“Outlands, if you please, my lady druid? Nearest to the Keep as you can.”
“Lady? Where?” Hackort said, grinning. Elysiam reached back and popped him, then spoke ancient words of transport magic.
“Outlands,” she said as they faded from view.
Sixteen
Taeben meditated as he sat on the ground. There had to be a way to keep that hag from the tower from finding him, but their bond was still intact. If he understood the bond correctly, she could use it to reunite her body with her consciousness - which had been in the back of his mind only moments before. He delved deep into his own mind, looking for the bond so that he could break it, but found Salynth wound in and out of his mind so completely that there was no time to undo their connection.
He was near the middle of the great spires that marked spots in the world that opened to the Void for magical travel. Made of marble and engraved with spells written in Eldyr, the first language of magic on Orana, they rose up out of the ground like giant fingers reaching for the sky. Taeben looked up at them as he walked under them, marveling as always at the sheer size. Legend told that the Mother Dragon, Lady Kaerinth, commissioned them to give her dragonkind children a way to travel around the world without magic. What a ridiculous idea, doing anything without magic if it wasn’t necessary. The spires were finished after the wars ended, by those that followed the path of the wizard.
There was no way for him to shake Salynth with the bond still intact. Taeben would just have to keep a step or two ahead of her by remaining constantly on the move. He needed to go to the Outpost and visit his apprentice in the hopes that she would have found some answers for him. Perhaps Salynth would consider a trade - the apprentice for him. She was becoming as skilled and strong as he was, after all. Taeben pictured her dark blue skin and flashing red eyes. He needed her strength and her magic - he needed her, or thought that he did. Taeben frowned. In all honesty, he needed to be rid of her because he was starting to have some complicated feelings toward her, but he supposed that he could still use her as a safeguard if things went south with the Qatu.
And why wouldn’t they? He clenched his fists at his sides as he paced back and forth. Everything had gone wrong so far, and none of it had been within his power to stop or make right. Being this far out of control was a new thing for Taeben and it was most unpleasant. He had to get things back to rights, and the way to do that was to borrow some magical energy from his protégé. If he just happened to take too much and she just happened to go the way of Gaelin, so much the better. There was a war to start and a comfortable kingdom full of mangy cats to rule. He might not have Gin anymore, but he would still have Qatu’anari. With the aid of the Qatu military, there would be nothing keeping him from dragging her and Sath in front of him for justice. Taeben smiled as he looked around at the deserts of the Outlands, marveling at the absolute lack of life or anything that was there. Nothing had been left in the Outlands after the Mother Dragon burned the northern quarter of the Great Forest during the war. Appropriately named, the Outlands. He would need all the magical energy and focus he could muster if he was to take on the whole of the Qatu kingdom.
As he tried to connect to his acolyte, an image of Kazhmere Clawsharp, Princess Royal of Qatu’anari, formed in his mind. He indulged himself and ambled through the memory of meeting her in the tower so long ago. “Ah, Kahzi, you would have made an amazing queen,” he mumbled, surprised at a tinge of sadness in his voice at the memory of the Qatu Princess, his friend. “You deserved so much more than you got, and I would have happily shared the throne with you. What a consort you would have been. Strong and beautiful and so capable. Much more appropriate than that backstabbing, sniveling druid.” He spread his long fingers out across his chest, marveled at the lack of pain when he imagined Gin waving him off to the Outlands and smiled. He was finally rid of her, rid of the need for her, and ready to become what he was fated to be. The words of his previous teacher formed on his lips. “Familiarity breeds softness, and softness is worse than weakness. Weakness equals death.” He thought once more of his apprentice and then settled down to meditate. It would not be long before he had enough energy to transport to the Outpost to find her.
Sath stood and dusted himself off. “Your landings haven’t gotten any better, have they Elys?” he said, chuckling.
“You could have walked,” the druid said, raising an eyebrow at him. She unsheathed her scimitar and smiled evilly. “Now then, someone said something about some killing? Point me in the direction of that wizard!”
Hackort dusted off his armor and drew a battle axe from its holder on his back. “I’ve taken him off my list, Sath, let’s do this!” the tiny warrior shouted.
