Omen 12 - The Beast Within
Oct. 7th, 2011 08:36 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
janestarzWho-is-who
Balamaethor =![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
nokey
Lyavanna =diverteddreamer
Himdir =laiv
Reinard =omdathetkan
Friday
As I made my way through the village, I noticed that a couple of yellow-tabarded people were standing around near the bar. They were bringing my sister Sairahiniel home, but they seemed to be overly protective of her. I wondered why they were trying to control her actions, but soon enough it became very clear to me.
"We are looking for two people with the following description: a small woman, wearing her hair in braids and two metal bracelets gracing her wrists. A taller woman with white tattoos in her face, wearing a skirt and a feathered top." the man said. He introduced himself as we sat in the bar to talk. Some of the Anarquendor crowded around the table, others kept a more respectable distance from it.
The Adaran wanted to know why these two elves had killed an Adaran inquisitor. While Lyavanna and Luthine were fetched, the man asked about my facial markings. "They are tattoos." I said.
"I see." he replied. "Are these purely decoration?"
"They mark important events in our life." I told him a bit about the tattoos, how any elf could choose to set one as remembrance for an important event.
Lyavanna and Luthine joined us at the table. They told their story, of how we had been on a mission and how the man had tried to stop us from completing it. In the end, they had stabbed him and he had died.
"The punishment for murder in Adare is branding." the man said.
"Well, that seems rather pointless." Luthine said softly. "I would rather work off my punishment, by doing something for the people who loved him dearly. It would make much more sense to me, as a bard, than carrying a tattoo nobody here even knows what it means."
The man folded his hands on the table. "I am not at liberty to discuss alternatives at this time. But I will contact my superiors and ask them if such a thing would be possible. We will have to wait until the sun is up, so we shall return in a day or two."
After they had left, Lyavanna spoke. "I don't mind being branded that much. Yes, we took a life. We might have avoided his death and yes, we did leave him to die. It is a fitting punishment to be reminded of that. But I won't have the mark in my face."
The night was nothing if not chaotic. Barbarians - the clan of the Howlers - kept attacking and goblins sowed confusion by attacking with poisoned daggers. The sleep poison was irritating, but it didn't get as much on my nerves as the young lord of Catherijne. He was adamant that all goblins should be killed and was very nearly shouting at everyone about it. I stayed out of the way, making sure my ears would not suffer any injuries from his loud voice and altogheter making sure I had a bit of a nicer evening.
The report reached me that the Order of the Hammer was trying to round up magic users, and wanted an inventory of the people in the village who use magic. Balamaethor found a young mage who had been executed by them because she had, at some time, been taken over by her element and this was considered to be black magic. I of course gave Balamaethor permission to help the young lady, out of sight from the Order, and proceeded to talk to the village notables about this, suggesting that it might be wise to misinform the Order of the Hammer about one specific item, to see how they would react to it. Both Raphael and Reinard agreed that the Order was up to no good, and I suggested Erik to be the perfect candidate for this misinformation, since he was one of the few adepts in the Order in the village, and I was sure he was on our side.
From the shadows in the main street a woodelf stepped from the shadows. He introduced himself as Himdir Maethellion, sent by one of Her Majesty's own generals. We walked to the Anarquendor camp and he handed me a letter. It was a confirmation that the leave of absence I had requested, had been approved. This presented me with an additional problem: did I want to transfer the captaincy to Sumolan? It was hard to decide. There was still so much to be done, and my elves were all entangled in the affairs of the village, and all those threads of the spider's web would lead to me. Could I give up that responsibility to find my calling? I wasn't so sure.
I asked Alaron to speak with me, and we found a handy log near the woods, where we sat in quiet. The goblins disturbing the village crowded around us for a moment, but they knew Balamaethor had taken a chance on them by healing one of their number, and they left us in peace as we would them.
Alaron heard my dilemma, and apprached it with his usual enthusiasm. We spoke for a good hour, and his questions challenged me. It was a good conversation, and when we finished it, I decided I wanted to speak to Sumolan as well. I thanked Alaron and took Sumolan to that same log for a talk.
He was serious about my questions, and in the end nodded. "If you choose to see where Rystill's path leads you, then I will bear the burden of being the captain for a while." he said.
"You know how these things are decided." I said. "The pengyll is not always the next captain. It is the one who will stand up and isn't challenged in his command."
"I know." Sumolan said. "And you are giving me an advantage by telling me of your intentions."
"Well." I said. "I am still not sure if I'm ready to hand over the captaincy. But when that time is there, you will know."
Saturday
I had introduced Himdir to several of the village notables, but at the morning briefing he met the rest of the Anarquendor. I asked them to make him at home. His orders were clear: if I could use him, I was allowed to make him a part of the regiment; if not, I could send him back to Weylin Woods. I told the rest of the Anarquendor that they should speak with him, get to know him, pending my decision. I was hesitant to claim another elf for our regiment, while all over Weylin Woods elves were needed badly. Our orders were to help the Eventyr, and so far despite Alaron and Arevalo's best efforts, we were still no closer to solving the mystery. Kamat seemed adamant to kill off the Eventyr bloodline, but there was no definite reason why. Was it just the wrongdoing of one Eventyr in the past, or were they really a threat to Rystill? And if the latter, how would this affect our position? We could no sooner betray our orders than betray our Godess, and if forced to choose between the two, there was no doubt that I would choose to serve our Godess.
Radag'hen reported the timefaun was back, trying to get her to come with him. She explained that this was because she at some point had agreed to paying a yet-to-be-defined price for being allowed to see a vision, and now he wanted her to come with him. "I am not ready to leave the Anarquendor." Radag'hen said. "So I will talk to him again and see if I can persuade him."
I noted that she did not ask for help, and decided that perhaps she had things under control.
Luthine was still working on the prophecy she had to write, and would investigate the possibility of getting a mentor. The mentor was allied with Sion, god of betrayal, which caused a stir among the Anarquendor. "If I am to write a prophecy, it should be of all the gods, including Sion." Luthine spoke wisely. "And look at the last prophecy: we worked hard to change it, to make it not come true. If Sion gets a hand in this prophecy, it doesn't necessarily mean it will happen just like it's written."
After the morning briefing, I sauntered around the village. It ran smoothly, for as far as I could tell, and Raphael wouldn't need my help running it. Reinard called another village meeting that morning, and the same things we had told people so often, were repeated again. Many people ignored the announcements, but some gathered to listen to their leaders. Noah stepped forward to take on the task of coorindating magical problems, and people wanting to do things with the forest would be referred to me. An alchemist named Rosa stepped up to me right away.
"I wanted to know what I need to discuss with you before going into the forest to find herbs." she asked, and I explained the rules to her. You only pick the herbs you need, and no more than those. You don't pick herbs you don't need, or are scarce.
"We're trying to plant a garden for the alchemists." she said.
