

Middlemen: Born of Earth

By

Elton Gahr

cover by Seth Wolfshordl

© 2018 Elton Gahr

Chapter 1

It is difficult to imagine a time when my people were ignorant of war and free of the entanglements of other races. I have often wished I lived in that time of innocence.

Gwen Telfren, Scholar, Keppler Clan

Elwist sprinted down the deer path, cutting through the thick woods silently as he followed the four strangers. He got as near as possible without risk of being seen or heard. These were the first men he had ever seen, except the eleven other members of his own race. That made them dangerous no matter who they were. He needed to decide quickly whether to kill them before they learned of his people's existence.

In the lead was a six foot tall, blond, bearded man in a white robe. It was clear he was running away from the other three. Yet, he didn't seem to be trying to escape. He ran through the forest like a rabbit, his feet rarely even breaking a blade of grass as his feet touched lightly between the plants on tiny patches of empty dirt or stone even at a full sprint. The others showed far less skill, and were able to follow only because occasionally the man in the lead would slow or even stop until they were close enough to see him then begin to run again. There was simply no way he was actually trying to escape.

Of the three chasing him only one appeared human. He had hair as black as Xeon's and pale white skin which looked even lighter because of the twisting black spots that tendriled out from under his leather clothing. The spots spread across his face, hands and legs. The most noticeable was a snakelike spot that crossed from his left ear, over his left eye and stopped on his nose making that eye's iris black while the other was light green.

Leading the three pursuers was a four foot tall monkey. He had a wide flat nose and hair covering his entire body. His only clothing was a long gray cloth that wrapped around his waist and over one shoulder. He had arms as long as someone twice his height with long hairy fingers that were wrapped around a two foot long club with a large knotted end. He was the best in the woods and could follow the tiny marks left by the robed man. He clearly saw things Elwist had missed and never slowed even when they reached a split in the path. Alone he might have even been able to keep up with the white robed man, but the other two slowed him too much.

The only one of the four that truly scared Elwist was the last. The creature was as large as a bear. It had near white scales with a light yellow tint that covered a body that was nothing but muscle. It didn't carry a weapon, but it didn't need one. It was two feet taller than Elwist making it almost eight feet tall and was strong enough to reach up and break away branches the size of Elwist's neck without slowing.

The strength itself wouldn't have scared Elwist. He had killed bears and other large animals. The danger was the thick overlapping scales on the huge creature. Elwist wasn't certain his wooden spears would pierce those scales even if he attacked the head, arms and legs where the scales appeared to be smaller and more flexible. Unfortunately, no single blow to his arms or legs would stop him and even if he pierced the scales on his head the skull would stop the spear. That left the neck and eyes as the only targets that could ensure a disabling blow and anything less than that would likely get Elwist killed. Still, if he could take the creature by surprise a single blow should be enough.

The good news was that Elaine should have warned all the other Middlemen of the visitors by now. She had been with Elwist, but ran ahead while he stayed back to watch the visitors. She would convince everyone to hide in the cave. The others often didn't seem to understand how dangerous the world was, but she would make it clear that they couldn't simply assume these people would be friend.

Elwist didn't understand that naivete. They had all helped kill deer and catch fish and knew how easy death came. Still, they did not recognize that death could come to them just as easily, or just how much a single death could devastate their race. Ahr Ain had created each of them with skills and abilities that they all needed. It was that naivete and the need for those skills that made them unready for these men. They would be better off hiding until they had children and could begin to teach those skills to their children so none of those skills would be lost.

Following the white robed man into the valley Elwist began to search the valley for signs of the rest his people. He saw signs that they had been here, but not much. He could see part of Rasputant's house near the river, but the small hill hid almost the entire home and the rest were far more difficult to see. Most important were that the people were gone. That meant if he attacked no one else would see it. He could survive killing someone, but he didn't think the others could survive seeing it. At least they wouldn't survive without it changing them forever. But, as he prepared to attack he couldn't bring himself to do it. It didn't matter that it was the smart thing to do. It wasn't the right thing to do. Not until there was some sign of these men being hostile.

It was also strange that the white robed man in the lead had gone towards the valley. Entering the valley was dangerous for a man who was trying to escape in the woods. There were only a handful of trees scattered across the valley, most of them fruit trees that would give almost no cover than the needle trees that made up most of the forest. That forced the man to speed up, reminding Elwist how much the man was holding back, and he turned towards the cave. Whatever his plan was the cave where his people were hiding was part of it. That seemed to be a sign that the man who Ahr Ain had sent and Elwist wouldn't fight the will of Ahr Ain so he stepped out of the bushes and followed him into the valley counting the time that they had to cross the valley before the others could see them. There would be only a couple seconds to spare. Then as they neared the cave the man spun to face Elwist, a metal dagger appearing from inside his white robes.

"I don't want a fight," Elwist said. He could sense this man was dangerous, but not malicious. There was simply no reason for Elwist to kill him except out of fear. Fear that he would fail to protect his people, fear that this would change everything and most of all fear that this was really what Ahr Ain wanted and he couldn't stand against that. Elwist didn't like to act out of fear.

"You can hide your spots but you can't hide your sin. I have pledged an oath to fight all Lowman," The robed man said, and he glanced towards the cave entrance as he spoke. He didn't want to be caught in the open any more than Elwist did and it didn't really sound like he wanted to fight anyone.

"My people are the Middlemen and were created by Ahr Ain from the mud of this valley. We are not Lowmen," Elwist said. Ahr Ain had warned them of the Lowmen just as he had spoken of the Highmen and he knew his dark hair made him look more like a Lowman than most of the others.

"You are the Mudmen of prophecy? Why would Ahr Ain create you here in such a dangerous place?" the man asked and tilted his head trying to get a better view of Elwist who felt self conscious with his thick, wild, black hair and dark, mud covered skin.

"We were created to decide the war between the Lowmen and Highmen. To do that we have to be at its center," Elwist said. He then added, "You are being chased."

"By a Lowman and his allies," The man said.

"Surrender your weapon and come inside. It seems we will begin deciding between your people and theirs today."

The man flipped the dagger in his hand so he was holding the blade and Elwist tightened the grip on his spear. It was how Elwist would throw a dagger, but the white robed man simply held it out and said, "My name is Chart."

Chapter 2

For the first century of our existence an attack from either the Highmen or the Lowmen could have wiped out our entire race without serious cost to them. It was only on the backs of great men that our race survived. I am not worthy to be mentioned in the same breath as men like Ebon, Mylon and Pilox.

Monica Crowhunter, Xeon Tribe, High Lord Wizard

Elwist entered the cave with a metal dagger on his belt and a stranger behind him. The man was as tall as Xeon and long blond hair, a thick beard and white robes.

"Find something new?" Rasputant asked. He almost forgot the stranger for a moment. The bone daggers they used were functional, but all the metal they had gathered in three years would hardly make a dagger that big even if Keppler could craft a dagger that well.

"Chart is being hunted by three enemies," Elwist said. He had missed Rasputant's point. He would never be a good negotiator so long as he missed the nuances of language. On the other hand, he had the killer instinct and that would serve him well if he ever learned to use it in negotiation.

Quintara stood up from the back of the crowd. He looked even shorter than normal with Chart in the cave because he was as tall as Xeon; still the man put out his chubby hand and said, "It's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Quintara."

"I must ask forgiveness for the abruptness of my visit, but before we speak we must prepare a defense. If we can't protect ourselves the Lowmen will kill us all," Chart said, and he glanced at the dagger on Elwist's leather belt. Rasputant understood that look of desire well and if they weren't careful this man might grab that dagger without asking.

"There is a small recess behind the cave entrance. I will hide there and attack from behind," Elwist said. At this moment Rasputant would have traded nearly anything for Elwist's skills with a weapon.

"The Weengo is the most dangerous especially in an area this small. They are a bit slow in the cold, but that won't matter if you can't run," Chart said. Elwist nodded and slipped into the small gap that would be all but invisible to anyone who wasn't looking out of the cave's entrance. Then as a secondary thought he tossed the two extra spears he carried to Ebon then to Xeon. It made an odd sort of sense. Xeon was the closest to Elwist's skill with a spear, but he wouldn't take it unless Ebon had one too even if Ebon was too soft to actually use the weapon.

Elwist then looked carefully at Chart. It was the same look Elwist gave a deer he was about to kill, but rather than attack he removed the dagger from his belt and tossed it to the Highman. Rasputant disliked the idea of giving up such a valuable weapon, but goodwill would likely be worth more and if they let the man go keeping it would feel a bit like theft.

"Elaine, watch Chart. Kill him if he makes a wrong move, but only if he makes a wrong move. But I won't have him dead because I took his weapon," Elwist said.

Rasputant knew Elwist could deal with three people. He had been created by Ahr Ain to be a soldier as near perfection as possible, but that didn't mean people couldn't get hurt. And giving Ebon a spear made him a target and more likely to be hurt. He was, after all, the weakest of all of them. Ebon had nearly been killed the first time he went hunting because he refused to attack the deer. Even Quintara had at least tried to fight though he failed badly enough that he was never taken hunting again. Ebon was also the quietest of them, often spending hours alone along the banks of the river where Ahr Ain had formed them out of mud. When Elwist had finally asked he simply said he was speaking to Ahr Ain, except Ahr Ain had left them over a year ago and would not return even for his favorite.

Perhaps Chart had recognized the same weakness in Ebon because he positioned himself between Xeon and Ebon. Elwist even smiled at the man as he did that. He clearly respected someone who held the same values as he did and Elwist's strongest belief was that the strong should protect the weak.

They waited quietly and just as the first thoughts that the Lowmen might not find them began to enter into Rasputant's mind they appeared. These three were far stranger than Chart and Rasputant understood the fear Elwist showed that there may be a fight.

Leading the small group was a huge lizard. It had light yellow scaled skin and was hardly able to make it through the cave entrance because of his size. He was followed by a dark haired man covered in black spots and an upright monkey with a club half as long as his arm.

Elwist stepped out from the recess in the wall as the third of the men entered and said loudly and firmly, "Stop!" his spear touching the back of the lizard's neck.

"We only want the plant mage. Give him to us and there will be no reason for us to test your ability to survive today," the bald man with black spots across his skin said. His voice was as gruff as Elwist's, but he cut the words off even more abruptly making each its separate own statement. He also showed no sign of surprise at the ambush. That told Rasputant he had been in many fights.

"Put your weapons on the ground slowly," Rasputant said. This was a negotiation and that meant he needed to be the one to take charge. Otherwise Elwist would push things until there was a fight.

No one moved. Instead, the white lizard twisted his head completely around to look Elwist directly in the eyes without moving his shoulders. He looked at Elwist for several seconds and then wrapped huge fingers around the dark haired man's spear and pulled it from his hand and dropped it onto the ground. A second later the club fell from the monkey's hand to the ground as well.

"Now we can talk," Ebon said. Ebon had always believed talk could solve anything.

"Chart is our enemy and those who help him are our enemies as well," The spotted man said.

"What has he done?" Xeon asked. Xeon was the tribesman Rasputant least understood, but he trusted the man's instincts because of how often he knew things he shouldn't.

"He uses creation magic to change plants so they attack and kill our people," The spotted man said.

"Do you deny these charges?" Xeon asked, and looked at Chart though he should have been watching the other men.

"The plants are only in the Highman lands. If your people did not attempt to invade then they could not hurt them," Chart said.

"This isn't going to be solved today. What we can agree on is that this cave and this valley is our people's land. We will not allow anyone to be killed in our lands," Rasputant said. The decree if accepted would solve two important issues. It would keep these men from killing each other, and more importantly they would agree that these lands were theirs.

"My name is Ungarn," The spotted man said then pointing to the short, hairy monkey he said "This is Geer," The contempt in his voice matched Filar's when she spoke of the time Laura ruined her best basket. Finally, he pointed at the lizard and said "Roalle," His voice showing less contempt but it was flat, almost dead. Ungarn didn't like either of the men with him. That was useful information.

"And you are hunting Chart?" Elwist asked.

"We hunt all who are weak and those who fight our people. I began tracking the plant mage a week ago and would have caught him today had you not interfered. So stay out of wars you don't understand," Ungarn said.

"The three of you couldn't have caught him in a decade. He was letting you follow him. Likely into the plants that we removed from this cave when we began to use it," Elwist said.

"This is unimportant," Chart said. Then after everyone turned to look at him he said, "Ahr Ain did not create you to decide my fate. So tell us, why are you here?"

Xeon and Ebon looked at each other and Elwist put his hand on one of the spears at his belt. Even Quintara took a step back into the darkness of the cave afraid of what needed to be said. Rasputant understood why. Their destiny was the most valuable thing they owned, but it had to be given away. It had always been the plan for everyone to know.

"Actually," Filar said, "We were created to decide your fate, so to speak."

Rasputant couldn't help but smile. It was true of course, and Filar could never resist having someone know she had power over them. It also made it clear that her husband would have to speak. Xeon was the one person they could all trust not only to speak for them, but to clarify what his wife had meant, taking the pressure off Rasputant at least for a moment.

"Ahr Ain created us three years ago and taught us for two of those years. The most important of his teachings was the importance of free will. It is important because that is what we are. Your people have both been trapped in this war since before time exited and neither has the power to truly change or win the war, but according to Ahr Ain we can do both. Our destiny is to choose whether Ahr Ain or Sai Tain controls this world."

The world seemed to stop as Xeon spoke and then after only a few seconds it erupted into arguments as both Chart and Ungarn began to shout. They clearly believed what Xeon had said because both were trying to convince the Middlemen that their side was the only good choice to help and Rasputant understood why Ahr Ain had named them the Middlemen. They were stuck in the middle of something far bigger than the twelve of them.

Chapter 3

That the Middlemen were able to remain free of the influence of our people is one of the greatest signs of their strength and right to exist.

Kurn, Lowman, Lord of Poder

The arguments were long, loud and difficult, but in the end there was only one thing everyone could agree on. The Middlemen needed a lot more information. To this end two of the Middlemen, Xeon and Rasputant would travel east with Chart to the Highmen and two more, Ebon and Elwist would go west with the Lowmen. They would learn everything they could about the two sides of this conflict and try to convince the leaders of those races that they shouldn't harm them. Meanwhile Quintara, Keppler and the women would remain in the village and gather as much food as possible for the winter through use of Keppler's traps, Quintara's fruit trees and Elaine's hunting.

Chart and Ungarn continued to argue long after the Middlemen began to prepare for the trip. They were both convinced the only way the Middlemen would survive was to ally with their respective races, but they were also both just as convinced that it would be impossible for them to make any alliance with the other race. Worse, neither was all that optimistic when it came to making an alliance with their own race.

As they walked away from the village Xeon watched the woods. He had always imagined how the world would be different once they left the peace of their valley. Yet, while everything looked bigger and far more dangerous nothing was really all that different. It simple felt different as even the branches felt as if they were reaching out and clawing at him.

Still, as much as he was afraid of the woods he found himself watching Chart more carefully than the dark undergrowth. He was certainly nicer than Ungarn and the others and at times he even seemed like he might be kind. Still, Elwist had assured Xeon that he was more dangerous than the others. Since Xeon's instincts for battle were far weaker than Elwist's he simply had to take his friend's word on that statement. And there were signs. Chart was at least as comfortable in the woods as Elwist and he was very comfortable with his dagger. He had removed it from his robe only twice when Xeon could see, but he showed no discomfort with it.

The man had seemed comfortable with Quintara, but once they left him behind in the village Chart had become very silent. He hardly spoke as he walked and glanced back at them only often enough to be certain that they were following him down the twisted paths that led them steadily eastward.

As the sun neared the horizon Xeon began to search the path for a safe place to sleep. But Chart continued to push them forward for an hour after the sun dropped behind the mountains then simply stopped at a dead tree, leaned against it, pulled the hood of his robe over his face and fell asleep without a word.

"Shouldn't someone stay awake to watch for danger?" Rasputant asked. He had hidden his fear, but Xeon knew him too well to believe it. Rasputant didn't even like to hunt because he was afraid of injury.

"I'll hear if there is any danger," Chart said, his voice half asleep already. Xeon feared he was wrong, not because he couldn't protect them but because of the warning Ahr Ain had given them. A warning none of them had told anyone. Their creation had ended the first age of this world and the second age was going to be far more dangerous.

* * *

Rasputant would have preferred sleeping on the furs he had brought to trade, but he felt safer with them surrounding him. But, even with the small comfort of those furs and the exhaustion of a hard day's walk he was unable to fall asleep. Xeon was a good man and there was no one he would rather trust with his life, but he wasn't good at negotiation. He was far too likely to give up everything the others wanted and ask almost nothing in return. The only one worse was Ebon who would work all day and then give away everything without asking for anything in return. That left everything up to Rasputant.

That had seemed easier before. Now though he had began to realize just how big the world was. He had always known it was big, but with every step he understood better just how much bigger the world was than he had imagined and how small he was in comparison.

Still there was only one choice. He would use the skills Ahr Ain had given him to gain power and influence. He could create a type of safety that Elwist could never achieve, but he couldn't do that without taking risks that no one else even understood. But today all he could do now was make plans. Even making those plans calmed him though and he began to grow drowsy, but just as his eyes slid shut he felt a pain in his leg. It was as if he was being burnt with ice.

He looked down slowly and saw a small bug no bigger than his thumb on his leg. Rasputant reached down to flick away the small creature. As he struck it with the back of his hand he felt an ice cold chill run across the back of his hand and up his arm. That explained the pain in his leg, though he no longer felt any pain or anything at all, in his leg.

The bug disappeared in the darkness, but when he tried to move his leg it was numb and he was unable to stand. At the same time he saw another of the bugs skittering across the ground towards him.

He cried out a warning expecting Chart and Xeon to react immediately, but neither moved. He was alone. Whatever the creatures were they had already immobilized them just as they would have him had he fallen asleep.

There was no choice but for him to save himself and the others so he grabbed one of the furs and wrapped it around his hand. He then began to knock away the bugs, but even through the thick fur after the second bug he knocked away he felt the cold through the fur and the bugs continued to scurry back.

Pushing himself to his knees Rasputant tried to crush one of the creatures, but instead of killing it the beetle was simply driven into the ground. It then pulled itself out of the ground and continued to crawl forward leaving a small white line behind it as it froze the ground.

All Rasputant could do was pull himself away from the creatures, and as he did pulled himself back, his leg beginning to throb. At least that meant it might get better. Still, he couldn't just run away. He needed to save the others. And that was when he put his hand on a broken branch. That gave him an idea.

He scraped together all the twigs, dried pine needles and leaves into a small pile under the branch knocking away one of the bugs in the middle of the job. He then dumped the contents of his backpack onto the ground grabbing the flint he used to start fires. His hands shaking with fear he began to strike the two pieces of stone together sparks raining down on the makeshift kindling.

As the first yellow flames appeared Rasputant resisted the urge to cry out in success, but instead he grabbed more twigs and leaves and added to the fire as quickly as possible.

Once the branch was on fire Rasputant picked it up and swung the branch slowly across the ground. The light illuminated hundreds of small black bugs crawling around his friend and the dead tree that they were streaming out of.

Those bugs nearest the fire had turned away from the other two and were now moving towards the fire. As they approached the fire the small black beetles expanded until they were the size of a fist and then they turned white and collapse into small white piles of dust. At the same time the flames would flicker and even go out but as soon as the bugs died other parts of the fire would reignite those that had been put out. After watching the bugs for a moment he realized that it was working, but the fire wasn't big enough. So he began to grab more branches and adding them to the fire hoping that he could grow the fire faster than the bugs could put it out.

With the fire growing the bugs began to come out of the tree in a wave of black, the faster bugs crawling over the slower to get to it. They even began to crawl off Xeon and Chart.

Within minutes the two men were free of the bugs and only a few were still on the tree. But both of the other men were still as death and Rasputant feared he had been too late.

Fighting panic Rasputant shook Xeon whose pale white skin was ice cold. As he shook him he saw that Chart was less white and breathing deeper. He would have rather have Xeon's help, but the Highman might better understand how to deal with this. He grabbed the other man's robe and pulled him upward. The man was limp, but he was able to pull him nearly to his feet. As he was moved the Highman's eyes flickered open and he groaned, then he fell back as his limp body slid out of Rasputant's hands.

"W.. w... what happened?" Chart asked.

"Black bugs," Rasputant said.

"I'm c...c...cold," Chart said.

"Move closer to the fire," Rasputant responded, and the Highman tried to push himself to his feet, but his hand slipped and he fell back to the ground. So Rasputant pulled him closer dragging him to the side farthest from the bugs. He then put his own arm around him allowing his own body heat to begin to warm him as he watched to make certain none of the bugs would touch them.

They sat in silence for ten minutes as Chart shivered and then once it seemed Chart could keep himself upright Rasputant let him go and pulled Xeon closer to the fire as well.

"Do you know what those are?" Rasputant asked as the sound of teeth clattering stopped.

"Winter bugs," Chart responded.

"How can I help?" Rasputant asked. He was worried mostly because Xeon still hadn't moved, though his friend was still breathing slowly.

"Just wait," Chart responded and Rasputant felt a little better. Chart understood what these things were then after a long pause Chart said, "How did you avoid them?"

"I was awake," Rasputant said. He had been lucky, but didn't want to admit how lucky he had been.

"And you discovered how to defeat them alone?" Chart asked. There was something new in the way he spoke. Rasputant had impressed him.

"I just started a fire," Rasputant said. He knew that the smart thing to do was take all the credit he could. After all, reputation was just like any other commodity, but he couldn't bring himself to pretend he had done anything impressive.

"Xeon should sleep as long as possible. There is no danger and sleeping will help him heal faster. It is odd that he is sleeping so long though. I have only seen wizards sleep this long after an attack of winter bugs," Chart said.

"Are there many animals like those?" Rasputant asked, realizing again just how little he knew of this world.

"They aren't really animals anymore, they're weapons. They were beetles once, but changed with creation magic, which can change animals just like mine can change plants. Luckily, they were created by a Highman and so won't kill anyone. Still, that leads to the question of why they attacked us," Chart said.

"Because your people created something that attacked anyone who wasn't them," Rasputant said. Battle was one thing, but he didn't like the idea of creating indiscriminate weapons.

"In the future I should be able to protect your people as well as mine," Chart said. That didn't really solve the problem but it would be better.

"Do a lot of your people have creation magic?" Rasputant asked. He needed Chart and telling him that his people were doing something wrong wasn't going to get him on his side.

"One in a thousand at most and even less of those who were born instead of being formed out of a death in the spirit realm," Chart said.

"The spirit realm?" Rasputant asked.

"The first of my people and the first of the Lowmen were spirits once. There was a war in the spirit realm and those that were killed were cast down onto this world. Here they have continued that war, and so have their children. That is the war your people have found yourself in the middle of" Chart said, and his eyes began to slide shut. He was exhausted from the attack and so Rasputant put another branch on the fire and sat up watching the woods for more dangers.

Chapter 4

Loyalty is the most defining trait of the Highmen because those who were not loyal switched sides during the darkest times of Spirit War when Sai Tain was winning every battle.

Tymone Lord Commander of the Wizard's Guards

Chart knew he couldn't trust Xeon or Rasputant, but the more time he spent with them the more he wanted to. He wanted to believe these people could change the war, because the war was changing his people. They did things now no one would have suggested when Chart was younger. Even the winter bugs were a weapon that wouldn't have been created when he was a child. Worse was that more Highmen every day believed they were doing the right thing by becoming more brutal in the war.

Still, while there were problems with his people it would still be good to have council from someone he trusted and there were a couple of people in the village they were approaching that Chart trusted. They were friends who had come here to expand their country because they trusted Chart's word that it had to be done.

As they approached the small village Chart sensed something was wrong. He had spent years alone in the woods and his senses were good. There should be at least one guard at each of the three paths that led into the village. Even without them though during the day there should have been sound. It was too quiet and as he crossed over another of the steep hills that made this area perfect for the small hidden villages the Highmen needed he saw the stone building that was the heart of the village. It was the only permanent structure in the village serving as a storehouse, temporary housing and a meeting hall. What he saw though was the reason so many people were against these villages. There had been an attack in their homelands.

That wasn't what terrified Chart though. The terror was that there were no bodies and no sign of a struggle. As he saw it he began to run forward knowing it was a mistake as he went, but unable to stop himself. They must have gotten inside the stone building and simply waited for the Lowmen to leave. Yet even as he prayed that he was right it didn't feel right.

The door was open and there were words scratched into the stone wall of the city center. It was written in High Common which could only mean a wizard had written the message. Why would a wizard have written it though knowing that no one but a wizard would be able to remember and those without any magic would be unable to even remember it long enough to read it? Chart's creation magic meant he could remember it long enough to make a copy, but he wouldn't remember he had done it or what the message meant.

"What's that?" Rasputant asked from behind him and Chart stood up stiffly. This was the first time in a decade he had been surprised by someone approaching him and it had happened while he was alert expecting an attack from the Lowmen.

"What are you doing here?" Chart asked.

"We waited three hours watching you while you spoke to the monk. But once he wrote his message on the wall and left we decided it was time to find out what was going on," Xeon said.

"There's no one alive here. Who would I have spoken to?" Chart asked. A wizard could make him forget a conversation or even a place, but not someone who had mastered less than five words of power and he knew every Highman wizard with that sort of power.

"What does that say?" Rasputant asked. He tilted his head as he looked at the writing. His voice was distracted, like anyone who tried to focus on the words of high common but wasn't a wizard.

"I don't know. It took my brother years to teach me enough High Common to recognize it, and I only learned that much because I have creation magic. Most people can't remember it at all. I am simply trying to remember the words so that I can tell the wizards. They will then be able to know what the message is," Chart said.

"It says 'Si lum Sai Tain roln si dil." Under that is a larger word that reads Roth," Xeon said.

Chart recognized Sai Tain clearly and easily as the leader of Lowmen. His name was one of the few words in high common that everyone knew. It seemed that Ahr Ain didn't want that particular name forgotten by anyone anymore than they should forget the name Ahr Ain their creator. The rest was less clear. "I think roln si dil means, touches the world," Chart said. The strangest was Roth. It was a word of power, but he didn't know which one, what it meant or why anyone would write it here.

"So it says Sai Tain touches the world?" Xeon asked. If that was what it said it was old news. There had been a crack in his prison for almost as long as the war had existed. One that was constantly being pulled and pushed and everyone knew would eventually open completely. There were even rumors of a Lowman wizard who had discovered a way to tap into that doorway, but this message meant something more.

"No the world lum is the key. It says roughly 'the lum of Sai Tain touch the world. The problem is I don't know what lum or Roth means," Chart said.

"How far to a city where someone might know?" Xeon asked. There seemed little or no doubt in his voice that they would get to help quickly.

"This village was built here to expand our lands. There might be other village, but they are hidden even from me and wouldn't have a wizard. That means we have to go to the capital. Perhaps a week if we went through the mountains and at least two any other way. Either way you should go home. Someone can be sent to your village once things are safer," Chart said.

"We should go through the mountains," Xeon said. He spoke with a voice of authority that Chart had only heard in a few men. It reminded him of his father and The Prophet, but this man was a child compared to any Highman and couldn't really have that authority.

"The mountains are dangerous. I've spent more time traveling than any of my people, and fought more battles than most and I've seen enough to know you stay out of those mountains. Of the five expeditions into the mountains two never saw anything, the other three simply never returned. I can't take you into that," Chart said. It was his job to protect these men and they owed him nothing.

"It seems to me that there are a lot of things in this world that are dangerous," Rasputant said.

"And your people can't afford to take unnecessary risks," Chart answered.

"People were killed and we shouldn't ignore that," Xeon said. He seemed to find nothing unusual in risking his life to protect a people he had never met. A Highman might do that, if he knew they were Highmen, but no one risked his life for a stranger and certainly not a potential enemy.

"We'll sleep here tonight. If the Lowmen are nearby this building will be the safest place," Chart said. Rasputant had hidden it well, but he was exhausted and Chart needed the time to explore. Telling his people what happened was important, but it was more important to understand how. Most important it was vital to understand how the Lowmen had gotten inside the building. He had to know if there had been a traitor or if it was a force so powerful that resistance was impossible.

Chart didn't know which would be worse. A single traitor would be gone. Likely killed by the Lowmen that they had helped, but it wouldn't matter. If people learned of a betrayal it would destroy the Highman. In three hundred years there had never been a traitor. It was the core of what the Highmen were. On the other hand something strong enough to destroy a village without a fight could change the course of the war, and the message suggested it might be Sai Tain and the Highmen simply were not ready to face Sai Tain. No one was ready to face him.

As he returned from his walk around the village he saw Xeon sitting in front of the keep staring at the words which had been written on it. He vaguely remembered there had been something written but did not remember what it said.

Chart walked over to Xeon, who had fur cloak pulled tightly around him to guard against the cold wind of the night, and said "See anything new?"

"That word means something," Xeon said.

"Who wrote it there?" Chart said, looking up to see a few words written on the side of the building.

"A bald man with a knot of hair that you talked to but don't remember," Xeon said.

"I haven't seen anyone here but us," Chart said. It was possible though. He knew he had forgotten things about magic in the past. A powerful wizard could make him forget almost anything and it was even easier to make someone forget something magical.

"Be careful, all words in high common have power, and not just the twelve words of power. A truly powerful being like Sai Tain can't even really lie easily in high common because the words will try to do what he says. It is the language Ahr Ain used to create the universe," Chart said.

"That's it. It's a word of power," Xeon said.

Chapter 5

While it is easy for the Middlemen and Highmen to dismiss the arena as needlessly brutal it has served as an escape valve for aggression, encouraged self discipline and improved our fighting styles for centuries. Without it I fear far more violence would have happened outside of the arenas.

Boncen – Arena Master

Ebon had never imagined a place without trees and entering the grasslands made Ebon feel more exposed than he ever had. Even during the week of travel through the woods with Lowmen he couldn't trust there were always trees to clime and bushes to escape into. Now, his only protection was Elwist and while he knew Elwist would protect him, it simply wasn't the same as the woods Ahr Ain had created them in.

It also helped him understand the Lowmen a bit better. Anyone living in this place would have to work harder for food in a place where you couldn't simply pick fruit from trees or hunt deer from the thick underbrush.

The land was far from empty though. There were still the rolling hills that created valleys like the one he lived in his entire life though more shallow. And there were a few trees, but never more than a few clustered together in small groves. What really helped though was the grass. It was like the bushes in the forest in many ways. Thick enough to hide in if he threw himself to the ground and high enough he could crawl through. It even hid a multitude of small animals.

Then Ebon saw one of the Lowman homes. It was little more than a pile of rocks with branches thrown across the top and smoke escaping from the porous roof. That same roof must have been almost worthless in the rain, but three Lowmen children sat on the ground naked from the waist up and ribs showing through mud and dark spots that made them look more sickly than sinister as they did on Ungarn.

The two largest of the children were throwing rocks at each other while their parents watched until after being struck in the head with a large rock the boy rushed at the girl a rock in his hand and murder in his eyes. The father then grabbed the boy and said "You can't kill her. You might need her some day."

Ebon saw who these people were in that exchange. These were parents who didn't protect their children, but encouraged them to hurt each other. He even understood why. They believed it made them grow stronger and they needed that strength to survive. Ebon disagreed, but these parents saw that as the moral decision.

That scene played out many times over the next miles in a variety of different ways, sometimes with children and other times with adults that came near to murder. Ebon had just begun to become comfortable with the Lowmen and then he saw something far more impressive than children being taught to fight to survive. It was a pile of stones at least eight feet tall in a long curved wall.

