The Broken Sword

A few hours later, perhaps half an hour after the wounded woman had lapsed into unconsciousness, the apes led them up a trail and through a ravine to a series of caves and depressions along the side of a set of hills. Behind the hills rose great and majestic mountains, mountains that they had seen from theFolly of the Seasand had used as a landmark.

More of the ape-men appeared, escorting them along. Some also moved quickly ahead, bringing news to where their destination was. It was in a great hollow formed in the side of a hill that they were brought to rest. Carved gourds were already placed, filled with sweetened water and elsewhere nuts, berries, and even some roasted meats lay in wait. Nobody moved towards them until Kelnozz surveyed the scene and gave the okay. At that point, the elves fell to the refreshments and devoured them, with only Kelnozz and Regnar abstaining.

"You turn up in the strangest places."

Kelnozz spun at the sound of the gruff voice, recognizing it at once. A grin spread slowly across his face.

"Yet I'm seldom the first to find them," Kelnozz said, striding over to the massive man and taking his offered hand.

Garrick laughed deeply and clapped the elf on the shoulder, staggering him. "It is good you are here, we have much to discuss."

"Aye," Kelnozz agreed.

The others by then had turned and watched the meeting with open fascination. Garrick looked at them and smiled, his open expression even drawing a bit of warmth from Yamara. When Garrick saw Vanya and Regnar his look changed to one of surprise. He chuckled a bit and muttered to Kelnozz, "Wait till Loo see them."

"That's why I brought them, Elvanshalee is no more and they've no idea what is to become of them."

Garrick grunted, his smile sobered by the news. He took a deep breath and nodded. "Well enough, we have many dark things to discuss... things best discussed in private."

Kelnozz nodded and turned to the others, letting them know they were to be on their own amongst the ape-men until he and Garrick returned from counsel. Yamara tried to approach but he just shook his head, letting her know that, special though she may be, a line yet remained she was not to cross. She nodded, her expression guarded, and let them ascend a trail up the hill and out of their sight.

Chapter 21

"What are these beings?" Kelnozz asked first, once they had climbed several hundred feet to a secluded plateau.

"They are an ancient race, more intelligent than apes but not so advanced as humans," Garrick said. "I can understand some of their language... it is a simple thing really, based on basic wants and needs. Not so hard really."

Kelnozz scoffed. "Perhaps for you, it made no sense to me."

Garrick shrugged. "No matter, they once lived in a better place, not so long ago, but they were forced to abandon their homes by invaders."

"Invaders? There are others here? Humans?" Kelnozz asked.

"Not humans," Garrick said. He sat down on a rock and grinned without humor. "They are part man and part dog, something I've not seen on Viconia before."

Kelnozz closed his eyes, his senses reeling. "How did she know about this place?" He asked softly.

"Yes, that's part of the rest of it," Garrick said. "They are led by a beautiful and wicked dark elven woman."

"My mother," Kelnozz offered flatly.

"That explains the resemblance."

"What is it she seeks here?" Kelnozz wondered aloud. "I came here only to find you... she would have no reason to do so."

"I think she was after the ancestral caves these ape-men held sacred," Garrick offered.

"Why?"

"There is a special ore found on this land, or at least found in their caves. There are giants here too, in mountains to the East and the South, and they possess skill in crafting it, but are not given to talking to strangers. Even as powerful as your mother is, she would not throw her dog-men against giants armed such as they are."

"What's special about this ore? Is it mithril?" Kelnozz asked, many of Garrick's comments causing him to wonder.

"It is called Xellium, and it stores the elemental energies of Viconia in it. By agitating it the energy can be released in a discharge much like a shock," Garrick explained.

Kelnozz nodded, interested and seeing the potential for it, but still not sure why someone like his mother would be interested in something so material. "She's after power, not wealth or material gain," he explained.

Garrick nodded. "Aye, but any source of energy only requires a wizard to figure out how to tap into it. Or witch, in her case."

"Perhaps... nothing else makes any sense," he admitted.

"There's more," Garrick said, rising to his feet and coming over to stand next to Kelnozz. The Elf King looked up at him, weariness in his eyes.

Garrick put his hand on Kelnozz's shoulder and said, "Your son is with her."

