Lady of Poison

CHAPTER 31

The form of the Talontyr shuddered. His skin rippled, split, and something far larger emerged from the huska nightmare of slime and liquefying limbs, melting and reforming. At the same time, the Aspect incanted a series of divine syllables. Her body grew in stature equal to that of the Talontyr rebirthed, and a sword of celestial fire ignited in her hand. Then she was upon the Rotting Man in a fury of righteous might.

Groaning, the rotting husk gave ground, but not quickly enough. The celestial blade cleaved the slime-ridden form, splitting it into two heaving masses. The section farther from Araluen continued to retreat, its gesticulating arms spraying gore as they jerked through an intricate series of spellcasting motions. Meanwhile, the split-off portion of the Rotting Man heaved and pulsedeach section retained a life all its own. It threw itself at the Aspect, its side splitting to reveal a great toothed maw.

Araluen cried out as the attacking portion of the Rotting Man bit at her sword arm, its mouth crunching and slobbering. Light, not blood, spilled from the Aspect’s flesh, and it burned the beast, forcing the creature to relinquish its hold, but the monstrosity’s incanting twin finished its spell.

A ghastly greenish-black cloud blossomed above, but beneath the overhanging branches of the Close. Crashing claps of thunder boomed in its depths, the sound so loud that the Aspect winced and backed away, shaking her head as if to clear it of ringing tones.

The creature leaped again, this time taking a bite from Araluen’s side. Again, light spilled forth from the wounded avatar, and again the rotting creature’s flesh boiled in the light, and it retreated. The Aspect hacked at it with her sword for good measure, using the flat of her divinely fashioned blade. Its impact caused the creature to shudder and squeal, but it did not further subdivide.

The gesticulating portion of the Rotting Man pointed straight above at the boiling green cloud. In answer, six jagged bolts of lightning ripped from the clouds belly, each one finding its target: the Aspect. The blast was too searing for sight to survive, and the wind that followed knocked every creature flat that stood within a hundred feet. The shock wave shredded the mist that still clung around the periphery of the space, whipping it away in steaming ribbons, revealing the entire space of the Close.

Araluen crawled forth from the crater that had opened at her feet. The crystal horn on her forehead seemed somewhat dimmer than before, but the blaze of her sword was yet bright. The lesser portion of the Rotting Man was nowhere to be seen. The greater portion cursed anew as he saw the Aspect emerging from what he had hoped was her grave.

The slime hardened, stretched, and transmuted itself into yet another form, that one more heinous than the last. It was a great twining serpent with ebony scales and with eyes like dark pits of space that ate lighttwin vortexes of nothingness.

Free of the crater, Araluen again spoke forth ringing words of power and touched her blade to the buckled pavement. A white flame surged down the blade, continued across the space separating her from the Rotting Man in serpent’s shape, and flared into a nova of fire. The serpent screamed as its scales ignited and its breath burned it from within. Still shrieking it leaped forward, out of the fire, and still burning, it charged the Aspect. Its teeth were like daggers, its claws swords, and its wings a tornado.

Araluen smote at the snaking neck but missed. The Rotting Man was upon her, biting and raking with his claws. Araluen dropped her sword, and her hands found the Talontyr’s neck. The crystal horn on her forehead began to blaze with light, a light similar to that which accompanied her transformation from Daughter to Aspect. The dark wells of the Rotting Man’s eyes drank all the light, but there was yet more to give. The light flared; the darkness expanded. The ground shook.

The shining horn pierced the Rotting Man’s side, and all was tumult.

When the ground finally ceased its shuddering, the celestial lights faded, the hellish dark cleared, and the thundering detonations echoed their last, the Aspect proved the mightier that day.

Marrec had watched the entire battle, when it wasn’t obscured by releases of energy too extreme even for one accustomed to powers of divine magnitude.

With Marrec stood his friends Ususi and Gunggari.

Elowen, barely living, yet drew breath and would only grow the stronger with the cleric’s healing attention.

Of the Rotting Man, only the memory of his final words remained, as he fled the field of battle, “I yield only for this moment.”

Araluen was much diminished from her struggle. She stood apart from the others, gazing about the Close, which was visible following the dispersing mist.

