It was an honest relief to get Donnelly upstairs and put into a room. Richard and Geoff went with him, having rooms on either side of their mortal friend. Not only to keep him company, but to keep an eye on him. AJ was pretty sure he could trust him but he wasn’t going to get caught unawares by trouble. Better safe than sorry, he’d learned.
Trying to maintain things for their ‘guest’ had been a strain on AJ’s emotions. Ever since Brian’s break down in the forest, AJ had been holding on to his own feelings my a single thread. It had taken almost everything he had to continue on as if nothing was the matter; to help that woman as they’d come to the castle and to present Donnelly properly to the King.
But now Donnelly, Richard, and Geoff were all safely ensconced in their rooms. Brian was downstairs with Tadhg and Flreu, out back in that familiar garden. ‘I’m on my way, song of my heart. I just shielded their rooms so they’ll be safe and quiet tonight.’ He sent to Brian as he headed down the staircase.
‘We’re waiting for you, Alex. A small court awaits you, heart song. You’re awfully important.’ Despite the teasing note to Brian’s mind voice, there was a feeling of pain and heartache underneath it. Being back in their homeland, around their family, had brought all of Brian’s grief back to the forefront. This, in turn, brought out AJ’s. That circle of emotions between them didn’t work on just passion. It echoed and circled and magnified their grief as well.
There was no time for his grief yet, though. He envied Brian, who he could feel was stepping off with Tadhg. He envied that ability to take the time and mourn. But being trulion didn’t give AJ time to feel those emotions yet, even though the ball of grief was growing bigger and bigger until he felt like he was choking with it.
When he reached the back gardens, Flreu was waiting for him, standing at the head of a crowd of elves. “Ah, Grandson!” Flreu called out. “The guests are settled, I take it?”
“Aye, Grandfather. They are.” Stepping up to the King’s side, AJ turned to look out at the crowd. “I gathered from Brian that these people are here to see me?”
Flreu nodded, lowering his voice. “Most simply want a blessing from you for those that have passed in this war. They would like you to lead them in prayer for the departed spirits of those that we love. You remember the correct prayer we use here to the Goddess, correct?”
Those lessons seemed so long ago and yet he still held them in his mind. He had been taught long ago about the Goddess that they worshiped and all her many aspects. Though the elves worshiped different goddesses, they were all different aspects of one goddess. The Goddess. But, like the ancient Greeks, they said their prayers to her different aspects, her different forms, for special things.
AJ wasted no time in turning to face the assemblage. “A moment of silence, please!” He called to them. Instantly the garden went quiet. All eyes turned to face him.
Taking a deep breath, AJ pulled what he needed to do from deep in his memory. “I call to you, Mother Earth, Goddess of love and life. I call to you, Fire, Goddess of war and light. I call to you Air, Goddess of thought and feeling. I call to you Water, Goddess of healing. I call to you Spirit, Goddess of our soul and of those departed.” As he spoke, AJ raised his hands on either side of him and closed his eyes, bringing each element together.
He spun those weaves around one another, making a complex weave, a net beyond what most would see, feeling Brian’s own magic feed him in this. It grew, covering them all, enveloping them as he spoke the next words, crying them out in Elvish. “We call to you on this day and in this hour to care for the souls we have lost. In war against evil they fought valiantly, sacrificing their very lives to the fight for peace. We ask that you take them, sheltering them in your hands, cradling them in your warmth. We humbly beg you to bless them for their work and for their lives. Let the hearts and love of those present lift these souls up to you so that you may take them in your embrace and guide them into the next life.”
Though these weren’t his beliefs, AJ felt something touch his heart as the ceremony came to its completion. As he let go of the weave, letting it settle over all around, he felt an answering magic that was foreign to him; vaster than anything he had ever felt.
The world suddenly went bright, light enveloping him. The courtyard and its occupants disappeared from sight. By his side, AJ felt Brian, the warmth of his skin and his magic. But all else vanished as the light grew brighter and brighter until the world seemed to be made solely of light. He reached out, gripping Brian’s hand in his, unsure of what was happening. Magic pulsed all around, stronger than he had ever encountered; different from anything he’d known.
Light seemed to gather before him, drawing his eyes to one spot. Out of that light a shape grew. With a gasp, AJ knew what it was. His mind didn’t understand, but his heart and spirit and magic knew. Reflexively he dropped to the ground, prostrating himself before this figure, folding his body as one does before the King. Beside him, he felt Brian do the same.
