Chapter Nine: A Little Side Trip
The trip back to the palace was a mostly silent one; even though Tai'ree was bursting with questions, she sensed that Mahado was trying to straighten out the information he had gotten from the Sage and would probably not welcome any questions right now.
She trailed along behind Mahado and watched as Coeremar, who was keeping step beside the magician, occasionally passed through the people Mahado walked too close to. The spirit kept glancing at Mahado as if about to speak; but he never said a word. Tai'ree was sure though they were holding a heated conversation by the little she could see of their faces and the way Coeremar never once paid any attention to the people he was walking through.
Finding Coeremar's actions a bit disconcerting, Tai'ree turned to look around at the view as they retraced their steps through Alcalsar but found her thoughts drifting to everything discussed at the tavern. She had been a bit surprised that the Sage had heard about her dreams though she knew she should not have been. The dreams had been vivid enough to make her inform the Valkyria about them, and Mayen would have considered that important enough to go looking for a Sage to help her interpret them.
Then there was the prophecy the Sage had mentioned. She had learned many of the prophecies written down during the reign of King Lasdaraman but the one the Sage had mentioned was certainly not one of them. It struck her as the type of prophecy that her teacher would have made sure she memorized, since the king of Alcalsar was- in ancient times- referred to as the Sun King.
However, it did not bode well that the king of Calteasart was called the King of Moon during the wars between the two kingdoms- especially now that she was going to be marrying the future King.
And what was this Shadow War Coeremar had mentioned? That had not sounded good at all.
Tai'ree was so lost in her thoughts she failed to notice they had reached Mahado's suite in the castle until she ran into her new teacher when he stopped in the middle of the main room. She quickly stepped back and felt her cheeks burning with embarrassment as she stammered, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I was just…um…"
"Not paying attention?" Mahado stated.
Unable to argue, Tai'ree admitted reluctantly, "Yes."
Mahado smiled and shook his head. "It is all right, it was not unexpected," he said as he took a few steps toward the fireplace that dominated one end of the room. A fire was already going and Tai'ree knew the smaller fireplaces in the other rooms would also have been lit. It was still early spring and it would be a while before the castle remained warm within the stone walls without the addition of the fires.
As Coeremar faded back into Mahado, the magician settled into a sitting position in front of the fire. Setting his wand across his lap, he indicated the spot in front of him and said, "Sit."
Doing as she was told, Tai'ree then waited uneasily as Mahado studied her a moment. She tried not to fidget, though she could not stop her hands from twisting nervously around the wand in her lap; but eventually he seemed satisfied by what he found and nodded once before he began to speak.
"I know the meeting with the Sage has only added to your questions, and what I'm about to do will probably only confuse matters even more but I simply ask that you be patient a little longer." He raised a hand when she opened her mouth to tell him he had no reason to apologize. "I do," he said, clearly reading her expression, "since such knowledge that you now have can be misinterpreted and cause you to make incorrect choices, but I promise things will become clearer soon." A rueful smile suddenly pulled at his lips. "Well, at least they will become as clear as they can be."
"At the moment though I still have some questions that need to be answered and it would be quicker to have you listen in instead of explaining later what was discussed. All that I ask is that you refrain from speaking as much as you can," he gave her an amused look, "as difficult as that is going to be for you since some of what might be discussed will concern you directly. I'm not sure how draining what I am going to do will be and would like to keep the energy I will have to expend to a minimum."
"What are you going to do?" Tai'ree asked.
"Best if I simply show you." He reached out, resting a hand over hers on the wand. She jumped in surprise then felt a slight scowl on her face when Mahado laughed, a knowing look on his own.
"You need to move your hands to either side of mine," he said in an even tone of voice.
As she did that, she sensed the magic in the wand start moving about, reaching out to both of them. The wand began to glow slightly and Mahado said, "Close your eyes."
Closing her eyes she felt a slight tug in her mind, felt the spell Mahado wove with the wand's power and his own then suddenly she found she could see, at least she could see Mahado. Everything else was an empty darkness though it seemed almost alive, shifting and curling so that she found it difficult to focus. There was also no real horizon and for a moment, Tai'ree felt dizzy as she turned to look around.
