The Last Wizard of Eneri Clare (79 page)

Tvrdik could not conceive of how to respond to such amazing news. “Wait, Master. I want to take a moment to relate to everyone here the basics of what you are telling me.” And he repeated as best he could to the assembled company around the campfire all that the elder wizard had described. They sat listening, wide-eyed and open-mouthed at the remarkable reach of their actions that day. Of course, they had all hoped that Xaarus’ plan would have the desired impact on what would come after them, but to hear that such an instant, profound, positive transformation had taken place was…was…well, more than any of them could have wrapped their minds around.

Candelinda asked, “Find out if there are magical creatures and talking animals now in his time.” Tvrdik relayed the query and the response, “He says he is pretty sure yes, though most of them have settled in remote areas and keep a low profile. But people talk of them as if they encounter them on occasion, without amazement. And he swears he heard a woman having a two-way conversation an hour ago with her cat, and no one even batted an eyelash in surprise.”

Mark spoke up, “Is it possible we might have done some irreparable harm by changing the timeline, even with the best of intentions and results that appear to be positive?”

“Ask if there wasn’t a sudden huge increase in the goose population!” Jorelial Rey quipped, her mouth full of bread and cheese.

Tvrdik frowned, and then paused to listen, “He says that
Mark’s
is a very astute question, and one he had long considered. But the truth is that we did not set out on purpose to change the timeline to suit our own desires. What we did was to make better choices in the present, which came from a place of love and compassion, rather than the usual fear and defensiveness. We always intended that things would unfold for the highest good of all involved, and the results, at least right away, seem nothing but exciting and positive. He doesn’t believe anything but good could come from such an approach.”

Now Tvrdik’s focus came back to his own time, “Master, we are overjoyed by your news, but we will need time to understand and absorb all that it means. It has been a long and very eventful day on this side, and I am not sure how long I can continue to hold this link even with Tashroth’s assistance. In the interest of efficiency, can you enter my mind and scan my memories of recent events, so that you will be up to date on all that has occurred here?”

“That sounds prudent, son, and of course, I am eager to know of it all. Wait a moment.” The image of Xaarus closed its eyes this time, and Tvrdik concentrated on his own detailed memories of the day they had all just come through, all the events of the battlefield and beyond. With Tashroth strengthening the connection between the two men, it proved a quick and simple operation. When Xaarus opened his eyes again, however, they were welling up with tears. “My, my, you lot have been through quite a day there, haven’t you. How I wish I could have been there to assist you and share some of the burden.”

“Did you get it all, Master?” Tvrdik asked.

“I think so, son. But you can fill in the details later on when you are rested. I hope you will not stop contacting me because these matters are done with. I am still an exile missing home, you know…I can only say that all of you rose to this occasion with true greatness of spirit, and you have reason to be very, very proud of how you have conducted yourselves, and what you have accomplished under the most fearful circumstances. Most of all, lad, my heart swells with pride for you. You have made your old master’s heart sing.”

Tvrdik then lowered his voice, although there was no possibility he would not be overheard by the others, “Master, did you see…was it there about…about what happened with Ailianne?”

Xaarus let loose a long, heavy sigh, and chose his response with care. “Yes, my boy, I saw. It was like a knife through my own heart as well.” There was a pause. Tvrdik needed more, “Master, please help me to understand…”

“Tvrdik, it pains me to believe that some part of her, maybe of Benjin too, has been trapped all this time, and may have been re-animated by Lord Drogue’s dark sorceries. But whatever part that was, whatever you encountered, was not the Ailianne we both loved and remembered. You were correct in asserting that our Ailianne perished long ago. We cannot have her back, son, though it breaks both of our hearts to admit it. I would like to think I would have been strong enough to resist that illusion, as you did, Tvrdik, but I am not so sure I would have succeeded. You passed a very difficult test, my boy, and that makes you a true master.”

“I tried to call on you then, to help me understand what I was facing, but nothing happened. Why did you not appear?”

“I’m not sure, but I assume you were too emotionally overwrought in the moment to focus on our link. I am sorry. But, in the end, you handled a most difficult encounter with great wisdom, and without my help.”

