Chapter 17

“Welcome to Xervia, and to the grasslands of The People of Morning.” Tithian said from outside the tent, revealing that their strange journey had ended.

Mark and Talia emerged onto lush green grass, and discovered it was knee deep on Mark, hip high on Talia. “Thanks.” Mark acknowledged, and yawned again.

“The stream there is quite good. Will you wish to eat right away?”

“Not immediately. I could use a cup of Hilsith’s tea first.” Mark said as he dropped to his knees beside the tiny stream, then plunged his head in while Talia cupped a double handful of water to drink.

“I will invite Hilsith, and ask that she bring some.”

Talia rose and dried her hands on her breeches. She concentrated a moment, then exchanged what she’d been wearing under her armor for a blue wool spring dress, warm enough to counteract the slight chill.

She looked about at her surroundings in the pre-dawn brightening of the sky to the east. The grasslands extended as far as the eye could see, rippled with slight hills and coulees in three directions, while to the east the ground gradually fell away into a lowland that extended for miles, affording a wonderful view in that direction. Everywhere she looked there was a sparse scattering of unicorns, and she realized that there were thousands of them in sight, perhaps tens of thousands. Most of them were still asleep, and a third of them slept standing up in tightly grouped little herds.

Closer at hand were Tithian and Povon beside a huge round table of dark wood with sixteen matching chairs of various sizes around it. Beyond the table were a group of seventy or so unicorns who were obviously engaged in spell casting.

“My companions here are blocking your auras. We are reasonably certain that we can hide you from Zarkog by doing this.” Tithian explained.

“Oh. Thanks, we really appreciate your time and effort.” Mark said as he squeezed water out of his hair, looking much more awake and refreshed. “And you’re right, that stream is good. It’s surprising that water can taste that good.”

“Who else is coming?” Talia asked as she absentmindedly Summoned a towel for Mark, who just as absentmindedly took it from her and sat down on one of the chairs to dry his hair.

“Senior leaders of the alliance, and some of your and Mark’s friends and family, whose company should help you with your serenity after your trying day yesterday.”

“That’s thoughtful of you, and well appreciated.” Mark offered as he finished drying his hair.

Talia took the towel from him and Sent it back, then began brushing his hair.

“Ahh...” he moaned with a grin as he relaxed further into his chair. “I didn’t think having your hair brushed could feel so nice. Thanks.”

“It’s the love that goes into it.” Talia giggled, and kissed him on the top of his head before continuing her ministrations.

“When will everyone get here?” he asked.

“In a few minutes. First you will have an opportunity to see something that few not of my people have ever seen. And you will learn why the unicorns are called The People of Morning. You see, when my people first became sentient, it was only for a few hours a day after bathing in the power of the Source at each day’s dawn. Now of course, we are sentient whenever we are awake, but we still revel in the revitalizing rays of the Source at sunrise, and it is still the most special time of day for us.

“You see now, my people are stirring, in anticipation of the coming of the sun. You can see Silaran standing out in the herd just over there. Big pink and white fellow that he is, he’s easy to spot. My darling daughter is just on his far side, though you can’t see her from here. They’ll be joining us when they’re done their awakening.”

“I’m sorry you had to be up before the dawn for our sake.” Talia smiled as she finished Mark’s hair and re-bound it at the back with his gold and diamond hair clip, then settled into his lap for some cuddling.

“I was not, for I slept and woke on my home grazing far to the east of here, where the dawn occurred an hour ago. So now I am lucky enough to experience it twice in one morning.”

“The time problem again.” Mark said.

“Pardon me?”

“To me, time was always decided by the position of the sun, and nobody I knew traveled faster than a run, and not far at that.” he told her as his eyes swept over the huge open vista, where more and more of the visible unicorns were stirring, standing, shaking themselves off, and slowly wandering to the nearest water for a drink. “But now we’re traveling all over the world, and it’s a different time of day everywhere you go. I get all confused as to what time it is and how long it’s been since I last slept. I’m just not used to the implications of fast travel. Like just now, I assumed that you’d slept here, even though I know you’re an important person who travels a lot, and who might have slept anywhere.

