Ok, here it is!!! Hope you enjoy it, and for all of you that have reviewed, THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!
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Firesong studied the frozen waterfall using his mage sight, trying to figure out what had been done. Seeing how simple the spell was, he surprised everyone present by doing a small spell of his own.
Everyone, including those without mage sight, were able to see what was happening. First, the ice began to glow. Talia gasped in wonder as she saw fire spread over the waterfall, melting the ice. Soon, all the ice had melted and the river was flowing swiftly once more. Firesong switched back to his normal vision and looked at the shocked expressions on his friends faces.
"What's wrong? You all look like you've seen a ghost! Has Vanyel returned from the dead... again?" An amused Firesong asked.
Elspeth looked around and asked in an odd voice "did you all see what I saw?"
Kero shook her head.
"I don't think we all saw the same thing, how could we? Not all of us have mage sight. I think we all should say what we saw, it might be important." Kero looked around and slowly everyone nodded in agreement.
"Right, I saw the ice turn black with white specs, it was like looking at the night sky. Kinda odd, since it's only noon. The constellations kept changing. Alberich, what did you see?"
"I saw the ice glow red, it was like I was watching a fire burn in the ice, a fire the color of blood. Talia, what was it that you saw?"
"I saw the ice glow then burst into flames. In the flames I saw a young girl riding on a beautiful winged horse. At first I thought that the horse was Windrider, but then I saw that this horse had a horn in the center of it's forehead. Windrider has no horn though... Karal?"
"I too saw it glow and burst into flames, but I saw no girl, nor did I see a winged horse. I saw a magnificent firecat with a time candle between its paws, the candle kept changing height. Keisha, how about you?"
"I saw the ice glow emerald green, then a tree grew under the ice. The leaves changed from green to the colors of fall, then fell from the tree and disappeared. This happened many times and then half the tree disappeared. I looked at the rings and they kept changing numbers. Darkwind, why don't you tell us what you saw?"
"The ice went dark and I saw a bird of light flying in the ice, chasing the darkness away. Elspeth, what was it that you saw, that has shocked you so?"
"I saw the ice glow blue. Silver clouds formed and I saw a young girl riding the horse that Talia described. They were flying in the clouds and a large, dark hand was following them, trying to catch them."
"Well, as fascinating as all this sounds, we have another problem to deal with," Firesong cut in, before they had a chance to go into a debate over what their visions could mean.
"Oh? Like what?"
"That." Firesong pointed towards the falls. The water was flowing swiftly, completely blocking the way to the victim.
"Oh, that."
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"Couldn't we just chop down a tree and have it fall across the top of the falls? Wouldn't that stop the water?"
"How? We didn't bring any axes."
"Magic?"
"Too risky. We could burn the forest down, the tree could land on us, it may start an earthquake.."
"Um... Firesong, we get the idea, magic's out."
:Actually, it might not be.: Altra walked to the center of the clearing where everyone could see him.
:I, as you all know, am a Firecat. I am a powerful mage and can call fire with relative ease. It does take a lot of energy now, thanks to the mage storms, but if Elspeth, Darkwind, and Firesong channel their power to me, I should be able to create a fire going over the water at the top of the falls. The water would get evaporated, some fish will get cooked for our lunch, and Kero and Alberich would be able to get in, grab the victim and get out. However, there is two problems with this. Either tonight or tomorrow we'll be in for the worst blizzard Valdemar has ever seen, and after I'm finished with my fire, the demonic trio will be completely drained, totally useless. Even more so than usual.: Altra finished.
Elspeth glared at Altra, but choose to ignore his last statement.
"Does anyone have a better idea?" She looked around the circle and looked into each set of eyes, it was clear that no one liked the idea, but as no one could think of a better solution, everyone shook their heads.
Elspeth nodded, once. "Alright then, lets get to it."
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Altra sat facing the waterfall, Firesong stood to his right and five paces behind him, Elspeth was standing ten paces behind him, while Darkwind stood five paces behind him to his left. Altra had been warned that being in a meld with Firesong was different and had braced himself for the effects, he had been expecting a physical difference and was completely unprepared for what happened. It was perfect, he was overwhelmed with joy and peace. Gone from his mind were the reasons he was being sent such power, gone was all things that mattered. The only thing that mattered was the joy, all that was important was that nothing happen to end that peace.
