The Timeless One

by Lexy Wolfe

  "The firebird," Skyfire replied simply. "It is one of our most sacred birds, found only in the Rumblelands near the volcanoes."

  "The Totani do not patron the tribes anymore?" Jaison asked as he hesitantly put his hand in the fire. His eyes widened in amazement as the flames danced harmlessly around his fingers.

  Closing his eyes, Skyfire sighed heavily. "In the Before Time, tribes were very large and were able to occupy their own territories without having to leave them, though the Time of Gathering was tradition then as well. Now, if a tribe gets too large, it must split. Because there are more tribes than Totani, they have chosen none to claim so all are equal." He shook his head. "Entire tribes often die off or disappear entirely." He looked up. "The na’Zhekali had been the only Before Time tribe to survive, though Zhekali herself had been lost. The oldest tribes named after Totani, like my birth tribe na'Citali, were reestablished since the Great War. No matter if we were allies or rivals, all Desantiva mourned when news of what happened to the na'Zhekali reached the other tribes."

  "What will the Desanti think now that the na’Zhekali counts outlanders and foreigners as part of their numbers?" Mureln wondered rhetorically.

  "Regardless of what they think, we will need to earn their trust," Ash stated matter-of-factly. "And keep Storm’s temper in check until we do." The others blinked, then laughed quietly as Storm stretched and sighed contentedly in Ash's embrace

  Chapter 16

  In Issonia's grove, Terrence sat across from Ophilia, both with legs crossed. Serenely, the young Illaini Magus watched as the woman frowned, staring in concentration at a small water-smoothed rock. Fluttering near her ear, Petal stated encouragingly, "You see rock. You see air around rock. You tell air to push rock up. Make rock float!"

  "I am trying," Ophilia replied through gritted teeth. "I'm not mageborn!"

  "It does not matter if you are mageborn or not," Terrence told her quietly. "All Forentan have the ability to affect the fabric of things. It is a part of who and what we are." Getting to his feet, he moved to kneel behind her, putting his hands over her eyes.

  "What are you doing?" Ophilia asked, startled. "I can't work magic without seeing!"

  Terrence smiled a little. "Trust me, Ophilia." Waiting until she relaxed, he said, "Pick up the stone. Feel it. Its weight, its texture. Know its fabric." He waited for her to do so. After she set it down, he said, "Now feel the air." Half closing his eyes, he directed a soft breeze to gust across Ophilia's face. "Like the stone, it has weight and texture. Its fabric is different from the rock, more fluid and dynamic."

  Ophilia tilted her head slightly as she considered that. "Yes, I can feel that now. I never really thought about it before."

  "Good. The heart of Forentan magic is not simply being able to see the fabric of things, but being able to understand their nature. Mages like Ash learn enough that they can even change that fabric. Taylin's skills are similar, but her gift is with the fabric of living things. But changing things is mastery level skill and strength." Leaning closer, he whispered, "Remember. You are not changing the rock or the air. You are directing the air to lift the rock." He uncovered her eyes. "Make the rock float."

  Blinking a few times, Ophilia directed her attention towards the rock again. The rock began to tremble for a moment. Without warning, it flew up into the air. Ophilia covered her head as Terrence stood and caught it as it came down. "I did it!" she exclaimed. "I really did it!"

  "You did." Pleased, Terrence offered the rock to her as a souvenir. "I knew you could." He staggered back when she jumped to her feet and embraced him tightly, kissing him soundly. When he could finally breathe again, he said teasingly, "Now you just need to learn better self-control."

  Ophilia blushed brightly. "Sorry. I just never thought I could ever do something like that. Learning the basic magic skills they teach the lowborn was nearly impossible for me." She looked away in shame. "They gave up on me. So I gave up on them."

  "They just didn't know how to teach you," Terrence reassured. "Lowborn see the world differently than the highborn because of the assumptions about abilities." Taking her by the hand, he led her to the large flat rock that overlooked the valley.

  Petal flew circles around the pair. "All Forentan are born being able to see fabric of things. Ones called lowborn not taught what they are seeing." Hovering a moment, she crossed her arms as she stated flatly, "It is much annoying."

