“Can’t get done soon enough, I say.” With those kind words of encouragement, the old man turned and hobbled away from the ramparts.
I supposed there were reasons other than demons to explain why these villagers lived in isolation.
Perhaps the broken bones and decayed articles were the broken vestiges of those who had tried to get away.
With or without their thanks, we would offer our protection.
Despite the old man’s words, in the days ahead, many of the villagers continued to gather and watch, both young and old, offering smiles and waves by way of appreciation.
Though I knew there were powerful magicians among their number, no one flew or teleported over to speak with us directly.
Despite this lack of formal response, we were unbothered.
Master Nomba and I were not here for their thanks but for their future.
When his work was finally complete, after weeks of largely uninterrupted effort wherein my sole task was to attend to his needs while he worked, Master Nomba merely bowed to the gathered denizens on the wall, offered a wave, and then teleported us away.
Breakfast
I was ravenous.
Waiting any longer to eat and drink was out of the question.
Although I was starving and dehydrated, I felt so much better.
I felt restored and rejuvenated.
I felt newly born.
I felt like I could eat my weight in pastries.
I felt well enough, in fact, to try casting a spell.
With a clarity and focus I could not remember ever having, coupled with an overwhelming desire and an empty stomach, I summoned breakfast.
To say all my wants appeared before me would be incorrect.
Instead, they appeared all around me.
My body the central axis of its rotation, breakfast orbited around me in unique and distinct circuits, a solar system of food.
Sausage, bacon, ham, biscuits, breads, fruit, preserves, assorted rolls, various nuts, and other treats came into being with a gustatorial flourish that birthed an inadvertent lion’s roar from the hollow depths of my stomach.
This wealth of delicacies, this swarm of food, made me even hungrier.
I began picking and eating sustenance from the air.
My soul glow had returned.
On the Mount
We arrived at the next village without fanfare or welcome.
Once again we perched on the side of a mountain. This time, however, we were actually standing upon the village, though I would never have guessed it.
In fact, I had no idea which parts of the mountain people dwelt within and which parts were raw stone.
For all I could tell, this mountain was like any other—tall, steep, and far too barren.
But I did not doubt Master Nomba or his ability to discern truth from fiction.
In that way, we were a good pair.
I generally doubted my ability to discern truth from fiction.
Master Nomba’s protective shield immediately snapped into place around us as soon as we arrived.
Though I neither saw nor sensed any demons, they could be anywhere and might arrive quicker than thought or anticipation.
As before, despite no welcome or acknowledgement, Master Nomba made his presence and offer known.
This time, we did not have to wait long for a reply.
The face of a bearded man appeared in the air before us, his sculpted visage hovering over the depths of the valley away from the mountainside.
Master Nomba gave a bow to the man as the image appeared.
“I am Nomba of the Magisterium Arcanum, and it would be my great pleasure to help protect you and your citizens from demonic assault.”
The man snorted visibly and shook his head. “We know who you are, and we are not interested.
“Your shield is the exact opposite of what we want.”
Master Nomba waited patiently and heard the man out.
“We have survived by remaining undetected. Your shield would call out our presence as assuredly as a beacon. This is something we do not wish, nor will we allow it.”
Master Nomba nodded his head civilly. “If this is your wish, I will certainly respect it. You have but to offer a summons, and I will gladly return.”
And, as simply as that, our mission to protect the last remaining human habitation in the Dragon’s Teeth was done.
I tried not to let it show, but I was rather crestfallen. I had hoped that people, those few surviving, would want our help, that they would welcome us with open arms.
As it turned out, most people did not seem to want our assistance.
At best, they merely tolerated our presence.
Granted, mine was a small sample size, and I tried not to let this weigh me down too much, but there were few samples left to be had on Uërth.
Such was the way of the world—offer a man a gift and he will turn it away; try to take something from him and he will fight to the death to keep it.
Where was the middle ground?
Where was the reason?
I suppose the reason had already been applied and the decisions made long ago. Now the villagers were living their decisions, and the opportunities we offered to help were irrelevant because the decisions had already been made and the ones who were making, or upholding, decisions were merely following through on past choices.
They did not care for ours.
The news was not all bad.
This meant we might get to go home sooner rather than later.
In fact, the news was remarkably good because, on setting out, I had thought I might never make it back. Now our prospects were looking up.
Master Nomba would need more time to find other potential candidates to help.
The Greensward would be the best place to find them.
“What’s next, Master?
“Shall we wait here until the townsfolk change their minds? Do we go home to find more people in need of protection beyond the Dragon’s Teeth? Or are we going to do something else entirely?”
