Carnelian- Dreams and Visions

by M. D. Grimm

  “Before I could find the information I needed, Morgorth broke into the palace and brazenly challenged me to a duel. He was under the impression I had kidnapped Olyvre and that I would harm him. He claimed he was not working with his father, but against him. He claimed he had the right to confront his father according to our laws. It is true, he had the right. But I couldn’t trust him.” Elorn lifted his head higher. “Mayhap Morgorth was not helping his father. Mayhap I was mistaken in that. Yet that did not mean he was on the side of good. That did not mean I could allow him to take charge of the situation. Power does not like to share. Why should I not believe he simply wished to take the stone for his own?”

  Sneaky bastard. He admitted blame and offered humility, and showed shame while still justifying his actions. He still managed to give logical, believable reasons for his actions: fear for the world, a sense of responsibility and honor, and playing on the deeply ingrained beliefs the council had of Morgorth, namely, his destiny. Elorn was still showing he was in the right, that ends justified the means. It was also obvious he wanted a clear connection between Morgorth and his father, always pairing them together as he spoke, always saying “his father” or “his son.”

  Elorn went on to recount his version of the duel. I had to admit, angrily, he knew how to spin events to his favor. He couldn’t completely cover up his distasteful actions regarding Olyvre and Lyli and yet he managed to give almost reasonable excuses for them. He kept so close to the truth it was nearly believable. That disturbed me more than anything, so far. The best lies were wrapped in the truth.

  Elorn snaps out a word that sounds like thrukel, and invisible force hits me center chest. The enchanted vest keeps it from punching through my body. The power behind it flings me into the air, and I slam hard into the ground, the wind knocked out of me. But I manage to roll to my feet in time to see Elorn grip the back of Olyvre’s neck. Elorn suddenly drags Olyvre in front of him, using him as a shield.

  I suck in air, scrambling to form a plan, any plan. We were witnesses! Morgorth said Elorn shouldn’t harm us. He is breaking all the rules!

  Blood flows from Elorn’s shoulder wound, staining his pristine robes.

  Morgorth shouts at him. “You’re breaking the rules, Elorn. Let him go!”

  Olyvre is even more shocked than the rest of us, staring at Morgorth with eyes as wide as plates. He grips Lyli hard enough I realize she is having trouble breathing.

  “Rules?” Scorn drips from Elorn’s words, fire and a bit of desperation lights his eyes. He is sickly pale. “Rules are the reason thou art alive. Some rules are meant to be broken.”

  Elorn grips Lyli’s hair at the same moment he shoves Olyvre violently forward. Elorn yanks cruelly, and Olyvre has to let go. He must know that to hang onto his child would surely break her neck. He lands on his knees, and Elorn yanks Lyli tightly into his arms.

  I snarl and nock an arrow, shooting it a heartbeat later. It punctures Elorn’s leg, and he staggers back, seething, his eyes only wrath. He flings a bolt of fire at me. I don’t have time to duck. Magick snaps near me as an invisible shield forms in front of me, blocking the fire. It dissipates almost instantly.

  “You lost, Elorn!” Morgorth approaches him as Olyvre stands. “You lost when you broke the rules. Admit defeat! Or do you want to make your dishonor complete?”

  “What does a villain know of honor?”

  Lyli begins to fight, and my love for the girl raises heavy into my chest. She kicks and scratches and screams her head off. She bites his ear. I can’t stop my grin.

  Then air freezes in my lungs when Elorn grips her roughly around the waist and throws her over the cliff. Her bloodcurdling scream will stay with me for my entire life.

  “Lyli!” Olyvre begins to run after her despite the uselessness of the act. But Elorn lashes out with a punch of force and sends Olyvre over the cliff as well. Then he turns and looks at Morgorth.

  Elorn stretches out his arm, his fist covered in flame, and points it right at me. I crouch, nocking another arrow. He is making Morgorth choose between me or his brother and niece.

  “Save them, Morgorth!” I yell.

  Morgorth slaps his hand onto the ground even as Elorn shoots fire at me. “Aishe, amethyst!”

