by Andi Van
Although Ulminara did not mean it that way, the phrasing reminded Zaree of how she’d been forced to physically drag Tasis out of bed some mornings. The one who sleeps, indeed. For once, the thought of her brother put a grin on her face. “Wrong brother. The brother who sleeps is one of my favorite people in the world. We are… I would say we are a bonded pair, but without the romantic love usually involved with that. No, the brother I speak of is older, and is one of the leaders of the Gyrn people. I think if our father could see him now, he’d figure out a way to resurrect himself just to take the leadership back. Sireti’s attitude would horrify him.”
“Some people are like that,” Ulminara said as she pulled out another set of clothes. She looked them over and eventually gave a nod, bringing them to the bed and setting them down next to Zaree. “They are the kind who refuse to learn, even when it is clear they are wrong.” She offered Zaree her hand, and Zaree detected a softening of her attitude. She wasn’t sure where it had come from, but she was grateful the elf was thawing a little. “Come. You need to bathe. And then you must meet the Maker. Just because I find myself liking you does not mean I’ll forgive you for making her wait more than is necessary.”
“Fine,” Zaree agreed. She took Ulminara’s hand and allowed herself to be helped up. “Then let us proceed.”
Chapter 15
ZAREE HAD enjoyed the short flight she’d taken with Mistral before. This one, she wasn’t so sure about. It might have had to do with the fact she was being forced to wear a blindfold while Ulminara sat behind her and made sure it wasn’t moved.
“I apologize,” Ulminara had told them before they climbed aboard the gryphons assembled to take them to the Maker. Mistral’s hatchlings stood nearby, another adult gryphon keeping watch over them. “But even if we know you to not be a threat, we must still protect the Mother. That includes none of you knowing exactly how to find her.”
“Hence flying instead of walking?” Zaree had asked, taking the blindfold without complaint.
At first she thought she’d imagined the twitch of Ulminara’s lips, but then one side drew up in a semblance of a smile. “There’s that,” she’d admitted as Zaree put on the blindfold. “But mostly it’s just because flying is fun.”
And that was when Zaree had learned that fun was a subjective thing. Yes, it was fun being up in the air with the gryphon, and she trusted Mistral implicitly, but not being able to tell where she was going was definitely not something she wanted to revisit if it could be helped.
You just haven’t learned how to do it yet, Bahz said. After some practice, you’ll be able to tell where you’re going by how far she leans into a turn, and you’ll know how fast you’re going by how hard her wings are beating.
“Easy for you to say,” Zaree shouted over the wind in her ears, hoping Bahz was close by so she didn’t look like she’d lost her mind. “You’re a bird, for Maker’s sake. You’re used to this.”
“We will not let you fall,” Ulminara said, probably trying to comfort her.
“It’s not that,” Zaree admitted. “I don’t like the unknown. The blindfold bothers me more than I expected.”
“Ah. That is okay, then. We’re about to land.”
Zaree let out a squeak as the furry back she’d been sitting on suddenly dropped. The whole trip would definitely have been less unnerving if she could see where they were, and she felt no small amount of relief when she realized Mistral had stopped flapping her wings. They were on the ground.
“Oh thank the Maker,” she groaned. “Can I take this off now?”
There was a chuckle behind her, and she felt a tug at the knot holding the blindfold in place. It slipped off, and Zaree blinked several times before the light evened out, keeping her head ducked to avoid the sun as much as possible. They really hadn’t been up there that long, but it was still like stepping out of a cave into a bright day. When keeping her eyes open no longer hurt, she lifted her head and gasped.
She had no words for how beautiful it was.
The trees were enormous. The one closest to her had a trunk so thick that she thought it would probably take more people than they had, holding hands, to wrap around it completely. And the height was unimaginable. Five giants probably could have stood on each other’s shoulders and still not have been able to touch the tops. She slipped off Mistral and leaned back, craning her neck to try to see. Unfortunately, this also caused her to lose her balance, and she landed heavily on her back. She was grateful the forest floor was soft from its collection of fallen leaves. She’d probably still hurt later, but it had kept her from breaking a rib. Not that she would have noticed at that point. She could only continue to stare up, eyes wide.