“I wish we had Tee with us,” Sath muttered. Elysium was a good back up with magic for Hackort’s prowess and tenacity, but it was not the same as having Teeand’s brilliance in strategy on their side. He looked down at the gnome as Hackort sat quietly on the ground, meditating and preparing himself for the fight to come. He knew that Hackort was a skilled fighter and that his diminutive friend would not give up until the bitter end, but he was hot-headed and impulsive. Hopefully, this was not that end.
Suddenly, Elysium looked up and to the right, toward the great spires that served as a portal for those with wizard training. “He’s there,” she whispered. Using her race’s innate abilities to track, she had been on the lookout for a trace of the wizard since they landed. She dismissed her magical pony, cast a quick invisibility spell, and took off on foot for the spires, with Sath and Hackort hot on her heels.
Taeben stood up, ready to transport himself to the Outpost. He felt a tingle on the back of his neck, which normally meant someone was initiating a bond with him or otherwise casting magic, and he spun around. “CAT,” he hissed, seeing Sath and the others charging toward him. His staff swung up into his hand and its jewels began to rotate furiously. Hurling his pack to the ground, he gathered his energy and hatred, focusing them through his staff and toward the trio. Lightning coursed from the wizard’s weapon and hurtled toward Sath, Elysium and Hackort. Sath’s magical tiger jumped in front of them and absorbed most of the force of the strike, and then shook it off as though it were a raindrop as Taeben summoned up another strike, swearing under his breath.
Hackort let out a mighty bellow and ran at the wizard. “NO!” shouted Sath. “Stand down, Hackort! The wizard is mine,” he growled. He stalked forward as Taeben hurled more and more magical attacks. Hackort ignored Sath and continued his advance. Elysium’s defensive magic held firm and the wizard’s spells bounced off the Qatu’s body. “Where is the druid?” Sath called out.
Taeben laughed. “The druid? Our Ginny?” he shouted back. “I suppose she is dead, but I really couldn’t say, Rajah.” His voice was mocking but his eyes blazed. “Why? Do you still want her? I think your new druid is much more efficient…and lovely. Elysiam, isn’t it?” He turned his attention to Elysium and she made a rude gesture in return. “What is it with the wood elves? So very crass and difficult,” he muttered, focusing his will on her and unleashing a column of fire that began to burn through her magical defenses. The tip of her blonde ponytail caught an ember and she hurriedly put it out before turning a stormy gaze toward Taeben.
“OH, that is IT, wizard,” she said, twirling her scimitar menacingly above her head. “You singe my hair and you are FINISHED.” She spoke terse words and spikes seemed to grow from her skin. A mighty cry erupted from her throat and she flew at Taeben, nearly reaching him. Thrown backwards and away from him by a blast of magic that emerged from his fingertips, she made contact with one of the spires with a horrible crunch and lay still, unconscious.
“YOU HURT ELYS!” The tiny bellowing gnome ran at the wizard from behind, his axe nearly taking off the wizard’s kneecaps. Taeben swerved to avoid him, interrupting his own casting and giving Sath just the opening he needed. He ran up behind the wizard, knocking a very angry Hackort out of the way and grabbing Taeben by his neck.
&
nbsp; “Hackort, go and tend to Elysiam. Stand down,” Sath ordered. “The wizard is mine. STAND DOWN.” Taeben kicked, spit, and struggled, but the more he fought, the tighter Sath’s hand closed around his windpipe. He resorted to hanging on to the backs of Sath’s clawed gloves and trying to support some of his weight with his hands. “Hmmm,” Sath said, bringing Taeben’s face close to his own. “Now that I have you, I’m not sure I know what would be the best thing to do with you.”
Gin, Teeand, and Tairn arrived in the Outlands in a heap. Though she had felt her energy replenished enough to cast the transportation spell, it was not enough to keep from a slightly bumpy landing. Teeand chuckled as he helped the two others off the ground. “You sure you aren’t Elysiam in disguise?” he asked, dusting off his green tinted armor.
“I could have left you behind, dorf,” Gin said, grinning at him. Teeand beamed a smile back at her.
“You and Sath always did share a brain, our Gin,” he said. “He called me that Qatunari nickname just recently at my dinner table.” Tairn sucked in a breath, but kept quiet as a bellow from the east caught Teeand’s attention. “Speak of the devil,” he growled. “Let’s go!” He ran down the hill toward the commotion at the spires, the two female elves hot on his heels. Gin rubbed the back of her neck as she ran.
