Farthest Reach
Page 34
Maresa dropped down from the top of the great hall, alighting near Araevin. “I don’t think that is what Ilsevele meant,” the genasi said. Her face was tight and concerned, with little of her customary sarcasm in her voice. “Have you looked at yourself, Araevin?”
“Looked at myself?” Araevin glanced down at his clothes, and saw nothing out of the ordinary. But a faint golden glow clung to him, an aura of magic that flowed through him with the smallest motion, as if he swam in a pool of light. It was not bright, but it must have been noticeable, or his friends would not have remarked on it.
A temporary effect of the rite? he wondered. Or something more permanent?
Ilsevele looked at Maresa and said, “I don’t expect he would be able to see it. Do you have a mirror?”
“Oh. Of course.” Maresa hurried over to kneel by her pack, rooting through her gear for a moment. Then she returned with a hand-sized mirror, and without a word she handed it to Araevin.
Araevin felt his companions watching him, and with a little trepidation he raised the mirror to his face. He saw the cause of their consternation at once, and almost dropped the mirror in surprise.
His eyes were blank, shining orbs of pearly silver without a hint of iris or pupil. Faint streaks of emerald, rose, and sapphire danced within, slowly changing as he watched. And his face was young, even more so than might be expected of any elf. He looked as he had when he was twenty-five or thirty, in the first bloom of an adulthood that would last for centuries. Light, promise, and vitality had left his face free of the small marks and habitual expressions he’d accumulated over his long life.
What did the eladrin’s kiss do to me? he wondered.
“Araevin …” Maresa said quietly. “You’re not … dead, are you?”
“No,” he answered. “No, I’m not. I am not entirely sure what has befallen me, but I know I am not dead.” He looked back to Ilsevele. “How long was I inside Morthil’s sanctum?”
“It’s hard to judge time here,” Ilsevele replied, gesturing at the lightless hall pressing in on the small company. “But I would guess twelve hours, perhaps more. We have repelled the nilshai or their monsters several times since you left.”
“Did you find what you were seeking?” asked Donnor. “Can you defeat the daemonfey with the lore you’ve mastered?”
“Yes, I found what I was seeking. As for the daemonfey, we will have to see.”
Araevin closed his eyes, thinking back to what he had seen when he stood in the Burial Glen of the ancient city and looked on its mythal’s secrets. The wards were old and treacherous, much damaged by the city’s fall and the centuries that had passed. Burning wheels of magic turned in his mind, sweeping arcs and crackling fonts that geysered from the ground. He found that he could set names to things he had not known before, and understand more of things he had previously glimpsed only in part.
With a sudden shock, he perceived the true peril that was rising in the heart of Cormanthor. Doors, he thought. A thousand doors. And they are open wide.
He shook himself free of Ilsevele and stared toward the west, or what would be the west if nilshai-poisoned Sildëyuir were a place where such things mattered, trying to peer through the deadly gloom of Mooncrescent Tower to distant Myth Drannor.
“Aillesel Seldarie,” he breathed. “It cannot be!”
“What, Araevin?” Ilsevele demanded. “What is it? What do you see?”
“We must return at once,” Araevin said. He looked around at his friends, his eyes glowing like fire opals, luminous and alive. He saw their confusion and fatigue, but he pressed on. “There is a graver threat at hand than the daemonfey, a threat to all Faerûn. We must destroy the Last Mythal of Aryvandaar, or everything is lost. Everything.”
EPILOGUE
It was a peaceful spot, a grassy sward high on a hillside, with the cool waters of Lake Sember glinting through the trees a short distance below. The wind sighed in the treetops, and the forest creaked, rustled, and breathed around Fflar, warm and alive with the summer. Insects buzzed and chirped in the noontime sun, and lances of golden daylight splashed the forest floor through hidden gaps in the canopy overhead.
At his feet a smooth stone marker showed the place where Sorenna’s spirit had been burned free of its mortal frame, five hundred years ago. She had outlived him by a century and a half, it seemed, there in the restful forests of Semberholme. Still, that was too young, was it not? She would have been a little more than two hundred years in age, with centuries ahead of her still.
Someone might have known her here, he thought. A few of the older moon elves who lingered in Cormanthor after the Elven Court Retreated. I hope it was a peaceful life. So much strife befell our city in the last decades, so much horror in the years of war. It would please me to think that she passed the rest of her days in peace. If I bought her a hundred years of life in Semberholme by spending my last days fighting on without hope, I would count it a bargain.
Fflar’s eyes strayed to the marker beside Sorenna’s stone, and he felt his heart break for the hundredth time that day. It was not his son. That would have been hard, but he would have been content that his child had lived with his wife even for a short time in Semberholme. But there was nothing there for Arafel, and he could only guess that their son had gone on to live out his days in some other place. He hoped so, anyway.
The second marker in the glade was the stone for Sorenna’s husband, Ildrethor. He laughed softly at himself, even as tears gathered in his eyes.
“I would have told her not to mourn me,” he said to the clearing. “I would not have wanted her to be alone for the rest of her days. But now I see that I wouldn’t have meant it.”
