“We last saw him walking up the road to the Forbidden Lands, intent on overcoming the evil Q’Herindam Mages with his Firemagic. I will tell the tale for all over dinner.”
Belmar heard the concern in her voice.
“I look forward to it Shiri,” he replied gravely.
Servants had already cleared away the remains of the afternoon’s snack when Mendle came to announce that dinner would be served in about half an hour. The five of them retired to the study with wine and Belmar’s favourite, honey mead liqueur, to start relating the stories of their various adventures.
The telling went on and on, almost without break as dinner came and went. First one spoke then the other, relating adventure after adventure, each one just as incredible as the last. Eventually, yawns were seen around the table, now long cleared of dishes, as eyes tiredly drooped with fatigue and wine. By now, the main topic of conversation had turned to what Arwhon was presently up to and whether they should do as he requested and leave him to manage the Q’Herindam by himself or set out to assist him. They were divided on the matter and not one of them could decide either way. Kuiran put it most succinctly.
“Shiri. You are Arwhon’s Shield, I am his Arm and Cringle is his Servant. The Wise Ones saw once that Arwhon would need us but didn’t know when. What if it’s now? We should be with him.”
“I feel like that too Kuiran but it was his express wish that he go alone because of the danger to us and the fact he couldn’t protect us when he was battling with magic.”
It was Cringle who hit the nail on the head before they retired for the night and everyone, including Belmar, who was again invited to stay, went to bed thinking on his words.
“But who is protecting Arwhon while he battles?”
The debate continued next morning over breakfast and the pros and cons of them staying or going to assist Arwhon against his wishes were set out numerous times as the sun rose higher in the sky. Captain Belmar returned to Jalwynd as he had things to do. They were getting nowhere until just before lunch when a loud shout came from the courtyard. They rushed to the window to see a bedraggled Gryffon slumped in the courtyard, flanks heaving. Krissi looked thin and worn and immediately the group ran out to see her. Cristal calling for the forequarter of a beast to be brought outside immediately, as well as a tub of water.
They stood in front of Krissi who sat wearily before them, panting, as she looked from one face to another, unable to convey her message. The forequarter of beef arrived and Krissi tore into it, drinking copious amounts of water to wash down each strip of meat she gobbled down.
How to communicate though?
It was Shiri who hit upon an idea and turned to the others to express it.
“Let’s get the stableman to bring Duran out here and while he’s at it, Rancid too. I think Krissi can communicate with Duran and Duran with Rancid and Rancid with me. It’s worth a try.”
Heads young and old nodded in agreement and a servant was sent to the stables with a message. Duran was led out prancing and dancing, followed by another stable boy leading Rancid, whose long ears were twitching in all directions. Already images were forming in Shiri’s head, courtesy of Rancid but they were jumbled. She sent to Rancid to ask him to try and calm Duran down enough to get from Krissi that which the gryffon needed to impart. Gradually, by working back and forth, a picture started to build up and once Shiri had unravelled it, she burst into tears. The others waited until she pulled herself together and thanked Rancid and Duran before they were led away. Duran was really unsettled and difficult to handle, obviously affected by what he had learned through the bond with Krissi. Cringle had to take the lead rope from the stable boy and take Duran to the stables as the big grey was more used to him and he could handle Duran more easily than the diminutive youth.
Krissi went back to her rapidly diminishing haunch of meat as Shiri gently gave her head a stroke behind the ear feathers and sadly thanked her for flying all the way from the Forbidden Lands with her message. The gryffon seemed more at ease now than when she’d arrived and Cristal ordered another haunch of beef to be brought out when the one Krissi was presently finishing had gone. Cristal gently tugged the grieving Shiri toward the house. The information she had gleaned from Krissi would be better relayed while they were all seated and able to discuss it.
“The pictures I got from Krissi through Duran and Rancid are fragments.” Shiri told them when they were seated in the study. “But what I saw showed Arwhon in a lot of trouble. Krissi’s view was from high above but she has powerful vision. She saw Arwhon in the courtyard of what appeared to be a Citadel with many strange things happening as well as blazing Firemagic. Earth was heaving and stormy gales were blowing as well as water flying around in waves and as icicles. The last vision was of Arwhon encased in a ball of energy, sinking into the courtyard as more and more earth was piled over him.”
She looked around the study at the anxious faces, all intent on what she was describing. Cringle spoke up.
“It’s the vision we saw in the pool of the Wise Ones Shiri. Arwhon under duress.”
“We have to go to him.” Kuiran said. “It will take a long time to get there though. We have to hope he can hold out.”
“He’ll be able to,” Shiri reassured herself as much as Kuiran. “Arwhon has learned how to live on the Power he draws from the Earth. The Q’Herindam will keep at him though, as he is the only Man who can stand in their way. The M’Herindar practice of using Earthmagic has dwindled since the days when the Rift was formed and Ch’ron became our Guardian. I don’t know if my people can help us.”
Cringle, who had been sitting quietly, gazing to the northwest from hooded eyes, spoke into the silence.
“Arwhon is still alive. I can feel him faintly through our bond. As long as he lives, I’ll know where to find him.”
