The Pinnacle was built in the ancient grove surrounded by the palisade wall that the first Pinarus had constructed. Though the nobility and cognitive-affectomancers she encountered in Sapphirica had scoffed at a wooden castle, Alexia thought the Pinnacle was beautiful. The wooden archways and triangular roofing were unlike the square and rectangular stone walls of other castles she had seen. The effect of the mastercrafted wooden castle beside the forest that surrounded it was astounding. The backdrop amplified the majesty of the Pinnacle. Across the distant side of the Eagle River, the world’s highest mountain, Balbaraq’s Reach, stretched above the clouds. The ancient grove filled the air with a fresh scent that even the rain couldn’t dampen. Pristine marble fountains made brilliant centerpieces amongst flourishing flora. Visages of the Divine Thirteen were present in the form of wooden sculptures on various towers and balconies. The visage of Meladon loomed atop the castle’s central spire, a tower erected from the original sentinel sequoia of Maypine. Mighty Meladon was flanked by Gidi and Yadeen upon decorative spires. Leverith, Alexia noticed, presided over a flower garden in the grove beneath the mighty sentinel with a smile on her lips and her white carnation in her hand. Alexia wished she could hide beside her. The violence at the gate and the notoriety it brought would not simplify her mission.
Her armed escort led her through the entryway into the Pinnacle’s main wing and directly into the Pinarus audience hall. The room was expansive, with six hearths on either side of the long rectangular hall and a thirteenth behind the archlord’s seat. None of the hearths were lit on this hot, humid day. A window stretched across the back wall, allowing sunlight in, though dark clouds left the chamber dim. The room was three stories high, with arched ceilings. A balcony on the second floor had a few Sentinels patrolling as well as the Pinarus stewards and a few of the local nobility. The Pinarus banner hung proudly from the arched ceiling; twelve trees on a field of brownish green. Beside it hung the Sapphire banner, a large sapphire on a field of silver.
Archlord Eton Pinarus was seated at the head of the audience hall in an elegant high-backed wooden chair. Eton was a widower and Alexia saw a major reason why he hadn’t remarried in the decade since his wife passed beyond the mortal vale. He was skeletally thin and ghastly pale with a wispy gray beard. Alexia uncomfortably drew comparisons between him and the illustrations she had seen of Halamsul Soulless. His dark eyes and long, drooping face gave him a bitter, lifeless expression.
A thin boy dressed in velvet was seated to his left, presumably his heir and only progeny. Alexia had encountered plenty of Pinarus in Sapphirica but Eton and his son rarely ventured to the capital since the death of Lady Pinarus. Master Lyle the Lordling Pinarus stood beside his brother, supporting himself with his oak staff. The wizard wore his trademark silver and green robes with the master insignias of Earth, Wind, Sky, History, and Law. Lyle’s green eyes quickly found Alexia. The Lordling smiled at his former pupil. His face wouldn’t be considered handsome by Sapphirica court standards but that smile seemed the only bright light in the dismal hall surrounded by empty hearths, unhappy people, and an apathetic leader.
A line of petitioners gathered in front of Eton Pinarus. Alexia lamented that she would arrive during an audience. If ever she wanted to be alone, it was now.
“It is not my fault that you failed to protect your caravan,” Archlord Pinarus told a petitioner, his voice as listless as his face. “I cannot compensate everyone who loses a shipment. There are people who will insure your caravan. I suggest you work with them in the future, hire more guards, or select a safer route.”
The caravanner dropped to his knees and wrung his hands. “Archlord Pinarus, I beg you! Those insurers wanted more than I would make off the caravan! We hired guards! We tried different routes! They still got my shipments! I cannot pay the tithe! My family, my workers, we’ll all starve!”
“Next,” the archlord announced, looking away from the pleading caravanner. Beside him, Lyle Pinarus studied his feet.
The petitioner wept as he was escorted out of the hall by a Knight-Sentinel armored in iron that was covered in bark and leaves. The next petitioner, an elderly gentleman, approached the archlord. “I implore you to hunt those bandits down, archlord,” he began. “They took…”
The elderly man saw Eton Pinarus raise his hand and went silent. “I have heard enough,” the archlord said. “Next.”
“But…”
Archlord Pinarus made a gesture with his arm and a Knight-Sentinel led the elderly man from the hall.
Alexia’s stomach sank, hopelessness dropping all of her sensation into a dull lull. She wouldn’t find support here. Her mind was a litany of despair. I wasted my time. Mirrevar is doomed. I can’t speak to this heartless man. He’s more likely to throw me in his dungeon than help me.
Alexia wished she were under the blankets in her bed back home. She wished she had never dared take on this responsibility. One moment of inspired speech did not make a leader! It had been Leverith’s divine energy and not Alexia who had rallied the soldiers in Mirrevar. Yet, Leverith had no place in this gloomy castle on this miserable, rainy day. She looked toward the exit and wondered if her escorts would let her walk away. Hating herself, she took a step toward the door.
