The HeartStone Path

The HeartStone Path: Final Chapters

CHAPTER 34

That report turned out to be wrong.  Outrageously wrong.  I was down in the chamber with the Master, going over the spell, when I felt the nudge from Kai.  I frowned and ran up the stairs to my rooms.  The sound of drums sent a chill down my spine.  I ran back down the stairs, told the Master and the Elf to seal the chamber, then hurried back to my room to get dressed. 

A few moments later, I collided with my sisters in the hallway as we made our way to our posts.  Aine was to be on the wall with Rafe.  Rhiannon and Cam would be with me, along with Tristan and Boudicca.  The Dyr’scal and Yova were hidden to the north of the city to wait for their signal.  Dwarves were set to defend the walls.  The rest of the army were to be lined up in front of the city walls.

No one spoke as we ran through the castle to the stables.  Rhoca stomped her feet impatiently while I checked the straps of her saddle again.  I wore twin swords, like Boudicca.  It had taken some getting used to, but I liked it.  Finally satisfied with her tack, I settled myself in her saddle.  My horse shook her head and danced sideways out in the courtyard while we waited for everyone else to join us.  Once Tristan was at my side, we took off through the city towards the gates.

The city was eerily silent as we rode through it.  The only sound was our horses’ hooves on the cobblestones.  Again, I wondered where the Fae were, but it was too late to send a messenger again.  By the time we reached the gates, the army outside was ready and taking their positions.  Somehow, the weather had listened and the snow refused to fall yet.

I made my way to the front with my self-appointed guardians.  The generals at the heads of their armies nodded as we passed.  I sent up a silent prayer that I could stop Hel before any fighting began.  It seemed like my luck would hold when her legions appeared out of the darkness with the goddess at the front.

She continued walking towards me when her legions halted.  Rhoca danced under me as the goddess got closer to us.  I kept my hands loose on her reigns and fought the urge to reach for a weapon.  If the Master was right, I was weapon enough. 

“Ah, there you are, child.  No words for your mother’s sister?  I suppose not,” she said when I didn’t answer.  “I wouldn’t be surprised if she abandoned you entirely.  Oh, don’t worry.  It’s just the way of the Gods.  But I’m sure those around you have filled your head with all sorts of things about an absurd prophecy.”

“Leave, Hel,” I said carefully, “and take your legions with you.  There is nothing for you here.”

“Oh, but you did not inherit her ability to lie, now did you.  I know its here, child.  Give me the Relic,” she said tensely.

“I don’t know what you are talking about,” I said firmly.

“Enough, child.  I am not known for my patience.  Give me the Relic and I will consider letting this army live to see tomorrow,” she said with a smirk.

“Leave now and I will consider not killing every last one of your legions before I send you away again,” I said through clenched teeth. 

The goddess laughed heartily at that.  “Oh, child, you can’t possibly think that you can face me and win.”

“Send your legions away, Hel,” I said again.

“Now I really want you to reconsider such a threat,” she said.

“It’s not a threat,” I ground out.

I cracked my neck and drew a sword.  “Leave this realm Hel,” I said again.  This time, it wasn’t open to negotiation.  Dragons and gryphons poured in to the skies and towards the dark legions.  According to the scrolls and tomes, dragon fire was the only thing that could stop the shadow elves without dire consequences.  Everyone had their orders.  At the last possible moment, legions of Fae charged the field and Prince Aerron appeared at my side.

Hel smiled at me and turned back to her legions.  It was the most terrifying thing I had ever seen in my life.  Her legions didn’t wait for her to reach them before they dove forward and headed for us.  I was going to have to search for her in the field.  Not ideal.

The clash of the armies was deafening.  I kept my seat on Rhoca longer than I expected to.  When I hit the ground, Kai was there to fight next to me.  Around me, everyone else had lost their mounts, too.  I let myself slip in to the dance of death.  Side by side with Tristan and Prince Aerron, we cut a swath through the legions, carefully avoiding the forbidden blades as we searched for Hel.