"That is a marvelous idea." I replied. "Should you need a hand, I will be sure to send someone."
The barbarians weren't very quiet, and the Howlers kept attacking us often. They were strong enough to swipe my feet out from under me often enough, but there was always someone standing by with a goodberry. At one point, Ingvar Eventyr picked me up.
"Oh no! Captain E...I mean, Captain Beriadanwen, you're hurt!" He dusted off my robe a bit, and checked my wounds. "Um, what was the name of the Goddess of Life again?"
"You mean Eliamne?" I asked.
"Yes, yes, that's her. By the powers of K...Eliamnie..." he started his incantation.
A Howler ducked around the tent, but lucky for Ingvar, I was between him and the barbarian. I sagged forward on the bench and woke up to the taste of a goodberry and the feeling of the smooth wood against my cheek.
But not all the barbarians were agressive. Several of the barbarians had invited people from the village to find out their totem. Alaron, Sumolan and I joined Wolf, Arevalo and Balamaethor in the group that would accompany them. They drew a circle on the path, a little way into the forest, and crossed it with a line. The barbarians stamped their feet and told us their names, the names of their totems. Porcupine was a slender woman with red hair, bull a short but muscled male, deer was a lithe young woman and boar was a chunky male. One by one we would choose our totem, and fight their totems. Wolf, Alaron, Sumolan and Balamaethor all went before me, because when I stepped forward I had no idea which animal would resemble me the most.
"Perhaps a fox?" I ventured.
"Fox? You hunt alone?" Boar asked.
"Like to kill chickens, maybe?" Porcupine asked.
Hm. Maybe not.
"Maybe hunt in group?" Porcupine continued. Sneaking? Running?"
"Camouflage." I said.
"Likes to hide." Bull brought in.
"Run through the high grass. Hunt with other lions." Deer said. "But the line is strong. Is the lion strong enough to break through the line and grab her prey?"
I crouched, bolted over the line, and pounced on Boar, scrabbling for purchase. I couldn't reach his throat, so I settled for a major artery in the arm, holding on while he tried to push me off. Only when his struggling grew weaker and weaker did I grab his throat between my teeth.
"Enough, lion. Enough." Porcupine said. I sat back, rubbed the dust from my arms, and returned to our half of the circle.
The barbarians removed the circle from the sand and looked at us proudly. "We found new totems. Wolf. Bear. Viper. Badger. Tree. Lion."
After the attacks, I ran into Himdir again. He was settling in nicely, and he greeted me with a curt "Captain."
We walked to the Anarquendor camp, where he told me he had another letter for the Anarquendor.
"Another letter?" I asked. "For whom."
"I don't know. I was told you would tell me who to give it to."
I frowned. "I wish to read this letter."
Himdir fished it out of his pouch, and I pulled the strip of cloth that held it closed off. My eyes scanned the letter. I groaned inwardly.
When I had finished the letter, I rolled it tightly and rebound it with the cloth. "Call the Anarquendor here. I want to talk to all of them."
The letter was addressed to my successor, and held new orders. They were important enough to follow right away, but I was unsure whether I could steer the Anarquendor in this course myself. To be honest, I wasn't sure what to make of the new orders, but delaying it was no longer an option. Every concession made, every step taken down another path would be in violation of our new orders if we weren't careful.
The decision I had postponed, even after the General had approved my leave of absence, had been made for me.
Alaron was the first to arrive and we spoke shortly about letters, and I remembered a letter Darael had pushed into my hands before leaving a few nights earlier. I fetched it from the tent and let the elf read it. He sighed. "How long have you had this letter, captain?"
"Oh, I don't know. Perhaps a few days?"
"Well, it's very enlightening, despite his horrible way with words. There's some crucial information in here."
The rest of the Anarquendor filed in, and I instructed them to take a seat, leaving an open space in the middle.
"As you all know, Nessa and Rana are away to find a messenger for a letter I had cited to Nessa a few days back. What I haven't told you is what the contents of this letter are. Yesterday, Himdir arrived with an answer to my letter, far sooner than I had expected.
"I have talked with some of you;" I looked at Alaron and Sumolan briefly; "and it has been most helpful to speak with you about these matters. However, I cannot postpone my decision any longer."
I fished out a necklace I had worn under my gown, and pulled it over my head. I crumpled it in my hand, so none could see what it was. "I feel that I can serve Rystill better, in a different way, but I am also burdened with command. Therefor, I have asked for a leave of absence, so I can persue my path and find out what Rystill wants from me.
"You know how this goes. I am, temporarily at least, stepping down as a captain. The question now is: who will take command?"
I placed the necklace on the ground in front of me, in the middle of the group. Sumolan nearly dove onto it, grabbing the necklace.
"If no-one objects then, Sumolan will be your captain." I spoke after waiting for a moment. Sumolan put the necklace on, the small bronze tree hanging down on his chest.
"I will remain a captain, but I will no longer be in command. If you have a question, a problem, you go to him now. Let's keep this quiet to the village for now." I said. "I will tell the War Council, of course, but it's not necessary to make a big fuss over this."
Sumolan looked at my. "I hope I will be as good a captain as you are."
I nodded, then looked at Himdir. The young elf took out the letter, and handed it to Sumolan. After reading it, he frowned and I smiled encouragingly.
"Here are our new orders." he spoke, taking on his role. "We are to obtain information on who can be our allies, as it is the intention to reclaim this territory. We are to make a list of potential allies and threats." He read the letter to the Anarquendor, who sat back and listened.
Soon enough it was time to prepare for a wedding. Several of the humans dressed in different clothes, and I quickly washed at the village's well. The barbarians' totem ritual had been dusty and sweaty, and streaks of water had run over my arms, tracing light skin in the grime.
Lyavanna helped by painting celebrational woads on my arms and we set out for the marriage of Captain Soban to his betrothed. The ceremony was rather dull, since it was a human affair, and after congratulating the captain I left my sister to the celebrations and the mingling.
The village was quiet enough, people bent over their work and dwarven smiths hammering on their anvils. Sometimes a totem pole would appear in the village and these had a strange effect. That morning I had helped Krughal dislodge two of Lyavanna's bracelets, her foci, from a magnetic pile of steel clustering around one of the short poles that had appeared. Later in the afternoon, another totem appeared, and this time when I came close enough to it, I found that my totem was controlled by it. Before I knew it, I rushed into the shields of Grigory Eventyr and Reinard, and I was knocked out to protect me before I could seriously harm anyone.
When I came to, I heard my sister screaming. "Murderer!"
Someone had slit her husband's throat while he was down, overcome with the same madness as me. She pointed the noble out to me. I had spoken briefly with him during the wedding, and I hadn't much liked him back then either.
"Amazing!" Alaron said. I shook my head to clear the black spots and immediately wished I hadn't. My head throbbed painfully. Alaron sounded pretty ecstatic. "I've never been so close to Rystill before!"
