by Lexy Wolfe
Doors burst open as everyone awoke suddenly. "What in th' hells...?" Emil demanded, both he and Emaris with swords in hand. The others were equally alarmed and bewildered.
Skyfire ran into the empty room and spotted the evidence of the battle. With wide, horrified eyes, he knelt down by the fallen sword. "Lord Ash!" he called imperiously. "Storm is gone!" When the others ran over to him, they stared at the familiar sword, a piece of impossibly thin white silk caught on its tip, stains of pale blue along its edge. "No Swordanzen would drop their sword unless they were forced to or dead."
"No! She is not dead. I would know if she were... if she were..." The moment of shock burned away in a flash of fury. "Where is she?" the mage demanded. Without a word of magic spoken, spheres of mage light appeared in the air abruptly, blindingly illuminating the room. But the room was as empty as expected. Heartsick, he called, "Storm!"
From down the opposite hall of the group's bedrooms, the Guardians ran into the common room. Almek stared at the visible carnage, going weak at the knees. Bella caught him by the arm, easing him to a seat. "She attacked them?" he asked dazedly. "How could she even know about them?"
Jaison stared uncomprehendingly at the sword stained blue and the piece of wispy silk, looking at Almek with wide eyes. "Storm attacked the Unseen? She wounded one of them?! But how? To harm a divine servant is impossible!"
"What are these 'Unseen'?" Ash demanded, echoed by Terrence and Skyfire both. "Why have they taken Storm?"
"I don't know why. It's never been done before." Jaison sat heavily on a bench, staring at the puddle of blue blood. "The Unseen are servants of the Timeless One." He looked up at the angry group. "Before you can enter Fortress as Adepts, you must prove your minds are strong enough to bear the burden of the weight of time. That is what the nightmares are for." He looked back at the sword. "They are called Unseen because they are just that. Unseen by mortal eyes. They could still be here and we would be unaware."
"Except Storm was aware of their presence. I should have realized being raised with divine servants would..." Almek shook his head, frowning. "No. She was unaware of their presence before now. It doesn't explain how she knew of them to begin with. It is forbidden for us to speak of them to the uninitiated so the tests are untainted."
"But why now?" Mureln rubbed his face, trying to regain some coherence to his thoughts. "She's been growing worried, yes, but she'd not been inclined towards violence. She has never lashed out on a living being without provocation."
Almek sighed heavily. "That might be our fault. I had discussed with the others earlier this evening after you all went to bed about the possible consequences of the tests having been unrelenting for nearly two sevendays. It had been unheard of for the Unseen to take so long to make Her will known. With your considerable strengths and skills, we had to consider... alternative actions before any of you would go mad and endanger untold numbers of people. None of us realized Storm may have heard us. And even if she had, that she would..."
Growling under his breath, Ash grabbed a forgotten glass from the table, flinging it across the room in impotent frustration. "Don't you understand her yet?! Nothing and no one deters Storm from protecting people she feels love towards. Storm will face anything she considers a threat. Even a god!" he said hotly. "Especially if it threatens any of us."
"Now she needs us to protect her," Skyfire snapped, his golden gaze foreboding. "Where is she?! We have to find her!"
Everyone jumped back as a tall, slender figure draped in white suddenly became visible, standing in the pool of blue blood over the fallen sword. Sky blue hands reached up to lower the deep hood, revealing a feminine face with large, deep indigo eyes, all else traced in the color of spun sunlight. "Do not fear. Your sister will be returned to you," the hermaphroditic creature stated mildly.
Jaison and Almek knelt to the willowy being as it turned to the Dusvet. "She was the only one we could not test through nightmares. No matter how terrible they were, they did not trouble her, force her to hesitate and make a choice that could have shown us how she may react when overwhelmed. The only thing that seemed to touch her was her concern for your students. Her family. So we pushed them to see how she would face the possibility of losing them." With chagrin, it looked down at itself, moving the hand that covered the wound in its side to look at the deep blue stain. "The tests are finally complete. All here are welcome within Fortress's embrace as Adept Elites."
