by Lexy Wolfe
"But there have been many Illaini Magi. And Githalin Swordanzen! They are all great," he argued, crossing his arms.
Did each follow the same path? Are they equally great? Does everyone want to be like only one person? Even you did not desire to model yourself after either living Illaini Magus or even ones from the past, Marcus. You aspire to be like Nolyn Lirai. A mage takes in all information, and opinions are a form of information. But a mage then analyzes that information, weighs the worth of it for himself. What is truth for that mage may not be truth for everyone, not even another mage.
In your heart, you know this and you have chosen to pursue what suits you most. In your mind, you are hobbled by others telling you how to interpret information. A good mage works hard following the rules. A great mage works hard making them for himself while still obeying his goddess's first laws. Even if some do not agree because of what had been established by everyone else. Talk to the warrior folk. I would wager that their first laws are not dissimilar to the great mother's first edai.
"We are the same, but different?" Marcus asked quizzically. "Another paradox, Trisari Endarian?" There was no response. "Trisari Endarian?" With a looming sense of dread, he turned and bolted back to the library entrance. When he reached where Ana and Tobias were, he skidded to a stop, heart thudding in his ears. "Something is wrong. We have to protect the library!"
"Wrong? What are you talking about?" Tobias began when the shrieks of drizzen and battlecries of the Swordanzen drifted upstairs. All three looked sharply at the archway leading downstairs. Marcus dashed out. Tobias got up and looked at the terrified Ana. "Bar the door, Ana," he told her.
"Bu-but," Ana stammered. "What about you?"
Tobias went to her and kissed her soundly. "Stay safe, Ana," he said gruffly before he ran out after Marcus. He shouted, "Hey! Let go of him!" Anguished screams of pain filled the air, muffling Tobias's epithet, "Jerks! C'mon, Marcus!"
"Tobias!" Ana closed her eyes before she ran to the doors and pushed them shut, then levered the heavy bar into the brackets to secure it. Leaning against the doors, she slid to the floor, her hands on her head. "What do I do?" she repeated in litany, afraid that action would not be enough. She looked up sharply when she heard rattling. The sound seemed to multiply and travel further up the spiral.
Uncertainly getting to her feet, she crept towards the nearest source of the rattling. Placed into the outside of the first set of bookshelves, there was a small door inset into the elegant, decorative carvings. With shaking hands, she felt around it and discovered a hidden catch on the top of the oval in the design. The moment she undid the latch, the door popped open and she ducked as a small blur of blues and greens flew past her face.
A tiny creature with dragonfly-like wings hovered in front of Ana. It held a tiny bow that was as long as it was tall, and wore a small quiver on its hip. Scowling at the woman, it spoke Forentan curtly. "I-I do not understand," Ana said, shaking her head to emphasize. She took a step back when it flew back to the now-opened door, pointing to it, then to Ana, then up the ramp imperiously. Expression brightening in understanding, Ana nodded.
Chapter 89
Followed by several guardsmen wearing Oberlain family colors, a tall man stood in the main hall, his hand raised towards the lower level doors. They slammed shut in the faces of the servants who were running towards it. The floor warped to pin the door shut. The sounds of the servants inside yelling could be heard, banging on it in a futile attempt to get out. Draustus turned towards the entrance, narrowing his eyes with impatience. "Apprentice Aughas Oberlain! Get in here!"
The boy ran in. "Sorry, Uncle Draustus … I mean, Edai Magus Draustus Oberlain of Gallilae," he quickly corrected himself when the man raised his hand to backhand him. He looked towards the blocked door. "Did they see you, Master? The Se'edai Magus would be inclined to believe them over you if they recognized—"
"Shut up, Apprentice!" Draustus scanned the room, derisive. "Those fools of Kerburn's. Hunting for the Avarian's secrets in the wilds. If they had studied Avarian habits, they would know—"
"Master Kerburn Dyndrai said… I mean, he must know something, mustn't he?" The normally haughty boy was pale from fright, eyes lowered to the floor. He flinched when the older man cuffed the back of his head.
