Part 27
"The Roque Of Gybralltyr"
Long ago, in a place outside of time....
In Justicia, it didn't matter whether it was day or night, because there was no sun nor moon overhead. Instead, the city itself gleamed with its own natural light. High towers and strong pillars reflected brilliance everywhere, so that one could always find one's way. Here, winged Angels and blinking Shadows moved to and fro, contacting teams and gathering reports from activity done on the mortal plane, according to assignments from Juros.
Juros sat on his throne, surveying a table spread before him of his latest project. A dark void formed in the center of the room, and from its midst stepped a white-haired man. He bowed before the celestial being.
"Welcome, Polaris," said Juros.
"Welcome, Polaris," said Juros.
Juros nodded. "I have heard rumors and allegations that you are dissatisfied with some aspect of the assignment I've given you," he said lightly. "And I wanted to give you the opportunity to put them to rest." He spread his hands, brushing away the map and the table in the simple motion. "Ask away, my friend."
Polaris' lips twitched. He was straightforward enough to speak his mind to his peers, the other Abnormals, but to Juros? "I merely wondered at the reasoning behind the people you choose for the Angels to Gift," he said.
A smile played about Juros' face. "I think there was more to it than that, young Shadow." His wise eyes expressed the fact that he knew exactly every conversation, every muttered comment that had escaped Polaris' lips.
Polaris sighed. "All right--why? That's the question I want to ask."
"Why give the Gifts at all?" Juros prompted with a tilt of his head.
Polaris toyed with a tendril of shadow. "Why does the selection of mortals you prompt the Angels to Gift feel so random? It's a farmer here, a landlord there; one sibling, or an entire family; there just seems to be no rhyme or reason to it, and I have always considered you to be an orderly and equitable being." Polaris could hardly bring himself to look Juros in the eye.
Juros didn't seem put off by his candor. "What would make more sense to you?" he asked.
Juros didn't seem put off by his candor. "What would make more sense to you?" he asked.
Polaris shrugged, tugging at the lapels of his jacket. "Why not equip those mortals in valued positions? Let Gifts be given to the ones in charge, the ones who can actually make a difference. I almost feel at times that--" He bit the words back, recalling the one to whom he spoke. How dare he criticize Juros to his face!
Juros smiled knowingly--of course, the being who permitted mortals to have telepathy would have the ability to read minds, himself! "You think that Gifting ordinary people according to what they can use in their daily lives is wasteful? That they are not worthy of being Gifted if it's just going to be something that benefits their community?"
Polaris sighed, and kept his lips shut. His face was drawn, and Juros knew why.
"Ah, I see," mused the celestial ruler. "This is about the way I handled the situation at Gybralltyr, isn't it?"
Polaris sighed, and kept his lips shut. His face was drawn, and Juros knew why.
"Ah, I see," mused the celestial ruler. "This is about the way I handled the situation at Gybralltyr, isn't it?"
"If you had just allowed the Guardians to be Gifted, then perhaps they would have beat back the enemy!" Polaris blurted. "Maybe if the Gifted ones you sent were stronger, they would have been able to withstand the attacks against them, the city might not have fallen so easily."
"Are you sure the fault lies with me, Polaris?" Juros challenged. He waved his hand and the table appeared again, this time with a map displaying the last moments of that fateful clash between mortals and Gifted. He pointed to a few of the combatants. "What do you see here, my friend?" He said. "Do you see a mortal fighting a mortal, or do you see two men with Gifts using them against one another?"
Polaris averted his gaze. "I'm not saying that there weren't enough Gifts in that fight," he protested.
"No," Juros agreed. "You are implying that you think the wrong people were Gifted, and that if those you wanted to Jack had been Gifted, I would not have had to withdraw my seat from the mortal plane." Juros rotated the scene, showing another skirmish taking place. "Look here, Polaris: do you see the man using his Gift in defense of Gybralltyr?"
Polaris nodded, noting the spindly trees and small vines unfurling under the man's gestures. "He is a commoner," he said.
"A commoner, but fighting in our defense, nonetheless," Juros answered. "And because you considered him a commoner, you did not Jack his Gift, and he died. And over here," He pointed to another man who was in that instant crumpling under a crushing blow from the dark enemy. "This man was Gifted with intelligence to craft defenses for the city itself, so that it could remain secure--"
"Which I Jacked to a level I felt that Gybralltyr needed!" Polaris interjected.
Juros wagged his head. "You disregarded the limits of mortal capabilities, and so many of the traps this man devised were too ornate, too plentiful--and they never triggered in time. You didn't Nullify the Gifts of those you thought should be in charge, the ones who would actually make a difference--and because of this, we lost both Tengar and Lyssa today."
