Fire-heart (Tales of Alterra, the World that Is)

by C S Marks

  Hallagond raised his hand in acknowledgment, but as he continued walking his resolve was undiminished. This won’t be the end of it. Not as yet.

  Rogond had gained the Hall of Council, and had requested an audience with the Minister of Omens. He was shown into a well-appointed chamber where birds sang, and water gurgled and played as it flowed from many small fountains. Soon a tall woman with very long, greying hair entered the room. He remembered her name was Maji, but as he bowed before her he addressed her as “Minister”.

  “Why have you come?” she asked. “Do you seek enlightenment?”

  He looked into her gentle, light brown eyes, but had some difficulty holding her gaze, for his request was a bold one and very personal.

  “Indeed...I have come seeking enlightenment, but I don’t know whether such a request is reasonable,” he said. “I would never seek to offend you, yet there is great dread that grips my heart, and I would know the truth of it if I can.”

  “Your beloved would place herself in jeopardy, and you are concerned for her?”

  Rogond looked up in surprise, his own grey eyes wide. “How…how could you know that?” he whispered, not really intending her to hear.

  She smiled. “It is the only thing that makes sense. There’s no great insight here, Rogond. I was named Minister of Omens because I sometimes possess the gift of foresight, and I am adept at reading what signs we are given. But I am also favored with the ability to see what lies beneath the actions of men, and predict their future course. You desire only to safeguard your beloved; it is very clearly told by your actions.”

  She called for food and drink to be brought to the chamber. “Sit down, bold soldier, and partake of food and drink with me…I am no one to fear.”

  “Never had I thought so,” said Rogond quietly.

  Maji laughed. “Of course you hadn’t. Then eat and drink with me, and tell me of your trouble and why you seek my aid,” she said. “Then we shall see what may be done.”

  By the time Rogond had finished, he was more relaxed around Maji, but some of his trepidation remained. He truly did not know what to make of this likeable, pleasant woman who somehow managed to fill him with quiet dread.

  Then it came to him—it was not Maji he feared, but what she might reveal. Having asked for her aid, he would now need to suffer whatever insight she provided.

  She finished her small meal and reached out toward him, taking both of his hands in her own. “This matter is not one that I can address alone,” she said. “Do you really wish to know the truths you seek? Consider carefully, for once given, knowledge cannot be returned, whether it pleases or dismays the learner. Do you still wish to learn?”

  “Is it true that events known through foresight may then be prevented?” said Rogond quietly. “It has always been my belief.”

  “I cannot say,” replied Maji shaking her head. “But if that is your belief, then you must act upon it. Yet you should know that, although there are some ways in which we may alter the outcome of things, there are other avenues of destiny that cannot be altered despite all efforts. That, at least, has been my experience, and it is my belief. Come, now, if you would learn, for I will take you to one who will enlighten you.”

  Maji led Rogond down a long passageway ending in a heavy, carved door with a very ornate brass handle. This she opened with little difficulty despite its weight, revealing a curved stairway of stone. Rogond followed her upward to another doorway, this one of polished brass with a beautiful hammered design that appeared to be a map of the heavens.

  A large and intricate sunburst stood prominently in the center. Maji pressed her long fingers against four of the rays, and Rogond heard a quiet “click” within the door, which now swung open to reveal a dimly-lit chamber. The smell of marwani-weed hung heavily in the air.

  “Who enters the Chamber of Aryiah, the seer?” said a quiet but powerful feminine voice. Rogond looked around for the source, but the voice seemed to be echoing from all points of the room at once.

  “It is I, Maji, your friend. I bring one who would seek the benefit of your insight.”

  “Step forward, that I may look upon you,” said the voice.

  Rogond wished that he could know from whence the voice came, but he supposed it did not really matter. A shaft of sunlight beamed down from an eight-sided window in the vaulted roof; it was the only source of light in the room apart from a few candle-flames. “Step into the light,” said the voice.