"The Avarians professed their undying love and loyalty to the Knowing One," Draustus snapped, his voice cold. "They would not keep their prized secrets anywhere but in their ancestral home's library that honors the goddess." He sneered. "Kerburn's men can run around the forest like fools. This is where their power resides. Once we find it, we can dispatch those other idiots inside that damned barrier." He started towards the ramp up. "Then I will deal with Kerburn and take that embarrassment of a daughter of his off the council and make her my wife."
Aughas looked with uncertainty towards the shouts outside. "You did not tell the mercenaries the desert savages would be here. What if they cannot defeat them?"
"They are just Sevmanan. Eminently expendable. I can manage a few magicless savages." He waved the handful of men forward towards the ramp up, two others heading to the altar room. The unexpected shouts and sounds of combat from the altar room startled them both. Not long after, anguished shrieks of pain came from above. "Who the hell else is in here?" He turned to his nephew. "Get in there and help your cousins to ready this place to burn while I go help those idiots secure the library and I have retrieved anything worthwhile."
"Burn the library?" Aughas repeated, staring agape. "I did not think you meant we would really burn it! That-that goes against the goddess's Edai! All knowledge is supposed to be preserved." Draustus snarled, stalking towards Aughas and backhanding him so hard the apprentice fell to the ground.
"Stop hitting him!" Marcus shouted. Both Oberlains looked over at him. "A master is supposed to teach his apprentice."
"Your master apparently did not teach you to respect your betters, lowborn," Draustus sneered as he spit out a fireball spell. The man narrowed his eyes when Marcus spoke a spell that deflected the attack.
"I would respect you if you were my better," Marcus retorted, his voice shaking. "You are supposed to be an Edai Magus, not a-a thug! Aughas is right. We all serve the Knowing One. You are betraying Her!" He blocked another attack, but the force of it pushed the apprentice back hard. He grunted as he hit the floor and slid several feet, struggling to push himself up. Tobias ran to him, himself unharmed despite being covered with the blood of the men he and Marcus had encountered. Tobias looked up sharply from Marcus as Draustus began to cast another lethal spell, the tingle of electrical energy being summoned in the air.
"Uncle, no!" Aughas scrambled to his feet, grabbing the man's arm. "We can't kill another member of the Edai Tredecima, even if he is only a lowborn apprentice! That is murder!" Draustus shoved Aughas into the wall, the boy sliding to the floor unconscious.
"Enough!" Draustus looked up when Endarian appeared at the archway of the temple chamber, bloody, furious, and looming over the mage. Draustus's eyes all but popped out as he paled in abject terror at the sight of the Trisari. "You will defile this sacred place no more, traitor!" From above, a colorful swarm appeared. They circled around and descended on Draustus, their ear-piercing shouts shrill and hateful.
Marcus and Tobias looked away as the sprites shot Draustus with many needle-like arrows of poison. The man collapsed, paralyzed from the flood of poison coursing through his veins. A flood of large tree spiders flowed down the walls and surrounded the struggling man, wrapping him in silk and then dragging him away. The Desanti staggered in, wounded but alive, stepping to the side, simply watching the odd procession of spiders with their prey without a flicker of concern.
Tobias smiled as Ana ran to him and flung her arms around him in relief. Marcus staggered over to the doors that Draustus had blocked, putting his hands on the floor. "Stop banging on the doors!" he yelled. "I am trying let you out!" With some concentration, he got the bulge in the floor to flatten, letting the door open.
The head of the servants offered a hand to Marcus. "Thank you, Apprentice. You did well. Master Nolyn will be proud of you." The boy accepted the hand up from the senior servant, standing proudly at the man's praise.
…Marcus…
The apprentice turned sharply at the sound of Endarian's voice in his mind. His eyes went wide when he saw the Trisari sag against the wall, his arm wrapped around his middle. The swarm of forest sprites circled in a colorful cloud above him, their shrill sounds now of worry instead of anger. "Tobias! Endarian needs help!"
Ana and Tobias ran to the Trisari. The girl caught him as he started to collapse. She looked up at Tobias with wide eyes. "He is bleeding real bad!"
The journeyman healer frowned. "I can't close it. I don’t know why."
Marcus narrowed his eyes as he stared at Endarian. "Wait. I see it." He pulled Tobias back to kneel by the winged man, putting his hands on the deep hole in his side. He focused so hard, he did not hear either of his friend's words. Eventually, a sliver of silver emerged from the wound. He pulled it out and sat hard on the ground as Tobias moved to close the wound, staring at the piece of metal in his hand.