"Elites?" Jaison echoed in bewilderment. "But--"
"They are elites because they have already faced and conquered tasks only true Guardians could. But there is still much for them to learn." The creature turned, taking a step away from them.
Almek reached out towards the blue being, "You are wounded..."
The creature turned back partly, shrugging one shoulder. "We were tasked to push Storm into a reaction that would speak her heart, and once we had, to take her to the Mistress." It lifted its hand from its side, regarding the darker blue. "My wound is fatal. The Mistress warned us, but I did not believe it was possible for a mortal to touch us. None of us did. We thought she would go after you." A small smile softened its sad expression. "This is my punishment for doubting our Mistress.
"My apology is my reassurances to you. Your companion will be returned to you alive and unharmed." It began to turn away again. "I expect she will be quite angry with the Mistress. While she does respect the divine, she does not possess the awe most mortals have of us. Another error on our part, assuming our power would hold sway over her determination to protect her own or that mortality had tempered her soul."
"Wait!" Taylin called, crossing the distance to the wispy creature. "Please." Reaching forward, Taylin lightly touched the wet patch on the Unseen's side, her hand glowing deep blue. Skyfire grimaced, Emaris and Emil grabbing him before he stumbled to his knees at the draw on his life energy.
The Unseen inhaled sharply, and looked between Taylin and Skyfire in surprise. As it faded from sight, they all heard a soft, "Thank you."
A little dazed, Taylin looked confused as she looked at her blue-stained hand. "Is... is he... she... dead?"
Almek shook his head as he put an arm around Taylin, drawing her away from the evidence of violence. "No. The only reason we could see it to begin with was because it had come very close to death. The wound it received from Storm had made it mortal." He smiled faintly at Taylin as he let Mureln take his place in giving her post-healing solace. "You saved the Unseen's life. It is in your debt."
"When Ash saved Dzee's life by restoring her soul to her mortal body, I was awed how much power he could command, but... I never thought a warrior could..." Terrence stared at Almek. "Storm can kill a god?"
Almek shook his head solemnly. "I sincerely doubt that. Gods are not the same as divine servants. But to remain on the physical plane, the divine must have mortal shells." He put a hand on the younger Illaini's shoulder. "But given she nearly gave a death blow to an Unseen, Storm could undoubtedly hurt a god if she'd a mind to."
Skyfire stood, Storm's sword in both hands. He turned to Ash, holding the weapon out to him. "I will wait with you for Storm's return." The others echoed the sentiment, the mage nodding once and closing his eyes, pressing the hilt against his cheek.
Chapter 26
Abruptly released by her captors, Storm staggered a step before regaining her balance. She crouched warily as she tried to get her bearings. The sounds of her breathing, of flowing water, and the whispery movements of her fleeing assailants echoed eerily.
The peculiar sound of stone turning to flesh was soon followed by a gentle, but commanding woman's voice as the statue-form of the goddess of time turned to a living body. Storm's hands went to the hilts of the twin blades she still wore. "Stay your hand, Zhekali. You will not come to harm here."
"How often must I repeat this to those who should understand? I am not na'Zhekali!" Storm snapped, hands remaining on hilts. "I am Swordanzen! I have no tribe."
The Timeless One's voice
was silent for a moment. "I forget Myself. Forgive Me." Storm listened to the sound of the goddess sliding from her stone perch into the pool and then emerging out of water. "Come forward, Githalin Swordanzen."
Storm scowled, not obeying immediately as she raised her twin swords defensively. "Why? I can hear there is nothing between us, so you can see me. I can hear you from here."
Laughter like the bubbling of a quiet stream met the response. "You always were fiercely defiant. But you were always fiercely honorable as well." More seriously, the speaker continued. "I know you and your distant kinsman have bonded to Adept Taylin's unborn child. Because of the effort the healer put into restoring Almek, your life force is now a part of her, her child, and My Sentinel."
"You fault me for this?" Storm slowly straightened from her crouch. "I have sworn Blood Oath to Lord Almek, to protect him and his students. Until my final breath, I will protect them. If I have a means to achieve what I must, I will do it!"
