“Are you not going to go back to them?” the Mountain-cat-elf inquired.
Dusk looked a little uncomfortable. “I—have other plans now.” His eyes flickered over to Auraus. “If I do go back to the Grey Riders, it will not be for a while. And you could tell them that for me as well, if you would.”
Ragar looked cautiously pleased. “You do not think they would just shoot me on sight, do you? And, they would not mind working with, with me, looking like this?”
My ears perked up, and I wondered what was wrong with Ragar. Was he not supposed to look like that?
Jason caught it too. “So, do you think he didn’t always look like a cousin of the Field Catamount, Lise?” he whispered.
“Shhh!” I shushed him, wanting to hear what was said next.
Dusk was saying, “The Grey Riders are suspicious by nature because they have to be. But once they read the note all will be fine. We—they—are a pretty diverse bunch. In fact, a couple of them had been captured by bandits for ransom but freed by the Grey Riders before they themselves joined up. So believe me, they will commiserate with your story.”
Ragar’s expression turned satisfied. “Then, yes. And thank you, Dusk.”
“No problem, my furry friend.”
I saw Ragar scowl while the amber-eyed Surface-elf wrote a quick note on another piece of the cut-up burlap bag. Dusk caught Ragar’s expression as he finished it.
“Get used to the teasing! They are all like that in the band, and some are worse than others. But it will not be with just you, either—they do it with each other, too. I would advise you to give back just as good as you get. It is what they expect. So until you find a way to reverse what has been done to you, you better grow some thicker skin under that thick fur of yours,” Dusk admonished him lightly.
Ragar was nonplussed as the Miscere Surface-elf handed him the note, then the Mountain-cat-elf walked away over to the northbound group. Most of them were a little nervous at his inclusion, but they greeted him cordially enough and made room for him in their circle. Dusk then motioned to Arghen, Jason, Auraus and me to come closer.
“As I am sure you noticed, I did not ask you all where you wanted to go. This was because I was pretty sure you have no real place to go to. Am I right?” he asked under the cover of the two larger chattering groups.
I ran a hand through my blonde hair. “Well, yes, I guess you’re right. Jason and I have only been here a few weeks, I think.”
Wow. It was hard to believe that it had only been somewhere over a month or just a little more since coming here. I felt so much older than that.
Arghen stated, “It has been about the same amount of time since I came to the surface world, and I will not be going back down to the Sub-realms again.”
Jason looked down at the cave floor but didn’t say anything.
Auraus said doubtfully, “Well, now that you have said you are not going back to the Grey Riders, I am not sure whether I want to go back to them, either.”
“Well,” Dusk addressed us with a smile, “I would suggest that you all come back with me to Treestall.”
“Home?” asked the Wind-rider in surprise.
“Yes, why not? I think we owe something to these brave folk who have forsaken everything they knew to come to our aid. Rewarding them would be easier to do at home than out here. To me, it does not matter whether they helped us by their own wish or by another’s command. I think our present situation could be describe like how the addition to our settlement of Treestall happened when the renegade Under-elves joined our community. Do you not agree, Auraus?”
Auraus blinked. “Oh, yes, right. How is it that you remember this?”
Arghen’s eyes widened at the news that they lived in the settlement that included Surface-Under-elves.
Dusk raised his sandy eyebrows at Auraus. “My mother was once War-leader for the settlement, do not forget. Growing up I heard much about the founding days as she had learned them from the Treestall leaders.”
“I had forgotten that,” she said, chagrinned.
Dusk shrugged. “Most people do. They remember the War Goddess, but not the Under-elf.”
I saw Arghen turn a warm reddish color in the cheeks and wondered what brought that on.
Jason suddenly spoke up. “Why didn’t you offer this coming home with you to Ragar, Dusk?”
“I do not think Ragar is ready for exposure to a whole lot of people yet,” Dusk replied. “You do not know what happened to him before he was captured, but I do. I learned it on our wagon-ride into Morsca’s keep. And, knowing what has happened to him, what I offered is what I think is the best situation for him. But as I told him, he can always leave if he decides he does not like it.”
I asked curiously, “What happened to him?”
“You should ask him the particulars of his story. Suffice it to say that Ragar once looked a lot like Thoronis except that Ragar had the misfortune to run afoul of Bascom in a different way once before, prior to our meeting in the capture wagon. Magical experimentation is apparently a hobby of Bascom’s.”
Horrified, I glanced involuntarily at the mountain-cat-elf where he sat with his group.
“In any case, Ragar is a free individual and can choose to do what he wants. I just offered a choice that I thought he would like. But it is ultimately up to him,” the Miscere Surface-elf finished. He then changed the subject. “So what do you say to my plan, my friends? If you like it we can head straight for Treestall, which will take probably at least a month assuming I can scare up a horse for myself. Or you can go whatever way you choose, if you do not wish to come home with us. If you do come with us, Auraus and I can teach all of you about what we know of Life up here, if you need an inducement. Or at least, I can tell you the little I know,” he grinned.
Auraus threw her arms around Dusk in an exuberant hug. “Oh, yes!”
