“Meko”, she called one of her lieutenants, a slender elf with long dark hair. “Take some elves with you, and find out from which direction these magicians came from.”
Not long after, Fraweyni had captured the three magicians, Meko reported that there was another one, a young man, processing meat a few distances away from where the other three were found.
With all of them captured, Fraweyni proceeded to probe their minds for information about their identity, and of course, the reason why they had ventured so deep into the Ciroc, instead of joining their respective kingdoms in preparing for war. Fraweyni had them sedated with the fragrance of the petals of a Linthaea – a magical flower with the ability to render creature’s unconscious while keeping their minds alive, but numb.
Fraweyni had the tribe’s most skilled telepath, Kochob, probe their docile minds.
It had taken hours to get into Eldana’s head, because of the kind of magical energy radiating inside her. Kochob painstakingly procured a memory of her from childhood, meeting with a Sinto who was going to be her teacher.
“What is it?” Fraweyni asked when Kochob disentangled his mind from Eldana’s with a gasp.
“This one.” He said. “She’s one of them. The princesses of the King.”
“A being of Balance and Chaos?” Fraweyni asked.
Kochob nodded.
“Hmmm...” Fraweyni mused. “A being of Balance and Chaos who is still alive while the world crumbles into chaos. It seems like she grew a mind of her own!”
“How is that?” Meko asked. “I thought beings of Balance and Chaos were supposed to be sacrificed before they knew enough to question the purpose of their sacrifice?”
“Something about this one is different,” Kochob said. “I just do not know what it is. There is also some kind of sorrow, numb. She hurts,” he said, his face long and serious.
Kochob was still recovering from the amount of energy he had expended in boring into Eldana’s mind. These beings had been set up by the human king as an equilibrium between the good and the evil constantly wrestling for the hearts of men. Finding magic meant humans could live as long as they wanted, even as long as the elves, but because most of their minds were not prepared for it they strayed into evil ways, and allowed the evil that hovered around their minds to make vessels of them. The human race was not the only race susceptible to this evil, so the sacrifice every 100 years of a princess, chosen among the king’s many children by the gods, was not only for the good of the human race but for the whole world as well.
“You sure you are up for this?” Fraweyni asked him.
“Yes. I just need a little rest.” He replied.
Moments later, Kochob sat at Hermon’s head, with his eyes closed, as he peered into Hermon’s memories. He found one memory that revealed his identity. An incident in his childhood where he keyed into rare ancestral magic and faced two fierce beasts alone.
It was dusk when Fraweyni checked up on Kochob again. Showers of light, from the globes the elves had sung into existence, illumined the woods within which they dwelt, and giving it a soft pastoral quality. Fraweyni was decked in an ankle-length flowing gown with a laurel of blooming flowers resting on her head.
Light glowed from within Kochob’s tent making the tent translucent. Fraweyni parted the tent opening, and almost bumped into Kochob himself.
“My lady.” He apologized and bowed slightly. “I was just on my way to you.”
“And in such a hurry,” Fraweyni said. “I can only imagine what would have happened if we had not caught ourselves in time. How are you faring?”
Kochob sighed and moved into the tent. Fraweyni followed him.
“The identities and relationship of these three are really interesting.” He said. “The three of them,” the elf pointed at the unconscious bodies of Eldana, Siem, and Hermon, “are trying to reinvent themselves. Yet, still, help the being of Balance and Chaos restore balance in some other way.”
Kochob pointed at Hermon. “This one is called Hermon. He is a berserker. One of the five. Son of Biniamin.”
“The Biniamin?” Fraweyni asked. Her eyes reflected a little light of interest now.
“Yes,” Kochob replied. “He transformed into full berserker at a young age, during a coming-of-age ritual gone wrong. He was told he had to keep making the transformations for the protection of his clan. He fled to get rid of the curse.”
“What about this one?” Fraweyni asked, pointing at Siem.
“Her name is Siem or Siem, and she is obviously of elven blood, although her family is unknown.”
Fraweyni’s eyes shot wide open. Unknown family? she thought.
“Are you sure?” she asked.
Kochob nodded in affirmation. “It was her mother.” He said. “Her mother was an elf.”
“Do you know who she is?”
“Sadly, no. She never met her, and the father only divulged her mother’s identity years later.”
“If her father told her that, there is every tendency that he was lying. I mean, he is a human. Mortality is such an impediment to those of them without magic. They rarely get their facts right.” Fraweyni objected.
“I am not sure he was telling a lie.”
Fraweyni looked at Kochob.
“The level of magic I saw her perform,” he continued, “was of elven strength. No human could achieve that.”
Fraweyni’s face grew pensive.
“There is something else,” Kochob said.
“What?”
“She was a Si from day one in the School of Magic. And was also, up until her expulsion, the mind behind the notorious Women Guild in the School of Magic.”
“Ah,” Fraweyni’s eyes brightened. “A woman of mettle.”
“She was the last of the Kajewil. The last students to be taught magic according to the rules of the old magic.”
“An oddly interesting troika indeed,” Fraweyni observed. “What about the other two?” she asked.
Kochob looked at Mikko, and D’rmas.
“One is a free warrior of the Qeltifom clan, and the other is a