When later the barbarians attacked, I found myself beaten and transported to the field hospital in front of Aimée's tent. As chance would have it, I was placed next to Lord Blackwater, the man who had slit Arevalo's throat earlier. The battle raged on very close by, and all healers were busy with their patients.
I slowly took my dagger out of the sheath at my leg and very neatly slid it into his kidneys, holding my hand over his mouth. When I retracted the dagger, I noticed he had passed out, from bloodloss or just a faint from the pain. I slit the bandages on his chest, allowing the blood to seep out of the wounds, and got to my feet. I wiped my dagger and replaced it into its sheath and waded out into the fray. Behind me, I heard Sairahiniel, who was in charge of these situations, direct the medics to other patients.
After dinner that evening, night fell swiftly. Autumn was approaching quickly and the nights grew longer and darker still. But some of our friends returned: Boar and Porcupine had brought buffalo for another totem ritual. Alaron and I offered to help, since there were still quite a few who wanted to know their totem. I stood with the barbarians, knowing the ritual and staring at some of the Anarquendor who were in the other half.
It was very tiresome, perhaps even more so, on the side where the totems were already known, but it was good to see my sister find her swan totem, and to fight with Himdir over his prey as the lion tried to steal it from his panther. Lyavanna found her hawk and Luthine was the firefly.
Alaron and Arevalo wanted to bless the Grove to Rystill, and most of the Anarquendor joined them in a patch of pitch-black forest to say some words. The humans shuffled carefully closer, and each of us sat on the moss and took a pinecone to plant in the grove for Rystill.
When finally my turn came, after the Forestmasters, Beastmasters and Elementalists had said their words, I stood. "May this Grove be a place of balance." I said. "And may all who come here find the path they are looking for."
When everyone had spoken, the Winti appeared. It had come from Shuw'ran, the priest of Doran who was adamant to want to have nothing to do with Rystill, but much to his dismay, Rystill wanted something of him. The Winti was another spirit that had claimed him, and now Alaron and Arevalo wanted to give it a home in this grove.
I shuffled uncomfortably as she stepped forward and called us to a hunt, but both Himdir, who had been appointed my wingman, and I chose not to join in the hunt. Over twenty people, some of them humans, would be too large a party for a good hunt, and I feared that shedding blood on the grove would have unforseeable consequences.
When we stepped away from the grove, I noticed Lord Blackwater on the path with us. My attempt on his life had not worked, but I was loathe to try and finish our vendatta right then and there with numerous witnesses around. He sauntered back to the village quickly but not quite nonchalantly enough, and Himdir and I followed him for a while, but he was careful enough to stay in sight of other humans and we didn't get another chance.
When I walked past the Anarquendor camp, it felt like someone was stabbing me, quite pointedly, with a dagger. When I jumped up, there was nobody there, but we left quite quickly hoping it would not return.
I ran into Ingvar near the Eventyr tent, and we walked out on the field at his question. They were missing an Eventyr and Grigory was nigh moved to tears for our ready compliance. "You're always..." he fumbled for words. "I don't know what to say."
But out on the field, we only found Jacques, paralysed and bleeding heavily. The others could barely make out his wounds in the darkness, but I could see he was gushing blood. "Ingvar, you must do something quickly, or he will die." I said.
"But...I can only cast spells in the name of... Kay." he said, referring of course to Kalithé.
"What happened? I thought you are a follower of Eliamne?" I asked.
"I can't! She's gone and I can't cast any spells in her name any more. I need to do it the old-fashioned, surgery-kind of way, or in the name of..." he didn't finish his sentence.
I swallowed. "Very well."
Ingvar readied himself and started his spell, but before I knew it my hands were around his throat, an instinctive reaction to the words, the invocation of Kalithé. Memories surfaced. Amras, crying, and slowly admitting: "I...serve...Kalithé."
Asterion, prowling in front of me like a caged beast, and starting a spell, in the name of Kalithé.
"Captain! Captain!" Grigory tried to pry me off, and I dropped my hands. Ingvar coughed. "So..." he squeaked. "I guess I'll do it the old-fashioned way?"
Radag'hen approached me as I walked back into the village, and she explained what the trouble with the timefaun was. "Last year I wanted to have a vision, but he interfered. He said there was a price to pay for the vision. I can't... He wants me to leave, wants me to go with him."
"Go where?" I asked.
"I don't know. But I know I can't leave the Anarquendor. I am not ready."
"What can I do to help?" I asked, but Radag'hen waved her hand. "I'll talk to him again."
When we walked returned to the Anarquendor camp, we encountered a group of people standing around. They were doing something to the wood plates that held the signs of the Gods. I walked around their circle and noticed they'd broken the plates in two and had mixed things up.
"What are you doing?" Himdir asked them, but they told us to leave them to it.
"No, wait. Let me just fix this." I said. I picked up one half of the sign of Rystill and walked around the circle to the other side. There, I tossed the half of Doran aside and placed both halfs of Rystill together.
"There, all done." I said, and we walked off. I went to Captain Soban's camp, where I ran into Hubrecht.
"Funny thing." I said. "Did you know there are some villagers breaking the signs of the Gods and performing a ritual around them? Isn't there a law against such things? Blasphemy, and so on?"
"Indeed there is!" Hubrecht said indignantly.
"Yes, I figuered you might want to save Haldor from their circle." I said. "I'll join you."
We returned to the circle, where a sad young man was busy trying to draw a circle in the sand with his heel. I ignored him and grabbed the half of Rystill's sign, which was again wedged up to half of Doran.
"Hey! Stay out of the circle!" the people in the ritual shouted.
I wove in and out of the circle, reasoning that they might not dare close it with me inside -- which would give them a whole new and interesting world of trouble to deal with -- and walked to the other side of the circle, picking up the other half of Rystill's sign.
Khatt had also joined us at the edge of the circle, and she picked up Doran's discarded signs. So far, three Gods' signs had been saved from these bumbling idiots, who apparantly were quite ready to blame me for upsetting the pantheon.
Himdir and I made our way to the grove, where I tried to fit the two halves together as neatly as I could, and said a few words just to be sure. At least Rystill was safe, for now.
Sunday
Grigory and Krughal approached the Anarquendor camp, ready for training. Grigory quickly grabbed Shivaun's broken sign, while I went with one of the only ones whose sign I remembered: Driscoll, God of Wine and Knowledge. I could do worse than him. Bertie was one of Driscoll's paladins and so was Madeleine.
We stood on the signs, playing skaak, and I kicked Grigory about while he tried to punch me off my sign. It was brutal, but a good training.
Krughal paused us, handing a flask of water, and then came up with our next task: to carry Reinard from one side of the meadow to the other. I dare say Grigory had the worst of it, he was just a bit shorter than I was and most of the heavily armoured paladin's weight would rest on him.