The Aspect said, “The Rotting Man is gone from this place, but he is not beaten. Talona’s Chosen was chastised, but his power was not broken.”

“Ash… I mean, Araluen,” said Marrec, “I don’t understand. You defeated the Talontyr, we saw you.”

The Aspect, having taken the form of a tall, lithe woman smiled sadly. “The effort it cost me to free my greater self from the cystborn curse was not insignificant. Retrieving myself from the Rotting Man’s influence was an awful trial, though one which I could not have begun without your timely assistance, kind Marrec:”

The cleric’s face reddened.

Araluen continued, “But I succeeded, finally. What power remained to me was called immediately to the fore when I faced the Rotting Man. As you saw, he carries much of Talona’s power within him. I had to exhaust my stores just to chase him away. Had he known how much power I expended, he might have stayed to finish me, risking his own final annihilation.”

“His strength is unchanged?” Marrec glanced around, studying the edges of the Close, making sure some new incursion was not even then creeping up unobserved.

“The Rotting Man, too, used much of his personal power just to control the form in which he put me. When I burst that control, that which he expended was wasted. While his act was pure evil, this project absorbed much of his time and energy these last years that otherwise might have been put to more direct use, to the dismay of the Green Powers. Even though I was trapped and separated from myself, my entry into the world did, in truth, slow the Rotting Man and weaken him. Now all his best plans are in ruin. His most powerful minions, the blightlords, are slain; he’ll have to recruit anew. His massed forces are scattered or killed; his strength is only a tenth of what he promised his mistress Talona, and she punishes failure.”

All remained quiet for a moment to absorb the impact of the Aspect’s words, as well as wonder what form Talona’s punishment might take.

Elowen said, her voice still weak from her ordeal, “Thank you, Araluen. If the Nentyarch were here, he would thank you, but you must accept my thanks in his place.”

Araluen bowed her head graciously.

Gunggari was silent, his face betraying no reaction. Marrec knew his friend well enough to know that the Oslander showed respect through his reserve. Ususi, though also quiet, seemed strangely intimidated in the presence of Lurue’s Aspect. Funnyshe’d showed less fear when she dumped spell after spell upon the Daughter.

Araluen sighed, stretching. “It is hardly fair, is it? I am finally set free of the trap, but I lack the power to remain. I so looked forward to treading the forests of this world. I must depart whence I came.” She sighed. “All of us must soldier on, doing our part, even one such as me.”

“Lest I forget,” added the Aspect, smiling fondly again, “Please give this to Hemish. Without his strength and goodness, all would have been lost long ago. His heartache at the loss of his child may be somewhat dampened if he can talk to me now and again.”

The Aspect dropped a small object into Marrec’s waiting hand. It appeared to be a figurine carved of crystal. The figure was that of a tiny unicorn.

She smiled, and light streamed from her form, suffusing all of them The light was more than mere illumination. It was… empowering. It was the power of Lurue. Within that gleam there was hope, salvation, and an offer of protection for the needy, forlorn, and forsaken. Also there was laughter, the satisfaction of quests completed, and wonder at all things. All who stood in the light knew that each of them, no matter their strengths and weaknesses, was worthy in the eyes of Lurue. Above all else, there was joy.

The Aspect turned her face one last time upon Marrec, saying “Search for the unicorn always, Marrec, and in the pursuit, find happiness.”

The cleric nodded, his face stern but his gaze watery.

The Aspect leaped upward, as lithe and bright as a shaft of light seeking to illuminate the heavens. It passed easily between a gap in the interwoven branches above and was gone.

Marrec brushed away a tear as he continued to gaze upward.

“Goodbye, Ash.”

IVJarrec and Ususi walked behind Elowen and Gunggari. Gunggari played upon his dizheri, Elowen laughing and sometimes clapping accompaniment. So they continued, slowly, taking the few days required, until they drew near the borders of Rawlinswood, to the south and west of where Dun-Tharos still sheltered in the heart of the forest. The journey back through the tangled forest was mostly uneventful, though they steered well clear of wells and other cavities that threatened a passage back into the Nar conjuries still below. All contemplated their touch with divinity. Indeed, all were touched. As the days of their journey toward Yeshelmaar passed, each noted slight changes in the other.

