Chapter One
Surprises and Memories
Usha walked up the stairs to the bedroom guarded by Tanin's stern expression, although that softened upon seeing Usha. Tanin had been to Tarsis once before and had seen what Usha had looked like so recognized her. He grinned, "You got our letter."

"Indeed, I did," she said darkly. "I thought the world was coming to an end, that a shadow wight had surfaced. I did not expect your father's request."

Tanin again sombered and motioned to the door. "Sturm guards her window. We couldn't take any chances of her running until you got here. We figure, since she's family, that she at least one last chance..."

Usha sighed again, and Tanin allowed her into the room, and immediately shut the door behind her. Once Usha's eyes adjusted to the dark, she could see the mess. Dezra, in her rage, had completely destroyed her own room and sat on the wreck of her bed, one hand holding her chin up as she looked boredly towards the door, "I can see that you aren't Tanin or Sturm, you're a woman by the shape of you. You aren't an elf, too tall and too muscular, but I don't... think... you're entirely human either. So, that leaves another race that is tall, graceful, but having pointed ears. Oh, I know, an Irda. Or at least, a half Irda. My guess is that you would be the vaulted Usha al-Irda?"

"Correct," answered Usha. "And you would be Dezra Majere, daughter of not one, but two Heroes of the Lance, and sister of another set of heroes, only of the Summer of Chaos, heroes of the Greater Balance, and, of course, a niece of a God. How am I doing?"

"Pretty accurate, lady," she answered, only, unlike the Knights, 'lady' was not used respectfully. "So, why did they send you in here?"

"Your father seems to think I can teach you something of adventuring," the tone in Usha's voice held a distinct note of disdain. "But given the face that you don't feel anyone can teach you anything, I seriously doubt it."

"You, teach me?" came Dezra's voice, holding the same note of disbelief.

"Oh, and I guess that since you are the daughter and sister of great adventurers, that you know all?"

"Hey, I know a lot!" retorted Dezra. "I could survive out there, on my own, if I had to."

"My dear," Usha's voice now held a note of anger in it. "You haven't been out of Solace, and this is from someone else who thought they knew it all; you know shit."

For a moment, Dezra was flabbergasted. Then again, so was Usha. It had been the first time that Usha had ever been angry enough to simply use the armor of the Miiro, and then swear. For a moment, Dezra looked at the half Irda who suddenly had white hair and gold skin, and was very angry indeed. She was intimidating, but Dezra answered, "Then perhaps we call a truce. I want out of Solace, and you travel. Perhaps you have something to teach me, perhaps you don't. Either way, it will be safer with the two of us than by ourselves."

Usha allowed the armor to fade, but thinned her eyes at Dezra's sudden change in attitude. "How do I know you won't run the first opportunity you get? And, from what I hear, you care little for the honor of Majeres."

"You're right, I don't care much for riding on my father's and Uncle's shirttails like my two brothers did," Dezra stuck out her chin again in defiance. "I don't want that. I want to be recognized for me, not for my connections to others."

Usha thought for a moment, "Fine, we leave in the morning at dawn. Be ready to leave, I will not wait for you. If you are not at the Southern Road by dawn I will leave without you and you will face whatever fate your father must take against you for thieving from your neighbors. Good night, Dezra Majere."

With one hard rap on the door, Usha was allowed back out and Tanin looked at her as he closed the door behind him. She turned to him. "You and your brother may stop guarding her door. If she runs, let her. However, I sincerely hope she takes me up on my offer. I do not want to hear that the next funeral in this family is hers."

Tanin watched as Usha retired to her own room before unlocking the door and going to find his brother Sturm. Walking up to his brother, Tanin said, "Usha is here and she talked with Dezra. We can stop hovering now."

Sturm nodded, then sighed, "Where did she go wrong?"

Tanin shook his head, "I don't know."

That was a question all of Solace had been asking. What had gone so terribly wrong in the youngest Majere's life that she felt the need to break laws and turn so rebellious? A few, older ones that had lived in the town for longer than Caramon had been alive, whispered to their great grandchildren of the dark haired woman that had been the twin's eldest sister, claiming that it was in the bloodline, even if Kitiara had been dead for over thirty years. After all, look at Raistlin, even though in the end he redeemed himself, he also still walked with darkness most of his life. If two thirds had been evil, it was hardly surprising that one child out of five would be as well...

Others scoffed at this even as the seed of doubt was planted in their minds.

Caramon knew this, it was why he had asked Tanin to send for Usha in the first place. Dezra had to leave before the worry grew to something much worse in the town, and before she pulled herself to pieces with how many directions everyone kept trying to pull her in. He agreed with her. She had to find her own path to be at peace with herself, even he, as worried as he was for her and as much as he didn't want his daughter to leave, saw that it was best.

