Chapter 15

Two Paths


We have seen so much, we have chased dreams

We had to withstand much, we have risked everything

We have loved too much and taken all

We have given everything and more

-translated lyrics of Zaubererbrüder, by ASP


"Right," said Kiordan, smiling as the room again changed shape. Gone was the brightly lit room, and it was swiftly replaced by a night sky. Lorelei could hear the chirping of insects in the distance, and to her surprise her bare footpaws felt the gentle touch of grass.

"Why are we on a hill now?" asked the ferret accompanying Kiormund. He always had the shiftiest look about him, and unlike her son's other ferret friend, Lorelei had never once seen him pay respect to anybeast around him. Once they met in the real world she would be all too happy to grab her son by the ear and give him a serious talk about picking his friends well.

Hirsent rolled her eyes. "Because we are still in a dream?"

"No, wolf. I meant why a hill in particular. We're somewhere hot, damp and poorly lit - can you imagine all the bugs?"

"Absolutely not." scoffed the wolfess.

"Why?"

"Because they'll come springing up from every direction imaginable once my imagination starts spinning, and you wouldn't want that, would you?"

Veil shook his head and Hirsent smiled, while Kiormund failed to suppress a shudder. All of Lorelei's efforts to toughen the pup up had gotten nowhere, and once in a while she would go to bed wondering if his northern adventures would lead to him being more equipped to handle the world lying in front of him, but the Fates had once again left her disappointed.

"Ahem." All eyes turned back to Kiordan, who was clutching a bronze device between his paws. "This is an astrolabe, and you are going to give using this a try!"

"How?" asked Kiormund.

"You must focus into it, and if you're lucky you might just see it turn!"

"Focus? I still don't understand."

"Lori." Kiordan looked to his daughter. "A demonstration?"

"If you want to flaunt your power so badly, feel free."

"I meant for you to- fine."

Veil couldn't resist a giggle. "You know, you walked into that one." He looked to his right, half expecting the wolfess to snap at him, but her lips simply curled into a smile.

"Thank you two for reminding me of that." Kiordan shook his head. "But none of that for now. I must concentrate; focus all my energy into the Amplifier. Imagine a world more suitable to your liking." The Thaumaturge closed his eyes and smiled. "Perhaps a few apples… now spin!"

The astrolabe obeyed its owner's command as it rose into the air, slowly rotating. Lorelei felt the ground tremble as a tree sprung from the middle of the hill. Kiormund slowly retreated backwards, almost tripping over Veil, while Hirsent looked on with a smile the otter was not familiar with.

"There we go!" Kiordan clapped his paws together. "A tree."

Kiormund rubbed his head. "That is how not trees grow, Grandfather!"

"Surely not. But that is how I imagine trees grow, and everything in my dream should proceed according to my will."

"And Kiormund has the same power?" asked Veil. "I still don't understand."

"You both do! Though his strength lies not in magnitude, but direction. Come here, pup."

Lorelei's son waddled forward to hold the bronze device, almost sinking under its sheer weight, but ultimately managed to rebalance himself.

"Good!" Kiordan giggled. "Don't worry - I struggled with it the first time I used it too. Now channel your mental faculties to…"

"To do what?"

"I don't know, do the apple trick? Or do what I did with Lori and just start illuminating your surroundings?"

"It wasn't that hard if I do say so." Lorelei scoffed. "I believe you can do it. Anybeast can."

"Well, beasts who are attuned with Conjury," replied Kiordan.

"And only most of those," said Hirsent.

Lorelei's eyebrows furrowed. "And you're not giving us an explanation due to one of your contrived reasons."

"Could I have an explanation please?" asked Kiordan, shrugging and turning to his daughter. "Never said I was omniscient."

"Never said you weren't a hypocrite either."

"Could you two please get along for a little while?" asked Kiormund, placing a paw on his mother and grandfather each. "Hirsent looks like she has something important to say."

"Fine!" cried out both otters.

"Kio?" chirped Hirsent. "You're a good pup."

"Thank you."

"I was getting at a certain phenomenon," explained the wolf. "Some Thaumaturges inherit their powers from their parents, but with each passing generation their powers narrow."

