Laelliandir, sensing her discomfort, sought to persuade her. "I promise we won't stop until we find Luminear. Lonewolf rode to the south, so they are coming. A few hours won't hurt us, and we'll hear if they ride back this way." Bella listened to reason, but she wasn't thrilled.
"It's what we do when we run into them that concerns me," Fern mumbled softly. Albatros and Markus harbored similar fears. Laelliandir and Bella seemed to be the only ones sure of what they must do, regardless of how they might achieve it. Bella was driven by emotion, while Laelliandir's sense of duty to do what is right motivated him. Outnumbered, Bella eventually gave in to reason and agreed to rest.
After a short time longer on the bank, they strolled uphill to their destination. Along the way, Fern let his curiosity get the best of him. "How did you two find us?"
"Albatros," Laelliandir answered vaguely.
"Master tracker?" asked Fern.
"Master? No, but he's not bad. I wish we were so skilled." Laelliandir looked to Albatros to explain. Albatros obliged.
"Minotaurs tame animals. We communicate well with them. We had a little help from a pair of eyes above," he said, which made them all look to the sky as if expecting to find someone watching them. Laelliandir laughed at their response.
"Xio?" Fern asked. He wasn't a believer in the deity but was baffled at the explanation.
"Xio isn't an animal! I don't think," said Markus.
"No, not Xio," Bella said. "A bird." She smiled, glancing back to Albatros for confirmation. "Yes?"
Albatros nodded. "A friendly pair of eyes upon wings are always welcome companions."
"I would say so. It's a wonder you didn't bring a herd of lions," Fern said.
"I don't command them. I communicate. We understand one another, and sometimes I can get a favor or two."
"Or in your rhinoceros' case, several," Laelliandir said.
"Aye, and reason enough to allow her and the horse to rest. They deserve it." It was clear to the others that Albatros saw their beasts as more than just simple means of travel. He cared for them and understood and respected them. In the end, everyone agreed to rest and allow the animals to heal.
***
Once they settled in the small cave, Markus and Fern nodded off quickly. Bella stayed up stubbornly for a while longer, but not for lack of trying to sleep. Her mind and body were too restless as she anxiously tossed and turned. She was a wreck fighting hard to ignore her thoughts, pretending to be fine. Laelliandir and Albatros looked after their camp to assure they weren't spotted and allow their company some much-needed sleep before their journey. Albatros shared with Laelliandir his concerns on the matter, but Laelliandir remained confident.
"Our path is not only to protect the mountain and let the dragon sleep but protect our own. Luminear is one of us. If we stop my uncle, then we accomplish two goals. Without their High King, perhaps the army will leave these lands. We protect the black cliffs, let the dragon sleep, stop my cursed uncle, and save Luminear. We can achieve all of these things down this path."
"Achieved or failed. It is perilous."
"Aye, but we won't know unless we try. Therefore, we shall."
"My friendly bird has not returned to give me word or us warning. If we come across a small army of several hundred coming in from Magwhen? Or if the Divoxians in Kinelenn ride out to meet Neighraellium? We are few, and alone," Albatros warned. "You think if we succeed, Bella will take over her commanding position and empty the soldiers from Tragmont?"
Laelliandir nodded. "It is unlikely but possible. This is not just for Tragmont and the dragon or my vendetta against Lonewolf or Neighraellium. I genuinely meant what I said. Luminear is one of us, and if possible, I want her safe. I meant every word. It's who we are. They are in my care. I shouldn’t have given up. I should have returned long ago and tried harder."
"I know you meant it. And it is who you are. What I fear is you following your heart and leaving wisdom behind."
"I don't know. But I know I won't sit by and do nothing. I have done that for too long, and it has gotten me nowhere. A man that refuses to act on what he knows must be done is not a man at all." Albatros smiled from within. Laelliandir's response was typical of him, and Albatros admired the sentiment but found Laelliandir's plans improbable.
Albatros was not the only one listening as Bella overheard every word as she feigned sleep. Her take differed from Albatros's. She found comfort in his words, and despite all that had happened, Laelliandir hadn't changed at all. She trusted him and knew he would allow no person to hurt his family without consequence. To Bella, Laelliandir was a natural leader who stood against injustice, bound by a code of honor that she saw in few people. He would never turn his back on those he cared for. After all this passing time, he was still here, scarred, but unbroken. He was incorruptible, and for this, Bella trusted his protection. This was the man that helped mold her with compassion. Like he, she would never back down or turn away from what must be done. This was Luminear, her blood and closest companion from the start. She couldn't turn her back for this alone, but hearing Laelliandir's words was a clear reminder of how loyal he was to them, willing to lay his life down if it came to that. Did they deserve his loyalty? After all the trouble Bella and Luminear had brought to this man, he surely did not hold them responsible even if Bella partially did.