  Rogond did so, and for the first time he detected a dark figure gliding silently around the perimeter to face him. He heard a sort of low, humming chant that was somewhat disturbing; it sounded strange and otherworldly to his ears. The figure swayed in rhythm with it; there was no doubt now where the voice was coming from.

  “What is your errand, North-man?” said the voice at last.

  He did not reply immediately, looking instead at Maji as if asking whether it was appropriate to answer. Maji nodded encouragement, and Rogond turned back to the figure in the shadows. “I have come to seek enlightenment, for the fate of one whom I love is uncertain,” he said.

  More chanting and swaying followed, but the tone of the chanting changed, becoming deeper and more resonant. “The fate of everyone is uncertain, North-man. Why do you risk coming here? Do you not know that sometimes it’s better not to know?” This was followed by a sound that might have been laughter.

  “My concern for my beloved sometimes overrules my good sense,” he replied, peering into the shadows. Again, the sound of the strange laughter was heard.

  “Come then, and learn what you may,” said the voice, as the figure came forward. Rogond beheld a slight, willowy woman dressed all in black gauze. Her skin was very dark, but one could only tell it from her hands, because her face was veiled. Rogond could not see her features through the veil, and he wondered how she could see through it. She extended her right hand, touching his sleeve, and guided him to a place near the wall.

  “Wait here,” she said, and turned back to Maji. They drew forth a small table and set it in the center of the shaft of light, placing 3 large cushions upon the floor around it.

  “Come, Rogond,” said Maji. “You shall sit upon Aryiah’s right hand, and I upon her left.” The veiled figure lowered herself gracefully onto the center cushion, placing both of her elbows on the little table, her fingers extended as if beckoning them, whereupon Rogond and Maji sat in their appointed places beside her.

  “Maji appreciates my gift even though it is sometimes unsettling. I do not go forth from this chamber except to my balcony…few in the City have ever looked upon my face.”

  She drew back her veil, and Rogond was startled at the sight of her blank, cloudy orbs, set into an ebony face that might have been comely but for the terrible scarring upon it. “When I displeased those who had fostered me, they branded me with hot iron. Having looked upon me, North-man, do you still wish to know what I can tell?”

  She took his left hand in hers, her skin smooth and warm, like dark, polished wood. He was overcome with compassion for her, for the loneliness and uncertainty of her life, and she felt this in him.

  “Do not pity me, Tall-stone,” she said. “I did not ask for this fate to be handed to me, yet it has been. I am no longer afraid, for Maji has been very kind, and I have proven my worth to the City. Now, let us see what we may. Give me your other hand.”

  Tall-stone…that’s my brother’s name, thought Rogond, extending his right hand. She took both together, surrounding them with her own.

  “You are trembling,” she said. “Do not be fearful.”

  She turned her blank eyes to the sun, and did not move at all for many minutes, chanting rhythmically, as Rogond felt a great wave of relaxation sweep over him. His eyelids drooped, and he grew quite calm. When she finally released him, he did not know it at first.

  “Come back to me, North-man,” she said. “The stars have revealed all that they will for now, yet they have told me some things of interest.”


  Rogond was now wide awake, his face drawn with worry. “The stars have told you? But, my lady, the sun is high and there are no stars to be seen.”

  “Not by you,” she replied with a cryptic smile. “Yet the stars are always shining upon us. I, who cannot see the sun, can read the stars by day or by night, for they speak to me.”

  “And having spoken, what did they tell you?”

  Aryiah drew a deep breath. “You wish to know whether your beloved’s desire to ride out and await our enemy is ill-advised. You fear it will mean the death of her.”

  Rogond nodded. “It seems to be a dangerous path. Do I need fear for her?”

  “Not from that path,” said Aryiah. “It is her destiny to die in battle, defending those whom she loves.”

  Rogond felt a blade in his heart. He had not truly wanted to know how Gaelen would die, only that she would not die on the watch. “And I…will I fall beside her?” he asked, praying that it was so. He would not wish to live a day without her.