  I jerked back to awareness when Morgorth subtly leaned his shoulder against mine. I swallowed despite my dry throat, but could do nothing for my trembling gut. I relived it all in a finger snap, even as Elorn glossed over it all with a simpering tone. Loathing bubbled in my gut. We could have lost Olyvre and Lyli that day, as well as our own lives. The council had to see through Elorn’s lies. They had to.

  Elorn kept his hands firmly behind his back and bowed again. “I lost my way, council members. During this time of tribulations, I know I failed in many ways. It was I who broke the rules during the duel, it was I who nearly caused innocents to die. I thought my reasons just and right, that the end result was all that mattered.” Elorn lifted his head and his voice lowered, turned darker, ominous. “However, I cannot fully retract my views and fears of that time, Elders of the Council of Mages. I still fear for Karishian, and I still fear what tragedies the son of Lazur Freydsson is capable of inflicting upon us. All evidence has shown him to be his father’s son. If that is so, then who on Karishian is safe? His father was cold-hearted, malicious, manipulating, and thirsty for power and domination. What evidence do we have his son is any different? There were times in the past, we can all agree, when the rules must be broken for the greater good. Most of us have been kept in the dark about Morgorth’s true origins and now the danger to us is imminent. Any seed of Lazur’s will not grow to become anything but a replication of his malice. Let us not forget the fates of Nanthar and Kierthak.”

  The fact Elorn dropped the title of “Lord” from Morgorth’s name was not lost on anyone. He was treating my love as if he was a pest to be stomped on. Morgorth exhaled sharply, his nostrils flaring. I heard him swallow and couldn’t imagine what he was feeling. There would be rage, of course, and also grief. Pain. Fear. Elorn was hurting him without even touching him. I wanted to cut him into tiny pieces.

  As Elorn spoke, I frequently looked at the elders, and there was no mistaking Master Ulezander’s darkening expression, especially after Elorn’s last declaration. His eyes weren’t glowing, but there was a sharp glint in the blue. The slightly tubby mage with golden-brown skin sitting beside him, Elder Zynd, continually glanced at him with increasing wariness.

  “Morgorth surrounds himself with darkness,” Elorn said, “and has never once lifted a hand to help anyone. He claimed land which belonged to two kingdoms, and he terrorizes a small town on the border of a forest filled with evil beasts. He is a villain. My actions, while shameful, were done for the greater good of us all. I still believe to my core that Morgorth, the son of Lazur Freydsson, will become our worst nightmare if we continue to allow him free range.” Elorn paused. Silence echoed off the stone walls. “Let us not forget how he ‘stopped’ his father. He killed him. Morgorth killed his own father. Not quickly, no, not mercifully. He tortured his father, then killed him. Such a blatant show of callousness and violence is the mark of a seventh son of a seventh son. He should have turned Lazur over to the council and the Hand, or even to the seela authorities. He should have upheld justice! Instead, he took the law into his own hands. He cares naught for the laws of any land unless they benefit him.” Elorn bowed his head. “That, members of the council, is a faithful explanation of events.”

  The room continued to be silent except for excited breathing. The elders appeared uneasy. I saw it this time. My gift allowed me to see several agreed with Elorn, some teetered with indecision, but one was absolutely dead-set against Elorn’s every word.

  “And yet he left you alive,” Master Ulezander said.

  “Pardon?” Elorn said.

  Master Ulezander leaned back in his chair, deceptively at ease, yet his eyes and tone were as chilly as the tallest mountain top. “A mage’s duel is to the death. Lord Morg
orth left you alive. As I recall, I had to dig you out of the ground myself.”

  My smile was quickly there and gone again. I couldn’t stop it but I had to contain it. My stomach bloomed with heat, and some of the knots loosened. We had a powerful ally.

  “That is true,” Elorn said grudgingly. “I cannot begin to understand why he spared my life. What trickery he had in mind. He did threaten and torture me before leaving. He even took a single strand of my hair.”

  The entire hall gave a collective gasp. They knew what that meant. I knew what that meant. To have any creatures’ hair was to have complete power over them. Granted, the hair had to be fresh since, after too long a time it would dissolve, but for the time it worked, the victim would be a puppet. Yet mages had a protective aura around them. If a spell was cast using the hair, it would backlash on the spell caster threefold. Mage hairs were only useful for tracking.