And then Jacques arrived and wanted us to carry the philactrie of Benjamin to the Bar, where the Order of the Hammer were waiting for it.
The shaman Alaron and Arevalo had been talking with, came to the Anarquendor camp. Alaron was excited about the stories he'd been told so far, but he'd sworn an oath not to tell these stories to others, on pain of death. He respected this oath, but could not hide his enthusiasm when he asked me and Sumolan to join them.
The shaman was a painted human, carrying a skull-shaped wooden staff, and he spoke of Alpha and Omega: those who lead and those who allow the Alpha to lead. We were asked if we would be willing to be omega to the barbarians, and after a moment's thought, and glancing at me to see how I would react, Sumolan said that the Anarquendor would, for now, allow the alpha to lead.
We heard some disturbance in the forest, and Himdir and I took to the woods, sneaking towards the noise. We heard dogs barking, but also the rustle of goblins passing. When finally we met a villager, it was one of the humans and he'd been wounded badly. He lay coughing up blood at my feet, and I asked him what he was doing in the forest.
"We were picking herbs." he said. I'd seen his companions flee, leaving him behind, so we had him alone for now.
"Did you ask permission to pick these herbs?" I asked, rifling through his pockets. He couldn't even raise a feeble hand to stop me. There was a healing herb in his pouch, evidence that he'd picked herbs recently.
"Yes. I can't remember... who." he coughed again.
"I will give you once chance," I said, holding up the herb, but his eyes stared to the world beyond this one.
His companions returned shortly afterward, asking what had happened. I told them we were too late to help their friend.
"What were you doing out here anyway?" Himdir asked.
"Picking herbs." one answered.
"Did you ask permission?" I replied. One sputtered that he didn't know he had to ask permission, but the other one said he'd forgotten. I nodded to Himdir, stood close behind the one I recognised as being Lord Blackwater's squire, and took his life as I had tried to take his master's life. We removed all herbs from their pouches and made our way back, only to find that barbarians were attacking the village.
And Quel'Zar who asked for help.
"We can't come close to the totems." I said. "We will be influenced."
"But we need your help!" the high-elf said.
I nodded, thoughtfully. I glanced at Himdir.
Together, we walked towards the totems, being welcomed by the barbarians. I stood looking at the short pole, not even half a meter long, while behind me the villagers gathered, ready to stop us.
I turned to face them. Behind me, a barbarian started to cast a spell, and I felt lean and powerful like a bobcat. I drew an arrow from my quiver and loosed it at Reinard. Another found Grigory Eventyr. Arrows flew true time after time, while people in front of me shouted for me to stop.
A mage stepped forward and through the red haze in front of my eyes I could not make out her face, only that she wore red. She cast a spell and the bow in my left hand crumbled to sawdust. I immediately drew my sword with my right hand, until that too was fumbled and I was forced to continue with my dagger. Ah, Rystill! So sweet your calling!
Finally, I was beaten again, blackness took me, but as always, most of the villagers were careful not too wound me too much.
When I came to, it was one of the order of Hazmat that was standing over me. I opened my eyes a bit, and whispered to him "perhaps it's better if I fake it for a little while. If you understand me."
"I do, aye I do." he said, and withdrew. Next to me, I felt Himdir shift, and place a dagger in my hand. It was too bad I hadn't seen Lord Blackwater around. Should he try and cut my throat, he'd be in for a big surprise.
The battle shifted and someone picked us up. I still played my part, pretending to be knocked-out, and people made sure the totem was nowhere near me. If anything, it was probably for the best.
Finally, I came to, drank some water and rubbed my sore head. The barbarians were gone, dead or dispersed, and I saw the shaman we'd been talking to earlier that day lie died in the clearing.
We returned to the Anarquendor camp, where we found Radag'hen. She'd been worried sick about the timefaun, but before I could speak with her, Lyavanna came to me.
"The Adarans were back. They could not agree to a smaller tattoo on my arm. But I'm not going to agree with having a tattoo in my face. No way!"
"Very well." I nodded. "Now what?"
"Well;" she sighed. "They will return and go higher up the command chain, no doubt."
"I wish them good luck dealing with the Queen and her generals." I smiled encouragingly.
And then the timefaun returned. The previous night he had given me visions of dying Anarquendor, and if this was what it meant to be a seeer, than I was very happy not to be one. Nostradrama had been with Radag'hen, trying to help her understand, and it seemed to me that I got the gist of it where Radag'hen did not. In the end it had been Lyavanna who had said she'd pay the price if Radag'hen would not, and the timefaun had gone to his knees for her.
Radag'hen had been wroth with me, and still was, when she came to me. "I don't understand, Captain. Why did you take my knife away from me?" she asked.
I didn't want to answer her directly, bluntly, because I thought it would not help her with the problems she already was facing.
"You told me that you agreed to a price with this faun. And now he is asking for it, and you are not willing to face your problem." I said, carefully doling out my words, seeing if she understood. "I can understand that if you have a problem, that you come to me, or to another Anarquendor and ask for help. I can understand that if you have a problem the Anarquendor will offer their help, because they see you are struggling. But what I cannot condone is you running away from your problems, and another Anarquendor taking up your burden because you do not face it. That I cannot condone." I took a deep breath. "I was ready to take your weapons away from you and send you from this village, kick you out of the Anarquendor for that, to make your way in the wilderness without a knife if you could, but you said you would talk to the faun, that you would fix it."
Radag'hen nodded. There were nearly tears in her eyes. "Well, he's back." she sighed.
"Greyelf!" the timefaun came closer. "Your time has come. Come now."
"I want to stay." Radag'hen said. "I have pupils here, my work is not done, I don't want to leave the Anarquendor."
Behind me, Lyavanna made a choking sound. In an instant, Quel'zar was at her side, stroking her forehead and trying his best while slowly, the elf he loved was sinking to the floor and choking.
"Yesterday you had time to say goodbye. Today, you will not come?" the faun said, tilting his head as if he could better see her that way.
"Do something, she is choking!" Quel'zar said.
Radag'hen looked at Lyavanna. Tears were streaming down her face now. She looked at each of us in turn, and then said to the faun: "Alright."
He drew a sign in the ground, the sign of the ritual we had done some months before. "Here is your path. This is the rock, you could not see past. And you were willing to pay the price."
Radag'hen stepped over the circle in the ground. A cross-wise line was in front of her feet.
"And here is the boundary. Come with me."
Radag'hen turned her head, looked at each of us in turn once more. She looked at her feet, at the line before them. And then she raised her head and stepped over the line, disappearing before our eyes.
Lyavanna slowly came to, and Luthine was singing a soft song. Each of us contemplating what had happened.
From the woods came a long scream, a loud "Noooooooooo!" dragged out from Immanuel, who fell to his feet before the sign, and lay there sobbing for the loss of his teacher.
