Ryk E. Spoor's Blog, page 48

Phoenix in Shadow: Chapter 23

Hiriista had asked a rather pointed question...

 

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Chapter 23.

     Tobimar saw Kyri freeze, and her posture alone showed that Hiriista's question had struck home. For his part, Tobimar was mystified. He hadn't noticed anything to be wary of – although, to be fair, he hadn't been looking hard this morning. They had been pretty sure that whatever they were looking for wasn't in the immediate area.

A quick glance at Poplock, and the little Toad gave a whole-body shrug. He didn't notice anything either.

Finally Kyri took a deep breath. "I suppose it would be useless to pretend I don't know what you're talking about."

A faint hiss of amusement. "I am afraid that you are not terribly good at hiding your surprise, no. Perhaps you can dissemble well when prepared – I know several such – but without warning, no." The hunting look was back. "So, Phoenix, will you answer my question?"

The embarrassed tone when she answered told Tobimar that even without the firelight Kyri's already dark cheeks would have been touched with rose. "It was just a… stupid impression. Probably nothing."

"Then it does not matter if you tell me."

She looked around, then smiled sheepishly. "I suppose not. There really isn't much more to it, to be honest. I just felt there was something … off about him." She paused, lips pursed, and he could almost see her mind working.

"All his words and overt actions were exactly what I would have expected from my brief contact with him," she said finally, "and my prior contacts – when we first arrived, and later at the party – didn't have this funny feel to them. But this morning… it felt almost as though he was playing himself, an extremely good actor, but one who was really much more competent and controlled, not confused or innocent or overawed or any of those things."

Hiriista let out a long, satisfied hiss and bobbed his head. "Precisely so. You have the instinct, young Phoenix; you just have no training that tells you why your instinct says what it does." He glanced down to Poplock. "Do you comprehend what I am saying?"

Poplock closed one eye, wrinkling his face, and then the eye snapped open. "Ohhh. What we talked about before. The language of the body."

"Correct. I have never met anyone else who noticed – or, to be more precise, who would admit to noticing this… anomaly; I believe that there are a few others who have, but they, like myself, have been afraid to speak of it, for it seems so impossible that there could be something wrong with these, our protectors. Yet I have seen it many times, a subtle – a terribly subtle – shift in posture, in facing, in the way an arm is held, a spine straightened, a head tilted, and suddenly one of the Colors seems not himself at all to me, even though not a single word or action is obviously out of place. And often this happens shortly before they go on a patrol or mission."

"You said one of the Colors," Tobimar said. Hiriista bared some of his teeth in a humorless grin as Tobimar went on, "but Danrall is a Shade. Are you implying…"

"I imply nothing. I have seen this behavior in Colors, Hues, and Shades. Not – so far – in the Lights, but in honesty I will say that my contact with the Lights other than Miri has been limited."

Kyri looked more carefully at their companion. "Why do you bring this up? Why tell us, rather than Miri, for example?"

"Well, firstly," the mazakh said with a note of grim relief in his voice, "because until now I had found no confirmation of my senses. I am, perhaps, by far the most sensitive person in Kaizatenzei to such things, but that meant I had no one to compare my impressions with – at least, no one who would dare speak to me of these impressions. You, as independent forces with no knowledge of anything here, were perfect subjects. The fact that you instantly picked up on the same anomaly… that is tremendously important.

"Secondly, the mystery appears to touch upon most of our guardian forces. If it has not affected the Lights, I cannot discount the possibility that it will affect them – whatever it is. Yet who could I possibly find that would be formidable enough to survive the investigation – if there indeed is something wrong – and not already a part of the potential problem? Few other people of such skill and power are found here in Kaizatenzei who are not part of these forces." He gestured around the camp. "But you three… ahh, you are outsiders, unique, unknown, but – I now know from both my own observations and those of Lady Shae – of good heart and will. Thus I trust you, and hope you will trust me."

"Not to be a complete cynic," Poplock said, "but how do you know you can trust Lady Shae's judgment?"

Hiriista looked momentarily offended, then laughed, a hiss that echoed through the forest. "I suppose I should consider even that possibility… but no. In this case her judgment merely affirmed my own, and she had no way of knowing what I was looking for. I have my own ways of judging people, as you know. If she herself is the source, or a victim, she was not subject to it at that moment, and so I trust her senses; you are not agents of destruction but protectors."

Tobimar had been thinking while they spoke, and he didn't like where his thoughts were taking him. "If you've seen this on three of the four levels of your…"

"… Tenzeitalacor, or Unity Guard," Hiriista supplied helpfully.

"… Unity Guard, yes. If you've seen this on three of the four levels, is it your assumption that it affects most, if not all, of the people on those three levels – that is, most or all of the Colors, Hues, and Shades?"

"It is. I have seen it frequently enough that if I make some basic assumptions – drawn from my experiences – about how often the situations occur that cause this shift, then at least eighty percent of the Tenzeitalacor below the Lights are affected."

Tobimar nodded slowly. "I guess the next question is… do you have any reason to believe this is actually a problem?"

Hiriista opened his mouth to reply, and then stopped, his mouth still hanging open for several seconds before he slowly closed it, hissed, and then bobbed his head in a rocking motion before finally speaking. "I… confess that I do not, in fact, have any evidence that this is a problem. It feels wrong. I have no explanation for this that makes sense and is innocuous. Yet… no, I do not have any actual reason to believe that this anomaly is a problem, save only my own instincts." He hissed again, a whistling chuckle, and his own posture was turned inward, embarrassed. "I find myself most discomfited by this realization."

"You've never confronted any of them when you felt this… difference." It was a statement, not a question, and Kyri's voice was deadly serious.

"No… no, I have not. Both uncertainty and caution stayed me from that course of action."

"Instinct isn't something to be disregarded," Tobimar said. "If Phoenix sensed the same thing, and it made her uncomfortable too…?"

"It did," Kyri said emphatically. "I felt almost as though someone … or, even, something… much, much more aware and intelligent was watching me through Danrall." She frowned. "It was … familiar, almost. Balance, I can almost get it, but it's dancing just out of reach."

Hiriista cocked his head, more alert. "What? You have had this feeling before?"

"I think so. I think so." Kyri rapped her forehead as though to loosen something stuck there.

"It'll come to you," Tobimar said. "As I was saying – if she felt the same thing, and it worried her, then I think you're right to be cautious. We knew something was wrong in this place when we came here. I'd hoped it was something in the forest outside –"

"No," Hiriista said decisively. "No, I do not think so. Lady Shae believes so, but – in honesty – she almost has to believe that. She watches for threats outside; I think she does not believe, nor want to believe, that within Kaizatenzei itself there could be true evil. I myself do not want to believe it, but even the rather … edited version of events you have told us implies that your adversary Thornfalcon had an actual contact here, one who could supply him with the monsters you fought. No such organized power has ever been sensed, or even suspected, outside our walls. The only organization we know of… is here."

"Then seems to me that we have to assume the wierdness in your Unity Guards is probably linked to what we're looking for," Poplock said. "And that it's not a good thing. So, if you've got that far, you must have some suspicion. It's either something working its way up through the ranks, bottom up, and nearing the top, or something sitting at the top running things. Which, I hate to say it, puts Lady Shae and Light Miri right at the top of my suspect list."

"I think you are only half right," Hiriista said, obviously restraining himself from further outrage on behalf of his ruler. "My suspicions are of something much worse, in a sense. Although having our most trusted ruler –"

"THAT'S IT!" Kyri shouted.

"What?"

"Trusted ruler, that's what. I used to feel exactly this kind of thing around one other person. I even told you about it, remember?"

A chill went down Tobimar's spine. "The Watchland."

"The Watchland. Watchland Jeridan Velion, the ruler of Evanwyl, most trusted man in the realm, a man I trusted almost without reservation… except on the days that I didn't feel I could trust him at all."

"Fascinating," Hiriista said. "The same feeling?"

"Almost identical, I would say." She shuddered suddenly, and Tobimar touched her arm in support. "Every so often I would feel that he was saying the same words, offering the same help, the same advice, and yet there was nothing true or real behind those words, just something else, cold and watching."

"And your Thornfalcon had a portal that led somewhere to here, from which came monsters. A definite connection between the countries." Hiriista looked out into the darkness, and despite his inhuman face Tobimar could plainly read his discomfort and fear.

"Master Wieran," Tobimar said.

Hiriista nodded with another hiss. "The aloof power neither above nor below. The creator of our Servants. The one – it is said – who helped devise the training of our Unity Guards. That is who I suspect – the one I must suspect – of whatever has been done to our people. He is in the perfect position, with the perfect knowledge, to tamper with people in such a fashion, and…"

Poplock tilted his body. "… and…?"

Hiriista looked down, then up. "And I have met him, twice. Both times he seemed reasonably courteous and attentive… but his body language radiated impatience, a complete lack of interest in the political and social interactions about him. It was very much as though he was given a script – or, more likely, had given himself a script – to appear the wise elder statesman, but had no more understanding of what such a person would really be like than would a nalloshoth."

He said no more immediately, and he didn't have to. If the ancient genius whose works were spread throughout Kaizatenzei – whose Servants performed half the work of the cities or more, whose training guided its defenders, whose other works commanded the respect of its rulers – was actually a monster who would work with Thornfalcon…

… then it wasn't just Kyri and Tobimar who were in danger. Not just Evanwyl.

It was all of Kaizatenzei, too.

 

Phoenix in Shadow: Chapter 22

They were finally under way, with  a new companion...

 

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Chapter 22.

     "Gemcalling," Hiriista began, "is a combination of one's personal magic, alchemy, symbolism, and the channeling of power outside oneself."

"Whoo. Sounds complicated," Poplock said. The four of them were seated near the cookfire; Tobimar and Kyri were taking turns watching the food as it cooked, but they were old hands at this sort of thing and clearly didn't need to focus much attention on it.

"Complicated in concept, yes, and challenging if you do not understand the methods and requirements, but not terribly complicated in practice if you have the requisite tools. First, you need to have the basic talent for magic; I understand this is true of you, perhaps less so for your friends."

Poplock glanced up at Kyri and Tobimar, who nodded. "I was told I could be a… mediocre wizard, depending on what path I chose," Kyri said. "A decent summoner, maybe. Tobimar?"

"My… master," Tobimar said, "told me that I had considerable magical potential but my best course did not lie in that direction. I guess I use some of that in the practice of my other skills, the combat arts he taught me."

Poplock knew that Tobimar was talking about the manipulative magician Konstantin Khoros; given reactions to that name elsewhere, he didn't blame Tobimar for evading that potential pitfall. "So yeah, I've got pretty good magical talent and I've been learning a lot about it," he said. "What would I have to learn to be a Gemcaller?"

"You will need a Tai Syrowin, a Calling Array, first," the mazakh answered, with a teeth-baring smile that seemed a challenge.

With that hint, plus the name of the discipline, Poplock understood. "Ha!" He bounced over and pulled on the various pieces of jewelry Hiriista wore. "Can I borrow one of them, then?"

"Excellent. You grasp the meaning instantly. Not all of these are Calling Arrays, but many are. Yes, I in fact have thought about this and I do have one Array that I may give you." From a pouch Hiriista took a bright silver and gold ring with an empty setting for a large gem – Poplock guessed it would hold a gem between ten and fifteen carats – and handed it to the Toad.

Studying the ring up close, Poplock could see several unusual features. The setting itself was complex, with magic he could easily sense; by pushing at the prongs with his various tools and concentrating his own magic into the tools, he quickly realized that the setting was designed to accommodate gems of virtually any shape meeting the size limitations. The prongs themselves had tiny lines of a brilliant blue tinged with gold – a color that made him blink, then bounce over to check out Kyri's Raiment. He glanced up. "Thyrium. There's thyrium channels through that ring."

The crest drooped and rose in appreciation. "A very good eye you have, Poplock. Yes, the thyrium channels are an integral part of the Calling Array, providing a link and channel between your own power and that of the selected gem."

"Ooo, so you need magical gems to do this?"

"Yes. I am not sure I have –"

"Maybe we do. Tobimar?"

"What am I, a bank vault?" his friend said humorously. From its usual place under his outer clothing, Tobimar produced his secure pouch of gems that he had brought with him from Skysand – a country with a widespread reputation for the variety and quality of gemstones it produced. He poured the contents onto one of the plates they already had out.

Hiriista gave an appreciative hiss that approximated a whistle. "I was unaware you carried such wealth on you."

Tobimar gave a wry grin. "I don't advertise it. Unwise in most places. So, would any of these do?"

The mazakh magewright bent over the sparkling mound. "For beauty, these would be nigh-unmatched. For power…" He dug through the gems carefully for a few moments, then bobbed in decision. "This. An Ocean's Tear, I think?"