  "You can say that again," Ophilia grumbled as she climbed up on the rock, crossing her arms as she stared out into the distance. She rolled her eyes as Petal dutifully repeated it. "So, everyone in Forenta could be a mage? Not just the highborn?"

  Terrence shrugged one shoulder. "Everyone has the potential to be anything they want. It is whether they have the desire or the capacity to endure what is required to achieve it." He looked up at her, studying her profile. "If you really, truly wanted to be a mage, you could do so." He smiled faintly. "Native talent doesn't make someone good with that talent anymore than mere desire would."

  Ophilia looked at him, frowning. "So is that a yes or a no?"

  "Yes and no." Laughing, Terrence held up his hands as the young woman held up the rock as if she were going to throw it at him. "Think about it. If I never applied myself, I would never have mastered magic. And there is so much more for me to learn, as Illaini and Githalin. None of this was just given to me. I worked hard to earn it, and I will work for as long as I live to continue to earn it because I am not fool enough to think that it could not be taken away."

  Relaxing, Ophilia studied Terrence. She hopped down to look into his eyes, standing close to him. "You had talent, but it was not as much inborn strength as a highborn."

  "To this day, I do not know what Ash saw in me then. There seemed to be so many others who were better than me. More powerful. More inborn talent." Looking over at Issonia briefly, he said quietly, "I barely tested high enough to go to the Academy. I nearly failed my testing to be considered for apprenticeship."

  "Didn't you say the tester slanted the tests to favor the highborn and push out the lowborn?" Ophilia asked.

  Petal landed atop Terrence's head, sitting with crossed legs as she looked down at him. "Great Mother's son see himself in you." She squeaked when he started to turn his head upwards, grabbing his hair to stay put. Ophilia giggled behind her hand as the Illaini grimaced and held his head still.

  "Ash was a highborn with natural born talent and strength. I'm still not anywhere near as strong or good as he is," Terrence pointed out. "Illaini or not. I don't know that I'll ever be."

  "Illaini not mage. Illaini different. Illaini see not only fabric of things," Petal said emphatically. "When Ash became Illaini, he able to see fabric of mind." Laying on her stomach, Petal reached down to tap Terrence's forehead repeatedly. "You able seeing, too. All who god-touched have gift from gods touched by."

  Terrence swatted at Petal lightly. "Would you stop that!" The sprite obeyed, looking down at him from her perch. The young man sighed. "So, what do you mean about seeing the fabric of the mind?"

  "You already knowing." Petal shifted so she hung from his bangs, her face right in front of his eye. "Illaini teacher of Forenta. Like Githalin teacher of Desantiva. You are Githalin, but not Swordanzen. Illaini must see mind of students to know how teach them what they needing know, and why they wanting learn."

  "It matters why they want to learn?" Ophilia asked curiously.

  "Of course! Eep!" Petal squeaked as Terrence firmly picked her out of his hair, setting her on his shoulder. She put her hands on her hips, sticking her tongue out at Terrence before looking at Ophilia. "Teaching duck how to ride horse is not going help duck. Teaching duck how fly, or how fly better, or how swim better. That will help duck. But if duck not wanting learn to fly?" She shrugged. "Even throwing duck off high cliff will only end with duck dinner."

  Both Terrence and Ophilia blinked at Petal several times before they burst out laughing at the sprite's words. "Okay, okay," Terrence stated. "I get it. A
sh saw a duck wanting to learn how to fly."

  Petal shook her head. "Illaini Ash saw shadow of self." Standing up on his shoulder, the sprite leaned over to kiss Terrence's cheek and took wing, disappearing into Issonia's branches.

  "I wonder if Ash's companion Li was this obnoxious," Terrence said with exasperated affection.

  Ophilia slipped her arm around Terrence's, resting her head on his shoulder. "I think I understand what she is saying." She looked up at him. "Ash was raised as a lowborn. He fought to earn his place, just like you. And he has a good heart." Putting her hand on his chest, she whispered, "Just like you."

  Covering her hand with his, he squeezed tightly as he closed his eyes. "Objectively, I can't argue. Ash did choose me. And now I am Githalin and Illaini."

