Chapter 12

Achmed had drawn back towards the other beach where the ship was harboring as Rhapsody and Gwydion prepared for their battle upon their shore. Gwydion was to be the bait. When the signal was given, he was to draw his sword which would undoubtedly draw the F'dor to him in search of this new elemental power. The gamble here was would the F'dor come alone, or would he bring his thralls with him? The hope was that the jealous and overconfident F'dor would come alone to investigate.

The time allotted had passed and now Gwydion waited only for the signal from Rhapsody who was hidden in just inside the tree line at the other end of the beach. Gwydion heard the shrill whistle issue from her direction and drew his sword, causing a rush of wind to blow around him. He stood poised and ready for anything that might come at him.

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The F'dor Heiles sat in the dark of his chamber, bathing in the ethereal glow of the sword that he had taken from the Lirin Queen and Lady Cymrian. It really was a source of great power and he desired greatly to know the secrets of that power.

Suddenly, a power beyond his room echoed in his mind's ear. It was as if a whistle had been sounded and he immediately knew directly where that power was coming from, just a short distance from the ship across the island. It had to be on the island, or else he would not have been able to hear the call so clearly. Yes, there was a new power on the island, a power that was not being wielded, only present.

This was almost too much for the F'dor to ignore. To have an ancient power in his hand and to sense another just within his reach was maddening. He had to possess both these powers and he had to get the other now. There was no telling who might come across that other power out there. Even if it was his own men, he could not trust one of those brutes with a tremendous power like that. No, he had to go out for it now, and alone. Besides, what was going to stop him? He was the most powerful F'dor that ever walked the earth. There was no one in this land that would even come close to stopping him.

With the decision made, he quickly sheathed the sword in his hand in the scarab that he had also taken from Rhapsody, and attached it to his waist. He was never going to let this thing out of his sight. Silently, with extra aid from his naming lore, he left the confines of the ship and began to cross through the forest, following the source of the power.

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Achmed watched as a shadow left the ship. It was completely alone, and reeked of F'dor to his senses. This was definitely the target. The king set a parallel path to the F'dor through the vegetation, keeping out of sight and moving just as silently on his own without the aid of the name of silence. When the F'dor reached the shore where Gwydion waited, Achmed was still quite deep in the woods, well out of sight from the demon. He waited for the signal to start his part of the plan.

Rhapsody waited, hidden in the brush just outside the clearing of the beach. She had to be completely ready for the entrance of the F'dor. It was up to her to keep the F'dor from killing Gwydion on sight and taking his sword from him.

Suddenly, there was a silent movement at the edge of the tree line opposite of her position. Gwydion tensed and came to a fighting stance, praying that the F'dor would draw Daystar Clarion to defend himself, rather than call upon his naming lore to vanquish the wielder of the power that it sought.

The F'dor burst into the clearing at near a run. He stopped dead at seeing Gwydion and immediately drew the weapon he carried without thinking. The moment Daystar Clarion was in his hand and out of the sheaf, another figure entered his view. He recognized it as being Rhapsody just a second too late to react. Without warning, the girl spoke and the sword leapt from his hand directly into her's. Again words came from the girl's mouth and brilliant deafening crashes of light smote the ground first between him and her then between him and the man and then two more behind and to the other side of him. When he was finally able to see again, though his ears still rang, he found himself alone on the beach. Both the girl and that man with the powerful sword were gone. He could not even gather a hint of the power that had just lured him to that place.

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As soon as the F'dor had drawn the sword Rhapsody went into action. She sprang from her hiding place, yelling her naming lore into the night.

"I, Rhapsody the Iliachenva'ar summon Daystar Clarion to me, its rightful wielder." And as hoped, the sword sprang into her hand, blazing once again in its old blue fire. Without missing a beat, she pointed the sword at the first of the four stars that she had already chose and identified to use and called its fire down from the heavens. She repeated this action three more times while Gwydion slipped off of the beach and hid in the under growth near the F'dor. After calling the final blast, she too hid herself back where she had started out.

The F'dor stood still in the center of the clearing. His eyes were now able to see clearly, but the ringing in his ears had not cleared. In fact, the ringing was more like a buzzing sound and it was growing rather than fading. The sound was soft, yet it sounded right through the core of the demon. It frightened him, yet his fear drove him to pretend that the noise was only a residual from the deafening crashing that had just consumed the grove.

Slowly he began to realize that the sound was the cause of a new headache that was growing. And finally, he was able to pinpoint a location to the sound. He began to turn towards the forest where the sound was coming from when suddenly his entire body became completely rigid and convulsed toward the source of the sound. He found that he was completely trapped where he stood, unable to move any muscle save his eyes.

