by Lexy Wolfe
"All right," Tyrsan stated flatly. "Ever since all of you arrived with Almek, you have provided me more questions than answers. What little I can determine from examining Turyd's mind, what little of his mind that is left now, thanks to you..." He fixed a look on Terrence briefly before he continued. "Turyd was neither controlled nor losing his faculties, simply fixed in his beliefs about the Desanti and convinced his actions were necessary to bring everyone who did not agree 'in line' with him with proof of his alleged Desanti maleficence."
Pacing in barely restrained rage, he stated bitterly, "The laws on the sanctity of the archives are absolute. Destroying the journals of our brothers and sisters is akin to murdering those who wrote them. It does not matter that the damage was able to be undone. It was done. Now I have no choice but to execute one of the oldest of our numbers for his utterly brainless attempt to cast doubt and blame on the Desanti to try to get me to kill them."
The reaction to the announcement of execution was immediate, but unexpected. Storm, Skyfire and Mureln all stood in alarm. "You cannot kill a man over books!" Storm objected.
Skyfire stated passionately, "Whip him. Banish him. But to kill him--"
"There has to be another way, Dulain," Mureln interrupted. "Some... some other punishment. Someone else to carry it out. Please!" He brushed Taylin's hand from his arm. "Please, Dulain, reconsider this path. I know..." He shook his head, hand going to his temple. "I know something is gravely wrong, going down this path." The bard finally yielded to Emil and Taylin as they pulled him back down to sit, the gypsy giving him a glass of drink laced with the senasa root.
Suppressing his surprise the source of objection was from the races most assumed to have ruthless punishments, Tyrsan had to bellow over their protests. "It is the responsibility of the Dulain to enforce the edicts of our mistress and to carry out Her punishments for transgressions. I will not shirk my duty now." Crossing his arms, he looked at the group. "What happened in those archives? I want answers! What is going on?!"
At first, there was utter silence, no one meeting Tyrsan's eyes. The two Githalin spoke with Terrence in Swordanzen. Storm and Skyfire traded surprised looks before they looked back towards the Dulain. "Dulain, if you want to understand, we must explain what had been, to understand what is now," Storm stated. "Starting before the Great War, when the divide between Desanti warriors and Forenten mages began."
Eyes narrowed, Tyrsan mutely made a vague gesture for her to continue. "My people had an affinity for the physical arts, where the Forenten's ancestors preferred..." She waved her hands, struggling for the word. "More mind stuff. We also tended to be more... warlike, as you Northerners speak of it."
"Cerebral arts," Ash clarified with a small smile for Storm's attempt to speak objectively of his people. The mage lowered his eyes as he sighed heavily. "The Forenten have always been a people of peace, seekers of knowledge. We also want control and order to the world. We instinctively abhor the chaos the warriors thrive in. While we are not a nation of warriors, we will use war as a tool to preserve or gain the order we demand. Our strength was in our numbers, uniting behind our leaders to defend them and ourselves."
Storm put her hand on Ash's, squeezing reassuringly. "The Desanti always preferred to be more... involved with the land around them and physical prowess. We do not seek to change or control the land. We need its unpredictability and chaos to test and challenge us. War was for us a means to defend ourselves from outsiders or one of desperation. Disputes were between individuals."
Ash met each listener's eyes. "We know the First Sundering marked the eternal division between the warriors and the mages. In that moment, the gods Desantiva and Forenta were born. When their lands inherited their names, they became known as the Raging One and the Knowing One."
"Eventually, the divisions within our peoples began to develop as the division between the mages and warriors deepened." Storm clasped both Terrence and Ash's hands. "The hatred and distrust between the mages and warriors existed as nations, but there were individuals who were not so absolute."
Ash closed his eyes. "At the height of tensions, a Shadowlord convinced my mother, the Knowing One, and many of the mages that the Desanti meant to destroy them and Forenta itself. The balance of power between warriors and mages has always been a matter of... time. It takes time to prepare and cast spells. Warriors are quick and strong, and in numbers, they can have as wide an effect as a mage has with spells but faster. Our ancient ancestors felt the only path to protect themselves was to attack the warriors before the warriors could attack them. Their intention was to... to slay the Raging One."
