ZYGRADON (17 page)

"Are we on Wynystrys?" he asked, as soon as she took away the wooden platter
he had slowly emptied.

"Five days," Ceera said. She slapped Mrillis' foot under the blanket. "You slept
the whole journey here, and five days after they put you to bed."

"That's not good." He fought the urge to slide down in the bed and curl up and
shiver, with the blankets pulled up over his head. "What did I do?"

"We did," Ceera said, with another slap on his foot. "Nobody will tell us what
we did, until you wake up and can listen." Then her little scowl softened. She blinked
away a sudden glimmer of tears and stroked his foot through the blanket. "You protected
me."

Le'esha smiled and shook her head when the boy could only give her a
confused look. "The two of you grabbed hold of the Threads and pulled power from
them...and somehow made them like a sponge, to pull more power
into
them.
That saved you both from being incinerated by the power flowing through you, because
it absorbed all the excess you could not handle. Which is a mercy from the Estall, because
you took the brunt of it, my lad, shielding Ceera."

"We used it. We changed it, so it doesn't hurt us," Ceera said, nodding for
emphasis hard enough to make her silvery hair tug free of her braids. Then she grinned,
like the little girl she truly was. "We just can't remember how we did it."

"And that is why we are here, to work with Breylon and the most powerful
Rey'kil enchanters and most knowledgeable scholars, to discover what happened and
how we can use it in the future." Le'esha held out her hand, and Mrillis gave his hand
into her grasp. "You have a destiny that was written before you were born. You do not
have the right to risk yourself so recklessly again, do you understand?"

"I didn't know what I was doing!" the boy protested. The effort made his head
hurt.

"All the more reason to train you thoroughly," Breylon said from the doorway.
"So you'll understand what you're trying to do, when you attempt the impossible." He
shook his head. Though his mouth pulled down in a sour frown, his eyes twinkled with
mischief. "Only the young are able to accomplish the impossible. When you become
ancient, you'll be too busy telling everyone else to be careful."

Ceera giggled.

"Mrillis, you are all I have left of your mother, who was very dear to me. Don't
break my heart with worry, please," Le'esha added on a whisper. She leaned forward out
of her chair and kissed the boy's forehead. Her touch drove away the ache throbbing
from his temples through his head, so he had feared his skull would burst open.

* * * *

"My friends and colleagues, we have been fools," Breylon began, when Mrillis
and Ceera had taken their seats in the long meeting hall in the center of Wynystrys.

To the boy's surprise, he saw mostly nods and somber looks that agreed with
Breylon's assessment, and even a large number of sheepish grins and heads shaken in
bemusement.

"Do you know why we formed the second web to guide starshowers into the
sea?" he continued, directing his question to the children, who sat in the front row.

"We didn't even know the web did that," Mrillis said. A few chuckles rippled
through the large gathering of seers, enchanters, scholars and artisans sitting behind
him.

"That is one of our most carefully guarded secrets. Only those who know the
web exists, who are strong enough to see it, know what it does. If the Noveni knew we
had the web to protect Lygroes, can you imagine their fury and jealousy?"

"You can't make another net over Moerta?" Mrillis guessed.

"Because of the star-metal?" Ceera added. "Because it's too strong?"

"Exactly." Breylon nodded, giving the children an approving smile. "There was a
time when we Rey'kil could have lived on Moerta and used up the power flowing
through the land, and guided the Threads into another web. But that was long ago, in
the days when each race stayed in its own land. We did not think of the web until the
Noveni had begun coming as refugees to Lygroes, and then it was too late for us to do
anything. In those early days when we could have helped, the Rey'kil were not welcome
on Moerta."

"You haven't told them yet why we send star-metal into the sea," Haster said.
He also sat in the front row.

"Ah. Exactly." Breylon winked at Ceera, who giggled. "A starshower falls so
swiftly, and creates so much heat when it falls from the stars...star-metal explodes when
it hits the water. We have long believed that the salt in the water and the depths to
which the remaining fragments of star-metal fall somehow neutralize the poison. Just as
salt protects meat from rotting and cleanses wounds and promotes healing. After your
battle, however, we have learned differently."