  Ophilia pulled their clasped hands towards her, kissing his knuckles gently. "And you are na'Zhekali." Hesitating a second, she asked, "Do you think... they know what we are thinking?"

  "No," Terrence said with a chuckle. "The bayuli-volsha is more primal than that." Guiding her towards the grove's exit, he slipped his arm around her waist as she did the same. "Though strong emotions and feelings, yes."

  Stopping under Issonia's branches, Ophilia turned to face him. "Wait. You mean... uh. The others can feel when we would...?"

  Terrence blushed faintly as he nodded. "There are few secrets among Desanti tribes. It takes some practice knowing what to react to, what to block out, and how."

  "Oh." Ophilia considered for a few moments. "Storm doesn't... you know. Hate me for how I acted back in Sharindel, does she? I mean, I figured she allowed me to become na'Zhekali for you, but I'm not sure if I know what I'm... ah, feeling from her."

  Chuckling, Terrence shook his head. "Not at all," he assured. "Storm thinks most Forenten are mindless sheep, and you are definitely not. She'd never approve of a Githalin being with a 'sheep' person. No Desanti would."

  They both looked up as a tri-petal flower, one of the few remaining, fell out of the branches, to be caught between them. Terrence took the flower and smiled up at the ancient tree before putting the bloom in Ophilia's hair. Without a word, they embraced each other tightly, their lips meeting in a long, passionate kiss.

  Chapter 17

  Sitting near the glass wall, Ash carefully wrote in a leather-bound journal. When the drizar shrilled before jumping down from the grassy area above their secluded ledge, he merely stopped writing without jerking the stylus across the page. He methodically put the writing instrument aside, then blew on the damp ink to dry it before he closed the book as the beast and his rider parted. The drizar jumped back up to his grazing territory while Storm burst into the room, rattling the glass-inset doors and walls.

  "You are upset," Ash stated evenly as the slight Desanti woman came in. He blinked, glancing upwards briefly and then coughed, shaking his head. "How is it I can sense more from Terrence when he's with Ophilia out there than I can from you here in the same room?"

  "Distance has nothing to do with the strength of the bayuli-volsha," Storm stated tonelessly. "I learned to shield against Totani. I can make certain none suffer my anger." She stopped pacing when Ash caught her wrist and pulled her towards him. Light reflected from her angry, green-gold eyes.

  "Storm, stop protecting us. We can't help you if you won't let us share your heart." Ash braced himself as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. The rush of emotions was as intense as a firestorm across rain-deprived lands. The carefully controlled openness drew the others from their rooms.

  "Good gods, what be that?" Emil asked, rubbing sleep from his eyes. Behind him, Emaris yawned hugely, running into his smaller brother accidentally. "Hey, watch it!"

  Taylin's eyes were wide. "Storm?" She looked behind herself as Mureln stepped out of their room. "But Izkynder is sleeping soundly. How can it be...?"

  "You have incredible self control to be able to selectively share or not among numbers, tlisan," Mureln murmured admirably as he moved to stand by the lifemated pair. Studying her expression, he said simply, "You tried to convince the Dulain to cancel Turyd's execution."

  "It isn't right!" Storm fumed, pulling away from Ash to pace the room again. "He believed he was protecting his people from us because he thought we were dangerous. They were only books. Dead things! They were not living things. And Terrence undid what he tried to do. Why is he to die for a mistake? Dulain Tyrsan would not hear me when I said this was wrong." Grabbing a large vase, she flung it against the far wall before turning back to the others. "Are we to kill for mistakes now? To be killed for them?! This is what being a Guardian means?! Desantiva cannot be redeemed through dishonorable deaths!"

  Mureln looked between Storm and Skyfire and pressed his lips together as he realized both Desanti shared the view and the guilt for being the root cause behind a dishonorable act. The others' attempts to calm and console the pair fell on deaf ears. He focused on the pair and shouted, "Stop it! Both of you, listen to me." Both Desanti fixed feral eyes on the Vodani, his bardic voice cutting through their emotions. "Turyd's execution has little to do with what he did to the journals. It has everything to do with his betrayal of Fortress."

  Opening and closing her fists as she struggled to calm herself, Storm finally demanded, "Explain. I do not understand."

