Orphan At The Edge Of The World

tGetting closer, the young mage could now see what the scout had been talking about before on the road. A thin line of obsidian elves created a barricade between the post and a slightly more substantial group facing towards the post with weapons drawn. The thin line of friendly elves looked like their resolve was beginning to waver, however. Orison had a sneaking suspicion that when the friendly ones moved it would be the signal of an attack or from the looks of the activity that could be seen from where Gan and Orison was, a surrendering of whatever the elves had come for.

tGan said, "I can see them from here. Morrel and his girl are standing on the gate wall looking like they"re staring down a firing squad and the soldiers on either side of them look like they"re keeping an eye on them rather than being buddies."

tOrison had to get Gan"s help but by the skin of their teeth they managed to get past the guards and into the post. It worried Orison that if they could do it, so could others. Pushing that to the back of his mind, Orison strode to the front in plain view and even though a few of the newer faces looked ready to jump him, a few familiar ones warned them off. Whether old or new, no one looked happy.

tIn a spot of humor, Captain Nadir did a double take when orison showed up beside him before the captain was aware of his presence. "We"ve held out for half the night, Orison. They"re going to think we"ve been harboring you to delay with you just showing up like this."

tOrison sighed. "How about telling me what"s going on and I"ll start cleaning the trash as usual, Captain. I believe I"ve demonstrated I have the ability so give me some benefit of the doubt until after I screw up the first time."

tNadir raged quietly. "d.a.m.n it, Legate. That"s what I"ve been doing for half the night. I"ve all but burned up the goodwill and patience everyone has for you and me both... Those out there with weapons pointed are Fvaris and the ones standing in the way are the Grenada. Speaker of the Left has lent what little she could but I wouldn"t be surprised if there is a Revivalist clan out there waiting to reclaim the spoils we just earned from them... You have five minutes to fix this before I toss the whole lot of you out to the wolves."

tOrison said, "I hear you but what are they actually here for?"

tLooking like he would pa.s.s out from repressed anger, Nadir explained, "Fvaris Clan claimed you stole one of their maidens along with holding the responsibility of three deaths of clan members in a terrorist act. They want to take you, Morrel and the girl back as prisoners and claim the rest of your remaining people as slaves in compensation."

tOrison walked up to the wall and it was obvious within seconds that the Fvaris clan had no intentions of letting him so much as speak. They wanted what they wanted and they were going to scream and even kill if they needed to get it. Since that was the case, Orison wrote some information on the back of the two "const.i.tution" papers and threw them down to the line of obsidian elves below. After the leader of the barricade read it, he looked up at Orison and gave a thumbs up before turning around and had his people draw their weapons, pointing them at the Fvaris Clan.

tThe present Fvaris elder looked stunned and confused at the Progressive clan"s sudden change from peaceful protesters to actively defending with force.

t.i.t took him a moment to get the hot blood he whipped up died down enough to speak with Grenada"s elder. "What"s the meaning of this? You told me you were here to make sure no one was harmed that shouldn"t be and you would not interfere beyond negotiation. That negotiation happened hours ago. We"re ready to end this now that the murderer is here. What are we waiting for now?"

tThe Grenada elder said, "Don"t speak to me, speak to the Legate and you"ll know."

tAfter bantering and another round of raised threats and closer inching aggression, the Grenada elder didn"t move and the post didn"t hand Orison over. With no other choice than to let Orison speak or continue this stalemate, the elder finally conceded. "I"ll listen to you for a thirty count and after that, if you don"t get your deceitful a.s.s down here then the blood of Grenada will be on your hands too."

tOrison calmly and loudly stated, "There is a reason the Revivalists are not with you today when they"d normally be chomping at the bits to shred us with you. Your own dowager is ready to sacrifice you as well as everyone else here to make up for her mistakes. EVEN YOUR OWN ANCESTORS ARE ABOUT TO FACE THE OTHERS" WRATH AND YOU ARE HERE SHOUTING FOR ME!? Get your sorry a**es back to your city and start offering explanations to the other four clans for the dowager"s betrayal or THERE WILL NO LONGER BE A FVARIS CLAN!"

t.i.t was tough trying to talk through the rising and falling tide rabble rousing clan members but he managed, though his throat was a little raw.

tThe Fvaris elder shouted, "With what proof!?"

tOrison started to explain but once again the rest of the clan started shouting chants and denouncements so he stopped and turned to Nadir. "Captain, send out half your troops to reinforce clan Grenada. You know what happened. You know that Fvaris only needs one small victory to start turning tables or one small defeat to begin their topple. If you want them to fix things with the Domain and have a sword hanging over your"s and your soldier"s heads for the rest of the time you"re here then don"t."

