Konrad
Everything hurt. Konrad felt as though every injury he had ever suffered had been unhealed and his body was in torment. A wall of light burned inches from his face, but he could just make out the shapes of Athir, Otto and Spirit lying nearby.
The texture of the air changed, and a gentle breeze brought the tangy smell of the ocean and the distant cawing of seabirds. With a groan, he pulled himself to his feet and saw Athir do the same.
"Get ready," she intoned, holding her two swords steady.
She’d been on the brink of death only moments ago, and Konrad hadn’t been able to offer her much healing, but now she stood ready to face a new threat, unbreakable like a piece of iron.
The only power Konrad had left was the ancient power of Lyran, but he refused to draw upon it, instead leaning down to the unconscious Otto and pulling a short, black dagger from his belt.
High above the wall of light, he saw a large domed building made of white stone. The grand entrance was bordered with columns, and a familiar battered tower made of rough stone rose up behind it. Somewhere close by, a ragged cheering of high-pitched voices could be heard.
"It’s okay, Athir; I know where we are. We’re safe." Konrad said, dropping the dagger.
The bright light around them faded, revealing an excited crowd. Odred and his group of short, elven arcanists were evidently pleased with their success, jumping up and down and hugging each other, while Harper the imp flapped overhead on his leathery wings and settled on the white seer’s hat of Malan, the young elven arcanist with a gift for reading the fates. His unerving gaze was locked onto Konrad, one eye normal, the other with an iris the size of a ladybug.
A figure hurtled through the group and barreled into Konrad, hugging him tightly. Alice Reed smelled like a summer day by the seaside, and she pulled away slightly and punched him on the arm.
"Ow, what was that for?" Konrad said.
"You said we could come with you. If you’ve visited any other mystical places, I’m going to be really angry."
"I got taken to the desert and beaten up; does that make you feel better?" Konrad replied, knowing he didn’t have the strength to defend himself if he told her that he had visited the fabled Faelen Echo.
Under Odred’s direction, Otto and Spirit were carefully placed onto stretchers, and to Konrad’s surprise, Harper the imp flapped over to Spirit and scratched her head tenderly with his claws.
"You look like you had a good fight, Konrad, and I’m hurt that you didn’t let me join in. I won’t punch you until you’re better, though," Rolo said, laying a hand on Konrad’s shoulder.
"I’m sorry, both of you; I didn’t have a choice. How did you get here?"
"I asked the elves to summon you all, and it seems like we were just in time." Serena, the witch who had accompanied him on his adventures through the coldest mountain and along the western cape to Mir, stood beside Renau, the trouper and nobleman of Portia.
"A few minutes earlier might have been better," Athir mumbled, glaring at the curious elves crowded around her.
"Serena, Renau, what are you doing here?" Konrad exclaimed.
Serena gave him a warm smile. "We’ve had quite the journey since we last saw you. When you’re rested, we’ll fill you in."
"We met the Faelen queen," Reanu said in a stage whisper.
Rolo rolled his eyes. "As you constantly remind us."
"I’m writing a play about it, "The Lady of the Echo,"" Renau continued, patently ignoring Rolo.
Malan coughed politely. "Welcome back to Mir, champion of small gods. I hope you don’t mind us summoning you. It’s quite important."
Konrad opened his mouth, but Malan held up a hand to silence him. "Just to let you know. Every word that comes out of your mouth from this moment on has the potential to change the fate of Parthanea."
"So button your lip, or I’ll button it for you," Harper added.
The group moved into the vast archanists conservatory, where chairs had been set out in a circle. Konrad flopped down into his with a sigh and saw Athir do the same close by. When they were all settled, each person took turns sharing the tales of the journeys that led them back to Mir.
The last time he had seen the elves of Mir, they had been preparing to meet the two flying citadels of the arcanists as they came to investigate this new threat to their power. Odred explained that after some negotiations they had formed a fragile peace; the floating citadel of Mir was free to roam the seas of Parthanea as long as they remained in the southern oceans. Odred had been named Master Arcanist of Mir and glared around imperiously, grasping a gnarled staff taller than he was.
