~ Chapter 14 ~
Fyn was tired of the adults not telling her anything. Every time she asked what happened to Keli she was shooed off or told she was just fine. Not even Talia, normally a reasonable adult, would tell her what was wrong.
It was after midnight and Keli had vanished with that strange cat before dawn. After a day of no news she was planning on taking things into her own hands.
She crept down the hall towards the stairs that led up to Talia's tower. Carefully she opened the door. No sound disturbed the silence and no light pierced the darkness.
She padded silently across the floor to the hearth. There, as she remembered, were the two harps Talia and Dirk valued. She picked one up and approached the door leading to their bedroom.
There were two slumbering bodies in the bed revealed by the pale light. Fyn slammed the door to catch their attention.
Both bolted upright in the bed.
"Fyn, what's wrong?" Talia asked sleepily.
Fyn held the harp above her head. "Tell me where Keli is or I'll break it."
Both remained silent for several moments. "Fyn, put down the harp." Dirk ordered.
"No. Where is Keli?" Fyn demanded.
Talia slipped from the bed and approached Fyn. "Give me the harp and I'll tell you."
Fyn backed away. "I wasn't born yesterday. Where is Keli?"
Talia and Dirk traded a glance. "She sensed Tristen was in trouble and went to help." Talia explained.
Fyn waited for her to continue with a mutinous expression on her face. "Well, when are they coming back? Is he in big trouble?"
"We don't know. We know his Companion went to a Healing temple but they can't get to them." Talia explained reluctantly.
Fyn tossed the harp on the bed and ran out the door. She didn't want anyone to see her cry.
Keli was all she had now. The day Keli had dragged her off for a bath was the best day in her life. Choking back sobs she ran back to the apartment and into Keli's bedroom.
She understood what Talia hadn't said. Tris was hurt and Keli was with him, bad enough he couldn't ride, and now the Healers couldn't reach them.
Fyn was still sobbing into the pillow when Talia sat next to her on the high bed and rubbed her back. Exactly what Keli did when Fyn had nightmares.
"I am sorry Fyn. We were trying to spare you." Talia explained regretfully.
"I don't want to be spared. I wanted to know where Keli is." Fyn sobbed brokenly.
"We are doing all we can. Don't worry, both Keli and Tris are powerful mages, they'll be alright." Talia comforted her.
Fyn sniffed and wiped her eyes on her sleeve as she sat up. "Are you sure?"
"I am as sure as I can be." Talia assured her.
Fyn did a credible imitation of Keli's reserve. "I'll be fine then."
Talia wasn't fooled for a second. "Would you like to sleep on our couch?"
Fyn nodded and allowed herself to be led away.
~*~
Keli woke to still more snow. Tris was staring up at the snow with a pensive expression.
"The climb doesn't get any shorter." Keli said.
"Did you sleep well?" He asked.
"As well as I could, given the circumstances." Keli stretched as much as she could in the limited area.
"How did you get down here?" Tristen asked.
"I tied a rope to Caewen's saddle and climbed. Since they didn't have hands we had to let it drop when she went for help." Keli explained.
"How did you get out here so quickly?"
"Solaris." Keli said as she checked him for fever. "I don't think you have any infections."
"That is a blessing. We need to get these bones set. If you refuse to leave, our only hope is to wait until I am healed up enough to either climb up or down."
"I don't know how." Keli warned.
"I can tell you." Tristen assured her.
Keli wished there had been painkillers in the kit she had grabbed but followed his directions. She started with his leg, as he bit down on a pad of gauze she pulled his leg into position. Both were sweating when she was done.
"That wasn't so bad." Tris assured her.
"Liar." Keli said succinctly. "Do you want to wait or shall we continue?"
"Continue." Tris said in a strained voice.
His arm was easier than his leg but when she was done he had passed out from pain.
Keli used magic to hold them in place and fed more power to the healing spell. She was surprised to see his wounds were half healed. Perhaps this spell was stronger than she thought, she hoped so.
Tris finally came around. "At least that is done."
"Are you in much pain?" Keli asked with concern.
"It's bearable." He assured her. "How about yourself? How are you holding up?"
"I'm fine." Keli assured him. "I came down under my own free will."
"Was Caewen hurt?"
"She had a few scrapes, but she was frantic for you so I didn't stop to check her. I'm glad she got off this trail before it got too bad." Keli settled against his shoulder again.
Silence reigned between them for several minutes, filled only by the howl and whine of the wind muffled by the shield.
Keli cleared her throat. "I think this storm should wear itself out tomorrow."
"I hope so. I'd like to see how far up we are." Tristen scowled slightly.
"I am not leaving you." Keli reiterated with a shudder. "It's almost funny, I used to hate flying and here I am lying on a ledge, on a cliff, in the middle of winter."
"Flying?" Tristen asked dubiously.
"Massive aluminium machines that fly with seats inside for passengers. It's safe but I couldn't bear to sit in a window seat and my heart would be pounding the entire time." Keli explained.
"I think I will stick with riding." Tristen said dryly.
"So will I." Keli laughed.
"Tell me more about that time." He prodded.
"Well, we had these little machines about six inches long that would let you talk to someone on the other side of the world as clear as if they were sitting next to you. Sometimes I wanted to toss every last one in the river." Keli started.
"Did they use mind magic?"
"No. Anyone could use them." Keli explained. "Magic wasn't used, except by the mages, so there were machines that did most of what magic could do. Everything from boiling water to blowing up cities."