  “I’m sorry, Thaylon,” said Aryiah. “The stars have said that your fate will be quite different. You will not die with a blade in your hand. Such will be the fate of the Elves alone among your Company.” She turned her pale eyes to his. “All of them.”

  “This is an ill fate!” muttered Rogond. “How could this be? If I fight beside them, and the battle turns ill, then surely I will fall with them. My courage will not waver! Surely, you are wrong.”

  Aryiah shook her head. “The stars do not reveal whether you fight beside them when they fall, or whether the conflict that looms now before you will be their last. And I can learn nothing by desire…I can only reveal what I am given. It is your task to give meaning to it, for I cannot. But I have learned much of you, Tall-stone. You have given your heart to one who will someday leave you forever. You did this in full knowledge, but my words have made you truly realize it for the first time. Someday, you must face this parting.”

  “I understand,” said Rogond, though he was greatly discomfited and now wished he had never come. He wanted very much to divert his thoughts from the day he most dreaded. “I thank you for allowing me to see that Gaelen will return from her scouting foray. Now I can let her go without such fear in my heart.”

  “I am glad to have reassured you. Was it worth the new fears I have engendered in your heart?”

  For a long moment, Rogond was silent. At last he spoke in a broken voice: “It is my greatest wish to die beside Gaelen, and now I learn it shall not be so. That is a source of great sorrow, but I asked for your enlightenment and I knew all might not be as I wanted to hear.”

  “Yet I have not said you will not die beside her, only that you will not fall beside her in battle,” said Aryiah. “It may not be this battle that claims her; you might be long dead when she falls before an enemy. Remember, there are many possibilities.”

  She drew the veil back over her scarred face. “I asked about the Scourge, and about the battle to come,” she said, “but I learned nothing. Not even the stars can predict that outcome, for it turns on the actions of so many. Seeing into the fate of your Gaelen is much simpler, for she will ever make her own destiny.” They both smiled at this, together with Maji, who had heard Gaelen’s impassioned speech in the Hall of Council.

  “One thing I did learn,” said Aryiah, “is that Gaelen’s wall is not ill-advised. Your beloved has gained some insight that guides her, though I sense it is much different from mine…darker and more sinister. I believe she may know from whence it comes.”

  Rogond looked hard at the veiled face of the seer. “Did you see…did the stars reveal anything of a Dark Warrior? A terrible enemy filled with evil?”

  “Not at this time. You must leave now, North-man, for I am weary and I must take rest. Go to your beloved, and be with her while you may. Your time together will be brief enough in this life, and you will have none in the next. Go to her.”

  Our time will be brief enough in this life, and we will have none in the next, thought Rogond. I knew that…and I chose her anyway. I don’t need a seer to tell me. I wonder whether she really did not see Gorgon, or whether she would even tell me if she had…

  He started to ask her again, but Maji silenced him.

  “Hush. Ask nothing more of her, for you will receive nothing. Come, now, and let us return to the light.” She took his hand to lead him from the chamber, but Rogond was still watching Aryiah intently. She had trembled visibly at the mention of a Dark Warrior. She had seen something, and it had filled her with the same dread held by all who looked upon the face of Gorgon Elfhunter.

  Gaelen and Nelwyn left the following day, taking two of the Citadel’s best scouts with them. In three days other scouts would join them, replenishing their provisions, sending the first two back. Only Gaelen and Nelwyn would remain constant on the watch. When the Scourge appeared, they would first take stock of them, and then return with all speed to warn the City.

  “Safeguard yourself, my love, and make certain that the wall is fully completed,” said Gaelen, embracing Rogond with some fervor.

  “Be sure to come back to me, so that we may ride out and face this fate together,” said Rogond, returning the ardent embrace. He did not want to ever release her, and she finally had to gently suggest that if he did not, the Scourge might soon come upon the City unaware.

  Galador watched the departure from atop the wall, having said his farewells already. Nelwyn rode beside Gaelen, and they seemed almost lighthearted, though he knew they understood the seriousness of their errand. Though Galador was unhappy with this arrangement, he did not dissuade Nelwyn from following her heart’s desire. He was finally learning that the tighter he held on to her, the more likely she was to fly from him.

