OathBlade (Wattys2015)

26. Eggshells*

Her companions needed time, and so time was what Elery gave them. She spent the day in the stables with the molner, relieving the crewman who'd been charged with their care.

Ishthemir ate from a sack of berries with his hooves planted firmly on the hay bedding. The visions came again as she watched him and she reached out to touch his forehead.

"We are not so different, are we?" Elery scooped a large cup of grain from a nearby sack and dumped it in with the berries.

"You waste time."

Isandel's voice was not one she wished to hear. Not yet.

She rested her hand on a heavy beam at her left and sighed. "It is the best place for me now. I do not want to speak of what happened and I would prefer not to ask the others. Especially Dakkan. I can only imagine he was the one who pursued us through those visions. I worry Cylphi may have difficulty where he is concerned but I trust her to be rational." She turned to Isandel. "And I trust you not to force my hand. I've had enough strangeness for the past few days."

"Far be it for me to keep you on course, Princess," he said. "I thought it might be wise to tell you, however, we've entered the mouth of the river. It won't be long before we've reached Ildaugh Pass and I've still not told you about our enemy."

"We know enough for now. We know her plans, we know her methods. I would wait until all is calm again before delving into more things which might lower morale further." She rested her hand on her chest. "I feel her as a tug in my chest...she's yet to return."

"She's unlikely to, at least for a while. She's suffered life in a cage for far too long."

Elery brushed her hand across the rough surface of a post. Her fingertips slipped into the thick cracks in the wood. "How powerful is she?"

"She could not destroy our enemy on a whim, if that is your hope. Hers is the deep consciousness of all who have come into being through the long ages of Leria. Her being is all that which poured into her, for good or ill. To see that she is so gentle is good fortune— it means that which has molded her is good and pure by far." He sat atop a beam running along the front of the stall nearest the staircase. "But she is powerful. Her aura stores are enormous and she needs no auraclade to replenish herself. It is by her will you are able to replenish your aura at all."

Her fingers stopped over a deep split in the lumber. "What connection have you to her? Why would you bind yourself to that cave, to that forest, when you had the ability to leave?"

"Curious, is it not?"

"Tell me."

"It is not important to you." He dropped from his seat and walked back toward the stairs.

"I command you to tell me!" She grabbed his wrist and jerked him back to face her.

He growled deep in his chest, a sound which riled the molner into a fit of squealing and hoof-stomping.

She released his wrist to grip the hilt of her sword. His eyes lit with a fire even she feared. She fell back a step and he moved forward to close the distance. The rumbling grew louder and echoed off the sturdy walls to mask the sound of the waves splashing against the hull.

"Enough, Isandel," Misani said.

Elery looked over his shoulder. The spirit walked down the stairs, her hooves clicking on the planks with each step.

Isandel turned from Elery and walked away, his tail dragging the steps as he went.

"You'd do well not to antagonize him so."

"I only wish to know of my position," Elery said. "Legend speaks of him as a soul-stealer. A seducer—one who would steal you away to bed to slake his lusts before stripping the life of his partner away. Many have been found in such condition before the placement of the barrier." She released the hilt and relaxed against a post. The molner calmed as well and went back to their food sacks. "I would know the strong ties that bind him to you so that I might trust him not to do the same to me as all those who came before."

"It was he who bound me to my prison. A choice which both saved my life and nearly cost him his own."

Elery tilted her head. Of the many different scenarios she could envision, Isandel saving a life was the least likely.

"He told you there are many things you must learn about Celestine, has he not?" She reached out and took her hands. Her skin—as surprising as it was to feel skin—was warm and soft. "Come above. We will discuss those things which hide in the dark and cast light on the secrets your enemy holds."

Given the weight of what knowledge had already fallen upon her shoulders Elery wasn't sure she could take much more. She'd set out to find power with which to frighten a seryn army. Instead she found the very heart of Leria. The being from which all forms of casting derived.

All but necrocasting.

"You are troubled again."

"What if you should die? What becomes of this world?"

Misani released Elery's hands and pressed her fingers to her chin, deep in thought. "Etherium would cease to flow from every spring. The spirits would consume the aura of those who harbor them before both spirit and caster were depleted and lay wasted upon the ground. No new spirit would ever be born and all but the phoenix would be left powerless."

The heaviness of her burden sank deeper and Elery turned away to fix her gaze upon the filthy wooden floor. "And how much power do you wield? How would you fare against such an opponent as this phoenix?"

"That all depends on you and your ability to wield my power. I am not a simple familiar, Elery, but that does not change the fact that I cannot use my powers for myself."

"And how must I learn? In fits and starts as in the cave, when that dragon tried to nip my head from my body?" She slammed her fist against a cracked post. It creaked loudly but held together. "Cylphi has trained for three summers only to master the very basic methods of casting! Her familiars are wisps taken from leaves and campfire ember!"

Misani smiled and Elery grew silent. The gentle tug of the spirit's lips into such a warm, perfect smile left her baffled. She lowered her head.

"You've made it this far, haven't you? I thought you told Cylphi your purpose had not changed."

"Of course it hasn't," Elery murmured.

"Then with my power or without, I know you will push ahead." She leaned in and kissed her forehead. "I chose you because I knew you would not wane under this dim sky we march toward. Rather, you will flourish beneath it and emerge all the stronger."

"I feel the weight of it now...a weight I had not felt when I first picked up my father's sword. So short a time has passed since that day, yet I find myself the bearer of what could yet destroy the world far more quickly than my opponent could."

Misani laughed and caught Elery off guard once again.

"You remind me of the karatesk. Such little creatures, not much larger than your hand, but so fierce." She started to walk down the lane of stalls and reached a hand in to gently pet the molner on the nose as she passed. "Little bundles of black fur willing to leap off trees or quarrel with beasts ten times their size. But should they lay their little paws on an egg they become timid little things. So unwilling to risk cracking the shell until they get it back to their burrows." She turned and cupped her hands together, as if holding an egg herself. "They'll carry it with such care that it's usually snatched away by bigger predators."

Elery watched her movement, her amber eyes fixed upon the being in front of her. As if each gesture was somehow important in and of itself. As she took her words in, letting them seep into her mind, she grasped hold of a surety she'd allowed to weaken.

Elery turned around and rushed up the stairs to collect the others.