8.4 Be Welcome

Day 79

I emerge from the Empress’ chambers to find Bran and Hella waiting to hear what had happened. It seems only right, holding this pendant in my hand, that I offer them the opportunity to see the Empress that all elves are tied to (or should be, anyway). They are hesitant, but accept the offer.   Bran accompanies me first, and instead of the quiet garden where I am accustomed to seeing her, we are in a grand hall. I present him as Thalien’s student, my own student, my Fatespinner and my maker of things. She speaks to him, recalling a time when she questioned the strength of the people I had chosen to travel with, and how she has seen his loyalty, commitment, and strength of character. Seemingly in the way of all who are close to me, she reminds him that I will continue to need him, and asks him if he will always be there to support me. His answer brings tears to my eyes. They are words I feel like I have spoken as well - “Yes, I will be here. I know that sometimes my place will be far away from her. Wherever she needs me to be, that is where I will be.”   As he says this, she remarks that he is incomplete as someone who is bound to me but not the Empire and its people. He must take the first step, as no one can command him to do so. As he always does, he rises to the occasion. As the first of his kind to swear an Oath of this sort, he is special amongst humans.   “I offer you the place you have made for yourself” she tells him, and grants him the gift of time - to learn and to serve as long as any elf would.   When her presence fades, I find that we are both in tears. Having seen Lael quietly preparing to live his life without Anna, I have been quietly trying to ignore the growing inevitability that Bran and Hella will pass first. Seeing Bran so close to death just a few days prior was heart-wrenching, but at least he had fallen in battle and not to the senseless confines of his mortal race. Now...a round-eared maker of things who will walk with me for centuries, or until one of us is finally claimed by the dangers of our work.   When we emerge, Hella still seems nervous. I suppose seeing us in tears did nothing to reassure her. Still, she gathers her courage and enters.   On the other side we are once again in a throne room, but this time the light flickers as though we are deep underwater. Hella and Kadia are separate here, and both kneel before the Empress and exchange words in Osyr. The Empress enfolds Kadia in an all-arms hug and tells her that there are too few of them left to stand on formality. Hella, as well, gets a hug. I can only imagine what Kadia must be thinking; the last time she stood before the Empress must have been very different indeed.   “You knew me at my worst and served me still. Now, know me at my best and serve again,”   And then her attention falls solely on Hella.   “The touch of many is upon her,” she says, speaking of Hella’s many teachers and the path she has taken to get here. Hundreds of years of fate spinning has brought her to this point, just for the possibility of what she might become. Kindness, curiosity, and the discipline to pursue more.   And then she joins Kadia and Hella as one, so that they will walk one path from now on.   “I already have the blade of the left and right hand, and now I have the wand,” she says, looking at me and then at Hella/Kadia together.   My meetings with the Empress thus far have been melancholy, with an undercurrent of pain at the things I have lost and the things I must continue to do. Now, she turns to me with orders: When the Shadowgate is able to accommodate a person, send her to me. See that it is done.   It has been so long since someone simply gave me instructions. What a blessing, to know precisely what to do! What a curse, for that thing to be sending Hella back through the Barrier. I don’t know which side is more dangerous but certainly, it will be hard for her to leave.   At the back of my mind, I think of Dal and Thalien and the death that awaited them when they crossed the Barrier. Another flicker of thought: Kadia back from her existence in the Dreaming, and walking in the waking world. Would the Empress do the same for Thalien?   And then the throne room fades, and I am left looking at a person who is both Hella and Kadia in one.   This turns out to be incredibly useful...Kadia remembers the layout of the library even though it has been a thousand years, and she leads us through the halls to a room of pillars, each covered with runes. Like the other rooms, it is missing the stones that would power the magic here, which would protect the city with alarms and wards, among other things.   So we go searching, and find ourselves even further down.   7th level The stairs open into an enormous geode cavern with what can only be described as a pool of liquid magic. At the centre, an enormous crystal rises 20m into the air. Hanging from the ceiling are large bats, all between the size of a housecat and a small bear.     Intruder, defiler, plunderer. This is our home. Why are you here?   A voice sounds in my head, and from the reactions of those around me I can see that it is in all of our minds. These bats have taken up residence in this well of magic, which they say was left here by Ingans long ago. Since then the city has been vacated and left them room to feed, grow, and breed safely, becoming strong.   Bran steps forward and tries to explain that we need the crystals to power the rest of the library, and that we can protect them from others who would come to harm them, how we would be stronger together.   My mind is racing - The city has been abandoned for centuries...of course some other peaceful creatures have made a home in this place, rich in magic and strength. They speak of their children here, and they are not involved in any war on either side of the Barrier. There is no reason for them to give way to us. There is no one to protect them from...no one comes down here.   Still, we need these crystals. I don’t know if they will understand, but I tell them of the war that will rage above the ground if we fail in our work. Of the people who will doubtless storm this centre of knowledge and pry its secrets out of the ground, no matter how deep.   The voice asks for a trade, to let one of them drink from us to show that we are here as equals and not plunderers. I offer my wrist and a small bat alights and drinks of my magic, leaving me tired as though I’d worked a spell. In exchange, we take a small crystal and agree to always make this a trading relationship.   As we ascend, I can’t help but think they didn’t really have a choice, and that this was not a fair trade.