“We didn’t plant it, sister,” Gretchen replied before anyone. Davmiran’s eyes flickered and Robyn glanced over at him. Tamara’s chest pounded. “We were waiting for a moment such as this. Davmiran has it now. As long as the shield encircled us, we felt the time was not right.”
“The sunshine wouldn’t have nourished it as it should, behind the barrier. We gave it to the heir for safekeeping,” Emmeline explained.
Her body eased. He should have it. He came here for it, the thoughts rolled through her head. “If you were uncomfortable planting the seed when the shield existed, then you should be relieved now.” Words floated before her mind’s eye. When darkness reaches out to light… “Davmiran,” she spoke directly to him, “…the seed is not yours. It’s borrowed. Plant it.” Tamara’s eyes locked on his. It will help. Plant it. “Plant it.”
Emmeline drew back from her chair and Gretchen half rose. Everyone noticed the exchange.
Davmiran stared at her. “Tamara’s right. It’s not mine. It’s borrowed. And now it’s time to return it to the earth.”
The words of the poem finally made sense to them all.
He continued staring at her. “My brother has left Avalain.” Robyn twitched. Even he was surprised by this news. “As soon as you brought down the barrier, I sensed his presence. Sidra did what she could to keep us safe while there was still doubt about the shard’s fate. There’s no doubt any longer. The quest can finally begin.”
Tamara rose. “Take it,” she pulled the pouch from her belt. She undid the strings and turned the shard onto her palm. It glowed softly on her hand. “Do you see the images?” She had a fevered shine in her eyes. This is right. The shard. The silver seed. “Take it,” she said again and thrust her hand toward him. Her movement left trails in the air, translucent pictures, shapes. The shard spoke.
“Oh…” Dahlia mumbled in half words as images flew around the chamber.
“They’re right in front of me,” Courtney reached for them.
“The shard contains Mintar’s soul, his essence. It’s connected to all of the Lalas that exist now and all those that once were,” Robyn explained. He watched the dance of time.
“Take it, Davmiran. It belongs with the others,” Tamara offered it again.
He reached across the table. “Give it to me, sister. Fulfill the prophecy.”
“‘Give unto the boy what he has come here to borrow’,” Emmeline repeated the line from the Tomes.
Tamara released it into his open palm. Davmiran closed his hand around it. He pulled the pouch containing the ten other shards from his belt, opened it and dropped it inside.
A glow seeped through the fabric. Davmiran stood up straight. He braced himself with one hand on the table. The pouch erupted. A brilliant stream of white light shot up toward the skylight above. The pouch was a fount and the energy flowed from it. The beam intensified, shimmering, liquid-like and potent, as it reached for the sky.
Davmiran’s body pulsed. The energy coursed as much from him as from the shards. His navy eyes burned with beatific fire, his blonde hair flew back from his head. The bones glowed through his slender arms.
The light surged through the top of the Tower and burst through the skylight, into the heavens. Growing, expanding, intensifying, it changed as it spread across the sky, as it lit up the night. The shaft became a trunk and the tendrils became branches. Lines striped the sides, leaves unfurled. It surmounted the pinnacle of the Tower, and huge white boughs spread out in all directions, illuminating the countryside for miles and miles. A canopy of shimmering silver foliage sprouted from each tip and the air above Parth was filled with the fragrance of life. Night turned to day. Darkness to light. And the tree soared higher and higher.
In Tamarand and Tallon, Seramour and Pardatha, Eleutheria and Crispen, the air pulsed with brilliant power. Those who cherished life and honored the earth, those who continued to hope, even as the blanket of darkness descended on them, despite the setbacks and the losses, the deaths and heartaches, were joyful again.
Deep in the bowels of Sedahar, steeped in the passion of his victories in the elfin capitals, Colton D’are Agenathea lifted his molten eyes to the blackened ceiling. His body twitched and trembled. Ripples of mordant power rolled down his arms.
He rose from his bed and tilted his head back. The stone ceiling above him blew away and he shielded his sight from the meager night’s illumination. Branches of light arced across the clouds shrouding his home, robbing him of the darkness, intruding on his solitary torment.
He raised his arms and crimson fire exploded from each of his fingers. Waves of fearsome sorcery boomed and crashed into the skies. He knew his challenge to the light would not surmount it. Not yet. He knew he would still suffer life, still feel its anguish, its futility, its pain. But he didn’t care. He didn’t care about anything. He expended his power. It rained down on everything alive in his kingdom until, once again, the land around Sedahar was reduced to a smoldering cadaver. He knew he would suffer until the Gem was destroyed, until the cycle of life finally ceased, until eternal darkness claimed the earth.
