"How many are still alive and in need of care?” Tristandor asked roughly. “We need to get them inside."
Aerinas, without uttering a word to his father, pointed to the few remaining bodies lying in their midst. Tristandor called for Aeligon. “You two go inside now, and tend to the ones that have been brought there already. They will need food and water. Try to find what you can in the bowels of this stronghold. There are storerooms everywhere."
"Come on, Aerinas.” Ithyllna said, after spying the hateful look in Aerinas’ eyes. She tugged at his tunic to hurry him away from Tristandor. She did not want him to make the mistake of trying to challenge his father, at least not there and then.
"Do not worry yourself over him,” she whispered to him as they stumbled along the broken ground toward the entrance to the stronghold's inner defenses. “He is a seasoned Elf-Lord, whose time is more precious than you. He will turn around one day."
"Ithyllna,” Aerinas said angrily, “he is beyond change. He is ashamed of me, and of what I have become. He has hidden truths from me and deceived me my whole life, sheltered me from something that was in his mind, nothing more. It has all been for a reason, and when I find that reason, then I will confront him. Now my blood flows with a magic that I do not understand, and cannot fully control. I felt the urge to strike out at everyone near me, to those closest to me, even Foran. The rage was a pleasure for me.” He held up his sword for her to see. “Do you see these runes?"
"Yes, they are of the ancient tongue, a wizard language from times long ago in the day of Ashinon. Beyond that, I know very little."
"The blade reacted to me at Lake Fenduin. The shapeshifter Krüna tested me by guiding me to the center of the lake, where I battled a feared creature that had lived there for thousands of years. I killed it with very little effort. These runes glow red hot, which I can feel burning inside me, as real as if I had stepped into a fire. Foran even told me that my eyes hazed over with a swirling fire inside them. Everyone around me seems to know something of what this is, yet I am held back once again from knowing the truth about myself."
"Aerinas, do not think that I am one of those. I will help you find the answers you seek, as will Foran."
"Aeligon knows the most. He wants to speak with me later about this. I hope to find out more then. Thank you, Ithyllna.” He took her hand, and kissed the top of it in a sign of friendship.
Ithyllna smiled and ran her hand through her hair and turned to the dark that rapidly consumed the entrance to where they were to stay for the night.
Much talk and deliberation would be held that night. King Hrathis was brought down out of the tower, with Timothy by his side. Farrin and the remaining giants were also all safely inside now. It had taken them hours to sort through the dead, and heal the wounded sufficiently enough to bring them in. Aeligon was greatly exhausted, and was helped into the catacombs by Tristandor and Lynais. The body of Arn was cremated, since there was little left of it worth burying. A vigil was held for him to release his soul safely, so it could find its way back to the Grove of Souls uninhibited.
* * * *
Once everyone was safely inside, Aeligon sealed the doorway with a spell conjured with the aid of Pux. Eerie green bars formed, spreading across the archway into an impassable grid. That would serve to keep the Cray outside, since the only other way in would be to navigate the labyrinth of tunnels beneath the stronghold. That would have proven futile, because the passage that exited at the far end of the large room was also sealed with the same spell.
They were all exhausted, hungry, and dirty. The smell of sweat and other foul odors filled the cramped space rapidly. The room was large enough to contain all of the giants and the elves. It was an old dining hall, complete with a kitchen housed on the other side of the northern wall, that was accessed by a wooden door. The tables had been moved aside by Foran and Lynais to make room for the giants. They fetched towels and anything they could find still salvageable from the kitchen and the storerooms. Linens were used as bandages for the giants, since their wounds dwarfed those suffered by normal-sized creatures. The giants had little to no strength left and another died, making two in total. Frustration and anger welled up in Aerinas’ throat. Even Farrin was on the brink of death.
