Return to Blue Mountain
Part Four: Mountain’s Wrath
Vaya looked in on her sleeping lovemate, and found Pike still lost in a semi-conscious stupor. “So much for being our memory-keeper, huh?” she laughed, and swatted his shoulder. “I don’t know what Suntop was thinking when he told you to come along.”
She looked up. Aurek was not at the table. Dungchips, she thought. Now that half-witted Glider’s run off. She left Pike’s side and jogged up the stairs into the night. The stars glittered overhead, while Mother and Daughter Moon hung low in the sky. By their silvery light she saw Aurek sitting on the edge of a flat stone slab, levitating the Egg just above the palm of his hand.
“Aurek! What are you doing?”
**No need to shout, Daughter of Snow. I’m right here.**
Vaya trudged across the stones. “Come inside, Aurek. I can’t watch you and Pike at the same time.”
“Then see to your lovemate. I am content to remain here.”
“I’m supposed to be watching your back.”
Aurek smiled up at her, his infuriatingly calm smile. “Watch for what? I have lived here peacefully for many eights of years.”
“Well now ol’ golden-top is going to be stirring up all sorts of trouble with his mucking magic, and I have a responsibility to protect the elder – whether he likes it or not. So unless you want me to drag you back by your ears...”
“Do you seriously expect to accomplish such a feat?”
Vaya clenched her fists. “Don’t try me.”
“Come, sit with me. You lovemate is safe in my home. The stars are very bright tonight. You might find them soothing.”
“I don’t want to look at the stars. I want to–”
“To drag me back into my home and watch me like a predator hawk while I try vainly to occupy myself with cleaning, then complain of the waste of your talents in sitting still and protecting an ungrateful old bird like myself? Now why don’t you sit down and enjoy the night air. I think you will find it a preferable alternative.”
Vaya grudgingly sat down on the rocks. “You talk too much. At least Tyldak keeps his tongue behind his teeth more often than not.”
Aurek’s smiled turned playful. “I spent untold centuries enslaved to the Egg, more dead than alive. I have a lot of catching up to do.”
Vaya glanced at the Egg out of the corner of her eye. “So, you see everything in there?”
“I record all I see in here, yes,” he corrected.
Vaya sniffed. “So... um... my son... is he in there?”
Aurek made a little motion with his little finger and the Egg grew to triple its former size so Vaya could better see the symbols. Aurek indicated a little starburst shape. “There he is. And there, above him –” he pointed to a shape that looked like an eight-pronged antler, “is you. And above you–” he indicated two sunburst shapes connected to each other by twisting filaments of stone, and likewise linked to the antler and the star, “are your lovemates. They are joined to each other in the bond of lifemating, and to you through the bond of parenthood.”
“Hmn.”
“You do not seem pleased.”
“It’s... strange, knowing you see all this, like you’re spying on us from the treetops.”
“Stranger than the Scroll of Colors?”
“The Scroll isn’t an elf. And besides, I never like to think too much about the Scroll anyway. I figure I’ll understand it all when I die. But I’m not in any hurry to die. I’ve a cub to raise and a tribe to hunt for, and a lot more furs to wrestle in. I’ve never been much of a searcher like Skywise or Swift or Rayek. I like to just let things come to me. It’s easier that way – easier than going out and mucking around trying to find out what might be and missing out on all of life in between. Not that Swift’s missed out on much life – but then our chieftess has this knack for getting us into fixes that not even ol’ Kahvi could. Not that I regret leaving the Frozen Mountains – hah, I’ll follow Swift into fixes I’d never trust my mother to handle. And–” she paused. “And I don’t know why I’m telling you all this.”
“Perhaps you were waiting for someone to listen.”
Vaya shot him a glare. Then she glanced up at the sky. “Hnh. The stars look more like the ones I used to see from the Frozen Mountains. The patterns in the sky... they’re very different from the rain forest at the Great Holt. And there are many other stars... ones I never saw as a fawn.”
“You are seeing the sky from a different angle. The starforms will appear different.”
“I know that!”
“Forgive me. I meant no offence.”
Vaya bit her lip. She had not meant to snap. But she couldn’t quite find the strength to apologize. It would only give Aurek the upper hand in this strange game of words they seemed to be playing.
“So... now that we have brought the Palace here... are you going to come live in it?”
“Perhaps. I have been giving it some thought. But Blue Mountain has always been my home. You forget – I have known about the Palace reawakened for the last hundred and some-odd years. I could have called to Suntop long ago if I had felt a burning desire for it.”