“If I didn’t have Talia to keep track of time for me, I think I’d go mad.”

“I didn’t know it was bothering you that much.” Povon admitted, a little guiltily. “Here, this should help a bit at least. I should have thought to give it to you earlier. It’s called a time-sight.”

She passed him a simple compound spell, and when he cast it, it produced the Illusion of a three inch ball, yellow on one side with a white spot in the center, and a deep blue that was almost black on the other. Further inspection revealed the simplified outlines of the continents of Kellaran drawn in thin black lines on the light side, and in thin white lines on the dark side. The equator and poles were similarly marked.

“The white spot shows the position of the sun.” Povon explained. “That is, the place marked in the northern tip of Kletiuk by the white spot is experiencing high noon right now, as the sun is directly overhead there. It is daytime on the light side, and nighttime on the dark side, and it changes constantly with the real time. The glowing blue dot marks your position in the world, so you can see that we’re in northeastern Xervia, and because it’s at the trailing edge of the dark side, you can see that it’s almost dawn here. You can also see that it’s just before midnight in Hilia, and that it’s mid-afternoon in Finitra and The Nine Valleys. It also shows the seasons and the time of year. The sun is north of the equator, indicating that it is summer in the northern half of Kellaran, and the farther north it is, the closer it is to mid-summer. The sun will be on the equator at the spring and autumn equinoxes, and south of the equator when Finitra experiences winter. You see?”

“Yes, this is great! This’ll help a lot!” Mark crowed enthusiastically.

“Then I will give it to you as a late birthday present, though it is not a Draconian tradition to do so.”

“Thank you! Mind you, you risked your life in our cause on my birthday, and your performance in the battle was both crucial and incredible. Birthday presents don’t get any better than that.”

“Thank you.” Povon smiled.

“As for this, now I know what time it is on Kellaran, but we still need a simple way to say what time we’re talking about to someone who’s also a fast traveler. We should just pick somewhere at random and number the hours from there.

“For instance if we picked right here as a standard time reference, the standard time everywhere in the world right now would be about the sixth hour, numbered from midnight. People who lived here wouldn’t have to make an adjustment. But people in Hilia would just have to get used to having midnight at the sixth hour in standard time, just as they’d have to get used to having the sixth hour at noon in east-central Kletiuk, and in mid-afternoon in Finitra. The benefit of it is, if you say you’re going to be in Bojoston at the sixth hour of the fourteenth day of the month, everybody knows exactly when you’re talking about, no matter what time of day it is where they’re at. Do you follow me?”

“That is one of those ideas that is so brilliant, I’m chagrined that I never thought of it myself.” Tithian stated admiringly. “Mind you, fast intercontinental travel was very rare before the founding of the Alliance, so standard time would have been much less useful than it is now. It will be of particular benefit to our military planners and commanders, given the world-wide scope of our conflict with Zarkog, and with the demons. And this standardization of time perfectly complements the standardized calendar we’ve recently adopted. May we consider it an official suggestion of the Key to The Just Alliance?”

“Sure!” Mark smiled as he dismissed the illusion.

“I have forwarded it.

“Now the first sliver of the sun will appear above the eastern horizon. Watch my people. Open your mind to them, and share in the glory of it.”

While Mark had been somewhat distracted by conversation, the unicorns had been casually wandering about, seemingly at random. But now patterns emerged. They were spaced so that in the last few seconds before daybreak they could turn sideways to the dawn to absorb the most light, with only their heads turned to face the emerging sun, and each would be in the least possible shadow from the others. He realized that even differing heights were taken into account in the spacing.

Looking toward the lower land to the east, he could see the line of direct daylight appear on the horizon and speed toward them. In less than a second it swept past just as the first bright rays of the sun struck the eye from the horizon. As the light touched each unicorn, they lifted their heads and called out with a sound that no horse could ever make, a pure and smooth tone that rang in the air for a second or two. As each one called out, their minds became fully awake and alert, and they called out to each other psionicly as well. Within a second after daybreak every unicorn in sight was part of a massive and joyous Link that burst into Mark and Talia’s open minds like an unstoppable explosion of pure happiness.