  "Please," Skyfire added as he joined Storm, putting a hand on her shoulder. He looked towards Terrence as the younger mage and Ophilia jogged in, both drawn through the echo of Storm's anger through the tribal bond. "How did burning these books betray Fortress?"

  "Guardians have a greater purpose than simply finding time shifters and kicking them out of this plane back into the rivers of time." Mureln kept his voice calm and even. The subtle tone and tenor of his words slowly soothed the Desanti's agitation. "They are to preserve the knowledge of the present so those of the future can look back after everyone and everything is long gone, as much as they can. From crafts to stories to whatever else they can learn or discover."

  Ash watched the pair closely as he spoke. "We know the Desanti of Fortress all left sometime after the Great War. And all of Desantiva's history disappeared with them. No one knows how or what happened to the missing archives. Many assumed they had been destroyed by the Desanti, which is a sin beyond words here."

  Storm crossed her arms, stating stubbornly, "They are still just dead things. We Desanti have had to endure lost knowledge and history since the Great War and we survive despite the losses. Dulain and the others are overreacting to things being destroyed that were un-destroyed."

  "Storm, Skyfire," Terrence stated firmly. "Journals are different from other writing you have seen. A true journal holds a piece of the writer's soul within it. They are more... shadows of their authors. I almost could not make them whole." The two Desanti frowned, trading silent looks. "Remember our lessons on reversing time."

  "It can be done on things that were not alive," Skyfire stated slowly. "Not on things once alive to make them live again because the soul is outside of time."

  "What I had to do was... much more complicated. Dzee showed me the way." Terrence looked towards the glass doors for a moment. "Restoring the books was easy. Restoring their essence... I almost could not do. They are on the knife's edge of being alive."

  Mureln stated emphatically, "Journals are to Guardians for preserving history as the A'tyrna Ulan are to the Desanti people."

  Both Swordanzen reacted to the bard's words, their outrage turning to shock. "They are as sacred as A'tyrna Ulan?" Skyfire whispered, looking at Storm. "This Turyd... he was sworn to protect these and he...?"

  "He sacrificed them so Fortress would turn against Desantiva," Storm snarled, her eyes flashing with menace. "Just as Forenta was turned against Desantiva. If he wishes to war on my people, then I will--"

  Ash hurried to intercept Storm, holding her arms tightly. "This is not for us to act on, Storm. This is for the Dulain and the other Guardians. Here, we are only Adepts. Students." They stared into each other's eyes until she finally relaxed enoug
h for him to release her.

  "This is why they insist we must learn how to read and write." Storm looked at the others in turn before exhaling heavily, looking away. "Desanti... we do not do things this way."

  Ash traded a relieved look with Mureln and Terrence. "Come, Terrence, Mureln and I can help you learn the art of journaling, even if there is no Desanti written tongue." Both mages looked surprised when Emil and Emaris came over as well.

  Emil scowled at the two. "Ye think jus' b'cause we are gypsies we are good at this journalin' business? C'mon. Start teachin' us, eh?"

  Chapter 18

  The main courtyard of Sanctuary filled with people as guards led Turyd from his confinement to the raised platform in the center. The ancient Guardian stumbled a few steps, his pace slow. He stared blindly, his jaw slack, still in the thrall of the terrible memories Terrence had imparted to him. There was only grim, quiet muttering from those gathered as they came to bear witness to the punishment of one of the oldest among them.

  The sea of people parted quickly as the na'Zhekali emerged from the tunnels, regarding them with a sense of awe or trepidation. Izkynder sat in a pack on Taylin's back, sleeping, the white mark on his left cheek shimmering in the light from the overcast sky. Eyes flickered towards the Desanti and quickly looked away. The two desert folk’s obvious dismay at losing Turyd mollified those who questioned if Desanti had any sense of respect for the past.

  Turyd was pushed to his knees. Tyrsan could only look with disappointed resignation at the former archivist who stared sightlessly. "Some time ago, the journals of a Desanti Guardian had been recovered. They were placed in the empty Desanti vault with the hope that perhaps one day we would see the lost archives restored, and the wounds of the Great War that Fortress still bears would finally begin healing."