“Wow,” she whispered.
“It’s not unattractive,” Ulminara agreed. “Even having lived here our entire lives, we’re often distracted by the beauty of the Mother’s forest. That’s part of the danger of it.”
“Danger?” Kelwin dismounted the gryphon he’d been flying on, walked to Zaree’s side, and lay down next to her to see what she was looking at. “What do you mean?”
“How long do you think you could lie there, staring up at the trees?”
“Hours,” Zaree said honestly. “But I’d get up after a while.”
“Would you?”
“What do you mean?”
Ulminara turned where she stood, looking up at the treetops before waving one hand. “If you weren’t forewarned, you’d have a fair chance of never getting up again,” she said. “The trees are hypnotic. If someone is unaware of this, they never leave.”
“That’s….” Zaree couldn’t see Kelwin’s face, but she could imagine his expression, given how horrified he sounded.
“That’s what it means to protect the Maker,” Jorget said. “Isn’t it?”
“Yes,” Ulminara confirmed with a nod. “At any price. Even if that price is our lives.”
“That’s grim,” Jorget mumbled to Emlynn. Zaree sighed. One of these days Jorget really needed to learn that people around them could still hear him.
“That’s reality,” Ulminara told him, glaring. “Now, let us go. We’re close to the Mother Tree, and we’ve kept the Maker waiting far too long.”
“The Mother Tree?” Kelwin asked, standing and helping Zaree to her feet.
Ulminara nodded. “Her home when she is in this realm.” She turned to Reikos and glared again. “I have been assured it’s safe to take you with us, but if I think you’re a danger, I’ll be sure you taste my blade.”
“Understood.” Reikos did not hesitate, only nodded in the face of her anger and distrust.
Ulminara narrowed her eyes and stared at him, then turned. “Come. It’s this way, through those trees. The gryphons will wait here.” She pointed to an opening perhaps five hundred yards away and began to walk.
Zaree hung back and walked with Yldost and Falcon. “Are you okay?” she asked Yldost. “You’ve been quiet this whole time.”
“It’s been a very long time since I’ve seen my mother,” they explained, biting at their lower lip. “I believe I’m nervous. Do you think she’ll be disappointed at me for getting myself locked away by Gisik for so long?”
“I’d think she’d more likely be proud of you for surviving it,” Kelwin said. “And if she’s not, we certainly are.”
“Quiet,” Ulminara barked back at them. “We’re nearly there. Have some respect.”
Zaree wasn’t sure why reassuring Yldost that their mother would be happy to see them was disrespectful, but she stayed quiet anyway as they slipped through the break in the trees. What she saw on the other side made her question her own sanity. In the middle of a large clearing stood a tree. That single tree looked like the entire forest they’d just left, smashed into one living organism. It would probably take her a good hour just to walk around the massive trunk, and it stood at least twice as high as the forest surrounding it. All of Ina’fain could probably have been housed in the space it inhabited, with room left over for every
tribe of the Gyrn people. The trunk had the same gray cast that the Gray Forest elves did, and its leaves were more blue than green. A massive white vine hung off it near the top, and Zaree pointed. “What kind of vine is that?”
Much to her surprise, Ulminara laughed. “A very special kind.” She lifted her arms, cupped her mouth with her hands, and yelled. “Maker, we are here!”
The vine moved. It unwound itself from the branches it had been draped over. Wings sprouted from it, and it drifted toward the ground. As it got closer, Zaree gasped. Not a vine. That had been obvious when the thing had grown wings. But she hadn’t expected this.
The dragon was slim and long, as if it had once been a serpent. Like Yldost, her wings were feathered, but her body was covered in scales for the most part. Instead of ridges on her back, like Vashk had, she had a mane that trailed from her head all the way to the tip of her tail. She had two elegantly spiraled horns curving off her head, and her eyes were the same amazing shade of ocean blue as Tasis’s. Except for those two spots of blue, she was pure white. A beam of sunlight hit her as she continued to descend, and Zaree narrowed her eyes. No, not white. She was like a gemstone that Zaree had seen once. It had appeared white until it had been in the sun, and then it sparkled with all colors, not just one.
