1/6/1348
Madrid
very late evening
I sit at the table in the common room, and listen to the sounds around me. Tamsin and Seraphim are sitting in the chairs near the fire, talking in their lilting native language. Gavião's sharpening his new sword, muttering something about having gotten used to a sword that kept itself sharp. Farther away, I can hear occasional explosions--Teryl's being tutored by Arnie and Aidan, it seems.
So much life, all around me. From here, I can see Jonas curled up in a pile of blankets someone arranged for him, sound asleep. Poor thing. What happened to him today is enough to make me blanch, and I've seen many a combat before.
The first part of today did not go well. I was trying to work, writing messages and mapping out what we know about what's going on so I can lay it out in a coherent fashion for the other Headmasters tomorrow, and I kept on finding myself staring off into space, tears leaking out of the corners of my eyes. Everything suddenly reminds me of my father, and though I was desperately trying to bury myself in what I was doing, it wasn't working.
Midmorning, a welcome distraction came in the form of the ransom of Obould. Morgan sent us Vishnu's Mace for him; I figured she wouldn't send us the Philosopher's Stone, which is all right by me. I've no need for immortality, which is what the Stone grants you. As far as I can tell, immortality is the cause of much heartbreak and little joy. Not for me, thank you. The mace itself is a nasty-looking instrument, with a personality that could best be described as "brooding". It doesn't talk much, thankfully, since I'm carrying it.
I was deep into a discussion about what we should do with the Russian Temple with Galvin when Gavião walked into the room, carrying a piece of paper with a note scrawled on it. He dropped the note on the table and sat down next to me, saying, "We should get the others in here. I just found out what the price of Excalibur's little stunt yesterday was."
I rounded everyone up, and once we were all there Gavião rose and stood by the fire, crossing his arms. He told us that the town of Touton, France had been destroyed last night, every inhabitant slaughtered, and each body having a large fragment of stained glass stuck in the throat. Scrawled in blood on almost every building were the words, "Versailles Glass has a very high price, indeed." The ArcAngel, the black-winged ship with the angel trapped inside of it, was there, the angel holding the Servant of the Bones fast. The angel that was the only thing on any plane that could prevent the Servant of the bones from going wherever he pleased.
I hissed Tarn's name. Gavião looked at me and said, "And there's something more. There's a note on the ship. Evidently, Jonas Beryl will be possessed by Jonas Shorl tonight at midnight."
Tamsin said, "Is it just me, or does this have trap written on it in very, very large letters?"
Gavião agreed. I somehow wasn't so sure. It was a trap, but not one of the usual kind, I thought. Knowing that Tarn owned the ArcAngel and that he fears Duchela because of her possession of the Servant, I thought that perhaps he'd set it up to let us take the Servant from her, and only then would the trap be sprung.
Even knowing it was a trap, we figured that this was going to be our only chance to free Seraphim in such a way that he could actually be released back into life. I drew Gavião into the dream realm with me and took him to Touton, to do some quick reconnaissance. One by one, I'm showing the others what it is I see when I dream, practicing for the eventuality of needing to pull everyone into the dream realm with me. I'm not sure Gavião had really quite grasped what dreaming is like for me, before. It's actually been rather fun to start pulling people in with me and show them what I see. I'm being very careful to do reconnaissance before I pull anyone in with me, though. I still don't know enough about the dream realm to be aware of all its dangers--and during the day, I don't have Dream with me to protect me.
All was as the note Gavião had received described it, so we returned. When I opened my eyes, I noticed that Gaius looked distracted. More than usual, even. He cleared his throat and said, "I'm not sure what this has to do with Touton, but...Modred has left Versailles, and Morgan's sent Aru after him. Aru let me know so we could find him first, if we like."
I closed my eyes as I felt something fall into place in my mind. On occasion, I can almost feel the wheels of fate turning around us, and that was one of those times. Evidently, the shields around Versailles were not only keeping people out, but holding Modred in. I did a quick scry on him and determined that he was somewhere in the south of France, which meant that we might or might not run into him. It was decided that dealing with Seraphim in Touton had to take precedence over hunting down Modred. I fetched Jonas Beryl, who was confused but seemed to figure that we knew what we were doing. (Oh, if he only knew...)