“It could have gone either way…”

“No. I don’t think so. Your heart is too pure. Remember, all you did was to hold up the Light of Truth; the real Ailianne would not have been harmed by the confrontation. What you revealed was so corrupt and unholy that it could not even survive seeing the truth of itself. It was like a thing of smoke and foulness, cobbled together and masked with a pleasing illusion. That was Drogue’s targeted plan to defeat you, and get you out of his way. Had you not seen through her seductions, we would have lost you too, my boy, forever. And
that
, I could not have borne. I have to admit, Drogue had a few more tricks up his sleeve than I gave him credit for. But thankfully, all that is over now.”

“Yes, Drogue will not be bothering us anymore…at least in the state we remember him.”

“And that, too, son, was sheer, magnificent inspiration.”

“We never could have defeated him or his forces without all of your good counsel and help, sir.”

“Tvrdik, how I wish I could come through this channel in the flesh to clap you on the back. Rest assured I will continue working to find a way to do it, too. If it takes the rest of my days, I will never cease trying to come home.”

“I wish it with all of my heart. But I am tiring, and must disengage. For now, goodnight, Master.”

“Be well. Rest content in what you have done. Speak to me again soon…” The vision of Xaarus began to blur around the edges and recede. Tvrdik looked up at Jorelial Rey, “Now, take both of my hands, and ask Tashroth to disengage…” She did not need a second prompting. Tashroth dropped his part of the connection, and as Tvrdik closed his eyes and began to sway, she squeezed his hands hard and pulled on them. Tvrdik blinked, looked around a bit dazed, and then down at his hands, still clasped in the lady’s. As they both registered the sensation of touch between them, Rel dropped the hands as if they were hot coals from the fire, and then covered her embarrassment by asking, “Are you alright?”

“Fine. Just tired like the rest of you. We are getting rather good at this, though.” In the darkness, it was impossible to tell if either of them was blushing.

“Well,” Delphine stood and stretched, wincing to feel her muscles growing stiff and sore, “my brain is done trying to take in the marvel after marvel which we have been a party to this day. I almost wonder if the morning will dawn and prove that all of it has been just a dream…”

Mark broke in, “Parts of it a nightmare, at that.”

She smiled at him, “I think I will have to discover the truth tomorrow. I’m for bed, now.”

“I’ll go with you,” Mark stood and threw a protective arm around the slim waist as they turned to find the tent allocated for them. It was well past the middle of the night, and Jorelial Rey called out to them, “Sleep as long as you wish, Delphy, and all of you. You have more than earned it, and we will handle at leisure all that needs doing, and then find our way home.”

One by one, the rest took their leave of the Lady Regent, with a smile, a touch, an embrace for her or for the wizard, a look of wonder on their weary, dazed faces. Then off they went to find their tents. Tvrdik did not make a move to leave. Tash asked if he were needed for any further business, and Rel rubbed her cheek on his green muzzle and said, “No, dearest. I think I am a little too wound up to go to sleep just now, but you go ahead…I’ll be alright. The striking green dragon breathed on his charge with great tenderness, then caught the wizard’s eye for a meaningful moment. With a respectful nod, he turned and strolled off into the shadows, Candelinda by his side. Rel looked after them, amused, “They are really growing quite attached to one another,” she commented.

“You don’t mind?” Tvrdik asked.

Playing with a stick in the fire, she shrugged, keeping her eyes on the flames. “No. I’ve had him to myself for so long, and a part of him will always be mine. But, he deserves some happiness, some companionship of his own kind.”

“It is good of you to feel that way.”

“Of course.” They were alone at the fire now, and the camp was silent, save for distant sentries dutifully calling the hours. “Tvrdik?”

“Hmmm?”

“I remember what you had told me about…about Ailianne, and then just now, I heard you talking to Xaarus about her. What happened today?”

He weighed telling her, but he needed to talk to someone about it. “I…I met her on the battlefield. She was mounted, and in armor, and fighting for Lord Drogue. But otherwise, she was exactly as I remembered her.”

Rel’s eyes went wide, “Did she…attack you?”

“No. She said she had been freed from some sort of awful limbo by Drogue’s sorceries, and that if I went away with her, she would teach me the secrets of unlimited power and eternal life…and that she would…she would…be with me.”

