Unwanted elves 24 cliffie bonus

 

Unwanted Elves

Chapter 24

 

Fire! The flickering light was a mixture not just of the oranges and reds typical of a fire, but it also contained a luminous green flame that was somehow disturbing. Chessina had followed me in and gasped in horror.

“Castamir, it’s Abyssal Fire!” Switching to elvish she turned to our companions.

“Tancyfrwys, Blaithamlwg, listen to me,” Chessina said, her voice tight with worry. “Sekemhef has used Abyssal Fire to set light to the tree. It can’t be put out; even in the Abyss it burns continuously in certain areas. Sekemhef has to have summoned it from a deposit in the abyss.”

“Sekemhef, where has he gone?” Said Tancyfrwys, sounding a hair’s breadth away from panic.

“What shall we do?” Asked Blaithamlwg, a more useful question I thought.

“Sekemhef probably went out of the window, using featherlight or fly or some other spell.” I answered Tancyfrwys, hoping to keep her from panic.

“Evacuate the tree, Blaithamlwg, you too Tancyfrwys, get everyone out, while Silavara and I deal with the fire.” I said.

“I’m going with Tancyfrwys,” Chessina whispered to me. “Arcana thinks Tancyfrwys is important so I’m going to keep an eye on her. This could all be a diversion from Sekemhef’s actual plan.” I nodded and Chessina left following the two elves.

As they left I retreated back out of Sekemhef’s rooms to the relative safety of the external stairway. The smoke and flames were far more than the small fires I had caused during my apprenticeship, which Harmon had taught me to deal with. “Put the wet stuff on the red stuff and start at the base.” Harmon had instructed me.

I heard steps coming up behind me and I half turned to see Silavara hastening up the steps.

“Can I help with the fire, Castamir?” Silavara asked, “Although it has a demonic feel about it which you are better able to deal with than I.”

“The power of Silvana is strong here, you might be able to help.” I replied.

I had to do something quickly, the fire already had a good hold and the smoke was building up. If the abyssal fire had to be summoned, it could be banished. That however took time which would give the fire more hold on the tree and making it more difficult to extinguish. I needed to get it out of the room. I cast invisible servant to carry it out as the fire was too fierce to approach. ‘Why didn’t you use a fire resistance potion?’ I can almost hear the question. The operative word is resistance not proof so such a potion would be of little help. In any case, I didn’t have one.

The invisible servant picked up the chunk of fire, which fell to the floor as the spell was dissipated by the fire’s damage. Levitation it would have to be. I cast the spell without difficulty combined with a  movement spell and got the offending thing out of the room and held it suspended in mid air away from the tree. Unfortunately by now the tree was well alight. I could now banish the fire which would be much easier than banishing a demon, as unlike a demon the fire had no will to resist me. Apart from incredible heat it did radiate a minor generalised malice which Chessina had told me was common to many things in the abyss. There was only one problem, to maintain the levitation I had to concentrate which would prevent me from banishing the thing.

“Silavara, can you cast levitation?” I asked hopefully.

“No Castamir,” Came the unhelpful reply, “My goddess doesn’t interest herself in such things which she considers unnatural.”

I wasn’t sure how vastly accelerated plant growth could be considered natural, but this wasn’t the time or place for such a discussion. I needed to concentrate on two different things at once, or did I?  I recalled that the Tower almost seemed to have a consciousness and what was the staff but an extension of the Tower. There were also the voices I had heard.

“Staff, maintain the levitation spell.” I said, and gently released my concentration from the spell, ready to re-cast if the fire fell. It didn’t. A great feeling of relief flooded through me. This ability needed to be investigated more thoroughly later.

Now I could focus my thoughts on banishing the fire. I chanted the syllables and the hateful thing vanished back to the abyss. I had no idea where in the abyss I had sent it and frankly I didn’t care. The crackle and roar of the flames and billowing smoke dashed any sense of satisfaction I felt.