"What is that?" Ebon asked.

"A defensive wall," Ungarn said.

"Why not stack the rocks better?" Elwist said.

"The more solid the wall is the easier it is to destroy. A single spell from a wizard can put a hole through a solid stone, but this will collapse filling in the hole. It is also easy to build because The General simply created a law which requires a tribute from anyone who enters the city to add a single rock to the wall," Geer said.

Elwist looked around and picked up a rock half the size of his fist. "Is there any rule about the size?" he asked.

"No. Most people toss up a few pebbles or even clumps of dirt that looks like a rock. They still fill in holes and make the wall stronger and many people enter each day," Ungarn said.

The pile of rocks sloped into the road but left a wide enough opening for the five men to walk side by side. As they entered each man tossed their rock to the top of the pile. Ebon's rock hitting the side of the pile and rolling almost all the way back down, but that didn't seem to matter to anyone.

On the other side of the wall of stone was a city far bigger than Ebon had expected. The streets twisted and turned each filled with the same tiny stone or wood huts that were very similar to the same houses that spotted the countryside around it. Each appeared to hold ten or twelve of the thin sickly Lowmen. It was a jigsaw puzzle of buildings forming a second wall that would make attacking this city almost impossible because no army could ever make it through without splintering into a hundred tiny groups.

The other thing that struck Ebon was the smell. It was worse than the small ditch on the edge of Middleman valley where they disposed of their waste. The smell was a mix of human waste, sweat, blood, rotting meat and things Ebon didn't recognize and probably didn't want to.

The small group with Ungarn at the front twisted through the streets. Here Ebon watched the people even more carefully because he felt like he was in far more danger. As he watched them he saw a child sitting along the wall. He was tiny with arms hardly bigger than the bone and a stomach that budged out. He seemed almost dead until he reach out suddenly and grabbed one of the rats that swarmed through the street. He twisted it, breaking its neck and then bit into it. He got only two bites of raw rat into him though before one of the larger children pulled it out of his hands. Ebon almost stepped forward to help the small boy, but it would only make things worse by making him look weak.

At the center of the town was a huge pit it was twenty feet deep and thirty feet square. Surrounding it was a road twice as wide as any other road in the town. In fact, every building in sight seemed to be facing that pit. Even the roofs were tilted so people sitting on them could look down into those pits. Elwist walked to the edge of the pit, looked down and asked "What is this?"

"The battle pit. Every adult fights in the pit at least once each year to prove his or her worth," Ungarn answered.

"Everyone?"

"Anyone over the age of twenty-five is required to enter. Anyone may choose to enter the arena though," Ungarn answered. He sounded proud of the pit. The way the city was built around it seemed to reinforce that feeling of pride.

"Why would anyone enter early?" Ebon asked.

"Winners are given the same status as soldiers for one week. They are fed by the city and can sleep in the barracks. Some of the strongest warriors spend their lives fighting in the arena," Ungarn said.

"And the losers?" Ebon asked.

"Sent home. If they are not too injured they will survive," Ungarn said.

"When is the next battle?" Elwist asked.

"There is one most nights." The statement came from deep booming voice from behind Ebon and he turned to see a man nearly as tall as Roalle though not quite as wide. His face was so covered in small overlapping spots each a slightly different color and Ebon instinctively moved a step closer to Elwist.

"I'd like to watch," Elwist said.

As Elwist spoke Ungarn, Geer and Roalle had dropped to their stomachs and had their face in the dirt in front of the huge man. Ebon understood that reaction as he heard an authority in that man's voice that made it clear he was dangerous and in change. In fact the only reason Ebon didn't fall to his face as well Elwist. The man stared into the eyes of the huge newcomer. It wasn't surprising. Even when talking to Ahr Ain Elwist had never shown fear, only respect, and he certainly wasn't going to show this man more fear or respect than he showed Ahr Ain.

"Only adults are allowed to watch the battles so unless you are willing to enter the pit you cannot watch."

"Can a child make a treaty with your people?" Ebon asked.

"Our people do not believe in treaties. They protect the weak. We may consider a military alliance someone strong enough to be useful or agree not to kill a people who could become useful," The man said.

The Lowmen had not moved to stand up. They seemed terrified of this man, but he showed no sign of being angry or bothered in any way by Elwist's questions or having even noticed the three groveling men.

"My people would like to make an agreement that neither of us will attack the other," Elwist said.

"Why should I agree to give you something I would not give my own people?" The man asked, and he stepped closer to Elwist.

"General. May I speak?" Ungarn asked, lifting his head just enough that he could speak clearly but still looking at the ground.

The General looked down at Ungarn, "Why should I listen to someone who cowers on the ground while these men speak to me as equals?" He asked, then he spit on Ungarn and said, "Speak worm."

"They are a new race General. We do not yet know their strengths and their race numbers only twelve so cannot be expected to match the strength of those who number thousands. They claim to be created by Ahr Ain out of the earth of this world and to have no ancestors from the spirit realm. I believe that unique origin may make them useful," Ungarn said.

"I see," The General said.

Ebon knew Elwist well and he understood the man's pride. He would never be able to admit enough weakness to do what needed to be done. Yet he wouldn't stop Ebon so he moved forward and said, "We do not seek special rights. You allow your children to grow into their power before you force them into this pit. We only ask you for the time to prove our strength."

"You have no status here to ask for that," The General said.

"I will fight in your pit," Elwist said. Ebon didn't like the idea much, but he understood the need. By proving the strength of a single man they could prove it would be worth letting their race become strong and there seemed little doubt that Elwist could defeat any of these sickly men or even their healthier counterparts like Ungarn.

"Our battles are often deadly, and I won't stop someone from killing you," The General said.

"I will require a room until the battle begins as well as clean water and a few pieces of fruit. I have walked a long way and would not want to tarnish your battle by being weak when I enter it," Elwist said. Ebon wasn't listening carefully though, he was looking at The General and he saw a plan in his eyes. He was going to use the pit to kill Elwist.

### Chapter 6

The loyalty that the Orblings show to Sai Tain can be credited largely to the connectivity of their minds. Because their minds are constantly in contact with all Orblings it is all but impossible for any one Orbling to act alone, but I still believe they have free will.

The Prophet

Ebon wasn't allowed to wait with Elwist. Elwist's room was for combatants only, so Ebon was sent out to wander the streets. Both Ungarn and Geer offered to take him through the city. Geer was far less respected in this city, but Ebon trusted him more than Ungarn and so he went with the small hairy man.

In the forest Ebon would have found food easily, but here he had no idea how to get food. Elwist would be fed, but Ebon was hungry as well and they wouldn't give him food unless he fought. Geer agreed that it would be good to eat, but convincing him to take him someplace with food took more effort. Still even after he agreed he repeated several times just how dangerous it was.

Geer led him through more twisting streets and paths so narrow that he had to walk sideways to get through. It opened up into a small courtyard that was filled with people and three doors but no other entrances. Most of them looked similar to Ungarn, with curved spots in a wide variety of sizes, shapes and dark shades of greens, blues and reds and most were moving through a single doorway.

There was no line. Everyone simply forced their way through the doorway by pushing and shoving. Geer moved in front of Ebon and the two of them were able to force their way through the doorway after a few minutes of jostling. Inside there was far more diversity of people than on the city streets. Small hairy people similar to Geer sat in one corner talking in a language Ebon didn't understand and a creature that looked Roalle only smaller and with darker yellow stood at the bar leaving Ebon to wonder how the creature had made it through the alley into this place.

It wasn't the strangest thing in the building though. The strangest thing was a silver orb that floated over the heads of the crowd its metal skin reflecting with the swirls of every color.

"What is that?" Ebon asked and he nodded towards the metal ball.

"It's an Orbling, both creature and weapon that was created by Sai Tain from the soul of a powerful spirit. It survives solely on the power of its magic. The Orblings are the most common users of magic in our lands and all others fear them," Geer said.

"Why is it here?" Ebon asked.

"Socializing it seems, since it needs neither food nor drink," Geer said.

Ebon waited for food, but because the stronger moved to the front of the line he never got closer to the front. Eventually Ebon decided waiting was not worth the effort and turned to walk away. It was then that the small silver orb dropped in front of his head and in a flat toneless voice said "You can't show weakness here."

"I'm just tired of waiting," Ebon said.

"Then take food. Move away and someone will see that as an opportunity to prove their strength," The Orbling said.

Ebon didn't want to get into a fight, and understood why Geer had tried to keep him out of this place. Still, it seemed the best way to avoid a fight was to be aggressive so he shoved one of the men at the front of the bar away and then turned to a scar faced man with half a nose behind the wooden counter who said, "What would you like?"

"Food," Ebon said. He had seen everyone else was given two scoops of something brown from a large bowl and so he assumed that was all they had.

"And a drink," The Orbling added.

The man grunted his half rotted teeth showing as he scooped out two handfuls of slop then poured something yellow into a cup. As he handed them to Ebon the silver orb floated down to the counter, glowed for three second, and then a small round piece of metal appeared on the counter.

The man picked it up, put it to his mouth bit into the coin and said "Where did you get this?"

"A mine, the densest ore was mined by your people but magic can draw it out easily enough," The Orbling said.

People moved out of his way as Ebon carried his food. He had passed their test simply by getting and paying for the food. More importantly, bumping someone with food simply wasted a rare resource making everyone weaker.

Ebon looked into the food for a moment uncertain what it was but the Orbling said, "Are you going to eat?"

"I'm not sure I'm that hungry." Ebon responded as an eye that he hoped was from a fish floated to the top of the thick brown soup and seemed to look at him for a second.

"It's good for you," The Orbling said.

Ebon preferred not eating meat at all, but he had chosen to come here and had a job to do. He picked up the bowl and drank as quickly as he could. It tasted like nothing he had ever eaten before and in addition to the eye he found at least two feathers and a clump of fur.

Halfway through the mush Ebon took a sip of the drink to wash the taste of the stew from his mouth. It tasted worse than the strange meaty soup. It was a sharp acidic taste that burnt his throat and made him feel ill.

He wanted to spit it and vomit at the same time, but he could not allow himself to do that so he said "What is this?"

"Fermented fruit juice," Geer answered.

"Why not drink it fresh?"

"It has effects Lowmen find pleasurable," The Orbling said.

Ebon forced himself to take another small sip with every mouthful of stew which each helping to mask the taste of the other.

As he neared the end of his meal the Orbling said "I didn't just pick you at random. I saw you in the crowd and came to you."

"I suspected," Ebon said.

"You have odd magic. Something I have never sensed before," The orb said.

"I have magic?" Ebon said.

"It appears your people will grow old and die," The Orbling said. It spoke as if it were odd, though Ebon had always known he would die.

"We were created with a finite existence in this world and then we are allowed to go to the spirit realm, but that isn't magic. It's how we were created."

"That my people, all other people, are immortal unless killed was not my point. What intrigues me is that your finite existence gives you the ability to wield death as a tool. You can use your own death to change the world. It may be nearly as powerful as creation magic, but far more immediate and with far less restrictions besides the most obvious."

"I don't understand," Ebon said.

"It appears that you, and perhaps many of your people, can choose to die and by doing so you can make use the magic of your death to bind the world. You could change a place or a people. You could bind an idea or a soul more powerfully that I thought anyone but Ahr Ain could. The only weakness, beyond your own death, is that only a willing sacrifice could truly use the power. No Lowman would sacrifice himself even if he had that power and of course because it isn't creation magic it will get weaker over time," The Orbling said.

"Then their people could be no use to ours," Geer said.

"That magic would give us nothing. You can't force someone to sacrifice themselves and if we tried they would use it against us," The Orbling said.

"And all of my people have it?" Ebon asked.

"I would have to see more of your people, but it seems likely that more than just you can. Yet even if they could very few would. It requires someone strong enough to survive and yet willing to die for someone else," The Orbling said.

"That doesn't explain why you're here?" Ebon said.

"If your people do not remain free the Lowmen will fight an endless and unwinnable war and my people will be destroyed in the process. The Lowmen are willing to do so because they believe the war makes them stronger. My people are not," The Orbling said.

"So you'll help us out of your own self interest," Ebon said.

"Every act is an act of self interest. We are different from the Lowmen though because my race must protect each of us. When their weakest is killed their race becomes stronger, but if one of us is killed we are all diminished," The Orbling said.

"What do you want me to do?"

"Simply come with me and bring your monkey," The Orbling said.

"Do not call me that," Geer said. It wasn't the first time he had been called a monkey, but it was the first time that it had made him angry. It was the first time he had ever seen him get angry and he felt bad for having thought of the man as a monkey.

"Your people and my people are not allied. We are not friends. We do not recognize your alliance with the Lowmen do not test me monkey," the Orbling said.

"I am a Grun. My people were created in the second multitude. You were not created until the spirit war," Geer said. Ebon didn't understand much of that, but there was pride in Geer's voice.

"We do not judge worth by the timing of our creation by an enemy we were created to fight. Your people were the last to join the great alliance, even after the Quani and the Intori. That makes you no more than apes and the lowest of us," the Orbling said.

"Can we get back to our discussion?" Ebon asked.

"You will come and you will make an agreement with Sai Tain," the Orbling said.

Ahr Ain had warned Ebon about this moment. He had told him that no Middleman should ever make a deal with Sai Tain. Even the most simple of agreements could, and likely would, end in disaster. The idea of an agreement with Sai Tain had seemed absurd when He had said it. At most it was a warning to pass on to their children. Except that it wasn't. The warning was for today, yet even knowing that he wasn't supposed to deal with him it didn't seem like he really had any choice. If he didn't talk to Sai Tain all his people would suffer. He would just have to be careful because simply talking couldn't hurt. After all, Ahr Ain would want him to protect his people. "I will speak to Sai Tain," Ebon said, and he felt sick as he said it.
Chapter 7

The Lowmen arenas started as little more than holes in the center of towns. Over the centuries they have become more ritualized and the building more ornate until it has become hard to tell the difference between the temples we build to Ahr Ain and the Lowman arenas, except for the blood.

Obern Ebonson, High Priest

Elwist stood at the edge of the pit looking for the entrance to the pit. As he did two large, armored Lowmen approached one of the young men waiting to enter the pit. The two guards grabbed him by the arms and threw him into the mud and rock filled pit. The men then moved to the next of the men throwing him in as well.

None of the men fought being thrown ten feet into mud and rocks, and yet none of them climbed in themselves. Elwist could only assume the origin of that ritual. Likely, people had fought being thrown into the pit, but fighting would just get you hurt and then thrown in, but by the time people understood that and stopped fighting it had become part of the tradition.

Even without fighting several were injured by the fall, but none were badly hurt. The men and women then stood and walked to the nearest of the wooden poles which were evenly spread around the pit and put their hand on the pole.

By the time the soldiers reached Elwist he understood the arena knew what to do. He allowed himself to be grabbed and thrown into the pit rolling as he struck the ground to avoid any chance of injury. He then stood and moved to one of the open poles. As he held the pole he began to pull and push on it as hard as he could. It was stuck solidly in the ground. These weren't weapons they were part of the ritual, but they were thin enough that he could break them off with some effort, good to know, but if it was unnecessary against these people. It would just make it more likely someone would get injured.

Once everyone had been thrown into the pit The General came to the edge and said "You have all entered this pit willingly and understand the rules of this test are the rules of any battle. As such no man knows what will happen before the battle begin. I would like to indulge you with easy battles, but indulgence leads to weakness. Today you will work together or each struggle alone and die."

Elwist understood. He was the only one being tested in this pit today. The General had given Elwist 11 allies as stand in for his people. Now he would give then an enemy to test if he could make them work together.

A moment later a large wooden box was thrown into the pit. It hit the ground and the branches that it was made of broke and a paw three times the size of a lion's paw broke through the wood. Seven white claws extended from that paw. Each claw was six inches long that paw look like row of knives. It ripped what was left of the box apart revealing a giant cat with white hair that fell down nearly to the ground and two huge teeth ran from each side of its mouth pointing down so it could drive them into the back of its prey.

Elwist had seen a tiger with teeth like that once, but it was tiny compared to this creature. But, it wasn't just the size that made it dangerous it was the look in the things eyes. There was a deep look of intelligence in those eyes. This wasn't an animal, it was intelligent.

Everyone seemed to stop for a moment watching the creature and then it dove forward at the nearest of the men. The Lowman turned as he saw the creature coming and tried to climb up the muddy wall. It waited for the man to turn and then grabbed the man and shook him. The man's neck snapped and he was dead before he hit the ground. The cat didn't begin to eat though it instead spun to face the others.

The attack reinforced what Elwist already knew. The creature was deadly and smart. It knew enough to ignore the man it had just killed and focus on the other targets. It would kill all of them, picking them off one by one until there were not enough people to fight him.

The other Lowmen nearest the cat began to run and Elwist felt sick by the reaction even as he understood why they were running. These people had been trained to give in to anyone with superior power. Now they were faced with a creature more powerful than they were and so had no other reaction but to flee.

The only way he would ever change that reaction was to prove he was strong enough to fight the creature. He needed an edge, so he kicked the wooden pole next to him. After the third blow it splintered and created a spear which was better than Elwist had hoped for, though it still wasn't up to the standards of what he would have taken on a hunt.

The problem now was that the cat wasn't even bothering to attack. It paced back and forth on the far end of the pit while the Lowmen pulled and pushed at each other in an attempt to escape. If it just waited the cat wasn't even going to need to attack. The Lowmen would exhaust and kill themselves without the cat attacking at all.

Elwist couldn't simply charge in though. He waited, crouching in the mud in hopes the cat would forget about him in the heat of battle. He then inched forward whenever the cat looked away. Then he saw his chance. The cat had moved forward a bit further than before. Its side was exposed to him and he acted by instinct throwing the makeshift spear into its side. It missed the stomach where he was aiming and instead drove into one of the creature's front legs. Not the kill shot he had hoped, but there was blood running down its leg and couldn't move as fast. It also drew the attention of the cat which turned to face him.

The cat shook off the spear and then slowly began to move towards Elwist. Knowing he needed a weapon he began to circle around the cat trying to get to his spear, but the cat circled keeping himself between Elwist and the spear. Then suddenly the creature was leaping forward and Elwist dove forward grabbing the spear as the cat went past him only inches above his head.

Spinning to his feet Elwist turned at the same time as the cat looking in its eyes holding the bloody spear. The creature was far too strong for him to beat alone even with the spear so he called out, "We have to fight or we'll all die."

The cat must have recognized the danger or understood the words he spoke because it leaped forward and Elwist threw himself to the side. Paws hit the ground so close to him that mud splattered onto his back and Elwist pulled the spear close and rolled away knowing that if he didn't get help soon he was dead. It was frustrating because he shouldn't have to put his fate in the hands of others and he couldn't even look to see if they were coming.

Someone must have heard Elwist though, because a rock the size of a fist hit bounced off the side of the cat. It hissed and turned its eyes towards the rock, but its face never turned away from Elwist. Then after only a second's hesitation it looked back at him and hissed.

Knowing the Lowmen were watching him Elwist had to go on the offensive and prove it could be hurt. He made a shallow jab with his spear. It caught the creature in the shoulder, barely breaking the skin. That didn't matter though. The bright red blood was clear to the Lowmen and that was enough.

More rocks hit the cat and this time it turned and roared at the Lowmen who were gathering more rocks. The rocks wouldn't hurt it enough to matter, but it recognized the danger of a concentrated attack. That along with the pain of the rocks had rattled the cat and gave Elwist time to climb to his feet and look around.

He saw that three of the Lowmen had broken off the wooden poles as well. That gave him hope, but the Lowmen were not skilled at working together. That was the real test of this arena. The General must have known Elwist would fight, but to win he had to lead them. The difficulty was that he couldn't give orders to the Lowmen. He could only lead by example and so he waited and watched as the creature turned towards one of the other men. Then as soon as it was looking away he would jab at the cat's flank. The other Lowmen recognized that plan immediately and also began to attack whenever its back was turned. Each jab barely broke the skin, but it was enough to make the cat spin leaving it open to another attack and wearing it down.

The cat recognized the strategy more quickly than Elwist had hoped. It ignored the Lowman's attack and rushed forward into Elwist, its head back so that it was driving the long teeth towards Elwist.

The change in attack took Elwist by surprise. It wasn't the most efficient use of those teeth, but he didn't have time to get out of the way. All he could do was twist so that the teeth didn't spear him. Instead, the huge creature plowed into him its head driving him into the mud and stone wall of the arena's pit and making it difficult to breathe though the softness of the mud saved him from the worst injuries.

With Elwist pinned to the wall and lifted its paw. A single slash with those blades could kill Elwist and he tried to twist away from the creature, but it was far stronger than he was. His only chance was the spear that was still in his hand and he drove the weapon into its side. Because there was defense in the blow went deeper than the other attacks. That forced the cat back a few inches, enough for Elwist to take a deep breath.

He lifted his feet pushing at the chest of the cat with his back against the wall. It was desperation, but no matter how strong the cat was the ground was still muddy and when it tried to lift its paw to attack it lost its grip and slid backwards. As the cat moved back Elwist slipped down the wall causing Elwist to lose any defense he had.

One of the Lowmen moved forward seeming to see that as a chance to attack. It was a mistake, but one that saved Elwist's live. The cat turned allowing Elwist freedom of movement and the seven claws cut the chest of the man who collapsed to the ground dropping the wooden spear and Elwist rolled to the side grabbing the spear the dying man had dropped. That put him practically under the cat without time to move away and so he drove the weapon upward.

The roughly broken wood of the weapon drove into the neck of the cat. Blood ran down the spear and the cat made a swipe at him cutting several shallow, but painful, gashes across his chest that were non fatal because of the injury of the cat.

There was a cheering from around the pit and as the creature slowly wobbled and the collapsed. As the cat fell the excitement of battle waned. That gave Elwist time to remember why he was here. This wasn't about the battle, it was about proving himself so no matter how tired he was he pushed himself to his feet and looked as powerful as he could as they pulled him out of the pit.

Still holding his makeshift spear Elwist pushed through the crowd as every one of them tried to touch him. He spotted The General as he went and turned towards him. The man had tried to kill him, but anger wouldn't gain him anything. If he tried to kill The General it would be because it was the best strategic decision and today it wasn't strategic.

"What the hell was that?" Elwist asked as he stopped in front of The General.

"I wanted a good show. We have visitors."

"So you try to kill one of us," Elwist said. The spear began to shake in his clenched fist as he fought the anger.

The General allowed a mock look of confusion to come over his face and said, "No. Not you. The Orblings have been arriving for two days. There are more of them here now than have been in two hundred years."

"What is an Orbling?" Elwist asked.

"A race of weapons created by Sai Tain. They are rarely seen by our people except in battle and almost never more than one at a time. Their race can barely reproduce so they can't afford to lose anyone."

"Weapons?"

"They were wizards in the spirit realm that were changed by Sai Tain into creatures which have nothing left but magic. Worse they are completely loyal to Sai Tain and not me," The General said.

"So you wanted to give them a bloodbath."

"I wanted to show them our strength."

"Or that I wasn't strong enough."

"I had faith you could survive."

"And if I hadn't?"

"The object of the pit is not to ensure people survive, it is to eliminate the weak. You proved you are not weak and I lost a creature that creation mages have been working on for over a hundred years."

"I understand, and if you try anything like that again I will kill you," Elwist said.

The General looked down at him his and his gray eyes flashed with a white energy and Elwist had to stuff down fear as The General said, "If you challenge me I will accept."

"You made no formal challenge when you tried to kill me, so I will not make a formal challenge. If I decide to kill you, you won't know until I have attacked," Elwist said. He was surrounded by Lowmen and a huge man who clearly had a lot of skill. If Elwist wasn't careful he would be killed now by the simple number. The problem was that if he couldn't earn the respect of The General then the Lowmen would never be anything but enemies because the Lowmen couldn't respect someone who wasn't strong and they couldn't allow anyone they didn't respect to live.

The General stepped forward so his chest was inches from Elwist's face and said "You have courage little man."

"I was created by Ahr Ain to protect my people. What were you created for General?" Elwist asked.

"I was created to lead the armies of Ahr Ain in the spirit war and did so for an eternity before time existed and will continue to lead armies for ages after you have died," The General said.

"I didn't know Ahr Ain created spirits as warriors," Elwist said. He was genuinely surprised assuming that General was a title he had given himself.

"There is nothing that exists but what Ahr Ain has created, and he has not changed," The General said. It was true of course and Elwist felt stupid that it took an enemy of Ahr Ain to remind him of that.

"I think it's time for me and Ebon to discuss our agreement with you," Elwist said.

"Your friend left the city two hours ago," The General said.

Elwist's first reaction was that The General was lying. That he had killed Ebon because he assumed Elwist would die in the arena. He quickly decided quickly that wasn't what had happened. It didn't match anything he had seen from this man. This left the even stranger possibility that Ebon had actually left on his own. But Ebon would have died before abandoned Elwist unless he had found some way he could protect other people.
Chapter 8

So far as I have seen the only survival trait of the Grass Woggs is their ability to breed.

Unegorn, Lowman Wizard

Neither Ungarn nor Roalle seemed bothered by the disappearance of Geer and Ebon. Geer's job had been a guide in the forest and now that they had left the woods and when he asked about Ebon Ungarn had said that each man was free to use is life as he wished.

"I don't understand how you can be so cavalier. How do you know they went willingly?" Elwist asked.

"The General said he went with an Orbling. Orblings don't kidnap people and they don't answer to anyone who does. If he's with the Orblings he's far safer than we are," Ungarn said.

"I guess I should go home. The General won't deal with me," Elwist said. He had only got out of the city because of the rules of the arena.

"There are other forces. Not as strong as The General but all of them are looking for a chance to challenge him and while they are not strong compared to The General, they are stronger than your race," Roalle said. Elwist didn't understand Roalle yet. The man was powerful, but he didn't seem to be a warrior. In fact if anything he reminded him of Keppler or Quintara. He was afraid of almost nothing but not a warrior. He might even be wise something Elwist had never expected from the man.

Walking out of the city felt too much like retreat to Elwist. Elwist disliked the idea of retreat, but he couldn't attack the city alone. He could spend the rest of his life killing Lowmen, but he wouldn't kill enough to really matter before he got old. He needed help. If Rasputant could convince the Highmen that could work, but Elwist's only option was the Lowman lands and so he continued to search.

They had walked for an hour before Elwist saw the first of the creatures. There were dozens of the tiny creatures circling them. None of them were more than two feet tall and the largest weighed no more than twenty five pounds. They had skin that blended almost perfectly into the green and yellow of the tall grass making them almost invisible. Their arms were tiny and their bodies almost round and the only thing dangerous looking about them were their long thin faces that held long tiny needle-like teeth.

Elwist wanted to shout a warning, but he couldn't. Warning the others would also warn their tiny attackers and so he simply prepared for the attack. Yet as he prepared more of the creatures continued to appear. With so many it became far easier to see them. Then suddenly a dozen of the small creatures were in wide muddy brown path. They were all naked and one of the women was carrying a baby no bigger than Elwist's thumb. The rest carried small rocks and tiny spears hardly bigger than twigs. Elwist wasn't certain any number of those weapons could kill him, but he wasn't going to take any chances.

"What are those?" Elwist asked as he lifted his spear.

"Grass Woggs. Barely intelligent, barely useful, but they breed like rabbits and are allied with my people," Roalle said.

"Why would they stop us if they are you are allied with them?" Elwist asked. There had been no real sign of aggression, but they carried weapons so he had to assume it was possible.

"They won't attack without being provoked and even then only to defend themselves though they are a bit more dangerous than they appear. They eat grass and bugs and generally avoid people unless they have a message. They do have a good memory for messages though and are too stupid for anyone to convince to give a message to the wrong person," Roalle said.

"We deliver message," the Grass Wogg said. The creature then straightened his back and in a very different voice it said "Roalle, your people need you. You must return home immediately."

"Why?" Elwist asked.

"We gave message as it was sent to tell," The Wogg said. The other Woggs around him became almost immediately nervous.

"Why do they need him?" Elwist asked again, but he understood now what Roalle meant when he said they were stupid. They could follow simple directions, but beyond that they didn't seem to understand much.

"He is needed," the creature said, but he was clearly upset by the question.

"My people are likely preparing for war. I was only allowed to leave because of my magic," Roalle said.

"What type of magic?" Elwist asked. None of the men had said before that Roalle knew magic, but the truth was none of the three men they had traveled with really said anything about themselves. The only thing he knew was that there was something special about each of them. Ahr Ain would not have ordained them to be the first to find them if they were not in some way important.

"Creation," Roalle said, speaking quiet and there was shame in his voice. Perhaps there was some racial aversion to magic, but if there was it seemed to have been overcome by the need his people had for him.

"If you don't mind me asking..."

"I can change animals and people. It's the same as Chart's magic with plants, but it works on animals and people," Roalle said.

"Could you change me?" Elwist asked.

"Like any creation magic it begins very weak, but it grows stronger over time. It can take generations for effects to really appear and isn't as simple to predict as what will happen to people as with plants. My magic can have random effects. They are usually beneficial but they can have odd side effects and because of that most of my people refuse my magic."

"What would it do?"

Roalle stretched out his huge hand and grasp Elwist's forehead his hands wrapping almost entirely around his head. There was a chill that ran down his body. It was colder than jumping in the river in the winter. "You are different than any race I have seen before."

"What was that?"

"I have used the magic. Your children will be stronger than they would have been, but the magic of your race interacts with mine. That may make it more unpredictable. Most will simply be stronger, others may have strange magic or abilities no one else has. Perhaps you will even see the first changes in your children," Roalle said.

"What if I didn't want you to use your magic on me?" Elwist asked. He liked the idea of his children having power because he knew it was his family who would protect their people. The only problem was that he didn't like those he didn't trust making decisions for him.

"We believe the world should be made stronger. Once I determined you were strong my philosophies made in necessary for me to ensure your offspring become stronger. I acted now because I must leave and there is no other time," Roalle said.

"You are bound to me. I gave you no permission to leave," Ungarn said.

"I am an apprentice not a slave. My people were of the first multitude."

"So you will become an oath breaker," Ungarn said.

"If Roalle leaves I will go with him," Elwist said. Ungarn would not leave Elwist alone, he was certain of that. So, if he went with Roalle then Ungarn would go as well.

"You have no say here," Ungarn said.

"I have say over myself," Elwist said.

"Roalle will not break his oath to leave," Ungarn said.

Elwist turned to Roalle and said "Would you care to tell me where your home is so I can offer my aid to them?"

Roalle blinked twice once horizontally and then again a second eyelid almost clear that blinked vertically. Then without a word he pointed northeast.

Ungarn's smile disappeared and he said, "We will go to Roalle's people."

Roalle put his hand only Elwist shoulder and said "I swear an oath; so long as I am alive my people shall not harm this man or any of his kind."

Ungarn scowled at the two as they walked towards Roalle's village. As they went the giant hand of the lizard on Elwist's shoulders sent chills up and down Elwist's body. Each was a bit less cold than the last, but Elwist knew what it meant. The Weengo was repaying Elwist with the only thing he had. He was pouring his magic into Elwist.
Chapter 9

It is easy to underestimate the intelligence of the Sots because of their other impressive aspects, but those who have studied them insist they are as smart as any man.

Krinden, Highman Scholar

There was no value in telling Xeon and Rasputant they were being followed. They were already moving as fast as they could, and if he didn't tell them then when they fell exhausted to the ground they could sleep without worry.

