Chapter 502: Green in the gray (1/2)
Chapter 502: Green in the gray
I blew stea part way toin the middle of a small round table between Mordain, Lyra, and reen-feathered, horned oas hopping fro rapidly
“And then she looks up at h her splayed fingers at this point—and says, ‘I just don’t knohat to do with the boy, Avier I either need to hang hiibbet…or make him a professor!’ Well, we all kno that turned out”
My shoulders shook as I laughed, and I had to set downbetween the wyvern and aze focused into the ether in Mordain’s private study The round walls were covered in curved shelves full of books, strange crystals, and a variety of knick knacks I didn’t inize He’d asked us to share tea with him once more before Lyra Dreide and I left the Hearth Wren Kain had already returned to Darv, loath to leave his work behind any longer
“She kneas the boy Agrona searched for, of course, but Cynthia expected there was more to him, even then,” Avier continued more seriously “Cynthia wasn’t a seer, mind you, but she was clever Perhaps the most clever person that I ever met Arthur was more than just quadra elemental He understood e” Avier hesitated, then continued acy”
Lyra Dreide clicked her nails against the side of her glass “Incredible, that she lived for so long after turning against Agrona That one woman could hobble the inforainst a deity no less”
“Agrona is no deity,” I said harshly, then immediately felt the squir to Glancing from Lyra to Mordain, I bowed avesideways in a chair of woven grass, one leg crossed over the other, a greenheld loosely in his other hand “The asura are no ‘deities,’ whatever ruents of Kezess have forona hi to a deity this world has ever seen”
Lyra’s face fell “Because he created the Alacryans, you h enius can’t be denied To have created an entirely new race in his own ie” Mordain shook his head ruefully
Avier ruffled his green feathers “I saw firsthand the lengths Cynthia went to just to escape the reach of the Vritra clan In her darker hours, she would break down and weep as she detailed the depravities that she had participated in, all in Agrona’s naled to see how anyone with a good heart could be born from such darkness”
“Is anyone born evil?” Lyra asked, swirling her glass before draining it “Cynthia Goodsky and I were both forged into bitter implements by cruel masters If we did evil, we did so because ere told it was good We learned it, just as we eventually learned better I don’t know if all people are capable of such a change, but I have to believe they are”
I felt n the retainer’s words with my own experience of Alacrya “I find that the ability—orand to truly change is pretty exceptional”
Lyra’s answering look was uncertain; she didn’t know if I was co with her I supposed I was doing both
“You are both correct, in“The older one is, the harder—the e And yet sometimes outside pressure requires a metamorphosis, lest those sa a couple of hop-steps toward Mordain “You’re thinking of Chul”
“I areed to let hio what it would mean Kezess will understand who and what he is immediately, I am certain I can only hope that Arthur’s station will shi+eld young Chul from ie?” I asked, still confused about this point and glad that Mordain had brought it up “Since you kno to pass between the torlds, you could have sent anyone, couldn’t you? Avier”—I reached out and stroked the owl’s feathers, only afterward did I rereat power—“s-surely would have been capable…”
He ruffled again, his large eyes soaking me in with an expression I couldn’t read
Mordain’s smile turned wry “Chul’s path is Arthur’s path, now To keep him back would have been to steal his purpose from him” Almost to himself, he continued, “Twice now I have put hi off soer It does, though, force a very old man to rethink his decisions, both recent and past Kezess knows that the Asclepius survive”
I watched the ancient asura uncomfortably Souage entirely—like I was a child listening to adults talk and just not getting it
Mordain had been generous with his time and the accommodations of his people within the Hearth over the last day I couldn’t help but trust him, and I already considered him an ally But I couldn’t claihtened suddenly, standing “Which is, of course, why I’ll be sending one of , and there is, perhaps, much we could offer this world, even if we cannot return hoe eyes blinked twice Before speaking, he gave a reptilian croak “Mordain…are you certain? That is a large step, and so sudden”
Taking a deep breath, Mordain closed his eyes and s of the s down on us “Even in Epheotus, where ti A dam has broken, Avier Can you not feel it? If there has ever been a tis suddenly, it is now”
We left Mordain’s study and flew along one of the wide tunnels that connected the various chaarden where food was grown, an arena of sorts where a handful of young phoenixes restling, and a natural hot spring full of people lounging in the shalloater, we landed at the entrance of a narrow passage with a smooth floor
Mordain didn’t speak as he led us into the short passage The chaht and airy, covered with vents that I assumed allowed airflow fro clean water do cool white light Two phoenixes sat on a reen while the other fawned over the in front of the ill phoenix, Mordain exchanged a few kindly words, then continued on through the outer room into a narrow corridor that branched off into small, private roo inside one open room
The only furniture was a cot, but the rooht and clean in a way that reminded me of the sterile hospital rooms at Xyrus Acade back
At the end of the corridor, he opened a door—one of very few I’d seen in the Hearth—into a secondary roo plants To quietly in the corner Both looked up in surprise as we entered
“Soleil, Aurora” Mordain shtly “I come with a rather unusual request”
War northward Soleil, Lyra, and I clung to the golden frills that stuck out fro neck swiveled back and forth with each beat of his wings as he searched the Beast Glades for any threat
As I considered the strength of the wyvern and phoenix, I couldn’t iine what beast could threaten us
“Oh, I haven’t been out hunting in ages,” Soleil said, her neck twisting and craning ale eyes flickered with internal light as her ashen blonde hair fluttered in the wind “And I haven’t flown like this since I was just a child! Thank you for bringing ,” I said stiffly In truth, I hadn’t yet wrappeda phoenix out in the open But Soleil’s presence was to be Mordain’s overture toward the rest of Dicathen “Mordain must have a lot of trust in you”
The asuran wohtfully “I’ve been his student for thousands of years I trusted hiee here in Dicathen But the trust he placed in each and every member of our clan who elected to come with him is difficult to quantify Any one of us could have doo”
Lyra let herself slide back the length of a few frills in order to hear better “Do you think he’s right to co now?”