Balamaethor =
nokeyLyavanna =
diverteddreamerHimdir =
laivReinard =
omdathetkanFriday
As I made my way through the village, I noticed that a couple of yellow-tabarded people were standing around near the bar. They were bringing my sister Sairahiniel home, but they seemed to be overly protective of her. I wondered why they were trying to control her actions, but soon enough it became very clear to me.
"We are looking for two people with the following description: a small woman, wearing her hair in braids and two metal bracelets gracing her wrists. A taller woman with white tattoos in her face, wearing a skirt and a feathered top." the man said. He introduced himself as we sat in the bar to talk. Some of the Anarquendor crowded around the table, others kept a more respectable distance from it.
The Adaran wanted to know why these two elves had killed an Adaran inquisitor. While Lyavanna and Luthine were fetched, the man asked about my facial markings. "They are tattoos." I said.
"I see." he replied. "Are these purely decoration?"
"They mark important events in our life." I told him a bit about the tattoos, how any elf could choose to set one as remembrance for an important event.
Lyavanna and Luthine joined us at the table. They told their story, of how we had been on a mission and how the man had tried to stop us from completing it. In the end, they had stabbed him and he had died.
"The punishment for murder in Adare is branding." the man said.
"Well, that seems rather pointless." Luthine said softly. "I would rather work off my punishment, by doing something for the people who loved him dearly. It would make much more sense to me, as a bard, than carrying a tattoo nobody here even knows what it means."
The man folded his hands on the table. "I am not at liberty to discuss alternatives at this time. But I will contact my superiors and ask them if such a thing would be possible. We will have to wait until the sun is up, so we shall return in a day or two."
After they had left, Lyavanna spoke. "I don't mind being branded that much. Yes, we took a life. We might have avoided his death and yes, we did leave him to die. It is a fitting punishment to be reminded of that. But I won't have the mark in my face."
The night was nothing if not chaotic. Barbarians - the clan of the Howlers - kept attacking and goblins sowed confusion by attacking with poisoned daggers. The sleep poison was irritating, but it didn't get as much on my nerves as the young lord of Catherijne. He was adamant that all goblins should be killed and was very nearly shouting at everyone about it. I stayed out of the way, making sure my ears would not suffer any injuries from his loud voice and altogheter making sure I had a bit of a nicer evening.
The report reached me that the Order of the Hammer was trying to round up magic users, and wanted an inventory of the people in the village who use magic. Balamaethor found a young mage who had been executed by them because she had, at some time, been taken over by her element and this was considered to be black magic. I of course gave Balamaethor permission to help the young lady, out of sight from the Order, and proceeded to talk to the village notables about this, suggesting that it might be wise to misinform the Order of the Hammer about one specific item, to see how they would react to it. Both Raphael and Reinard agreed that the Order was up to no good, and I suggested Erik to be the perfect candidate for this misinformation, since he was one of the few adepts in the Order in the village, and I was sure he was on our side.
From the shadows in the main street a woodelf stepped from the shadows. He introduced himself as Himdir Maethellion, sent by one of Her Majesty's own generals. We walked to the Anarquendor camp and he handed me a letter. It was a confirmation that the leave of absence I had requested, had been approved. This presented me with an additional problem: did I want to transfer the captaincy to Sumolan? It was hard to decide. There was still so much to be done, and my elves were all entangled in the affairs of the village, and all those threads of the spider's web would lead to me. Could I give up that responsibility to find my calling? I wasn't so sure.
I asked Alaron to speak with me, and we found a handy log near the woods, where we sat in quiet. The goblins disturbing the village crowded around us for a moment, but they knew Balamaethor had taken a chance on them by healing one of their number, and they left us in peace as we would them.
Alaron heard my dilemma, and apprached it with his usual enthusiasm. We spoke for a good hour, and his questions challenged me. It was a good conversation, and when we finished it, I decided I wanted to speak to Sumolan as well. I thanked Alaron and took Sumolan to that same log for a talk.
He was serious about my questions, and in the end nodded. "If you choose to see where Rystill's path leads you, then I will bear the burden of being the captain for a while." he said.
"You know how these things are decided." I said. "The pengyll is not always the next captain. It is the one who will stand up and isn't challenged in his command."
"I know." Sumolan said. "And you are giving me an advantage by telling me of your intentions."
"Well." I said. "I am still not sure if I'm ready to hand over the captaincy. But when that time is there, you will know."
Saturday
I had introduced Himdir to several of the village notables, but at the morning briefing he met the rest of the Anarquendor. I asked them to make him at home. His orders were clear: if I could use him, I was allowed to make him a part of the regiment; if not, I could send him back to Weylin Woods. I told the rest of the Anarquendor that they should speak with him, get to know him, pending my decision. I was hesitant to claim another elf for our regiment, while all over Weylin Woods elves were needed badly. Our orders were to help the Eventyr, and so far despite Alaron and Arevalo's best efforts, we were still no closer to solving the mystery. Kamat seemed adamant to kill off the Eventyr bloodline, but there was no definite reason why. Was it just the wrongdoing of one Eventyr in the past, or were they really a threat to Rystill? And if the latter, how would this affect our position? We could no sooner betray our orders than betray our Godess, and if forced to choose between the two, there was no doubt that I would choose to serve our Godess.
Radag'hen reported the timefaun was back, trying to get her to come with him. She explained that this was because she at some point had agreed to paying a yet-to-be-defined price for being allowed to see a vision, and now he wanted her to come with him. "I am not ready to leave the Anarquendor." Radag'hen said. "So I will talk to him again and see if I can persuade him."
I noted that she did not ask for help, and decided that perhaps she had things under control.
Luthine was still working on the prophecy she had to write, and would investigate the possibility of getting a mentor. The mentor was allied with Sion, god of betrayal, which caused a stir among the Anarquendor. "If I am to write a prophecy, it should be of all the gods, including Sion." Luthine spoke wisely. "And look at the last prophecy: we worked hard to change it, to make it not come true. If Sion gets a hand in this prophecy, it doesn't necessarily mean it will happen just like it's written."
After the morning briefing, I sauntered around the village. It ran smoothly, for as far as I could tell, and Raphael wouldn't need my help running it. Reinard called another village meeting that morning, and the same things we had told people so often, were repeated again. Many people ignored the announcements, but some gathered to listen to their leaders. Noah stepped forward to take on the task of coorindating magical problems, and people wanting to do things with the forest would be referred to me. An alchemist named Rosa stepped up to me right away.
"I wanted to know what I need to discuss with you before going into the forest to find herbs." she asked, and I explained the rules to her. You only pick the herbs you need, and no more than those. You don't pick herbs you don't need, or are scarce.
"We're trying to plant a garden for the alchemists." she said.
"That is a marvelous idea." I replied. "Should you need a hand, I will be sure to send someone."