We made preparations and about ten at night we went off to France, transiting to a gate just outside of Touton that hadn't been used in twelve hundred years. Even in winter, lavender fields smell nice. And it was almost warm. Oh, *bliss*. I hadn't realized that I missed the south of France. I wasn't too sure of it when I first came to Provence to study, in large part because I wasn't fluent in French, but it really did grow on me. Especially once my French improved.
I thought to myself, won't the farmer be surprised when he comes out and finds that several of his bushes have been trampled... and then I caught my breath in my throat as I remembered that it was very likely that the farmer was dead like everyone else in the town.
The other side likes to drag in random noncombatants into this war. The plague, Touton, so many other incidents. There aren't enough tears in the world to shed for the number of lives they will take before it's over.
And there seems to be so little we can do to stop them.
Down into the town we went, on our way to the ArcAngel which was moored at the docks. Everywhere we went, bodies lay. I was prepared for it, having seen it before we came, but a massacre is always a nauseating sight. And smell. You really never forget the smell. Each building had the same message about the price of Versailles glass scrawled on it in blood.
Poor Jonas was white as a sheet, but doggedly kept going. I murmured to him, "It's all right not to look. This isn't your fight, right now."
He looked at me and said, "Headmistress...if it's your fight, it's mine. I don't really know why I'm here, but I'll do what's necessary." I sighed. Was I ever that unquestioning? Was I ever that young?
Galvin frowned and caught at my hand. "You know what's odd? There aren't any animals here. It looks like someone drove off or took all of them away." We looked around, and that's when Galvin found the a track of a different style of boot than any we'd seen in the town so far--a small foot, almost as small as a woman's, but sunk deep in the mud as if the person who'd made the footprints were much heavier than their foot would indicate.
Then Gavião said, "We have another complication. Modred is here. Perhaps a quarter of a mile away."
I caught my breath. "You're going to fight him, aren't you?"
"This may be our only chance to see him away from his mother. Of course I'm going to."
I nodded and said, "I know. This day's been coming since I accepted the geas for you." I pulled on the end of my braid absently. "I just wish it hadn't come quite so soon."
"We do what we must, Callas."
I knew that I wasn't going to be able to get close to Gavião and Modred during the battle--the shield that Excalibur puts up around itself does an effective job of keeping people away. I decided that Gavião could probably use the Grail, which Aidan was carrying, but Aidan was being stubborn about giving it up. Tamsin finally told me to swap him something shiny for it, so I gave him a pretty sapphire that I had on me.
A few minutes later, we were ready. I wrapped Gavião in the best protective spells I could think of that would still allow Modred close to him. He told Galvin to take care of me, and then came over and kissed me on the top of the head. I think it was at that point that the knowledge actually penetrated that Gavião might well die during the next hour, and my skin went cold with fear.
I looked up at Gavião, then stood on my toes and brought his face close to mine. I kissed him gently on the forehead, releasing the spell that I'd been preparing that I wasn't going to tell Gavião I'd cast. I felt it take hold and then disappear. I let go of Gavião and said, "Good luck, my knight. I'll help as I can."
We then walked through the town, watching and listening. We weren't disappointed. When we were in the middle of the town square, a figure stepped from between two buildings, and said, "It is time."
That voice we'd heard before at Versailles answered, "Modred. Let us finish this."
In the moonlight, Modred's black armor seemed almost to glow at the seams. He was slightly built for a knight, but the way he moved told us that this was someone to take very seriously indeed. His mouth twisted in a slightly deranged grin. "Let's keep your friends busy. Arise." Then with a smooth motion, he slammed his faceplate shut and threw something at us.