  Hallagond and Estle had come to see them off, but Estle held far greater concerns. Hallagond had not given up his plan to enlist the aid of the prisoners Ishtar and Visili. He might well earn the wrath of Ali, who had made it quite plain that he wanted no further consideration of the idea. After the scouting party had left, Hallagond made his way back to his own chamber with Estle following.

  “I’m going to try my plan,” he said. “Will you aid me?”

  “I will not!” said Estle. “This is a mistake, and you know it.”

  “Have it your way, then,” he said, the disappointment in his voice evident. “At least promise you won’t go to Ali and tell him.”

  Estle bristled at him. “You think I would do that? Do the cold winters in the northlands affect the brains of the men who dwell there? I love you, you foolish man! That is exactly why I will not aid you in this…this folly! Why can you not see it?”

  “Perhaps I have insights into the hearts of men like Ishtar and Visili because I have been down much the same path. They are said to be murderers...do you know how many men I have killed?”

  “I can only guess,” she replied. “Yet I know you would not take the lives of innocents.”

  “I didn’t know the guilt or innocence of all who fell to my hand,” said Hallagond. “Yet I know some who were innocent. I have made some great errors in judgment before, my fine lady, and good men died as a result. I am no better than Ishtar or Visili, yet Ali trusts me to aid him. He needs these men and their abilities.” He drew a bottle of fine brandy from beneath his cloak.

  “Good idea. I might need a large dose of brandy before resolving to commit acts that will result in my being thrown into prison,” said Estle in a sarcastic tone.

  “Oh, no…this isn’t for me, but for the guards in the keep,” said Hallagond with a crooked smile. “My brandy I carry in a separate container. This bottle has a fair dose of Gaelen’s dark elixir; that should send them into a fine, deep sleep.”

  “How did you get hold of Gaelen’s elixir?” asked Estle in some astonishment.

  “Well, I am a pickpocket, am I not?”

  “Of course, but not even you could accomplish such a feat with an Elf, especially that one. Now tell the truth.”

  “All right. She gave it to m
e last night, when I told her I was having trouble sleeping for worry over the coming battle. She made me promise to take but one drop; of course, I took quite a number of drops, apologizing and explaining that my hands were shaking and I spilled a small amount. She seemed satisfied with that.”

  “Hmm. Just naïve enough to think the best of you, I suppose,” said Estle. “I’m surprised that she did not detect the lie in your eyes.”

  “She was preoccupied,” said Hallagond. “Now, if you don’t mind, I have things to do.”

  He turned and left her to stare after him. This would not end well, and she would aid him if she could. She followed him down the corridor, hoping that his plan would not result in shared imprisonment with Ishtar and Visili, rather than gaining their freedom as Hallagond hoped.

  The guards, who knew and liked Hallagond, were still reluctant to partake of the bottle with him, as they were at their posts and it was not permitted.

  “Why the festivity, Hallagond? Is there some occasion that warrants this fine gift?”

  Hallagond smiled back at them, trying to think of something they would not be able to resist. “Ahhh…well, yes, as a matter of fact, there is. I am…I am betrothed!”

  “Truly?” said the Captain of the Guard, who had admired Estle and was now quite pleased. “May we assume your fine lady Estle is the lucky one?”

  “Yes, indeed,” said Hallagond. “I wanted to share my happy news, and it seemed a small nip of fine brandy would be a harmless and appropriate way to do it.” Then his tone grew serious. “After all, none of us knows whether any will be alive to witness this union, as we stand on the eve of battle. But, if you would forego the courtesy of joining me in a small toast…”

  “Say no more,” said the Captain. He turned to the others. “Well, don’t just stand there...bring glasses!”

  The small toast turned out to be a series of enthusiastic toasts to nearly everything and everyone, resulting in the draining of the brandy-bottle. It wasn’t long before the guards were all snoring in contentment; they hadn’t suspected a thing.