To meetAquitain spirit to spirit and have him, a Newman, share his deepestthoughts, experiences hopes and desires with her, a Llanllean, wasa blessing she would always be thankful for. To be given a body,freedom and a new life by him was beyond belief and he had askednothing in return. He was her personal hero.
To destroy thederanged dragon spirit that had been the bane of her life elevatedhim to a champion of legendary proportions. When she heard fromLlalorax that he was named Warden of Moonmist, she knew he deservedit but she was afraid for him.
In saving herand destroying the spirit he would draw attention to himself. Thatwas incredibly dangerous in this world. A lot of dark and powerfuleyes would now see him as a threat. He would need lots of help andshe would see he got it.
She was nowwalking relatively easily around the periphery of the prisonbottle. She looked across to the grassy area outside the hut whereDragonfly had been asleep and noticed her sitting in meditation.That was a positive sign. The rest had healed her body, but what ofthe mental damage? That might take much longer to heal. Then shenoticed her spirit aura. It was not the spirit aura of an Elendari.Then she noticed a second spirit aura and called Llalorax usingmindspeak.
She casuallystrolled over to the meditating girl stopping directly in front ofher. It was time for some answers. She waited patiently forDragonfly to open her eyes. She could hear Dragonfly faintlymouthing a prayer of some description.
The languagewas strange nothing like any of the Moonmist languages anddifferent from Mudrun common. She had heard something like itbefore a long time ago. Then she remembered. It was the languagethat Sindel used to chant when meditating and she was a druid. Thisgirl was a Newman druid! What was she doing here? She was coveredwith Crin blood. Did the malign spirit go to Mudrun and bring herback here? If so, why?
Miranda openedher eyes really refreshed and feeling powered up. The Lady hadanswered her prayers and she felt ready to fight.
‘HelloDragonfly, my name is Yllandril.’
‘How are youfeeling after your rest?’
‘Good thankyou.’ replied Miranda ‘Where am I?’
‘We are in amagic bottle which has shrunk us to the size of a fly in theoutside world.’
‘What type ofspider are you? I’ve never seen or heard of one made out of rockbefore.’
‘And you won’tagain. I’m unique. The body was made by a friend for me.’
‘Am I free toleave?’
‘Perhaps, butthat decision is not up to me, it’s up to the Queen’s wizard,Llalorax. He’s the one who released you from the horrible spirit’scage.’
‘Did he killit?’ asked Miranda hoping that it wasn’t still around.
‘No he didn’tbut another did. He was a Newman like yourself. He is like no otherI have ever met. He has strength, power and greatness yet he isgentle, humble and ordinary. I have been closer to him than anyonealive. We have touched souls. He has been given a burden like noneother in hundreds of years. He has to root out the chaos that isdestroying this land. I fervently hope that he is strongenough.’
‘What was hisname?’ asked Miranda. ‘If he has been to Mudrun I may have heard ofhim.’
‘He callshimself Aquitain. Have you heard of him?’
Miranda wasshocked into silence. A hundred questions stormed into her mind andfought for attention.
‘Where is henow?’ she said holding her breath in anticipation.
‘Why do youwant to know?’
‘Because heprobably came here to find me.’ replied Miranda.
‘He’s thebravest and most wonderful person in the world. He’s a shapeshifter that was once a Newman. He’s the Champion of the littlepeople, a wizard Captain of Mudrun and my chosen.’
Aquitain hadtold Yllandril stories of his adventures as a Newman, a Logicon, aspirit bear and a Llanllean. She had thought at the time that hewas making a lot of it up to entertain her. Was it true? Did heactually do all the stuff that he talked about? Was he already ahero when he came here? He also told her about a druid girl thathad found her way into his heart. Was this her? She was reallyugly. Could he look past physical beauty? If so he was a rarityamong males.
If Yllandrilhad emotions in her stone body she would have been jealous but shedidn’t, so she wasn’t. However, she was now very curious about thisstrange ugly girl.
‘He’s none ofthose things.’ said Yllandril watching for a response.
‘That wouldn’tsurprise me. He could be anything. He’s such a wonderful shapechanger. Wait I remember now. That terrible spirit said he hadstolen Aquitain’s Llanllean body so he must now have a new one.What is it?’
‘It’s true.’thought Yllandril.
‘What he saidwas true. No wonder he was made our Warden.’
‘What is yourreal name girl?’ asked Yllandril.
Miranda wassuddenly more serious.
‘I am Miranda adruidess of Mudrun. Aquitain is my chosen and my true love. Youmust tell me where he is?’
‘Just a moment’said Yllandril.
‘I want to fixa small problem first.’
Llalorax in hisElendari form had casually walked behind Miranda was closelyexamining her back. Suddenly he used a word of stunning on Slivverand pulled it off her back and dropped it into a bottle.
‘What did youdo?’ asked Miranda standing and turning to look at Llalorax.
‘You had a mindparasite on your back. Have you heard any strange voices lately.’asked Llalorax.
‘Yes there wasanother voice. It told me I didn’t do some of the bad things thatthe vile spirit told me I did. It said to keep positive. It kept mesane when I was really feeling low. It said it would watch over mewhile I rested.’ replied Miranda.
‘Really?’ saidYllandril.
‘It was onlytrying to keep you alive for purely selfish motives.’ statedLlalorax.
‘I will destroyit. They are malevolent creatures that control people. They live onpeople’s emotions and eavesdrop