  Wait a moment. Didn’t Morgorth—?

  “Lord Morgorth sent such a hair in his letter to me,” Master Ulezander said promptly. “The letter that told me where he left you. I had Elder Flendra join me in setting it to the flame. You have no need to worry, Elder Elorn.”

  “I confirm that Elder Ulezander contacted me and we set the hair aflame.” Elder Flendra said in a gravelly voice when Elder Kyller glanced her way. She was a slender, muscled female with dark copper skin, and short auburn hair that was cut close to the scalp. Her bright green eyes held the focus of a fasion that had spotted prey.

  It was obvious Elder Elorn hadn’t known that and it surprised him.

  “It matters not whether it was destroyed!” Elorn said, recovering quickly. “Do you not see how insidious it is that he took the hair in the first place? I, an elder and member of the Hand, was threatened by a destructive child.”

  I raised an eyebrow. If Morgorth was such a child, then how could he have defeated an elder? I hadn’t known about the torture, though. That made me uneasy. He shouldn’t be so comfortable with harming others. My stomach knotted for an entirely new reason: was Morgorth addicted to torture and harming others?

  “A child?” Master Ulezander said, raising his own eyebrow. “My apprentice completed his second phase of training with full marks, and I expect nothing less than full marks when he reaches his third phase. And I believe he was making a point in treating you in such a way, Elder Elorn.”

  I sensed that something unsaid and secretive was communicated between Master Ulezander and Elder Elorn, and yet I couldn’t say for sure what it was.

  “We are not questioning Lord Morgorth’s power,” Elder Gwera said. She was mousy with silver streaked brown hair, fawn skin, and inquisitive blue eyes. “We are questioning his actions and his motivations. As we are questioning yours, Elder Elorn. But I must admit I agree with Elder Ulezander. He is hardly a child, and for many years hasn’t done anything villainous.”

  “Do not be deceived by his inaction!” Elder Elorn said.

  “This is a simple inquiry, not a trial,” Elder Kyller said. “I would recommend you refrain from riling the masses, Elder Elorn. Your statement should be about your actions and your motivations alone, not accusing the other defendant or assuming you know his motivations. This is not a council discussion. Do any of the other elders have questions for Elder Elorn?”

  I breathed slightly easier at the reprimand. That had been satisfying.

  “You say you took Lord Morgorth’s brother,” Elder Byar said, a stocky mage with skin the color of taupe. Short black hair and a curly beard bordered a strong face set off by blue-gray eyes. He had slight accent I couldn’t place. “You claim you wished to protect him. I have to wonder if you took the brother against his will.”

  “That is one of the mistakes I must make amends for,” Elder Elorn said. “I did take him and his daughter by force. I did use them abominably. I became overzealous and lost my way.”

  Horseshit. He’d known exactly what he was doing.

  “What evidence did you have,” Master Ulezander said, “besides your own prejudice, that Lord Morgorth was set to join his father? Or that he even wanted the stone of power we now know was the emerald Ellegrech?”

  “I had no hard evidence, Elder Ulezander. I could only speculate from Morgorth’s past deeds and came to a reasonable conclusion.”

  “Reasonable? I see.” The chill in Master Ulezander’s tone should have frozen the hall and everyone inside. “If my apprentice had joined his father, or indeed, decided to kill his father and take the stone for himself, then why did he challenge you to a duel when he could have taken you unawares? Why give you, an elder, advantage over himself? He hasn’t yet reached his third, and final, phase of training. And why did he contact me after your duel, after he defeated his father, to tell me about you? I freed you myself. He could have left you to die. He was within his rights as the winner of the duel.”

  “As I said before,” Elder Elorn said, speaking through gritted teeth. “I cannot know the trickery of his mind. I cannot know his motivations.”

  “Now you claim to have no knowledge of his motivations. I believe you have lost your way again, Elder Elorn.” The room grew tense at Master Ulezander’s insult. “You either know Lord Morgorth’s mind or you do not. You cannot have it both ways.”

  “He has rarely been an upstanding mage, Elder Ulezander,” Elder Elorn said heatedly. “Or have you forgotten all his past deeds? All his actions?”

