Chapter 13

Part 2

“I cannot let this pass!!!” Alilia yelled as she shook tears from her eyes, and her power gathered to her so strongly that the magic field seemed to boil around her. In a split second, so quickly that Nemia could not impede her, all of her power concentrated in her right fist and she spun and struck over Nemia.

“I CURSE YOU!!!” she screamed as she punched Talia in the face, breaking the girl’s nose even as all her gathered power was passed into Talia with a bright flash at the violent contact.

Alilia was left completely drained, both physically and magically, and she slumped to the ground.

Nemia quickly Healed Talia’s bloody nose, though her daughter’s inherent healing had already begun.

Talia had suddenly stopped crying with the blow, and stared in utter shock at her mother’s face as she was Healed.

Yazadril also stared in shock. As overwhelmed as he was by events, he realized that he had never heard of any curse being delivered with a tenth of the power Alilia had used. A tenth?! Not even a hundredth!

Alilia crawled to her son’s bloody remains and slumped upon them, crying piteously.

Talia screamed. Her scream was louder and more horrible than was physically possible, as she involuntarily augmented it with her power.

Nemia cast Sleep upon her daughter, to no effect, and the scream went on and on.

Yazadril staggered over and cast Sleep upon her as well, and again, and finally the scream ended as Talia lost consciousness.

He realized that a few of his people had gathered, and four of them were huddled together five meters away. The rest stood about in shocked sadness at what had occurred.

Dilimon rose from the four who were huddled, his tears flowing freely, and walked over to Yazadril. “He will be all right.” he stated.

“Pardon?” Yazadril asked in confusion.

Dilimon indicated the three who had been huddled with him, who were now rising to stand, one of them holding a very young elf in her arms. “It is little Jinimin, only twelve years old. He drained himself almost to death boosting Nemia’s Levitation spell with his own, to help save Talia. But we reached him in time. He will be all right.”

“Oh. I did not know.” Yazadril said, almost unable to think. “I… I owe him much, then.”

“Yes.” Dilimon nodded gravely. “I think he arrived here just before you did, and acted in a panic. An amazing thing, really. At his age, he should not even know how to attempt such a feat yet.”

Theramin arrived in the shape of a great eagle, and assumed his own form as he landed. He looked around for a moment, taking in the scene. Then he walked over to Alilia and cast Sleep upon her. She was so drained and grief stricken that she did not even realize he was doing it. He gently rolled her away from her son’s body, and straightened her now bloodstained white robe.

He stepped to where Nemia was quietly sobbing as she sat and rocked her unconscious daughter in her arms, and cast Sleep upon her too, catching her as she slumped backward and lowering her gently to the grass.

He straightened and turned to Yazadril and Dilimon.

“Thank you, Theramin, that was kindly done.” Yazadril said quietly. “No need for them to watch while the children are… are… By the Source, I cannot even say it! My poor Dalia!” He covered his face in his hands and wept again.

Theramin nodded sadly. “Dilimon?”

The young Sentry nodded, and deftly caught Yazadril as Theramin cast Sleep upon him as well.

Yazadril woke late the next morning in his own bed, clad in a white cotton nightgown. Talia slept fitfully beside him, similarly clad. The tears had been washed from her face, her blonde hair brushed and tied back with a blue ribbon. He could see from the state of the bedding that Nemia had been asleep on the other side of Talia, but had already risen.

He found Nemia in the kitchen, still in her own nightgown. She stood before an empty teapot, the tea leaves spilled on the counter beside it, her head bowed, quietly crying. He moved to her, and she turned into his embrace as his own tears flowed anew.

“Oh Yazadril, how could this have happened?” Nemia sobbed.

“Ah my love, young hearts are wild, and their emotions are strong and sometimes overwhelming.” Yazadril told her softly. “And it is not so surprising that Talia and Dalia should fall in love with the same young male. They were so exactly alike in so many ways.

“I have suffered the death of my children before, but the pain is so much greater this time, as Dalia was so young. Her life had only just begun.”

“Yes. She was barely out of childhood, and now she is gone. What will we do, Yazadril? How can I live without her? How can I live with this horrible grief?”

“We will cling to our love for Talia, my dearest, and care for her with all our hearts. She will need all the love we can give her. And we will hold to our love for each other.”

“What will happen to her?” Nemia cried. “I have never seen such a curse as she has suffered! And I cannot believe that Alilia was ready to kill us both!”

“Alilia was driven to madness by her own pain and grief, my dearest. I cannot truly blame her too much. Mind you, if she had killed either one of you, she would have paid dearly for it.”

“Easy to say.” Nemia stated bitterly. “But no one among the High People has the power to harm her, as you well know.”

“Ah, you are wrong there, my love. I would truly have hated to do it, but I could bring her down.” Yazadril sadly mused. “I have never had to face one as powerful as she is in combat, but I have triumphed over others who were far above me in pure power. It takes very little power to kill someone, if it is applied correctly. The outcomes of such encounters can never be accurately predicted. That has never been more clear to me than it is right now.”

His voice gained its own note of bitterness. “She with all her power, and me with all my knowledge, and neither of us could even save our own children!”

“We cannot blame ourselves, Yazadril.” Nemia sobbed. “As you say, it was the foolishness and impulsiveness of youth. No one could have foreseen such a tragedy.”

The door chime sounded, and Nemia stepped back and bravely wiped her tears away. “I will cry for Dalia at times for the rest of my life, I think, but you are the Prince of our people, and we have our duties.” Nemia said as she tried to regain her composure. “You answer the chime, and I will clean up this mess, and make us some tea and some breakfast.”

“Thank you love.” Yazadril nodded.

When he opened the door, he found Hilsith waiting on the railed lifting platform that served those who wished to visit his home without flying, Translocating, or climbing the many steps that spiraled up the outside of the trunk of the great oak tree. Hilsith was an immigrant from the northern elves, and she was the most skilled Healer among the High People, though she was only seven hundred and sixteen years old. Her hair and her skin were both pure white with the slight blue tinge of new snow, and had been so since the day she was born. Her eyes were such a light gray they were almost white as well, and she was dressed this day in a simple blue smock.

“Greetings, Prince Yazadril. I have come to check on you and your family, especially Talia.” she said as she stepped inside. “And I must offer my most heartfelt condolences on the passing of dear Dalia.”

“Thank you, Hilsith.” Yazadril nodded as he led her to his bedroom, and a sob escaped him, though he tried to contain it.

Hilsith wrapped him in a warm hug and let him cry on her shoulder for a moment, then he stood back and tried to regain his composure. Hilsith let herself into the bedroom without another word, and closed the door.

Yazadril rejoined his wife in the kitchen, where she was preparing flat cakes manually, without the aid of the magic she would usually have used to speed such a task. Recognizing that it was wise to busy themselves in such activities, he began arranging sausages in a pan for heating in the oven.

When Hilsith entered the kitchen they had filled their plates and poured tea, only to find that neither could bring themselves to eat a single bite.