Chapter 105

Whilst the Psiontials under Una kept an eye out for Sarkal and waited for him to make a move ... we hoped, the few of us who were left continued to help the Yr’ch repair and rebuild their planet. The Drow Battalions were now being stood down as there was no longer anyone to fight on Draenoric, only the many remaining holdouts of the old regime. Those TechnoYr’ch and the just plain too stubborn to ask for help from anyone were being left alone. Athena’s followers were just over seven hundred million of the estimated planetary survivors of a billion, though many of the non-believers lived peacefully, if occasionally argumentatively, amongst the Athenians. The Yr’ch’s ethos had now moved (with a little meddling from Athena and her Theurgists) to that of exploration and holding what they owned, not seeking conquest ... if eliminating any real threats they happened across. Yes, they were still naturally combative, as their sports and games tended to bear witness to, but you had to be a threat to their existence (or take something that they considered theirs) in order for deadly violence to ensue. In all this, leaders, such as Crnnch and the other Seekers who acted as guardians of the Yr’ch, emerged and settled disputes fairly, along with others such as Pugard, Tenklar and Whirric, as well as the surviving Adepts who were now the equivalent of mayors in the various communities that were now dotted all over the planet. Frunt, and several other priests now ordained under Athena, promoted her worship and the tenets in the book of Athena and also aided in community cohesion. Not that life was idyllic, the Yr’ch had to work pretty hard to survive, but, as had been pointed out, a busy Yr’ch tended to be a peaceful Yr’ch and so all aspects of the leadership worked hard themselves to ensure that the Yr’ch were kept busy. Even the TechnoYr’ch community built around Chakra’s old laboratory were no exception. They were helping with the removal of any hazardous materials as well as maintaining some of the old engines of war (and improving them too) whilst studying science and preparing for the day when the Yr’ch would again have some uses for technology.

Athena and Gregorius had removed themselves to the hidden valley in the Alps and only made occasional visits to the Yr’ch leadership and her handmaidens, most of whom were now married to said leadership (as well as pregnant). She made no more public appearances and her Theurgists had taken on the trait of being forgotten by those they aided as soon as they left their sight except for those whom Athena permitted to remember. Those Mages who remained also assembled in the ‘valley of the gods’ and generally were just hanging around waiting for Sarkal to act or taking much needed breaks back home.

And that was where I was along with my family as we relaxed with our special guests, Oonagh and Dhunvael. Oonagh was there (with Verenestra’s permission) ostensibly to carve out a trade deal with Róisín. But she was mostly there away from prying eyes to be courted by Dhunvael. We hadn’t embarrassed them by putting them in the same room, but in adjoining suites with a linking door, which, the brownies informed us, hadn’t been opened yet, though it was clear the pair were becoming inseparable. It was also good to catch up with Ketty, Niras and their family. The children were now attending ‘Mage school’ in the Australian branch and coming on in leaps and bounds from what I could tell as they didn’t have to be taught stuff, merely put it into context as the information was transferred directly into their minds.

Ketty’s family, who had met Verenestra and Arwen several times, took Oonagh, Dhunvael and Oonagh’s bodyguards in their stride, with the Drow not bothering to cloak up whilst in and around the villa. The native scrub had grown to the extent that we were unobservable all year round and we had, with the Council’s permission, edited our neighbours’ memories to where they thought that the property was simply a modelling agency, not a private residence.

We spent most of our time catching up with friends ... as in meeting them face to face. Some of whom were fascinated to meet Oonagh and find that she was, in person, not what they thought she would be from the legends that had built up around her. Though some declined to meet her, which didn’t bother Oonagh either, and she and Dhunvael just stayed out of the way, writing her memoirs, the first volume of which had been published on Tír na nÓg and was causing a bit of a sensation as well as bitterly dividing certain Fae scholars and historians; putting to bed in plain unvarnished truth some of the myths certain families had tried to build to cover their misdeeds in the past. Oonagh spared no one, but in the preface merely pointed out that history was history and what the Fae were back then, they no longer were now, nor had to be. A lifeline certain Fae families clung onto for grim death, such was the opprobrium certain past activities were causing their reputation.

Nor did any dare challenge the validity of Oonagh’s memoirs, particularly after Verenestra gave approval to them despite House Skarlett not coming over any too well in them. However, Oberon and Titania, in a rare public appearance, both confirmed that what was written was the truth (hence their stepping down from their thrones).

It was particularly good to catch up with Morgana again. Yes, I had seen quite a bit more of her than I’d initially expected when working with and against the Yr’ch, but, eighteen months was quite a time mostly apart for the pair of us. It was also great catching up with Elaine and Mariamene, Morgana and Jude’s twin daughters or the little terrors as I often called them. Both of whom had missed their uncle John, but mostly had missed my son, Mark, their ‘honorary’ big brother and instigator of much of the trouble they got into.

