"The journey to the base of Middle Sister was quite pleasant and Bobo and I had quite a time getting to know each other." Elizabeth smiled.
"The snow caps presented a bit of a problem. None of my gear was for such environments. But Bobo promised me, if I went in faith we wouldn't have any problems. I considered her words, I'd already severed my ties to the deities of my people for allowing that…Mahn to do what he did to my people. Was I really ready to step into some kind of relationship with a power I had no knowledge of? It could have been a trickster for all I knew. But as I looked at Bobo I had to wonder why a trickster would settle for just me? That would be a huge waste of power. And in Bobo I could see my answer." Elizabeth explained.
"I stepped out in faith and my feet stepped onto nothing but solid ground the entire climb. The chilled winds that blew had no effect against my body. The thinning air couldn't impede my lungs and while I have no idea how long it took, I never stopped nor did I feel fatigue the entire time. As I made the last few steps to her crown, Bobo flew off my shoulder and over the last few feet." Elizabeth softly stroked Bobo's head.
"As I rose above the last of the crown, I saw Bobo sitting on the forearm of a young woman, about my age. She smiled at me and thrust her arm up and Bobo flew back over and landed on my shoulder." Elizabeth thought back to that meeting.
"You have made a choice and commitment, my daughter and I happily accept you. She said to me." Elizabeth explained. "There is so much for you to know. This path before you will not be easy and the revenge you seek will not come for many years or from your hand directly. But from my champion years in the future. For your revenge to happen, I need a champion who will move and act on my behalf through the years until my future champion meets with Mahn and destroys him. Mahn has survived every attempt to end him that the powers have sent after him. But, with your aide in the right places at the right time, my champion will end him forever."
"I didn't like that I would not be delivering the revenge and it made me a bit skeptical now…and suddenly I felt the first bite of the winter-like conditions about us." Elizabeth said even as her eyes closed remembering that chilled air. "I stepped closer as I told her I would give her the chance to help me see her plan and I would hear more of what she wanted to say. She smiled even as she introduced herself as Athena. She gestured and instantly, there was a roaring fire with a table and chairs before it. On the table was a jug of spiced wine and a loaf of bread with butter. I suddenly realized how hungry I was, so I gratefully accepted the offered food. I didn't know who Athena was, but I knew now she had powers that dwarfed even our most powerful Shaman."
"Athena explained in broad strokes her plan and how she saw it might fail and what would be needed if it did. Being young and naive I asked why I couldn't just go to the people she wanted and explain things to them. That made her chuckle quite heartedly. She explained it like an avalanche. In order for it to happen, certain conditions must apply. The snow that falls must be the right consistency. It has to build up to a certain level. The Sun must heat it to the proper temperature. And something must trigger it. If any step fails, the avalanche will not be as it could." Elizabeth told them.
"I have no idea how long I spent on that mountain top. Bobo told me later it was nearly two years we were up there. But in that time Athena's true nature became clear to me and I knew I was dealing with a deity of good. She was kind and saw to my every need and comfort. She taught me all I know of being a Bard. She honed the fighting skills I possessed to a new level, one that might give me a slight chance against our Lord if it came to a contest." Elizabeth smiled.
"As I walked off that mountain, I was changed. Age and infirmity are forbidden to touch me. I can still die if I am overwhelmed as anyone would but I haven't aged a day since. And so I began my journey for the wise Lady. Every twenty years or so she changes my name so that it doesn't raise suspicions among normal humans." Elizabeth explained.
"So, you'll never age? How long will you go on like this?" Paige asked softly.
"I didn't know it at first, but after about thirty years I knew something was different. I hadn't aged. I prayed and Athena told me she had declared I would be free of the effects of age until I find true love. Someone I would be willing to submit together with. I don't see that happening, so I guess I'll live until some accident or blade finds me." Elizabeth grinned. "It was at that moment I realized my revenge would be very long in the coming."
"So, this order of things. Such as how the avalanche had to happen, it is why you couldn't just bring Paige to me after saving her and my son?" Lord Walter asked.
Elizabeth nodded as she looked at Paige.
"When I arrived in San Francisco and rescued you, from Mahn's men, I couldn't just take you to our Lord. Because what was meant to be, hadn't happened. So time was needed to allow a better condition, and at Athena's direction, I took you to San Deggo and trained you along the way, in the craft of the Bard which would help make conditions more favorable. I don't know everything but one of those was that you were still too pained by what the Clerics of Dionysus did to you in San Francisco. But for her plan to succeed now, you needed to heal first. To that end, many of her Clerics attended your performances and ensured that the patrons weren't so miserly in their tips to allow you and Ralph to survive." Elizabeth told them.