Master Nomba smiled, and my heart sank.
In that instant I knew we were not going home.
Not yet, and maybe not ever.
Water Made Stone
Luecaeus’s longruen soared.
His wera’dun was not only still alive, but the fluid-filled vessel’s djen’gar was restored.
Miracle of miracles, the mortal’s dyunda was vibrant and energetic, many of the prior blockages and obstructions no longer discernable.
If his wera’dun truly believed in himself, his prior difficulties with mua’di, its expression and utilization, might be a resonance of the past.
Given the firm rigidity of human habit, Luecaeus knew much trial and tribulation were waiting ahead for such a glorious resolution to manifest itself.
But, in this case, actuality would no longer be in the way.
And, far more importantly, despite all the odds, his wera’dun had not been popped, crisped, splattered, smashed, or mangled.
At least to such a degree as to render him inanimate.
This wera’dun’s resilience was quite impressive.
In fact, his last two wera’dun had been extraordinary.
He only hoped Noema’lun’s fortune held.
The world needed him to succeed.
So did Luecaeus.
What Next?
“We will return to the Greensward.”
My heart lifted with his words.
Home!
We would head home to safety, surety, and a future to be determined.
I know Master Nomba sensed my excitement, as much as I tried not to let relief wash across my face, for he smiled in turn.
“You are welcome to smile, Maeraeth. You have earned it! Do not hesitate to show how you feel.
“Though we have accomplished but a small first step toward winning Uërth’s freedom and stability, we have taken an important step nonetheless.
“We saved lives
and assured their future!
“Be proud! Be happy! Jump for joy!
“You have earned it!
“As much as I am overjoyed by these small steps, I believe in you just as much.
“You are capable of accomplishing great things. But first, you must believe it yourself.
“Make those beliefs real and tangible.
“Help create the future that you wish to live in.
“I know you can.
“That is why you are here.
“That is why we are here together.”
I had no words.
I did not know what to say.
I was equally surprised by my master’s heartfelt urging and overcome by his sentiment.
I knew that I had my challenges, that my failings as a wizard were there for all to see, but, despite all this, Master Nomba still believed in me.
Enough so that he had brought me into his own personal mission to help save the Uërth.
His affirmations, and belief, were finally starting to sink in and take hold.
I could be and do more.
Now I just needed to figure out how.
I stood facing my master on the mountainside for long minutes as gray clouds drifted by beneath us, as the day darkened and night slowly swept across the land in a shroud of silence.
He did not ask anything of me.
I did not ask anything of him.
I stood in absorption, balanced on a pivot point, deciding my future.
Finally, after perhaps more time than I might have wished, or deemed civil, my mind settled, and with it my purpose.
If this was a challenge, I would rise to it.
If Master Nomba felt I was worthy of his vision, then I would help it come to be.
Our lives and our world depended on it.
With this aim and its eventual realization, I would become a new vision of myself.
If I did not blow myself up first.
Finally, with a solemn nod, I said, “Let’s go home and help save the world.”
A bit melodramatic, perhaps, but my resolution felt big enough to tilt the world on its axis.
Master Nomba smiled as he rested a sure hand on my shoulder and said, “Let’s go home.”
I was so happy, I did a little dance.
The one I should have done long before.
From Here to Somewhere
I cannot say having a halo of bacon was much of an improvement over fluttering butterflies.
The smell, however, was divine.
Having a meal at the ready anytime, anywhere, was quite an advantage.
I would not need to stop on the trail to unpack or summon food.
I would never starve.
I would be a walking hors d’oeuvre tray at social gatherings.
I could shed my food cloud like lizards dropped their tails to escape from hostile monsters.
There were also disadvantages.
The smell of fresh food might attract all the wrong kinds of attention.
I might grow to hate bacon.
Biscuits might no longer be appetizing…even with butter.
And watching those same bits of food destroy demons would, I was sure, lessen their appeal.
The last thing I wanted to be sampling was demonic leavings.
Given their penchant for devouring souls, I did not think that I would need to worry about demons fighting me for my djen’gar, at least.
The demons would be too busy fighting my djen’gar.
My meal finished, surrounded by a multitude of crumbs and foodstuff, I stood as best I could.
Which was not at all.
I fell over trying.
Lucius and several other elementals flew over and helped me right myself.
“Thanks.”
I do not think many can make the claim that they were nursed back to health by elementals.
But many would be surprised by the level of care and concern these same beings had shown me.
After all I had been through since leaving the Greensward, not much surprised me.
“Are you able to shift form?”
Would I fare much better as an elemental?
Could I fare much worse?
“I will try.”