“Hnh.”
“Something troubles you, Daughter of Snow?”
“Why do you keep calling me that?”
“Does it not suit you?”
“Hnh. Anyway – what ‘troubled’ me was... well, why wouldn’t you want the Palace? I thought all the old ones wanted to return home.”
“Old ones, ah? So that is how you see me.”
“You are very old.”
“True. True. And in answer to your question, I do feel a desire to walk down the Palace halls. But it does not burn in me desperately. It seems to me that if the Palace has only found me now... then it is only now that I am meant to visit it.”
“All the Go-Backs are drawn to the Palace. We killed and we died to claim it. I almost died. I would have, if it hadn’t been for Pike and Swift. I don’t think I understand half of it. But it’s ours and I don’t think I could ever live very far from it.”
“What use is it if you don’t understand it?”
“It’s there. It’s ours!”
“A trophy.”
“What’s so wrong about that, huh?”
Aurek shrugged. “You seek combat where I offer none, Daughter of Snow.”
“Well, it certainly doesn’t seem like that, Egg-maker. I think you like baiting us fawns. It makes you feel pokin’ superior.”
“Truly, I seek no quarrel with you, Vaya. I am sorry if I have offended you.”
Vaya growled under her breath. I didn’t sound like an apology. I sounded more like another subtle point for him in this battle of words. She wasn’t very skilled in this sort of combat. The only real duel of words she ever indulged in was the assorted verbal foreplay with her various furmates and lovemates.
Hmm....
Vaya changed tack, and smiled sweetly. “No, I don’t think you are. I think you like baiting me. You want me to huff and fume and go back inside and leave you all alone out here so you can play with the Egg.”
Aurek raised a golden eyebrow. “Ah. You have me figured out, do you?”
“You elders are just as easy to see through as anyone else.”
“Perhaps.”
Vaya smirked. She was not about to lose this duel now that she had him on the run.
“Well, you’ll just have to put up with me, Aurek. Or you can come back inside where I can keep an eye on you.”
“I prefer to stay here and ‘put up with you’ as you put it.”
Dung, she thought. He’s not going to let me win easily.
“Fine. Truth be told I’m getting to like this stargazing. Maybe when I go home I’ll steal some time in Eyes High’s nest.”
“I am touched to think I have taught you contemplation.”
She bristled. “Don’t think you can teach me anything, Egg-maker.”
“But I am an ‘old one’ am I not? I thought Go-Backs honoured their elders and were eager to learn from them.”
“Only until they become too senile to be useful.”
“You thrust and parry with your words as though with a sword, Daughter of Snow.”
“Mm, and you weak-limbed Gliders have no defence."
Aurek settled back. “So tell me, Vaya. Why did you come with Suntop to Blue Mountain? I would have thought you would want to stay with your son.”
“What – don’t you already know the answer? I took you for a living Scroll of Colours.”
“I imagine life would be very boring if I already knew all there was to know.”
“I suppose. Anyway, I wanted a little time away from the ankle-biter. Besides, I couldn’t let Pike go away by himself!”
“And Skot?”
“Even more reason for me to come along. Skot would get himself killed without us.”
“So then... why are you here with me?”
“I’m not here with you – I’m here with Pike.”
“Then you should be at his side.”
“But then you’d win.”
Aurek smiled wryly. But Vaya had grown oddly contemplative. “Really... if anything Cheipar’s more Pike and Skot’s son than he is mine. I mean... I bore him... but it seems some days that he just came through me so that they could have a fawn.”
“You care for them very deeply.”
“It’s strange. They aren’t my lifemates – they are far too closely bound to each other. I mean – I have no proof, but I know Pike and Skot have swapped soulnames. But when I’m with them – I feel like I’m more than a lovemate. Something... in between, perhaps. Maybe one day I’ll find a lifemate – who knows, maybe I’ll even Recognize. But I’ll always be closer than friends to Pike and Skot.”
“Because of your son.”
“Maybe we managed to make a son because of our bond. Not that Go-Backs can’t have fawns without Recognition – but still, we can’t just breed with anyone.”
Aurek nodded thoughtfully.
“So... did you have any fawns in the old days?” Vaya asked.
“No. Rather like my aunt Winnowill I never Recognized anyone.” He smiled wryly. “And unlike Winnowill, I never joined with a troll.”
Vaya laughed. “Blech. Two-Edge. I still can’t imagine Winnowill willingly bore that crazy-brain.”
“He’s not the monster your songs have made him out to be.”