From what he had seen there were about twenty-five Lowmen. A scouting party, but one bigger than any he had seen before. It was possible they were the same group that had attacked the village, but Chart didn't think so. A group that small would require at least one wizard in order to capture the city and a wizard would have used magic to catch them already. There were also very few wizards in the Lowman lands and most of them were too powerful and paranoid to come into Highman lands. It was more likely that they had simply split off from the larger army to cause trouble. Lowmen weren't above starting forest fires and poisoning water simply to cause problems.

The real difficulty was that Chart had not come this way before and so there were none of the patches of plants which would solve the problem unless they had spread further than he thought and even if they had he wouldn't know they were here.

Since there were too many Lowmen to fight that left only one real choice. The mountains were filled with narrow paths and dangers that would make it easier to avoid the Lowmen. It was also the fastest way to his people and they needed to be warned more than ever. There were other towns other places that needed defending and if the Lowmen followed them they wouldn't be hurting anyone else.

Chart moved into the steep hills that led into the mountains and began to search the cliffs looking for a path that didn't look like it ended abruptly, but it still had to be difficult enough the Lowmen couldn't to follow easily.

"We should visit the mountains," Xeon said. At the same time that Chart was certain he had found the path. That was something Xeon did disturbingly often. It reminded Chart of his brother when they were young and he wished he was back from his expedition even if Cheen was more trouble than he was worth most of the time.

"They are unexplored and dangerous," Chart said. He had expected to find a place for them to hide and let the Lowmen follow him into the mountains then return to their home. They were strong and understood the woods better than most of his people but he could travel faster alone.

"Which is why my people need to know more about them. We may need to move there," Xeon said.

Chart hadn't considered that but it was a reasonable plan. Living in the mountains would be far harder than the village, but that could be an asset. No one was interested in lands which were hard to live in while there were far easier places nearby so they would be ignored and hard lands made for hard people. It would take some effort, but he had little doubt that they could find a valley where a few hundred people could live and once there they could make it reasonably safe.

"I could help create food that will grow easily in the mountains," Chart said. There had to be some peaceful remote valley in the mountains with enough animals to support them for generations letting them slowly grow outward. Then when they were ready they could send small groups out like the Highmen had and grow slowly and safely. Thinking about it Chart wondered why they were not created there by Ahr Ain.

Yet because he hadn't Chart had an excuse to cross the mountains without telling them about the Lowmen. So Chart continued towards the mountains and as they went Chart saw another of the Lowmen in the bushes, but it wasn't Chart who began moving faster it was Xeon.

"Do not run," Chart said. His voice hushed in hopes the Lowmen would not hear it. Running from a Lowman was like running from a lion; it tended to make you look like prey. Besides, so long as they didn't think they had been seen they may be willing to wait to attack.

The Lowmen continued to follow from the bushes as they reached the narrow path it became impossible for them to remain hidden. Then the spot covered men in ragged clothing and wooden spears began to move out of the forest. They were drenched in sweat and most were thin, but most importantly they were not working together. They were fighting to rush up the path in a frenzy of excitement for battle. Each was desperate to be the first to make it up the path and one was even knocked off a fifteen foot ledge.

The fighting allowed the three of them to get further ahead of the Lowmen so that they were no longer in sight and the Lowmen had to follow their trail and that made Chart feel more comfortable. In the woods alone he could have simply lost them all, but there were far less choices here and he didn't know the land as well. That meant that eventually they were going to catch them. That meant that he could only protect the Middlemen and so he allowed them to move ahead of him.

As they ran down the path Chart picked the more difficult path each time there was a choice. Those paths led them on an upward twisting path past one peak and towards the top of the next. He followed a twisting river for several miles and up one section so steep he had to crawl. Still, every time they slowed down to catch their breath or grab a few handfuls of food the Lowmen were still there.

As the others became more exhausted Chart began to search for the place to make his stand. He needed to find a narrowing of the path that would make it impossible for the Lowmen to use their numbers to kill him.

Then a strange thing happened. Chart saw a wide clear path. There were stones that looked almost like this road had been built except no one should have been here. Exhausted and ready for an easier path Chart turned down the wide path. The valley was almost ideal for the Middlemen he thought. The river moved fast enough it likely wouldn't freeze and yet it kept the entire area green.

As he was considering he saw a six inch long rodent with a mouth twice as big as any normal rat and long black hair that drug along the ground. It appeared out of a perfectly round hole in one of the large stones and ran across the path to another, bigger hole. Chart stopped as he saw it and took a step back and had to resist the urge to run into the hands of the Lowmen. It was a Sot. But it couldn't be a Sot. Sots were far rare and nearly impossible to kill. More importantly, they wouldn't be found in the middle of the mountains. Sots were created to protect important places and things. They guarded spirit weapons and the cages of the most dangerous of creatures. There was no reason for one to just be here. Then as he had finally convinced himself that it was just a rat he saw another appear from a different hole.

Even more bizarre was that the Sots did not seem to care that they were there or even show any interest. The Sots should have been attacking or at least gathering their full strength, but all he saw were more of them coming in and out of similar holes in the stone. There were enough Sots here to destroy an army. What could possibly be here that was so important it would need that many Sots?

"What are those?" Rasputant asked.

Rasputant was too good at reading people for Chart to avoid the truth. "Sots. Guardians of things are too dangerous for men to have," he said.

"So they won't attack unless we try to take it?" Xeon asked, but it wasn't really a question. It was also odd because Sots should have attacked anyone they didn't know who came too close to anything they guarded.

"Or if we stay in one place to long. They aren't stupid though. They are nearly as intelligent as a man and work together. The only danger is that all of that intelligence is focused on a single job," Chart said.

"There are a lot of them," Rasputant said.

"More than I have ever heard of being in one place. Perhaps more than in all of the Highman lands. It could explain why people don't come out of the mountains," Chart said. "Well, we can't turn back because of the Lowmen, so we go forward," Xeon said.

Chart looked around more carefully. He saw the Sots and the stones they lived in. The long narrow pass and he knew what he had to do. What he had been born to do. "You run, I'm going to deal with the Lowmen," Chart said.

The two men looked at each other and then Xeon said, "We'll wait at the edge of the mountains for as long as we can."

"Keep moving and leave the pass as quickly as possible. Keep moving and the Sots shouldn't attack. If this works no one will be following you," Chart called after them. There were a hundred other things he should warn them about, most importantly how dangerous his people could be to anyone who wasn't like them, but there wasn't time.

Whether it was because they were Lowmen or simply the number of men appearing the Sots reacted differently to the Lowmen. Yet, they still didn't attack Chart. They must have been told not to attack a Highman, but why? That had never been the case before because. Those weapons protected by the Sots were protected from both sides. So rather than get involved in something he might survive he simply leaped onto one of the largest of the rocks and watched.

Chart had expected the Lowmen to flee or spread out and try to move past the Sots, but they simply marched into the creatures. Even worse, for the Lowmen, was that they began to attack the Sots. Chart forgot sometimes how young most of the Lowmen soldiers were. Most of these men were less than a hundred years old and not as well trained as Highmen troop who would still be guarding a city wall at that age.

The Sots fell to the attack easily. Chart had known they would because that is what Sots did. They were slow and appeared weak when you first saw them. It didn't matter though because by the time the Lowmen were attacking the second wave of Sots the first wave was reviving. The only difference was that they were almost twice as large as before and considerably faster. Their hair was no longer absurdly long and their look far less comical as well. The largest of the Sots attacked driving inch long fangs into the legs of any Lowman they could reach. Chart almost felt sorry for the Lowmen, especially since they showed no sign of understanding what the Sots were.

The Lowmen continued to attack, killing the Sots a second and even third time. One even may have stayed dead for a while as a spear drove through it into the ground and was left by the Lowmen. The others continued to grow, one becoming nearly as large as a man though it still looked more like a rat.

Nearly half of the Lowmen were killed before the others realized that the Sots were not actually dying, or more technically coming back from the dead and stronger each time they did. It was the nature of the creatures. Half flesh and half spirit when you killed the physical half it also killed the spiritual half, and like all creatures that spirit half would become flesh and the flesh would become spirit. They were simple, elegant and almost impossible to kill.
Chapter 10

There were times in the spirit war when The Dragons were more feared that Sai Tain. They were more powerful than any single spirit, except Sai Tain, and were far more active on the battlefield. Their only real weakness was that they didn't like each other anymore than anyone else.

Chor, Spiritman

Xeon slowed as he moved through the mountains allowing Rasputant to keep up without becoming tired. The only problem was that it also helped the Sots keep up. The creatures had followed them, but Xeon had seen no sign they were dangerous. Still it seemed clear they were intelligent because they were forcing them to follow a single path through the valley. That wouldn't be a problem except it led to the one place Xeon was certain he didn't want to go, the entrance to a cave near the center of the valley. The entrance was six feet high and four feet wide. But as much as he didn't want to go there it seemed as if it was his only choice so Xeon rushed inside.

As he rushed into the cave Xeon hit a huge green face and fell backwards. It was a leathery face, nearly six feet wide and almost ten feet tall. It had deep golden eyes and its smile was twice as wide as Xeon with far more teeth than made Xeon comfortable each of them sharp, a foot long teeth and curved inward so that once it had attacked it would be all but impossible to escape that mouth.

"Welcome to my home," It said. A rush of steam and hot air blowing over Xeon and made him even more uncomfortable than the three rows of teeth that appeared in the mouth.

Rasputant began to slowly back away from the creature but Xeon didn't move. This was what the Sots had been defending, but that didn't explain why they had forced them into the cave they were supposed to be protecting. Xeon needed to understand that before they left.

The cave was larger than the one in their village, but The Dragon's back still touched the top of the stone. Each of its four legs was chained to the wall with chains as thick as Xeon's arm yet even that seemed absurdly small next to this creature.

"How did you get in here?" Xeon asked.

"I could ask you the same. Nothing has been allowed in this cave but me for three hundred years. There aren't even birds or rats to eat," The Dragon said.

"We walked in," Rasputant said. Xeon understood what was really happening though. The Sots had brought them here and he could only assume that they had done that for a reason. Still, whatever that reason was it remained hidden to Xeon.

"If you would be so kind to unlock my chains I would be eternally grateful," The Dragon said. Its voice was powerful, the air almost pushing Xeon back. Yet there was kindness in more than just the words.

"There is nothing to unlock. There are simply chains which are attached to the shackles and extend into the stone wall," Rasputant said. Xeon had not looked at the chains carefully but he knew Rasputant was right. The value of the metal had likely drawn Rasputant's eye even before he had fully determined the threat of The Dragon. Xeon looked down and was surprised because the links of the chain showed no sign of ever being anything but a chain.

"They are not real chains but spiritual chains. He can open it," The Dragon said and nodded his head towards Xeon the movement so big Xeon had to move to avoid being struck by the short rounded horns that protruded from the dragon's forehead forming an arc of bone across the peak of its head.

"I will consider it, but I need to know more about why you are here," Xeon said.

He suspected he knew. Ahr Ain had told stories every night about the world and The Dragon appeared in many of those stories. Yet it was important to ask the question because a lie could tell him as much as the truth. A lie or even a skewed version of the truth would mean that Xeon could not trust this creature and the type of lie could tell him what the creature's motives were.

"You know the truth. You can sense it so lying to you would be counterproductive, but pretending I didn't know that would also be dishonest. I was placed here by Ahr Ain after my death in the spirit war. Chained for all eternity or until someone shows me mercy to a creature all feared and who deserves no mercy," The Dragon said.

"So you are asking me to undo the works of Ahr Ain?" Xeon said. As he spoke he saw Rasputant examining the cave. There was water that filled a pool and allowed enough light in to reflect off that water. The Dragon could even see outside through the cave door though only a small sliver of one valley. It was a prison but the only real punishment Xeon saw was the inability to leave.

"Ahr Ain wants people to think for themselves. That is why he gave you free will and the ability to release me. If he wanted me sealed like Sai Tain and The Nameless One he would have put me in one of those prisons," The Dragon said. Xeon also knew Ahr Ain believed in mercy, but only if someone repented of those things that made the person require mercy. How was Xeon to know if this creature was repentant or simply a good liar?

"He wouldn't have guarded you so well or chained you so powerfully if you weren't dangerous," Xeon said.

"I am dangerous; more dangerous than you could imagine. I was one of the three dragons who were the most powerful of Sai Tain's lieutenants. Our strength was greater than The General though he was better at leading troops and so ultimately more important because even in Sai Tain's army some virtues were important," The Dragon said.

"What is your name?" Xeon asked. He knew of the three Dragons who had been reshaped by Sai Tain in the spirit war. That they were powerful creatures in a war when everyone was powerful and used as proof that Sai Tain could be creative just like Ahr Ain, but he had never heard a name.

"Gawn Uhn Ketis," The Dragon said. Nobility and even a bit of pride entered into his voice.

"I can call you Gawn then," Xeon said.

"Call me what you wish, but no one ever used my name. Even my brothers spoke of me only as the green dragon and only on those rare occasions when it mattered which of us acted. And truthfully it's more of a title in high common than a name," Gawn said.

"Then you have no true name?" Rasputant asked as he pulled at the chain which was fused into the wall. It was thick enough that Rasputant had trouble lifting the metal and fused into the wall.

"What is in a name? I am what I am no matter what I am called. Is Sai Tain truly the highest spirit because his name means that? Some would say that he has kept the title while having given up the position that allowed him to hold it," Gawn said.

"There is value in a name. A good name can make you a lord, earn you respect or even fear," Rasputant said. He could find the value of anything and was usually right. Yet Xeon had hear stories of the spirit wars from Ahr Ain and many of the spirits Ahr Ain had created during and before the war had names that were nothing more than their title and Ahr Ain itself was only a description of the creator. Yet when people spoke of The Dragon, The Prophet or even Sai Tain everyone knew it was a specific person. They had titles because they had been created knowing what they were and never needed any other identity. Yet Xeon saw that Gawn was different. He had not been made The Dragon by Ahr Ain and choosing a name it could help him find a new path.

"What will you do if freed," Xeon asked.

"I am uninterested in returning to slavery to Sai Tain which leaves me little in the way of guidance. Yet my only plan is to remain free of those who would try to control me," The Dragon said.

"And why do you believe I will release you?" Xeon asked.

"The spirit that I was formed from was very powerful and wise. He could see prophecy. That power was twisted into my strength as I was meant to be nothing but a weapon but a fragment of what I was remains. Sometimes I see bits of the future. It is not powerful, but it has shown me the face of the one who will release me. It is your face."

"Why would I take such a risk?"

"If freed I would owe a debt that could not be repaid so long as I was free because all which freedom gave me would come from that gift," Gawn said.

"We both know you could lie so I will free you. I have no proof of prophecy or your good will," Xeon said.

"That I could lie does not mean I am. I can speak an oath in high common if that will make you feel more comfortable."

Xeon understood the offer. High common was the language Ahr Ain used to create the universe and the language of all spirits. That power of creation still existed in those words so the magic in anyone who spoke high common would attempt to make what they said true. For one with great magic like The Dragon an oath in high common would be difficult to break.

Yet its power was bound and that may limit the power of high common as well. So Xeon stepped forward to examine the creature more carefully, but The Dragon moved. It was slow, but the creature was so large that Xeon and he was forced to step back to avoid being knocked down and as he stepped back he put his hand on one of the chains to keep his balance.

He felt the cold metal of the chain for only a second and then his hand slid through the metal chain like it was nothing but air. The lack of resistance unbalanced him forcing him to try to grab the chain but wherever he touched the chain it simple disappeared.

The chain continued to fall apart while The Dragon turned its head toward Xeon. It took a deep breath and its body seemed to grow and The Dragon said "That chain bound my physical strength. Perhaps with my full strength I can pull myself free."

The chain on the other front leg stretched tightly and there was a sound of rock being strained, but he chain held and Xeon knew it would not soon break. Gawn might break himself free given enough time but it wouldn't be today unless Xeon removed the other chains.

"It seems you will have to release the others as well," Gawn said. The Dragon must know Xeon hadn't meant to free him, but Xeon didn't know if that movement had been intentional or a trick and trusted The Dragon even less now.

"You will be able to break free eventually due to what I have done, and I believe that may be a good thing, but before I free you completely I must know more. I will travel to the Highmen and ask their advice because if you are an enemy I will at least be gone when you escape," Xeon said.

"I recognize the wisdom. I would certainly not trust my life to someone such as me. And do not feel rushed. I have waited hundreds of years without sleep or food, without anything but the Sots to pass the time. Another few months of anticipation are hardly a burden."

"I'm sorry you have to wait," Xeon said. The odd thing was that he was sorry. It wasn't just that he disliked seeing anyone bound like an animal or the knowledge that Gawn's gratitude could save his people. It was that at some deep level he felt a kinship with The Dragon. He felt a link that was unlike the bond between anyone else. It was not as deep as that with Ebon or his other friends, but it was more complete in some way.

As they stepped out of the cave Rasputant turned and looked at Xeon and said, "You have to negotiate more. He could help us trade with every people in the world by flying us to them. We could become the wealthiest of races and that power would protect our people and who knows what else he can do," Rasputant said.

"I will not charge for mercy and I will not have a slave even if the slave chooses to become one. If I free him he will be free of me as well as the chains. If he chooses to aid us it will not be out of any debt but out of friendship," Xeon said. As he spoke Rasputant looked back at the cave and Xeon realized that The Dragon could likely hear them. It was even likely that he had intended for The Dragon to hear it.

Outside of the cave Xeon expected the Sots to stop them, but they a message to do and so Xeon began to walk towards the path that led out of the valley. The Sots turned to look at the two men but didn't attack or move to block their path and so he stepped over the first of the creatures, careful not to step on its tail. It looked up as he stepped over, but it didn't attack. Then as he moved over the next a path began to open and soon they were walking safely away from the cave and deeper into the mountains.
Chapter 11

The unnatural merging of Highmen and Lowmen created a race in many ways the mirror of the Middlemen, except because they were formed unnaturally they had the brutality of the Lowmen and the devotion of the Highmen. This created a race with the potential to become a race far more dangerous than either of its parent races.

Gurron, King of Lower Corrin

As Ebon walked across the seemingly endless carpet of grass the temple suddenly appeared. It came in a literal blink of an eye. There was nothing but a single small tree then there was a black spire that stood taller than anything Ebon had ever seen.

The black was unlike any black Ebon could have imagined. It was darker than the blackest night and made the area around it darker merely for its presence.

A village surrounded the temple. It was tiny compared to the Lowman village with no more than a dozen wooden huts. Still, it held more people than everyone Ebon had ever met a month ago and it hadn't been there any more than the temple had been.

As he neared the temple Ebon saw people. He assumed they were Lowmen at first, and some were, but there were others as well. He saw twenty-five Highman, all men, held to the black walls of the tower by the same darkness that made up the wall and it seemed to be enveloping them. One of them had a blank band across his face, another was held by his legs and all of them had their mouths open in silent screams.

In the village he saw the Highman women. They were chained together and covered with cuts and bruises. Their eyes were red as were the splatters of blood that covered their clothes and skin. Ebon didn't know what the Lowmen were planning with these captured enemies but he was certain he didn't want to know.

The Orbling moved through the small village without slowing to look at the Highmen or the Lowmen and Ebon wondered at that thought how it did see or if it did. The creature simply glided into the blackness of the building as if it were not there.

Ebon stopped at the edge of the building. It had seemed easy before. He was simply having a meeting. He would listen and then politely leave. But he hadn't counted on this place. The idea of entering it made him ill. There was fear, but it was more than that. This was a place of darkness even beyond the fear that he would be enveloped by this place in the same way the Highmen were being enveloped.

Still, nothing had actually changed. He had always known that Sai Tain was an enemy and an even one, but the possibility of protecting his people made this meeting to important to simply walk away now so he walked forward putting his hand out to touch the wall. It was as solid as any stone but it was also as warm as a man's skin and Ebon wondered if it might not be in some way alive.

After circling the black temple three times and watching the Lowmen abusing the Highmen women he saw a small crack forming in the wall. It was too small to pass through, but it was growing by the second and Ebon waited only a moment before he was able to slide through the crack and was enveloped by the darkness of the temple with Geer only a moment behind him.

The only light inside the temple were Orblings which glowed a dull light just bright enough to allow him to see the walls and would be invisible in any other light. The walls were made of blood red and blue and filled with misshapen faces that formed and disappeared slowly each with a twisted into soundless screams. Even the floor shifted under his feet forming the same twisted faces.

Ebon tried not to step on the faces while at the same time trying not to think too much about what they were. Yet he suspected he knew. These were creatures that had been twisted in the same way the Orblings had been but to something far less human. They were also what the Highmen outside were likely to become.

It might have taken seconds or hours to walk through the twisting hallways but Ebon couldn't have said which. It was impossible to remember anything specific about this place and time didn't seem to work the same here. That changed when he reached the giant spherical room with black ball floating in its center and dozen's of Orbling spinning around it flecks of black energy seemed to flow out of them and into the much larger orb.

In every way but size and color it was an Orbling. It was as black as the outside of the temple and at least ten feet across. "A rare visitor," A voice said. It appeared out of the air and not directly connected to the Orb, but having spent time with an Orbling Ebon understood it was their way. He also knew it was this giant creature because it with all the humanity that the Orbling's voice lacked. It was nicest and kindest voice that Ebon had ever heard, yet he knew it was deadly beyond anything he could imagine. This was no more an Orblings than Geer was a monkey.

"What are you?" Ebon asked.

"I am the Great Spirit, in an orb that holds only a fraction of my power," The voice said.

"And this is your prison?"

"No physical prison could hold me. This is an amplifier of power began by Orblings and increased by my power. It grows stronger and eventually will allow me to break open my prison and touch the world with my full strength," Sai Tain said. There were lies twisted into what this creature said and a deep seeded wrongness in everything it was, but Ebon didn't know what was true and what wasn't.

"My people wish an agreement that you will not seek to destroy us," Ebon said.

"I do not make alliances. People pledge allegiance to me. Why should you be put above those who have been loyal since before time began?" Sai Tain asked.

"My people were created by Ahr Ain to decide the war between the Lowmen and the Highmen and that means you can't afford for us to be enemies because as enemies we would almost certainly choose to fight alongside the Highmen against a common enemy."

"So Ahr Ain has given me a weapon and you ask me to not wield it," Sai Tain said.

"I ask you to not force my people to flee into the hands of the Highmen," Ebon said.

"I warn you, do not trust the Highmen. They are more fanatical than any of my followers. If they believe you are less than totally loyal to Ahr Ain they will eliminate your entire race. My people will only kill enough to make you stronger," The Great Spirit said.

"I trust my people and I trust Ahr Ain. I do not trust you and I do not trust the Highmen," Ebon said, but even as he said it he knew what he had done wrong in coming here. He had failed to trust Ahr Ain and tried to take control himself. As he understood that he almost ran from the room, but it was too late. He was here and he didn't know if he could leave even if he tried.

"Your people will be offered power, position and anything else you could want and some will accept. Does your race not have one person who would take a bribe?" Sai Tain asked.

Ebon knew immediately that the creature meant Rasputant. He had always cared more for things than people and that idea scared him. If the Highmen saw that in him it could cause a lot of problems.

"So, we should trust your mercy? The mercy that says the strong should destroy the weak."

"That is not my way. That is the way of the General and his advisers. They believe they must strengthen themselves by removing all that is weak. I do not need to be stronger and care little if others become stronger."

"Then why not leave this place?"

"This body is not yet ready. There are other beings in this world with as much strength as this body can hold. Better to wait and hide what strength I have until there is none who could stand against me."

"But your strength does not need to be your own. Your Lowmen would serve you as do the Orblings," Ebon said. This creature was manipulating the world he was certain he just didn't know how.

"The Lowmen cannot be trusted. They are only controlled through power and fear of that power. More importantly, this world is not my goal. It is only a recruiting ground for the war in the spirit realm. With enough troops I will bind Ahr Ain in the prison he now holds me and rule the spirit realm which is a far greater realm than this physical prison that so many cling to," Sai Tain said.

"But no matter how powerful you are Ahr Ain still created you so is clearly more powerful. He allowed the war only to test the will of his servants," Ebon said. He knew it was true, but he only had Ahr Ain's word on its truth and he was interested in how the enemy of Ahr Ain had convinced so many he could win a war against the creator of everything.

"Ahr Ain has power, but he limits himself. He will not lie, cheat, or even destroy what he has created because he loves it. I do not limit myself so eventually my power will win out. Once I am freed I will be able to do those things Ahr Ain will not and that will allow me victory."

"How can you be freed?" Ebon asked. He would not free the creature, but knowing how would be useful.

"It is easier to destroy than bind. My power was once completely contained but my Orblings created a crack and once a crack existed some of my power was freed as well. I use that power to weaken the chains which hold me. It is slow, but each day more of my power is freed and I can weaken the chains faster. Soon they will break and I will return to the spirit realm and fight Ahr Ain again."

"Why bring me here if you care so little for this world?" Ebon asked.

"The Orblings brought you not I. Still, you are an interesting diversion for one who has been trapped for as long as this world has existed," Sai Tain said.

"Will you give us your word that you will not allow anyone under your control to attack us?" Ebon asked.

"Nothing is free," The Great Spirit said.

"What do you want?" Ebon asked.

"You will travel to a valley with a message and return his reply to me," Sai Tain said.

"You have thousands of servants send one of them."

"The place you must go is closed to all who serve me. It is open only to those who serve Ahr Ain," The spirit lord said.

Ebon knew he should say no. This was clearly a trap, yet he saw no way to avoid it. If he didn't go along with this he would likely be killed and his people would not even know of this meeting. More importantly if he did this it might help to protect his people and get him free of Sai Tain at least for a while. Yet he still had the nagging warning in the back of his head. Any deal with Sai Tain, no matter how good it seemed was against the will of Ahr Ain.

"Who is it?" Ebon asked.

"It is a spirit both I and Ahr Ain care for," Sai Tain said.

"Ahr Ain cares for everyone," Ebon said.

"I do not. The message is simple. I must know if I free him if he will join me?"

"I will consider it, but you will have to tell me where to go," Ebon said. Once he had left this place it would be easy to simply not deliver the message.

"Geer will be your guide," The giant orb said. That helped Ebon's mood. He suspected Geer was as much on his side as anyone except the Middlemen and Ahr Ain. Geer didn't speak with the same reverence of The General and Geer only served them because working as scouts kept his people out of the full service of The General.

Leaving the temple felt as surreal as entering it. The faces continued their silent screams and time felt disjointed. Yet, knowing he was leaving helped to keep Ebon calm while he slowly made his way out of that temple the gap that had began to close.

Once outside in the relative calm of dying and tortured Highmen Ebon turned to Geer and said, "Do you have any idea what he wants us to find?"

"Sai Tain cares for power and little else. There are few powerful enough to impress him. The Dragons and possible even The General are on the lower ends of what he cares about, and the only one I can image he would have you seek out is The Nameless One and if I am right there is a valley we need to go to," Geer said.
Chapter 12

Seeing Xeon and Rasputant for the first time was one of the most exhilarating moments of my life and the scariest.

Borran, The Prophet

Finding their way out of the mountains was far easier than entering them had been. On the way in they had been forced to choose between narrowing paths, but leaving The Dragon's valley they could simply take the clearest and most direct path down the mountain.

Traveling had been easy. There had been no sign of anything dangerous beyond a single bear that showed no interest in them. Most of their food came from the nuts that were scattered around the ground under one type of tree. They even tasted pretty good once they had been cooked over a fire so both men gathered nuts as they walked filling their belt pouches each day as they ate the nuts from the day before. They had even collected seeds for Chart, though mostly because neither wanted to admit he had died to protect them.

After crossing three mountains the two men could see the rolling hills surrounded the mountains and led into the Highman lands. Xeon wanted to stop but he didn't. The Highmen needed to be warned about the village which had been destroyed and the message on the wall and if Chart had survived he would be able to find his own way.

It wasn't just that message which pushed Xeon forward. It was the last word of the message. The word Roth pounded in his head. It was like the word was clawing at the back of his mind all the time and no matter how hard he tried to focus on other things or forget it there was nothing more important to him than that word and each day it grew stronger.

That made the inability for Rasputant to remember it even stranger. Xeon's only explanation was that there was some type of veil in Rasputant's mind that protected him from the strange power of the word. Something Xeon lacked and if the Highmen couldn't help him understand and control Roth he suspected it would eventually drive him insane or kill him.

The woods outside of the mountains felt almost like home. Thick bushes lined both sides of the path which would make hiding easy. As the sun began to sink behind the horizon there was a sound from the bushes. The surprise from that shook Roth out of his head for a moment and even in that fear he felt almost better because of it. At the same time he sensed who it was and he turned to look at him as he put his hand on the spear at his belt just in case he was wrong.

Rasputant showed no signs of having heard the sound at all and so Xeon stepped away from him. He didn't trust his instinct well enough to be certain this wasn't an ambush and if there was more room between him and Rasputant would make the ambush more difficult.

Then there was another sound, this one far clearer and Chart stepped out of the woods into the path in front of them. "It's good to see you are being careful," Chart said.

"We thought you were dead," Xeon said. He had hoped the Sots would not kill a Highman, but had assumed they would.

"Those Sots were different than any I have seen. They didn't attack anyone unless they were attacked, but once the Lowmen had attacked they killed them. Then they went back to their holes and I was able to follow your path easily enough."

"I am becoming ill," Xeon said.

"In what way?" Rasputant asked. Xeon had told him once but there was nothing the man could do. He couldn't even remember the conversation.

"It is difficult to explain. It is like a word attacking the inside of my head," Xeon said.

"How long have you felt this way?" Chart asked.

"Since we were in the village. It was the word written on the wall," Xeon said.

"There was a word on a wall?"

"That isn't important. I will remember and deliver the message," Xeon said. He knew neither of them could remember the words on that wall though Chart remembered them a bit longer. He only hoped that someone in the Highman cities could understand and help him.

"We can be at my capital in two days," Chart said. That reaction made Xeon suspect as if the man knew something more than he said. Until now he had seemed calm enough as the danger had passed, but now he turned and began to run.

The three men spent much of the next two day running. As they went Xeon understood. The running wasn't just about getting to him to help quickly or delivering the message that neither of the other men remembered. It also kept him exhausted so he couldn't think about anything and that meant he couldn't think about Roth.

Chart assured them that they were in some of the safest parts of the world here. The Highmen couldn't patrol it perfectly, but there were enough Highmen in these lands that anything truly dangerous would be found and killed. Xeon even saw small homes on some of the hills. Small and made of stone the houses were solid enough to withstand a small army, yet built around trees and bushes and covered with moss so that they looked like part of the forest. Some of them were even built in the branches of the largest trees with long ladders leading into them. Surrounded those homes were communal farms filled with plants and fruit trees that Chart proudly spoke of as he had helped improved most of them making them grow faster or produce larger food.

Early in the second day they passed the first of the great trees. They were one of the very first trees that Chart had helped to create. Generations of trees had grown from those seeds each generation altered by Chart. It had been nearly two hundred years and they had become better than any tower.

Those nearest the city held multiple homes built into their branches. Not the farm homes that had been in the smaller trees. These looked like the homes of soldiers and artisans with ropes leading to them rather than the ladders that had been attached to the others. As they passed one of those trees Chart picked up an acorn the size of his fist and held it between his hands for a moment. There was no sign that he did anything but Xeon thought he felt something, a warmth that flowed out from him.

Between those trees were thick thorn bushes covered in a yellow and blue fruit. Chart assured them the vines wouldn't hurt them, but they would fight and tangle around any Lowmen that came into range. He then took one of the fruit and broke it open rind began to eat the orange pulp inside.

