Phoenix Rising (55 page)

Kyri gave him the full pirouette of the Armed Bow. “I shall be careful, Xavier. And you will always be welcome, in my home or at my side in peace or war.” She smiled suddenly, and Poplock noticed an answering smile on Tobimar’s face as well as Xavier’s. “And perhaps you will come to know Myrionar one day, and we shall give you a new name as a Justiciar.”

He laughed. “That’d be something, all right.”

Turning back to Poplock and Tobimar, he slowly and with ceremony reached back to the two hilts with the seven towers and parallel blades graven upon them, grasped them, and drew forth his swords. The green blades came out and were brought before him, parallel as those on their hilts. “Tobimar.”

Tobimar drew his own swords and held them in the mirror of Xavier’s pose. “Xavier.”

The two bowed slowly to each other, and then with a laugh sheathed their blades. Tobimar stepped forward and embraced Xavier; Poplock saw startlement in Xavier’s eyes, a look of a young man rather taken aback, but a moment later he managed a faint grin and returned the hug. “Hey, don’t get all sentimental on me,” Xavier said.

“You are going to a place few return from,” Tobimar said. “And you then seek to accomplish a quest that is almost unthinkable.”

“I’m going to be one of those few,” Xavier answered. “Believe it. And don’t think you’re never going to see me again. You will.”

“I’ll expect you, then.”

“Only when you
least
expect me,” he answered with a grin. “Okay, Poplock—keep an eye on
both
of these guys for me, all right?”

The little Toad bounced over and shook the extended hand between both of his. “As always.”

“Well . . . then I guess this is goodbye.” He gave one more reassuring grin. “For now.”

They watched the slender, dark figure fade into the night; when none of them could see any more, they began walking again.

The three were silent for a few moments as they walked down the road towards Vantage Fortress, which Kyri was mistress of in the absence of her aunt. Poplock noticed, but did not comment on, the fact that the two humans were walking rather closely together.
They’ll notice it themselves, when they’re ready to think about it. That Watchland’s already noticed, of course. I think
he
kinda wants to be doing the walking with her too.

“I guess I’ll—”

“When do we—”

The two had spoken at the same time and both broke off in the same instant, and both then tried to say “Go ahead” at the same time, and then, “No, you first,” and at that point both of them broke into laughter. Poplock joined them.

Once the laughs had died down, Poplock said, “Since I’m the disinterested observer, I say
you
should start, Phoenix.”

“Oh,
please
don’t call me Phoenix, I get enough of that from everyone else.”

“But it’s so
funny
to see you twitch.” The mock-glare she gave him was still surprisingly intimidating. “Okay, okay. Anyway, go ahead.”

“You are a cruel little Toad,” she said, still giggling. “Tobimar, I was
going
to ask when we had to leave.”

Poplock had to hang on as Tobimar halted suddenly. “Leave? Um, I was about to say that I guessed I should find myself some more permanent rooms in town, since we were staying.”

She shook her head. “No, no, Tobimar, you’ve got your own quest, and—”

“—and it’s waited twelve thousand years, I think I can forgive a few more days, or weeks, or maybe even months, if the world will let us have them.”

Kyri looked torn. “Well . . . I appreciate that, but there’s so many terrible things going on . . .”

“And right now, we’re not part of them,” Poplock pointed out. “Not trying to sound like I don’t care, but . . . I guess the real question is whether things are over
here
.”

Kyri opened her mouth to answer, closed it, started to say something again, and then stopped, looking more thoughtful. The two humans started walking again.

“That’s . . . not quite as easy to answer as I thought at first,” Kyri said finally.

“What about the other false Justiciars?” Poplock asked.

“Our best guess is that they must have gone to Justiciar’s Retreat; it’s a place only the Justiciars can go to, hidden by all kinds of spells. I
might
be able to find it . . . but maybe not.
Something
was giving them the power to pretend to be Justiciars, and we know it wasn’t Thornfalcon alone.”

“No,” Tobimar said slowly. “They were still using their powers after we know Thornfalcon was dead. And Thornfalcon also essentially
told
us that he used to be human and his ‘patron’ made him otherwise. Whatever was doing this not only isn’t human, it’s got to be immortal or close to it.”