The large, teardrop-cut gemstone was a beautiful blue-green and shimmered with light of the same shade, rippling like the ocean on a sunlight day. "Yes, one of the best I've seen," Tobimar said.

"This will be ideal."

"Hey," Poplock said. "How do you know what an ocean is? I mean, all you've got is that big lake there."

Hiriista's hiss was a laugh. "Do not discount Enneisolaten so swiftly; it is an inland sea, in a way. And while it is true we have never seen such a thing as an ocean, some ancient stories and tales remain which speak of such things… and the names for these stones echo those legends, I think. Now, to our business again. As one might expect, this stone's power will be related to water. Can you fit it into your Array?"

It took Poplock several minutes – he was unfamilar with the exact mechanism, and it was obviously intended for use by people with larger, stronger fingers – but eventually he was rewarded with a snap! sound and the blue-green gem was securely set in the ring. Immediately he could see a faint shimmer of ocean-colored light rippling along the thyrium traces and even glimmering on the inside surface of the ring.

Hiriista picked it up and noted the same phenomena approvingly. "Well set, and the Array has already synchronized to it nicely."

"So, how do I use it?" Poplock slid the ring onto his upper arm, where it fit fairly well. He could feel a tingling sensation, a ripple of mystical force.

"Not that simple, no, my friend. We will have to teach you to become attuned to the Array, and then to the stone itself. We will work on this, and I am sure it will not take overly long, but it will not be done this evening."

Kyri looked at the ring and then at the multiple other gem-inset objects Hiriista carried. "So once attuned, what can you do with gemcalling?"

"Many things – perhaps not as many as a … free-standing spellcaster could do, if such were able to explore their fully capabilities, but many. Here, allow me to demonstrate with a gem similar to that which your friend has."

Hiriista stood and raised one clawed arm; a green stone on his bracelet suddenly blazed with emerald fire, which rose up and became a wave of deep sea-green that thundered outward, raging through the forest, toppling smaller trees and stripping larger ones of their bark, scouring the ground bare, an unstoppable raging torrent that ended as abruptly as it had begun.

Oh, ouch! That would have hurt! "That's impressive!"

Hiriista bowed; his own body language indicated slight embarrassment. "Well, yes, but I have practiced for many years indeed, and I have been attuned to that gem for over a decade; we are old friends, one might say. In addition to such crude offensive capabilities, different gems may protect, enhance, or heal. That was what we call an Essential Call – it calls forth a force based on the essence of the gem. If I attuned myself differently to that or a similar gem, I could use an Essential Call to bring it forth as an enhancement to let me travel unimpeded through water, or to heal and rejuvenate those who are tired or injured."

"And what's the other kind of calls?" Poplock asked.

"Summoning Calls. Not the same as the work practiced by actual summoners, who bargain with various beings and spirits – you understand?" At Poplock's nod, Hiriista went on, "Good. A Summoning Call is in a sense similar to an Essential, but the gemcaller is not trying to call out the essence of, oh, the overt elemental or magical force, but a personification of the force within, and usually for that you need something that has a connection to the personification. You are familiar with suncore?"

"Mystical amber," Tobimar said promptly. "Either formed from the sap of some extremely rare trees, or from ordinary resin exposed to extraordinary magical forces. It's rare and hard to work."

"Precisely so. It turns out that, just as ordinary amber may trap objects and even insects within it, suncore can trap a mystical… trace, or echo, or remnant, of a power that manifests nearby. This may be a representation of a powerful animal, a nature spirit, or something more powerful. You can call forth that echo and have it assist you for a short time."

"Wow. So if you had a piece of suncore that was at, oh, a battle between two gods…"

"It is possible, yes, that you would then have something from which you could call an echo of a god to your service. Summoning gems such as that are, of course, rare –"

"I would think so!"

"—but the more valuable and sought after for all that." He tapped a necklace, on which was a large golden drop of glowing amber. "This is one of the few I have ever seen, and I am privileged to be allowed to carry it with me; it is one of the strategic treasures of Kaizatenzei, for within this drop slumbers a fragment of the essence of Shargamor."

Poplock dropped the tools he was putting back into their case, and he heard Kyri gasp. Tobimar, who had just been testing one of the dishes he was preparing, managed to gasp part of a spoonful into his lungs and spent the next minute coughing it back out. "A piece of a GOD?"

"An echo of the great power, yes. Not his equal in any way, but nonetheless a tremendous force to have at hand. I have very rarely had cause to use it; I hope I shall never have such cause again."

Poplock looked with new respect at the assortment of jewelry. Would never have thought it was so powerful. "Well, I have to say, I'm that much more excited about learning this!"

"And I cannot blame you. We shall work on it over the next few weeks, and I am sure you will come to grasp it quickly." He turned his gaze to Kyri. "But I have my own questions as well, and now that we are alone, it is important that we talk."

His eyes were narrow and focused, and held very much the essence of the hunter that was the nature of a mazakh. "So tell me, Phoenix: why were you so wary, this morning, of Shade Danrall?"

 

 

Phoenix in Shadow: Chapter 21

Finally, our heroes get on the road again!

 

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Chapter 21.

     Kyri took a deep breath of the morning air, which once more brought that sparkling feeling into her, something beyond the freshness of an ordinary dawn. I wonder how I'll manage to adapt to the ordinary world when we go back, she mused. Evanwyl will seem dull and grimy by comparison. Even Zarathanton may pall.

The three of them stood at the eastern gate of Sha Murnitenzei, looking at the rolling hills that led off into the golden haze of dawn, Poplock sitting comfortably on Tobimar's shoulder. Next to them, Hiriista was adjusting a large backpack, jeweled bracelets and necklaces chiming as he did so.

Shade Danrall stood nearby, straight as a column; he was to escort them a short distance as he was going on patrol in that direction. Kyri gave him a narrow glance as he looked away. Something about him's… different. She remembered their first encounter with the Shade; he had been stunned by their arrival, a bit nervous, instantly ordered away by Miri to run an errand. He'd shown up at the party, too, and been similarly nervous and diffident.

He seemed the same today. Even now, he was being a bit wide-eyed and nervous about escorting them when they'd already shown how formidable they were. Yet I can't shake the feeling that he's not nervous at all. That he's completely focused on the situation and not in any way affected by it.

What was really maddening was that this whole situation rang a faint bell of memory and her brain was refusing to come up with the connection. Let it go. The connection will come in time, when you're not trying to force it. And you may be imagining things.

"You're not coming with us, Miri?" she asked. "I thought –"

"Yes, I'd planned on at least starting the journey with you, but last night, just as I was going to bed, I got a message that there's something wrong near Sha Vomatenzei; sounds to me like something got over the wall and is skulking around the farms there."

"Yes," Tobimar said thoughtfully, "I suppose that the wall can't do much to stop things that fly or are really good at climbing or jumping from surrounding trees."

"Do not underestimate the Tenzei Kendron," Hiriista said. "Powers are woven into it which prevent easy contact even by the denizens of the surrounding forest, and which discourage and confuse those which attempt to pass above or below it. It takes something of considerable power or skill, or both, to pass it."

"Which unfortunately means that if something does make it over – or under – the Wall, it's very dangerous," Miri said regretfully. "So I'm heading off in the opposite direction. I'll catch up to you as I can."

They exchanged bows and Miri impulsively embraced them both; Kyri was startled but returned the hug; there was something inherently lovable about the little Light, and the strength in her arms reminded Kyri that she was no more delicate than Tobimar. "You be careful, Miri," she said.

Miri looked startled, then smiled brilliantly. "I'm not used to people worrying about me! But I guess if anyone's got a right to worry about me, it's the people who crossed the Pass of Night. Okay, I'll be careful. You too, Phoenix! And Tobimar! I don't want to have to explain to Lady Shae how we lost our special visitors."

"And a significant magewright," Hiriista said dryly.

"And a most significant and beloved magewright," she agreed with a laugh. "Goodbye!"

Miri skipped away, a casual-appearing gait that still somehow took her down the road back into town so quickly that it was only moments before she vanished from sight.

Hiriista gave a sigh and rattled the feathery spines on his neck; the sound gave her the impression of exasperated fondness. "And there she goes, bouncing like a hatchling. Sometimes I cannot grasp how she can manage her duties half as well as she does."

"Magewright Hiriista!" Danrall said, a shocked tone in his voice. Yet… it still seems a bit off to me. "How –"

"Oh, pissh!" The mazakh dismissed the comment with a wave. "She's hardly unaware of my opinion. Don't worry yourself with the reputation of your superiors, they can well ward themselves."

"O… of course, sir." He bowed to them. "Are you ready to begin?"

"Lead on," Kyri said.

"So," Tobimar said as they began walking east along the road, "when exactly are we parting ways?"

"I would expect sometime after noon," Danrall answered. "My patrol's going to take me out to a particular cross-road that leads south to the Wall, then west along it to the Gate-Post where I'll spend the night, then continue west about an equal distance until I turn north and join up with the road.

"Shade Ammini," he continued, mentioning one of the other Shades, a broad dark-skinned young woman Kyri remembered from the Party, "will be leaving about now and going in the opposite direction, but she'll turn north, then after she reaches Nightshine Rock she'll go east and spend the night at Rimestump, then patrol east to Sentry Hill and return to the road at about the point where I'll be leaving it."

Kyri could envision the described paths easily in general terms – two rectangular loops, one to the south and one to the north of Murnitenzei. "So each patrol takes two days. You do this how often?"

"Dual patrol's done at least once a week and sometimes twice. The Hues roll dice to determine which day, and sometimes whether it'll be night or day patrols. That keeps anything from being able to be sure of our patrol timing. And of course the timing shifts if we run into something."

"Does that happen often? Running into something inside the Wall?"

Danrall spread his hands uncertainly. "Well, it happens. Not very often, but … maybe two or three times a year here. I'd guess it's about that often in the other cities. Twice a year we send a big patrol – all three Hues and four Shades – along the Necklace –"

"Necklace?"

Hiriista laughed, a hissing sound like a boiling kettle. "Yes, you did not hear that name before? That is the name many people use for the main road that circles Kaizatenzei, through all the Seven and to the One, because it is like a necklace with jewels spaced along it."

Kyri smiled. "That does make sense. A nice image. So you send patrols along the Necklace twice a year – all the cities do this?"

"Yes. That way there's a force to clean up anything that's gotten through and is hiding in the parts between cities, bothering outlying villages but not rooted out by the normal patrols, that kind of thing."

It sounded like they had a pretty good system in place to maintain the safety and peace. She presumed even the outlying villages had their own ordinary defenders, but the things outside the Wall would require something out of the ordinary. "That still seems like a fairly small force, having seen what lies outside your Wall – each city has one Color, three Hues, and seven Shades, right? So that would be for all seven – no, eight – cities, eighty-eight plus the seven Lights, ninety-five for the whole country?"

"It may seem small, but given our training and abilities, it is enough," Danrall said with some pride.

"That must be impressive training," Tobimar said.

"Oh, it is. We are taught…" he shook his head as though catching himself. "… but no, I can't tell you. Secret, honestly. It is not safe, though." He looked down, sadness clear on his face.

"You lose candidates in the training?"

Danrall hesitated, then nodded. "Over half… do not make it."

Myrionar's Name! Half of their carefully selected candidates die from the training? "You lost a friend or two, I guess."

"Two. One of them was my best friend since I was three, so long that I couldn't remember not being her friend. We were all so excited to be chosen, but I was scared too. Khasye kept my spirits up, gave me the confidence… and then…" He trailed off, and for a few moments they walked in silence.

"I'm sorry," she said finally.

"Thank you. It was a couple of years ago… but it still hurts to remember it."

"I don't know that it ever stops hurting," she said honestly, thinking of her parents and her brother and feeling anew the stab of loss and anger, "but I can tell you it does get better as time goes on."

Danrall looked at her with new understanding. "You…?"

"My father, mother, and older brother. Yes." And a lot of other people, not as close… but just as important.

They walked in silence for a while, and when conversation resumed it was about more mundane things – the types of animals and plants found in this region of Kaizatenzei, what they could expect along the road ahead, and so on. Finally, shortly after lunch, Danrall bowed to them and began walking south along a less well maintained, but still clear and reasonably level, path to the south.

"Finally!" Poplock said as the Shade disappeared from sight.

The rest of them laughed. "Ahh," Hiriista said, rattling his crest in amusement, "it must truly be a challenge for you to be so silent at all times, Master Toad."

"Sure ain't easy, I'll say that." He looked over at the mazakh. "So, are people going to think we're one of these patrols?"

