Breaking Into The Light

Chapter One

Chapter OneSparkling snow drifted downward quietly through the vast, reaching arms of the forest giants stretching overhead. The elder tree-spirits listened in the ethereal hush to the sounds of playing childfey as if such sounds had not been heard for countless spans of time. Like the contemplative evergreens, many of the Fey who had gathered in the clearing near the base of the mountain stood equally enthralled by the sounds. The wintry chill of the bright morning did little to impede the youngling's enthusiasm as they tumbled and sprawled in the powdery snow and as they scooped up great handfuls to enjoy the fresh, clean taste or to toss piles of its downy opalescence into the air and watch it with beaming smiles as it fell, sparkling, downward. As they squealed and giggled with infectious exuberance, some of the adult Fey watching their antics reached to dry unanticipated tears or hugged each other with swelling emotion at the blissful sight while others rolled and played in the snow right beside the little ones. Yet, when a fierce Fey Guard adorned with blood-spattered, golden armor alighted beside the Liberator whose hands bled from some nameless, horrifying injury, the jollity that made the bright clearing smile noticeably diminished.

“What defense can we offer against a legion of Dark Ones?” Mardan asked after he heard Bryth's announcement that the Reviled were coming and turned aside from watching a group of younglings to stride purposefully back to the place where three of his fellow Liberators stood. The malefey considered their options. They could protect the childlings by concealing them in the nearby woodland village that was ensconced deep in the embrace of towering evergreens. They could guard the aperture from which they had just emerged. Its narrow dimensions were easily defendable and could be blocked until reinforcements of Fey Guards arrived. If they were fortunate, some of the resident malefey might consider joining their ranks to offer some measure of resistance against the threat of attacking Dark Fey, but the grim reality of their situation overshadowed even their best attempts at optimism.

They had all sustained injuries during their battle before the gate. Not one of them had escaped unscathed, but Gairynzvl was beyond offering any form of opposition should a battle ensue. His strength had been depleted in his efforts to gain their freedom, in spite of the Quiroth that had briefly aided him, and the severity of the injuries to his hands left him incapable of even holding a weapon, let alone wielding one in battle.

“We must see to the safety of the childfey and the villagers, and someone must go to the Temple to alert the Elders and the Fey Guard,” Bryth recommended in Gairynzvl's conspicuous silence, adding with an equally assertive tone when he saw him waver with noticeable fatigue, “And you, Fierce One, must allow the Healer to tend your injuries.”

Mardan nodded, turning to call to their ministering comrade who had finished aiding Reydan and was now stooping to gaze with unmistakable concern at the small shefey held in Rehstaed's strong arms. His examination, however, was cut short when, summoned by Mardan's urgent appeal, the golden-haired Healer turned from the pair and approached Gairynzvl. He visually inspected his condition even as he crossed the short distance between them.

Their Leader stood with alarming unsteadiness, trembling from head to toe to wing-tip and staring out over the bright clearing with an increasingly vacant expression. The snow he absently held had turned deep crimson and dripped through his weakened grasp to stain the snow at his feet. His nebulous wings pitched downward in an obvious indication of exhaustion and his typically sharp gaze had become glazed and unfocused.

Hurrying his pace, Evondair gestured for Mardan to steady their friend even as he wiped away the snow he held in order to inspect his wounds more closely. The revelation of the deep lacerations crisscrossing his hands caused all three malefey to grimace in dismay. Mardan and Bryth exchanged a profoundly concerned gaze as the Healer looked up into the pale glimmer of their friend's glassy stare. As he assessed his condition, Ayla returned from the midst of a group of shefey who had gathered around a few of the childlings, her anxiety more than apparent. At her approach Mardan turned abruptly towards her and stretched out his wings to obstruct her view before she could see the full degree of Gairynzvl's wounds.

“You cannot help him presently, Ayla.” Mardan's soft tone did not diminish the firmness with which he spoke. She stared up at him defiantly, preparing to rebuke his protective actions, despite the fact that they spoke volumes about the seriousness of the situation. Glancing around his broad wings repeatedly, she pointed out that she might be able to lend him strength, but when the Celebrant-turned-warrior insisted that she return to the childfey and organize their retreat to the woodland village, she decided not to argue with him in front of so many others.

