An Alliance of Mortals, page 12
part #6 of The New Earth Chronicles Series
That seemed like such a long time ago now.
The mage stood up abruptly, feeling a build up of power pressing down on the room like an approaching storm. She grabbed her wand from a side table, an ancient relic that she had been given years before, and held it at the ready.
The power surrounded her and filled the air with static electricity, but she felt no malevolent intent in it, and so she waited to see what would happen next.
“Good morning, Tamara,” a voice said softly. “Forgive me if I woke you. I forgot about the time difference between where we are and where Nottinghill Castle is.”
Tamara took a deep breath and slowly lowered her wand. She was surprised to see that her hand was shaking.
“Who is this?” she asked the empty air. “Your voice is familiar, but...”
“It's Ethmira. Surely you haven't forgotten me so soon?” the tone was teasing and the mage smiled in spite of herself. “We spoke just a few days ago.”
“I'm so sorry, Ethmira,” Tamara replied with some relief.
She put the wand into a pocket of her gown and sat down again.
“You caught me off-guard,” she said as she stifled a yawn. “I must still be half asleep. I should have recognized you immediately. Who's casting the communication spell that you are using? Or have you learned how to use magic now?”
“Hardly,” the ranger laughed. “No, our scryer, Callius, opened a channel between us so that we could speak. And just so you know, he left the room as soon as he did so. We are alone now and no one will overhear this conversation. You may speak freely.”
“I always do. So this is a business call?”
“Of a sort, yes. As you know, this new alliance between our two races, and between both of us and the dwarves, hinges on being able to stay in touch with each other at all times.”
“Yes, of course it does,” Tamara agreed. “If we are to aid each other, we have to know immediately when any of us is threatened.”
“Exactly. Now, Callius has found a way to keep a permanent channel open between the three races, using ley energy, but there is a bit of a catch.”
Tamara smiled wryly.
“Isn't there always,” she said. “What's the catch?”
“He has to create a link, an anchor is what he calls it, both in Nottinghill and in Kingstone. He has already built one here in Caladur, in the Council Hall. It's quite amazing, actually. I'm looking at it right now. Looks like a tall pillar of stone. Quite pretty in its own way.”
Tamara crossed her legs and leaned back into her chair. She frowned in thought.
“So, you are concerned that we here, or the dwarves, will object to such a thing being created in our territory?”
“In a word, yes. You and I know each other personally, and some of your people know ours through the efforts of Chase and our rangers when we aided you against the goblins a few years ago. But most humans don't know the elves very well at all. Nor do they know the dwarves. And after the years of conflict that you and your people have endured, it would be only natural for many of them to be suspicious of any artifacts that we might want to leave in the center of their last bastion of protection.”
Tamara was considering Ethmira's concerns when someone banged heavily on the front door to her chambers.
“Hold on a moment, please,” she said as she stood up. “I'll be right back.”
“Of course.”
Tamara hurried into the living room of her quarters, lifting her dressing gown to avoid tripping over it, and reached the front door. She threw back the bolts and pulled it open just as someone began banging on it again.
“All right, all right,” she barked as the door swung open. “Where's the fire?”
Sebastian was standing there with his fist raised in mid-knock. His hair stuck up in all directions and his eyes were blurry with sleep. He was only wearing a pair of boxer shorts.
“Tammy, are you okay?” he asked urgently.
“Of course I'm okay,” she replied in surprise. “Why?”
“I felt a surge of strange magic coming from your quarters. It was so strong that it woke me up.”
He rubbed his face and frowned at her.
“But you seem to be all right. What's going on?”
Tamara rolled her eyes as she smiled at him.
“Come in, you idiot,” she said fondly. “It isn't very dignified for one of the members of the castle's leadership to be walking around in public in his underwear.”
Sebastian entered the living room, yawning as he went. He scratched his head and rubbed his eyes while his sister shut the door behind him.
“Since when have I cared about my dignity?” he asked lightly.
“Never, but sometimes I wish you would,” Tamara replied, shaking her head. “Now, what's going on is that I'm speaking with Ethmira via a communication channel that her scryer opened for her. I suppose the ley energy that he uses is what woke you up. It has a much different feel to it than the magic that you and I use.”
“That's an understatement,” Sebastian said wryly. “I can feel it even more strongly in here. There's a raw, dangerous tingle to it, like the smell of ozone before a storm.”
“That's a good description, actually. Now, I'm still speaking with Ethmira and I don't want to keep her waiting. If you'd like to join us, you'll have to do so wearing those ridiculous boxers.”
Sebastian looked down at himself, his lean body pale in the light of the dozens of candles glowing around the room.
“They're not ridiculous,” he corrected his sister. “They're comfortable. And I doubt that Ethmira gives a damn about my attire. Come on, let's not keep her waiting.”
Tamara sighed loudly and her brother grinned at her.
“You'll never change,” she told him.
“Would you really want me to?” he asked, giving her a roguish wink.
“No, I suppose not. Come on, then.”
Both of them walked into Tamara's bedroom and she went back to her seat and sat down again.
