Part Eighty-Eight
Dale woke to pain. There were was so much ache and unwellness that his mind was unable to separate the causes and he found he wanted nothing more than fade into the cold, dark dreamless slumber his body had known. He did not want to live or die, for he was an Elf and death would mean existing in some other place and form forever, remembering. He did not want to remember. He did not remember now, but has a sense that he was glad to have forgotten something and did not wish to chance recall. He wanted to sleep. "Dale." The voice hurt him. It was at his ears and within his mind. "Wake now. We shall do what we can to ease your pain and treat your symptoms of disease, but you must come back to us now."
There was light against his eyelids and warmth on his skin. He felt naked and uncomfortable. The outside of his body hurt, and the inside. He was not sure he could speak refusal if he tried. His throat felt as if it had been scraped with something.
"He is coming around now." The voice seemed familiar and yet, strange. It was no longer spoken to his mind, but to his ears. His fingers clenched around something smooth and hard.
"Dale, wake now. I will be here when you need me." Laurel?
Where is Tsuki?
"Pass me the cup now."
"I do not think you should do this," another voice said. Dale was quite conscious now, even against his wishes and he knew Fei's voice. "You said it was habit forming…"
"Potentially habit forming, as are the liquors Men make and imbibe daily, yet many Men resist dependency on such substances and do not feel the need to increase their intake or throw tantrums when there is only water available. I trust an Elf will possess strength of will enough to control such urges. This is more potent than liquors and medicines known to Orc-kind, but one who is as intelligent as Mr. Maple and who has lived among Orcs will understand the need for careful use. In any case, Dale is now under my supervision. We need him conscious, Mr. Lung."
The Brown? Where had he come from? What was happening? What had happened?
Dale half-remembered enough to answer his own question and wailed. Pain. There were hands on him.
The Wizard spoke into his mind. "Dale, do not go that way again. Breathe. Slowly now, take a deep breath. Hold the air."
Dale opened his eyes and breathed. He was inside somewhere and there was a panel of fabric before his eyes.
"Released the breath slowly," The Grey said.
Dale's vision blurred. He felt he should lie down, though he was fairly certain he already was. He could sink no lower. He shifted his weight, ached and managed to roll onto his back. He could see the Wizard leaning over him then, and a girl. He had seen her before. Setsugekka.
"Something happened with Tsuki," Dale said, but his throat was so dry all that the others heard was, "Tsuki."
"Drink this."
Dale accepted the cup at his lips and drank. It was some Wizard potion blended with honey, but he did not have strength to protest.
"It will have the side-effect of making you quite drowsy, but drowsy is preferable to fully unconscious for our purposes. If I have made the dosage correct, it should ease your pains enough that we might converse with you. It is no way to heal an Elf, keeping an Elf indoors and feeding them through a tube. Even as injured as you are, and make no mistake the injuries are serious, you will do better with fresh air and some exercise."
"So much Wizard talk. Where am I? When is it?"
The Grey sat the little cup down on the floor.
Fei came into Dale's view. "We are in the Silver Wood. Do you remember the Sea and coming down the mountain?"
"I remember…yes. You carried me."
Fei gave a nod.
"Did Tsuki return? Something happened to him. He was hurt. I…I felt how he hurt. Fast, not like the way the Sea attacked me, again, again. It was over quickly. Did he come back?"
"What do you speak of?" Fei asked. "Tsuki was in pain when he left us. We all knew. Do you mean that pain?"
"No. When we came down the mountain. Something happened to him. I do not remember after that. But…it was Tsuki, and he was hurt."
"Did you carry the seeing stone then?" The Grey asked carefully. He knew that what Dale said was true, but he did not understand how Dale knew it.
"Did I…?"
"Setsugekka carried them?"
"Ah, yes, the three are here, so Tsuki did not have one."
"Is there something wrong here?" Fei asked. "Do you know of Tsuki?"
"You come to see me?" Dale asked. "What is going on. Are there not Elves and Orcs left alive to ally or break alliance? Has there been battle here?" Dale tried to sit, but felt pain and dropped again. "They are singing laments! Wizard, I will bind you hand and mouth! You know, yet you avoid answering. You know! You would not speak so slyly…" Dale broke into a fit of coughs and wheezes.
