The Gem Lords

The Abduction - Part 2

      Lirenna walked slowly back towards her dwelling tree, her thoughts a morass of purest misery. She'd tried to lose herself in her work, but it hadn't worked. She thought of Thomas every minute of every day and there was nothing she could do about it. Her mind seemed incapable of accepting the simple fact that she'd never see him again. Never hear his voice, never feel his touch.

     Her nights, alone in the big, cold bed, were almost unbearable and she hadn't had a single moment's sleep since returning from the Realms nearly a week before. That wasn't as much of a problem for her as it would have been for a human, of course. The shae folk can, if necessary, go for incredibly long periods without sleep, but it was still a cause for concern and the valley's other shae were doing everything they could to help her.

     She needed Derrin, she knew. She needed her son, and her other relatives, but it was still too early. She knew she couldn't face him until she'd gained a measure of equilibrium, enough to provide the support her son would need when she broke the terrible news. At the moment, he still knew nothing of his father's death and Lirenna found herself envying him terribly.

     She was just passing the enchantment building when she became aware of a commotion above her. Something had alarmed the birds and they were scattering in great twittering clouds, soaring up into the sky and then diving back down into the cover of the trees. She paused, wondering what had scared them, and then she saw it. The great winged form of a gem steed, swooping in low for a landing on graduation field, on the other side of the teaching buildings from her present position.

     She felt herself tensing up in anger. What did they want now? Hadn't they done enough, killing her husband, the finest man who'd ever lived? Why couldn't they just leave her alone? Behind the anger, though, she knew that only something of supreme importance could have brought it here, and her heart leaped upon it in desperate hope. Maybe he'd come to tell her there'd been a terrible mistake, that Thomas wasn't dead after all. She knew that it was only a fantasy, that it couldn't realistically be true, but she still found herself running towards the steed, her slender legs pumping with all the energy her love for her husband could provide.

     The rider slid out of the saddle and dropped to the ground, just as the first wizards came running out of the nearest buildings. The rider was calling out something in a loud voice, something that sounded urgent, but before he could complete the sentence he was surrounded and imprisoned by a cage of force. The wizards walked towards him with nonchalant, stately dignity, ignoring the rider's increasingly strident protests, but Lirenna, with her acute shayen vision, could read his lips well enough to make out what he was saying. "No you fools! There isn't time! No time!"

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     Lirenna was right out in the open when Lan's steeds arrived, darkening the skies with the slow and stately beating of their massive wings. In the lead was Lord Opal himself, dismayed that events had taken this turn. He'd planned to land his men just outside the valley and send them in, on foot, under cover of darkness, where they would make enquiries concerning the whereabouts of the demi shae without alerting the valley. Now, though, thanks to the accursed Lord Ruby, that was no longer possible. One of his riders had flown ahead to alert the wizards, and they would protect the demi shae, defending her with all their power. Fifty gem steeds might appear a mighty force, but against dozens of the most powerful wizards in the world they wouldn't last a minute. Once the Lexandrians had had time to prepare themselves, Lan knew he wouldn't have a hope in Hell of getting her. His only chance, therefore, was to attack now, in the hope of finding the demi shae and carrying her off before the wizards had time to collect themselves and recover from their surprise.

     Even now, some of his force were falling to the spells of the wizards. One steed was struck by a bar of solid light that impaled it like a butterfly on a pin, while another exploded into a winged ball of flame, falling to ruin in the lake in the centre of the valley where it lay steaming like a great fleshy island. More steeds were falling all around him, and Lan knew he had only moments before they were wiped out altogether. He brought his steed lower, therefore, and searched the people gathering below, knowing it would be nothing but pure luck if Lirenna were among them.