brother dear, you should have stuck with the High Magick. That's not what our path is about. Now…
don't you have some packing to do? Or are you going to be like one of those adventurers in the wondertales, going off on his knightly quest with nothing more than a shining suit of armor and great expectations?' She gave him a gentle shove and lifted the cat from his lap. 'Don't worry about food—the Elves are taking care of that, and the mule to carry it. But don't forget your Books, or you'll just have to hunt through everything you've brought to find out where they've gotten themselves to. They won't allow themselves to be left behind, you know.'
FORTUNATELY Kellen by now had a certain amount of experience with long journeys and the small comforts that made such travel tolerable. Even more fortunately, he and Idalia had been in Sentarshadeen less than a sennight, and his bedroll (and other camping equipment) were still tucked away in the corners of his room, along with his share of the traveling packs.
Despite all that, it took Kellen a long time to decide what he'd actually need. Too many thoughts kept intruding: of the adventure (or possibly disaster) that lay ahead, of the magic to come tonight, of the thought of actually wearing a suit of glorious Elven armor. Would he look silly—or grand?
And, occasionally, darker thoughts. Just what was Shadow Mountain? Who were the Endarkened, and did they live there? And why did they hate the Elves? Was he really going to have to fight? He'd never really fought anyone—other than the stone Hounds—before in his life…
In the Council chamber this afternoon, Idalia had made it all sound like such a simple matter: go to the source of the spell and use the keystone she would make tonight. And at the time, it'd seemed very simple: an adventure, in fact. He'd triggered keystones before—anytime he used their stored energy to fuel a spell, in fact. That part didn't worry him overmuch.
But he knew it couldn't be quite as simple—or as easy—as she'd made it all sound. Just finding out what was causing the drought had exhausted Idalia, and whatever was going to happen tonight would be a further drain on her. But whoever it was at Shadow Mountain who had caused the drought in the first place had meant to destroy Sentarshadeen and everyone in it, so just finding out how to stop them had to have been the easy part, if anything in all this could be called easy. That meant there must be traps and barriers between Kellen and undoing their spell that he couldn't even begin to imagine right now.
And whoever had set the spell certainly wouldn't want it undone. If they found out about him, they'd certainly try to stop him. Just like the High Council had tried to stop him from leaving the City lands.
For just a moment, in his mind Kellen was back in the pocket canyon facing the Outlaw Hunt. Suddenly he was glad—very glad—that Shalkan and one of the Elves would be going with him. And he was beginning to wish that he'd be going with an entire Elven army, instead…
THAT EVENING, JUST after lamp-lighting time, Kellen and Idalia went down to the meadow beyond the Palace, carrying lanterns to guide their way. Tonight, all of Sentarshadeen was dark. No one remained behind in the Elven houses to tend the lamps, and it would be folly to leave them unattended.
But the meadow itself was bright, for every Elf in the city was there, and the meadow had been ringed with lanterns.
There were no unicorns to be seen anywhere in the meadow, for the work to be done tonight belonged entirely to the Elves. Kellen didn't really understand why—perhaps, just like him, the unicorns would have a different role to play in the days ahead.
He looked around.
The Elves all wore long robes in pale colors, the fabrics seeming to shimmer in the twilight as if they glowed as well. Kellen could hear the faint susurrus of conversation among the waiting Elves; a quiet sound considering the size of the crowd.
Idalia stopped him outside the edge of the ring of lanterns. She was carrying her walking stave, but aside from that, she hadn't made any particular preparations that Kellen had noticed.
'Remember, Kellen. Once this starts, I don't want you being a part of it. You'll have your price to pay later, and trust me, you'll pay as much as we do here and now.'
'I remember,' Kellen said.
Privately, he hardly thought it was fair. Whoever would be riding with him tomorrow would be in the circle tonight, part of the spell, contributing their power to its success. Why couldn't he be here as well?
Still, it was Idalia's choice, and he would accept that.
'And besides,' she went on, with a sideways smile at him. 'You do have one very important part to play here tonight.'
'Thought so,' Kellen said in satisfaction, pleased. Then: 'What?'
