by Kim Fedyk
Aside from the three of them, The Inn was dead quiet as they made their way softly down the hall.
"The other three must still be sleeping," Aedan whispered. Selene and Val nodded.
They made their way to the The Inn's kitchen and Selene created a light ball so they could see what they were doing. "You said bye to Arleth last night, right?" She asked Aedan as he started opening cupboards.
"Yes, she seemed quite relieved I wasn't going to wake her up at the crack of dawn to say my goodbyes then."
"Ok well that's good then."
There was a bang as Val slammed a cupboard closed.
"There's nothing in here. In any of these. They must really NEVER get visitors."
"Shh, we don't want to wake all of Occa," Aedan admonished softly. "But you are right." He closed the cupboard he had just opened, "There is nothing in here."
"They must have some food in the banquet hall kitchens. If not anything in storage, at least left-overs from last night."
Selene and Val nodded in agreement and the three of them made their way across Occa to the banquet hall. Aside from their own soldiers they had posted the night before to keep guard, they didn't pass a single soul. The city was silent except for the constant low level growl of the Vrog far below.
"The Talywags feel way too safe here," Val said, "It's kind of incredible that the entire city completely shuts down at night. Completely. And they have no defences. Zero."
"Preaching to the choir, Val." Aedan said.
Val sighed, "I know."
When they reached the banquet hall kitchens, they found a storage room that was stocked with dried meat, fruit and cheese. Aedan and Val opened up their packs and stuffed in as much as they could fit. What they couldn't fit they ate as breakfast.
"Much better," Aedan said, satisfied.
"Definitely." Val agreed. "Let's go see what our hairy friends are doing, see if we can leave soon."
Aedan nodded in agreement, and the two of them made their way across the hall to the same balcony where last night Aedan and Crean had exchanged words. They tiptoed around the outside of the room to avoid stepping on their sleeping soldiers, nodding acknowledgments to those that were already awake.
They found Selene already out on the balcony looking off into the trees. "The Vrog are still here." Selene said, turning as she heard them approach.
Aedan came to stand beside her and looked down at the Vrog and then off at the forest. "It should be getting light soon. I guess all we can do is wait."
45 impatient minutes later, the rising sun just cleared the top of shortest trees in Frasht Forest. As soon as the first beam of light reached them, as if they were controlled by an invisible master, the Vrog as one stopped growling. They turned around as a unit and in a trance , started slowly making their way back towards the forest, their arms hanging limply at their sides.
"Wow," Selene breathed in awe, "Talk about a biological clock."
"Talk about creepy." Val said.
"Ya that too," Selene agreed.
"Well I guess we are safe to leave now." Aedan chimed in.
Val walked over to Selene and gave her a hug, "Good luck Selene, be safe."
"You too, Val." She replied squeezing him tight.
After a few seconds Val pulled away, "I'll go back inside, talk to the soldiers a bit, give you guys some privacy." He turned and walked away.
Selene reached into her pocket and produced a worn brown cloth bag, which she handed over to Aedan. He took it quizzically and reached inside. His hand grasped onto the round, smooth object inside and realization suddenly dawned on him. "It's a communication ball."
"Yes. It's not a particularly strong one. I made a few of them last night, but I had to use most of my strength to erect the protection shield around Occa. Still though it should last for a few uses, assuming you only use it for a few minutes at a time, so only use it when you absolutely need to. You will have one, I will be giving Winn and Graydon one and I have one for Arleth and myself. It's already created to communicate with each of the other two. You just need to say one of our names and it will open up communication. If someone is trying to reach you on yours, it will light up, and hum. It will keep getting louder and louder until you answer it."
"Answer it the same way as always?"
"Yes."
"Ok." Aedan drew the drawstrings on the bag closed again and put it into his breast pocket. "I'm sure this will come in handy. At the very least I will let you know how my discussions with Kalshek go."
"And when you do, I'll tell you about how Arleth is fairing with Selene.
She reached out and grabbed Aedan's hands, bringing them together against her chest. "Good luck my dear. I have faith that you will convince him to join with us."
Aedan smiled and bent down to kiss her forehead. "Good luck to you as well." He took his hands out from hers and wrapped her in a hug, pulling her close. "Make sure you get out of Occa as soon as you can. Not only for Arleth, I don't want either of you stuck in this city when the battle begins."
"Don't worry. We will be out of here by noon."
"Perfect."
The two of them were silent for a few minutes, wrapped in each others' arms enjoying the last few minutes they would have with each other for the foreseeable future.
After a while, Aedan sighed and pulled away. "I really should be going." He kissed her. "I love you Selene."
"I love you too."
He kissed her one more time and then, fighting every urge to stay a bit longer, he turned and walked away.
Selene watched his retreating back and then when he was out of sight, she turned and walked back to the railing. She looked out across the clearing at the forest. All the Vrog were already out of sight. It was approaching mid-morning and was fully light now. She knew she should be going, but she lingered a bit longer. This was the calm before the storm, the last few minutes she had to herself. Despite everything, the morning was beautiful, she took in as much as she could, to feed her memory for when she needed it. The sunlight, on the trees in the distance, the clear blue sky without a trace of cloud, the faint smells of bread just beginning to bake...
