Chapter Sixty-six

King Moonfeather

King Moonfeather thanked the servants for the meal and announced he was retiring for the evening. He also acknowledged Jörgen and his accident before departing. We excused ourselves from the table as well and met together in Melima's room to decide what exactly we would talk to the king about in the morning.

Naidaroe was sitting at a chair in front of the fire, reading a note. She glanced up when we came in. "Guys, I've got some exciting news! But it also makes me sad. My captain has news of my father. He's been missing for years, and I'd have to leave now in order to have any hope of seeing him again. I know I said I'd help with the Tree, but this might be my only chance to find him."

We all agreed that she should go, it wasn't the first time something like that had happened. Keothi was adamant that he also go with her. It was a long trek back to Vasselheim, and not one our pirate friend should make on her own. I had a feeling that he also had concerns about the honesty of her captain.

There was still a little bit of daylight, so they decided to leave immediately, gaining as much ground as they could. I was concerned about their safety overnight, until I remembered that Naidaroe could cast the dome for them. What were we going to do at night now?

We turned our discussion to planning for the next morning. Melima mentioned Sephra's desire to bring up her parentage, but they weren't sure if it would be the best time. At least not as the first thing to bring up.

"I can bring it up," Jörgen offered.

"Jörgen!" I warned.

"I'm good at doing that," he said with a smile.

"Jörgen, I want to know what you were doing here earlier in your life," I said. "Not that you remember, but I want to know!"

Sephra laughed. "Melima, I was thinking maybe you should talk to him first, leave hints or something. Ask about my mom, things like that."

I asked Melima if the king's private chambers would be safe for Sephra with her ring, which she was pretty sure it was. She was pretty sure it was only the throne room she had to worry about.

We decided there wasn't much else to discuss, so we each retired to our rooms. With the others leaving, we each had our own room, which was nice to have after sharing a space for so long. As much as I loved my friends, being by myself for a while was welcome.

The next morning, we had breakfast then prepared to meet with the king. Melima assured us we didn't need to be as formal as we had for dinner the previous night, but we were still meeting with a king. I cleaned up my armor a bit, but I didn't have anything else to wear besides my formal dress, which I still didn't really like wearing. It wasn't uncomfortable, it was just so impractical. What was I going to have to wear if I ever revealed myself to my mother's family?

We crossed over to the eastern side of the palace, passing the grand doors to the throne room. Melima led us to a back corner of the building to an office-like room. The desk was made of fine wood and expertly carved. I wondered if my father would be able to make anything like it, the craftsmanship was well beyond my skill range. A window opened up to the back of the palace grounds, lush and green, but still a bit wild with open forest.

The chair at the desk turned as we entered, and the king stood to greet us. He bid us to take a seat, there were several chairs and couches around the wall surrounding a table. Where the chairs ended, bookcases began, filled with books, tomes, journals, busts, and other nicknacks. Some of the higher shelves held artifacts. Some had glass cases over them, some were on pedestals. One case held four wands.

The king took a seat at the table as well, taking care not to place his chair on his robes, which while still fine, were not as formal as the ones he'd worn the night before. "Well, is this everyone?"

"Yes," Melima said. "This is everyone. We had two others, but they have been called on other things."

"As I'm sure you know," the king said, "some things are happening in the world that are strange and unfamiliar. Are you familiar with what is happening? What have you discovered, my daughter?"

"That there is a great evil that we are up against, that we feel very inferior to fight on our own. But we understand that it's got something to do with the Spider Queen, and the Tree is somehow affected. It has some incurable disease stripping away its life force, and stripping it away from anyone associated with it. I haven't been able to meditate for several months. We have a mage stuck in an orb that we don't know what to do with— maybe you can help us with that..."

"He's a big bad guy," Jörgen said.

"...and I think he'd have a lot of answers for us," Melima continued. "We, alone in our group probably couldn't take him without some help, so that's something we can discuss, options wise."

"Interesting," the king said. "You'll have to tell me more about this orb that you have, later. But continue."

"Of course! You'd really like it, it's awesome. Tawariell, you obviously have had some special experiences that I think you should share with my dad. I think that he should have an understanding of the calling that you have received and the visions that you have had so that we can better piece together whatever is going on."

"Yes," I said, not missing a beat. I'd anticipated that I'd need to share what I knew, and had been running through it in my mind all morning. "So, we've had multiple run-ins with servants of Loltha, the Spider Queen, and every time it just seems connected to the Tree somehow, or connected to Loltha escaping, which I think is connected to the attacks on the Tree. But I've had multiple visions from Bahamut, the Platinum Dragon, and he has called me, with my friends, to help save the Tree. He's told me that we are the key to saving our people."