“See to the childlings and their safety. Please, Ayla, we must get them as far from danger as possible.” His tone was milder and although mute amber locked fleetingly with unyielding cerulean, she nodded in spite of her intense desire to be of some assistance and turned back. She glanced over her shoulder more than a few times as the malefey gathered once more around the former Dark One and spoke with lowered voices.

“I need not say it; I am certain you realize I cannot tend his injuries here. He must be returned to the Temple Healing Wards where the surgeons can properly cleanse and close these lacerations before their effects are lasting,” Evondair clarified what they had already guessed and, as if to confirm his assertion, Gairynzvl's eyes closed unexpectedly. His wings fell lax, his head tilted backward slowly, and his entire body would have followed that motion had Mardan not been holding onto him. Bryth lent further aid and the two malefey managed to keep him upright while the Healer drew a bottle of Quiroth from his medical pack and attempted to administer it, despite his patient having lapsed into unconsciousness. As he struggled to get some of the liquid into Gairynzvl's mouth, he spoke in an urgent tone to the malefey gathered round them. “He is going into shock from the loss of so much blood. We must hope the Quiroth will fortify his strength while we bind his hands tightly to stop the bleeding. Then we must hasten him to the Temple.”

Listening keenly to the conversation of the malefey from her place amidst the gathering of shefey she had temporarily rejoined, Ayla turned back with determination. Undeterred by Mardan's imposing presence because he now stood holding up their leader, she returned with palpable resolve. Reaching out with her hands even as she came closer, not only to negate any verbal opposition they might attempt to interpose, but to reach for Gairynzvl's hands, she ignored their protest.

“Ayla, you must see to the safety of the childfey,” Mardan insisted as firmly as he could manage to sound, but she shook her head with resolve.

“I can attend to them once this is accomplished. I have been given this gift in order to help others, not only when it is convenient and safe to do so, but whenever such assistance is needed.” Her single-mindedness silenced any supplementary arguments any of them might have thought to make, but she continued unwaveringly. “I have spent too many years being afraid and living in protected isolation; it is time I play a part!”

Stepping back from her, Evondair smiled at her tenacious declaration and stooped to collect clean bandages as well as a small vessel of salve from his pack while she gently took hold of Gairynzvl's hands. She could not keep from shuddering at the sight of so much blood and the deep wounds left by the razor-protected bars of the gate, but she held onto him tenderly and began to center her thoughts towards him.

In the chaos of the battle and closing herself off from her empathic abilities, she had been only minimally aware of how much he had done to save them; of how much he had sacrificed. Now, at seeing the visual evidence of his actions, she could not hide the predictable response such evidence prompted. Although she clenched her teeth against the rush of poignant emotion that sought to overtake her when she opened herself to him, she could not contain the sob and gasp of dismay that touching his pain produced. An intense wave washed over her, filling her with panic and dread, as well as a strangely euphoric sensation brought on by his unconscious state, but she did not relinquish her hold upon his hands or disengage herself from his essence. Mardan hissed under his breath at her intercessorial actions, but could not deny his concern for the well-being of their friend and, as a result, tempered his reaction in spite of her apparent distress.

“Playing a part does not mean sacrificing yourself to the cause. We need you to help move the childfey to a safer location, so, please Ay, do not over-extend yourself,” he cautioned and, at hearing the others agree with his admonition, she nodded before closing her eyes. She could still hear them as they spoke quietly about how they would transport him to the Temple and about the impending battle with the Reviled, but their voices became muffled as she slipped beyond the present moment into the realm of Gairynzvl's being.

The rapid beating of his heart resounded through her, as did the shallow echo of his breaths, but the closeness of his consciousness reassured her in spite of the fact that he was drifting incoherently. After her initial assessment, she opened herself more fully to the unrelenting waves of severing pain that radiated from his hands upward through his arms, across his chest, tightening like a manacle over the nape of his neck and piercing into his mind again and again like a blade. At connecting with his inescapable pain, she could not restrain the cry that slipped past her clenched teeth any more than she could keep tears from running down her cheeks. Her body instantly began to shake and her own heart pounded under the distress of the trauma he suffered. Little wonder his mind had detached itself and released him from such torment! Baring her teeth against the shocking sensations, Ayla felt his hands move in her own and she realized that Evondair had begun his ministrations.

He applied the salve first as evenly as he was able and the perception of the cooling balm made her sigh, giving her a moment to collect her mental acuity in order to direct it back to Gairynzvl. She was briefly able to bolster his strength, but when the Healer laid the first length of cloth across his deep lacerations and encircled it around his hand tightly, the intense stinging it produced nearly caused her to fall in a swoon.

