By the Wings of Dragons - Part IV

By the Wings of Dragons - Part IV

"He didn't raise."

Eylee glanced up and over at Kaltuk. The dwarf's eyes were dark and saggy. The whole of the group stood around, watching him. The Feir'dal had explained what was going on when she reached the rest of the group, and though there had been some semblance of trying to keep at their work, most had been glancing at him so often that they finally just stopped. Most didn't react to the news. There had been too much, too fast today and everyone was so drained that one more should-be-crushing revelation couldn't affect them. Asharae, however, cursed audibly, and Illisia actually turned and embraced Bayle, burying her head against his chest. He stroked at her head dully and rested his chin against her head, staring forward.

"So you tried to raise Nurgg?" asked Eylee. Kaltuk nodded. "Did you try Kruzz?"

Kaltuk looked startled, then his eyes narrowed, and he regarded the wood elf with guarded curiosity. "What do you mean by that?" he asked.

"Did you only try to raise Nurgg, or did you ask for Kruzz as well?" repeated Bayle. He looked at Eylee significantly, and she guessed he had some idea of her reasoning.

Kaltuk scoffed and said, "If you're meaning did it fail to work for my good friend, and so instead of continuing to try to bring him back, I instead put all my energy toward resurrecting a troll, then no."

"Maybe you should," pressed Eylee, "maybe it's a test on Brell's part."

Kaltuk stared at her, and in his eyes, there was certainly a more than significant ration of anger. That anger slowly faded though, and he nodded. They all watched as he crossed to where the bodies were and instead of continuing on to Nurgg's, stopped at Kruzz. He bent over the troll and faintly, Eylee could hear chanting. He began tracing a bright white outline of the cook's body and then stood at his head. The wood elf's breath caught in her throat as she watched him, daring to hope her intuition had been correct.

Kaltuk thrust his arms to the sky and this time his words were clear and ringing. "Brell! I ask you to bring back Kruzz, born to the wretched Clan Grobb and the worst cook I've ever met, but a hero despite all of that. Do it and you've a devoted follower in Kaltuk Ironstein once more."

Eylee winced slightly, wishing he hadn't added the last bit, but hoping it would not offend Brell too deeply. But then, any god who would have created the dwarves might well appreciate their less yielding nature, and the rest of the gesture could still be enough.

A pillar of light came down from the sky, enveloping Kruzz and lifting his body up from the ground. Everyone watched in amazement as there was a flash and then he was down on the ground, curled up and coughing. For a moment, everyone just watched, and then there were cheers and sounds of amazement. Eylee herself sprang down from where she had been perched on the wreckage and ran to Kruzz, wrapping him as tightly as she could in a hug. Kaltuk had yet to react. He looked on amazedly at the troll, who seemed fairly confused himself.

"I's not dead?" asked Kruzz, blinking and looking around.

"You're not dead," said Eylee, smiling as fresh tears ran down her face. "Kaltuk brought you back."

"Dwarf brought troll back?" asked Kruzz, staring at Kaltuk, blinking.

Kaltuk scoffed and said, "Yes, but only by the very minimum of choice."

"Thank you, Kaltuk," said the troll. Kaltuk stammered and then nodded to him, smiling slightly, moving over to where Nurgg's body lay.

"Where is we?" asked Kruzz, head swinging from side to side.

Eylee felt the happiness that had filled her lessen slightly. "This is the Elddar Forest, or it was..." she said.

"Hmph," said Kruzz, after a few moments of looking at it again, "not so much a forest."

She shook her head and said, "No, no it isn't."

Just then, Eylee was swept up off the ground and found herself pressed against Kaltuk as the pair of them were mashed against Nurgg's great ogre chest. Dark thoughts vanished and happiness and relief once again filled the Feir'dal as it seemed that once again, their group had managed to sidestep complete devastation.

The company moved forward the next day, bangs and bruises - and in a few cases, death itself - healed as well as could be managed. Bayle walked at their head, saying, "We know where we need to go now to stop this at its head, but we need to touch base with our allies. We don't know what will happen when we enter the Void, and they need to be ready for the possibility that we won't come back. We'll travel as far into the Plains as we need to in order to find a contact and then veer back down toward Innothule."