:Hey Altra, you gonna do something or what? We can't do this all day! Hurry up already!: Elspeths irritated mind-voice cut into his head, distracting him from what the meld had made him feel. With that distraction came knowledge and memory of what he was supposed to be doing rushed back to him.
:Oh... ah... right, sorry...: Altra said sheepishly, secretly glad that cats can't blush.
He focused his attention back on the waterfall and concentrated on fueling the fires inside him and sending them from himself to the falls.
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Kero, Alberich, Talia, Keisha, the Bondbirds and the four-feet watched as a line of fire suddenly sparked to life across the water. Soon, the water stopped flowing and a giant cloud of steam was rising to the sky. The smell of cooking fish soon filled the air, making empty bellies grumble. Kero and Alberich saw their chance and ran into the cave. They came out looking confused and grim, Alberich holding a bloody bundle in his arms. Keisha instantly took her cloak off and lay it out on the ground, signaling for Alberich to place the figure there. He then went out into the woods with Kero to find some dead fall for a fire. Keisha kneeled next to the figure, reaching for her medicine bag, but stopping when she saw what was wrapped around the girl.
"Damn! And they say that poison is a woman's weapon, like to see the look on their faces now," she said angrily.
"What do you mean?" Talia asked, leaning over to see what had brought that comment from the healer.
"See this vine? See the thorns? Those thorns contain the deadliest poison known to man. They've only been known to grow in change circles, I though that they had all been destroyed, looks like they missed some."
"You mean you can't help her?"
"No, there is no antidote. There is nothing I can do, we're too late."
"How much time does she..." Talia was abruptly cut off. Keisha turned to see what was wrong and saw a look of pure dumbfounded amazement on the shocked woman's face.
"Talia, what is it?" Talia stared at her, too stunned to speak.
"Talia?"
"Rolan just spoke to me... he told me to tell you to look closer... he says, look at her in healing trance..."
Keisha understood why Talia was acting so weird, she knew that she had no mindspeech. She also knew that it was generally unwise to argue with a Companion and went into her trance. She came out a minute later, looking much like Talia had when Rolan spoke to her.
"I don't believe this."
"Believe what?" She stared at the body in front of her, then looked into Talia's eyes.
"I don't know how, but the poison has somehow been neutralized. All her injuries have been healed, she's exausted but other than that she's physically fine."
"But how... I mean, the blood..."
"The blood's hers, but the wounds have already been healed... I think I need to sit down..."
"You are sitting down."
"Oh..."
"Something tells me that Elspeth isn't going to like this..."
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"...and I refuse to be manipulated on some damn game board of chance!" Elspeth fumed. She had been going on like this for hours. It was almost midnight. Keisha and Talia had cleaned the girl and had dressed her in a spare set of Kero's whites. She was sleeping peacefully wrapped in Firesongs white rabbit fur cloak by the fire. Altra had given up on trying to calm the hot-headed woman down and was sitting by the fire watching the sky, as if he were expecting someone. The Companions were gathered around him, the Dyheli had left a long time ago, not wanting to witness Elspeth's infamous temper in action.
"What's going on? Who's there?" A young, frightened female voice asked.
Elspeth instantly shut up as everyone ran to the fire. The young girl was sitting up, white hair glowing orange by the light of the fire. Everyone stopped when they saw her eyes. They had no irises, no pupils, they were black with white specks, it was like looking at the night sky.
"Oh! You're the people that the lady showed me, she said you were coming! What did you do to the man? Is he gone? Did you kill him? What happened?"
"Lady? What Lady?" Kero asked.
"The Lady who was in the mist, the one who wouldn't let me die. Hey, how come I can understand you? You weren't speaking English!"
"You mean, the language that we're speaking in isn't your native tongue?"
"No."
"Interesting."
"I think it would be best if we introduced ourselves, I'm..."
"Oh, I already know who you all are. My name's Clara."
"Well Clara, it's nice to meet you," a voice said behind them. Everyone turned around in surprise as An`desha, Treyvan and Hydona joined them.
"The Lady told me you were coming. She gave me a message to pass on to you. Karal is needed."
"Karal is needed? Needed for what?" Elspeth asked, suspicious. She looked at Karal, the young man was pale but looked determined.
