Leslie Moore - Griffin's Shadow

You have no idea who and what this girl is…

“Mother, what did you mean…what you said to Sadaiyo just now?” she asked.

Amara returned to the couch and settled down with a weary sigh. She patted the cushion next to her. “Come sit by me, child,” she commanded. She held out her hands so Jelena could see the intricate designs tattooed on both palms. “These designs are not meant as mere ornamentation,” she explained.

Jelena nodded in understanding. “I always thought they must have some higher meaning.”

“For those with the knowledge to read them, they are sigils-magical symbols.”

“Of what, Mother?”

Amara stared at her hands for a moment before folding them in her lap. “Jelena, I’ve a confession to make. It concerns your blue fire. When you first came to me for help, I told you I was unsure of its exact nature, but in truth, I’ve known all along what it is.”

Jelena had always suspected Amara knew more about the mysterious and frightening blue energy than she admitted to, but to hear her mother-in-law confirm her suspicion still disturbed her. The look of firm resolve mingled with profound sadness on Amara’s face disturbed her even more.

“I had to keep the full truth from you until now, Jelena, because I did not want to frighten you, but things are moving far too swiftly. I’m just so sorry that you will have this burden to carry along with everything else you’ll have to deal with.”

“Whatever burdens I have to carry, I’ll have Ashinji to help me. As long as he’s by my side, I won’t be afraid,” Jelena replied, trying to sound as brave as she could, but realizing that Amara saw through her false courage.

“There’s no shame in being afraid, Jelena. You are young, but I have faith in you. I believe you possess great strength-far more than you know-and you are going to need every bit it of it in the end. Now, listen carefully…”

Later that night, Jelena lay awake in bed, awaiting Ashinji’s return and trying to make sense of Amara’s revelation. She turned it over and over in her mind, but from every angle, it seemed so unbelievable. Jelena had the utmost respect for Amara’s powers as a mage, and she felt certain that every one of her mother-in-law’s fellows in this mysterious Kirian Society were equally as Talented, but…

Surely they’ve made a mistake! How can I possibly be this Key they’ve been awaiting? Shouldn’t the one chosen to carry such powerful magic be someone with the strength to control it?

Tomorrow, Amara had promised to present her to the other members of the Kirian Society who lived in the capital, and then her training would begin in earnest.

But what exactly am I being trained for?

That was the one question Amara had refused to answer, saying only that, in time, Jelena would understand everything.

Raidan Onjara, Lord of Meizi, Crown Prince of Alasiri, was a troubled man.

The cause of his disquiet lay on the desk before him, scribbled in a thin, spidery hand on two sheets of rumpled brown paper.

Raidan re-read the report for the third time.

Your Highness, I send you greetings.

As an itinerant healer here in the borderlands , I have had the occasion to see many kinds of illnesses among our people, who, as you know, live in close proximity to human settlements. The folk here are largely of mixed blood, and they contract many of the same sicknesses that strike humans; however, their elven blood bestows upon them a certain resistance to diseases that would otherwise fell a human.

Recently, I paid a visit to the farm of an okui family by the name of Lwenda. There, I saw something most peculiar and troubling. At the time of my first visit, only the father had fallen ill. According to his wife, he had complained first of a headache and sore throat. Soon afterward, he became feverish, and so weak he could not stand. Three days later, he developed hard swellings in his neck, armpits, and groin.

When I examined him, I found the swellings to be firm, inflamed, and discolored. The patient’s wife and children were, quite naturally, terrified that he might die. I questioned the wife closely about her husband’s contacts with any humans that lived in the area. She readily admitted that both she and her husband had frequent dealings with the human folk of a certain village just across the border, as well as several human traders who traveled the area calling upon all of the farms thereabouts-human, hikui, and okui.

She then told me a troubling tale of a sickness spreading rapidly among the humans, killing many of them. They called it the ‘black death’, because it apparently turns a human victim’s skin a mottled purple-black just before the unfortunate wretch meets a rather messy and painful end.

In my readings, I have come across many references to the ‘black death’, so I am familiar with the symptom. Heretofore, it has been commonly believed that we elves could not contract this disease. Yet, there I stood over the sickbed of an elf, looking at a man with the unmistakable signs of the ‘black death’! I did what I could for the man, and tried to reassure his family, but I did not have much faith in my own mind that anything I did would make a difference. Sadly, I was correct.

Three days later, the youngest child, a girl, fetched me back out to the farm. Her father was dead, and now, her mother and all the rest of her siblings were ill. By the whim of the Goddess, this one child had been spared the sickness but not the agony of having to watch her entire family die, for die they did, despite everything I tried to do to prevent it.

Your Highness, as Court Physician and a learned colleague, I knew you would wish to be informed of this new and frightening ability of the human plague to attack our people. I fear for the health of the Tono garrison, as well as all of Lady Odata’s people, for they are our first line of defense against any invasion mounted by the Soldarans. Goddess help us if our forces down here, small as they are, should be further reduced by the ravages of disease.

Your Obedient Servant and Colleague,

Kujaku Remei

Raidan sighed wearily and leaned back into his padded chair. He rested his chin upon steepled fingers and pondered the implications of the information contained within Remei’s report. As a trained doctor, Raidan had studied most of the medical texts written by elven physicians, as well as a few written by human doctors. He knew of the ‘black death’-an ancient scourge of humankind-but only as a medical curiosity, something an elven healer would study purely for the sake of knowledge. No elf had ever contracted the disease…until now.

Something has changed , the prince thought, some fundamental aspect of the disease itself, to allow it to attack elves now, as well as humans.

A controversial theory, put forth by the human physician Nazarius, sprang to Raidan’s mind. The theory proposed that some diseases were caused by a particle or essence that entered the body of a healthy person and then somehow disrupted its natural function. This mysterious essence could pass-by as yet unknown means-from one person to another, causing illness in some while sparing others.

Prince Raidan believed in Nazarius’ theory. The essence that caused the ‘black death’ in humans had somehow been altered, but how?

Could the Soldarans have done this deliberately as a first assault in order to weaken our troops guarding the Tono Pass? The prince shook his head. Impossible. The Soldarans have little real magic and this is certainly beyond their science. More importantly, though, is the question of how will we protect ourselves against it. Remei is quite right to be concerned about the health of the fighting forces stationed in and around Tono Castle.