Hiriista tilted his head quizzically. "In truth, I had not thought of that. But indeed they might; Tobimar and Phoenix are of a reasonable age to be Hues or Shades, and I have been known to accompany such patrols."

"Does it matter?" Kyri asked. "My sworn duty is to protect and aid any in trouble anyway; even if we aren't your Shades and Hues, we'll still be willing to help anyone who needs our assistance."

"My duties are much the same, as a magewright instructed by Lady Shae herself," Hiriista admitted. "Then we may consider ourselves just such a patrol, in spirit if not in fact."

"I'm betting that troubles are most common at the midpoints between the main cities," Tobimar said. "Given what you've all mentioned about the way in which the cities grew and all."

"You are correct, of course. And sometimes the problems are purely … internal. While none of us like to think of other people being capable of evil, it does still happen on occasion, especially farther away from the great cities."

"Well," Poplock said, "We'll hear about it if we hear about it, I guess. In the meantime, I've got a lot of questions that I haven't been able to ask!"

They all laughed. "I am sure you do, Master Toad," Hiriista said, still chuckling like a clockwork whistle running down. "But the ones I think you are most interested in must wait until this evening." He took in Kyri and Tobimar in his glance as well. "We will have much to discuss, I think."

Was there something else in his voice… a warning?

"I'm sure we will," she answered, feeling a new hint of caution and disquiet rising within her. "I'm sure we will."

 

Phoenix in Shadow: Chapter 20

Let's take a look at a different point of view, shall we?

 

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Chapter 20.

     She skipped her way along the hallway, then bounded down the three hundred forty-three steps, taking them three or four at a time, to finally burst through the massive double doors that opened easily for her – and only a very few others.

The room on the other side never failed to impress her – and, in the moments she was honest with herself, sent a tingle of apprehension through her as well. Arranged like a gigantic amphitheater with circular levels descending in ranked order, forty-nine levels each with its own corresponding complex symbology intagliated in silver and gold and crystal on the great domed roof above, the room was both immense and hollowly imposing. Even her light footsteps sent sharp echoes chasing themselves around the room, past the polished metal and glass and shimmering gemstone retorts spaced about the levels and the spaces awaiting other chambers, retorts, tubes, or crystals to be inset, in their turn, beneath the T'Terakhorwin, the Great Array.

In the center of the huge room, beneath the core of the Great Array, was a flat space nearly a hundred yards across, with a floor of polished obsidian inset with platinum and krellin runes so closely spaced that there was nearly as much soft-silver shining as deep black glint. Despite the size of that area, not terribly much of the floor was visible, for arranged all about, in concentric seven-sided patterns, were ranks of alchemical and mystical equipment of more complex and diverse designs than she had ever seen anywhere else.

The master and designer of all of this glanced up as she entered. "You interrupt my work." His white hair cascaded across his shoulders, his pale eyes stared at her from deep-set, shadowed sockets in a narrow, ascetic face that showed lines of concentration but none of smiles. The only other person present made himself unobtrusive, obviously wanting to avoid being involved in any major discussion.

She flashed Tashriel a quick smile then turned to Wieran with a sigh. He hasn't the faintest trace of courtesy. I shudder every time I have to have him come up and interact with other people, for fear he'll forget his instructions. "I wouldn't do so without reason, and I think you'll find this reason more than adequate."

She reached up to one of her armor's shoulderpads and, with some effort, detached a section which had made the one a bit thicker than the other. Beneath the false surface could now be seen a multiplicity of runes and symbols, engraved in a way that strongly mirrored that of the ground below her.

The blue eyes narrowed, and a hint of a smile appeared – a smile which was not, in any way, comforting. "The data gathering is complete?"

"I spent several hours in the company of the target. That should be enough, right?"

"If it is the correct target, yes." Without request or preamble, long, spidery fingers snatched the former coverplate of her shoulderpad away from her; Wieran crossed with metronome-precise strides to a complicated piece of equipment a short distance away and fitted the thin plate into a holder.

An entire portion of the array above and below suddenly hummed into life, and a blue-white fire burned for a moment above the plate, a fire whose light both excited and pained her. "Yes, yes, yes! That is the key we have sought!" Weiran said, with the most animation she had ever heard in his voice. "Have it brought here immediately!"

The joy she felt at knowing victory was at last within their reach was tempered by the sudden demand. "Master Wieran," she said carefully, "They are currently in Murnitenzei, and the key is not alone. We must take care not to alert any of the party to anything untoward, and really, we haven't anything with a foolproof method to transport someone so far."

Wieran's mouth tightened, but then he took a breath and relaxed. "Very well, Miri. I suppose I can take the time to finalize preparations for the unlocking in the meantime; it has not been a priority until now."

The ground beneath them suddenly quivered – a tiny amount, but more than enough for both Miri and Wieran to notice. Miri glanced involuntarily at the wall she knew lay to the West, and thus beneath Enneisolaten, the great lake. "Is … it… secure?"

Weiran's reply was matter-of-fact, holding none of her uncertainty or – to be perfectly frank with herself – fear of what lay beyond. "The Array holds him, yes. And once the key has arrived, that will no longer be a concern for any of us."

"You can keep it restrained for that long? When the cycle is turning in their favor?"

A short, humorless laugh. "Your desperate bindings held it for centuries before I came; with the perfection of my designs? Not even the Dragon King himself could break free! But I understand your fear; if break free it does, I will not be the one it comes for first, but rather those who asked its aid and then betrayed it. Now," Weiran turned away, "leave me, Miri. I have work to do and need none of your distractions."

"You're welcome," she muttered under her breath as she ran back up the stairs. Even his most polite behavior would get him killed in some places.

But that was only a minor annoyance today. The singing, painful brilliance she had seen stayed with her and erased her resentment at Wieran's arrogance. Once past the wards at the top, she concentrated and in a flash stepped straight to the hallway outside her own chambers.

Inside, she quickly set up the mirror-scroll and invoked its power. For several minutes the gold-shining surface remained blank, showing only her own face; but then, without warning, it darkened, and a cheerful, blond-haired man – or rather, something that had the outward appearance of a man – looked out; his boyish grin widened farther as he saw his caller. "Why, Miri! What a pleasure, as usual. How are you?"

"Well enough, Viedra. I have called to thank you; the key we sought has indeed arrived. Master Wieran verified that this morning."

"You doubted me? I'm almost wounded, Emirinovas."

"Say rather I was not going to celebrate until I was sure," she responded with a smile of her own. "But now it is certain. In a month or two, once he has arrived, the entire work will be completed."

"A month? Oh, I imagine the old man is a bit put out by that."

"He'll have to accept it. We need to understand both the key and his companion; we don't want unexpected events undermining the final seal and release."

He nodded. "Oh, certainly not. His companion… yes, she is quite interesting. Please keep me informed – especially as to her ultimate fate. I've been following her myself for a project of my own."

Miri raised an eyebrow. "You did not say she was important to any of your projects! I thought we had full operative authority here!" Her jaw tightened. If he puts restrictions on how we can deal with them --!

Instead, Viedra laughed. "Oh, but of course you do. Take whatever approach you require, just tell me of the outcome, yes?"

Mollified, she nodded. "As you wish. Do you have any use for Wieran afterwards?"

"After?" The smile was not quite human, the teeth suddenly a hair too sharp, too shiny. "Oh, I think by then Master Wieran will have outlived his usefulness. Don't you agree?"

She giggled, a sound a listener would have found distressingly incongruous with her thoughts. "Oh, I think both Kalshae and I would agree on that." She smiled in anticipation. "The real question will be whether I get to kill him… or she does."

Viedra's laugh was as human as his appearance usually was, big and cheerful and warm. She appreciated that incongruity herself. "Well, then, I wish you all the success possible, and that sounds like a wonderful thing to look forward to. I thank you for confirming things with me. Now, I must be going –" he broke off. "Oh, dear. Yes, there is one more thing."

There always is."What?"

"There's another young man following that delightful Phoenix. It's very important to me that he not catch up to her. Can you make sure of that?"

"Do you want him killed?"

Viedra shook his head. "Oh, no, no! I want him to keep following her, just not reaching her, until you are all done, that is. Preferably not even have much contact with those who have seen her. Can you arrange that for me?"

She was relieved; this would be both simple and amusing. "Oh, I think so. I'll lay a false trail for him in the opposite direction around the lake from the one they select and periodically check on him. Good enough?"

"That will be splendid, Miri. Oh, yes – Phoenix doesn't know she's being followed, and she shouldn't be allowed to know."

"Of course."

"Excellent. Then I will leave you to it – our Father has tasks for me today."

Miri waved and the scroll went blank. Glancing at the timecrystal, she bounced up and headed to the Valatar Throne.

Lady Shae saw her come in and waved absently. Miri, seeing she was busy hearing the grievances of the people and making decisions, went to one side of the Throne and waited patiently. Even small details like this were crucial to the overall plan.

Finally the last of the morning's petitioners left and the doors shut behind. "Kerlamion's breath," Kalshae muttered venomously, "I grow so weary of this charade at times. Such petty issues they have. Hardly even a decent bout of hate or killing rage or spite."

Miri laughed. "Oh, if you take the border areas you can get a lot of that!"

Shae looked at her askance. "You have the option to patrol; that's rather limited for me."

"The price you pay as the Lady of Light."

"Ugh. I feel so contaminated." Kalshae shuddered and for a moment her form wavered, becoming less human, darker.

"Oh, I don't mind; I can switch back and forth between the self I'm being for the game and who I am; it's become almost its own reality."

Kalshae looked at her sharply. "Be careful, Emirinovas! Dalurshinsu and Yurugin said similar things before …"

"I know perfectly well what they said. I also haven't been playing around with the Stars and Sun directly like they were."

"Still, you should come down and sit next to our prisoner more often. His darkness is a welcome antidote to that agonizing light."

"I'll try. But unlike you, I have a lot of places I have to travel to. You can always go downstairs in between duties."

"Just watch yourself. I'm not sure how either of us could handle all this by ourselves."

Miri nodded, but smiled confidently. "Oh, I will. But really, it's only another few months." The smile sharpened. "I've directed this plan for thousands of years; what could possibly break me now?"

 

 

 

 

Phoenix in Shadow: Chapter 19

Let's see how this party finishes out...

 

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Chapter 19.

     Finally starting to wind down, Poplock thought to himself. He'd managed to wander around most of the huge house of the Reflect while the others were in conversation; as he'd expected, in most cases people didn't even notice him if he was at all cautious, and at most they picked him up and moved him somewhere they felt he belonged.

There wasn't a single thing he'd found that was indicative of anything wrong here; it was, he admitted, perhaps a bit contrarian that this made him more suspicious than he had been. But while there were prison cells – and not many of them – they were comfortable, and mostly not in use, nor with much sign of use. He couldn't find any secret passages, heavily warded locations – aside from basic defensive wards around the perimeter of the grounds – and the armory was about what he expected in a good-sized town, allowing for the fact that they didn't have spellslingers but did have these "magewrights" to provide them with good equipment.

Even the conversation had been interesting but absolutely harmless. Mostly of course they'd been asking questions about the world beyond their mountains, and been riveted by Tobimar and Phoenix' descriptions of Zarathan's other countries and cities, but now that things were starting to break up, the newcomers were finally getting their turn to ask questions. From his current location on a mantelpiece, Poplock could hear Phoenix talking to one of the local Hues, Zelliri. "… you are all trained at Valatar?"

"Yes," Zelliri nodded, her medium brown hair moving little because it was tightly braided around her head. "Every few years there's a competition among all the children of the right ages – between thirteen and sixteen, for humans – and the ones that show the best talent, dedication and focus in the needed arts are selected as candidates to replace any of the Tenzeitalacor who may have been lost or chose to retire."

"Is that common? Members of your Unity Guard being lost?"

Zelliri shrugged. "Common… no, but it happens. I think it's probably one or two a year across all of Kaizatenzei. We don't often lose a Light – if you ever see Light Miri in action, you'll know why – but you've also seen what's in the forest… outside. And sometimes there are still things inside, between the cities."

That was at least fairly similar to home; get far away from the cities, things got less safe. But here, Poplock was pretty sure, it had to do at least partially with the magic that surrounded the city itself. I'm betting that the pure perfection we're sensing here will be less in the in-between lands.

"What's the training like to become a Hue?"

Zelliri got a faraway look in her eyes. "What's it like? I'm not sure I could describe it to someone who wasn't there. Oh, some of it's just exercises, weapons training, and so on… but there's techniques we're taught…" She shook her head emphatically. "Really, I can't tell you. Secret, honestly."

"I understand. There's things I guess we couldn't tell you about our skills and training, too."