Ana knelt beside Marcus. "Are you okay?"
"It tingles," Marcus said dazedly, turning his gaze up to the servant girl. "What kind of metal is this?"
Aughas groaned, rubbing the back of his head. He squinted at Marcus, frowning a bit. "Tainted silver. It disrupts the flow of our magic. Uncle said… the tainted silver was only supposed to be used against… traitors." He closed his eyes and looked away. "Not against…"
Marcus closed his hand around the sword tip. "Not your fault, Aughas."
"He was my master! And my uncle." The other apprentice frowned at Marcus. "The Se'edai will punish me because I am an Oberlain."
"But you are just an apprentice," Marcus pointed out. "And you tried to stop him."
Aughas uttered a frustrated sound. "What does that matter?! Master Ellis is an Avarian. The Avarians and Oberlains have always hated each other. He won't—"
Marcus put the piece of metal in his pocket, then pushed himself to his feet. He walked over to Aughas and offered his hand to him. "Master Ellis puts his duty before his personal feelings. And I will tell him what you did."
Aughas blinked at Marcus, accepting his rival's hand. "You would do that for me?" He looked away. "I wouldn't have."
Marcus shrugged one shoulder before turning back to Endarian. "Just because you wouldn't have before doesn't mean you have to act the same in the future. Change is good when it makes things better." He put his hand on Endarian's shoulder. The Trisari managed a weak smile and nod. Marcus helped the barely conscious divine servant to his feet and led him back into the temple chamber with Ana and Tobias's help.
Chapter 90
When the three caught up to the Desanti, the scene could only be described as utter chaos. Four mercenaries had already fallen while seven more still faced the two Desanti Swordanzen and trio of drizzen. Star had her two-bladed dagger out and sank it into the back of a man who was attempting to get behind Seeker.
The shriek of a bird of prey and streak of flame was all the warning that anyone had of the phoenix attacking the man turning on the Su'alin. He flapped its fiery wings in his face, driving him back. In desperation, the man swung his sword while he protected his face with his arm. A wild swing struck the bird with the side of his blade. The bird squeak-squawked in a flurry of fiery feathers and struck a boulder. He fell into the snow, unmoving.
"No!" Star scrambled to get to the phoenix, kneeling over him helplessly.
The two Swordanzen looked over in shock, then turned hateful, murderous looks on the remaining men. With fearsome speed and deadly accuracy, they set into their opponents.
Nolyn narrowed his eyes, seeing something different in the quality of the Swordanzen's focus. "We need to take the mercs out before the Swordanzen go on too long." He met Eptina's startled look briefly. "We don't need them to forget we are allies if they sink into their rage."
"Right," the woman replied. She focused on a spell, casting fire on the snow. Nolyn started to ask what she was doing, then he understood. His spell called a freezing wind that drew the water from the melted snow up. The resulting spikes of ice impaled the mercenaries, raising them several feet above the ground. The warriors struck the killing blows to put the men out of their misery. Both mages were startled to see tears unashamedly streaking on their cheeks as they turned to go kneel by the fallen phoenix.
Valerian had gone to Star's side, alarmed by the tears that streamed down her cheeks. "He is too young," she whispered. "The blessed fire won't come before he dies."
"Star," the Unsvet Guardian snapped to gain her attention. "If the phoenix needs to be older to live, I can age him." He looked at the bird that moved its head in pain, chirping softly. "Please. Let me try." Wordlessly, Star nodded. She got to her feet and went to Nolyn who put his arms around her. Windsong and Seeker rose and stood back, a flicker of hope glimmering through their grief.
The Vodani reached out to caress the bird's head. "I have heard stories about your kind. I can bring my mistress's energy to you if you allow it?" He turned his head to nibble the man's fingers before he lay in the snow. Pressing his lips together, Valerian stood and closed his eyes, concentrating on aging the phoenix. At first, there did not seem to be much change.
Eptina noticed it first, covering her mouth with one hand gasping. "Its colors are changing," she whispered.
