The Awakening (46 page)

Chapter Forty-nine

“You must listen to me, uncle,” the tired and worn out elf said. “The greatest battle of all time is about to commence and your brethren need your strength and support.”

“My brother, Whitestar, has chosen to remain apart from his kin for all these tiels. He has made no contact with me or with my people. Every overture that we have made to Eleutheria has been rebuffed on the premise that you prefer not to meddle in the affairs of the world. The only news that I ever receive from there comes to me through the Chosen, and even that is sparse and pitiable. What has changed, Kalon? Why now? And how is it that you, out of all people, are his spokesperson for such a campaign?”

The bedraggled elf stood before the throne of Bristar of Crispen, King of the Mountain Elves, and bent his head in shame. Everyone in the chamber was silent, and the only sound that could be heard was a faint rumbling that permeated even the solid rock walls. The war room was massive, hewn into the center of a huge rock formation that stood upon the precipice beside Silandre, the living mountain. The walls glittered and shone, illuminated naturally by the iridescent minerals that imbued them. The floor was polished to such a high degree that the reflections repeated themselves over and over again within it, making it appear endlessly deep. The throne upon which Bristar sat was carved from a single block of a deep, crimson-colored quartz. Perched upon the gleaming surface as it was, it seemed to float in a sea of liquid all by itself. Kalon hovered before it upon one knee.

“I have disgraced myself in front of my people and I have betrayed my father, my King,” he said, his back a slow curve, to a hushed and attentive room. “In my selfishness, I believed that the best way for the people of Eleutheria to protect themselves was to ignore what was happening all around them, and to prevent the outside world from entering our domains. I thought that with time, as has always been the case, the peoples of the world would fight amongst themselves, shed each other’s blood mercilessly and flagrantly, and then come to a tentative resolution until it all began again. I thought that we could be spared the conflagration,” Kalon explained. “My Sister Alemar, disagreed, and I scoffed at her both publicly and privately, seeking to undermine her and cause the people to mistrust her. Alas, I did not understand our enemy. Nor did I understand Alemar’s unselfishness.”

“Why do you come to me now? We have problems of our own, nephew. The very mountain which sustains us and upon which we make our home is coming to life once again, after having been still for three hundred tiels. The fires smolder and the rock seethes beneath our foundations. What makes you think that your supplication will cause us to abandon our defenses and march to the aid of another? Treestar has not beckoned me. He sent neither an emissary, nor a signal of any kind requesting our aid. Why should I heed the admonition of a self proclaimed scoundrel, whose family has not kept even the semblance of kinship and loyalty alive between us?” the King asked.

Kalon stood up tall and straight and he looked his uncle deep in the eyes.

“Because I know that you will. I have learned what it is like to live with cowardice. And I have learned what it is like to watch as others do the noble deed and I sit alone, cowering before my fears and doubts. I have seen in my sister what true nobility is. Her altruism and courage should be an example for us all,” he said looking around the room now. “Had it been up to her, our people would have never been so isolated. She would have welcomed you with open arms to Eleutheria had I not opposed her at every turn. No one has asked me to come to you. And no one from my country knows that I am here. I left my home downcast and dishonored, and I wandered the cold hills for days before I realized what I had to do.”

Kalon dropped his chin to his chest and gazed at the rock floor for a moment or two. His head shot up once more.

“You will not turn your back on your other brother, regardless of how you feel about me and my father,” he asserted with resolve and certainty. “Do you think it a coincidence that the land beneath you changes now? Eleutheria was almost destroyed by the Dark Lord. Caeltin’s power reached into the very bedrock of the west, and the snows began to melt all around us. If we cannot stop Caeltin in Seramour, there will be little you will be able to do to prevent the destruction here. He grows more powerful each day as the Lalas die. If he captures the heir, he captures the hope of the world. I know that now, and I am ashamed that I was so blinded by what I perceived to be self interest in the past.”