"I think I know Elspeth," he looked over towards An`desha. "You need me to Channel again, don't you." An`desha nodded, face grim. "Very well, let's do it now, before I have a chance to chicken out."
He and Altra walked with then close to the center of the clearing. Elspeth, Darkwind and Firesong clued into what was about to happen and moved as though to try and stop them, but were cut off by the Companions and the Griffons.
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Karal already knew what he was supposed to do. The non-humans were going to send their energy to him, and he in turn was to channel that energy to An`desha. :Sure, no problem, piece of cake really... I am so going to die.:
:You are not going to die: Altra said into his mind, Karal knew that the thought was sent to his mind only.
:That's what I'm afraid of! Luv you, Cat.:
:I love you too, Karal: Karal was surprised and touched, he had been expecting sarcasm.
Karal was trying to think of something more to say when he felt the magic hit him. Then there was no time for talk, no time for anything. All there was time for was the pain, and the light! Energy coursed into him from several sources. Inside him something managed to join those streams of energy and hold them. He felt An`desha reach out to him, the powerful stream of energy found it's outlet. Karal briefly sensed An`desha doing something with that energy, but then he felt his control over the power slip. He focused all his attention on the power inside him, concentrating on keeping it under control. It seemed like an eternity, but finally the power stopped, Karal collapsed, completely spent.
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Clara watched all this, not understand what everyone was so upset about. She gasped as Karal began to glow. She saw a bright stream of light reach from Karal to An`desha. An`desha raised both his arms to the sky, light spread from his out stretched-arms, forming into a column. A dark hole appeared in the column and the light seemed to get sucked into the center of it, until all that remained of the light was one small dot. The dot started to get bigger, bouncing as if it were running. :But dots can't run...:
Clara gasped in wonder as she saw what had to be the most beautiful creature in existence jumped out of the hole. She watched as it flew around them once, before landing in the exact center of the clearing and posed. It was a truly beautiful sight, with the waterfall behind it, the full moon making it glow. It's coat was the purest white, it's glowing white mane and tail flowing close to the ground. Silver hooves gleaming in the moonlight, it's eyes, Clara noticed, were the same as hers, reflecting the night sky. It's horn seemed to be unable to decide what color it wanted to be, it kept changing from the colors of the sun to the colors of mist, it was truly a beautiful sight. It folded it's beautiful wings, also white, to it's sides and walked towards her. Slowly, as if trying not to frighten her.
She looked into its eyes, and felt her self falling into the starry pools. It was amazing! It felt like a joining, a losing and a finding, a loosing and a binding! She felt love as she had never felt it before and answered that love with all her soul. She felt protected and safe, and deep in her heart she felt that never again would there be loneliness...
:You need never again suffer from loneliness, for you will never again be alone... I will always be with you, Clara.:
:What is your name?:
:My name is spirit. I have another title, as do you, but not yet... now let's return, and make all right.:
:Wait, before we go, will you tell me one thing? Please?:
:Ask, and we shall see.:
:How is it that I can understand what everyone is saying?:
:A gift, from your soul-mother.:
:My soul-mother? Who's she?:
:She... is the Lady of the Mist, you will be able to understand all languages.:
:But how...?:
:Later child, later.:
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Sorry that took me so long, I had a temporary writers block!!! *Don't you hate it when that happens?*
Hope you guys liked this chapter, next one's coming soon!!! Honest.
Please review, the more reviews I get the faster I'll type the next chapter!!!
If there's a favorite character you want in on this, just type the name and it's in!!
Till next time!!!
Note: I took a few things from ML's books and used them in my story. I did this when Karal was channeling and when Clara got chosen. Sorry if this has disappointed you, I know that I'm kinda disappointed in myself, but it was the only way I could work with that writers block. I promise to try and keep it all 'original' in following chapters. I'm also sorry to tell you that I wont be able to post the next chapter for a few weeks, I recently got 6 math exams that I need to do. Also I have a TON of Christmas shopping still to be done!! I've already bought lots of stuff, but my list just keeps getting longer and longer and... you get the point. I think I may have accidentally borrowed a line from ML when Elspeth was ranting, I'm not 100% sure, but if I did... oops? Sorry.
Anyway, if I don't post the next chapter before the beginning of January....
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!
...and...
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!