As they went there were short chirps from the trees. If he didn't know better Xeon might have been fooled into believing it was a bird, but he had lived in forests to similar to these and knew they were men in those trees. A few minutes later soldiers began to appear first in the trees and then dropping to the ground around them. Each carried a throwing spear and they all looked at the Middlemen suspiciously. As they appeared Xeon began to sense that the boy's were near attack and the only reason they hadn't attacked already was because they were with Chart, but he didn't know how long that would last.

Chart interrupted that growing fear and said loudly, "Let me tell you about my friends..." and he began to tell the story of the adventures he had with the Middlemen as he walked towards the capital focusing primarily on those ways that Xeon and Rasputant had saved him. He talked more in those moments than he had on the entire trip to the city and began to convince Xeon they really had helped him. Rasputant had after all saved both of them and while Xeon hadn't really done all that much, but he had least tried to help.

As Chart spoke men continued to drop out of the trees and began to surround them. They no longer showed fear. Instead their looks showed something far more interesting. These men saw Chart as a hero, perhaps as something more than a hero. Xeon understood that not only because he had traveled with Chart, but also because he heard the stories. All the stories were true, but also bigger that they had seemed to Xeon.

Chart talked for an hour then began to slowly walk to the top of the hill the crowd moving with him. As they reached the top of the hill Xeon looked over the valley at the white stone walls of the Highmen city. They were tall and smooth and according to Chart enhanced by men who had a similar ability to his but who altered stone rather than plants. That meant that each year those walls would grow larger and stronger.

Entering the city Chart was impressed by how much thing had changed. There were four new buildings the largest made of the same white stones that formed the walls. That made Chart suspect that they were using stone magi to build the towers. That made sense since the walls that surrounded the great city no longer required their attention and a tower that grew each year would give them a continually better view of the area around them as well as a way to protect the city if anyone got past those walls.

The older soldiers stood along that white wall forming the heart of the Highman defense. Three hundred men dressed in green and brown and carrying the long wooden spears that could reach the base of that wall allowing them to hold back a far larger army. Important because of the Lowmen attacked there was no doubt that it would be with a far larger army.

"Are all your cities this big?" Xeon asked as they passed through the stone archway that led into the city and towards the council buildings that formed its center. The stone was well made, but the place was nothing but stone and people and even though he had grown up in these cities Chart found it almost hard to breath.

"This is our capital. Four thousand people live inside these walls and another two thousand in the surrounding areas. I've heard rumors of a couple cities nearly as big on the islands where there are fewer enemies, but I've never been to them. Most of the other villages are a couple hundred people or less," Chart said.

"Wouldn't large groups of people make trade easier?" Rasputant ask. He had gathered a few more things on the trip here and along with the shells and trinkets which were tied into his hair and he hoped to get a few things his people could use.

"That's one of the major ways this place survives. People grow food in the smaller villages and trade it here for thing they can't make. I can take us through the trading center on the way to the councils," Chart said.

Rasputant smiled in way only someone who had gotten exactly what he wanted could smile. Chart only wondered if he would feel the same in an hour. Rasputant was as smart as any trader Chart had ever met, but the rules of the market were tricky. They had been created over hundreds of years by many of the smartest Highmen alive and more than one man had lost almost everything in that market by following the rules that were meant to protect the foolish. Still, Rasputant didn't have that much to lose and there was no way to understand the market except to enter it.

The road was wide and straight and paved with flat stones. The small two wheeled carts pulled by Highmen could pass by each other on that road. They often did since it was the fastest road to the Highman market which was halfway between the arched gateway and the council buildings. It had been designed so that if attacked it could serve as a gathering point for soldiers while giving the merchants who didn't fight time to escape into the more secure buildings. It was a great circle created by the rounded fronts of a dozen buildings. Along with the storefronts in those buildings there were rows of large boxes in rows of similar circles. Some had chairs behind them but all were filled with things to be traded. You could find anything from exotic foods to tools and artwork in a wide range of quality and price.

Xeon and Chart stood at the edge of the market and watched Rasputant. He didn't act like Chart had expected. Rasputant instead circled the entire market hardly glancing at most things, and then he seemingly stopped at random to ask questions picking up some strange object seemingly at random. He then stopped in front of one of one of the smallest of the tables and began to talk. It was filled with sea shells and after a moment's discussion he left the table again, but this time he moved through the market even faster and with a great deal of excitement.

Rasputant circled the market three more times without stopping then he stopped in front of one of the empty booths and began to place items on it. Most of the things were mundane and hardly worth the effort of trading, but then he removed three small objects from the knots in his hair. Chart had not seen those before in the tangle of hair.

Chart stepped forward as he saw the shells. They were the size of Chart's thumb and reflected a hundred colors all at once in their odd circular patterns. Chart had only seen two of those shells in his life and both had been the prize possession of powerful wizards. How was it possible that Rasputant, a child who lived in a cave and had no signs of magic had gathered three?

"Where did you get those?" Chart asked as he picked one up. They had no real value to him, but to those who could use it they could be worth more than everything in the Middleman village. His brother, had he been here certainly would have paid well for them.

"I walk along the river everyday looking for interesting things. Xeon has often commented on these so I knew they must be valuable," Rasputant said.

Chart glanced at Xeon as he was reminded of his need. The man had trouble focusing and his eyes would sometimes dilate for no reason. As Chart watched he reached up touched his forehead and then drove three fingers into his forehead hard three times as if trying to focus. Chart he needed to get him help soon. "Perhaps you'd have more luck with other things. I don't think anyone here can afford those," Chart said. A Highman would try to come out ahead in a deal, but they would never lie about the value of something and few outside of the councils would have anything valuable enough to pay for those.

"He can," Rasputant said and nodded towards a tall spirit man who was walking through the market directly towards them. It was The Prophet, perhaps the most important Spiritman alive and one of the leaders of the high council. He had no reason to be in the market, which meant he had to have come for something besides the market. Chart was certain it was the Middlemen.

Still, if The Prophet knew they were here why not simply approach them? This indirect action wasn't like him, but if he wanted to act strangely Chart wouldn't interfere. People rarely understood The Prophet. And even Chart, who had grown up knowing the man, was confused by him as often as not. After all if anyone could think like The Prophet then he wouldn't be so important.

"Why don't you tell him not to sell the shells? They are almost certainly worth a great deal to you," Chart said as he moved next to Xeon.

"They're his. I have no right to tell him what to do with them," Xeon responded. It was not the way a Highman would think, but it wasn't really like a Lowman either. A Highman would see the good of everyone as paramount and stop him from hurting the group while Lowmen rarely recognized anyone else as having any rights and would have demanded them because he was stronger.

The Prophet stopped to look at several booths, turning down gifts from the men who had brought goods into the city very politely and taking one flower that had no real value, but made the young woman feel good for giving it to him. He then turned and walked directly towards Rasputant.

As he approached Chart saw a short dark skinned man with a shaved head and a lock of hair hanging down from the peak of his head nearly to his belt walking towards them as well. He seemed as out of place as The Prophet. He was the person in the market who wasn't a Highman besides Chart's two guests. If anything he looked like a Middleman, but he also looked familiar. Perhaps a member of one of the sub races that Chart had met briefly years ago before they had left this part of the world for places they would be more accepted.

Both The Prophet and the strange man reached Rasputant at the same time and Chart stepped forward so he was next to the Rasputant and smiled at The Prophet. Most people kept from looking into the eyes of The Prophet and Chart understood why, but he had grown up with the man around all the time and felt almost as if he were family. Xeon hardly looked at him. Instead he focused on the other man who nodded at Xeon and then stopped next to The Prophet.

"I've been waiting for you," The Prophet said, looking both at Rasputant and past him to Xeon.

"Xeon must speak to the wizard's council before anyone else," The bald man said. He spoke with authority yet The Prophet showed no sign of knowing who he was either and The Prophet often knew people through the use of his gift as well as being very old.

"The Tul Sawn has the authority in this place and those with reason to be here would know that," The Prophet said. The Prophet often spoke strongly, but this was far harsher than Chart was used to. The trouble with the wizard's council must have become worse since he had left.

"You're as arrogant as when I was a child Borran," The man said.

"You knew me when you were a child?" the Prophet asked. How did this man know the name of The Prophet? Chart had grown up with him and had never heard his name until he was invited to observe the meetings of the Tul Sawn and he only heard it there because the rules of the high council required all men to be treated as equals. Also strange was that The Prophet clearly didn't know this man, but he had a perfect memory. A prophet must remember the words he had spoken.

"This must be odd for you," The man said, and he chuckled. This man was toying with The Prophet, but not in a malicious way. More like a friend who enjoyed getting the upper hand on someone who so rarely had anyone get the upper hand on him. It was similar in some ways to how Chart's father and The Prophet interacted.

"What is your name?" The Prophet asked. He was off balance in a way Chart had never seen him. He even seemed a little irritated something that Chart hadn't been certain was possible.

"You may call me Si Quant Posh Estan if you wish, but my given name is Oro," The man said.

The Prophet showed a flash of fear and then his back stiffened and his eyes narrowed. Chart wished once again he knew more High Common but very few but wizards could learn more than a few phrases in high common and Chart had no skill as a wizard.

"Do you know of the Forn Yahan?" the Prophet asked.

"You spoke of it to me but only after it was discovered," Oro said.

"He shall see the wizard's council first," The Prophet said. Chart had never seen The Prophet give in so quickly and he almost never gave in at all. Chart needed to know who this man was.

"I will contact you again when I am needed," Oro said.

"When will that be?"

"You already know the future far too well old man. Besides you rarely get the pleasure of surprise and I would not deny you that. Follow the path Ahr Ain has given you and I will follow mine and we will meet a few more times," Oro said and he turned and walked into the crowd disappearing in the crowd.

There was a moment of silence and then Xeon said "What was that about?"

The Prophet tilted his head to look at Xeon, smiled and said "I think you understand enough of it. He is right that I should take you to the Ahr Quant Tul. Meanwhile Chart can take Rasputant to the mayor's council. He has had no reaction to hearing a word of power so has no reason to see the wizards and if you do not need to see them it is best to avoid them."

"We were going to go to the grand Council first?" Chart asked. The mayor's council didn't meet this type of year unless they were summoned because they were busy ruling their own town and cities, but if anyone could summon them it would be The Prophet.

"I summoned them. It's time for them to appoint a new Keros."

Chart didn't understand. The Keros were all appointed and no one liked to create a new Keros. It was simply too dangerous to give power to a single person unless there was no other choice. Still, he generally did what The Prophet told him and so did a lot of other people so he said, "We should go."

"I still haven't sold my shells," Rasputant said.

The Prophet turned and said "Ah, yes, I had nearly forgotten. I have a book I can trade for them."

"What type of a book?" Rasputant asked. A clear sign he didn't understand what The Prophet was offering. Books were one of the most valuable things the Highmen had and one of the few things that might be worth the value of one of the shells.

"One penned by my own hand," The Prophet said. Chart put his hand against the wall. Even a copy of a book of prophecy was priceless, but one penned by The Prophet would carry his magic in the very ink. Chart didn't know exactly what that meant, but it would be important.

"That seems fair," Rasputant said, and he handed the three shells to the Prophet.

The Prophet took the threes shells dropped them into his pocket then drew out a thick leather bound book.

Chart wanted to tell The Prophet that it was too dangerous. The Middlemen lived in small huts in land to close to the Lowmen. They couldn't protect the book. The Lowmen might capture the book and the Highmen couldn't afford that loss of knowledge to an enemy. Still, Chart trusted The Prophet so he didn't ask any questions.
Chapter 13

Few on the Wizard's Council with admit it, but we had all lost our way and we owe a debt to Middlemen. They reminded us that Ahr Ain cares more about who we are than if we survive.

Cheen, First Wizard

Xeon stopped as they reached the huge stone building, but The Prophet continued forward. He had known he needed to come here, but expected to have Rasputant or even Chart with him. The Prophet seemed kind but Xeon didn't know him and feeling alone made all of this overwhelming.

"Can they explain why I can't get the word Roth out of my mind?" Xeon asked. He knew he should be thinking about other things but the word was still the only thing he could focus on.

"They will," The Prophet said.

The door itself was more a work of art than a door. It had a dozen faces carved into it and even working the handle into the picture by forming it out of the ear of one of the men.

"Be careful, this meeting is why you have come to this place and Timinna could be a very useful ally for your people though not one that will be won easily," The Prophet said.

"Are you coming?"

"A Prophet only goes where he is needed and I am rarely needed at the beginning of things," The Prophet said.

Xeon reached out and touched the handle of the door and he felt power rush through him, but before he pulled it open The Prophet said, "Oh, Take these they might be useful," And he pushed the three shells he had just purchased from Rasputant into Xeon's hand.

"You paid more than fairly for these," Xeon said.

"Which means I can do with them as I please. I want to give them to you," The Prophet said. Xeon smiled understanding a bit better. He had avoided giving a gift to Rasputant because he knew he would value anything he paid for more than something given to him, but he also recognized that for Xeon a gift had more power than something he had purchased.

"Rasputant would have given those to me if you told him it was important," Xeon said. Rasputant acted like he was hard, but when it came right down to it he would give you almost anything if they simply asked.

"The book was always meant to be a gift, I sold it to him because he will protect it more carefully because he paid for it," The Prophet said.

"I suspected as much, and it will work," Xeon said. He then pulled the great door open and he walked into the wizard's council room.

The wizard's hall felt far more comfortable than the outside of the building. There was a thick purple carpet on the floor, metal candle holders set into the wall and paintings of men in women in long white robes.

The interior door was thinner and metal yet it was formed to look like it was raw wood with a handle in the shape of a leaf and the thicker parts of the door forming branches that also made the door far stronger. It opened easily as Xeon opened it and led into a wide room with a curved table and seven Highmen in high back chairs all facing the door that Xeon had just entered. In the open center of that table was a backless stool, designed to make Xeon feel smaller and less important.

Xeon understood well enough how to play his part and so he walked forward and sat down on the stool. Once he did the Highmen in the center of that curved table leaned forward in anticipation and said "What brings you to the wizard's council?"

"The Prophet," Xeon said. He knew he was being difficult with that answer, but sensed that might be the best choice.

"We were told you were coming, but in this place you must speak for yourself," The woman said.

"I've come to forge a treaty between your people and mine. The Prophet said I should speak to Timinna?" Xeon said.

"I am Timinna," the woman in the center of the table said, then continued, "The Wizard's council is not the place for treaties. We make and enforce agreements between wizards. Tell us, why have you personally come?" The female wizard said. Her blue and green robes and long white hair made her face look almost as if her face was floating unconnected to anything and the scowl made her look older than the other ageless Highmen.

Xeon sat in silence. He felt a strong kinship with these people, but they also scared him in part because of that kinship. They could likely manipulate him easier than anyone else and he didn't yet know why.

"I wish to know what Roth means," Xeon said.

"How do you know that word?" Timinna asked.

"I saw it written on a stone wall in Bornharn village. I believe it was written there by a man named Oro who I just met again in your market," Xeon said.

"And you don't know what it means?" Timinna asked.

"I know it is important and I cannot stop thinking of the word except through exhaustion or fear and barely even then. It also feels as if I should know what it means, but I don't," Xeon said.

"It's a wizard's word," One of the men at the far edge of the table said and added "One only a wizard could remember."

"I am not a wizard," Xeon said, but he knew it was not a completely true statement.

"Of course you're not. You're an untrained adult. That should not happen because we travel to each village and speak of the Words of Power to everyone each year. All who remember them are brought to us to be trained. We would have done the same for you, but we did not know your people existed," Timinna said.

"If I cannot learn to understand or control this I believe it will kill me," Xeon said.

The wizard in the middle of the curved table looked first to her left then to her looking into the eyes of each of the men then nodded at Xeon. There was a moment of silence then they all said as one "Knowledge may be attained only by the willing."

Xeon knew even before the sentence was finished that it was the true meaning or Roth. Yet it was also only the most basic understanding of the word's meaning. Roth was a concept that existed only for the wizards. A second sight allowing him see into the dark corners of the world, but only if he was truly willing to live with the knowledge learned from that search.

"For my people I am willing to do anything. Even living with the full knowledge of good and evil," Xeon said. But for full value of Roth he must be willing without reservation. As he spoke though the knowledge of the word itself told him that was not enough. The willingness for knowledge could not be for others or even Ahr Ain. It must be Xeon himself who accepted and even embraced the knowledge or it would be limited to little more than hints of what it could be.

"You must remain here. It can take a century or more to master a single word of power," Timinna said. She leaned forward enough that her long white hair fell across the table.

"My people need me," Xeon said. There was something appealing about training with the Highmen. He would be safe and even be able to give some safety to his own people by building connections to these people, but he had a path he had to follow. At the very least all of their people needed to have children if their race was to grow to its full potential.

"Then you must take the way of the unwilling," Timinna said, leaning back in her chair seemed more relaxed. They would have trained him, but Xeon sensed that would have interfered with their plans. She then reached into her robe and pulled out a dagger and silver ring. The two objects repulsed Xeon, but he also understood them. They would protect him from himself, but there was something more. By being protected from himself he would be controlled from the outside. That control meant that others might take control as well. There were few if any in the world who could do that, but his mind still range with the warning. By using these tools he would lose much of his ability to protect his people and become the one that needed to be protected.

"My people must remain together. A loss of one would diminish us all too greatly. If you will give me the choice I will return and help my people," Xeon said.

"Put on the ring before you touch the dagger. You must take both before you will be allowed to leave this palace," Timinna said.

"There are more questions I need answers to," Xeon said.

"One does not simply ask a wizard questions. There must be a price for an answer," one of the men at the ends of the table said.

Xeon put his hand into his pocket and felt the three shells and knew immediately why The Prophet had given them to him. He placed the three shells next to the ring and dagger on the table and looked Timinna in the eyes without touching the ring.

"Three questions answered honestly and fully. If no answer is known there is no cost," Timinna said. She didn't react to the shells but every eye in the room except hers was watching them. In that moment Xeon focused his new awareness of Roth on them allowing it to inform him and he understood why they were so valuable. The shell would show if a wizard were telling the truth or lying. That would make it all but impossible for them to lie.

"Will your people honor a treaty no matter the cost?" Xeon asked.

Timinna lifted the largest of the three shells from the table and the colors that reflected from the shell began to radiate colors Xeon had never seen. "My people do not lie and are not betrayers. We are those who followed Ahr Ain even when the war looked hopeless and we all knew we would die. Any treaty will be followed to the letter," she said. The lights were bright, but more than that Xeon could simply sense that the statement was true. If there was a treaty it would be followed to the letter, no more and no less. Which meant that it was a good thing Rasputant was here because if anyone could ensure a treaty was written precisely it was him.

"What do your people know of my people?" Xeon asked. The Prophet had almost certainly known they would exist and likely had spoken of them, but Xeon didn't know what other sources of information the wizards had and Xeon needed to know.

"You ask dangerous questions," Timinna said. The wizard then picked up the next of the shells which began to glow with the same magical colors and the wizard said, "You are a people born out of mud and not spirit. You have gifts our people will never have. Yet, you are also born dying and shall surely die. A weakness our people can hardly understand yet that connection with death let you use death as a weapon. You can change the world through the will of anyone willing to pay the ultimate price. Perhaps more dangerous than any skill or magic you have is that you have been given continual free will. Your choices today do not bind you or your children tomorrow. You could be one thing today and another tomorrow."

"It seems to me that death is a sign that we are not meant to remain in this world. Ahr Ain has created us to do a job and after our day's labor has ended we return home for our reward," Xeon said.

The wizard put down the shell which had expended is power and said, "It seems there is more to understand about your people than we believed, but what I have said is all that has been told us."

"I understand," Xeon said.

Having spent two of his questions to protect his people Xeon decided to use the last for himself.

"What does it mean to be a wizard?" He asked. He had chosen to return home, but he wanted to understand what he was giving up. He might even be able to return at some point once his people were safe.

"To be a wizard is to be a man with eyes in a world of blind men. We can hear the whisper of the voice of Ahr Ain and have the strength to change the world based on those whispers. Wizards do not have prophecy, creation magic or any of the other rare abilities, but our power is far more versatile. Still, wizard is an arbitrary word which exists only to aid in understanding. To be a magician a man knows one or two of the words of power, a sage must know three and a wizard knows at least four. Yet, since each word allows for different abilities, but also interacts with the other words differently every wizard has abilities that vary from almost any other. Yet it is not the words of power that make you a wizard. A wizard is simply one who is wise and has the strength to use that wisdom to change the world," Timinna said. It sounded like a speech, but Xeon recognized that she had not said it before. It was truly what she believed.

"And that's the short answer," Xeon said as the women stopped and the shell in his hand shone with all the colors of the rainbow brighter than the others. The magic of Roth was still working. The shell told him what she said was true and its magic ensured understanding and allowed far more to be told than simply the words. Every breath of this woman told Xeon more than he could have believed possible.

"To fully understand what a wizard is you must be one and even then one at most knows himself," Timinna said.

"Will my children have the same abilities?" Xeon asked. It was not a question they had to answer but Xeon knew she would give him that knowledge for free because they needed him to know.

"Wizards rarely have children but those children are considerably more likely to be wizards than the children of non wizards," Timinna said.

"What do the ring and dagger do?" Xeon asked. He could sense the answer, but he didn't like what he sensed.

"You're out of questions," Timinna said.

"Perhaps I could trade you information," Xeon said, he had information they needed and while he would tell it to them for free he was willing to trade it for information if there was value in trading.

"Tell us what you know and I pledge if it is knowledge we do not possess we will answer your question," Timinna said.

That seemed fair and he knew at least two things that they did not. "There is A Dragon, named Gawn in the mountains. He is guarded by thousands of Sots and chained in a cave, but I believe that given time he will gain his freedom," Xeon said.

"You didn't release him?" Timinna asked, and Xeon knew how dangerous lying would be.

"I touched one of the chains and it fell away, but three others hold him," Xeon said. Gawn was their enemy, but Xeon did not think The Dragon was his enemy and he felt almost as if he were betraying the dragon by telling the wizards anything.

"We will send wizards to the valley of The Dragon," The wizard said.

"Will you have any trouble finding it?" Xeon asked. The mountain range was large and the path they took was narrow and unmarked and clearly no one had found him before.

"With his first chain broken the power which hid the creature was weakened and no one was looking for him before. Even a couple of wizards who know Roth should be able to find him and if he we can't sense him we can follow your path," The wizard said.

"About the dagger and ring," Xeon said.

"The ring seals a wizard's power holding it inside him. The dagger allows that power to be released so the buildup of magic will not kill him. There are a few minor side effects such as leaving you open to some types of manipulation, but the only ones powerful enough to use that are Sai Tain, The Nameless One and Ahr Ain. Ahr Ain would not take away free will and the other two are locked away so they can't use their power. What is of true important is the understanding that only a trained wizard can remove it while you are alive because your own magic will fight anything that tries to remove it," The wizard said.

"Will it change the way I see things or think?"

"It can affect different people differently, but it will only control external use of the power. You will still be able to recognize and even learn words of power and will understand things more quickly because of Roth, but you won't be able to sense things with it or use the other more external words of power."

Xeon knew that he shouldn't put on the ring. He was giving up a gift Ahr Ain had given him because it was easier than fighting for it. He was choosing a path he knew wasn't the way Ahr Ain would have him go for the first time. Yet, the only other option was to make enemies out of these wizards and so he slid the ring onto his pale finger.

He could feel the power of the ring. It felt the same as the kinship of the wizards except it wasn't the warm feelings he felt towards them. It was a revulsion like he felt towards spiders and snakes and yet it was part of him. Rasputant would envy him for the silver ring but never understand it was a sign of surrender and a part of him that hated him and that he hated.

He sensed the dagger through the ring. He could feel the dagger. It was like part of him waiting to be picked up. As if he had set down his own hand. He could feel it and the smooth stone of the table where it laid. He then reached down and touched the dagger and as he did the hatred from the ring seemed to weaken and it simply became part of him. Together those two items were almost natural.

"You need to release magic through the dagger occasionally or you will become sick. The best way will be hunting, though cutting leather or even sharpening the blade should keep you safe so long as you do it regularly."

"If I lose the dagger?"

"You should be able to sense it anywhere, but even if it is stolen you'll have time to reach us. It might take as much as a year before you are truly incapacitated, but you'll want to hurry. It could be as little as a month before you get sick and you'll begin to go insane in six months making the trip here difficult if not impossible by yourself," Timinna said.

"There was something else," Xeon said.

"What is that?"

"Above Roth, it said, 'Si lum Sai Tain roln si dil,' Xeon answered.

One of the wizards stood, but Timinna raised the flat of her hand towards him and after a second the man sat down, she then said, "Are you certain."

"What does it mean?" Xeon asked.

"The hand of Sai Tain touches the world," Timinna said, the disdain in her voice enough to make him want to flee though it wasn't aimed towards him.

"I thought you already knew that," Xeon said.

"The hand of Sai Tain was one of Sai Tain's weapons. In the spirit war he could touch any of his servants and control them as if they were him. It even worked on servants of Ahr Ain who had failed to follow the path of Ahr Ain or had left themselves open to his control in some other way. It could explain the village. It is far easier to stray in this world and a single villager could open the door to let in Sai Tain's soldiers. You must be careful, the ring makes you vulnerable."

"What will we do?"

"We will seal The Dragon so he cannot aid his master. We will then prepare an army to face Sai Tain," the wizard said.

"An army that has not been able to face the Lowmen when they don't have the power of Sai Tain backing them," Xeon said.

"There is no other choice," Timinna said. It was clear she didn't like it either. The Highmen were about to lose a war and Xeon didn't think he could do anything about it.

"You could talk to Gawn. I don't think he wants to serve Sai Tain anymore and he might be willing to help you fight him if you just ask," Xeon said.

"We do not make treaties with those that serve Sai Tain," the wizard said, and that seemed to end the conversation more completely than Xeon had hoped.
Chapter 14

I have watched Highmen merchants simply pack up their goods and go home when Rasputant limped into the market square, they are as afraid of the man's bartering as any Lowman is scared of Elwist's spear.

Lennor, Elder Merchant

Clutching the book tightly to his chest Rasputant tried not to feel overwhelmed. So long as he had been with Xeon he hadn't really felt like he had left home. Now Chart was the only one with him and he didn't think Chart liked him very much.

"I have a petitioner who wishes to negotiate a treaty between our people and his," Chart said. A great square table made of thick roughly cut wood stood between Rasputant and the Highmen in high back wooden chairs. This was an important place, but one that looked like it was unused most of the time and intentionally simple.

"That is partially true. We come to discuss if we wish a treaty," Rasputant said. He needed to strengthen his position as much as possible and the more he looked like he needed them the weaker the position.

"Nevertheless, let us conduct ourselves with dignity rather than speaking out of order," A tall red headed man on one corner of the table said. His voice had an edge which told him that he was bothered by something.

"While technically you are correct the petitioner spoke out of order this is his first time in front of the mayor's council and we must give him leniency," A second man who sat closer to the head of the table said. He looked and sounded much like Chart though he had no beard and the eyes seemed deeper.

"An agreement is simple. We will protect their lands and people. In return they will submit to the will of all appropriate councils as all Highmen must," the man at the head of the table said.

"I cannot agree to that," Rasputant said. He didn't have the authority to give away the freedom of his people even to save them and this sounded too much like slavery to make him comfortable even if he knew the others would agree.

"What agreement would you like then?"

"We want a promise that you will not attack us. We hope to sign the same agreement with the Lowmen. An agreement to aid us if the Lowmen break that treaty we would be appreciated as well and of course trade could also help both of our people but neither of those need to be official agreements unless that suits your people," Rasputant said. Rasputant knew that simply being ignored by both sides would likely be the best outcome for his people, but it was also the least likely outcome.

"We sign no treaties with the enemies of Ahr Ain or those who do," said the man at the end who looked like Chart.

"Think about their situation father," Chart said. He then stopped for a moment and took a deep breath his mouth tightening and he said, "Sir, they don't know us or the Lowmen and even if they trusted us we are too far away and not strong enough to truly aid them."

"Still, this council cannot break tradition. Luckily, The Prophet has already explained what needs to be done," Chart's father said. He looked no older than Chart except in his eyes.

"Then why go through this discussion?" Chart asked.

"Because the Prophet is neither king nor Ahr Ain," Another of the men said.

"What did he suggest?" Chart asked.

"Name a Keros," Chart's father said.

"Isn't that more dangerous for both sides than a simple treaty," Chart asked.

"Only if the wrong person is chosen," the red headed man said.

"And if there were more than one choice that would matter, but there is only one of us knows these people," Chart's father said.

"What if I refuse?" Chart asked.

"It does not work that way. You will be Keros. If you choose to turn your back on the people who you have a duty to protect then they will be unrepresented," Chart's father said.

"This should not be forced on someone who does not want the job," Chart said.

"Ahr Ain sent you to them. That makes you Keros by his will. Being a Highman means serving Ahr Ain."

"I want to control my life," Chart said, but Rasputant knew that Chart would never turn his back on the will of Ahr Ain. Other Highmen might, Rasputant didn't know them well enough to be certain, but he knew Chart and he was too good at reading people to be wrong about something so basic in his personality.

"Everyone who agrees to make Chart Keros of the Mudmen raise your hand," Chart's father said and Rasputant wondered if the man always led these meetings or had taken charge because of his son.

Every man and woman around the table raised his or her hand then all eyes fell on Rasputant. Rasputant waited until Chart said "You must agree as well. It is your people who will have me as a council of one with all authority to make the decisions of my people towards yours."

Rasputant smiled because he had won. His people needed someone they could trust and if the Highmen could trust Chart so could Rasputant. As he raised his hand he heard the door behind him open and when he turned he saw Xeon enter the room with The Prophet. He was wearing a silver ring on his finger and had dagger on his belt and Rasputant assumed that meant that he must have done well speaking to the wizards.

"Did you agree to anything?" Xeon asked.

"They plan to make Chart Keros," Rasputant said.

"He is Keros already and it is custom for a Keros be given gifts to ensure he can fulfill his job effectively," Chart's father said.

"So you draw more power to your family by making him Keros and forcing us to give him gifts," The redheaded man said. He had voted for Chart as Keros, but he seemed angered by the necessity.

"I am not asking for you to give him anything. I just wish to officially give my son a gift," Chart's father said.

"I also wish to give him a gift," A third man said.

The mayors then all began to give Chart things. Most were small trinkets, and Rasputant could tell their value from the looks on the men's faces as they handed them to Chart and all appeared to be of some value, though not great value. Then the gifts stopped with having given a gift except the redhead and Chart's father.

After nearly a minute of silence the redhead said "I'm not giving him anything."

"I understand Nocous," Chart's father said.

"You understand almost nothing Chor," Nocous responded, more anger in his voice with every word he spoke.

"You have never trusted me because of my brother. I accepted that, but now you' re transferring that same distrust to my son which is unfair," Chor said.

"The child chose not to kill an enemy soldier when given the chance and you supported him," Nocous said.

"This isn't the place or time," Chor said.

"Then you admit it."

"He believed my brother could be brought back to Ahr Ain and our side is supposed to believe in redemption," Chor said.

"They knew Ahr Ain and chose to turn away. We can't give second chances in the middle of a war," Nocous said. Rasputant knew at that moment the Highmen felt as if they were losing the war. Perhaps they were too afraid to admit it, but they could all feel it.