"Lost in thought?"
Selene turned and came face to face with Winn and Graydon.
"Yes, I was."
"Val and Aedan have already left, I'm assuming?" Winn asked.
"Ya, a little while ago."
Graydon nodded. "Did you guys raid all the food at The Inn?"
Selene smiled, "No we couldn't find any either, that's why we came here. The kitchen is full of food."
"Oh we know, we have already been there." Winn said with a grin, a slice of cheese materializing out of nowhere. He popped it in his mouth. "And we took some with us, clearly."
"Do you guys know if Arleth was awake when you left?"
"Actually yes, she knocked on my door this morning," Graydon said.
"Oh?" Selene said
Graydon promptly blushed. "Err, not like that, she wanted to tell me something."
"Go on." Selene smiled and stole a glance at Winn. He was shaking his head, as if trying to tell her something.
"She wanted to say goodbye to Zeeshan before she left, so she said she was going to his house. And asked if you could meet her there when it was time to leave."
"Ahh," Selene said. Kind of disappointed. She looked over at Winn, he was giving her a see I tried to tell you kind of look.
"What are you two doing?" Graydon asked, noticing their back and forth looks for the first time. "What is happening?"
"Don't worry about it." Winn said
"And yes Graydon. I will gladly meet Arleth at Zeeshan's house."
"Good. That is what I told her you would say."
"Ok well time is a wasting," Winn said getting serious. "The three of us need to talk some battle strategy."
"We shouldn't do it here. Some place more private," Selene said.
"We could go back to The Inn, it's now deserted," Graydon offered.
"
Good idea little brother."
* * *
"I built a rudimentary shield over Occa last night before the banquet." Selene was sitting cross-legged on the end of Winn's bed back at The Inn. Winn and Graydon were sitting at the opposite end of the bed, facing her, with their backs against the wall. "Shield's take an enormous amount of power and time, especially to hold up to the sort of onslaught we expect Absalom will hit us with. A normal protective shield like the one I built around our stronghold, is built a little each day for many months. That particular one I built to be self-sustaining. Each day I poured my strength into it, building on what was already there until after a few months, the shield was able to self-sustain. It is almost like a living organism, it will heal itself if physically or magically damaged. I even built it to take nutrients from the air so it will keep growing stronger and stronger gradually over time. It would take months of sustained, constant attack to bring it down, and that's if it was left alone, with no one (me) to keep pouring magic into it."
"Wow that's pretty incredible," Graydon said in awe.
"Thanks," Selene said. "But that being said. I can't do the same here. I don't have months to pour more and more of my strength into it, and the shield won't have time to develop to be self-sustaining before it is attacked."
"Naturally, so you are doing the best you can. We understand Selene." Winn lifted his knees up to his body. "So what are we working with?"
"Well as I mentioned, I started the shield last night. The way it is currently it will last for about one hour of constant attack."
"Describe constant attack, please." Winn queried.
"A continual onslaught of non-magical weapons, such as arrows, spears etc. This also includes any physical attacks by the Imari, Grekens, soldiers or any other creature Absalom may have. However, if there is any sort of magical attack, the one hour would lessen considerably, according to how powerful the spell that was used."
"Ok that makes sense. but.."
"But," Selene interrupted Winn, holding up one finger at him to hold on."I will be pouring a lot more strength into it today. I have already created everything I wanted to, so I will be able to spare a large amount of energy to use in it. After we are done here, I plan on doing exactly this. The shield should then be able to last about four hours of onslaught, with the same reduction if magic is used against it."
"That is a much better number to work with." Winn nodded in approval.
"And I created this." Selene reached into the right breast pocket of her tunic and pulled out a small object, which she offered to Winn.
"What is it?" The object was a dull black rectangular slab, about half the size of Winn's hand. In the middle was a green cross.
"It is the best I could do to offer a patch, when the shield starts to fail. You will notice it start to fail when a few objects will begin to get through; for example one out of every 10 arrows will come though. That sort of thing. When that happens, the shield will completely fail within minutes. Press the green cross and it will buy you a bit more time, minutes only. But hopefully enough to help. I hope you have some plans" Selene urged hopefully. "Four hours of duration is based on a constant barrage. Any type of defence you are able to muster that would prevent the shield from having to work, would of course increase how long it lasts."
Graydon and Winn looked at each other and smiled. "We have some plans."
For the next thirty minutes, Graydon and Winn outlined their defences to Selene. She listened, approved for the most part and added some of her own improvements. By the end, they were all fairly satisfied with what they had come up with.
"Oh I almost forgot," Selene said. "I also have a communication ball for you two. Aedan and Val have one as well, as will Arleth and I." She gave them the same synopsis she had given Aedan a little earlier.
Winn reached out to take it from her. "Thanks Sele... Ahh, Oh!"
Graydon slapped his hand away. "I don't think so brother, you got the last toy. This one is mine." He took it from Selene and put it in his pocket.