We found her as the first light of dawn began to fill the sky behind the clouds.  She grinned at me again and drew her own forbidden blade that dripped with poison.  I had to be close enough to touch her for the spell to work.  Under my breath, I began to whisper the words to begin the spell.  When I reached her, the blood on my palms was still unnoticed, though she recognized the words I was saying.  Enraged, she charged me and met my blade with intense strength.  On the ground, as I fought, I traced out the runes with my feet and let the blood from my hands fall to the earth in the right places.  Behind me, engaging Hel on the other side, Tristan was following my lead and letting his blood drip in to the runes where mine had fallen.

The goddess roared at me as I yelled the last words of the spell and threw everything I had in me behind it.  There was a flash of blue light and my own roar mingled with hers as I fought her power with my own.  The last thing I remember was Hel’s fading rage, knowing the spell had worked and then black.

CHAPTER 35 - Tristan

When he recovered from the blinding explosion of power, Tristan saw Morrigan on the ground next to the burnt runes on the ground she had drawn with her feet.  Around him, the sounds of confusion turned to sighs of relief when people started to realize that Hel was gone and her legions with her.  He fell to his knees and gathered his Tuillaryn in his arms.  Her limp body was too easy to lift.  Tears slipped down his face when he realized that she was still breathing, but barely.

Rhiannon and Boudicca cleared the way for Tristan to carry Morrigan back to the castle and to her rooms.  Prince Aerron followed behind, carrying Kai’s lifeless body.  Behind him, others fell in to step with them in a rather sad procession through the city. 

When the people in the city realized that the fighting was over, they ran out to help the wounded and get them to the safety of the University and the physicians that were waiting.  At the gates of the castle, Cleo was waiting with the King and Queen.  When Queen Arianna saw Morrigan, a sob escaped her.  She leaned heavily on the King as they led the way in to the castle.

In Morrigan’s rooms, the Master was waiting with an Elf that Tristan had never seen before.  He didn’t question the Master’s judgment on the matter, though.  Rhiannon was there to help him clean Morrigan and settle her into her bed.  The Master checked her carefully and sent the Elf to get a tea.

“She is between right now,” the Master said to him sadly.

“Between,” Tristan repeated.  “What do you mean.”

“She will return to us if she decides to do so,” he answered.

“Is there anything we can do?”, Prince Aerron asked from the door.

The Master shook his head sadly.  “She must make the decision on her own.  I cannot tell you when or if she will wake.”

Tristan turned to Prince Aerron and the other people who filled the front room of Morrigan’s suite.  Boudicca cried silently and leaned against King Torrynd.  Rhiannon stood with Roman, fighting back tears of her own.  Cleo cried in Cam’s arms, not even trying to hide her soft sobs.  Queen Arianna and the King held on to each other, their own tears flowing freely down their cheeks.

“I will take care of her,” the Master said.  “Life must continue for all of you.  We should not squander this gift we have been given.”

Tristan sank in to the chair he had pulled up next to Morrigan’s bed and ignored everyone else around him.  Slowly, everyone drifted out and back to their own rooms.  Prince Aerron pulled up another chair on the opposite side of her bed and settled in to it.  Tristan had nothing left in him to argue with the Fae Prince about his presence at her side.

He watched carefully as the Master raised Morrigan’s head just enough to slip the tea down her throat.  She mumbled incoherently, then was silent again.  Tristan knew better than to hope for more.

As the days passed, not much changed with Morrigan, but the world around her kept moving.  Boudicca and King Torrynd returned to Vahl’strael and made Tristan promise to let them know the moment Morrigan woke up.  Others drifted in to her rooms to say goodbye before they returned to their respective lands.  Surprisingly, the Fae King didn’t require his son to return to their lands with their armies.  So, Tristan was stuck with Prince Aerron as a constant companion as he watched over his Tuillaryn.

The days took on the ghost of a routine.  Every morning and evening, the Master brought her tea.  In the afternoon, Rhiannon and Cleo washed her and Tristan changed the sheets on her bed while they had her in the bathroom. Then Cleo would sit with Morrigan and tell her everything that was happening in the kingdom because the Master insisted that Morrigan could hear them. The front room had been taken over by his and Prince Aerron’s belongings.  After a few weeks, the maids quit arguing and simply took care of the three people crammed in to one set of rooms. 

