by Des Pensable
‘This is horrible. You’re mainly Newman but something else. Who did this Slivver?’ he asked.
‘So now you know. I was a Newman once or so I was told.’ replied Slivver. My maker or unmaker if you like was Lord Borse, the Head of the Mentarin. He tinkers with people’s spirits as if they are toys. He has made many creations from bits and pieces of spirits. He has modified both the spirits and bodies of most of the creatures on Moonmist so that they are better adapted to live here. I am just one of many. Besides making magical equipment in the factory as Gizel mentioned, they also make creatures.’
‘By the Powers! I’m sorry for you Slivver. Can you tell me more about Lord Borse.’
‘Don’t feel sorry. All that I was has been erased. I am what I am now. As for Lord Borse, I don’t know that much about him. Nobody does. He was a powerful mind wizard and has been around for hundreds of years and possibly even more than a thousand I’ve heard. His great obsession is Moonmist. He is passionate about it. Some say he created it. He and the Mentarin have certainly done a lot to it. At one time it was supposed to be a dead frozen world.’
‘What is your mission with me?’ asked Aquitain.
‘He told me to go and help you survive and make sure you came back to Astaria.’ replied Slivver.
‘But you told me that Llanlorian asked you to do that!’ said Aquitain.
‘Yes she told me the same thing. I was to help you as much as possible and make sure you returned to Astaria.’
‘Was Llanlorian working for or controlled by Borse?’ asked Aquitain becoming quite interested.
‘I don’t know.’ replied Slivver.
Aquitain asked many questions but received few useful answers. One thing was sure. Borse was very powerful, probably a Power or even a Greater Power and Borse wanted him to come back to Astaria. It basically confirmed what Katarina the Mentarin had said.
What was Astaria’s secret. It was quite frustrating. He really needed to return to Astaria and try to sort it all out.
Aquitain checked Slivver’s memory to see if Slivver could read or alter memory but found that he couldn’t. Slivver had little memory beyond when he had joined Aquitain in Llanlorian’s gate world.
His previous memory had not been blocked but erased suggesting that Borse had guessed that Aquitain might read it. The game was becoming more dangerous. Borse was announcing his part in the game. He would have to assume that some of this information was corrupt and misleading.
He was happy about one thing Slivver didn’t seem to be there as an assassin and might be useful at least until they returned to Astaria. He blocked the memory of all Slivver had heard in the discussions between him and Miranda earlier in the day and released Slivver’s mind.
Although Sliver acted with great indignation about Aquitain forcefully reading his mind he was also happy. Aquitain now knew everything that Borse wanted him to know and no more. He had completed his job. It was now up to Aquitain to work out the puzzle.
Chapter 15 The Hidden Ones.
Just before dawn Miranda rose out of habit but rather than meditate and pray to the Lady she decided to exercise her illusion skills and use them to teach Tigerlilly about the different animals in the jungle. She created an illusion of each creature moved it around the room and explained all about it.
Gizel woke and joined in adding stories that she had heard about the animals and Tigerlilly enjoyed it at first but her attention soon tired and she wanted to do other things like chasings, skipping and other little girl games. Miranda became a little frustrated as she had never had to entertain children before and quickly ran out of ideas. Fortunately Gizel seemed to know lots of games and soon took over from Miranda.
Sometime later Navarro and Gizel were requested to meet with the Banshee leader but before Gizel left she had a brief chat with Miranda and they both smiled and hugged as if they had reached some type of deal.
‘What are you two women up to?’ asked Aquitain.
‘There is a saying. Men make war and women make peace. Last night I found out a lot about Gizel. She’s a very smart woman. She worked at the Royal Library as a scribe and assistant to the Keeper of Law. She has helped draft treaties for squabbles between Lords. I’ve told Gizel that we are trying to unify all the Lords under me as Queen and she told me that she was interested in helping us. She suggested that we offer an alliance between Lords and the Hidden ones as a way to bind the two groups together to fight the Mentarin.’
‘Do you think that would work?’ asked Aquitain.
