David Gemmell - Dark Moon

'Your joy is enough, Shira,' the Oltor replied. 'I think the journey to Loretheli will be a little easier now.

How soon will you be leaving?'

'As soon as the weather begins to break,' Duvo told him. 'There are more than eight thousand people preparing for the journey. You should come with us.'

'I think not,' said the Oltor. Looking down at Shira, he smiled. 'Your baby is strong and healthy, lacking nothing. His development shows he will be a lusty infant.'

'A boy, then,' she said, taking Duvo by the hand. 'A son for you, my love!'

Duvo sat down upon the bed, holding her hand in both of his. 'A son for us,' he corrected her. Releasing her hand, he stroked her raven hair. 'I cannot tell you how happy you have made me. And I cannot believe how I could think that love would destroy my music. Every day with you makes the power swell within me.'

'I think you are embarrassing our guest,' chided Shira.

'Not so, Shira,' said the Oltor. 'But I think I will leave you. Tell me, Duvodas, is there a place within this city where land magic still flourishes?'

'Not with any strength,' said Duvo.

'I feared not. You humans are similar to the Daroth, in that you draw magic from the land without replacing it. You carpet the ground with dead stone. It is not healthy.'

'What is it that you need?' asked Duvo.

'I need to touch the stars. There are truths I must find, and riddles which must be answered.'

'There is a park close by,' said Duvo. 'Whenever I need to feel the magic, I go there. As I said, it is not strong, but then you are far more powerful than I.'

'Will you take me there?'

'I will. In summer it is a haunt of evil men - robbers and thieves. It is too cold for them now. We should be safe.'

Hooded and cloaked, the Oltor Prime walked through the winding streets alongside Duvodas, coming into Gallows Square just as the moon emerged from behind a screen of clouds. The Oltor paused and gazed at the line of corpses hanging there. 'You find it so easy to kill,' he said sadly.

'I have never killed,' Duvodas told him.

'I apologize to you, Duvodas. But you cannot know how much pain such sights cause me. Come, we must move on swiftly. This place is like a Daroth city. It is not just that the magic has gone, but there is force here, like a whirlpool that devours. I can feel the power being leached from me.' They hurried on, through the park gates and up the ice-covered slope to the small group of hills at the centre of the park. The Oltor Prime turned to look back at the glistening city. 'What will you humans do when you have drawn all magic from the land? What will you become?' he asked.

'Perhaps we will also find a way to put it back,' said Duvodas.

The Oltor Prime nodded. 'That is a good thought. Hold to it.'

'You say that without conviction,' Duvodas pointed out. 'Do you believe we are incapable of finding a way?'

The Oltor Prime shook his head. 'No, not incapable. Just different. If all the Oltor were struck blind, save for one man, then the rest would look to him for leadership. They would seek a way for all to see. You humans would not react in this way. The blind would be jealous of the man with sight, and seek to put out his eyes also. I learned much from Brune. There was a woman in his village when he was young. She had power; she was a Healer. But they burned her in a great fire, and rejoiced when they had done so. However, let us not dwell on such matters. Do not be concerned with what you are about to see,' he said. 'No human in the city below will observe it.' The Oltor walked to the highest point of the hill and knelt down in the snow. Within moments it had melted away and Duvo felt the warmth of a summer day radiating from the golden figure before him. The Oltor began to sing in a low, sweet voice, creating music more perfect than any Duvodas had heard. He sat down, lost in the wonder of the moment.

A shimmering blue light grew around the Oltor, and Duvo sat amazed as he saw the creature's spirit swell out from his body, shining and wondrous, growing, filling the sky - a colossal, towering figure, whose gigantic arms reached out to touch the stars, cradling them in his palms. Flowers sprang into life around the Oltor's body - small snowdrops, yellow daffodils, shining in the bright moonlight. Time ceased to have meaning for the human, and as the music faded he felt a wrench, and a sense of great loss. Tears fell from Duvo's eyes and he fought back a wave of sorrow threatening to engulf him. The Oltor Prime laid his hands on Duvo's shoulders. 'I am sorry, my friend. The magic was almost too powerful for you. Be at peace.' The sorrow faded, replaced by a sense of melancholy.

'I watched you touch the stars,' said Duvo. 'How I envy you that power!'

'There is more to see, if you have the desire,' the Oltor Prime told him.

Duvodas heard the sadness in his voice. 'What is it?' he asked.

'I have the answers, Duvo, but they are painful. When the Daroth had destroyed my people, they set themselves to obliterate the Eldarin. Like us the Eldarin would not fight, but they honed their magic and cast a mighty spell.' Reaching out to the edge of the snow, the Oltor swept his hand across it, scooping it, then rolling it into a ball. This he tossed into the air - where it instantly vanished. 'The Eldarin spell ripped out across the land, gathering power, swallowing the Daroth cities, and containing them in a black Pearl which the Eldarin hid within the topmost peak of the highest mountain. The threat was gone, yet not one Daroth was slain. When the human armies came against the Eldarin there were those who considered repeating the magic, trapping the humans. But the Council of Elders chose a different route. They cast the spell against themselves - leaving one elder to take charge of the new Pearl.

'The humans killed him. And the Pearl became a cause for yet another war. It was perceived as a magical artefact - which indeed it was. And now, as a result of the greed and lust for power of one man, the Daroth have returned and the Eldarin Pearl is far from its home.' The Oltor Prime sighed, then he turned to Duvo and laid his hand on the young man's shoulder. 'Would you like to see the city of Eldarisa again?'

'More than anything.'

'Then stand close to me.' The Oltor rose and lifted his arms, and once more the bitter cold of winter enveloped the hillside, the circle of flowers dying within minutes. Clouds gathered, and fresh snow fell upon the parkland and the city. But it did not touch Duvodas or the Oltor. For now they stood on the barren rocks that had once been the land of the Eldarin.

And here there was no snow.

Karis was very drunk. She stared gloomily at the empty jug. Rolling to her knees, she forced herself upright, staggered, and fell heavily to a couch. It had seemed so easy when she had promised the Duke to control her rebellious, volatile nature. Day after exhausting day she had forced herself to behave like a general, coolly detached as she supervised training routines, discussed logistics and supplies with politicians and merchants, planned strategies with her captains. Today she had watched Forin take delivery of the new axes, double-headed and deadly, each weighing thirty pounds. Even the strongest of Forin's men had been surprised at the weight of the weapons. She had gone from there to the forge of Ozhobar, and viewed the construction of the catapult, and from there to the barracks building roof where carpenters and builders were arguing over the best way to strip it and lay a flat surface for the weapon. And that was only the morning.

An appealing thought struck her. She should run to the stables, saddle Warain and ride off into the mountains, heading south for Loretheli! There she could book passage to the southern islands, where winter had no hold. I could run naked on the sands, she thought, and swim in the warm sea.