Rhapsody

  Rhapsody stood in the reflection of the flames licking the blade, gleaming below the fire with an ethereal light. She let its heat wash over her face, illuminating her hair until she glowed like a beacon in the dark meadow, shining at the crest of the mountains.

  She matched her Naming note to the song of the sword and felt its power fill her, rumbling through her soul like a glorious symphony. As the power of the fire rose in crescendo, she opened her eyes and searched the sky for the star she had found. It was the sailor’s star, Maurinia, small and intensely blue, hovering above the Prime Meridian.

  Once again as she had in her dream, she heard her mother’s voice in her mind.

  Fire is strong. But starfire was born first; it is the more powerful element. Use the fire of the stars to cleanse yourself, and the world, of the hatred that took us.

  Rhapsody took a deep breath and raised her sword to the stars. She felt its music surge, ringing through her soul. She pointed the sword at Maurinia, and felt the voice of the star answer back, singing in exquisite harmony. She closed her eyes once more and called its name.

  The crags of the mountains above and around them were suddenly illuminated by an ethereal light. It bathed the fields and canyon with silver splendor, making the darkness of night appear as bright as midday. Their three tiny shadows flickered black in the brilliance, then were utterly swallowed, making their bodies shine with a translucent radiance.

  With an earsplitting roar, a searing flame descended, hotter than the fires from the Earth’s core. It struck the golden amulet and the slab it lay upon, blasting the enormous rock into fragments of molten dust. The three shielded their eyes from the blinding light as it consumed the dell and everything within it. A moment later, it was gone, leaving nothing but the finest ash on the ground in the hidden place where the symbol had been.

  Grunthor took hold of Rhapsody’s shoulders.

  “Ya all right, darlin’?”

  She nodded imperceptibly. She was staring intently ahead, trying to capture the voice in her mind. It wafted on the wind, traveling away from her, whispering as it left.

  Then I will rest in peace until you see me again.

  “Rhapsody?”

  She continued to watch, to listen with every fiber of her soul, until she could hear the voice no longer.

  Grunthor’s massive arms pulled her against him, wrapping comfortingly around her shoulders. Rhapsody blinked. It was as if she was saying goodbye to the last vestige of her dead family in the presence of the living one she still was part of. In the aftermath of the star-fire she felt morose, lost, as if the grief she was now left with was threatening to consume her. And it was held at bay only by the strong arms, and the comforting words, of her friends, these two she had adopted as brothers in a back alley a lifetime ago.

  Rhapsody cleared her lungs with a deep, cleansing breath. Then she turned to the two Bolg, who were watching her with varying degrees of anxiety.

  “Well, that’s done. Now what?”

  Beneath his hood, Achmed smiled.

  “Back to work. Grunthor and I have a lot of clean up in the wake of our little excursion to the Hidden Realm. With the exception of the Hill-Eye, all the mountain clans, the clans of the Heath, and everyone throughout the Outer Teeth is united. Now it’s just a matter of implementing the plan. Oh, and a rather large funeral.”

  She nodded. “Have you dug the graves?”

  The king blinked. “I assumed we were going to commit them to the forge.” He flinched at the look of revulsion that swept over her face.

  “No. Definitely not,” she said, shuddering. “With the exception of the Nain that died there, the bodies we found when we first discovered the forges, it’s not suitable for any future cremations to take place there.”

  “Why not?”

  “First, it’s a place of building and creation now, and that would be an act of destruction, however necessary an act it may be. Second, and far more important, whereas Lirin commit the bodies of their race to the wind and stars through the fire of the funeral pyre, the Bolg are children of the Earth, not the sky. It is proper to bury them within the Earth that was their home in their lifetimes.”

  Achmed shrugged. “All right, I’ll yield to your vastly superior knowledge of death rituals. The Bolg are lucky to have a Singer of their own to sing their dirges.” He watched the clouds come back into her eyes again. “What’s the matter?”

  When she didn’t answer, he took her by the arm.