"I have a gift to give the new Keros," Chor said ending the conversation. He then reached inside his robe and pulled a small glowing ball from his jacket. It was bright enough that it should have shown through the thick robe, but it hadn't. "Do you know what this is?" he asked, looking at Chart.

"I won't take it from you," Chart said.

"You will need it," Chor said.

"So will you and your safety is more important than mine," Chart said.

"A weapon is of no value to one who does not fight. I never leave the city and if this city falls a single man, even with a spirit weapon, will not change that," Chor said.

"What is a spirit weapon?" Xeon asked.

"Weapons from the spirit war which can kill almost anything," Chor said. As he spoke he allowed the glowing orb to slide from his hand into Chart's hand and it simply sunk into him disappearing as it did.

"It should stay in the city. If someone killed Chart they could take it and it cannot be replaced," Nocous said.

"It would be safe and useless," The Prophet said.

"The Lowmen could steal it from his body and use it against us," Nocous said.

"It is mine to do with as I wish and this meeting is over," Chor said, and everyone at the table except Nocous stood up.

Rasputant stood uncertain what he should do so he waited until everyone except Chor and Chart had walked out.

"I apologize for Nocous. He has allowed fear to dominate his life," Chor said.

"And you have some history with him?" Xeon said.

"It doesn't take a wizard to see that," Chart said.

"I am not a wizard," Xeon said.

"You fooled the wizard's council then." Chor said, and then added "Did you tell them anything else?"

"I spoke to them about The Dragon and the message in the village," Xeon said.

"And they'll tell Nocous as soon as they see him. They have waited a long time for this opportunity," Chor said.

"I don't understand? What are the wizards going to do?"

"They will kill him," Chart said.

"He is bound and no danger to anyone. I suspect that he may even be willing to help us," Xeon said.

"Nocous and the wizards want to destroy everyone and everything but the Highmen and they are showing signs of willingness to eliminate Highmen who don't agree with them as well," Chor said.

"I did not know he had gone that far," Chart said.

"They haven't acted yet, but they have forced The Prophet to begin to take sides on far too many issues and if he ever fully aligns himself against them it is likely to get a lot of people killed," Chor said.

"We have to stop them," Rasputant said.

"The wizards did not seem that hostile," Xeon said.

"The wizards are more subtitle than Nocous. They will hide their motives until they can force you to act in the way they want, such as putting a leash on the finger of the best chance your people had of freedom. They are also a bit more forgiving to anyone who has the ability to become a wizard because more wizards give them more power," The Prophet said.

"You took me to them," Xeon said. He had acted rashly but that didn't mean he couldn't try to make up for his mistakes.

"The Dragon is a liar and a killer. Killing him is the safest route," Chor said.

"I don't like killing and I certainly don't like the wizards doing it on their own. We should go to the Grand Council and warn them of Nocous and the wizards," Chart said.

"I no longer have standing in the Ground Council my weapon and its connection to magic is gone. Besides, I suspect Nocous may be more useful acting on the Grand Council than off now," Chor said.

"Why would the weapon affect his ability to be on the council?" Xeon asked. There was worry in his voice that Rasputant understood. The only people who seemed to really want to help them seemed to be losing power.

"The members of the High Council must be able to interact with magic and remember it because we must make decisions that include magical issue or give all those decisions over to the wizard's council," Chart said.

"I will go with Chart to speak to them then. They must at least consider that The Dragon may not be an enemy," Xeon said.

"The wizard's will not change their mind, but there is value in exposing their plan to the High council," The Prophet said.
Chapter 15

For those of us who have spent time dealing with Highman bureaucracy the real miracle of the first generation of Middlemen is not the life threatening trials they survived, but visiting three councils in a single day and actually accomplishing anything.

Horo, Ambassador to the Highmen

The palace of the High Council was the largest building in the capital. The law required it to be the largest. Yet its size and stones that grew larger each year kept that restriction on other buildings from being too limiting. It was also one the most plain buildings in the city. The same creation magic which allowed them to grow also made the place easy to overlook. It wasn't built to impress it was a fortress for the most important people in the city and designed to be ignored.

Past thick wooden doors there was a short empty hallway lined with windows that showed other hallway and into an undecorated room with six men who were scattered around the room. The Prophet sat in the far corner sitting sideways on the chair with his back against the stone wall and his legs crossed. Chor was there too, sitting next to one of the blond men their heads almost touching as they talked but Xeon didn't recognize him or the tall man leaning against the table. Who he did recognize was Timinna, now wearing a black robe with white hair falling over it and a dagger on her belt. Xeon suspected the change in clothes meant something important, but he would have to wait to find out what it meant.

"What brings our new friends to the Grand Council in such haste?" Timinna asked, and Xeon sensed an irritation from the woman. She had expected more time before they arrived.

"We don't want you to kill The Dragon," Xeon said.

"Since the wizards did not tell you we planned to kill anything I assume you are being fed propaganda by Chor and his son," Timinna said.

"If you do not want to kill it then take a pledge not to and we will move on," Rasputant said.

"My point is you were given limited information. The Dragons is very dangerous," Timinna said.

"Gawn was created by Sai Tain and fought on his side of the spirit war. The three dragons led most of Sai Tain's army and killed more spirits than even The General in that war," Xeon said.

"He was directly responsible for thousands of deaths and if we free him he could do it again," Timinna said. Still, she seemed a bit taken back by the fact that Xeon clearly knew exactly who The Dragon was.

"Do you remember what he did at the end of the war?" Chor asked.

"You don't even know it was Gawn," Timinna said.

"Do you really believe that the red or black dragon would have let them live? He has free will because Ahr Ain has given all free will and he used it to spare our people as well as these two," Chor said.

"He liked death well enough when he bite me in half," The man standing behind his chair said. It had never occurred to Xeon in such a clear way that these men had died in the spirit war and for them the war wasn't really over.

"As I recall you were leading an assault on him in an attempt to kill the enemy leaders. It was a war and he was a soldier who unlike all the others on Sai Tain's side had not betrayed Ahr Ain because he had never served Ahr Ain," Chor said.

"That's not the point," The man said, but most of the anger had disappeared. Gawn had been defending himself and the Highman knew it. More importantly Xeon was beginning to believe that he had reason to trust Gawn beyond simple instinct.

"We discovered The Dragon outside of your borders," Rasputant said.

Xeon didn't understand why that mattered, but Chart must have because a smile crossed his face. He stepped forward and said, "That means that place and everyone in it would be claimed by the Middlemen and their Keros would negotiate. I am willing to accept Xeon's judgment in this case," Chart said.

"Treaties only control governments. Individuals can do as they please," Timinna said.

"Individuals without magic have complete autonomy in our system, but you helped pass the wizard's council rules that state that individuals with magic may be compelled by a council. For example you can force a man to wear that ring," Chor said and he nodded towards Xeon.

"The wizard's council can overrule the High Council on matters of wizards," Timinna said. She was verbally retreating and everyone knew it.

"But they won't because it would force the High Council to changes to the rules that govern the Wizard's Council," The Prophet said.

"We can travel together to The Dragon's cave and there we will convince the Middlemen he must be destroyed," Timinna said.

"You will not touch their minds with magic. In fact, no Highman will control or alter the mind of any Mudman," Chart said. Xeon still didn't understand exactly what that the position of Keros meant, but as Chart began to use the authority he had been given he could see that it was important.

"We will accept the will of the Keros on these matters," Timinna answered.

"There are other things to discuss," The Prophet said.

"What is that?" Chart asked.

"The arrival of the Middlemen means the age of creation is over. Ahr Ain warned us the war would escalate and the world would change far faster after his final creation on this world. Our job now includes helping these people to make the right decisions because if we do they will help us and if we don't the war will go badly for us," The Prophet said.

"Perhaps then we should destroy the can choose wrong and destroy us," Timinna said.

"You would defy the will of Ahr Ain and destroy his creation for being what he created it to be? If so your pride has overcome you in the same way it did Sai Tain and you will drive them to the Lowmen's side and we will deserve the punishment they inflict on us," The Prophet said.

"I agree with the Prophet. We cannot destroy what Ahr Ain has created," the man who had been talking to Chor said. From what Xeon could see four out of seven agreed that they had to work with his people, but he didn't know the rules of this place or how much power each of these men held.

"So, how do we convince them to trust us after our discussion of killing them? Perhaps a sign of goodwill," The Prophet said.

"And since the suggestion of gifts is yours then, would it not right for you to give a gift first," Timinna said.

"He already gave us a gift," Rasputant said, and he took the leather book from the inside of the leather shirt he was wearing. It hadn't been a gift but Rasputant could sense the value in creating an ally. The Prophet knew what he was doing and would remember gesture.

Timinna showed no emotion, but everyone else in the room was clearly surprised and impressed by the book. It was then that Xeon recognized the other part of Rasputant's plan and something he never would have thought of. A high value gift would make others feel more obligated to give valued gifts.

"We also accept the gift of a weapon to protect our people given to Chart as one given to our people," Xeon said. He needed to make a point to the council and most importantly Chart. He might not trust the Highmen, but Chart had proved himself. As far as Xeon was concerned Chart's friends were their friends and his enemies were their enemies.

"Since they already have the beginning of a library for their people I will be happy to contribute one of the books of wisdom so they can better understand Ahr Ain," The man who had been speaking to Chor said. Xeon was certain it was less valuable than The Prophet's book, but he looked forward to reading it.

Another man who had said little said "The trader's guild will be honored to give a small piece of land in this city for an embassy. We will hold it in trust for them until they are ready to claim it and any money the land earns will be given to them."

Chart leaned over to Xeon and said, "They have accepted you. Things have gone better than I could have imagined."

"To well. What about The Dragon?" Xeon asked. He was glad for his own people but he felt responsible for Gawn. He was the one who had told the wizards about him.

"They're going to kill him," Chart said. It was clear in his voice that he had never believed anything else would happen.

"They won't stop with The Dragon. From what I have seen the wizards are planning to run everything in the next few years," Xeon said. He had given them an excuse to act. Worse he wasn't certain that anyone could really stop the wizards. The Dragon would let them seize power while everyone was too afraid to stop them.

"Wizards can travel quickly," Chart said. He clearly knew exactly what Xeon was thinking.

"Rasputant will slow them down," Xeon said. Rasputant had seen the same things Xeon had and once they had left he would know he needed to slow them down.

"What are you suggesting?"

"Can we leave without causing a problem?" Xeon asked.

"We are free to do as we want."

"Then let's go," Xeon said, and he slipped out of the room.
Chapter 16

Understanding why Ahr Ain chose Chart to be the first to meet the Middlemen tells us more about how He expected us to treat them than any other clue we have.

Meron, Highman Teacher

Rasputant recognized even before he had left the meeting what Xeon had to be planning. He also knew what he needed to do. He began by giving a grandiose and long-winded speech explaining the virtue of each of the gifts which had been given him. That allowed him to keep Timinna stuck in the roof for an hour longer than she had planned. Enough time to let Xeon and Chart get out of the city.

While Rasputant was on his second round of extorting the virtue of all books a wizard walked into the room and interrupted saying, "Chart has left with the Mudmen wizard. They are traveling towards the mountains."

"So, they betray us and abandon their friend," Timinna said. She clearly had known what was happening, but there were still political games to be played.

"They also plan to release a creation of the enemy?" one of the men said.

"For all we know they are servants of the enemy. The only proof that they were created by Ahr Ain is their word."

"You have my word as well, unless you are saying that I am controlled by Sai Tain as well," The Prophet said.

"Sai Tain is a master of lies that few can stand against," Timinna said.

"If he has the power to change the mind of The Prophet we are all in trouble because he has broken free of his chains and able to do things he couldn't even in the spirit wars," Chor said.

"Xeon found a message that said that the hand of Sai Tain is free. If so we have to be careful in trusting anyone," Timinna said.

"There is not time for discussion. If we are going to have any chance to stop them we must follow now. Assemble the wizard's council," Timinna said.

As the room began to empty Chor turned to Rasputant and said in a quiet voice, "We will go with you and slow them as much as we can."

Within minutes a group of wizards were moving out of the city. As they passed the market they took food from venders on the street with nothing more than a promise for payment and ordered young men to rush through the city to gather supplies. As they walked Rasputant, Chor and the Prophet were pushed to the center of the group of thirteen wizards without anyone ever having to tell them that was where they needed to be.

As they neared the edge of the town Chor said, "I have an idea."

"What is it?" the Prophet asked. His voice was different when he spoke to Chor. They were friends, not just allies.

"You won't like it?"

"I haven't liked your plans since the one that got me killed," The Prophet said, but Rasputant heard only good will in the statement.

"OK, you asked for it," Chor said, and without warning Chor punched the Prophet as hard as he could in the face.

Blood ran from the Prophet's nose and he yelled "What was that for?" the surprise and blood were real, but the anger wasn't.

"I'm tired of you trying to tell me how to live my life," Chor yelled, and he shoved The Prophet though this time it was less violent but The Prophet showed no sign of that as he staggered backwards into one of the wizards nearly knocking him to the ground.

"I wouldn't have to tell you constantly if you'd listen the first time," The Prophet said, and he swung at Chor who ducked under it. Rasputant couldn't tell if he missed intentionally or if Chor was that good of a fighting, but it was clear both were far better warriors than Rasputant would have expected. Good enough to challenge Elwist and almost certainly defeat any of the rest of them in a fair fight.

Chor punched The Prophet in the chest hard enough it would leave a bruise, but it wouldn't do any real damage. These two knew exactly how hard and where they could hit each other safely.

The fight continued with the two combatants striking out at any wizard who tried to physically stop them forcing everyone to stop until Timinna said something in a language Rasputant couldn't understand. As she spoke both men were lifted in the air as if grabbed by a giant invisible hand.

While they floated their tip toes barely touching the ground two other wizards tied rough ropes that held their hands behind their backs.

Within minutes they were walking again, with the two men stumbling far more often than they needed to force the wizards to help them up more than once, but that slowed the progression only for a second or two each time and eventually the wizards took turns holding them so they couldn't fall.

Rasputant stepped away from the other two men as they rushed towards the mountains to make watching them that much harder on the wizards. The wizards knew they were trying to delay them and that he would do the same. That meant they were watching him more carefully.

Since he knew they were expecting something he changed his tactic. Rather than fighting them he became Timinna's friend. He asked questions about everything and soon found Timinna walked slower when talking even slower than that when explaining something complicated. What made this so useful was that when she slowed her pace the other wizards slowed as well and no one seemed to notice. That allowed him to slow them for the entire day without anyone noticing. The pace was still nearly as fast as Xeon could go, but they weren't gaining on him he was certain.

They slept less than four hours that night collapsing around a small fire, created by one of the wizards well after dark and beginning to move while the moon was still the only real source of light. As the first signs of the sun began to show from behind the mountains Rasputant saw a short bald man with a single lock of hair from the top of his head hanging down to his shoulders standing in the middle of the path. He had a jovial almost humorous look on his face and as the wizards approached he said, "I have something to discuss with the wizard's council."

"We are on important business. There must be a better time for this conversation," Timinna said. As they spoke Rasputant glanced towards The Prophet and the grin on his face told Rasputant that this would delay them.

"If there were a better time I would have chosen that time. You're rushing into something you don't understand and you should know better," Oro said.

"So you're on the side of those who say we let everyone survive except ourselves. Let The Dragon free after all he might not kill us all," Timinna said.

"I could destroy you more easily than Gawn could and have better reasons to do so, so why not try to kill me," Oro said.

"You do not attack us," The wizard said. It was clear she did not believe he could hurt them.

"Which is my point. The ability to destroy someone or even the motive does not mean you will. Ahr Ain has given free will to every creature and Sai Tain cannot take that away even from those he has twisted until they are almost a new creation. He can make it harder or even almost impossible like he has with the Orbling, but they can still choose. Gawn made the choice to not kill unless he had no choice in the spirit war yet you assume he will choose to kill now when he has no reason. You are acting out of fear and that is not worthy of your people."

"Ahr Ain can afford to trust people. He's not going to be killed."

"Have you lost so much of your faith in your Ahr Ain, wizard? Do you not believe when you die you will return to the spirit realm? Death is a way to isolate people in this world for but a time. It should only terrify those who are without faith or those who have rebelled against Ahr Ain and face punishment in the spirit world," Oro said.

"Why have you not joined the wizard's guild? You break the law by not doing so," Timinna said. Her natural reaction was clearly to attack rather than defend her position.

"I'm not from your lands and am not one of your people," Oro said.

"Yet you wish to see the council."

"It is my right under your laws."

"Only when the council is meeting," Timinna said.

"If the council is in a single place is that not a meeting?" Oro asked.

"We will speak while we walk," Timinna said.

"If that is all the respect you wish to show a wizard then we can walk," Oro said and he began to move, but very slowly and Timinna did not move at all. He had given her the opportunity to weaken her position by showing that wizards did not deserve that respect but she knew better than to take the bait.

"We have important things which must be done," She said, clearly upset by the suggestion that she was not showing him respect.

"More important than the responsibilities given to you by the Grand Council?" Oro asked.

"What could they do about it?"

"They have the right to disband any council except the Mayor's council and I suspect the wizards would not want to answer directly to the Grand Council even for a short while," Oro said.

"They wouldn't dare to disband the Wizard's Council. It could start a civil war," The wizard said.

"It seems likely it would. Yet you know their honor would require them to respond. Do you care to risk a civil war?" Oro said.

"We will speak to your concerns," Timinna said.

Within minutes the entire wizard's council was sitting on the ground in the same positions they used in the Wizard's council palace and looking almost as regal sitting on the ground among trees and grass as they had in the ornate palace.

"What do you want wizard?" the head of the council said once they were all seated and their servants had walked outside of the half circle.

"I believe you are making a mistake," Oro said.

"We have already discussed Gawn and if you have no other points I then make a motion to dismiss this council," Timinna said.

"I am not speaking of the Dragon. I am speaking of something more dangerous. On the writings of the first word created by the council you said Roth, the word of knowledge, may be used to better understand Ahr Ain. I believe it should read the world of knowledge should be used to better understand Ahr Ain."

"That's it? You want us to change the word may to should.  
A single word in a two hundred page book on the use of magic."

"It is far more than a single word. It changes the point of a full twelfth of that book and the word all other words of power are based on. If people understand the words of power better it might even stop wars and save kingdoms," Oro said.

"I don't think I understand," The wizard said.

"That is because you are a Highman and so naturally follow Ahr Ain. The Mudmen do not think the same way. May does not suggest any morality which means they will not understand the importance of that small point. Eventually you will want to have Middlemen help rewrite the book for others of their kind, but you'll need to start understanding them soon or you're going to have a lot more problems," Oro said.

"It is written how it is meant to be written. Understanding Ahr Ain is important, but that is not solely the job of wizards but of all men. Any implication that wizards are to be closer to Ahr Ain would be offensive to those without those abilities," Timinna said. From what Rasputant had seen that was exactly what the wizards were doing, but they were also trying to make it seem natural and not something they had done.

The conversation continued for a remarkably long time and the wizards seemed to actually be interested in the conversation. And it wasn't just them arguing against Oro almost half of them seemed to agree with them. One of the wizards would explain some point about wizardry and politics then another would discuss a different point and every time it began to slow Oro would suggest another point that would rile them up again each time with a point that cut the wizards nearly in half, but rarely the same half. It was remarkable and Rasputant found himself enjoying the argument and forgetting that it was meant to stall them.

After several hours Timinna smiled at the man and said, "I understand you are delaying us, but I appreciate that you delay us with something interesting and perhaps even of value."

Oro nodded at her, then turned to look towards the mountains for a second and then smiled and said, "OK, I've taken enough of your time I hope you reconsider the wording of that line. I believe that single word could be important."

"You have proved your point worthy of consideration," Timinna said and she actually seemed to like the man.
Chapter 17

After a lifetime of protecting my own people I am not proud not of my battles or those who I killed. What I am proud of is my time with the Weengo, because helping them is the only thing I did that I know was part of Ahr Ain's plan.

Elwist

Every step was an effort as Elwist's feet sank into the hot white sand and he understood now why Roalle had such large feet and white skin. His feet kept him from sinking into the sand and the white would make him almost invisible if he were more than a few feet away.

"We can't keep up this pace much longer. We should find some shade and sleep until this infernal sun stops beating down on us," Ungarn said. They had traveled mostly at night since they had entered the great desert and even that had been exhausting but it was still hard traveling.

"We near my people's oasis," Roalle said, his skin gleaming in the sun, but without any sweat. In fact he was far more animated here than in weather Elwist considered comfortable.

The Oasis was not the paradise Elwist had expected. It was a small pond of dirty water surrounded by hard cracked ground with small green plants struggling to survive. That water, even stagnant and dirty appeared more inviting than anything Elwist had ever seen and he could smell a bitter taste of metal. He took a step forward almost involuntarily as he glanced at the two dozen of Roalle's people that were surrounding it and he ran his tongue across the top of his mouth which was rough and dry.

Roalle caught Elwist's shoulder and said, "You do not yet have permission to drink."

Elwist stopped. He had just begun to understand just how precious the water was here and he understood why the rules existed though if they refused him water he would be forced to fight to get to that water.

"We will give you water but first prove you are not an enemy," One of the smaller the lizards said. A female, Elwist was certain though besides her voice and size nothing made her look more feminine than Roalle.

"How could anyone possibly prove that under these circumstances? I would say or do almost anything for water," Elwist said.

"I will speak for Elwist," Roalle said loud enough for all the creatures around them to hear.

"What about me?" Ungarn said.

"You have a special place in the heart of the Great Lord. Perhaps he will protect you," Roalle said. There was no missing the mocking tone of his voice.

"Tell me what do you want?" Ungarn said.

"Our roles reversed. While here you are the apprentice and will do as I wish," Roalle said.

"I have no choice but to accept," Ungarn said.

"Certainly you have a choice. You can trust that the Great Spirit will strengthen you enough to leave the desert," Roalle said.

"Sai Tain's power is bound and without water I will die," Ungarn said.

"Is that not the same choice you gave to me?" Roalle asked.

"I never threatened to kill you!" Ungarn said. He actually sounded more upset by that accusation than by the man forcing him into subservience. Elwist understood that. The first was simply a good tactic which any warrior could appreciate, while the other suggested he was dishonorable.

"Without an apprenticeship The General would put me in the pit each year and he would have rigged it just as he did for Elwist. I am not the warrior he is and would be killed," Roalle said.

Ungarn looked at the water for a moment unable to respond to what Elwist knew was the truth and then said, "I will serve you as you wish."

Roalle walked up to the widest part of the water with Elwist and Ungarn a step behind and said, "We wish to drink."

"Are you enemies or friends?" the largest of Weengo said.

"I serve only the Weengo people," Roalle said, his voice sounded deeper and more authoritarian than Elwist had even heard from him before. There was pride in that statement that had not been in his voice before.

"I have pledged allegiance to Roalle for as long as I am in these lands," Ungarn said, flat and angry, but honest. He couldn't be trusted, except that to betray them now would hurt him as much as them.

Every eye turned towards Elwist. He had known he would have to say something, but all he knew about these people was what Roalle had said and that wasn't much so he simply said, "My people have no alliances but wish to make peace with all."

There were a few more seconds of silence as eyes turned away from Elwist and to the largest of the Weengo then huge lizard like creature then said "I believe each of you. Drink deeply."

Elwist wanted to dip his head into pool and drink until he collapsed but he suspected there was more to this and so he waited to allow Roalle to drink first. This was after all his home and his people.

Ungarn didn't wait he dropped to his knees stuck his head into the water nearly to his shoulder and didn't move for several seconds his long black hair floating in the brown water. As he watched the man drink Elwist could almost taste the water, but he waited.

Roalle looked at Elwist clearly expecting him to drink as well, but Elwist nodded for Roalle to go first and Roalle looked as close to surprised as the strange face could look. He then lowered himself to one knee and took several handfuls of water.

After he had finished he turned his head to Elwist and lifted a clear handful of water towards Elwist and said "Drink now my friend."

Elwist was surprised by the honorific, but he liked Roalle as well and so he leaned forward taking a small sip of water from the Roalle's large hand that was surprisingly well formed to hold the water with a small indentation in the palm that he hadn't seen before which held water as well as any cup.

Once that was done Elwist laid down next to the water and drank until he felt like he was going to be sick. He then leaned back on the warm soft soil around the water and closed his eyes beginning to enjoy the warmth of the sun for the first time and understanding better how these creatures lived in such a hard place.

They remained in the sun for an hour of near silence then one of the Weengo said "We have business to discuss."

"I will return to the warrior's barracks with my apprentice and wait until I have been summoned," Roalle said. Elwist hadn't seen any buildings but they were likely as hidden as this place. There was enough stone to build and covering it with sand would make it impossible to find anything but the entrance.

"Sit, Mage. You are not here for your strength with a spear," The Weengo said, and he made a chortling sound that suggested to Elwist laughter. It wasn't like any type of laughter Elwist had heard before though he could still recognize the mocking tone.

"Tell me then, why did you have me return," Roalle said, irritation in his voice.

"The Lowmen force us to work for them cutting stone and carrying heavy loads. Still, they ignore our laws, our borders and even our treaties. Four of our children have been kidnapped in the last month and we will only see them again if we also become slaves," The head of the Weengo said.

"What does the council plan?" Roalle asked.

"We will move deeper into the desert. It is already difficult for the Lowmen to reach us and we have found an oasis larger than this two more day's walk into the desert," the largest Weengo said.

"They will not stop because you flee. They are predators and will attack a fleeing enemy because that is their nature. More of them may die getting to you but they will come," Elwist said.

"He is correct. If we are going to leave we must go so far that they will never find us again," Roalle said.

"That isn't my point at all. You are facing a people who see strength as the only true virtue. They see attacking the weak as a virtue and will hunt you to the ends of the earth if they think you are weak because that is what their morality will demand of them," Elwist said.

"Then what do you suggest?" Roalle asked.

"You attack them and you win. You ensure they can never question your strength again."

"They outnumber us a hundred to one without their allies," Roalle said.

"You can't fight a war, but you shouldn't need to. You only need a single dramatic gesture to prove you aren't weak," Elwist said.

"A grand gesture," largest Weengo said, and seemed to enjoy the idea.

"There will be losses," One of the other Weengo said as his eyes opened for the first time during their conversation.

"It would have to be a surprise attack on a force at least twice our size," A second Weengo said. Elwist was more impressed by these people all the time. This couldn't simply be a victory it had to be a victory great enough to impress the Lowmen.

"Which could trigger a bigger war if our friend is incorrect," The largest Weengo said.

"The General can't afford a real war," Ungarn said. He understood the Lowmen better than the other Weengo and Elwist let him speak though he knew what the man was going to say.

"Why not?" the head of the Weengo asked.

"The war with the Highmen isn't going as well as it appears. The Orblings won't get involved in any war unless Sai Tain gives them the order which means we have very little magic while the Highmen have a considerable amount. The Grun are uninterested in war so do little to help except acting as scouts in the woods and the Serrino have all but disappeared."

"What you're saying is that they need us."

"Not directly. We have little magic and far fewer people. They simply need to fight the Highman without our interference so that they can focus on overcoming the Highmen's wizards with their numbers," Roalle said.

"Perhaps you should ally yourself with the Highmen," Elwist suggested.

"The Highman wizards hate us more than the Lowmen. We betrayed Ahr Ain in the spirit war and they believe we would do it again," the largest Weengo said.

"You have been lucky. The Lowmen respect your people's great strength. Other races have been destroyed because they had no value to ours," Ungarn said.

"We're lucky to be slave labor cutting stone and standing in the front of their armies," Roalle said.

"If you do not like it then you need to change it," Elwist said. He felt now as if he understood the reason he had come to the Lowmen's lands. This was his chance to change not just his own people but the world.

"You speak as if you plan to do something," Roalle said.

"If he offers help take it. He's as good in a fight as anyone I've ever seen," Ungarn said. It was the highest compliment that Ungarn knew how to give, but Elwist knew there were more important things. "I was created by Ahr Ain to protect my people and given the skills to do so," Elwist said.

"He fought a Karnho cat with a makeshift spear," Ungarn said.

"We have little need for one more soldier. Yet for the Middlemen a single soldier might be important," Roalle said.

"Do you have someone able to lead your troops?" Elwist asked. He had never commanded an army, never seen enough people to be called an army but he had the skills. Ahr Ain who had created The General to lead troops had given Elwist the skills that he needed for this day.

"My people are not natural generals," the largest Weengo said.

"Then it is good that I am a natural general. I also have a score to settle with The General. He is after all their strongest soldier and is the one we should attack."

"You want us to attack the greatest general Ahr Ain has ever created? The man who led Ahr Ain's army to nearly endless string of victories then changed the entire spirit war when he changed sides?The Prophet and Ahr Ain were the only ones who ever even challenged him and survived."

"I know how he thinks. If we attack anyone but him he will simply assume the loss was because he was not there and it will make his leadership stronger. Defeat him and he will never be able to deny your strength," Elwist said.

"How do we know you can beat him when no other general has?" the largest Weengo said.

"Faith," Elwist said.

Every eye turned to Elwist and he had the feeling he had said something far more important than he thought it was. He waited several seconds with all eyes on him then said "What?"

"That was our betrayal. Ahr Ain told us to have faith, but the war was going badly. We changed to the side that appeared on the edge of victory. We are slaves today because of our lack of faith."

"And now you have a second chance. But, second chances are rarely as easy as the first. Last time you only had to trust Ahr Ain. This time you must trust a servant of Ahr Ain," Elwist answered.

"And if we fail this time we will be destroyed," Roalle said.

"You may be destroyed either way. The question is how do you want to be destroyed? I believe it is better to die trusting Ahr Ain," Elwist said.

"I will follow Elwist into battle and be glad to die next to him," Roalle said.

"I won't die for him but I would fight next to him," Ungarn said, and Elwist wondered if Ungarn's endorsement helped or hurt his case.

"The word of an enemy and the word of a friend can hardly be argued with," The largest Weengo said.

"Neither of these men is my enemy," Elwist said. Ungarn was more like him than most of his own people. It was only a philosophy of that truly separated the two and Elwist suspected he might someday be able to change that philosophy.

"The Lowmen are the enemy of everyone. An ally today will kill you tomorrow because they think it could help them," Ungarn said. His voice told Elwist that he wanted to believe that was a good thing, but he was struggling with that belief.

"We will need to find the perfect place to ambush The General and a way to get him there," Elwist said. He knew what he needed, but he wanted to see if Ungarn did because he needed to gauge his reaction and he wished that Rasputant was here to help him.

"There is a canyon that would work well. Covered in thick trees it has steep hills on both sides and is narrow enough to force an army to stretch itself. The General would be forced to use a far smaller personal guard because of that. It also goes to a place that is legendary to my people. If you set an ambush in that location I can bring the General to you," Ungarn said. It was what he needed. Ungarn was the only one who could get The General where they needed, but it was also dangerous. He would have to be alone and there would be no easy way to know if he had betrayed them until the battle had begun.

Elwist wasn't even sure which would be better for Ungarn. If Ungarn helped overthrow The General there was a lot of power to be gained. But he could also get considerable influence from betraying them to The General.

"We will prepare the battlefield and you will bring him," Elwist said. The men then sat down and began to formulate a plan that could defeat The General while in his head Elwist also formed the counter plan which could work if Ungarn betrayed them.
Chapter 18

Their difficulty with deception is the greatest of the Highmen's weaknesses both on and off the battlefield. No one can be a great general if they do not understand how to control the enemy with misinformation.

The General

Elwist watched the path in bemused amazement. There was no way the two men walking through the valley could know they were there and so far as he knew no reason for them to be here, but Ebon and Geer had just walked into the valley where he and the Weengo were preparing their ambush.

