Chapter 56
The bird flew tirelessly, not even stopping at the island where we’d rested before. In fact, we flew directly over the island and little had changed since our first visit. Except that, there were more frilled lizards and coconuts on the sand. Against all odds, I fell asleep on the bird. Somehow, whether through homing instincts or pre-flight programming, the bird needed no direction from me. It flew straight for the Lyr’s capital. I tried to steer her away and she did not fight me, she simply ignored my tugs on the reins. I actually tugged so hard that I broke them and they dangled in the wind from the ends of her mouth.
I sat back and watched from dull eyes as the hours waned. Once back overland, the scenery changed from sand near the coastline to forested tracks, mountains and the Border Wall. It was not a wall per se but more a barrier that extended above the ground and into the air protecting the lands of the Elassai from the Oldlanders.
I could both see and feel it. It was a shimmering haze of mist that reached as high as anyone’s attempts to go over it. It was felt as a warning tingle before you touched it and if you persisted, beyond the wall and into the mist, it would kill you after losing your way inside it. Yet, the Mist and the Wall were spotty and down in major portions of it. It was through one of these that the condorlas flew, taking me into the land of my great-grandfather.
It was beautiful with meadows of golden-grained grass, crystal blue lakes and mountains that rose purple and snow caressed in the distance. Magic coated everything with an essence that made the emerald more green and everything closer to perfection than on the other side of the Wall.
I saw magical creatures grazing, flying and playing out in the open. Unicorns, griffons and even miniature dragons below us, these were things not seen on the other side of the Wall.
Wild condorlas came to inspect us and seemed puzzled at the sight of me perched on their cousin’s back. When one attempted to pluck me off, my bird viciously attacked the other sending feathers and blood flying. After that, the flock flew off leaving us alone in the skies.
I recognized the Great Trees as soon as they began to appear beneath us. The Elassai living in them came out on the crowns and balconies to peer at us from behind cupped hands as if the sight of a ridden condorla was a novelty.
As we approached the center of the city, we were met by the Klese on their own warbirds. Mine fell into formation with theirs and in silence we flew into the Aerie where I was met by the astonished and wary Klese warriors. They bound me with my hands behind my back, my eyes blindfolded and my mouth gagged. Only the rope around my neck and the pressure of their body surrounding me gave me any directions on which way to move.
I knew we were descending by the endless stair steps down. It was my nose that produced an image of my surroundings. It told me I was near the ground and the stables with the gardens close by. Many perfumed ladies watched me from behind partially open doors. How did I know that when I couldn’t see it?
My sense of smell detected the difference between the air behind a closed door or an opened one, between women dressed as nobles or servants, between the scent of a home and the outside. I could even smell which were pregnant, on their menses or pre-adolescent. The odor of men over women, one who’d cut himself shaving and just recently bathed.
When I entered the ritual passage to the throne room of the Lyr, it was as if my senses had all been cut off. I was truly blind, unable to speak and the only sounds I could hear were the rapid pounding of my heart. Suddenly, the curse that had defined my existence was gone. I drew in a deep breath and for the first time in a long time, I was afraid, as a normal human was afraid for that was what I was now.
I was forced to my knees in front of a man that smelled of power, magic and mystery. I did not need my cursed senses to tell me that. Someone behind me jerked off the blindfold and my eyes were dazzled by the bright lights in the ornate hall.
My great grandfather was dressed in brilliant white yet when he moved, vapid traces of color sparkled through the fabric. The room itself was a massive hall built – no created from the largest trees in his kingdom, a veritable garden inside the hearts of many of the Great Trees. The room was ablaze with candlelight, Wyche light and the soft glow of magic. The very air resonated with it. My great-grandfather studied me from under heavy brows and when he spoke, the entire Court leaned forward in anticipation of his words.
“You came crawling back, Tiobhan,” he said finally. “Did you find it so painful that only here on your knees were your respite?”
One of his warriors removed the gag ball from my mouth and as I attempted to answer past dry lips, he flicked a finger. Words were dragged out of my mouth, words I did not intend to speak yet they flowed forth. “I came because the wizard ordered it, my Lord.”
“Did he? To what purpose?” He smiled a merry smile and twirled in a circle to his court who tittered in canned amusement.
“To kill you, my Lord,” I forced the words out.
“Kill me?” He laughed derisively “How? You are a puny human child, no longer an yfed gwaed and lacking your powers. You are bound, weaponless and under a geas. How do you propose to end my life?”
“I do not know,” I said defeated. “I was to drain your blood.”
“Instead, I will drain yours.” He ordered the Klese to remove me and I was dragged away. I offered no resistance for in truth, I had none.