The Timeless One

by Lexy Wolfe

  Holding her in a tight embrace, Emil kissed her forehead. "Ye do fine. I think it has somethin' t' do wi' the Desanti." At her bewildered expression, he asked, "Could ye see Almek when he was travelin' in Desantiva?"

  "I... no. Now that you mention it, we lost touch with him some months after he departed again." She looked up at him. "We were so elated to hear he had returned to Fortress alive, we forgot about the oddity."

  Emil grunted. "Got t' be somethin' 'bout..." He shook his head. "Ne'ermind. Just... look at it this way... we be safe from anyone who try t' spy on us." He quirked a smile at her expression. "Jus' means ye will need t'come visit us more."

  Itena looked shocked. "You know I cannot! An Oracle is supposed to remain distant, objective." She closed her eyes shamefully. "That I emerge this often is... it is a great risk because I or the hidden clan risk discovery. The Timeless One and Seeing One would be angry with me."

  "No, I do not think ye need worry. But if ye must, go an' ask yer gods. Ye will need t'be careful. B'cause we got th' Desanti wi' us, and they ain't likely t'welcome anyone sneakin' around." More seriously, he said, "I need t' know. Have ye been able t'watch Dremmen?"

  "My visions of that horrible man have been dim," Itena confessed. "It is as if he has nearly been swallowed by darkness. My skin crawls as though something were watching me when I watch him."

  "Oh, that kenna be good." Emil pressed his lips together, frowning. "Not a'tall." Putting his hands on her shoulders, Emil shook her lightly to emphasize his urgency. "Listen. Ye need t'make sure all th' clan be watchin' their backs and do na' do nothin' t'draw attention to yerselves."

  Itena looked startled at the intensity of his warning. "What? Why? I do not understand."

  "Because I think there be Shodwyn in Fortress, an' bein' th' betting man I be, I be sure Dremmen be layin' in their bed, if ye know what I mean."

  "Shodwyn?!" Itena whispered in horror. "Oh, by the Seeing One's eyes! I thought the Dusvets had destroyed them." Without warning, Itena suddenly looked over his shoulder in terror.

  Emil spun, hand dropping to his sword instinctively. He blinked in shock. "Storm? What are ye doin' here?"

  "I said," Storm said coldly, arms crossed. "Find me proof. Not theories. I cannot justify destroying Dremmen's soul just because I despise the man." Fixing Itena with a feral look, the Swordanzen woman said, "If you value your life, you will do as I say. Find me proof of his treachery." Itena shrank back.

  Emil shifted to put himself between Itena and the nearly inhuman Storm. "Hey, now," he temporized. "Don't be threatenin' t' hurt th' woman! Ye kenna be expectin' a mere servant t' be nosin' about Guardian business."

  Shifting her almost tangible gaze from Itena to Emil, Storm bared her teeth. "Do not think me a fool, Emil. She is no 'mere' anything. I can sense the hidden divine marks she bears." She fixed her gaze on Itena again. "And I am not the threat to you or those you protect. The darkness around Dremmen has a stench I smelled once before. In Sumalen's blood when I ripped the bastard's heart and soul from him."

  "Sumalen was darkborn. Ye think Dremmen is...? But that's impossible! He be a Guardian." Emil was alarmed, looking over his shoulder at Itena. "How can a darkborn become a Guardian?" He took an instinctive step back, putting a protective arm in front of Itena, when Storm swore colorfully in all the tongues she had learned.

  "Dremmen is kin to those who ally to darkness. His blood is tainted." She turned to stalk away. "Reason enough to destroy him. Almost. But I will not. Not without proof."

  Itena peered over Emil's shoulder as Storm disappeared up the tunnel and whispered, "She frightens me. I have never seen such fury!"

  "She has good reason t' be angry." Emil pressed his lips together grimly for a moment. "Darkness had or do try t' take everythin' that Storm holds precious." He turned back to Itena, looking into her eyes worriedly. "Find what ye ken. I think if she do not find 'im soon, she will start takin' the whole mountain apart hunting fer 'im."

  "I will," Itena assured. Kissing him soundly, she whispered, "Be safe, Emil. I like you." She smiled at his blush before she turned and disappeared down the servants' tunnel.