Poplock scuttled along, moving behind vases and bowls and other things that dwarfed him. This was a typical conversation; a few interesting tidbits, nothing to hang anything real from.

Looking around, he noticed Hiriista was no longer immediately visible. That surprises me. He was obviously trying to pump us for information on magic, and could tell that there was more to learn.

Poplock slid down from the mantel and scuttled around, sniffing. There was a particular scent to mazakh and he was familiar enough with it to get a good trail if the traces were recent.

The trail led outside; easing out into the darkness, Poplock let his eyes adjust to the night before moving farther along.

It didn't take very long to find Hiriista; he was standing in a small grove of bushes, laid out like a five-pointed star, to one side of the house entrance. The reptilian creature was squatting on its tail and looking up at the stars.

As Poplock stopped, the head swiveled. "Ah. The third and most interesting of our visitors arrives."

Does he know, or is he guessing? Poplock just sat still and blinked stupidly at the mazakh.

"Naturally you're too smart to speak. Or perhaps I am wrong and you are, indeed, no more than a pet, or a familiar, with a touch more than the wild gives you but not an intellect on a par with your companions. Yet, I think otherwise." Hiriista looked back up at the stars. "Here we are in private; no others are here to observe. So – as you move not away – I will indulge myself with the speculations, and see if you agree with my conclusions, little toad.

"Firstly, it is your pose, your way of moving and sitting; the body has a language of its own, and while often yours says 'I am nothing but a foolish toad', at other times – often when others seemed not to be looking – it said other things to me. I saw your attention focused strongly on those speaking of certain things; I noted you kicking or nudging your companion Tobimar subtly, and shortly afterward he would ask certain types of questions. I am, you see, somewhat adept at reading the words of the body, as my people are rare in Kaizatenzei, and to live with humans well means to understand their meaning in movement as well as words."

Hiriista reached slowly into a pouch at his side – a movement clearly intended not to frighten either dumb Toad or intelligent Adventurer – and brought out a metal and wood something which he put into his mouth. Scent rose from it, which Hiriista inhaled. "Still, this is mere circumstantial evidence, and a matter of interpretation. More telling, I think, is your face. A casual observer might not understand what they see, but I do. You are not an ordinary toad such as might be found in local swamps and ponds. Your eyes are set more forward, looking more as a human does, able to focus both eyes on targets. Your legs – fore and rear – seem jointed just slightly differently, and your forepaws appear more dextrous than ordinary. Your head, too, is some what higher and broader – perhaps to hold more of a brain to think with?" He gave an amused sigh, and a puff of the scent was faintly visible in the air. "Still, these may just be signs of a different variety of toad, one more suited to being a pet or familiar."

Well, he's doing very well so far. Wonder what else he has? Poplock mused. He wasn't going to decide what he would do about the mazakh's observations yet, and might as well hear everything he had to say.

"Third… ahh, that has to do with tactics. The Phoenix and Tobimar are both clearly warriors. They have some powers of their own, implied in their stories and the way in which they move, but the conversations on things magical clearly say to me that neither of them is well-versed in the ways of magic – whether that of your home locale, or of this. Yet does it make sense, I ask myself, for a party to set out to solve such a mystery as Tobimar describes, without at least someone who can, if not use magic, at least understand it well enough to address magical barriers and opponents? I would say not. And that, my friend, leaves you as the only possible candidate. Unless you happen, of course, to have another ally who is invisible and undetectable." The magewright gave a hissing chuckle.

Ironic that in theory we could have just such an ally. Xavier would scare the scales right off you.

"Now, I have no intention of telling anyone else my deductions. I understand perfectly why this would be your tactic, Duckweed. Tiny, unnoticed, and potentially deadly; what a wonderful resource you must be, especially if your adversaries do not suspect your presence."

Poplock grinned and gave his own shrug. "It's proved useful a time or two," he said.

The sharp hiss of startlement showed that despite his deductions, Hiriista had been uncertain. "So it is true! I thank you for speaking, little one. You are their magician, are you not?"

"Oh, I dabble – more than Tobimar or Phoenix, that's true. But yeah, I'm the one they'll be asking whenever things get magical."

"So it was on your behalf that Tobimar was asking about gemcalling?"

"Basically. Sure, he was curious too, but I'm the guy actually interested in learning it, if I can."

Hiriista spun and squatted again, now facing Poplock directly. "Well, since we shall be travelling together, I think I may be able to enlighten you on this. There are certain… limitations of the art which may make it generally more difficult for you to practice, but we shall see."

"I can teach you about magic from our side of the mountains, too. What I know, anyway, which isn't a huge amount but probably is enough to give you an idea of how we work."

"I would be extremely interested to learn such techniques. Now that we are aware of the world beyond, I feel certain I will travel there one day, as you have travelled here."

"Don't try that alone. Rivendream Pass is just as nasty as you think."

"Indeed, indeed. I have ventured outside of the wall… not far, you understand… and I know well what sort of monstrosities I might face." A hiss-click of pride. "But they know not what they might be facing, either."

Poplock figured the mazakh was probably right. Light Miri respected Hiriista, and given what she'd seemed perfectly happy to take on by herself… that made Hiriista pretty darn dangerous. "You say there's not many of your people around?"

The magewright's head bobbed from side to side in a negative. "Indeed, not many. In all honesty, not enough for us to maintain our population; we reduce in numbers and I fear it will be not too many generations at all before we are gone."

"Well… there's lots of mazakh on the other side of the mountains, but most of them aren't very nice people."

The crested head tilted. "What do you mean?"

Poplock gave him the same tilt. "You want the water-pure truth?"

"I do."

"Okay, then. Most mazakh – and I mean something like ninety-nine out of a hundred – are demon-worshippers, following their own demons called the Mazolishta. Ran into one once, not very friendly at all."

Even with his minimal experience with mazakh, Poplock could see the shock and disappointment in Hiriista's pose and movements. "I… see. Then I apologize in the stead of all my misled brethren."

"Hey, not your fault," Poplock said cheerfully. "On my side… I'm guessing there aren't any Toads here at all."

"None I have ever heard of, no. Are all your people so small?"

Poplock gave a croaking laugh. "Ha! No, I am a runt by their standards too. Most of them are at least the size of one of those flagstones on the path to the house, and some weigh more than you do."

"So, even in your home lands, you are oft ignored. I see. Well, as I said, I shall not betray your most interesting secret. Do you intend to keep yourself hidden from Light Miri – assuming she has not already guessed?"

"I think so. She doesn't need to know my abilities right now, and having an unknown resource can be a lifesaver. I've saved lives before now with that."

"I do not doubt it – and I now guess there are parts of your friends' tales that might be told a bit differently if they were to include your role in affairs." Hiriista stood, putting away his scent-device. "I believe the festivities are nearly over. Is that your friend?"

Faintly, from the door, he heard Tobimar calling "Duckweed? Duckweed!"

"Whoops! Gotta go. Thanks for a really interesting talk." They exchanged bows. "Once we start travelling, I guess we'll have a lot to talk about."

"I think we will, yes." Hiriista agreed.

A few moments' hopping took him to Tobimar, who relaxed as he felt Poplock's familiar weight clambering up to his shoulder. "Thank goodness," he said, in the tone of someone chiding a pet, "I was worried. Don't go wandering off like that!"

Poplock maintained his own silence until they returned to the inn – and until he'd managed to verify that there were still no spy charms, scrying, or other means of observing them without being detected. "Whew! So, you guys find out anything?"

Kyri made a face. "I found out that everyone's curious about Evanwyl and the rest of Zarathan, that I'm already being compared to Lady Shae because we're both very tall and built like warriors, and that I can't sense a single thing worse than petty jealousy and human anger anywhere."

"Pretty much the same here," admitted Tobimar. "Not a trace of darkness that I could sense anywhere. Their Colors and Hues all were given secret-secret training that they remember fondly but can't talk about, that's about the only interesting thing I found out."

"Yes, I had similar conversations," Kyri said. "They're very proud of it – reminds me a bit of the Justiciars, but mostly just because it's a tight-knit group with strong spirit of unity." She glanced to Poplock. "Same with you?"

"Well, mostly. I poked around everywhere I could reach in the mansion and found nothing. But there was one interesting event. I got caught." He summarized his conversation with Hiriista.

Tobimar exchanged an impressed glance with Kyri. "By the sands, he's good. We were trying to hide you but he still saw through it. Do you think he'll actually keep you a secret?"

Poplock thought about it. "I think he wants to. What I don't know is whether he's got obligations to, say, the Lady of Light or Miri that might require him to let them in on the secret whether he wants to or not." At their expressions, he snorted. "Hey, someone here has to be the cautious one!"

"No, you're right there," Kyri said slowly. "We know there's something wrong here, and that means we can't take anything on face value."

"On the positive side, it means that you'll actually be able to work with him on the various talents that work here and don't back home – and, I guess, vice-versa."

"Exactly," Poplock said, catching a passing fly. "And I really need that information. If they do all their major magic by this gemcalling and summoning and alchemy and such, I have to get a grip on how that stuff really works here, and how I can deal with those if things turn ugly."

He noted the yawns of his companions. "But you guys are tired – and so am I, I just don't yawn like you. Tomorrow we choose which way to go and get going, right?"

"Right," agreed Kyri. Tobimar snagged her for a kiss before they went to their rooms – a kiss that went on long enough that Poplock was tempted to set up a timer; instead, he just hopped to his place in a corner of Tobimar's room.

Tomorrow we stop hanging around and get to moving again!

 

 

 

Phoenix in Shadow: Chapter 18

Someone had arrived in an unexpected manner...

 

 

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Chapter 18.

     Tobimar didn't have to look at Poplock to know the little Toad's eyes were even wider than normal. It has to be that thing about it being easier to focus magic into solid objects; they can use much smaller crystals for summoning living beings.

The red-haired woman immediately bowed deeply to Kyri and Tobimar, again in the same way as Miri. Tobimar imitated her and saw Kyri do the same. "Welcome to Kaizatenzei, Phoenix, Tobimar," she said, in a warm, rich contralto. "As I am sure my Miri has told you, I am Shae, Lady of the Seven Lights."

"Lady Shae, it is an honor, and I admit to also finding it astonishing – your arrival, that is."

She laughed. "Oh, we had rather hoped it would be. Especially Miri, she loves her surprises." She reached down and took a crystal, this one a lovely shade of blue, from her own belt. At this range, Tobimar could see that the crystal came from a slanted cylinder with multiple slots in it, each slot just the right size to hold one of the crystals; Shae and Miri each had several of these devices. "The summoning crystals are somewhat complex to make – alas, we cannot make them for ordinary travel, any more than we can use our singing arrays to allow everyone to speak with each other across the miles – but they allow my Lights, myself, and a few select others to be able to travel where we are needed swiftly, to aid each other as we can."

Since she held it out to him, Tobimar reached out and gingerly took the shining crystal in his hand. "This one is for Miri, I would guess."

She raised an eyebrow. "A guess, or a deduction?"

"A bit of both, I suppose. I don't know enough to be sure, but you have so much emphasis on lights and colors – I saw that your armor is essentially clear crystal," ­though, Tobimar noted to himself with some relief, not clear beneath, or I might find it extremely distracting, "while hers is mostly pale blue; so I would guess that the other Lights have similar armor in shades of red, orange, yellow, green, and violet."

"Well and correctly reasoned," Lady Shae said with a nod. "And from her expression I think the Phoenix had made a similar deduction. But I suppose quick wits would be a requirement to survive the Pass of Night."

"It certainly doesn't hurt," Kyri said wryly. "Though some might say it also takes a lack of wisdom and self-preservation."

Tobimar was still studying the gem, trying to think of things Poplock would ask. "So, can just anyone use these, or only you and the Lights?"

"Oh, anyone can," Miri answered. "If you threw that on the ground and said 'To Me!', I'd appear right there. Please don't do that, it'd be such a waste."

"Of course not," Tobimar agreed. "I was just wondering. And you have to come? You can't choose not to come?"

"Actually, you can choose not to accept the summons," Lady Shae said. "In that case, the crystal will not break. However, I would be very loath to refuse such a summons; after all, I have to presume that these would never be used without either prior agreement, or a true emergency. However, if I was in the midst of something I could not leave, I could – and at least once, I have – refused a summons."

"Amazing," Tobimar said, handing the summoning crystal back to Shae. "Where we come from, such tricks of teleportation are severely constrained, and to do this… I think it would take crystals larger than your head."

"Truly?" Shae looked astonished. "So even magic is not the same everywhere? There is so much we do not know, and so much we are just now starting to rediscover." She glanced aside and smiled. "Hello, Reflect Halgen. My apologies, I was so interested in our new arrivals that I have neglected to greet you."

