Chapter 42

THE wind storm raged for two days, and only seemed to be growing stronger. Almek's subdued students went about their lessons or personal training routines. Storm, who stood near the entrance to the cavern, watched the blowing sand deep in thought.

During the morning of the third day, the bard was making breakfast. He studied the Swordanzen after serving the others. He could not remember seeing her eat once since they took shelter, so he decided to remedy that and prepared a plate.

Mureln sat next to Storm, offering the food to her. Frowning when she shook her head slightly in refusal, he let his concern show in his soft voice. "Storm, you have to eat." She did not look at him, polishing her two-edged blade in silence. "When is the last time you have eaten?"

"A sevenday ago," she replied simply.

"Storm!" the bard scolded, drawing eyes to the pair. She narrowed her eyes and dug her fingernails into his leg where the others could not see. "Ow!" he hissed. She released him almost immediately, not intending the strike to be more than momentary. "Damn it, Storm, what was that for?"

"I know what Lord Almek seeks, even if he does not." Storm gazed out at the tempest with a fierce intensity that startled the bard. "I know what I must do. I must break my vows and bring outlanders before my people's ancient god, the Heart of Desantiva." She eyed the edge of the blade. "To honor Him, His suffering must be my suffering." She added, "Right or wrong, the laws are absolute. I will be punished for it."

"Storm," he said in sympathy, worry in his eyes.

"For as long as Desantiva has existed, the Heart of Desantiva has suffered as His children have suffered. I would do anything to ease His pain. Anything. All I can do is share it." She looked up as the ground started shaking, the only one not looking alarmed. "He is fully awake now. It is time."

Mureln rose quickly, putting a hand under her elbow inconspicuously to keep her from stumbling. She smiled faintly at him, appreciating both the assistance and his effort to protect her pride.

"Lord Almek." Storm approached the wall of sand still blowing violently across the cavern entrance. The others looked bewildered and alarmed between the earthquake and Storm's odd behavior. She paused before the archway leading outside and looked back. "The drizar will watch over the others. It is time for us to depart this place for the Rumblelands. Home of the Heart of Desantiva. He is expecting us."

Turning forward, she waved her hand in a wide arc, and the sand parted like a curtain, a dim red glow lighting the way. An unearthly bellow split the air, the ground shaking in echo. The others hesitated to follow, but when the ground seemed to buck under their feet, they hurried to catch up to her.

A wall of blinding heat blasted the travelers as they emerged onto volcanic plains. Red, glowing rivers of molten rock lined the dark volcanic landscape like lines in shattered glass. Jagged ridges only added to the appearance of the land having been torn apart. Storm gazed across the land, her eyes infinitely sad.

As Mureln stepped foot onto the coarse, blood red volcanic rock, he faltered a step as a wave of fierce pain threatened to overwhelm him. He closed his eyes as he focused to suppress the pain once more, much as Almek did. He heard the healer's whimper of pain and the bard immediately went to her, putting his arms around her to augment the block he'd created for her in First Home.

Radisen staggered, putting his hands to his head and falling to his knees in agony as he choked back a cry of agony. Emil and Emaris went to the man, trying to determine what took him down. "What happened, man?" Emil asked, Emaris putting a hand to his sword and scanning for the source of an attack. Emil looked up at Almek. "We don’t be seein’ no injuries an’ no attackers, Guardian."

Mureln grimaced, his own eyes narrowed. "It is the Psia Re." He put his hand on the Desanti man’s shoulder for a moment. Radisen sagged at the abrupt relief. "The ancestral pain. All those of Desanti blood—or healer sensitives—feel it. Have ever since the lands were sundered." He managed a weak smile as Radisen put a grateful hand on Mureln’s wrist as the pain diminished, lurching to his feet again.

"I have never known it to be so strong." Almek narrowed his eyes as he suppressed the Psia Re.

The bard said soberly, "Because we have been wrong all these years believing that the Psia Re was only an echo from long ago." He shook his head, grimacing a bit. "It is no mere echo."

"Well, why isn’t it affecting her?" Amelana demanded, pointing at Storm. The Swordanzen did not even act as if she heard the woman, staring off into the distance, an infinite sadness in her eyes.

Ash went to Storm, almost touching her shoulder when she finally spoke. "It does not cripple me because this is where I called home after I became Cursed."

The mage drew his hand back as if burned, looking at the barren landscape in horrified revulsion. "Storm," he began, uncertain what to say.