Weary, he dropped his arms to his sides. His bed lay nearby and he fell upon it. Closing his empty eyes, he went back to sleep.
Glossary
List of Characters, Items and Places
A
Acire. Lalas tree. Tenth tree to die. Bondmate of Theran.
Adain. Nephew of Elsinestra and Treestar.
Adrianna. One of the forsaken women.
Alemar. Elfin Princess of Eleutheria. Daughter of Whitestar and Aliana.
Aliana. Elfin Queen of Eleutheria. Mother of Alemar.
Alicea. Great great great great grandmother of Alemar. Daughter
of Iscaron and Kala.
Aliya. Queen of Crispen. Wife of King Bristar.
Altair. Kingdom where city of Avalain lies. Ruled by Queen Esta.
Angeline. One of the twelve Sisters of Parth.
Aracon. Chosen who tried to subvert the power of his tree.
Armadiel. Snake of Recos.
Avalain. City of Queen Esta and Princess Filaree.
B
Baladar. Ruler of the city of Pardatha in the Thorndar Mountains. Husband of Briland.
Behani. One of the Drue.
Beolan. Elfin Prince of Crispen. Son of Bristar and Aliya.
Bethany. One of the twelve Sisters of Parth.
Blodwyn. Chosen of Lalas Lilandre.
Briland. Chosen of Lalas Snihso. Wife of Lord Baladar.
Brimgar Daggerfall. Thorndar dwarf. Father of Maringar and Preston.
Bristar. Elfin King of Crispen. King of the Mountain Elves. Husband of Aliya. Father of Beolan.
C
Cairn of Thermaye. One of the three called to educate Davmiran.
Calipee dar Tamarand. Baron. Lord of Tamarand. Father of Robyn dar Tamarand.
Calista. Lady of the Island.
Calyx. Moulant. Friend and protector of Cairn.
Carlisle. Chosen of Lalas Mintar.
Caroline. Daughter of Conrad and Sophia.
Carthane. Lalas tree. Bondmate of Paras.
Caryssa. Sea Elf.
Catalan. Lalas tree. Bondmate of Connor.
Chamber of the Roots. Place in Tallon where the Lalas meet to share. Also known as Cavern of the Waters.
Clifford D’Armusan. Premoran’s friend and confidant in Peltaran.
Clovis. Elf from Eleutheria. Companion of Alemar.
Colton Dar Agonthea. The Evil One. The Dark One. Lord of Sedahar. Brother of Premoran. Called Caeltin D’Are Agenathea by the Elves.
Concordia. Capital city of Tamarand. Ruled by Calipee.
Connor. Chosen of Lalas Catalan.
Conrad. Father of Caroline.
Courtney. One of the twelve Sisters of Parth.
Crea. Chosen of Lalas Wayfair.
Crispen. Kingdom of the Mountain Elves.
D
Dahlia. One of the twelve Sisters of Parth.
Dalloway. El
fin Prince of Seramour. Youngest son of Treestar and Elsinestra.
Dashiel. Chosen of Lalas Nemaroe.
Davmiran. One of the twins. Brother of Tomas. Son of Garold and Lewellyn.
Dorothea. Duchess of Talamar. Wife of Leonardo.
Drue. Protectors of the Hollows. Came into existence after the death of the first Lalas.
Dustin. Baron Calipee’s Man at Arms.
E
Edmond. Chosen of Lalas Xia.
Eleutheria. Ice City. Kingdom of the Northern Elves.
Elion. Elfin Prince of Seramour. Eldest son of Treestar and Elsinestra.
Elsinestra. Elfin Queen of Seramour. Wife of Treestar. Mother of Elion, Fallean and Dalloway.
Emerial. Elfin Queen of Eleutheria. Second wife of Whitestar. Mother of Kalon.
Emmeline, One of the twelve Sisters of Parth.
Esta par D’Avalain. Queen of Avalain. Mother of Filaree.
Etan of Balstair. Knight of Avalain. Knighted by Margot. Forsaken by Colton.
F
Fallean. Elfin Prince of Seramour. Second son of Treestar and Elsinestra.
Farrow. Lalas Tree. Bondmate of Harton.
Filaree par D’Avalain. Princess of Avalain. Daughter of Esta. One of the three called to educate Davmiran.
G
Giles. Elf from Eleutheria. Companion of Alemar.
Gretchen. One of the twelve Sisters of Parth.
Gwendolen. High Kingdom. Kingdom that was destroyed by Colton. Birthplace of the twins.
H
Harlan Goodheart. Discoverer of the darkening.
Harton. Chosen of Lalas Farrow.
Hollows. Forbidden Places.
I
Iscaron. Ancient Elfin King of Eleutheria. Husband of Kala.