He looked at me, searching me up and down. I'd started growing accustomed to it, but someone as powerful as a king doing it... that was intimidating. "Interesting... Someone of your lineage..."

He didn't sound rude, just curious. "You look like..."

I held my breath as I waited for him to say who I looked like. Which side did he see the resemblance of? "You look like... You look like a Lussanen. Are you related?"

I nodded my head. "My mother was a Lussanen, yes. She is the daughter of the Erael O'Si. Although, not next in line. She was a few steps down the line for the throne. And my father is a Nosgartha. Thorontur Nosgartha."

"Hmm, I wondered. There had been much talk, not a lot, but from my sources, there was talk of the Nosgartha leaving and going with the Lussanen, though I did not let it spread much. But I wondered. So you are the product of them."

"Yes," I said. When others talked about the incident it always sounded so bad. It kind of was—it caused a lot of problems—but I wouldn't exist otherwise.

"Interesting. Well, there is... there is much happening. As I'm sure you are aware, there is much unrest in the kingdom, both Wood Elf and High Elf. And both sides are worried about the Tree. I have been out there, but I have not done much because I suspect... I suspect something, but I was not one-hundred percent sure."

"What do you suspect?" Melima asked.

The king was glancing over the others in the group, then suddenly turned back to Sephra. She'd changed the way her face looked a little bit, but I could still tell that it was her. He leaned a little closer to her. "You look so familiar... Hmm. What did you say your name was again?"

"My name is Sephra."

"Do you have a last name?"

"Duskryn." That was a different name than I'd heard her refer to herself as, usually she said Locklear.

The king blinked. "Hmm, interesting."

He sat back and thought for a moment, repeating himself. "Hmm, interesting."

"What were you saying, Dad? Before you got sidetracked?" Melima asked.

He gently shook his head and turned back to her, but his mind was obviously still somewhere else. "Oh, yes. Um… This is so interesting. The world— You always think it's so big, and yet it's so small. I've been having a hunch about something, and I'm not sure, but... I believe the Tree is not diseased. I believe this is the work of dark magic, and it needs to be corrected."

"That doesn't surprise me," I said.

He was talking to Melima, but he kept looking over to Sephra. "It's like a family reunion here!" Jörgen said.

Fortunately, the king either didn't notice Jörgen's comment, or ignored it. "I think... I think it is something that I have feared for much time, has happened."

He walked over to one of the shelves and waved his hand over a box on it with an arcane spark. The box clicked open and he took out a small piece of paper. He turned back to us and paused.

He moved his arms to cast a spell, and my heart leapt into my throat. Did he not trust us now? Was he going to do something to Sephra? I half expected time to stop. This was one of the most powerful wizards in the world, I had no idea what he could do.

It only took a moment before I realized what his spell was doing. Sephra's skin color was starting to change. Her features returned back to their normal shape. Her Drow heritage was visible to all within the room. What was he going to do with her?

He calmly sat back down and faced her, then turned the paper he was holding towards us. On it was an etching of another Drow woman, one that had the same features Sephra had been wearing that morning. "You... you are the daughter of Alybreena, yes?"

"Yes, I am," Sephra said.

He leaned closer to her and held out the picture a little farther. It almost looked like he was going to cry. He set the picture down in his lap, then turned to Melima. "Years, years ago. Many years ago, before... before I was king, when my father was king, I was an adventurer, much like you."

He leaned towards Melima as he repeated the last phrase. "Just like you. I wanted to see the world. I wanted to get out and be there, but I had my responsibility here. And for a short time, I left. It wasn't my father's wishes, or my mother's wishes, but I left.

"And I went adventuring. For a long time. Months. Years. And there was one point I was lost. And I and my friends that had joined me on my journey had gotten ourselves in too deep. And we were, well, we were up a creek without a paddle, as they say. And this... this wonderful, compassionate person, this wonderful woman saw us and took compassion on us, and saved us from what would have been certain death.

"And from that, we vowed to go together and be a better group. Similar to your group here. We each had our own talents, our own abilities, and we wanted what every adventurer wants. And we had it for a while."

He paused and looked around his office. A tear had formed in the corner of his eye. "I... I fell in love. Over the time that we had, I fell in love. And we were happy. We went off on so many adventures. Even after my friends had found their gold and had found their fortune, we went off on our own and found our adventure.

"For nearly fifty years we traveled the world. Saw things that no one will ever see. Fought things that no one would ever dream in their wildest nightmares. But through it all, we were together.

"And then... and then word came to me, of my father... of my father's failing health after centuries of being king. He was ready to give up the throne, and he would only have me. So I... I came home. But because of how things were and the way my family was, with the previously arranged marriage with your mother, Melima, there was no way for us to be together, though we wanted to marry. And it hurt her, a lot. And I feel like in the long run it was the right decision, but in the moment I was so heartbroken.