  My eyes widened, and I clenched the pommel of my sword. He wouldn’t. Elorn wouldn’t reveal Morgorth’s dark years to the rest of the mages, would he? Morgorth told me Master Ulezander had stopped him before the Hand could, and knocked some sense into him. Master Ulezander managed to somehow strike a deal with the council to prevent the Hand from acting. As far as I knew, there was no concrete evidence to Morgorth’s deeds, and all the mages gathered here only knew the rumors. Was all that about to change?

  “Elder Elorn,” Elder Wendala said, her tone stinging like a slap. “That is council business and has no place in this inquiry. You will control yourself.”

  Elder Elorn’s shoulders stiffened, then he inclined his head toward the willowy mage. Her eyes were like hazelnuts, and her porcelain face was sharp and defined, her hair a startling yellow and long enough to touch the floor.

  “My sincerest apologies, Elder Wendala. My passion nearly overwhelmed me again.”

  “Are there any more questions?” Elder Kyller asked. There were a few more clarifying questions that didn’t stir trouble before the elders fell silent. Elder Kyller asked once again for more questions but everyone answered in the negative.

  He turned to Elder Elorn. “Thank you, Elder Elorn. Next, we shall hear from Lord Morgorth.”

  Elder Elorn turned around, and never once did he give any indication he noticed us. He simply walked back to his starting point. Olyvre took another step away from him, his face bunched and reddened with anger and insult. I wouldn’t be surprised if he lashed out and punched Elorn in the nose.

  Morgorth lightly cleared his throat before striding forward, standing where Elorn had stood. I took a deep breath and prayed that the Mother’s and the Hunter’s strength was with him. If I could give him mine, I would in a heartbeat.

  Keeping his hands behind his back, Morgorth bowed to the elders. Then he straightened, and when he spoke his voice was brisk and chilly, nothing like the simpering and self-effacing tone Elder Elorn’s had used. I didn’t know if that would help or hinder his case.

  You can do this, my love. You have to. I am with you all the way. You aren’t alone.

  Chapter Five

  Morgorth

  “Members of the council, I will present what happened without flourish or excuses. I stand by every one of my decisions, and have no regrets. I was not in the wrong. Elder Elorn was in the wrong, and I shall prove it.”

  I planned to speak plainly and concisely. It was the only way I knew how. I also calculated that would make my statement more impactful.

  “I shall start off by addressing the accu
sations Elder Elorn laid at my feet, as is my right. I agree with most of Elder Elorn’s description of events. Lazur Freydsson, my unlamented father, did find the emerald Ellegrech. It is a major stone. Elder Elorn did kidnap my brother and niece for his own selfish reasons. We did duel and he did break the rules. My belief is he broke them because he was losing. He wanted to kill me, as well as Aishe and Olyvre and Lyli.” I had to use their names. Everyone gathered had to hear their names. “I protected those I care for. I protected my family. Who here would not do the same?” I paused and looked at each of the elders in turn. They all stared at me, intent, expectant. I glanced at Master Ulezander, and while his expression was blank, his steady stare encouraged me.

  “As I said, I agree, mostly, with his statement of events, yet not his motivations. He says he was lost, however, I think he knew exactly what he was doing from beginning to end, and felt no shame, only a determination to see me dead.” I took a breath. “This inquiry, lest we forget, is about a duel between two mages. It is not about the seventh son of a seventh son dueling with an elder of the Council of Mages.”

  I met all the eyes of the elders, then I turned and made a full circle, looking at all those gathered. “Some of you fear me. Some of you hate me. I accept that. But that’s not why we’re here.” I turned back to the council to see the surprise on their faces. Even Master Ulezander looked a little startled. He wondered where I was going with this. Cosmos, I wondered. I simply spoke and the words coming out of my mouth were those I’d wanted to say for years.

  “We are here because two mages dueled and one mage broke the rules. I journeyed to Zentha because of family business. Elder Elorn had no authority once I arrived to search for my father. I was well within my rights to hunt Lazur Freydsson down and stop him. I didn’t want him to have Ellegrech or any other stone. I didn’t want him to have any power at all. Ellegrech, I would like to add, has since been turned over to Elder Ulezander and is no longer in my possession.”