"Think of it like trying to pour a glass of wine without getting the glass first. It would have caused a bigger mess. But being in San Deggo, you grew in experience. You discovered you weren't powerless. You interacted with Clerics of Athena so that you could grow to trust again. And it showed you that you had efficacy in your abilities and the wisdom to decide for yourself what to do. I actually treasured our time together journeying to San Deggo. And not just because of how close we grew but because of the wise Lady. I could feel her all around you." Elizabeth told a shocked Paige. "Do you remember how Bobo liked to be with you?"
Paige nodded.
"Bobo could feel her presence too. It was like you were bathed in her essence, no harm could befall you. And Bobo loved being close to Athena so she spent so much of her resting time with you." Elizabeth smiled as Bobo chirped. "I know little one, it wasn't because you didn't love me. Who wouldn't want to be closer to Athena?" Elizabeth stroked Bobo's head.
"Sadly we had to leave you and Ralph. We couldn't risk you growing too dependent upon us being with you. You needed to find what Athena wanted from you by yourself." Elizabeth smiled. "And it wasn't the last time we saw you, but it was the last time you saw us until that day in Lord Beyon's throne room."
"Athena directed me back many times as you made your way North finally. I must have killed a hundred bounty hunters to keep you safe until you reached Oxinear." Elizabeth's eyes seemed to grow distant.
"While the Clerics and the faithful of Athena ensured you escaped each time, my job was to end any further possible pursuit of you." Elizabeth nodded. "The last time I saw you was when you met our Lord as I sat in disguise in the inn watching. Athena was kind enough to grant me that privilege as long as I promised not to interact with the three of you." Elizabeth grinned. "The pure look of love on his face was priceless, all the more because he had no clue. It was easy to tell he knew something was different, but what that was or what it meant was completely alien to him." Elizabeth laughed.
"Athena assured me that the moment of revenge was finally nigh. That I had performed my tasks perfectly." Elizabeth smiled as she shook her head at the next thought. "My next task was to journey south to await the arrival of Louise and Sean as they came North with Megan to find the Lord of Scorpion Keep. But as I camped there to wait I used my power to spy upon you and our Lord. It was your first night at Scorpion Keep." Elizabeth's voice turned a bit naughty. "Oh I had wanted to smack Raynold so bad for interrupting what would have been your first kiss on the tower that first night."
Elizabeth sighed.
"But that too had been ordained by Athena. Little did I know that had you both kissed that night our Lord would have succumbed to that passion and all I had done, all that our Lord went through, and all the efforts the wise Lady had exercised would have been for naught. And further, without his blessing our Lord would have encountered the forces of Mahn, here on this hill and he'd have been felled. You would have been killed and Ralph dragged off. When Mahn would try to use his magic on Ralph it would have failed and Mahn would realize he was tricked by his son. Ralph would have been killed then as well." Elizabeth sighed. "All our hopes dashed, and people I had come to love dearly would have been gone too soon. One of the problems with this life I endure, I try not to grow close to anyone so their passing wouldn't mean much to me. I'd have been a wreck if it had."
"What do you mean it was ordained?" Walter asked curiously.
"Raynold had chosen not to tell you about the shade that night. He knew the magics of the Land would repel it. Athena pressed her full presence upon him, making him worry that you'd be powerfully mad at him so he ran through the Keep to find you." Elizabeth smiled.
Elizabeth laughed as she shook her head.
"And then you blundered right back into the situation." Elizabeth grinned at Paige. "You weren't supposed to go out there with him to face the shade. Thankfully our Lord regained control of himself and broke the hug he gave you. And then you got mad at him on the way back up to the Keep." Elizabeth shook her head. "Oh I tell you, I'm so glad they weren't my plans and watched you both nearly stumble. And then that…person tried to intimate herself with our Lord. I wasn't too fond of her for that but then when she insulted Bobo I truly wanted to dispatch her. When I heard what she had done with Bethany, oh I wanted to roast her over a low flame for hours."
"I'd have helped!" Happy said quickly. "We could still go do it."
Paige shook her head.
"Don't tempt me." Elizabeth grinned. "Even the interruption of the kiss at the stable was at Athena's direction. But still, the moment I felt the most fear for you and of possible failure of Athena's plans was when Bobo brought word that you had been captured and taken to Mahn." Elizabeth sighed.