Looking around frantically, he noticed movement just on the edge of his range of vision. An attacker was heading right for him and there were only moments left to act. He knew now what the sound must be and why it was that he was completely trapped in it. It could only be the sound of the Thrall ritual that was meant to bind a F'dor to its host so that both would be able to be killed at once. So leaving this body was not possible. The only thing he could do to stop his demise now would be to halt this new attacker in some other method than combat… or, maybe to eliminate the source of the sound.

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Gwydion watched as the F'dor tried to clear his head after the deafening starbursts. Gwydion knew that the F'dor was hearing something still well after his own ears had cleared, but the F'dor did not seem to have picked up that something was definitely wrong yet.

As the duke continued to watch the demon intently, thoughts began to drift though his head. Realization that he, Gwydion, was about to attempt to slay a very powerful demon in a matter of moments. He would be the only one standing between this demon and countless numbers of innocents who lives the demon may cut short if Gwydion were to fail. It was a great burden and one with many, many risks and dangers in it that the duke did not even want to think about. His very soul was at stake here and yet it seemed trivial compared to the countless souls that would be at stake if he did not even try to complete the task set before him.

As these final thoughts finished running through Gwydion's head leaving a new resolve in place, he watched as the F'dor began to turn toward the place where Achmed was concealed. No, he's found Achmed before the trap is closed, this is it. He thought.

But then the sudden convulsion that Achmed had told him to wait for came. Silently and quickly, Gwydion slipped from his cover to come at the demon from behind. It could not do anything to him if it never knew what hit it. Still there was great risk in what he was about to do.

As he was rushing at this foul creature, a great peace descended as a faint breeze sounded around him. A soft whisper sounded on that breeze that he had always longed to hear, yet had not even considered it to be a part of this feat. It was the Whisper that told him, live or die, he was now a Kinsman. And with that final thought he reached and drew his sword when a great vibration shuddered though him, deep in to his very core, and brought him to a sudden halt.

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This attacker could only be the man that was on the beach with the elemental sword earlier. And the only man who could have possibly known where to find Rhapsody would be the one that she had summoned with her call. True, it was probably not this man's entire name with all of the connections that would be needed for a true possession, but it should be enough to bring his attacker to a halt long enough for him to find another solution.

Acting swiftly, the F'dor recalled the name that he had heard Rhapsody singing not all that long ago and repeated the name verbatim, ending with a simple command of halting. A grin crept across the demon's pain riddled face when the movement of this interloper stopped, just out of reach of himself.

Now, to see about this Dhracian, the F'dor thought. The only Dhracian that he was aware of was King Achmed, the very one who he had wished to find. If only he had gotten the king's full name by now, there would be no problem at all. But even a partial name could be of help in this circumstance. Much like this Gwydion man halted next to him, all he had to do was use what he knew of Achmed's name to bring a halt to the ritual. After that, he would be free to act as he chose.

Now, I know he is King Achmed, but I might need a bit more than that… I know he is a Dhracian and that he is king of the Firbolg. That should be enough to halt him for at least a moment; and a moment is all I need.

But that moment would never come for the F'dor. It was then that Rhapsody realized why Gwydion had froze when he was so close to ending it. The F'dor had used the name that he had heard from her to give a command of halting. But Rhapsody knew that two could play at this game.

Leaping once again from her hiding spot, she pointed Daystar Clarion at Gwydion calling out his name, ending with a command to resume. Gwydion was close enough that the F'dor didn't have even a moment's thought to stop him again. Still captured in the hold of the Thrall, both man and demon writhed in pain as the wind sword plunged through Heiles' back, showing through the other side out of his chest.

Gwydion commanded the wind from his sword to sweep through the body, purging the body of the unholy being of the F'dor. Heiles collapsed to his knees, staring down at the misty outline of the sword point that protruded from his chest. Running to his side, Rhapsody caught him and looked deeply into the man's eyes, hoping against hope that the man she had once known was now there, free from the demon.

Gasping, Heiles looked into her eyes struggling with words, "I-I am so sorry dear one… I know that I have failed my duties to teach and protect the lore that I held. Forgive me?" It was almost a whisper, but Rhapsody heard ever word crystal clear as if spoken directly into her heart.

"There is nothing to forgive. You have held to your office as best you could. Now your soul is free of the demon to wander as it will. But I must release it from your body to be sure," Rhapsody responded. Tears were flowing down her face as she struggled to remain strong for this man who she once loved and cared for so very much. She hated what she must now do after all these years of separation, but it was the only way to be absolutely sure that the demon was truly destroyed.

She could hear that the Thrall was beginning to waver and Achmed would not be able to keep it up much longer. Giving Heiles' hand a final parting squeeze, Rhapsody backed away from him. She looked into the heavens and sighted a star and called forth its name, bringing a rush of star fire to the earth once again. This time, to consume and purify the body of her once friend and teacher