"It does get easier, after a while." Coeremar said.
Turning back, Tai'ree was surprised to find Coeremar sitting to the side, and was even more surprised when the spirit patted her on the knee, apparently as solid as she was.
Almost remembering too late she was not to ask questions when one sprang immediately to her lips, Tai'ree shut her mouth and watched Mahado, her curiosity only growing when she heard his voice even though he did not move his lips.
"Ciorstag?" he asked, the words stirring the magic that was now glittering around their hands as they held the wand.
Tai'ree recognized the name from the conversation with the bard and as she tried to figure out how Mahado was expecting to hold a conversation with someone so far away, Tai'ree heard a female voice say lightly, "I see you found the person the wand belongs to,"
Turning, Tai'ree found a tall female elf looking down at her as Coeremar laughed and Mahado said in a resigned voice, "Yes, my new student."
The woman laughed brightly as she sat down. "Ah. Then I take it from Coeremar's reaction that she matches Mana in more than just looks?"
"Wait, you know his Mana?" Tai'ree asked in surprise, and then winced when she saw the pained look that crossed Mahado's face.
"Yes. I did; and let me help with that Mahado." She reached out, held her hand over theirs, and chanted softly in elvish. The magic settled back into the wand and Mahado let go with a relived sigh.
"Better?" the woman asked, watching Mahado closely.
"Yes," he answered, resting his hands on his own wand as he stretched slightly.
"I'm sorry!" Tai'ree said in a rush then slapped her hands over her mouth, embarrassed that she seemed unable to keep her mouth shut.
"Not your fault Mahado doesn't have enough sense to rest before attempting something like this," the woman said, grinning at the slightly annoyed look Mahado gave her. "Would have thought you'd have learned better after this many millennia, young man."
As Mahado shook his head, the woman added, "And don't think you'll ever be old enough not be lectured by me about how you are using your magic, Mahado."
A reluctant smile appeared on Mahado's face. "Yes Ciorstag."
Turning her gaze to Tai'ree, the elf said, "I am Ciorstag de Dalriada." Tai'ree looked at her in amazement. She had never actually met one of the immortal elves and could not help but stare. The woman appeared to be younger than the Valkyria and had long silver hair, her skin bluish in color and her eyes a deep summer sky blue. She was also dressed in very practical clothing, worn and carefully patched leggings tucked into soft leather hiking boots and a loose red tunic gathered at the waist with a belt of black leather.
Tai'ree was beginning to believe she needed to rethink how legends were supposed to look.
Not sure what to do or what was expected of her Tai'ree glanced at Mahado questioningly.
"It's all right to speak now," was all he said.
Taking a deep breath, Tai'ree announced, "I am Tai'ree ky Alcal…" Her voice trailed off as she realized what she was saying then started again. "Um, well actually it's just Tai'ree. Uh, I'm not ky right now so it is just Tai'ree- I guess." Knowing she was about to start rambling Tai'ree stopped speaking and chewed her bottom lip nervously.
"Ah, not sure who you are, hm?" Ciorstag said kindly then gave Mahado a shrewd look. "She is very much like Mana, isn't she?"
Mahado smiled back, "Yes she is." Before Tai'ree could find out more about this Mana, Mahado's expression turned serious and he asked, "What exactly is going on, Ciorstag?"
"So you've received word about the attacks then?"
"Yes, and I'm curious why you did not mention them before."
"There is little you can do for us where you are right now, Mahado and it was more important that you to receive the information we had regarding the message and the wand than about the situation here. Besides, I'm sure you will find out more than you want soon enough. And if there is a messenger being sent from Mag Mell then it is best for the Royal Court of Alcalsar to be made aware of the situation since it will be their ports the ships will reach first." She shrugged and added, "And we have yet to really make sense of what is happening ourselves."
"So you just didn't want him to make a choice with incomplete knowledge?" Tai'ree asked tentatively.
"Yes." the woman responded, clearly amused by the question.