“What now Castamir?” Silavara asked.

“Rain, Silavara, rain; as much as we can both provide, and wind to blow it where it’s needed.” I said, praying fervently to Silvana and Arcana.

“Castamir, hold my hands.” Silavara said intently.

I did so and thought how much I loved the Priestess, not in the same way as Chessina, but as an elder sister and a friend. That tone sounded again, louder this time and I knew we both felt/heard it. I could sense part of Silavara’s mind, that concerned with the Circle, and I could feel its power, slower acting than that of the Tower, but utterly irresistible. I knew that Silavara could sense my mind similarly.

We concentrated on bringing rain and wind, only dimly aware of the screams and panicked shouts of the tree’s denizens escaping. None came near enough to bother us, whether due to our companions’ actions or fear of the still raging fire, I didn’t know. Our magical disguises dissipated as we could no longer spare the power to maintain them.

Silavara and I wordlessly began to pool the collective power of the Circle and the Tower, prior to calling for the rain and wind, I began to perceive the differences in the magic between the two. The magic of the Tower was concentrated within the Tower itself and could readily be brought to bear. The circle was the focus for power distributed throughout the land, and while it would take longer to bring to bear in its full force, might be more powerful even than the Tower.

“This is all the power we need, Castamir,” Said Silavara, “We want a rainstorm, not a flash flood. When the rain is falling we will need to leave the tree too, so we can direct it to the right place.”

I nodded, and together we began muttering the words of our spells. Although the words were different, the cadence was the same. As we continued to chant, the clouds began speedily to gather and I could feel that they were heavy with rain. Indeed I could feel the heaviness of the clouds themselves as though they were physically pressing down on me. I drew on the Tower to support the growing weight and I could feel Silavara doing the same drawing on the Circle. The breeze that had been blowing was now beginning to pick up.

I looked into Silavara’s eyes and I knew the time was right to loose the rain.

“Now!” She cried, and we let the rain begin to fall. The first drops pattered down on the ground nearby, dissipating into steam where it fell on the fire. The drops became heavier and more frequent and some were now hitting the tree where the fire had only just taken hold.

I could now spare some concentration to check the progress of the fire itself, and my heart sank. Much of the tree above this level was ablaze, the heat of the flames causing steam to pour out of splits in the wood where the sap was boiling. Smoke also rose up partially obscuring the higher parts of the tree, this effect enhanced by the shimmering of the air in the heat. I fancied I saw movement up there, and strained to see through the murk. Absently casting farsee I looked again. There was someone up there on a balcony, it was the Queen and she was trapped.

 

I had to save the Queen; besides the natural desire not to let anyone die in a fire, I knew with that crystalline certainty that she was important to Arcana. I hesitated, not sure what to do. I desperately wanted to save the Queen, but the fire needed to be doused, lest it spread and consume the whole city.

“Castamir, I see you are torn.” Silavara said, “Do what you must. The wind and rain have been called, all I must do is direct them.”

I gently began to ease the cloud load off me and onto Silavara. She seemed to stoop for a moment and then her expression became determined and with an effort she stood straight again.

Doubt again filled my mind, I needed to get to the queen quickly but levitate would take me upwards straight through the flames burning upwards. Our rug of travel would take too long to get, if indeed it hadn’t been burnt.

 

Previously when Arcana had placed knowledge in my mind, I had been unaware of it. I now saw in my mind’s eye, the massive master spellbook in the Tower library, which turned to the spell fly. I knew the spell but had never cast it. Partly this was because I had never needed it, and partly, let’s be honest because I was afraid to. To fly on a rug of travel seemed quite unexceptional to me, but just flying through the air... the idea unnerved me.

“Silavara I’m going to use the fly spell to get to the Queen.” I said, my voice sounding steadier than I felt. “I’ve never used the spell before, so wish me luck and please take care of my staff.”