There were murmurs of agreement. Twiddy kept glancing over his shoulder, keeping watch on the remains of the Cloudskipper until they were far beyond his sight. When they had finally gone, he let out a long sigh and hugged a small box to his chest. Fiddlewiz patted him on the back and said through his scarf, "Keep your chin up, Twiddy."

Twiddy nodded blankly and said, "Maybe so. My destiny was to reach the skies, though, Fiddlewiz. Now that it's over, well, I don't know what's left for me."

"Never had much use for destiny," said Fiddlewiz. "I'd rather do with my life as I see it. We'll build another. Maybe a better one." Twiddy seemed to nod and consider what he had said, then straightened up a little.

Asharae pulled the hood of her cloak up and over her head, pulling out her long hair so that it hung to one side. She squinted up into the sky and said, "It's much hotter here than it should be."

Illisia glanced back at the Teir'dal and then stopped to put one hand against one of the dying trees, bark flaking off beneath her hand. "I imagine the trees are thinking the same thing."

"Well, it's clearly too late for them," said Asharae. "While we are still here, does anyone have a plan for finding water? We only have so much."

"I am sure Illisia will find it if it is to be found," said Bayle.

Illisia nodded and seemed to examine the ground. "I am sure we will find a pocket of it soon enough."

"And if we don't?" asked Asharae, lifting an eyebrow inquisitively.

"We will," repeated Illisia. "There is still some life here, and that means water.

"Hmm, I see," said Asharae, but she looked dubious.

"Eylee," said Bayle, "maybe a song would help us?"

She smiled and hoisted her drum, which had fortunately made it through the crash in one piece, up to her side. Beating on it softly, she began to chant a song to help them walk briskly and without tire.

By late afternoon, they had come to a part of the forest where life seemed to be struggling to hold on, and there was a little more in the way of foliage and fauna to be found. Just before nightfall, Illisia stopped them all. "There's a party of humanoids in the area," she said. "From the shape and size of the feet, I think elven, but I'm not certain. We should lie low until we know."

They hid themselves as best as they could in the limited environment. Eylee found herself beside Roadyle. Thinking of the way she had felt before, she found herself considering his presence beside her. Unlike Nurgg, who radiated heat like a furnace, Roadyle gave off nothing. She wondered if he was always so cold, or if it was something to do with his powers.

"I hope you know how grateful I am," she whispered to him. "I know I said thank you, but there is no way that can really express it."

He smiled at her thinly and nodded, saying under his breath, "We've all done what we must for each other."

"Still," she said, "that was dangerous. You didn't have to take the risk. Thank you."

"Do not mention it," he responded. "Very literally, at the moment. We need to be stealthy."

She nodded to him and smiled, peering into the forest beyond. Without warning, she was thrust headlong into a vision. She found herself groping for purchase, her hand locking onto Roadyle's upper arm. In her mind, she saw a great blue-green dragon stretched out in a cavern. A beautiful elven woman wearing a dress of white embroidered with gold threading stepped before him and presented him with a satchel. He lifted it with a single claw and nodded to her.

"When the time is right," she said to him.

"Very well."

As the vision faded, she loosened her grip on Roadyle's arm and drew back. As the details put themselves together in her head, she knew two things for certain about the dream. The elven woman was Queen Elizerain, and the satchel was Eylee's very own, the container in which she kept her writings. She was almost certain of the identity of the dragon. He matched the descriptions she had heard of Trakanon, and the sense of power around him really didn't suit anyone else.

"What was that?" asked Roadyle, staring at her.

"I don't know yet, exactly," said Eylee, frowning. "But I believe we have no reason to hide."

Not long later, a party came into view. Eylee squinted, and even from a distance, she made out a figure with the distinct quality of Elizerain. As they drew closer, the young wood elf was sure it was her. She was dressed more simply than Eylee's vision, primarily wearing traveling leathers, but the armor was made of a doeskin of the softest white. She wore a long white cloak and carried herself with a regal bearing. Nearby, she heard Bayle and Illisia discuss what they were seeing.

"Probably trustworthy, but we can't be certain," said Illisia. "Best to stay where we are."

"Agreed," said Bayle. He gestured for all of them to lay low.

