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  Covering two miles of hard terrain didn’t concern her. Not being seen by Elven rangers on guard duty, that was a whole different problem all its own. Aelah would still be nursing Galan, and the Captain would feel duty bound to attend on her mother. That left four rangers and four cardinal directions. She would need a distraction.

  Sure enough, she could count on her mother. Feylynn arrived to ‘tuck them in’ and she lent her energy to that of Pavel and a reasonable arsenal was assembled for tonight’s adventures. She waited for everyone to settle into the routine. Elves didn’t get sleepy on duty but they, like guards of every race, do get bored. So it was some amusement that she conjured a rabbit and a fox. She tied a small light stone around the neck of the rabbit and released it. Then one around the next of the fox and released it to chase the rabbit. The lights were no more powerful than a candle but in the dark of a late spring night, it created quite the show.

  She waited until she heard the bird calls of the rangers signaling to each other to investigate. She then summoned a flying mount, in this case a giant bat. She was a little concerned because she had never seen a bat big enough to ride. Oh, she’d seen plenty of normal bats and even one big enough it could carry away small rodents, but her casting worked for there before her appeared the form of a large bat with a functional saddle on its back.

  She climbed aboard and the bat was airborne. She didn’t know if she went unseen, but there were no arrows loosed in her wake and she had given them plenty to stay busy with for the next few critical minutes. Up and away, she could easily see the Spire she was aiming for. She took a little extra time to memorize landmarks of the forest, she would need those on the return trip. That is if everyone is not already screaming at each other because of what they found.

  Crossing the great forest over the treetops was certainly the preferred method of travel. A few short minutes later, the bat was silently descending to the top of the Green Spire. Sha smiled as she looked around. To appear as such a needle point from the ground, it was surprisingly spacious here at the top. Obviously designed for flying mounts, there was a clear patch of roof twenty paces square and a small raised box with a door that would lead one below.

  Sha grinned at her luck. The door was only tied shut. Meant to be proof against flying creatures taking up residence, not a real deterrent to the average nosy tzadi So she quickly cut through and was in to explore.

  Soon she understood why there was no more effort to keep her out. There was nothing here. Oh, it was patterned off the same design as the Red Spire and what she had seen of the White Spire, yet it was completely empty. No, she knew she wouldn’t have time to explore every room and every chamber, but after two hours of diligent effort she had become convinced. Even the great pieces of machinery that had been molded into the very floor of the spire were gone, leaving only empty space and scarred floors. Great rows of bookshelves in the library standing empty. Even the great kettles and tools in the kitchens were gone. It was far more empty than the Red Spire was. The Red Spire gave the feel of being hastily yet lovingly shut down for the hope of a better day to reopen. Standing here in the Great Assembly area of the Green Spire, it just feels abandoned and looted.

  The flight back to camp with the dawn breaking over the forest should have been breathtakingly beautiful to Sha, yet she barely noticed. All she could think of was the loss of that knowledge. It was a crime against the civilized world.

  She didn’t bother to hide her return. The great bat landing beside Koloss brought two of the rangers running. She slid off the great beast's back and absently waved the small golden whistle at it, releasing the spell and the creature faded to mist. Both rangers halted their approach and with looks of surprise headed back to their posts.

  Seeing her mother, the tears overwhelmed her. “It’s empty. It’s all gone. All of that knowledge has been lost or stolen.”

  Her mother gave her a comforting hug, but the Captain was not so sympathetic.

  “Where have you been?!” he demanded.

  She just clung to her mother, the sobs not yet under control.

  “Answer me, you went to the forbidden Spire, didn’t you?” He was now starting to yell. “You were told that it was off limits.”

  Sha spun on him. “I am Tzadi! You will not presume to set my limits!” and in a final release of all the irritation and pain and loss she had been trying to come to grips with, she levitated him. He rose high up into the branches of the great tree, and there she found a branch that was properly shaped and she slipped the branch under his belt and left him dangling there.

  Home Looks Different

  Unsettling Revelations

  The rest of the trip was a lot less cordial. The Captain’s manner was formal and brusk. The nursing services of Aelah had been revoked, leaving Feylynn riding in the coach with a recovering Galan. Galan smiled weakly at the story as Feylynn told him.

  “He’s lucky she was in a good mood.” he said with a painful chuckle.

  Feylynn shook her head, “It might cause us some trouble, but it shouldn’t be anything your father and I can’t get her out of.”

  Galan groaned as they went over a particularly jarring section of road, “Mamma, you know I love you, and you know that I wouldn’t say anything to hurt you, but... “he had a brief coughing fit. “You don’t yet realize how dangerous Sha and especially Echal are. They are my family and I love them, but I would never willingly cross either of them, they have wells of strength that I may never have. If they have a problem with Sha, trust me, it will end up being their problem.”

  Feylynn looked a little surprised to hear her son talk like this. “Galan, your half brother and sisters are not monsters!”