I visualized my intent, from the most minute detail to the largest feature, an elemental in substance if not in heart, drawing in the power to realize my vision, an artist sculpting himself.
My envisioning complete, with a release of power, I let the spell unfold.
I became a rock, Lucius’s more handsome twin.
And my bacon became butterflies.
I flittered across the landscape as erratically as my butterflies.
Though I felt much better, I was far from completely recovered from the exertion of blasting off the top of a mountain.
Losing much of one’s soul will do that, I suppose.
Lucius and I now had an entourage.
Along with my kaleidoscope of butterflies, many of the remaining elementals from Raoul’s valley had decided to accompany us to Noema’jin.
Raoul, however, did not wish to leave his home unguarded and had decided to stay.
He also liked the new view and wanted to spend time appreciating it.
I imagined that he would consider moving in a few centuries.
Aside from my bumbling, the journey out of the elementals’ valley was uneventful.
Our exit was much quicker than it would have been just days before, since some yahoo had decided to blow a mountain apart.
Said yahoo had done a pretty good job, if I say so myself.
And I do.
The entirety of the peak had been vaporized.
I felt bad for the mountain.
I did not feel bad for the demons.
I would gladly risk detonating my soul again to banish more infernals from the face of the Uërth.
The next valley was much like the last—vast, expansive, disarmingly beautiful, and entirely barren.
The Dragon’s Teeth Range extended for over a hundred leagues northward before ending on the Plains of D’rith Sinae, the barren steppes bordering the mighty keep of Kerraboer.
We would see many similar valleys in the days ahead.
Where once these mountains had been lush and full of life, now they were largely as desolate as deserts.
I hoped to help change that.
But first we needed to get to Noema’jin and help save the elementals.
Then we could focus on saving the Uërth at large.
Floating through the air, I felt like an avenging angel surrounded by the Heavenly Host.
Except I was a rock flanked by elementals.
So, while not quite as fearsome, I did have the benefits of style.
And, style being substance, we were quite a sight indeed.
If there had been anyone to see.
It was a nice thought to entertain, regardless.
Mostly because entertainment was in short supply in a world overrun by demons.
We did our best to make amends for this unfortunate situation.
I imagined we did, at least.
How do I describe a small army of elementals?
They were far more than a band of animated, intelligent rocks. The elementals carried the history and the life-energy of the land writ across their features and their essences.
They were the living embodiment of Uërth and its magic.
Not all were as varied in their appearance as Lucius. Many were representative of a single mineral or rock type. There were translucent quartzites, some speckled with ferrous or golden inclusions, gliding next to sedimentary rocks with fossilized creatures visible on their surfaces. Lavender and pink amethysts drifted beside iridescent opaloids and pearlescent agates. Luminous green amazonite with clear crystalline facets floated with biotites, agates, and topazes. Banded tiger’s eye, onyx, and assorted gemstones held sway with many more mundane sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic rocks.
From mere granules and pebb
les to boulders large and small, the elementals described a whole rainbow of mineral hues and types, representing a mineral collector’s petrological dream.
With a childhood spent in the Greensward, mountains and eroded valleys all around, I had grown up with a natural affinity for rocks. Given the opportunity, I would wander through the wilds collecting minerals, fossils, and other natural treasures.
The elementals were my childhood rock collection on a much larger, enlivened scale—a dream made real.
And they were a force demons would not want to reckon with.
I wish I could say the trip was uneventful, but wishes seldom come true after Heaven’s fall.
We had no sooner crossed through the zone blasted out of the top of the mountain than another wave of demons overcame us.
If I were a great warrior, I would say events slowed down while I sped up; that I was the center in a sea of calm, my spells laying waste around me.
Or a mighty wave leaving a wake of devastation.
Or a gale force unleashed on a field of unharvested hay.
Something visually striking, moving, and awe-inspiring.
But I was not a great warrior, and events did not slow down.
In fact, events sped up.
Significantly.
While I slowed down.
Great shaggy arms, writhing tentacles, scabrous claws, serrated pincers, and appendages I cannot identify tore through the air around me, seeking to wring the life from my hovering body.
But where there was motion, there were elementals, a frenzied swarm of destruction, smashing our enemies into oblivion.
My butterflies stayed close, slicing anything that breached the elementals’ defenses to so much dust.
I moved strategically, which is to say I tried to stay in the middle of the elementals and as far away from the demons as possible.
Aside from being thrown to the ground and knocked unconscious by a tremendous scaled arm originating from something resembling a dragon’s worst nightmare, for most of the fight I was largely successful.
Such is the way of success.
I was successful until I was not.
Legacy of the Blade: The Complete Trilogy Page 29