Sebastian grabbed a chair from a corner and carried it over to sit next to his sister.
“Good morning, Ethmira,” he said merrily to the empty room. “How are you?”
“Sebastian? Hello!” the unseen elf replied with obvious warmth. “I am well. It is good to see you again. You're looking fit.”
“Am I?”
He crossed his legs and wiggled his toes, grinning at Tamara.
“According to my dear sister, I'm looking undignified,” he said as he sat back and rested his hands on his stomach, lacing his fingers together.
Tamara closed her eyes for a moment, a pained expression on her face.
“Are you? I wouldn't know,” Ethmira replied, sounding puzzled. “Humans norms are a mystery to me, I'm afraid.”
“To me as well, apparently,” Sebastian said with a chuckle. “Just ignore me. The energy signature of your scryer's spell woke me up and I was concerned for Tammy's welfare. I'm just across the hall, you see, and I thought that it was another attack by those damnable goblin wizards.”
“Ah, I see. I do apologize for that, my friend.”
“Don't give it another thought. Carry on as if I wasn't here. My sister makes all of the important decisions anyway. I'll just observe silently.”
“That'll be a first,” Tamara muttered caustically.
“Be nice, sis,” Sebastian whispered with a smile.
He closed his eyes and seemed to fall asleep almost instantly.
With an irritated frown at her brother, Tamara began speaking again.
“Ethmira, I can understand your apprehension about this pillar or whatever it is that Callius wants to erect here in Nottinghill,” she told her invisible guest. “But the elves are held in high regard by my people. Your aid in helping us fight back the goblins, thanks to Captain Chase and her rangers, was heroic and timely. I doubt that the number of people objecting to the anchor being built here would amount to more than a handful at most. I think that I can speak for the other leaders when I say that you may install it whenever you wish. In fact, if it allows the three mortal races to speak with each other, I would say that the sooner Callius comes here and sets it up, the better.”
“I'll second that,” Sebastian said.
Tamara looked at him in surprise.
“I thought that you fell asleep,” she told him.
“Not at all,” he replied.
His eyes were still closed, but he was smiling.
“I was merely listening quietly.”
He sat up abruptly and looked at her intently.
“The faster that we can communicate with the dwarves, the better. Their forces are now the most numerous and strongest on the planet.”
Sebastian stopped speaking and frowned.
“Or should that be, 'under the planet'?” he wondered. “Whatever. Anyway, we need to create stronger ties with them, and with your people, Ethmira,” he added, glancing up at the ceiling. “Together we can present a united front against the evil armies that hasn't been seen since ancient times.”
“Well said, my friend,” Ethmira replied. “And you are correct. The reason that the Chaos lords retreated into the Void, and spitefully pulled the lords of Light in with them, is because our three peoples combined our forces and defeated their armies here on Earth. Without mortal agents to fight for them, the dark gods faced utter ruin and so they ran, like the cowards they have always been.”
“I doubt that our forces will match the strength that they must have had in the old days,” Sebastian said with obvious regret. “Our race has been decimated as, I am sad to say, has yours. But with the dwarves on our side, surely we will at least give the goblins and their hideous allies pause. And that could give us the time we need to find a way to destroy them.”
Tamara was nodding in agreement.
“Bastian is right, I think,” she said. “Overly optimistic perhaps, but he's right.”
“I'm right? Really? Someone write that down! I can't remember the last time my sister said that I was right about anything.”
Tamara scowled at him, but Ethmira laughed heartily.
“Ah, I have missed your interactions, my friends,” she told the pair. “Your sniping shows the world your obvious affection for each other. You know, I never had a sibling that I was close to. But listening to the both of you makes me rather envious of your relationship.”
The two mages seemed to be caught off-guard by Ethmira's comment and they stared at each other silently for a moment.
“Um, he does drive me crazy on occasion,” Tamara said as she smiled reluctantly. “But I don't know what I would do without him.”
“Right back at you, sis,” Sebastian replied with a grin.
“Anyway, I hope that I've set your mind at ease, Ethmira,” Tamara said, looking upwards again. “Tell Callius to call me whenever he is ready to travel here and I'll Gate over and bring him back personally.”
“You are too kind,” Ethmira replied gratefully. “I will arrange things immediately and our young scryer should be getting in touch with you in a day or two.”
“Whenever he wants,” Tamara told her. “I'll be awaiting his call. In the meantime, Sebastian and I will speak with the other leaders and give them a heads-up about what is happening. I'm sure that none of them will object to setting up the permanent connection between our people.”
“Excellent. I hope to see the two of you in person very soon,” the elf told them. “Again, I am sorry for waking you, Sebastian.”
“Think nothing of it,” he said brightly. “It was good to hear from you.”
“Thank you. Goodbye for now.”
“Take care, Ethmira,” Tamara said.
“Bye!” Sebastian added.
The two of them could feel the ley energy fade from the room around them and they both sat back wearily. Sebastian let out a long sigh and glanced at his sister.
“So what did you think of that?”
Tamara rested her head against the back of her chair and turned it slowly to look at him.