The bronze coloration started to recede into the lighter copper, the thin streaks of gold expanding. Eventually, the copper began to recede until the bird was pure gold in color, gleaming in the sunlight. Valerian stopped and opened his eyes as he staggered back several steps in exhaustion. They realized that the glow came less from the sunlight than coming from the phoenix's body. The radiance suddenly became blindingly bright, the heat searing, then abruptly, it vanished.
"It… disappeared," the Forentan woman whispered.
"Wait," Star stated, her voice hopeful. The two Swordanzen's expression reflected the same hope as they all three sank to one knee.
In the pile of ashes, a flicker of flame appeared, then more fire appeared. Then a form could be seen within the flames. By the time the flames subsided, a bird with traces of gold and copper mingling in the darker bronze body sat there. Bright green-gold eyes moved from human to human, stopping on Star. It jumped up to glide to her, nibbling her offered fingers.
Star looked up to Valerian, her beaming smile faltering at the sight of the Vodani man. His hair had become white with grey streaks, his body appearing as though he were in his late sixties. He smiled crookedly, shrugging one shoulder. "If my efforts saved such a precious creature, I can endure more grey hair." He brushed his fingers through the hair at his temple as if flaunting his vanity.
Crouching down beside Star, Nolyn met the bird's gaze. "Would you please tell us why an extinct Desanti bird is here in Forenta now?"
The bird's chattering sounded distinctly like laughter as he crouched and then sprang into the air, fire dancing along his wings. He swept in a circle in the flat area, singing out in a melodious song. From the darkness under what looked like a haphazard arrangement of giant rocks, more of the fiery birds appeared. Their flames melted the snow as well as incinerating the bodies of the intruders. Eventually, the flock of firebirds settled on the tops of several of the rocks, their piercing green-gold eyes watching the humans.
Everyone looked down as the grass withered and exposed the stones beneath. The Desanti stared in shock. "This is the symbol for the Heart of Desantiva," Seeker managed to say after some time. "What is… something Desanti doing so far from—"
In the center of the symbol, a statue became visible. Unlike other statues that were the color of the rock they were created from, this one seemed to be made of smooth glass that echoed the colors of the people it represented. The pair looked into each others' eyes lovingly, their arms around the other's waist. A glowing gem rested between them where
their chests met.
"This is Avarian's Heart?" Star asked, dumbfounded. "Zhekali?" The phoenix chirped, bobbing his head. "But how? Why?"
"That is Zhekali? The Totani?" Nolyn looked at the statue, squinting. "That woman is a dead ringer for—" A stab of pain radiated from the scar in his right palm through his chest, bringing the Forentan man to his knees.
"Nolyn!" Star touched his cheek, flinching back as though she had touched fire. "Nolyn, what is wrong?" The mage shook his head, unable to speak. After what seemed an eternity, he passed out, his Desanti lover catching him. Frantically, she checked for signs of life. After several minutes, she sighed in relief, hugging him. She looked up in surprise and some uncertainty when the firebirds fluttered down from their perches and hopped closer to the two.
The others were no less certain as the fiery creatures hopped closer. "What are they doing?" Eptina asked nervously. She froze when one of the birds perched on her shoulder and began to preen. "Not that I know anything about these creatures, but this is not normal behavior for any wild animal. What would be making them behave so odd?" All the birds chattered in the phoenix's laughter-like manner.
The glow at the statue's heart changed color, waxing from orange-ish gold to a painful blue-white before it dimmed to just short of blinding. The warriors drew their weapons when the statue moved, the man looking to the group as the woman turned to rest her head on his shoulder. It is now as it should have been then. The voice they heard was that of a man and a woman speaking in unison. An ancient promise fulfilled, two souls made whole.
Nolyn grimaced as he roused, flexing his right hand to get the echo of pain to dissipate. "I do not think Ash is dead. Sure I would know if he was. But gods bless, that fecking hurt." He squinted up at the statue, tilting his head. "You have the essence of the library. You are not who you represent."
We are not a separate living soul, but like the journals you know. Same, we are as echoes, teachers. Different, we are echoes of immortal souls, not echos of a single mortal life. The statue's gaze moved to the Desanti, a smile softening their expressions. The Heart's kindred walk free again. This is welcomed to know. The cycle truly lays broken.
