Burden of Stones

by James Dale

  Braedan took the only empty seat at the Lord's Table and awaited their decision.

  "Lords of the Staffclave," High Lord Perigaen said, standing to face his colleagues. "You have heard Jack Braedan's claim. You heard much of it spoken by representatives of Aralon's thrones when all thought this man lost at sea. But he survived his struggle with the Great Serpent. Not only survived but slew Rhondiyana. In my opinion, that act alone has earned him the right to draw Yhswyndyr. What say the rest of you? What is the will of the Staffclave?"

  Lord Faendil was the first to stand. "I have seen Jack Braedan enter the Temple of the Sword and draw Yhswyndyr in my dreams. I am anxious to see him do it in the flesh."

  "I would like to see it as well," Lord Wiegl nodded, coming to his feet.

  "As would I," Lord Dhoran nodded, joining him.

  "All others indicate their approval of by saying aye," Perigaen instructed.

  "Aye!" came the unanimous reply of the Staffclave, coming to their feet.

  There were no Lords left seated. The Adepts had no say in the voting.

  "Jack Braedan," Perigaen said, turning to him. "It is the will of the Staffclave tomorrow morning, you present yourself at the Temple of the Sword. I, Lord Wiegl, Lord Dhoran, and the chosen representatives of the Whesguard will witness the testing of your claim to Ljmarn's throne, by the touch of the Highsword Yhswyndyr on your naked palm. May the Creator, His Holy Son, and Spirit of Truth smile upon you. And upon all the peoples of Aralon."

  High Lord Perigaen dismissed the assembly and advised Jack to get a good night's sleep. How it would help with what lay before him tomorrow, he did not say. Either Yhswyndyr would recognize his blood as the House of Bra' Adan or he would die. No amount of sleep would change the fact. Braedan took his advice nonetheless, and headed for his room.

  He wanted to go check on Elua before retiring but realized he had no idea where Harry had taken the Aerfal'Miera. No one Braedan asked on the way to his room could answer his question, and he thought his search hopeless until he saw Ailicia step from a door only two down the corridor from his own.

  "She is sleeping," the Ailfar princess informed him when inquired about her. "In her tub."

  "She's well then?"

  "Just tired," Ailicia nodded. "I'm going to stay with her in case she needs anything during the night."

  "I'm going to the Temple in the morning," Jack said. "To draw Yhswyndyr."

  "Worried?" she asked, sensing his unease.

  "A little," he admitted.

  "Don't be," Ailicia smiled, giving him a comforting hug. "You are Ljmarn's Heir. Ailanna's blood sings in your veins. Even I can see it. Tomorrow at this time, Aralon will have a new High King and Graith will be trembling in his hole."

  "I just wish Anna was here," Jack sighed.

  "Go to her," the Ailfar princess smiled. "It is almost morning in Dorshev, but perhaps she is still sleeping."

  "My God, Ally!" Braedan suddenly whispered. "You...you haven't told her I..."

  "I have not been able to speak with her since…well," Ailicia replied. "I would have been too distraught to replay that grim news regardless."

  "I didn't know you cared," Braedan grinned.

  "If I didn't know you were teasing," the Ailfar maiden said, patting his arm, "I'd find her myself and tell her you've been trading kisses with a mermaid."

  "If I didn't know you were teasing," he laughed, "I'd have Harry keep you up all night asking you questions about Goldenbriar."

  "Good night cousin," Ailicia smiled. "Pleasant dreams."

  "Good night Morning Flower," he said, kissing his cousin's cheek.

  Braedan retired to his room, removing his clothes and climbing into bed without lighting a lamp. In the quiet, stillness Lord's Hall, he closed his eyes and sought the outer dream.

  Annawyn's dream pattern was more difficult to locate than ever before, but Braedan was not concerned, considering the time disparity separating him from his love. An eternity later it seemed, he finally found her familiar blue star, willed himself into a matching thread of light, and entered her dream.

  Braedan found himself not in the open fields of Greenrun Plains, their usual place of meeting, but on the sandy coast of Lordsisle. The night was clear and cloudless. Stars twinkled like diamonds against the black canopy of night and a full moon caste a soft, silver glow over the beach. But of Annawyn there was so sign.

  "My heart?" he called, searching the beach for his auburn-haired queen.

  "I am here Beloved," a voice whispered behind him.