tNadir turned to face Orison and said, "You know, I no longer like you anymore."

tOrison replied benignly, "I no longer care how much of an ungrateful wretch you are any longer either."

tThe captain scoffed and after ordering his troops to reinforce, he said, "I"m not the one who fails to see what others do for him."

t"We can have another session of drinks about how our feelings don"t even matter after this is done, Captain," Orison said bitterly.

tNadir nodded and said, "You"re going down there with me and as soon as my first man falls I"m going to cut off your head myself."

tOrison shared his agreement and added, "Yes, let"s burn together for actually expecting you and your men to do what they were sent here for... Gan, Morrel, sweep the post for a.s.sa.s.sins and if I die during this, use this scroll to get the two of you and as many of the rest of our people as you can, out of here. This is the coordinates set I want you to use and the circle is ten feet in diameter."

tGan protested but Orison cut him off with an order to take care of Droya after getting a hold of Venito.

tOnce Nadir and Orison walked out of the walls, the Fvaris clan had reached a fever pitch and was pushed as close to the Grenada line as they could without getting poked while a few suicidal ones were test thrusting at Grenada members.

tWith one last try to get the upper hand without resorting to bloodshed, the Fvaris elder said, "Ready to pay for your crimes, murderer?"

tWith this one last chance to speak that would last all of five seconds before it resulted in fightin,g Orison said in conversational tones as he flared the full force of spirit behind his eyes, "Xia, in three breaths your clan is going to be gone unless you stop them."

tAn elderly woman"s voice resounded, "Stop!"

tAn illusion around one of the members to the back wavered and revealed the dowager.

tFrom her protection in the back, she said, "You mostly believe that. How?"

tOrison replied, "Three breaths until you leave with them or your clan will be gone."

tXia waived her clan back and within little more than a second, had a myriad of sustained effects on her as a t.i.tan of spiritual ma.s.s began manifesting itself while she sneered.

tWith one last look at the scenery around Lithus" husband, who had just used the orb to break into an elven made townhouse, Orison recalled the Danann key to his s.p.a.ce. Covertly as possible, he summoned it out with a silently willed command to "free" all that made up Xia. Obviously the elves that "made" her were no more so in a sifting of ash and spirit reduced to particles, she also was no more. Orison felt a little ill but she had left him with no choice. She wasn"t willing to back down. Maybe, like himself, she couldn"t afford to.

tTo recoup a small part of his losses, he halfheartedly lobbed a summoned axe through the dissipating spirit guardian to claim it. The completely disappeared wider second ring had a faint scattering of dust to demarcate it"s borders again. Nearly ten times as much had been taken by the orb. As the Danann Key once again "ran away", Orison saw that not only did it plop in front of a nice looking middle aged Northlander woman, he could see she was nursing a sickly little wood elf girl as a young Northlander man paced around with concern and worry.

t"A desperate grandmother praying for a miracle is a far cry better than a thief but I"m not willing to commit to that judgment. I did just kill a granny that also was praying for a miracle in her own twisted way." Orison thought as he turned back to the remaining Fvaris clansmen. "I"ll forgive if you depart this very moment. Otherwise, join her."

tSeeing that Grenada members were about to join them in their fear, Orison said as calmly as he could, "Stay, friends. The danger has pa.s.sed and there is much to discuss. Besides, if Elder Fvaris is willing to see reason, I have no further grudge to bear."

tOrison didn"t miss the hatred and fear in the younger elves" eyes as Clan Fvaris turned and walked away with the spirit of a funeral procession. Unfortunately, no amount of veneration would allow Xia to return to them but there was a chance of making a more ideal and impressionable version of her. Orison conceded that faith was a mystery he was far from unraveling.

tThroughout the night, Nadir, Orison and the Grenada elder discussed the framework of a const.i.tution Orison had given them. He also explained the rumor he had "heard in pa.s.sing" about a scroll that all the ancestors were looking for that Xia and Clan Fvaris were keeping secret from the rest which is what he had written on the back of the const.i.tution draft. Finally, at the end of a grueling session, Orison told them to pa.s.s a message to the Liu Clan that since he had orchestrated the taking of the Dowager"s life in self defense but had taken an obsidian elf"s life none the less, he would exile himself for as long as the truce held.

tAs he bid farewell to the Granada Clan people who had "righteously stood for justice" with him, he handed a letter of apology to Obsidian Island for the betrayal of their expectations in him. It was nothing more than a backhanded way of leveling a finger at the lying Fvaris clan member who he "fully shared the blame with" over the terrible tragedy of the loss of three Fvaris clan members and the currently unknown amount of Domain elves who were "residing" underneath the Fvaris compound. Though he expressed sympathy and concern over the Domain families affected by the loss he also expressed " innocent confusion" on why they were underground instead of residing in the Domain suite.