The mermaid was amused again. "Yes, you did swear, you do what you feel you must, and you will continue to protect them, with or without such absolute ties of your life to theirs. I am grateful for that, Swordanzen. You are true to your purpose and to the protection of the sacred balance. But you and your kinsman are mortal. It takes divine strength to lift the years from My Sentinel. For a mortal to attempt it disrupts the essence of both spirit and body. Your effort to create the portal exacerbated the injuries you sustained."
"It was necessary!" Storm contested hotly. "Lord Almek would have died if we had not--" The Desanti woman staggered, going deathly pale when her life force suddenly was pulled. She barely managed to stay on her feet, trembling when the draw stopped finally.
The goddess remained silent until Storm was no longer in distress. When she spoke again, her voice was calmly soothing. "I am not denying the necessity, and I am very grateful to all of you for keeping my Sentinel alive. And my servant you nearly killed. However, when you and your lifemate opened the portal, it became the cause for your immeasurable suffering since then, because your efforts exacerbated the injury you took in Taylin's stead." In a gentler voice, the goddess added, "I wish to remove the injuries that should never have been yours to begin with. You already suffer enough. Approach me."
Uncertainly sheathing her swords, Storm carefully approached the goddess, her hand held out halfway in front of her, prepared to respond to an attack. "Desanti lives are short. If Skyfire's and my lives must end to spare Taylin and her son? It is a small loss. He is a child conceived in love. He must be protected."
"Desanti lives are short because Desanti choose for them to be short," the goddess stated curtly. "And the lessons on the nature of time I had taught to those I sent to Desantiva after the Great War had been lost to antiquity." Storm stopped as her toes bumped a step. "There are three steps." The Desanti woman carefully stepped up. "Kneel."
Storm flinched back as cool fingers as long has her hand touched her face, covering her eyes. As the latent ache began to ease, she relaxed with a sigh. When the fingers withdrew, she blinked several times as her vision slowly cleared and she looked into deep black eyes set in a porcelain white face framed by blond hair so light it was nearly white. "There. I have mended the harm done to you."
"What of Skyfire? And Taylin? You said they were harmed as well." Storm shook her head slightly, closing her eyes as she put one hand to her temple, the other held out as if to try to regain her balance. She felt her hand caught and held by the mermaid, and quickly pulled away.
The Timeless One smiled at the flash of pride when Storm withdrew from her touch. "You will be disoriented from the healing for a few of your days, but it will pass. As for My Sentinel, once he returns to My embrace, he will be restored. He has much work to do. And he will need you and the others by his side."
Narrowing her eyes, Storm studied the mermaid. "You are the Timeless One." She held up her hand, the goddess mirroring the gesture to touch Storm's palm with hers. "I have never met you, yet you are familiar to me. I do not understand."
The mermaid smiled ever so slightly. "I know. I can tell you only that you had come to Me once in another life. I have waited long for your return." Reaching into the water, the goddess drew out a faceted crystal flask. "Take this to your th'yala and the healer. It will ease the harm done to them from the mending of My Sentinel." To the question in Storm's eyes, she stated dryly, "Their unseen wounds are minor compared to what I healed within you. Neither of them shared in the effort to open a portal, which exacerbated the wounds made when she healed Almek. This will suffice to heal them."
"I will make sure both are mended," Storm stated as she stood, gritting her teeth as a flash of dizziness made her waver. She watched as the Timeless One slipped back into the pool, returning to her perch beneath the waterfall.
As she settled herself, the mermaid added, "Oh, and tell Almek I said once the others have sufficiently rested, it is time to come home to Me. I have been patient, but he is dear to Me and I have been worried. I shall attend to his mending personally as I had yours. Now go, Githalin Swordanzen." Storm nodded as the Timeless One raised a hand, a portal opening.
Chapter 27
Hours had passed, the sky beginning to brighten with the coming dawn. The others had returned to their rooms and sleep, save for Skyfire and Ash. The Swordanzen man sat calmly, attending to his weapons while the mage paced. The Desanti watched the Forentan for a time. "You are not surprised Storm wounded a divine servant," Skyfire observed.