“We have heard that in the east there are rebellions. We have heard that humans have turned against the trees, claiming that the Lalas have abandoned them. Is this true, Kalon?” the King asked, drawing in his breath.

“We have heard the same, Uncle. None of my people have been to the region to verify the rumors. But, the world is in turmoil and Colton thrives upon it. He cannot continue to do so unopposed.”

“Do you think the trees have abandoned us, nephew?” Bristar asked.

“If they did, then how could Alemar have saved my people by planting the seeds that now keep Caeltin D’Are Agenathea at bay and drive the evil from the very heart of my city? Why would they have helped us if they have forsaken us?” he asked. “No, it is we who have forsaken them, uncle.”

“Does my brother ride to Seramour?”

“No, sire. My sister leads the army on his behalf. They are as loyal to her as any soldiers could be.”

“I see,” he replied, deep in thought. “Have they sufficient strength to make a difference?”

“Father sent them all, Uncle; our entire army. He did not feel that the city required more than a handful to defend it after Alemar brought the seeds back from the caves of Carloman. The trees have created an impenetrable barrier around our city. And the ice has frozen solid once again,” Kalon explained.

Bristar closed his eyes. After a few moments, he lifted his lordly chin and scanned the room, from one side to the other, until he rested his gaze finally upon Kalon.

“We will honor your request, nephew,” Bristar said soberly, nodding. “Our army will join the others in Lormarion. If what you say is true, then the Evil One must be stopped now or our own efforts here will be futile no matter how extensive. Is Elion in the Heights at this time?” Bristar inquired fondly of his other nephew.

“No, sire. He did not return with the others as Treestar and Elsinestra had so hoped. His whereabouts are unknown to me, but he remained with Tomas, the heir’s brother.”

The King sighed. “And you know this for certain?”

“Yes. Alemar had spoken with Wayfair, and he has so informed her.”

“My brother and his Queen must have been heartbroken by this,” Bristar said, sad-eyed. “They love him so. He was returning home from here when he stumbled upon the heir, did you know?” Bristar reminisced. “I hope he is safe wherever he is. And Dalloway? What news have you of my other nephew?”

“As for Elion, we heard the story of his heroics, both on his way back home and again during the great battle of Pardatha. He is a cousin that I am anxious to meet, though I fear that his disdain for me may prevent that,” Kalon said, his skin reddening. “Alas, his brother Dalloway and I also had our differences. I am afraid that I was the cause of his premature departure from Eleutheria,” Kalon said with genuine regret. His past transgressions weighed so heavily upon him now.

“They are both noble of heart, Kalon. And Elion is more forgiving than prudence dictates at times. I can only assume that his brother is of a similar kind. Your honorable deed here will undoubtedly create much good will amongst the three families.”

“I seek only to help, sire. I could no longer live with myself when I realized how far I had strayed from the path. Perhaps one day my people will forgive me, but I am here before you only because I think your help is needed. I seek no commendation now for doing what is right. It has take me a long time to realize this. The satisfaction of being at one with my emotions is more than sufficient recompense.”

“Well spoken, my son,” Bristar said. “I believe what you say, and I perceive that you aspire to no personal aggrandizement for your actions. It is the deed born of noble intent that is the most efficacious, for it inspires beyond the moment of its completion.”

Kalon bowed deeply to the King once more.

Bristar arched one eyebrow. “Will you ride with your cousins?” he asked.

“It would be an honor to me far greater than you can imagine, sire,” Kalon said, blushing a deep crimson and staring down at the cold, stone floor as he responded.

“Good. In that case, let us waste no more time.” The King beckoned to an attendant. “Take my nephew to the room next to my own and provide him with all that he needs to freshen up and ready himself for the ride to Lormarion. We shall begin the preparations immediately,”

As Kalon left the throne room, stirred by feelings he had never experienced before, Bristar summoned the Council of Crispen in order to plan the long march south to Seramour and to the defense of his brother and the heir.