"We learned that we've been defending ourselves from the very source of our
magic," Master Prothis said in his usual sour tones. He made a disgusted, growling noise,
but Mrillis was astonished to see a twinkle in the wrinkled old scholar's eyes.

"It is as you showed us, lad," the High Scholar continued. "The well of our
strength, to use our
imbrose
and work magic, comes from star-metal. We have
been safe here in Lygroes because we drain the energy away, simply by living here, by
using magic. Many of us have spent the years since your startling vision studying the
Threads and verifying what you learned. When you, Ceera and Haster battled the
starshower, we learned that it is not salt water that neutralizes star-metal. It is the
explosion that makes it safe. Enormous power is released, directly into the Threads, into
the web woven between all the fragments of star-metal throughout the World."

"So if we can make star-metal explode all the time, there'll be more power for
everybody someday?" Ceera said.

Silence rang through the hall at her words, spoken so innocently. Then
someone snorted, someone else laughed, and ripples of whispers went through the hall
as people started discussing it. Mrillis grinned at Ceera, who grinned back and wriggled
with delight at the effect of her contribution.

Breylon raised his hand for silence after letting the talk go on for several
minutes. "Yes, there will be more power. There are many Rey'kil who have never been
able to work magic of even the most basic sort, to heal themselves or start fires or find
lost things. If we are right, someday there will be enough power for even the weakest
Rey'kil to perform magic. If," he said, emphasizing the word, "we can discern how to tap
into the overabundance of energy stored in the star-metal on Moerta."

"And if we tap that energy, we can drain that energy," Le'esha said, "and
eventually Moerta will be clean, purified of poison, safe for Noveni to live
everywhere."

"It will take years," Prothis added. "Years of study and risk. Lives could be lost.
And we'll have those dratted Noveni nobles hanging over our shoulders, whining and
demanding to know when they can have their land back."

"The sooner we get them out of Lygroes and into their own land, the happier
we'll all be," an old, crack-voiced woman called from the far back of the hall.

Voices rang out in agreement. Mrillis shivered, hearing the resentment and
dislike for the Noveni. Somehow, it struck him that such feelings were more dangerous
than an entire Encindi band of warriors racing down a slope against him.

"That was the mistake of our ancestors." Breylon didn't raise his voice, but made
it ring against the rafters, so that the wood and thatching echoed like the slate ceilings in
the Warhawk's fortress. "We live as a divided people, and look at the damage that has
been done to our world because of it."

"We must work together and live together and share our gifts equally," Le'esha
added. She stood up from her place between Mrillis and Ceera and turned to face the
assembly. "If we had not isolated the Encindi in Flintan, we would have seen and sensed
the activity of the Nameless One before he became a threat and before the war could
begin. Do you not agree?"

Her ringing voice and her words brought a halt to the grumbling.

"If we had lived among the Noveni, and they among us, the power of the
star-metal never would have accumulated to the level of being poison on Moerta. Do you
not agree?"

"We will continue to share Lygroes with the Noveni," Breylon said, "and they
will share Moerta with us. They will share their star-metal power, so that all Rey'kil will
be able to use their
imbrose
in even greater degree. That is the profit for us.
Who knows? Perhaps, when there is more than enough power in the Threads, even
some Noveni could develop
imbrose
."

Someone snorted and a few people chuckled, and there were some whispers
from around the room. Mrillis didn't sense anything nasty in the reactions. Mostly
disbelief and amusement. Maybe even some interest in seeing that happen. He thought
of Lyon and other Noveni friends who served the Warhawk, able to work magic, and he
grinned.

"If there are Rey'kil without
imbrose
simply because they can't tap the
power at the levels that exist now, logic says it is possible the Noveni are simply Rey'kil
who need even higher levels of power to find their
imbrose
. And if that is true,
then we are not two separate races, but simply different branches of the same family,"
Le'esha said. "I find that comforting."

"I find it crowded," Kathal offered from his post at the door. His words earned
laughter from nearly everyone.