He hugged her back with a smile and craned his head around her wing. “It looks like she likes the idea. What about you three?”
“I, for one, would love to go with you to Treestall. And I want to learn about Caelestis from Auraus as we travel,” I said.
The Wind-rider came over and hugged me too. “Of course, Lise! It would be my privilege and honor!”
Jason quirked his face in a smile while sliding a look at me. “Ummm, since I really don’t have anywhere pressing to be, I think seeing the sights with you amigos is as good as anything else until Caelestis gives Lise and I a mist gate to go home through.”
Arghen unexpectedly said, “I need to think and pray about it first.”
Dusk nodded. “My mother’s favorite time of day is sunset, when there is still light in the sky but dark enough that those Under-elves who have grown accustomed to the surface can remove their eye-wraps.”
Arghen smiled an inscrutable smile. “In other words, dusk.”
CHAPTER 34
By the time the separate groups had poured over Dusk’s maps and settled on the best way for everybody to travel, it was mid-afternoon. Dusk suggested to everyone at large that the following morning would be a better time for departure so that people could have more light to travel by. As sunset grew near and several of the ex-captives offered to make dinner for everyone from the supplies, I went out with Auraus to pray to Caelestis. We saw Arghen slip out of the cave ahead of us—likely for the same reason, but to pray to Quiris instead of our Goddess.
Auraus and I went to a spot not too far away from the cave but still out of line-of-sight around a rock outcropping. We gathered together a small amount of sticks to make a fire for warmth and light, and the Wind-rider smiled at me as she lit the small wooden pyramid with a spell. As soon as the flames were burning nicely, we each settled in to tell Caelestis everything that had happened. When we were done, sparks flew up from the fire and changed into golden, drifting embers of light.
“Well done, My Champion, for so I confirm that you are! I was most pleased that you chose to become one of My representatives. You have completed the task th
at I set for you and have saved the beings who needed your help,” said Caelestis to me in her warm golden voice, sounding both satisfied and proud as she solidified among the sparkling motes.
I’d been happy to have her appear, but dropped my eyes at her words. “Uh, Goddess, I–I didn’t, exactly. Several died, and who knows how many more of the others in the cavern beneath the keep. You know that!”
“Yes, Analise, I do know. But you did what I hoped you would be able to do—you saved Dusk from the iron-barred cells, performed admirably when a new problem unexpectedly manifested, and saved the souls of the trapped. Be assured, My Champion, you did well. I am pleased with you.”
I felt reassured, and then the sparkling crystal rod I’d seen before materialized in her hands.
“Analise Lynden Baxter: by Head, Hand, and Heart do I formally accept you and name you one of My Champions.” She touched me with the rod on each named body part like she had done in the past, and I felt a warm airy tingle surround me each time. “I charge you to take care of others the best you know how, for in that way you shall serve Me.” The crystal rod disappeared from her hands, and a small, hand-tooled white leather bound book appeared instead. She handed it to me. “I gift you My Handbook, Champion, such as is given to those who serve Me. What you need to know of Me and your duties you will find on the pages within.”
I hugged it to my chest as the Goddess turned to Auraus. “My Priestess, you have been sorely tried and nearly were lost to Me on earth. Had that happened, I would have grieved. But I am pleased that you were able to show strength of spirit, low as it was, for as long as you did. And I am proud of your resourcefulness in participating so well after you had been freed. I am also pleased with you.”
Happiness filled Auraus’ face.
“I give you My blessings, My Champion and My Priestess. Remember to always act in kindness according to your hearts. By doing so, know that you will be following in My ways.”
Caelestis gestured with both palms as if pushing something outward, and golden sparkles poured forth from her hands to fill the air all around us. The sparkles grew brilliant enough that I had to close my eyes against them as feelings of health and well-being streamed into me. When the brightness vanished, I opened them to see that both the sparkles and the Goddess had gone. I craned my head to one side, and saw that not only was I clean and dressed head-to-toe in new clothes of white and gold, my armor was like new. I felt a reassuring weight in the empty sheath at my hip and saw that a long knife to replace the one that had been shattered down below filled it. Happy, I looked over at Auraus and noticed that the Wind-rider was also clean, restored to health, and dressed differently. We threw our arms around each other and hugged. After one last ‘thank you’ to Caelestis, we tidied up our prayer site and returned to the cave.
Arghen slipped back in sometime after dinner. He was dressed in a new outfit, looked clean, healthy and vibrant himself, and carried a bundle of black and grey fabric that he thrust at an astonished Jason. He leaned over and whispered something to Jason, whose jaw dropped open at whatever it was Arghen had said. Jason immediately dug through the pile in his arms and found a small stoppered jar, which he opened and started applying its purplish contents to his various wounds. I was happy to see that Quiris had acknowledged him in so positive a manner, and I hoped that it would work better for him than Auraus’ spell had. Arghen went and filled his plate, then came to sit with us.
“I have decided that I will come after all. I look forward to traveling with you,” he declared in a murmur as he ate.
The Under-elf once again wore his white rose with the single silver thorn. It was pinned near the shoulder of his new tunic and didn’t look wilted from all the travel it had done in its box in the last few weeks. At first I was surprised, but then I decided it must have something to do with Quiris.