The strange thing was, he could almost remember a glimpse of Arvandor in his heart. He had been with her there, hadn’t he? And he had not known jealousy, or resentment, or anything other than love in the eternal glades of the Elvenhome … or had he?
He looked up into the daylight streaming down through the trees, and his tears ran freely.
“Is that why I came back?” he asked. “Is this the thing I am supposed to make right, Corellon? I am a warrior. That is all. Why have you done this to me?”
He stood there for a long time, trying to make sense out of something so strange, so bittersweet and sorrowful that he could not begin to fold it within his heart. But after a time his heart did not ache so much, and the sunlight on his face felt warm and good.
He looked down at the stone markers again, and he understood that his former life was no more. He had been given a new one, and he could not use it to live the old, could he? Not after six hundred years.
With a sigh, Fflar turned his back on the silent stones. The Crusade, battered and bloodied but still intact, was encamped not far off, and he would be missed before much longer. He picked up Keryvian and slung it over his shoulder, and he left Sorenna’s glade forever.
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
Creatures of the Lower Planes
Demons
(tanar’ri), a race of malevolent supernatural beings from the Abyss.
Devils
(baatezu), a race of malevolent supernatural beings from the Nine Hells.
Yugoloths
A race of malevolent supernatural creatures from the other lower planes.
Mezzoloth
A type of yugoloth.
Nycaloth
A powerful type of yugoloth.
Vrock
A winged vulture-demon.
Glabrezu
A huge, four-armed demon with deadly magical powers.
Hezrou
A hulking, froglike demon.
Osyluth
(bone devil), a lean, skeletal devil with a deadly sting.
Gelugon
(ice devil), a bipedal, insectoid devil with terrible cold powers.
Elvish Phrases
Aillesel seldarie
(ale-LEH-sell sell-DAHR-ee) An ancient prayer translated as “may the Seldarine save us.”
Senei
rril Tathyr
(seh-NAYR-rill tah-THEER) The Mooncrescent Order.
kileaarna reithirghir
(kih-lee-ARE-nah rye-THIRR-gur) The Unjoining.
telmiirkara neshyrr
(tel-MIRR-kar-ah neh-SHEER) The rite of transformation.
mythaalniir darach
(mih-THALL-neer dah-RACK) The spell of mythal shaping.
Ancient Folk
Fflar Starbrow Melruth
A captain of Myth Drannor.
Elkhazel Miritar
An officer of Myth Drannor.
Olortynnal
(oh-LORE-tin-nall), Arms-Major of Myth Drannor.
Selorn
Arms-Captain of Myth Drannor.
Demron
A mage of Myth Drannor.
Ithraides
Grand Mage of Arcorar.
Kaeledhin
(kay-LEH-thln), an ally of Ithraides.
Morthil
A star elf and ally of Ithraides.
Sanathar
An ally of Ithraides.
Sorenna
Fflar’s wife.
Saelethil Dlardrageth
(say-LEH-thill dlar-DRAY-geth), an evil daemonfey high mage of Arcorar.
Folk of Evermeet
Philaerin
(fi-LAY-rin), Eldest of the Circle of Reilloch Domayr, deceased.
Aeramma Durothil
(ay-RAHM-mah), a high mage of Reilloch Domayr, deceased.
Kileontheal
(kil-ee-AWN-thee-all), sun elf, a high mage of Reilloch Domayr.
Isilfarrel
(IS-ill-FAHR-rell), moon elf diviner and high mage.
Haldreithen
(hah-DRAY-ith-en), sun elf lorekeeper and high mage.
Anfalen
(ann-FAH-lenn), moon elf high mage.
Amlaruil Moonflower
(AHM-lah-ruil), Queen of Evermeet.
Quastarte
(kwah-STAR-teh), a loremaster of Reilloch Domayr.
Zaltarish
Ancient sun elf scribe and advisor to Queen Amlaruil
Keryth Blackhelm
A moon elf warrior, commander of Evermeet’s defenses.
Selsharra Durothil
A sun elf matron of house Durothil.
Breithel Olithir
(bray-THELL), Grand Mage of Evermeet, sun elf.
Meraera Silden
(meh-RAY-rah), a moon elf merchant, Speaker of Leuthilspar.
Ammisyll Veldann
(AHM-miss-ill), sun elf, Lady of Nimlith.
Emardin Elsydar
(eh-MARR-din) sun elf, High Admiral of the fleet.
Nera Muirreste
Widow of Elvath Muirreste.
Folk of Aglarond and Sildëyuir
Jorin Kell Harthan
A half-elf ranger of the Yuirwood.
Phaeldara
(fail-DAH-rah), apprentice to the Simbul and regent over Aglarond in her absence.
Nesterin Deirr
(neh-STER-in deh-EER), a star elf bard.
Tessaernil Deirr
(teh-SARE-nil deh-EER), a star elf lord.
Jaressyr
A gate captain of Tower Deirr.
Leissera Aerilpé
(ley-SER-ah air-ill-PAY), a cousin of Nesterin.
