Название | Advent Of Darkness |
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Автор произведения | Gary Caplan |
Жанр | Историческая фантастика |
Серия | |
Издательство | Историческая фантастика |
Год выпуска | 0 |
isbn | 9781456620394 |
His hand poised motionless in the air for a moment and then shot to his side.
At that instant, there was a thunderous roar as the griffons' wings flapped almost simultaneously. With several regiments going airborne, it was a spectacular sight for Gideon. Sir Caylendril signaled his griffon, and in one mighty leap, it vaulted into the air, going to its place in the vanguard of the squadron wing. Wind rushed past Gideon's ears as he looked down. Far below him now was the great forest of Valenwood; its mighty trees now resembling nothing more than mossy bushes on a great rock, with no end yet in sight. "How high will we be, Sir Knight?" asked Gideon over the rush of wind and wings.
"We will be leveling off at four thousand feet," replied Caylendril. "The maximum height of flight is nine thousand, but not many creatures fly much higher due to the lack of breathable air." Gideon noticed the atmosphere on Illúmaril was somewhat thicker than he was used to. The forest broke into sections of patchwork country and surrounding hills dotted by trees. Every now and then, when they passed over terraced fields, he could spot farmers plowing their crops. Once, he spotted a herd of unicorns galloping swiftly across a short plain. Then later, he saw a group of half-horse, half-eagle hippogriffs, which had mixed areas of feathers and hair, headed northwest. Gideon was busy soaking in all these wonderful sights when he remembered a question that had been on his mind for some time.
"Sir Caylendril," he began.
"Call me Cordlyer. We are strangers no longer."
"Okay, Cordlyer. Those Charachau we fought back there…what exactly are they? And who was that woman named Vasha?"
"Wait! One at a time. I will try to answer your questions as best I can, my friend," replied the elf. "The Charachau are a type of elite warriors that were brought to Illúmaril by Dormas in ages past. Long ago, he created the Urshkaar as his main strike force of soldiers and officers. But the Charachau are now said to be very popular as his vanguard force.
"As for Vasha…well, she is a Valharri, which in our language means 'lord of power.' As you may know from the histories, Dormas had corrupted some of the first of my people. Those who sought power through him or were seduced into being his servants became known as the darkspawn. The most powerful of these darkspawn are the Valharri. And one of that group's most powerful members is Ammaroth. Luckily, there are not many of them. I guess there are about a thousand Valharri, though not all live on this continent. Fifty high lords are said to rule these thousand. It is believed that twenty of these high lords operate on this continent. Vasha is one of the Valharri under the High Lord Ammaroth. The Valharri rule the Dark Elves and, to some degree, the Urshkaar. Before my father Garenthal sensed Ragan, we were returning from the north where another Valharri high lord, Valestran, was transferring forces to that region. He's still in the northern lands and moving forces toward Kingswood Province, but he has not yet crossed the borders."
"You seem to know a great deal about what is going on," said Gideon. As Gideon listened to the story, he realized that Cordlyer was speaking in his native Alor tongue, which was being translated by the circlet into the common tongue called Arabethic. His newfound understanding of the language that Pyne's enchanted circlet was giving him, along with his archaeological training, kept steering those translations to words and meanings more acceptable to his earthly learning.
"Well, I should," said Cordlyer. "My father, Gilthondral Garenthal, is one of the Firstborn and is one of our greatest wizards and warriors of any of the ages. You could say I am privy to quite a few things that a select group knows. In that respect, I guess, I am well-informed."
"I'll say, and I would suppose you would have to be considering who your father is," remarked Gideon. "But where do the Charachau come from? Vasha mentioned something about limbo."
"There are many discourses about that topic also, but my sources believe that they were first brought to Illúmaril by Dormas."
"Really?" was all Gideon could say. He thought for what seemed to be a seemingly simple culture, technically, the people of this world had an uncanny concept of the spiritual and mystic aspects of the universe. Concepts that would, at one time, have had one ridiculed or institutionalized on Earth seemed quite acceptable here. It appeared these people learned of other worlds or dimensions, perhaps by making contact with them or even trading with them.
It all made him want to learn more.
"See it?" said Cordlyer suddenly. "Flying across the mountain?"
"Huh?" asked Gideon, his mind was lost in his own thoughts. "See what, Cordlyer? I'm sorry, my mind was wandering."
"I said that there was a dragon flying around the cliffs of that mountain over there," replied the elf. "Do you see it? Over by the river there."
Gideon scanned the distant mountain as they passed. He saw nothing even though he had excellent vision. He strained his eyes intently. Still, he did not see the creature.
"I'm sorry. I don't see a thing," he said.
"What?" said Cordlyer, surprised. "Can't see it? Why it's as plain as the nose on my—"
Then the elf stopped his sentence and began to chuckle. "Oh," he said after a moment. "I forgot that humans have a more limited sight. The dragon is a good five leagues distant, but I see it clearly. You, on the other hand, cannot. A pity, really, for it is a beautiful beast with bright blue-red wings and a green-gray body, absolutely magnificent."
A dragon…beautiful? Or magnificent?
"I thought dragons were creatures to be feared?" asked Gideon in amazement.
"Ahh," replied Cordlyer. "Some human groups do not perceive the beauty of creatures in nature. You see them in only two varieties: those that are harmful and those that are not. Most of nature's animals are not evil by nature, the dragon being an example. They become tainted by their encounters in life, as we do. When you were a child in your mother's arms, did you know real fear?"
"No, I don't think so," said Gideon, a bit confused. He still was not sure what his point was.
"I see; I am drifting a bit, aren't I?" said Cordlyer thoughtfully. "Well, what I am trying to say is don't always judge an animal by its legends and mythic implications, but rather think of it as a person who has learned about life as we have. You see, we elves hold a different philosophy on the value of life than do many humans. Remember what I have said and you may save yourself much grief in the long run."
"I'll try to remember that," said Gideon. "Thank you."
Eventually, they came closer. Gideon was able to see the dragon flying, and he was amazed that such a thing could exist.
Cordlyer then saw the griffon regiments descend and prodded his mount to do likewise. "Hold on, we're going to land," he said.
Once on the ground, they dismounted, and Cordlyer removed some metal stakes and an expandable metal pole from his saddle pouch. He then tethered his griffon with a line attached to the metal pole sunk deep into the ground. He twisted the pole's top until it was tight.
"There, this will secure Tema, with a little room left to flap about," said Cordlyer. "See, she is happy."
The griffon stalked back and forth for a second and then sank down on her haunches and rested. Gideon carefully climbed down from the saddle and moved away from the resting griffon.
"Well, let's go and have our midday meal," said Cordlyer as he led Gideon off toward the center of the camp. The cooks had already set up and were beginning to prepare the meal. After they ate, everyone prepared to resume the journey to Mindon. The riders made two more stops that day: one to give the griffons time to rest and the other to make camp for the night.
Ragan approached Gideon from behind so as not to disturb his repast. The wizard seemed to be pondering something. "Gideon," he said thoughtfully in a low voice as he sat next to him. "I've been