Fire blossomed around us. Between Galvin and I, we managed to shield Jonas from it, but the rest of us had crisped hair and burns. After the fire faded, I looked up to find that Gavião was engaged with Modred, Excalibur's shield sparkling warningly, and all around us the dead were rising to their feet.
Jonas blanched even paler than he had been, and Galvin pulled out both of his swords. I told Jonas to stay with me, and then we all fanned outwards, walking between clumps of the newly awakened and confused dead. When I judged that the distance was right, I gripped Vishnu's mace and invoked its power, then cast a healing spell.
The Mace distinguishes not between friend and foe, causing healing spells to be cast in a wide area on all who are around. Fortunately, the undead react to healing spells the same way those who are alive react to Harm spells. In an area about a hundred and thirty feet across, the dead toppled and lay still. I smiled a very small, grim smile and started moving again, Jonas and Galvin following me.
And it was about that point that the spell I hadn't told Gavião about kicked in, as Modred landed his first set of blows on Gavião. I gasped and staggered as wounds opened in my shoulder and my side, blood welling between my fingers as I reflexively put my free hand on my shoulder. Galvin said, "Callas, what have you done?"
I told him, "My job, Galvin. To protect those in my care. I'm fine, I was just surprised. Keep an eye on Jonas for a second, will you?" A glance at Gavião told me that his wounds were the same as mine, and then I was busy casting again, this time a circle against evil that would keep the dead away from us.
Arnie ran past on his way towards a nearby clump of the dead, axe in hand. Tamsin changed shape and flew towards the ArcAngel. I rather lost track of Aidan in the fuss, as my circle came up. The dead, who had been approaching too close for comfort, backed off from us.
Except one.
A tall, thin man stood inside the circle, black hair stark against a pale face, aristocratic lines etched in the moonlight. I heard Galvin ask, "Who are you?"
His only answer was to say, "Tarn." and gesture at me. Lightning crackled from his fingertips and hit me square in the chest. A couple of seconds later, Galvin said, "It's an illusion. It has to be, there aren't any dragons nearby. He's not there." And between one heartbeat and the next, the man was indeed gone. Damn illusionary damage hurts just as much as the real thing, though.
I could hear Aidan's voice coming from somewhere nearby, in his usual invisibility. "Hey, crazy lady, his familiar is down here somewhere. I'll find him." Arnie ran past yet again, grumbling about how next time he was going to wait for the zombies to come to him rather than chasing the damned things down.
My attention returned to the Modred and Gavião battle, watching the two knights slashing at each other. More wounds opened on me as Modred landed more blows on Gavião and used orbs to make Gavião's artifacts disappear, one by one, until only Excalibur was left. Tamsin, in pegasus form, landed nearby and asked Galvin if he wanted to go dragon hunting, since Tarn was about a mile straight up. He looked at me, and I nodded. "I think things down here are under control. Go!" And he went.
Of course, it was only after he was gone that I realized that I was growing dizzy from the blood loss from the wounds I was taking for Gavião. The reason I was keeping such a close eye on Gavião finally came into play, as I said, "I've done what I can" and broke the link between us between one blow and the next, and then healed myself.
And then a whole bunch of things happened all at once.
A large red arrow appeared over the head of one of the walking dead, one that was without the unfortunate accessory of a piece of stained glass embedded in his throat. Arnie tossed something at him that made him stagger but not drop, and Gaius was closing in on him. A shadow passed over the moon and when I looked up, a dragon even darker than the night sky was dropping towards us. Gaius stunned the man that the arrow was over, and then slit his throat. A scream tore itself out of the black dragon's throat as he tumbled in the air, catching himself before he hit the ground.
Aidan became visible, his white hair whipping around him in a breeze that was only affecting him. He smiled at Tarn, who was banking swiftly and coming around. The din of the battlefield prevented me from hearing what he said, but from where I stood, it looked something like, "Welcome to my world, Tarn."
And Tarn screamed again. This time, seemingly, not in pain but confusion. A glowing door appeared before him and he sailed through and was gone.
