To the readers: I'm alive, and sorry to keep you waiting so long! TBA will be finished, but I've decided to submit it to part by part as I progress. Hopefully this (combined with reader comments ;)) will keep me going to the end. And now, without further ado… the first part of the last book. :)

--SoL

The Black Ankh

by Shadow of Light Dragon, aka Laura Campbell

Book VII - Duel of Fates

Good and Evil,

Death and Life,

Dark and Brilliance,

Peace and Strife.

A sword of black,

A blood red star,

Only one

Is Avatar.

Someone had unplugged the heavens.

Rain bucketted down on us and the surroundings of the Shrine of Justice. Everyone instinctively looked for shelter, except for the mezzini (most of whom looked baffled) and the few archers who had neglected to wrap their bowstrings (who swore and tried to cover their weapons with already-sopping cloaks). It was very dark, but not enough to be night. To the north, where the ground fell away precipitously into the sea, raging waves broke against the cliffs and foam splashed high enough to kiss grassy ground.

There were a few tense moments for me and my companions as we waited for Mellorin and her army to appear, but they didn't.

"Shouldn't we find shelter?" Shamino shouted at last. He had his heavy cloak up over his head and rain hissed off it, surrounding him with a haze of spray.

"You won't melt," I replied over the noise.

"I'll rust," Dupre called from nearby, and others laughed.

Despite myself, I felt a smile coming on. Those who had laughed were Britannians.

We were home.

"We could head for the Deep Forest," Shamino suggested, nodding to the south.

"I doubt it'd be much drier than this," I disagreed. A thought suddenly came to me. I looked up, smiling at the threatening clouds... and the rain abruptly cut off. The clouds rolled back in all directions, leaving a wide circle of deep, beautiful blue sky directly above us through which the noon sun blazed.

"Welcome to Britannia."
We actually did end up heading for the somewhat dripping shelter of the Deep Forest. We had to decide where exactly we'd go first, and scrying from there would be safer than out in the open. Just because Mellorin hadn't come running as soon as we'd arrived was no guarantee she wouldn't turn up at all.

I found myself having to concentrate on holding the storm back. It was too powerful to be ordinary, yet I could tell it was not magical in origin. It pushed against my mental barrier constantly, and the clouds around the circle of sky resembled a celestial whirlpool.

Draxinusom came to me while the mages among us, most of whom were in Cale's Chosen, continued to scry and the others waited around or had a bite to eat. I hadn't spoken to the gargoyle Lord since I'd felt Lord British die - hadn't really seen him, in fact. Any doubts that Draxinusom didn't know what had happened faded when I saw his drawn expression and the dullness in his glowing blue eyes.

He shook his wings and rubbed his bare arms. "To say it feels like Winter."

"I wouldn't know what time of year it is any more," I said, squeezing water from my cloak with a grimace. "What's on your mind?"

"To have brought only personal concerns, Avatar. To need to hunt?" I shook my head. "To be good." He heaved a deep breath, then. Frowning. "To think it is Richard."

The levity of my mood at being back in Britannia faded. I didn't want to think about this topic too much. It hurt. "We should have come back sooner. It's my fault."

"To not second-guess life. To think things could have been worse... somehow."

"We could all be dead?" I suggested with morbid humour.

He shrugged his wings and looked at the swirling clouds. "To feel something wrong in the air, Avatar."

"Not just the weather," I said softly, knowing what he meant. There was a wrongness. The mere sensation of being back in Britannia felt... different. Tainted. Sick. "The land itself," I murmured, feeling it all through my being the more I concentrated on it. "Britannia is dying. It's hanging on, but just barely."

"To Resurrect him?"

I shook myself, frowning. "We have to find him first." I paused. "Was anyone scrying the Isle of the Avatar?"

Draxinusom nodded. "To believe so." He went off for a minute and returned with a Britannian in chain with a shortsword and thick green cloak. Shivering, the man saluted.

I blinked at him. "Aren't you the one who was with me during the battle against the goblins and daemons?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"You're a mage?" I asked, raising a brow at his military garb.

"I have some skills in the area, Avatar."

I shrugged to myself. Warrior mages were very rare, but not unheard of. It just took me by surprise. "Lord Draxinusom told me you're scrying the Isle of the Avatar."

He straightened, as though reporting to a commanding officer. "Yes, ma'am. There are strange things to see. Those two statues people call the Guardians - the ones that kneel on either side of the path like winged gargoyles - they are not stopping people from passing into the Shrine of the Codex."

"Did you scry inside the shrine?" I asked intently.

He nodded. "The only things that I really noticed were those two lenses that used to be in Britain's museum, Avatar. The ones the stories say thou used to send the Codex into the Void. Oh, and that black box."

"The Vortex Cube," I said. "You didn't see the Codex, did you? It looks like a golden book."

"No, I didn't."

I thought for a moment. "There's an entrance into some underground caves just west of the path leading to the Shrine of the Codex," I told him. "Can you look in there as well?"