Kelnozz's eyes widened in alarm. "Bobo? Has Thoragloorin fallen? What of Alesha?"

Garrick shook his head. "No, not Bobo."

"Who then? I ..."

Kelnozz's eyes widened again. His legs almost gave out, in fact, but Garrick's steadying hand kept him balanced.

"Darakor is alive?"

Garrick nodded, knowing that no words he said would be heard or heeded.

"How?" he managed to whisper. His eyes regained their focus and he looked to the former God as he demanded, "how could this happen?"

"Something rent a hole in the wall that separates the planes. The law of death was broken when Ancaruin returned, but that only weakened it. With it being weakened though not so long ago it tore even more, letting some of the more powerful spirits a chance to escape. Darakor's was one of those."

"I know of the rift, Alesha spoke of it... it was her fault, in fact," Kelnozz explained. "I could see him returning as one of the unliving, but you say he is alive? How?"

"Your mother," Garrick said. "I told you she was powerful."

Kelnozz gaped. "I had no idea," he admitted.

"Aye, with the rift in place she had only to call to him to bring him to his body. Then, once she helped his spirit reenter his body, it was a small matter to restore life to it. His body was preserved perfectly upon the shores of the Island of the Gods."

Kelnozz gripped the hilts of his blades instinctively, his thoughts racing at the news. "Gods... what else could come back, if he can? Ancaruin, perhaps?"

Garrick chuckled. "That old wyrm is done, worry not."

Kelnozz frowned, wondering what twist this added.

Garrick interrupted his thoughts, reminding him of the present. "The rift grows by the moment; you realize it must be fixed, aye?"

Kelnozz nodded. "Yes, that's why I sought you out, old friend. We have the blade and the hilt that smote down Bavorish. We need you and your hammer to reforged it, then he can be set free and destroyed. Alesha says she knows this must be done to restore the wall between life and death."

Garrick looked at him sadly, then nodded. "She is right... that will work. And she is right in that she is the one that can do it, for she is the one to have imprisoned him."

"Have you your hammer?" Kelnozz asked, seeing a great sword upon Garrick's back, as well as an axe at his side that was large enough that it would have taken the elf two hands to wield.

"I can summon it," Garrick said.

"Then let us be off, we must make haste."

"What of your mother...and son?"

Kelnozz stared out over the edge of the plateau they stood upon and stared at the beautiful and mysterious new lands before him. "They will be dealt with when the time is right, for now, more pressing matters call to us."

"Very well, I will aid you, but even Luingirth can not carry all of your people upon his back, not for so great a distance."

Kelnozz nodded in understanding, but rather than reply he was already heading back to the path that led down to where the others awaited. Garrick stared after him a moment, feeling a moment of empathy for his friend. Then he shrugged and walked after him, looking forward to having a chance at seeing Bavorish again, even if only to have a chance, should Alesha fail, at doing battle with him again.

*****

Vanya and Regnar were having a discussion with the man they had grown up knowing as Lynngar, but now came to understand as Luingirth. When Kelnozz and Garrick returned, Luingirth was just finishing up with telling them of his actual relationship to them. Luingirth was shape-shifted into his guise as a human, albeit one that stood nearly seven feet tall and looked every bit as imposing as Garrick. Regnar accepted it readily, but Vanya was having still having some troubles coming to terms with it. Or at least the part where Regnar was actually her brother.

She had asked what that meant as far as she was concerned. Why was a dragon and she an elf? Would they ever grow more in common? It was easy for her to reconcile herself, for Luingirth looked humanoid enough, but still she had trouble understanding Regnar to be her brother. These thoughts and others she wondered, some to herself and others aloud. Luingirth had little in the way of answers though, for she and her brother were unique. Their lives would be the first of their kind, their potential was untapped.

Before they could explore too much of it, however, Kelnozz and Garrick returned. Yamara watched them carefully and noted how Kelnozz seemed more drawn than before. He brightened at the sight of Luingirth, but the shadows returned all too quickly on his face.

"Loo, you look well for someone in your age and condition," the Elf King said, trying to make his mood lighter.

Luingirth turned upon him and chuckled, his deep voice echoing off the walls. "And you as well, old friend."