Polaris winced as Juros named the Angel and Shadow pair who were taken in the fight. "They didn't go down without a fight, at least. They gave their lives in defense of Gybralltyr."
"Are you saying this loss is acceptable?" Juros protested. "Do you care so little for your fellow Abnormals that you would come to me out of concern as to which mortals are Gifted, but not that we have an enemy who is even now torturing them to find the source of their power?"
Polaris hung his head. "You're right, Juros; if you would send me on a rescue mission--"
"I will not," Juros said in a voice much less agitated, but still firm. "I see that you must learn that there is value in all mortals, unGifted and Gifted; inasmuch as there is value in the Abnormals that have forms and abilities far beyond anything the mortals possess. Come with me, Polaris."
Juros teleported down to the mortal plane, and Polaris followed him by shadow-travel. They arrived at a road cutting through a lonely countryside. Juros waved his hand, and a gleaming knife appeared. Upon its blade was a constellation of several stars, ending with the main star--Polaris--upon its pommel. Before Polaris could ask about it, Juros turned and plunged the knife into Polaris' heart. The Shadow gasped, and dematerialized--but when he re-formed, he knew something was missing. He hung there in the shadows, frowning at his master.
"What have you done to me?" he asked.
Juros regarded him solemnly. "I have bound your physical form inside this knife. You will henceforth be at the behest of whoever wields it and calls you by name, and you must defend them from danger whenever they call--but they cannot perceive you, neither by sight, sound, or touch, nor will you be able to interact with them directly."
Polaris stared at the weapon. When he tried to grab it himself, his hand passed right through it--he was suspended in his shadow-form. "So this is to be my prison," he said hollowly. "And what is the condition of my release?"
"You will see," Juros waved his hand, dismissing Polaris from his presence.
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Present Day
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| Art credit |
The clamor didn't stop--the croaking shrieks of large birds, coupled with the screams of dying men. Edri adjusted the grip on her sword and charged back out into the fray. Anything black-leather or feathered, she struck. Things were getting weird at this point.
At first it was about an even mix of humans and birds, as each flock would land and fully transform before charging forward with every intention of decimating the White Castle's defenders. Then, as Edri and her knights began pushing back and establishing more of a perimeter around the garrison, she began to notice that the birds weren't exactly fully transforming.
"MRAWWK!" Shrieked a voice right in her face, as a hand ending in three savage talons arced toward her neck. Edri swung her sword up and slashed at the talons. Her attacker still had black wings sprouting from his shoulders that flapped and carried him backward into the melee, as he cradled his wounded hands. Where his mouth and nose should have been, there was only a hooked black beak. Edri shuddered.
K-BOOM!
The ground shook as Risyn let off another wave of explosive magical energy with a twirl of his staff. The birds, men, and bird-men lunged at him from all directions, even overhead--but the Mage held his own, striking and kicking and widening his circle of defense, pushing them further and further away.
The air beside Edri crackled, and a person manifested in the space right next to her. Edri shouted and swung her sword, angry at getting caught off-guard--but she switched directions mid-swing when she saw who it was beside her.
The air beside Edri crackled, and a person manifested in the space right next to her. Edri shouted and swung her sword, angry at getting caught off-guard--but she switched directions mid-swing when she saw who it was beside her.
"Forgot what?" Edri swung her sword at a female soldier halfway through the transformation, hopping about on giant bird-legs like some bizarre black-garbed harpy.
Lizeth yelped, and snap she came back into view on Edri's other side. "That's the trouble with these tinctures, is not only does the fact that I'm Gifted make it hard for me to use whatever ability it is but--Ack!" Lizeth ducked to avoid a black arrow sailing right over her head, and reappeared three feet to her right. "It also means I can't use my own Gift while still under its effects."
Edri saw a bird diving right toward her, so she grabbed a shield from a fallen soldier at her feet and held it up to protect her head, just as the kamikaze bird slammed into it with a clang! "Great, so doesn't that make you almost useless, since no matter how many Gifts you can try on, the one Gift you can control is not available to you?"
Lizeth scowled at her, as six massive crows carried off another soldier from within the garrison. They flew with him up to the parapet, and dropped him, screaming, into the fray below. "Not entirely! Some Gifts are just easier to control than others. I just need to find the right one." To prove her point, Lizeth selected another vial and downed its contents.
Edri watched her carefully for any sign of a new ability. "Which one was that?"
Lizeth licked her lips. "I think it was some sort of duplica--Ah-CHOO!" She sneezed--and suddenly there were three identical Lizeths!
"Huzzah!" One of the duplicates cried, as she--they--recovered from the shock of seeing herself in triplicate. Another one sneezed, and more duplicates popped up around the battlefield--pretty soon, the number of Lizeths would equal the number of birds still fighting!
