The Shattered Path

Chapter 24 - The Taneache Guardian

Maeshana knew it was wrong, but she could not help how she felt. Somehow, she had grown affectionate toward this humaen. She watched him from the Veil. He sat huddled in a corner of the small room.

Viewed from within the Veil, his cell was by no means dark, but brilliant white and the stone walls were translucent glass, which she passed through with ease. Only living creatures were fully visible within the Veil and all other objects appeared as mist or glass-like. The man was a silvery apparition of himself, as all creatures were within the Veil, but he seemed to glow brighter than other humaen. He was indeed something special. The laerylae flowed strongly through him, though he seemed to have no use for it. That marked him as something special. She had seen humaen wizards embrace the laerylae but it did not flow within them enough to be seen. This humaen surely had a destiny, as Keingeas had said.

The Tael would never allow Maeshana to return here if they learned of her feelings, but she had no intentions of telling anyone. She had never felt this way towards anyone among the Tael. The Elders would say she was still young at only four hundred years out of the womb and needed time to meditate through such ridiculous sensations; at the end of which time, this humaen would have expired of natural aging most assuredly.

"He has not moved in a great while," came a voice within the Veil. "Perhaps he has given up."

"Where have you been? You are to watch over him." Maeshana turned. "How did he suffer a wound on his shoulder?" She projected through the Veil, using the laerylae to carry her words.

"Perhaps you should calm yourself before we talk?" Tasjoedis responded. The laerylae flowed within him, giving his apparition within the Veil a strong glow. His flesh was pale blue, but his shirt and pants were brilliant white. His tenoks were tucked into the cloth belt around his waist; the silver metal of the weapons was one of the few substances visible within the Veil in its true form.

"The Tsaeris'Aen must not come to harm," Maeshana chided. Keingeas would not be pleased when Tasjoedis returned with his report. She wished she could be present to hear it, but it was her turn to watch over the Tsaeris'Aen. She would do better.

"I serve the Taneache," Tasjoedis repeated the oath. "However, I am surprised to still have my honor. It is amazing that this humaen still lives. He is brash and foolish, though I do not fully comprehend his motivations, only his actions."

Maeshana bit back her anger. She would not reveal her feelings for the humaen, not to Tasjoedis of all people. "Is he in further danger? What should I expect?" She wanted to ask why he was in a cell.

"He charged into the great waters, sword in hand, ready to fight scores of humaen," Tasjoedis smirked. His turquoise eyes were paled by the Veil, but Maeshana saw the satisfaction there. "How can I be held at fault for such foolhardy behavior? One humaen against an army? Foolhardy, indeed."

Maeshana frowned. What suffering had driven the humaen to draw steel against so many? "You did not protect him as you should have." She stopped short of stating Tasjoedis had failed to protect their charge. That would be an attack on his honor.

"I blocked many bolts fired by humaen crossbows and did not reveal my presence. The Taneache is preserved and the humaen is alive when he should have been dead."

Maeshana nodded as if she agreed, but anger filled her beneath the soothing laerylae. She would not have allowed the humaen to come to harm. She wondered if her disapproval arose from her sense of duty or her feelings. She would change the subject before Tasjoedis suspected it was the latter.

"Has all been well?" Tasjoedis asked. "The Elders had been very critical of our mission when last I was in the Taneache. Their disapproval of Keingeas and the Acheas seems to grow daily."