The barbarians weren't very quiet, and the Howlers kept attacking us often. They were strong enough to swipe my feet out from under me often enough, but there was always someone standing by with a goodberry. At one point, Ingvar Eventyr picked me up.
"Oh no! Captain E...I mean, Captain Beriadanwen, you're hurt!" He dusted off my robe a bit, and checked my wounds. "Um, what was the name of the Goddess of Life again?"
"You mean Eliamne?" I asked.
"Yes, yes, that's her. By the powers of K...Eliamnie..." he started his incantation.
A Howler ducked around the tent, but lucky for Ingvar, I was between him and the barbarian. I sagged forward on the bench and woke up to the taste of a goodberry and the feeling of the smooth wood against my cheek.
But not all the barbarians were agressive. Several of the barbarians had invited people from the village to find out their totem. Alaron, Sumolan and I joined Wolf, Arevalo and Balamaethor in the group that would accompany them. They drew a circle on the path, a little way into the forest, and crossed it with a line. The barbarians stamped their feet and told us their names, the names of their totems. Porcupine was a slender woman with red hair, bull a short but muscled male, deer was a lithe young woman and boar was a chunky male. One by one we would choose our totem, and fight their totems. Wolf, Alaron, Sumolan and Balamaethor all went before me, because when I stepped forward I had no idea which animal would resemble me the most.
"Perhaps a fox?" I ventured.
"Fox? You hunt alone?" Boar asked.
"Like to kill chickens, maybe?" Porcupine asked.
Hm. Maybe not.
"Maybe hunt in group?" Porcupine continued. Sneaking? Running?"
"Camouflage." I said.
"Likes to hide." Bull brought in.
"Run through the high grass. Hunt with other lions." Deer said. "But the line is strong. Is the lion strong enough to break through the line and grab her prey?"
I crouched, bolted over the line, and pounced on Boar, scrabbling for purchase. I couldn't reach his throat, so I settled for a major artery in the arm, holding on while he tried to push me off. Only when his struggling grew weaker and weaker did I grab his throat between my teeth.
"Enough, lion. Enough." Porcupine said. I sat back, rubbed the dust from my arms, and returned to our half of the circle.
The barbarians removed the circle from the sand and looked at us proudly. "We found new totems. Wolf. Bear. Viper. Badger. Tree. Lion."
After the attacks, I ran into Himdir again. He was settling in nicely, and he greeted me with a curt "Captain."
We walked to the Anarquendor camp, where he told me he had another letter for the Anarquendor.
"Another letter?" I asked. "For whom."
"I don't know. I was told you would tell me who to give it to."
I frowned. "I wish to read this letter."
Himdir fished it out of his pouch, and I pulled the strip of cloth that held it closed off. My eyes scanned the letter. I groaned inwardly.
When I had finished the letter, I rolled it tightly and rebound it with the cloth. "Call the Anarquendor here. I want to talk to all of them."
The letter was addressed to my successor, and held new orders. They were important enough to follow right away, but I was unsure whether I could steer the Anarquendor in this course myself. To be honest, I wasn't sure what to make of the new orders, but delaying it was no longer an option. Every concession made, every step taken down another path would be in violation of our new orders if we weren't careful.
The decision I had postponed, even after the General had approved my leave of absence, had been made for me.
Alaron was the first to arrive and we spoke shortly about letters, and I remembered a letter Darael had pushed into my hands before leaving a few nights earlier. I fetched it from the tent and let the elf read it. He sighed. "How long have you had this letter, captain?"
"Oh, I don't know. Perhaps a few days?"
"Well, it's very enlightening, despite his horrible way with words. There's some crucial information in here."
The rest of the Anarquendor filed in, and I instructed them to take a seat, leaving an open space in the middle.
"As you all know, Nessa and Rana are away to find a messenger for a letter I had cited to Nessa a few days back. What I haven't told you is what the contents of this letter are. Yesterday, Himdir arrived with an answer to my letter, far sooner than I had expected.
"I have talked with some of you;" I looked at Alaron and Sumolan briefly; "and it has been most helpful to speak with you about these matters. However, I cannot postpone my decision any longer."
I fished out a necklace I had worn under my gown, and pulled it over my head. I crumpled it in my hand, so none could see what it was. "I feel that I can serve Rystill better, in a different way, but I am also burdened with command. Therefor, I have asked for a leave of absence, so I can persue my path and find out what Rystill wants from me.
"You know how this goes. I am, temporarily at least, stepping down as a captain. The question now is: who will take command?"
I placed the necklace on the ground in front of me, in the middle of the group. Sumolan nearly dove onto it, grabbing the necklace.
"If no-one objects then, Sumolan will be your captain." I spoke after waiting for a moment. Sumolan put the necklace on, the small bronze tree hanging down on his chest.
"I will remain a captain, but I will no longer be in command. If you have a question, a problem, you go to him now. Let's keep this quiet to the village for now." I said. "I will tell the War Council, of course, but it's not necessary to make a big fuss over this."
Sumolan looked at my. "I hope I will be as good a captain as you are."
I nodded, then looked at Himdir. The young elf took out the letter, and handed it to Sumolan. After reading it, he frowned and I smiled encouragingly.
"Here are our new orders." he spoke, taking on his role. "We are to obtain information on who can be our allies, as it is the intention to reclaim this territory. We are to make a list of potential allies and threats." He read the letter to the Anarquendor, who sat back and listened.
Soon enough it was time to prepare for a wedding. Several of the humans dressed in different clothes, and I quickly washed at the village's well. The barbarians' totem ritual had been dusty and sweaty, and streaks of water had run over my arms, tracing light skin in the grime.
Lyavanna helped by painting celebrational woads on my arms and we set out for the marriage of Captain Soban to his betrothed. The ceremony was rather dull, since it was a human affair, and after congratulating the captain I left my sister to the celebrations and the mingling.
The village was quiet enough, people bent over their work and dwarven smiths hammering on their anvils. Sometimes a totem pole would appear in the village and these had a strange effect. That morning I had helped Krughal dislodge two of Lyavanna's bracelets, her foci, from a magnetic pile of steel clustering around one of the short poles that had appeared. Later in the afternoon, another totem appeared, and this time when I came close enough to it, I found that my totem was controlled by it. Before I knew it, I rushed into the shields of Grigory Eventyr and Reinard, and I was knocked out to protect me before I could seriously harm anyone.
When I came to, I heard my sister screaming. "Murderer!"
Someone had slit her husband's throat while he was down, overcome with the same madness as me. She pointed the noble out to me. I had spoken briefly with him during the wedding, and I hadn't much liked him back then either.
"Amazing!" Alaron said. I shook my head to clear the black spots and immediately wished I hadn't. My head throbbed painfully. Alaron sounded pretty ecstatic. "I've never been so close to Rystill before!"