Ilthor
Captain of Windsinger.
Araevin’s Companions
Maresa Rost
A genasi.
Brant
An aspirant in the Order of the Aster, deceased.
Grayth Holmfast
A Dawnlord in the Order of the Aster, deceased.
Donnor Kerth
Dawnmaster of the Temple of Lathander.
Daemonfey and Fey’ri
Sarya Dlardrageth
(SAR-ya dlar-DRAY-geth), queen of the daemonfey.
Xhalph Dlardrageth
(zalf dlar-DRAY-geth), a prince of the daemonfey.
Vesryn Aelorothi
(vez-RIN ale-oh-ROTH-ee), spymaster for Sarya.
Nurthel Floshin
A fey’ri lord, deceased.
Teryani Ealoeth
(ter-YAH-nee eel-OH-eth), a highborn fey’ri spy and assassin.
Mardeiym Floshin
(mar-DIME FLO-shin), a high captain of the fey’ri.
Jasrya Aelorothi
(jazz-REE-ah ale-oh-ROTH-ee), a high lady of the fey’ri.
Alysir Ursequarra
(AL-ee-sirr ur-seh-KWAR-ah), a high lady of the fey’ri.
Senda Dereth
A disguise for Sarya.
Terian
A disguise for Teryani.
Alphon
A disguise for Xhalph.
Deities and Powers
Malkizid
A fallen solar and exiled archdevil.
Akadi
The elemental deity of the air.
Sehanine Moonbow
Elf deity of the moon.
Corellon Larethian
Lord of the elven pantheon.
Labelas Enoreth
Elf deity of time.
Seiveril’s Crusade
Seiveril Miritar
(say-VERR-ill), sun elf Lord of Elion and a high priest of Corellon Larethian.
Lord Elvath Muirreste
A knight in Seiveril’s service, deceased.
Thilesil
A priestess of Corellon and Seiveril’s aide-de-camp.
Jorildyn
(joe-RIL-dihn), a half-elf mage of Tower Reilloch.
Vesilde Gaerth
(veh-SILL-deh Gayrth), Knight-Commander in Corellon’s temple.
Jerreda Starcloak
(jeh-REH-dah), a leader of the wood elves in Seiveril’s Crusade.
Ferryl Nimersyl
(FER-rill nih-MER-sill), captain of the Moon Knights and a leader in the Crusade.
Adresin
(ah-DREY-sin), a knight of the Golden Star and Seiveril’s guard captain.
Edraele Muirreste
(eh-DRAY-leh mur-REST-eh), captain of the Silver Guard and a leader in the Crusade.
Daeron Sunlance
(DAY-ron), captain of the Eagle Knights.
Rhaellen Darthammel
(RAIL-len dar-THAM-mell), Blade-Major of Evereska.
Keldith Oericel
(KELL-dith OAR-ih-sell), a high captain in the Crusade.
Felael Springleap
(feh-LAYL), a wood elf captain.
Folk of Cormanthor and the Dales
Theremen Ulath
Lord of Deepingdale.
Ilmeth
Lord of Battledale.
Storm Silverhand
Bard of Shadowdale, Chosen of Mystra.
Mourngrym Amcathra
Lord of Shadowdale.
Maalthiir
First Lord of Hillsfar.
Hardil Gearas
High Warden of Hillsfar.
Borstag Duncastle
A merchant-lord of Sembia.
Scyllua Darkhope
Castellan and captain of Zhentil Keep.
Fzoul Chembryl
Tyrant of Zhentil Keep.
Perestrom
A Zhentarim wizard and leader of the Lords of the Black Wyrm adventuring company.
Curnil
A Rider of Mistledale.
Ingra
A Rider of Mistledale.
Rethold
A Rider of Mistledale.
Dessaer
Half-elf Lord of Elventree.
Haresk Malorn
High Councilor of Mistledale.
Miklos Selkirk
Leader of the Silver Ravens and son of Overmaster Kendrick Selkirk of Sembia.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rich grew up on the Jersey shore and attended college at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia. During his Navy days he was stationed in Virginia, Rhode Island, Virginia again, Louisiana, and finally Virginia for a third time. He lived in rural Wisconsin for six years, working for TSR. He now works for Wizards of the Coast and lives in Pacific, Washington, with his wife Kim and his daughters Ale
x and Hannah. Rich is a fan of Golden Age SF, war gaming, and the Philadelphia Phillies, who might finally have a team that’s worth a damn.
FARTHEST REACH
The Last Mythal, Book II
©2005 Wizards of the Coast LLC
All characters in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
This book is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America. Any reproduction or unauthorized use of the material or artwork contained herein is prohibited without the express written permission of Wizards of the Coast LLC.
Published by Wizards of the Coast LLC. FORGOTTEN REALMS, WIZARDS OF THE COAST, and their respective logos are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast LLC, in the U.S.A. and other countries.
All Wizards of the Coast characters, and the distinctive likenesses thereof are property of Wizards of the Coast LLC.
Map by Dennis Kauth
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2004116904
eISBN: 978-0-7869-5677-7
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