I heard then something I will never forget. Gavião's voice rang out over the battlefield, saying two words in a voice filled with steel and ice.
"Bleed, Modred."
And Modred bled.
Great gouts of blood came from the wounds Gavião had given him, dripping out his faceplate and running down his front. And the immortal Modred fell to his knees, and then so, so slowly toppled over. Closed his eyes. Breathed out.
The walking dead fell again, as their master passed from the world. And the night was, for a moment, entirely silent.
Then Gavião said, "Callas. The orb, now." I saw that up and down Excalibur's length, red and blue lights were dancing, seeming almost to be wrestling with each other. I pulled my one remaining orb out of its pouch and threw it. My aim was true.
The moment that the orb and the sword contacted each other, both exploded in a shower of blue flame. And a voice sounded in all of our minds, much like the voice of Excalibur but infinitely more tired. All it said was, Freedom.
And it was over.
I walked over to where Modred's body lay, and opened the faceplate of his helm. In death, he seemed so much smaller than he had in life. I said, quietly, "I consign you to the flame, Modred, son of Arthur Pendragon and Morgan le Fay." And then called fire from the sky.
Nothing remained afterwards except twisted metal and ash. And the wind from Tamsin's wings as she and Galvin landed scattered the black ash away from me.
We headed to the ship. On board, we tried to convince the angel to let the Servant go, but it refused, saying that nobody but its master could currently order it. I nudged Gavião and asked if it was evil, just in case. Gavião concentrated for a moment, and then a look of awe came over his face. He said, "It's not only good. It's the complete opposite of evil."
To tune the angel to one of us, that person would have to touch the angel's body, encased in an energy field below decks. Gavião agreed to go. He pushed his hand and then the rest of his body, moving slowly through the translucent stuff towards the place where the naked form with great wings was suspended.
The glow from the being brightened until we had to look away or be blinded. When our dazzled eyes cleared, Gavião stood before us, glowing beatifically. As the glow faded from him, he said, "Well. That was certainly interesting."
"But did it work?" asked Tamsin.
Gavião nodded. I said, "All right, let's do this."
As we climbed back up to the deck of the ship, I noticed that, strangely, Gavião seemed to be avoiding looking at Galvin. I still have no idea why, but he's been doing it ever since he went in to the angel. We waited a few minutes and then Jonas Shorl took possession of Jonas Beryl's body. I introduced us, and asked him if he would be willing to release the Servant of the Bones.
He said yes, but on the condition that we find a way to release him from the half-life he was living. I agreed. We prepared ourselves--me with the Ankh, Tamsin and Arnie to destroy the bones--and Gavião gave the angel the order to release the Servant.
Jonas said, "It's always been very simple. Servant, you are released from the bones."
Seraphim's face seemed caught between pain, surprise, and delight as his form fell to the deck, and then vanished. He was gone. Tamsin and Arnie destroyed the bones, and then I used the Ankh.
And there before us lay the naked form of Seraphim, breathing shallowly on the bare boards of the deck.
(I have to say that Tamsin certainly has excellent taste in men. Physically, anyway.)
Everyone went a wee bit sniffly. Tamsin burst into tears and rushed to wake Seraphim. I even saw Gavião brush a tear from the corner of his eye. I leaned against Galvin, his arm around me, watching the scene.
And then I said, "Aine, are you listening?"
"I am if I have to be, I suppose. What do you people want?" came the disembodied voice.
"Can you release Jonas Shorl from the life you've bound him into?"
It turned out that she could, but as usual balked at doing it for free. I told him she owed us one--probably several--but it wasn't until Arnie offered her the gold he'd melted off the Bones and Aidan offered her the sapphire he had on him (my sapphire!) that she agreed.
And then Jonas said farewell to us. And to you, Aru. And he said he was sorry for what happened.
That's odd, Matthew just came in--I wonder what he wants--
[on the next page, droplets of ink splashed, betraying a shaking hand]
No.
Aru, you cannot be dead.
You cannot.
You--
[a line trails across the page, which is otherwise empty]
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