When later the barbarians attacked, I found myself beaten and transported to the field hospital in front of Aimée's tent. As chance would have it, I was placed next to Lord Blackwater, the man who had slit Arevalo's throat earlier. The battle raged on very close by, and all healers were busy with their patients.
I slowly took my dagger out of the sheath at my leg and very neatly slid it into his kidneys, holding my hand over his mouth. When I retracted the dagger, I noticed he had passed out, from bloodloss or just a faint from the pain. I slit the bandages on his chest, allowing the blood to seep out of the wounds, and got to my feet. I wiped my dagger and replaced it into its sheath and waded out into the fray. Behind me, I heard Sairahiniel, who was in charge of these situations, direct the medics to other patients.
After dinner that evening, night fell swiftly. Autumn was approaching quickly and the nights grew longer and darker still. But some of our friends returned: Boar and Porcupine had brought buffalo for another totem ritual. Alaron and I offered to help, since there were still quite a few who wanted to know their totem. I stood with the barbarians, knowing the ritual and staring at some of the Anarquendor who were in the other half.
It was very tiresome, perhaps even more so, on the side where the totems were already known, but it was good to see my sister find her swan totem, and to fight with Himdir over his prey as the lion tried to steal it from his panther. Lyavanna found her hawk and Luthine was the firefly.
Alaron and Arevalo wanted to bless the Grove to Rystill, and most of the Anarquendor joined them in a patch of pitch-black forest to say some words. The humans shuffled carefully closer, and each of us sat on the moss and took a pinecone to plant in the grove for Rystill.
When finally my turn came, after the Forestmasters, Beastmasters and Elementalists had said their words, I stood. "May this Grove be a place of balance." I said. "And may all who come here find the path they are looking for."
When everyone had spoken, the Winti appeared. It had come from Shuw'ran, the priest of Doran who was adamant to want to have nothing to do with Rystill, but much to his dismay, Rystill wanted something of him. The Winti was another spirit that had claimed him, and now Alaron and Arevalo wanted to give it a home in this grove.
I shuffled uncomfortably as she stepped forward and called us to a hunt, but both Himdir, who had been appointed my wingman, and I chose not to join in the hunt. Over twenty people, some of them humans, would be too large a party for a good hunt, and I feared that shedding blood on the grove would have unforseeable consequences.
When we stepped away from the grove, I noticed Lord Blackwater on the path with us. My attempt on his life had not worked, but I was loathe to try and finish our vendatta right then and there with numerous witnesses around. He sauntered back to the village quickly but not quite nonchalantly enough, and Himdir and I followed him for a while, but he was careful enough to stay in sight of other humans and we didn't get another chance.
When I walked past the Anarquendor camp, it felt like someone was stabbing me, quite pointedly, with a dagger. When I jumped up, there was nobody there, but we left quite quickly hoping it would not return.
I ran into Ingvar near the Eventyr tent, and we walked out on the field at his question. They were missing an Eventyr and Grigory was nigh moved to tears for our ready compliance. "You're always..." he fumbled for words. "I don't know what to say."
But out on the field, we only found Jacques, paralysed and bleeding heavily. The others could barely make out his wounds in the darkness, but I could see he was gushing blood. "Ingvar, you must do something quickly, or he will die." I said.
"But...I can only cast spells in the name of... Kay." he said, referring of course to Kalithé.
"What happened? I thought you are a follower of Eliamne?" I asked.
"I can't! She's gone and I can't cast any spells in her name any more. I need to do it the old-fashioned, surgery-kind of way, or in the name of..." he didn't finish his sentence.
I swallowed. "Very well."
Ingvar readied himself and started his spell, but before I knew it my hands were around his throat, an instinctive reaction to the words, the invocation of Kalithé. Memories surfaced. Amras, crying, and slowly admitting: "I...serve...Kalithé."
Asterion, prowling in front of me like a caged beast, and starting a spell, in the name of Kalithé.
"Captain! Captain!" Grigory tried to pry me off, and I dropped my hands. Ingvar coughed. "So..." he squeaked. "I guess I'll do it the old-fashioned way?"
Radag'hen approached me as I walked back into the village, and she explained what the trouble with the timefaun was. "Last year I wanted to have a vision, but he interfered. He said there was a price to pay for the vision. I can't... He wants me to leave, wants me to go with him."
"Go where?" I asked.
"I don't know. But I know I can't leave the Anarquendor. I am not ready."
"What can I do to help?" I asked, but Radag'hen waved her hand. "I'll talk to him again."
When we walked returned to the Anarquendor camp, we encountered a group of people standing around. They were doing something to the wood plates that held the signs of the Gods. I walked around their circle and noticed they'd broken the plates in two and had mixed things up.
"What are you doing?" Himdir asked them, but they told us to leave them to it.
"No, wait. Let me just fix this." I said. I picked up one half of the sign of Rystill and walked around the circle to the other side. There, I tossed the half of Doran aside and placed both halfs of Rystill together.
"There, all done." I said, and we walked off. I went to Captain Soban's camp, where I ran into Hubrecht.
"Funny thing." I said. "Did you know there are some villagers breaking the signs of the Gods and performing a ritual around them? Isn't there a law against such things? Blasphemy, and so on?"
"Indeed there is!" Hubrecht said indignantly.
"Yes, I figuered you might want to save Haldor from their circle." I said. "I'll join you."
We returned to the circle, where a sad young man was busy trying to draw a circle in the sand with his heel. I ignored him and grabbed the half of Rystill's sign, which was again wedged up to half of Doran.
"Hey! Stay out of the circle!" the people in the ritual shouted.
I wove in and out of the circle, reasoning that they might not dare close it with me inside -- which would give them a whole new and interesting world of trouble to deal with -- and walked to the other side of the circle, picking up the other half of Rystill's sign.
Khatt had also joined us at the edge of the circle, and she picked up Doran's discarded signs. So far, three Gods' signs had been saved from these bumbling idiots, who apparantly were quite ready to blame me for upsetting the pantheon.
Himdir and I made our way to the grove, where I tried to fit the two halves together as neatly as I could, and said a few words just to be sure. At least Rystill was safe, for now.
Sunday
Grigory and Krughal approached the Anarquendor camp, ready for training. Grigory quickly grabbed Shivaun's broken sign, while I went with one of the only ones whose sign I remembered: Driscoll, God of Wine and Knowledge. I could do worse than him. Bertie was one of Driscoll's paladins and so was Madeleine.
We stood on the signs, playing skaak, and I kicked Grigory about while he tried to punch me off my sign. It was brutal, but a good training.
Krughal paused us, handing a flask of water, and then came up with our next task: to carry Reinard from one side of the meadow to the other. I dare say Grigory had the worst of it, he was just a bit shorter than I was and most of the heavily armoured paladin's weight would rest on him.