"Did I not say your injuries were serious?" The Grey asked irritably. "If I speak carefully, there is need for care. I thought it wisest to speak first to Dale, but I have spoken with him and now wish to question others." The Wizard stood and turned to Alqua, waiting silently near the door. "Bring to me the Daughter of the Elf-King, Lenaduiniel, and her elder brother, Gwindor and also Galadhiel." Alqua went and the Grey looked again at those inside the small house. He had had some reports of what happened to Tsuki and Dale since they left Stone Keep, but he needed to know more before he could speak of current events with confidence. "Who were those that went up to the place of sorcery? I know Laurel and Kato did not accompany you. What others were involved in this?"
"There were eight," Fei said, "Tsuki, Dale, myself…Beryl, Aud, Duma, Ugarit and Gorghash. Gorghash never came from the mountain. He is dead. Beryl is somewhere in the Wood, but we do not know where. Aud also was taken elsewhere by the Elves." The Grey saw the Eastman eyeing him skeptically. He seemed to know better than to refuse to answer, but he did not seem trusting.
"Who is Aud?"
"A Man of the south. He was not with us at the ruins, nor was Beryl. We were rejoined with them in returning here."
"Beryl is known to me," The Grey said simply. Very many did know Beryl, even if they knew him by another name or face. "I will speak with him in time."
"Then the only one here not involved is Setsugekka."
"She was involved," Fei said, "only she did not go up the mountain with us, but was recovered there."
The Grey looked around again. So, these five were those he would receive the most important answers from.
Presently the three Elves entered without Alqua. "Take seats if you can find them," the Grey said, "If you wish my counsel or influence, and you need it, you will tell me what I need to know to be useful to you. First, you will tell me how you all came to be here in this wood and making treaties with Orcs and then the five of you who know will tell me what happened in the mountain pass and in the ruined place of sorcery in every detail. Much that you will say will already be known to me, and I may ask you to be brief when I am in too familiar territory, and I will ask you many questions if I think you hide information that will be of use."
"We have no Masters," Ugarit said plainly.
"I have no use for Orc slaves, however you will answer any questions I put to you."
"He is not making a spell to make you answer," Lenaduiniel said, "The Grey is known to us and can be trusted enough that we all relate the information he asks."
"Fine, so long as he tells us what has been going on that we do not know of. He spoke of Laurel and Kato."
"Yes," Fei agreed, "How is it you know where they were or were not?"
"It is fair enough. You eight here have gotten yourselves into trouble, made promises some believe never should have been made…a trade of information is logical, if we are to work together to resolve matters."
"Why should we help if you are here to advise Lady Lena break her treaty with the Orcs?" Ugarit asked.
"I did not say that I believed the promise should not have been made. I said 'some'."
"Wizards are crafty like Elves. You could be 'some'."
"It would seem true some Orcs at least are changed from the old ways."
"I think the fact that she is female should make that obvious," Dale said, "Get on with it. I will not bear this pain and give you information forever. You will tell me what you know of Tsuki, and that is no attempt at Compulsion, but fact."
"I would not have expected an attempt at Compulsion from you, Mr. Maple."
Dale was not certain why he had even thought such a thing, so he said nothing.
"This part I know," The Grey began and presented the background of his association with the Rangers as an organization and their suspicions and methods of operation after the war and how the courier, Caerig Winnan, also known as Kato the Trader, had come to Stone Keep."
The discussion continued, sometimes breaking into small arguments, as everyone retold their portion of the story, from their various points of view. The Grey now seemed most interested in politics, chains of command and debts carried by or owed to Leaders of Kingdoms, peoples, or Clans, yet he was amused enough to laugh at Dale's retelling of how the fox helped him to hide from Orcs and he nodded approvingly at every mention of messages sent or received by way of bird.
The told them what he knew of the Ranger activity and battles against Orc in the north. The Grey also spoke of how he and the other members of White Rabbit Squad had gone to the ancient capitol and found that some foul Art had been done there and that some objects might have been recovered from deep water and that the Orcs had been sickened.