Mahado smiled as well, then asked Ciorstag, "Do you know anything about a King of the Sun and a King of the Moon?"
Ciorstag shook her head. "No, why?"
"Massheldalio went through the Royal Library here and managed to find a shard of what appears to be a piece of the Orichalcos stone and a prophecy that said there would be a final battle between the two Kings for the fate of the worlds."
"Did he now? Well, it's not a prophecy I'm familiar with." She looked at Coeremar and asked, "It is not familiar to you?"
Coeremar shook his head. "No, though there were more than enough prophecies that came out of that time to keep the scholars busy for several lifetimes trying to figure out what they meant."
"Ah, well I'm sure you two came to the conclusion I just did then."
"What conclusion was that?" Tai'ree asked worriedly.
"Not the one you just came to." Ciorstag answered. "The kings we are thinking of are not from this world."
Tai'ree was surprised when Mahado suddenly looked embarrassed. "I didn't even consider that possibility."
"Why would you? Especially since you said a piece of the stone is involved." Ciorstag sighed. "I'm guessing Pharaoh will not have much time before destiny takes hold of his life again though he will need to do what is necessary without being able to access any of the knowledge he used to have."
"There must be some way to help him to remember." Coeremar said.
"No. We had to be complete in casting the spell that took his name- you know that. Only he can reclaim what once was his." She gave Mahado a sad but understanding look. "He may recognize you but only as something familiar, nothing more Mahado. You can only protect him, just as you've always done."
"But how can I help him from here?" Mahado exclaimed, the sudden frustration clear in his voice.
"I'm sure in the same way you did just before the end."
Surprised, Mahado said. "He'll summon me."
"That would be my guess." The elf turned her gaze back to Tai'ree. "I'm guessing though this is not what you wished to talk about, since you went through all the trouble to drag Tai'ree here up on to the soul plain."
"I need to know if someone might know anything about her three dragons."
"The ones you mentioned before?"
"Yes."
"Hmm, possibly. Ìomhar and Gaighdon would be the ones to ask- I still can't reach Gaighdon but Ìomhar is due to return tomorrow. Why do you think these dragons are so significant?"
"I was wondering that too." Tai'ree said without thinking.
"You don't find them of particular importance Tai'ree?" Ciorstag asked.
"Well, I can still see them clearly and they did feel more like a memory than a dream."
"You've dreamed them more than once then?"
"Uh huh. Um I had about four dreams while I was at the Royal Library."
"Including the one I interrupted?" Mahado asked.
"Yes."
"How did the dreams go?" Ciorstag inquired gently.
Tai'ree thought about that a moment. "Well, they were all about the same. There are three dragons and they seemed to be leading an army made up of people and dragons and monsters but I never saw what it was they were fighting against." She glanced at Mahado curiously. "Though the one you interrupted didn't have any armies in it, the dragons were flying though a blue sky over an island. They were going somewhere particular but I didn't see where, though it felt like I should know the place- or at least that it was important that I should remember the location for some reason. It was after the war they were fighting, that much I am sure about."
"And the dragons themselves? What did they look like?"
"Well, one was ebony in color with scales similar to a Red Eyes, though his head was kind of like a Blue Eyes with more angles to it. The ruby colored one made me think of a rock dragon and had a lot of chunky squarish scales and a mass of spikes running down his back. And there was an emerald colored one that seemed to be the leader of the other two dragons."
Tai'ree suddenly remembered a detail in her dream she had forgotten. "Oh, and there were elves in the army!" she exclaimed excitedly. "There was an old man with a white beard leading the army itself but his second in command was an elf!"
Ciorstag let out a frustrated breath. "I thought as much Ìomhar might know something but I suspect it is Gaighdon or whoever is sent from Mag Mell that will have the information you seek, Mahado."
"You know what she might have seen?"
Ciorstag gave Tai'ree a serious look before turning to Mahado. "I believe she did receive the message that was meant for me. The only war outside of the Shadow Wars that had such an army was the one that destroyed the ancient homelands."
The elf sighed then smiled slightly as she said with a small tone of apology in her voice, "I believe you're about to become a very busy man, Mahado."