It built and built as the sunlight slowly increased for a minute or two, then the most distant unicorns to the east suddenly began running, which seemed to prompt those just a bit closer to immediately break into a gallop as well, and the wave of movement swept toward and past them as fast as the dawn-line had. The herds ran together with the perfect co-ordination of a school of reef fish or a flock of small birds, and then they began to mesh together into swirling patterns.

“By the Source!” Talia breathed in admiration. “It’s a dance!”

It seemed impossible that a herd of hundreds of unicorns who seemed to be galloping almost shoulder-to-shoulder and nose-to-tail could meet another herd head on or at a right angle without a collision, but the only part of them that contacted was the long and flowing hair of their manes and tails.

The patterns became more stable as their muscles warmed, and then all of the largest unicorns synchronized their gaits into a coordinated beat that made the ground throb. Those not quite as large synchronized into a quicker counterpoint beat a moment later, then those of the next smaller size did the same with a quicker one yet, and with a few seconds the entire plain was an immense and hypnotic percussion ensemble.

Then they began to sing. It seemed that each of The People of Morning could only sing one note, but each sang their single note perfectly. It was impossible to tell whether they had all memorized the incredibly complex score, and knew the correct timing and duration of their note within the music whenever it occurred, or whether it was all a great improvisation, and they continuously created the intricate melodies and harmonies as a group by adding their own note whenever it felt right. However it was done, the wordless music was like the universe’s most magnificent symphony, and it was uplifting and haunting in its beauty.

Suddenly Silaran and Equemev leaped out of the swirl and into the clearing around the tent and the table, and skidded to a sudden stop with their hoofs landing in time with the music.

“Come! Ride! Run with us!” Equemev joyously called, and Mark and Talia ran over and leaped to their backs with the aid of a judicious use of Levitation, Mark upon Silaran and Talia on Equemev. Tithian and their seventy warders joined them as they leaped into the dance with careful timing.

“I’ll guard the tent!” Povon laughed as they blended into the swirl.

The unicorns were such capable and stable mounts that the slight fear of falling beneath the thousands of pounding hooves or being pierced by a stray horn faded within moments, to be replaced by breathtaking exhilaration. The deep grass concealed many tiny streams that were hidden until the last moment, but they were always jumped without losing the beat of the music. Soon Mark found himself singing along, improvising his own wordless harmony. A minute later he saw that Talia was standing in a slight crouch on Equemev’s back with one foot in front of the other and her hands out for balance, with the wildest grin he’d ever seen on her pretty face, her blond hair and the hem of her dress flying behind, her cheeks pinked by excitement, exertion, and the cool wind of their speed. He thought of imitating her for a moment, but her elven reflexes were up to the task, and he doubted his own were.

Eventually the song began to simplify as fewer and fewer of the singers added their note, until finally the last voice faded and everyone broke stride at once as they slowed to a trot, then a walk, all of them pleasantly winded and panting.

“I can never thank you enough for allowing me to witness that.” Povon grinned as the others returned.

“Me too!” Talia added psionicly, since she was breathing too hard to talk comfortably.

“It is a sacred thing to us; the dawn ceremony.” Tithian happily responded as she drank from the stream. “And it is not often shared with the other races, since we dread the thought of it being disrupted by those who are unable to fully appreciate it, which one cannot do without being fully psionic. We hold you in high esteem, and we thought it might help replenish your emotional resources.”

“That it did!” Mark grinned as he slid from Silaran’s back. “That was as fun and as beautiful as anything I’ve ever experienced! And coming from a young newlywed, that’s saying something! It was absolutely wondrous!”

“Thanks.” Silaran said with a huffing unicorn chuckle at his friend’s exuberance.

At that moment Kragorram, Somonik, and Grakonexikaldoron arrived a few hundred feet overhead with a muffled boom of displacement, and flying fast enough that they had to circle a few times before they could land.