She turned her head slightly. "Come. Be aware. Here, the heart’s voice can be understood." The others looked bewildered as they realized she spoke the Swordanzen tongue but still understood her. "All tongues are equal in His domain. Nothing can be hidden." She turned forward and started walking down the only thing that resembled a path.

Heat radiated through the souls of their boots. Burning winds whipped around them, strong with the scent of sulfur. As they approached the entrance to a massive caldera, a large golden figure dove from the sky, striking Storm. The others froze in place, drawing weapons in preparation to fight. "No!" Storm shouted. She held up a hand, bloody from the rock she had fallen on. "Do not attack!"

The Swordanzen did not reach for her weapons, grimly pulling herself to her feet without complaint and continuing forward. Again, the figure swooped down, striking Storm, and again she got to her feet, though a little slower, ignoring the alarmed voices of her companions.

The third time she was struck, Ash could see Storm’s cheeks were wet with tears. The mage instinctively raised his hands, the creature rebounding off an invisible wall that protected the fallen Swordanzen from its dive, several golden feathers fluttering loose. The gleaming figure of a great desert eagle screamed in fury as its strike was blocked, its wings kicking up dust and sand as it hovered over the fallen Swordanzen.

Radisen’s eyes went wide, falling to his knees in awe. "Totani!" Prostrating himself, he could not bring himself to look on one of the divine servants of his people’s god who was so obviously enraged. "Thandar, the Golden One!"

"How dare you?" the bird screamed, its shape melting to one of a half bird, half man. "He gave you His trust! His love! And this is how you repay Him?!" He struck Storm in the head with the back of his fist. "You bring outlanders to witness His shame?!" Golden eyes rose to fix the group with hatred. "Defilers! Murderers!" His feathers half raised from the back of his head down his spine.

Terrence pushed his way past the two mercenaries who had put themselves between him and the strange creature, holding out his hands. "Stop!" he yelled in the Swordanzen tongue. "Stop this now!"

The birdman stopped short, staring. He narrowed his golden eyes, straightening, though his fists remained balled up. "I know you!"

"Do not punish her. She is here because I asked her to bring me here." Waving a hand at Almek, Dzee-Terrence said, "And the Sentinel needed to come. To see. To know." Terrence walked forward, holding a hand up to Thandar, the birdman placing his palm against the young Forentan’s. "You know her. She bears your mark. Do you truly believe she would have betrayed Him?"

With the Totani distracted, Ash rushed to Storm’s side, his face a mask of worry. "Storm." He pulled her next to him. Weakly, she struggled against his effort to help her. "Storm!" Holding her fiercely tight, he gently stroked her hair, hushing her as she sobbed.

Thandar stared at Ash as if he had grown unnatural limbs and oozed putrescence. "The defiler protects His daughter?"

"He is not like those others. Nor is this one." Dzee-Terrence indicated himself. "Please, Thandar. We must see Him."

The birdman looked torn, staring at Ash who protectively held Storm. Finally, calming, he moved to the fallen woman and knelt by her, touching her cheek. "No Githalin before you has been as strong. His heart aches for you from your pain." Looking up into Ash’s eyes, Thandar stated, "Betray her, and no borders of time or space will protect you from my fury, Defiler."

"His name," Storm whispered in a pain soaked voice, "is Ash Andar." Ash blinked in surprise, hearing his given name coming from the bristly Swordanzen woman's lips for the first time since they met.

Thandar grunted and rose. He circled each person in the group. Pausing before Mureln, he studied the Vodani. "Vodanya's waves crash against your soul, Spirit Singer. Do not let them break you." The bard blinked, opening his mouth to speak, but he could not produce a sound.

Moving to Radisen, he stood over him. "Rise, Warrior." As Radisen did so, he finally dared to raise his eyes to meet Thandar's. "You have finally proven your worth, Warrior. But another has claim on you, else you would be mine."

The Sevmanen mercenaries received only brief appraisals and cursory, noncommittal grunts. Thandar spat at Amelana’s feet and promptly dismissed her. He paused by Taylin, blinking. "I have not seen a soul as fiercely gentle as my Githalin’s is fierce since the Before Time. Do not fear to use both edges of your blade to preserve the balance."

Finally, he approached Almek and regarded the Dusvet Guardian. "You are still very young, Sentinel. I can see you knew nothing of this land. The echoes of the two-color Guardians had gone silent for so long, He worried none were left." Thandar made a satisfied noise. "It is good not all of your kind were destroyed."