“That’s the way I think it has to be,” Kyri said after a moment. “Something that could slowly work its way in, corrupt the Justiciars, and then act as a . . . supporter, a patron, for the false Justiciars. This patron must have allowed them to take over the Retreat, and unless that patron
was
Thornfalcon, I’d have to guess the Retreat’s secure from easy approach.” She looked pensive. “On the other hand, the whole country now knows the truth. They can’t set foot in the rest of Evanwyl without the alarm being sounded.”

“What about that diary I heard about?” Poplock asked.

“Oh,
that
.” Kyri looked sour. “Well, it proves that we did the right thing in confronting everyone and pushing the issue, instead of waiting. Thornfalcon had kept a false diary somewhere that it was guaranteed to be found—and in a spelled safe, so it might have survived even if we
had
put his mansion to the torch. It was a perfect cover story—made it sound like he was simply weak and tempted into betraying the Justiciars as an individual. Even explains the Gateway in his house, in a way.”

Poplock was, unwillingly, impressed. “
Drought
, he was a sneaky one. Brought those monsters in without anyone else knowing so he could get your brother killed while everyone was distracted, wrote a cover story to keep the Justiciars clean if he was caught—and if he was their boss, probably set up stories for them, too.”

She nodded her head. “He must have assumed that if something
did
happen, he’d be cornered alone—in a group, almost nothing could beat them—and so if the others just kept their heads they’d be able to pass it off as a terrible, treacherous action by one weak member corrupted by the powers that lie beyond Rivendream Pass.”

“That’s where the Gateway went?”

“Sasha—our summoner and also a symbolist of some skill—confirmed it. She went over the remains and said the resonances show it goes to the north, straight through Rivendream and to . . . whatever lies on the other side.”

She looked over to Tobimar. “We didn’t really get a chance to talk before this night’s party—how did both of you do?”

“It was
definitely
Condor who found Shrike’s body before us,” Tobimar said, and Poplock could see the girl wince in pained sympathy. “He ran off towards the west once he’d confirmed Shrike was dead. I’d guess he’s at your Retreat too, since that was the same direction Skyharrier flew in. We did find a couple of witnesses who saw him moving straight as an arrow and, as one said, ‘looking as though Death itself was on his back.’”

She looked torn. “I wish . . .”

“I know,” Poplock said, at the same time that Tobimar did; the Toad continued, “but if he’s got any chance for salvation, he’s got to make the move. He’s gotta know the truth by now; if he ever comes to meet with you, well, then you can decide to give him a chance.”

“Is Evanwyl safe?” Tobimar asked. “Everyone else is at war, after all.”

Kyri didn’t answer immediately, as they walked up the broad steps to the entrance; the doors opened as the three reached them. “For now? I think so, actually,” she said after a few moments. “If your guesses are right, these people were connected to the whole plan, and whatever their plan was obviously
didn’t
involve immersing Evanwyl in the war, at least not right away. Now, we’ve disrupted their original plans, but right now they’ve
already
committed their forces to the largest countries on the continent—and off it, like Artania.”

Tobimar laughed suddenly. “Of course. Since they never planned on it in the first place, they almost certainly haven’t got anything to
spare
for Evanwyl.”

“That’s my take on it.” They entered one of the downstairs sitting rooms and Kyri let the Phoenix Raiment flow off her and onto a rack nearby, then dropped into a large stuffed chair, now wearing the formal suit she had worn for the Watchland’s dinner and dance. “
Finally
off my feet.”

“Be fair,” Poplock said, “you got to sit down during dinner. Of course that didn’t mean you got to
rest
.”

“You have
that
so very completely right, my amphibious friend.” She leaned back and looked over at Tobimar, who had found his own chair—one that automatically shifted slightly to let him recline. Poplock bounced to a nearby end table.

“If you
are
staying, Tobimar,” Kyri said, “there’s no reason you can’t stay here. There are plenty of—”

“Absolutely
not
,” Tobimar said emphatically. “I’ve already been staying here with you long enough, given—”

“So I
was
right,” Poplock said, very satisfied with himself; it wasn’t often you got to win an argument weeks after you started it. “Your people really
are
silly on that subject.”