"Quite understandable, my Lady. Will you be staying the night?"

"I wish I could. Unfortunately, there are so many things left to do, and in fact I'll be working for some time tonight."

Kyri raised her own eyebrow. "Ruling Kaizatenzei is that demanding?"

Both Miri and Shae burst out laughing. "Oh, now, I am terribly sorry for that impression! No, no, the Seven Lights demands far less of my time than you might think. I am also a researcher, somewhat along the lines of Hiriista there, and much of the research throughout our land comes in the end to me. So much to read, to test, to experiment on, to understand."

So their leader is also a … magewright? Sage at least. Don't want to pry too much, though; if they're not what they seem, we want to also seem less than we are. "Tell me, if you would – what are the Seven Lights? I mean, I have seen their names on the map, but I don't know what they mean."

"Ah, of course you would not. Just as light itself can be shattered by crystal into separate hues, which the sages number at seven, so there are seven great sources or types of light: sunlight, starlight, moonlight, stormlight, forestlight, firelight, and earthlight – or, respectively, ruratenzei, kalatenzei, syratenzei, vomatenzei, murnitenzei, hishitenzei, and alatenzei."

"I understand most of those, but what are stormlight, forestlight, and earthlight?"

She nodded. "Perhaps the less obvious, yes. Stormlight is lightning and other similar illumination seen during great storms; some have also said the rainbow is part of this, but others argue against it. Forestlight is the radiance of the firefly, the log-lantern, the glowing fire that is cold and eerie of hue that can be found in the depths of woods and sometimes the marshes. Earthlight," she smiled, "well, that is the light of the interior, the fire that wells up from the Earth itself."

"Many, such as my people, also consider the light of molten iron and other metals being worked to be part of the earthlight," Hargen said.

Poplock had been right. Those names showed at least three separate language influences, none of them pure; the rhythm of most of the words and names reflected the classic Artan, which constructed almost all concepts into triads – the most familiar being Nya-Sharee-Hilya, Surviving the Storm of Ages, or their homeland Ar-Tan-Nya, The People Who Survive, sometimes just translated as We Survive. He could easily hear the other words dividing that way – Kaiza-Ten-Zei, Voma-Ten-Zei, for instance.

Then there were language roots, like the ancient Sauran for thunder and lightning, vomat, found in vomatenzei or stormlight, and the Odinsyrnen word ruri meaning sun and echoed strongly in ruratenzei.

There had been a unique language spoken here, and somehow – he'd bet in the last thousand years or so – it had been slowly replaced with the language that most of Zarathan spoke. And as they'd already discussed, that couldn't happen by accident. Someone – or something – had quite deliberately guided the language to dovetail with something that the other inhabitants didn't even know existed.

He realized he'd missed something in his reverie, snapped back to the present. "Pardon me, Lady Shae; I was thinking about your concept of lights, as light is also terribly important to my people, and became distracted."

She smiled. "Forgiven. I understand you believe that here, in this very valley, may be your own people's ancient homeland?"

"Yes, Lady Shae. I hope to be able to verify that."

"If it can be verified, that will be at Sha Kaizatenzei Valatar, and now that I have seen and sensed the two of you myself –"

"Sensed?"

The big woman laughed again, the sound echoing through the hall, and suddenly stopped, her eyes twinkling yet dangerously sharp and narrow. "Oh, yes, my friend. Do you think I would bid my Miri to use a crystal simply to satisfy my curiosity and greet a few travellers? No, no; it was far more than that. I have the safety of my people foremost in my mind. I knew that Miri is excellent in judging these things, but the idea of someone reaching us through the Pass of Night? That was utterly unprecedented, Tobimar of Zarathanton. I could take no chances; I had to see you, bend all my senses upon you and see if you were, indeed, what you appeared, or something foul with a fair seeming atop, if you catch my meaning."

Dangerous indeed. And is she what she appears to be, or not? "And?"

"And as I was saying, now that I have sensed you, I know you for who you claim to be; adventurers with hearts of light, not of darkness. You, in particular, are surrounded by an aura of light, Tobimar, but your companion as well; even your little pet shines strongly, and by this I know your mission is not one of ill. So I say to you come – come to Sha Kaizatenzei Valatar, and I will welcome you there, and I shall command the vaults of the past be opened to you to search."

Kyri bowed to Lady Shae, Tobimar mirroring her. "We thank you for this generous invitation. I don't suppose we could use those crystals to get there, though."

"Oh, that would be convenient, yes. But no, I am afraid not. Master Wieran would have to calculate your matrix, manufacture the crystals. Perhaps when you arrive, you can ask him, if he has the time."

"We have heard his name several times; it sounds like he can work miracles."

Miri nodded, the bow in her hair bobbing. "Miracles is close enough! Though he's a bit… difficult."

"But men of genius –as he is often wont to remind us – are often a bit difficult," Lady Shae said. There was a note of … exasperated affection in her voice. "Still, without him we would not have accomplished a tenth of what we have." She glanced at a shimmering sphere across the room, which Tobimar realized must be a clock of some sort. "I must bid you farewell. It will be some time before we meet again – for the journey will not be a short one, no matter the route you take."

Lady Shae hesitated, then made a decision. From another of the cylinders she produced two perfectly clear crystals. "Miri, here – to replace that which you used," she said, giving one to the blue-crystal armored Light.

Then she turned to Tobimar and, to his astonishment, placed the other in his hand. "For you, Tobimar, and your companions. You are unique, and the light in your spirits has brought hope and joy at the knowledge that the world beyond the mountains is not all as that forest which surrounds us. I give this to you as a symbol and shield – a symbol of trust, and a shield to protect you in case anything dark pursues you even here."

"I… Lady of Lights, I don't know what to say."

She smiled. "Your reaction confirms my impulse. Keep it well. I can see you will not use it frivolously."

He bowed again and placed the precious crystal immediately into a small pouch at his side. "I do have to wonder what would happen if you were summoned at a more… delicate moment."

Hargen coughed, Miri looked shocked, and a gasp ran about the room. For a moment, Lady Shae just stared, but then she threw that magnificent head of red hair back and roared with laughter. "Oh! Oh, Tobimar, if all Adventurers are like you, we have been sorely deprived!" She went into another fit of chuckles, and Tobimar could see everyone else relaxing slowly. "You mean, perhaps, if I were in my bath? Then I must regret to inform you that the summoning includes the clothing and equipment of your matrix, with only certain variations, so even were I to begin clad in nothing but mist, I would arrive full-clothed as you see me here."

Tobimar felt his face red-hot, but he had asked the question quite deliberately; not only had he gained some knowledge of how the devices worked, he'd also gained insight into the Lady's character, and that of those around her. They weren't afraid of her, they were afraid for me, by their expressions, which means that she has some reputation for temper but none for cruelty.

Still not a sign of the rot that must be somewhere at the center of this place.

Lady Shae stepped back, and a space cleared about her. "Miri, I know you will have other errands to attend to, but I make them your responsibility; make sure they arrive safely at Valatar."

Miri bowed low. "It shall be done, Lady of the Lights."

Shae returned the bow, then raised another crystalline device, something like a small net of colored diamond, to her lips. "Pertrelli, now," she said; a moment later, she vanished in a fountain of light.

Everyone was left staring for a few moments; Tobimar felt a small weight slide down and off him, and knew that Poplock had taken advantage of the distraction to move off. I somehow doubt he'll find much here, but it's worth at least looking around.

Miri turned to them and nodded. "You heard Lady Shae – I'm responsible for your safety all the way to Valatar now!"

"Does that mean you'll be traveling with us all the way?"

She sighed and shook her head. "No, there will be other things I have to do at times. But I'll make sure I know where you plan on going and that you at least have a good idea of what to expect." She smiled. "It's not like I have to worry about whether you'll be in danger in the wilder lands between; I've seen you in action, after all."

Tobimar grinned back. "True enough."

"Would it be an imposition if I were to accompany you?" Hiriista asked.

Kyri glanced at him, and he shrugged. "I see no problem, Hiriista," she said. "You know the way?"

"There is a road that follows the grand circuit, yes, and I can tell when you are reaching branches or following the true course."

"As long as you're not needed –"

"I am," Hiriista admitted, "but I also require some resupply of various materials which are nearly impossible to get except at Valatar; without them my usefulness here will be significantly reduced." He looked over at Hargen.

The Child of Odin frowned, but then sighed. "If you feel you must, then you must."

"Well, I must eventually, and I cannot argue that such unique arrivals provide an impetus to make the matter more urgent than otherwise."

"It's settled, then. But that's a matter for the morrow, and for this evening, I insist we talk more about your homes, Phoenix, Tobimar." Hargen gestured them towards a large table. "Eat, drink – and talk – are very strongly indicated. As you can see," he gestured, and Tobimar could see that most of the crowd were following along, "you will have a most attentive audience!"

 

 

Phoenix in Shadow: Chapter 17

 

Let's join the party and see what's up!

 

------

 

 

Chapter 17.

     One major advantage of being thought a dumb animal was that you could look at pretty much everything whenever, and however, you wanted, and no one would even notice, let alone wonder why you were looking; at most they'd pick you up and throw you out, or return you to your apparent owner. Poplock smiled to himself. He'd spent almost four years in Zarathanton honing that skill, disappearing underfoot or being ignored sitting on a low table or wagon.

It did require a lot of patience and restraint, of course, and even with the signals they'd worked out, there were going to be plenty of times he had to just hope the others did the right things. But on the other hand, he might be able to learn things no one else could.

The three humans alighted from the coach and walked up a curving, gently illuminated pathway to the double doors at the front of the Manse. The doors stood open on this warm, pleasant evening, the light spilling from them to guide visitors inward. Poplock caught a passing darterfly and was reminded anew of the perfection of the place. Which keeps me suspicious. Nothing's perfect, not without gods meddling. And when gods meddle, little mortals get hurt.

As the three paused in the entryway, adjusting to the brightness, Poplock surveyed the room. He was impressed; Sha Murnitenzei wasn't a huge city, not compared to Zarathanton, but even so there was quite a turnout for this shindig, as his distant cousin Lormok might have put it. He guessed there must be over a hundred people in the brightly lit hall. And you'd think this would be a pretty select party. But maybe not, they seem to act as though everyone's basically equal.

"We're here, everybody!" Miri announced to the room at large as they entered. Heads turned, and a ripple of laughter chased around the hallway. Everyone's smiling – kind of smile you give to someone you like. She's popular here, and this informality's almost certainly part of it.

That happened to put Light Miri right up at the top of Poplock's suspicious list. He didn't have any evidence, of course, but it made sense. If the baddies could use this overpowering goodness as a cloak, then the best disguise would be as the nicest person you could find – and as someone with enough power and authority to go anywhere and do anything, which seemed to be what a Light did.

Of course, she could just be as nice as she appeared, in which case she might be in more danger than anyone else once the real baddies showed up.

Many of the partygoers immediately gravitated towards them, but the mass parted in the center to let through the short but impeccably dressed form of a Child of Odin. He was clean-shaven, which was rather what Poplock had expected – his name implied a follower of Balder, who was depicted by the Odinsyrnen as clean-shaven – but his silver-and-gold hair was very long, reaching almost to his knees, and while styled was not restrained in any way.

"Haldengen Baldersedge," Miri said, a touch more formally, "allow me to present to you a Justiciar of Myrionar, called the Phoenix, and an Adventurer of – Zarathanton, was it? – yes, Zarathanton, named Tobimar. They have crossed the mountains themselves to come here." She turned to Kyri and Tobimar. "Phoenix, Tobimar, allow me to present to you Halgenden Baldersedge, Reflect of Sha Kaizatenzei."

"An honor to meet you, sir," Tobimar said, with Kyri making a similar greeting.

"Not at all, not at all," Halgenden said. "Far more an honor to meet you. Crossed over through the Pass of Night? By the Light in Darkness, that's a feat I never thought I'd hear of, let alone done by some coming from the other side. Decidedly impressive, I must say."

The phrase Light in Darkness got Poplock's attention, especially since he could feel Tobimar's shoulder tense on hearing it. They'd seen no temples that appeared dedicated to Terian, but "The Light in the Darkness" was one of the most common of his titles. Interesting.

"Thank you, sir," Kyri began, and Halgenden shook his head.

"None of this 'sir' business, or 'Reflect' or any of that dustballery! You call me Halgen, like everyone else who's not mad at me, and I'll call you Phoenix and him Tobimar, yes?"

Kyri laughed. "All right, Halgen."

"Agreed, Halgen," Tobimar said with his own smile.

