Chapter 7 - Musings of a Dwarf

Cold starlight shone through the iris, the opening to the fade of the midnight sky over Escorath. Chill air dropped into the pit as the remaining captured warmth from day fled into the night. Bright crystalline-blue light flooded its base, making a circular wall ringed with pillars that battled with the darkness of night falling in.

Sian sat on a step under the lowest of the circular tiers, the walkways that ringed the pit of Escorath, the levels that ran off from its centre. A gentle smile graced her lips as her eyes shone a dreamy shade of aqua, the crystalline blue washing through the pit reflecting off her emerald. Faint sparks of dust glowed sharply in the light, dancing and tumbling slowly in the air, drawing her eye and making her sigh gently. She rested her chin on a hand and lazily blinked, the aqua shimmer flickering while she ignored Rhuthain’s heavy steps while he paced back and forth.

“Have you heard from the demon an his pet?” Rhuthain grumbled, passing behind her.

She glanced to the side as he came into her peripheral, not bothering to lift her head, “How could I hear from Kit and Rhy, Thain?”

He sat beside her, adjusting his jacket, “You know, think your thoughts an...” he stopped as he noticed her smile, “What?”

“I can only do that with Winter and Antrandis over such distances.” she said with a gentle chuckle.

“Aye, but you’ve got into my head before, even before, when you were only the cat and not this pretty thing sitting beside me.”

Sian’s smile broadened, “I was not pretty as a leopard?”

“You were pretty alright, but now more.” replied Rhuthain quickly.

She reached out and offered her hand, nodding to him as he looked at her questioningly. After he placed his hand in hers, she closed her eyes.

“Touch, Rhuthain, touch.”

His eyes widened, “Oh, so… so over…” he said, seeing her shaking her head, “Aye, I get you.”

“So, the children are out there on their own?” he said quietly.

“They are not children anymore, Thain. They like the solitude and you are forgetting, they downed Silvast, and Rhy immolated more than ninety of Groumangand’s minions as a child. I still remember the determination he showed when I finally caught up to them in the caves.”

“Aye, but…”

“No matter the odds, I would not hesitate in my confidence in seeing those two walk out alive. They sometimes return battered and bruised, but they return home every time. No beast will lay them low.”

“Kit is a beast.” Rhuthain muttered.

“I will not deny it.” Sian responded, “It takes on to know one.”

Rhuthain glanced at her, “Aye, the only one among us that isn’t a beastie is me.” he quickly glanced up, “An maybe the…”

Sian chuckled, “The girls? Oh, they are too.”

“Really?” he asked, meeting her eyes.

She nodded with a chuckle, “Every single one of them. Maybe if you ask nicely, Winter will show you when she returns.”

Rhuthain’s eyes widened further, “They are valkyries. Surely they.” he stopped, seeing the slow smile on Sian’s face.

“Just like Winter, Thain. They have a dark side when needed.” she said, “Did that visit to Dekkarsmann and seeing Xiana get you thinking with all this ‘beastie’ talk?”

He grimaced, “Aye, there were four of them, always in the shadows. Made my skin crawl but I could not see them properly.”

She leaned over, “Four… Just like the four girls here?” she whispered.

“No... Are you toying with me?” he said in disbelief.

She shook her head and looked back to the pillar of light, “Why would I do that, Rhuthain?”

“Gods, those were valkyries?” he exclaimed, his eyes on Sian as the crystal blue glow lit her face, accentuating her nod.

A smile creased his face as he looked back to the light, both of them falling into a companionable silence, “Aye, beasties.” he whispered.

Sian chuckled to herself, bemused, her eyes unfocused as she felt the stirring of Antrandis’s mind and Winter’s veiled absence. Her thoughts wandered, the weight of what sat in the small case dragging at her.

“Hey, Sian?”

“Hmm?”

“So, how long are they going to be like that down here, wrapped in a pillar of whatever it is? It’s been like this since sunset.”

