The libram of fate, p.2
The Libram of Fate, page 2
part #2 of The Nine Realms Series
The construction groups paused as the trio walked past. Eyes stared at Caitlyn, still in her primal form.
“Did ye run into trouble while ye were in the marshes?” Terra overheard Brahm ask Caitlyn.
“No,” the changeling answered. “There was nothing alive there. It’s more a swamp than a marsh, now. The World Tree has died.” The sharp crack of bones and hiss of pain brought Terra’s head about. Caitlyn was back in her natural panther form. They continued walking, and the stares ceased.
“What do that mean fer Dae?” Brahm asked.
“I don’t know,” Terra said loudly enough to be heard over the construction. “That’s why we need to meet with the rest of the council. We need to see if Silvia has had a vision that could be of help.”
“Aye, we do.” Brahm’s voice dropped to a low mutter as he continued talking to Caitlyn. Terra let it go on for a few moments. She knew what they were discussing.
“Please don’t talk about me like I’m not here,” the Nexus said, anger seeping into her voice.
The conversation stopped, and they walked in relative silence for a time. A master stonemason shouting at his apprentice for some error or another stopped when he saw Terra pass. “I’m sorry for your loss,” the older mason said as she walked by.
Terra looked at him over her shoulder and nodded acknowledgement. Five years ago, they despised me. Now they feel sorry for me. She felt anger begin to gnaw at her. Taking a deep breath to steady herself, she fed her anger into the void of emotion she had plunged herself into since Alex died.
I did die with him that day, Terra thought. And only one thing can restore me to life. They drew clear of the construction and approached the council tent. She held the flap open for her two concerned friends. Vengeance. The flap closed behind her as she followed them in.
Caitlyn looked from Terra to her biological sister, Silvia. The two women were locked in an argument, and the uncomfortable tension made Caitlyn sit still as stone.
“I don’t think we should risk attacking again so soon,” Silvia Shadowpaw, the Fanglady and leader of the Changelings of the Fang, said. “We need some time to rest, recover, and train soldiers. Not to mention we have no idea what the World Tree’s death will mean for our world.” Caitlyn’s sister sat regally on her wooden tent chair as if it were the marble seat their mother had held when the Arcane City still stood. Her thick, black hair hung just below her shoulders, and her yellow eyes shown with conviction.
“I understand that,” Terra said. “But we should strike while the iron is hot. Azreal’s forces are still reeling from the blow we dealt them here. It’ll be a week before the gateway arch is built and will take another ten days to imbue it with the necessary magic to create gates. Seventeen days must be enough time.”
“To train an army? Terra, you know that isn’t realistic. I know you only just lost him, but you are letting your grief…” Silvia stopped talking when she saw the glare leveled at her.
“Don’t, Fanglady,” the Nexus said, changing the tone of the conversation to one of complete formality. “We will attack as soon as the gateway arch is ready.”
King Harbronn, King of the Dwarves, cleared his throat. He wore his crown of thorium and gold and spoke over steepled fingers. “Nexus, I do think the Fanglady’s correct in her reasonin’. What’d happen if we marched the army to battle? Who’d defend Dae? I do no’ need remind ye that Dae do no’ have a global groundin’ field like the other Realms do, save Earth. Azreal’s forces could gate back in anywhere an’ with no army to fight ‘em off, we would lose all the ground we’ve gained.”
“We don’t have one, yet,” Terra said. The five other council members, Caitlyn, and Brahm looked at her curiously. She reached down and lifted a small brown leather sack she had tied to her belt. The contents clinked like glass as she it down. She upended the sack and four midnight-black obsidian shards tumbled out onto the table. Frowns replaced curiosity as the council realized what the crystals were.
The Winglord Aeryn Steelfeather, leader of the Changelings of the Wing, pushed back the sleeves of his thin leather tunic, picked up one of the foot-long stones and held it with a delicate grip. “Anti-magic shards?” he asked.
“Yes,” Terra said. “Azreal used them to nullify magic, but I think they can amplify it. With these, I can create a grounding field that will force all gateway magic through the arch.”
That’s why she was searching for larger shards, Caitlyn thought. Why didn’t she ask me to help her, instead of keeping me in the dark?