* * * *

The tug-of-war Mrillis and Ceera had engaged in fragmented the star-metal and
released energy from it high in the sky, much as the impact of star-metal in the sea did.
Every Rey'kil strong enough to witness the battle with the sky web had witnessed a
sudden surge of energy through the Threads.

It was that surge of energy that gave the Rey'kil leaders hope for the cleansing
of Moerta. As Prothis had pointed out, learning how to do that to the star-metal
poisoning Moerta, and dissipating the concentrated levels of energy throughout the
continent, could take years. Maybe generations. They didn't dare tell the Noveni their
theories. Not until they had some proof, some results. More than just theories and
hopes.

Even the skeptical dove eagerly into the puzzle and challenge of using what the
children had discovered. Several of the most powerful enchanters had been able to delve
deeply into the deadly tug-of-war the children had played with the enemy. They saw the
enemy's power fade and then snap, as if the Threads he held had broken, or his grip had
been incinerated by the sudden surge of power.

Le'esha grew quietly, coldly furious, when a group of five scholars proposed
having Mrillis and Ceera repeat their performance at the next starshower.

"Absolutely not," she said, almost before the spokesman of the group could
express what they wanted.

"But it is necessary," he said, using that falsely jolly tone Mrillis had seen Noveni
nobles use when they thought they were being incredibly patient and someone else was
foolishly stupid and obstinate. "Why waste years trying to duplicate the battle that
vaporized the star-metal, when we can simply learn everything by being prepared and
watching the children repeat their performance? I'd wager our enemy will try to pull
star-metal down over Lygroes once more, if it is known that only children act as our
defenders. We wouldn't have the battle we need, to duplicate conditions, if the enemy
knows that trained enchanters wait for his next move."

"They survived because they are innocents, because they do not know what
they can and what they cannot do," she said, facing the assembly, her face pale and her
eyes blazing with her anger. "They acted in fear and love for our entire land, and to
protect each other. They survived because the Estall protects children and fools and those
who sacrifice themselves for others. I will not allow it to happen again, for the sake of
your theories and experiments." She sat down in her chair, and glared at the five
scholars.

"I will not let you risk the children's lives for the sake of what you may learn.
Yes, we need to discover how to make it happen again, how to control it. Yes, it is a gift
from the Estall. But what good can come if we sacrifice lives to grasp and hold that
knowledge? The Nameless One turned to blood magic to protect the World from the
star-metal. Look what abominations came from his essentially good and noble quest."
She sighed when Ceera climbed up into her lap and hid her silver head in the folds of her
dress. "Actions are just as important as the motives that birth them. I will not stand
before the Estall with the blood of innocents on my hands. Even for the sake of saving
thousands of lives."

"The enemy, whether the Nameless One or those mimicking him, will continue
to try to pull star-metal down in the sky," Prothis said. "Do we leave the sky web intact,
to allow more battles in the sky?"

His words provoked a wave of discussion and he stood patiently in front of the
assembly, waiting for a chance to continue. Mrillis was simply relieved that the attention
had turned off him and Ceera again. Finally, the talk died down and Prothis
continued.

"Starshowers only fall in the spring, and our period of opportunity to study
them is small. In ages past, we were grateful for the short time of danger. How times
have changed." He sighed, and some laughter rippled through the room in response to
his irony.

Mrillis liked the sour old teacher for the first time.

"I propose we leave it in place for now. It will allow us to more closely watch
the sky. If our enemy acts, it will provide the opportunity for others among us to battle
with star-metal. We should prepare teams to watch the sky."

When Mrillis grew too tired to listen, when he couldn't make his mind follow
the rapid exchange of ideas and counter-ideas and arguments, he left the meeting. Ceera
had fallen asleep more than an hour before in Le'esha's arms. He envied the girl. She had
an admirable talent for remembering things discussed in her presence while she slept. She
would be able to tell him what everyone had said, whether she understood half of it or
not. He knew better than to try to stay when his head hurt and he fought to keep his
eyes open. Le'esha had made him promise not to push himself for several more days.
Besides, he didn't want to fall out of his chair or snore, either of which would disturb the
discussion and draw unwanted attention to him.