"And so… I wanted to please my father more than I wanted to please anyone else. Just from the years of growing up with him. So, I came home, and we parted. And I cried, and she cried. We tried to keep in touch, but eventually she stopped writing to me. Until one day she wrote me a final letter."

He got up and went back to his box. He pulled out an old piece of parchment. It was yellowed with age and had water marks on it, possibly drops from tears falling on it. "It wasn't... this letter arrived shortly after... shortly after you were born, Melima."

He opened it up and looked at it. "She thought the injustice of the elves and the drow should be fixed. But with the hatred between our peoples, I didn't know what to do. But, she thought she knew a solution. And she told me in her letter here that if I wasn't going to marry her, she was going to find the power to destroy me and my family. No matter how long it took her, she was going to find it. No matter what it took, she was going to find it."

He turned to Sephra. "And now, seeing you here, I think I know exactly what is going on. She talked about, in her letter, of a ritual that can be done to draw power, even from the gods themselves, to be able to have enough power for themselves to be able to control a single race. And I believe over the last few centuries she has searched and finally found all the necessary pieces to perform this ritual. I've done my own research myself, and I believe she has not totally completed it. But I believe she is close, and that time is probably of the essence and she must be stopped. But I, myself do not have the heart to do it. Which is why, Melima, why I sent you out. To find—because I believe fate has a hand in all things—and that you would be able to find those to help you—help us—and restore peace to our people and to our land."

"I don't like that," Sephra said. "At all. I don't like the idea of an entire people being controlled."

"I don't believe originally that she wanted to... I believe in some ways she's doing this in anger towards me, and that a lot of this is my fault for not embracing who she was and accepting her, and just facing up to my father and putting my foot down the way I should have. Because I do believe the elves should be united, but I have my own shame and reasons.

"But I believe the ritual is both a way to gain power, but I believe she has missed part of the ritual that it could potentially—if done completely—could also unleash a great, terrible destruction upon the land. Because I believe both the ritual would gain her power, but I believe that it could also unleash this Loltha into our Prime Material plane again. I believe it could—if done completely—could break the bonds of the Divine Gate and release her back into our world, which would cause unspeakable chaos and damage and pain for all races. Specifically ours, because Loltha has it out for the elves."

"So, you're telling me that if my mom could potentially be alive and trying to do this, she could release some crazy, dark power?" Sephra asked. "You don't think my mom has anything to do with the Tree, right?"

"Well," the king said, "I believe the ritual—from what I have learned—the ritual that is necessary must be performed in three different planes. One in the Feywild, one in the Prime Material Plane—here—and one in the Shadowfell. And I believe—because of the way the magics of this world work—when the first part of the ritual was completed, one of the most high concentrations of magic in the world is the Eternity Tree. And if where the first part of the ritual was performed connects to the Tree, which I believe it has, it would have caused some sort of scar to break through these magics into our plane.

"And I believe that the ritual has to be done in three parts, one on each of the planes. With the creatures that are coming through to our plane, I believe the ritual has been performed in the Feywild. I believe that the effects of the ritual being performed there are affecting the Tree. I believe the ritual will need to be performed near the White Tree in the Prime Material Plane, but I have no idea where it needs to be performed on the other planes. That is why all the Guard positions have been filled within the past year, though their training may not have quite been complete."

A few clarifying questions were asked, then Sephra asked another one. "How long ago did you leave my mom?"

He sat for a moment. "It would have been... It would have been around five centuries ago."

"I am also five centuries old," Sephra said, calmly.

The king's eyes went wide for a moment and he looked down. He didn't move for several moments. "Well, this is something we will have to have to address in the future, but I believe there is a way—if my research is correct—there is a way that we can stop this."

"What do you think that Sephra is able to do?" Melima asked. "What are our options? What are we supposed to do to prevent this ceremony?"

"Well, I believe..." He pulled a notebook out from his robes and scanned through it. "Yes... I believe that the ritual spells must be done on each of the planes of existence. The Prime Material Plane, the Feywild, and the Shadowfell. And I believe to counteract the ritual you must have what have been anciently called the four Astral Stones. And they all must be in the..."

"That's what you have!" Sephra said to Ari'yasa.

"Shh! Sephra!" Melima chided.

"...they must all be in the same location as the ritual that was performed, and then a sacred text be read aloud to counteract the ritual."

"What's an Astral Stone?" Ari'yasa asked.

"They were ancient elemental stones that were created by the gods themselves. Part of the original ritual to bind themselves to the outer planes and create the Celestial Gate."

"Do they look anything like this?" Ari'yasa asked. She pulled her Stone out of her locket and showed it to him.

He looked at the Stone with surprise, then at her. "Truely, fate is in your favor."