“May Silvana and Arcana bless you, Castamir.” Said Silavara, the merest hint of strain showing on her normally serene face. “I will look after your staff. When you are on your way, I will go down the tree as I can direct things better from the ground. It will also be much safer.”

I nodded in understanding. However much flying by spell bothered me, Arcana obviously wanted me to do it, so I took my courage in both hands, cast the spell, using the Tower as I hadn’t prepared it, climbed over the stair rail and launched myself into space.

 

The sensation wasn’t as I imagined it at all. I felt supported by the air, but over my entire body, not just the feet as with levitation. I willed myself to move and I did so, somewhat clumsily at first, getting used to the parameters of the spell. I felt my face flush with embarrassment that I had let my fears rule me over using the spell. No wool gathering, Castamir I told myself sharply, concentrate on getting to the Queen. I kept well away from the flames, smoke and turbulent air as I rose towards the balcony where the Queen was waving frantically. As I reached the level of the structure I watched critically the movement of the flames which were now licking the bottom of the balcony, and Silavara’s voice came to me through the voices spell she was still keeping up, bless her.

“I will blow the smoke and flames away for just a moment, Castamir, go to the balcony when I give you the word.”

“I will, and thank you Silavara.” I replied. I waited, hovering for a moment until in time with Silavara’s sharp,

“Now Castamir!” I shot forward through clear air to the balcony.

“Thank the Gods!” The Queen said, embracing me in sheer relief. “I didn’t think you could reach me!”

“Aye, thank the Gods, and Priestess Silavara, who directed the winds to make a clear way for me to get here.” I said. “You will need to climb on my back and put your arms around my neck, but not too tightly. Silavara will blow the smoke and flames away so we can escape.”

A sudden and chilling thought crossed my mind.

“What about the King?” I asked the Queen.

“To the Abyss with him,” She shouted, “He’s always been a burden, and the flames are in the passageway. You can’t get to him.”

For a moment, my conscience bothered me having left him in a helpless state, which was rather hypocritical of me, as I had intended to assassinate him anyway. Silavara’s voice broke into my thoughts,

“Don’t worry about the King, the Tree has had its revenge on him, I’ll explain later. Be ready.”

“Climb on Your Majesty.” I said. With some rather undignified scrambling she clambered onto my back. I waited while the smoke billowed near the balcony and the flames clung hungrily to the supports. The wind blew sharply and forced the smoke and flames to one side.

“Now!” Silavara’s voice was insistent, and I jumped off the balcony.

 

The Queen was a little taller than I, but willowy of figure, so she wasn’t too heavy. I could probably have carried her by my own efforts, but I drew on the Tower as I didn’t want to take chances with an unfamiliar spell.

I spiralled down losing height slowly, to land on the wet ground near to Silavara. The Queen slithered off my back rather clumsily and embraced me once again.

“Thank you Towermaster for saving my life, I am in your debt.” She gave a wan half smile. “That seems to have become a common occurrence recently.” She turned then to look at the burning tree.

It was a terrible sight, a large section of the trunk and many large branches above it were on fire. Smoke and flames billowed up from the burning wood and it seemed likely that the whole canopy would be set alight.

The Queen stared at the horrible scene and burst into tears, murmuring,

“The Tree, the Tree.” Over and over. I could hardly blame her, it had been her home for I didn’t know how long, centuries perhaps.

Silavara had concentrated on keeping the lower trunk of the royal tree from catching fire, but the canopy could be a danger to the surrounding trees unless it could be contained. I turned to Silavara and said,

“Let me help again. With two of us we can direct the rain over a wider area, and douse the entire canopy before it sets fire to the rest of the forest.”

“Thank you Castamir, let us do so.” Silavara said.

I picked up my staff and took back the burden I had held before and took part of the rainclouds under my control and directed the rain onto one side of the tree’s canopy, while Silavara took the other. I noticed in passing, and with gratitude that we were the only things in the vicinity that weren’t soaked by the falling rain.