fit.
“The sister’s actions are of no consequence. If the map is lost, it’s lost to us all. If it’s not, I may yet recover it. Have you weakened so much that events spin away from you?” he provoked him, languishing in the uncertainty of the moment.
They weave of their own will.
“Do you never tire of these old sayings? They have no meaning any longer, if ever they did. Words, words, words, words,” he said, bored, looking out over the distant hills. “Why do you aid me? I have a saying for you. Tell me you haven’t heard it? Never give your enemy what he wants. Am I not your enemy?”
Our purposes and yours will never be entirely the same, but they do have some elements in common. Do you wonder, though, if perhaps our assistance is something other than it seems? Do you know what it is you want? ‘Twas your failure that lost you the parchment, not my information. You must regain it from the elfin your own manner.
“How should I interpret that? I know what I want and I don’t trust you, regardless of your claim to speak the truth. ‘The truth’, ha! It’s what you do not say that is of real interest to me.” A ball of ebon fire danced on his palm and he toyed with it as if it was more interesting than the conversation, bouncing it from one finely shaped hand to the next.
We offer you what we can.
“What you choose!” His black eyes gleamed. “I will obtain what I need in time, regardless, but why do you want me to have the map? What purpose would it serve you?”
You wish to find the Gem. We desire that too.
“So arrogant, despite everything,” he said to himself. “And you cannot find it on your own? Do you hope I will lead you to it? What of the young ones’ quests?”
My eyes are weak. I cannot see.
“Or will not tell!” he roared.
The twins have their own paths to follow. The cloth is torn. Who has the strength to mend it?
“You speak in riddles again. It grows tiresome.”
Then do not listen to them.
“What have you given to me of import? A piece here, a piece there? Why?”
It was your arm that could not reach into the mountain. It was you who could not enter the forbidden places.
“The mountain was shielded. The plans I made for my brother did not materialize, and I sent another in his place when the tree died. It was she who failed.”
Ah, you make excuses too.
He spun about and the air around him crackled. Rivulets of power coruscated over his perfect skin. His muscles flexed and throbbed, the veins popping out like rivers along his arms. “Tell me this; who intervenes on their behalf now, if not you and your kind?”
The one called Sidra , Ormachon replied.
Chapter Ten
“Come, sister. It can’t be much further. I recognize this area.” “It seems to me as if we’re going in the wrong direction entirely. Usually my sense of this is much better. I’m sorry,” Tamara replied. The woods were sparse and less alive than the last time she walked through them, and the air smelled old, like the musty storerooms under the Tower where the roots and vegetables were kept for the winter. The shard lay in the folds of her cape, a constant reminder of how important it was to return to the Tower.
“Don’t apologize. This forest has changed since I was here last too. So much has withered and died,” he observed, confirming her own observations. “I only wish I was more sure of our location.”
“If not for you, I would never have been able to climb out of that pit before to begin with, and we wouldn’t be here now. And if you haven’t noticed, I’m not as lithe as some. I wouldn’t have wanted to travel back to Parth alone.”
Tamara moved quite easily and her step was light. “It may be that at some point you were less agile, sister. But all these weeks on the road must have changed you. You move with grace,” he complimented her. “Were you once more bulky than you are?”
Tamara laughed to herself. “Fat, you mean? Yes, actually I was. And I continue to
“The sister’s actions are of no consequence. If the map is lost, it’s lost to us all. If it’s not, I may yet recover it. Have you weakened so much that events spin away from you?” he provoked him, languishing in the uncertainty of the moment.
They weave of their own will.
“Do you never tire of these old sayings? They have no meaning any longer, if ever they did. Words, words, words, words,” he said, bored, looking out over the distant hills. “Why do you aid me? I have a saying for you. Tell me you haven’t heard it? Never give your enemy what he wants. Am I not your enemy?”
Our purposes and yours will never be entirely the same, but they do have some elements in common. Do you wonder, though, if perhaps our assistance is something other than it seems? Do you know what it is you want? ‘Twas your failure that lost you the parchment, not my information. You must regain it from the elfin your own manner.
“How should I interpret that? I know what I want and I don’t trust you, regardless of your claim to speak the truth. ‘The truth’, ha! It’s what you do not say that is of real interest to me.” A ball of ebon fire danced on his palm and he toyed with it as if it was more interesting than the conversation, bouncing it from one finely shaped hand to the next.
We offer you what we can.
“What you choose!” His black eyes gleamed. “I will obtain what I need in time, regardless, but why do you want me to have the map? What purpose would it serve you?”
You wish to find the Gem. We desire that too.
“So arrogant, despite everything,” he said to himself. “And you cannot find it on your own? Do you hope I will lead you to it? What of the young ones’ quests?”
My eyes are weak. I cannot see.
“Or will not tell!” he roared.
The twins have their own paths to follow. The cloth is torn. Who has the strength to mend it?
“You speak in riddles again. It grows tiresome.”
Then do not listen to them.
“What have you given to me of import? A piece here, a piece there? Why?”
It was your arm that could not reach into the mountain. It was you who could not enter the forbidden places.
“The mountain was shielded. The plans I made for my brother did not materialize, and I sent another in his place when the tree died. It was she who failed.”
Ah, you make excuses too.
He spun about and the air around him crackled. Rivulets of power coruscated over his perfect skin. His muscles flexed and throbbed, the veins popping out like rivers along his arms. “Tell me this; who intervenes on their behalf now, if not you and your kind?”
The one called Sidra , Ormachon replied.
Chapter Ten
“Come, sister. It can’t be much further. I recognize this area.” “It seems to me as if we’re going in the wrong direction entirely. Usually my sense of this is much better. I’m sorry,” Tamara replied. The woods were sparse and less alive than the last time she walked through them, and the air smelled old, like the musty storerooms under the Tower where the roots and vegetables were kept for the winter. The shard lay in the folds of her cape, a constant reminder of how important it was to return to the Tower.
“Don’t apologize. This forest has changed since I was here last too. So much has withered and died,” he observed, confirming her own observations. “I only wish I was more sure of our location.”
“If not for you, I would never have been able to climb out of that pit before to begin with, and we wouldn’t be here now. And if you haven’t noticed, I’m not as lithe as some. I wouldn’t have wanted to travel back to Parth alone.”
Tamara moved quite easily and her step was light. “It may be that at some point you were less agile, sister. But all these weeks on the road must have changed you. You move with grace,” he complimented her. “Were you once more bulky than you are?”
Tamara laughed to herself. “Fat, you mean? Yes, actually I was. And I continue to
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