"At once, Avatar."

"Thanks. And call me Elora."

He looked awestruck at that, as though I'd just offered to knight him. "Ferran," he said at last, smiling. He inclined his head to Draxinusom, "M'lord," and hurried off.

"What would the Mellorin or the Guardian want with the Codex?" I asked Draxinusom.

He stared at me with blazing eyes. "To remind you that my world, the Underworld, was destroyed when the Codex was removed."

"She can't have taken it from Britannia," I whispered.

Our gazes were locked until I tore mine away to look at the sky again. The circle of blue was surrounded on all sides by a raging storm.
"What should we do?"

"Priority is finding Lord British and Resurrecting him," I said, staring down at the damp map stretched out on the ground. A group of us crouched around it in a ragged circle—my friends and I, those from the other planes that were deemed 'in charge' one way or another. "First problem there is I'm not sure where Mellorin will have put his body."

"Dost thou know where he was killed?" Felix asked.

I hesitated, exchanging a long look with Lord Draxinusom. The gargoyle said, quite softly, "To believe it was the Isle of the Avatar."

I pointed out the island on the map and Zaria said, "I took a look over there. That place has so many Atarkans crawling over it I'm surprised they have enough supplies to feed them all."

This time the lengthy glance was with my Companions. "The caves under the island," Iolo said.

"Didn't the Guardian have a throne built down there, by the Fellowship?" Dupre put in. "Sounds like the kind of place his army would rally."

"Virtues, thou dost not think they're building another Black Gate, dost thou?" Julia asked, sounding alarmed.

"Hrm." I shook my head quickly. "No. The Black Gate's power relied on the Astronomical Alignment. There won't be another one of those for another few centuries, I think." I glanced at the non-Britannians. "Sorry. There are a large number of caves and such under the mountains on the Isle of the Avatar. The Guardian's servants used them as a base little over a year ago."

"So it's possible they're making further use of them," Bishop said. "Fair enough, but why? This island has no strategic advantage that I can see."

"I think the advantage last time was that no one would think to look there," Dupre said. "The Fellowship—that's the name of the group that was serving the Guardian, was trying to keep their activities secret. As for now…" he shrugged and looked at me quizzically. "It's defensible, but why wouldst thou care about that when thou hast thy choice of cities and keeps to pick from?"

"Long and the short of it is we don't know," I said wryly. "But someone will have to sneak in there and find Richard. We can't bring him back without his body."

"Infiltration attempt, eh?" Dupre rubbed his chin.

"I don't know, Elora," Bishop said, frowning slightly. "The Guardian has ways of picking out traitors—"

"I will go."

We all stared at each other for a while before realizing where the words had come from. The representative of the tril'khai, Swift, regarded the map with unblinking green eyes from where she lounged in the wet grass.

"If thou canst get me to this island of thine, and back again," her mind-voice continued calmly, "I can discover this information for thee. The Atarkans don't know we're telepaths. They use us as beasts of burden and guard animals. They will not suspect."

"Are there any tril'khai on the Isle of the Avatar?" I asked Zaria.

"Big cats like that one? I can't say I saw any."

I frowned.

"I can still try."

"It will be a great risk…"

"I believe it will be a great risk to any who attempt to undertake it." Swift blinked lazily. "I will be careful. I will even pretend to be subservient, and purr like a house-cat when it seems appropriate."

Several around the circle grinned.

"Or… a thought, Avatar, but thou couldst send a group of us. Several tril'khai would of course draw attention, but a group would look less out of place than just one."

"It would also increase the chances of learning something," Katrina pointed out. "I think I'm liking this, but how do we get them to the isle without it looking suspicious? They can't just all appear out of nowhere, can they?"

"And how do we get them off the island?" Shamino asked.

Swift growled softly. A feeling of concern came from her mind. "Perhaps it would be better to just risk one. It is sounding too dangerous to attempt more than that."

"I don't think we can slip anything onto the isle unnoticed," Zaria remarked. "Everywhere is watched, and I'm sure any area thou wouldst think of teleporting to is under even closer scrutiny."

"Then what about a distraction?" Dupre pointed at the Shrine of Humility. "Elora, if thou canst teleport here with a decent group of us, we can sneak Swift here in with us. Invisible, maybe? Anyway, while we're keeping whoever's at the shrine busy, Swift can run off somewhere, wait for the invisibility to wear off, then sneak around pretending she was always there."

"Why can't that work for several trilk'khai?" asked Iolo with a smile.

"Might look suspicious," Bishop replied. "A sudden unexplained attack, easily beaten back, then there's suddenly an influx of felines? Even if I didn't know they were telepaths, I'd wonder."

"Mellorin knows they're telepaths," I said suddenly. "She knows because I know. No… I think one is the way to go, but it still worries me. If she's had anyone spy on us, she might know we have tril'khai with us."