Chapter Fifty

The sky grew as black as coal, coalescing in violent swirls of smothering mists and obscuring whatever light remained in the sky. Treestar and Elsinestra stared upward, apprehensive, anxious for the group assembled before them to depart the city. But before they could step out of the doorway, the air around them exploded. Thousands upon thousands of tiny black objects descended upon them through the camouflage of the thick clouds, bouncing and shooting frenziedly in all directions. They fell to the floor in ever increasing numbers, creating a rapidly thickening blanket of debris that accumulated around their feet. Like tiny black marbles an inch or so in diameter, they rolled and spread out all over, settling into all the corners and crevices as well as in the middle of the floor, and leaving no space uncluttered and untouched.

Filaree drew her sword. “What is this?” she asked while brushing a few of the hard pellets from her hair.

“I am not certain, but it cannot be anything good,” Robyn replied, picking up one of the pieces and examining it.

“It is falling all over the city,” Treestar declared, looking down over the wall of the Chamber of the Stars.

“Do you hear that?” Cairn asked.

“It sounds like a buzzing,” Elsinestra said.

Cairn stepped to the wall. “Yes, it does. I think it is coming from these things all over the place,” he said.

“What are they?” Filaree poked one with the sharp tip of her blade.

“I have not seen their like before, but I can tell you now that they are alive,” Robyn declared.

“Alive?” Treestar questioned aghast.

“Yes. This is merely a shell,” Robyn explained, as he held one up for them all to see.

While he spoke, the black article in his fingers split open and a hideous insect-like creature emerged, causing him to flinch and drop the thing to the ground. Quickly, he stepped hard upon it, squashing it beneath his boot. But as soon as he removed his foot from the remains of the bug, it came to life once again, its parts regenerating as quickly as they had been dismembered.

All around them now, the shells were cracking open and multitudes of these bugs were squirming out. Each one was no more than an inch in length, with many legs and a hard shell. Where the mouth should have been was a small, pointed beak. As they watched in horror, the insects perched upon their hind legs and began to dig in the ground. The stone resisted their efforts, but wherever there was wood, the needle-like point slid easily in. Within seconds, a droning sound reached everyone’s ears, and they could all see that these monstrous insects were trying to devour the wood.

Cairn wasted no time in watching. He stomped upon every one that he could, and the others did the same, though there were so many it was virtually impossible to trample them all.

But to their great dismay, they realized that their actions were futile.

“Have they fallen all over the city?” Treestar asked as his foot came down heavily upon one of the unopened shells.

Robyn spun around. “Yes, everywhere,” He gazed out over the wall.

“We cannot stop them in this manner,” Filaree said. “Is there nothing you can do, Robyn?”

“They are creatures born of Colton’s magic. It will take me time to understand them,” he replied.

In the meanwhile, it was obvious what the Dark Lord intended hereby. The insects had already begun to insert themselves into the wood of the room, and as more and more of them burst from their shells and set to their evil work, the droning grew louder. With the increased volume, they undertook to devour anything in their path that was organic. They were voracious eaters, and they digested the cellulose so quickly that they left trails of excrement behind them as they advanced through the footings.

“They will destroy the city in the blink of an eye,” Treestar declared.

“There must be something we can do. Can we not gather them and throw them down the shafts into the woods below?” Filaree asked.

“So that they can consume the very foundations of Seramour?” the King exclaimed, horrified.

“If we do not prevent them from continuing their rampage, there will be nothing left for the foundations to hold up,” Cairn said.

“There must be some way to stop them,” Filaree said.

Davmiran stood in silence, staring southward, seemingly oblivious to all that was occurring around him. He turned slowly to face the group and looked at Robyn with a quizzical expression upon his face. Robyn rushed to his side and grasped his left hand with his own right one.

“Follow my guidance,” he said to the boy, as he raised their clasped hands before them.