"Have enough in your old bones for another flight?"

"Do you?" Luingirth replied, challenging his lifelong friend.

"We have little time," Kelnozz said to them all, abandoning the jibe and turning serious. "And Luingirth can not carry us all back to Innowendyn. Some must stay, and as you know, this land is fraught with peril. I can not guarantee how quickly we might return for you – if ever."

"This is one decision I'll not be on the wrong side of," Yamara said, stepping forward. "I wish to return with you."

Kelnozz nodded. He understood and appreciated her position. He looked to the others, seeking any who would speak out.

First one sailor, one of the men, volunteered to stay. He was sitting beside his unconscious comrade and said that he would remain behind to offer her what aid she may require. The other sailors gave in as well, admitting that they, too, would remain behind for as long as necessary.

"Vanya, you may ride with us, but Regnar you are too large. You might fly along side us," Kelnozz offered.

"The distance is too great, you would not make it," Luingirth said, his booming voice soft. "I would ask you both to remain, and I will return when this is done so that I might spend more time with you to teach you what I can of your heritage."

Vanya and Regnar looked to one another, sharing an unspoken understanding that they began to understand better now that they knew the truth. They agreed as well.

"These people will treat you well, so long as you treat them well in return," Garrick told them. "They are not servants, but neither are they as advanced and civilized as you might be accustomed."

Garrick turned to the chief of the ape-men and spoke with them, grunting in a parody of their language. The chief nodded and called out orders to his people, telling them to accept the elves among them and to welcome them. Garrick then turned to Luingirth and nodded.

"Let us leave the hills and be on our way," Garrick said, knowing that Kelnozz would want to be off at once.

The King of the Elves nodded approvingly, and moved to follow.

*****

"What will become of me?" Bobo asked his mother as the two of them stared from a tall tower at the growing horde of undead that gathered outside the city wall. "If what you suspect is true, that is," he hastily added.

Alesha had been dodging speculation on the future every chance she had. Now, at the last, she was running out of time. She had tried repeatedly to accept a more patient attitude that the elves fostered, for they were so long-lived that many matters could be put off for years without undue concern. Her human nature came to the front, however, and demanded attention.

So it was that she finally had allowed herself to stop obsessing with checking and rechecking the obvious and instead studying that which was bound to happen. "I don't know," she admitted to him.

"It could be that when the barrier is restored the powers you gained from your experience will be gone," she offered hopefully.

"And with them my sight," Bobo said.

Alesha nodded, her spark of hope fading at the thought of her only son being crippled.

"Perhaps you will be unchanged, since you have inherited your magic from me," she suggested.

"Perhaps... but what of you? And us? If Darakor is returned..."

Alesha wished she had not confided in him that she knew of Kelnozz's first son being resurrected, but she also knew it was the right thing to do. "Your father will never deny you or turn from you," she said, misunderstanding him.

Bobo looked away from her. "I know that... I just..."

"If Darakor works for Kalista, then he has made himself an enemy. Your father will not allow it. I will not allow it so long as I'm here. He even succeeded at defeating me when I deserved it, remember?"

Bobo nodded, then looked back at her, studying her closely. "There's more... more that you're not telling me. What is it?"

Alesha raised an eyebrow at him, remaining calm on the outside but a state of confusion internally. How could he know? More importantly, how could she tell him? Then again, how could she deny him... she had already denied Kelnozz and it was tearing her apart.

She took a breath and sighed, which came out as a tortured moan. "I don't know for certain, but I think things are going to change when this is over."

Bobo's eyes narrowed. He knew that, but she seemed to mean there was more to it.

"I'm going to change, I mean," she said, trying to explain what she herself suspected but did not fully understand. "I have been forced to dig into myself, to explore the powers I have gained and not touched since we defeated Bavorish."

She paused, glancing at the undead again and seeing them with such clarity that any further self-denial seemed pointless. "By drawing some of him into me, I inherited more than just that glimpse of power."

Bobo gasped. "You mean you're the Keeper of the Dead?"

Alesha shook her head, a tear running down her cheek. "Not yet," she said. "If I were, they would not be here," she gestured at the shambling corpses.

"Then when?"