“Eh. I know. Rain healed most of his sickness. He’s one of your friends. But to us he’ll always be the dung-brain who can’t seem to decide which side he’s on. I’ll be just as happy if he stays put under the rocks until we leave.”
“There is much wisdom to be learned from Two-Edge.”
Vaya smiled slyly. “I’d rather learn from you, if I had the choice.”
“Why do I have the feeling you aren’t referring to wisdom any more.”
“Go-Backs have little use for that sort of wisdom.”
“Go-Backs have little use for anything, it seems.”
Vaya bared her teeth. “Gliders have little use for important things!”
Aurek laughed. “You’re probably right.”
“Then it’s a shame.”
“Perhaps.”
Vaya got to her feet. Aurek sat with his legs out, knees slightly bent, and Vaya stepped between his legs so that she stood a hair taller than he. Aurek looked up at her curiously. Vaya framed his face in her hands and kissed him long on the lips.
They parted, and Vaya glanced down at the Glider. For the first time, Aurek looked visibly flustered.
“So... the Wolfriders and the Sun Folk seemed to know all about the fun of kissing,” she said. “But the Go-Backs and the Gliders seemed to have forgotten all about it and had to be taught. Why is that?”
Aurek licked his lips. He seemed positively nervous. “Well... as the years passed, the Gliders... abandoned the more physical forms of pleasure to concentrate on the more... mental and psychic forms of joining. I imagine kissing was probably the first casualty.”
“And the Go-Backs?”
“Perhaps your mother thought it a weakness. Perhaps she considered that the Go-Backs would be better served by leaving their mouths free for roasted meat.”
Vaya leaned forward and kissed him again, a deeper embrace. “Well,” she murmured when she released him, “Pike once taught me how to do this, and I like to pass on good deeds.”
“I... see...” Aurek stammered.
“Well... what do you think?”
“It’s... intriguing.”
Vaya glowered. “Intriguing?”
“Very... intriguing... I must say.”
She placed a hand on her hip. “I’m used to more praise than that, Egg-maker.” With her free hand, she reached out and caught the back of his head, and pulled him against her for a third embrace. This time Aurek’s hands touched her shoulders, then seemed to clench, ever so slightly, drawing her closer.
**Aurek! Vaya! Pike!** Suntop’s opening sending rang in their ears.
**Dung! What is it, boy?** Vaya sent back.
**Haken! He’s loose. I think he’s going for the Palace! Is Pike awake?**
**Barely.**
**Wake him up, now. Do whatever you can. We have to be on our feet. I’ve already called Skywise. The Palace will be here soon. Get Pike and Aurek inside as soon as it appears.**
Vaya and Aurek hastily untangled themselves. Aurek got to his feet and called the Egg back to his hand. Without so much as exchanging a glance, they hurried back to the house.
The Palace touched down on the rocks outside Aurek’s house, and Aurek and Vaya hustled the semi-conscious Pike inside the opening Skywise created in the shimmering wall. Dewshine and Zhantee helped them pull Pike inside, and Skywise sealed the door behind Vaya and Aurek.
“Awww... what’s going on...?” Pike yawned. He stretched. “Are we goin’ home?”
“No, berry-guts. Haken’s loose and we have to get the Palace out of here.”
“Come on, Pike,” Zhantee helped Pike over to a crystal-shaped chair. “Give it a moment. You’ll feel better.”
“Where is Tyldak? Where are the others?” Dewshine asked.
“They’re coming. Just not yet. It’s taking them a while to get up through the caves.”
Skywise stood in front of the Scroll of Colors, his eyes closed and arms outstretched. The Palace shifted, lurched slightly, then rose off the rocks. As Vaya watched through the transparent walls, the Palace hovered above Aurek’s house, then began to soar over the western flank of Blue Mountain.
Vaya glanced over at Aurek. The Glider blushed softly as he met her gaze.
“Well, you’re in the Palace now, Egg-maker.”
Pike belched softly, then shook his head. “Ohhhh... brew a milder wine next time, huh, Eggy? My skull’s ready to burst.”
“I fear it was never meant to be drunk in ten deep draughts.”
“Ten? Naww... only seven... maybe eight.”
“I don’t like the idea of leaving them down there again,” Zhantee sighed.
“If it’s the Palace Haken wants, then Suntop and the others are in no danger,” Aurek said. “We are the ones who should be on guard.”