Gunggari was more talkative, as if the assurance of the Aspect’s smile had somehow given him a measure of poise, where before simple reserve had always sufficed. On the other hand, Elowen took more time for introspection before speaking her mind, though as ever, the elf was still quick to find a bit of joy and wonder in the sight of a growing thing or forest creature. Ususi also seemed somewhat kinder in her dealings with the others, as if some bitterness was finally dulled. The mage was more thoughtful, and her biting remarks had yet to reappear.

For his part, Marrec was simply happier. He was happier not only because his contact with Lurue was as strong and steady as it had ever been, but also because he felt more a whole man for the first time that he could recall. He could accept his heritage, despite its monstrous origin. All that was required was one last remuneration.

It was Thanial, of course, his old mentorThanial, who had accidentally fallen afoul of Marrec’s gaze, the kind forest ranger, whose stone-entombed body was shattered and its pieces strewn far and wide.

“I’ve never heard you whistle before, Marrec, and I’ve known you long,” commented Gunggari.

“The tune is rather a happy one, too,” noted Ususi, her lips trying on a smile, which was becoming a less rare sight.

“Well, I don’t know the name of the tune. I’m just whistling because the mood struck me, that’s all. Plus, before she left, Ash gave me knowledge I didn’t know that I wanted, but now that I have it, I see that it is nothing less than essential.”

Elowen raised an eyebrow, inquisitive.

“It’s Thanial. I thought him destroyed forevermore, his fragments scattered beyond recovery, but Ash has given me special insight. I know where every last chunk, fragment, stone, and pebble of Thanial lies, across the entire span of Faerfln. Some are scattered strangely far, but I know even of them.”

Ususi began to nod, but Elowen said, “So?”

“I have been given the gift of salvation, and Thanial’s, too. Once I have collected all the pieces, I can meld them into a whole, and once whole, my old mentor can be released from his mineral bondage.”

Gunggari clapped Marrec on the back.

It was true. The knowledge of each stony fragment sparkled in his mind, divinely provided, and for all Marrec knew, given directly by Lurue herself, but passed down through her emissary, the Aspect.

— Slit was midsummer, but a fair day without scorching heat. Looking backward at the edge of the Rawlinswood, as it lay lower than the higher point to which they had ascended, they saw the white sun stretching out over the dark cloak of the woods, the light penetrating shadows and turning shadow and darkness to the greenery of life. The sky was blue, but darkening swiftly as evening approached, with only a faint frosting of clouds high above, like white paint streaked across a cerulean canvas.

Yeshelmaar lay not too far distant, less than a day’s walk away, should they choose to push themselves, but comfortable in each other’s company, they chose instead to set camp early.

As the stars came out above, Gunggari began to play again on his dizheri. The song was one Marrec had heard the Oslander play before, but rarely. A salute to the stars, which the Oslander’s people believed to be the spirits of their ancestors looking down upon them, guarding them, or at least available for advice, should they be asked.

Elowen and Ususi were talking quietly together. When Gunggari began his music, they finished speaking and made their way up to where the cleric reclined on a great rock.

Elowen said, “Ususi and I find ourselves at loose ends.” “Loose ends?”

Ususi responded, “I have the Keystone, which is what

I’ve long sought, but gaining it, I have discovered that there are other things, too, beyond accumulation of knowledge, that are worth having.”

“What’s that?” wondered Marrec, frowning.

Elowen answered for Ususi, “Comradeship. Listen-now that the Rotting Man has been flushed from Dun Tharos, my priorities have shifted, too. For so long I have been focused on the Talontyr, but his threat is lessened. Like Ususi… I find that I prefer traveling with a group of friends instead of alone.”

Comprehension dawned across the cleric’s face. He shook his head, but a great contentment filled him up, causing him to laugh. “Then, two shall become four. We’re off in the morning. First, we shall visit Hemish, to tell him of his little girl that grew up and give him the token Ash wanted him to have. After that, we will search out the fragments of my past misstep. Thanial will enjoy meeting all of you.”

Marrec stood. The three, discussing their plans for the morrow, strode over to where the Oslander continued to play. Gunggari’s notes danced into the night sky. The stars twinkled their approval.