Roalle moved to stand up, but Elwist grabbed his arm and pulled him back into the woods. He would have liked to talk to Ebon too. To find out why he had left and warn him of the danger of this place but he couldn't risk it even for a man that was almost a brother. Giving away their location now could get a lot of people killed and wouldn't help Ebon. More importantly as Elwist watched them it became clear that they were already being careful. Geer was watching the woods with his hand on the club he always carried and Ebon touched the bone dagger on his belt several times. That seemed to mean that Ebon was beginning to understand more of the dangers of the world and if he could learn they all could.

The two didn't stop as they passed through the valley. They simply walked down the wide path towards the location that Elwist knew was important to the Lowmen.

As they disappeared from his sight Elwist returned to his half sleep that allowed him to conserve all his energy for the battle. As he did he reconsidered his plan. It wasn't a complex plan, but it depended on factors he could not control. That made it far more dangerous because Ungarn had not betrayed their original plan to The General he would be unlikely to take the bait. That would leave the Weengo charging an enemy that would meet them on far to even a footing for an ambush to work.

It was an hour after Ebon had left the valley that Elwist heard Lowmen. The few Weengo who sat with him on the edge of the path remained silent as well with only a barely audible hum of sound coming from the grass around them. The Weengo with Elwist knew they were the first ones who would be killed if this failed.

Elwist watched Ungarn more carefully than The General as they walked side by side. If he had betrayed them Elwist hoped to read it on his face, but he showed no signs of guilt. That either meant he hadn't betrayed him or that it hadn't upset him enough to show guilt on his face. Unfortunately Elwist had no idea which of those was more likely.

The two men stood in the center of several hundred Lowmen. Each of those soldiers had a six foot long wooden spear. Working together those spears could create a wall that would make a forward advance almost impossible except the thick armor of the Ungarn would break through the wood spears without more than scratches in most cases. That was another clue, but was it a clue that The General didn't know he was being ambushed or simply that he didn't care if a lot of Lowmen were killed because they had the wrong weapons. Elwist couldn't decide, but it was too late to change the plan. All Elwist could do was give the order to attack or wait and allow The General to get away and doom the Weengo to slavery.

As he prepared for the signal to begin the battle Elwist looked down at the tiny creatures which formed the heart of his plan. There were hundreds of Grass Woggs surrounding them. They were not soldier, but the Lowmen might not know that and they would certainly be distracting either way. So he said quietly, "Deliver the message."

The Grass Woggs were too stupid to know that what they were doing was dangerous so they ran forward together a wave of foot tall creatures with arms little bigger than twigs and tiny spears. As his Grass Woggs appeared so did others from all along the path given the same command. It had taken days but the Weengo had been able to gather at least two thousand of the tiny creatures which made them an army at least in appearance.

As the Lowmen spotted the Grass Woggs Elwist stood and began to rush forward. Along the path a dozen Weengo did the same. They would make the Grass Wogg attack look considerably more dangerous though there were only a handful of Weengo and if the Lowmen hadn't been ordered to hold the line they would easily overwhelm the tiny force of Weengo. Yet the men didn't attack like they would have without warning, instead they dropped their spears forming a wall almost all of those men turning to face the handful of Weengo as Elwist had hoped.

With the army turned to face the attacking army five hundred Weengo began to attack from the Lowman rear. Each of them held a rock bigger than Elwist could have lifted and began to throw them down the steep hill. Creating an avalanche of rocks that bounced through the Lowmen army splintering bone as easily as spears.

That thinned the Lowman ranks considerably with hundreds injured but they had been well trained and the chaos Elwist had hoped for didn't happen. Still, he hadn't counted on chaos only hoped so as the avalanche turned into a slower rain of rocks as the Weengo continued to throw rocks as quickly as they were able.

But while the rocks were not as effective as he had hoped but the Woggs were more useful as he had expected. All along the line the Lowmen were attacking the Grass Woggs but they were far less helpless than they looked. They were fast, too fast to be easily killed and they fought back once attacked. They worked together in groups of four or five driving their spears into the Lowmen's legs until they fell to the ground or climbing the much larger creatures and attacking anything.

Just as the Lowmen began to get a handle on the Glass Woggs Elwist and a dozen Weengo reached the lines. The truth was that they would never do any real damage. They would be lucky to kill any of the Lowmen. But the truth was that they didn't have to kill any. Still they had to attack because if they didn't the Lowmen would turn to face the real army and that would cause a lot more people being killed. The real risk was that this would only look like an attack if The General was expecting an attack. So if Ungarn hadn't betrayed them then these Lowmen would likely attack the small group, but they held their position exactly as they should if they knew a large force would be attacking. Ungarn had betrayed them and Elwist felt far better.

The battle went on for several minutes with the rocks continuing until the entire stockpile had been used and then the Weengo attacked, rushing down the steep hill and trampling the first rows of Lowmen before they were slowed enough to have to truly fight.

That attack turned enough of the enemy away that they were now facing the rear of the army with only the men who had been actually fighting them facing towards them. That allowed Roalle to break through the enemies, but the wall closed behind him. Still, that left Elwist alone and without any Weengo near him the men largely ignored him because he looked like them.

That allowed him to move towards The General without more than minor problems. The man stood nearly as tall as the Weengo towering over the circle of his own guards. Those guards were also far better trained and far more dangerous. They didn't allow anyone near them so Elwist couldn't use his appearance to slip by. All around that group were the Grass Woggs all trying to give messages to The General. Each had a different message, but all of them were long and mocking and the creatures were determined to deliver them.

As he moved he watched the battle. It was nearing its conclusion and the Weengo were going to win, but that was only half of the plan. They had to beat The General not just his army and Elwist had not been able to plan The General's defeat because he knew he would have to do it himself.

He continued to fight, attacking any Lowman who was still fighting but unable to make any real progress. Yet with each minute the enemy numbered less and soon the wall of men surrounding The General was broken. It was slow at first, but each Lowman that fell made it harder for the rest and within minutes their line had all but collapsed.

The battle was won. Most of the remaining Lowmen were fleeing though they still outnumbered the Weengo. Yet even without an army The General stood in the center of the battlefield unmoving. Two Weengo were dead at his feet and Elwist wondered if the entire Weengo army could defeat the man.

"I suppose you want to gloat," The General said.

"I had a debt to repay. You tried to kill me," Elwist said moving into the range of the two spears that The General held carefully.

Elwist expected an attack, but not the attack that came. The General moved forward with lightning speed, the spears swinging in an odd arching attack. The attack was far less lethal than a jab would have been, but also more difficult to avoid as one of the heavy spears struck Elwist in the shoulder.

The blow didn't injure him, but it made its point. The General was showing how much stronger than Elwist he was. He wasn't just strong he was intimidating. Elwist would never be able to block a blow with that strength behind it and he began to wonder if he could win.

He had to fight to stop the fear from overwhelming him. He reminded himself that The General's strength was no more dangerous than a bear's strength. It was his skill that was dangerous and Elwist had already understood the skill of The General.

Still, he would have to change his tactics. He stepped back so that he was outside of easy striking distance from The General. That would allow him to use his speed to counter the strength of The General. But he didn't have to. The General had already been beat and he had faced him. So he circled the man allowing the Lowmen to escape while proving that The General himself couldn't win the day.

Both men watched the battle and understood what was happening. The Weengo needed to leave soon and so he took a step back and said, "I regret there is no time to kill you." He then threw the spear with a flip of the wrist. It was unlikely to hurt The General badly, but drawing blood would be something.

The General didn't dodge or block the dagger. Instead, a white energy appeared around him and the bone dagger was melted into nothing as it approached the man. At almost the same time a whip of the white energy flashed out hitting Elwist and throwing him onto his back. He could have been badly injured but Elwist knew how to take a blow and as he came back up he grabbed two of spears that were scattered around the ground.

The General appeared shocked Elwist had survived. It was the first time The General had shown anything but complete control on the battlefield and Elwist took advantage of that moment. He threw one of the spears. The white energy shot out again, but it wasn't destroyed. All the white energy was able to do was to drive the spear's tip upward so it missed his chest and cut a shallow gash across The General's cheek.

It was nothing more than a scratch, yet rather than blood it was the white energy that began to flow out of that gash. The strange white glow ran down his face and was so bright looking at The General was difficult. Elwist didn't know what it meant, but the man took two steps back and raised his hand. When he did there was another flash of light as a spark appeared, but nothing else happened. Again The General showed no real reaction to this. He simply turned, showing his back to Elwist as he walked away. It was a clear sign of disrespect, yet at the same time The General was leaving having lost the battle and the dual.

The plan wasn't over yet though. The Weengo were still outnumbered badly and The Lowmen would realize that soon so everyone began to move away from the battlefield to their rendezvous point. It was only a mile from the battle, but the deep valley and thick trees would protect them from being found.

Elwist tried to count how many Weengo were with him as he ran through the woods, but they looked too much alike and were too spread out so all he really knew was that every Weengo he saw was injured. Roalle had been stabbed in the side and would have to be tended to. He also saw Ungarn had joined them and had several bruises small cuts, though which side had given it to them was not clear.

"You betrayed us," Elwist said as he moved next to Ungarn. He wasn't surprised he had come with them. The General had lost and it could look as if Ungarn had betrayed him.

"Everything worked out," Ungarn said.

"Because I knew you would betray us," Elwist said.

"The General would never have come unless he knew you were here. How else did you expect me to bring him," Ungarn said.

"You had a chance to redeem yourself. You failed," Elwist said.

"I never said I wanted redemption. I want power and I'll have it. The General knows who fled and knows I didn't," Ungarn said.

"There are more troops coming," Elwist said. They came over the ridge of the small valley as he spoke. It was almost invisible, but the Lowmen would find it eventually and if they simply waited until night the cold would make the Weengo slower and weaker making the fight too easy for The General.

"The General will not kill us today he has no reason to," Ungarn said.

"I don't understand", Elwist said, then almost out of spite he said, "Why do you follow him. He is powerful, but the strategy he chooses today showed no skill. He had more troops who were better trained and yet he lost," Elwist said.

"The only mistake he made was underestimating you and all that got him was a scratch. The General doesn't want war between the Weengo and Lowmen because it would make him weaker, but he can't simply tell the Lowmen to stop harassing the Weengo. What happened today will give the Weengo enough stature to make them far more useful in our alliance once they decide to return and that makes them more useful to him. It also allowed him to test the people he considers a real threat," Ungarn said.

Elwist felt ill. He had been certain he had defeated The General and helped the Weengo. Yet it hadn't even been The General who had out thought him. Ungarn must have known since they were in the desert what would happen. Elwist had given the Lowmen exactly what he needed and not known he had been doing it until it was too late. No wonder Ahr Ain had warned him strategy was not the same as guile.
Chapter 19

I fear Sai Tan because I understand him, I fear The Nameless One because I do not.

Gawn

The small valley was as close to sacred for the Lowmen as anyplace in the world according to Geer. That made the oppressive feeling of failure that had followed Ebon since he had left Sai Tain even worse. He had known he shouldn't even speak to Sai Tain and now he was acting for him.

Yet being in this valley had began to help because nothing had happened. They had simply set up camp in the valley and waited. It was the closest thing to rest Ebon had felt since he had left home and in many ways easier than being in the valley. Geer was able to catch their food so that all Ebon had to do was wait. Most of what he did during that time was debating in his mind if he should simply leave. Yet, the promise of safety was enough to make it worth waiting.

It was the fifth morning before anything happened. Ebon woke up and found that Geer was gone. That in itself was not all that strange. He didn't sleep as much as Ebon and it was often easier to catch animals very early in the morning.

It wasn't just that though. This place had changed. It was silent in a way that no forest was ever silent. The leaves were not rustling, there were no animal noises and even the sound of the river running through the valley was gone.

All of it was bizarre and impossible. Worse, at some level he knew that he should be terrified by the sudden change, but he simply didn't care. Instead, he sat down by the fire and watched the silent flames. He quickly lost track of time, but he really didn't care even as he recognized the same strange effect of time he had felt in Sai Tain's temple.

He could remember one thing clearly. He had a message to deliver. As he thought of that he felt himself stand and began to walk. As he walked something drew him toward the lowest point in the valley and as he reached the bottom he heard a voice that would have been impossible to hear had the valley not been completely silent say "here."

It was the first sound he had heard since he woke. Yet he didn't think it was really a sound at all and Ebon said, "Who are you?" but no sound came out.

"I am one who is held captive."

"Where?" Ebon asked.

"The world of the dead."

"You mean the spirit world."

"No, the spirit world is for those who are with Ahr Ain. The world of the dead is a prison for those who are banished from the spirit realm and the physical world. All enemies of Ahr Ain will eventually be sent here," The voice said.

"Why are you there?"

"Because Ahr Ain has chosen to never forgive me."

"Ahr Ain doesn't choose not to forgive people. People choose not to be forgiven," Ebon said. His mind was still foggy, but truth seemed to give him strength and Ebon knew that was the truth.

"I will not bow down! Free will has failed as has He. Let me out and I will ensure all follow Ahr Ain without question or mistake."

"You wish to help Ahr Ain?" Ebon asked. He was thinking a bit clearer, but he still had no idea what this voice was or why he had been sent here. From what he could see this was an enemy of Sai Tain and Ahr Ain and perhaps one that was as powerful as Sai Tain.

"I will show him I was right by eliminating his mistake."

"You have the power to do that?"

"Sai Tain was not the first Creation of Ahr Ain and is not the most powerful. Sai Tain is part of the failed experiment of free will. He believes he can challenge Ahr Ain because he does not understand the power he faces. I know that none can challenge Ahr Ain except that he has let them. He must be convinced that letting them challenge him is wrong," The creature in the box said.

"What are you called?" Ebon asked.

"I am one created before names when all who existed were created able to understand Ahr Ain. I was born before the idea that some would have power and some would not. I am The Nameless One. The one before names," The voice said.

"I was sent with a message," Ebon said. This being would never agree to aid Sai Tain, Ebon was certain and so there was no harm in delivering a simple message.

"Don't do it," another voice said. This voice one clearer than the other. This voice was real and not in his head. Ebon turned to see a short bald man with a single knot of hair falling from the peak of his head to his waist. A middleman from every appearance except that there were only twelve of them and Ebon knew all of them like family.

"He could help end the war," Ebon said. That thought hadn't even occurred to him until he spoke and he suspected it wasn't entirely his own. "He has too much influence over your mind in this place. You must not attempt to make any decision here."

"How do I know I can trust you?" Ebon asked.

"Because I'm the only thing here not being controlled by the Nameless One and telling you how to escape rather than give in," The man said.

"How do I leave?" Ebon asked.

The man tilted his head seeming a bit surprised. That surprise seemed strange to Ebon because the man seemed to know exactly what was going on until then. "There is no record of how you left. I suppose you didn't have time to talk to anyone about it."

"What if the only way out is to open the box?" Ebon asked.

"If the Nameless One had been released today I would know. That isn't the type of thing that I would have missed."

"So you're a prophet?" Ebon asked.

"I am The Man of the Twelve Words. A weapon forged through generations of training and forced to change the world alone because I'm the only one who can do it," Oro said.

Ebon felt something well up in him. Words that he knew were the truth. He had felt that only rarely. A connection to Ahr Ain that he understood now was his purpose. He had been created for that connection the same way that Elwist had been created to protect people and Xeon and been created to lead. It had always been there at least a little but he had never known until he had talked to Sai Tain even though he knew it was wrong and it disappeared. Now though it had returned and he didn't want to resist as he said, "You have never been alone, Ahr Ain is always with you."

"Ahr Ain created us and abandoned us in a world filled with enemies and a promise that he wouldn't help," Oro said. There was a lot of anger in his voice. Yet it was the calm anger of someone who had held onto anger for a long time.

Ebon understood that anger. If he believed that he would be angry as well. Yet even ignoring the fact that he associated himself with the Middlemen it was still surprising how wrong the statement was. Ahr Ain had never said he was abandoning them.

"He never abandoned us. He never will. He limits himself to working through us because it is better for us and because he wants family not slaves but he still works through us," Ebon said.

"Where did you hear this?"" Oro asked. He sounded almost desperate.

"I do not understand all of Ahr Ain's plans. No one can. But he told me he would be with us," Ebon said.

"I wish he would tell me. I am struggling to create a path without knowing where it is supposed to go," Oro said.

"You have what you need," Ebon said.

"And so do you. You can just leave this place," Oro said.

"Of course," Ebon said, now more certain than ever that he had been wrong to come here, yet he also felt that he could be redeemed for this mistake.

* * *

Deciding that there was likely no real trick Ebon simply focused on moving forward and tried to block out everything else. He knew The Nameless One would speak again, and he wasn't convinced he could resist the voice but he was convinced he had to fight. He had to try to escape.

"Listen to me," The Nameless One said. Its voice was stronger now than it had been and he could feel the will being forced on his. Ebon stopped as the voice spoke and he struggled with the battle in his mind. What gave him a chance were the words he had just spoken to the other man. Ahr Ain worked through them and with Ahr Ain's help he could challenge anyone.

"I will not submit to your will," Ebon said and he took a single step forward away from the center of that valley.

"I whispered words into the ears of Sai Tain before the first multitude. I have faced Ahr Ain alone and was not destroyed. You are nothing more than dirt and mud. You will submit to the will of your superiors."

Again Ebon stopped. This time his feet felt as if they were trapped in solid rock, but he pulled forward knowing there was nothing actually holding them. This was an attack entirely on his mind and physically fighting it wouldn't gain him much.

"Ahr Ain chooses not to destroy you because he loves you, but your power does not exist outside of what he has given you," Ebon said, and as he spoke truth he was able to take another step forward.

"Free will means that you can fail," The Nameless One said. Ebon again stopped this time terror threaten to overwhelm him. The voice cut deep and what it said was not only true but the thing Ebon most feared. Yet it also made sense. The Nameless One was attacking his free will and few things could attack free will as easily as fear. Still, if he chose to act The Nameless One couldn't stop him. All it could actually do was make it difficult.

The battle continued up the entire hill. With each step The Nameless One tried a new type of attack, but now Ebon understood there was really only one attack. It didn't matter what he said or how he said it all that mattered was that Ebon moved forward.

Time still seemed a concept with no meaning when he finally reached the top of the hill after a seemingly eternal battle. There he spotted Geer sitting on a branch of a tree that overlooked the valley. Except he was dead, nothing more than bones and scraps of fur holding Geer's club. Surrounding him the woods were just as dead. The evergreen trees had brown needles and the grass was all but gone. It seemed as if everything outside of the valley had died. Perhaps time hadn't stopped. Was it possible he had been in this world for so long that everything had died? It was possible except he didn't know why Geer hadn't left?

He stopped for a moment unsure why he would continue forward if the world was dead, but he knew that giving up would only give his soul to The Nameless One and so he moved forward. It was easier to walk forward now though it was still an effort. Then, as he stepped across the line of bright green grass and life into the area that looked dead everything seemed to reverse and what had been dead suddenly looked alive, including Geer.

Geer dropped down from the tree branch landing in front of Ebon and said "I was convinced you were dead."

"How long was I gone?" Ebon asked.

"You disappeared at the same time that everything in the valley died," Geer said and Ebon looked back to see that the valley looked as dead as the world had a moment ago.

"I think was in the land of the dead," Ebon said.

"That isn't possible," Geer answered.

"I spoke to The Nameless One wherever I was," Ebon said.

"Did you release him? Or give him the message?" Geer asked.

"No. I like my free will," Ebon said.

"So, Sai Tain isn't going to help you," Geer said.

"He was never going to help. This place was a trap. He expected The Nameless One to be able to control me. Once under his control I might have freed him or simply be a slave," Ebon said.

"So what now?" Geer asked.

"I go home and hope that I get there before the Lowmen attack," Ebon said, certain now that they had always planned to attack and the voice told him that he would have an important part to play in ensuring that attack was not successful.
Chapter 20

I do not understand mercy, but I understand it is powerful.

Leroune, Lowmen Priest

A drop of sweat ran down Xeon's nose as he sprinted across the valley filled with Sots. He was exhausted, but the wizards had only been a few hours behind them the last time they had seen them were only a few hours behind and had been gaining. The Sots might slow them down, but they hadn't attacked any other Highmen so there was no reason to assume they would actually attack.

Xeon rushed into the cave half expecting it to be empty, but The Dragon was still there, but something was wrong. Gawn was lying on the ground and the bright green of his eyes had turned gray. He lifted his head to look at Xeon, but it felt back to the ground with a thump without a word.

"He looks sick," Chart said.

Xeon looked down at the ring on his finger in revulsion and knew that had he not put that ring on he could use the word Roth to tell him what to do.

"Have you come to free me?" The Dragon asked. It didn't move as it spoke and only one eye opened.

"Why should I trust you?" Xeon asked. As he spoke he watched the ring on his finger and wondered why he hadn't simply trusted Ahr Ain to protect him. All he could do now was to trust in doing what he thought was right.

"If you do not I will die," The Dragon said. That much at least Xeon knew was true.

There were sounds outside and Xeon heard Rasputant said much louder than necessary "I think this is the place." The wizards had gained on them leaving him almost no time to think.

"I have to free him," Xeon said. He wanted Chart to stop him. If he did it would save him from having to make a decision. Yet as much as he wanted Chart to decide he knew he wouldn't. Chart believed that they were created to make these decisions and would support that.

He stepped towards the nearest of the chains, but before he reached it he felt something grab him and pull him back. It was like the air had become hard and wrapped around him. As it did he felt the ring on his finger grow cold and he strained to touch the dagger at his belt.

"Just relax. You can't win. I am one of the most powerful wizards in the world and you're an untrained mage with sealed power," Timinna said. She didn't sound angry only determined.

It was likely she was right and he would lose but Xeon wasn't ready to stop fighting. If he allowed the Highmen to control him his people would never really be free. They would be as leashed by the Highman wizards as he was by their ring. His only chance was to reach that dagger and hope that it would allow his magic to fight hers.

At first he couldn't move at all, but in a few seconds the battle of wills seemed to bend and he was able to slide his hand downward. As the tip of his finger touched the metal hilt of the dagger he felt a flare of power and the strength holding was driven back. Moving forward was still hard, but as he moved he looked up and saw the strain in Timinna's eyes.

Timinna's face turned red and she began to silently mouth words and the force holding him became stronger, but within a few seconds it began to recede. It was one of the words of power but even repeating it she was unable to actually stop him. She didn't have to though. The other wizards couldn't be far behind and with his magic barely able to counter hers all they would have to do is physically drag him out of the cave and he would be unable to even resist.

With that knowledge he stretched forward with the dagger and its tip touched the metal of the chain. It was an attack in slow motion, and as it reached the chain it was enveloped with green and white flames and the front legs of The Dragon were free.

"Don't make me hurt you," Timinna said, but her voice showed the strain of her attempt to step him. Moving now was not much harder than pushing against a hard wind. Ahr Ain had given him the strength to meet this challenge.

"You can't stop him. You're only making an enemy of him and Gawn," Chor said from outside of the cave and Xeon had at least a small idea why the other wizards had not made it inside. He had more allies than just Chart and Rasputant and while the wizards might be willing to challenge Chor and The Prophet he suspected that actually using magic against them would be too much for them.

"He is already our enemy. The Middleman has not made the decision to follow Ahr Ain," Timinna said. As she spoke he took another step towards the next chain.

"Do you actually believe Ahr Ain created the Middlemen to destroy us? If not then you should teach them not attack them," The Prophet said. His voice came from directly in front of the cave entrance. The respect the others had for The Prophet wouldn't keep them out very long.

"Ahr Ain created Sai Tain, The General, the Nameless One, and even created the beings which became The Dragons and the Orblings. Perhaps this isn't their test but ours. Perhaps Ahr Ain simply wants to know if we have the will to survive." Timinna said. Xeon understood the source of this comment. Timinna was scared, scared of the Lowmen, scared of Gawn, even scared of Xeon and that fear made her want to strike out.

"You're suggesting Ahr Ain created a people so that we would kill them," Chor said, and in his voice it sounded absurd.

"Perhaps I am," Timinna said.

While they were talking Xeon crawled forward touching the third chain that disappeared. As it did The Dragon's eyes opened and the huge wings on his shoulders rippled, but he remained both silent and still. He was too weak. It was likely that even once he was free he would not have the strength to fight the wizard, but it was still the right thing to do because anything else would be too close to murder for Xeon.

"I told you to stop," Timinna said.

"If you believe you should kill me then kill me but I will do what I believe to be right," Xeon said. He did not believe she would kill him. No matter how scared she was Highmen were not killers. They would do what they thought was right and so would he.

"If that's what it takes," Timinna said, and Xeon took a single step before he felt a sharp rush of pain strike him in the back. His limbs went numb and he fell forward. He hadn't expected that she would actually attack him.

The pain threatened to overwhelm him Xeon forced himself forward crawling towards the last of the chains. As he drug himself across the smooth worn floor of the cave he heard The Prophet say, "It seems he might be stronger than you believed. They were, as you know, with Ahr Ain a short time ago and that type of a connection leaves a bond."

As he spoke Xeon knew it was true. He had lived with Ahr Ain, eaten with him and that had increased his strength. Yet he wasn't safe. The blow of her magic had hurt him and she didn't need to attack alone.

"You're going to destroy your own people," Timinna said.

"I chose to show mercy. If my people must die to do the right thing I am willing to take that path," Xeon said, and he pulled himself forward a few more inches though the weight of her magic made it almost impossible.

"As am I," Rasputant said.

It was that statement that gave Xeon the strength to push himself forward. If Rasputant was willing to die to help someone then either there was profit in it or he had become completely convinced it was right, because there was no middleman more pragmatic than Rasputant.

Xeon felt power flow through he moved forward and he saw his only chance. He couldn't reach the chain, but he could touch the thick metal shackle which held his leg and so Xeon drove the dagger into the shackle. The dagger moved through the metal easily and cut into the dragon's skin. Green blood run down the dagger and covered his hand. It was hot but not so hot that it burnt him and he felt something odd. It was similar to the way the dagger felt but the power of that blood was also far more foreign. It was like seeing a color that had never existed before yet still looked in part like the colors he had seen, but before he could focus to understand what it was events began to rush past him.

The Dragon's wings flapped and everyone that was standing in the cave was thrown to the ground by the torrent of wind created by the massive leather wings.

The dragon then twisted back its long body encircling Xeon so that he was completely protected. Its long neck then twisted back so that its head hovered over Xeon. It smiled showing more teeth than Xeon would have thought possible and he said, "It would have been smarter to leave me to die."

At that moment Xeon expected to die. That mouth could easily cut him in half, but as he looked up he saw a glint in The Dragon's eyes. He couldn't be certain in those strange eyes but he thought that he saw humor in the creature's expression.

"Can you get us out of here?" Xeon asked.

"Not without a fight. Timinna didn't give up in the spirit war when Sai Tain took the battlefield and she won't back down from me," The Dragon said.

"Then we fight," Xeon said. He didn't like the idea but he didn't see that he had any other choice. Gawn deserved the chance to live.

"I have killed enough people who were serving Ahr Ain to know it doesn't help and this time I don't have the excuse of a war or a master," Gawn said.

Xeon couldn't help but smile. He had expected a bloodthirsty creature that just happened to be on his side but instead he found someone less willing to attack than he was. There was no time to enjoy that moment of peace though. They were still trapped in the cave surrounded by Highmen.

While Xeon was trying to find a solution The Dragon's body shimmered and shrunk. It twisted and deflated until he was only two feet taller than Xeon making him over eight feet. The new form of The Dragon looked a bit like Roalle, except his skin was a bright green and there were wings folded against his back.

As he seemed to gather his strength Timinna scurried outside the cave to gather her own. Gawn didn't slow though he walked to the entrance of the cave and said loudly and far more boldly than his power supported he said, "If I wanted you dead I would have killed you in The Spirit War. But I have grown tired of slaughter. So I will allow you to live, so only attack if you doubt I have the power to strike you all down?"

Every wizard except Timinna began to move away. Yet she stood her grown looking The Dragon in the eyes. Next to her stood only Rasputant, Chor and The Prophet who had not been the focus of The Dragon's attention.

As the other wizards began to move away Gawn leaned down and allowed one of the Sots ran up his hand. He smiled as it did then looked at Timinna and said, "They have a language you know and I've been here for a long time," Gawn said, and he looked at Timinna as he spoke.

That seemed to surprise the woman more than scare her, but that seemed enough. She looked at the small ratlike creature that stood on The Dragon's hand and said "Remain outside of Highman lands and we will not hunt you." The woman didn't move.

Once all the other wizards were out of sight The Dragon put a hand on Xeon and the weight of the man threatened to crush him. He had clearly be hiding just how weak he was and Xeon felt pride well up in him because The Dragon had chosen him to show that weakness to. The Prophet smiled a kind smile at The Dragon and said, "How strong are you?"

The Dragon looked at Timinna tilted his head and said, "I can barely stand, but I can fly for a little while if you climb on."

"You lied," Timinna said, but she didn't strike instead she looked at the Sot that the Dragon was still holding.

"I stopped a battle that would have gotten people killed. Fire takes almost no strength and your people can't afford to lose a leader" Gawn said. He stepped away from Xeon and as he returned to his dragon form his long neck stretching so that they could climb onto his back. Everyone but Timinna moved onto him and he then threw himself into the air nearly dislodging them all in the process. Even without magic the size and strength of The Dragon would have been enough to kill all but the most powerful of people.

Once in the air The Dragon turned his head and said, "She isn't ready to give up her need for power yet. Timinna will come to your home and bring the others with her." As he spoke the land beneath them rushed by faster than Xeon had ever imagined was be possible. They could cross the entire distance between the mountains and the village in an hour or two.

"I certainly hope she brings them and very quickly. Timinna chose not to attack you against every instinct she has and I think it was out of more than fear. That showed as much courage as standing up to you and we are going to need that in the next few days if we want to survive," The Prophet said.

"Do you have any idea what that means?" Rasputant asked, speaking quietly so that The Prophet didn't hear him.

"No one ever does, but it's important to listen," Chart said.

As they neared the edges of the mountains The Dragon pulled back its wings and fell towards ground. As they were only feet above the ground he spread out his wings again. He shot between the trees for a second and as he came up he had a deer in his massive claws. Then as he slowly returned to the previous height and he twisted his head back and began to eat.

"We should land outside the village and walk in," Rasputant said as the men began to try to calm themselves. Xeon choose to focus on that conversation rather than the ground and Rasputant had a point. Those left in the village didn't know they were coming and scaring them by landing in the middle of the village would make everything more difficult.

"Are you strong enough to take human form?" Chart asked. It clearly had taken effort for The Dragon to take a humanoid form and introducing him to the others could wait.

"Long enough for introductions, but after that I need to spend a few days eating and sleeping. Because once you broke the first bond my need for food was broken and if you hadn't been forced to hurry back I don't think I would have made it," The Dragon said. As he spoke the world flew past them covering in seconds what would have taken hours so that within minutes they had reached the valley just outside of the Middleman village. The first place in weeks that felt truly familiar to Xeon, but he couldn't relax yet. The Highmen knew they were there and the wizards would be rushing here.

Beyond the knowledge that the days of their safety were over Xeon wasn't sure how to feel as he approached his home. Until recently it had been his entire world. That was no longer true. It was small, smaller than he could have imagined, yet he had found aid. The Dragon would ensure the cost of attacking their people would be very high. Yet at the same time he would make relations with the Highmen far more strained.