Now the Palace flew over the meadows lining the northern banks of the Death Water River. Just beyond the riverbank lay the sleeping Forbidden Grove, where countless Preserver cocoons still slumbered untouched by predators. Dewshine pressed her hands to the clear wall and stared out at the distant plains to the east, where she had been captured by the giant hawks over a hundred years ago. She could still remember the pain and terror as the hawk’s talons swept her up away from the family. How could she have known such an act of violence would have led to a lifemate and a wonderful son?
The Palace wavered in the air, as if beset by a gust of wind. Dewshine glanced back at Skywise. Beads of cold sweat dotted his brow just below his faceguard. He was struggling to maintain concentration.
“Vaya! Zhantee! Egg! Look at Skywise.”
As Aurek turned, the Palace lurched sharply onto its side, and Dewshine went flying against the wall. For a moment she feared she would fall through the invisible barrier, but the walls held. The Palace was now swinging wildly over the Forbidden Grove.
**Venka!** Zhantee sent. **Lifemate! Help! Haken’s trying to wrest the Palace from Skywise. Block him!**
“Augh!” Venka cried. She staggered and nearly collapsed on the cave floor. “Haken! Suntop, join me! We have to block him.”
Suntop took her hand. He reached out for Timmain with his other hand. The three linked minds and shot out with a powerful sending star. They felt the star soar out from the cave tunnels, into the night sky, towards the unseen black sending star of Haken’s power.
“Again!” Venka cried. “He’s nearly double Winnowill’s strength.”
“What happens if Haken beats them out?” Skot asked Tyldak.
“Then we may lose the Palace forever!” Quicksilver snapped. “And my father too!” She caught hold of Suntop’s shoulders and pressed her forehead to the back of his head, adding her strength to his.
“Aieee!” Dewshine cried as the Palace bucked again. Zhantee and Aurek were holding Skywise up as he fought the unseen enemy for control of the Palace. Pike was huddled in a corner, trying to keep from throwing up. Vaya staggered and stumbled, but managed to keep largely on her feet.
Again the Palace swung out, and as Dewshine was slammed against the wall, she saw the rapids of the Death Water River below. If the Palace crashed over the river, they would surely all drown.
**Skywise!** Aurek cried. **Land us now.**
The Palace bucked wildly like a single feather in an updraft. Dewshine caught hold of the chair-back and held on for dear life. Skywise was Master of the Palace, and Suntop had a psychic arsenal at his fingertips, including Timmain herself. But were they enough to overcome Winnowill’s own sire?
The Palace tipped on its side and hurtled down into the Forbidden Grove. Dewshine screamed as she watched the trees rush up around the crystal walls.
Dewshine moaned softly as she lifted her head. Blood trickled down her cheek, but she wiped it away without a second thought. She looked out the clear wall. A large crack ran through it, partly obscuring her view of the densely tangled brush and tree branches. A few patches of snow lingered on the ground. Dewshine looked at her side and saw the crystal chair now growing out of the wall. It took her a moment to realize that the Palace was sitting on its side.
She looked over at Skywise. The Master of the Palace lay on his side, moaning softly. Aurek and Vaya were already rushing to his side. Pike and Zhantee were slowly getting up off the floor – the wall, really – and struggling to orient themselves.
“Well, we’re down,” Dewshine gasped. She wiped her face again, and blood smeared across her hand. “Skywise! Are you all right?”
“Fine... fine,” Skywise said as Vaya helped him up. “It’s... ohh, stars! I’ve never encountered a mind so powerful.”
“You never faced Winnowill, did you?”
“No. Never – at least, never like that.”
“He has all the Black Snake’s skill – and cruelty.”
“Well, he can’t raise the Palace now,” Skywise said. “As long as we can keep him out of the Palace, we’re safe.”
Pike leaned against the wall. “Oohhh... this is the worst hangover ever. What do we do?”
**Quicksilver,** Skywise sent for his daughter. **Where are you?**
**We’re coming up out of the caves now, Father. What’s happened?**
**We... uh... had to make a forced landing. We’re in the Forbidden Grove.**
**Everyone?**
**A little bruised. Nothing serious.**
**And the Palace?**
**Likewise. A few cracks, but nothing we can’t seal up later. But, Haken – where is he?**
**I don’t know. We stunned him with a combined sending, but he’s hiding from us now. Father – he can move fast. He might already be across the Death Water River.**
**Can you get here on foot?**
**We’ll be there soon, Skywise,** Suntop’s powerful sending cut in. **Hold on.**
Aurek closed his eyes and concentrated. “I cannot sense Haken nearby.”
“Dewshine – your forehead,” Zhantee said. Dewshine raised her hand and felt the swelling laceration.