Eventually, the healing power of Aeligon prevailed, and the nine remaining giants all started to show more promise. They had been there two days already, but no one ventured outside even in the daylight. At night, the Cray could be heard scurrying along above them. At first, the creatures tested the barrier, since they had never encountered such magic. When the first one disintegrated as it launched itself into the grid, the others backed away and gave up. They tried in vain to find another way in to where their targets lay recovering.
Once the giants and the king could be left alone to heal and sleep peacefully, Aeligon could sit and talk with the members of the party, but especially to Aerinas, who was also recuperating from his own afflictions. Together they sat on the staircase leading up to the courtyard.
"I would assume that you are rather confused about what is happening to you,” Aeligon said in a raspy, yet calm, voice.
Aerinas shook his head, staring at a spot he had picked on the floor. “It would seem to me that I am the only one who would be confused, since it is plain that others around me suspected this behavior, this gift. Confusion is what I felt at Lake Fenduin. Fear is what I felt when I dwelt in Mynandrias. Now, rage consumes me at the thought that my father has hidden me away from making my own choices and decisions."
"Fathers do not always know the right answers, Aerinas. Do not be so quick to judge him based on facts known to you now. If I were to tell you that I suspected this much out of you as well, would you feel the same disdain toward me?"
Aerinas broke his stare and turned his gaze to the face of the weary wizard. “It would be easier to hear it from you anyway, Aeligon. You know, use, and understand magic to an extent that I could not begin to fathom. I would rather have had someone tell me what was happening to me than to be caught in a web of lies and deceit, only to find out the answer from beings that are not comprised from anything of this Earth!"
"If you are referring to the Enath-Hüdain, you are mistaken once again. They are built from the very spirit of the Earth and the magic She guards so preciously. They are the physical representation of this magic and are all around us everywhere, watching everything we do. Their job is to find the ones who stand out, who are gifted in ways that others aren't, and to guide them in the ways of Sheevos."
"What is Sheevos? I have heard of him before."
"She, Aerinas."
"She? It is a lady?"
"The spirit's essence could be referred to as female, yes. Sheevos is the Guardian of Arünir, the light that shines down from above in the city of the wizards. This light is but a gauge and a guide for us. If the light dwindles away, so does the bond that bars entrance to this world from the Nether. Sheevos is the counterweight to the Nether Lord, Wrantha, who actually walked this earth in the time of Ashinon thousands of years ago. Sheevos was created to counter him, and to restore balance to the earth. To contain her power, she forged an Elfstone and gave it as a gift to the wizards when the Order of Light was formed, after Wrantha was banished to the Plane created for him. We made a place for her to reside in our Temple, where Arünir shines down through the ceiling and suspends the Elfstone within. However, many attempts were made to steal the stone."
"Why? What good is a stone anyway?"
"In the physical Plane that we inhabit, Vaalüna, which means ‘Bright Moon', a spirit cannot take physical form. To hide her spirit from the grasp of the evil that abounds on the other Planes, She knew that the safest place to be was among us, or so She thought. A new danger lurks now; if one can find the way to remove Sheevos from the stone, and hence, destroy her, the Nether would spill out into our world. In order to protect her the wizards decided, with approval from Sheevos herself, that the Elfstone would be divided into three pieces. The larg
er piece would remain in Lünathar, the second and third would be scattered to locations around Vaalüna. I don't even know where they are located. In the event that someone would steal the Elfstone fragment from Lünathar, it would not be complete without the other two pieces. All was thought safe until, one day, a new terror emerged from the darkness. His name was Hydrais, and he claimed to be more ruthless than even Calaridis, though most knew that his power was based on the Nether, where Calaridis dwelt."
"Why does this other being choose more than one name to be called, Aeligon?” Aerinas asked.
"Though no one is certain, it was thought that it took more names to blur the lines of reality and confuse those in power, as to what was evil and what was not. Calaridis, the one name he took, was only to be used for renaming his lands in Hydrais’ reign. After his banishment to the Netherworld, his influence and power grew."