Dzee-Terrence stepped nearer to Thandar, putting a hand on the bird man's arm. "We must see Him at once, Thandar. Our lord must know what comes. They are strong. But I am unsure if they are strong enough."

Thandar nodded, and his shape shifted back to the giant golden eagle. "Proceed. He awaits."

Ash put a hand on Storm’s cheek lightly, closing his eyes to ‘see’ and grimaced. "Stop concealing your suffering, Storm." She opened her eyes to look up at him, a half smile on her lips. He sighed knowingly. "Can you go on?"

"I have no choice." He inwardly cringed at her pain-soaked whisper. Reluctantly, she added, "But I need... help." Keeping his arm around her, he assisted her to her feet. The extent of the beating became apparent. The rock had cut her exposed skin in many places when she had fallen against it. Where she did not bleed out, dreadful bruises darkened the surface.

"You should let Taylin attend to you," Ash scolded in an even-toned voice for her ears only. "You can’t even put weight on your leg."

"No." Each step she took with painful determination. "What I suffer is nothing compared to what He suffers."

The caldera opened wide in front of them and Ash would have stumbled at what he saw, but for his concern for Storm.

In the heart of the bowl-like chasm, a massive dragon raged, its feet entrapped by giant chains. It tried to fly, its huge wings creating violent swirls of wind. The chains arrested the attempt with cruel abruptness, the creature crashing back to its jagged rock bed. Blood streamed from around the shackles and where the rock cut his hide as it screamed its fury to the heavens.

As the others caught up to them, Storm spoke wearily. "Lord Dusvet Guardian Almek Two-Tones. You stand before the Heart of Desantiva." She looked at the dragon and said in a choked voice, "Your people used to call Him the Raging One."

Terrence’s eyes went wide as Dzee retreated. He put a hand over the gem at his throat in an unconsciously comforting gesture. "That... He looks nothing like what Dzee remembers."

Choking back emotion, Taylin blinked back tears. "So much suffering," she whispered. "I can feel... what He feels... What He suffers. I must help him!"

Mureln pulled her back when she started stumbling towards the dragon instinctively. "Taylin, no. It is too dangerous. You cannot—"

"Such pain. I-I cannot do nothing..." The healer broke away from the bard before he could react. She ran towards the dragon, heedless of the danger, ducking sweeping wings. She reached the dragon in the brief pause between when he crashed to the ground and his lunge skyward and put both of her hands on his side, pouring blue-white healing energy into the ancient god.

The thrashing abruptly stopped, the dragon’s eyes clearing of the haze of endless pain. Wings lowered as the tension eased. He looked down at his side as Taylin slid to her knees wearily. "Who are you?" the dragon demanded. "Outlander woman who dares risk death to try to ease My pain?"

"I-I am Taylin." The healer looked upwards to meet the dragon’s eyes without fear, then lowered them again in respect. "Forgive me. I am not strong enough to do more."

The dragon lowered his head, his warm breath washing over her as he sniffed her. "You are one of the defilers’ get. But not like those who imprisoned Me." The tip of his tail snaked around Taylin, helping her to her feet. "I am grateful to you, one called Taylin."

Putting too much weight on her already injured leg, Storm grimaced as she overbalanced and pulled at her broken ribs. She hissed between her teeth, wrapping her arm over the too dark bruise on her side. Drawn out of his shocked stare at the dragon, Ash tightened his arm around Storm, keeping her on her feet as her knees buckled. "Storm?" he whispered, urgency in his voice.

At the same moment, the dragon swung His head around, the sharp spines along His back rising as He growled, worry obvious in His voice. "Daughter! Where are you?!" Wings flared wide, echoing His emotions. As Ash helped Storm walk forward slowly, the dragon’s head pulled back in surprise. "Defiler! You dare touch my daughter?" The dragon lunged forward, snapping at the mage. Only the chains held the dragon's maw only inches from his target.

Ash instinctively flinched, but did not flee. Storm looked at the mage, squeezing his hand as she pulled his support away. "I can stand alone, Mage. Do not anger Him further." Ash opened his mouth to argue, then shut it again. He reluctantly released her and backed away slowly.

Storm did indeed manage to stand alone for a moment. But the façade of strength evaporated, and Storm staggered forward to fall against the dragon's nose, resting her head against his hide, closing her eyes. "Father, forgive me. I did not know what else to do."