  Chapter 21

  Even days after the execution and attack on the Dulain, meal times were a subdued event for the na'Zhekali, the looming threat hanging over them keeping any joviality suppressed to quiet voices and murmurings. Even the autumnal winds seemed too afraid to be loud.

  During a late autumn thunderstorm, Storm and Ash looked up from their withdrawn pensiveness, dropping their utensils in shock. Both rose, Storm already halfway to the tunnel archway when a familiar, cheerful voice drifted through. "I hear things have been quite exciting while I was gone."

  "Almek!" everyone said at once as Storm abruptly grabbed the man in a fiercely tight embrace just as he crossed the threshold into the main room.

  "Oof! Hey, now!" Almek appeared to be no older than in his early forties. The only sign of the advanced aging he nearly died from was the white hair he still sported at his temples and the bemused laugh lines crinkled at his eyes. "Storm, child, relax! I'm alive and well." He made a face as he tried, but failed, to pry her arms from around him. "But not for long if you don't let me breathe!"

  Storm jumped back, contrite. Her sudden release forced Almek to take a step back to regain his balance. "Forgive me, Lord Almek. We have been very worried about you." With a childlike petulance, she exclaimed, "You have been gone forever!" The others were torn between laughter and amazement at the normally extremely literal Desanti's blatant exaggeration.

  The man smiled warmly. "I suppose at your age, it would seem like forever, wouldn't it?" He looked down to see Izkynder staring up at him with a scrunched up face. "Well, hello there, little one." He leaned down to touch the iridescent mark on the boy's left cheek, drawing back as the chitan clinging to the front of his tunic hissed at the Dusvet.

  "Bad, Chitta!" Izkynder scolded, roughly patting the small head. "No bite!" The chitan's squeaks were muddled by the rough handling of the boy, but he did not bite him.

  Storm picked Izkynder up and settled him on her hip. "Izkynder, this is Lord Almek."

  "Lo'mek!" He wiggled fingers at Almek, then turned shy, hiding his face against Storm's neck, watching Almek. The chitan scrambled to avoid being pinched between them, hanging from Izkynder's back and staring at Almek with glittering, jewel-like eyes.

  The rest of Almek's students approached, everyone talking at once. They subsided as a weary Ash finally approached. The men regarded each other in silence for a long moment before they embraced each other briefly. "You are looking a bit worse for wear, Ash," Almek observed unnecessarily, brushing the traces of white at Ash's temples.

  "I will recover," Ash replied simply. "It is good to see you well again." He tilted his head, studying the man. "You returned to us early?" Almek nodded, looking pleased with Ash's perception. "Why? We could have waited for you. You should have remained safe within the Timeless One's embrace to let yourself recover completely."

  "Well, I could not very well let you all go off for your final tests without me, could I?" Almek asked mildly as he walked further into the common room while everyone stared at him. "As the Desanti like to say, tradition is important," he said with a grin. "And it is tradition for a mentor to accompany their students. And though I have not been physically present for most of your time within Sanctuary, I have felt your thoughts reaching out to me."

  The group was flabbergasted at Almek's words, stunned to silence for several heartbeats until Storm burst out with, "Tests?! You mean the tests to get Guardian colors? But we can't go now... Lord Almek, someone may try to kill you!" Storm waved a hand aimlessly. "You do not know what has been happening. They have already tried to kill Dulain Tyrsan, and nearly killed Unsvet Bella! Who knows who else may suffer at the hands of--"

  "I am aware of the recent troubles, as She is." Almek picked a small roll from one of the baskets, taking a bite. "It is why it is most important you be prepared for the tests. As much as anyo
ne can be ready, anyway. Such distractions serve to delay you, which is likely one of the goals of whomever is behind the attack. Besides," he added soothingly, "you have not yet been called. You will know when it is time."

  Tyrsan looked down in shame. "Forgive me, Dusvet. As Sanctuary's Dulain, I should have been aware of how great the dissenters' influence had become. I could never have imagined Turyd could have done anything like he had."

  Almek looked annoyed. "Turyd was a narrow-minded twit who was easy to manipulate because he refused to believe he could be wrong about his precious archives or that the Desanti were not as he always imagined them to be. Things unchanging may be good to bring stability in a chaotic world, but there comes a point when that which cannot change is doomed to be destroyed."