He heard of course of all that Dale knew of the Orcs and how they had changed, and though she had protested earlier, Ugarit also shared much information, particularly what she had done and seen among the Orcs before traveling in Duma's company.
Now it came time to speak of the time they had been separated. Lenaduiniel spoke first and told those gathered what had happened within the Silver Wood during the attack of the Rómendar and how this seemed to have affected the Orcs and Elves.
Dale asked that The Grey tell of his recent activity, but the Wizard insisted that the others tell him of their time in the place of sorcery now. He wished Dale to speak, but instead, Fei began reading from his written account. The Grey was patient and listened to Fei's tale, but when Fei had finished the section about finding Beryl and Aud and had not yet heard a satisfying answer to explain certain things Dale had said, The Grey asked Fei to allow Dale to give his version of the account up to then.
"What specifically do you wish to know?" Dale asked. The pain in his body was less, but he felt sick and cold and was increasingly uncomfortable that he was naked except for diapering and bedclothes in such mixed company.
The account seems complete enough concerning how you became injured, but your friend Fei writes that he learned from Setsugekka of the nature of this Moon's Hitching Post, which I have never heard of before, but which young Duma's asides would indicate must have been buried in history before Kings of Men built there. And he says that it is his understanding that Tsuki drew on this power and afterward your pain was lessened and Tsuki was under strain and went then to the high place and leapt from the mountain."
"Yes," Dale said softly. It had been the first time he heard Fei explain what had happened to Tsuki. He had not really understood about the Wizard and the Dragon before, as he had been in so much pain after the Sea attacked him.
"What was this spell he worked? Fei was rather vague."
"There were several spells," Dale said. He remembered this part. "I was dying when he returned. I think we all believed that everything would be over soon then, but think someone explained that the Dragon had the bomb in it and that the Dragon had flown. Yes…Tsuki was saying he was sorry for failing, and I was dying."
"And did he work spells?"
"I said I wanted to go, to depart the flesh, and he used Compulsion to make me stay. Only that once. It was not a lasting spell, only to keep me from going then, until I listened to him. And then he kissed me."
"Yes, that is not entirely relevant."
"It is," Dale whispered. "The kiss was the gesture that cast the second spell. That spell transferred the pain."
"But only the pain?"
"Yes. The kiss did nothing but allow Tsuki to relieve some of my pain by taking it onto himself. He did not use the power of the place to do it. He did it himself, for me, so I would not need to leave him."
"Then there was a spell that he drew upon this hitching post for? And he would be bound to whatever he cast?"
"He cast…I think it is 'spell of binding'."
"Mr. Maple, be very specific. What did Tsuki do?"
"I married him."
"You what?" Gwindor demanded.
"I said the words and Tsuki said them."
"What words? Did you speak marriage vows or work a spell of binding?"
Gwindor rose from his set at the table bench and rushed to Dale's side. "Let me look on his eyes!"
Dale looked low-lidded up at Gwindor. "Is everyone married now…or is that just quite taken? I really have not lived among Elves very long."
"What did you do?" Gwindor demanded.
"Dale, this is important, what did Tsuki say? How do you know it was a spell of binding?"
"Because when he did it, I knew," Dale whispered. "Why do you stare like that? I thought, Gwindor, you would understand. It is not the most usual way, Tsuki not being an Elf, not being female, but I love him. I was able to say it and I know he was happy…even if we know what brains look like."
"If there was a spell made to bind you to Tsuki in some way and we are to understand the rules or function of this hitching post, itself some place of binding, then Tsuki not only bound himself to you, but bound himself to the binding."
"Did he?" Dale asked.
"I suspect so, but, Dale, it would help if you could focus and tell me what was said."
"I pray you did not do what I think you did. You should not even have been old enough to do it! You are not even 40 yet!"
Dale tried to smile at Gwindor, but he just felt rather sick. "You are too loud."
"It is very important that we know, so we can help you," The Grey whispered.