Storm looked at him, holding his hand tightly in reassurance as she spoke. "The mages used what they call unbound magic to strip the magic from everything within Desantiva, and with it, life itself. The Knowing One realized too late what damage to the great balance killing Her brother would do. But instead of slaying him, She imprisoned Her brother in chains while the soul of the Totani known as Dzee, the one who embraced magic, was torn away. This compromise kept the world from collapse but hobbled the warriors. Dzee's physical body was encased in crystal in the hopes that her soul could one day be recovered. Other lost Totani were not so fortunate."
The Illaini Magus spoke again, his shame for what his ancestors had done tempered only by Storm's obvious forgiveness. "Unbound magic does not stop until it is made to stop, but continues until there is nothing left for it to effect. The spell that was cast was intended to kill the warriors of Desantiva.
"But the spell cast affected more than simply the people of Desantiva. It spread to the land itself. Magic is the source of life," Ash stated. "The A'tyrna Ulan of Desantiva sacrificed themselves to stop the unbound magic. Had it not been stopped, it would have spread to the oceans and then to the mainland. Spread until everything was dead.
"But even though not everything was destroyed, the land was dying. So much was lost, it was not enough to sustain what little remained without help. A population of thousands was reduced to mere hundreds. And that was only the humans. The plants and animals also suffered."
Storm looked up at Tyrsan. "There was only one group of those of Desanti blood who had been mostly spared from more lethal effects of the spell because they had given themselves to serve a god other than the Raging One, so they were Desanti born, but not Desanti in name."
"The Desanti Guardians of Fortress," Tyrsan said for her, sitting heavily in a chair. "That is why they left."
Storm nodded solemnly. "The Heart of Desantiva sought to protect what remained of his land and children by having the world forget about them, to give them time to heal and restore themselves. For Desanti, the law bound us tighter than life and death. Desanti were never to leave Desantiva, and no one not Desanti could come within. To attempt either meant death. Save for our Vodani cousins, but even they were regarded with..." She looked away from Mureln. "Suspicion. There was no room left within us to trust anyone not Desanti."
"The war was over two thousand years ago. Almek is only five hundred." Tyrsan waved absently to let them start eating, pouring himself a glass of wine. "Jaison hid his Desanti heritage to hide the fact one had left. What changed that drew two god-chosen out of the land you exiled yourselves to?"
"It was the Dusvet's vision that led us," Taylin said softly. "After Almek had communed with the Timeless One--"
Jaison smacked the table, startling everyone. He looked sternly at Taylin. "Do not dismiss yourself! It was your vision of the unusual temporal shifter in the one-eyed giant wolf that prompted him to seek Her vision. Until then, he had only suspicions, but nothing to act upon."
The Illaini both looked at Taylin in surprise, the healer blushing. "You saw us facing that one-eyed lupine?" Terrence asked. Taylin nodded wordlessly. He and Ash exchanged looks the others could tell meant they would be lost in the archives again the first chance they got.
"Even then, Almek wanted more proof to bring to Fortress," Bella said sourly, flicking a piece of bread across the tab
le to the chitan that pounced on it. "Finding a gifted master with undeniable Guardian talent wasn't enough of something dire going on for the likes of Dremmen."
Tyrsan grimaced, lowering his glass. "Not that I helped with those perceptions. I've only just started seeing the anomalies Jaison and Bella have been going on about since Almek had left. The Dusvet was rather vague about his travels since then." Making a gesture between the Desanti and the Forenten, he asked blandly, "How did going to Forenta lead to bringing Desanti out of the desert? Or acquiring a bard and gypsies as students? It is not an intuitive leap."
"Don't you remember the Vodani student that left because of the bardic call?" Bella waved a spoon aimlessly at Mureln. "That was him."