The kingdom was being rebuilt with the help of people who volunteered to stay and help the villagers who had lost everything.  It made Tristan sad because he knew that Morrigan would have been overjoyed to see several races coming together to help each other. 

The people of the Mineralage court went to trial, but before they could all be sentenced, they began to die in their cells.  It was a mystery for everyone, even the Master.  No one could find a cause for the deaths.  It couldn’t be suicide, because there was nothing available for them do such a thing.  They weren’t being starved or neglected in such a way that their bodies would have given out.  It seemed that it would always be a mystery.

The southern kingdom that Hel had marched through was in ashes.  She hadn’t just passed through.  She had killed everyone and burned everything.  By some miracle, the Fae king came to an agreement with Queen Arianna and King Curren about the division of that land.  The Fae got the major ports they wanted and land for people to settle on.  Queen Arianna got the main port and the city to rebuild that would hold several universities and trading centers.  It was meant to be a joint effort among the kingdoms in the realm to have a neutral city for trading. 

Through it all, Tristan and Prince Aerron rarely left Morrigan’s rooms until the Master kicked them out.  He insisted that they needed to be part of the world outside.  They needed physical activity and fresh air.  He would allow them to visit, but they needed to return to their lives.  Tristan fought the hardest against the Master, but eventually gave in when it was pointed out that the yelling wasn’t good for her.

CHAPTER 36 - Morrigan

My Valley

I wandered around my valley and drifted in and out of different forms as I walked.  My mother appeared beside me and walked with me in silence as I continued to change my appearance.

“Why am I like this?” I finally asked.

“It’s just who you are.  Your gifts.  You can take any form you wish.  It’s up to you which one you like the most,” she smiled at me.

“Oh,” I frowned.  “That’s not what the Master told me.”

“He doesn’t know everything, child.”

“That’s actually comforting.”

She laughed out loud and it echoed through my valley.  It was my favorite sound.  “You don’t have a true form, my child.  You only have one that you are the most comfortable with.”

“That is why you always look like a Human?”

She c****d her head to the left for a moment as she considered my question.  “Yes, I suppose so.  It is easier for people to perceive someone or something less threatening.  Humans aren’t threatening.  Especially to other Humans and certainly not to other races.”

I shrugged.  She had a point. 

I settled back in to the form I had grown up in and made my way back to the enormous tree in the middle of my valley that the stream ran by.  I sat down and leaned back against the trunk of my tree and stared at the water trickling by.  I had added fish to my mind stream some time ago.  I wasn’t sure exactly when.

“Mother, what are those flowers?” I asked her, running my fingers over the impossibly soft petals.

“Lilies, my child,” she answered.  “I put them here for you.  They are beautiful, don’t you think?  Almost perfect.”

I kept running my fingers over the petals, amazed at the feel of them and the intoxicating smell.  So many varying colors of the flower filled my valley.  Something about the flower tugged at my memory.

“What is troubling you, child,” she asked when she sat down next to me.

“I think I need to go back,” I said to her.

“Okay.  What made you decide that.”

“The voices have changed.”

“The voices?”

“The voices that I hear every so often.  They have changed.  Some of them have gone away and I don’t think they wanted to.  They sounded sad and angry.  I feel like something is wrong.  I need to know why they changed.”

She smiled at me and wrapped her arms around me in a protective hug.  “I know you need to.  I will always be here when you need me.”

“But not in the physical realms.”

She shook her head sadly.  “I cannot break our laws more than I already have, child.  This, your valley here, is not in the physical realms, so I can be with you here.”

“But I did what they wanted me to do.  I put Hel away.  Why can’t they let me see you?”

“Oh, child.  That was a prophecy that was forced in to play far too soon.  Someone rushed it, and that is why I had to break our laws.  I will still help you when I can, just, please be careful.  Your path has just begun.”

“My path has just begun,” I repeated.  “The Master said that to me just before I faced Hel.  So did someone else.”

“And he was right.  You have so much for ahead of you.  When you are ready to face it.”

“I still see him.  In my dreams.  Will I ever see his face?”

“You know I can’t tell you that, child.  It will happen when it is time.  Just like everything else on your path.”

I leaned against my mother and memorized the feeling of being near her.

“I am ready.  I love you, Mother.”

“I love you, daughter of my heart.”