When The Moons And Mirrors Rise

Chapter 25

Kestrel woke them, or at least they thought it was her at first. The second Kestrel handed Ris and Lulu their packs, and Ris realised she was a shadow. It was about an hour until sunrise.
"What's happening?" she signed, not daring to break the eerie silence. I detached myself, having gone dormant the day before.
"Unseelie, over there," said the shadow, also silently.
"So what do we do?" asked Leyin.
"Try to avoid them." We set off, walking in silence for a long while, occasionlly looking back to see where the other Fay was.

It grew steadily lighter, and when Stella rose we watched her spread her gold rays across the sky and over the meadows.
"Who are you?" Ris startled, Leyin did her sneeze-like movement, and Lulu looked around wildly.
"Where are you?" Kestrel's voice responded in all our heads at once, like the first voice had.
"Who are you?"
"What do you want?"
"Why would I tell you that?" There was a grin in his voice, then a pause as if he shook his head. "No, alright, I'll tell you. But only if you race me to the river. I want to speak properly."
"You could just say that and come to us. Where are you?" said Lulu.
"Bird and kits just fly there, then win easy!" Ink cirlced over us.
"No, it has to be all of you. Don't worry, I'm further way than you are."
"We can't really refuse, it is fair. If we want him to answer our questions we'll have to meet him by the river," Kestrel signed, and the others nodded. She told the Unseelie they would race.
"That's great. Ready, set, go!" The telepathic link broke away.

We ran. Ris kept us on course until she got too tired to be using magic and running, then Ink flew in front to guide us. Ris' feet thudded on the ground almost as hard as her heart in her chest, and the Solinan words sang

"Wait, where's Leyin gone?" I cried. They stopped and turned.
"You left your friend behind!" said the Unseelie. "Keep running, don't worry, she'll be fine." Ris looked at her friends, her own dubiousness reflected in their expressions.
"No, we're coming back for her," said Kestrel.
"Wait! No! Get back here!" The telepathic link broke momentarily, before the Unseelie said, "She's run off. Continue on -- if you go back for her I won't tell you anything at all."
"You know, we'd rather not play your games. If that's your condition, we're going back for Leyin," said Lulu.
"Don't,I need to talk to you about your quest."
"You could have just said that at the start! This race is a waste of time." Ris rolled her eyes.
"I didn't know you were on a quest at first, I just wanted to do something interesting. Come on."
"Fine," Kestrel replied.

So we kept running, growing more tired, until finally we ccolla[sed on the river bank. THere we rested, dipping our feet in the cool water.
"Hope Leyin ok," croaked Ink.
"Maybe you could fly up and see where she's at?" said Lulu. The crow bobbed his head and took to the sky. Ris watched as each wingbeat carried him higher and farther away, and after a short while he descended. Sometimes he flew, other times Ris couldn't see him, so he must have been hopping along beside her. When Ris could make out both their figures, she saw that Leyin was limping. She joined us only a few minutes before the Unseelie Fay.

He had a set of dark antlers rising out of his black hair. That was what struck Ris first. The second thing she cnoticed was that there was something almost eerie about him -- bit only almost -- even though he was genuinely trying to be friendly. His race and offer of information were strange, but Kestrel had told them one part of the Unseelie code was to follow one's instincts.

"Might we meet as friends?" He raised his hand hesitantly, fingers outstretched beside his face, as if he was waving, but he kept his hand still. Kestrel considered this a moment.
"Nors talyar litchë osuray. Now, what do you want to tell us?" The Unseelie looked Ris squarely in the eyes.
"You aren't the one chosen for this quest."
"What?"
"Yes she is! Ris to save wyvern-star king and restore right fate to Curseds and Enchanteds. We help!" Ink spluttered, flapping his wings indignantly.
"Believe what you want," he said, shaking his head. "That aside, there is a gnome scholar in Ka-Sill Karst who can teach you to speak with the wyvern-stars. You will need to talk to Smaravod and say Fang sent you. Afterall, your Enchanted cannot teach you, and your crow will only be able to tell you which words he recognises." Ris looked at Fang with a look of contempt, for he spoke as if her friends were of little use and worth; less than the family they'd come to be to her.

"We were going to go to Tezynnaro and Ka-Sill Karst anyway," said Lulu. "Do you have anything else to tell us?"
"Oh, not really -- but your shadow will probably go properly rogue soon. Shadows around here have been going missing, and there's been news from Rithesanlyr that they're starting to gather near a village in the Pinewisp Forest.. They say the chosen one is called them," he replied with a pointed look.
"What for?" signed Leyin, and Ris asked her question aloud. The Unseelie shrugged in response.
"I don't know. You tell me, since you're the chosen one." Ris paused and inhaled sharply, taking her pebble out from her pocket. What was Saryar doing? She asked her magic, but panic blocked her.
"Obviously because whoever is 'calling' them is lying about being the chosen one. Besides, you can't call shadows like that. They must have all decided to go on their own terms. Maybe something interesting is happening in Orsilnon they all want to see. Mabe they felt like going there. The forest is pretty. I don't know." RIs blinked. Yes, that was it, this had nothing to do with Saryar., she thought.
"Alright, fine, don't listen. How many people will get hurt because of what you're doing, I wonder? And with that, Fang turned and left.

We stayed about half a hand-span longer on the riverbank, since we had to eat, then we moved on.
"Never seen your shadow before, Kestrel. Why not?" Ink asked as he marched beside her. Ris hadn't even noticed when the shadow reattached herself, and nor had I.
"Ëa sut tynën ëz, sëd ëa thål loondraylis kvaear ed naesa vartoon." She stopped and apologised before repeating it in Commish, "She's rather shy, but she must have come out because of the Unseelie."

"Do you remember anyone from Tasyënlor, from before you went travelling?" asked Ris."A few, but I'm not sure what they look like anymore. There's my father, of course, but I don't really care about hom since he never seemed to care about me, you know.""Just remember we care about you and we're here for you." Leyin smiled. Kestrel smiled back and ruffled the little Enchanted's hair. How close we had become, I thought.