Mureln smiled a little. "After I attained my mastery, I fell in with Emil and Emaris. Nearly twenty years after I left Almek, our paths crossed again in Ithesra. After... some other adventures," he stated, glossing over the events leading to meeting the Knowing One, "I suggested we head to Corast because any news of happenings notable enough for a Guardian always travels through Vodanya's border towns. News about a tragedy in Desantiva had reached Corast. It was notable enough because news rarely escapes Desantiva, but details were vague. He decided we would go there to learn more about what happened from the source."
"I'm surprised you all lived," Bella noted blandly.
"So were we," Emil replied dryly.
Skyfire snorted, his grin wolfish. "You lived only because the tradition of peace during the Time of Gathering and the ancient histories of the Dusvet Guardian. All the stories of every generation who has met Dusvet Guardian Almek Two-Tones have spoken of him with reverence and honor. He had earned the people's trust, and we extended it... reluctantly... to his students. We would have killed all of you on the spot otherwise." Skyfire's blunt statement was chilling in its casual matter-of-factness.
Tyrsan considered the dark skinned man for a time. "What was this tragedy he was investigating?"
All eyes turned to Storm. She lowered hers, glancing up only at Ash's supportive squeeze of her hand. "What I believed was a dinnais, what northerners call darklings and Fortress calls a time shifter, had attacked the Vi'disa tribe. Its touch twisted them, corrupted them. To protect the other tribes, those corrupted had to be killed and the dinnais neutralized. I and nine other Swordanzen managed to trap it within its host body, though it cost all of them their lives. And because they would have been shunned as Cursed by all tribes and left to die in the desert, I gave the remaining Vi'disa children the mercy of a swift death." She looked away. "I was the only one to survive to sing their mourning songs to the other tribes."
"The 'dinnais' turned out to be the lost Totani Dzee," Terrence replied simply. "She convinced Almek to spare her, and she took me as a host. She needed magic to stay on the physical plane, and I had plenty to spare. Unlike the Desanti who only had enough to sustain life. Storm led us to her father, the Raging One, where Ash was able to restore Dzee to her physical body." He smiled a little towards Storm. "To end the spell created by His sister that imprisoned her father, Storm left Desantiva to speak on His behalf to the Knowing One."
Tyrsan blinked several times, Storm's words about being raised by a dragon suddenly taking on new meaning. "Wait. ...Father? Mother? You do not speak in euphemisms. You mean to say that...?" He pointed mutely between Storm and Ash.
"What? Oh. No, the gods are not our birth parents. They are our adoptive parents," Ash explained. "Our mortal families were murdered when we were children."
The man drummed his fingers in silence, staring at Terrence. "While I do appreciate having such ancient history clarified, it does not explain how you did what you did in the archives."
Hesitating, Terrence eventually stood up with a sigh and took off his outer robe, wearing a sleeveless tunic underneath. He turned to show all of them his right arm. The intricate twist of colors marking him as Illaini reached from the back of his hand and covered his forearm just past the elbow. The dark silhouette of a wyvern covered his shoulder. "I was able to do it because I am both Githalin and Illaini, as well as an Adept of Time."
"Holy sh-" Bella began to say, then shut her mouth when Ophilia elbowed her sharply. "Ow!" she hissed, glaring. "Did you know?" she demanded under her breath.
Ophilia turned deep red, but did not look away. "It is rather hard to hide something like that sometimes, you know." Bella's jaw dropped as she pointed between Ophilia and Terrence mutely. "Well, duh!" the Adept replied under her breath. "Sheesh, you usually are the first to pick up on that sort of thing, Bella. You're losing your touch."
"Quit it," Jaison snapped quietly at them as Bella raised her fist as if to backhand Ophilia. The two women subsided grudgingly.
Tyrsan ignored the three, studying Storm, Skyfire and Terrence intently while the rest of their companions took in the news of this formerly unknown fact about the young man. "I know the Illaini mark is the twin color eternal braid. This... dragon mark identifies Githalin?"
"That is a wyvern, not a dragon. See her wings come from her forearms? Dragons have four legs plus wings." Storm smiled up at Terrence. "The mark identifies the Totani the Githalin is bonded to. Traditionally, Githalin shed their names and tribes both when the Totani choose them. In Desantiva, Terrence would be known as Sumyr il'Dzee."