He shook his head as dusk fell to darkness.

Usha had been up long before dawn to bathe, dress and pack what little she had brought. Taking her horse out to the southern road where she had told Dezra to meet her, she waited as the sky lightened as dawn came. As the sun crept up, she idly wondered if the young Majere woman would actually come.

She needn't have worried as she heard another horse gallop up and Dezra reined in her horse, her eyes sparkling in the increasing sunlight. Usha could only shake her head at the young woman's attitude. "You would think you were glad to leave or something."

"I am!" exclaimed Dezra, and Usha winced. "I was tired of being stifled. It's better to be on the open road."

"Nevertheless, look back one last time, Dezra," Usha pointed to where the only thing of Solace that could be seen was the vallenwoods, and the Inn and a few of the houses. "Every time you leave, that could be the last of your family, and your home, that you could see. Think about what you leave behind even as you move forward."

Dezra did look behind her, and for a moment, her cocky grin fell off and she turned back to Usha thoughtfully, "Is that what happened to you?"

With a curt nod, Usha answered the question, "Yes. I left the Isle of the Irda, and I never saw it again as I remember. It was destroyed. You are lucky, Dezra, that in Solace you have a Mayor who is familiar with the thought of war and what can happen. Now, we have a long trip ahead of us. The Conclave, again, wants to know of what is happening in Tarsis, and since Dalamar seems to think I am his personal messenger girl, we had better get moving."

The two horses fell into a light canter, one that was neither too fast for the horses nor too slow to make riding them not worthwhile. Dezra stayed quiet, even though she was fascinated with her first trip out of Solace. Usha rode in silence, except to point out interesting points of interest and to tell Dezra to be more vigilant.

As she had expected, the first arrow landed precisely two inches from Usha's head, even disturbing her hair, and imbedded itself in a tree. Dezra's eyes widened in surprise, but Usha remained calm and reined in her horse. Usha pulled out the obviously elven arrow and held it up, "You can retrieve this now."

"You are on Qualinesti lands," came the voice, brooking no argument.

With a sigh, Usha pointed out, "So I am. And so is the Tower of High Sorcery, which is where I am headed with my companion."

A moment of silence was shortly ended with, "Our companion tells us he smelled ogre."

Dezra looked at Usha quickly as Usha leaned forward to lean on the pommel, "So he did, my name is Usha al-Irda, and he would have smelled me, but it was a long time since my kind was last called ogre. I am Irda."

At last the ten elves that she had sensed came out of the trees, arrows still trained on them. Dezra looked at them, getting slightly more nervous as time went by. The lead elf, undoubtably the one Usha had been talking to, walked up to Usha's horse and took the proffered arrow from Usha. "Usha is a very unusual name for an ogre, but not for Irda, as I understand. Your kind was thought to be wiped out five years ago in the Chaos War, Mistress Usha."

"So they were, those on Selesia," answered Usha. "But just as many were kidnapped during the War of the Lance and enslaved by the Dark Queen. Those who escaped became wanderers."

"And those who didn't?"

"Perished in captivity," answered Usha sadly. "Or are still slaves. Irda, true Irda, have life spans that make elves seem short lived."

This brought a few exclamations of surprise from the elves, and even Dezra looked surprised. But Usha, after a moment, "Now, we are headed for Wayreth. Will we continually stopped by arrows mere inches from my head?"

The lead elf shook his head, "We were told to be on the look-out for a half-Irda woman and to bring her to Qualinost. There is an interesting... problem... that only she can deal with. Would that be you?"

Dezra and Usha looked at each other, and Usha's eyebrows knit. "As a matter of fact, yes. Al-Irda means 'half-ogre' in Irda."

"So, your name would be Usha Half-Irda?" asked the lieutenant.

"Yes."

"Something like Tanis Half-Elven?" asked Dezra quietly.

A glare, though without much heat, was directed at her from Usha, and Dezra grinned in mischief. "My name is Gamar, this is my company. We are to escort you to Qualinost."

There was no room for argument, and Usha gestured that she would follow them. She slid from her horse and Dezra did the same as they led their horses in the midst of the elves. Dezra looked over to Usha and asked, "What kind of problem can you only solve?"

"It may have something to do with my Guardianship," answered Usha with a frown.


She had wandered for at least a year after the Summer of Chaos, not sure of what to do, of where to go. She had stayed only long enough in Solace to learn how to fight and defend herself against any brigands that would have tried to rob her on the roads. But eventually, even Usha knew that it was time to move on and find where she belonged.

Discover what her new responsibility entailed.