“It’s nothing. I’m fine.” Dewshine turned back towards the clear wall and let out a scream.
“What! What is it?” Aurek demanded.
“A shape... something in the bushes... startled me.”
Aurek and Vaya sprinted towards the window. “I see nothing,” Aurek said.
“Are you sure you didn’t imagine it?”
“I don’t know,” Dewshine shook her head. “I saw something!”
“We can’t just jump at shadows,” Skywise said. “Zhantee, Aurek, come here. The three of us have to form a shield-barrier to keep Haken away. Vaya, Dewshine, Pike, get your weapons out. He’s a High One, but he can still bleed. We can’t let him take control of the Palace. It’ll be as if Winnowill got her hands on it.”
Dewshine shuddered as she drew her hunting dagger. “You don’t think...” but she pushed the thought from her mind.
Silence hung over the chamber. The hunters paced nervously. Skywise, Aurek, and Zhantee linked hands and concentrated on the magical shield they had erected about the Palace spires. “Don’t worry, Dewshine,” Vaya said. She glanced over at the trio standing by the Scroll. “Aurek’s very powerful. He and Zhantee will help Skywise hold the shield.”
“Oh, Vaya... if only you knew what Winnowill can do when she knows your soulname. And if her sire is indeed as strong as Winnowill – stronger – then I have reason to worry. I wish Tyldak could fly straight here.”
“You know he won’t leave the others.”
“I know.”
Vaya patted her shoulder. “Just keep your ears up.” She smiled lopsidedly. “You’re the only one of us with any wolfblood left.”
Dewshine nodded.
“And stop staring out the window. The shadows out there will drive you mad as nutmash–”
And Vaya turned back to the cracked window. And she let out a shriek of fright.
Haken was standing just outside, his eyes glowing in the darkness.
The eight elves raced over the broken rocks towards the Death Water River. Tyldak carried the slower-moving Ekuar in his arms as he beat his wings in the night air. Aroree flew alongside him, while the others ran on foot. Timmain led the party with her long strides and desperate haste. Her eyes were distant, as if she relived old horrors with each step.
**We’ll never get there before Haken!** Quicksilver raged.
**We’ll get there, Khai,** Suntop sent back. **We’ll stop him.**
**Father! Father!** Quicksilver called. But now there was no answer.
With a wave of his hand, Haken shattered the protective shield and opened a door in the crystal wall of the heeled-over Palace. Dewshine and Vaya lunged at him with their weapons and bolts of sizzling lightning sprang from his palm and sent them flying. Haken insolently strode over the threshold of the Palace, the large Preserver cocoon strapped to his back by gossamer webbing. Haken ripped away the straps, and the cocoon settled on the floor.
“At last...” Haken breathed. “So easy...”
**You will come no closer!** Skywise sent angrily, his finely-honed telepathy a burning weapon of its own. **I am Master here.**
Haken brushed off the painful sending as though it were an annoying gnat. “You, child? Master of the Palace? You haven’t the skills of an infant.”
Pike and Vaya mustered a second attack wave, while Dewshine cowered against the wall. Haken turned his gaze on them and they wilted instantly, falling to the floor and clutching their heads in pain.
“You are nothing compared to me! You are weaker than humans!” Haken turned his gaze on Skywise and held out his hand to strike him next. But Zhantee leapt in front of Skywise, and his shield turned Haken’s bolts of magic.
Haken paused, quizzical. “A shielder. So the old gifts have not entirely festered in the outside world. But do you seriously think you can stand long against me, pup?”
Zhantee shuddered, but held his ground.
Haken stared at him. Zhantee held the shield in place. Haken did not blink. Zhantee’s concentration began to falter. Pain crept across his features. Still the shield remained.
“Grandfather!” Aurek called from behind the shield.
Haken blinked. “Aurek? So the golden-haired one did not lie.” He smiled. “Good. You can help me.”
“I will not help you destroy these elves.”
“These... insects? They have no idea what it means to be an elf.” And Haken swept his hand out again. Zhantee’s control shattered, and the shield crumbled. The next bolt of energy struck him square in the chest and sent him flying against the far wall.
Unseen behind him, Dewshine was slowly getting to her knees and reaching for her dagger.
“So...” Haken levelled a glare at Skywise and Aurek. “Will you stand aside?”
Skywise did not move. Haken narrowed his gaze. Black sendings washed over them both. Aurek staggered, but did not lose ground. Skywise set his teeth in a wolf’s grimace and held firm. The same agony that broke his hold over the Palace now intensified, threatening to undo his very mind. But not for nothing had Skywise trained for over a hundred years inside the reawakened Palace. He held his own.