“My beautiful children, you need not kneel before me.” A musical voice filled them, blotting out even the sound of their own heartbeats. It was the most beautiful thing that AJ had ever heard. Nothing in life could compare to it.
As those thoughts ran in his mind, the musical voice chuckled. “Your admiration is kind, Alyck o Tuian. Please, rise. I would wish to speak with you two.”
Very slowly AJ rose to his feet, his eyes still downcast. Again, he felt Brian moving beside him. The woman laughed once again, a friendly sound. “Fear you to look upon me, my children? Come. Lift your eyes. Do not humble yourselves before me, my champions.”
There was nothing else to do but lift his gaze. AJ looked up, almost gasping as he took in the beauty of the woman before him. He could not have described her to anyone. She was all the Goddesses and yet she was one. Whether her hair was red for fire, brown for earth, blue for water, or silver for air, or the glow of spirit, he could not tell. Her dress seemed to shift in colors, his eyes never able to settle on just one. This was beauty beyond the mortal, beyond even the magical.
Her smile grew. “You are right, Alyck. I come to you as the Goddess of all. All my faces, together as one. Few have witnessed it. Now, you two. My children, my warriors. So much has been asked of the two of you. There is so much put on your shoulders.”
Beside him, AJ felt Brian quiver. The Goddess looked to him. “Speak, Brian Littrell. I would hear your words.”
“How…” Brian’s voice quavered for a moment. “How are the two of us supposed to do so much? We raise our armies and we will fight, but how is it that all fate rests to the two of us? What makes us worthy of this?”
“Ah, yes. Such fear is normal. To explain to you how I know, the spark that I see in the two of you, would require understanding beyond what you possess. But let me say that in you both I see greatness. You can do this. It will not be easy. There is always the possibility that you may fail, for prophecy only tells us what can be if all comes right, not the exact future. That, not even I know. But I have faith in you two, my children.” She smiled over at Brian. “I feel your turmoil, child. Think you now that my presence destroys the faith you have held in your heart for your life. Keep that faith. I rule only my realm, my world. My Nellador. What being rules here, I know not.”
Her words were ringing in AJ’s mind, bringing up fears buried deep inside. “I fear we don’t have the strength for this.” AJ blurted out. It was a fear that had been eating at his heart since everything had come to light. “I will fight till my dying breath, for it’s what I must do. I know that in my heart. Yet fear eats at me. The demon we fought, I managed to destroy. But the strength of that evil is immense. I was lucky. How are we to take down the final evil in this all? Our strength will be no match for it!”
The Goddess moved toward them, seeming to bring the light and heat with her. Air stirred around them. They could smell earth, dampened by rain. Magic sizzled on their skin, under their skin. She raised her hands, one to each of their heads. Her palm rested above their foreheads, fingers curling back to their hair. The touch sizzled AJ’s skin, jerking the magical currents inside of him to attention. When her skin touched him, it was like a jolt of lightening straight down his body.
The light around them seemed to grow, coming into them, exploding inside of them. As if from a great distance he heard her words.
“You two are my champions. You are the chosen ones. The only two capable of fighting the Darkness that Destroys All. Without you, we are lost. Our hope rests in you. As my chosen, I grant you these gifts so that you may better fight the Evil. The magic of the trulion and the baka are ancient, made by my hand in a time before time. None have ever felt the full extent of these powers, for none were the two that were made true. These titles were made for you, Alyck, Brian. When I first created them, I knew one day you would come. Take my blessing, take my gift. Your ancient magic, magic you have felt growing in you since your war, has now been unlocked.”
Her hands left them. AJ dropped to his knees, no longer able to hold himself up. He heard her voice again, dim, as if it were fading.
“Speak to the Eldest of my Dragons. He knows what is needed of him. He will explain what I have done.” Further still, more distant than before, “I have faith in you, my children. I cannot see you again until you cross over. Know that I watch, and that I love you all.”
All at once the light dropped away. Sound returned to the world. The rush of sensations took almost the last of AJ’s energy. He dropped, barely catching himself on his hands, as the rest of the world erupted in sound.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Just barely, AJ made out words as they were suddenly bombarded with a crush of bodies and voices. “Circle, now!” Cried the one voice he could hear. It took a second to realize that it was Flreu. Another moment to realize what it meant. Common words seemed so hard to understand, as if he was trying to hear and translate a language he rarely ever used.