“How?” Bahamut, the Scalelord, asked in his deep bass rumble.
“By imbuing them with the required magical energy, I can create a resonance field that will tremendously increase the grounding field’s coverage,” Terra said.
Harbronn cleared his throat. “Ye lost me on that last bit, Nexus. Wouldn’t that just make it where we can no’ use gateway magic at all?”
“A resonance field amplifies the power of any spell constructed of the same magical energy that the field has. The grounding field prevents the use of teleportation and planar travel inside its borders.”
“Aye,” King Harbronn said. “If ye made a huge groundin’ field, then we’d no’ be able to teleport or use gateways.”
“That’s right. We would be unable to use any type of instantaneous travel anywhere on Dae,” Terra said. Protests erupted around the table, but she silenced them with a hand. “But if I were to invert the grounding field at the gateway arch, it would increase the total range of the field and allow travel to and from that one point to anywhere on Dae and the other planes.”
Inversion? Caitlyn thought. What moldy old tome did she dig that up in?
“That only solves one problem, Nexus,” the leader of the Changelings of the Scale noted. Bahamut’s red eyes, slit with vertical pupils, stared deep into Terra’s hazel. “What would prevent someone from simply opening a portal here and flooding an army through?”
“A keystone seal, like the one the angels of Bara have, would prevent anyone from coming through without the keystone in place,” Terra said.
“And how do you plan on getting a keystone seal?” Chieftain Rageclaw, the Clawlord, asked. He was in his bear form and loomed above the others seated at the table. “Last we heard, Bara was still under siege by a horde of demons and undead.”
“Exactly,” Terra said. “The last we heard was five years ago. We need to send a scouting party to the Realm of Good and find if the angels still stand.”
“Who’re ye plannin’ on sendin’ on this insane mission?” King Harbronn asked.
“I don’t plan on sending anyone,” the Nexus said with grim determination. “I plan on going.” Objections were shouted around the table. “Silence!” she shouted over the clamor. “I am the Paragon of the Realm of Magic, and this is my plan.”
I love you, Sister, but you can’t do this, Caitlyn thought. The changeling had kept silent long enough. “That’s why it’s a terrible idea.” She rose to all four and padded to Terra. She lowered her voice so that only the Nexus could hear. “Please, adjourn this meeting so I can talk to you in private. I’m worried about you.”
Terra gritted her teeth and looked to be on the verge of ignoring her. “Fine,” the Nexus muttered. She raised her voice and spoke to the five council members. “I will hold my decision in abeyance, but we will meet again this time tomorrow.” The council members stood and filed from the tent. Terra put her head in her hands and let out a slow breath.
Caitlyn watched as Brahm put a hand on Terra’s shoulder.
“Does it ever stop?” the Nexus asked.
“Ye know the answer to yer question as well as I, Terra,” Brahm said. “Did ye ever truly stop missin’ Michael after he died sendin’ ye to Earth?”
Tears dripped onto the collapsible oak table. “No,” she choked out, “but after a while it started to hurt less.”
“Aye, that it does.” The old dwarf wrapped his friend in a fatherly hug. “And this pain too shall pass.”
A few moments of silence elapsed as Brahm comforted Terra. Caitlyn climbed onto the table, and she nuzzled her cheek against the crying woman’s.
Terra took a few deep breaths and composed herself before leaning back. She wiped away her tears and looked at Caitlyn with red-rimmed eyes. The changeling studied her adopted sister’s hazel irises. “I’m going to Bara in your stead.”
“No,” Terra said without hesitation. “It’s my idea. Not yours.”
“Why did Alex save your life?” Caitlyn asked, anger seeping into her voice.
“Caitlyn,” Brahm admonished. “Don’t…”
Terra’s face went blank. Caitlyn waited, but there was no answer forthcoming. “Why Terra? Why, after healing me, did Alex save your life too?”
“Because of the baby,” Terra said, her breathing becoming rapid. “He saved me so our child could live.”
“And you would risk all of that, just on the off-chance you might be able to find some way to either get or make a keystone seal. He saved you so you could raise his child.” Caitlyn’s eyes flicked to the hilt of the Guardian’s Blade sticking up above Terra’s shoulder. “So you could have something of him other than that cursed sword.