  Everyone looked towards the glass doors when two loud thumps struck the taller rock, followed by softer ones. The drizar's shriek echoed down the mountain and into the room before he peered in the door, chuffing questioningly. Storm handed Izkynder off to Taylin. "I must attend to the drizar," she stated.

  "Storm," Ash chided mildly.

  "Let her go," Tyrsan advised. "Better that she deals with her shock as she needs than forcing her into something that could be considerably more damaging to the furniture."

  "No companion more loyal than him," Almek said. "Now come, all of you. I did not mean for my return to interrupt your meal." He looked at Bella sympathetically, the woman sickly pale with dark circles under her eyes and her arm in a sling. "You need to eat so you may heal, my dear. And you need to forgive yourself."

  Bella managed a half-hearted smile. "Of course, Dusvet."

  Chapter 22

  Terrence stepped out from the common area into the crisp predawn morning on the ledge outside of the na'Zhekali's Fortress home, looking around in the darkness. He walked over to the more shadowed area. He paused at a snort, offering a respectful bow to the drizar.

  "You can see in the dark now?" Storm asked neutrally from the rock she sat on near the animals.

  The young man smiled faintly. "That is a gift only the Desanti can claim, tlisan, being able to see the glow of life itself from all around you. Where you were located was an educated guess on my part." He glanced at the sky as the clouds shifted a little, the moonlight brightening the land. Hearing her move, he turned back and went to sit beside her. "You are having doubts about becoming a Guardian?"

  "Yes," Storm replied bluntly, not bothering to question if she was being obvious with her feelings. "After having come this far, I should not." Lowering her gaze, she said in a small voice, "But I do. I am Desanti! My life had been dedicated to protecting my people." She closed her eyes. "I do not want to lose that. I do not want to lose them. They are my people and we are so few as it is."

  "You should not feel as though you are losing the Desanti," Terrence said quietly. "You are gaining the other nations as your people, too. Remember what Tyrsan has always told us. Guardians serve to protect the balance of all the lands. Desantiva will not be the only nation you would protect. You would be part of all nations, just as you made all nations a part of the na'Zhekali tribe. You have seen how much the other nations need your protection, too."

  "What happens outside of Desantiva is irrelevant," Storm stated flatly. "They care nothing for us, I care nothing for them."

  "Is it irrelevant?" Terrence waited until her green-gold eyes had turned towards him before he continued. "If Ysai had succeeded in suppressing those mages who followed the true path, if she succeeded in destroying Ash and Forenta's ties to the Knowing One, don't you think she would have convinced the ones that accepted the power darklings promised them to finish destroying Desantiva?" He sensed her stiffen. "It might have taken them another thirty or fifty years to prepare. You would have been long dead, perhaps others of your people compromised like Sumalen had been. Could Desantiva have survived? Would they have even suspected or have been able to prepare adequately?"

  "I was meant to leave Desantiva?" Storm asked uncertainly. "It was my destiny? This... is my destiny?"

  Terrence shrugged. "I do not know if you were 'meant' to or not. Destiny is a term for tales of those whose lives are over and their deeds completed. It cannot be applied to those of us who have a choice in our lives' paths. Those Guardians who wander are not told where to go, when to go, or why they go to where they do. Not even Dusvet Almek. They simply trust their instincts, and end up being where they need to be."

  "What Guardians do... it sounds very much like the Path of the Sword. Except... we do not only hunt down those creatures that endanger a tribe. We help the tribes to survive by finding water or sources of food. We help the land by warning a tribe it takes too much and must move on. For Swordanzen, it is to correct the things that are upsetting the fragile web of life that survives, whether it is to kill someone who has gone insane or to teach lost knowledge the Totani preserve to the tribes."

  "Or finding others suited to follow the Paths of the Sword or Spirit." Terrence put a hand on Storm's arm, his voice intent. "You know as well as I do what happened to the Desanti Guardians. They returned to Desantiva when the Raging One withdrew His children from the world. But the Desanti Guardians never stopped being who they were. They never lost Her blessing, though being so far from the Timeless One's protection, they... aged. And died. The Swordanzen and Su'alin are Guardians. But their focus has been for Desantiva alone. They are needed beyond Desantiva's borders, even if the world does not realize it."