“Of what?” she replied blankly. “The idea of setting up a channel for communicating with the elves and the dwarves?”
“No, of course not,” he said with a frown. “The value of such a channel is obvious to anyone with half a brain. No, I meant the force that we just experienced in this room. The ley energy that this Callius fellow uses as easily as you and I use magical energy. Did you feel the power in it? The unbridled strength? Gods, I have never felt such potential for destruction in my life.”
He caught himself and shook his head.
“No, that's not true. I have felt it once before, or something very much like it. The first time we met Simon. Do you remember, in the ruins of London? He had an aura about him, like he was constantly standing in the eye of a hurricane of power. It was overwhelming back then, just like what we sensed in this very room.”
Tamara looked thoughtful.
“Yes, I remember that too. One of the reasons that I agreed to leave London when Simon asked us to help rebuild Nottinghill Castle was because of the strength of his powers. He offered us hope back then. Hope that we could fight back against the dragons and their masters.”
She sat up and looked out of the window. The sun had now peeked above the horizon, pushing back the darkness to start a new day.
“And with these new alliances, we may give that same sense of hope to our people. The power of the ley energy that we felt may be the tipping point for us, you know. I doubt that the goblin wizards have ever experienced anything like it. I certainly haven't.”
Sebastian closed his eyes wearily, slumping in his chair.
“I don't know, sis,” he murmured. “Callius is just one person. And no matter how powerful he is, he's no Simon O'Toole. That man was one in a million.”
“That he was.”
Tamara smiled fondly at her brother.
“Go back to bed, Bastian,” she told him. “We'll talk to the others later. You need your sleep.”
He reluctantly opened his eyes and looked at her blearily.
“Are you ever going to stop mothering me?” he asked.
“Someone has to take care of you,” she scolded gently. “You don't seem to be able to do it yourself.”
He pushed himself to his feet and looked down at his sister.
“I'll have you know that I haven't forgotten to brush my teeth or wear socks for at least a week,” he said loftily.
“I'm happy for you,” Tamara replied dryly. “Go to bed.”
Sebastian sighed.
“Yes ma'am,” he muttered. “Wake me up if there's a surprise attack on the castle.”
“You'll be the first one I call,” Tamara assured him.
She watched him leave the room and laughed lightly to herself as she turned to look out of the window again.
“Maybe you've got a point, little brother,” she whispered to herself. “Or maybe Callius will be our ace in the hole. We'll just have to wait and see.”
In his small home in the mages' quarter of the dwarven capital city, Kingstone, Larin Dunnor was reading an ancient tome by the steady light of a bright lamp. The city's power grid had been converted to run on ley energy after the dragons had returned to the Earth and magic had negated all technology that ran on coal or oil or other 'natural sources' of energy. Mages like Larin could once again use magic, but none of them could tap into the primal power of the ley lines that circled the core of the planet.
But the dwarves of ancient times were able to use the ley energy as a power source and modern dwarven engineers had dusted off those old plans and schematics and learned how to recreate their ancestors inventions. It had re-energized all of their towns and cities.
Now Larin looked up from his book to stare at the lamp, contemplating its warm glow. As a dwarven mage, he could feel the pulse of the ley lines far below him near the core of the planet, even though he could not use that power. But now there was someone on the planet who could actually use it, and Larin wondered how that would affect both the dwarves and the entire world.
Earlier in the day, the mage had been contacted by the elven scryer, Callius, with a proposition. He wanted to create a permanent connection between the elves, the humans and the dwarves and he needed to build a special anchor in Kingstone to do so.
Larin had no problem with that idea, but the king was the one who had to give his permission for such a construct and so the mage was reading through old tomes, trying to find any instances in the past where ley energy had presented a threat to the dwarves before he brought the proposal to Shandon Ironhand. So far, to his relief, he hadn't found anything.
There was a light knock on his front door and Larin glanced over at it with a frown. He hadn't been expecting any visitors. But as the leader of the dwarven mages, he was called upon, often at odd hours, for his advice or assistance. It had become almost routine now and so Larin put the thick tome aside and stood up. He crossed the room and opened the door, gasping in surprise as he recognized his visitor.
“My goodness. Hallic!” Larin exclaimed. “This is unexpected. I haven't seen you in ages.”
Hallic was the master of the rogues' guild, a powerful organization in dwarven society. The king had used their services many times, but most citizens knew nothing about that, which was for the best. Rogues weren't considered to be very respectable.
“Good day, Larin,” Hallic replied with an elaborate bow. “You're looking well. May I come in? I have something that I would like to discuss with you.”
“Of course, of course,” the mage said as he stepped back and waved his visitor inside. “Welcome to my home. Please come in and take a seat.”
The rogue walked in and Larin closed the door behind him. Hallic moved with a feline grace, very unlike the average dwarf, and made absolutely no sound as he crossed the room and sat down next to a heavy iron heater that was glowing with warmth.
“I know that we dwarves are supposed to be immune to the cold,” he said gruffly as he held his hands close to the heater. “But the older I get, the more I feel the constant chill in the air of our caverns.”