  Galan smiled weakly. “Oh no, certainly not. Saved my life they have on more than one occasion, just that they put on the show of the dutiful son and daughter for you and pappa. They treat me and Esta more like one of their own, like they do Pavel or Catrin. I know the story of freeing Jayan and Jan. I know what they had planned had they not found you and pappa. Never underestimate them.”

  Feylynn looked a little worried as she considered his words and considered the family member that Galan didn’t take into account. He assumed Harder was off doing his own thing; he didn’t realize that Harder had an army at his disposal and would be more than willing to bring it into Elven lands if Echal gave him the ok. She wiped the sweat from her son’s brow. “Shh.. You sleep now, no more of this talk. By tomorrow evening most of the poison will be gone and we can do some healing. Maybe get you up strong enough to ride your own mount into the city.”

  Galan just smiled at her and realized she was right sleep sounded so good right then.

  Aelfhiem

  Galan was feeling much stronger. Healing last night as camp was made, and then more this morning before they set out had him feeling much more like his old self as they approached the gates of Aelfheim gleaming in the late morning sun. The city was amazing. Small buildings poking out among the treetops. Whole buildings hanging from branches the width and thickness of a garden path. Even the walls that the gates were set in were living trees the thickness of his thigh, woven vine like into a heavy wicker style hedge around the town more than thirty feet high.

  The guards at the large silvery gates saluted their honor guard and eyed the human members of the party with curiosity. Galan noticed that they seemed to give him more scrutiny than Angvar or the coachmen. Pavel seemed to stop their hearts, or Galan grinned maybe it was Koloss. Arrangements were made, and Koloss settled down to wait for them just outside of the gate. Galan grinned as they rode off to where his grandfather had a town home, Koloss had already started gathering quite the crowd of gawkers.

  They dismounted in front of a large tree that appeared to be wrapped in silk. The ‘house’ was a complex series of hanging tents that gave the tree the look of being caterpillar infested. The effect was actually quite stunning Galan thought. He would still prefer something more solid but there was no denying the elegant beauty of a
house made in this way.

  The doors ‘unfolded’ in a way that looked remarkably like a flower blossoming. Out came a mature elf and his wife, looking late thirties in human years, Galan did the rough calculation, that made them likely over five hundred years old. There was no denying the family resemblance, he was about to meet his maternal grandparents for the first time.

  Their greetings toward mother were warm but formal. Almost as if they had not spent the better part of thirty years away. To Sha, they were doting, if a little over the top, much as one would over act for a young child trying to be seen in an adult situation. It was not unwelcoming, it just lacked the same intensity that he would get from his father when he was home once again after this trip. Or he would feel for Echal when they make a trip back to the Dutchy. Maybe it is just a racial or cultural difference it just seemed somehow artificial to Galan.

  Galan was then presented to his grandfather. For Galan it seemed awkward. The older elf said nothing unfriendly nor even out of place, but the whole affair seemed to Galan more like the arrival of a needed skilled journeyman might get from the Master Craftsmen at the guildhall in his new city. All assurances of welcome, and offers of letters of introduction to the proper societies and brotherhoods among Elven society, but nothing of a personal nature, not even an invitation for even one personal ‘getting to know you’ event. Galan can’t say that he was hurt by the lack, yet it was certainly not what he was expecting. Certainly not the way he had seen many human grandparents behave. Poor Esta looked as if she might cry at any moment, and everyone pretended not to notice. It was so much so toward the end that Galan took his sister’s hand to offer her reassurance.

  Angvar was doing his best to look like a rock and hoping no one actually spoke to him. They didn’t. Nor did they more than exchange pleasantries with Pavel. A fact that was not lost on him.

  Still, they had rooms assigned, and there would be the formal welcome home banquet this evening. Galan nodded to Angvar to grab the baggage and decided to make the best of this very disconcerting situation.

  Charges

  After dinner, Feylynn was spending some time with her parents. She, too, had noticed a distance growing between them. Not just her, but between her mother and father as well. She thought maybe some time remembering old times could remove that distance that had crept in.

  That wasn’t likely to happen though, as her father had obviously had something on his mind this afternoon. He started with, “Feylynn, it is so good to have you home, and I hate to ruin it with troubles, but it seems Shadrea has gotten herself in to some trouble with the Crown. What do you know of the incident with Ranger Captain Elyon Ryden of Sylven Deep?”

  Feylynn sighed. “Sha decided to investigate the Green Spire. She was disappointed with its condition. The Captain took it as an offense to his authority and began to aggressively chastise her.” She hesitated for a moment. “Sha’s reaction may have been more aggressive than was called for. She was distraught and his actions were not helpful. She didn’t harm him in any way.”

  Her mother spoke up. “Of course she didn’t hurt him, she’s just a child. Still, she has enough powers to cause him embarrassment in front of his Rangers. Could she maybe apologize to him? We could probably get everything dropped if she were just willing to...”

  Feylynn laughed. “Oh Mother, I am sorry. I don’t mean to make light of your suggestion and feel free to offer it to Sha yourself. I won’t. She is not a child anymore, much to my shame. She has had to grow up so fast, but she has, and I will not take that away from her. She’s a grown woman and a Tzadi in her own right...”