“Mother,” Yldost gasped, flowing into their dragon form before running toward what could only be the Maker.
The Maker let out a delighted noise and twined necks with Yldost when they were close enough. “My child,” she said. “I’m so glad to see you, and I’m so sorry. I couldn’t intervene.”
“I know,” Yldost told her. “You did not make the rules.”
“That doesn’t make me any less sorry,” she said. “And your poor feathers….” The Maker looked over her child, then let out a breath. When it ruffled the feathers near the still-sprouting patches, the feathers burst forth from their sheaths, fully formed and beautiful. Yldost cried out with joy and leaped into the air, making their first flight in what may as well have been forever.
The Maker watched them soar for a moment, then turned her attention to the others. “I’m sorry for all of you, as well. You have undergone much hardship to get here, and I’m afraid it’s not quite over.”
“We know,” Zaree said, the first to find her voice. “Archai is still heading for the Dragon’s Claw. He has to be stopped.”
“Yes,” the Maker agreed, nodding her elegant head and making her mane wave about her in the process. “I predict three deaths and six births.”
“I don’t understand,” Kelwin said. “What do you mean by three deaths and six births?”
“Oh, good, you’re here as well,” the Maker said, giving him a smile. “Pardon me, but I’ll be borrowing you and Zaree for a short while.”
“Borrowing us?” Zaree asked.
“Yes. But don’t worry. You’ll enjoy it, and I’ll bring you both back safely.” She extended a hand, gazing at both silently before speaking again. “Sleep.”
Zaree blinked. One moment, they’d been standing in front of the Mother Tree, speaking to the Maker. Now, she and Kelwin were standing in a white hallway that reminded her of the guild. “Kel?”
“Don’t ask me, I don’t know, either,” Kelwin said.
“In here,” called a voice. Zaree recognized it as the Maker’s and saw a doorway near the end of the hall.
She stepped forward, but Kelwin caught her arm. “Do you think it’s safe?”
“Even if it isn’t, I don’t think we have a choice,” Zaree said, shaking off his arm and proceeding toward the open door. She stomped in, half expecting to be attacked, but was instead greeted with a room that made her think of the guild, full of comfortable furnishings and having an air of coziness to it. Sitting on one of those plush chairs was a woman with white hair and horns on either side of her head. “You’re the Maker?” Zaree asked.
“Please, call me Nirena,” the Maker said. “I believe you already know my other guest.”
Zaree frowned and turned her head to look where Nirena had indicated, only to have her eyes go wide at the sight. “Evina?”
The only woman she had ever known as a mother figure stood and hastened across the space to stop in front of Zaree and pull her into an embrace. “Oh, Zaree,” she said with a watery laugh. “How I’ve missed you.”
“But you’re—”
Evina put a finger to Zaree’s mouth, hushing her. “I know,” Evina said. “But I promise you that I’m real.” One arm still around Zaree, she turned her head to give Kelwin a smile as well. “And you must be the one my boy has chosen. I’ve heard a lot about you. Thank you for loving him.”
“No,” Kelwin said, smiling as he shook his head. “I’m the one who’s grateful to him.” He held out a hand in greeting. “I’m Kelwin Tiovolk. Which you apparently already know. I’m glad to have the opportunity to meet my future mother-in-law.”
Instead of taking his hand, Evina let go of Zaree and dragged him into a hug. Zaree grinned as Kelwin looked like he was trying to figure out how to escape without seeming rude, then turned her attention to Nirena. “I’m not saying I’m not glad that I get to see Evina again,” she said. “But why have you brought us here?”
“You’ll see shortly,” Nirena promised with a placid smile. “My other guests are on their way back from… an errand.”
“An errand,” Evina said as she let go of Kelwin. “Right. Those two idiots are—” Nirena gave her a look and she stopped, clearing her throat. “They’re still idiots.”
“I won’t disagree with you,” Nirena said.