"How can one influence from the Nether?” Aerinas asked. He leaned against the stone wall of the staircase, intrigued by the story.
"Dark powers have more influence than you can imagine. What I can heal in a day's time would take only seconds to destroy with the same amount of effort from a dark hand. Wars were fought. Orcs, Cray, goblins, and the Sharumar Trolls all marched across the lands, destroying everything in their wake, renaming the land as they went, to Calaridis."
"How did you stop them?"
"The wizards, myself included, rose against them. Farrin and his giants turned the battle of Fornidain to our favor when they rallied to crush the Trolls of Sharumar. It was a great battle."
"Yes it was!” cried out a low-pitched voice from across the room, which interrupted their conversation and startled everyone. It was Farrin!
Aeligon rose and went to him, since only his head was lifted from his pillow. Aerinas and the others moved closer to him as well, asking him how he was doing. He laughed a little and reported that he was fine and that there was no one he was ever a slave to. They all laughed.
"I suspect that you can recall nothing of what happened to you and your crew,” Aeligon wryly mused.
"No, I can't,” replied Farrin as he rubbed his head. Cold water and a cloth was fetched for his aching head. “But it seems that I won't ever forget, now will I?"
"A spell was placed on the town, yourselves included. Though it is not clear to me what end your master had in mind for you, it would appear that your orders were to tear Gudred down piece by piece. Your wounds and scars will tell the tale better in days to come.” Aeligon sat down now, using Pux as leverage. His back was causing him great pain from the hard labor of the past few days.
"We owe you a debt of gratitude.” Farrin reached out his large, leathery hand, which Aeligon shook in return. “We have much to thank you for, though now for me and my giants it is more about revenge than anythin'. How long has it been since we descended the mountain?"
"We do not know with any certainty,” answered Aerinas suddenly, before Aeligon could reply. “But we learned from the king that it has been just over twenty years. He was not sure of the exact time."
Farrin sat straight up at the mention of the king. “King Hrathis?!” he exclaimed. “Is he still alive then? Where is he? I must speak with him."
"I am here,” came a weak voice carrying broken speech from years of silent imprisonment.
The room suddenly came alive with upraised heads, and the shifting of bodies. Aeligon's feats were evidenced by the saved lives lining Gudred's dining hall floor. The king was among them, with Timothy by his side still nervously shaking and picking at his already abused finger nails.
"Farrin, old friend, you are still alive? “This is a fine day, though our future became dismal and bleak to me long ago. Are you and your giants all right?"
"Ay, we are that, Sire. And not a moment too soon. The Healer came for us and saved us all.” Farrin smiled as he spoke. Blood still smeared his face, but his delight shone through it obstinately.
"Ahem,” Aeligon cleared his throat and stood among them. “I did not do this task alone, though I would have traveled alone to answer the call of Gudred in her dismay. I thought we were too late when we arrived here, yet the strength of men and giants is stronger than ever before. It would seem that a higher force summoned us here just in time. Death would have befallen you if it had been otherwise. So much fate is in this very room, which holds Farrin, greatest of all giants and leader of the turn of the tide during the War of Calaridis, King Hrathis, greatest king of men who rose from the ashes to help rebuild the realms and Aerinas, elfin heir to the House of Lythardia."
The mention of Aerinas drew surprised gasps, and quick glances toward the elf. He paid it no mind, for he was somewhere far away from there: back home. Even Tristandor looked in awe at both Aeligon and his son as the wizard continued.
"Aerinas, despite his unwillingness to accept his own fate, is also heir to something more powerful than bloodline and lineage. He has been gifted with the Magic of Sheevos, the god of the Light of Arünir, which you've all heard me talk about. I fear the worst for our land; evil is spreading across it from every direction. Haarath is holed up inside his dungeon on Resforian, where he is plotting his evil. Now we find that Gudred has been besieged from the inside, where no one would learn of it until it was too late."