  Braedan turned with a smile on his lips, but was startled to find Elua standing before him. She was dressed in Annawyn's white wedding gown, her pale blonde hair reflecting the glow of the moon like a crown of light. His breath caught in his throat at the sight of the ethereal beauty, but a sense of... wrongness...suddenly tickled at the edge of his mind. What was she doing here? Jack was sure the dream pattern he entered had been his wife's.

  "What...what are you doing here?" he asked hesitantly.

  "You called me," the Aerfal'Miera replied with a throaty laugh. "I came."

  "Elua..."

  "Why do you persist in denying yourself?" she cooed, reaching up to slip the gown from her shoulders. The wedding dress dropped to her feet with a whisper of silk. "Am I not beautiful? Do you not desire to kiss me? To touch me? To be inside me?"

  Hypnotized by the mermaid's seductive spell, Braedan was not aware she had been walking towards him until her arms slipped around his waist. Then he was equally startled to discover he also was naked when her hands cupped his bare buttocks and pulled him against her.

  "Elua," he shivered, feeling her hot tongue slide into his ear. "What...what are you doing?"

  "Giving you what you want, Beloved," she replied, trailing kisses down his neck.

  "Stop," Braedan moaned, somehow summoning the strength to push her away. "I can't...we can't..."

  "Your lips say no," Elua laughed softly, her eyes dropping to his crotch. "But your body..."

  Following her gaze, Braedan saw his body indeed wanted what she suggested. "Elua... we can't..."

  "We can," she insisted. "We will!" With a swiftness that caught him completely off guard, Elua pushed him to the soft sand and straddled his hips.

  With sudden horror, Braedan finally realized what had been troubling him about this dream, what the confusion of finding Elua here instead of his wife had momentarily concealed. He hadn't transported himself into the safe, misty edges of an outer dream! He was fully, bodily, in the Land of Dreams! The Land of Dreams where the Dark One was not bound! And he was naked and weaponless!

  "Elua!" he hissed in alarm. "We have to wake up! We are in danger here!"

  "The only danger is you will admit your love for me and caste aside the Horsemaiden nag!" the mermaid snarled vehemently, her blue eyes suddenly becoming two fiery coals of sickening red.

  Braedan cried in horror. With strength born of desperation, he flipped Elua...no, it couldn't be Elua...flipped her off him and pinned her beneath him. It didn't improve his situation. The false Aerfal'Miera wrapped strong legs around his him, locking them together. He struggled to break free, but she grabbed his hands and forced them against her heaving breasts.

  "Yes!" she moaned, grinding against him. "Be rough with me! Hurt me!"

  "No!" came a tortured wail at his side.

  Braedan lifted his eyes to find a horrified Annawyn. The look of utter betrayal on her face ripped his heart from his chest.

  "Anna!"

  "He told me you were being unfaithful!" she screamed, shaking with rage. "He said...I didn't want to believe...I...How could you?"

  "Anna..." Braedan cried, struggling to break away from the demoness moaning and bucking beneath him.

  "I see with my own eyes," she wailed, "why you didn't want me to come with you to Lordsisle. You wanted to be with her!"

  "No!"

  "You have been laying with Ailicia as well!" she shouted accusingly. "And your pirate whore! You have been
dishonoring our marriage bed since leaving my arms!"

  "No Anna..."

  "And now I catch coupling with this mermaid slut!" she screamed, the pain and rage in her voice stripping away his soul. "He has shown me all your dirty little secrets! Well you can have them! I hate you! I never want to see you again! I...I wish you were dead!" Annawyn turned and fled weeping into the night.

  "Don't worry my love," the demoness laughed, reaching up to rake his chest with sharp nails. "She will find comfort in the arms of my Master!"

  "No!" Braedan roared, and finally broke free of Elua... no, not Elua but a succubus from Hell! "Anna! Wait!" he cried, wicked laughter following him as he ran down the beach.

  His shouts were drowned by a gale suddenly whipping through the trees. The sea churned with angry white caps. Red lightning forked across the sky and thunder rumbled like the approach of doom. The Dark One was coming! And he was defenseless.

  "Annnahhhh!" Jack screamed. His eyes snapped open and he was back in his room, the sound of thunder and cruel laughter still echoing in his head. He swung his legs over the side of the bed and held his head in his trembling hands. "I should never have kissed her," he moaned.