"Let me introduce you around, here." He gestured to another Odinsyrnen, a very pretty woman (at least as far as Poplock's admittedly limited judgment of humanoid beauty was concerned) of about Halgen's apparent age and as solid has he. "This is Freldena Baldersedge; I'm her husband, and a lucky one as well, given that her family's been --"

"Frigga's name, Halgen, you needn't bring all that up!" Freldena said in a mildly exasperated tone. Her fond smile took the edge from the rebuke. "Honored to meet you both, Phoenix, Tobimar."

After they exchanged greetings, Halgen continued introducing them – two dozen introductions in the space of a few minutes, which Poplock knew would lead to Kyri and Tobimar having to ask most of them their names again shortly. He was pretty sure the one that would stick was that of Hulda, Freldena and Halgen's daughter, who looked to be an adorable six years old and knew how to play on that – clearly the darling of the party.

"So, I hope you're enjoying your visit to Murnitenzei, Phoenix, Tobimar," Halgen said, leading them over to a table laden with mostly-unfamiliar foods – though Poplock could see parallels to some of the cuisines he'd seen in Zarathanton.

"Very much so, Halgen," Tobimar said, starting to load up a plate at Halgen's gesture inviting him to do so. "Not something we expected, I'll tell you!"

Most of those around laughed. "No, I wouldn't think so!" Freldena said. "So on the other side of the mountains, it's like this, then, not like the forest outside our walls?"

"Not exactly like this," Kyri said. "But not monstrous like that, no, definitely not."

"Then what in the name of the Seven Lights brought you here?" Halgen demanded mildly. "Even one like Miri, here, wouldn't assay that crossing without an exceedingly good reason!"

Poplock hid his grin. This was another area they'd had to discuss and plan out; they needed someone to ask that question and bring up the subject so that they could turn the questions around and find out things about this place. And we had to know what story we wanted to tell, to keep from revealing things we don't want told.

"We had a few reasons, actually," Tobimar answered. "In Phoenix' country – which is just the other side of the Pass – we found evidence of a particularly vile conspiracy, and some of that evidence seemed to show that they had support from something on the other side of Rivendream Pass. Seeing this place rather throws doubt on that, though."

"Do not go quite so fast, Tobimar," Miri said, looking more grave than usual. "While it would seem almost beyond belief that anyone in Kaizatenzei proper could be involved in anything dark – and even less so in anything that contacts people we did not know existed – I would not exclude the possibility that something in the surrounding forest has had such contact and influence. Despite all our efforts of the centuries, the forest still surrounds us, presses against us, and yields only grudgingly to us; I would be unsurprised to find there is something more than mere dumb malice lurking there."

She's able to be serious and focused. Not surprising, but she sure works that bouncing, laughing girl business a lot.

"But you said a few reasons," Halgen said, a question in his eyes.

"Well," Tobimar said slowly, "the main other reason is that I'm chasing a legend."

"Oooh! A legend! I love legends!" said Hulda brightly.

"So do I!" Miri agreed. "Can you tell us this one?"

"Well, it's not the most happy story…"

"It's okay," Hulda said. "Some of the ones Father has told me aren't always happy. Just let me know when you're coming to really sad parts."

"I'll do that," Tobimar promised.

The story Tobimar told was – pretty much – the one he'd told Poplock and, later, Xavier and Kyri, of the lost homeland, the flight to safety, and the unique curse that his ancestor had discovered and that now had fallen on him.

"But I had a few clues, and one of them was the way the oldest stories of my people began: 'Long ago, when justice and vengeance lay just beyond the mountains'. We'd known we were looking for some place on the other side of, and protected by, mountains, but when I remembered that old saying, it stuck with me. And then I realized that the country on the other side of the Pass from here – a country called Evanwyl – had as its patron deity a god called Myrionar, the god of Justice and Vengeance – I suddenly realized that I might have found my answer."

"A fascinating story," said a quiet voice with just the hint of a hiss in it. "You may well be correct."

Poplock found himself nearly face-to-face with a mazakh standing over six feet tall; it took no acting at all to jump in startlement and scuttle around behind Tobimar's neck; Tobimar himself twitched a bit, as might be expected given the two encounters he'd had with the so-called snake men.

"Ahh, Hiriista, good to see you could make it!" Halgen said warmly. "Tobimar, Phoenix, this is Hiriista Twice-Hatched, one of the finest magewrights in all the Seven. Hiriista, Tobimar, Adventurer of Zarathanton, and the Phoenix, Justiciar of Myrionar."

"An honor," Hiriista said, bowing fluidly with a pose similar to that which Miri had used. Viewed when not attacking, Poplock could appreciate the severe beauty of the creatures; not really snakelike, they were more like very tall hopclaws – bipedal reptilian creatures with colorfully patterned scales, a long balancing tail, and two arms with powerful hands; Xavier had said they reminded him of something called 'velociraptors'.

"And comfort your pet," Hiriista went on, "I am not in the habit of eating toads."

"Duckweed will appreciate that," Tobimar said, reaching up and giving Poplock a reassuring pat. Poplock relaxed visibly, and gave an inward smile. Using his original given name made him sound a lot less suspicious than 'Poplock', if anyone guessed what that meant. "So you think I may be on the right track?"

"In some of the few ancient writings unearthed," Hiriista said, "I have seen a very similar phrase, something like 'Justice and Vengeance were as near as the other side of the mountain'. And your story mentions your interest in the number seven, which is surely of interest here."

"But was there a 'seven' before Kaizatenzei itself?" Kyri asked. "Because I get the impression that Kaizatenzei as you know it is much more recent than the last Chaoswar."

Hiriista hiss-shrugged. "I do not know your 'Chaoswars', but it is true that Kaizatenzei is not ancient. And yes – there are ruins of towers, from which it was said that light used to shine and protect all about them, found in the cities of the Seven Lights, and only in those seven cities – aside of course from the Unfallen Tower in Sha Kaizatenzei Valatar, the capital. Indeed, those cities were founded around these ancient towers, and there is reason to believe that there is, or was, some special virtue associated with them."

He restrained himself from exchanging glances with the others, but he knew Kyri and Tobimar did so; that confirmed their suspicious about the Seven Stars almost completely. "You mentioned ancient records?"

"All the most ancient records are kept in Sha Kaizatenzei Valatar. If you would learn more on these subjects, I would suggest you travel there."

"We had already expected to do that, but you give us even more reason to do so," Kyri said. "If I might ask, what exactly is a 'magewright'?"

"You know not the term? A magewright is one skilled in all the arts of magical creation and use – alchemy, gemcalling matrices, summoning arrays, mystical constructs, symbological circles, and so on. Halgen may exaggerate –"

"He does not," Miri put in.

The mazakh bowed. "I shall argue not with one of the Lights. Then I am indeed quite adept in these areas."

"You're a gemcaller?" Tobimar said, asking one of the questions Poplock really wanted to ask. "I've heard of it, vaguely, but apparently it's hard to make it work where we come from. I've generally only heard it mentioned in connection with Elyvias, which is itself if anything harder to reach than Kaizatenzei."

"In truth? I am surprised. It is one of the most useful and formidable arts, for those who can master it, but it does require considerable preparation initially. I would demonstrate, but not here; it is not something to do casually."

"Then perhaps another time?"

"Certainly; are you a student of things magical?"

"I dabble a bit," Tobimar said honestly. "Mostly I just like to see everything I can, as does Phoenix."

Miri suddenly stood up. "Ohh! The Lady of Lights says she will come!"

All eyes were focused on the diminuitive Light. "Now?" said Reflect Helgen, eyes wide. "Oh, Miri, I'm hardly prepared to –"

"Piffle. She knows perfectly well what the situation is, but people from outside? She's not going to wait until they can make it all the way to Valatar!" With a "shoo" gesture, Miri waved others back until she had a clear space twenty feet across. "All right!" From one of the little tubes or arrays of crystals on her belt she took a large, water-clear gem. "TO ME!"

She threw the crystal on the ground and it exploded in brilliant, multicolored light that dazzled everyone, Poplock included. When the light faded, Poplock saw to his startlement a tall woman, as tall or taller than Kyri with hair red as bright coals, in gold-trimmed crystal and cloth armor similar in style, if not details, to Miri's. She held a staff of crystal as well, a staff that shimmered through the hues of the rainbow, and there was a great sword slung over her back. She had none of Miri's bubbliness, but instead had the same serious demeanor and appearance of quiet strength that characterized Phoenix Kyri.

Summoned by a crystal that size? I'd say it's impossible, but I just saw it!

     Things are really starting to get interesting!

 

 

 

Phoenix in Shadow: Chapter 16

Our friends had been invited to a party!

 

 

------

 

Chapter 16.

     "Come in," Tobimar's voice said cheerfully in response to her knock.

Entering, she saw her friend's hair completely unbound, a flowing waterfall of smooth ebony startling in its length and black-shining perfection. "Balance, I know a lot of women – and a few men – who'd kill for hair like yours."

"Why, thank you!" Tobimar bowed, the hair following in a smooth flow that he cast back from his face with a practiced gesture as he rose again. By Myrionar, he is handsome. And now I can let myself recognize it.

He raised an eyebrow as she didn't say anything, then grinned happily. "Are you staring at me?"

She didn't try to conceal the blush. "I am. You're worth staring at, Tobimar Silverun of Skysand."

"As are you, Kyri Vantage, Phoenix Justiciar!" He stepped forward swiftly and kissed her; it turned into something longer than the quick peck it had started as; the world faded away for the several seconds his lips lingered on hers.

Finally they separated, and both laughed, just a bit, and she knew he laughed for the same reason – for the joy of seeing their own joy reflected in another.

"Keep that up, and I'm going to have to go to that party by myself," Poplock commented from the nearby table, where he was packing away an astonishing assortment of crystals, springs, gears, gadgets of various types, and other supplies. "And they're not even supposed to know about me."

"I'm tempted," Kyri admitted candidly.

Tobimar's dark cheeks darkened further. "I… well, we've only just started… And…"

She laughed. "Your people really do have rituals around this kind of thing, don't you?"

He shrugged, but smiled in response to her laugh. "Yes. I suppose much of it came out of the desperate years where we were trying to survive, and as the Silverun family we're much more subject to etiquette than the average person. Aren't there any … traditions around dating in Evanwyl?"

"A few, yes, but not that would apply to adventurers. It's not like we're children without any awareness of responsibility."

She could see he was thinking that over as he got that magnificent mane under control and tied it back. Knowing how much simple magic she used on hers, she was impressed that he was apparently doing it all by hand.

Finally he finished tightening the silvery ribbon with a fancy flourish. "Done!" He looked up to her. "I'll… think about how I want to approach this, Kyri. The… Way of Sacred Waters, as we call it, is something very unique and precious to us. I lived in Zarathanton long enough to come to understand that for some it's… no more important than any other form of pleasure that involves other people, but it's very special to me and I don't think –"

She held up her hand. "Tobimar. I'm … somewhere in between; sex is a special thing, but not the sacred thing your people make it. So I can understand both sides. But believe me, I appreciate your hesitation. And it's fine. Besides, as Poplock pointed out, we're trying to keep him a secret, and in any case I don't want to risk the damage Poplock could do on his own."

"I beg to point out," the Toad said dryly, "that it wasn't me who incinerated two hundred yards of tunnel and forest in one blast."

"True enough. So, o cautious and non-destructive Toad, any new observations before we go?"

"A few. I was thinking about those Eternal Servant things, and how hard they should be to make, and then I remembered that the Wanderer said something about that."

"He did? I don't remember him saying anything about golems or automata," Tobimar said, strapping on his swords.

Poplock was almost done replacing his equipment in his pack. "Not in so many words, no. But he said something about magic placed into items being more common."

Kyri nodded, making sure her Raiment was as spotless as possible by surveying herself in the full-length mirror. "You're right, he said it was like that in Elyvias as well. So maybe it's easier to make such things here than it would be in our part of the world."

"Could be," Poplock confirmed. "What little tests I've been able to do have seemed to show that making physical things with magic – alchemical tricks and such – are easier than just calling up the magic and letting fly with no physical channel. Even so," he continued, hopping to his accustomed place on Tobimar's shoulder, "that kind of thing's not going to be easy, and to have made hundreds… I want to meet this 'Master Wieran' of theirs."

"I can't blame you," Tobimar said. "For my part, we were able to show that there did used to be an ancient tower near the center of town, in that park with the huge tree in the middle, but given that they're trying to keep some of the facts about us quiet we couldn't ask about it in more detail. I'm hoping we can get some of that settled tonight."