Ginolwenye of the Trees, you must stop the Rajah from killing the wizard here. It is not written. He is a Guardian too, and cannot do this. It is not foretold. Gin continued her sprint to the spires but looked around to find the source of the voice. The Guardians had withdrawn. It is I, Perryth, from the Temple. You must stop the Rajah or he forfeits his heart for the Guardians, just as your brother did.
Gin skidded to a stop when she saw Sath holding Taeben by the neck. “Stop, Sath!” she screamed. Both of them ignored her and so she ran right up to them and jumped up to grab Sath’s arm. Sath tried to shake her off but couldn’t, so he dropped Taeben and pulled Gin off his arm. She stumbled backward but did not lose her footing and ran back to Sath. Taeben scurried away toward Teeand and Tairn, who was already casting a spell in his direction. Enchanted butterflies surrounded him, and he seemed overwhelmed with a sense of calm. Taeben stood still, staring happily at the beautiful insects as they flew in colorful patterns around his face. Tairn looked back at Sath, clearly annoyed and impatient.
“Well, there he is, do something,” Tairn said. Sath growled loudly at her. “You’d rather I let him go?” she snapped at him.
“I’d rather you all go, especially you,” Sath said, pointing at Gin. “No more interruptions, I have something to settle with your friend Taeben.” Gin folded her arms and stared back at Sath, shaking her head. He looked at his friends, the Fabled Ones, all together again. “Tee, please, you and Hack and Elys take Gin somewhere safe and let me get on with what I have to do. I swore to Kazhmere…,” he said, his voice trailing off.
“You can’t do this Sath. I know what you swore to Kazhi but you can’t.” Gin tried to be as firm as she could with long dead voices in her mind reminding her not to tell him why. She felt a familiar tingling in the back of her neck and soon Perryth’s voice filled her mind.
He must come to his inheritance on his own, Ginolwenye of the Trees. His sister was meant to be the Qatu Guardian, not the Rajah, but she is gone. You may not reveal this to him, not yet.
I don’t know how to stop him without telling him!
You will see. In time, it will be clear.
“Sath, you don’t have to do this alone,” Hackort said, resting one tiny hand on Sath’s boot.
“Aye, wee man, I do,” Sath said. “It is between me and him now, as it has always been, since the first time he whispered into Anni’s mind. Now he has put my son in danger and caused the death of my sister.” He hung his head a moment. “Go, take Gin, but leave Tairn here,” he said, lifting only his eyes to look at Tairn. He found no fear in her, only quiet resignation, and scowled.
Tairn met his gaze. “Fair enough.” Her voice was quiet but steady. She pushed a stray lock of her red hair behind her ear and took her place next to Taeben, beginning to cast spells of forgetfulness on him as well as those to keep him entranced with the magical butterflies.
Gin walked carefully over to Sath and put one of her tiny hands on his furry arm. He didn’t pull away from her touch, but wouldn’t allow himself to look her in the eye. “Please be careful, darlin',” she whispered to him in Qatunari. “We will sort the rest out but believe me when I say it is not up to you to kill Tae...the wizard.” He looked down at her, still not smiling. “Sath, please, for my sake if nothing else, at least show Tairn some mercy. I know you have it in you.” Sath looked off into the distance and she pressed her forehead against his forearm for a moment, silently begging him not to kill either of them, but then Teeand scooped her up and carried her, kicking and struggling, back to where the others had gathered around Elysiam. “You don’t have to kill anyone today, Sath, darlin’... Please!”
“See you soon, Sath, yeah?” Elysiam called out, her voice weak. She had recovered enough to be able to stand, and held onto Hackort as he reached out to restrain Gin’s feet. “Settle down, Gin, this is something he has to do.”
“No it isn’t! Sath, you cannot do this!”
“You know it, Elys. Take care of Gin.” Sath raised his staff in salute to his friends. Teeand raised his hammer in answer, and then moved in close to Elysiam. She spoke words in ancient Elvish and their images began to shift and fade. “Outpost.”
Gin was still fighting Teeand and did not take her eyes off Sath as the group faded from view. Sath took a moment, and then turned to face Tairn.