Eventually, she found the abandoned and ancient temple in Tarsis. The Blue Star flared to life, and she followed where it urged her to enter the temple. Usha walked to the back of the temple and behind the alter that was carved with an eight pointed star and stained blue with clear glass points on silver and gold.

Finally, feeling the draft, she opened the door to the catacombs underneath. The stairs were stone and somehow lit with blue veins in the marble. Usha followed the stairs down until she could no longer even hear the bustle of the city. She could only guess at the age of the temple as it was far older than anything in the city itself. Finally she came to a landing, then to a cavern filled with treasure. Usha could hardly contain her disbelief at seeing how much gold (even though it was worthless in this day and age, this much was sheerly impossible to comprehend...) was in the cavern. Walls of gold brick even sealed off some of the cavern against intruders and monsters from other parts of the catacomb. As she walked further into the cavern, the only light given off by the Blue Star, she noticed how old the gold was. There was a layer of dust, grime, and even a thin layer of corrosion. For gold to rust in a dry clime took a very, very long time.

At this point, Usha began to feel uneasy.

As she walked further in, and around the walls of gold, she began to see a newer part of the treasure trove as she began to encounter walls of steel and platinum brick. She got a good look at the seals on the gold brick right before leaving the halls of gold and noticed that it was stamped with the insignia of Ackal Ergot. By the Gods of Krynn, it's been here longer than the Cataclysm... she realized. The platinum held the insignia of the... and cringed when she saw the old High Ogre stamp, making the platinum even older. She could only guess that the Steel was likely stamped with the dwarven thanes mark. Looking at it, she saw she was right. The walls of coin metal was all older than the cataclysm.

At this point, she seriously considered turning back, but the Blue Star urged her to continue. So she did.

Finally, after leaving the halls of coinage bricks, she came to the cavern itself. In the middle was a massive galleon, buried to mid-hull, in a sea of coins of all types as well as other items and treasure. It boggled her mind to see this much in one place. Following the Blue Star where it urged her to go, she climbed the dunes of coins, sliding a few times to fall on her behind as she did so, to the galleon itself. She climbed the net to the deck of the ship, looking around as she did so.

"Well, that didn't take very long," came a voice behind her and she turned in surprise to see an old grizzled gnome leaning on a cane. "The last time someone came in here and looked at my horde with only passing interest on how old it was another of your kind."

"Excuse me?" was all she could ask.

"Your kind, Guardian of the Blue Star," the gnome hopped down and walked over to her, his cane tapping on the deck of the ship. "A Miiro. Don't tell me that the Blue Star was already passed down to a new Guardian?"

She was silent for a moment, "It was, the last one sacrificed himself."

The gnome made a 'O' shape with his mouth, then shook his head, "Then, I guess you are here to be trained in the proper use of your gift and responsibility?"

"I have no idea," she answered honestly. "I merely followed where the Blue Star led me."

He harumphed, "I will take that as a 'yes'. So, what's your name?"

"Usha of Selesia."

The gnome looked at her in surprise, "Now there's a place I haven't heard from in awhile. Is Igrane still leading?"

"Uh, no..." she said in confusion. "He's been dead for centuries..."

The first things she realized was that, unlike most gnomes, he wasn't speaking too fast for her to comprehend. The second thing was that no gnome from the Age of Dreams would still be alive today. She thinned her eyes and asked, "What are you? You're no gnome."

He turned suddenly in sadness, "You are very correct. But they are interesting creatures, no? Always creating, always doing something. Not like us who are content to sit, watch, and observe."

"Are you a Miiro?"

He looked at her in surprise, golden eyes going suddenly wide before laughing, "Oh, good Sky Father, no! No, for some reason, I decided to help other Miiros learn to use their gift. Learn to protect the Blue Star. Mostly because I found this lair and took it as mine, and the Blue Star was here. Therefore, it became part of my horde."

It suddenly dawned on her. "You're a dragon."

He pointed his cane at her, "Exactly, and you carry something belonging to my horde which I loan and allow to be protected, elsewhere. I don't want it here. Tends to attract too much of the wrong attention and disturbs my naps."

Usha sat down in one of the chairs on the deck of the ship. "So, this is your horde, your lair."

The gnome smiled, "Yes, and your Temple. I guess that would make us partners... Ah, but I have been rude. I know your name, but you do not know mine. My name is Nathaniel the Gold."

The first night in the Qualinesti forest had been a cold one for Dezra who was still used to her bed. She wrapped herself in her blanket and shivered as she lay as close to the fire as she could. Usha looked up at the stars and at the blue one that still was in the sky. Finally, Dezra gave up on sleep and asked, "What is it about that star that fascinates you?"

Usha looked over at her in surprise, "Shouldn't you be sleeping?"

"I can't sleep," answered Dezra, still shivering. "So, about that star?"

