by Lexy Wolfe
"There is no logic where the heart is concerned," Ash said with a fond smile for Storm, echoing the words the Desanti woman had spoken to him what felt like an eternity ago. "At least, it was logic as defined by Storm's heart, not her head."
"It would have been pointless," Storm explained simply. "The goddess was testing them. None of you would have confronted your goddess or Her servants and challenged the reasoning for its excessive duration. You knew it was unusual, yet you assumed there was a valid reason and did not dare question directly, just planned for the inevitable results if they did not stop." She leaned forward to pick up a sweet roll, breaking off a piece. "Father would have been disappointed in me if I did not direct my attack against the root cause of the problems, which was not you. Such meekness is offensive in Desantiva."
Ophilia's eyes widened. "'Offensive'?! You are saying the traditions of Fortress are offensive? How dare you insult the Guardians or the Timeless One!" she demanded, standing to glare at Storm.
Jaison reached up to put a hand on the young Adept's arm. "Ophilia, stop it," he ordered quietly. "She is Githalin Swordanzen. She speaks for her god."
"No, Unsvet Jaison." Storm met Ophilia's eyes, not looking away. "Let her speak. In her eyes, my actions and behavior are illogical and offensive because she does not understand. Forenten seek to learn and understand. She can do neither if you continue to silence her."
The Unsvet considered Storm for a moment, then lowered his hand without a word. He watched the two with an inscrutable expression.
Storm spoke directly to Ophilia after Jaison subsided. "Adept Ophilia, change cannot happen without conflict. Where there is no change, there is stagnation. Where there is stagnation, there is death. Are you offended that I question the Guardians and the Timeless One's servants, or how I question them?"
Ophilia opened her mouth to snap back, then shut it as she bit back her kneejerk response, crossing her arms with a frown. "It is not proper to question the gods or those who serve them," she responded sullenly. "Guardians are not meek, they are respectful and obedient. That is the way it should be between mortals and the divine."
"Why is it not proper to question?" Storm pressed. "Is blind obedience better? In Forenta, no one questioned the Se'edai, not publicly. No one but Ash dared to confront her openly, but even he could not stand against her alone because he was only one man and there were many she had convinced to believe and obey her before your own goddess. Se'edai Magus Ellis had to be very careful in his confrontations else he would have been removed from his position and would have been unable to protect anyone."
"That is different," Ophilia argued. "Ysai was just a human. Well." She colored a little, glancing towards Terrence. "She appeared to be a human, at least. Guardians are almost as much divine servants as the Unseen."
"It is not different," Ash said quietly, his expression serious. "Mages serve the Knowing One through protecting the people. Just as the Swordanzen serve the Raging One, or Guardians serve the Timeless One. Questioning the gods is not a sin. It is a prayer for clarity, a sign of growth that the laws may no longer be adequate or simply a loss of understanding the purposes of the laws."
Almek nodded, drawing all attention towards himself. "We Guardians have fallen into the habit of accepting Her guidance as infallible, and that our interpretation of Her will is equally infallible." He smiled tiredly. "But the world changes, and we must change with it. If someone questions something, we should not be offended by the question." He looked sideways at Storm. "Perhaps by how it is questioned, but not the question itself."
Storm crossed her arms. "You have not taught me your customs to question here. It appears you have none. And I doubt the Unseen would have listened to me because they would have dismissed me as beneath them. A mere mortal who should have been blind to their presence."
"True enough," Almek agreed ruefully.
"Forgive me, Githalin Swordanzen," Ophilia said with a sigh, looking down with sagging shoulders. "I should not have--" she began. She looked up, startled, when Storm growled under her breath. Though she spoke Desanti, it was clear she was swearing in irritation.
Lyra smiled at the other Forentan girl lopsidedly. "Do not apologize for challenging Storm. Desanti respect shows of strength. Mistress Storm and Master Skyfire both prefer to be faced honestly and openly." She flashed a bright smile at Skyfire. "They do not mind being corrected if they err unknowingly." Rolling her eyes, she lamented, "Trying to teach them Forentan customs in how to question superiors has been... difficult."