Ishdomar. Lalas tree. Third tree to die.
J
Jocasta. One of the twelve Sisters of Parth.
K
Kalon. Prince of Eleutheria. Half brother of Alemar. Son of Whitestar and Emerial.
Kerrigan. Guardian of the Wells in Tallon.
Kettin. Lord of Talamar. Son of Leonardo and Dorothea.
L
Lana. Princess of the Sea Elves. Daughter of Windstorm.
Leonardo. Duke of Talamar. Husband of Dorothea.
Liam. Chosen of Lalas Oleander.
Lilandre. Lalas tree. Bondmate of Blodwyn.
Lormarion. Kingdom of the Southern Elves.
M
Madelyn. One of the forsaken women.
Marathar. Lalas tree. Bondmate of Pithar.
Margot. One of the forsaken women.
Maringar Daggerfall. Thorndar dwarf. Eldest son of Brimgar Daggerfall. Brother of Preston.
Marion. One of the forsaken women.
Markal. Lord. Master of Arms in Avalain.
Marne. Loyal friend and personal aide of Queen Esta.
Merala da. Capital city in the Sea Isles.
Mira. Nursemaid who raised and protected Davmiran.
Mintar. Lalas tree. Bondmate of Carlisle. 11th tree to die.
Moira. One of the forsaken women.
N
Nemaroe. Lalas tree. Bondmate of Dashiel.
Noban. Elfin trees.
O
Odelot. The Dead City.
Oleander. Lalas tree. Bondmate of Liam.
Ormachon. Lalas tree. Bondmate of Tomas.
P
Paras. Chosen of Lalas Carthane. Became sick and broke his bond with Carthane. Went to Praxis.
Pardatha. City beside the River of Tears. Governed by Baladar.
Pardeau. Home of Tomas and Lalas Ormachon.
Parsifal. Leader of the Knights of Avalain.
Parth, Tower of. City of the sisters. Protector of the map.
Peltaran. Town north of Sedahar.
Pembar. One who mutated into a tree. Resides in the Winding Woods outside Avalain.
Percepton. Protector of the Forest of the Winds.
Phero. Chosen of Lalas Relamon.
Pithar. Chosen of Lalas Marathar.
Premoran. Wizard. One of the Council. Brother of Colton. Keeper of the shards.
Preston Daggerfall. Thorndar dwarf. Son of Brimgar Daggerfall. Brother of Maringar.
Promanthea. Lalas tree. Bondmate of Robyn dar Tamarand.
R
Relamon. Lalas tree. Bondmate of Phero.
Rella. One of the twelve Sisters of Parth.
Robyn dar Tamarand. Chosen of Lalas Promanthea. One of the three chosen to educate Davmiran. Son of Baron Calipee.
Rose. One of the twelve Sisters of Parth.
Ruffin. Renegade elf from Lormarion.
S
Safira. Wife of Trevor. Raised Tomas.
Sedahar. Home of Colton.
Seramour. Treetop city in the Kingdom of Lormarion. Home to the Southern Elves.
Sevilla. One of the twelve sisters of Parth.
Sidra. Chosen who declined to be bonded with Promanthea.
Silandre. Mountain in Crispen.
Snihso. Lalas tree. Bondmate of Briland.
T
Tallon. Town of the Chamber of the Roots.
Tamara. One of the twelve sisters of Parth.
Tamarand. Barony in which Concordia is the capital.
Teetoo. Weloh (last of the race). Friend to Premoran.
Theran. Chosen of Lalas Acire.
Thorndars. Mountains in Pardatha.
Tiel. Equivalent of six years.
Tobias. Chosen of Lalas Torenth.
Tomas. One of the twins. Chosen of Lalas Ormachon. Brother of Davmiran. Son of Garold and Lewellyn. Raised by Trevor and Safira.
Tomes of Carodon. Recorded history of the land as well as premonitions for the future. The Great Books.
Torenth. Lalas tree. Bondmate of Tobias.
Treestar. Elfin King of Seramour. King of the Southern Elves. Husband of Elsinestra. Father of Elion, Fallean and Dalloway.
Trevor. Husband of Safira. Raised Tomas.
Trialla. Evil sorceress of Colton.
Triesma. University city south of Concordia.
V
Violet. One of the twelve sisters of Parth.
W
Wayfair. Lalas tree. Bondmate of Crea.
Whitestar. Elfin King of Eleutheria. King of the Northern Elves.
Husband of Emerial. Father of Alemar and Kalon.
Windstorm. Elfin King of the Sea Isles. Brother of Elsinestra. Father of Lana.
X
Xia. Lalas tree. Bondmate of Edmond.
The Revenge of the Elves Page 42