"I could go with her," Jae'tar volunteered, and Swift's ears twitched towards her. "An attended tril'kha may look less out of place. Besides, I am Atarkan, same as the cat. My mother Altara told me much of the inner workings of the High Council. Last but not least, if thou hast some way for Swift to escape the island, but this way requires opposable thumbs, perhaps I could be of use." The desert nomad suddenly gave Swift an irritated look. "I also promise," she added testily, "not to go off on any foolish acts of vengeance."

"Zaria," I said, "please take another look at the Shrine of Humility. Let us know how many Atarkans are hanging around. Dupre, go with her, then organize a large enough group that we'll be able to hold our own when we drop in." I paused, then looked at Bishop and Felix. "If you don't mind, see if some of the drakelings mind helping out? They're interesting enough to look at that they might give our enemies reason to hesitate."

Bishop actually grinned in reply. "If it's 'something interesting to look at' thou'rt after, Elora, I'm sure the drakelings can rise to the challenge."
"Take this." I gave Jae'tar a small red orb. "Use this once you're ready to leave, or if you're in trouble. You don't need any magical aptitude to make it work, so don't worry. It'll take you to the Isle of Fire… Zaria's mages had a look and it's empty from what they can see, so you and Swift can take shelter in the keep until we pick you up. We'll have someone keep an eye on the location every hour so we'll know when you arrive."

The nomad nodded and pocketed the token. She'd shed her desert robe and now wore armour similar to what Atarkan soldiers wore, which would serve for now. Someone clever had managed to fashion a serviceable collar and leash from some leather cords, which Swift was wearing. Not only would they signify some level of ownership to Jea'tar, but they wouldn't have to worry as much about being separated while running invisible.

According to Zaria, there were twenty foes guarding the Shrine of Humility. Dupre had organised a party of thirty to counter that, ten of which were drakelings. Dupre, Bishop and myself would be accompanying them. Lord Draxinusom would retain ultimate command of the remaining forces until we returned.

"Take out as many of them as we can," Dupre was advising the group. "We want to make it look like we're there for a reason. If we kill them all, we'll venture a little further as though we're testing the defences. Do not run on ahead or stray too far! I don't want anyone left behind. Got that?"

There was a chorus of assent.

"Guess that meaneth we're ready." Dupre drew his sword and nodded casually in my direction. "Avatar?"

I unsheathed my own blade. The Lifestealer, as usual, hung strapped across my back. "Alright everyone. Stay close." After willing Jae'tar and Swift invisible, I touched the aeth'raesh'al.
The Shrine of Humility came into sharp focus, and our ears were immediately assaulted by the cries of the enemy. Before I'd even chosen my first target, two soldiers burst into chill, silvery flames and went down screaming. As the drakelings puffed bursts of coldfire at hastily raised shields, the rest of us charged those who were either making a break for it or attempting to claim a kill of their own.

"We're out!"

Swift's thought broke effortlessly through the actual noises of the fight. I nodded mentally, keeping an eye on the carnage around me. There hadn't actually been an opportunity or need for me to step in to the fight. Everyone seemed to be doing fine without me, and the drakelings were wreaking merry havoc—

--but then I felt it.

Her.

…me.

Even as I was reaching for the aeth'raesh'al to teleport us out of there, I could see Mellorin and a group of reinforcements appearing right in our midst. It registered then that if we teleported, we'd be taking them with us. And there were more of them…

And they were here.

Shouts rose from both sides, but my side faltered at the sight of the overwhelming odds. She must have known, I thought. She must have been ready, to have this many people armed and ready and prepared…

Mellorin smiled down at me from where she lounged against the Shrine's altar. "Surrender or die, Elora? Or let's look at your other options. Fight and die. Teleport all of us and die somewhere else. Save yourself? Believe me when I say all your friends here will pay the price." Her green eyes roved over my small invasion force, resting on Dupre for a moment before returning to me. "Oh, or you can cast Mass Death, killing everyone here. Since that includes me, it will also include you. Have I forgotten anything?"

I forced my voice to remain calm. "I'm only dead if I kill you, Mellorin. How would you like to become a small pile of ashes?"

Her smile froze. "You wouldn't d—"

A respectable gout of silvery flames burst at the ground near Mellorin's boots. She dove aside, cursing, and as though it had been a signal, my party took the moment of surprise to jump back to the offensive. Fire seemed to pour from the sky as I fought my way through the struggling bodies, simply trying to kill as many Atarkans as I could. I had no destination. There was nowhere to go, and my stomach churned at the thought it would be over all too soon. That we were all about to die.

A nagging voice screamed inside my head, telling me I should leave the others to their fates. Save myself! They were expendable. It was only if I was taken that all was lost. That was the logic of it, cold and sharp and inarguable…

And impossible. I couldn't…

"Arcadion," a voice said directly behind me. "Death."

I turned, very slowly.

"It's been a long time coming… Master."

There was a gut-wrenching pain and a scream I couldn't seem to stop… followed shortly by the blindness of the newly undead.

-TBC-