Exodus of the Xandim (GOLLANCZ S.F.)

by Maggie Furey

  ‘But what can we do about it?’ Corisand asked in dismay. ‘How could we possibly fight a Moldan and an Evanesar together, not to mention Hellorin?’

  ‘Katmai cannot follow you into the realm of the mundane. The presence of an Evanesar would be too much for the fragile fabric of your reality – it would be torn apart like a cobweb. Our brother has simply used his powers to increase those of Ghabal, which makes the Moldan a formidable adversary indeed. We other Evanesar can, however, use you and Iriana as our emissaries in much the same way. We cannot give our additional powers to you directly, but if we could but pass part of our power into the Fialan—’

  ‘The Fialan?’ Iriana interrupted. ‘But, madam, that’s impossible. Think of the battle we had to get the Stone out of this realm. We dare not bring it back again.’

  ‘As I was about to say,’ replied Denali with some asperity, ‘it would be impossible for us to use the Fialan. You and Corisand, however, would be our conduits – if you were prepared to take the risk.’

  ‘Great One, no!’ Taku protested. ‘Their forms are too frail. They were never meant to endure such immeasurable energies.’

  ‘Then we are lost, for unless we find some way to confine the magic for long enough to get them back to their own realm and drain it into the Fialan to make it safe, then Ghabal will be able to rampage unchecked through the mundane world.’

  The silence stretched out as all of them tried to think of a way to put their plan into action. ‘Surely there must be some way to shield them from these titanic powers,’ Aurora said at last.

  Shield – shield! The word suddenly set off an explosion of ideas in Corisand’s mind. ‘Wait,’ she said excitedly. ‘We know that I can make air into a solid shield to stop hostile spells from coming through, and so can Iriana. Could there be a way to make a shield that can hold magic in, instead of keeping it out?’

  ‘It’s certainly a possibility,’ the cautious Taku said, ‘but can the answer really be that simple, Corisand? And you, Iriana, are in a weakened state following the injuries you sustained in your own world. Do you think that between you, you would have the strength to hold in so much power for long enough?’

  ‘Well, they’ll never know until they try,’ Aurora said impatiently. ‘Besides, we can help them.’ She turned her gaze on the massive Evanesar of Earth. ‘What do you think, O Great One? Is Corisand’s suggestion achievable?’

  ‘Let me think,’ Denali replied. ‘It would be possible to keep an opening in your shielded receptacle to allow the magic to be put inside, but I doubt, Windeye, that you would be able to seal it in time, before the power escaped again.’

  ‘We might be able to accomplish it,’ Taku said, ‘if all five of us contributed some of our power to making the shield and then sealing it. That way it would belong to both worlds, and should last long enough for Corisand and Iriana to take it back. Then the Windeye can act as the conduit to pass the magic into the Fialan.’

  ‘Why can’t I help with that?’ Iriana asked indignantly.

  ‘Because only one of you can wield the Stone at one time, and because you will need all your strength to complete your healing when you return,’ Denali said firmly. ‘Be patient, Wizard, and let Corisand take on this part of the burden. Your task will be to conserve your energy and your powers for the battles that will come, for that is where you will be most needed.’

  Iriana sighed. ‘It’s hard to be patient when I want so much to help.’

  ‘Your time will come, my friend,’ Taku told her. ‘Never fear.’

  ‘All right – but I will have a part in creating this thing,’ she added belligerently. ‘I deserve that, and more to the point, you need me.’

  ‘You certainly will,’ Taku replied with a chuckle. ‘For you are quite correct, we do need you.’

  At that moment a new voice interrupted them. Corisand and Iriana looked around in astonishment to see Basileus. He had left his isolated rocky pillar in the midst of the ocean and come among them once more, but taking his preferred form when moving about in the Elsewhere, that of a gigantic bear.

  ‘Basileus!’ Denali sounded astonished. ‘It has been aeons since you last left your sea-girt pinnacle. You are always most welcome among us – but what brings you here at this time?’

  ‘I wished to speak to the Windeye,’ the Moldan said in his low, booming, grinding voice.

  ‘Me?’

