by Toni Cox
“Lord Kyreon,” Jaik said. “Is there something we forgot?”
“No, My Lord,” Kyreon replied, “but under the current circumstances and the danger we all face, we have decided it might be in the best interest of us all if we sent an ambassador with you to Shadow Hall. He can then attend your meetings and negotiate on behalf of the people of Braérn. I have already dispatched a letter to inform your father.”
Jaik narrowed his eyes, but his voice was calm when he replied. “And who did you have in mind for this? Is it going to be one of your Elders?”
“We have decided that Kanarel will accompany you, if it pleases My Lord. There is no one I trust more and he has been schooled in etiquette and war. A fine combination, even if I do say so myself.”
“Kanarel,” Jaik said, inclining his head towards the son of Lord Swiftfisher, “we would be honoured to have you accompany us. Is your horse ready? We are eager to be on our way.”
“It is indeed, Sir,” Kanarel replied, before turning to say his farewell to his father.
Maia and Jaik exchanged a brief glance and Riker guided his horse closer to Maia. He knew she had no great fondness for the man.
A short moment later a Horse Master led Kanarel’s bay mare, as well as another horse packed with his belongings, out of their stables. Although Maia was not completely happy with these new developments, she realised it did not really matter. He was nothing more than an annoyance and with Riker and her brother around, she need not fear Kanarel’s attentions. She was looking forward to going home and eager to get going.
It was a beautiful day to travel; the sky was clear and the sun warmed Maia’s face as she looked up, trying to spot Midnight flying high above them. Every now and then she thought she saw a black spec, but then she lost sight of it again. She knew he was there, but he was flying so high, not even she was able to see him. She had briefly told him about Kanarel, but because it had been of so little interest to her, Midnight had not even deemed to comment on it. He was, however, delighted that He-Of-Unshakable-Courage was now by her side and he ranged further than he had since they left on the journey and for the first time in two Moons went on the hunt. Maia was happy that he could take this time for himself, but knowing what he was about to do, she broke contact with him; she could not be in his mind when he hunted, it terrified her.
In the evening, they made camp. With Jaik’s men, they now numbered forty-four and it was a busy evening of setting up tents, cooking dinner, sitting around the fire. With such a large group, and with Midnight now back from hunting and nearby, she felt completely safe.
Nevertheless, when they retired, Jaik joined her in her tent. Maia briefly noticed Riker’s envious looks as they said good night and for the first time in her life she felt a little embarrassed that she lay with her brother at night like they used to when they were children. No one had ever commented on it; in fact, it was completely acceptable. Twins were so rare that the relationship between twins was treated as something magical and allowances were made that under normal circumstances might have been frowned upon.
That night, comfortable in the arms of her brother, she finally slept dreamless.
Blaid sat on his haunches and looked at the bloody mess before him. He had not intended to kill this man; he only wanted to question him; but the man had attacked, ferociously, and in the end Blaid had been forced to end it. He now looked at the grotesquely broken body and wondered who he was.
Almost two Moons had passed since he left Thala Yll. He had roamed far during that time, but his aim had been the same. His new mission was all he could think about and he tackled it with the single-mindedness typical of a Prime. The spoor eventually led him to Braérn, but he lost the scent within the vast city. He prowled the countryside around it, following some other scent, when he became aware of her.
Racing back to the city, he realised Maia was indeed in Braérn, and so was the other one. He snarled now at the thought of how close Maia came to death without her realising it. It was in his nature to feel when someone was close to death and the intensity with which he felt Maia’s frightened him more than anything else in his life. But, as suddenly as the threat had come, thus it had disappeared. He could not explain it; it was as if his quarry simply vanished.
The day before, he crept back into Braérn to reassure himself that Maia was, indeed, all right and when he found that her brother was now by her side, he decided to continue to pursue the other scent that had led him into the countryside in the first place. He tracked all night, following the spoor of a horse, moving at speed.
At first, he was uncertain. The trail belonged to an Elf on his horse; but after a while the spoor of the horse overlapped some older spoor of Vampyres. To his surprise, the Elf on his horse was heading in the same direction the Vampyres had travelled and, as the night turned into morning, he came to a place where he knew they had met.
It was a small homestead, uninhabited from the look of it, and the signs that Vampyres had been here recently were evident everywhere. He searched the place and not only did he find the horse dead and half eaten behind the barn, but he also found the man hiding within the empty house. The situation was so strange that he changed and, for the man’s benefit, found some clothes to don, and then sat down with him to talk.
Although scared at first, the man stubbornly refused to tell him anything. Blaid was nice to him, threatened him when he did not get the desired result, but in the end the man shouted at him that they would kill him anyway, dived behind a table to retrieve his sword and then attacked. Although the man was not very skilled, he fought with a ferocity that astounded Blaid. He tried to simply evade the man’s advances, but as the man’s rage took over in his mind, Blaid felt from his Eläm everything he needed to know.
