The Eldars

42

The next morning Chiar and another eagle land, "My mate, Chandra. She has agreed to help me carry you to the dwarven lands." Chiar explains once they are all in the glade they had met in yesterday.

Chiar wasn't expecting to find himself and his mate facing arrows aimed by them all. "What is the meaning of this?" He demands angrily.

Montani doesn't say anything just mind speaks to him, "You could have contacted the Eldar like this at any point in the last ten years and you didn't. You are allowing the evil ones access to your lands and crossing them with impunity. You are in league with the evil ones."

Chiar reacts strongly to her words and hisses angrily, "We are not in league with the evil ones."

Montani says nothing else and only taughtens her pull on her bow. "There are just too many to keep out. We are unable to keep them away."

"They have our younglings." Chandra says seeing her husband about to die.

"Who has your younglings?" Montani demands not lessening the pull on the bow at all.

"The evil humans that work with the evil ones," Chandra hisses angrily. "They came in numbers while we were attacking a large group of evil ones. They fought off those we left behind to protect the eyrie while others stole our younglings. They have threatened to kill them if we do anything to hinder the evil ones."

Mant  makes a noise somewhere between a grunt and a snort, "They are already dead then. There is no way the humans are taking decent care of the younglings. At best they've starved to death. At worst, well you don't want to know what the worst is. I'm sorry, I'm sure that you love your children."

Chandra and Chiar let out cries of pain that echo throughout the forest and mountain. The cry brings all the eagles to flight. The group other than Montani watch in awe as the eagles start searching for and hunting those they've been forced to allow freedom in their lands.

"Powerful one, either shoot us and put us out of our misery or put down your weapon." Chiar manages to say through mind speech.

Montani lowers her weapon and releases the tension on the string. "We will honor this alliance, and we will fight the evil ones like we should have before. I realize that we haven't proven our trustworthiness, but we will fight now."

Mant looks over to Montani, "Montani?"

She shrugs, "Either they will or they won't. It hardly matters for my plans anyway. Their help would be beneficial, but it isn't necessary. Like we've mentioned before this isn't the great war."

Indeed the alliance they worked out with the eagles the day before just has them being scouts more than anything. Any time Montani tried to get them to agree to anything more they refused. At this stage scouts aren't really all that important.

"Powerful one, please let us convey you to the small ones. Then when you are ready call us and we will convey you to where ever you will wish to go." Chiar says bowing to Montani.

"That is more than the agreed upon terms for the alliance, Chiar. You are moving dangerously close to how the eagles helped during the great war."

"Yesterday I did not realize that our children were already dead. We will take a more active part in fighting the evil ones than we had agreed to yesterday. Already we have started fighting back."

Montani shrugs and once more collects her things. She moves forward to Chiar and Mant rushes to catch up with her. Teondae and Leean move to Chandra. Both eagles lower their heads so that their riders will be able to climb aboard their necks.

"Hold tight to the feathers," Chandra instructs them all even as Chiar starts flapping his wings preparing for flight. Montani grabs hold of the feathers, but Mant grabs hold of Montani's waist.

Montani has flown on the eagles before, but truly doesn't remember much of the flight, or rather the second flight since she was unconscious on the first one. The view takes away her breath as she watches the trees flash by below. The towering pines dwindle to small sticks as they reach altitudes that start to make her lungs ache trying to get enough breath to breathe. Only then does Chiar stop climbing higher in the sky.

"We will be there by nightfall." Chiar says in their mind link.

Montani wonders if they will live that long, if this is just the way Chiar is going to kill them all.

"You are safe with me, powerful one. I will not harm you." Chiar replies to her thought. She catches a hint of pain that she would think he'd betray them like that. Montani hadn't meant to broadcast her thoughts out loud. She slams the door shut on them so that the eagle won't be able to hear them any further.

"That remains to be seen," is the only thought Montani allows through.

The flight takes hours and had they tried to hike the same amount of space it would have taken days, or rather weeks. Especially since the ground below is crawling with evil ones. Chiar could see them, but they were to far away for Montani or the others to see them, which is just as well since Montani would have started attacking them from the sky.

"We are here," Chiar announces as the sun is starting to set.

Chiar and Chandra set down in the clearing before a large mountain base. The stone sticks out of the ground like a bone of some ancient beast.

The four travelers slide down the necks of the eagles and stand with sore legs on the ground. Montani hears the music of the land and goes to each of them and sets her hands on them. When she's done they are no longer sore.

"You are able to heal with the music of the land?" Teondae says reverently. Healers are rare among the Vacar.

"You could too if you listened to her instructions. She's rather upset that you've been ignoring her lately." Montani says no longer looking at Teondae, but at the stone before them. The land had given her instructions on how to get inside and she's trying to find the place she was told to look for.

Just as she finds it and moves towards it the door to the mountain opens.