It was good advice, and he would follow it. He would be afool not to, yet still he felt a need in him to be by himself and to think.
The top of the mountain was as it always was. There wasbeauty here, and serenity. But not for him. At least not today. The signs ofthe battle that had taken place here were nearly gone. All that remained wassome trampled grass, and Lindercroft’s grave. It was almost like it had neverhappened.
Yet it had, and the world was now a profoundly changedplace.
The wind was light on the mountain top, yet above, the skywas ribboned with thin clouds, stretched by some gale not felt on the earth farbelow.
He looked to the sky often, and he was glad that it was notovercast. He could see clearly, and there was no sign of elù-draks. It waschiefly of them that he had to be wary, but there was no fog or low cloud inwhich they could hide. He was safe, at least for the moment.
The edge of the plateau was not that far away. Certainly, hewould not go beyond the flat top of the mountain, but he would risk the shortwalk to where the slope began.
What had happened to the elù-draks, no one knew. They haddisappeared, at least for the moment. But this much was certain, at least. Thehiding place, like the previous one, where he and Ferla had lived and learned,was compromised. They could not stay here.
How long did they have before more enemies came againstthem? There was no way to know, but it would be soon. This place was no longersafe, and yet once more they would have to pick up and leave. Where would theygo? What would they do?
He found no answers as he moved through the gardens and ontothe green grass toward the southern edge of the plateau.
The grass was soft beneath his boots, and it was a fine day.But he was troubled, and not by the things he had been considering, but bysomething else that he could not quite grasp.
All around him the air was of that peculiar sort, wild andfree and nothing at all like the air in a village or even inside Danath Elbar.It spoke of the great wilderness of Alithoras, and lands that he had not seenand paths that he had not trod. But they were there, waiting for him. The worldwas yet to be explored, and for all that he had learned recently, he suddenly knewthat he understood nothing.
The world was vast beyond his comprehension, and it hadexisted before he was born, before his race was born and before even mankindhad first emerged from the great dark to light fires and dwell in the shelterof caves. Who was he to think that he understood something of that?
His story was but a pebble in a great river of time thatrolled mighty boulders down from the mountains and broke them to sand on thelong journey to the sea. He was nothing compared to that, and he had seenneither mountains nor oceans but only one bend of the river in its winding pathof thousands of miles.
But it was his bend in the river, his story. And ifit seemed vast to him, then so it should. It was all he knew. At that moment healso understood what was troubling him.
He came to the edge of the plateau. This was a place heoften came with Ferla, but he was alone today and it felt different. Everythingwould feel different from now on.
There was a smooth patch of grass, and here he sat, lookingout at the world beyond the mountain. The smudge of Halathar was clear today,and almost he thought he could make out individual trees. That was one placethat he would dearly love to explore. So too he would like to test his skillwith bow and arrow against the elves who dwelt there. None in Alithoras werefiner archers, legend claimed. He believed it, but still he would like to testhimself against them. It was not in his nature to accept second place toanyone. Rather, if there was a challenge he would fight for victory. Winning,losing or drawing did not matter so much. It was the fighting that counted.
He yearned to walk the secret ways of the forest he couldonly see from afar, but he did not think he ever would. He wished he couldshrug off responsibility, and dare to follow his heart. He had heard the elveslet no one into their realm, but he had also heard stories of exceptions.
Yet he could not shrug off responsibility. It would not beright, and he had promises yet to keep to the innocent dead of his village. Hewould help Ferla try to bring justice to a realm where dark sorcery and evilhad begun to prosper.
But was that his destiny? Was that his sole purpose in life?
It was time to consider what was troubling him most. He knewwhat it was, now. What would he achieve with his life?
He felt proud of Ferla, and he would do anything for her.But it had been easier when he thought he could do it without becoming aknight. Now, not only would he never be a knight, but he was no longer thefocus of attention. Ferla was now the instrument of destiny, and he was only ahelper.
He smiled at that. Had she ever thought of herself as hishelper? If he knew her, and he did, she would have always thought they were inthis together.
That was how he would approach it. He cared nothing forfame. All that mattered was overthrowing the king and bringing justice backinto the land he loved. They would do it together. Or they would fail together.
How long had she known she was the seventh knight? He smiledat that. He had never guessed it, but the moment she said the words he felt thetruth of them. But he did not think destiny, if there was even such a thing,had been determined until she shaped it herself with those words. And more thanlikely, she had not