That old feeling she had when around him had returned, and she was taken back to a time long since passed. Part of her still very much loved this man. She wanted to run in and hug him and be held. It wasn't fair what had been done to them. But her disloyal thoughts disgraced her worse. The feelings made her guilty of infidelity as she lay next to Markus, watching him sleep. Yet, when she beheld Markus, there was no question he stayed a shining light in her life too. He always made her smile and helped her remember the simpler things. He was her best friend and had been by her side all along. Markus had been undeniably reliable from the day she met him. This was something she could never say about Laelliandir, regardless of whose fault it was.
Nonetheless, Bella took great comfort and joy that Laelliandir and Albatros were back in her life, especially Laelliandir. She wanted so much to believe the ways they had all been wronged would somehow be made right, and at this moment, with trust in friends and family, it all seemed possible. This moment of clarity and belonging eased Bella's troubled mind. Without realizing it, her fears slipped away, and sleep found her, safe with her rescuers.
Chapter Two
Lost
Icaz tossed an apple in her lap and put a flask of water up to her lips for her to drink before he gazed upwards at a starry sky with only a sliver of the moon casting light. With Icaz feeding her, Luminear wolfed down the food and water. Beyond weak, her naturally slender frame was gaunt. Two days passed since she last ate, and a full day since a beverage crossed her lips.
"Don’t overdo it!" Icaz ordered, worried she would choke herself to death. Too hungry to reply, Luminear continued chomping down on her apple messily. "Remind me when you need to eat. I will not remember." Icaz lectured, but she only nodded in understanding.
She had reminded him several times they needed to take a break, but he ignored her every single time. Icaz was too busy obsessing over his plans. She didn’t understand the nature of his fixation, although she had asked him before. His explanations never made sense to her, but under the medallion’s spell, she spoke freely, behaving like her usual self even though regulated. Nothing this man might do would scare her in her current state of mind. He was just another man, a very deranged one, in Luminear’s opinion.
"What are you doing?" Luminear asked after finishing her apple. Icaz sunk his head in close to her to peer into her eyes. The two sat against the wall, their knees bent, in tall grass that surrounded them for miles.
"Feeding you?" The answer was so obvious Icaz wondered if this was a trick question. Luminear shook her head and looked into his creepy crackling-veined eyes.
"All of this, I mean. This gate and destiny. What
is it for?" In her uninhibited state, Luminear could not stop herself from asking. "So you take me to this gate, and I open it. Why do you believe what is there is for you? This mother person told you to do this, and you follow her orders without question." Icaz watched her like a carnivore stalking potential prey, hanging on her every word.
"Our mother!" he snapped. "This is what we must do." Luminear smiled at him as if he were a foolish child.
"If she created me by magic, then I’m not her child. I’m her idea in mortal form. No birth."
"You’re her child! Don’t pester me!"
"Wait. Will you hear me out?" Luminear didn’t wait for his response, "You told me you found her, this woman in the water. Why do you think she’s your mother? You say you were magical in your world, but what if you were a target like me? What if she chose you because of your ability to do what she needed? And also you are confused. Easy to influence because you lack the stability of having a mother. Like me. I used to yearn for my parents."
Now confused and irritated, Icaz scowled as he shook his head. "You make no sense! My mother wouldn’t use me. She needed me to fulfill what must be done. You. The gate. That’s it."
"I think she used you. What do you get out of this? Why do you want it?" She sensed trickery at the very root of this whole plan.
"Mother? Maybe power?"
"How much power do you want? You own a nation. A country. You have great power."
"Bah! I have to do this! There is one purpose for you. And me. We do it, and we are rewarded. It is what mother wants," he reminded her yet again.
Luminear laughed once more. "It is a lot of work for one man to take care of two children. I suspect she would be surprised you made it this far. Lonewolf offered the help you needed to complete your task, but I still think you are being used."
"What do you mean used?" Icaz asked.
"What does she get out of this? Have you ever wondered why she put you up to this? Why send Bella and me here? And you too. It’s very peculiar."
Icaz rarely tolerated her in this state. Tonight he had half a mind to use his medallion to force her to sleep. Yet, a part of him wanted to engage with her.
"She had to leave. Had to go. I had to be quick, or it would have been too late. She wanted it opened and had my interest in mind." He became more agitated and screamed out his words. "This has to be done. That’s all I know. What more do you need?"
"Why was she in a pool?"
"Shining pool. Marvelous water." That memory calmed him a bit, and in his mind, he heard his mother’s voice again.
This one, I have blessed with a mighty gift of power. The dark-haired one you must use to open a gate, and with the medallion under your control, you can use her as a key. When she’s old enough. Patience. This task is the most important thing you will ever do.
His mother’s voice. Her words. No matter how much time passed, her instructions never strayed far from his thoughts. Now he stood on the threshold of completing the mission she’d ordered so long ago. He started to drift away again, caught up in his plans, but Luminear drew him back as she shared her theory.
"You say she’s in the water that she cannot leave. What if the Lady of the Water wanted out? If I were in that situation, then I would want out. If I could create and use people, then I would try to use them to get free. I would do anything in my power to escape." When Luminear sought to convince him, she never considered how her words reflected her own situation. "Your thoughts are broken." Icaz pondered what she said a moment before going back on the attack.
