Chapter Text
In a Fire Forged
by Elfkin
hopehoover@alltel.net
In a deep place within the Earth, He fumed. Ambition, and anticipation drove His mind to bubble and brew when He otherwise would have lain quiet.
The balance was tipped now again. Once it had lain imbalanced so, in the favor of Balcifer, His elder brother. And the World might have been destroyed for it. Now it lay tipped in the favor of light. And either way was wrong. Balance was the name of the game. For the world to continue spinning, that precarious equal dance between dark and light had to be restored.
And anytime there was a disturbance in that balance of light and dark, a door opened for the forces of the diminished side to come forth to restore things. And His door was opening. It was not enough so that He could take over, plunge the world into a complete darkness. His brother's defeat had seen to that. But it was a door nonetheless. And all He need do was revel a bit. Seek vengeance against the mortal who had turned the tables by defeating Balcifer. Rob the world of its golden savior and return the forces of light and dark to their eternal stalemate. He would want more freedom than that, of course. But the opportunity to reset the game would be all the leeway He was allowed. The former Beastmaster had played the part destined for him, smote the Great Balcifer and saved the world from destruction. Now it was time for him to pass out of time, like all mythic heroes. It was time for him to die.
Incidentally the legendary Dar had also created a vacancy in the ranks of Hell to be filled when the lone warrior had defeated Balcifer. He would thank the Golden King for His promotion to the ranking power in Hell in his brother wake.....thank the former Beastmaster with pain and destruction. It was His right and duty, after all.
A world lead by imbalance in the favor of good would bring chaos as sure as a world lead in imbalance by the dark. He was helping, after a fashion, to restore the world to the way it was meant to be. Saving the world from chaos with a little home grown dark justice. A winning situation for all concerned. Except for his enemy.
How satisfying.
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Heat and pain, and fear.
Nothing to reach out to anchor himself too, and no one to save him from the inferno. And it burned so very completely. Purging everything but the pain and fear and isolation.
Burning agony ricocheted through his body until the heat that consumed him was almost a kind of euphoria. Rapturous in vibrancy. And he screamed. Not because he thought anyone would hear and come to aid. But simply because he just couldn't hold it in anymore.
"Tao! Wake up!" Arina violently shook the scholar. It was several alarming moments before he opened his eyes and seemed to reorganize his surrounding.
"Arina?" He croaked hoarsely, confusion and relief warring on his sweaty features.
"What was your first clue?" She snapped. "You were screaming to raise the roof. Or bring it down on you, maybe."
"I...I was?" He sat up, with her help, rubbing at his throat. Sore from screaming he supposed.
"Yes, for the third night. What ails you, Tao?" She felt his brow, but shook her head, finding it as she had the previous two night. Cool with chilling sweat, devoid of fever.
"N...nothing. At least, nothing that I can account for." Tao wiped his face on his sleeve and then buried his face in his hands. It was several seconds before the last sensations of the nightmare were swept away by firm consciousness.
"This..." She gestured towards the sweat soaked sleeping pallet. "...is not nothing. You must be ill."
Tao sighed, knowing that he was not ill. Not exactly. "I am not ill, Arina."
"Then what is going on?" She was frustrated. And worried.
"I...uhm....keep having these really odd nightmares." Tao admitted sheepishly. He was beginning to feel so worn out. Nothing resembling rest was being granted him of late and it was taking its toll.
"No really, I wouldn't have guessed." Nightmares she knew of. She had many of her own to keep her company some nights. But none left her in this state. "What are you dreaming of that could make you so.....undone?"
"That's the odd thing. I'm not sure." He looked up sharply, weariness dispelled by the opportunity to address a puzzle. Even one within himself.
"Sooooo?........" Arina was not known for patience.
"Pain, and heat, Arina. That is all I recall of the dream. Like I was in a forge fire, being burned alive." He could definitely remember that, even if no images ever remained to him. The memory of the killing heat was clear.
"That sounds terrible. What do you think it means?" Arina motioned for Tao to scoot over on his bed and she sat down next to him.