As they approached middleman village the smell of smoke reached Xeon and before he could see the small hidden valley he knew that something was wrong. He had no idea how wrong until he saw it thought. A bonfire sat along the river and the four small homes that could easily be seen from that location seemed to be filled with Lowmen. Still, the houses were standing and there was no sign that anyone had been hurt.

"Can you see any of my people?" Xeon asked. He could see a dozen Lowmen at any one time as they moved through the valley. Most of them looked dirty and badly armed. There was only one man who really stuck out. He was a giant man, well over six feet tall, with a small gash across his cheek and he was clearly in charge.

"The Lowmen would have no reason to be here if they had already killed your people," Chart said.

"The Lowmen aren't important. What is important is The General is here and he wouldn't be here if he didn't expect a battle," The Dragon said. He wouldn't expect Gawn though Xeon thought as he watched the man.

"We have to find a way to get rid of them as quickly as possible because the longer we wait the more chance they will hurt someone," Rasputant said.

"If they haven't hurt them yet then they won't unless something changes so we should wait until we can be certain of getting everyone out safely," Chor said.

"Our best chance will be to wait for the wizards. That will allow us to gather information, Gawn to regain some of his strength. After all given the chance I assume they will choose us over the Lowmen," Xeon said, and he glanced at the Prophet who smiled at him and nodded.

"It's dangerous to wait. The General has to be seen to keep control and if he leaves that could be very dangerous," The Dragon said.

"There is no safe path but so far chance has protect them and if we continue on the path I think things will work out," The Prophet said.

"If chance you choose to call it. I am going to hunt" The Dragon said, and he leaped into the air flapping the wings three times as he exploded in size before he was out of sight.

"Can we trust him?" Xeon asked as The Dragon disappeared uncertain who he was asking.

"You can trust him to be exactly what he is," the Prophet said. Xeon had a feeling that was the best answer he was going to get. Now he just had to figure out who Gawn was. More importantly though he needed to know what his people had been created to be because it seemed like they had been so busy trying to survive that they had forgotten that surviving wasn't the goal.

* * *

Waiting was harder than Rasputant could have imagined. Not just because he wanted to save his wife and friends but because someone had to watch the Lowmen constantly in case something changed and Rasputant had been the logical choice. He knew the area better than any of them except Xeon and Rasputant wouldn't be as useful in a fight as Xeon so he let everyone else rest while he watched the Lowmen.

While he was the primary watchman there was someone with Rasputant most of the time. The Prophet spent the most time with him. He was a capable warrior, perhaps as good as anyone but no one, including The Dragon, wanted The Prophet in the physical battle. He was too important to put in any more risk.

Just after sunrise on the third day the wizards, led by Timinna, appeared from the woods. The Dragon had spotted them hours before and using their magic it seemed that they had no difficulty at all locating the village.

Chart and The Prophet intercepted the wizards before they marched into the Lowmen infested valley. As they approached the bushes where they had been hiding heard them speaking. "You know I am not your enemy," The Prophet said.

"Then step out of our way," Timinna said.

"I am the Keros of these people. It is my responsibility to protect them and if you attack me or them you will be the enemy of The Highmen," Chart said.

"We have the right to fight Lowmen as anyone does as well as our council's right to examine anyone to see if they are a wizard," Timinna said. It was not unreasonable. It seemed that Xeon could use magic and if he could there was a chance others could, though Rasputant suspected Xeon was unique. Still this wasn't the time for a power struggle. They needed to work together if they were going to have any chance.

"That is within your rights, but it is my right to insist you help protect these people through the removal of the Lowmen from this village," Chart said.

"No need to insist. We are always pleased to fight the Lowmen and it is clearly necessary before we can examine them," Timinna said, then she looked towards the Dragon and she took a deep breath, "Will Gawn be helping us?"

The Dragon smiled showing hundreds of tiny sharp teeth packed into his almost human sized mouth in three rows and said, "I am honored to give aid, since you asked."

Timinna opened her mouth to speak but Chart interrupted and said, "There are at least a hundred including The General and a number of Orblings."

"They will use the Middlemen as hostages," one of the wizards behind Timinna said.

"That seems likely, but The General wouldn't want to waste extra men guarding them or risk a loss of control so they are likely alone someplace secure. If we can get to them they can probably defend themselves long enough for help to get to them," The Prophet said.

Rasputant knew it had to be him. The Highmen all looked like Highmen and would never sneak past them and Xeon had never been able to blend in. Blending just wasn't in his nature. Xeon was taller than most of the Lowmen. On the other hand covered with furs and mud Rasputant could look like a Lowman and having watched them for days he could act like one.

"I will protect my people," Rasputant said.

"You could be killed," Chart said.

"My wife is in there," Rasputant said, but even if she wasn't he knew he would die for any of them. They were all more than just friends and he didn't want to see any of them hurt. What bothered him most was that at some point his values had become so skewed that he could value someone else's life as much as his own? There was no profit in that, but it still seemed right.

"They'll be in the cave," Xeon said. Rasputant agreed. It was the only place that was really secure in the village and there had always been at least one Lowman outside.

"Give me fifteen minutes that should give me plenty of time to get inside and prepare a defense, but if they catch me it won't give them much time to hurt the others," Rasputant said.

* * *

Rasputant tried not to think about how bad of an idea this was. Instead, he focused on the skills he had and how they would help him survive it. He had always believed he could sell anything to anyone, and all he had to do was sell himself to the Lowmen. First he would adopt the posture and personality a skill which he had because it could help him get an edge in a negotiation to have the other person see him as a friend and he knew them well after watching them for three days.

There were two types of Lowmen, those who were cowardly and controlled and those that were arrogant and powerful. The most arrogant was The General but he wasn't the only one. There were a number of other large well armed Lowmen who were met with downcast eyes and quick movements out of their way. Acting like one of them seemed the best choice because they avoided looking at anyone and no one really looked at them so that they were all but invisible.

Wrapped in furs and covered in dirt he was able to move across the valley without coming close to anyone. Then just as he became convinced that he would make it to the cave without any troubles a large hand wrapped around his shoulder the fingers so big they actually reaching into his armpit so that it was clear he would not pull free. He nearly froze but remembered the point Chart had repeated over and over. Don't look anyone in the eyes. It was a sign of aggression and Lowmen naturally attacked when they saw aggression.

"What are you doing little man?" the Lowman asked. As he spoke Rasputant couldn't help but look into his teeth which had been sharpened and along with the oddly sharp spots that covered his face it was clear that this was one of the important Lowmen. A lieutenant of some type and dangerous enough that Rasputant didn't see any possible way that he could physically overcome this man. But even in the Lowmen's lands there was more than simple physical power. Ungarn was smaller than many of the men who were dominated here yet he still acted more like the important men.

"I'm going in there," Rasputant said. As he spoke he knew he had to ignore all of Chart's warnings. He might be able to get past this man by hiding himself but as soon as the fighting began he would rush into the cave and attack and even if Elwist's wife were there to help people would get hurt. Better to use his skills now and so he gathered up all of his courage and looked the man directly in the eyes.

"The General said to hold them until everyone has been captured," The Lowman said. His voice was gruff but there was less aggression in it than Rasputant had expected. He had at least surprised the man and that would buy him time to convince the man he was in change.

"How many have been captured?" Rasputant asked. Keppler and Quintara were not likely to escape as neither was particularly good at fighting or surviving in the woods, but he could imagine Filar and Elaine disappearing into the woods and he wouldn't want to fight either.

"Keppler and Elaine are hiding in the woods. We have the others," The Lowman said. That they knew their names wasn't surprising, but Keppler escaping and hiding in the woods was, though with Elaine doing the hunting he could likely make himself useful.

The most likely was that they had escaped was that Elaine had been hunting when the Lowmen arrived. She was nearly as good as her husband Elwist and likely had been feeding the village while he was gone. Keppler made less sense but everyone took turns going on the hunts because it was simply a bad idea for anyone to try to hunt alone and Keppler was the most common companion of those left because he liked to gather supplies for dyes and weaving in the forest.

More important was that he didn't need to worry about them. They were far safer than he was though he was a bit concerned that they hadn't found them while they were waiting for the wizards to arrive. Was it possible that the two had left the area?

"I was sent to convince them to tell us where the others are," Rasputant said. He tried not to imagine too well how the Lowmen would convince them while still trying to sounding like he was in charge of the far larger man.

"If any are permanently injured the General will deal with you," The Lowman said, and Rasputant tried not to let out a sigh of relief. He wouldn't be threatening him if he wasn't going to let it in.

The cave smelled like they had been kept here for days, and Rasputant tried not to imagine what those days had been like. The only good sign was that they had a couple of spears and every sign seemed to be that no one had been here except his the Middlemen.

"Stay quiet," Rasputant said as he entered afraid that they would tip off the Lowmen that he wasn't what he had appeared.

Filar was closest to the door. She was the smallest of the Middlemen. A tiny woman with a spear as tall as she was yet there was no fear as she pointed it at him. He understood as she made small jabbing motions what was happening. It was dark and with the light behind him they hadn't recognized him so he said, "We have to prepare a defense. Help is coming in a few minutes but we'll be on our own for several minutes at least."

"Any closer and we'll kill you," Filar said. There was strength in her voice Rasputant envied. Even here, shut away, hungry and dirty she had neither broke nor bent. She may not always be the most pleasant person but her will was certainly the equal of Xeon's.

"I do not believe your husband would like that," Rasputant said.

Winnona stood slowly and then she ran towards him. Naturally his wife would be the first to recognize his voice. She knocked him to the ground as she wrapped her arms him and began to cry as they laid in the mud and Rasputant wanted to cry as well. He had hardly realized how much he missed his wife until he saw her.

"It's almost over, but you have to be strong. Our lives are for sale today and I intend to make certain the price is high," Rasputant said, and then taking control because someone had to he added, "Everyone, collect as many rocks as you can."

As he spoke he slowly and reluctantly pulled himself out of his wife's arms and began to focus. The rocks themselves wouldn't be much more than an irritation to the Lowmen but gathering them gave everyone something to focus on because the truth was they didn't have much else to do.

A moment later thunder shook the cave. That was the sign the wizards were attacking and Rasputant lifted his spear and moved towards the small recess behind the cave entrance. Then before he positioned himself he realized that there was something else to do.

He stepped to the entrance of the cave and saw the guard who had been outside. "What's happening out here?" Rasputant asked, allowing the true anger of what the Lowmen were doing to his people to seep into his voice.

"It's just noise," The sharp toothed guard said, but he had drawn his weapon.

"No one disturbs me. I don't care who it is. If anyone comes into this cave you'll have The General to answer to," Rasputant said.

As he moved back into the cave there was a flash of blue and gold at the far edge of the small valley. Then a second later one of the Lowmen was thrown to the ground as rock and dirt exploded up from the ground beneath him.

Feeling a moment of security Rasputant watched The General as he began to assemble men in the center of the valley. White energy flowed around him and even the black shadow of The Dragon flying overhead did nothing to that light. As it grew tendrils of that white energy shot out to meet the flashes of colored light and whenever they met there were sounds of thunder and the energy of both disappeared. This battle wasn't going to be easy and Rasputant slide back into the cave hoping the stone could protect them from what was about to happened.
Chapter 21

I live every day to repair my mistakes, but nothing can truly undo even the smallest of failures.

Xeon

Xeon counted the seconds slowly waiting for the moment they had agreed to attack. He had always had perfect timing and he now suspected that it was part of his magic. That thought was strengthened because Timinna stood at the exact same time he did. Before they began to move forward Elaine appeared from the deep bushes and had her spear at Xeon's neck before he knew who it was.

"What are you doing with these people?" Elaine asked. She could drive the spear into his neck with a twist of her wrist and even the wizards wouldn't be able to react fast enough to save him, but Xeon knew she wouldn't hurt him. She simply needed to know if he was a prisoner or an ally.

"Coming to save you," Xeon said.

"It's about time. Keppler and I have been doing what we can, but beyond the traps he built we couldn't do much because after a couple of ambushes they never left the valley in small enough groups," Elaine said.

"Rasputant is in the cave to help protect everyone and we're about to attack," Xeon said.

"I'm ready," Elaine said.

"I'm not going to risk your life," Xeon said.

"I'm a better fighter than you'll ever be," Elaine said and she spun the spear in her hand in a way that Xeon had only known Elwist could. It was true she was a great fighter and probably safer in that battlefield than the wizards and if he tried to keep her out she wouldn't forgive him. The problem was that Xeon could accept their deaths, but he wanted his own people safe.

"You don't have time to argue. The time has come to act," The Prophet said, then after they stopped he said, "The entire destiny of your race could be changed in the next hours."

"Will she live?" Xeon asked, turning to face the Prophet. If he said no then the destiny of their race didn't really matter to Xeon. He couldn't face Elwist if he allowed something to happen to her.

"It doesn't work that way. I see grand designs not individual lives. She will live if Ahr Ain's plan is for her to live," The Prophet said.

"There are times I really don't care about Ahr Ain's plan," Xeon said. He then took a deep breath, looked out at the Lowmen and said, "I won't argue if you choose to fight."

The wizards had spread out in preparation for the fight. Six pairs of wizards that would fight together one attacking while the other defended. Timinna was the only one alone and she had Chart, Xeon, Chor and The Prophet to defend her. As she moved forward Xeon heard more words that he knew were words of power, but unlike Roth they slid away. Perhaps was not qualified to understand those words or perhaps the ring blocked his ability to learn them. Either way, he knew someday his people would need to learn all of the words of power and so he listened carefully and tried to remember them even if he couldn't use them.

As he heard the words he understood them and knew that each would expand his options for magic in huge ways, but he couldn't remember them. The battle itself used magic in the most basic way. Timinna simply sent flashes of brightly colored light that cut down two or three Lowmen at a time while another of the wizards gathered up rocks large enough to break bones and tossed them into the Lowmen fast enough that they would bounce past the first Lowmen they hit often striking another.

Xeon couldn't really help those wizards, so instead he ran past them and towards the cave where the rest of his people were. Elaine and Chart ran with him without being asked and Xeon felt safer with those two than he had surrounded by the wizards because he trusted them.

Avoiding the Lowmen was easy at first. They had not been expecting an attack so were spread out and disorganized. Still, they were fighters and so they fought and with so few enemies they could reach Xeon drew attention. He was faster than most of them, but as he neared the halfway point of his sprint to the cave one of the Lowmen moved into Xeon's path. As he continued forward Xeon swung upward with his dagger, as much out of instinct as a true attack. An arch of green flame left behind in the arc of the dagger. The fire remained for only a few seconds but it was enough to force the man to back away and Xeon slipped around him trusting his speed to keep him out of the range of a second attack.

The flames were a mixed blessing as they drew the attention of the other Lowmen who saw the chance to kill a wizard and several moved towards him, though only one was close enough to matter. His quick reaction bringing him close faster than Xeon could react, but before the Lowmen reached him a spear flew past Xeon and struck the Lowman in the leg spinning him around and knocking him to the ground.

"Are you OK?" Elaine asked as she bent down grabbing a spear to replace the one she had just thrown without slowing her sprint and Xeon was all but certain that if she hadn't insisted on coming he would have been killed.

"I'm fine," Xeon said, but as he looked around the battle he saw chaos. The battlefield was filled with balls that dotted from place to place which the wizards had called Orblings. They were the force that countered most of the wizard's power and allowed the Lowmen to drive them back or be forced into hand to hand combat with an enemy that greatly outnumbered them and Gawn, the one force that could tip the balance against the Lowmen was nowhere to be seen. Had the dragon abandoned them?

It was with that thought, and the belief that the battle had been lost that the voice spoke. It was nearly as beautiful as the voice of Ahr Ain had been, but there was a cold tone that make Xeon shiver as it said, "I can help you. I can give you the power to protect the people who Ahr Ain has abandoned. I can make you like Ahr Ain."

"Who are you?" Xeon asked, but he knew. This was the voice of the enemy Sai Tain. Agreeing to take his help would be the first time that Xeon had acted knowingly against Ahr Ain's will. It would be far worse than the ring and the dagger.

"A friend who can ensure your people survive," Sai Tain answered and for the first time Xeon wondered if perhaps the Lowmen were right to follow him.

"Tell me what you want," Xeon said, but as he spoke he felt the touch and he knew what it was the spirit wanted. Sai Tain would use him, control him and in some ways become him. It would be unpleasant but it would also give him enough power to protect his people. Just as important was that if he controlled Xeon there would be far less reason for Sai Tain to hurt his people.

As he considered the offer he felt something wrap around his mind and before he could decide what he would do the battle was over. As he struggled to remain in control he remembered what the wizards had said, "The hand of Sai Tain touches the world." Sai Tain had never intended to give him a choice. He only tempted Xeon because that temptation made it easier to control him.

* * *

This body felt odd. It was powerful by comparison to others of this species and it gave him strength that was different than the Lowmen. The only problem was that the spirit in this body was remarkably strong. It made controlling him difficult with the amount of power he currently had and if the creature had mastered the words of power it might be impossible with the power he had. But now that strength gave him options and he stretched out for his power. It was then that he felt the force sealing that power. It was the same thing that created the crack he had used to enter this body, but as he saw that it was a binding ring he silently muttered a curse. He couldn't remove the ring. No one could remove a binding ring on themselves because the ring used their power to protect itself.

"We need to get inside," Elaine said, and Sai Tain nodded. He had to search the mind of this man for a moment to know who this was, but even before he knew he was moving with her. The cave was where he needed to go. It was the place where a single swift attack could give him a victory.

Two Lowmen stood between him and the cave. They were clearly cowards as they hadn't attacked the wizards but were instead protecting the entrance to the cave. But it was hard to blame them. They were nothing but children of his troops who had likely never seen even hints of the true power. He preferred not to waste soldiers, but this was far too important to allow anything to get in the way so he lifted the dagger forcing the power of this body through it. As he did he felt the spirit inside watching him. This man hadn't known what little strength he had. How could that be possible with something so weak?

"Who are you guarding?" Xeon asked as the flames began to build up on the dagger. He allowed a hint of his own voice to come through as he spoke. That voice meant that even if the Lowmen didn't fully understand why, they would follow his orders. It wasn't as ingrained or powerful as the control he had over the Orblings but he had made certain that it existed in every Lowman.

"The Middlemen. The interrogator gave us orders to allow no one to enter."

"I will speak to the interrogator," Sai Tain said.

"He said no one should enter," The guard said, and Xeon wondered at how little he controlled these men. They shouldn't question him even in this body using such a tiny amount of his voice. He had been gone too long and had lost control of the children. The Nameless one would be horrified by that but he would fix that eventually. With his full power he could return them to the perfect soldiers that he had created but for now there was something more important to do.

"I said we were going inside," Sai Tain said, this time his voice overwhelmed the other man's completely. The woman would sense something odd, but these creatures understood so little he could easily explain the oddness of his voice later if he couldn't do his job immediately.

The larger of the two fell to one knee while the other simply turned and ran. Sai Tain would have preferred them to simply obey, but he didn't react. Instead he stepped around the kneeling man and into the cave. Inside the small cave there was a small crowd of the insignificant animals Ahr Ain had created to oppose him. Creatures defined by their free will they held sharpened sticks and rocks as if they could defend themselves with them. Sai Tain smiled. This was going to be fun.

"We've come to help you," Sai Tain said. He allowed his own voice to hide behind this man's as he spoke. His power here wouldn't help it would only draw attention.

"I've explained it already," Rasputant said.

"Good, let's get out of here," Xeon said.

"We were supposed to wait for the wizards," Rasputant said.

"Things are not going well. We should leave before the wizards are forced to free. I'm sure they will do what they can to protect us, but we have to assume that we're on our own" Xeon said. Once he had them away from help he would get rid of them. While he spoke he realized that the rocks might actually be dangerous. The bodies of these creatures were flimsy and a rock could actually harm this body. At that understanding he had to resist the urge to laugh. What could Ahr Ain be thinking to put something so weak and small up against him?

In the center of the small group of dirty creatures he saw a tiny woman and the creature that had once controlled this flesh was roused to fight him. It gathered its pathetic strength and said, "You will not harm her." Sai Tain could force that spirit down, but it would be easier to give it what it wanted. He didn't need to kill them all, at least not yet. If he killed a couple of them it would likely cripple their race and keep them from becoming what Ahr Ain meant for them to be. Perhaps it would even be useful to keep a few alive under his control. He could use them against Ahr Ain as he had those Highmen he had captured.

"I'm here to protect them," Sai Tain said, and the spirit stopped fighting and he felt much of the power of the body return to him. This might be a bit trickier than he had suspected because he was still weak. Still, that didn't matter much. This was simply something to do while the Orblings created a form that could hold his true power and this creature would grow old and die before that form was ready. Until then he could simply wait until everyone let their guard down and strike.
Chapter 22

We all act out of selfishness. Some of us are honest enough to admit it.

Sai Tain

Elwist cursed silently as he moved quickly through the woods. He had made an assumption that The General would attack the Weengo. To wipe out the enemy that had attacked him. Instead, The General had gathered together the remainder of his army and marched towards the Middleman village and Elwist understood why. The General had more than enough troops to deal with the Weengo or almost any other group. What he couldn't deal with was another general who could challenge him.

It surprised Elwist that the Weengo insisted on coming with him. Following The General's trail was easy with hundreds of men trampling through the woods. It didn't matter though because even with the Lowmen creating the path they couldn't move fast enough to gain any ground except in the hottest part of the day, but they lost any ground they had gained once the sun went down. Still, they wanted to help and pushed themselves while the Lowmen traveled more out of fear than anything else.

Today they had finally reached lands that Elwist knew. It was the far edges of where his hunting trips had taken him, but while these places had once felt distant they were now part of what he thought of as home. Except home now had a hundred Weengo, Ungarn a man who had betrayed and an enemy army in his home.

Resisting the urge to panic at having not caught the enemy he told himself what happened next didn't matter. He couldn't allow it to matter until it was over. If his people had survived he would save them and if they hadn't he would avenge them and the need for battle would be the same.

And then he was there. He led the Weengo to the tree line that looked over the small valley where his people lived and immediately spotted The General. He was hard to miss. He stood in the center of a mass of Lowmen with Orblings swirling around him and was moving slowly towards the edge of the valley. White energy flowed around him. That power looked almost like a strange animal striking out with appendages that appeared and disappeared then being struck by invisible weapons. It was clear that there was a battle going on here, but one that was very different from the last battle he had fought. The Lowmen were largely unimportant in this battle. It was the magic of The General and the Orblings that were important here. Except that the strongest wizard could still be killed by a single spear.

It took a moment to see the enemy that The General was fighting. There were only a few Highmen, spread out in a semicircle on the edge of the trees. They had created stone walls to hold back the Lowmen and bright lights flashed around them. Sometimes those lights would slash out when a Lowman.

From everything Elwist could see they had descended into a virtual stalemate with both sides able to defend themselves, but with attacks costing far more than they were worth. As he watched it Elwist laughed. A month ago the same war had been raging across this entire world, and now it had focused itself into a single place. What made it funny was that Elwist suspected no one on either side of the battle recognized what had happened. They were too busy fighting to care that they had fulfilled the prophecy. They also hadn't seen the army of Weengo which had just arrived. If he could take advantage of that he could change everything with a single crushing blow.

As he began to move forward a creature dropped out of the sky and landed in front of him. It was a huge green leathery creature with sharp eyes and a grin that made it look more formidable because it appeared to be enjoying itself. The ground and the wind from its huge wings forced Elwist to steady himself.

"You appear to be the proverbial fly in the ointment," The giant flying green lizard said and laughed an odd hissing laugh that blew hot steam into Elwist's face. This creature had spotted the same joke and Elwist felt an immediate respect and even friendship for him. Still, he didn't know if this creature planned to help him exploit what he had seen or kill him.

"I will fight you if necessary," Elwist said. He had little doubt this creature could kill him, but that didn't matter.

"That would be unfortunate because then you could not tell me why the Weengo appear at a battle that has nothing to do with them?" The Dragon said.

"The Weengo are forced to fight the Lowmen or become slaves. I convinced them to fight and now they choose this place because it is the right thing to do," Elwist said.

"That is foolishness. One fights for oneself and those who can make you stronger. Your people have nothing to give to the Weengo," the Dragon said. The words made it seem as if The Dragon was on the side of the Lowmen, but Elwist suspected there was far more to this creature than there appeared to be.

"Why are you here then?" Elwist asked and as he stepped forward he saw a round faced bald man with a single long lock of hair falling over his shoulder dressed in purple robes watching The Dragon. He looked far more calm on the battlefield than he should have and more in control than even The Dragon.

"Foolishness," The Dragon said, and it shrunk down almost to the size of a Weengo. Its thinner front legs twisting so they became arms with long claw like fingers and the body straightened so it was standing next to him his wings curled around his body so that they looked almost like a black and red cloak and his tail wrapping around his feet, he then turned back to the bald man who was watching them and said, "Have you come to make a fool of yourself as well?"

"I cannot interfere with this moment. It is too dangerous and unlike you I could gain from it. I have come only to watch something I have always wanted to see. This is the beginning of so many things and the end of just as many," Oro said.

There wasn't time to waste with spectators. The battle could change quickly especially with The Dragon helping him, but if he didn't act it seemed likely that eventually the wizards would be worn down so Elwist nodded at The Dragon and rushed forward without asking anyone to come with him. He would attack whether they came or not so asking seemed pointless.

The Dragon was the first to move. His long strides seemed slow but long powerful legs made it easy for him to match Elwist's pace and his attitude seemed to say that he could take on the entire enemy himself and Elwist wasn't sure that he couldn't. The Weengo were unable to keep up with them, but Elwist could feel the ground shaking as the two hundred troops began to run and knew they were only seconds behind.

The Orblings were the first to take notice of them. Three of the small,, round, multicolored spheres shot towards them just above the reach of the Weengo. The Orblings were dramatically outnumbered but their magic meant that they could avoid being easily attacked and that was more than enough of an advantage.

That wasn't what happened. Instead, the three spheres moved lower and shot forward hitting the Weengo physically. It was enough to knocking two Weengo to the ground injuring them badly while the third missed Elwist's head only because he threw himself to the ground and there was no sign that it hurt the Orbling at all. The wizards could hold back the Orblings powers and likely hurt them if they got to close to the Highmen, but they were still dangerous and Elwist had no plan to stop them.

As it turned out he didn't need to stop them. The Dragon lifted his hand and a lash of fire whipped out catching one of the Orblings in a long thin line of flame. The flame wrapped around the Orbling and the creature stopped spinning as the fire created a spider web around it until Elwist could see nothing more than a ball of fire.

The ball of fire then shook in the air and finally exploded into a thousand pieces which shot out in every direction. One of the larger pieces struck Elwist in his side, but while it was painful it was no bigger than his thumb and the wound was little more than a scratch..

It was the sound of the explosion that was more dangerous. It was so loud everyone in the valley stopped fighting for a moment and turned towards it and Elwist and the Weengo who were behind it. Even the white energy that surrounded The General stopped for a moment before it once again flashed across the valley along with a strange metallic smell.

It destroyed their element of surprise but that hadn't been likely to hold out long. The Weengo simply weren't good at stealth. There was an advantage though, if he could take advantage of it. He had drawn the attention of The General who drew two twelve inch metal daggers and began to walk directly toward Elwist. The Dragon began to move to intercept The General, but Elwist touched his arm and shook his head and when The Dragon's eyes turned to look at him he shook his head. He was glad to have the help of someone as powerful as The Dragon, but The General needed to know they could defend themselves so he would let The Dragon deal with the Orblings and face The General himself.

The area between them was largely clear of obstacles and those that were there were unimportant and the white energy of The General knocked them away as if they were hardly there allowing the two men reached the center of the valley. They attacked at the same time. Elwist's spear was longer than The General's daggers but it only struck The General's wrist deflecting the blow and white energy flared up and the wood splintered.

"I see your wounds have healed," Elwist said. The General still had a red line across his face where he had been cut, but the white energy was not escaping. Still, it had hurt his pride and if he could use that to make him angry he might make a mistake. A mistake was likely Elwist's only chance to defeat this man.

"An inconsequential wound," The General said.

"Only because you used an unfair advantage to fight me," Elwist said.

"There is no shame in using all your strength in battle and nothing us unfair in a war," The General said. Elwist agreed in principle. He would never hold back in battle and would lose respect for anyone who did, but he had hopes The General's pride would force him to prove he could defeat Elwist without his full strength.

The speed of the battle was far faster than any Elwist had ever faced before and he had to rely as much on instinct as any real strategy. Even with all of his instinct and skill working together though Elwist was only able to stop The General's attacks without being able to make any dangerous attacks on his own. What was worse, The General's daggers were far more durable than the wooden spears that Elwist used so his weapons were breaking apart.

Elwist recognized that the battle itself was very basic. Both men made simple attacks that, while nearly perfectly executed, were not all that important. The attacks themselves were attempts both to study the enemies fighting style and to hide their own. Then each time one of the men saw any weakness in the style of the other man they would change fighting styles creating a constantly shifting battle with neither gaining any advantage nor taking any real risks.

Yet both were gaining advantages in the battle. The General was stronger than Elwist with better weapons and eventually that would give him enough advantage to overwhelm Elwist. At the same time the fight distracted The General from the battle so that his power was no longer aiding the Lowmen. That allowed the wizards, now aided by the Weengo to begin to gain the advantage. That forced the battle towards Elwist and The General and soon the two men were surrounded by the battle, though neither could safely focus on anyone except the other. Their only real distractions were the three explosions of the Orblings destroyed by The Dragon's fire.

As they fought The General continued to leave huge gaps in every style. Not the subtle mistakes someone with The General's skills might actually make when pushed to the limit of his skill but clear traps. Each was more blatant than the last until one was so obvious that Elwist couldn't resist. He lunged forward though he knew that the counter blow was coming. His hope had been that even though the gap was intentional The General had opened himself up too much. He was partially wrong as the dagger in The General's left hand slipped out and between the two of them. It cut a short shallow gash on Elwist's side. Not enough to do much, but it was first blood.

That it was faster than he had expected didn't mean the reaction wasn't what Elwist had known would come though and as The General lashed out Elwist changed directions throwing himself backwards and throwing the spear at the same time. It was a desperate attack, but also one The General had not been expecting and when the spear hit The General's hand and there were no white sparks.

The General dropped the dagger and Elwist could see that he had broken at least one of The General's fingers which would give him a clear advantage. Except before he could press home that advantage The General stopped, took a step back and lifted his hand so Elwist could see it clearly. White energy flowed up and down his fingers which snapped back into place. The General's face showed that it was painful but it took only seconds and the bone was healed well enough for him to fight.

"It appears the binding magic of the wizards is growing weaker," The General said.

Elwist felt despair try to grow up in him, but he knew he had been created not just for battle, but for this battle. So, rather than give up he rolled to his side and grabbed for The General's dagger but just as his fingers touched the long metal dagger white energy wrapped around it and the dagger and it shot upward into The General's hand.

"You can't afford to keep up this fight," Elwist said. It might even be true. The Lowmen still outnumbered everyone on the battlefield and the only one who seemed to be making any real headway was The Dragon, but the Highmen were killing some Lowmen and The Dragon had destroyed four of the Orblings. Even the Weengo were beginning to gain ground as the magic of the Highmen aided them by breaking apart the Lowmen lines.

"It is true that I won't be able to toy with you much longer without losing this army," The General said, and he made another thrust with the two daggers forcing Elwist to take another step back.