"Your people take forever to get to the point!" Skyfire exclaimed in exasperation.
"Nor do your customs make any sense," Storm added, grumbling. The others could not help but laugh at the two Desanti. Even Ophilia giggled behind her hand.
"Lord Almek," Storm stated, her attention back on the Dusvet Guardian. The others quieted, looking at the woman whose tones were gravely serious. "The Timeless One wished me to tell you it is time for you to return to Her. I know Skyfire relayed the message. Why have you not left yet?"
"Child, I am not abandoning any of you until you are all settled in," Almek replied with gentle firmness. "She understands why I wait." He chuckled softly when she crossed her arms, glaring at him sternly. "You have all been through a terrible ordeal. I want you to get some rest before we depart." When her expression did not change, he stated earnestly, "Truly, there is no harm to me in waiting a couple of days to return to Sanctuary."
"There better not be," Storm grumbled, the others murmuring consensus to the sentiment.
Chapter 29
The sky was barely touched with the morning sun when Jaison was awoken abruptly to the sound of metal on metal. Blinking in disorientation, he pushed his door open, expecting to see the rest of Almek's students in the hall wide awake in alarm. The hall remained empty, however. He followed the sound to the common area and stared.
In the open area Storm favored for her solitary training routines, she and Skyfire traded blows. Both were dressed in the minimal leathers of their homeland, making them appear even more foreign. Both sported cuts and bruises from their battle, oblivious to the Unsvet. The silver of their two-edged Swordanzen blades caught the light in smooth, brilliant arcs.
Running between the pair when they backed away after a particularly intense impact, Jaison yelled, "Stop!" Both Swordanzen barely managed to stay their swings, swords glittering in the dim light just inches from his body. "What in the hells are you two doing?"
Storm leveled a hard look on Jaison, studying him with unsettling intensity. "We are training." She waved her sword in a dismissive motion. "Move."
Jaison crossed his arms. "You call that training? You look more like you are trying to kill each other."
"You would know if we were trying to kill each other," Skyfire stated calmly. He looked to Storm, saying something conversationally in Swordanzen. Storm made a rude noise, turning on her heel as she resheathed her sword and headed towards the garden pool to sit on the edge. "You are lucky we are as good as we are, or we may not have been able to stop our blows from striking you."
"If you must train, you should do so in a manner that does not risk death!" Jaison insisted.
Skyfire openly appraised the man, his expression filled with frank skepticism. "It is obvious you let outlander thinking taint your opinions. To blunt training risks death when the situation is deadly." He pointed out unnecessarily, "Storm does not appreciate our training sessions being questioned. It disrupts the patterns and risks unnecessary injury to someone or damage to something."
"Obviously someone needs to question you about this training," Jaison stated flatly. "You are Adept Elites. Future Guardians of Time! You should not be trying to kill each other."
"We are Githalin Swordanzen first." The Desanti man's voice had a challenging edge to it. He looked over towards Storm when she spoke curtly and nodded to her. "I am going to see if Lyra is awake yet." He smirked at Jaison. "Good luck, Unsvet. You're going to need it."
&nb
sp; Jaison was about to ask what Skyfire meant when Storm said in clipped Desanti, "What right do you have to question Swordanzen traditions after you have spurned your Desanti blood and embraced outlander ways? You are ashamed of your heritage."
"What? I am... no, I am not ashamed," Jaison stated, scowling.
Storm looked up at him, her disapproval clear. "I am no longer blind. I can see you for what you are now. The na'Zhekali blood ran true in you, but you hide the truth behind your foreigner blood. So you look only Vodani." Turning her eyes forward again, she stated coldly, "You shame the memory of your sire Hunter il'Thandar. My ancestor and one of my Totani's chosen."
Fists balled at his sides, Jaison glared at Storm. "My father was the one who taught me how to bring my mother's heritage forward and hide his!" When she turned her cold regard back towards him, he demanded, "Don't you think a halfbreed of a na'Zhekali-born Githalin Swordanzen would not have been killed by the less honorable in Desantiva? Or the Vodani woman my father loved been attacked to draw him out? Or that a Desanti, even a halfbreed, would have drawn unwelcomed attentions when I left? If the elders would have permitted me to leave at all once they realized I was half Desanti? Yes, for all anyone but Almek has ever known, I am a Vodani, and even he knew nothing about the tribe of my birth. Desantiva remained forgotten by the Outlands, as had been decreed by the Raging One after the Great War."
