Leslie Moore - Griffin's Shadow

“This is all very interesting, but what does it have to do with Jelena and Sonoe?” Ashinji’s anxiety made his voice sharp.

Jelena is in danger and I can’t protect her as long as I remain a captive! he thought.

“Patience, young man,” Gran admonished. “I’m telling you all of this so you will better understand what must be done. Now, listen. What I’m about to tell you is known only to the Kirians, and has been safeguarded by our order since ancient times. I’m only telling you because you are directly involved.

“When we first met, you told me of your wife, a hikui daughter of the house of Onjara. It set off alarm bells in my mind. I didn’t want to believe it at first, but it fit the prediction too well to be dismissed.”

“What prediction?”

“You know the story of the ancient king whose daughter defeated him and erased his name from all official records?”

“Every elven child learns about Queen Syukoe in school,” Ashinji answered.

“Well, what is not taught is the real reason why she did what she did…and what was done to the king whose name is no longer known. This is the truth of it…”

Ashinji sat hunched on his stool, head in his hands, trying to make sense of what Gran had just told him.

That men and women could command the kind of power necessary to…to punch through the barrier of Time itself… His mind reeled in disbelief.

After a long silence, he straightened and turned narrowed eyes upon Gran. “This Key you speak of-this magic those ancient mages put into my wife-it’s intertwined with her life force, you say.”

“Yes, it is,” Gran replied.

“And the Kirian Society, or what’s left of it, must remove and safeguard it from this…this thing you call the Nameless One, who is, in fact, the undead sorcerer king Onjara.” Gran nodded. Ashinji continued. “If this Key is so closely bound to Jelena’s life force, won’t removing it…” His voice faltered as realization crept up and pounced. “Removing it means killing her, doesn’t it?” he whispered.

“Ashi, there are greater things at stake here than your wife’s life.” Gran’s voice was harsh. Ashinji opened his mouth to reply, but the old mage cut off his furious retort before he could launch it.

“Just listen to me, young man! If the Nameless One regains possession of the Key, it will mean the end of everything! His essence is a thousand-year distillation of pure malice, and he wants nothing less than the complete destruction of the material world as we know it. He must tear down reality first, in order to refashion it into his own twisted version. To do that, he needs the Key. He must be denied, whatever the cost.”

“Please tell me there’s a way to do this without killing my wife in the process!” Ashinji begged.

“I will not lie to you,” Gran replied. “There is a risk that Jelena will be lost, but the loss to the material world and every creature in it is incalculable if the Nameless One should gain possession of the Key, or if it should fall into the hands of a living mage powerful and ruthless enough to use it.”

“Gran… please! Tell me there’s a way!”

“Ai, Ashi… Son,” Gran murmured. Her expression melted into tenderness and tears glittered in her eyes. “Your wife’s death is not a certainty, only a possibility…I wish I could give you more reassurance, but I can’t.”

Ashinji stood up, overturning his stool, and began to pace. Gran watched silently.

“How is any of this going to happen?” he asked. “We’re both slaves, Gran. We’re hundreds of leagues from home, trapped in the middle of the capital of the Soldaran Empire, surrounded by countless numbers of humans… none of whom would lift a finger to help us escape!”

“That’s not entirely true,” Gran said. “There is someone who might be willing to help us. Two someones, in fact.”

“Who, then?”

“One is a healing brother of the Eskleipan order. He used to come twice a week, but I haven’t seen him for quite a while. He went out of his way to make my acquaintance the first time he came. He claimed to have a hikui relative. Calls himself Tilo. I shall inquire after him when next the Eskleipans come.”

“Who’s the other human who might aid us?”

“Not human, Ashinji.”

“Aruk-cho!”

Gran nodded. “His first loyalty is to Mistress de Guera, but he just might be willing to help in an indirect way. Stop pacing and look at me, young man.”

Ashinji halted.

“Ashi, there is something else I need to tell you, something about me. Please sit down.” Ashinji did as Gran bid.

“You once asked me why I’ve chosen to remain here as a slave. I’m going to tell you the reason now. I remain to serve penance.”

“Penance? For what crime?” Ashinji’s eyebrows shot up in surprise.

“Crimes, Ashi. Arrogance, greed, selfishness…a lust for power so great, it cost those dearest to me their very lives.”

“I don’t understand.”

“I was a very powerful mage once, Ashi. I enjoyed respect, prestige, all that came with my station, but it wasn’t enough. I wanted more.” In the dim light of the single lantern hanging on a hook by the barracks door, Gran’s face looked grim and haunted. “I, in my overweening pride, thought that I could re-create the energy pattern needed to construct a Portal, a means by which the Kirians of old could travel great distances without having to trek overland. Only one Kirian has ever been able to create the proper energy pattern, and he has been dead a thousand years. The strength of Talent needed is enormous. Such a feat qualifies as a Great Working.

“I was warned not to attempt it, but this only spurred me on. I needed to prove my greatness! What a fool I was…” Gran stopped speaking. Her hand fluttered up to her face and touched her cheek as if the sensation of a long-ago kiss still lingered there.

“My attempt failed, with spectacular and horrifying consequences. The home I shared with my husband and children was reduced to rubble. Everyone in the house died…my family, our servants…everyone. Except me. I survived, barely. When I emerged from the ruins, I was quite insane. Much later, I learned that a local farmer found me, injured and wandering the fields near where my home once stood. The Red Order, as was its duty to one of its own, even one such as me, took me in and healed my body. They also, after many months, succeeded in healing my mind.

“When I came to my senses, my shame and guilt so overwhelmed me, I tried to kill myself, but my colleagues stopped me. The agony of living with what I’d done…Ai, Goddess! Nothing to me seemed punishment enough. My husband and my children were all dead by my hand, my professional reputation lay in ruins… I had nothing left. That was when I decided to spend the rest of my life doing penance for my crimes.”

Gran fell silent, and Ashinji could see what a tremendous struggle she fought with her memories. He waited patiently until she found the strength to continue.

“I set out with only the clothes on my back and a little food, and I walked-yes walked-across Alasiri and down into the human lands. At the first settlement I came to, I stole a horse, openly, so that I would be pursued. I hoped when I was caught, I would be killed outright.

“The men who finally captured me did not kill me, though. They were soldiers from the local garrison. They took me back to their fort. Since I was too old to be a concubine, they set me to work cooking and cleaning for them. I wasn’t very good at it, as you can imagine, so they beat me a lot those first weeks… but I welcomed all of the abuse they heaped upon me.

“After several months at the fort, a stranger arrived-a dealer of slaves. The captain of the garrison, only too happy to get rid of me since I was no good as a cook, sold me to the dealer, who brought me here, to Darguinia. Mistress de Guera bought me from the slave market on the first day I arrived. I’m still not entirely sure why. Pity, perhaps. I’ve been here ever since.”