  The door flung open and Ailicia ran weeping into the room, collapsing at his feet to clutch his knees. "I...we didn't...tell her we have not been together!" she begged.

  "You too?" Braedan asked, suddenly alarmed as well as heartbroken.

  "I...I was sleeping in Elua's room," Ailicia cried, "and Annawyn was suddenly there! She threw off the covers and you...we...were together! I...I tried to tell myself it wasn't real! But I could...could still taste your lips...could still feel where you had been...She was screaming at me! Accusing us...but you...you just laughed. And...And touched me..."

  "It wasn't me," Braedan assured her, though it wasn't exactly a comforting thought. "Judas Bloody Hell," he muttered. "I think I know what just happened."

  "The Lord of Shadows?" the Ailfar princess whispered.

  "Or Graith?" Braedan nodded. "He's getting stronger. Strong enough to manipulate our dreams. Ailicia, go...go find Lord Sheva."

  "Why...what are you going to do?" she asked.

  "I don't know. But we're going to do it right now," Braedan replied. "Before Graith...before he does something to Annawyn besides..." If she thought...if she was convinced he had betrayed her it might already have done more damage than he could repair.

  Ailicia nodded, wiped the tears from her eyes and headed from the room. "Jack," she said, stopping in the doorway. "What are we going to do?"

  "I'm going to find Perigaen," Jack sighed. "I think maybe I should go to the temple right now."

  He began dressing as soon as the Ailfar princess left. He wanted to throw just anything on and head straight for the Temple, but in the Elohara he had been wearing his armor. If...if he deviated from the Amarian Spirit Walk, could something...go wrong? Braedan decided he couldn't take the chance and began to don the Ithelmere plate. He had just finished strapping on the last of it when Ailicia returned with High Lord Perigaen.

  "Lord Sheva is dead," the princess whispered.

  "What is going on?" Perigaen asked, his voice tinged with anger and...fear?

  "Graith has been mucking around in our dreams," Braedan explained. "Mine and Ailicia's. And Annawyn's. In Lord Sheva's as well it appears. Has anyone else been...affected?"

  "No one I am aware of," Perigaen replied.

  "Then maybe he's still only strong enough to attack Dreamwalkers," Jack hoped. It was some comfort at least. "What are you doing up in the middle of the night High Lord?"

  "It is almost daybreak," Perigaen said. "I was just about send Adept Harold to wake you when I saw Ailicia running from Lord Sheva's quarters."

  "Just as well," Jack replied. "At least everyone else got a good night's sleep. Are the rest being roused?"

  "Most should be awake already," the High Lord nodded.

  "Then let's get going. I don't want to waste another minute," Jack sighed.

  Half an hour later, everyone was assembled before the entrance to Lord's Hall. Like Braedan, most of the men wore gleaming armor that caught the first rays of the sun peeking above the eastern horizon. Thonicil in black and silver, wore Bin'et ardendel at his side. Arrinor was dressed in Ailfar green and brown, but flashes of Ithlemere could be seen at his neck and wrists. On his youthful brow rested an Elfstone on a silver chain and an elven sword hung at his hip like part of his slim body. Prince Kirstaen was outfitted in gray armor, the color of a troubled, storm tossed sea, with leggings and a tunic of the yellow of House An’Kaera. There was a war-hammer on his hip and a deadly battle-ax strapped to his back. Sir Gain wore the white and gold of the Tower Knights and Tarsus was dressed in Galekindar gray, his blue eyes searching the surrounding hills as if he expected a grim'Hiru lurked behind every rock.

  Of the others accompanying him, Dorad wore blue and gold silks the color of Doridan. He was armed as well. Alnordel was dressed completely in black. Kaiddra, Ailicia, Lady Ara’fael and Elua each wore beautiful gowns. The Aerfal'Miera smiled at Braedan, and it was all he could do to force a smile in return, the lingering image of her eyes glowing red like the fires of Hell still fresh in his mind. High Lord Perigaen, Second of the Staffclave Wiegl, and Lord Dhoran each wore loose fitting shirts and trousers of pure white linen. A blue sash was cinched at each Lord's waist and all three carried long, smooth staffs banded with silver at both ends. Braedan had seen the same staff in the hands of Cil’lena on the day Galen Severa assaulted her mountain home.