“May I ask something?” Kelwin sounded nervous, and Zaree had a feeling she knew what he was about to ask. If that was the case, she was glad, because she hadn’t had the nerve to bring it up. “The messengers you sent to us said Tasis is okay. Is that true?”
Nirena only smiled at him, her eyes twinkling with something very much like mischief. Then Zaree heard a voice coming from the hallway. A very familiar voice.
“I can’t believe you two. ‘Let’s go play with the dogs,’ you said. ‘It’ll be good for your training,’ you said. You didn’t say anything about turning me into a chew toy!”
The last was said as Tasis stepped into the room, Rin in his arms. His head was turned to yell at whomever was behind him, and he was soaking wet. There was no doubt he was in a snit, and it was the best thing Zaree had seen in what felt like forever.
“Tas.”
Tasis came to an abrupt halt, then was shoved forward as those behind him crashed into him. His eyes went nearly as wide as Zaree’s, and his mouth dropped open.
Well, there’s a sight for sore eyes, Rin said, and Zaree had never been so glad to hear his chatter in her life. Set me down, Tasis, before you drop me or I get crushed in the onslaught.
Tasis bent down and let Rin jump from his arms before standing again. Zaree and Kelwin could only stare at Tasis, Tasis staring back until something in the tension finally broke and he charged across the room as fast as he could, throwing himself at them. They landed in a pile on the floor, laughing through tears.
“You’re here,” Tasis said, his voice muffled with his face pressed against Kelwin’s shoulder. He had one arm wrapped around Kelwin and the other wrapped awkwardly around Zaree as best he could, keeping them both in a death grip.
“What, didn’t think we’d come for you?” Kelwin asked, eyes squeezed shut, the look on his face almost painful to witness. Zaree doubted she looked any better.
“Figured I’d have to get back on my own,” Tasis teased. “You were taking too long. How long has it been, anyway? Time’s a little… different… here, so it’s hard to tell.”
“Too long,” Zaree said. “But it was too long the day you didn’t wake up. It’s been a couple of weeks.”
“Only that long?” Tasis asked, letting out a sigh of relief. “Good. That’s a good thing. It could have been years for all I knew.”
That’s all well and good, but perhaps we should get the rest of the sho
cks out of the way, Rin suggested. Once things have calmed down, we can talk about what we’ve missed.
“What shocks?” Zaree asked. Wordlessly, Tasis removed his arm from around her, gently grabbed the top of her head, and forced her to look toward the doorway. She wasn’t entirely sure what she expected to see there, but it certainly hadn’t been the tall, broad man who’d always been her hero. She swallowed hard several times, trying to force her voice to work, but it was as if her lungs had frozen.
“Have you been behaving?” her father asked her.
That broke through her paralysis. “Warrik’s bloody stump,” she swore.
The woman standing next to him, the woman who looked so like her that she could only be the one who died birthing her, slapped her father’s arm. “You taught her that, didn’t you?” she growled at him. “Really, Daro, those aren’t the kind of stories for young ladies.”
“This young lady you speak of is a hellion,” Tasis pointed out as he struggled to sit up while not losing his grip on Kelwin. “Go on, Zar. Go say hello to Daro and Zizi. And while you’re over there, kick the guy standing near them because it’s his damn fault I’m so disgusting at the moment.”
“Why is this my fault?” the elf Zaree didn’t know demanded. “Daro agreed it was a good idea.”
“Yeah, but it was your idea to begin with, Dad. I am never believing you again when you say playing with those damn dogs will be fun.” Tasis finally managed to sit up, only for Kelwin to drag him into his lap, but he didn’t look the least bit upset about it.
“Dogs?” Zaree asked as she slowly made her way over to her parents, still not believing what she was seeing.
“Big dogs,” Tasis agreed. “As in, so big that Lifit could probably ride one like a horse.” He pinched the front of his sodden tunic and held it out, making a face. “They were using me as a chew toy.”
Kelwin shut his eyes, wincing more than a little, but he didn’t let go of Tasis. “Please tell me you’re not saying you’re soaked because of dog drool.”
“I’m not saying I’m soaked because of dog drool.”