  “We’re safe, Rhapsody. The amulet’s gone, along with the last of the Shing. We know that Tsoltan is dead, and it seems certain the F’dor spirit died with him after all. We can now go about the process of building up Ylorc without delay. The challenge stretches out before us, well within our grasp. We don’t have to hide anymore, don’t need to mourn. It’s time to move on.”

  She looked up at him and smiled, a shadow of sadness unmistakable in her eyes.

  “Perhaps for you,” she said.

  60

  The afternoon sun glinted sporadically over the mountainside as Rhapsody climbed through the rock ledges that faced the Teeth to the heath at the top of the world.

  Each morning she ran the steppes and the foothills with her sword across her back, training her body in stamina and speed, growing stronger and faster as she raced in the clear air of the Bolglands. She could feel herself improving; it was a heady feeling, though the regimen was tiring. Now she was seeking a place to run again, but this time, rather than running to new endurance and ability, she felt an overwhelming need to run away.

  Achmed’s new kingdom was a nightmarish place, and the dreams that haunted her sleep were growing stronger. Rhapsody could no longer bear the thought of going to bed at night. She had considered bunking in with Jo, but decided against it for fear her night terrors would frighten the girl.

  Achmed and Grunthor were away from the Cauldron much of the time now, leaving her with little recourse but sleeping alone, either in the cold halls of the stony seat of power, or in Elysian. So, after dinner the thought had occurred to her that perhaps she could outrun the nightmares, force herself into a state of utter exhaustion and be too tired even to dream.

  Standing on the heath now, though, it was difficult to remember that she was there because of any looming unpleasantness. The grassy meadow was awakening from the long sleep of winter, and the setting sun drenched the highgrass with a golden glow that made it seem touched by a divine hand.

  The first flowers of spring were beginning to emerge, and their colors dotted the hillside like a shy rainbow waiting for an invitation to become glorious. Rhapsody bent and sang to them, giving them the beckoning they were awaiting. As the blossoms opened in response to her song, one that Llauron had taught her, she marveled at the beauty of these lands, wondering whether the Bolg ever stopped to appreciate it.

  She stood up straight and spun around, her arms in the clear air above her, drinking in the sight of night coming to the Teeth and the surrounding fields. The world lay below at her feet, stretching out in a vast expanse for as far as she could see, butting up against the jagged peaks of the mountains that guarded the old Cymrian domain.

  Rhapsody tried to imagine what this place had been like then, when the Firbolg still lived far away in the cavelands, and the people of her homeland tended this realm. How unlike Serendair this was, with its rocky steppes and mountainous fields of heather and scrub. Had the Cymrians felt at home here? she wondered, wishing she knew the secret if they had. Were they able to forget the home they had left, and console themselves in this new place, because they had brought their families with them?

  A stabbing pain shot through Rhapsody’s heart, and once more the reason for her climb came to mind. She needed to find a way to silence her nightmares.

  She had taken to leaving Daystar Clarion out of its sheath, burning brightly in the corner of her chamber within the Cauldron, or her bedroom in Elysian. It provided a source of warmth and some minimal comfort when she woke in the night. Th
at solace was offset by the guilt she felt over using an ancient weapon as nothing more than a night-light, like the candle her mother had left burning when in childhood she had suffered a bad dream. Then it had only been a rare occasion; now it occurred every night, without exception.

  The dreams were now only rarely of Michael or his like. Instead, what tormented her sleep were images of home, and people now dead a thousand years or more. Sometimes she would hear them calling her, her parents or her brothers, waiting in endless sorrow for her to return.

  Other nights she would dream of the Seren War, the destruction that came to her homeland just after she left, and wondered what had befallen her family. Had they lived to see its end, or had they fallen victim to it? What did her mother mean when she said the family was destroyed in fire? From these nightmares she would wake screaming, particularly when her imagination filled in the answers.

  But worst of all were the nostalgic dreams, the ones so real she was sure she was home, that it was this place that was the phantasm, and she was safe within the bosom of her family and the life she had known.