* * *

Chart stopped at the entrance of the cave. He didn't know these people all that well and didn't want to make thing worse so he allowed Xeon to move ahead of him while Chart positioned himself next to the entrance to the cave. With no Lowmen nearby Chart tried to focus on the spirit weapon. According to his father he could use it to block magic, but he didn't know how to use it at all and so far it had shown no sign. Still, if there was a time to use the weapon this would be it.

He focused first on the white energy around the General. It was the most visible of the magic, bright enough he could see it with his eyes, and as he focused on it he saw something else. The other threads were not visible but they were there. All the magic in the valley had created intricately interconnected magic web that stopped any of the magic from working well. Yet every magic user in the valley was still adding threads to that web and occasionally something would break free and power would smash down into the battle.

That meant that the more magic which was used her the harder it would be the wizards to do anything. That meant that the battle would likely swing back to the Lowmen's advantage now that the Weengo were once again falling back. The one magic that seemed unaffected by the web was The Dragon's power. It was different from the others drawing from the strength of his body. That meant that eventually his strength would be worn out especially since he was still weakened.

Now that he could see the power there was only one thing left to do. He tried to reach out and cut one of the small white threads that flowed out of The General. As he focused the spirit weapon welled up in him and the power felt both completely natural and completely unnatural to Chart. It was like reaching out with his hand but touching something far out of his reach.

When it touched The General's power he felt himself enter into a battle of wills. In a direct fight he knew that the weapon wouldn't defeat The General, but it didn't have to. His power added to all the others and it helped to tilt the balance and the web began to break apart faster allowing Gawn to advance on The Lowmen who were so terrified of The Dragon that several of them simply turned and ran when he moved towards them.

The advantage he gave Gawn lasted only a moment though because his attack drew the attention of the Lowmen. A large group of Lowmen came towards him together. Chart had to focus on them and drew his dagger, but before they arrived they reached him he focused on them with the spirit weapon.

The weapon worked, but it was far harder to use than he had hoped. He had to wrap the energy around the Lowman and force his will past theirs. Not impossible by any means as most Lowmen didn't have all that strong of wills, but he was only able to drop three of the men before they reached him. That still left twelve angry Lowmen charging towards him. If dying here was Ahr Ain's plan then he would die.

Before they arrived though he saw another Lowman but one that wasn't with the others. He was running across the valley towards them ignored by both the Lowmen and the Weengo. Chart could hardly believe it as he recognized him as Ungarn. That was the last thing he needed, except that for some reason he drove a dagger into the back of the rear most Lowman. Chart knew that Lowmen often betrayed each other but this seemed like an odd time. Still, Chart wasn't going to question anyone helping so he adjusted his strategy to assume he would continue to help and began to move slowly defending himself and little more. That gave Ungarn more time to attack the Lowmen.

Ungarn killed four more Lowmen before they understood what had happened, and when they turned killed one more. That left seven, not good odds, but two against seven gave them a chance, especially if they could work together. An idea that must have occurred to Ungarn as well, because he circled towards Chart at the same time Chart moved towards him.

Once close enough to Ungarn to talk easily Chart said, "I would have expected you to help The General."

"I have more to gain if he loses," Ungarn said, and he grabbed one of the spears that were thrust towards Chart pushing it so that it missed him. Likely unnecessary, but Chart was shocked because he had never seen any evidence that a Lowman would, or even could allow himself to be put at risk to protect someone else.

"You would be safer simply staying out of the battle," Chart said.

"Fine, I admit it. I like them," Ungarn said.

"We agree on one thing," Chart said, and another of the Lowmen fell from the spirit weapon.

"How are you doing that?" Ungarn asked, and he made a wide swing with his dagger forcing one of the Lowmen to step back.

"Spirit weapon," Chart said. He threw his dagger hitting one of the Lowmen in the leg and he fell to the ground. That gave them another few seconds as he stepped back and grabbed another spear.

"You're using it like a wizard. It's a weapon not magic," Ungarn said. It made perfect sense and he wished that Chor had shown him how to use the weapon. He drew in the power focusing it into a dagger and as he did had thought of the dagger it appeared in his hand. At least two feet long it felt almost solid.

The Lowmen stepped back at the site of the flaming dagger, but Chart knew it wouldn't stop them for long so he moved forward swinging out with the dagger which shot out another six inches and cut through not only the spear he was carrying but also knocking the Lowman to the ground and he didn't move.

Another Lowman collapsed almost as quickly as Chart continued to move forward and all the Lowmen began to back away as quickly as they could leaving them open for another thrust from Ungarn. As the Lowmen went down Chart began to laugh.

As the two Lowmen ran away and Ungarn tilted his head and said, "I never new Highmen found death funny."

"A month ago we were trying to kill each other," Chart said, and he glanced up to see another group of Lowmen approaching and added, "If we get out of this alive we're going to have to have a long discussion."

"Don't count on it. I'll still be quite happy to kill you once this is all over," Ungarn said, and he picked up Chart's dagger.
Chapter 23

There are times when losing everything can be the only way to make a profit. It was the most important lesson I have ever learned and I can never fully repay the Highman who taught me that lesson.

Rasputant

Rasputant had never cared for the cave. It was good for storage, but was dirty, ugly and uncomfortable. Today, though, he thanked Ahr Ain for the narrow entrance and rocks scattered across the floor because the dank dark cave may save his people.

He also thanked Ahr Ain that Xeon had reached them. Xeon was a better fighter than anyone except Elwist and the dagger a better weapon than any of them had. That meant he could protect them far better than Rasputant and just his presence calmed everyone.

At the same time as he thanked Ahr Ain he also sensed something odd. Something he feared the others had missed because they hadn't been with Xeon recently and the trip had changed them both. Still, Xeon may know something Rasputant didn't so for now he simply had to watch him.

"I have to get this ring off," Xeon said, and he twisted the ring on his finger as he watched the entrance.

"You agreed to leave it on," Rasputant said. He understood the desire to have more power especially now. He had spent his entire life trying to gather power but Xeon couldn't simply remove the ring and even if he could Rasputant wasn't sure they would be safer with Xeon's power unsealed.

"That was before everyone I have ever known had their life threatened in this battle. I need my power to protect everyone," Xeon said.

"It takes magic to remove it. Magic that you can't use and none of us have," Rasputant said. Xeon was the one who had told him that yet he seemed to have been uncertain.

Xeon didn't respond, instead he turned and walked out of the cave. Rasputant followed unhappy to leave the others alone, but trusting that they were safer here than Xeon would be in the battle. As he stepped outside of the cave he saw Chart and Ungarn standing guard and Xeon walked past them seeming to not even notice the two. That made it clear that something was wrong.

He then allowed his gaze to move away from Xeon to the rest of the valley and he saw just how much was wrong. There were bodies everywhere. Almost all of them were Lowmen but there were also Weengo. He had loved this valley, but as he looked across it he now knew that he would never see it the same.

It was also clear that the Highmen had tried to reach them, but they hadn't made any progress. In fact they were farther away than they had been, driven back by The General and the Orblings. Yet Xeon didn't even try to move towards the wizards or even The Dragon both of which had the power to remove the ring and might be willing to do so now, but instead he lifted his hand and one of the Orblings shot towards him.

The multicolored sphere stopped just in front of Xeon and then spun in the air an inch above his hand. The energy from the creature glowed around Xeon's hand and then he slid the ring off his finger and threw it on the ground. Rasputant watched without a word beginning to fear his friend as so when Xeon turned to face the battlefield Rasputant picked up the ring.

"What now?" Rasputant asked.

"We destroy the weak," Xeon said and he turned towards the wizards and world seemed to erupt with power.

Blackness flowed out of Xeon just like white had expanded outward from The General except that when that black energy touched the other it slowly moved along the other energy and after only a few seconds one of those black tendrils shot out knocking one of the Highmen to the ground.

It made no sense. Xeon had no reason to attack the Highmen. They were using all their strength to protect the Middlemen and so he stepped forward and grabbed his friend's shoulder.

As he touched his friend one of the black tendrils twisted around his arm and enveloped him in a few tiny threads. That power then threw him through the air. Rasputant was lucky in his flight that there were no trees in his way, but, still, he came down hard his leg hitting the ground under his full weight and pain threatened to overwhelm his mind.

Rasputant tried to stand, but any movement made the pain so bad that the world darkened. Rasputant then looked down and saw his leg bent the wrong way and then towards his friend. As he glanced up he saw another of the black cords of power coming towards him, but before they struck Timinna ran forward raising his hands and shouting a word that Rasputant didn't understand. Even with her magic Timinna fell to one knee, but she had blocked the power.

"You have to get out of here," Rasputant said. Whatever had happened to Xeon he had no doubt now that he was an enemy. That meant that he was likely more dangerous than even The General himself.

"That's not who I am," Timinna said, and she stepped over Rasputant putting her body between him and Xeon. As she did the black energy continued to smash down on her shields and Rasputant crawled backwards as the power that protected him began to fail. She was going to die and the only thing she would gain would be Rasputant's life.
Chapter 24

Standing on that battlefield were arguably the seven most powerful people in the world. Yet, it wasn't the powerful who mattered that day. It was one of the weakest of the men who swayed the day because he understood better than any of us what real power is. So, why do we so often insist that more power is the answer rather than more love?

Oro, Man of the Twelve Words

Ebon had known before he arrived that things had gone very wrong. He didn't know exactly how he knew. He felt as if Ahr Ain had spoken to him except he hadn't heard a voice. Even though he expected things to be bad they were far worse than Ebon had expected. Bodies were everywhere and the same overwhelming dread that had surrounded Sai Tain's temple covered this place. Death had come to his home, but there was something more than simple death.

When he saw Xeon he knew immediately what was happening and that no one else did. The black energy was flowing out of Xeon drawing in the light from around it. That was the same black that had created Sai Tain's temple. Ebon had made contact with Sai Tain and now he had possessed Xeon.

Ebon began to run towards his friend before he had any idea what he was going to do. As he approached it though he became aware of how short his life would be. He had always known that. But he also knew that short life had given his people something no one else had. But just as he decided what to do Oro appeared in front of him. "I must speak to you," and as the bald monk spoke everything in the valley seemed to stop.

"I know what to do," Ebon said.

"You never needed me for that. I don't think but I need you to tell me what Ahr Ain's plan is" Oro said.

"You are the plan," Ebon said, allowing that feeling that had told him to come here to speak and as he allowed it more freedom it became stronger and he understood better just how unobtrusive this was. It wouldn't force him to do anything. That voice instead gave advice and led him in the right direction. Yet it was because it wouldn't force its will on him that he trusted that voice and let it speak through him and so he added, "You know the words of power, but you have forgotten why most cannot use more than a couple. It isn't about ability. A man who can learn the words can learn them. It's about personality. That was the safeguard Ahr Ain created. It takes a good man to learn all twelve words, but not a perfect man."

"I've made too many mistakes, hurt too many people," Oro said.

"You're allowed to make mistakes. You're allowed to fail. We all do that, but you still have to prepare the way for the king and if you do that you will be successful," Ebon said. He knew as he spoke that it was Ahr Ain talking to him. This was the same ability that The Prophet had to see past time and into the spirit realm. He could hear Ahr Ain and allow Ahr Ain to change the world through him without ever using his power directly.

"Is there anything I can do to help you?" Oro asked.

"Kill me. I don't want Xeon to do it even if it's not really him," Ebon said. He had already decided to die willingly and give himself over completely to the voice of Ahr Ain. It wouldn't undo his mistakes either, but he could set the war in the right direction. Sadly he knew that his decision wasn't the last his people would have to make. Every generation someone would make a decision that would change the war. Most wouldn't have to die, and many wouldn't know the importance of what they did, but they would decide between Ahr Ain and Sai Tain and that decision would make a difference. For now though this was his generation and he had made his decision.

The look on Oro's face told him he had already known what Ebon was doing just as he had seemed to know almost everything. Yet he clearly hadn't been completely prepared to help him to do it. Yet it would be far easier for him that Xeon because he understood why Ebon had to die and that he was willing.

Oro nodded and then everything began to move again. As it did Ebon had time to look carefully at everything and was more confused. There was no reason that Xeon shouldn't have already hit him with one of black tendrils which had begun to cover the entire valley in darkness. If Sai Tain was controlling him then he had to know that Ebon recognized his power, yet he was able to run forward until he was only ten feet from Xeon and looking him directly in the eye.

Xeon, or Sai Tain, looked up at him and said, "This one fights me, but you have power as well. If you surrender I will leave this place with you and return this body and I will not harm any who are in this valley today."

"It's time for this to end," Ebon said. He had listened to Sai Tain once and he couldn't afford to do it again.

"Surrender to me or I'll shatter every bone in your body and then I'll kill the people you care about."

"Xeon won't stop fighting you and neither will I," Ebon said. He would die either way, but he needed to make certain that Xeon continued to fight whether this worked or not.

As he spoke Xeon lifted his hand and a black spark appeared at the end of his finger. At the same time Ebon saw Oro appear behind Sai Tain. He began to focus his will and as he did he felt something rise up in him. He didn't know what it was at first, but then he understood. It was the power that bound his body and his spirit. If he used that power at the moment of his death he could do almost anything. If it was too big it might not last long, but for what he needed he hoped it would be long enough. He would wrap that cord around Sai Tain's spirit and strengthen the chain that had held him.

"A brother should not murder a brother," Xeon said. Ebon recognized that voice as Xeon and knew that he was pleading with Ebon not to allow himself to be killed, but he wouldn't keep his control for long Sai Tain was simply too strong.

"There is no murder when a man lays down his life," Ebon said. Then he looked at Xeon and said, "I bind the hand of Sai Tain and use my life to close his prison."

The black energy moved out slowly towards him and Ebon could sense the battle. It even slid back once, but then it shot forward and as it touched him and pain and emptiness rushed over him. The pain made it hard to think, but it was that emptiness that was worse. Then Oro lifted his finger and there was a snap. The pain was gone and the emptiness was disappearing. At the same time he could see everything and he saw his own body disintegrating and yet he felt as if that was important as his spirit expanded becoming far more powerful than he had been and the voice that had spoken to him.

Without eyes he could see far more, but most importantly he saw Xeon as two people. The man he cared about was small and injured and being assaulted from every side by a force that surrounded him. The spirit that attacked Xeon was a strange mixture of blinding light and twisted darkness. The same spiritual blackness that showed on the faces of the Lowmen, but these marks were in the spirit realm, not the physical realm.

Those bonds which he had prepared as his body was destroyed he was now able to attach to the larger of those two bodies. As he attacked that spirit with it he saw all the other chains that pulled at it. They stretched pulled it back towards the prison and as he looked at those chains he recognized that all but a tiny sliver of Sai Tain was still in that prison and when he attached his own chain that tiny fragment which had freed itself began to be pulled away leaving only Xeon.

As he saw that he was able to look around the battlefield and understood much more of what was happening. The power in this place was immense and of many different types. The wizards and Orblings used one type and the General and The Dragon another. Even Chart and Ungarn had their own power, a seed that could be planted and grow. Most interesting though was The Prophet and Cheen. Men he had never met but the voice knew them. They spoke to Ahr Ain as he did and while they appeared powerless it was an illusion because they had access to as much power as they needed.

Watching them he understood that he was more powerful than any except Sai Tain now. He even understood some of what Sai Tain and The Nameless One must feel towards them. He could do and understand anything in this form. His friends were nothing more than children playing in the dirt unable to understand the rest of the world. They were weak and hardly worth considering and for a moment he considered grabbing power. As a spirit he could enforce his will on all of them and change thing to how they should be, but before he could begin he saw something else.

It was a white light, far brighter than anything he could imagine. Next to it the sun seemed black and he knew simply the sight would kill any physical being. Even the most powerful of wizards able to touch the spirit realm and use the power of the words of power which helped form the universe would be turned to ash under that light. Yet it was nothing more than a tiny fraction of the infinite being that light represented. Seeing that creature wiped away the sudden rush of ego. All he wanted to do at this moment was talk with man who had walked along the river with and learned from. His job was done everything that he needed to do. Now it was up to everyone else and he turned his attention to his friends and family.

Elwist was fighting The General and Ebon couldn't imagine anything more suited to the man than standing up to brutality and driving it back. Just a few feet away Rasputant had permanently injured his leg, but the injury wasn't fatal and it might even do him some good. Even Xeon was safer with every second. So he glanced towards the cave and remembered his wife. He wished he could have seen her one last time and told her that it would be OK and she began to draw him away from Ahr Ain and he slid towards her. He would have gone to her but a familiar voice interrupted. Ahr Ain said, "You can't return, they still have work to be done."

"I don't want to leave them alone," Ebon said.

"They are never alone," Ahr Ain said.

It was easy to believe that voice but he still looked back one last time. This time he saw his wife more clearly. She was in the cave with the others but her spirit wasn't alone. There was another person with her. One so small that no one else knew he existed yet. But Ebon saw him. His wife was pregnant with his son.

"What will happen to them?" Ebon asked.

"That they will choose, but I have faith in them," Ahr Ain answered.
Chapter 25

I once charged The General on horseback, in full armor, with five of the best men I knew behind me and a sword in my hand. I survived because I ran away, the others were not so lucky.

Jamone, Knight Protector

Elwist had lost track of time in the exhausted circling of The General. His arms throbbed and the salt of sweat got in his eyes, but The General had slowed as well and the tide of the battle had changed. The Highmen were still on the edge of the valley but they had forced most of the Orblings to the other edge and the Weengo were keeping the Lowmen at bay.

Then Elwist saw Ebon rush onto the battlefield. He was the last of their people to have returned home and for a moment Elwist felt relief. It was hard to imagine failure when they were all together because there was no doubt that they had been created for this. It also meant that everyone had done their job except Elwist and that gave him the strength to continue.

A moment later strange dark threads that had appeared like spider webs across the battlefield disappeared. Elwist didn't know whether they had come from but he was certain that black had been dangerous. Their disappearance also distracted The General. It was a split second, but it was the first real mistake Elwist had seen him make that didn't appear planned and he attacked making a quick thrust with his spear.

The attack shouldn't have done anything. He had made several grazing blows against The General, but every time before it had struck the white energy which The General controlled and did no damage. This time though The General wasn't expecting the blow and he cut The General on the shoulder.

The white energy flooded of that small scratch just as it had before when The General was cut. Elwist then stepped out of the General's attack range. There was no advantage in attacking a bear bleeding from the neck. Better to let him wear himself die from its wounds and he hoped the same would be true of The General.

The General understood it at least as fast as Elwist though. It was clear to both of them that time was no longer on The General's side and he became far more aggressive. This wasn't just about this battle though. Elwist had discovered a weakness that could change the world, and The General would kill him to hide it. Worse he would kill anyone he even suspected of knowing that information.

As dangerous as it was Elwist could use that knowledge as a weapon. First he had to make The General angrier. That would make him expend what energy he had left attacking Elwist. It was a tactic he had not believed possible when the General was in full control and one that was very dangerous. The man was deadly, but without his magic The General was weak and Elwist was able to stay just outside of his strike range allowing Elwist to regain some of his strength while The General lost strength.

The General's face tightened in anger but he never lost control. Worse the Lowmen now controlled this part of the battlefield and were retreating towards them. Except that when they reached him they didn't attack. They seemed fascinated by the white energy and the battle and began to form a loose circle as many watching them as watching the Weengo.

Once he knew that the Lowmen weren't going to attack Elwist recognized the opportunity that he had been given. This was his chance to break The General's power. If the most powerful man in the world lost a battle to a single soldier without magic he would never regain his power. Even more important without that power it would be far more difficult for him to kill Elwist because of his secret. With some luck the Lowmen alliance might even fracture and break apart into warring factions giving the Middlemen, and the Highmen time to gain real advantage in the war.

The dance of battle continued, but with each missed blow The General became more erratic. He was growing weaker and was unused to being weak so had little idea how to conserve that strength, but Elwist wasn't ready to push so simply avoided the blows. That made The General angrier, but there was still never room for a true counter attack. Instead he made insulting blows that made tiny cut and from each of those insignificant cuts both white energy and blood flowed out. He didn't know if it really hurt The General but it didn't have to hurt him much. Eventually it would wear him down and that would do far more damage to his reputation than any single blow.

Then after one of The General's wide swings The General seemed to simply continue forward. He staggered then collapsed onto his stomach and the dagger slid several feet forward on the grass. Even then The General continued. He clawed at the ground with his fingers reaching for the dagger while the white energy flickered and then disappeared. The fight was over, but The General still tried to push himself up. Elwist respected the effort, but knew the man would be unable to rise and so he chose the most merciful thing he could and chose not to humiliate him anymore. So, he touched the tip of his spear to the base of The General's neck and said, "It is over."

"Wait," The General said.

"The strongest live and the weaker die. That is your way," Elwist said.

"I'll give power over armies and lands. You will rule with me as an equal and all your people will be safe and never have to work or struggle," The General said. He could likely do it too, and Elwist might even be safe, but he didn't like the cost. Allying himself with The General would be giving his people into the hands of the Lowmen, and even if they had all the power The General would make them far too easy to control because it would still be The General's power.

"I don't want armies or lands. Give me your daggers and leave this part of the world forever," Elwist said.

The General struggled to pick up the dagger but it slid a few inches farther forward when he tried and the last of the white energy stopped flowing. Elwist wondered if that power would return or was gone forever, but that was a problem for tomorrow and so Elwist reached down and took the two long daggers without comment.

"Are you are too weak to even surrender?" Elwist asked. He felt bad, but he needed every Lowman here to know exactly what had happened. The General had been defeated and defeated completely. He then said, "You are free to leave, alone, but gather no followers and leave these lands." Elwist then turned to one of the nearby Lowmen and said, "Bind this man's wounds. I want him kept him alive."

A single young Lowman stepped forward. He was clearly one of the lowest of the ranked men and as likely to be injured by the other members of his army than in any battle, yet he had survived. The young Lowman wrapped The General's wounds, but looked more at Elwist than at The General and Elwist thought he saw happiness mixed with the awe that covered the boy's face. These men hated The General and would have happily allowed him to die. They might even kill him now that they believed it was possible, but Elwist wouldn't kill a defeated man. Elwist took a deep breath and looked around the battlefield. The fighting had ended, but it was going to take a long time for things to return to normal. There were bodies everywhere, Weengo, Lowmen and even a few Highman scattered across the field, but at this moment he needed to know the fate of his own people. A few feet away Rasputant was on the ground a Highman woman slumped over him. Both had blood and Rasputant's leg was bent in the wrong way, but he was alive while the woman, clearly, was not. His eyes then fell on Ebon limp in Xeon's arms and he could see from the eyes of Xeon that they had lost this battle.
Chapter 26

When a man rises above fear and hate and shows true love even for a moment it does not matter who he is. I am proud of that man.

Ahr Ain

Chart collapsed to the ground exhausted a few feet away Ungarn covered in blood did the same. The day had been more exhausting than anything he could have imagined, yet he didn't despise that exhaustion. This was the battle he was meant to fight and the exhaustion would go away.

From the ground he watched The Prophet. The man stopped next to one of the Lowmen bent down and closed his eyes. He then looked at Chart with tears running down his face ash a large bruise that could almost look like a Lowman's markings. That mark had been given to him by a member of the same army he was now crying for and though he had grown up with The Prophet the man at that moment seemed for strange than the Lowmen. It also gave Chart the strength to pull himself to his feet. If The Prophet could continue then Chart would find a way. And as he stood he glanced toward Ungarn who also pushed himself to his feet. As the Lowman did he saw something he never would have believed a few weeks ago. In his eyes was the same respect every Highman showed for The Prophet. He didn't really care about the death of the people here, but seeing that The Prophet did affect him as, likely did the bruise that proved The Prophet had been in the fight.

"What happened?" Chart asked as he reached The Prophet.

"I thought I could change things," the Prophet said.

"It doesn't work that way. We all have our part to play," Ungarn said. It was remarkably similar to what Chart was thinking, but there was hardness in his voice. The man might be more Highman than he let on, but he was still what he was.

"Ebon died," The Prophet said.

"How was he killed" Chart asked.

"Sai Tain took over Xeon..."

"And Ebon sacrificed himself to stop him," Ungarn interrupted. It surprised Chart that Ungarn understood so quickly, but he had known Ebon better than Chart did and it seemed impossible that anyone who had spent time with Ebon wouldn't see that ability to put others welfare above his own. It was a trait that the Highmen claimed to have, but that they so rarely showed it was sometime easy to imagine it was nothing more than a hope of a trait and yet it seemed natural to this man.

"I should have stopped him," Chart said. He had seen the blackness, but he hadn't recognized what it was and so had focused on what he understood.

"There were many on this battlefield who could have fought Sai Tain. Timinna, The Dragon, the other wizards, even the Orblings and myself but none of us would have done anything but drawn the attention of a Sai Tain and even with almost all of his power bound he would have killed us. More importantly, each of us would have had to kill Xeon to stop Sai Tain, and known it was a small cost," The Prophet said.

"Except Ebon who understood an individual can change the world," Ungarn said.

"You show more wisdom than I would expect from a Lowman, yet Ebon, a child from a race of children showed more wisdom than all of us," The Prophet said.

"He died to protect his friend. It is admirable, but I am not sure it was wise" Chart said.

"Not just his friend. He bound Sai Tain with his death. That may have saved us all, including I suspect many of the Lowmen" The Prophet said.

"How can that be Ahr Ain's plan? How will this race become better if the one who made the right decision will never have children?" Ungarn asked.

"He has a child, unborn but growing and I see nations growing from that boy and from all of these men," The Prophet said.

"Do you know who else has died," Chart asked. He didn't ask of his father because the long unspoken pact between the two was that both loved everyone as much as the members of their own family. It was a lie, but one that his father wanted to be true.

"Timinna died protecting Rasputant. The Dragon is escorting the rest of the wizards back to the capital. Your father is with Keppler and everyone else is here," The Prophet said.

"The Dragon is taking the wizards?" Ungarn said. He was grinning a bit too much for someone who had just seen this much death, but Chart saw the humor in it as well.

"The wizards were surprising pleased. Even a minor injury can make the idea of a week's walk very unappealing and he did save several of their lives," The Prophet said. There had been a dozen wizards and Chart didn't think The Dragon could carry that many which suggested Timinna wasn't the only wizard who had died.

"So what do we do now?" Chart asked.

"We rest and prepare for the next battle," Ungarn said. As the Lowman spoke Chart wondered whether that battle would find them on the same side or once again trying to kill each other. Whichever way it turned out though, Chart understood how much both of them had been changed by the Middlemen and he began to understand more of Ahr Ain's plan.
Chapter 27

I never met my father, but I know who he was and to me, above anything else, he was a hero.

Torl, son of Ebon

The small fire in the cave burned down as the eleven Middlemen sat in silence. The winter had been an easy one and there were still reserves of dried fruit and meat, but it had also kept visitors away making the valley feel almost like it had before they had been found.

Looking down at the tiny bundle wrapped in soft furs Emma began to feel better for the first time. The boy had his father's eyes and whenever she looked at Torl it made it a little easier to imagine going on without Ebon. She had even began to feel better and there were days when things almost felt normal again.

It wasn't just because of little Torl though. Over the last months everyone had worked together to help her. Even Filar had cooked meals while Keppler had built a basket for Torl to sleep in and his wife Moreen had made a small stuffed man of soft deer leather and feathers. Everyone else had spent much of the winter building a small home for her and her son. Rasputant complained because they couldn't match even the smallest of the Highmen houses, but it had three rooms, one for her to sleep in, one for little Torl and a larger room where they could keep a fire and visit with friends.

Most of Rasputant's complaining wasn't about the size of the house though it was frustration that he couldn't help to build it. He had been unable to walk for most of the winter and even now he moved slowly with the cane that Keppler had made for him. Yet he hadn't been idle. He had pulled many of the most shiny and colorful of the shells from his collection and tied them together hanging them above Torl's basket.

Even Chart had come to visit just before the baby was born. He moved slowly through the foot deep leaving far easier to follow trails than he liked to bring herbs and information on giving birth which the Highmen insisted that they would need to know. He had then spent nearly a week working on her home with the others as well as hauling wood and talking with her. He even cooked meals. He would have stayed through the birth and offered twice but in the end Emma had decided against it. He was a good friend, but he wasn't family and she wanted this first birth to be about family.

Torl was the one who broke Emma's contemplation. He was quiet much of the time and even crying it was soft. It was also effective as Elaine rushed into the cave, the bone knife she had been using to skin a bear that Elwist had brought in a few days ago still in her hand. Emma couldn't help but smile watching Elaine fussing over her son. The woman had fought bears and Lowmen with the same stoic expression as Elwist, but put a baby in her hand and she became almost soft. That was a good thing because she had began to shows signs of pregnancy herself.

Emma handed Torl over to the woman without speaking. He had eaten recently and Elaine could handle anything else. She was also glad that the others were so interested in helping. She trusted all of the Middlemen with Torl and needed their help. She couldn't be everything to her son. That bothered her more than her own loss. She wasn't really alone, not with her son and she had known Ebon. What bothered her was that her son would never know his father or learn from him.

Basic skills weren't what she worried about. He could learn to fight from Elaine and Elwist far better than he would from his father and the same was true of learning to make things from Keppler. Rasputant was actually already telling him how to recognize value though he was far too young to understand anything he said. And of course there was Xeon, his father's best friend. He would teach him how to lead and tell him many stories about his father as well as being more like Ebon than any of the others. She had no doubt that Torl could learn to become the best of all of them, but those were the lessons of the other families. They were good things, and she would encourage Torl to learn them all, but without his father she feared he would never know what it meant to be part of Ebon's family. Was it possible that the things only her husband had understood would be lost forever?

As she thought about the loss that her husband's death had been to their son she watched the water running across the cave's entrance. Winter was ending and the runoff was turning everything green. Spring had always been Ebon's favorite time of year. He said that it was a time for new beginnings when everything was growing and getting better. Not that he had disliked the winter. He could always see the good in everything. That was another thing that she loved about him.

It was at that moment that she saw the three men standing on the far edge of the river that cut across the valley. For a moment she thought that it was an enemy taking advantage of them being unguarded. The General still wanted to kill them and Elaine wasn't in a good position to protect them. But it was only for a few seconds before she looked more carefully. The drops of streams of water n the gaps of the water she saw them better. The tallest of the three was the form that Ahr Ain had most often used when dealing with them. More kind than handsome he looked a bit like each of the Middlemen. Most notable to Emma were the eyes that looked like Ebon's with a deep kindness no one else could match.

Next to him was a tall man with a wide nose and muddy brown eyes and pock faced. He wore a white robe that hid the rest of his body, but he looked strong and as kind as well, though he was also a bit ugly. For a few seconds Emma wondered who it might be, but only for a moment before he eyes caught the third person.

It was Ebon. At this distance she had no doubt though he wore clothes different from anything she had ever seen and stood almost as tall as Ahr Ain at least two full inches taller than he had been when he had been alive. He caught her eyes and smiled.

The three continued a conversation that she couldn't hear and then the two others disappeared. For a moment that left only Ebon and she thought that he might be returning to her and he would be allowed to raise little Torl with her. She knew better though. That wasn't the way that things worked. That she was even allowed to see him at all was a mercy and she took a step towards him. He shook his head slowly and said, "I have to leave, but I want you to know that we all trust you. It isn't going to be easy for our son, but we have to trust him. And I'll be with you both even if you can't see me and in a few decades we'll be together again."

I hoped you enjoyed my novel. If you were please leave a review it helps imesurably. You can also sign up for my free monthly newsletter and learn about my other works, including two more novels in this series at http://www.andscifi.com or follow me on twitter @eltongahr

Elton Gahr