As Tobimar went crimson, Kyri was obviously trying to control her laughter. She was not terribly successful. “Are you saying that in Skysand—”

“I . . . Toad, I swear I will . . .” Tobimar stuttered, then with an obvious effort shook himself and looked the tall girl in the eye. His face, however, remained the color of a sunset. “Yes in Skysand we have many traditions around men and women and how they interact, and it’s . . . improper for me to stay in the house of a young woman such as yourself, unless we’re, um, walking together.”

“But—” Poplock could tell it was almost as hard for Kyri to avoid the obvious “but we
were
just walking together” as it was for him to point it out. “All right, I don’t want to make it difficult for you.”

“Thank you.” Tobimar took a deep breath and visibly relaxed.

“Returning to the prior subject, let’s take it as agreed that you both made commitments to support each other’s missions,” Poplock said after a moment. “Well, we’ve done a drought-damned good job of starting on your problem, Kyri, at least I think so. What I want to know is how close to
finished
are you?”

It was Tobimar who answered. “Not very,” he said. “The real planners behind all this we don’t even know.”

“And Myrionar promised I would have my Justice and Vengeance in full measure,” Kyri agreed. “The Balanced Sword has already delivered to me the slayer of my brother, and of my mother and father. But the being or beings who made it necessary and possible for that to
happen
are still out there.”

“On your side,” Poplock said, looking at Tobimar, “you’re chasing legends, but you’ve actually got a better lead on it than any of your ancestors ever did, right?”

Tobimar looked surprised. “You know . . . you’re absolutely right. I just didn’t think of it that way. I’m now
certain
that our homeland was what you now call Moonshade Hollow. ‘When justice and vengeance lay just beyond the mountains,’ the fact that it seems to have gone bad in the last Chaoswar, the map showing it ringed by mountains, it all fits. More, the fact that old Khoros told me I would have to follow justice and vengeance—and I did, and it brought me here—tells me this
has
to be the right track.”

“So,” Poplock said, looking from one to the other, “you’ve
both
helped each other, and both your missions have moved forward, right? And for me,” he added, “well, both of your quests and mine are connected.” He bounced a nod at Tobimar. “We agreed what we
really
had to do—find out what was behind this, and get that word back to the people who could do something. We’re closer now—and it’s all connected.”

“You’re not saying we can stop now, though, are you?”

“Not by Blackwart’s Chosen!” he answered, emphasizing that with a loud croak. “But these guys we’re up against, they’ve spent . . . how long? Centuries? Maybe longer, maybe if they come from Moonshade Hollow they’ve been working on this for
thousands
of years.

“I think we don’t need to rush, because that’ll get us killed. We need to think out where to go next, and why, and what preparations we need to do before we go.” Poplock bounced again and smiled. “And guess that means . . . it isn’t over, no, but for
now
, it
is
.”

Tobimar’s smile lit up his face. “The
adventure
is over, you mean.”

“Successful mission accomplished, Guild Brethren,” Poplock agreed. “You completed the contract with the Temple, Kyri unmasked the false Justiciars and avenged her family, and me and Xavier got to save you both when the mud got
really
deep and sticky. Kyri’s got to make sure her home’s safe for a while, and we’ve got some research to do.” He noticed a fly buzz by, snatched it out of the air with a quick tongue-lash, swallowed. “Sure, there’s those renegade Justiciars hiding out, Thornfalcon’s patron out there, whoever’s behind these wars, and there’s whatever scares the water out of you in that Moonshade Hollow . . . but those are all things for
later.
They’re busy, and you’ve already smacked their strongest forces here down.”

Kyri nodded, and Tobimar nodded with her. “You’re right, Poplock,” Kyri said. “Maybe there will
always
be another adventure waiting; that was something Aunt Victoria once warned me about, that once you became an Adventurer for real it was hard to know when you
could
stop.

“So we’ll do what we have to do here together.” She looked at the other two, and both Tobimar and Poplock nodded their assent. “And when the time comes, we’ll go face the rest of
both
quests together.”

Tobimar nodded emphatically and took Kyri’s hand—and took one of Poplock’s tiny paws in his other. “And until then,” he said with a smile, “we won’t let the adventures of tomorrow rob us of what we have today.”