  Often in these dreams she spent a good deal of time convincing herself and those around her that her escape had really happened, that her new horrific life was real, begging them to hold her fast from having to come back to it, only to find herself alone and awake in the darkness of the Cauldron again. And then, against Achmed’s direct command, she would dissolve into secret, forbidden tears of utter agony and despair.

  Not tonight, she told herself grimly. I will not go through this again tonight. She surveyed the heath, watching the warm spring wind whip across it, billowing the new petals on the flowers, and she plotted a running path. She wished she had changed into her training clothes before she left the Great Hall; she was still attired in the soft gray gown that clung to her torso but flared at the sleeves and skirt. It was not really suitable for running, but it would do.

  Rhapsody began to run. In blind, desperate abandon she fled into the wind, racing to nowhere in particular. She spread her arms wide and felt the wind catch her sleeves, snapping them out like the wings of a bird, rushing across her chest and through her hair.

  The sensation was immensely freeing. She turned away from the wind and reached back, pulling out the ribbon that bound her tresses into her normal staid ponytail. The wind took her hair down gently, like a lover, and blew the strands all around her, catching the sunlight and reflecting it back to the sky.

  She ran with the wind behind her, billowing her dress and hair, until she reached the southern end of the heath. Then she turned and ran back into it again, her hair streaming behind her like the flag on a high mast. She followed the sinking sun across the field, running west, dancing over clumps of grass and large stones. The wind danced with her, blowing her dress in patterns of gray waves on a storm-tossed sea.

  Rhapsody twirled and leapt, feeling an inner grace guide her steps, hearing the innate music of the wind. It called to a place in her soul that felt tight, pinched in the effort to keep her heart from breaking. She loosed the bonds and that part of her soul broke free and joined the headlong plunge as she ran toward the night.

  She ran around the perimeter of the wide heath, no longer dancing, but intent now on attaining speed. Her nearness to the edge of the chasm didn’t bother her in the least; there were moments when she almost wished the wind would blow her off the plateau and into the crevice. She stood still, letting the disappearing sunlight bathe her face. She imagined herself falling through the Teeth, watching the sky grow farther and farther away from her as she soared to the ground. She ran the sun down, not letting up, as sweat poured from her and cooled when the wind hit her body, the breeze turning chilly with the coming of night.

  After three score and twelve laps around the meadow Rhapsody felt she could run it with her eyes closed, and for several moments she did. She could see the shadows moving across the heath, growing longer as they touched the pointed outcroppings of the peaks that made up the Teeth.

  Just as she felt the exhaustion that was her goal begin to come over her, she ran through a shadow and almost into an obelisk shape that had appeared in the field from nowhere; in the darkness she had to come to a stumbling halt to avoid colliding with it. Her arms spun wildly as she struggled to regain her balance. The shape reached out and grabbed her shoulders.

  Rhapsody wrenched herself free and, with a fluid motion born of years in the street, flicked her dagger forward into her palm. She faced the gray figure with wide eyes, panting wildly, working to retain her composure.

  “I’m very sorry,” came a vaguely familiar voice. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”

  “Who the—who are you?” she gasped between breaths.

  “It’s me, miss; Ashe,” came the sheepish reply. “You know, from Bethe Corbair. We had lunch together, you may recall.”

  “Gods,” she choked, trembling with exhaustion and the aftermath of panic. “Don’t ever do that to me again. I might have cut your throat.”

  From within the hooded cloak she heard a chuckle. “I’ll be more careful next time, I promise,” Ashe said. Rhapsody could hear a smile in his voice, and it irritated her.

  “What are you doing here? I’m amazed you got past the Bolg guards. Grunthor will be furious.”

  “Whoever he is, I hope he won’t be too harsh with them,” came the voice from the shadow, and it sounded sympathetic. “It’s really not their fault. And besides, I’m here by invitation.”

  The shuddering chill of fear that had blasted through her, followed by a roaring heat of panic, left her weak and trembling. “Really? Whose?”

