Mercedes Lackey: When Darkness Falls

"So we need to give them hope," Kellen said stubbornly. "Idalia, I don't have answers — not all of them, anyway. Most of the time I just seem to know when something's a bad idea — and giving up and trying to fight a defensive war against Them is a really bad idea.

"And I know — and so do you — that if They didn't think we could defeat Them, They wouldn't be working so hard to weaken us instead of attacking us directly."

The water had boiled, and Idalia sifted loose tea — Armethaliehan Black, Kellen's favorite — into the waiting pot and filled it. While the tea steeped, she and Kellen sat in silence, listening to the wind whistle over the heavy silk of the pavilion.

When the tea was ready, she filled two mugs, added several honey-disks for sweetening, and passed one to Kellen.

"You know Redhelwar values your advice," she said at last. "What will you suggest?"

Kellen ran his hand through his hair, raking it back out of his eyes. It hadn't been cut since he'd left the City, and it was long enough now for some of the shorter Elven styles — though no Elf would ever have to contend with Kellen's mop of unruly light-brown curls.

"Right now two-thirds of the army isn't fit to fight, and we've got a lot of wounded. On top of that, we still need to locate the other Enclave of Shadowed Elves that the Crystal Spiders told us about. And… " Kellen hesitated. "Andoreniel is the King. Redhelwar will follow his orders, not my suggestions."

"Then we'd better hope you come up with some good suggestions," Idalia said. "And that Vestakia can locate that other Enclave."

* * * * *

BECAUSE of their Elven blood — no matter how debased and Tainted — the land-wards surrounding the Elven Lands did not recognize the Shadowed Elves as enemies, and while any yet lived, they could use that weakness to bring other ancient foes of the Elves into the land, bypassing the protections of the land-wards, as they had done when they had helped the Frost Giants and Ice Trolls to attack the caravan bound for the Fortress of the Crowned Horns.

When Kellen and Idalia had gone down into the caverns where the Shadowed Elves laired, they had found allies, for not all creatures who lived in darkness were of the Dark. The Crystal Spiders had suffered greatly from the Shadowed Elves' encroachment, for the Dark-tainted Elven hybrids had preyed cruelly upon the gentle unworldly arachnids, taking their webs to make hunting nets, and feasting upon their eggs and their young. When the Elves had liberated them, the Crystal Spiders had promised to help them in their fight in any way they could.

In communicating with them while cleansing the Further Cavern of duergar , Kellen had discovered that the Crystal Spiders shared a sort of group mind — and that furthermore, they also seemed to be in contact with all the other Crystal Spiders in the other caves across the Elven Lands, no matter how widely separated. That was how Kellen had discovered that there was at least one more Enclave of the Shadowed Elves.

But attempting to communicate telepathically with a race so alien was a long and exhausting process. The Crystal Spiders neither saw nor thought as humans — or even Elves — did. It was Vestakia who had realized that if the Crystal Spiders could sense the presence of what they called "Black Minds," possibly they could tell the army where to search for them. Vestakia had volunteered to take on the task of attempting to figure out what the Crystal Spiders were trying to tell them.

It was a suggestion motivated by something very near to desperation. Vestakia was the daughter of the Prince of Shadow Mountain. Her mother, Virgivet, had been a Lostlands Wildmage, who had worked a powerful spell, so that even though Vestakia had much of the outward appearance of a Demon — Their ruby skin, yellow eyes, fangs, and even a pair of tiny golden horns upon her forehead — her heart and soul were as human as her mother's. She had been raised in hiding, for no one in the Lostlands who caught sight of her would believe she was not the monster she appeared to be — nor had her father ever stopped searching for her, to drag her back to Shadow Mountain. Yet the Gods of the Wild Magic had granted her a second boon besides her human spirit.

Vestakia could sense the presence of Demons and their magic, and had used that gift to hide herself from them in the Lostlands until the day Kellen had rescued her from a thieving goatherd. As her powers grew, Vestakia came to be able to sense all forms of Demonic Taint, and that was how she had discovered the first three Enclaves of Shadowed Elves.

But she had to be nearby for her powers of detection to work — within a few miles of the source at the outside. Earlier in the winter, Jermayan had taken her on patrol with Ancaladar. They had covered hundreds of leagues, searching for Shadowed Elf Enclaves. But the weather was much worse now, and that method wouldn't work any longer.

A few days ago, Redhelwar had re-established a secondary camp at the mouth of the farther caverns, so that Vestakia could go down into them to work with the Crystal Spiders no matter the weather.

It was the first time she had seen him in many days, for Kellen spent little time in her presence, and none of it alone with her. Vestakia understood the reason for this very well. It wasn't because Kellen didn't like her quite as much as she liked him. Entirely the opposite, she suspected — and hoped. But Kellen was a Knight-Mage, and he was vowed to a year and a day of chastity and celibacy, the price Shalkan — and the Wild Magic — had required for rescuing him from the Outlaw Hunt. Her own mother had given up twenty years of her life to pay the Mageprice that had given Vestakia a human soul. She knew Mageprices could be harsh things.

So when Kellen came to escort her down into the caverns to meet the Crystal Spiders for the first time, Vestakia did her best to pay as little attention to him as she would to any of the Elven Knights who were her nearly-constant companions.

* * * * *

EVERY day was shorter than the last, and colder, and darker. Idalia said this was normal, and had nothing to do with Demon sorcery; Kellen, raised in a city where Mages had controlled the weather, was dubious, but supposed she must be right. As Redhelwar waited for the Unicorn Knights he had sent to Sentarshadeen to return, the army began to resume its normal activity. As they had planned before the spell of Kindolhinadetil's Mirror, arrangements were made for Vestakia to go down into the cavern to try to communicate with the Crystal Spiders. As they were shy and timid creatures, Kellen went with Vestakia to perform the introduction.

He hadn't seen her since Cilarnen's arrival in camp, and was alarmed at how tired she looked.

"You work too hard," he blurted out before he could stop himself. "Are you sure you can do this?"

"I suppose you'd rather do it yourself," Vestakia shot back. "Keirasti told me how much you both enjoyed the caverns."

Kellen forced himself to look away. No. He mustn't tell Vestakia not to do something because he was worried about her — any more than he'd tell Keirasti, or Isinwen. Or Idalia.

Kellen grinned to himself, imagining how much luck he'd have telling Idalia not to do something "for her own good."

"They're cold and damp and very uncomfortable," he said, forcing a light tone into his voice. "But Redhelwar tells me you won't have to sleep down there. He's established a secondary camp at the cavernmouth, so you'll have all the possible comforts of, ah, camp."

Without waiting for her reply, he swung into Firareth's saddle. Isinwen assisted Vestakia into her palfrey's saddle — a courtesy only, as by now Vestakia had gotten enough practice to become quite a good rider.

Kellen's troop rode toward the farther caverns, along the well-marked track made by the supply-wagons that had gone on ahead of them to set up the camp. A light snow was falling, but by now hardly a day passed without some snow, and Kellen barely noticed it.