What Price Freedom? (The first of the "Lost One" cycle)
by Heather Grimes
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The greatest trick Winnowill ever pulled was convincing Rayek to love her. Not that he had been particularly hard to convince. For all his wisdom, his magic, even his experience with the Scrolls, he was still so...naive. Winnowill laughed to herself as she watched him from the back of his mind. **Why do you continue to fight me?** she said/sent velvetly. **Have you forgotten that we are one?** A hard gold send answered her. *Never.* he said/sent levelly. *But until you learn to love* she could hear the longing he tried vainly to shield *and cease to be a threat, then yes, I must fight you.* **Such a shame.** she said/sent. **Such a shame...** They both knew that it would end soon. One or the other would rise triumphant from the coming conflict. And the looser-? Neither permit them self to even consider the possibility. /Such a shame./ repeated Winnowill to herself. /He really is sweet. It will be too bad if I have to destroy him./ When the battle was over, Rayek would be hers, or he would be broken. Either way, her centuries of captivity within his soul would be over. She would be free! And there was nothing any of his pathetic little friends could do. Rayek knew what Winnowill was planning, knew too the fate she had planned for him. Sometimes he wished he -could- set her free. It felt more than a little strange, keeping her soul- the other half of his- next to his own. Didn't she realize that he was just as trapped? That he was just as much a prisoner as she? But the price of their freedom was too great. If he did as they both desired and let her go- her evil would spread through the world like a ravaging plague. No one would be safe. The Wolfriders would certainly be dead, and it would be his fault. Hadn't he done enough to them? No, he would -not- be responsible for this too. So while Winnowill brooded and plotted in the back of his mind, Rayek made plans of his own; and loosing was not an option. When Ekuar woke one evening and found Rayek gone, he knew he must act immediately. But what could he, old and frail as he was, do to help his adopted son? Even as he asked himself this, he knew the answer, and wished with all his heart that he didn't. Heedless of the possible danger, Ekuar settled himself and 'went out', searching for the one person he believed could help his beloved Brownskin. *Leetah?* As though blown by the wind, his send drifted through the astral plane, calling for the dark skinned healer. At last he found her- or rather she found him. *Ekuar?* she sent, spirit form approaching his. Her 'eyes' caught on the dark disturbance off in the distance that Ekuar had been warily watching as he searched for her. *Ekuar, where is Rayek?* she asked, worry for (and fear of) her friend clouding her beautiful features. *Call the Palace back.* Ekuar told her. *Rayek has disappeared.* Leetah gasped at the implication. *Winnowill.* she send numbly. *Has she..?* *Not yet.* sighed Ekuar. *But soon, I fear. Very soon.* As if in response to his words, the darkness began to boil and flash. *Hurry, child!* Ekuar sent urgently. Grabbing her astral shoulders, he tore Leetah's gaze away from the forming maelstrom. *You must call the Palace! Even now, it may be too late!* With that, he pushed her on her way. *But what of you?* she asked across the increasing distance. *I will find Rayek* Ekuar sent, uncharacteristic determination strengthening his mental voice. *I have not brought him so far, and kept him so long, only to loose him now.* Then he was gone, back to the physical world, where he would search for his missing son. With a last fearful glance at the roiling darkness, Leetah left as well, knowing she must call the Palace or all might very well be lost. Cutter had been wary of Leetah's sudden demand that the Palace return- after all, Rayek had given up the Palace because of the threat that Winnowill posed, and now Ekuar was asking Leetah to call it back? It seemed pretty suspicious to him. "Couldn't it have been Winnowill, pretending to be Ekuar?" he argued in the privacy of their den. Leetah sighed. "No, Cutter. Do you think that I couldn't tell the difference between Ekuar and Winnowill's souls?" She smiled tiredly. "Please, trust me. Trust -Rayek- for that matter. Do you really think that he would let -her- onto the astral plane unguarded?" Now it was Cutter's turn to sign. "Trust Rayek? There was a time when 'trust' and 'Rayek' did not belong in the same sentence." "But that time is long past." soothed Leetah, laying a gentle hand on his shoulder. "And he tried to mend what he had broken." "Rayek's idea of an apology," Cutter snorted, "Was to let me beat him senseless. Never one to do things by halves, is he?" "It worked didn't it?" Leetah asked softly. Cutter nodded. "Then let me call the Palace. Ekuar must have a reason for asking me to. Besides, I have been sensing a darkness, a disturbance on the astral plane. It may be that the Palace will be needed." She did not tell him that the darkness had a terrifyingly familiar feel. The time for that would come later. Cutter sighed again, then nodded his assent. "But please," he said, "Promise me you'll be careful. There's no telling what they"- and she knew he was referring to Rayek as well as Winnowill-"might do. Rayek and Winnowill. High Ones protect us from such a combination." "Thank you," she said, hugging him. "This may mean more than we'll know." Then she closed her eyes and reached for her son's mind. Suntop was many star miles away, but the Palace amplified his mother's send. Almost before they had finished speaking, he felt the Palace change course. He turned to find Timmain standing in the doorway of his personal room. *I heard* she sent, large blue-gray eyes apologetic and worried. *I too have felt the darkness your mother describes. We must go.* "How are we going to find them?" Leetah asked Timmain, after the necessarily short greetings. The High One smiled. "Rayek flew the Palace across 10,000 years following nothing but a cry. All we have to do is search for the source of the darkness that you, I and Suntop have sensed. They will be there." "But-" began Cutter. "I know." Timmain smiled down at Cutter. "You wonder how this can be. You think they could be anywhere. And you are correct. But they -are- on the edge of the burning waste." A shiver passed through the Palace. "Come, we must hurry." Timmain shivered too. Even Cutter could sense the foreboding that now filled the air. "Remember, you promised you'd be careful!* Cutter sent to Leetah and Suntop as the massive Palace doors swung shut. *We will.* they responded solemnly. Then the doors sealed, and they were gone. They found Rayek and Ekuar easily, as the High One had said they would. Rayek was leaning against a cave-like rock that Ekuar had obviously shaped for him. Ekuar himself was sitting across from Rayek, watching him worriedly. *Rayek?* sent Leetah cautiously, but got no response. Only then did she notice Rayek's glazed stare. Without thinking, she reached out to touch his arm. (Didn't he seem bigger? No time for that now.) A golden glimmer danced along his form, preventing her from touching him. *Rayek?!* she tried again, but sensed only emptiness. Numbly she turned to the others. "He's not in his body." she said quietly, fighting to keep her composure. Timmain allayed some of her fear. "He left by choice." The High One's voice comforted Leetah slightly. "If you look closely, you can see he is still bound to himself. He plans to come back." Suntop shook his head. "I keep seeing things out of the corner of my eye. A flip of hair, or the movement of clothing. I hear things too. They feel as though they are -just- out of range, and if I listen hard enough, then I can make them out." A flash of lighting lanced across the suddenly dark sky, followed by the rumbling of an unnatural thunder. "Into the Palace, now!" Timmain ordered, shouting to be heard over the howling wind. *Leave him.* she ordered Suntop who had stopped to pick up Rayek. *He will be protected.* Inside, they huddled together. Ekuar stared through the closed doors, toward his adopted son's empty body. "Come," said Timmain, laying a comforting hand on Ekuar's shoulder. "We will watch from the Scroll Room." The scene the Scrolls showed them froze their souls. Rayek and Winnowill stood facing each other on the astral plain, magic swirling about their spirit forms. Instinctively, the watching elves knew that this was the source of the unnatural storm raging outside of the Palace walls, and their hearts quailed within them. "And so the battle begins..." whispered Timmain into the expectant hush.
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