She smiled, shifting slightly, “It will take as long as needed, Thain. No more, no less.”

He chuckled roughly, “You telling me how long a piece of string is?”

She nodded.

“Well, what is Antrandis and the lizard doing in there?”

“Fixing what was broken.” she said softly.

“Broken? What was broken?”

Sian glanced at him and gave a gentle smile, her black hair shifting tone and hearing him gasp lightly as he watched her.

“They were broken, Thain.”

He looked at her in the light, the glow that filled the pit of the sanctum gifting her an otherworldly beauty, “Ah – Broken?”

“You knew them when they were together, as they are now again once more.” she said softly.

“Together?” he whispered.

She shook her head, “Stop staring at me Thain or you will be broken too.” she said softly, “I really don’t want to have to knock some sense into you.”

“Oh, but could I just look upon you just a little longer? It’s only in admiration an nothing more.”

She rolled her eyes and looked away, “You used to stare at me when I was only a leopard too.” she sighed, “Am I really that different?”

“Aye, you are. You know me kin, to capture a moment like this, even to see it, is a gift worth fighting for. True beauty in life or craft is worth shed blood.”

“Aye, I know your kin.” Sian responded, mimicking him.

“Every time I see the lizard in her full form I go weak in the knees and have to look away to keep me senses.” he shrugged slightly, “Or gouge me eyes out. The magnificence is…”

Sian chuckled to herself, “Wondrous?”

“No, that’s not a strong enough word, cause there is no word in the common tongue for it.” he said, his eyes still drinking her in, “But the Eladar, those elves back then, there is nothing like them now. You have this, glamour, it just is so damned enthralling. I could look at your face all day an never grow tired. An in this light…”

She looked at him directly, eyes narrowing slightly.

“Aye, I get it, I get it. ‘Stop gawking at me prettiness or I’ll tear you to pieces.’” he said, reluctantly looking back at the wall of light, “Problem is I’d probably like it if I was under your sway.” he muttered under his breath.

“I heard that.”

He nodded, “Aye, would expect you to.”

Sian stood and stretched, glancing at Rhuthain as his eyes followed her movements, “The weakness of dwarves can sometimes be likened to the dragons of old.” she caught his raised eyebrow, “But, at least the dwarves respect treasure and who it belongs to.”

Rhuthain smiled, “With thanks, Sian.”

She gave him a knowing smile, watching as his gaze dropped to the box that was at her side.

“So, what’s in that fancy looking box?”

She gave him an unsure expression, “Something I hoped we would not find.”

He frowned, holding out his hand as she slid it across with her booted foot. He carefully rested it on his lap, inspecting the latches.

“You need to…” she said, leaning down and pinching the tabs.

Rhuthain nodded in thanks and slowly opened the lid, inspecting the strange fasteners for a quick moment before looking past them and to the contents. A crease formed on his brow as he lifted the small and heavy oiled leather wrap out. Turning it over, he peeled the corners back. His thick fingers dextrously folding them to expose the golden device in the palm of his hand.

He frowned deeply, “Aye, something we all hoped we would not find.” he grumbled, turning it over to look at its other side in the wild glow.

Carefully he tested its movement, the faint clicks as the frame hit its internal mechanism. He gave a small affirming nod.

“Aye, it’s the same. That would mean there’s more isn’t there?” he said, looking up at Sian.

She nodded, “I found a case full of papers, designs, bound books full of notes and written hand. There are also a number of maps, with cities marked in them.”

Rhuthain whistled with a dropping tone, “Then these were not just made where the twins came from, but here too.”

He breathed out, “We came to capture Escorath, instead we unearth…” he stopped, his eyes drawn to the crystal blue glow, its light now inside the pillars, “Looks like they are about to come out.” he said while he deftly re-wrapped the device and closed the box.

Rhuthain quickly got to his feet, “Here, take it. I’ll give the three of you some space an all.”

He turned back to her, “But when you get to talking about that, give me the signal an I’ll be there.”