Rolo and Alice recalled how they had watched, horrified as the window closed behind Konrad and Spirit. They traveled back to the Lyran tree to ask the small god for help, and through Lyran, they contacted Serena, who arranged for the elves to summon them to Mir. Konrad was uncomfortable with Lyran having any hand in the fates of his friends, but in truth, he would have cut deals with all the demons from the abyss to get Alice and Rolo to safety.
Serena and Reanu uncovered the ancient magic that allowed Ostred to travel between worlds and used it to travel to the Faelen Echo. Their description of the lifeless red land that mirrored their own world was exactly as Konrad remembered from his own visit. Through their description, Konrad realized that the Faelen woman he had spoken to was in fact the Faelen Queen, often called the Lady, although she had been far more distressed when Konrad had spoken to her. Renau insisted on acting out his meeting with the Lady of the Echo, and when he was done, there wasn’t a single dry eye in the chamber, and Rolo wept openly.
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Athir gave her report in clipped tones, gritting her teeth as she described how the Father had inhabited Otto’s body and somehow discovered their plan, cutting him off and escaping before Athir could strike. The white sword of the Faelen was once again in the hands of Lavious Flean and Athir was clearly impatient to track it down.
"How soon can you send me to Tajar?" Athir asked Malan.
The young elf turned his piercing gaze toward Konrad. "That’s up to the champion; he has a plan that will deliver each of you the victories that you seek."
Konrad had sat in pained silence as each of his companions had spoken, biting back the dozens of questions he wanted to ask and unable to share any of what he had learned, and now every eye turned to him.
"How’s he going to do that if he can’t speak?" Renau asked.
"Perhaps he could draw it? Does anyone have a pencil?" Rolo suggested.
"Don’t you listen to anything the boy says? Konrad can’t tell any of you anything," Harper snapped.
"The imp’s right." Otto leaned against the stone entranceway. His skin had taken on a sickly gray pallor and hung from his bones. "The Father will know who most of us are now, and he’ll be watching our fates. If Konrad tells us his plan, we’d share a common intention that weaves a stronger strand within the tapestry. He’ll see it and stop us."
The effort of speaking visibly sapped Otto’s strength, and Konrad and Alice rushed forward to catch him as he stumbled forward.
"You should be in bed, Otto," Alice quietly admonished.
Malan politely cleared his throat. "Otto is correct. Konrad is the only one who can reliably know everything and not affect the fates because he is hidden from them."
Konrad suddenly felt uncomfortably warm. Not only did he not have a plan, he hadn’t told anyone what the Lady had revealed; he didn’t know who had hidden him from fate. What if the Lady’s fear was true and that he was a part of a plan devised by their enemies? Anything he did could be leading him and his companions to their doom.
"I think the Father might notice if we all just follow Konrad around," Rolo said.
"So Konrad can tell each of us our part of the plan, as long as we don’t share it with each other, is that right, Otto?" Serena stated.
Otto nodded.
"So we just need a place where Konrad can speak without anyone being able to listen in," Serena continued.
"The Echo is almost completely consumed by madness now, it will hide us from anyone who wants to listen in," Otto replied.
"We won’t be able to stay long, and I can’t take all of us," Athir stated.
"Then we’ll go to Portia and use the gateway," Serena suggested.
All eyes turned to Konrad, and he could only give a short nod. Now they had a destination, he had until the floating citadel arrived in Portia to formulate a plan to defeat the Father.
The group slowly filed out of the arcanist's conservatory, chatting excitedly to each other and Malan approached Konrad, straightening his tall seers hat that had slipped over his forehead. "I’m sorry I told everyone about your plan, Konrad. I know you don’t know what it is, but that’s just because you haven’t thought of it yet, but you will."
-
Their journey across the ocean to Portia on the Lost Coast took a week, and although Konrad was beyond happy to have his closest friends and companions in one place, he couldn’t say a word to them.