"I was dying, and I thought I would not live, but I wished Tsuki to live, so I told him how he might have a chance to reach the dragon, and when I told him about the feathers, he seemed different, excited and urgent. He said that he knew what he must do, that this time he knew for real and that if I said it was my will, he would be able to work a spell with me. He said he could take away some of my pain so that I would be able to bear it long enough to heal. He asked 'even if you have to give up your very immortality, do you want to live with me?' And he said again that it must be my will and I must speak my will. And I did. I told him I wanted him to do it. So he kissed me to seal the spell to take my pain and when that was done, he made the binding, and I knew the words from somewhere and I said them, inside my head, and I could hear Tsuki's words inside my head and it was like feeling him there as I had when we wielded the seeing stones…and it is still there. I think, if the binding was severed, I would know it."
"This complicates matters," The Grey said slowly.
"Did you say some words about souls and life?" Gwindor asked hesitantly.
Dale blushed and nodded. He had some understanding that whatever the marriage was, it was a very special and binding thing.
"Dale…do you know…when Elves have children…you should be too young, but…you see…"
"No. I never conceived a child with another Elf. I think, if I were to do so, the words would just come to me when I needed them, or else I should not be having children at all. I know Duma is mortal because I did not do the special thing that Elves do. I did not even understand I was an Elf at the time. Why are you talking about this?"
"What you did, what I think you did, is an Elven enchantment, something Elves have the ability to do, as they do to conceive immortal children, to give up immortality in order to live as spouse to a mortal for one lifetime, to pass grace to another, or to depart from their flesh, by an act of will. It is not the way Elves marry now. It was, at one time, one particular way for Elves to marry each other, but it is not done anymore."
"Why?"
"You bound your lives and souls. Do you understand? It is very similar to giving your children immortality, but rather than two Elves passing some part of their lives and souls to the child as it is conceived two Elves would bind their lives and souls to each other, both retaining the lives and souls together."
"And what is wrong with that? Why do Elves not do it anymore?"
Gwindor sighed. "Imagine two Elves, male and female have performed this binding. Now, some Orcs come and steal the female away. They torture her. Her bound partner feels the torture. How is he to go to rescue her if he himself is tortured? And how is she to allow herself to die so long as she is bound to the other life?"
"I do not understand."
"I saw Tsuki come upon the Dragon," The Grey said, not so much as looking at Dale. He related what he had seen, how Tsuki leapt to the Dragon's body, how he struggled and reached the underside and cut free the bomb. He told them how Tsuki had dropped from the dying Dragon, with the bomb, toward the mountains. "He must have known that there was only one way to win. He had to explode the bomb high in the air above the mountain peaks before it fell any lower or impacted upon the mountain. The blast threw me from the air down upon the mountain and buried me in a snow-slide, and I was at some distance then. Tsuki…would not have lived."
"No. He promised. He did. You were there." Dale turned his head to look on the others. "He promised we would always be together."
"Did he promise in what form?"
"What do you mean?" Dale rasped, unable to voice his sudden fear.
"An Elf and a Man," Gwindor said, "Even if this binding was somehow possible with aid of Wizardry, would you not be both only half immortal now? Or neither immortal or mortal? Would you be able to die if you needed to, if the other lived? Would you retain Man's Gift or be as Elves? Dale, what if Tsuki has stolen half your lifespan from you and yet found a way to die?"
"Then I will have only half as long to live without him knowing that he has ceased to exist and I shall eventually go on to Blessed Realms."
"If the bound did not take that right from you or grant you only some half-existence there."
"I do not like what you are saying."
"There are reasons why Elves are not to perform such rituals until they are much older. It should not have been possible for you to do it at all!"
"I know I did. Even if I did not understand what to call it or that it was not done anymore, I did will it. I did know what I was doing, and I do feel that it is still there. Wizard, I do not know what Tsuki meant to do, but I know that he knew. I could see it, even through my pain. Tsuki realized something. He understood something important and that is when he asked me what I willed. Tsuki knew very well what he was doing and he would not curse me to some kind of half life or to eternity without him. He said that we would be together and he said that he was returning. Tsuki is coming back. I do not care what any of you say anymore! Tsuki is going to return to me!"