The circle command had been Flreu telling the guards to circle AJ and Brian. That meant they were back. Back in their bodies once again. Shit. Every magical sense that AJ possessed was still humming like he’d been electrocuted. It took great effort at first to reach out to Brian, though it became easier as he became more alert. ‘You ok, heart song?’
‘That was real, wasn’t it? Sweet God, I feel…I don’t know how I feel. Tingly. Like I’ve been hit by lightning and thrown into the sun.’
‘To say the least.’ AJ echoed. He felt some of his strength coming back. ‘Did you hear and see all I did?’
In a flurry of images and sensations the two traded information on what had happened. They matched perfectly. So, they had both seen and heard the same things; it was definitely real. But, what had she done to them at the end? What had that been? AJ still felt it echoing in his core.
All of those thoughts only took seconds to pass back and forth. Thoughts travel so much faster than words. Then AJ was sighing, bracing himself before pushing up to his knees, then up to one knee, then to his feet. Very slowly he opened his eyes.
A circle of guards surrounded him and Brian, as well as Flreu. The King lifted his hands, putting them on the shoulders of his grandsons. “Grandsons, are you well?” he asked worriedly. There was fear in his eyes as well as the worry.
Licking his lips, AJ gave Flreu a half smile. “You could put it that way. Your Goddess packs a hell of a wallop, Grandfather.”
It was enjoyable to watch Flreu’s eyes grow wide and bright. “The Goddess spoke to you?” He asked. His voice was quiet but carried a definite note of shock. Then everything about him lit up. “The Goddess spoke to my Grandsons! Blessed be this day!”
Brian raised a hand to wipe over his face. “If you might drop the guard, Grandfather, and send someone to fetch Tripha for us…”
“He’ll be here any moment.” AJ cut in. His mage senses, always strong, seemed stronger than ever. There was…more…to his readings than he’d been able to do before. He not only sensed Tripha coming, but could gauge his distance and know that there was one other, an elf, with him. What had been done to him?
Sure enough, a moment later Tripha came soaring over them. The crowds parted so that he could land and the guards dispersed from around Brian and AJ.
No matter what else was going on, AJ had a promise to fulfill. He stepped forward. Tripha gently lay an elf down on the ground. On silent feet, AJ padded forward. No one spoke to him as he knelt down, placing his hand over the night elf’s chest. Before, he had only been able to sense Lusheer on the currents of Neela’s magic. AJ had known that Lusheer was injured gravely, but no more than that.
Now, diving into the magical currents inside the elf, AJ discovered what was injuring him. A spell, a bind placed on him by Roth or one of Roth’s mortal mages. A sigh of relief slid through AJ. He’d encountered this before and knew easily how to dispel it. With a gentle touch he worked to unravel it, sparing a part of his magic to shield Lusheer against the pain he must be feeling.
It took only moments before Lusheer was completely free from the magic that had been holding him. AJ sat back on his heels, smiling as the elf below him opened his eyes and looked gratefully to AJ. “I felt all that you were doing, trulion. I understood, though I could not speak. I owe you my life. You have my most sincere thanks.”
“It was a joy to heal you and my duty, Lusheer. Now, don’t waste time here with me.” Grinning, AJ waved a hand at him. “There is a heart that is here waiting to sing her song with yours. Find her and make the sweetest music of all.”
In no time at all, Lusheer was running toward the castle.
That business taken care of, AJ rose to his feet, his eyes locked on Tripha. The bond alerted him to Brian as he walked up, stopping when they stood side by side. The two reached out, their hands grasping, tattoos brushing against one another, heightening their senses. “We have been sent to speak with you, Tripha.” Brian said softly.
AJ straightened his spine. “The Goddess spoke to us in a strong vision. She did something to us. Told us that we should talk to you for an explanation.”
“Your ancient magic, magic you have felt growing in you since your war, has now been unlocked.” Brian paused, tilting his head a little. “That was what she said to us. Then she told us to come talk to you.”
Tripha settled on the ground, his large body resting in the grass, his head raising so that it sat inches from them, one eye on each. “To do this, I need to see. Do you let me in?” he rumbled.
“Yes.”
“Yes.”
With a dragons smile, Tripha tipped his head before pulling the three of them into a mind link. Once again, AJ was almost washed away on another’s magic.