"I am glad Ancar didn't live in that time. I don't like the idea of anyone having the ability to destroy a city." Tristen said darkly.
"Since every country had these weapons no one used them for fear of retaliation but the threat that some wacko would get his hands on one was always there." Keli explained. "Basically 'you blow up me and I will blow up you'."
"It sounds like a miserable time." Tristen was glad that Keli was no longer in that time.
"It had its good points; universities, libraries, CD players, and movies. But most of that is available here, just a little different."
"What is a CD player?"
Keli was stumped on how to explain them. "They play music with out having to have a bard about."
Tristen tried picturing a CD player and failed dismally. "It's a musical instrument?"
"Sort of. It plays recordings of music on its own, without a human touching it."
"What about movies?" Tristen asked.
"A type of theatre." Keli decided not to mention TV, computers, or anything else there wasn't a parallel for here. "But instead of live players pictures were projected on a screen so fast they looked like they were moving."
"It sounds so alien." Tristen failed to even picture such a thing.
"I found this time very strange when I first arrived. I think you would adjust to that time rather quickly." Keli smiled suddenly. "Imagine an artificer turned loose in a time that used only machines."
Tris laughed. "They would think they had gone to the Havens."
"I almost wish I could see that. There are a few people I wish could have a taste of this time. I used to have a monotonous history teacher for example, he could make everything seem boring, and he would have been very disappointed with the reality of this time. He always downplayed how important Heralds were, he actually he had nerve to say that we are no more than people with white horses."
"Even though he was teaching a Herald?" Tristen asked, very glad he never had teacher like that.
"He didn't like me much." Keli informed him. "Just before I left he was threatening to throw me out of his class if I didn't pander to his ego."
"Something tells me you wouldn't do that. You don't tolerate idiots for long." Tristen observed.
"He may have been a knowledgeable teacher, but he was a close minded idiot." Keli agreed. "We should get some sleep and conserve our strength."
~*~
Fyn pressed her ear against the door and strained to hear what was being said.
"…mountain…storm…where…" A masculine voice said.
"…hopeless…" Another voice answered.
Fyn bit her lip hoping this didn't mean what she thought it did.
"…try…dead…" Talia's voice said.
Fyn backed away from the door. Keli and Tris couldn't be dead. She ran down the hall and into the Herald's wing and Keli's room.
"Solaris!" Fyn called, just as Keli had.
It was several heart beats before the Cat appeared.
:Is something wrong?: A voice asked in her mind.
"Is that you?" Fyn asked dubiously.
:Yes, is something wrong?:
"Is Keli dead?" Fyn asked desperately.
:No. She and Tris are alive.: Solaris assured her.
"Where are they?" Fyn was almost in tears.
:Don't worry, they are doing everything possible to get back to you.: The cat tried to reassure her.
"Where are they?" Fyn asked again. "Can I help them?"
:Oh Kitten.: Solaris placed a paw on Fyn's foot. :They are on the side of a mountain. No one can reach them until the storm passes.:
"What about the Gryphons? Can't they fly in and rescue them?" Fyn demanded.
Solaris was obviously startled. :You know, that is an excellent idea. May I suggest you tell the others?:
"Do you think they will let me go if I do?" Fyn asked as she headed for the door.
:I don't know Kitten.: Solaris said honestly. :You will have to ask.:
Fyn grinned and ran back out the door. Talia was just leaving the room when Fyn rounded the corner and knocked her down.
"Sorry." Fyn said as she scrambled to her feet. "I have an idea!"
~*~
"The storm is finally dying." Tris commented when Keli stirred the next morning.
"I hope so." She answered into his shoulder. "Did you sleep?"
"Some." Tris lied.
Keli checked under his bandages. "That healing spell is working well but you will still have some dashing scars."
"Caewen is still worried that they won't make it up. You should reconsider leaving." Tris suggested.
"We will just have to make it down there then." Keli assured him. "It's your turn to find something for us chat about."
"Could you help me sit up?" Tris asked.
Keli obliged and together they managed to manoeuvre him into a sitting position with his back against the rock wall.
Keli sat next to him with her knees pulled against her chest. Tris took one of her hands and turned it palm up.
"Can you read palms?" Keli asked lightly.
"No." Tris admitted. "You have gentle hands."
"Thank you." Keli blushed.
"You are still looking tired. Is it because of the shield?" Tristen asked worriedly.
Keli nodded. "It is a power hog. Don't worry, I can hold it as long as we need to."
"If you need me to spell you just say so." Tris wrapped his good arm around her waist.
Keli could make out the outlines of other mountains around them. The storm was blowing itself out. She wished it was still complete white. Her heart was starting to pound with fear.
"I wish we had a game to play." Tris commented.
Keli tore her eyes away from the view and focused on his face. "I would suggest 'I spy' but everything is white." She pulled up the blanket so that it blocked her view.
:Keli, can you get rid of the storm?: Solaris asked with out appearing.
:Yes, but why?: Keli shivered at the idea of knowing just how high up they were.
:Do it please.: Solaris said with no explanation.
Keli closed her eyes and carefully soothed the storm. Minutes later the snow stopped completely and the wind died.
"Odd, that shouldn't have happened." Tris commented.
"Solaris asked me to." Keli explained. Her heart was now in her throat and she kept her eyes closed.
Tris leaned forward. Keli grasped his arm and clung tightly.
"Don't worry." Tristen pulled her tightly against his side.
"I hate heights." She said in a tremulous voice.
"I understand." He assured her.
:Don't worry, help will be there soon.: Solaris assured her.