"I have no clue. And I really wish I knew. Perhaps understanding the nightmares would help me overcome them. Nightmares are a creation of one's own mind, you know." It helped Tao to look at all things through the objectified approach of a scholar. Doing so now about his own night scares calmed him considerably.
"Could it be a portent? An Omen?" Arina on the other hand simply thought what she thought, and that was all.
Tao smiled wryly, pulling his knees up. "My first instinct would be to say no. But after all the things I lived to see at Dar's side, I cannot actually deny the possibility. I can say with complete surety that I hope it's no sign of something yet to come." Which made Arina snort in agreement.
Then the small, caustic grin faded and Arina frowned at the voicing of the King's name.
Tao noticed the subtle change. "Arina, you have to let go your anger." It was a subject where neither side seemed to concede. And Tao knew that Arina could hold onto anger like few others he'd ever known. She was good, but she was ever so unforgiving.
"No, actually, there you are wrong, scholar. I do not." And Tao winced at the use of his Eiron title.
"I am sure he shares your affections." Would that he did not, Tao thought, wishing for the thousandth time that he had just once told Dar the honest truth of his feelings for the man.
"Then why did he leave me behind with...."
"With me?" Tao offered ruefully.
"Uhm, Tao...I didn't mean it that way." And Tao was being treated to a rare blush from Arina.
"Yes you did Arina. But it's okay. We had a place in saving the world. But it is Dar's place to lead it to a new future. If you want him to notice you, you have to go to him and insist he see you. The life of a new king is a burdensomely busy life." And even as Tao said it, in his heart he wondered bitterly how had Dar forgotten about them....about him.
"How can you be so forgiving?" Arina scowled.
Because I love him, Tao thought. "Because he is good. He is my friend. And I know that if he has been neglectful of us, it is because he simply cannot steal himself away from duty."
"A friend doesn't become King and go for weeks without talking to the people who helped put him upon his throne." She was starting to let the anger go a bit, for Tao's sake. Which was dangerous. She would rather hold onto the hurt and make Dar earn their forgiveness.
"Oh no? How would you know? Put many Kings on thrones to rule, have you?"
Arina sighed. "That is not what I meant. What I meant is that the Dar I knew would have made a place for us in his life. You can't deny that you've wondered why."
"I have. But I have also wondered at my motives. Is it because I am the friend concerned that I have been forgotten in the fervor of change? Or is it greed that drives my wonderings. Did I want him to give me a place of power when the fight against Balcifer was all over? Did I want more from him that was deserved me. Dar was destined to be King. It was prophesy. No such prophecy guided my life. One wonders was I really meant to always be at his side." And it seemed to Arina that Tao was sidestepping the issue. And she watched as he seemed to fold under a weight. Tao missed his friend and grieved and worried just like she did. She was sure of it.
"What about you, Arina?" Tao asked. "Are you hurt for the friend that seems to have forgotten you, or angry that he did not scoop you up and make you Queen?"
"Tao!" She gaped.
"Be honest." Tao smiled thoughtfully.
"Both, I suppose." Arina sighed. Admitting what she never thought she would. "What about you? I know you miss him." She elbowed the Eiron playfully.
"Oh, I could wish to be near him again, in some service to him as councilor or advisor, we seemed to compliment each other's distinct wisdoms. But I have accepted my place here as a healer and scholar. I survived the madness of the quest just barely. And I think I ended up where I needed to be. But I miss my best friend, very dearly." And for once, Tao did not hide the grief in his words.
"You are not happy." Arina said, coming to a sudden realization.
Tao sat up straight and hid away his pain, masking it behind a lopsided grin. But the ache was still to be seen in his warm brown eyes. "Arina, we signed up to save the world and we did. That is our happy ending."
Arina had not stopped watching Tao, and though she considered herself an astute woman, she was suddenly kicking herself for not seeing what was before her all along. "You love him."
For a moment, Tao was surprised. And then he composed himself and snorted derisively. "What is it with you and these blanket statements? 'You are not happy.' 'You love him.' Where is all this coming from?"