They both stood there with their arms outstretched and their eyes closed, communicating with one another as if they were both Chosen. Simultaneously, they each lifted their free arm and held it straight in the air beside them, both appearing to point at the sky. The others watched as a greenish hue began to envelop the two of them, drawn from the air itself it seemed, and cascaded down each of their extended arms. It grew brighter and brighter by the moment and a tangible heat could be felt throughout the chamber.

“Focus, Dav. Focus,” Robyn insisted. “You must concentrate.”

Soon, the light that they had summoned had saturated them completely, until their skin was as green as a sapling in the morning sun. Davmiran’s once blue eyes glowed vermilion and bright, and Robyn’s had transmuted as well. Shortly, a thin tendril of light began to extend from the tips of their clasped fingers and it seemed at first as if they were struggling to control it. It lashed from left to right in wide arcs, and they fought to hold their arms steady. Eventually, Robyn and Dav stabilized their clenched arms and pointed the light at a group of the creatures rapaciously gnawing their way through the substratum of the chamber.

“Do not waver, Dav. Now is the time to purify the energy,” Robyn instructed his apprentice. “Good. Now, concentrate upon it.”

When the first of the insidious insects was touched by the light, it hesitated, pulled its pointed snout out of the hard wood and looked in the direction of the Chosen. A split second later, it burst apart and its shell and legs and horny head shot off in opposite directions. As the tiny parts hit the floor, they immediately deteriorated into a pile of fine powder, dead and inanimate.

“They have found a way,” Filaree remarked, a broad grin on her lips. “But there are thousands of these things all over the city. How can they possibly rid all of Seramour of them before it is too late?” she asked.

“At least we can exterminate them here. Maybe Robyn can extend this power further, now that he knows it will be effective,” Cairn said.

Treestar and Elsinestra stood together, whispering to one another.

“I must leave you,” the King said. “Although our defenses are well organized, we had anticipated an attack of a different sort. Our fighters are ill equipped to defend against an enemy such as this. Their arrows and spears will be ineffective. They will need guidance,” he said.

“You must not allow yourselves to be trapped in the city,” Elsinestra remarked. “No matter what the peril to Seramour, the cost will be far greater if you do not escape safely with the heir.”

“How can we abandon you?” Filaree asked. “It seems that Robyn and Dav are currently the only ones who can help here,” she said, as they focused their light upon a group of bugs in the corner, leaving only a pile of black powder behind. “What will you tell your soldiers?” she asked.

“They cannot do this to all these creatures,” Elsinestra said. “By the time they finish here, the city will be riddled with gaping holes. At best, they can purge this chamber of the horror.”

Before anyone had a chance to speak any further, Robyn and Davmiran backed up toward the wall nearest them without releasing their grip upon one another. Together, they stood with their arms outstretched. The greenish glow was growing in intensity, though they had not unleashed it again on the vociferous beasts covering the floor.

“Let it build between us, Dav. Open yourself to it,” Robyn continued to direct him. “Become one with it. Feel it in your blood,” he said.

Davmiran stood expressionless next to the Chosen. By this time, they were both totally immersed in the radiance of the power that they had drawn upon.

“What are they doing now?” Filaree asked, shielding her eyes from the brightness. “I cannot even look at them any longer.”

“We shall soon see,” Cairn replied. “The air is so charged with energy that even I can feel it.”

Just as Cairn finished his sentence, Robyn nodded his head. A brilliant shower of greenish force flooded the room and rolled out from the two standing figures like a wave to the shoreline. It hugged the floor and swaddled each and every creature that stood upon it. As each one was touched by the light, it withdrew its beak from the wood and looked toward the Chosen. Scant seconds later, a faint cracking sound could be heard by everyone present, and the loathsome fiends, these abominable creations of Colton’s, disintegrated before everyone’s eyes, with nothing left behind more perilous than a dark greyish powder.

Within moments the light dispersed, leaving Robyn and Davmiran standing in the corner, with their arms still entwined. Filaree and Cairn rushed to their side to make certain that they were stable enough to remain erect, and each grasped an elbow in order to provide support in the event that this exercise had drained them of their strength.