Aerinas was listening intently, his eyes dark and cold, unwilling to accept, fearful of what his future held. He had just been an average elf, living out his life. How could this have happened? For how long had his parents known of his fate, if at all? He had only a few close friends, and preferred venturing outside alone to visit the realms and all of their inhabitants. His personality and character differed greatly from any elf in Mynandrias or the surrounding lands of Anwarna, even the Dark Elves of Kelorn in the south. All of his life he was taught and forced to be average, to not stand out, to shirk his nature in favor of a life of conformity. Now, he had broken free, but not fully. His anger festered with a renewed vigor at the thought that he was a pawn in some scheme of life orchestrated by unseen forces.
Aeligon rattled on as Aerinas’ thoughts drifted further and further away from the dining hall. He was leaning against the far wall with his hands coupled over each other on the pommel of his sword, the tip of the blade resting near his crossed feet.
"I am still unaware of who or what is causing this to happen, but whatever it is, it is doing it secretively and seductively, promising power and other gifts to whoever aids in carrying out the plan. Haarath is being used in this way, and must be stopped at all costs. I haven't see him in ages, but his last known whereabouts were at the ruins of El-Caras, where he found the Mirror of Trünith. This glass offers the chosen finder a glance into a world not designed for weak eyes. I carry one of its shards."
Aeligon drew the piece from his satchel, and unwrapped the cloth briefly. The edges of the shard still glowed green, throbbing. He quickly concealed it again. “I believe it still carries with it the potential to allow someone, or something, on the other side to see through to us."
"Then why did you bring it along with you, and why did you hide its presence from us?” Tristandor asked sharply, rising to his feet.
"I don't know everything, Tristandor, and do not yet know the mirror's full purpose. For the mirror owner's purpose, Haarath risked exposure to find and to use it. Though he is being guided by an unseen hand, his own eyes needed something solid to put their faith in. This mirror gave it to him along with the black speech upon his parchment that you, yourself, heard your son relate back in the House of Lythardia."
Tristandor backed away and nodded to the wizard, tucking his hands inside his tunic. He remained standing. Aerinas cast a piercing glance at him, but it went unseen and unchallenged by his father.
"We must find out what is happening to our world, that we so exhaustively worked to rebuild. I will suffer any amount of pain to ensure that the balance of power is not broken, though I fear it is already in the works."
"What do you suggest, Aeligon?” Hrathis asked of him, sipping from a
water skin that Timothy handed him.
"We should travel to the wizard city of Lünathar and find out exactly what is happening. The Order of Light is not officially in existence, but there are still many wizards there who gather when called for. I have already sent for many of them."
"How?” Ithyllna asked, amazed at the wizard's insight.
"By bird and beast. Word travels quickly when it embraces the tongues of many. I am able to speak many such languages, and thus set word upon the winds. We will rest here safely until you are all ready to strike out. I'm sure that Farrin and his giants will want to return to their homelands to set their families’ worries to rest."
Farrin growled at Aeligon. “I will do nothin’ of the sort! I will send the rest of these back to the mountain to remain. However, I am comin’ with you. I have a few scores to settle with that hooded coward! He'll feel the cold bite of me ax!” He tried to raise it high into the air, but his strength failed him. Farrin's face turned red with embarrassment.
"Your folly is in your haste, Master Giant,” Aeligon reprimanded. “Take time to recover your strength and heal your wounds, or none of you will be going anywhere. There is much to discuss before we face the outside world. Even now, Cray wait in earnest to pounce if we step outside that sealed doorway."
Sure enough, Aeligon was right. No matter how much strength they would gain or how prepared they were, they were outnumbered. Without significant aid, they would have to remain there until the Cray gave up, which was unlikely, since their numbers grew day by day. It was only a matter of time. Swords and magic would carry so far, but in the end sheer numbers would crush them. Another plan was needed. They would need to travel through the tunnels beneath the stronghold to get out beyond the borders and into the mountains in the north.
Chronicles of the Planeswalkers Page 24