And Arina knew she had finally won a conversation with Tao. "It's coming from where it always has." And Arina tapped Tao's breastbone sharply with two fingers to indicate the source. "I have always been a woman of absolutes. And I am right. As usual. You are not happy, in fact you are miserable as a beaten dog. And you are in love. And I was blind for never seeing it. But how blind are you?"
"I don't want to talk about this, Arina. What time is it anyway?" He really could suddenly not bear to think deeply on his feelings for Dar. It took too much to keep them under control and he was weary from days of troubled sleep.
"It's about 3 hours before dawn. The same time you've woken for three nights in a row with nightmares."
Tao decided to ignore the focus of Arina's answer. "Ah, well, that is too early. I am going to try to get some more sleep" Tao looked meaningfully at Arina, hoping she would take that as a hint. She did, reluctantly, and rose from the bed, tucking the covers over Tao as he stretched back out.
"Goodnight, Tao" Arina smiled fondly down at him and brushed his brow with her fingertips as he began to settle into a comfortable position. "And Tao...."
"Yes Arina." Tao cocked one eye open expectantly.
"If I was supposed to go tromping up the mountain to the City of the Eldar, in pursuit of Dar. Why haven't you done so already?"
For a moment Tao laid there speechless, not wanting to answer truthfully. "Afraid of heights. I was always afraid of heights." He smiled in that self-deprecating way he had.
And Arina wrinkled her nose at the obvious lie. "Oh, You're afraid, alright. But not of climbing....perhaps of falling too far, though." And with that she left the room.
And Tao knew she was right. It was fear of Dar himself that stopped Tao. It was fear of going there and finding the Beastmaster made king so changed by office that he was no longer friend to Tao. He was afraid of finding that Dar had moved on. He was afraid of telling Dar the truth and being rejected.
He was a coward.
But maybe, he thought, as his exhausted mind settled into sleep again. Maybe tomorrow I will not be such a coward.
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Morning had become a time of priceless peace for Dar. The servants of the castle rose early, but his family did not. At least not by his standards. Oh, they were not lay-a-beds, not Sendar and Simtar, anyway...but still, they did not rise as early as he and Dar had come to relish that private time.
In truth, he was weary. Bone weary. Soul weary. He hated the clothing that wore on him like a heavy snare net. And the golden castle was like a prison, the smells of humans crowding around him some days driving him nearly mad.
And the noise! Life was not silent, even in a forest. Especially not with the thoughts of countless wild lives in the periphery of his thoughts. But that all had a balance to it...a rhythm that was comforting. But the noises to be found in the City of Eldar where dissonant, cacophonous at times. No unity, no rhythm. And he had grown heartsick of it all.
It boggled his mind that in the midst of the wild, alone with Tao and the creatures of Curupira's Realm he could feel so a part of things, so joined to life. And yet here in the midst of a bustling city he felt alone, cold and adrift.
Tao. His friend. The one he loved now. In the heat of his quest, Dar had known he cherished the Eiron scholar as his best friend. But not until their travels had ended had Dar truly realized that his grief for Kyra was over. That his affection for Tao had filled that hole. And now Tao's absence was just one more open wound on his heart.
All Dar had left to him were the early mornings in this new sanctuary for him. At least in the chill peace of early predawn, the Beastmaster could sit in the cloister alcove at the rear of the palace's gardens and dream of a time when he was happy. In this place Kodo and Podo and the small animals that lived there would sit and share his sorrow, easing it a little. Squirrels, birds, mice and other rodents, the very insects themselves....they would gather about with him to ease his heart, sensing his immense loneliness. The leaves had accumulated as fall had come, telling Dar that this place was not tended so often as the foremost of the gardens and he could hide here until he heard the castle rouse to life.
But it never lasted. And before long the sorrowful King heard the activity of the castle grow and he went forth preferring to meet the day away from his retreat than have people discover it when searching him out.
