Sons of Ironstorm - Book 1: Griffon's Rise

Old Truths Revealed

 Ashengar let his eyes scan over the neat and orderly office the fortress commander led them to for a brief moment, noting the desk piled high with reports, maps and correspondence with the heartland. Then, as Ciramax, Xanedra and Norunar stepped into the office behind him, he turned to face them.

<<Your Highness, Major, commander, . . first things, first.>> He flipped up the flap of a heavy messenger's pouch, its leather carrying strap slung over his shoulder, and drew out a tightly furled scroll. With no hesitation he then handed it to Ciramax, who cracked the seal with a frown and twisted it open. It took only a moment to read its contents.

<<Invited to Elvenfast by your Var Ethisdil. For what purpose?>> Ciramax asked as he lifted his eyes to look at Ashengar.

<<The reason is stated there, on the invitation,>> Ashengar explained, not flinching under Ciramax's hard gaze. <<However, to give you an answer, the Var Ethisdil have invited the kings and leaders of all elven nations to the city of the high king to engage them in a discussion about the formation of a new elven alliance.>>

Ciramax's eyes flew wide at the flat announcement. A new elven alliance? With just about every clan pitted against each other in battle, such a thing would be next to impossible, unless Hagen himself rose from the grave and commanded it. And even then there'd be resistance. However, the greater question was:

<<Why?>> he blunted returned. <<Why would this Var Ethisdil want the elves unified under one banner? To further some agenda of domination?>>

<<The Var Ethisdil has only one agenda,>> Ashengar assured the frowning Aquilan prince. <<They watch for the event and prepare the elven people as best they can to survive it. They mean to rule no one.>>

<<That's the second time you've mentioned some sort of event,>> Xanedra pointed out. <<What is this event and why would it threaten the whole of elvendom?>>

Again Ashengar dipped into his messenger pouch to draw out a second scroll. This one he also handed to a querulous Ciramax, who opened it as quickly as he had the first. And again he looked up after scanning the brief note scribed on the creamy parchment.

<<The Norak Utterance? What sort of madness is that?>>

<<Not madness, prophecy.>> Ashengar's face tightened. Though he couldn't have seen more than 15 or 16 cycles, he certainly didn't seem cowed by being in the presence of a prince.

<<It is the reason the Tower of the Rising Sun was built, the reason behind the Seers gathering knowledge and learning over the centuries, protecting it against the many wars we've fought since the Shadow War. And it's the reason the clerics of our dying religion banded together after the Shadow War to form the Var Ethisdil.>>

<<I thought you said the Var Ethisdil were looking for this great event of yours, not the Norak Utterance.>>

Ashengar nodded quickly to the affirmative.

<<That I did, gae'tha. And it was true, until Cephanon himself arrived at the gates of Elvenfast a number of days ago and declared that the time of the Utterance was upon us!>>

Yet again Ciramax felt his eyes fly wide with surprise and shock, his mouth dropping open with astonishment. That the Seer was heading north, they knew thanks to Bruticus of Lusinor. But all the way to Elvenfast, and in less than a moonday? Impossible, unless he somehow had access to the magic of their long dead ancestors and was able to open a gateway there. Mind whirling, he forced himself to continue considering the possibilities, instead of dismissing them out of hand in favor of empirical evidence.