  Her father interrupted, “See this is what I am talking about, you’re encouraging her. She is a child not a tzadi. She hasn’t been through the tests, even as such things are judged in the human world...” he caught his breath.

  Feylynn started to respond but her mother picked up from there. “She is a child, and she needs discipline. She has too close a relationship to that, what is his name, Pavel yes to that over grown human of hers. It just isn’t decent.”

  Feylynn felt the fire flare up in her face. “Pavel is her husband. Yes!” she asserted to their looks of shock and outrage. “I would not have had it so, but I was not here to stop it. He is a good man and completely devoted to her protection, and he has earned any respect you can give him for protecting her when none of us could. As to the test, I was hoping to arrange that while we were here. If that is your only objection to claiming the title of Tzadi that is due her, arrange your damnable test!”

  Her mother opened her mouth and then closed it. Her father let out a long sigh, “If that is what you want, then I can make the arrangement. She takes the test like any other elf, nothing other than she takes in with her, and no Pavel, this she must do alone.”

  Feylynn felt a thin dangerous smile cross her face, even after arriving in Koloss, they doubted her. “Oh, I would have it no other way. She will be ready.”

  Her mother looked horrified, “Feylynn! You know that some few of the candidates never return? I was worried sick for you during your test!”

  Feylynn turned on her mother, “I know it well. I took the test, Mother. She is far more ready for it than I was.”

  Her father shook his head. “On your head be it. I will try to get them to agree to this insane request.”

  Again that thin smile returned, “You could always mention that my husband is likely to arrive with a human army to be certain any trial was fair should it go that far. You do remember the General Duke Mirron?” she waited as her father looked a bit sick. “I would also hate to imaging what her foster brother Echal would arrange.”

  Her mother was weeping openly now. “Have you been among them so long that you would threaten your own people?”

  “To protect your daughter, wouldn’t you?”

  Her father grunted, “Not when I could just swat her backside and tell her to respect her elders.”

  This time Feylynn found the laugh was real and genuine. “You’re welcome to try that approach as well father, for either of us.” she said as she left them there. If Sha was to be ready, there was much work to be done.

  A Date is Set

  Pavel had been working round the clock to help her prepare spell stones and scrolls ahead of the test ever since he heard she would be taking it. He wasn’t happy about not going, but he could still give her an edge. Tonight while he slept he knew she would meet with Echal. If anyone could help her have a general strategy going into this, his brother was the one.

  He drew up short as the servant approached and asked them all to assemble in the library. Pavel considered not going in protest, but he didn’t want to miss the chance to help if he were needed.

  He saw them all gathered in the library and a high elf in formal robes stood before Feylynn.

  “As her legal guardian, you must sign these before they can administer the test. M’Lady are you so certain you wish this for your young daughter?”

  Feylynn snatched the papers from his hand, signing each one. “She will test as I tested. She will succeed as I succeeded, and she will finally get her due respect from her people. It is shameful that the humans can give her respect that her own people would deny.”

  Her father stepped forward, giving her a deep frown. “It is settled. Shadrea will attend to her father tomorrow, and after the customary ten days of preparation will undergo the ordeal of the Tzadi.”

  Pavel noticed the house was a very subdued place after the official left. He didn’t care; he was too busy helping her create spell stone arrow heads.

  What We Think We Know

  Father

  The elders escorted Feylynn and Shadrea into a large old grove. The ring of the twenty one sacred trees were arranged around the perimeter of the summoning circle. The youngest of the elders led them to the center of the circle. “You will call to the spirit of your loved one and they will answer. Do not waste your brief time asking about the other side, they aren’t permitted to answer. You may a
sk of others who’ve joined the Eternal Unity, but the answers you get may not satisfy. This is because they each have experience in the Eternal Unity that are both together and at the same time separate. If you wish to know about another relative, we suggest you summon them at another time. The door may only be held open for a few moments. It is recommended you do not waste them.” With that, the elder elf retreated to his assigned spot in the summoning circle.

  Sha looked up at her mother, but when she got no response, they began to ceremony. As the small offerings began to burn in the basin at the center of the circle, the elders took up their chanting. After long moments, a blue-white light bright as a bolt of lightening erupts from the last smoldering remnants in the offering bowl and as their eyes recover from the display, they can see the ethereal form of a handsome Elven man in his prime years.

  Feylynn gasped. “Aldus!”. The word escaping her throat in a hoarse whisper.

  The elf smiled at her. “My beautiful Feylynn. I am so glad you escaped. Please, my love do not let my passing cause you pain. I am with my fathers in the Eternal Unity. Enjoy your life. Know that I love you.”

  Tears were on Feylynn’s cheeks. “I’ve brought our daughter. You would be so proud. Already she has accomplished things no Tzadi in living memory has even tried.”

  The image knelt before Sha and looked her in the eye. “I love you my daughter and will always be proud of you.” He leans in to lightly kiss her cheek and whispers. “For the love of your mother, find Eber Hawthorn”. As he’s pulling away from the kiss. “My time is short and I feel the pull to return. Just remember that I will love you always. ”