He was in league with the Vampyres, aiding them. They had been waiting for something and the man had come to tell them that the time had arrived. Images of Maia flashed through his mind as he beheld the man’s Eläm and then Death took over. He changed, tearing the clothes, and scattering them around him. Within moments Blaid not only killed, but completely mutilated the man; the taste of his Elven blood sickeningly sweet in his mouth. He felt sorry now that it had come to that; he had never killed another Elf before. Sure, he had assisted in many deaths, but his Prime powers worked differently. This; he looked down at the bloody remains one more time; was murder.
Feeling revolted with himself, he moved away from the homestead. His main target was still out there somewhere and he would find him. As he moved across the fields away from the house, he picked up yet another scent. This one was completely foreign to him; yet strangely familiar. It was a big beast, dangerous, and even here the smell of Vampyre and Elf lingered. Something more sinister than he had originally imagined was afoot, and it was now more urgent than ever that he find what he was looking for.
“Why did we not stay at this inn when we came to Braérn last year?” Maia asked as she got dressed.
They had reached Juniper Inn during the late afternoon on their second day of travel. They stabled the horses and then sat around the hearth of the inn until late in the evening, telling stories. She enjoyed herself, but she had been all too aware of how Jaik watched her interact with Riker. They had become so familiar with each other, she had not noticed how often Riker touched her. They were little gestures, completely innocent, but under the watchful eyes of her brother, they now seemed incredibly intimate and inappropriate. She sensed no disapproval from her brother, but his eyes spoke the warning that his mouth would not. Decorum dictated that Riker ask permission first and even then they would have to be discrete until the time came that it would be officially announced.
“The people were away at the time,” Jaik replied, pulling on his mail hauberk over his shirt. “Come, my little sister,” he finally said, “let me take you for breakfast.”
Rothea and Riker joined them in the common room where they took their breakfast, but they did not linger. The day promised to be hot and they wanted to
be on their way as soon as possible.
With Commander Ridgewell and his Regiment in the lead and Jaik’s Guard bringing up the rear, they moved out. The landscape past the lodge was dominated by gently rolling hills criss-crossed by streams and small forests of deciduous trees starting to come into bloom. It was easy travelling and they made good time. By noon they stopped to water the horses at a stream that dissected a stand of maples and oaks. They had just taken out their own lunch, when Maia noticed the horses were restless. She stepped up to Fire and laid a hand on his neck. He shook his head and she felt his body tremble.
“Something is not right,” she said to Jaik. “The horses are agitated.”
Quickly Jaik and Commander Ridgewell got their men to spread out to search the area around them. Riker stood protectively next to Maia.
“I do not sense anyone,” she said to him, “only the animals.”
“I can feel their agitation as well. I don’t think the threat is coming from the outside. There is something about this place …” He didn’t finish the sentence, scanning instead the surrounding trees.
Maia closed her eyes and opened her senses further, picking up the individual Eläm of the people and animals around her. The horses were frightened, most of the people were weary and nervous, but the other animals; tree squirrels, birds, bugs, and ants; were in a neutral state. Then she noticed something else. She first felt it, an annoyance creeping over her that slowly built to a defensive rage; and then she heard it. She opened her eyes in alarm.
“Syphons,” she screamed, just as the swarm descended on them.
Horses whinnied and then, bucking and kicking, ran off into the distance. The warriors that had spread out to look for danger raced back towards them, but there was nothing they could do.
It was spring and mating season for the syphons; wasp-like insects, each the length of a man’s palm. They had large stingers on their rears, with which they stabbed and immobilised their prey. Long, tube-like mouths sucked out the insides of their prey through the hole they made with their stingers. The venom in the stingers acted in such a way as to soften the tissue of their prey, so it could easily be siphoned up the drinking tubes.
For an Elf, being stung by a syphon was not only painful, but could be fatal.
The syphons were probably building their nests in the trees around them and, disturbed by the Elves’ presence, became defensive. The swarm, at least a hundred strong, buzzed around them, stinging everything they came into contact with.
People screamed as they were stung, desperately trying to get the insects off them. Maia, still open to the Eläm around her, felt not only the stings inflicted on her, but also those of the others. She could not focus her energy to calm the creatures as the pain was simply too much to bear. She struggled, now crawling, trying to reach the shallow stream. As she crawled, she was being stung on her bare arms, her neck, her face, and hands, and soon her vision dimmed and she collapsed, finally lying still.
Aaron was on the archery field with Jasmin. She had been taking him there for a few Quarters now and he was getting better. The Day of the Hunt celebration was only another fortnight hence and he was determined to impress Maia again. He did well during the Spring Feast celebrations and he would prove himself to her again.
“No, Papa, keep your elbow straight,” his daughter said to him, and adjusted the angle of his arm minutely. “Now focus; I know you can do this.”
At twenty paces, he had proven himself to be a pretty good shot. At thirty paces, he struggled for a while, but eventually his aim became true. Now Jasmin had put the target at fifty paces and he had as yet to hit the large straw dummy. He was getting a little frustrated with himself, but he persisted; it would all be worth it in the end.