A soft expression smoothed Soleil’s features “No one can see all ends, and even the great lords can still aze reaches longer thanfor his vision once before, and I aain”
I couldn’t explain it, but a ht Soleil seemed happy to watch the Beast Glades speed by, and Lyra was outwardly focused on returning to her people
Neither complained when I receded intofear, worry, and sadness, but the source was as for to change—but I didn’t know if I could keep up with it What if I fail again? The question was like a knife of anxiety sticking intoGroithin the soil of my many errors and fertilized by the corpses of those I’d led into combat I knew I couldn’t shake it off or pretend like it didn’t exist, and so I sat with the tiredit as the necessary price ofis changing, like Mordain said
Avier landed on the strip of brown grass and fallen trees that separated Elenoir from the Beast Glades There was a small Alacryan settlement a half mile or so to the west, but Lyra had asked that we not fly directly into it The last tiee villages, many Alacryans had died
Lyra led, her steps quick but not rushed Avier transformed back into the comparatively small form of an owl and rode on Soleil’s shoulder For her part, the phoenix woe on the edge of the gray wasteland
A shout went up frouards ere still several hundred feet fro theh to make out individual details, however, they relaxed In the meantime, a bare-chested, bronze-skinned laive in both hands
“Djihtly as we came within earshot “Any news?”
The e artifact in the shape of a belt buckle and stowed his weapon “We fought off a pack of black-fanged wolves yesterday Their hides are already curing A few of us have fallen ill with so” His dark eyes met my own briefly, then settled on Soleil “What of your own task?”
Understanding his unasked question, Lyra said, “The e is sent We have no way to know if it’ll reach Arthur, nor if he’ll be able to return Still, we have our own tasks” To me, she said, “Lady Tessia Eralith, princess of Elenoir This is Djie of the Ascenders Hall in Itri And this…” She hesitated, choosing her words carefully “Djimon, this is Soleil One of the asura A phoenix”
Dji the asura, didn’t seee eyes and the fieryother than human “Tessia Eralith I have heard your narandfather, Virion An honor to have you aratitude This man no doubt knew me as Cecilia also—his enemy on both sides of the war But he didn’t mention it “I’ve heard a lot about what you’ve accomplished out here, but I wanted to see it forto Soleil
“Should Elenoir ever be habitable again, we’d be neighbors”
He nodded seriously “A relationshi+p that we have already taken our first steps toward Even now your people wander the wasteland, searching out places to plant new groves”
“We are all restarting in one way or another” Lyra took a deep breath The wind blew fro a subtle scent of the distant sea “Come on I’ll show you around”
The settles The Alacryans had ingeniously formed bricks fro everything a drab appearance Still, against the backdrop of the vibrant green Beast Glades, and with large, square raised planting beds sprouting a variety of fruits and vegetables, the settle wo bushy plants covered in purple berries, shouting as they raced to collectkites in the shape of exaggerated ing, and hisinto the core ofto break it apart
“How many Alacryans re to do some quick ht,” Lyra answered casually, as if she knew the nuinal number These are the people anted the promised new life Seris had offered them more than they yearned for a return to normalcy in Alacrya Not that those who left received such a life I expect there are ”
A reverberant lowing froe made my heart leap “Moon oxen?”
Lyra smiled “We’ve continued to expand our herd Quite a few end up here They’re incredibly useful, providing et near the settleh”
“Have you tried tothe first tient—an acquired taste, I suppose—but very hearty and lasts a long time” An idea occurred to me “You know, Elenoir was still closed off for h dwarven cuisine by now to bet they’d love it”
Dji nation Ox cheese…”
“Perhaps next tiet us started with the process?” Lyra’s tone was serious, and a small line had forhts “We could even offer a few of the e”
“Our first trade deal,” I suggested with a little laugh