Path Of The Broken

6. Ilarith-2

She started her search jumping from village to village around Vallantia, discovering when she widened her search a barrier in the veil that was impossible for her to penetrate. Jess remembered her shock; it had been like she'd run into an invisible wall. It had been frustrating and tedious when she’d found herself going around the outside of the barrier. Jess felt herself blush as she remembered how long she took to work out she could feel the barrier. Once she did realise, the process of discovery progressed much more quickly. She determined there was no way for her to pass it. Watching merchant caravans arrive and leave through one of the trade routes proved to her that those who were human, even some with power, could come and go as they choose. It was just that she was bound here. After some time testing the barrier, to no avail, she withdrew in frustration.

Still she continued to search, getting increasingly frustrated with her inability to find any sign of the Elder. Then, drawing the power to leave a small village, Jess transitioned to that place between, appearing as she always did on a makeshift road. She remembered looking around, uneasy, and seeing another standing near to where she was. He did not appear concerned that she had found him, and she had no doubt at all he had been watching her. Jess kept her sword drawn even when she recognised him: it was Damien. She noted that while he was wearing a sword, he did not have his own blade drawn at all. He was tall, with an athletic build and dusty blond hair; his eyes were the deep blue she remembered, and she noted his smile was as charming. His dress and bearing were no longer that of a hunter; Jess smiled cynically, wondering if he ever had been. His clothing was of a fine make, his body language confident, both of which placed him as someone with wealth. Still, he was no match for either Alex or Kyle in that department—they both possessed a certain self-assured easy flair that Damien did not. She suspected he was trying to emulate them, yet it wasn’t something he’d been born to.

The part that made her gasp was something she had not noticed on her previous encounters with him, although she should have. When Jess looked at him with her mind’s eye, Damien shone with power. He glowed and she could see the trails of power running through him and from him; he was bursting. In that arena Damien was in his element, at ease with his power, yet he didn’t seem even slightly mad. Just as suddenly as the power flared, it disappeared as if shutters had been shut. Other than the fact that they were in the veil, Damien appeared like a normal human. Jess put the things her uncle had told her together and came to a conclusion.

Damien, I have been looking for you. You are of the Elder. Jess was surprised by how calm she was. She wasn’t accusing, just stating a fact. Is that even your real name?

Jess sensed herself move through the veil under the other’s will and fought to maintain her composure. They were travelling faster than she’d ever thought possible. They came to the barrier in the veil, and Jess only barely stopped herself gasping in shock as they passed through it. She knew Damien had manipulated something to get them through it, yet she hadn’t been able to see what he’d done, nor seen his use of the power at all. She only knew he must have.

When they came to what was their destination, the veil blurred as they merged out into a comfortable-looking room. Jess knew it wouldn’t be out of place in the finest mansions or even the king’s palace, yet she had no idea where they were.

“Forgive my rudeness, Jessalan. I thought we could talk more easily here than elsewhere. Yes, my name is Damien, and yes, as you guessed, I am of the Elder. Please take a seat if you will. You will not come to any harm at my hands.” Damien gestured to some high-backed leather chairs arranged in a half circle near large floor-to-ceiling windows. She felt a surge in the veil and the fireplace which had been empty moments before lit up, merry flames dancing and cracking on the wood.

Jess considered her options for a moment, then shrugged and put away her blade. She had the distinct impression that if Damien had meant her harm, she’d be dead already. In fact, he’d had the opportunity several times in the past. It certainly explained how he had tracked and rescued her during the kidnap attempt. On one of those occasions he'd moved to protect her. She walked over towards the chairs but did not sit immediately. Instead she walked over to the tall windows and looked out onto a village that sprawled down a mountain. The beauty of the mountain territory took her breath away. In the distance she could see tall towers and spires that caused her imagination to take flight and left her burning with curiosity. She’d never seen its like before or had even imagined such things existed. She was in a tower on what looked like the highest point, with mountains surrounding her and what looked like the deep forest below. Jess gasped and turned to stare at her unexpected host.

“Where am I? I don’t recognise this place at all.” Jess glanced back towards the amazing view out of the window, then back at Damien, who smiled.

“You may not have been here before, but I am sure you have heard of it. You are in the fabled Ilarith.” Damien waited patiently, not concerned at all while she processed the information she’d just been given. He gestured around the room. “This is, well, one of the places I and the others of the Elder call home.”

Jess couldn’t help but laugh. “Ilarith? No one gets into Ilarith.”

“We allow very few inside our borders, but on occasion exceptions are made.”

“Ah, so the tales that Ilarith is a land of enchantment and magic are correct, rather than the monsters and your-trade-goods-are-possessed-by-evil variety.” Jess’s eyes sparkled.

