to go. I am asking only in the sense that I am offering it to you first, as the first to make contact with these intriguing strangers.“
Cazzira sat back, trying to hide the surprise from her fair features. It wasn’t often that King Eltiraaz asked, truly asked, instead of commanded for that was his place in Tylwyn Doc society. He was the king, bound to make those decisions that he thought most beneficial to the Tylwyn Doc people as a whole, whatever sacrifices any individual might have to make. Yet, here he was, offering the duty of accompanying Juraviel and Brynn to Cazzira. That told Cazzira exactly how important, and dangerous, that duty might prove to be. They were going to walk the Path of Starless Night, after all, and while Tylwyn Doc individuals and parties had sometimes ventured through the lightless tunnels, and To-gai-ru humans had exited them on the northern side of the mountains, most who entered those dark ways had never been heard from again.
„Do you think it wise that one of us accompany them?“ King Eltiraaz asked, again surprising Cazzira.
„I do,“ she blurted before she could even sort through a more thorough and informative response.
Eltiraaz settled back, allowing her to collect her thoughts.
„This is an opportunity that we must explore,“ Cazzira went on after a while. „I did not wish to believe Belli’mar Juraviel when first I encountered and spoke with him. I thought him even worse, even more dangerous, than the human intruders who sometimes cross our lands. Here was a creature above those humans, a kin of ours, who perhaps held the power to destroy us utterly. We cannot let him walk away unobserved.“
„And yet, I have come to understand that there is no such malice in Belli’mar Juraviel’s heart, and if the rest of his people are of similar feelings toward the Doc’alfar“ - King Eltiraaz stumbled over that Touel’alfar word, mimicking JuraviePs voice inflections as closely as possible - “then I believe we would be wise to make contact with our lost kin.“
„It may be no more than wishful thinking.“
King Eltiraaz gave a great sigh. �
��Perhaps. I feel that there is sincerity in Belli’mar Juraviel’s words of friendship, but I am afraid,“ King Eltiraaz admitted. „In making such a choice to let him and Brynn Dharielle go, I am putting all of Tymwyvenne in danger.“
„In allowing Belli’mar Juraviel and Brynn Dharielle to live, you are doing
Cazzira replied. „Yet I do not, nor does anyone else, suggest that you Ikhem now. Indeed, if you chose to give Brynn to the bog and execute or Turaviel, you would find opposition to that course, silent if not overt.“ „From your „No.“
King Eltiraaz laughed at the honesty of those words. Cazzira was speak^ and it seemed to Eltiraaz that she, too, preferred their present urse toward the strangers. But fierce Cazzira never let compassion get in
e way of prudence. „Yet I am not ready boldly to approach Lady Das-Jerond,“ he admitted. „I am not ready to confront the past of Tylwyn Doc and Tylwyn Tou. I know my intuition toward Belli ‘mar Juraviel and his ranger companion, but it is just that, intuition. I will need more than that to attempt to bring the alfar together again.“
Cazzira nodded with every word, understanding completely. „Then you need not ask me,“ she said. „It is right that one of us accompany Belli’mar Turaviel, to the south and then back again, if this way he comes. And it is right that I am the one. I first saw the pair.“
„But it was Lozan Duk who suggested that Belli’mar Juraviel ancL-Bfynn Dharielle be captured and not killed,“ Eltiraaz reasoned.
„Qui’mielle Duk is with child,“ Cazzira replied without the slightest hesitation, referring to Lozan Duk’s wife, who was indeed pregnant - the first pregnancy in Tymwyvenne in nearly forty years. „Lozan-T>uk^shouTa not leave. „
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