  "Lies! We are not Guardians. Swordanzen endure for the blink of an eye compared to the longevity of Guardians of Time." Storm pulled away, stalking away a few steps. "If we are Guardians, then why do Skyfire and I need training to become one?" she challenged.

  "Because there is knowledge of Guardians that has been lost over time," Almek stated. Both Terrence and Storm turned, surprised he snuck up on them. The Dusvet watched the two of them closely as he spoke. "And Her blessing can only be given by the Kings and Queens. You fill the role of Guardians, but only within Desantiva's borders. What it means to be Guardian has never changed, but the skills and techniques had been adapted to fill the needs of Desantiva. Swordanzen are warriors. Su'alin are guides. Githalin," Almek said gently, "are teachers."

  Turning away from them both, Storm growled under her breath, pressing the heels of her hands against her temples. Her sharp, inarticulate howl of frustration echoed down the mountain. "I am not ready for this!" she yelled, eyes flashing in the darkness. "I do not want this! I never asked for this. I want to go home where I am not so stupid and ignorant!"

  Terrence reached into his pouch and took out a folded piece of parchment. Wordlessly, he held it out to Storm. The woman eyed it dubiously before snatching it out of his hand and unfolding it. She held it up to the light of the false dawn to read it. Storm's fury drained away in shock, her pallor clear even in the darkness. "Where did you get this?" she whispered. Inside the dormitory, several doors opened and the na'Zhekali emerged, looking confused.

  The younger Illaini Magus crossed his arms. "I was right. Desanti aren't illiterate after all," Terrence said simply. "At least, not Swordanzen, right?"

  Oblivious to his words, Storm trembled with emotion as she stared at the paper, then spun on Terrence. "Where did you get this?! The language of inscription is more sacred than the holy tongue! It is only taught to Named Swordanzen and master Su'alin. It is never spoken of outside of the temple. Never!" She shook the parchment. "Where did you get this?!"

  Magelight suddenly lit the area, the drizar and drizzen startling with the abrupt change in lighting. Terrence and Almek looked over as the others came outside, though Storm's gaze did not waver from Terrence. The others were bewildered from the unfettered tangle of emotions from the woman. "What's going on?" Ash asked. Despite wanting to go to his lifemate, he kept well away while she was so unsettled. "Storm, what's the matter?"

  Turning back to Storm, Terrence asked, "Do you remember the piece of parchment I copied from the Desanti archive vault?" When Ash indicated
he did, the younger Illaini replied, "I gave it to Storm."

  "Desanti do have their own written language?" Ash asked Storm in surprise. "I thought you said reading and writing were Northerner things?"

  Storm glared at Ash, shaking the piece of paper. "This is not 'writing'! Northerners babble in writing as much as when they speak. This is sacred inscription! It is never to leave Citadel. To do so is to be rendered nameless and given a torturous death."

  "But you can read. Your people are not completely illiterate," Ash pressed, his steps slow to avoid alarming his distraught lifemate.

  Upset as she was, Storm still held the parchment with sacred reverence as she seethed. "Writing is read. Inscription is deciphered. I have not deciphered this yet, because I know..." Biting her words off, she trembled with barely restrained frustration and a level of fear that perplexed the others. She abruptly turned her fury on Ash and Terrence in an attempt to distract them from the question their concern was leading up to them asking. "You Northerners respect nothing! Living things are treated as if they are lesser things. The lives of plants and animals are taken without giving thanks to their spirits. 'Writing' is as meaningless and soulless as the rest of you! You would see the Desanti people caged like the animals you think we are!"

  Ash approached Storm carefully, holding his hands up. "Storm, please relax. You know none of us are like that. None of us would ever dishonor the Desanti people." Standing behind Storm, he put his hands on her shoulders, pressing his lips against her hair until she subsided, still trembling. "Why are you so upset?"

  "Inscription is never to leave the sacred home. It is divine law! It is a traitor's death to allow it and I did not know any was here..." Storm looked back at Terrence. "Where did you get this? Tell me!"