"It is the constellation of Miiro," answered Usha. "Not seen since before the Age of Starbirth, maybe even before then. When the Shattering occurred its flame was extinguished."

"But it's there now..."

"Yes, it lit again after Raistlin's final sacrifice," Usha frowned again. "That is why I am concerned. According to what I have learned about the Blue Star, the constellation should have never relit until after the Reunion of Fragments."

The next morning, the elves again led the two women through the forest, and then when the elven city was in sight Dezra stopped in wonder at its beauty. "It's so delicate..." she murmured.

The elves smiled slightly, knowing that most humans did the same upon sighting the city. Not that there had ever been many humans in Qualinost now that the border had been closed after Gilthas had become Speaker of the Suns. Usha, used to the Irda's architecture, appreciated the elven grace, but was hardly surprised to see it.

Finally, she tapped Dezra's shoulder and they followed the elves into Qualinost. Usha frowned slightly as the elves of the city stopped to stare at the two women. They especially stared at Usha as her ears were clearly the points of the ogres while she was not ugly like them by a long distance. Again, the murmuring started about her Irda heritage, only it was less disparaging. The elves understood the Irda's intentions perhaps more than others, but mourned the outcome. That there was still a few living merely surprised them. Dezra was clearly uncomfortable, but this had more to do with those who remembered the last time humans had been escorted into Qualinost during the War of the Lance as her appearance reminded them of Tika Waylan.

Finally, they came to the Tower of the Sun where Gilthas stood beside his mother Laurana on the steps. Usha stepped forward and bowed. Dezra looked at Usha, then followed suit. "Why should the daughter of a Companion of the Lance bow?" asked Gilthas, then he saw Usha. "Perhaps we should take this inside."

A servant poured elven wine into the glasses as the four sat around a table. Laurana glanced every so often over to Dezra, and Usha kept her attention on Gilthas. "Why was I called for?" she asked.

Laurana answered, "We have sent elven scouts numerous times to a small ruin to the east of here where a battle was fought during the Summer of Chaos. Each time, we never hear from them again. Finally, one came back with tales of a perverted tree that eats his men."

Usha leaned back in thought and Dezra, "A tree that eats people?"

Gilthas nodded, "Knowing that this had never happened before, and when it had started, we heard tales of the Guardians. The Bards that come through here continually sing about the final battle in the Abyss and of the Blue Star that know rests in the sky."

"Tales that have the ring of truth," said Laurana.

"Also tales of a Half-Irda daughter of Raistlin who know bears his burden," finished Gilthas. "Tales of a daughter fully grown where as before the tales were only of her birth. Tales that bear the woman's name as Usha Half-Irda."

"Tales of you," said Laurana. "And now you come here in the company of Caramon's daughter. Only one conclusion can be drawn from that, Mistress Usha, correctly drawn or not."

Dezra looked from Usha to the two elves and back again, "Hold on a minute. Her father's name was Keryl, not Raistlin. They have no ties to each other... other than a simple case of mistaken identity."

Usha remained silent and Dezra turned to her, "Right, Usha?"

Within the span it took to flicker an eyelash, Usha's appearance had changed to one, while still half-Irda, with silver hair, pale gold tinged skin and gold eyes. Dezra heard the gasp from behind her. "So, it is true," murmured Laurana.

"I am not Raistlin's daughter," Usha then allowed her normal blue tinged skin to appear. "It is as Dezra said, my father was called Keryl, an Irda. My mother was human and she died in childbirth, but I share the same burden he bore. If my suspicions are correct, the 'perverted tree' you speak of has been tainted with a demon of Chaos, and your elves are out of their league."

Gilthas sighed, "It is as we thought, which is why we requested your help."

Usha's eyes widened, "With how short a time I have been Guardian, it could be well out of my league as well! Having me here guarantees nothing. Count yourself lucky that this tree cannot walk, and simply avoid the area."

Laurana was shaking her head, "We cannot do that. It poses a threat to the area and to our people. You see, it is too close to Qualinost to simply leave it be."

With a sigh, Usha shrugged her shoulders, "I have nothing but the Blue Star, and calling on it would kill me like it did Raistlin Majere during the Summer of Chaos. All I can suggest is a way to overwhelm it."

The two elves leaned forward, and Gilthas asked, "How?"

"You need lawful weaponry," answered Usha. "Weapons of a nature opposite of Chaos. Unfortunately, I have no idea where such weapons, or armor, can be found."

"Would any of your brethren know?"

Usha felt the tell tale warmth of the Blue Star when a familiar whispering voice added fifth person to the small conference, "There is another."

All four turned to surprise to the ghostly form in the room, and Laurana breathed, "Raistlin."


A/N: Gee, I guess we aren't done with the poor sap yet...