"Narrow?" asked Veil.

Kiormund scratched his head. "I was planning to inquire further as well."

"Their abilities get more powerful in quality, but in quantity there is a significant decrease." The wolfess turned to Lorelei and Kiordan, her ears folding slowly. "Little Kiormund's powers will dwarf yours in a few aspects, but I can't say his talents are as varied. Back in Arubboth I've read about beasts who couldn't even open a Pathway, as well as beasts who could do nothing else but open them."

Veil's eyes widened. "You mean… we're going to be here forever until we get Kio's abilities sorted out?"

"The thing with dreams is that we all have to wake from it," replied Hirsent.

"That's Hirsent-speak for no," added Lorelei.

The ferret crossed his arms. "Then I reckon I don't have a reason to stay here."

"Not for now." Kiordan knelt in front of the ferret and put a paw on his shoulder. "Not to say you're useless or anything. One day I'll ask you what you are, but for now we have better things to do."

Lorelei rolled her eyes. "Questions and answers do seem to be buried under your mountain of assorted thoughts, eh Father?"

"You'll get your answers soon, dear."

"Soon is not soon enough," answered Lorelei, her ring glowing. "You wanted a demonstration of Conjury, did you not? I am very willing to show my strength."

"Are you sure about this?" asked her father, smirking when no visible response could be discerned. "Fates, you are sure about this."

"Indeed." The otter glowered as her paws began to heat up. "Show the pup what you can do. Impress him!" With that said, she charged forward, a shield forming in her paw.

"Fine," replied Kiordan, allowing his astrolabe to spin and the air in front of him to harden, bracing for a collision with his daughter's weapon - but the impact never came.

Opening a Pathway in front of her Lorelei suddenly appeared behind the older Conjurer and brought her shield down, but Kiordan had already moved to the side.

"Never knew you were one to be brutish," he said, stepping backwards. "A shield? Really?"

"It's the only weapon I know how to use," replied Lorelei, "because someone failed to teach his daughter well."

"You do have Conjury on your side. Remember that."

A brisk nod later, Lorelei brought her shield down, and the ground before Kiordan plunged downward. He managed to roll to the side and jump away before he was cornered.

"Are they trying to kill each other?" asked Kiormund, panic growing in his voice.

"No," answered Hirsent. "I am sure they've practiced like that dozens of times. The best learning happens when your blood pumps through your body and your mind struggles to keep up with how to fight or how to run. You'll know by instinct what to do!"

"I don't believe you were there, Hirsent!" grunted Lorelei. She turned back to her father to find him gone. Stars burn him… did he wake? The Conjurer closed her eyes and surrendered to the earth, allowed her energy to flow through her shield, and swung.

"Gah!" exclaimed Kiordan, slipping backwards to avoid the blow, only to be completely blindsided by a sweeping rudder to the ankles. He fell sprawling onto the floor.

"I've gotten better, father." Lorelei smirked as she reached out a paw, which Kiordan took.

"How did you know where I was?"

"You know I can sense vibrations through the earth. Your pawsteps were too heavy."

Kiordan shook his head. "I really should know how to step lightly."

Veil decided to speak. "So… what does she win?"

The old otter's whiskers shook. "I'm sorry, what?"

"Training or not, your own daughter beat the stuffing out of you. Surely there's a reason she's suddenly so aggressive."

Kiordan's lips curled up into an uncanny smile. "Heh. I like you." He turned to Hirsent. "You may tell my daughter what she asks of you. I have a feeling I'm going to appreciate my daughter's talents more after I go back to my rest. And Kiormund?"

"Yes?"

"I'll see you when tomorrow comes." With a snap of his claws Kiordan was gone.

"Wha- where did he go?" asked the younger otter, turning towards Lorelei.

"He's going back into dreamless sleep," replied his mother. "Your energy does not recuperate when you spend your nights here, in the World of Dreams."

The beasts' surroundings faded once more, to be replaced by a very familiar library. The light of the setting sun shone through the windows, flooding the entire hall beneath a crimson mantle.