  "Where's General Gamrin and Captain d'Kenna?" asked Jack, suddenly missing the pair.

  "With Kirk," Tarsus replied. "They have taken the Golden Lion, Arrinor's Rangers, and the Dragon Guards into the mountains around the Temple of the Sword."

  "After what happened to you and sister last night," Arrinor informed him quietly, "everyone thought it best not to take any chances."

  "Lord Faendil and the rest of the Staffclave are with them," High Lord Perigaen added. "When we remove the Word of Forbidding from the Temple, you will be...vulnerable until you draw Yhswyndyr."

  "Better to look for trouble and not find it, than have trouble find you unprepared," Jack found himself saying.

  "Wise council," Lord Dhoran nodded, "and our thinking exactly."

  "I guess we're ready then," Braedan replied. "Shall we be going?"

  "If you will follow us, Claimant," Lord Wiegl instructed.

  High Lord Perigaen led the party from Lord's Hall, up a well-maintained road twisting back and forth, as it climbed higher and higher into the mountains. An hour later, the road ended suddenly at a peak more than a mile above sea level. Below them, Lordsisle lay like a fertile, sparkling jewel as far as the eye see.

  Though most of the company were hardy folk, the arduous climb affected all too some degree. Elua suffered worst of all, not being accustomed to walking much at all, and surely not being practiced at ascending to heights such as this. Arrinor supported her by one arm, while Ailicia held her other, speaking soft words of encouragement. The three Lords may have well been out on a Sunday stroll. There was not so much as a single bead of sweat glistening on their brows.

  Tearing his gaze from the panoramic view of island, Braedan looked finally upon the object of his long quest. The Temple of the Sword was an almost identical replica of the Temple of the Door, hidden deep in the Ailsantain where he had come into this world. Marble steps led up to tremendous columns supporting a dome of gold that burned in the light of the sun like polished fire. At the Temple of the Sword, the Ward of Forbidding had been banished when he stepped through the doorway Aaracus had guarded for seven hundred years, so he was unfamiliar with the sense of waiting, watchful power which raised the hairs on his neck and arms.

  "Approach no closer until Lord's Wiegl, Dhoran and I remove the Word of Forbidding," Perigaen instructed the company.

  "You don't have to tell me," Tarsus muttered darkly.

  "Nor me," Dorad added quietly.


  Unlike the rest of the company, both former pirates first-hand the power of this Word. They stood motionless as if made of the same stone as the temple, barely daring to breathe lest a lightning bolt strike them dead.

  The three Lords strode boldly towards the temple, each becoming surrounded by a glow of blue power before they had taken more than half a dozen steps. By the time they reached the base of the structure, the glow had merged to a single, bright ball that set the air all around them crackling with sparks.

  "It has been a very long time since I saw three Lords working together," Lady Ara’fael said softly. "I had forgotten the power of the Staffclave. The force they have gathered could break Lord's Hall," the Spellweaver said, giving them a point of reference.

  Slowly, the blue aura of power extending outward, moving from the end of their staffs as they pointed the branches of Illios toward the temple. When the glow encased the entire structure, the air around them hummed like a swarm of angry hornets was fast approaching. Unleashed in anger, such power could have blasted the mountain top to pebbles. When the glow surrounding the temple erupted in a blinding flash, Braedan thought for an instant just such a disaster had occurred. When the spots before his eyes finally cleared, the Temple of the Sword was still standing, and more importantly, everyone was still alive.

  "It is done," Ara’fael announced.

  Braedan knew it before she spoke. The tingling had left his neck and arms and the power he felt flowing from the temple was no longer forbidding. What he felt now raising gooseflesh on his arms was the power of the Sword of Life singing to his soul. He started forward without waiting for the High Lord's call. The other's followed as if caught in the undertow of a surging tide.

  "Let's do this," he said, walking up to Perigaen. The Sword of Life's call filled him, blocking out all else as it beckoned to Ljmarn's Heir.

  One look into Braedan's eyes and the High Lord motioned for him to follow.

  The interior of the Temple of the Sword was twin to the temple in the Ailsantain Forest. At one time, there may have been murals adorning the ceiling, but no longer. The underside of the golden dome was blistered and peeling, as if what was contained in this temple had burned away any attempt to divert attention from its true purpose. If any chips of paint had fallen to the floor, they had long ago been pulverized to dust by the song of Yhswyndyr.