"When this is done. I know what I must do," she whispered.

"There must be another way."

Alesha smiled sadly at her son. "There are always options, Bobo. Always ways we can shirk our duties. But imagine the cost," she said, looking meaningfully out the tower again.

Bobo's gaze followed hers. "What are the other options?"

Favoring him with a long gaze she decided to level with him completely. "I could return Bavorish's powers to him, making him whole and terrible again."

Bobo frowned, debating whether it would be worth it or not. He opened his mouth but Alesha continued, letting him know she was not finished.

"Or you could inherit in my stead."

Whatever words had been about to come from his mouth fled. He stared at her, shocked. "Me?" He finally whispered.

"I alone have been touched with his mark, and you are my heir, should I fail," she said, reaching out and pulling her stunned son to her in a fierce hug.

"We raised you to know responsibility; to understand your duty," she whispered into his neck. "We meant that so you could be a leader of the elves, but now I need you to understand the price may be so very much higher."

Bob nodded, unable to deny her anything, even though the thought of what she said terrified him. "Should I fall, you must ascend... do you understand?"

He nodded again, feeling the warmth of her tears against his skin.

Alesha pulled away from him and looked into his eyes, clouded over and milky as they were. "Will you do this, if you must? Will you accept it?"

Bobo closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He had dreamed of one day having a family, or living a long life and of sailing on the seas, perhaps with a fine woman at his side. The image of Vanya came to him at the thought of a beautiful and fitting companion. He took the images and held them close, then let them evaporate.

Eyes open again and staring into both the worlds of the living and the dead, Bobo spoke somberly. "I do."

Chapter 22

Luingirth dropped out of the sky and landed in the same courtyard with the fountain where the statues had once been. Now only the pool and the stream remained amidst the cobblestone plaza, all signs of the battle long gone.

They had seen the throng of undead that pressed the city's gates, beating against the walls mindlessly in an attempt to gain entry. A magical portal had been established between Innowendyn and Thoragloorin, allowing elves to travel between the capitals without delay. It likewise allowed the walls of Thoragloorin to be manned and defended, although since there was no great tactical skill behind the army of shuffling corpses, defense consisted primarily of making certain that the exits were barred and that they could not climb atop one another highly enough to climb over the walls.

In spite of that, Kelnozz, Yamara, Luingirth, and Garrick met a haggard looking Bobocateya and Alesha. Both seemed very drawn and tired, but neither would speak much of it. Once the question of Vanya, Regnar, and the others was put to rest they gathered in the recently re-fired forges of the citadel. The smithy in the castle proper was the finest in all the land, allowing both a temperature and a control designed for working with the most complicated of alloys and the powerful of magics. Since the Kinslaying wars, Viconia had not seen its like.

"Darakor is alive," Kelnozz told her shortly after greeting her with a heartfelt embrace.

Alesha nodded, looking a little guilty at his declaration. "I felt him returned recently."

Kelnozz's eyes widened. "That time at the Well?"

She shook her head, "No, after that. I still do not know who or what that was."

The Elf King frowned but decided to let it drop. Later they would discuss why she had not shared the information.

"Are you prepared for this?" Kelnozz, weary himself with the two day flight home, asked his wife.

Alesha nodded, then offered a faint smile to him as thanks for not pursuing the matter of Darakor. She pulled him aside and kissed him tenderly, something that took him by surprise.

"I thought time was of the essence?" Kelnozz asked, a chill growing in him at her actions.

"It is, but a fight such as this is always perilous," she explained. "If the worst should happen..."

Kelnozz smiled and put his fingers to her lips, which he noted were surprisingly cold to the touch. "We will be triumphant, worry not."

She smiled, her eyes watering. Enigmatically she said, "that may be the worst that could happen."

Before Kelnozz could ask her what she meant, she had moved past him. He turned, reaching for her, but was surprised to find that she was already standing near the forge. He was more surprised to see her fully garbed in her armor crafted from the scales of dragons and the mightiest of metals, something he had not seen in years. It brought back feelings and memories, some of which he quickly dismissed.

Garrick had the broken sword and had already placed it into the furnace. As a testimony to its dormant magic, the blade had begun to glow red with the gathering heat almost instantly.