reconcile my feelings before sharing them with you. I didn’t want you to know,” he stared at Blodwyn. “Any of you. Not until I was stronger. I thought… I thought…” he forced himself to speak.
“I should have sensed it. I should have known,” Blodwyn admonished herself. “Can you forgive me, Pithar?” Her heart went out to him.
Another tree, another Chosen. None escaped the impact.
“We are your friends, your colleagues,” Crea said. “We can’t change things, but we can help you.”
Pithar dropped his head down. He’d lived with this knowledge and pain for sometime now, and it was wearing him out. His effort to conceal it was equally exhausting. “I chose to bear this burden myself, as it seemed less real that way. But I’m glad you know. I don’t feel so alone, so sad somehow,” he confessed. This was the hardest thing any Chosen could face, and it was happening too often of late.
“How long?” Edmond asked.
“He has not told me. He could not hide his decision from me any longer, though he will not speak to me of it. That is why I’m anxious to return home. I don’t know how much time we have left.”
“And we shall not keep you any longer than necessary,” Dashiel said. The news rocked them all profoundly. “He has told you nothing? You are to endure this… this situation, blind?” The unfairness of it hit him hard.
“It will be soon,” Pithar replied. “Very soon.”
“Go to him, Pithar. Each moment apart is a wasted one. I suffer with you. Everyone of us does,” Blodwyn said. Her thoughts leapt to Lilandre. The idea of this happening to her tree brought with it a great, bottomless dread.
“You couldn’t break the bond. I see how impossible that would be for you now. It’s too late. He’s made his choice, and you’re a part of it,” Tomas said. Is it too late for us as well? he wondered. “I’m sorry I forced you to think about it.” His thoughts reached out to Ormachon but he knew they could not pierce the stone walls of the room.
“Join him. First speed, Pithar!” Phero urged.
“Yes. Go!” Liam echoed. “We’ll finish up here without you. You’ve given us all you can.”
Pithar’s lips turned up in an ironic smile. His shoulders slumped and his arms hung at his side as if the life had been sucked from him. His silence lay heavily upon them, weighed down by uncertainty and despair. Tomas stepped before him, and bowed low.
“We will meet again,” he said directly to the boy. Their eyes locked upon each other’s.
“Yes, I know,” Tomas replied. The ring throbbed and he stared at Pithar. He saw Farrow’s end, Pithar’s sword thrust deep into the earth beside him, a million silver leaves falling like snow everywhere.
“May the Gem of Eternity light your way through the darkness ahead,” Pithar said.
“Be strong,” Blodwyn intoned. “Be brave. We shall always be near, Pithar. You need only call.”
“Thank you,” he said to Blodwyn. “Farewell my friends.”
He smiled a gallant smile. Sparkling brightly, his image blurred, then vanished from the chamber.
Chapter Nine
You did not succeed. You were not there to receive it.
“No. But it matters not. I advance nonetheless.” He shrugged his broad shoulders.
The sister no longer has possession of the map.
Colton’s eyes rose to the tree’s center but he feigned indifference. “As was expected. It’s disappointing, but I had other matters to attend to.”
Had you been there, perhaps it would be yours. Instead, it is in the hands of an elf.
“Details, that is all. My failures have as much of an effect upon the world as do my victories. You see that. You know. Does it frighten you, this lack of control?” he mocked.
It is the ultimate victory that eludes you. We can only share information with you. We cannot cause you to move.
“I fear you do not tell me the whole truth!”
To what do you refer? We perceive the truth to be different, you and I. I do not lie. She did as she saw
“I should have sensed it. I should have known,” Blodwyn admonished herself. “Can you forgive me, Pithar?” Her heart went out to him.
Another tree, another Chosen. None escaped the impact.
“We are your friends, your colleagues,” Crea said. “We can’t change things, but we can help you.”
Pithar dropped his head down. He’d lived with this knowledge and pain for sometime now, and it was wearing him out. His effort to conceal it was equally exhausting. “I chose to bear this burden myself, as it seemed less real that way. But I’m glad you know. I don’t feel so alone, so sad somehow,” he confessed. This was the hardest thing any Chosen could face, and it was happening too often of late.
“How long?” Edmond asked.
“He has not told me. He could not hide his decision from me any longer, though he will not speak to me of it. That is why I’m anxious to return home. I don’t know how much time we have left.”
“And we shall not keep you any longer than necessary,” Dashiel said. The news rocked them all profoundly. “He has told you nothing? You are to endure this… this situation, blind?” The unfairness of it hit him hard.
“It will be soon,” Pithar replied. “Very soon.”
“Go to him, Pithar. Each moment apart is a wasted one. I suffer with you. Everyone of us does,” Blodwyn said. Her thoughts leapt to Lilandre. The idea of this happening to her tree brought with it a great, bottomless dread.
“You couldn’t break the bond. I see how impossible that would be for you now. It’s too late. He’s made his choice, and you’re a part of it,” Tomas said. Is it too late for us as well? he wondered. “I’m sorry I forced you to think about it.” His thoughts reached out to Ormachon but he knew they could not pierce the stone walls of the room.
“Join him. First speed, Pithar!” Phero urged.
“Yes. Go!” Liam echoed. “We’ll finish up here without you. You’ve given us all you can.”
Pithar’s lips turned up in an ironic smile. His shoulders slumped and his arms hung at his side as if the life had been sucked from him. His silence lay heavily upon them, weighed down by uncertainty and despair. Tomas stepped before him, and bowed low.
“We will meet again,” he said directly to the boy. Their eyes locked upon each other’s.
“Yes, I know,” Tomas replied. The ring throbbed and he stared at Pithar. He saw Farrow’s end, Pithar’s sword thrust deep into the earth beside him, a million silver leaves falling like snow everywhere.
“May the Gem of Eternity light your way through the darkness ahead,” Pithar said.
“Be strong,” Blodwyn intoned. “Be brave. We shall always be near, Pithar. You need only call.”
“Thank you,” he said to Blodwyn. “Farewell my friends.”
He smiled a gallant smile. Sparkling brightly, his image blurred, then vanished from the chamber.
Chapter Nine
You did not succeed. You were not there to receive it.
“No. But it matters not. I advance nonetheless.” He shrugged his broad shoulders.
The sister no longer has possession of the map.
Colton’s eyes rose to the tree’s center but he feigned indifference. “As was expected. It’s disappointing, but I had other matters to attend to.”
Had you been there, perhaps it would be yours. Instead, it is in the hands of an elf.
“Details, that is all. My failures have as much of an effect upon the world as do my victories. You see that. You know. Does it frighten you, this lack of control?” he mocked.
It is the ultimate victory that eludes you. We can only share information with you. We cannot cause you to move.
“I fear you do not tell me the whole truth!”
To what do you refer? We perceive the truth to be different, you and I. I do not lie. She did as she saw
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