Dhunvael and Jude hit it off immediately, both being scholars to a certain extent and both with an abiding love of spotting complex if similar patterns in Fae/Human development and comparing them to each other and seeing if the end result was the same. With Oonagh though, it was awkward. For some reason that she wouldn’t discuss with anyone she was extremely shy around Jude. Nor would Jude or Morgana discuss it with us either, Jude merely saying it would sort itself out when Oonagh was ready.

To that end, when we hosted a lot of get-togethers we always ensured Oonagh had space to keep away from people if necessary. Oonagh also practiced her swordsmanship with Morgana, whom she was better than, but, not to the degree where they both didn’t appreciate the expertise the other had and there were some very close contests. Roxanne and Kate occasionally popped in to check on our training regimes and also took the time to spar with both Morgana and Oonagh before giving them both areas to work on with regards to their technique. The best part though was when Roxanne took on the pair of them in a duel and still beat them, leaving both Morgana and Oonagh panting with exhaustion and shaking their heads in chagrin at not even getting close to landing a blow on Roxanne, who, though panting herself, simply had a massive grin on her face.

“I swear there is no way a human can be that fast,” Oonagh commented.

“Just practice,” Roxanne replied. “Verenestra can do it, so, I’d imagine, could you.”

“I’m a lot more accomplished than I was, true,” Oonagh admitted. “All thanks to you, Mage Roxanne.”

“Aye, well, it’s a pleasure to find someone capable of testing me a little, same with Morgana,” Roxanne nodded. “I’ve asked Verenestra if you could join us during our next sparring session, once this business with Sarkal is settled away.”

“She has said yes?” a surprised Oonagh asked.

“Not yet, apparently her Royal Guard aren’t any too keen on allowing you near her with a blade, even a practice one,” Roxanne shrugged.

“Ah, yes. I see,” came a slightly downcast reply.

“Oh, we’ll get there, don’t worry. After all, Verenestra is as good as me and I’ll be there too,” Roxanne chuckled. “Plus we’ll use practice blades.”

“I would swear a Calvagh not to deliberately harm her, if that would help?”

“I’ll mention it, but as far as I’m concerned, your word would be good enough.”

“Thank you, Mage Roxanne.”

“Just Roxanne, Oonagh. No need to be so formal now, you’ve earned a measure of trust.”

“Thank you again, Roxanne.”

Morgana interrupted the conversation to inform me that Zola had a raft of emergence candidates for me to take care of in the next few days.

“I’ll be there when she gives a time,” I told her.

“Apparently she wants to do a bulk batch to make up for your absences.”

“I did get a couple done during my breaks,” I replied.

“Not enough though, we now have a long list of candidates and sponsors.”

“No rest for the wicked,” I chuckled.

“True. The Seers have moved away from the one at a time study they were doing and will be merely monitoring the process now.”

“So, no Dorry then?”

“Oh, she’ll still be the point of contact as well as helping you with a weave for the tough ones.”

“Good,” I replied happily.

The following day I was at the Council headquarters meeting with Zola and agreeing to begin to emerge over a hundred candidates who had been selected and built up over the time I’d been away fighting the good fight. As I had nothing planned, we got down to it immediately with the emergence team assembling and with me and a small team of Seers, including Dorry, getting the candidates to the stage where I could ‘flick the switch’ to make them emerge into the world of Mages.

“Where on Earth did you find all these kids, Mage Zola?” I asked during a break as the medic Mages and Mage Benjamin caught up with the sudden influx of emergents.

“Here and there, mostly orphanages and hospices where we’ve kept an eye on good candidates since their tenth year,” she replied.

“Oh, so this is your cunning plan coming to fruition?” I chuckled.

“Pretty much so, yes,” she replied with a smile. “Plus, we’ve never yet had an issue with having enough Mages to take on the responsibilities.”

“Well, considering some have taken on two apprentices, yes,” I nodded.

“Usually they have a partner to help, though if you’re thinking of Mage Kerre who’s training Dorry’s kids, yes, though Kerre is managing fine and can call in Dorry or Simone if there’s a need ... not that there has been.”

“Kerre is enjoying it immensely. She’s a very good instructor,” Dorry added.

“Yes,” I agreed. “I noticed when we had them over for the weekend barbecue.”

“It was a good barbecue. I never understand how you can cope with so many people and have them all have a good time,” she mused out loud.

“Keep them entertained and keep them fed and watered, the rest just happens naturally,” I shrugged.

“Yes, but yours just seem to work better than others I’ve been to.”

“True,” Zola added.

“I think the family help make it work too. We all have our gifts and the whole is far greater than the sum of the parts,” I chuckled.