Kiormund's eyes widened. "This… this is amazing. So I could do that every single time I dream?"

"If you want to," said Lorelei.

"And if you do not mind the lack of rest," added Hirsent.

"That doesn't sound very good."

"Because it is not." Lorelei stared right at her son. "Do you know why you should be trained in our ways? The path of the ruler, the way of the mystic. Two separate paths towards two distinct futures, yet we are doomed to walk both."

Kiormund slumped against a bookcase against the wall. "I still don't understand."

"Really?"

Veil chuckled. "Don't worry, you'll get used to it."

Lorelei took a deep breath. "I know that very well. I grew up with the pup, and I think I know him well enough."

The ferret grinned. "Do you? Do you really?"

"Alright, enough," said Hirsent, shaking her head. "We must move on to more productive matters. Kiormund, do you know about Thaumaturgy?"

The otter shook his head.

"Alright, this is a setback…" Hirsent rubbed her head for a few seconds before her tail wagged. "Thaumaturgy is the art of manipulating your dreams to change the waking world. Conjurers handle matter while Sorcerers deal with energy - think construction and destruction, preservation and change, darkness and light."

"Sounds like a lot of dualities," said the ferret.

"Indeed it is." The wolf chuckled. "That's what Kiordan said. A lot."

"How do I use such power then?" asked Kiormund. "And how do I prove I have it?"

"Your mother lit a crystal up, I created fire from mere sparks, while your father did something with a clock? That was a long time ago…"

Lorelei's rudder swung rapidly as she stood up straight. "The point is, you need to be taught. Quickly. Before your life lands in danger."

Kiormund's eyes widened. "I'm… at risk?"

"Perhaps. Daghild has you locked up, but hasn't harmed you yet. Do not believe anything she says, not ever. Nor her foxy assassin either!"

The younger otter stared at his mother. "But… but… I've stayed three seasons in Redwall! I've grown taller! I can learn how to use a sword, or a shield, or…"

Lorelei shook her head, walked closer towards her son, and sighed as he flinched, his whiskers bristling with fear. Grabbing Kiormund by the shoulders the Conjurer forced their snouts together and spoke softly. "You carry yourself improperly - not like a child. A pup is fearless because he doesn't know what fear is, while you do. You are not ready to face mortal danger while you know full well that to reign, to rule, to govern is to allow your life to slip into peril every waking moment. Vigilance must be one of your attributes, do you understand?"

Kiormund frantically nodded.

"Good." Lorelei removed her paws, and the younger otter breathed in deeply as his head shot up. "Oh, you weren't lying when you said you've grown tall. Just like your father - and I do hope the similarities end there."

"You two still aren't back together?"

Lorelei shook her head, and dejection creeped over Kiormund's face.

"Things still couldn't work out. I'm sorry."

Hirsent coughed. "Maybe you would like to get some actual rest before I explain everything to you on a future night. I don't think I can capture your attention for longer than either of us would like to."

"That is not a bad idea…" mused Kiormund, giving Veil a nudge. "How do we leave this place?"

"Don't worry about it." With a snap of her claws, the wolfess smiled as the otter and the ferret faded from view, and turned back to Lorelei. "You can bring forth your long list of inquiries now."

"Who are you?" asked the otter. "No. What are you?"

"A Sorcerer your father met on one of his journeys," replied Hirsent. "I hail from a place where there is no wonder in Thaumaturgy. Everything is measured, studied, written down in words and numbers. Nothing of the mystical, the wondrous. So I decided to see what this foreign otterking had to show me, in a world far unlike my own."

Lorelei scoffed. "I gathered as much." Now comes the hard part… "Who were you?"

The wolf smirked. "You just knew I wasn't telling the whole truth, didn't you?"

"I learned to tell - I've got the best teachers."

"Very well…" The Sorcerer smiled. "You did come from Lecannu, right? Have you been to the bathhouse? You could see…"

"A mosaic, I know." The otter rolled her eyes. "My father got himself depicted doing a lot of great things, and there's the pair of awkward kooks standing in the corner for some reason."

"Melisse and Deyna?"