  ‘You indeed, O Shaman of the Xandim. Since you left me last, I have been giving much thought to your mission to save your people, and I wondered where, once you have freed them – for I have every confidence that you will – you plan to take them? Have you a home for them in mind?’

  ‘No,’ Corisand confessed, feeling more than a little chagrined. ‘I’ve been concentrating so hard on simply rescuing them from Hellorin, I never really considered what would happen afterwards.’

  ‘Then I may have a solution, if you find it acceptable. Some hundred leagues or more to the south of Tyrineld, between the realms of the Wizards and the Skyfolk, lies my own mountain, the form my consciousness inhabits when I am in the mundane world. It is called the Wyndveil, and the lands on its lower slopes and around its feet are fair and fertile. I would like to offer it to you and your people, to be your home too. Since the departure and death of the Dwelven I have been too lonely to return there, but who knows? If I have friends dwelling with me once more, I may just change my mind and come back to the mundane world to help you.’

  He gave a deep, rumbling chuckle at the sight of Corisand’s open-mouthed astonishment. ‘Well, Windeye, what say you? Does my plan sound good to you?’

  ‘Oh yes – oh please – I mean thank you!’ Such unexpected good fortune had left Corisand reeling. Though she had not consciously been considering the future, her concerns must have been lurking, buried beneath more pressing problems, at the back of her mind, for suddenly she felt lighter than air, as if she might float away at any second. ‘A real home of our own, under no one’s sway. Basileus, I can never, never thank you enough for this. It will mean everything to me and my people. It will mean we have a real future.’

  ‘You need not thank me, my friend,’ Basileus replied. ‘Indeed, if you succeed in your mission I will be in your debt. I have been watching your progress in the mundane world. I know how you and your friends are helping to release the Dwelven from their endless suffering. For that alone, my race will be deeply in your debt. It will be my pleasure and my honour to give you a home.’

  ‘If she ever gets that far,’ Aurora’s acerbic voice interrupted. ‘I hate to spoil this touching scene, but we need to give our attention to dealing with Ghabal, if the Xandim, the Wizards, or anyone else for that matter, are to be truly safe in the future.’

  ‘You are right, and I beg forgiveness for my interruption.’ Basileus sounded humble enough, but there was a twinkle in his eye as he looked up at the great eagle. ‘I will detain you no longer, but Windeye, once you have returned to the normal world, and if you free your tribe, remember my promise and seek out the Wyndveil. It will be the home of your people for all time.’

  Suddenly, soundlessly, he was gone, leaving Corisand with further thanks unspoken.

  ‘Now,’ Denali said into the silence that followed his departure. ‘Let us continue. We were speaking of a vessel to contain our power so that the Wizard and Windeye can take it to the mundane world and transfer it to the Fialan. Corisand, can you begin?’

  Corisand pulled together her whirling thoughts and nodded. She had a long way to go before she could think of taking her tribe to their new home. ‘How big do you think it should be?’

  ‘Perhaps about the size of your head,’ the Great One replied. ‘Something reasonably small will be much easier for you to control.’

  ‘Will all that power fit into such a small space?’

  Denali chuckled. ‘Power can be compressed to fit into something as tiny as a drop of rain, if need be – though working at that scale does take considerable skill.’

  ‘W
ell, I’ll do my best.’ Corisand tried to ignore the churning in her stomach. Her own life, and probably Iriana’s too, depended on her getting this right, and everyone was depending on her. She took a deep breath and switched to her Othersight so that she could see all the silvery currents of air that moved around her. Stretching out her arms, she gathered the strands up in handfuls and began to spin them into her usual shield – except that instead of enclosing herself inside it, she made it much smaller, and left herself outside.

  ‘Now, Iriana,’ Denali said softly, and on her left, Corisand felt the Wizard adding her own Air magic to the construct – then combining it with her powers of Earth and Fire, rendering the shield as hard and durable as diamond, and in addition, making it visible to normal eyes. The result was a sphere of transcendent beauty about the size of the Windeye’s head that turned and shimmered in the air, throwing off starbursts of glittering rainbow sparks as it caught the light.