With infinite care, the dragon lifted the Swordanzen, bringing her to his side, gently depositing her by Taylin. "I know you tire, Healer. Draw strength from your heart and you will draw strength from Me. Ease My daughter's pain."

Taylin looked up with wide eyes. "I thought healers were forbidden to Swordanzen," she blurted out before she could censor herself.

Growling, the dragon looked down at the Forentan Illaini Magus. "That power from which you draw is all but gone from the weave of this land. But what was stolen from Desantiva made Desantiva stronger." As the dragon looked down at Storm, his wings sagged slightly. "For a price."

Along the wall of the caldera, the sun flickered off a cloudy block of crystal streaked with a rainbow of colors, a dark shape deep in the heart of it. Terrence stared wide-eyed at the large mound of crystal, walking over to it. Reaching out a shaking hand, he touched it lightly, then drew back as if burned. "It is... Dzee." Looking up at Ash, Terrence said with a sense of panic, "Master Ash! It's Dzee! She-she is still here!"

The dragon swung his head around with a snarl when he realized someone was near the crystal. Terrence dropped to his knees when the gaping maw threatened to drop on him when Dzee-Terrence called out, "Lord of my heart! Wait!"

"Dzee?" The dragon lowered his head. "My Dzee? You are here?" He lowered his head until his chin was just above the ground, staring at Terrence. "How is this possible? I could not find you. None of my children could find you. We searched for so long, but I would not believe you were gone. I could not give up hope that you were not lost completely."

Terrence stood up, lowering his darkened eyes. "The... defiler that slayed me, that led those who imprisoned and nearly killed you... she was a Shadowlord." Looking desperately afraid, Dzee-Terrence said, "I fear there was something... behind the war. Something darker. Someone."

The young mage hugged himself, shuddering a bit. Looking up, his eyes were clear blue again. "My lord, when she was killed, she said something... terrible... had captured her on the other side. It tried to feed on her and prevented her from returning to the physical plane sooner. She fought for a long time. When she got free, she was very weak. She was too weak to cross the boundaries between worlds and remain on this side."

He bit his lip, putting his hand over the gem comfortingly. "In her desperation to return to you, she believed another there who told her the only way she could remain in this plane was to-to hunt and feed on the humans here. Those who survived... were tainted and had to be killed."

Almek listened in silence to Terrence's words, then looked up at the dragon. "There is wrongness in all of the lands, Great One. More and more shifters have been coming across the Great Barrier. And I fear that there is corruption within the Guardians."

The dragon reared back, jerking the chains that imprisoned him. The group ducked and braced themselves as the wind from his wings buffeted them. "Those my children trust corrupt?!"

Almek lowered the arm from his eyes when the dragon's wings stopped fanning. "Aye, Great One. Those with Talent in the realm of guardians and their own native domains were not being trained because no one looked past one talent for another gift." Pausing a moment, he said slowly, "Or they were dying young or being killed when they were too young to defend themselves."

The Raging One growled. "I have seen this phenomenon within my borders. Many strong younglings were taken before maturity. Thandar barely found My daughter in time before she was taken by those who took her tribe." He looked over at Radisen, fixing him with an intense stare. "Others We would hide among the trusted. Tested. Perhaps harder than We should have."

"The world provides where there is a void. I have begun to suspect because those of Guardian Sight alone were fading, those strongly possessing another talent along with the Sight were being born." He waved a hand to the gathered. "I have taken it upon myself to find them. Train them."

"Good," the dragon rumbled, half folding his wings.

Hesitating a moment, Almek stated bluntly, "No Guardian has come from this land since the ancient war, but the Talent runs very strong among Your children." The implied criticism was not lost on anyone.

The dragon growled, lowering his head to glare at the old man. "Do not test me, Guardian! My children do what they need to survive. They were dying. Nearly extinct! No mere handful of warriors, no matter how skilled, would have been able to defend against the numbers the Outlanders still possessed."

"You tried to keep the world out and your children out of the world to preserve the balance." Almek crossed his arms, steadily regarding the Desanti god. "Even Guardians were treated as outsiders. Such a complete severing of ties was unnecessary."

"You criticize Me?" The Raging One roared in anger. "That it was a Shadowlord who instigated the attack on Desantiva does not matter. They have always feared My children. They wished them all dead and gone." Looking fixedly at Amelana who looked like she would bolt any moment, the dragon hissed. "Ask the defilers. They are happy to pretend we do not exist. We are happy to let them believe the lies they tell themselves. The balance of energies remains secured, precarious as it is."