“Whenever you’re ready, female,” he snarled, raising his staff in preparation to charge the wizard. She stood still, her arms folded across her chest, and stared back at him.
“In a moment, Sath,” she said. “You and I have something to settle first.” Sath narrowed his eyes, a low growl rumbling in his chest.
Seventeen
Gin sat down in the familiar grass of the Outpost. The air was fragrant as always, and residents scurried about from bank to tavern. The marble edifice of the Fabled Ones great hall rose toward the sky in the west, with pinnacles seeming to pierce the clouds that lazily drifted past. Everything seemed to be as it had always been, but somehow everything looked different to her now. She understood so much more now that she had accepted who she was - what she was - and let the knowledge of the Guardians fill her mind. They had cast the spell over the Outpost that prevented violence therein after the Forest Wars, causing things to seem always the same there. It was frozen in place, yet not frozen at the same time. Such magic they must have possessed!
As she twirled a blade of grass in her hand, Gin looked around the circle gathered. Why had the Guardians deserted her in the Outlands and let the others take her away from Sath? Surely he had killed Taeben by now. Gin thought that she might feel Taeben’s passing since they had been connected for so long, but in truth she felt nothing. Why would the Guardians fight so hard to keep her alive in Bellesea Keep, helping her defeat Lord Taanyth, and then just leave him to change his fate in the Outlands?
The revelation that the Clawsharp dynasty were Guardians - just as her family line had been - was not really that surprising. She thought about Kazhmere again and the familiar pang of regret filled her heart. What was it Perryth had said to her just before they left Sath in the Outlands? You must stop the Rajah or he forfeits his heart for the Guardians, just as your brother did. Cursik had not been fit to be a Guardian because of his relationship with Maelfie, a dark elf magician and necromancer. But what difference would have that relationship made? It would seem that the fact that he created such an intimate bond with someone from her race - sworn enemies to his own kind - would prove that he had the heart to be the Nature Walker - to be a Guardian. But they did not trust the dark elves - and that must be the reason. Cursik had chosen what his heart wanted over his destiny, and that realization only made her miss her brother more.
Gin f
rowned as she contemplated that possibility. Were the first Guardians so pure that they could not abide any aberration to their ways? Gin shook her head. That could not be it. It had to be that he ignored the safety of his people, of the very Great Forest, in order to be with a dark elf. However, she thought back to the faces that surrounded her and strengthened her as she faced the dragon alone - one of them was a dark elf! She wondered for a moment if that had been Maelfie, her brother’s mate, but put that thought away because with it came sadness for Cursik.
Taeben was not a dark elf, though, so it must be the premeditated act of killing him that would ‘change Sath’s heart’. Gin had killed Dorlagar, though, and that was certainly premeditated. She was avenging her parents by killing him, not just releasing him from his torment. Had it changed her heart? Perhaps it was because she did it for them, two of the Guardians, that it had not mattered - would they seek vengeance as well? Perryth said that they knew the very moment her mother died and mourned, but they did not seek out vengeance for her death – unless they had set her feet on the path to do that for them.
She thought about Sath - how many times had he said to her that he wanted to kill Dorlagar FOR her, to save her from having that on her soul? She pictured Dorlagar’s face in her mind, there at the end, and it was peaceful. In a way, she had done him a great service - he was so very tormented in life that death might have been a relief. Her act of revenge had brought him the peace he had sought all along. Was that the difference?
Yes, Ginolwenye of the Trees. You have figured it out.
Gin pressed her knuckles to her lips as understanding dawned on her through Perryth’s words in her mind. They had used her, in a way, not just to avenge the death of a Guardian – the Nature Walker herself – but also to release a child of Orana from his pain. Gin pushed that thought away - she would consider that later. To think on how she had been used right now would permit anger to distract her from Sath, her main concern now. If Sath killed Taeben, it would be from a place of hatred and purely for revenge, not out of self-defense or due to a war or battle. Taeben did not want release from pain. Taeben did not want to die, consciously or unconsciously. Therein lay the difference. That act would forfeit his eligibility - his heart, as Perryth had stated earlier - to be a Guardian. Nevertheless, there was no way for Gin to stop him, and she could feel the Guardians’ sadness. They knew, and they mourned. It must have already happened. Gin shook herself to clear her mind and looked around at her friends gathered close by.
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