“Gods, what did you do?”

“I turned a truth shield on her, and she crumbled away to dust and bones before my eyes. It was not really Ailianne, or at least not the Ailianne I cherished.”

“How horrible. How did you know?”

“I told you, she was
exactly
as I remembered her. She hadn’t aged or changed a bit in all these years. Plus, she should have known that I never had any interest at all in limitless power or eternal life.”

The fact that he pointedly left out the third offer was not lost on Jorelial Rey, but she chose a sympathetic response. “I am so sorry. What an awful thing to have to go through. More evidence of Drogue’s absolute wickedness. Somehow he knew what to use to get to you, and I am grateful you could not be bought, or fooled. I never would have doubted that, anyway. But, after…after…however were you able to come back to the field after such a terrible trauma?”

Tvrdik answered matter-of-factly, “Wynne came running up to tell me you had fallen. You needed me.”

“Oh.” She paused to digest that information. There was a long silence as they each gazed into the crackling flames, following the thread of their own thoughts.

Tvrdik spoke first, “I wanted to tell you…about that spear…. I’m sorry I intervened. It was presumptuous of me. You had a perfect right to want him dead just then.”

“No. You were right. It was hearing about my father, you know. He died so young, and suffered so. All for nothing – to satisfy that horrible man’s ambition. I was so angry I couldn’t control myself. But we took an oath, and convinced all the others to take it too – no violence. If I had broken it in front of everyone, the consequences would have been grave. I would not have been able to lead or command any more, and I could not have lived with myself. You weren’t going to let that happen, and I appreciate it.”

“In the end, you made your own decision.”

“Well, Tashroth pulled me back from the brink too, but…I did, didn’t I!”

He nodded, “Congratulations. That was a pretty steep initiation. I’m proud of you.”

“Thanks.”

The fire was dying down and a few logs crackled and popped. The night was a bit chilly for summer, and the warm flames had been a welcome comfort. Now, she shivered and stood up, “Tvrdik?”

“Hmmm?”

“I think I have to sleep now…”

“You should. It has been a long day, and there will be more on your plate tomorrow.”

“What about you?”

“I will go soon. I am just sitting here realizing that my work here is almost done. We have, by some miracle, accomplished all that I laid at your doorstep months ago. I am happy, I suppose, but right now, I feel sort of …numb.” He was sitting gazing at the fading flames, cleaning the lenses of his glasses over and over again. She stood there looking at him, knowing that this was an opportunity. She wanted to tell him so many things: how she had come to rely on him, how she had begun to think of them as a team, how she could never imagine going back to a life where he didn’t exist. But, there was a lump in her throat that stopped all of those things from pouring out. And, then, she did not want them to be said when she was at her weariest and most vulnerable, perhaps for fear they would not be taken with any seriousness.

She said, “Get some rest. Tomorrow, things will seem clearer. You’ll feel better then. Goodnight.” And she walked away.

The next day began at a slow pace, as folk took the time to recuperate from the stresses of the past week. There was much to do. The wounded needed to be tended, and there seemed a constant parade of former enemy combatants arriving to surrender and pledge fealty. There were plans to be made regarding packing everything up for the journey home, and, of course, everyone had to be fed. Soon the camp was bustling with activity, even if its inhabitants seemed a bit dreamlike in their motions. The realization that the danger was truly past, and that, after months of anxiety and intense preparation, it was all over and they had indeed triumphed, was sinking into everyone’s consciousness a layer at a time. As they went about their chores, you might see someone standing still, staring into space, or breaking into a smile and exclaiming out loud for no immediate reason. Friends and colleagues clapped each other on the back as they passed. Women embraced and wept in relief. Bit by bit, the tense, wary, pinched look of a people facing battle, tyranny, and death fell away, transformed into an expression of gratitude and wonder. Thus, the day unfolded like a long and languorous sunrise, ending in glorious colors and bone-drenching, joyful warmth. As the ice of fear melted, laughter, song, and random whistling could be heard. Lighter hearts and a spring in the step returned to the Legions of Light, one corner at a time, until, at last, they had spread everywhere in great, open-hearted abundance. It was a beautiful day.