Although the initial Moons on Elveron had been difficult for him, over time he came to realise what a wondrous place it was. His body was changing; becoming more Elf-like; and his senses were now able to perceive things he would never before have been able to notice. His eyesight was keener, his sense of smell stronger and his hearing incredible.
He had never noticed that a forest did not simply smell like forest, but rather of the millions of living organisms that inhabited it. Hundreds of different species of trees made up the forest. He gradually learned all their names and properties. Plants, flowers, mushrooms, and other green matter; the earth and the insects living within it; the mammals and birds that dwelt within the forest; everything had its own distinct smell and together it smelled like forest.
He often sat on his veranda, looking out into the trees and tried to first identify a smell and then search for the plant or animal emitting it. Luke and Jasmin sometimes joined him and they made a game of who could identify the most. What impressed him about the forest the most was the sheer size of the trees. He had learned about forests during history class on Earth and there the trees had grown to a maximum of about a hundred feet. Here, some trees stood at least four hundred feet high and their base could be as thick as an entire house. They were magical and he could not imagine why the Humans on Earth had cut all their forests down.
Now, having lived here and seen what nature was like, he could not imagine ever going back there. Earth was a dismal place compared to the paradise that was Elveron.
He was also stronger and faster, and working with the Elves on a daily basis gave him that extra push to try even harder. Working with the Builders, and from time to time the Carpenters, was the most satisfying job he ever had. Their ingenuity had no limits and he was amazed every day at what they managed to accomplish without technology or electricity. Most of it was simple mechanics, but incredible in its simplicity.
Then there were also the crystals and the materium; he struggled with their concept in the beginning, but he was learning. There were different types of crystals, exhibiting diverse properties. The simple ones, available in a range of colours, were used for illumination. Others, the dark blue ones were the strongest, were surrounded by some kind of force field, and when they were arranged in a certain order within a structure, they could be used like electricity. These crystals were rare and expensive and therefore not often used.
Materium, however, was a material that seemed to be readily available. Also mined in the mountains like the crystals, it looked somewhat like a mix between granite and crystal. It only exuded a faint glow and during the day it was almost imperceptible. The Elves had explained that the materium worked with the magnetic core of the planet; pushing away from it, like reverse gravity; and thus could be used to lift things. He had been sceptical at first as to how such a small piece of rock could carry such heavy weights and, although he still had no real scientific explanation for it, he had seen it work many times.
The day they arrived on Elveron, the Elves that found them aat Greystone had put Maia on a floating stretcher. He had been too overwhelmed by everything happening at the time to pay much attention to it, but as time went by he became increasingly aware of how frequently it was used. Wagons, to haul vegetables from the fields, were pulled by horses, but floated behind them on just two cylinders of materium. The cylinders, used to channel the power of the materium in the right direction, were made from glass. The size of the materium depended on the power required. One only had to fasten the cylinder underneath whatever one wished to lift, centre the load so it would not shift and the materium would do the rest.
Silas had explained there were very precise calculations one had to apply in order to get the ratio right. If one were to attach a large piece of materium to a small item, it would float too high; too small a piece and it would not be strong enough to lift a heavy item. Working on repairing a neighbour’s veranda for a Quarter, he had finally been able to acquire a piece of materium for himself. He experimented with it for long evenings and, although it had been exceedingly interesting, he still had no idea how it worked.
And then there was thrill, a compound found in a whole range of plants, as well as a vast variety of wild life. It was what made them glow
at night. Bio-luminescence was the word that came to his mind, but he would not have been able to put it into the Elven language. There were still a lot of words he could not translate from English and, the longer they were here, the less it mattered. Thryll fascinated him; it was all around them and he was cataloguing everything that contained it. Luke said Silas had a large volume about these animals and plants within his cave, but Aaron enjoyed discovering and learning by himself.
Besides the Lumina flowers; of which they now had at least ten in their house; there were tiny red tree frogs, green mushrooms with yellow stripes, caterpillars in either blue or orange with long white hairs, ivy-like climbing plants of a vivid shade of red, and purple-crested lizards. All were spectacular to watch at night and the more he learned, the more he wanted to know.
Luke and Jasmin were thrilled with his progress and how well he had adjusted. For them it had been easy from the beginning; their minds still young enough to adjust quickly. Luke’s training as a Healer with Silas was going well and he was now capable enough that he did minor house calls without his teacher. Jasmin; working as a Hunter; brought in most of their food. She always got a share of meat from the day’s hunt, as well as vegetables for her effort. It still amazed him how efficiently the trading system worked; there was no greed and nobody ever went without.
One of the issues he struggled with in the beginning was Archer. From the moment they arrived, the young Elf had an eye for his daughter. Being of Earth, he had been wary of the man, assuming the worst, but as he came to understand the traditions of the Elves he understood that his daughter was quite safe. Once Aaron had settled down enough, Archer had approached him; as was their custom; and had asked him to court his daughter. Aaron made inquiries as to what this courting entailed and had been pleasantly surprised that Elves did not have sex before marriage. He had given his blessing, but retained the right to determine the appropriate time for them to marry. For the moment, this seemed to be enough for Jasmin and Archer, and he had never seen his daughter this happy.