“Good morning!” Gran called. “We were just taking some morning exercise, as Kragorram’s Healers say that it’s important that he do so. I take it that you’ve just done the same?”

“We have.” Tithian happily agreed, still panting a bit “I did so twice this morning, and I almost think I’m getting too old for that!”

“Hah!” Somonik chuckled. “If I can still force my old muscles to fly with our spry youngsters, you can still run with yours!”

“You’re right of course. And you’re still as graceful in flight as any youngster, despite the wing, which is astounding, really.”

“Thank you. I’ve gotten used to compensating for it with the power.” Somonik grinned as he came in for a perfect landing.

“Good morning my love.” Kragorram grinned as he came in for an almost dainty landing, back-winging to a hover first and favoring his injury. “You are beautiful in this light. The red ribbon compliments you nicely.

“Thank you, my loving flatterer, but it clashes with me horribly. I have to wear it as punishment.” Povon smiled as they gently nuzzled.

“For what?”

“At the end of the chase yesterday, we were ready to Translocate Mark, Talia, and Holanam into the midst of The Strike Force in case they should be caught by Zarkog’s forces, who would have gotten a good surprise. Yazadril said that we would not interfere with whatever they were doing unless one of them was injured. He re-iterated that when Mark said it was leading to something. But when they were jumping with every second I lost my nerve. I thought if we waited any longer, they would be Translocating so often that it would be unsafe to extract them, as the military types say. I tried to grab them between their jumps, contrary to direct orders, and Somonik restrained me, so to speak. Which I found to be extremely surprising and embarrassing, particularly after First Burgundy intervened.

“Afterward, Yazadril told me to wear a red ribbon. That’s all he said. It’s a mark of shame, even if only he and I knew it till now.”

“You meant well, my love, and he certainly couldn’t have been that upset.” Kragorram consoled as he gently enfolded her with arms, wings and tail.

“Kragorram! You’re speaking normally!” Talia realized.

“Yes. A great circle of Healers put their minds together and came up with a spell that cancels one resonance of my vocal cavity, and eliminates the effort of remembering which sibilants to vocalize. I can’t help but think that I sound more intelligent this way. I even find that I tend to not speak as slowly. And my Draconian has improved even more than my Trade Common.”

“Well I think it sounds nice, though I like the way you sounded before too.”

“Thank you.”

They were soon joined by Yazadril, Nemia, Hilsith, Alilia, Dalia, Bezedil, Holanam, Zayobod, Balen, Senchak, Emeroth, Osbald, King Dren, Wosea, and Mark’s grandparents. They were short two chairs, so Talia sat in Mark’s lap and Wosea simply Levitated, lounging in an invisible chair above the table. The dragons lounged about, and Tithian produced a feast for the humanoids that appeared on the table with a wave of her horn, before she and the other unicorns began grazing on the nearby grass.

The meal was enjoyed with a great deal of discussion of the battles, chases, and revelations of the day before.

As they were finishing, Somonik reported the latest developments. “Zarkog is testing our defenses. A few million of his forces will appear above one of our cities, military bases, or naval shipyards, launch a quick attack, and be gone before we can do much about it. A minute or so later they send a high-altitude observer by for a few seconds to check their results, which are generally negligible.

“Defections continue from both Venak and Serminak. It’s still just a trickle, but the numbers are growing.

“With their Wards down, we’ve been able to send our own observers to learn their dispositions. With the information they’ve gathered, combined with what we’ve learned from the defectors, we have a fairly complete accounting of their numbers, cities, deployments, fortifications, and other assets. We were particularly interested in learning where Zarkog’s Swarms and trolls are, and we now know that.”

“How long do you think it’ll be before they stop probing, and start attacking in earnest?” Mark asked.

“Impossible to say.” Yazadril stated. “We should ask Quewanak that. His knowledge of our opponent may be forty million years out of date, but he still knows Zarkog better than any of us.”

Mark retrieved his small Truthstone from a pocket, and sent his awareness into it. “Eldest?”