Damien laughed and bowed floridly. “I think the monsters and possessed-by-evil rumours were started by people who wanted to drive the price of our trade goods down.”

Finally Jess sat in the chair closest to her and noted, as Damien sat down on the chair near her own, that someone had set the table with food and wine. Damien took a fine green stained glass goblet that Ilarith was known for and picking up a bottle of red wine, then glanced at her, his lips quirked in a half smile.

Jess laughed and nodded, her mood switching in the erratic way it had been of late, realising that she wasn’t going anywhere until her host let her go. She might as well relax and avail herself of his hospitality.

He smiled and poured the wine, handing her the goblet before he poured one for himself. He turned and, catching her eye, he raised his glass in salute. Jess fell back on court protocol and raised her own in response.

“What do you want with me?” Jess knew she was being blunt, but since Damien had brought her here against her will, she believed it warranted a little rudeness. Unconcerned at least to outward appearances, she took a sip of the wine and had to admit that he hadn’t stinted on that score.

Damien smiled, amused. “I guess I deserve that. I want to help you, Jess. Besides, I believe you have been searching for me. You and your friends have fallen into a world you do not understand or know. The three of you are more powerful than you can possibly be aware of. You will each become Elder once you’ve passed through your transition periods.”

Jess looked at Damien and held back a sob as pain and loss ran though her.

“How can you not know? Alex and Kyle are lost, sunken into their own madness.” Jess stopped as Damien shook his head.

“No, Jess, they are not. Neither of them is of the Sundered, as you believe. The Sundered have a very distinct stamp of madness that neither of your friends have. They are in transition. They each have their path to follow, as you will choose yours.”

“What do you mean not Sundered? I know they descended into madness, I shared their pain and anger, the confusion and loss. Alex killed that boy; he would never have done that if he were sane.” Jess looked at Damien, her eyes wide with shock. “Kyle gave himself to another of his own free will, an act of treason he never would have committed if he were in his own mind.” She noticed that her knuckles were white as she grasped the goblet in a vice-like grip and, taking a deep breath, she tried to relax.

Damien shook his head. “Alex does what he needs to do. There is madness in him, but he is strong enough that I believe he will rise through it. Kyle is under the protection of another, but not the Sundered Lord, as you believe. He is safe enough where he is for now. I will act on his behalf if I need to and he doesn’t win his own freedom. I believe others have it in hand, though. Both Alex and Kyle are constrained by the path they are on.” Damien paused to look out of the window, but Jess could tell his mind was far away before coming back to her.

Jess found she desperately wanted to believe her friends would recover. They had both been the centre of her world, her sanity, as far back as she could remember. Yet she couldn’t shake the images she’d seen from them both.

“I can’t escape from what I saw, what I felt.” Tears welled in her eyes, and she made no move to hide them.

Damien stood and moved across the intervening space to sit in the chair next to her, and gathered her into his arms. He whispered to her in a calm, reassuring voice filled with certainty. “Both Alex and Kyle are what we call Broken. They go through periods of madness but there is still sanity in them, unlike the Sundered. Alex suffers—his power level is higher—and Kyle as well, due to the harmful effects of the toxin used during the kidnapping, but in my assessment, unlike many, they will recover and get through this period.”

Jess didn’t reply but allowed his words to comfort her. She couldn’t contemplate a world where Alex and Kyle weren’t there. If she only had a target, someone to take out in their defence. Yet right now she didn’t have an enemy to aim her energies at; she was unable to help them and it hurt. They had both been there for her when she’d been a small girl, uprooted and transported into an unfamiliar world. Befriended her, taken her into their small exclusive circle of friendship. Defended her against all of their peers until she grew to defend herself.

Jess struggled with a sudden rise of pain and anger at the world, a sense of helplessness. As suddenly as she had been overwhelmed, she felt herself return to calmness. She halted her inner monologue and glared accusingly at Damien.

“You’re soothing me.”

Damien grinned at her unrepentantly. “Of course I am. Those such as yourself and your friends born with great power do not appear very often. We have learnt such a one survives their transition in a much better state if given some guidance. Besides, I don’t want you losing control and destroying my home. Come, let me show you around and you can pick a room that suits you. I’ve never had a student before. This should be fun.”

Damien stood, hauling her off the couch with a grin. Not letting go of her hand, he led her farther into his home. Jess allowed Damien to drag her off, head spinning at the sudden change of topic. She wondered how she’d ended up with a tutor, since Damien had just appointed himself as just that. Jess shook her head and laughed, her mood swinging from the sudden anger she’d been experiencing moments before to euphoria.