After Arghen went to clean up his dish and Jason had moved on to inspecting his new gear, I asked Dusk in private, “I see that Arghen sometimes wears a white rose with a silver thorn. He called your mother ‘the white rose’ once. Is that one of her symbols?”
The amber-eyed Surface-elf shrugged. “No, it is not. But as I do not think it is any of my business, I am not going to ask about it.”
Dusk changed the subject by getting everybody’s attention and coaxing the large group into spending this last night together in the way his bandit-raider band did: by telling stories and singing songs before sleep.
After the festivities started, I asked the Miscere Surface-elf under cover of the noise and laughter, “Do you really think that this is such a good idea?”
“Lise, with the size of this group and its obvious presence, it is not going to make a difference whether we are quiet or loud. If we are going to be found, we are going to be found. But with Morsca’s death and the cessation of her activities while chaos reigns, that means there will be no immediate pursuit organized. If one is organized at all. The entertainment, on the other hand, will lift people’s spirits and morale and help them to remember they are free. I think that is more important than anything else,” he replied quietly.
By the time the others started dropping out to go to sleep, I had to agree from the way everyone had relaxed that Dusk been right.
The next morning after breakfast, the two large groups departed. Some cried at parting, some promised to try and keep in touch with others, and some were just impatient to be gone. But eventually the cave was empty except for Arghen, Jason, Dusk, Auraus, and me.
I suggested, “Why not ride with me first, Dusk? Then you can switch to Jason’s horse, and then Arghen’s dranth, before we stop for the night.”
“Hey!” interjected Jason. “Don’t I get to say when he rides, you know, my horse?”
“Sorry, Jason,” I apologized. “It’s a little hard to get out of habit of being the leader.”
“That’s okay. But yeah, what you said is fine, at least by me.”
Arghen smiled as I rolled my eyes. Auraus leapt into the sky and did a tight upward spiral about fifteen feet above our heads as we carefully guided our mounts back down to the road.
The Miscere Surface-elf cleared his throat to get everyone’s attention, saying loudly enough for Auraus above us to hear, “I just want you all to remember that the roads are probably going to become dangerous soon. I expect that some of the beings who used to live in or around the keep may have gathered into roving bands. We might see several fights before we are free of the mountains.”
He was startled as Auraus swooped close enough over his head so that the tips of the white-and-gold feathers of one of her wings brushed him.
She called back cheerily over her shoulder, “But do not forget you have me to give you plenty of warning!”
He smiled up at her as she went up to a scouting height. Dusk, in a more conversational voice which Auraus couldn’t hear, continued, “It is not just any roving band that worries me. It is Bascom Bloodknife, Morsca’s pet mage, which I am most concerned about. I did not see him or his magic trying to save Morsca during any of the fights we had with her. He must have been far away on his errand when everything happened. He will be furious, make no mistake about that. And he will take it personally.”
“Why?” I asked.
“Do you not remember me saying that Bascom was the lover of Morsca? Given this, I expect vengeance from him; if not for Morsca herself, then at least for the disruption of his activities and comforts.”
Arghen looked uneasy. “Should we not tell Auraus this?”
Dusk sighed. “I am sure she knows it somewhere inside of her, but I do not think she wants to acknowledge it yet. I would just rather give her time for her to recuperate first. There will be time to take on new worries later.”
I frowned. “So it’s not really over yet, is it?”
Dusk said lightly, “Nothing is really over until Life is over, Lise. And then you get a whole new set of situations with which to figure out.” He turned more serious. “But that is neither here nor there. I am
sure that Bascom, no matter how furious, will take his time in planning whatever it is that he will plan. Plus he will have to find us, which hopefully will be made harder by the fact that he likely will have no one to mindsearch for images. I hope we will be long out of his reach before that happens—if it does at all. So I would not worry just yet.”
I was doubtful, but I trusted Dusk’s words. This had been the longest, strangest trip I’d ever been on, and it still wasn’t over yet. I’d always wanted to be part of an adventure or fairy tale when I was younger, and now I was. I looked over at Jason where he rode, and I hoped that he wouldn’t get too discouraged if it turned out to be a long time before another gate opened.
But at least I had new friends and companions with whom to spend time with while I waited to go home.
EPILOGUE
Bascom Bloodknife, sweat stained and rumpled, sat atop his blown horse that dripped with lather. The large, green-grey skinned Ogre mage stared by the sun’s dying light down at the ruins of Morsca’s keep. The curtain walls were half collapsed, the roof had caved in on itself in many places, and the side yard where the capture wagons had been kept was buried under rubble.
The rumbles reverberating through the mountains had drawn him back up from the Sub-realms like a bowshot. No matter how fast he’d whipped his huge mount, he’d known deep inside he wouldn’t get to the valley in time. But he’d tried anyway, cursing himself all the while for not having taken the flying carpet he’d left for Morsca’s use or the spellbook that allowed him to bi-locate. He always took nothing with him when treating with the Under-elves, so they would not be able to have something to possibly turn against him.
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