‘Probably not! I’m more interested in having her help us. She knows the laws, the Charter and how the Lords think. That would be useful. She’s also a cunning bitch that sees no future among the Hidden Ones and sees us as a way to escape. She’s besotted with you my love. She gets a thrill out of being close to people with power. So I’ve offered her a job as tutor and carer of Tigerlilly. She said that she would consider it overnight. She just accepted but we have to get her released from her current position and that may be tricky.’
‘Miranda! How about including me in these decisions.’ replied Aquitain a little annoyed.
‘Tain it is a woman’s business to care for her chosen, her children and to pick and control the domestic staff. Don’t you want me to care for you?’ she replied.
‘I guess you’re right Mandy. I’m not used to having my own family. It’s all happening so fast. We do need someone to look after Tigerlilly and as you say her knowledge is likely to be useful.’ he replied.
An hour later Aquitain was busy playing mind games with Tigerlilly when a messenger came to inform them that they had been invited to a meeting with Leader Bengorrin and the Healer Rosanllea.
They found Navarro and Gizel patiently waiting at the base of a hill that was surrounded by steep almost vertical rock walls. In the bright moonlight they could see that further up the hill it had a series of narrow terraces cut into it and along each terrace were entrances to cave-like dwellings that had been hollowed out of the hillside. At the ends of each terrace was a movable ramp suspended by ropes that allowed people to move from one terrace to another. They couldn’t see what was on top of the hill.
Aquitain thought that it was a lot of work to hollow out a cave to live in until he closely examined the cliff face rock. It was very chalky and would be relatively easy to mine. They certainly had a secure and eminently defensible settlement. He could well imagine that if the occupants used any type of missile weapon then any potential attackers would pay dearly. The rock face would also be very resistant to any type of elemental magic attacks but expose the attackers to the wrath of magic users defending the place.
Once they were all present a wooden platform suspended by ropes was lowered down to them and they were winched up to the first terrace where they found they had to traverse the full length of it before being lifted to the next terrace. As they walked along the terrace they could see black robed and hooded people standing just inside the entrances of the dwellings peering out at them. There were no signs of welcome or hostility, no emotional response to them at all; the only sound to be heard was their own footsteps.
As they progressed up each terrace Aquitain noticed that each dwelling had an entrance and a circular hole beside it, which might normally be a window, but in most cases the hole was filled with a hollow metal cone with the narrow end tapering into the dwelling. He thought about possible uses for these funnels all the way up to the top but stopped when he arrived.
The top of the hill was flat, about 300 paces wide and surrounded with a low wall of rock perhaps a pace high. There were four rock guard towers each about 10 paces high facing to the north, south, east and west. In the centre was a simple circular keep perhaps 50 paces in diameter made out of a different rock to that of the hill that rose up about 50 paces from the ground. The rest of the area was covered in small garden plots.
Suddenly there was a shout behind them and Miranda and Tigerlilly looked around to see a large flying lizard soaring down towards
them with its jaws full of sharp teeth wide open. Aquitain was nestling in Tigerlilly’s left arm while holding the hand of Gizel with her right hand.
Miranda yelled ‘Dive for the ground!’ and everyone except Tigerlilly did. She stood fearlessly watching the creature approach. Aquitain hardened Tigerlilly’s skin just before it grabbed her in its jaws and glided away with her. He was flung onto the ground as Miranda screamed in anguish.
‘Aquitain where are you?’ she yelled.
He created light on his little body and she ran over and grabbed hold of him then flung her arms parallel to the ground and began to whirl while chanting words of power. She whirled faster and faster until she transformed into a whirlwind then flew off at high speed in the direction the creature had flown.
Aquitain found himself spinning like a top in the centre of the whirlwind and unable to fix his sight on anything so he moved his point of vision through their mindlink to see what Miranda was seeing. It appeared like she was looking through a scrying eye.
‘I can’t see her. The sky’s too dark.’ said Miranda in a panicky voice.
‘I’ll light her up.’ replied Aquitain.