t"It"s two hours til sixth bell, Captain. I"m still game for that drink if you are," Orison said more in jest than in earnestness.

tNadir said, "A fortifying cup or two to start the day I will get no sleep for? Why not?"

tOrison followed him and expressed some concern for a possible condition he thought Nadir might have. The captain snorted and made a retort that working with Orison would cause a righteous man to fall into all sorts of d.a.m.ning conditions of deteriorating mental and physical health. The young mage looked back at his life up til that point and had to grudgingly agree that Nadir"s thought had far too much circ.u.mstantial evidence for his liking.

tSince they were soon to part ways, Orison expressed the will to end their service time together on a note closer to how it began. Seeing no harm in it, Nadir waited for what Orison wanted to say.

tThe young mage toasted, "For a small time, I thought you might become my stepfather. Mom could do worse than a man who could protect her but a sight better than a man who"d put her second. Still, if it had been her choice I"d have accepted you."

tNadir returned, "For a small time, I thought I you might become my stepson. A man could do worse than a kid who was bright and protective of his family but a sight better than one who constantly finds himself in dangerous situations, whatever the reason. Still, if she would have me I"d have accepted you."

tThrowing them back, the captain filled up for a second.

tNadir toasted, "For all the times we couldn"t see eye to eye and spited each other, intentionally or not, bury that and put it behind us."

tOrison returned, "For all the times we did what needs done and our feelings didn"t matter, bury that and put it behind us."

tThe captain looked like he was done but Orison waved for one more and Nadir laughed but obliged only in "one more" but no more. After the small tumblers were filled two-thirds, the drunk"s standard, Orison doused them both with a few drops each of vital and vigor potions.

tOrison toasted, "May we never again have to work with each other so that after some time and distance we might actually have a chance to be friends."

tNadir didn"t so much return as add-lib, "I don"t know if I ever want to get close to your "large boat" but I sure as the Abyss will drink to never getting caught in its wake again."

tNadir slammed the shot back leaving Orison to catch up but it didn"t really matter since they were done. Possibly in more ways than one. As Orison saw his way out, not for the first time, he went over all the exchanges they had and wondered if there could have been a way he didn"t see to keep Nadir in his corner but ultimately whether it was sooner or later, Orison felt that they would have had conflict. The only other choice was to learn to live under Nadir"s thumb and that wasn"t something he could have done. It all boiled down to one couldn"t and the other wouldn"t. They may occasionally see themselves on one side of that or the other but Orison believed he really understood what Nadir meant when the man had said it didn"t matter how they felt.

tFeeling light in step under the potion spiked whiskey, the young mage, met back up with a relieved Gan and Morrel. With scroll back in hand, Orison finalized their next move.

tOrison said, "Morrel, I"m claiming Ruolan as clan rest.i.tution for the loss of Avenar. Is there any reason why I can"t or shouldn"t?"

tMorrel said, "Many but I support the decision. Feud with Fvaris looks unavoidable at this point but it won"t matter much considering where we"ll be. You should be wary of taking in obsidian elves without clear backgrounds in the future as result."

tOrison nodded then turned to Ruolan, "Welcome to the clan, Ruolan Cantrip. To let you know we appreciate you, your status as trophy wife shall be hereby abolished and if Morrel wants you as I believe he will agree, you shall be afforded the status of legal first wife. Even should yourself and Morrel decide to go separate ways in the future, you and your progeny will see no dissipation of status."

tSeeing the look of shock and confusion on the obsidian elf woman"s face, Morrel explained, "The Cantrip family upholds equality of rights and privileges without discrimination between genders. The Cantrip Clan will apparently be the same but keep in mind that the clan will be within Centerland and they believe in birthright inheritance. First son has priority but a daughter may inherit if there are no male heirs and that will only apply to the Cantrip family or an adopted heir."

tOrison said, "There"s a lot of uncertainties in the Cantrip Clan"s near future but I"m going to work hard to make those as many pleasant surprises as I can... Oh, before I forget. I want you to know that we all think you"re beautiful just the way you are but if you ever find the day that you want to do it just to give yourself a little pick-me-up...."

tOrison handed her a jar of cream and told her it had the ability to reduce her facial birthmark over time but warned her not to use it for any other reason than personal pleasure or he"d be disappointed in her. He never thought that would prompt Morrel to ask her in seriousness if she"d still want to be with him afterwards in a worried tone. The musical laughter she had before saying yes told Orison it wouldn"t be long before she"d be able to use the cream without it being for sad reasons.