"He bound you, and then he bound himself to the binding," The grey mused. "Used the place of binding to draw power for a spell of binding. Can it be broken? Tsuki is bond to Dale and to the bond with Dale, permanently. If the bond were broken, then Tsuki could be broken, but if the bond is intact, Tsuki remains bound. And the blast cannot sever something that is not physical, but spiritual, which means Tsuki, in some form, exists, bound to Dale and to their bond."
"He knew. He worked it out, when I told him about the feathers. There was way to save all the lives and return to me."
"I do not know. Perhaps it is possible, but in what form, and when and how? I cannot say. And, there is no proof. To anyone else, Tsuki has died."
"Men do not return," Gwindor said.
"But now I must point out, and it shall not be repeated outside this house except perhaps to those who traveled with you, Laurel, Kato and Beryl, and perhaps one other, that even in your own accounts there are some doubts that the Tsuki you know is of the race of Men. I think some of your companions began to suspect, particularly when Tsuki was affected by the Old Forest water in a subtly different way than any other. I dare say that Tsuki himself understood the truth, eventually. Recall your own descriptions of his confrontation with The Sea."
"You mean he is a real Wizard?" Duma asked.
"No. I mean that he understood that he, Tsuki, as you knew him at that moment, would never be a Wizard. It is true that a Man cannot become a Wizard, but one who was of another sort, can become a Wizard."
"But he had the power," Dale said, "He was getting stronger, especially as he was fighting the Sea."
"As he neared death."
Tsuki sat up suddenly, as if from a terrible dream, but he remembered no dream. He was lying on moss and there were ancient gnarled trees and thick vines overhead, and though the wood was bare, the dense canopy of branches and twigs gave as much coverage as other trees might fully foliated, so he knew these were very old. There was someone near him, he could sense it. He turned. "Father."
Tilion smiled warmly. "You know."
"I know many things I only half knew before."
"That is to be expected, but it is still good to hear things are as expected. How do you feel?"
"Like I have died." Tsuki had never died before, but he was quite certain in his reply.
"You only half died."
"It seems logical that one can die or not, but I do not know how one can half die."
"Well, our kind are far from omniscient, so that is as expected as well. You see, you were always only half mortal, so you can only half die."
Tsuki blinked slowly and said nothing.
"Your mother was mortal."
"That is one of the things I know now. She was your priestess. Setsugekka was telling the truth…my mother was 'God's Wife' within some sort of temple."
"My temple."
"The Dark Lord attacked."
"Yes. Not that he came there for you specifically. He just happened to be looking for any weapons he could use, as the Blue were. And the White."
"But if I was half mortal then, why did I not half die then, rather than now?"
"For one, his power was not yet very great, he was building power from his past defeat and would be defeated again. Secondly, you were not protected only by your own power that day, but by your mother's power and all the strength of the temple guards."
"They all died."
"Yes, but your mother's spell was lasting enough to protect you that day. Though, the Wizards did not understand this. They suspected that you were mine and half mortal, which was true, but through incorrect reasoning. If you had faced the Dark Lord later, you could have half died then. And if The Sea had tried harder, he could have half killed you."
"But I survived long enough to detonate the bomb."
"Yes, and succeeded in saving many lives. Including many Orcs, which will complicate things in the future, perhaps, but it was the right thing for you to do."
"The hitching post! Could it have trapped you?"
"It could have. It was made in ancient times, when Men did not know of Gods through the tales of Elves and feared the Sun and Moon in the sky. I could have been bound there to some work. I could also have married someone there."
"I need to return to Dale."
"Perhaps, but you cannot return yet."
"Why?"
"You have recently half died. Or had it missed your attention that you no longer appear a Man?"
It had.
"There is a pool there."
Tsuki stood and walked down the mossy slope to a pool of water. He still walked. He still had two arms and legs. His skin was approximately the same color as before, though perhaps slightly paler, or maybe filled with light. He knelt beside the odd-shaped hollow in the rock, as if some strange ancient foot had impressed its shape in mud long ago and hardened into this basin over ages. There was still water within the hollow and Tsuki peered down as his reflection.