Unnoticed, Ash had moved to the crystalline mound, eyes fixed on the shape in the heart of it. In his mind's eye, he could see the shadows of the past, the war his ancestors brought to this one. Massive deaths and destruction, inflicted unexpectedly, hobbled the dragon who felt each one as it happened. Unable to kill a god, they crippled him by ripping away one of His immortal servants and imprisoned Him in divinely wrought chains. That act sent ripples across the land of Desantiva that began reaching beyond Desantiva's borders. The death that should have been assured was prevented by the greatest of sacrifices.

"A'tyrna Ulan," Ash whispered, drawing all eyes to him. "They were dual bloods." Pale with the shock of suddenly understanding, he looked up at Almek. "The A'tyrna Ulan were children of a mage and a warrior." Struggling to speak, Ash explained, "To save Desantiva, they sacrificed themselves during the final attack that would have utterly destroyed Desantiva by joining their essences of mage and warrior with the land, becoming part of it."

The mage looked at the crystal encased body, struggling to come to terms with the truth his people had tried to forget completely. "The Knowing One... She was deceived into believing the warriors meant to destroy Her children, Her mages. Her shame... Her shame was nearly succeeding in killing Her own brother." He looked up to the dragon who simply watched him, the only movement was the lashing of the tip of His tail. "She allowed the warriors to become distant memories... because You wished it. And it is the only thing You would allow Her to do."

"She betrayed Me." The Raging One growled deep in his chest. "Betrayed My trust. Defiled my realm."

Terrence looked at Ash intently, sensing a sudden shift of energy around the mage. "Master... what are you doing?"

"I cannot undo all of the past." He dropped to his knees, putting both hands on the crystal. "But perhaps I can mend at least one rift." Humans, Totani and god stared in wondering awe as a brilliant blue-white glow enveloped the crystal tomb.

A rattling hiss from beyond the lip of the caldera drew the Guardian's attention upward sharply as several Totani converged on the dragon to defend him. "The shadows have breached the barrier! Defend our father!"

Almek put both arms out, blocking the others from rushing over to pull Ash away, his eyes going up to the lip of the cliff above them. "Protect Ash!" the Guardian ordered.

Grotesque serpentine creatures slithered down the wall, long, needle-like teeth promising pain and suffering. Radisen, Emil and Emaris moved immediately to stand between the mage and the monsters. Though the dark snakes were easy to slay, they seemed to keep coming like an endless tide. Behind the warriors' ranks, the bard, apprentice mage and Guardian struck down those few slipping past the warriors.

The dragon bellowed and exhaled fire along the top of the wall, searing many of the monstrous things. Thandar and other half-human, half-animal entities joined the battle to protect the handicapped dragon, but even then, the creatures kept coming endlessly, increasing in number as the daylight waned.

Terrence looked over his shoulder sharply as if he heard Ash call him, going to the mage deep in the casting of his magic. "Master?" Terrence asked in uncertain worry as he knelt by the Illaini Magus. He gasped when Ash suddenly grabbed his apprentice's throat, helplessly trying to fight back at the unexpected attack as he felt his life force being pulled out of him. "Master!"

Ash jerked his hand away. Terrence gasped as the mage ripped the gem from his throat. At the same time, the crystal tomb trembled, cracks appearing along its smooth facets. Ash grabbed Terrence and pulled him down, covering him protectively as the crystal abruptly exploded in a shower of crystal shards and brilliant light.

Everything stopped, time itself seeming to hold its breath as the dust cleared. Gingerly, a delicate half-woman, half-dragonlike creature the color of rainbows picked herself up. She looked down at herself in wonder, then looked up, her expression turning malevolent. Raising her hands, she commanded, "Be gone!" A wave of white light exploded from her hands and the shadow creatures evaporated, unable to withstand the purity of her power. "Never dare taint my lord's land again," she growled warningly.

The dragon stared, lowering his head to touch her with his nose. As she relaxed her stance and reached out to touch him, he closed his eyes. "Dzee. My light."

"My lord," she whispered. She bowed her head. "I am finally home."

"Master Ash?" Terrence sat up weakly, shaking his head to clear the ringing in his ears. He put his hand on Ash's shoulder. "Master?" He shook the unmoving man's shoulder, cold fear settling in the pit of his stomach. "Master!"