Breakfast was a family matter, the entirety of his reclaimed family gathered at the table along with a few new, loyal lords who had flocked to this realm to find service among the legendary city and it's famous ruling line. These people he had come to know over the weeks, even care about them deeply. But none of them knew him, not really. To them his former life was an unfortunate necessity burden dealt with as best as he could out of the need to reclaim his destiny. It had no real meaning for them beyond that and so the greatest part of Dar stayed an insignificant mystery to them.
Dar looked around the table at the smiling faces and tried to put one on his own face. And that act alone made him feel lost even more. Never before had he ever needed to smile when not inclined to or hold back his true opinions for some behavior his mother instructed him was more properly decorous. This life should have seemed to fit him by now. But every day he felt more and more alienated.
"Dar, Asollon asked if the breakfast were not to your liking." His mother, the Dowager Queen Myra asked, a look of affectionate reproach on her features.
"Uh....n...no. I'm sorry." And he smiled nervously at the servant who had brought in the trenchers of food for breakfast.
"Dar, you haven't been yourself lately. Is something wrong?"
Dar shook his head, trying to dispel her concern, all the while wondering if she really even would know if he was being himself. Then he discounted the thought as selfish and rude. "I'm sorry, mother. The meal is fine." And he picked up a late season apple.
"I have never been able to see why if you are not the Beastmaster any longer, why is it that you still refuse to eat meat." Sendar inquired, a slight challenge in his eye as he picked up a slice of some fried animal Dar could not really identify and took a bite. Though from the nauseatingly sweet smell Dar thought it might be pork.
"I have spoken of this before, brother. Though I do not roam the forests any longer, I still hear them. Still feel them. Still bear the gift of Curupira. And even if I did not, I could not eat their flesh." It was not a long explanation, but Dar had found himself having to say too much of late. A man whose words were second to his actions, he was spending too much time speaking and not enough time doing anything.
And just as his mother was about to scold his older brother, Dar raised his hand. "Mother, please excuse me. I hear the soldiers in the lists practicing with swords and I wish to do so as well." And with that, he left, apple in hand, though his sister and mother rose to protest.
"Let him go, mother." Simtar laid a gentle hand on her arm and smiled. "Something has been weighing on him of late and perhaps it will do him some good to work it off."
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On the list, a new soldier practiced. A man who was eager for rank, power. He had come here seeking fortune in the service of the legendary Eldar royalty. And while he had found service, fortune was still beyond his grasp. Though he had recently come a way for that to change.
A dark Voice whispered in his dreams now of late. Even in his waking thoughts the last few days. He had at first thought of seeking a healer, sure some malevolent spirit had come to steal his sanity and soul. But this spirit had shown itself to be an ally though its tenor was steeped in shadow. It had warned him of dangers along the way, led him to opportunities when he was in need, even led him to ways to quench his body's lusts when a hunger was upon him. And all it asked was that he follow where it led in ways of action for it intended to make him King of his own realm one day.
Right now the voice was telling him to make an ally of Prince Sendar. He was here to do the eldest son of the old dead King services Sendar may as yet not even be aware he needed. The voice had told him that Sendar was the true king. And that if he aided the true king in very specific ways, one day soon Sendar son of Eldar would repay that loyalty when he conquered a nearby land in war... And it would be to Braxius that the newly conquered lands would be given as prize for his trustworthy service to Sendar. That the City of Eldar was entrenched in a dream of peace did not discourage Braxius. After all, that was only because a false King was upon the throne. When Dar was put down then the rightful King would again look at the lands beyond his kingdom's borders.
Braxius didn't know if Sendar would go north, south, east or west to conquer, only that the voice had said he would go. And The Voice never lied. But first, the false King had to be removed. The most difficult and most meaningful duty to Sendar, would be the one Braxius did without the true King's consent. The Voice would lead him to dispose of Dar and then when Sendar was upon the throne, Braxius would be free to share his deed of service to the King.
He had fouled his practice blade last night, because The Voice had told him that an opportunity would come the next day. And so he had taken the dulled metal and wiped a thin layer of animal filth on it. Though a practice blade was designed to prevent more serious wounds in the course of training, scratchs and cuts were still common place.
Braxius looked up and was not surprised to see the False King had arrived with a practice blade of his own in hand.
TBC