Quewanak appeared sitting behind Mark, reaching over to keep a claw-tip in contact with the stone. He instantly updated himself on the conversation from the minds of the participants by doing little more than being interested in the knowledge. “I couldn’t say either. He was never in command of a military force back then, and I don’t know what he’s learned of that discipline since. Based on what I learned of modern military practices from Somonik at the founding, Zarkog appears to be rather conventional in his strategic thinking. Conventional for evil tyrants, that is.

“One thing is certain. Your decision last night to finally undergo my training is the best course you could choose at this time. You do not presently have the ability to defeat Zarkog. I can give you that ability, and in a reasonable amount of time.”

“Really? You think your training will make me able to beat Zarkog?” Mark asked in surprise. “How long would it take?”

“Again, that is impossible to say, as I will be using completely new techniques which I developed in a dream, and I had no reference to real time while I did so. A great deal depends on how much discomfort you and your companions are willing to endure. The greater the realism of the training, the greater it’s effectiveness and the lesser the time that will be required. But participating in a perfectly realistic combat exercise is exactly as unpleasant as participating in actual battle.”

“To beat Zarkog, I’d be willing to endure a great deal of discomfort. For my part, I’m willing to do whatever it takes to be finished as quickly as possible. This little interlude from the war has been nice, but I know people are dying out there as we sit here feasting, though Somonik tries to spare me a bit by glossing over that fact. Every second counts in lives. I feel that we don’t have a moment to waste.”

“I feel the same.” Talia agreed.

“He speaks for us all.” Kragorram nodded, and the other three of The Six nodded as well.

“Excellent.” Quewanak nodded. “Then if you are finished here, we’ll get started. Mark, keep the stone in your hand.”

“All right. Thank you for a wonderful start to the day, Tithian. “Mark said as he and Talia stood. “Please pass our gratitude along to all who took part. And thanks to all of you for coming to breakfast, it’s always good seeing you.

“We’ll try to get in twelve hours’ training today, then we’ll check in to see how things are going.”

“They will be safe from Zarkog while they are with me.” Quewanak stated assuredly. “No one could find them where we will be.”

“Thank you. I was wondering about that.” Yazadril nodded.

“All right then, my fine students, prepare to Translocate.” Quewanak briskly instructed, eager to get started. “Silaran has the reference, and you’ll follow him, but each of you will take yourselves there. And gather all your power before you do so, it’s a very long jump. And whatever you do, do not try to fly or levitate when you arrive!

“Povon, cast the Link. Now, if we are all ready, let’s go.”

They cast their Translocations, and all except Silaran were surprised that the brief flash of cold that came with it seemed to last noticeably longer than they expected.

“Report on your surroundings.” Quewanak directed as soon as they emerged, but none heeded him right away.

“Great missing gods, what is that smell?!!!“ Povon cried, and Silaran actually retched for a moment before Equemev cast a spell on all of them that blocked the horrible odor and the nausea that came with it.

The next thing to be noticed was Mark floating off the ground for a second when he turned a bit. “I don’t fall right here!” he exclaimed in momentary panic as he flailed in the air.

Talia jumped five feet in the air when she tried to step toward him. “We have no weight! Or almost none!”

Povon cast a Movement on each of them, roughly proportional to their weight, and stuck them to the floor. Silaran stumbled a bit as he landed from the slow jump his initial convulsion had caused.

“This is really weird!” Mark stated as he regained his balance. “I think I’d be losing my breakfast without Equemev’s spell, even without the horrible stink!” He watched some dust they’d stirred up ever-so-slowly drifting down, then knelt to take a pinch of sand from the floor, and dropped it from two feet. “Things fall a lot slower than normal here.” he said as he stood.

“We must be near the center of Kellaran, in the very center of the world!” Povon guessed. “Things would fall slower there!”

“No, there’s not enough magic in play here to maintain this cavern against the pressures that exist deep within Kellaran.” Equemev mused as she looked around. “From all the evidence, I’d say we are within one of Kellaran’s moons.”