"My mind tells me I should be." Ash finally stopped, running his hand through his hair tiredly. "But it is just... I don’t know. Natural. The longer I know her, the less there is anything I think she cannot do out of sheer stubbornness." He was about to say something else when both men looked in the same direction at once. Ash whispered hopefully, "Aelia?" They smiled as Storm seemed to step through an invisible doorway. She looked around the place that had been their home for the past sevendays with guarded curiosity.
Ash reached her first, looking into her eyes as he touched her face lightly. When she gazed up into his with a smile, he inhaled sharply at the flicker of twin images, quickly blocking the connection so he could gaze into her eyes and still touch her. He stared searchingly at her. "Your eyes," he whispered. "You can see again."
"Are you unharmed?" Skyfire asked intently, looking over her critically. "What happened? Where were you taken?" The utter relief Skyfire felt was spoken through his touch as he squeezed her shoulder tightly.
Storm frowned slightly at the questions. "I am unharmed, but... otherwise, I am not sure... where I was or why I was there." She closed her eyes, stumbling against Ash, dizzy. "The Timeless One wished to speak with me."
"The Timeless One wanted to speak with you?" Ash asked, trading shocked looks with Skyfire. "She was the one who healed you?"
"She... mended what Taylin's healing disturbed within me. Because what she did to heal Almek was something only the divine can do without doing harm to themselves. Our tie to her unborn child transferred the damage they would have taken onto us." She took the flask from a pouch on her hip, and handed it to Skyfire. "This is for you and Taylin." She yawned hugely. "She said to tell Almek it is time for him to go home to Her."
Ash kissed Storm's hair lightly as she rested her head on his chest. "Beloved, why in the world did you attack the Unseen? They are servants of the Timeless One Herself." He knew he should have been aghast, but he could not help but feel pride and admiration for the woman's audacity and the protective nature that blinded her to 'proper' behavior.
Storm did not open her eyes, responding matter-of-factly. "Totani are servants of the Raging One as well. I've taken them to task before and I would do so again if necessary." Tightening her arms around him, she stated in a half growl, "No one hurts those I have sworn to protect."
Skyfire laughed quietly as Ash rolled his eyes. "Stubborn Swordanzen," the mage said affectionately, kissing the top of her head.
Storm looked up at Ash with an arched
eyebrow. "Oh, and you would not have done the same?"
"This isn't about me," Ash countered lightly.
"Oh, both of you go to sleep," Skyfire said dryly. "I'll relay the message to Almek and explain... Well, no, you can explain. They'll just have to wait until you've both rested to hear the rest of the story. Go! Sleep!"
Ash chuckled, Storm leaning against him as they walked to their room. "You're both stubborn," Ash stated pointedly. "Must be because you are Desanti."
"And you aren't stubborn, Forentan?" she countered, their voices fading as they went down the hall. "Silly mage."
"Who are you calling silly?" he asked as the door closed.
Skyfire just watched after them for a time, before looking at the bottle of water. Opening it, he sniffed it warily before taking a long drink. He blinked several times before he grimaced, quickly putting the bottle on the table before dropping it. He pressed the heels of his hands against his eyes with an agonized groan. "Go away," he whispered to no one. "Just go away!"
Chapter 28
Late afternoon, everyone gathered to share the first meal in many days that was not marred by nightmare-induced exhaustion. Ash sat next to Storm by the great table, regarding her with a vastly amused expression as she sat on the back of the chair, as if she were a perching bird. The others listened to her with amazement as she related the events between overhearing the Guardians speak until her return. Even without bardic embellishment, the story enraptured her audience.
Bella finally broke the silence as Storm watched them with unblinking green-gold eyes after ending her tale. "Not that I am not extremely grateful not to have had to face you and your swords, but I would think it would have been more logical to come after us for threatening to still their Guardian gifts than going after the Unseen." She blinked several times as everyone burst out laughing, except for Storm who was as bewildered by their laughter as Bella. "What did I say?"