But Damn. This looks important. I can do without food and sleep a little longer. I've done it before.
The mage-lights above them were few and dim, and if he had gone another way, they would never have known he was there, now that the shadows of night had descended. Elspeth was the first to spot him, but as soon as the rest realized she was looking at someone and not staring off into the darkness, they glanced his way. Their glances sharpened as soon as their eyes fell on him, and with a resigned sigh, he joined them.
I guess I was right. It is important.
The very first thing he noticed, once he joined their circle, was that they were all, barring the few scouts among them, drained and demoralized.
They slumped in postures of exhaustion, faces pale and lined with pain, white hair lying lank against their shoulders.
All? There was only one thing that would affect them all.
'The Heartstone,' he said flatly. Iceshadow nodded, and licked dry lips.
'The Heartstone,' the Elder replied in agreement. He passed his hand over his eyes for a moment. 'Precisely. We have failed in our attempt to stabilize it. And there will be no more such attempts.'
'The spell not only did not drain the Stone,' one of the others whispered wearily, 'It enabled the Stone to drain us. We will be days, perhaps even a week, in recovering.' So that's why Iceshadow said there would be no more tries... if it could do that once, it will do so again. thank the gods that the mages worked within shields, or we would likely all be in the same condition.
'K'Sheyna will not be defenseless, thanks to good planning,' Iceshadow sighed. 'The mages that are also scouts were not involved in the spellcasting, nor you and Wingsister Elspeth. But it is only thanks to that caution that we still have magical defenders.' There was one face missing from the group, one who should have been there. 'My father?' he asked sharply.
Iceshadow winced. 'A side effect we had not reckoned on,' he replied, averting his eyes from Darkwind's. 'Starblade's life is bound to the Stone in some way that we do not understand and did not sense until too late. When our spell backlashed, it struck him as well.' Darkwind tensed. 'What happened to him?' Iceshadow said nothing. Rainlance spoke softly. 'It nearly killed him. despite the shaman Kethra throwing herself into the link to protect him.'
'He lives, and he will recover,' someone else said hastily, as he felt blood drain from his face. 'But he and the Healer are weak and in shock. The shaman, Tre'valen, is tending them.' they are in the best hands in the Vale. If I have regained him only to lose him- 'Is this a Council meeting, then?' he asked, keeping back all the bitter things he wanted to say. They were of no use, anyway. How could anyone have known the deep plans that had been laid against them, all the things that had been done to Starblade? They severed his links to Mornelithe Falconsbane, but there had been no reason to look for any others. Even gone, Falconsbane's influence lies heavily upon us. Even gone, he left behind his poison in our veins.
'A meeting of the Council and of all the mages,' Iceshadow replied.
'We have determined that we have tried every means to neutralize the Heartstone at our disposal, and all have failed. There is no other way.
We must look outside, to other Clans, for help.' The faces in the dim light showed how they felt about it; that it was an admission of dependence, of guilt, of failure. Darkwind had urged them all for years to seek help from outside, and swallow that pride.
Bitter and sweet; victory at last was his, but it had nearly cost the life of his father. Caught between two conflicting sets of emotions, he could only stare at the leader of the Council.
'You must send the call,' Iceshadow said, finally. 'You, the Wingsister, and the gryphons. Elspeth has already agreed, as have Treyvan and Hydona. You are the only ones that we can turn to now, you and Elspeth. You remember the way of constructing a seeking-spell strong enough to reach who and what we need.' He nodded numbly, still caught in a web of surprise and dismay.
'You look ready to drop,' Elspeth said firmly into the silence.
'You're tired-I'm tired-we aren't going to get anything done tonight.' She stood up and nodded to Iceshadow. 'With respect, Elder, we have had a long day, and we need to rest. We'll see what we can do tomorrow.'
'It has waited until now, it can certainly wait another night,' Iceshadow agreed wearily. 'And there is no sense in exhausting you two as well. Tomorrow, then.'
'Tomorrow,' she agreed, and signaled Darkwind to follow her down the path.
'I had the hertasi bring food and that mineral drink to the pool near Your treehouse,' she said as soon as they were out of sight and sound of the circle of exhausted mages. 'I thought you would probably need both. And a good soak.'
'You were right.' He rubbed his temple, as a headache began to throb behind his eyes. 'When did all this happen?'
'Just at sunset,' she told him. 'That was when they had timed the drainage to begin, and that was when the spell backlashed. I didn't feel it, and neither did anyone else outside of the Working area except Starblade; I first knew something was wrong when two of them staggered out the pass-through looking for help, and I happened to be nearby.
Some of them had to be carried out.'
'Gods.' He shook his head. 'So there are only four of us to work this seekingspell.
Five,' corrected a voice in his head.
He had not noticed Gwena's presence until that moment; she moved so quietly behind them that she might have been just another shadow.
'Five?' he repeated. 'But lady, I did not know you were Mage-Gifted.
Elspeth's glare could have peeled bark from the trees. 'Neither did I,' she said flatly, her voice so devoid of expression that the lack alone was a sign of her anger. She stopped; so did he and the Companion.