Cristal regarded Shiri and Kuiran. “You have Earthmagic Shiri and you have Watermagic Kuiran but will it be enough to overcome the combined power of the Q’Herindam Mages? I would hate for any harm to befall you trying to rescue Arwhon, dear as he is to me.”
Shiri didn’t respond immediately, she was deep in thought, trying to remember back to something Arwhon had said to her.
“Cristal. Do you remember the Sapphire Arwhon asked you to look after? Do you know where it is?”
The old lady’s eyes lit up. “You’re not thinking of using it are you? And who would accept such a thing?”
Both of their heads swivelled until they were regarding Cringle, who looked first at one and then the other.
“What is it? Why are you looking at me like that?”
Cristal rose. “You explain it to him Shiri while I fetch the jewel.”
Cristal hurriedly left the room as Shiri composed herself and began to explain the workings of the Sapphire to Cringle.
“Before you were Arwhon’s Servant and before Arwhon became as powerful as he is, we were all involved in the Battle for Belvedere, of which you may have heard. Even before that, when we rescued the Barsoomi heirs from the clutches of Empress Martine, we’d met an Air Mage, Escarion, who we also freed from Martine’s clutches. He came at our request when Belvedere was threatened by the Dominion armies led by the same Empress Martine. He was killed by an extremely powerful Q’Herindam Mage but before he died, he transferred his essence into a jewel and gave it to Arwhon. Escarion asked for his essence to be returned to the Kin of S’Ria or, if it was needed, to be transferred into a deserving, living body.”
Cringle sat still, taking it all in. He felt he knew where this may lead but he also realised that not one of this group, or anyone Arwhon knew, had ever done him any harm.
Yet.
“What does that mean for me though? Will I stop being Cringle and just become that Mage or will I die before the Mage’s essence enters me?”
Shiri pondered for a while, unsure how to answer Cringle as, in reality, she had no answer to give.
“We don’t know Cringle. Escarion didn’t have time to tell Arw
hon everything about the process before he died. All he said was to find someone worthy. You are worthy and we need the Airmagic to get Arwhon back.”
Kuiran and Raleen had sat through this conversation quietly and Cringle turned to them to ask their opinions but Raleen, with her hand to her mouth, shook her head slowly, uncertain. Kuiran leaned forward, his massive forearms upon his knees and spoke gravely.
“No one can make you do this thing Cringle. It’s your life and your body and we will not hold it against you if you decide not to go through with it. All I can say is that having Airmagic as well as Earth and Watermagic, may be the only chance we have to free Arwhon.”
Cristal returned carrying the biggest Sapphire they had ever seen, glowing with its own deep blue, internal light. She gently passed it into Shiri’s waiting hands and all eyes moved from the Sapphire to Cringle. He saw the desperate need and the question in every face before him.
Cringle’s voice was firm, even if his face paled. “I understand. Look, I’m Arwhon’s Servant, a position I asked him for and this is just another way I can serve him. So, yes to you Shiri. Whatever occurs to me as a result, even if I cease to be Cringle, please remember me. Now how do we do this?”
“I think you’d better lie on the floor on your back Cringle. I have to place the jewel on your forehead and I guess you mustn’t resist it.”
Cringle lay on the floor in the centre of the room and Cristal placed a cushion under his head for which she received a smile of thanks. Shiri knelt beside the prone Cringle and spoke calmly.
“Are you ready Servant?”
Cringle nodded, a brave resolve on his now ashen face as Shiri placed the jewel on his forehead. Nothing happened, so she pressed it more firmly against his brown skin. The jewel started to glow and Shiri lifted her hand, watching Cringle all the while to make sure he was alright. Cringle closed his brown eyes and went still as the Sapphire brightened until it was shining like a small blue sun. Too bright for any of them to look at.
Air started to circulate in the study, a gentle zephyr at first but it gradually grew stronger, then stronger still and then even more so. Parchments started to fly off the desk and the curtains were streaming sideways while Cristal, Shiri and Raleen held onto their seats and fought to stay upright. The wind brought with it a moaning sound which increased in intensity as its speed increased. Finally, Kuiran leapt to hold Cristal in her seat as a whirlwind sped around the room and its scream rose in pitch to become almost unbearable. All of those present were fearful for Cringle’s safety. At that moment the Sapphire shattered into myriad pieces and the violent wind ceased immediately, the raging tumult gone as if it had never been.
Cringle lay unmoving in the centre of the room, his forehead bleeding. It appeared as though his breathing had stopped. As Shiri bent closer to see how he was, his chest rose with a shuddering inhalation of breath and his eyes opened. Bright blue eyes stared up at Shiri, wild with confusion before Cringle sat bolt upright to gaze around the room, blinking. He paused and felt at his chest then looked down at it, unsure. Next he studied his hands before looking around for a mirror. Locating one on the wall, blown askew, he stood and stepped in front of it. His jaw fell and he turned to the others in the room.
“You used the jewel?” More of a statement than a question.
“Cringle?” Shiri asked hesitantly.
“No, yes. I don’t know. My head hurts. I need to rest. There’s too much confusion in here. I don’t feel all that well.”
