“Do you require aid My Lord,” a shaky voice said from behind Thad.
Thad turned to see that the elf was looked upon him his eyes wide with fright. Thad was confused at the elf’s demeanor until he noticed his whole body had tendrils of energy flowing around it. Thad consciously quelled his bitterness and shut himself off from the flows of magic. You are letting your emotions run too freely.
“Does the Lady Emeriss have a library by chance?” Thad asked the young elf who was still visibly shaken.
“Yes, Master Torin,” the elf said, his voice shaky and unsure. “It is on the second floor at the far end of the hallway. You will find it to be one of the largest belonging to any of the noble houses.”
Thad bowed his head in thanks as he quickly escaped from the elf before his anger took back control and he scared the poor man more than he already had.
It was not hard to find the library. Thad had expected to find a few shelves of books, but instead he found thousands of books all placed caringly upon shelves and meticulous taken care of. It was easily as large as the library belonging to the Noble Academy back in Farlan.
Thad found an elven male sitting at a large oak desk piled high with books. His face and body as youthful looking as any of the others but the elf’s eyes spoke of ageless knowledge. Thad found it slightly unnerving that he could not easily discern the ages of the elves. They could be young men of his own age or old enough to have been alive during the Fae Wars and he would never be able to tell the difference.
Thad walked up to the desk and cleared his throat to get this attention. “I am looking for any books that may pertain to the Brotherhood. I am particularly interested in those involving anything to do with their inner workings.”
The elf silently stood from his desk and disappeared among the rows of books returning a short time later carrying a small stack of leather-bound tomes in his hand. “This covers the brotherhood in the most recent years. If you are looking more historical documents let me know and I shall retrieve them for you.”
“Much appreciated,” Thad said, taking the books from the elf. Thad found an unused desk and quickly sat and started searching through the books.
The books were far more detailed than Thad would have thought they could have been. Apparently, even removed from the rest of the world as they were the elves had ways of gathering a large amount of information.
The first book detailed basic information over the organization of the Brotherhood. Some of the information Thad already knew but most of it was new to him. The Brotherhood had small detachments spread in most countries disguised as guild halls or other small business. Each group had a ranking officer that gave them direct orders. Only a small portion of the merchants operating from Rane belonged to the Brotherhood. Most of their power came more from the trained escorts that traveled with the merchants.
Thad continued to read, surprised by the sheer amount of information the elves had uncovered. There were nine members on the Merchant Council, though in truth they were nine of the ten top members of the Brotherhood. The tenth member of the high council of the Brotherhood was the regent to the King of Rane, who was the real power behind the puppet king.
Five of the big eight large merchant families were believed to belong to the Brotherhood though only three of the names were marked within the book.
Time slipped by as Thad continued to delve deeper into the tomes. The longer Thad read the more plans popped into his head about the best ways to go about destroying the Brotherhood ranks. There was an estimate of more than five thousand Brotherhood soldiers and officers, far too many for Thad to kill on his own.
Thad knew that completely destroying the Brotherhood might be far beyond his ability but he could at least take out a few of the commanders as long as he was careful.
Thad wasn’t sure how long he had been in the library before Emeriss sent an envoy to invite him to the dining hall, but from the waning light outside it was nearly nightfall. Thad loathed leaving his studies but he knew it would be rude to put the young lady off. He needed her support as well as the support of the council and she would go a long way to making that happen.
Thad found Emeriss in the same dining hall as before, the table already filled with a large banquet, far too much for the two to eat alone. Thad wasn’t sure if Emeriss was trying to impress him or if the abundance of food was a natural occurrence within her household.
“The council has decided that they can have the rite prepared for you within two days. Lord Joren has asked me to convey his request that you join him at your earliest convenience. He was quite enamored by your woeful tale, though I expect you will receive many more requests of such nature and it will be impossible for you to entertain them all.” Emeriss had her typically warm smile on her face but the slight edge in her voice and the way she nervously wrung her hands warned Thad that something was off.
“Did everything go well with the other council members after I departed?” Thad kept his voice level trying not to draw too much attention to his question.
“Yes and no,” Emeriss said, giving Thad a plaintive look. “It is about the ship you requested, each of the lords have been asked to pick members from our servants to accompany you. Each member of my house is as precious to me as my family, but I cannot refuse the request, not given the current climate of the council.”
Thad felt a pang of guilt as he looked into her eyes. Having been raised as a slave, part of him sympathized and even admired Emeriss her feelings, but he knew that it would be impossible to reach Rane without the elves help. “I will do my best to make sure no harm befalls those who accompany me.”
Emeriss looked down at the plate of food that sat in front of her. “There is more,” she replied, her voice so low that Thad had to strain to hear her. “The people who are turned over to you shall not be coming home. The council believes that it is time that we once more played a role in the world of Men. At the same time they do not want to jeopardize our safety, so they have chosen to send our people to follow you as an honorary lord. As of today you are now the head of the Reinwood family.”
“The Reinwood family, that was unexpected.”