Kyri knew just how important that was now. If Tobimar was right, one of the Seven Stars might be here – buried under the ruins of the tower, perhaps. The thought was enough to send a chill down her spine; she followed Myrionar, she respected many gods, but Terian was the shining beacon that even other deities looked to. What must it mean to Tobimar, whose family – whose entire country – followed Terian's guidance?

"Are we ready?" Poplock asked.

"I think so," Kyri said. "Remember, I am simply Phoenix, or Justiciar Phoenix. I see no reason to reveal other names, and since I'm on duty…"

"Oh, none of us are arguing," Tobimar said. "We're hiding Poplock's existence as our equal, and in my case we're going to say nothing of my family name or background unless we have to. There's something wrong here, behind all the perfection, and this means we'd better be doubly careful."

"Then… let's go!"

Miri was waiting at the bottom of the stairs, bouncing from foot to foot with energetic excitement. "Oh, there you are!" she said.

"Good thing you came down now," Dania said, and looked fondly at the diminuitive Light. "Miri was about to wear a hole in the floor pacing."

A slight rose tint touched Miri's startlingly fair cheeks – lighter than almost any skin Kyri had seen – and she gave an embarrassed laugh. "Well, it's so … exciting!" she said, repeating herself from the prior night. "Come on, I've got a coach for us!"

Kyri found herself smiling as well. There was something infectiously cheerful about Miri's boundless enthusiasm. "Lead on, then!"

The coach was, like everything they'd seen in Kaizatenzei thus far, beautiful in every aspect, wood polished to a mirror gloss, ornamented with carven vines outside and lit within by a soft, forest-green luminance that emanated from the roof of the coach. One of the Eternal Servants drove the coach, which was drawn by four sithigorns, of a breed Kyri had never seen – black with gold-edged tailfeathers. The overall effect was striking.

Miri insisted on them getting in first, then bounded in and sat across from them. "To the Manse, Quickhand," she called up to the driver.

"Yes, Light Miri," the Servant said, and the team of giant birds immediately began pulling the coach along.

"So the 'Manse' is the local ruler's home?" Kyri asked. "Would that be the Color you mentioned, Kerrim?"

"Oh, no, Kerrim isn't the ruler here. That would be Reflect Haldengen."

"Reflect?" repeated Tobimar. "That's a title?"

"Yes. You of course can't help but notice that we've built our whole country around the theme of light – something you'll understand more, I think, as you stay here – and the city… ruler, head, whatever you might call it, is called a 'Reflect' because something that reflects returns light to those it is directed upon."

That made sense to Kyri; symbolically it meant that the ruler was reminded that their job was to make the world better for those being ruled. "An inherited position?"

"Oh, no. We have almost no inherited positions in Kaizatenzei, at least not in government!" Miri's voice held a note of pique, as though the very idea was an offense. "Reflects are elected by a general vote of the population, once every five years. It's of course not uncommon for a Reflect to maintain that position for a long time, if he or she does a good job, and in fact Haldengen has been Reflect of Murnitenzei for seventy-three years as of today."

That was a long time. "With such time of service, I venture to guess that he's either extremely old, or not entirely human."

"Oh, very good. Haldengen Baldersedge is his full name."

The significance of the name did not escape her. "An Odinsyrnen, then. So he has ruled to the approval of the population for that long? I look forward to meeting him."

"No more than he's looking forward to meeting you. I'm hoping that the Lady herself will be able to come. She said she'd let me know if she could."

Tobimar raised an eyebrow and leaned forward. "Your own ruler? The Lady of Light, you called her? But wouldn't she be in your capital?"

Miri smiled, this time with that particular narrowing of eyes that says I have a secret! "Oh, yes. But still she may tell me she will come, and then you shall see indeed."

Kyri saw a tiny movement from Poplock – one of the trivial-seeming movements they'd agreed upon for various signaling purposes. Tobimar acknowledged Miri's secretiveness with a chuckle. "I see there's something you want to show off later. I notice a lot of magic – the lights along the road, the Eternal Servants of course, the clean stoves within the inn we stayed at, and so on. You must have many powerful wizards here."

"Well, of wizards we have relatively few – if by that you mean those who cast spells freestanding, so to speak. Many alchemists, gemcallers, summoners, a few symbolists and chosen of various religions, that sort of thing. You'll be meeting one of the best in the magical arts tonight – I'm sure that Hiriista will be there."

Kyri kept her face neutral, but she could see the satisfaction in Tobimar's eyes. That fit exactly with what they had deduced. Magical activity connected to material media – alchemical products and devices, the spirit housings of summoners, and so on – was highly functional here, making up for the difficulty of direct application of mystical or deific power. "That's very different from home," she said. "There, impressing magical energies into any object is a more difficult project, and while I've heard the term gemcaller, I've never met one, and I'm honestly not even sure what it means."

Poplock's mouth tightened with heroic resolve, preventing him from entering a conversation obviously dear to his heart. She wondered if he'd explode sometime during this party from sheer frustration. But they all agreed that Poplock had demonstrated just how deadly he could be when his presence, or capabilities, were unknown, and even under these conditions Poplock had himself insisted he remain an apparently stupid, harmless toad as long as possible.

Miri shrugged. "Actually, I'm not terribly well versed in that either, but you can ask old Hiriista if he's there." She looked out the window. "Oh, we're almost there!"

The Manse was a lovely home, much of it carven out of and into the stump of some gargantuan tree, fifty feet high and seventy feet across, showing that something awe-inspiring had once stood here. Flowing out from the wooden bulwark that formed its central pillar, the remainder of the Manse was constructed in harmony with that source; even in the fading light of sunset she could see that the wood had been carefully matched, the polished stone facings chosen for their complementary color and patterns.

Golden light shone from the windows, and she could hear music faintly echoing through the air as they drew nearer, accompanied by the sussuration of distant conversation and laughter. A pang of memory struck her heart as she remembered the so-similar sounds and lights of another party, the one in which her brother celebrated his selection as a Justiciar. There was the same air of joy, of wonder and faith, that had been in the air that day, too.

Once more she was struck by the rightness of everything in Kaizatenzei; even their construction was of a piece with everything else they had seen. Yet by the Wanderer's warnings, and by those of Myrionar, she knew there had to be something else, something darker, waiting somewhere near. What is hidden here? HOW is it hidden? Will we get our answers here?

"Here we are!" Miri said, and bounced from the coach before it had even quite stopped. "Come on, I can't wait to introduce you!"

"Coming, Light Miri," Tobimar said with exaggerated formality. As they alighted, they exchanged glances.

All eyes open. All senses alert.

     Let's see what mystery awaits here!

 

 

Phoenix in Shadow: Chapter 15

Well, our heroes finally had a chance to discuss what they'd found...

 

 

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Chapter 15.

     "I have absolutely no idea what is going on now," Tobimar said bluntly. He rubbed his temples, in the vain hope that the pressure might force the ridiculous situation to align into something he could understand.

Poplock, who had finished checking the rooms to make sure there were neither magical nor mundane spies, bounced his agreement. "This makes no sense."

Kyri sank into a chair as her Raiment flowed off, leaving her clad in simple pants and shirt. "I wish I could explain it. Your people were driven out of here, by demons that hounded you all the way across the continent, right?"

"And whose curse still follows us; Xavier, Poplock and I found that out the hard way, yes. So you're sensing the same thing I am?"

Kyri nodded in disbelief. "This … place. It practically sings. You don't think it's the effect of getting out of that vileness that was in the forest into a place that isn't vile?"

"You mean, like stepping out of a cave into sunlight? The way it dazzles you for a bit, seems brighter than normal sunlight?" Poplock said. "No, don't think so. I think it'd be almost as shocking going just from Evanwyl to here. This place… it even tastes different."

"I agree," Tobimar said, and forced his brain to start working on the problem. "There's a purity here, something way beyond the ordinary."

Kyri reached into her pack, sitting next to the chair where she was sitting, and got out a bottle of water. "Let's test that, anyway. This is perfectly good water, in a preservation bottle I bought in Zarathanton; filled it just before we left Evanwyl, and it should be just as good now as the day I left. They have running water here, yes?"

Poplock bounced into the bathroom which adjoined both rooms. "Hmmm… there's a spigot with red and blue gems on the sides… yep, I touch them and get water at different temperatures."

"All right, come back out and I'll do a little test."

Kyri came out a moment later carrying two of their water cups, both filled with water. "Here, Tobimar. Taste them."

He reached out and took the cups. "Which is which?"

"Not telling you. That's the point. I want to know if you can tell the difference."

"Right." He took a sip of the lefthand cup. Cool, sweet water, very nice, just as he remembered from the Vantage estate. He swallowed that, then took a sip of the righthand cup.

The cool flow danced through his mouth, invigorating, replenishing, as though he had gone half a week without drinking and now, finally, was given the chance. The water washed away some of the tiredness of the road, the fear and tension of their journey through the savage jungles of Rivendream Pass and the exterior of Moonshade Hollow, and lifted his spirits as though he knew his homeland lay just outside the window. He stood stock-still, astounded, then put both cups down. "It was the one in my right hand."

"Yes. So it isn't an illusion of our perceptions."

"Most definitely not," Tobimar said emphatically, then considered. "I suppose it could be an illusion of a more sinister sort. We have heard of spirits and monsters – and especially demons – which can construct a pleasing illusion, even a seeming of paradise, for unwary travelers, and as they think they're sitting down to a great feast or bedding down in a fine inn for the night, they're actually approaching their own destruction."

The little Toad gave a bounce-shrug. "Well, we weren't exactly unwary. But a powerful illusion can catch even the wary. Still, I haven't noticed anything that tells me this is illusion."

"How could we tell?" Kyri asked reasonably. "If the illusion's good enough…"

That's a scary thought. How can we tell?

"Creepy," Poplock said, almost as though reading his mind. "And while I've got magic, it's… well, mundane magic, if you know what I mean. It's not something unique and special."

Tobimar caught the hint. "Meaning that the two of us do have something unusual. You're right. Kyri should see if Myrionar will grant her the Eyes of Truth, and I will see if the High Center will reveal anything to me."

"Fooling a god should be pretty hard," Kyri agreed. She began a quiet prayer.

Tobimar closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Even if it is illusion, the illusion leaves me my self, and it is the self that gives me the power of my skill, the martial art that Xavier and Khoros call Tor. If I can meditate, it matters not where my body truly is; my mind will find the truth of it.

What Khoros – and his friend Xavier – called "High Center" was the key. It was challenging to reach in combat, but here – surrounded by friends and, at least as far as he could tell, safety – there was no threat to distract him, nothing to interrupt his inner peace. He rose through the Centers and Visions until he stood above himself, feeling the web of probability, the possibility and certainty of the universe's connection to him, his connection to it.

Tobimar opened his eyes, and he could see. The room fairly blazed in his sight, a solidity of essence that was almost as tangible as steel, as warm as sunlight, as certain as his mother's love – and almost, almost familiar in a way. He couldn't be certain, but there was indeed something about this feeling that tugged faintly but insistently on threads of memory.

But more; the song of the world stretched beyond. He could sense the possibility of danger away to the south, beyond the wall, but nothing here. There might – possibly – be a hint of danger to the north or east, but he could not be sure.

Most important was the absolute conviction of solidity. This was no trick or illusion. He was as certain of this as he could be of anything. If this was an illusion, it would be something so powerful that he could do nothing at all against it, so he would assume it was, in fact, real. He released High Center and leaned back. "Real. Exactly as we perceive. As far as I could sense, everything is as it seems to be. If there is anything dark here, it is hiding itself behind a very real cloak of light."

Kyri opened her eyes and nodded. "I feel the same thing, Tobimar. This is Truth. Enemies could be here – must be here, I think – but they are well-hidden."

"Hm," Poplock grunted. "Maybe even using the light of this place almost literally, like shining a light in someone's eyes so they can't see what's behind it."

Tobimar didn't like that thought, but it fit all too well with the situation. "You're probably right, Poplock. We'll have to be even more on our guard. On the positive side, at least we don't need to worry about the local environment killing us."

"I suppose – to be just," Kyri said, with a smile, "I should look at the other side. Aside from what we assumed coming here, do we have any reason to believe there is something … wrong here?"

Tobimar was taken somewhat aback by the question, but he thought about it. Instead of assuming, based on what they knew coming through the pass, that there had to be something wrong, did he have any actual evidence for that?

"Yep, we do," Poplock said after a few minutes.

Tobimar felt there was something, but he couldn't quite figure this out, either, so he shrugged. "All right, Poplock, what have you got for us?"

"They can talk to us."

Kyri looked askance at the little Toad. "And? I can and have talked to people from Evanwyl all the way along the Great Road and off it, and so have you."