"I don’t like it when you jabber on like this. You’re either too quiet or too talkie. And what do you mean? Broken thoughts! What about you? You can’t decide if you’re scared or cheerful."
"That’s because of this thing around my neck." She craned her neck to underline her explanation.
"I know that!" he snapped back and snarled before letting out a sigh of frustration. "What is it with you questioning everything? Why can’t you let it go?"
"I have little in the way of entertainment, and I’m stuck with you. Lots of time to ponder, and I wonder about things. I wonder who you used to be as a child. What made you this way?" These questions boggled her mind, and she never got a satisfactory answer. "Were you this way as a boy?" Icaz sifted through his remembrances as far back as he dared, which for him was no pleasant feat. He grimaced as he shuffled through memories of Neighraellium, Casen, and others. It took a while to find his own memories, or at least the ones he claimed were his. The boy in his mind seemed so foreign to him; he almost didn’t recognize himself at first.
"Why do you want to know?"
"Because I wonder if you even remember. Are you a person or are you nothing but a dead people collection? Who were you?"
Icaz said nothing as he recalled himself as a child. His memories upset him. The mother in his early memories was cruel and half-mad. She had believed him to be a crux omen who would bring only trouble to the world.
"My people disowned me because they deemed my magic unnatural. They tossed me out. Pushed me aside to live in the wild." There was a faraway look on his face as Icaz recalled that time. His foggy mind might play tricks on him, but these memories belonged to him.
"Isn’t magic common where you come from?"
"It was. I lived with wizards, warlocks, witches, and many beings of sorcery. Mages! Magirsum was their race. Yes! I’m a magirsum. I live as long. But I have powers. My powers are weak here. My medallion carries within it a piece of my power." Icaz explained, but he had shared this information before. She wanted more.
"Why was your power so terrible that your people cast you out?"
Icaz shrugged and said, "Mother hated me when I was young. Others possessed different powers. Normal powers! Gwiddles and Fiddles, they manipulated elements. Like casting fire or weather twisting. Many could even FLY! Like a bird. Some brought life to beasts or plants. Healers they were. Me. I could go unseen if I chose. Sneaky. Invisible." Icaz remembered angering people when he became invisible, but he didn’t mean harm in his youth.
"That doesn’t seem so bad," said Luminear. "What power is in your red orb around my neck? Power to distort thoughts?"
"Over there, my eyes hold the same power. I can make people do what I want. Stay in their minds long enough and I’d learn things. These things never left me. Ever. Their needs and desires became mine. My power they called dark and dangerous, and my people banished me. So I stayed traveling for years. Living off others. Stayed close to my home, but sometimes I’d sneak back undetected. I snuck everywhere. The more I used others, the more confused I became. Strange."
"No doubt." Luminear imagined what it might be like to live such a life. "You robbed people of parts of their minds and collected thoughts and emotions and memories that didn’t belong to you. You became depraved," Luminear guessed without caring if her words bothered him or not. "Then you found this woman in the shining pool?"
Icaz recalled journeying into mountains and finding hidden passages within caves. "Yes. I found a lost valley. A long valley hid in cliffs—sparkling water I found. I was old. Seven hundred, I think—possibly eight. Don’t know! But I found her there. She was my real mother and brought me in. The woman from my youth, a fraud. My mother was the lady in the water. She, too, was an outcast. She got trapped in the water right before I came here. To her, I was special."
As Luminear listened to him, she noticed how extraordinary this memory was to him. It made him proud and gave him purpose. It had been the one that led him to this moment. Luminear knew the rest of the story. Icaz’s powers and his lost soul made him easy to manipulate. Under her spell, he had gone adrift long ago, his mind now an unfathomable maze. Luminear refused to ponder in his direction too long for fear of getting sucked into the same sick vortex. Yet, she pitied him. Even though it seemed madness to feel anything for him but hatred, Luminear’s heart was too big for her own good.
"All right. Thank you," Luminear finally said.
Icaz’s ey
es swam in tears as he recalled every detail. As he remembered his past, he became so lost in his mind, he forgot how angry he had been with Luminear and her questions. Her words startled him from his trance.
"What? That’s it? Don’t ask if you don’t want to hear it!" he roared. "That’s it. You’re sleeping." He reached for her shackled hands, making sure they were secured and tight. The bonds he placed on her once she dismounted from her horse covered her entire palms and wrists. He took that precaution to be certain Luminear didn’t use his medallion against him. It was never clear if Lonewolf’s attempts to use his ornament had any effect, but he wasn’t about to risk Luminear turning his weapon against him if it was a possibility.
"I said thank you," she reminded him as she reconsidered everything he had said. Although the identity of the woman he called mother was unknown, Luminear distrusted the woman and realized the story did not add up. Something strange motivated the woman in the water to create Bella and herself and to send Icaz on this quest. While she could not foresee what might happen if she fulfilled this duty, she understood with certainty nothing good would come to anyone, Icaz included.
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