“The Guardian’s Blade,” Caitlyn spat out the name as she looked into her friend’s eyes. “If he hadn’t died bringing us back, that damnable sword would have killed him as surely as a knife to the heart. You didn’t see him as we drew near the Obsidian Tower, Terra. He wasn’t sure who he was half the time. He was talking to Brahm as if they had gone on adventures across the sea together. The previous Guardians’ memories were killing him. You should find some hole and bury that sword deep.”
Terra shook her head, almost panting. Sweat beaded on her brow, and she trembled. “I can’t do that.” Her eyes unfocussed, and her head swayed. “I killed him. I gave him the blade, Caitlyn. He gave me a child, and I killed him. I... I can’t… Breathe…” Terra’s eyes rolled back in her sockets, and Brahm caught her before her head slammed to the table.
“Stay with her,” Caitlyn shouted as she leapt from the table and flew out of the tent. “I need a healer!”
Chapter Two – Innocence Lost
“Hanna’s takin’ care o’ Terra,” Brahm said. Caitlyn nodded. She had changed into her human form. Leaning against some boxes near the council tent, she watched the setting sun make Alex’s statue glow with orange light. “The girl said she’d recover, but that she’s no’ quite sure what happened.”
“I know what happened,” Caitlyn said. “I got angry and pushed her over the edge.” She looked around to make sure none could overhear. “Do you know what it’s like to miss someone you loved, to have a hole in your chest, and not be allowed to talk to anyone about it?”
Brahm sighed and rubbed his hand down his face and gray beard. “Come with me, Cat. It helps to talk abou’ these things.” He led her a short distance away to a cook pit that wasn’t being used. He sat with a groan. “Me old bones’re not getting any better with age.”
Caitlyn snickered. “I seem to remember your ‘old bones’ fighting demons quite well just a few weeks ago.” Brahm shrugged, and Caitlyn watched him struggle over how to begin. She turned to watch the last of the day’s light leave the statue of the man she shouldn’t have fallen in love with.
“When did ye first realize ye loved ‘im?” Brahm asked.
“Just before I fought Rageclaw,” she replied, her thoughts elsewhere. Caitlyn realized what the wizened dwarf had said and whipped her head about to stare at him.
“I’m old,” the dwarf grumped, “no’ stupid. I saw how ye looked at ‘im. Alex did no’ love you back?”
Caitlyn shook her head. “He thought of me as a little sister.”
“As he should’ve. When did ye start havin’ feelin’s fer Alex?”
“From the very beginning, I guess. I felt drawn to Alex the first time I saw him. He stood there, facing down a panther with a wooden sword,” she said, a sad smile on her face in the encroaching gloom. “He would have charged through the gate to Dae alone for the woman he loved. He was confused and afraid, even if he wouldn’t admit it, but the determination that burned in his eyes… Alex would have gone to the gates of Hell and beyond for her. And woe unto any who stood in his way.”
“Ye feel that because he ne’er returned yer love ye’re more entitled to be angry about his death?”
“What? No! I don’t feel that way at all.”
Brahm rose to his feet and walked to her. “Then what were ye bloody thinkin’ tearin’ into Terra abou’ the flamin’ Guardian’s Blade? Ye bloody well know she’s barely keepin’ it together.”
The dwarf’s brown eyes bored into hers. Brahm towered over her. When she could bear his glare no longer, Caitlyn closed her eyes and lowered her head. “I just… I hated seeing how he was near the end. He wasn’t himself, Brahm. That damn sword did it to him, and I lost control of my temper. I didn’t mean to say all those things. To hurt Terra like I did.”
Brahm let out a sigh and knelt in front of her. He lifted her chin, and Caitlyn looked into his eyes. “I know ye didn’t, Cat. Ye need to realize that Alex was no’ the first person Terra’s lost. She’s in a deep, dark place now. Both men she’s loved have died, violently, in front o’ her. Ye do no’ go through somethin’ like that an’ forget abou’ it.”
“I’m sorry,” the changeling said.
“It’s no’ me ye need to be apologizin’ to.”