‘Tigerlilly this is daddy. Don’t be scared. Mummy and daddy are coming to get you. You must do exactly what I say.’ he said through their mindlink.
‘Okay daddy.’ she replied.
‘Now say these magic words.’ And she did and moments later her body shone with bright light.
‘Good girl, Tigerlilly!’ he shouted.
‘I see her.’ said Miranda as she changed direction towards the light.
The creature was suddenly surprised when Tigerlilly illuminated. It was confused then it was suddenly afraid and opened its mouth and discarded her.
‘She’s falling!’ said Miranda as she sped towards Tigerlilly.
Aquitain could see and also realized that they had no chance of reaching her in time. Had he been in an organic body his heart would have stopped at that moment. But he had no heart and no emotions. He instantly reviewed his options and knew what to do.
‘Tigerlilly say these magic words.’
‘I wish to go to Warden’s Rest!’
‘Quickly! Say,’
‘I wish to go to Warden’s Rest!’
She kept falling and just before she hit the dark ground she vanished.
‘Did it work?’ screamed Miranda. ‘Oh. Lady I hope it worked.’
‘Why didn’t you protect her?’ she screamed at Aquitain.
‘Because I couldn’t see what was happening!’ he shouted then he started singing the calming mantra.
‘I knew this would happen. She’s defenceless. The poor little thing! We’re terrible parents. We’ve failed her.’ she cried.
‘Calm down Miranda! Concentrate on the mantra.’ he said.
‘No. I don’t want to calm down. We’ve killed our daughter. How can I calm down?’ she screamed at him.
‘Cast lightning or something?’ he replied trying to think of a way to calm her down.
‘Good Idea!’ she replied and suddenly several massive blasts the chain lightning streaked out of her lighting up the countryside followed closely by crashing thunder that echoed across the sky.
‘That feels better!’ she said as she sped off in the direction of the sanctuary.
‘I’ll go there.’ he said and teleported.
Five minutes later Miranda saw a solitary light in the sanctuary and moments later her mindlink with Tigerlilly reformed and she heard Tigerlilly say
‘Daddy, here comes mummy!’
‘Are you all right darling!’ asked Miranda.
‘Yes mummy but I fell over when I got here and my knee hurt a bit but daddy’s fixed it.’ she replied.
‘I’ll be there in a minute darling.’ replied Miranda. ‘I didn’t know what to do. That was really quick thinking. I’m impressed.’
‘I’m just thankful for all the mental exercises that I did.’ replied Aquitain. ‘I hated doing them over and over again but they’ve just saved her life. I’ll never complain about them again. In fact I’m going to restart my exercise program tomorrow.’
Aquitain watched as Miranda flew down and landed on the ground in the sanctuary. All the leaves and litter on the ground began swirling around. Miranda reappeared spinning. She slowed down to a stop and lurched forward onto the ground and began vomiting.
‘Are you all right mummy?’ shouted Tigerlilly running over to her.
‘I will be … in a moment …darling. It’s … all the spinning … makes me sick. I’ll … have to work on my … landing.’ she replied.
‘Hello Miranda.’ greeted Ironbark.
‘Back so soon. Tigerlilly was telling me how a big flying monster grabbed her and flew her up into the sky. But she was brave because she knew mummy and daddy would save her.’
‘It was a close call Ironbark, a very close call.’ replied Aquitain.
‘You know what to do now Tigerlilly. If any monsters want to grab you say the magic words. ‘I wish to go to warden’s Rest.’ And you will come here.’
‘Will I still come here if I say the magic words and there’s no monsters?’ she asked.
‘Yes you will darling.’ said Miranda finally standing up. ‘But you must only say them when you’re in danger. Otherwise mummy and daddy will be worried where you are.’
‘I’ll be safe here with Ironbark and the big water thing in the pool.’ she said.
‘Yes but we won’t know you’re here will we.’ replied Miranda.
‘Okay! Are we going back to that creepy place where all the people hide from each other?’
‘Yes, darling. They will be afraid that you were hurt. So we need to go and show them that you’re okay.’ replied Aquitain.