Emeriss shook her head slowly, a wry smile spreading across her face. “Not if you knew my people. We are great lovers of tragedy. The story you told in the hall this morning sealed the young Reinwood’s fate. As we speak he is being stripped of his station and his ears are being clipped. The Reinwood household is new, only a few hundred years old. A third cousin will take over the day to day workings of the house, but in name only, until your death you are the true head of house.”
The news was a bit more than Thad had ever thought he would get. “How many in all will be sent with me?” Thad asked, his mind whirling with possibilities.
The look on Emeriss face showed she did not approve of his attitude, but Thad knew he would need every resource he could get. “It is hard to say,” Emeriss said, her voice slightly spiteful. “The house of Reinwood will send the most and many of the larger houses will send quite a few. If I had to hazard a guess it would be that at least eighty elves will join you.”
“Emeriss, I know that you are not fond of the idea of your brethren joining me but I can’t turn away their aid.”
“In truth it is not you that I am upset with,” Emeriss said, her tone bitter. “It is the fact my fellow council members are so willing to send our own into the jaws of death.”
“Knowing that they will be accompanying me on my full trip I can no longer promise that I will keep them out of harm’s way.” Thad saw Emeriss’s face drop as the words slipped almost effortlessly from his mouth. “I know it is not what you want to hear but I would be dishonoring myself if I lied to you now. I plan to head into Rane itself and destroy the Brotherhood’s leadership or at least as many of them as I can.” Thad’s voice was fierce as the mention of the Brotherhood escaped his lips.
“I see,” Emeriss said, her face crestfallen and her words barely audible. “It is getting lat
e, if you wish to spend any time courting the other Lord’s favor tomorrow you best get some rest.”
Thad knew a dismissal when he heard one and quickly he excused himself from the room and returned to his own chambers. Thad felt his heart tearing at him as he lay in the darkness staring at the ceiling. His rage at the Brotherhood and the loss of Brianna still burned deep within him. He knew that her death had been his fault. If he had simply kept his distance from her she would never have had to die. The same was true of Crusher and Arianna, Thad thought, believing that most likely they along with Brianna now floated lifelessly on the vast waters of the sea.
Thad knew what he was feeling but he was unsure how to handle it. He knew he was being irrational wanting to go into the mouth of the beast but nothing he told himself quenched the fires of his heart. Bringing others into his march to death wasn’t in his plans but he would not turn aside aid willing given.
But it is not willingly given. The people who you will march to their deaths have no say in the matter.
Thad wanted to tell his staff to stay out of his mind, but he knew it was right. He wouldn’t turn away help that was given but even in his burning rage he couldn’t march people against their choice into the jaws of death. His conscious slightly alleviated, Thad drifted off into an uneasy sleep.
There was no peaceful dream awaiting Thad, Maria was not there to open her arms wide to console him in his grief. Thad found himself once again on the deck of the Rose Runner standing beside Brianna. Thad reached out and ran his fingers through Brianna’s short hair. “I didn’t want you to die,” Thad said as tears started to slowly stream from his eyes.
Brianna smiled lovingly at Thad but when she opened her mouth a steady flow of blood flowed out. Just as before Brianna toppled and Thad caught her once again in his arms. Thad wept openly as he ran his fingers along the fletching of the bolt that stuck out from Brianna’s neck. Thad could feel the soft feather slide against the tips of his fingers. He could feel the coldness of the metal shaft as he ran his hand down, and lastly he could feel the warmth of Brianna’s blood as it rushed over his hand.
“I’m sorry,” Thad wailed as he tried to stem the flow. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Thad repeated over and over as the light of life slowly faded from Brianna’s soft gentle eyes.
Thad lifted up his tear strewn face to see Crusher, Arianna, and Avalanche standing in front of him. Avalanche lay on her side whining, a large white bladed sword sticking from her back. Crusher was in no better shape, his face a deep blue and his eyes bulging as water dripped freely from his bloated body. All of those were nothing compared to Arianna’s wounds. The small nadirie’s wings had been ripped from her back and she had been cut open like a summer ham. Thad felt the bile rise into his throat as he turned his head from their accusing eyes.
Once Thad’s stomach had settled he looked back but to find his friends were gone. Looking down Thad found his arms empty, and he was suddenly alone, without even the dead to keep him company. He rose to his feet and called out for anyone who might hear his voice but there was no answer.
Thad stumbled along looking for anyone, as the darkness closed in around him. Thad collapsed to his knees as the darkness completely enveloped him.
CHAPTER VIII
Thad screamed as he shot up from his bed. He was sweating profusely as he stumbled from the bed in the dark. When the door to his chambers opened and a tall elf entered the room, the fears flew from Thad’s mind. “Young Master, is everything ok?”
“Yes, everything is fine,” Thad replied, his voice shaky and uneven. The elf looked skeptical but bowed and left the room. As soon as he was gone Thad lit a candle on one of the small tables next to the bed and sat down. He didn’t know how long he had slept but he could still feel the grip of sleep grabbing at him. Not wanting to revisit the world of dreams, Thad picked up the candle and left his room.