“Excellent deduction.” The Eldest congratulated. “We are indeed within the stone of Blenda, the largest and most distant of Kellaran’s moons.”

He had no sense of smell as an astral projection, so he experienced it second-hand from Kragorram over the Link Povon was still maintaining.

“Ugh. You’re right, that scent is disgusting. And worrisome.”

Mark looked around and tried to identify the source of the smell. They were in a round cavern shaped like a flattened bubble, perhaps six hundred feet in diameter and a third of that from the floor to the center of the ceiling. In the center of the floor a pink crystal as large as he was protruded from the floor. He’d have assumed it was quartz, were it not glowing brightly in both visible light and in his magic-sensing vision. The rest of the cavern was light gray stone, and the only other color in the place was an area on the far side that had the green of plant life on the floor and up the curve of the wall a bit.

They made their way over there, and saw that there were several varieties of plants, dominated by something that looked somewhat like a fern. As they drew close, they saw that there was a small spring trickling water out of the wall, and it flowed down in a tiny stream to a small pond in a shallow depression. The little watercourse was almost completely hidden by the plants, and only it’s faint sound and occasional reflected glint among the stems revealed it. And in the shallow pool, also hidden from their sight by the plants until they reached the edge of the water, was the source of the smell.

“I take it that that’s your body, Eldest?” Mark asked as he fought to control another wave of nausea.

“I’m afraid it is. I am obviously on the very verge of death, and have been for a very long time.”

His body was little more than skeleton and skin, and his green color had faded to a sickly off-white. He lay half submerged in the water with the tip of his snout just above the surface at the edge of the pond, and bore many horrible wounds. The worst of those was a gash that had cleaved his skull almost in half, and only a thick layer of scab covered his brain where it was exposed.

“I suppose that since I’ve lasted this long, I’ll probably last long enough to get you trained.”

“Crap on that! We can’t afford to lose you, and I won’t give up on any friend’s life until I have to! I’m calling in some Healers, the best we’ve got! You’ll just have to trust them to keep this location secret, the same as you’re trusting us.”

The eldest stared at his physical self for a long moment before he replied. “I am not going to argue. Let Silaran cast their Translocations. Lend him some power if he needs it to do so. The reference location here changes in a constant and complex but predictable manner as Blenda circles Kellaran, making for a very tricky jump, but he has the knack for such things.”

“Hilsith!” Mark called, somewhat frantically.

“Yes?”

“We’re with the Eldest’s body, and he’s near death. He’s really, really in bad shape. Assemble the best Healers we have, and we’ll bring you all here.”

“What is his condition?”

“He’s got about twenty serious wounds that have been slowly putrefying for forty million years. His skull’s all split open, and there’s a big scab on his brain. He’s lying in a pool of water with a bunch of plants. I’m sure he’s too sick to move him, so bring anything and everything you might need.”

“Give us thirty seconds.”

“Povon, be ready to cast the Movement on them when they get here, and Equemev, the anti-smell and nausea spell. Silaran, how much can you Translocate to here?”

“Perhaps one and a half times my own weight.”

“Tithian!”

“Yes Mark?”

Mark reported everything to the unicorn seer in one quick burst of thought.

“Understood. As many of us as necessary will assist Silaran. Don’t worry. If Quewanak can possibly be saved, he will be.”

“Let’s move over by the wall at the far end of the pond to make room for arrivals and their equipment.” Mark said as he briskly strode that way.

They’d reached there and Kragorram and Povon had just curled up together to save room when Hilsith Spoke.

“We’re ready.”

“Hold still a moment after you get here. We’ll have to cast some spells on you to allow you to work in this environment, because things here have very little weight, and there’s a smell that would make you vomit.” Mark told her.

“You deal with the weight issue then, we’ll deal with our own reaction to the smell.”

A moment later forty-two Healers of every race arrived, including three dragons, four Selkies, and a dozen gnomes, along with some fifty containers of every size full of equipment and supplies. Povon immediately cast her weight-replacing Movement on them and their gear as they cast a Link among themselves, then rapidly went to work.