Davmiran’s face was flushed and his eyes were glossy, but his legs remained firm. Robyn seemed no different than he was before, though his eyes were not fully open.

“Can we do anything to help?” Cairn asked.

“No, thank you,” Robyn replied softly. “We will both be fine within minutes,” he said, his mind clearly elsewhere. “The boy is remarkably strong. And he is a very quick learner. I merely guided him in an elementary way and he understood almost intuitively. He was able to generate a massive amount of power under the circumstances. It will be easier than I ever expected to teach him.”

“We should speculate upon these issues at some other time, Robyn,” Cairn reminded him. “I fear that the rest of Seramour has not fared as well as we have here in disposing of these invaders.”

Horns blew loudly now throughout the city, indicating that help was needed, and Treestar listened to them all. The King was becoming more and more agitated and disturbed as the frequency of the signals increased with each passing moment.

“Now that you have the opportunity, you must leave the city,” he said to the others. “Adain. Lead them out. The sooner you depart here, the better.”

“What will you do then to prevent these things from destroying everything?” Cairn asked.

“If you remain here and the heir is captured or harmed, what will the difference be if Seramour survives the day?” Elsinestra asked. “Without your freedom, all will be lost.”

“My wife is right. We will do whatever we can. But, there is no question that you four must go as quickly as possible. You have neither the time nor the ability to save us now,” he insisted, looking out over his beloved city. “These things are everywhere,”

“It will take time for me to gain back my full strength,” Robyn said, as if thinking out loud. “But, the boy’s ability is profound, perhaps he will recover more quickly.”

Dav stood in silence next to Robyn with his eyes still half closed.

“You know that we cannot abandon you?” Robyn said to Treestar and Elsinestra.

“But you must, Robyn,” Elsinestra insisted.

Filaree rose up straight and proud. “You do not know us then,” she said.

“This should not be the first lesson the boy learns,” Cairn added. “We understand how vital his survival is. But, when choices such as these confront us, larger lessons are learned; life lessons. To run from this terror, and to desert those who have provided shelter and succor with no thought of the perils to them and theirs, would be the wrong thing to do. If my duty is to teach this boy right from wrong, I cannot begin my charge by choosing to run away,”

Davmiran staggered and Robyn reached out his arm to steady him. Elsinestra gasped and rushed to his side as well. When he regained his balance, he opened his eyes wide and they were clear and lucid once again.

“They come,” the boy announced.

Just as he finished his words, something streaked across the darkened sky, descending from the thick cloud cover above them.

“Take shelter,” Robyn yelled. “Drop to the floor,”

Everyone in the room dropped down upon the cold stone as instructed except for Davmiran who stood tall and exposed, and continued to stare at the thing coming directly toward him. Filaree jumped up and dove for the boy. She tackled him around the knees and the two of them went crashing to the hard surface only seconds before a barbed missile careened into the truncated wall directly behind where he had previously been standing. It embedded itself into the stone and burst into flame, sizzling and steaming as it grew in intensity.

Cairn rushed over to it and stamped the smoldering fire out, though it had already scarred the hard rock of the escarpment. With his hands wrapped in his cloak, he lifted the remains of the projectile and heaved it over the side of the wall.

Filaree lay upon the floor, partially covering Davmiran with her body. Cairn walked over to them and helped her to her feet. Dav rose to his feet and they all gathered in the center of the room.

“We have our hands full, it seems,” Robyn said, grimacing. “Now is not the time for us to retreat, your Highness. Unfortunately, you will have to tolerate our presence for a while longer.”

“I still wish you would reconsider,” he said. “I cannot remain in this room any longer regardless of what you decide to do. I would feel better if I could depart knowing that the heir was safe and on his way to another location. But, I am not the one to make these decisions for you. I have much else to contend with at the moment.”

Elsinestra joined her husband at the door and they hugged tightly. She kissed him on the cheek and spoke some words quietly into his ear. Treestar bowed his head for a second and then lifted her hand to his lips.