  ‘Now it is my turn,’ Taku said. Lifting his head, he breathed gently on the sparkling globe. A small patch turned white and opaque, as if frosted over, then the ice appeared to melt, leaving an open space in the side of the sphere, into which the serpent blew the mist of his icy, magic-laden breath. Then with a flick of his nose he sent the orb spinning high into the air, to rest on a small ledge, high on the craggy face of Denali.

  ‘This time it is up to me,’ the Great One declared. It was difficult for Corisand to see the sphere, so high and far away on its cliff-face ledge, but it looked as though the tiny, shining mote gradually changed colour from pale iridescence to glimmering gold as it filled with Denali’s power. Then, after a time, the Great One called to Aurora. ‘It is done. The time has come for the vessel to be sealed.’

  The mighty eagle swooped down swiftly and picked up the shining globe in her claws. It burst into an explosion of blue-white incandescence, and bolts of lightning shot into it, turning the receptacle so bright that it lit up the whole night sky. One final flare, brighter than the rest, sealed the magic within. ‘Done,’ Aurora’s voice rang out. ‘It is sealed. Now you can take it back, Corisand.’

  ‘And as soon as you do,’ Taku added, ‘we must return you to your own world, for even the receptacle that we have made will not contain the power of the Evanesar for long.’

  ‘What do we do with it when we get back?’ the Windeye asked. ‘How can this magic be transferred into the Fialan?’

  ‘As we have previously agreed, you will be the conduit,’ Denali said. ‘Hold the globe in one hand and the Fialan in the other, and use all your will to command the Stone of Fate to absorb the power you are sending to it.’

  ‘And don’t linger,’ Aurora added. ‘What you are doing is extremely dangerous, Corisand. Get the energy through your body and into the Fialan as fast as possible, lest it burn you out.’

  ‘I understand,’ Corisand said. ‘And thank you, O Great One. Thank you, my dear friends Taku and Aurora, for everything.’

  ‘I also thank you,’ Iriana added. ‘Without you, I would have perished. When all this is over, I hope that we can still come back here and see you again.’

  ‘We will see,’ Denali said. ‘You still have a long way to go before all this is over. Now, farewell to you both, and may fortune favour you.’

  ‘Farewell, farewell,’ echoed Taku and Aurora, as the Elsewhere faded around the Wizard and the Windeye, and they suddenly found themselves back by the campfire in the drab, everyday world.

  Iriana shot up from her recumbent position. ‘Quick, quick,’ she shouted to Corisand. Taine, Aelwen, Dael and Kaldath, firing questions, tried to gather round their companions, but were driven back by the blazing globe of incandescence in the Windeye’s hand. Quickly Corisand pulled the Fialan from its leather pouch and, with her entire will, commanded it to absorb the energy from the otherworldly sphere.

  The energy flashed through her, and she cried out with pain. It felt as if her flesh was being seared from her bones, so intense was the magic. Then suddenly it was all over. The blazing orb vanished into nothingness; all its power drained and passed through Corisand into the Fialan. The Windeye slumped to the ground, shivering, and Iriana helped her sit up and placed a blanket round her shoulders. ‘Is it done?’ she asked softly.

  ‘It’s done,’ Corisand confirmed. She threw her arms around the Wizard and hugged her. ‘We did it. We actually did it.’

  ‘What in the name of thunder did you do?’ roared Taine. ‘Will somebody please explain?’

  ‘And what happened to you, Iriana?’ Dael added. His voice shook a little. ‘We thought you were dying.’

  Windeye and Wizard looked at one another, and burst out laughing. ‘Better make yourselves comfortable,’ Corisand said. ‘It’s a long story . . .’

  ‘But while we’re telling it, everyone had better start packing up the camp, because the Evanesar have healed me, and we’re ready to go.’ The Wizard looked at her friend.

  ‘That’s right,’ the Windeye said. ‘It’s finally time to free my people.’