Eylee, though, knew she had to speak with the queen. Even if she hadn't had her vision, there was no one she would trust more, but she couldn't expect anyone but Roadyle to understand why.

She looked over at him and said, "What are they saying? Of course we can trust her!"

Roadyle blinked and looked at her as if he had no idea what she was talking about. Quickly, though, his expression shifted and he nodded to her, "Oh yes, definitely."

Eylee stood up. Bayle and Illisia looked at her, startled and gestured at her, but she walked past them and toward Elizerain, falling to a knee when she was finally there.

The party of elves around the queen tensed slightly but did not look aggressive. No doubt her sudden appearance startled them. The queen did not react except to smile at her.

"Hello young Feir'dal," said the queen. "Were you left behind? Would you like to join us? The last of our boats is leaving for the Faydark. After that, you are free to make your own way, but there will be no more ships going back and forth. Stand, you don't need to stay down here."

"No, Queen Elizerain," she said, shaking her head as she stood. "I'm not lost and I was not left behind. My name is Eylee Zephyrswell, and I've been traveling with a group..." Eylee glanced behind her and gestured toward the spots where her party was hiding. The rest of them eased out of their hiding spots. The elven guards grew a little more uneasy at the sight of the assorted races but there was no further response from them. "... of adventurers, doing our best to stave off the invasion from the Void."

"Ah," said Elizerain, her expression clouding, "yes, we have been hearing word of that, but not encountered any of the invaders ourselves."

Eylee nodded to her and said, "Look, I had a... vision... with you in it."

"A vision?" asked Elizerain, raising an eyebrow with a bit of an amused smile. "I know something about those."

"Well then you'll believe me when I say that I need to give something to you," she said, removing her satchel from her shoulder and tapping it, "and that you need to give it to the dragon Trakanon."

Elizerain started visibly. "Trakanon?" she asked. "You need me to take this to Trakanon?"

Eylee nodded to her and said, "The writings inside here describe what we have faced, and what we have learned. We are going to enter the Void, because it's the only way to stop the invasion completely. Hopefully we succeed, and Norrath never faces threat from the Void again, but in case we don't, these need to be kept safe until they are needed again."

The others came forward and mingled behind Eylee. Bayle came to stand just about beside her, nodding respectfully to Queen Elizerain. Elizerain swept her eyes across the members of the party and said, "So diverse a group would not come together lightly. I believe your story."

"You're welcome to read them," blurted Eylee, feeling foolish the moment the words were out. Blushing, she continued, "They're just modest scribblings, but it would be an honor."

Elizerain nodded distantly, assumably lost in thought. "I most likely will," she said, "I need to return these people to Faydark..." Her hand moved in a sweeping gesture, encompassing the group of elves behind her. Eylee now noted, looking more closely, that the group was full of both Koada'dal and Feir'dal, and that not all of them were guards. There was an assortment of men, women, and children who all seemed to be wearing civilian clothing. "... as this is the final sweep we are doing of the area, collecting any who have held out here but are now willing to go. Once that is done, I will turn my ship straight away and visit Trakanon. All of that, though, will afford me ample time to read it. Though I must say, this is impressively heavy."

Eylee smiled bashfully and said, "It's been a long journey."

"Well," said the queen, "do you wish to pass them over now?"

Eylee shook her head and said, "I would like to record some final notes. I will do it quickly, though. I'm sure you need to move on."

The queen nodded and said, "We will dine together. Finish what you need to, young Eylee, and give them to me when you are done."

Eylee glanced back at all of her companions, examining them each in turn, and thinking of how she might possibly be writing the end to all of their stories now.

She settled below a tree, leaning up against the peeling trunk, and caught up to the exact point at which she sat. For the longest time after, she considered how to end it, but anything too final unsettled her, as if it spelled this too clearly as their end. Instead, she left it at that, a silent image of herself beneath a tree dotting the final sentence and shuffling away the papers. What ever followed would not be written and would be left only to the annals of time.

''And this is where I leave you, whomever this may be, in whatever time you might live. If you are reading this, then it's likely we succeeded at least in keeping Norrath from being swallowed completely by the Void. Of course, if you are reading this because you face the same peril, then what we did must not have been enough. I can only hope, then, you are able to learn from what we did, and move forward from where we left you.'' -- Eylee Zephyrswell