The woman studied him for a long time. Finally, she nodded once. "You are right. Even if you had been truly Cursed as I had been, the Elders would never have permitted you to leave Desantiva." Calmer, her eyes fell to the clear crystal pendant that caught the light against his smooth, bare chest. "You still wear your sire's blood crystal, even though it is lifeless now. He must have loved you very much to protect you with his life. How old were you when he died?"
Forcing himself to relax, Jaison went to sit at one of the benches along the side of the pool, Storm to his right. "Perhaps ten summers. He had spoken to me alone shortly before his death. It was as if he knew his time was short." Closing his eyes, he turned his face downwards. "He said my destiny lay outside of Desantiva. And once I found it, never to return. When Almek came to Desantiva a season later, he recognized me as a half breed, but he told no one my secret. He offered me the chance to go to Fortress." He looked up. "I have never gone against my father's last wish to me."
Storm was silent, eyes unfocused, her expression one of pain. The discomfort seemed to ease as she refocused, looking at Jaison consideringly. "Hunter had a gift of foresight. He did know his time was short." She studied him for a time. "Your mother was a skilled and beautiful weather wisdom. She was a remarkable woman to have won a na'Zhekali man's heart that he would take her as his mate, despite the risks and taboos against it. My tribe was particularly staunch about breeding for strength. There rarely was time for even th'yala."
Jaison looked startled. "How would you know anything of my mother?"
Smiling wanly, Storm shrugged. "I do not. Thandar does, though, because Hunter did. The Githalin bond is not simply one that allows the Swordanzen to share memories of the past with the Totani, but the Totani learns through their Githalin." She tilted her head, studying the Unsvet for several moments before looking away. "When Hunter bid you leave Desantiva, I do not think he intended for you to abandon your heritage completely. His words to you then were correct. But things have changed now."
The Unsvet was silent for a time, uncertain how to respond to the observation. "Almek has asked me to assist in training you and Skyfire," Jaison stated finally, watching her. "He hopes that I would have a better understanding of both of your perspectives as Desanti, to ensure that your training takes into account the traits that only Desanti seem to have."
"You have Desanti blood. You are not Desanti," Storm declared flatly. "You know nothing of our... 'perspectives.'" She turned to fix him with a hard look. "You have not lived as a Desanti. Regardless of why you turned your back completely on your heritage, the fact is you had. You cannot understand our 'perspectives' because you think like an outlander, not one of the people."
"Not everything about being a Desanti comes from living there," Jaison stated tonelessly. "Desanti are not like others. I am not like others."
Storm got to her feet, her eyes not leaving Jaison's. "I do not care. I do not need nor want anything from an outlander like you."
"Goddess damn it all, you are stubborn," he growled as he stood as well. "What have I done to earn your hatred? What is it you need of me so you can trust me?" Jaison grabbed her arm when she turned away wordlessly. "Almek is my teacher and my friend. He asked for my help, and I will give it. Whether you like it or not."
Jerking her arm away from him, Storm bared her teeth briefly in a feral snarl, her accent thicker with her agitation. "What do I want? I want respect for my people. All the time, Skyfire and I are told to stop. Stop training so hard. Stop following Desanti traditions. Forget about being Githalin Swordanzen, we are to be Guardians, it is not right to behave so uncivilized. Not even you respect what it means to be Desanti!"
"Just because I do not run around half-clothed trying to kill everything that crosses me does not mean I do not respect my father's people!" Jaison responded sharply. "I am not an Outlander."
Storm took a step towards Jaison, jabbing her finger in his chest. "You are just like an Outlander! Seeing the Desanti as a lesser, broken, flawed people. As if we are animals! We are not animals, we are Desanti. We are proud of who we are!" She jabbed his chest again. "You should be proud to be a Githalin Swordanzen's son! Not shamed."