Sian gave him a quick nod and watched him as he walked up the stairs, occasionally glancing at the gradually receding light. Turning aside, she walked out to the ring of pillars and waited as the walls slowly grew transparent. The brilliance of the crystal blue receding until she could see through it. A warm smile came to her lips and was mirrored in her eyes as she saw both Silvast and Antrandis in its centre. She watched as he reached out and gently resettled Silvast’s hair, a sharp silver glow the reaction to the small gesture of familiarity.

Feeling his thoughts come to the fore, Sian stepped into the light, passing through the wall and into the clarity of the field within the pillars. A silence that was both encompassing, yet icily clear filled her ears. The inside of the field both sublime and comforting. She walked in a straight line to the both of them, smiling as Silvast’s sharply glowing eyes turned to her. The dragon gasping as she saw Sian, her form reacting to the field. Sian’s body gently glowed and shone of starlight, gaining an ethereal translucency, the mark of the Eladar, the elves from a time lost.

Finally she stood before Silvast and smiled gently when she saw Antrandis’s sigil ascribed on the sapphire pulse at her neck, “You convinced him, despite it being unnecessary.”

Silvast nodded in silence, her silver eyes wide.

Sian’s smile grew, “Did you not know that my kind were one of the three origins of all elves on the Eld? The first that all enduring clans evolved from.”

“That I knew, but…” Silvast said as she took Sian’s hand and examined it, letting her eyes glide over the faint shimmer that appeared to permeate the skin, “This I did not know about.”

Sian looked though her lashes at Silvast, watching her, “You bear his mark alone.” she said softly, catching Silvast’s gaze as the dragon met her eyes, “Will you honour me by wearing mine?”

A rare, timid smile came to Silvast’s lips as she nodded, “You are a part of him, I – I can feel it now.” she bit at her lower lip, her eyes flaring momentarily, “I thought I knew, but…” she gasped slightly, “I can feel it, I can feel you – just out of reach.”

Sian glanced at Antrandis, his stormy blue roiling with tendrils of black starting to show, “You are doing the same for her as you did for me when I awoke in Scarosant. But she is a dragon… she might be dormant, but soon...” she said softly with concern, her voice reaching him telepathically.

“Soon it will no longer matter, my dearest Sian. When they wake, she will need more than her strength alone.” he replied, his voice tender in her mind.

She smiled gently, “I know what you did when you kept her from death, while the valkyries were still in chains. I know this was always the next logical step if she desired it. She could not wake you while you raged, because you were blind to her, her life essence protected and shielded within your own.”

She drew in close and kissed his neck, “Now I understand why I have always been attracted to her, so close as I was before, and now from the moments of becoming whole.” she whispered, “Why Winter has never seen Silvast as a threat, but as one who could be trusted with her fears. The same reason why she could feel your pain when Reilena was taken from us, despite being in Scarosant.”

“Despite everything you did, you still respected her choice.” Sian said, resting her head on his shoulder, “Even I did not respect yours, my love. I just took you for my own.”

“Sian?”

Sian met Silvast’s eyes, her emerald on silver.

“Our promise to each other… What we spoke of?” Silvast said quietly, her eyes searching Sian’s.

Sian smiled and nodded, breaking off from Antrandis and standing before her.

“There is nothing to say that you don’t already know.” she said quietly and closed with Silvast, “I have never said ‘no’ to you.”

Silvast nodded, her blazing eyes calming as she took Sian’s hand and placed it at her neck, “I want yours also.”

A small smile came to Sian’s lips and she carefully ran her fingertip over Antrandis’s sigil, tracing the symbol of the valkyrie holding a sword on the sapphire glow in a bright blazing white. Once finishing, Sian undid the lacing on her blouse and exposed her collarbones to Silvast. Meeting Silvast’s eyes, she nodded and Silvast tentatively reached up and left her own, the lightning silver of the Stormarrow, sharply glowing as it interlaced and flowed into those below it.