Chapter 8
Rhapsody stared at this man who once had been her mentor in shock and disbelief. How could he possibly still be alive? She had assumed that he must have been dead when he vanished without warning before her training as a Namer had been completed.
"Speechless my dear? Well no wonder. I'm sure that you thought that I have been dead these long years. No matter, what counts now is that I am here now, and I know that you hold some information that I need. So why don't you be a good student and tell your old teacher what he wants to know?"
"And what would that be?"
"You know very well what I want. I want the name that you gave to the Brother shortly before your escape from the Island. And don't play dumb with me my dear," he started as she began to feign a bewildered look. "I know that the only way that he could have escaped from his chain would have been to get a new name, and you were the only one on the Island besides me who could have given it to him at the time."
"I don't understand," she replayed, for she truly didn't understand how this all worked.
"I suppose you may not know all about the Brother's history. You always did seem to be a bit naive. But one would think that you would have been smart enough to research the character of someone that you associate with, let alone form an alliance with."
Now this was going too far. Not only did this man know who she was and who Achmed had been, but he also knew that he was a friend of hers and the ruler of a nation. If he already knew this much, why did he need her to tell him the name?
"I saw the two of you at the moot those many years ago when you summoned the Cymrians. Oh, by the way, that was some very nice naming work that you did during that time. You must have had a very good teacher." His smile with this was enough to churn Rhapsody's stomach.
"Yes, I had a great teacher. And though you may share some resemblance to him, you are defiantly not the man that taught me."
This brought a soft chuckle from him. "Well said, my dear. You are correct. I am not that same man who taught you. I am much more powerful now and far superior. You see, the man who you knew had been the reason that your friend had been imprisoned by my associate in the first place."
This was almost more than Rhapsody could take. How could this man possibly know about what has happened to Achmed in his pervious life? It was true that another F'dor had captured Achmed's name, the Brother, and had used it to gain control over him. That F'dor had found particular pleasure in owning and controlling a member of the race whose pure reason for being was to seek out and destroy all F'dor that roamed the world. The fact that this had ever happened the three of them, Grunthor, Achmed, and herself, were sure that they were the only ones who knew of it.
When that F'dor had released the Shing into the world to seek out Achmed after Rhapsody had changed his name, he had been greatly weakened which allowed a hero by the name of MacQuieth to destroy him. That F'dor was the only other known person who would have had knowledge of Achmed's former imprisonment. Except, perhaps, for the Namer who had named the Brother for the F'dor in the first place…
Awareness was dawning on Rhapsody the more she thought of it. Her mentor must have been captured and forced to give the name to the F'dor. Then, when that F'dor was finished with Heiles, allowed another F'dor to take over and possess what was left of him. For Heiles to reveal another's name to someone like a F'dor, he must have been completely broken, broken enough that any F'dor, no matter how powerful at the time, would have had an easy time at overpowering him. But here was the first evidence that the host's memories were retained by the F'dor, and in this case, even the former power and lore that the Namer had possessed.
All of these thoughts played across Rhapsody's face in a matter of moments as the F'dor, once Namer, watched. "You see, my dear? I know you well; at least I can remember knowing you. Many, many years ago the great Tsoltan captured and tortured the Brother's name from the once great Namer, Heiles. When Tsoltan finished with him, Heiles was barely more than an empty shell which Tsoltan was only too ready to fill with his brethren. He had recently discovered me, clinging desperately to some wreck of a Firbolg. This was all I had been able to gain power over. Then I was introduced to your mentor, now I'm the most powerful F'dor that ever was. Isn't that ironic? I went from rags to riches in one change of hosts. You see my dear, though Heiles was completely broken after the torture, he was still in possession of himself. His conciseness was still in tact; his being and soul were still present when I entered him. It was a bit of a struggle to suppress and eventually destroy him, but he was too weak to stand a chance against me. Now, thanks to his stubbornness, I have all of the knowledge, lore, and power that he once possessed."
Rhapsody merely sat and stared at this being in front of her. She suddenly knew, without any proof or reason, that Heiles had not been completely destroyed. He may have been polluted and warped, or maybe still suppressed, but she knew in her heart that the Namer was not completely gone. But even with this new information, she still had no idea what she could possibly do in this situation that she was now in.
"I see that I have rendered you completely speechless now. Hopefully for your sake this condition is not permanate as it is now your turn to give over a name. Ironically enough, it's the name of the same creature that was once pulled from me."
"You know that you will never willingly get that name from me. So why don't you save yourself the trouble and start your methods of extracting information now instead of hovering over me spouting off your life history? You F'dor are all the same, you have this insane need to drag out and over dramatize everything. I would be careful if I were you, that's what brought about the end of the last F'dor I helped vanquish. If Lanacan Orlando had just killed me as soon as I entered the room, I would never have had the chance to plunge that sword that your holding into his heart and watch it burn away," She replied with some a wicked sneer playing at her lips and tone. It was her vein attempt to impress and possibly connect with the part of him that had been her friend and teacher. Perhaps her boasting would reach Heiles and give him a hope that had never touched him before.
Unfortunately, Rhapsody's boastings only brought forth an amused chuckle from the F'dor. "Such brave and impatient words, Rhapsody my dear. Of course I know that you're never going to willing tell me what I want. Remember, it was I who was last in this position and it was I who trained you in the seriousness of giving away a things true name to anyone who wishes to do evil. I just thought that you deserved to know what became of your poor teacher and why he never returned to you to finish your training. I now only wait to land upon the island to start the, ah, debriefing as you would. I find it so much easier to perform these things on a stable ground."
With that he F'dor reached down and replaced the gag around Rhapsody's mouth and turned and walked away from her, leaving her to ponder all that he had said and to sink lower and lower in her hopelessness. Now the only thing that would save her she was certain was if Gwydion had heard her call and came to her rescue. But even if he came, it may already be too late, and what chance would he have against all of the F'dor's men and the F'dor himself? All that she had left to save her friend from the horrible fate that he once had to endure would be to make sure that she died before the information was pulled from her. She would have to keep her eyes open for any opportunity at all to end her life quickly. It would not do to have such a powerful F'dor in control of the one man who could not only destroy him, but also who was the protector of the key to releasing all of the F'dor held within the vault upon the land.