"Huzzah!" One of the duplicates cried, as she--they--recovered from the shock of seeing herself in triplicate. Another one sneezed, and more duplicates popped up around the battlefield--pretty soon, the number of Lizeths would equal the number of birds still fighting!
Over the squall of crows and angry fighters, Edri's ears caught the sleek tones of a wolf's howl. Velora and her pack had arrived!
The castle drawbridge dropped with a thunderous crash, and wolves dashed among the avian invaders. Edri found new resolve as she saw Velora herself enter the courtyard, armed to the teeth and swinging her sword. Her relief turned to alarm when she saw who followed her--Raedyn, the escaped prisoner who overpowered her guards!
Velora had carved her way through the mess to reach Edri by the time the commander spluttered, "What is he doing here?"
Velora nodded with understanding when she identified the person in question. "Raedyn is under my protection," she said. "He's paying for all the wrong he's done, you won't have to worry about him again."
New faces emerged in the fight, and Edri examined the dark-haired strangers with interest. "Who are they?" She gestured toward them. A male with a pale face, and a female with skin of a darker shade endeavored to round up and ensnare the attackers in magical traps and barriers.
"Prince Spruce and Princess Tamarind, of the Court of Elvendom," Velora explained, lifting her boot and kicking away an enterprising crow hopping along the ground. "They have as much interest in stopping the Crow Queen as we do--in fact, they were the ones to get us onto the notion of a knife that seems to be the only weapon that can stop the Queen once and for all."
Edri wiped the sweat from her brow and surveyed the pair with renewed interest.
Prince Spruce waved his hands, and a blowing wind swept a whole throng of crow-soldiers aside, giving him an opening to approach the two women.
"Come with me," he said. "Tamarind has reached your friends--and one of them has need of a healer."
He didn't move, but Velora grabbed onto his arm, and held out her hand to Edri. The redheaded commander frowned in confusion, but the moment she clasped hands with Velora, an invisible force seemed to shove her backward, and when she stumbled and caught herself, they stood in near-silence.
Edri gasped for breath, and looked around herself. The stones were the same ones that made the castle--they were still on the palace grounds, but-- "Where are we?" she asked.
"I found a safe place for us," said another voice, as the second Elf--Princess Tamarind--nodded to the three of them in greeting. Lizeth was there already, cradling the bluefire in her hands as she prepared some herbal remedies. Edri saw Risyn standing guard, placing runes around the door, as well as the windows and the roof. Sir Roger sat against the wall beside her, and on a pair of stretchers lay two men: an injured Raedyn, and a mangled mess of a man that could only be Sir Landis.
Edri frowned and glanced at Prince Spruce. "Only two?" She voiced her concern.
Spruce shrugged. "They were the only ones we were able to salvage from the garrison--the rest had all been shoved into the cells of the dungeon."
Lizeth spread her poultice over Raedyn's wounds, but when she looked over and caught Edri's gaze, her eyes dropped to the unconscious Landis. "My skill only extends to simpler, smaller wounds. I'm afraid I must leave that man's wounds to a Gift such as yours," she said.
Edri sighed and removed her gloves as she knelt by Sir Landis. She hesitated with her glowing blue hand hovering just inches from his body. How many times had he deliberately allowed himself to be wounded, just to have the pleasure of her touch as she healed him up? Didn't he understand that the longer she had to sustain the energy of her Gift, the more it drained her own body of vital energy? Was she ready to put herself through it yet again, in the middle of a hostile takeover?
Landis shifted slightly, although she hadn't touched him. His eyes fluttered open, and at once she saw the agony in his gaze. He held her gaze for a moment, and then his eyelids fluttered closed, but Edri had already decided what she needed to do. She closed her eyes, focused on the energy emanating from her hand, and honed all of her senses upon knitting the bones, muscle, and skin back together, from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. By the time she came out of it, Landis lay sleeping peacefully, and Lizeth had finished tending to Raedyn. Edri slumped against the stone wall as she watched the scientist gulp down another vial and close her eyes.
A smile played about Lizeth's face. "This must be what Azelie feels like all the time," she mused.
Edri glanced in confusion at Velora, who whispered, "She took a tincture that would give her telepathy. She's trying to find the others."
"Got them!" Lizeth announced. "I can hear Damaris--he's with Javira, Anahita, and Trev," she said. "They haven't been discovered, that's good! They're below the east tower, Damaris says."
Velora stood to her feet. "It would be safer if we were all together," she said. "I'll go and retrieve them."
She moved toward the door at the side of the room, but Spruce stepped forward and raised a hand.
"This should allow you to pass quickly to the spot near where your friends are hiding. I can hold it closed on our side, but leave it open on the other side for you to come back to us just as quickly, so that our spot will remain undetected."