  27

  ~

  FLIGHT OF FREEDOM

  Hovering below treetop level, the Windeye and her companions peered through a screen of boughs at the distant Phaerie city. For the last few miles they had crept through the forest, taking advantage of the thick cover that the trees provided and hidden by a shadow cloak that the Windeye, her powers buoyed by the Fialan, had spun large enough to cover them all. By now Tiolani must surely have found out what had happened to the warriors she had sent out after Corisand and her companions. She would have flying sentinels guarding her city, and she would be thirsting for revenge. Oddly, however, despite the lofty vision of Boreas, whom they had sent ahead so that Iriana could scout through his eyes, they had seen no airborne warriors – yet, as Taine said, that did not mean there was no one there. ‘They can use spells of glamourie to conceal themselves from us, just as we mean to shield ourselves from them,’ he said in mindspeech. ‘And—’

  ‘Wait!’ Iriana interrupted sharply. ‘Boreas is flying over the stables now. There’s a mass of Xandim in the fields outside. Did Hellorin normally keep so many packed so close together?’

  ‘No, he certainly didn’t. What can Tiolani be up to? I want to see for myself what’s going on.’ Corisand landed between the trees, followed by the others and, once Iriana had dismounted, morphed to her human form. As her companions gathered around her to care for her body while she was absent from it, she quickly switched to her Othersight and, snatching up handfuls of the streaming air, spun them into the silvery disc of a mirror, just as the Evanesar had taught her. Pouring her consciousness into it, she rode the winds towards the complex of paddocks, barns and stables that had been her home for most of her life.

  Shock ran through her. All the Xandim were there! She was their Windeye – she felt a sense of completeness she had not known when the herd were scattered between the city and the outlying meadows near the mountains, where they reared their foals, or rested after an arduous season of hunting, under the watchful eyes of a group of Aelwen’s stablehands who stayed nearby in a small cabin. Relief and suspicion warred within the Windeye. On the one hand, this had solved her greatest problem – how to free all of the Xandim if they were scattered over a wide area. On the other, however, why were they all clustered here like this? It could only be a trap.

  Tiolani must think I’m a fool.

  From the body language of the herd, Corisand could see how uneasy they were. There were strangers hiding somewhere nearby, and the barn was the most likely place. She followed the flow of the night wind to the wooden building, slipped in through the open window at the top – and came face to face with a Phaerie warrior.

  For one shocked instant she recoiled, forgetting that she was invisible to him, then she pulled herself together and slipped through the opening. Sure enough, in the glimmer of the flying spell she could see them. Tiolani and a number of warriors; so many that they were crowded into the barn. But unless Hellorin’s daughter had seriously under
estimated the Windeye and her companions, there were not enough to defend the entire herd of Xandim.

  Corisand left the barn and rode the winds towards the city – and sure enough, there were the rest of the Phaerie forces, led by Cordain whom she recognised from former Wild Hunts, concealed behind the northern city walls. That was all she needed to know. Quickly, she returned to her friends and her own body, and told them what she had discovered.

  ‘I thought it must be a trap when Boreas saw all those horses,’ Iriana said.

  Taine shrugged. ‘It doesn’t make that much difference to our plans – except that now we’ll be able to turn the enemy’s trap back on them. In fact, they’ve done us a favour. Not only have they collected all your people for you, Corisand, but they’ve also massed their forces for us. Tiolani has no idea of warfare, and Cordain is an administrator, not a strategist.’

  ‘It will still pay us to be wary,’ Kaldath warned. ‘I don’t want us to commit ourselves then find that they have an unpleasant surprise up their sleeve after all.’

  ‘Well, there’s not much we can do about it if there is,’ Taine argued. ‘Besides, whatever they may or may not have up their sleeves, we have the Fialan and your Dwelven up ours.’

  ‘Then let’s do it,’ Corisand said, impatient with all this debate. ‘We all know the plan. Aelwen will apport herself, Taine and Kaldath with their mounts to the skies above Eliorand along with the Dwelven forces, and—’

  ‘Aelwen, are you really sure you can apport three people at once, and the horses too?’ Taine was frowning. ‘You couldn’t do it when we escaped from Eliorand the last time.’

  ‘I didn’t believe I could – but I had precious little time to think at all when we were ambushed by Cordain,’ Aelwen replied. ‘This time it’s only for a very short distance though, and the horses will be buoyed by Corisand’s flying spell.’