"Guardians do not behave--" Jaison began. He staggered back as she shoved him with two hands on his chest, landing on his backside.
"What Skyfire and I are you will never understand! Why will you not accept this?" Storm seethed. "I could forgive not understanding, but I will never forgive you for not accepting what we are." Standing over him, she hissed, "For not accepting what your father was. Or what you could have been."
Jaison stared at Storm. "What do you mean, what I could have--?" He fell silent as Storm turned on her heel and left the room. Pushing himself up slowly, he looked at his hands, then back up where Storm had been. After a time, he simply sat there, his head in his hands.
"Jaison?" Bella came in from the opposite hall and immediately went to the other Unsvet's side. "Are you all right?" She offered her hand to him, none of her usual irreverence in her demeanor. She touched his cheek, wiping away a single tear. "I have not known you to be so heartsick since you were first an Adept. What's wrong?"
"I'm fine," Jaison stated tonelessly, not meeting her eyes.
Bella reached up to capture Jaison's chin, turning his face towards hers. "I've known you since before the Unseen accepted you as an Adept, Jaison. I've never seen you like this. Never so unsure of yourself." She touched his cheek as he turned his face away. "Talk to me, my friend."
"I wish I could, Bella." Jaison clasped the hand on his cheek, turning to kiss her palm. "I just... I need time to think. Please."
The woman looked into his eyes and sighed. "As you wish," she said softly. "But I am here for you." She kissed his temple gently. "Do not forget that, Jaison."
Chapter 30
Before dawn, Ash walked down the hall, knocking on the doors of the others of Almek's students. But he had not awaken anyone, for all were awake with restless anticipation for the start of the day's journey that would bring them to Sanctuary, the mountain home of the Guardians of Time. Mureln's smile of greeting immediately vanished the moment he saw Ash's face. "What's wrong?" he asked quietly, the worry drawing Taylin to the door as well.
"Would you and Taylin come to Storm's and my room, please?" the Illaini Magus asked, the rigid lack of emotion belying the turmoil behind it. "It is important." The pair only nodded and followed him back to his room. They were surprised to see the others were already there, all looking as worriedly bewildered as they felt.
Except for the pair of Swordanzen. When Ash pulled the door shut, Storm loo
ked at the others. "Skyfire and I are leaving." Lyra looked up at Skyfire with such a devastated expression, he could not meet her eyes. The others remained silent in shock before exclamations and questions of disbelief tumbled over one another.
Emil stepped up and stated loudly, "Did ye hit yer heads while ye were trainin' or somethin'? What the feck do ye think yer doing, leaving? Yer one of us!" Standing nose to nose with Storm who would not meet his eyes, he demanded, "We be yer tribe. Is that no' how ye said it?"
"Emil," Storm began, but the wiry gypsy would not let her speak.
"I know ye felt th' kin song. Ye kenna just turn yer back on yer family!" Emil's eyes flashed with his emotion. Impulsively, he grabbed Storm by the shoulders, shaking her. "Why are ye bein' so foolish as t' leave us?!"
Surprisingly, Storm did not react to the smaller gypsy's manhandling with violence. When she moved, Emil's eyes reflected realization of what he did, and his heart nearly stopped when Storm suddenly hugged him tightly. "Er, yer not killin' me," he pointed out weakly.
"I do not kill family," Storm said as she released him to look in his eyes. "But we cannot remain here. Not among those who badger us to change. No other race is asked to change who they are. But they demand it of us." She sighed heavily. "We cannot be other than what we are. Skyfire and I are Githalin. Our first duty is to the Raging One, not the Timeless One."
Lyra threw her arms around Skyfire. "How-how will you find your way back to Desantiva?" she asked weakly. "Let me go with you! I-I am supposed to take care of you and Mistress Storm. I-I have to--"
"No, Lyra. Do not deny your potential because of us. You belong with the others." Holding the small woman tightly, Skyfire stated, "We are not returning to Desantiva."
The others looked perplexed. "But where are you going then?" Taylin wondered.
"Out there," Storm said, waving a vague hand. "We are not suited to become Guardians. But all of you are. We will wait for you to return."