"I'd thought there was only one mortal god-chosen at a time," Bella said. "Outside of the Timeless One's domain, at least. If there was one at all. Forenta's been without Illaini for a long time."
Storm shrugged. "There can be as many Githalin as there are Totani. The marks are always different." Both Storm and Skyfire unlaced and removed their outer shirts to show Tyrsan their Githalin marks.
Lyra gasped softly, touching Skyfire's shoulder lightly as if brushing dirt off. "Beloved, your mark has changed. It isn't just black anymore!" He looked over sharply, shifting to peer at his shoulder. Where there had been a black silhouette was now a black-smudged, silver-grey mountain cat. As he rubbed it, the black came away, leaving the shimmering image behind.
Storm looked at Skyfire's mark, then looked at her own as Ash lightly brushed away the black to reveal the image of a diving golden desert eagle. She looked up in confusion. "I... I do not understand. I have never heard of this before."
Tyrsan tilted his head, then smiled a little. "I feel a little better that I am not the only one completely unacquainted with what is going on here." He sat forward. "Adept Storm, Adept Skyfire." He waited until they looked at him. "You had proven yourselves against each other through your shli'zarii." He waved a hand. "That can only be a master's mark."
The eagle seemed to intensify in color, Storm grimacing a bit as she put her hand over her shoulder. She couldn't help but laugh weakly. "Thandar says the reason it has not been seen since before the Great War is because the shil'zarii must be witnessed and Swordanzen have few they can trust when they are unable to stand alone after they have put all they are into the contest. Once a witness of the whole contest sees the survivors of the shli'zarii, the shadows are brushed aside to reveal the warrior's true heart." Absently as she looked at the mark, touching it with wonder, "Only you and Issonia were witnesses. Thandar says if not for you, this change would not have happened until we finally went to see her again."
Equally awed at the change in his mark, Skyfire added, "Few recover from the trial. Like we would not have but for all of you watching over us."
"Well, then, I am glad we all were able to participate in a historic moment of the Desanti people," Tyrsan said, bemused. "Come. Let's eat. I'm also giving all of you a rest day. You have earned it, and I'd rather not inflict the confusion running through Sanctuary right now on my... er, Almek's Adepts."
"You have guarded us and guided us, Dulain," Storm stated evenly. "We are as much your Adepts as Almek's." The others made sounds of agreement. They chuckled good naturedly at the flush that suffused his face at their words.
Chapter 15
After the evening meal, everyone got up to move to the sitting are
a around the central fire pit near the windows, ignoring the ominous feeling of something looming nearby. Emil put a hand on Terrence's shoulder to hold him back. "Lad, what's th' matter? Ye lookin' as sad as ye did back when ye disappeared down in th' Rumblelands."
Terrence blinked. "What? Oh, nothing's wrong." Emil crossed his arms, arching a skeptical eyebrow. "Really! I'm just... I wish I could figure out how to help Storm." His gaze towards the slight woman was affectionate, but sad. "She always has such sorrow in her eyes when she thinks no one is looking."
Emil looked over at the Desanti woman as she settled next to Ash. She stared into the fire, ignoring the others around her. "Yeah, I had noticed that b'fore. Thought now that we'd been settled in an' all, she'd lighten up. She has been better since Izkynder showed up."
"I know she misses her family. Her real family. The na'Zhekali tribe." Terrence sighed softly. "I wish we were family enough for her to replace them, but I guess nothing can fill in the void of all those broken bayuli-volsha."
"Hmm." Emil walked over to sit at the chair diagonal from Storm, elbows on knees as he sat forward, looking at the fire with flickering glances towards her profile. "Storm, lass." The gypsy was silent until her eyes finally turned towards him. "I was wonderin'. If ye performed yer ritual t’ make all o' us part of yer tribe as ye did wi’ the wee lad there, if we’d feel th’ bayuli-volsha wi’ ye." Silence consumed the room as the others stared at the gypsy, then looked to her for her response.
Storm’s expression did not change, but she did not respond immediately, simply staring at Emil for a considerable amount of time without blinking. He began to fidget. "Eh... Storm...?"