  “Well, yours, I thought; at least that’s what I assumed when Jo said I was welcome here. I’m sorry if I overstepped or misunderstood.”

  Rhapsody felt the trembling heat that had coursed through her a moment before begin to subside. “No, no, of course not,” she said, her breath coming easier now. “It’s I who must apologize; you are certainly welcome. I’m afraid you caught me when I was a little winded, and my brain was a bit addled.”

  “What are you running from?”

  Rhapsody thought about how to answer, then decided it would be impossible, as well as unwise, to explain to this virtual stranger. “Nothing tangible,” she said, mustering a slight smile.

  “Really?”

  “Yes,” she said. “What are you hiding from?”

  The hooded figure chuckled, then bowed in acquiescence to her point. “Also nothing tangible.”

  As the initial panic that had clutched her stomach unclenched, Rhapsody felt herself filling with other, darker emotions. The unexpected appearance of this stranger had set her pulse on fire. She had come to the meadow at the top of the world to run away from her nightmares, and instead she had run into something that was the stuff of one of them.

  She struggled to remember the dream, the image she had seen twice. It was the vision of a body on a table in darkness, glowing, then disappearing.

  I can’t see him anymore, Mama. Why can’t I see him?

  It’s not what he is, it’s what he wears.

  Rhapsody looked up into the wide hood, where not even a glimpse of his face could be seen. The fear she felt was tempered a little with sorrow; she, too, often needed to walk the world unseen. What was it that made Ashe feel the need to do so? Was his appearance, too, freakish in the eyes of the people of this land? Had he been scarred, or maimed? With all the violence in the countryside, perhaps he had fallen victim to something that had mutilated his face, had left him in pain.

  Another image rose in her mind, leaving her trembling. It was the image of a man drowning in darkness, in unspeakable agony.

  “Rhapsody? Are you all right?”

  She felt her face, its muscles tight across her brow and cheeks. It was a face that conveyed her fear.

  “Yes,” she said shortly. “I’m fine. Why don’t you come with me?” She smiled wanly, brushing her hair out of her eyes. “I’ll take you to the Cauldron; Achmed will be gl
ad to see you. He’s king now, you know.”

  “The Cauldron?”

  “Yes, that’s what he calls his seat of power, the Great Hall and its surrounding area.”

  “Gods.” She thought she felt a shudder from inside the cloak.

  “Yes, well, these are Firbolg lands, after all. Come; allow me to show you some of our hospitality.” She pulled her hair self-consciously back into its restraints, turned, and started back to the rock ledge.

  The gray shape followed her easily across the heath, the wind whipping at the fringes of his cloak. “M’lady, believe me, I would follow you anywhere. I’m just not sure I would be able to keep up if you decided to run.”

  61

  Ashe had never been to Canrif before; it was a somber, astonishing sight. The passes in the Teeth were heavily guarded by Firbolg troops who were consistently, if sparingly, armed and armored. They held a watch as well as many of the soldiers of Sorbold, and better than those in Roland, whose armor some of them wore. Only the Lirin were better trained at this point; the concept was flabbergasting.

  The last time he had come near the Bolglands was on his Spring Cleaning detail as a trainee in the army of Bethany, back in his other life, when he still had cause, and the ability, to walk openly in the world of men.

  He had participated in the exercise with distaste but not malice, efficiently cleaning out the border towns and dispatching with alacrity and pragmatism the semi-human monsters who lived there.

  It had bothered him a little at the time. It ate at him more now, seeing them as they really were: primitive and warlike, but people, not animals. And these two, Rhapsody and the man she called Achmed, had been able to harness the power the Bolg held, molding them into a formidable fighting force in almost no time. It was a significant piece of information, an indication of their power.

  He had stood in the darkness of the heath and watched Rhapsody for a long time before he made himself known to her. At first he had no idea what she was doing, running into the wind, letting it billow her hair and dress about her like a sail on the high seas. After observing the intensity of her flight, the wildness of her dance, his throat tightened; she was trying to run away, but had nowhere to go. It made him want her even more.