"Ahh," Poplock said, lifting a finger in such a scholarly way that Tobimar couldn't repress a small snort of laughter, "but those places are all connected. Remember that Miri said that as far as they knew, nowhere outside of this 'Kaizatenzei' was habitable. The Chaoswar was about twelve thousand years ago."

Now the Prince of Skysand understood, and he could see that Kyri was starting to grasp it. "Language changes," Tobimar said slowly. "It's said that after the Chaoswar, when the peoples emerged from the catastrophe and started to find their neighbors, the farther they went, the harder it was to understand them. It took centuries for language to re-stabilize. There's enough contact all through the Empire of the Mountain and the State of the Dragon King so that we all keep roughly the same language… but there's no way they just happened to keep the same language. All I hear from Miri is an accent, no worse than Kyri's or yours."

"Or yours," Kyri pointed out, "from our point of view." She nodded. "So they should have developed their own language –"

"They did," Poplock said. "Let's look at that map, shall we?"

Kyri spread the map out on the table and Poplock hopped up to get a better look.

"Sure, look at this. Name of this country is 'Kaizatenzei', and they asked what Sha we were from. These things are all labeled Sha, so I'm guessing that means "city", or something like that. And the city names… Murnitenzei, Vomatenzei, Alatenzei, Ruratenzei… all with a theme. Not sure what "tenzei" means, though… she said Kaizatenzei meant, um, Unity of the Seven Lights, so Tenzei could be Unity or Light, or even Seven I guess."

"Seven? That wouldn't make sense."

Tobimar snorted again. "Wouldn't it? It would make sense for us, you know. That is, Skysand. Now if –"

Suddenly he broke off, staring, thinking. Can't be… but it fits. It fits so well.

He became aware that Kyri was poking him. "Tobimar? Tobimar, what is it?"

Tobimar Silverun felt dizzy, lightheaded at the thoughts chasing through his mind, but the thoughts didn't just make sense, they felt right. "Seven, Kyri, Poplock. Seven Stars and a Single Sun."

"What… Oh. You mean there's seven cities plus the big one –"

"More! More than that! By Terian Himself, it's right here! The Stars were lost! But look on this map! Seven Stars and a Single Sun hold the Starlight that I do own. What if the Stars are here, somewhere? What would a place be like, where the artifacts of the Light in the Darkness were left to themselves? Like this place, maybe?" He reached out and touched the cities marked on the map. "And look. Four cities here. Three here. The capital, Sha Kaizatenzei Valatar, here, between the groups." His finger traced a slow curve, going around the four, passing through the capital, then around the other three, back through the capital. "These Eight combine and form the One… form the Sign by which I'm known…"

Kyri gasped. "It is. It's Terian's symbol!"

     "The symbol of the Infinite. They're here, Kyri! The lost treasures of the Silverun, of the Lords of the Sky! The Seven Stars, and the Sun itself, are here!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Phoenix in Shadow: Chapter 14

So our friends had found something rather puzzling...

 

 

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Chapter 14.

     Kyri forced herself to step forward, belatedly following Miri as the much smaller woman strode quickly in the direction of the beautiful city below them. She exchanged a disbelieving glance with Tobimar, and could see even Poplock's eyes wider than usual.

This… makes no sense at all. Yet I can sense nothing dark. My powers may be reduced here, but they are not gone, and the only darkness I can sense at all is the forest that lies behind us, barricaded on the other side of that wall.

It was more than that, she admitted. It was not merely the absence of darkness; that was the way of the world on the other side of the mountains, of Evanwyl and most parts of Zarathan not immediately under the sway of something demonic or otherwise corruptive. This "Kaizatenzei", or at least the part of it they were now in, shone to her senses. Everything – from the armor on Miri's shoulders to the grasses bordering the pathway down which they walked to the great trees that grew like sentinels throughout the city – glittered with promise and strength, a rightness that she had only felt in moments before, when Myrionar Itself touched upon her, as though this entire city was holy ground, infused with the essence of the divine.

As they approached the town, a tall young man with a long yet handsome face, dark brown skin, and ebony hair, in armor which seemed as ceremonially delicate as Miri's but less brightly colored, in muted shades of green and brown rather than Miri's brilliantly shining sapphire and emerald, stepped forward and waved, performing a perfunctory bow which Miri returned. "Light Miri, welcome back! We had not expected your hunt to end so soon!" His voice was strong and clear, reminding Kyri somehow of Rion's when he had become a Justiciar.

"No more had I," Miri said with a laugh. "But that is the least of surprises today. Shade Danrall, allow me to present Tobimar and Phoenix, who saw me facing a nalloshoth and thought me endangered, and so came magnificently to my rescue."

"Truly?" Danrall looked curiously at them. "Well, courageously done, even if unneeded. From which Sha do you hail?"

"Ah, there is the true wonder," Miri answered. "For they say they come from beyond the mountains, and I believe them."

Kyri saw Danrall's jaw drop, stretching his already-long face into comic disbelief. "From the –"

"Yes," Kyri said, unable to keep from smiling herself. "And allow me to say that for us, this is just as much a surprise. We thought all of this great valley was like the forest outside your walls."

Danrall recovered quickly. "Then I am doubly surprised that you dared even enter!" he said with a smile.

"Truly said," Miri agreed. "Now, Shade, I want you to keep this quiet. I cannot avoid some attention, of course, but I don't want our newcomers bothered until they have had an opportunity to rest; they have travelled through the Pass of Night and the belt of corrupted forest twixt there and here, and surely they need some time to recover and refresh themselves."

Kyri couldn't argue that, though a part of her was still concerned about just what the whole impossible situation meant.

"I understand, Light. What would you have me do?"

"Tell the current Color – it is still Kerrim, is it not? Yes, I thought so. Tell Kerrim that we have two visitors, heroes I think, from beyond the mountains, and that we should have a proper welcome and council with them upon the morrow; I expect he'll have you notify his Hues and the other Shades of the city. I will inform the Lady of Lights myself, once I am done here."

"As you will, Light."

Miri turned to them as Danrall jogged off. "I hope I am correct in thinking you need some rest – and perhaps time to re-adjust your expectations and thoughts, yes?"

Tobimar laughed. "You are certainly correct, Miri. This is completely opposite to our expectations, and we have indeed been exhausted by our journey through what you call the Pass of Night and what we call Rivendream Pass. If you have only sent scouts up that place before, I do not wonder that you believe nothing good exists outside."

"Good. Then I'll guide you to the Sunlight Rest – the best lodging house here – and you may take your ease until the meeting is arranged, probably tomorrow at this same time." She turned and led them past the small, open shelter that Danrall had been sitting in – obviously a guard post – and down the path which was now becoming a paved street running straight into the center of the wooded city.

"So your title is that of Light, and from what I heard you have your other… what, military ranks? … of Colors, Hues, and Shades, yes?" Kyri asked.

"Military is a bit grandiose," Miri answered with another smile. "The Tenzeitalacor are more guardians of the Sha, or cities. We resolve any arguments, investigate crimes, deal with monsters and such problems."

That at least provided an opening. "More police than soldiers then. But crimes and monsters? Those seem hardly imaginable here, from what I see," Kyri said. They were now passing one of the great trees, a massive red-brown trunk farther across than two wagons placed end to end holding aloft branches that stretched hundreds of feet wide and high. Beneath, multiple buildings – houses and shops – were arranged along the streets that branched off from the main roadway they walked along. Multiple people – mostly human, though Kyri saw at least one or two that appeared to be Artan and possibly one Child of Odin – waved or nodded to Miri, who returned their greetings cheerfully but showed no tendency to pause or talk, leaving the various people to stare curiously at the two figures walking just behind the Light.

Miri shook her head. "Kaizatenzei is beautiful and peaceful, but people are still people. And in the regions between the seven great cities and the Unity, there are wilder areas, not nearly so hideous as that jungle we met within, but still not places without danger."

Tobimar pointed to some other figures Kyri had noticed, ones that had not waved, bowed, or even stared. "Who are those?" he asked. "I notice they are doing the more menial tasks." The nearest of the figures, clad in a simple gray tunic and apparently bald of head, was sweeping up dust from the street; that explained, at least partially, the cleanliness of the city.

Miri looked where he pointed. "Oh, now, say not who, but what," she said with a laugh. "Come, I will show you."

The diminuitive warrior quickened her steps to bring her in front of the working figure, which straightened up as it noticed her. At this range, Kyri could see that it was indeed not a living creature. The body appeared to be made of something like fine pottery, with glints of metal at the joints; there was a face, but mostly just painted or inlaid, with only bright green crystal eyes and a mouth that could move. It bowed to Miri. "I recognize you, Light," it said, in a calm, even voice. "Do you require a service?"

"Merely that you tell these strangers of yourself, then you may return to work."

It repeated the bow; Kyri found it somewhat eerie to watch, because unlike a living being, the repetition was absolutely exact, yet the fluidity of the thing's movement was nearly equal to that of a human being; even its hands were detailed and fine enough for the most delicate operations, while their material hinted at the potential for immense strength. "I am an Eternal Servant, number fifty-seven of those assigned to Sha Murnitenzei, named Patina for my finish." It held out an arm, so they could see the patina of fine cracks in the glaze of its body. "I was created one hundred twenty-two years ago by Master Wieran and assigned to this city one year following. My primary duties in the time since have been maintaining the cleanliness of the streets and building exteriors."

Having completed this description, Patina returned to sweeping up the dust of the street.

Kyri noticed Poplock's tense posture, the pose that generally showed that he was bursting with the desire to ask questions but knew he couldn't. Still, she'd studied enough basic magical theory to guess what he wanted to ask. "Hundreds of automata, all running for hundreds of years? How? Building such things is extremely difficult, as I understand it. Where we come from, people still do most such work."

Miri shrugged. "How is a question for Master Wieran, for he was the one who designed them and produces the Servants for us, a few every year, but over the years he has dwelt with us that has added up to considerable numbers indeed; I think there are about one hundred and eighty in each of the seven cities, and somewhat more than that in Kaiza itself."

She looked up. "Ah, here we are."

Sunlight Rest was an imposing building, stone-fronted with support beams of deep reddish-brown wood and a large double door in front of a lighter, amber wood, carven with a complex pattern of twining vines across a setting sun; currently both doors stood open, splitting the sun down the center, half on each. Miri led them inside, ignoring the curious stares of the various patrons within and walking straight up to a white-haired older woman who was just finishing giving instructions to two youths and one of the Servants.

The woman glanced up as the small group approached her, and rose from her desk smoothly. "Light Miri, a pleasure as always."

"Oh, you don't have to be so formal."

"Miri, then," she said with a smile, "What can I do for you?"

"Something simple enough, Dania," Miri said. Gesturing to Kyri and Tobimar, she continued, "These two are to be guests of the Lady of the Lights herself."

"And does the Lady know this yet?"

Miri laughed, a cheerful ringing sound that brightened the shaded interior of the inn. "You know me awfully well, I see. She will know. But true, for now, they are my guests."

"Well enough," Dania said. "Two rooms, then?"

"Adjoining, if you can," Tobimar said quickly.

"Of course," the older woman said. "You can leave it to me, Miri."

"I knew I could," Miri said with another bow that caused the ribbon in her hair to bounce. "Phoenix, Tobimar, I have other duties now, but you'll be as comfortable here as anywhere in the city, and I'll send word later when the meeting is all arranged."

"Just a moment, Miri," Kyri said. "We're still trying to understand exactly where we are. Do you have anything about these seven cities, your Unity, and so on?"

Ignoring Dania's sharp, startled glance, Miri nodded and dug into a tiny pouch at her side – a pouch that allowed her to insert at least half her arm inside. Neverfull pouch, at least. "Umm… here! This is a simple map we make… oh, there's a few notations on the back… Ah yes, I don't need those, so it's fine, you can have it." She handed the folded paper to Kyri.

"What about tomorrow?" Tobimar asked. "Do we stay in our rooms until –"

"Oh, no, no, you don't have to do that!" Miri said, an apologetic look on her face. "I didn't want us all bothered on the way here, but you don't have to be some kind of a secret! If you want to, by all means, look around, see whatever you wish. Just check back here every so often so you will get my message."

"All right, then," Kyri said. "Please don't let us detain you any longer; sorry for the trouble."

"Oh, it was no trouble at all," Miri said, and then with a rather girlish squeal said "Oh, this is going to be so exciting!"

She recovered her poise instantly, looking slightly embarrassed, and bowed with the uplifted arm again. They returned the bow as best they could, and Miri left with a wave and a spring in her step.

Dania, still studying them more intensely than before, led them upstairs, where two doors at the end of the hall opened into a pair of high, clean, fresh-smelling rooms.

Now… we need to talk!