‘I don’t like them. I want to stay here with Ironbark.’ she shouted.
‘When you’re a princess sometimes you have to meet people you don’t like but you have to pretend you like them.’ replied Miranda.
‘Why?’ asked Tigerlilly.
‘Because princesses are special and they have to know lots of people even those that they don’t like because someday they will be a Queen and they will have to make lots of decisions when they rule the country.’ replied Miranda.
‘When I’m a queen I’m not going to talk to anybody I don’t like.’ said Tigerlilly.
‘You can do that when you’re a queen but when you’re a princess you have to do what mummy says.’ replied Miranda.
‘I can’t wait to be a queen.’ said Tigerlilly.
‘Let’s hold hands and I’ll teleport us to the room we stayed in last night.’ said Aquitain and in blink they were there.
The light effect was still on Tigerlilly and it lit up the room casting huge shadows. They left the building and quickly several guards appeared and the word was passed on that they were alive and well.
Minutes later Navarro and Gizel returned and Gizel raced over and cuddled into Tigerlilly.
‘Thank the gods. I thought you were lost.’ she said with tears in her eyes.
‘I am a princess we don’t get lost easily.’ replied Tigerlilly.
‘I can see that. I’m sure your daddy looks after you properly.’ replied Gizel gazing at Aquitain with admiration.
This time things were different. All eyes were on the little glowing princess. Many of the people knelt down before her and wished her well. Tigerlilly’s miraculous return from an unthinkable fate seemed to elevate her to some sort miracle child and since there were so few children she became an instant icon. Tigerlilly loved the attention and played the part of the lovely little princess to perfection.
‘That is you at that age.’ said Aquitain.
‘Yes I know it’s embarrassing. That was me and it was wonderful.’ she replied.
‘We’re going to have to train her properly. She will make a wonderful queen.’ That’s what Allalanllea used to say about me chuckled Miranda.
‘Unfortunately she needs to learn the hard truths about the world.’
‘Not yet.’ replied Aquitain.
‘Oh so you know all about raising princesses do you?’ asked Miranda.
‘No. I don’t but I do know that she has the ability to be more powerful than both of us and that means that we will have to be very careful about how and what we teach her.’ replied Aquitain.
They reached the top of the mountain again and this time were very careful and watchful but were not attacked again.
They were led into the keep and up three flights of stairs to the council room near the top of the keep which had a commanding view over the surrounding country side. It was quite large, possibly twenty paces square and warmly lit with several yellow magic light balls. Around the walls were tapestry-like wall hangings of strange animals, made of knotted string and small coloured ceramic beads. The merchant experience in Aquitain could see a ready and lucrative market for these back in Panmagica.
The floor was covered with well-tanned animal skins and surprisingly there were no tables or chairs. Instead there was a richly embroidered cloth on the floor displaying several dishes of delicious looking food. Comfortable looking well-worn leather cushions surrounded the cloth.
They were ushered into a corner by several armed guards and kept waiting for several minutes before two people entered, one wearing the typical black chafra and another a deep blood red chafra. The man in the black chafra asked the guards to wait outside and closed the curtain covering the entrance. He turned to Miranda and his hood disappeared revealing the face of a handsome middle-aged Elendari man.
‘We are in private. You may show your faces.’ he announced.
Miranda, Navarro, Gizel, Tigerlilly and lastly the woman in the red robe removed their hoods revealing their faces.
Navarro quickly walked halfway to Bengorrin and said.
‘Leader Bengorrin and Master Healer Rosanllea may I present Miranda, Druidess of Mudrun, Princess of Argenta, contender to the Elendari throne and her small green crystal partner, Aquitain, Warden of Moonmist and Lord of Astaria and finally Princess Tigerlilly, their daughter.’
‘Let the Lord Pellum be praised for bringing us such esteemed visitors. It is truly a special day. Please accept my apologies for that feral creature that attacked your daughter and praise Pellum for her safe return to you. Please sit and breakfast with us.’ said Bengorrin and promptly sat on the floor and leaned on a cushion.