"I look like me."
"It is actually residual self image."
"What is this? It is a body."
"Yes, your true body. It cannot die. It may change in form by will or even by mood to express what you are. But it is not to be seen as it truly is by mortals and should be revealed to the First Race cautiously and wisely. To walk among mortals you will need to take another form, to make a guise of flesh. Your mortal part that was determined by birth has died permanently. If you take certain wounds when walking about in your flesh guise, that guise will be destroyed. If you invest a lot of power or will in that guise, it is possible that you will become bound to it or trapped in it and unable to seem anything else. When such a flesh guise is destroyed, you to can be destroyed."
"It is like the bonding of the hitching post."
"Much that is magic works this way. There is payment for power in some form. It is better for our kind to not seek to make guises that are so beautiful or powerful that we forget our true selves. You are the spirit, not the flesh. Your realm is not earth, even if you go to walk upon it for a time."
"Dale is there."
"Yes."
"I am naked."
Tilion laughed.
Even as Tsuki felt the heat of embarrassment he became aware that he was now clothed in a white rabbit fur jacket and loose white pants. The garments seemed real. "This is strange." Tsuki touched his face and hair. He realized he still wore jewelry. "This is really here?"
"Yes, the jewelry, as are your swords and your staff. All else you had with you, including your body, was destroyed. These things have special enchantment which protected them, but they will not be invulnerable to all attacks. There is some of you in this staff, I can sense it. That is normal for a Wizard, though, one must be careful in putting too much of themselves in the tool. The staff remains a thing. If it is broken, that part of you can never be returned to you."
"But it can be returned if unbroken?"
"Yes. That is how you work. You focus your power through the staff. When the spell is worked you drop that focus. Often a little residual amount of that power remains. It is wise to learn to detect that power in things and not leave it lying about. Keep your power with you. You could be tempted to put parts of yourself in items so that others might carry them about for protection, but this is a great risk to you. It would be better to go with that person yourself, if you are able. I am in the swords. Not so much to risk myself or grant any great power or protection to the owner, but enough that they should remain with the one I choose and that I should be able to locate them. The jewelry was fashioned by Elves long ago for a Priestess and through round about way found its way to The White and then to you. There is some small Elven enchantment in them that prevents the pieces from being long separated. It is useful to loan out a piece to someone you wish to see again, though, even if they die, the jewelry will come to you somehow."
"Certain things which share an association with the Moon seem to come to me."
"That is true, because you are my son. You are like one newly sung into being. There are things you know that no mortal will know, and yet there is still much for you to learn. If you go off and seek Dale or that friends that knew you as a mortal without certain knowledge, you could do much harm."
"But…I am not prevented from doing so?"
"No. Not by me. I am your father, but I have no ability to control your actions. You are a free being and must always choose for yourself whether to do what is right or what is wrong."
"And I will know what is right?"
"With every part of your being you will feel when you have done good or done harm and know it."
"Can you teach me what I need to know so that I may seek Dale without doing harm?"
"I can teach you some. Some you will learn on your own, or from another. I said you have the freedom to choose, but I have the freedom to suggest actions to you. I think there are some things you should be informed about and that when you understand, you will choose to help me in some work for a time."
"I promised him."
"Yes, and you are thoroughly bound. It was quite clever work. A great risk, but potentially a great advantage. You are with him now. Dale will still be bound and waiting for you to return if you come now to help me."
Tsuki's lips quirked at 'bound and waiting.' It was quite true; Dale was bound and waiting for him. One of the things that Tsuki knew now was that their bodies would remain perfectly compatible.
"He is here," Tilion said. Tsuki saw his father rise from his bed of moss. The gossamer clothing shifted instantly to exquisitely tailored dove grey hunting attire, including what seemed a cape and tall boots of soft, shiny grey leather.
Tsuki felt something like heat on his skin and trembled as a figure materialized
from the trees. He did not seem an Elf or a Man, but his appearance seemed
to combine the best of both. He did not seem pretty as an Elf, but women
would have swooned and said he was quite rugged and manly. As such, he
was perfect. Tsuki knew he was in the presence of a higher being.