To pass the time, they set up a sparring arena on the highest point of the island, under Rickan’s tower. The sun beat down upon them as Rolo’s axe clashed against Konrad’s sword, but the ancient, rusted weapon was unwieldy, and he failed to deflect Rolo’s follow-up attack, allowing the northman to batter the old blade aside and open Konrad up to a killing blow.
"Another win! That’s five to me, three to Renau, and only one for you, champion," Rolo said, adding a neat chalk line next to his name.
Konrad wiped the sweat from his eyes, having to settle for a frustrated glare. He couldn’t speak, and his shadow sword was damaged beyond repair, which only left him with the rusted sword that the elves had found for him.
Rolo patted Konrad on the back. "We’ll find you a fine new weapon when we get to Portia, Renau are you ready?"
"Just a moment, we have a spectator," Renau muttered.
Otto sat in the shade of a tree on the far side of their makeshift arena with Spirit by his side, her head in his lap.
"I know he’s your brother, Konrad, but are you sure we can trust him?" Renau murmured.
"From what Athir said, he’s suffered more than anyone here for this cause,and if Spirit trusts him, that’s good enough for me," Rolo said.
"In any case, now that we have an audience, I shall be unstoppable. Ready yourself, master Rolo," Renau cried, whipping his rapier through the air.
Konrad left his companions to commence another bout and made his way over to sit close to Otto.
"I came to watch you fight; from what I remember, you were quite handy with a blade," Otto said.
Konrad could only give a blank stare in reply.
"I wanted to tell you who I was when we met in Portia, but it was too dangerous. I hope you understand."
So, Otto had been the severe champion of the Father he had fought in Portia. The thought warmed Konrad slightly; even when Otto was playing the part of the champion, Konrad had still sensed goodness in him.
"I know that you’ve got questions, and I’ll answer them if I can. I just want you to know that I never stopped thinking of you, or Ma and Pa. I did whatever I could to protect you."
The words rang hollow in Konrad’s ears. Otto’s actions had given him a leg that didn’t work and condemned him to live most of his life in ridicule and shame. He knew it wasn’t Otto’s fault, but it would take time for him to make peace with it.
"Are you using that old thing to make the fight more even? Why not use your shade sword?" Otto asked.
In answer, Konrad summoned the shadow sword and looked glumly at the point where the white sword had cut the blade off. As Athir had explained, the white sword had been created by the Faelen to free anyone forcefully bonded to the ley lines; the rest of his sword had been cut from existence, and it wouldn’t be coming back.
"I never used the white blade, but I heard the stories. Here, you can use this; I can barely lift it."
Otto unhooked his black scabbard from his belt and passed it to Konrad. It was a weapon that had served the will of the Father and Konrad felt a ripple of disgust as he took it in his hands.
Otto had clearly seen his reaction. "It’s just a tool, only defined by the hand that uses it."
Konrad drew the blade, finding it longer than anything he had used before. He gave it an experimental swipe and felt an unnatural force, as if the weapon had its own gravity.
Otto indicated the makeshift arena. "It looks like you'll have a chance to test it out."
Athir strode out to the center of the fighting area that had been marked out and drew her sword, pointing it at Konrad.
"Be careful; she takes winning seriously," Otto called as Konrad dashed off.
Athir stabbed her sword into the dirt and gave Konrad a level stare as he approached. "I want to say I’m sorry; I shouldn’t have left you like that in Portia. Also, healing someone with your own lifeforce is up there with the most stupid things I have ever seen, but you saved my life, and I wanted to thank you. I won’t forget it."
For some reason, hearing the sincerity in Athir’s voice was even more frightening than when she was grinding her teeth and glaring daggers.
"That was a heck of a lot easier, seeing as you can’t talk back for once. So what’s the game, then? Swords only? Powers?" Athir started to limber up, sighing as the movement produced a series of popping noises from her joints that made Konrad wince.
From the corner of his eye, Konrad saw Alice emerge from the jungle to sit next to Otto and Spirit and he let the shadows draw towards his body, encasing him in etherial armor.
"Powers it is then." Athir grinned and vanished.