Chapter 26
The arrow whizzed past her ear and embedded itself in the ground, the shaft humming as it vibrated from the impact of the penetration. Ofeera’s heart leaped into her throat and hammered loudly in her ears as she looked up at the archers posted against the fortifying wall of Shiftstar City. There were more than two dozen arrows aimed in her direction, not to mention the powerful shields that surrounded the city.
“My lady, it would be wise if we announced ourselves properly before they take us for well-preserved ghouls and shoot us down,” Hazuriel murmured quietly.
“Y… yes, of course,” Ofeera cleared her throat several times before she finally found her voice, “My… My name is Ofeera Karturia of the Achienda Empire. My companion is Hazuriel of… of Everstar City. We come to warn you of great danger!”
“When is there not great danger in these parts?” one of the archers shouted to raucous, mocking laughter. “We’ve all see much more convincing stories than this, fiend.”
“Please, I am not lying!” Ofeera replied back. “Two servants of the Abyssal Ones have gone to Fallingstar Spire to awaken the Avatar of Acedia. Our companions are…”
“Watch out!”
She felt a hard push and found herself on the ground. Hazuriel stood over her with a pained expression, clutching at an arrow buried in his arm.
“My lady, a shield if you please,” the high elf beseeched.
Spurred into action by the sight of his wound, Ofeera quickly lifted her arms up and began praying. She felt the power of the Eternal Father cocoon them just as a volley of arrow thudded against them.
“Master Hazuriel, please give your arm.”
“It is not a serious wound,” he replied.
But Ofeera laid a hand on his wound and closed her eyes. It was difficult, focusing on holding the shield and healing at once, but at least she was only fending off arrows and not arcane attacks. And when she felt his skin beneath her fingers, she was instantly able to feel the injury that the high elf had sustained.
She willed his flesh to reject the foreign object and felt it shift and move in response. The arrow dropped to the ground with a soft thud as Hazuriel’s body forced it out. Then, she concentrated on mending the wound – first stopping the blood and then willing the flesh and the skin to close.
Ofeera let out a deep sigh of relief when she opened her eyes and saw nothing more than a faint white scar upon the young elf’s arm. He was staring at her in awe, and she blushed, turning away. It was then that she noticed they were not longer being subjected to a rain of arrows. In fact, the archers who had been shooting at them were staring at her with their mouths agape.
“Did I do something…”
“Perhaps it has been a long time since they have seen the holy gifts bestowed upon the faithful of the Ancient One.”
It was a way for them to gain entrance into the city, and Ofeera turned again to the archers atop the wall, “Please, let me us speak to the lords of your city. In the name of Abyhayil, I give you my word that we speak the truth!”
A slim, dark-robed figure appeared at the top of the wall. Ofeera glimpsed gold hair like Hazuriel’s thought she could not make out the features.
“If you truly whom you present yourself to be, then step through the shield and we shall open the gates to you. The shield will not harm a daughter of the Ancient One though he has abandoned us.” the stranger replied. “If you are not, then you will be reduced to ashes. Your companion will share the same fate as you.”
Ofeera turned to look at Hazuriel and the elf said to her and offered her his arm, “If your companions are not able to stop those wretched servants, then what little life remains in these forsaken lands will be snuffed out, and your lands will become like ours. I do not know of this Ancient One whom you serve, but I have seen your power and that of your companions’. If your power comes from him then he is indeed mighty and perhaps he can rescue us from this life. I will follow your steps.”
“Thank you, Hazuriel,” Ofeera offered him a shaky smile before taking his arm. She took a deep breath and offered a prayer to the Eternal Father, commanding her soul to him should she perish, and took her first shaky step.
It was on her fifth step that she felt force of the shield, a heady living thing that hummed with the power of a hundred different mages. It crashed over her like a waterfall and she almost crumpled to the ground, but in that instant, something soft and gentle wrapped around her. She could still feel the destructive power of the shield but now, it merely flowed around her, and around Hazuriel. She thought she heard a song, a most familiar hymn to the Eternal Father that she had sung a thousand times, a thankful, joyous song that celebrated his kindness and his love. And then, she realized that she was singing it, and with each word that she spoke, her steps grew firmer until finally, they came to stop next to the gate of the city.
And then, the gates swung open for them and they stepped through.
* * * * *
Ofeera sat with her hands folded upon her lap and her finger nails digging deep crescents into her skin. They had been led through a wondrous city of full of buildings made from wood intertwined with crystal. She had seen paintings of ancient Aztur that depicted such marvelous structures but had never seen anything like this. As fantastical as Azturia seemed to her, it could not match the splendor of the city she beheld.
And unlike Azturia, which opened its doors to humans only in rare occasions, almost a third of Shiftingstar’s denizens were human. What was even more amazing to her was that another third were very clearly made up of half elves. Had Eowyna born any children, they too would have been half-elven, though they would not have been permitted to carry the name of Gwenevar. Theredoniel’s kinsmen had been outraged when he told them that he had decided to wed a human, and were it not for the intervention of his uncle Azariel, the young elf lord would have certainly been banished from his own House.
But Eowyna was dead and Theredoniel gone. She was far away from her own home, and in less than a moon’s time, she had set foot upon yet another legendary Spire of ancient Aztur. Having been inside Everstar Spire she was not as astounded by her surroundings, though were circumstances much different, she would have surely wished to explore this extraordinary structure!
“Lady Ofeera Katuria, I presume?”
A kindly voice interrupted her dark thoughts. The young healer felt Hazuriel stiffen beside her as two figured appeared before them.
One was the dark-robed man – a young elf with glacier green eyes – who had spoken to them earlier. The other was a human, a man who looked to be in his fifties with graying hair and a kindly smile. It was he who had just spoken.