"Pfft," Winn humpfed, "You had better not lose it."
"Like I would."
Selene looked back and forth at the brothers and shook her head with a smile. "If you two children would like to say good bye to Arleth before we leave." Selene paused as Graydon punched his brother playfully in the shoulder. "I am heading there now," she continued rolling her eyes.
Winn punched his brother back "We will come."
* * *
Zeeshan roared with laughter as Arleth tottered around the room. Her cheeks were bulged out as far as possible and she held her arms out at her sides. "I am Bella, I am the most beautiful person in the universe. If only I could see my toes." She looked down and craned her neck, frowning. "I know they are there somewhere." Arleth continued her comical tottering for a few more minutes as Zeeshan howled with laughter. Suddenly she stopped, smiled at Zeeshan and dropped onto the floor at Zeeshan's feet. "And that is Bella."
The two of them were in Zeeshan's bedroom back at his house. When it was built, it was a suitably sized room for a Talywag child, now however, Zeeshan was much too large for it. As he had learned last night, he didn't fit in his room with his bed, so it had been removed, along with all of his furniture. A pile of blankets with a heap of pillows sufficed as his makeshift bed for now. Even still, Zeeshan, sitting on his "bed" just about touched the ceiling and with his legs outstretched, touched the far wall.
Crean approached the closed door of his son's room and lifted his fist to knock. Zeeshan's laughter erupted from within and Crean smiled and hesitated, holding his fist back from the door. It was good to hear his son laugh. Zeeshan was still his son, but he was no longer the innocent 7 year old that had disappeared in Frast forest not so long ago. Not only the physical changes, which Crean was still trying to wrap his head around, but emotionally his son had matured exponentially. He knew his son was going to have a long, hard road ahead of him and he hoped he would be strong enough to help him through it. Zeeshan's laughter eased up, and Crean knocked. "I have snacks."
He shook his head to clear it, forced a smiled on his face and, holding the wooden tray in one hand, pushed the door open with the other. Crean put the tray down on Zeeshan's right leg, closed the door behind him and squeezed himself down into the tiny space left between his son and the door. Crean looked at his son's head crammed against the ceiling and his legs taking up most of the room and forced back a sigh. "I talked to the builder's guild this morning like I promised. Apparently they are busy with the Yonish's house right now. But as soon as they are done, they tell me a few weeks, they have assured me there next contract will be to expand our house to give you a bedroom that is suitable for you."
"Ok thanks Dad."
"Are you sure you don't want to move into the living room for now, you would have more room."
"No, this is my room!"
Arleth, sensing that this was an argument that they had earlier and reading that Zeeshan was starting to get heated, changed the topic. "Ooo what kind of fruit is this?" She asked Crean pointing to a red coloured object in the tray. Crean looked to her and then back at Zeeshan and slumped his shoulder's resignedly. He put a smile on his face, "Oh that is a taquir fruit. Quite sweet."
Arleth took one and bit into it, juice dribbled down her chin and she grabbed a cloth from the tray to wipe it. "That is good."
For the next while they sat together and ate. In between bites, they engaged in trivial small talk. None of them wanting to venture into any of the serious issues that lay just beneath the surface.
A soft knock came from the door. Bonnie, Crean's housekeeper popped her head in. "Sorry to disturb you, but you have guests."
"Oh it must be Selene," Arleth said, half getting up.
"Selene, yes. I recognize her from last night. There are also those two brothers with her, I forget their names."
"Winn and Graydon?" Arleth asked.
"Yes, that seems right."
"Send them in," Crean said. "Oh
and wait, take this." He handed Bonnie the empty tray.
"Right away." Bonnie took the tray and disappeared from sight. Crean climbed over his son's legs to the far side of the room, to make space for the newcomers. There was no space to sit, so he stood at the far side of the room, wedged against the wall. No sooner had he done that, then the door opened and Selene's head popped in.
"Good morning." She said as she slid her way into the room, squeezing herself against the wall and Zeeshan.
Winn and Graydon quickly assessed the situation and stood side by side in the door way, "Morning," they said in unison.
"Good morning," Crean replied to the trio. He looked at Selene and looked down. "Selene I would like to apologize to you and Aedan, I'm assuming he has left already." Crean looked to Selene who nodded in agreement. "Well next time you speak to him, if you could pass on my regrets. I didn't treat you or Aedan fairly last night. You have travelled all this way, returned my son to me and are trying to protect us from an evil you think is imminent and I did nothing but spit on your efforts."
"There is no need for that, Crean." Selene said. "Tempers got heated on both sides, things were said that were regrettable."
"I sincerely apologize for my outburst." Crean continued. "I still don't believe we are in danger but I will cooperate with you as you see fit. It is only fair."
Arleth looked at Zeeshan across the room with a What the heck happened last night look. Zeeshan merely shrugged, as confused as she was.
"Thank you for that Crean, it is very noble of you. I also apologize on behalf of myself and Aedan for how we handled the situation." She paused for a few seconds. "But now that we have your cooperation, perhaps you will assist Winn and Graydon in their preparations."