Velora nodded to the Elven prince, and stepped through the portal. Spruce waved a hand over it, and the hollow space in the air became a solid surface.
After several minutes, he opened it again, and Velora emerged--but the only people with her were Javira and Anahita. The young water-dancer was still weeping profusely.
Lizeth had already purged the tincture from her system, as being able to hear so many thoughts without the practice to control them was taxing to her. She frowned in confusion. "What happened?"
Lizeth had already purged the tincture from her system, as being able to hear so many thoughts without the practice to control them was taxing to her. She frowned in confusion. "What happened?"
Javira shook her head and slumped onto the floor of the empty room. "Damaris... We were all hiding and staying quiet, but then he started mumbling something about hearing your voice in his head. The next thing we knew, a bunch of soldiers burst into the room where we were hiding and they took Trev and Damaris."
"It was like they didn't even see us!" wailed Anahita. "They just came in, grabbed the two of them, and dragged them off somewhere!"
"To the Queen, no doubt," Risyn nodded sagely. "She must have some nefarious purpose for specifically targeting them, and leaving two others behind."
"Unless they would have come back for these two, if I hadn't shown up," growled Velora.
"What do we do now?" Anahita whimpered.
Edri glanced at Sir Roger, who was stroking his beard, the way he often did when observing a particularly difficult situation. He caught her gaze and held it with a serious nod.
"The time for hiding is no longer," said the grizzled soldier, rising to his feet. He looked around the room, meeting everyone's gaze with that determined gleam in his own eye. "Now we must act."
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Jaran nodded toward Erlis and Seline doing what they could to help the wounded. Even Brinley--once she got Bronn settled in a corner to rest--proved rather adept at the healing arts. They are in good hands, he reassured his wife.
Denahlia rested on a cot, her wrists covered in many cuts but hardly any blood. She wouldn't let anyone touch her, though. "I've got this," she said, and from the distance, it did seem as though her skin was repairing itself. Azelie had to marvel--she had no idea how such a thing could be possible.
On the other side, Aurelle fidgeted with her talisman-stone as she watched over Cori bandaging up Reva's wounds. Quilla and Kaidan sat next to each other, nibbling from the feast that their hostess, Tessa, brought into the room. Azelie found herself studying this young woman, searching for the familial resemblance to the Mage back at the White Castle.
Tessa herself stood at the middle of the room, surveying everything with a smile. "All settled?" She said brightly. "Good!" Her hand dropped to her side, and Azelie noticed for the first time that she had a knife secured in a decorative sheath hanging by her hip, blending in with her dress. She tensed as Tessa drew the knife from its sheath--what was she going to do? She dimly recalled the fact that they were looking for a certain knife...
"Polaris," Tessa announced to no one in particular. "Secure the house."
The blade of the knife began to glow, and at first Azelie could see the glowing orb of light forming in the air beside Tessa's shoulder.
Then doors began to slam, and Denahlia jerked upright.
"Is this house automated?" she asked eagerly, but Azelie knew that no one else understood that word. Lately, Denahlia had been using a lot of words that no one in The Realm understood.
"No, look!" Aurelle pointed to the upper part of the room, where the shutters on the high bay windows were swinging shut and locking with a series of loud bangs.
Azelie gasped. The silver-haired man she had been following earlier now floated in midair, closing windows and locking doors! "It's him!" She told Jaran. Now everybody was watching this man floating around--everyone but Denahlia who frowned in confusion. "What's him? All I see is a glowing star moving around and shutting things."
Azelie gasped. The silver-haired man she had been following earlier now floated in midair, closing windows and locking doors! "It's him!" She told Jaran. Now everybody was watching this man floating around--everyone but Denahlia who frowned in confusion. "What's him? All I see is a glowing star moving around and shutting things."
The final door happened to be just behind Erlis, standing next to Beren's bed. She gasped as the ethereal man seemed to float right through her--and then his arms extended, repelling him backward as he hovered, frowning in confusion.
Azelie blinked as Zayra's thoughts reached her.
Someone just ran into me.
Who did, Zayra? I didn't think that was possible. You're incorporeal.
That man we saw outside. Do you see him again now?
Yes, Azelie responded, staring at the man in the flowing grey cloak with the gleaming silver hair.
"What's the star doing?" Denahlia asked behind her.
Azelie watched the man raise his hand, as if caressing something.
Azelie! Zayra's thoughts held a note of excitement. He touched me! He can actually touch me! He says his name is Polaris, and I am the first person he's touched since...
Zayra's thoughts stopped mid-sentence, and Azelie tried to find what had happened. Zayra, what do you mean, the first person he's touched?
Zayra didn't answer, so Azelie turned to the other person who would know the information they sought. "Tessa," she addressed the woman who graciously opened her home and gave them safety. "Who is Polaris?"
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