Ofeera rose to her feet and bowed to the speaker, “May the blessings of Abyhayil be upon you, good sir.”
The elf sneered, “The blessings of your Eternal Father has not been with us for over a thousand years, healer. Why would he give it to us now?”
Taken aback, Ofeera blinked and tried to think of how she should respond. Fortunately, the human spoke up in her place.
“Come now Dezeiriel, do not trouble the healer so. Is it not a blessing that she is here? She is our honored guest and we should treat her as such,” he admonished the young elf, who snorted derisively.
The man sighed and turned to Ofeera again, “You will have to pardon Dezeiriel. He’s not overly fond of strangers. And you will also have to pardon my bad manners for I have not yet properly introduced myself. I am Tomlin Garth, the city’s high mage if you will though I don’t know nearly enough to warrant the title. And Dezeiriel here is my apprentice.”
Elven cities were always ruled a mage of noble bloodline and the high mage was the title given to such a lord or lady. It was a wonder that the on holding such a revered title would be human!
As if he guessed what her thoughts, Tomlin smiled sadly, “There are fewer and fewer of us left who are born with the Arcane Gifts. The sons and daughter of House Thielvar ruled this city once, but there aren’t many of them left. My master was a Thielvar and when his time came, he passed his title and responsibilities to me.”
Ofeera blushed, “Forgive me, my lord, I do not mean to question your authority.”
Tomilin shook his head and laughed, “No offense taken. We live in harrowing times. Now, will you tell me a little about yourselves and what brought you here?”
For the next while, Ofeera and Hazuriel took turns telling their stories. Tomlin listened very thoughtfully, waiting until after they were done to ask his questions. And when they had related everything to him, he rose to him and walked to the window. After a long pause, he let out a soft sigh.
“My master told me that Everstar Spire was protected by an ancient power. A few days ago, I sensed… a disturbance, as if the protection around it had been taken down. You spoke of your companions battling the servants of the Unnamable Ones and I believe that I sensed it. I felt an utterly vile power that turned made me ill clashing against a terrifying fiery power that could set the world ablaze. When the battle ended, I felt nothing for a while, but for the past few days, I have felt yet another disturbance coming from the direction of Fallingstar Spire. Do you know of the story, Lady Ofeer?”
The young healer nodded, “I was told that Fallingstar was a monument built over the site where the Archamge Elucielle Gwenevar battled with the Avatar of Acedia. It was meant as a further seal to prevent the power of Acedia from coming back into this world…”
Tomlin shook his head, “It was a foolish thing to do. The mages who resurrected the shield sought the strength Lady Elucielle’s seal and leave their names in history. Instead, all that they did was to disturb what she did. They had neither her power nor her faith and in the end, their “seal” became corrupted. Even before the Blight of Pestilence unleashed the Bleeding Rot Plague upon Aztur, Fallingstar Spire drew all manner of vile creatures to it.”
“And, if as you say, the servants of Unnamable Ones have gone there bearing the Great Lady’s staff, then we are in dire straits indeed. We must prepare to defend our city and send out what aide we can to assist your companions!”
“You cannot possibly believe in such nonsense,” Dezeiriel, who had remained silent up until then spoke up. “What proofs have they of what they speak?”
It was Hazuriel that spoke up, “Brother, I have seen all that has transpired with my own eyes. The lady speaks verily, and her companions are even now battling those who seek to destroy us.”
“Do not call me brother for I do not know you,” Dezeiriel rebuffed the other elf coolly. “For all that I know, she is a servant of the Unnamable Ones herself and you are in league with her.”
Ofeera shook her head, “Master Dezeiriel, please. You have seen me heal Hazuriel’s wound. And, when you asked us to walk through the shield that protects your city, we did so. What else can I do to make you believe that I am a healer?”
The elf replied coldly, “We knew of the Plague before it struck. It was by order of one of you ‘healers’ that the gates of Fallingstar were shut against those seeking refuge. Some would say that it was saved us. But I have heard the stories of those who witnessed the tragedy. They said that many thousands of people gathered outside what they believed was the last bastion of safety. Those infected began to die, their bodies rotting piece by piece and blood oozing from every orifice. Some remained dead while others became ghouls and attacked the survivors who tried to seek refuge.”
“In one afternoon, these gates were littered with corpses and an army of ghouls advanced towards us. The city turned to you healers first, believing that your ‘divine’ gifts could save us. But you healers escaped, leaving only mages to fight in your stead. By the dawn of the next day, three quarters of the city’s mages were dead – including the High Mage – their life extinguished to create the shield that has kept us alive until this day. So, tell me, ‘healer’, why should I believe anything you say? And in fact, aren’t you her begging for help while your companions are supposedly battling great evil? Why do you not stand with them?”
Ofeera’s eyes widened and her jaw dropped, but she found no words.
“Deizeiriel, that is more than enough,” Tomlin was scowling darkly at his apprentice. “You accuse this lady of being a coward but she has come from the outside into these cursed lands. And then, she left behind the safety of the Everstar Spire to come here and warn us. She did not know for sure that we would be here. Nor did she know what sort of acceptance she would have received, but still, she came. Such are not the deeds of cowardice.”
The young healer felt tears sting her eyes as she listened to the older mage’s words. He was wrong. She had been cowardly. When her companions had struck out after Theredoniel and Lucien, she had stayed behind. In fact, were it not for the vision the Old One had impressed into her mind of Oturia crumbling, she wouldn’t have come.
Lifting her head, she opened her mouth to speak, to apologize. But, before she any words could slip out between her lips, she felt the ground beneath her tremble. And then, a wave of power washed over her, knocking her to the ground.