"Oh, it's them…" remarked Lorelei, shaking her head. "Never imagined she'd be blue, to be honest. Father talked about them a lot, and I imagine you're just as much a victim as I am in this aspect. You know how tedious his speeches get - something is useless, then you, my daughter, are useful, then a tirade about Thaumaturgy and dreams.

"Oh, you have no idea…" The wolfess's laughter echoed around the bookcases. "But perhaps not about this, considering I have more direct ways of obtaining such information."

"Please tell me how," said Lorelei. "And try not to bore me."

"Fine." Hirsent's ears folded as she took a deep breath. "I used to be them."

"Pardon me?"

"Melisse. Deyna. Even Isangrim." The Sorcerer chuckled. "All me, and I have no idea why."

"But…" the otter shook her head frantically. "No. No. How? You can't just… you can't just come back from the dead as another beast!"

"Perhaps I can… but definitely not forever." Hirsent looked up and down at herself. "I just know this. It's under my fur, beneath my flesh, within my bones. Someday, some moment, death - weighed, crushing, actual death - will stick, and when that day comes I will call it a mercy."

"I just can't believe that you were Isangrim. What exactly were you? Some sort of marten?"

"A fisher. I have no idea what fish have to do with it, but that was what his species was called." The wolfess scoffed. "You can tell I want to have nothing to do with him."

"But he's your past!

"Not anymore. Whenever my mortal body perishes and I, um, change, I am bequeathed with the memories and personalities of whatever incarnation I take. I've been through a geriatric abbey warrior and an arrogant fisher king, and now a soft-hearted scholar."

"What about Melisse?" asked Lorelei. "You started off there."

"Lost to oblivion." Hirsent sighed. "I don't recall anything substantial about most of her past, as well as whether there were more of me before her. I doubt I'd like to find out why."

"That does not sound wise… but enough of that." The otter rubbed her forehead. "Is your… condition why Oswin's looking for you?"

"Perhaps initially," confessed the wolfess. "But by now it has evolved into a personal vendetta. Her - or by now, his - experiences with us has taught him that his plans, whatever they may be, cannot proceed until we have been taken out of the picture, so they say."

"Wait!" Lorelei paused for a few seconds before she found the right words to say. "If he can change between species and sexes, and you can also change between species and sexes…"

"A very astute observation. I must admit I have not thought about that…" Hirsent continued her thoughts in whispers while she circled around the otter. "Oswin. A male otter now. Deyna's also like that, but before him was Melisse…"

Grabbing the wolfess by the shoulder, Lorelei spoke. "Should I leave you to your thoughts, or would you like some help?"

Moving further into the otter's grasp, Hirsent smiled. "I'd prefer getting some actual rest for once." Suddenly lurching forward, the Sorcerer embraced the otter. "Thank you - you have been a great companion. I now know that Isangrim was wrong about you - you need not remain in your father's shadow for long. I bid you farewell. The morrow awaits us…"

Before Lorelei could say anything the wolfess was gone. All around her bookcases were suddenly emptied, their contents being launched onto the ground. Pieces of paper fluttered around the air, swiftly burning up with sorcerous sparks, until they faded away in the flames. The cases themselves were slowly swallowed up by the void left by the dreamer's departure, until nothing but darkness surrounded the otter.

"So it does, wolf. So it does…"


C/N: Lorelei here. I do not understand why you readers enjoy twists so much. Don't you just hate it when some secret is kept from you and is only revealed at the 'right' moment for their own purposes? It certainly feels quite grating on me, I can tell you that. Although, knowing you, you can derive some sort of sick pleasure from this... but I shall not judge you on that.

So yes, Hirsent's one of those mysteries to be solved. As if Isangrim wasn't bad enough... he was honest at least. Perhaps I shall appreciate Kiormund's company more in the near future... the pup can never keep anything from me. I wonder how he is doing alone... but at least he seemed able to make friends in Mossflower. That is a good skill to possess.

I'm not even annoyed I do not get three chapters in a row. I need some time to rest and cool my head. Next month you shall get into the head of the marten who outdoes me in power and Erlend in perversity... and unlike her brother she has not tried to kill me yet. I cannot wait until she tries.