Thad let his feet carry him back to the library. It was dark inside but the stack of books over the Brotherhood was still sitting where he had left them. Thad hunched over the books squinting in the candlelight. Thad rubbed his eyes after a few moments, his eyes starting to hurt. The diamond on the end of his staff began to light up filling the room with a soft luminescent light. Do you enjoy doing things the hard way? Half the time you should use your magic, you don’t.
“I am not in the mood,” Thad replied.
Thad wasn’t looking for anything special as he read, he just wanted something to occupy his mind until the sun once again graced the sky. Thad continued to scan a book written by an elf named Esmaloria until he ran across a passage that caught his attention.
No one is sure when the Brotherhood first appeared, but it is certain what their purpose is. In order to learn more about our enemies we have sought anything that might tell of their origins, and how they came across the abyssal swords. Over the years we have come across many hints and though many still argue over the implications it is widely believed that Humanius was the one who has aided them. Those of us belonging to the race of gods pray that this is a simple misunderstanding, but if it is true we should expend every resource we can in opposition of the Brotherhood of the Fox.
The powers of the Brotherhood’s swords are a mystery but once again there are many theories about how they unravel magic. I fall into the theory that the swords are somehow linked to the abyss, the dark center of the void where nothing can escape. If this is true then it enforces the thought that Humanius is behind the strength of the Brotherhood. That might be the reason so many contest this view.
Thad sat back in his chair and thought about what he had learned. He still knew little about the truth behind Humanius and Belaroan, and at the moment that seemed to be a disadvantage. The Magical races had been told the stories since birth and when he had asked about them he only ever got a quick and usually simplistic answer in nature.
Thad started walking up and down the long isle of books. Thad had no clue how the library was set up but he was sure Emeriss wouldn’t have it in disorder, especially not considering how fast the elf had been able to find the book on the Brotherhood earlier.
The spines of the books were clearly labeled with metallic flowing text. The section Thad was currently in had to do with the history of the elves. Thad picked up one of the books and flipped through it reading only short passages that caught his attention. From what Thad gathered from the stories most of Elven history had to do with great tragedies and stories of profound loss. From the collection of stories Thad started to understand what Emeriss meant by his own story striking at the heart of the elves. They were near immortal beings, with a love for the dramatic.
Replacing the book on the shelf Thad continued his search. Thad had thought the library was large when he had just looked but now strolling down section by section it seemed massive.
After a good search Thad found a hint of what he was looking for in a book named “A Time Before The Elves.” It told of the war between Humanius and Belaroan. The story was much different than the one Sae-Thae had told him. In this version Belaroan had taken the field directly against Humanius after her lover’s death. In a final struggle she had cast both herself and Humanius into the deep of the void. The book went on to tell that the void was a place of nothingness, a place born as a buffer between the realms of god’s and man. From what Thad read it was clear that the elves believed that Belaroan had given the last of her power to rip a hole into the void large enough to entrap Humanius, and that she had warned that it could not hold him forever.
Though the story was different from what Thad had originally been told he was sure that each carried some of the truth. Stories tended to be warped and changed to the taste of one’s own liking.
Thad continued to search the other books until well after the sun had risen into the sky. When his head started to bob and the weariness from lack of sleep threatened to overtake him Thad decided it was time to get some fresh air.
Thad hadn’t spent enough time among the city to know his way ar
ound but at the moment that didn’t seem overly important. As Emeriss had said, when he returned to his room dozens of invitations awaited him from almost every noble house, including one from the house of Reinwood. While he wasn’t sure who most of the houses belonged to he was fairly sure he could find the Reinwood estate again easily. It was hard to forget a place where one had thrown a man or elf through a wall.
Of all the paces you want to visit, the first is the place that has the largest reason to see to your demise.
“I doubt that the Reinwoods will do anything to me,” Thad replied tartly. “I am the head of the house.”
Can you not see that is what makes them so dangerous? If something were to happen to you then the head of the house would fall to the person you would be meeting.
“I have my magic” Thad said defensively.
In Farlan that might have been true, but you seem to forget you are not the only being in the world that can use magic. If you don’t start using that thing you call a brain for more than parting your ears I don’t see a very bright future ahead of you
Thad cursed lightly but didn’t retort back. How could he when he knew that his staff was right? “Just be ready.”
That’s the brightest thing you have said in days. His staff replied dryly.
The front of the Reinwood estate where Thad had opened a hole had been repaired to the point one could not tell anything had happened. Thad knew it was still early in the morning but putting things off would not make things any easier. Walking up to the main door Thad rapped hard on its surface and waited patiently.
The door was opened quickly by a poorly dressed Elven child. Thad stared at the golden eyes of the child mesmerized. She stared back at him with a confused look on her face. “Lillian don’t just stand there like a statue if it’s not the grocer have him come in and we can sort it out dear.” An older lady said coming up from behind the child. When she saw his face she quickly hit her knees and pulled the young elf to do the same. “I wasn’t aware the new Master would be visiting so soon,” she said, her voice frightful and full of worry. “Please pardon Lillian she is only a child.”
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