And then Jacques arrived and wanted us to carry the philactrie of Benjamin to the Bar, where the Order of the Hammer were waiting for it.
The shaman Alaron and Arevalo had been talking with, came to the Anarquendor camp. Alaron was excited about the stories he'd been told so far, but he'd sworn an oath not to tell these stories to others, on pain of death. He respected this oath, but could not hide his enthusiasm when he asked me and Sumolan to join them.
The shaman was a painted human, carrying a skull-shaped wooden staff, and he spoke of Alpha and Omega: those who lead and those who allow the Alpha to lead. We were asked if we would be willing to be omega to the barbarians, and after a moment's thought, and glancing at me to see how I would react, Sumolan said that the Anarquendor would, for now, allow the alpha to lead.
We heard some disturbance in the forest, and Himdir and I took to the woods, sneaking towards the noise. We heard dogs barking, but also the rustle of goblins passing. When finally we met a villager, it was one of the humans and he'd been wounded badly. He lay coughing up blood at my feet, and I asked him what he was doing in the forest.
"We were picking herbs." he said. I'd seen his companions flee, leaving him behind, so we had him alone for now.
"Did you ask permission to pick these herbs?" I asked, rifling through his pockets. He couldn't even raise a feeble hand to stop me. There was a healing herb in his pouch, evidence that he'd picked herbs recently.
"Yes. I can't remember... who." he coughed again.
"I will give you once chance," I said, holding up the herb, but his eyes stared to the world beyond this one.
His companions returned shortly afterward, asking what had happened. I told them we were too late to help their friend.
"What were you doing out here anyway?" Himdir asked.
"Picking herbs." one answered.
"Did you ask permission?" I replied. One sputtered that he didn't know he had to ask permission, but the other one said he'd forgotten. I nodded to Himdir, stood close behind the one I recognised as being Lord Blackwater's squire, and took his life as I had tried to take his master's life. We removed all herbs from their pouches and made our way back, only to find that barbarians were attacking the village.
And Quel'Zar who asked for help.
"We can't come close to the totems." I said. "We will be influenced."
"But we need your help!" the high-elf said.
I nodded, thoughtfully. I glanced at Himdir.
Together, we walked towards the totems, being welcomed by the barbarians. I stood looking at the short pole, not even half a meter long, while behind me the villagers gathered, ready to stop us.
I turned to face them. Behind me, a barbarian started to cast a spell, and I felt lean and powerful like a bobcat. I drew an arrow from my quiver and loosed it at Reinard. Another found Grigory Eventyr. Arrows flew true time after time, while people in front of me shouted for me to stop.
A mage stepped forward and through the red haze in front of my eyes I could not make out her face, only that she wore red. She cast a spell and the bow in my left hand crumbled to sawdust. I immediately drew my sword with my right hand, until that too was fumbled and I was forced to continue with my dagger. Ah, Rystill! So sweet your calling!
Finally, I was beaten again, blackness took me, but as always, most of the villagers were careful not too wound me too much.
When I came to, it was one of the order of Hazmat that was standing over me. I opened my eyes a bit, and whispered to him "perhaps it's better if I fake it for a little while. If you understand me."
"I do, aye I do." he said, and withdrew. Next to me, I felt Himdir shift, and place a dagger in my hand. It was too bad I hadn't seen Lord Blackwater around. Should he try and cut my throat, he'd be in for a big surprise.
The battle shifted and someone picked us up. I still played my part, pretending to be knocked-out, and people made sure the totem was nowhere near me. If anything, it was probably for the best.
Finally, I came to, drank some water and rubbed my sore head. The barbarians were gone, dead or dispersed, and I saw the shaman we'd been talking to earlier that day lie died in the clearing.
We returned to the Anarquendor camp, where we found Radag'hen. She'd been worried sick about the timefaun, but before I could speak with her, Lyavanna came to me.
"The Adarans were back. They could not agree to a smaller tattoo on my arm. But I'm not going to agree with having a tattoo in my face. No way!"
"Very well." I nodded. "Now what?"
"Well;" she sighed. "They will return and go higher up the command chain, no doubt."
"I wish them good luck dealing with the Queen and her generals." I smiled encouragingly.
And then the timefaun returned. The previous night he had given me visions of dying Anarquendor, and if this was what it meant to be a seeer, than I was very happy not to be one. Nostradrama had been with Radag'hen, trying to help her understand, and it seemed to me that I got the gist of it where Radag'hen did not. In the end it had been Lyavanna who had said she'd pay the price if Radag'hen would not, and the timefaun had gone to his knees for her.
Radag'hen had been wroth with me, and still was, when she came to me. "I don't understand, Captain. Why did you take my knife away from me?" she asked.
I didn't want to answer her directly, bluntly, because I thought it would not help her with the problems she already was facing.
"You told me that you agreed to a price with this faun. And now he is asking for it, and you are not willing to face your problem." I said, carefully doling out my words, seeing if she understood. "I can understand that if you have a problem, that you come to me, or to another Anarquendor and ask for help. I can understand that if you have a problem the Anarquendor will offer their help, because they see you are struggling. But what I cannot condone is you running away from your problems, and another Anarquendor taking up your burden because you do not face it. That I cannot condone." I took a deep breath. "I was ready to take your weapons away from you and send you from this village, kick you out of the Anarquendor for that, to make your way in the wilderness without a knife if you could, but you said you would talk to the faun, that you would fix it."
Radag'hen nodded. There were nearly tears in her eyes. "Well, he's back." she sighed.
"Greyelf!" the timefaun came closer. "Your time has come. Come now."
"I want to stay." Radag'hen said. "I have pupils here, my work is not done, I don't want to leave the Anarquendor."
Behind me, Lyavanna made a choking sound. In an instant, Quel'zar was at her side, stroking her forehead and trying his best while slowly, the elf he loved was sinking to the floor and choking.
"Yesterday you had time to say goodbye. Today, you will not come?" the faun said, tilting his head as if he could better see her that way.
"Do something, she is choking!" Quel'zar said.
Radag'hen looked at Lyavanna. Tears were streaming down her face now. She looked at each of us in turn, and then said to the faun: "Alright."
He drew a sign in the ground, the sign of the ritual we had done some months before. "Here is your path. This is the rock, you could not see past. And you were willing to pay the price."
Radag'hen stepped over the circle in the ground. A cross-wise line was in front of her feet.
"And here is the boundary. Come with me."
Radag'hen turned her head, looked at each of us in turn once more. She looked at her feet, at the line before them. And then she raised her head and stepped over the line, disappearing before our eyes.
Lyavanna slowly came to, and Luthine was singing a soft song. Each of us contemplating what had happened.
From the woods came a long scream, a loud "Noooooooooo!" dragged out from Immanuel, who fell to his feet before the sign, and lay there sobbing for the loss of his teacher.
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Date: 2011-10-10 09:18 am (UTC)Pat