Caitlyn nodded and rose to her feet. “Let’s go see if Hanna is done with Terra.”
The baby seems fine. A little small though. Something is strange about her womb, Hanna thought. The seven-year-old Changeling of the Wing rubbed her eyes. She had been up all day tending the few still recovering from the Siege on the Obsidian Tower.
The remaining wounded were infected with the undead necrosis, but she had come up with a way to prevent the disease’s spread through their body. Mistress Therese said Hanna was the most gifted healer she had ever seen, and that the men were alive because of her. It isn’t enough though, they can’t return to their families until I find a cure.
“A penny for your thoughts,” the Nexus said.
“Your baby is fine,” Hanna said. “It’s hard to tell because of the protective magic and energy around her, but I’m pretty sure she’s okay, Nexus.”
“Thank you. Please, call me Terra.”
“I’m not sure I should, Nexus. I don’t think that would be proper.”
Terra laughed. “I insist, but only if you let me call you Hanna.”
Hanna smiled. “All right… Terra.”
“Caitlyn told me you knew Alex.”
“I did,” she said. “He was very nice to me. I was sad when I heard he had died. If only I had been closer then maybe I could have done something for him.” Hanna stifled her tears. This was his wife, Dummy. Don’t make her feel worse. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to…” She didn’t know what to say.
“No, Hanna, it’s not your fault. His death was no one’s fault. Fate conspired against us all,” Terra said, but her tone belied her true feelings.
She blames herself, Hanna thought. I can’t heal her with magic, but maybe there’s something I could say to make her feel better. “Do you really believe that?” Terra hesitated a moment before nodding.
“It isn’t good to lie to your healer,” Hanna said.
Terra studied the little girl. “How old are you?”
“Just because I’m young doesn’t mean I’m stupid,” she snapped. “And I’m not letting you change the subject. Why do you blame yourself for his death?”
Terra looked more baffled at her tone than angry. The Nexus looked down. “I gave him the Guardian’s Blade, Hanna. Even if he had lived through healing Caitlyn and me, he would have still died soon anyway.”
“Good people die every day,” the little girl said. She felt five times older than she was. “I know that better than a lot of people. It was my job to make sure they didn’t. It was my job to heal them so they could go back out and get cut up, eaten up, and killed.”
“I’m so sorry,” Terra said.
Hanna shrugged. “I’m one of the lucky ones. I was with my father, healing people on our expedition while the rest of my family was butchered by Azreal.” The girl let out a grim laugh. “My mother didn’t want me to go. She thought it would be too dangerous.”
“Have you always been a healer?” Terra asked.
She’s trying to keep the conversation pointed at me. Fine, I’ll answer her questions, but I’m not done helping her. Not yet. “I was four the first time I healed someone. It was my little brother. He fell from our nest and broke his wing. I flew down to him and healed him, while I was still in my bird form.”
Terra’s eyes widened in surprise. “You can use magic in your birth form?”
Hanna nodded. “I’m the only one anyone’s heard of that can. I hadn’t even been taught what magic was, much less how to use it. Healing him just felt right. I never told anyone what I did, and it was a year later when I tried healing a little pixie boy that had cut open his arm on his dad’s knife.” Terra winced in sympathy.
“Yeah,” Hanna continued, “since I hadn’t told anyone I had been healing all the little eaglets’ hurts, no one told me you had to be the same race as the one you’re healing. When the flesh of my wing split open and I started bleeding, I did what any scared five-year-old would do, I screamed. I had no idea what was happening. That was when my parents learned of my skill in healing. After that, it was constant schooling and practice at the magical arts. I hope to be the most powerful healer this world has ever seen, some day.”
“That’s a noble goal. One that I’ll never be capable of,” Terra said.
That’s right, she’s a half-angel. “I just wish I had been able to make it to Alex sooner. I could have healed him in my human form.”
Terra shook her head. “There was nothing you could do.”
Hanna squinted her eyes at the older woman. She’s hiding something else from me. Why does everyone keep secrets from the little girl? I think I’ve shown I can handle them… “Terra, if you hadn’t given Alex the Guardian’s Blade, what do you think would’ve happened?”