Sounds of retreat filled the quiet grove and the rush of feathers and footsteps drew her attention. It was a welcome distraction from the onslaught of his unremitting pain. Opening her eyes, she watched through tears as childfey were scooped up and carried away into the sheltering eaves of the forest; as malefey clustered in groups discussing the prospect of lending aid in the imminent battle, and as the remaining Liberators collected their scattered weaponry. Fighting to ignore the jagged, stabbing ache permeating every fiber of her being, she closed her eyes once again, drew a substantial breath and then concentrated with all the strength of mind she possessed in order to quell the trauma they were both experiencing.

Perhaps it was the Quiroth Evondair had forced Gairynzvl to drink, rather than her own skill, but as the bandages grew tighter and the hurt should have grown more unbearable, she found it, somehow, easier to ward away. Breathing deeply, slowly, restfully, she pushed aside the pain and centered her thoughts on the lush calm that surrounded him and in that place of serenity where peace seemed to flow over them like tranquil waters and delicate birdsong echoed, she was finally able to ease their mutual distress.

“While the rest of you were idling, I scouted the area.” Ilys's sharp tone broke through the hush into which she had fallen and Ayla opened her eyes to find herself lying on the snow beside Gairynzvl at the feet of the other Liberators. Uncertain how long she had slipped into the unconscious quietness surrounding him, she blinked woozily and struggled to right herself as she listened to the conversation going on above her.

“Healing injuries and determining our safest course of action hardly falls under the term 'idling.” Evondair rebuked her accusation with startling aggression and they glared at each other while the others watched in amazement, but Ilys laughed impishly, shrugged, and continued.

“I discovered the Temple is only a league or two from here, although getting him to it might be a challenge as the surrounding area is heavily forested and deep in snow. This also seems to be the only village for miles, so, my question is: who shall take Gairynzvl to the Temple and who shall remain to fight?” Redirecting the course of their conversation in order to escape the piercing stare the Healer had fixed upon her, Ilys listened to them debate for a moment, then turned aside as a distant peal of discordant horns echoed from beneath the mountain.

“The fastest alternative would be to fly, of course, but two malefey would be required to carry him and we cannot spare anyone,” Bryth stated the obvious, unsure about the best course of action to take and he looked to Mardan for his input. The Celebrant-warrior shook his head as his gaze moved beyond them to the mountainside when the sound of horn calls rang into the bright clearing.

“No we cannot spare any malefey. What we require is a cart,” he paused, listening keenly to the horn calls before continued. “Do you hear those horns as well? We might be forced to wait until after the battle to take him to the Temple.” He mused aloud as he gazed fixedly at the base of the mountain, but in the silence that met his words, while the others listened as well, Evondair rebuked his suggestion with an insistent edge to his characteristically gentle voice.

“That would be unwise. His condition is perilous; I would not recommend delay. If needs be, I shall take him on my own, however difficult it may prove.”

Several shaking heads answered his objection, including Rehstaed's, who had given the care of the little shefey over to several of the retreating villagers in order to take his place at the side of his comrades. “We canno' spare you, 'ealer; regardless o' the Fierce One's condition,” he retorted with determination as he girded his weapons round his hips and across his shoulders. “If we are t' defeat those comin', we'll be needin' each one o' us 'ere t' repel them; an' perhaps more.”

The others agreed, though Evondair continued to shake his head resolutely. They debated several moments longer until their indecisiveness made Ilys flex her dragonhide wings sharply and hiss at them with exasperation. “Oh, for the wit of the Ancients! You dither like oldsters! None of this will help. Make up your minds you pack of squabbling ravens!”

Turning with a harsh stare none of them could interpret, Evondair moved to stand within inches of her and glared down into her upturned face while he spoke with a low and alarmingly menacing tone. “Nor shall your belligerence, sheDemon. If you desire to continually sow discord, then return to the Uunglarda where such a demeanor is appreciated.” He hissed at her with atypical hostility and they glared at each other once again, their wings arched in defensive postures. Ilys leaned closer to him, her bright blue eyes narrowing in a challenge yet, before either could rebuke the other a young, beautiful shefey stepped closer to the group and spoke unobtrusively.

“Forgive my intrusion, but if your friend requires the attention of the Temple Healers, perhaps you will allow me to transport him there?”