It didn’t sound much like Cringle. It was not Cringle’s voice which answered Shiri’s query. She took his hand and led him upstairs to his room, or rather Cringle’s room and drew the curtains to make it dark in there. She took a cloth and moistened it to dab at Cringle’s forehead. The blood she cleaned away was from tiny cuts caused by the jewel fragmenting, nothing serious. Finished, she spoke to the Servant.
“There’s water on that table there and I’ll bring food in a little while. Rest and try to relax. If you need to talk, we’ll be downstairs.”
Shiri exited the room and the Servant lay on the bed and closed his eyes, his mind a whirl. A dialogue started inside his head.
“Who are you?”
“Escarion. I’ve been given this body to use. Why are you still here?”
“It’s my body; I have every right to be here. Why should I leave it?”
“Because I’m in here now.”
“Look Escarion, I agreed for Shiri to do the jewel thing because Arwhon is in grave danger and apparently we need Airmagic as well as Earthmagic and Watermagic if we’re to save him from the might of the Q’Herindam. I didn’t agree to leave my body to you though.”
There was a pause and Cringle could feel the thought process of Escarion as the Air Mage thought about their position. Apart from a different way of thinking, the process was not hard to follow at all. Escarion made a comment.
“I know you are thinking about how it feels to have me inside your head with you. It’s an exceedingly strange thing not to have private thoughts anymore. I too am used to a great deal of privacy.”
Cringle took the statement onboard and replied.
“I don’t care if you know every last detail about me. It’s not as though you can use the information to hurt me without hurting yourself but I am Arwhon’s Servant and I do mean to save him and you have to come along too.”
Escarion silently cogitated as Cringle waited, mentally going over the part where he had agreed to accepting the Air Mage into himself. He never realised just how intimate the process would be. Escarion was now as much a part of Cringle as he was himself. In fact, either one or both were in danger of losing their identities, submerged in the other or integrated into something new with divergent memories. It was becoming tangled in here. Escarion’s voice rose within.
“Which of us will control the body?” he asked.
“Me,” replied Cringle, “I’ve done it for the last eighteen or so years and besides, I’ve had training in various forms of combat. I’d hate to waste the training if I needed to protect myself. Ourself. Us.”
The door opened and light washed into the room as Shiri brought food on a tray. She placed it on the small desk and made eye contact with Cringle/Escarion who was now sitting up. She raised her eyebrow questioningly.
“It’s all right Shiri. We’re trying to work things out peaceably. We don’t have much choice in the matter.”
Cringle rose to walk to the desk and promptly fell down. Shiri heard him muttering to himself as she rushed to help him up.
“I was supposed to be doing the body. Quit interfering.”
A deeper voice answered.
“Sorry. Force of habit.”
Cringle arose from the floor and grinned shyly at Shiri, thanking her for her help as he made his way over to the desk.
“As I said, we’re trying to work things out. I’m truly glad Vehrin’del used her magic on my mind, as I would have gone crazy before, if this had happened then.”
“Mother does have her uses.” Shiri replied, a slight smile playing over her beautiful M’Herindar features. “Come down and join us when you think you won’t fall down the stairs or if you’re more comfortable up here, stay in your room until you feel better.”
She left, closing the door behind her as Cringle sat at the desk, in near dark and ate the snack Shiri had brought up for him while he conversed once more with his new inner companion.
“Escarion, I think it would be sensible for a while, or until we find another name for us, to allow people to call us Cringle. It’s the name people are used to using for this body. You can answer personally when someone wishes to talk to you or ask questions of you by name but we have to let everyone know that it’s Escarion who’s doing the talking before you do or they’ll become really confused. Agreed?”
The Air Mage agreed. Really, there wasn’t much choice in the matter if they were to share a body. They sat amicably chatting while they ate, although it was completely unnecessary to have a
dialogue inside their head as they both knew what the other was thinking before the words formed. It would be hard for them to keep two separate sets of information in the future but for now it was how they would have to operate. Cringle was not going to step into the background for some recently resurrected Mage and of course, Escarion was aware of it.
Much later, as the sun was sinking in the west and lamps were being lit, Cringle carefully descended the stairs, holding the banister, making his way to the study. Four pairs of eyes regarded him as he opened the door and entered the study, now set to rights. Each face carried a question. Cringle sat in the chair he had occupied earlier and faced them.
“We’ve worked it out. If you want to talk to Escarion or ask him a question, he will answer you as Escarion. As Servant, I will be responsible for our body, normal day to day things and my usual duties. When do we leave?”
Kuiran glanced at each of the others in turn before answering.
“We had thought as soon as you felt ready but we need to purchase provisions and find a mount for Cristal.”
Cringle appeared alarmed.
“Cristal cannot come, neither should Raleen. There is too much danger from loose magic.”
Cristal’s face became stern and Cringle could feel her anger building as her face flushed.
“No Servant is going to tell me what I can or cannot do,” she expostulated. “I do what I want to, when I want to. That is what being rich is all about.”
Kuiran thought about Cringle’s words and regarded Cristal with a level gaze, as did Shiri.
The Q'Herindam Page 31