Haken held out his hand to direct the black sendings more intensely. The two elves remained on their feet. They did not cry out.
“Impossible...” Haken breathed. “Fools! How much can you bear?!”
Dewshine sprang up from the ground, her dagger aimed at the base of Haken’s neck. Her primal attack was clearly unexpected, and her dagger’s point even nicked the edge of Haken’s skin before the High One caught her. But Haken spun around at the last moment and caught Dewshine about the throat. The dagger clattered to the floor, stained with the High One’s blood.
“What are you?” Haken growled. His eyes seemed to pierce to the very depths of her soul. “You are... wolf... a wolf-elf! Mortal blood! Filth!” He threw Dewshine hard against the Palace wall.
“Haken!” Skywise challenged. He drew his own sword and sprang forward. This time his mental concentration was overshadowed by his rage, and Haken struck Skywise in his tracks with a black sending the stargazer could not counter.
Aurek stared in horror. Dewshine was unconscious. Pike and Vaya were still twitching faintly, reeling from the effects of a black sending. Skywise was now curled in a fetal position, trying desperately to regain his strength.
For the first time, Aurek noticed the dark Preserver who had slipped into the Palace with Haken. Haken turned to the bug. “Flitrin. Do.”
The Preserver flew over to Dewshine and promptly wrapped her up in the silvery webbing. “All of them!” Haken snapped as Flitrin finished the cocoon around Dewshine. The Preserver dutifully began spitting a cocoon around the combined shapes of Vaya and Pike – now too weakened to fight back.
“No...” Skywise moaned. Against the far wall, Zhantee was struggling to rise.
“Stand down!” Haken snapped. His hair seemed to rise, as though infused with static.
“No...”
Infuriated, Haken seized Skywise’s shoulder. His fingers directed an intense burst of anti-healing into the palacemaster’s body. Skywise screamed in agony, and proceeded to pass out. Satisfied, Haken straightened.
“Children, in the end. Flitrin. Do.”
“Coming, coming, Lord Highthing,” the bug sighed wearily. It finished wrapping Vaya and Pike, then flew over to begin work on Skywise. Haken looked over at Zhantee, and another wave of black sending overwhelmed the poor shielder. Zhantee collapsed in a heap, now mercifully unconscious as well.
“Him as well,” Haken commanded. He strode over the large cocoon of Pike and Vaya and scornfully kicked it across the floor until it rested with Dewshine’s.
“Haken!” Aurek shouted.
“No need to shout, grandson; I haven’t forgotten you. You are going to help me.” Haken hefted Skywise’s cocoon and dumped it unceremoniously next to the others.
“I will not!”
“Oh, you will, or these friends of yours will die.”
“The Palace is meant for all elves. It is their birthright. I will not let you take it from this world.”
Haken’s head snapped up. “Take it? I have no wish to steal the Palace. Birthright be cursed. I only want one thing now.”
He strode over to the first cocoon, the one he had brought in with him. He clawed at the wrapstuff clumsily with his one hand. Slowly, shreds of webbing came loose. Aurek nervously tiptoed closer as Haken tore away the wrapstuff, revealing the elf’s body inside.
Aurek gasped at the beautiful face, the long golden-white hair that spilled out of the wrapstuff to pool on the floor around her gowned body. The elf-maiden was peaceful and elegant in death, just as in life.
“Chani.”
Haken looked up, and his eyes were wild with delight. “Yes! Her shell is cold, but I know her spirit must dwell somewhere here, in the Palace. Now all that remains is to unite the two once more.”
Aurek drew in a breath. “That is your plan? To bring an elf nine thousand years dead back to life? Impossible!”
“It’s not impossible! Nothing is impossible! Time has passed her body by. It is mere moments since her spirit left it. And her spirit will return to it, and we will be reunited. You will help me do this, Aurek!”
“You can’t!”
“I can. I swear I will kill every elf on the face of this world if I must, but I will have Chani restored to me! Will you help me, Aurek, or must I start with your friends?”
Elfquest copyright 2014 Warp Graphics, Inc. Elfquest, its logos, characters, situations, all related indicia, and their distinctive likenesses are trademarks of Warp Graphics, Inc. All rights reserved. Some dialogue taken from Elfquest comics. All such dialogue copyright 2014 Warp Graphics, Inc. All rights reserved. Alternaverse characters and insanity copyright 2014 Jane Senese and Erin Roberts.