"But that too was Athena's plan as you learned. Of all the things she never told me about that would happen, that was the one I was the maddest about before you were saved. But as my magic opened the portal to you, Athena's mind touched my mind and her peace swept over me. I knew then I was not to pass through to assist you. She said it was coming together just as she planned. But she told me that I still had a part to play. I was to bolster your courage and give you reassurance that all was well and in hand. That you weren't alone." Elizabeth told them.
"Why did you need to do that?" Paige frowned. "It isn't like at the time I was free to act."
"Because of the connection you had to our Lord through the rings. Remember when you used his power to draw forth Athena's power to form the protection circle about you, Ralph and the temple Mistress? Had you still been in doubt you wouldn't have been able to use it. The temple Mistress would have been killed except for that. That was part of the reason Athena wanted the one glyph inscribed that would grant that mental link between you and our Lord." Elizabeth nodded. "Watching Ralph drive his long dagger into Mahn's leg was so rewarding. And then watching his head disintegrate as he was struck by our Lord's hammer." Elizabeth grinned. "It made everything I had done up to that point worth it."
"That is quite the story…if you are done." Paige grinned.
"For the most part. I don't think there is anything that I saw between you that needs to be brought back up." Elizabeth winked.
Walter sat stroking his beard as he seemed lost in thought.
"Love?" Paige asked.
Walter jerked and then smiled at Paige.
"I was just considering part of Elizabeth's story. You said that you have seen thirty two celestial alignments of this Caranth. When was the last one?" Walter asked.
"Ah…not that long ago actually." Elizabeth smiled as she nodded. "I don't say this lightly, I know how it felt at the time. But in some ways it was fortuitous, what happened to Daithi after Aine was born. Aine was born at the end of the conjuncture and had you not been forced to retrieve his soul, so would have Daithi. But by the time his soul was returned the conjuncture was over. Which explains why Aine is as contrary as she is."
"You mean just before this past summer, when she stole Walter's hammer and was openly defiant of me?" Paige asked quickly.
Elizabeth laughed as she nodded.
"Thankfully she was born at the end of it, so it won't be as strong in her as it was with me." Elizabeth grinned.
"I knew I liked her far more than normal for a reason." Happy grinned. "It was like she was a mini version of me."
Paige shook her head.
"That is not necessarily a good thing." Paige grinned as she teased Happy.
"Your story has shed some light on things I've honestly wondered about the last few years." Lord Walter said as he sat thinking still. "Particularly why Athena hadn't been able to have a Cleric explain to any of us what she wanted. Your telling of it like an avalanche really made sense to me. If my temple Mistress had told me to go to San Francisco to rescue Paige, that she was who the wise Lady selected for me, I would have done it. No questions and I would have been more than happy to take her as my wife. But that might have changed how I looked at her. Perhaps my full love couldn't have bloomed, because a part of me would be thinking I was being made to marry her."
"And at that time, I was still feeling hurt and betrayed…either by Drew or fate since he hadn't come back to me. I wouldn't have been in a very good frame of mind to accept any advances of a serious relationship from you." Paige smiled.
"Sadly this is the last you'll see of me in a good while. Athena has called for me to perform some deeds for her. But I promise to at least look in on you from time to time." Elizabeth smiled.
"That makes me so sad." Paige frowned. "I wish you could stay longer. It's been almost eight years since you were here at the twin's birth. And in a few months I'll be giving birth again."
"I know, it pains me too." Elizabeth nodded even as she closed her eyes. They saw she was concentrating and then she frowned. "The wise Lady has expressed to me that we'll meet again, face to face, in about twenty eight years."
Greetings! I hope this finds you all well! I hope you have enjoyed this little telling. It was a lot of fun to explain some of the back story that leads into the story. Thank you to the inquisitive soul who asked questions about Elizabeth and the world where this takes place in general to give me the push to write it to be shared outside of my head. lol
Railman - So happy you enjoyed it so much! Thank you! Elizabeth blushed and Bobo was a little offended. She wanted to know why you didn't know you weren't supposed to bring up a woman's age. lol I hope you have enjoyed the conclusion!
LouBe - So glad you enjoyed it so much too! Between you and Railman Elizabeth is contemplating using some makeup on her cheeks! lol I hope you enjoyed the conclusion as well!
To the Adventure! -Tim