Lyle the Lordling’s voice boomed through the hall. “We have an honored visitor today. Master Alexia Bluerose, what brings you to our hall?”
Her heart thumping, Alexia faced the head of the hall. Lyle waved her to move, her nervous eyes missing his fond smile in favor of hyperfocusing on the wall behind the three Pinarus. She felt the pressure of a hundred eyes piercing into her. They muttered her name or her titles, making her wish she could run the other way.
Alexia tried to muster hope and courage. She thought of Divine Norali who helped those who felt lost see the light in the darkness. Holding onto Norali’s divine light, she looked forward. Light would shine again in this darkened room. These dark times would pass, people would smile again, and someday an archlord would sit in this hall and be a source of life and empathy. Alexia clung to Norali’s hope and made it her own. She would save Mirrevar and protect Maypine while preparing Leveria to fight the Celegan Empire. Alexia reached beyond dark skies full of gloom, and found Norali there, waiting just beyond the edges of despair. The Divine would shine radiant again and her light would cascade until the shadows that chased hope with their sharp blades would be banished by radiance. Shockwaves of light pulsed from her raised staff.
Archlord Pinarus shielded his eyes, while the chamber went into an uproar. Other attendants gawked and exclaimed. Master Lyle’s voice emerged from the din, amplified by Zafrir’s wind. “Master Alexia Bluerose, the Second Great Wizard, Savior of Tenacity, Conqueror of Vulcan, Bane of Ogres.” Lyle stepped forward and bowed. “You are no longer the sweet-faced quiet girl that I remember training in the ways of Zafrir.”
Alexia opened her mouth, but couldn’t find the right words for her old master.
“What do you want?” Eton Pinarus demanded, lowering his arm from his eyes.
Alexia knelt in respect, bowing her head to the archlord. She managed to stammer out, “I…uh…I bring an…an urgent…request from…uh…Mirrevar.”
Pinarus dismissed her as easily as the last two who sought to request something from him. “My spare forces are stationed in Balbaraq’s Gap, per your father’s mandate to increase cooperation between adjacent archlords. We have been removed from Mirrevar and I have nothing to give.” He leaned forward. “Besides, if you are the savior, why are you in Maypine and not saving Mirrevar? Would you send my people from their families while you run back to Sapphirica and hide in Saphirhold with yours?”
Eton Pinarus had disarmed and dismantled whatever arguments she had obsessively scrambled together over the last few days. She was profoundly outmatched and had no qualifications to be in this room. Even the barb about her father stung deep. If she was more like her father, she could spin circles around Eton Pinarus. Alas, she was only herself. Lyle was wrong. Alexia was still that sweet-faced quiet girl. She wasn’t stupid but she couldn’t articulate herself the way most people could and she was helpless to change that. The light on her staff dimmed as she lost both Norali’s hope and her focus. She was trapped in the mines again with no way out. She was down on the ground with a knight’s dagger falling toward her. She was being molested for a crime she didn’t commit. She had to kill, kill, kill to survive. It…was…so…divinedamned…frustrating!
Trapped again between two immovable forces: The Gemstone War and people unwilling to do the right thing. The light in her staff dispersed, leaving the room darkened. Alexia clenched her teeth and sucked in a breath. She had enough of this trap and she would burn down the walls that closed her in or die trying. The heat emptied the room as Alexia drew Seraxa’s heat into her. She formed a focus and each hearth in the room lit then blazed. She wanted to burn this man for his apathy. In her rage, Seraxa forced Alexia to momentarily forget her doubts, her worries, her propriety, and unleashed her frustration unfettered by the restraints of either self-consciousness or diplomacy. If she couldn’t persuade this man to help her, she would scathe him with her anger.
“Pinarus built the palisade to protect his people! He spent his life defending Maypine so that his descendants might someday know peace! You are his descendent, Eton Pinarus. You carry his name. I say you should wear it, not hide behind it! If Mirrevar falls, your people pay the price! You sit in your castle while bandits raid your roads and guards plant bliss at your gates so they can violate young women!”
Eton Pinarus clenched the arms of his chair. For the first time, an emotion other than apathy flashed on his face. “Silence!” he screamed. “Everyone out!”
Alexia stood her ground as the hall emptied. All that remained with her were Eton, Lyle, and Eton’s heir. She was too angry to even realize that all the extra eyes were no longer upon her. Alexia didn’t let go of Seraxa, knowing that she might crumble without her divine passion.
Pinarus glared, his eyes like daggers. “You dare turn my court into a mummer’s show?”
“You have turned your entire hold into a mummer’s show!”
“Get out!” he lashed out, pointing toward the door.
Alexia shook her head and moved toward the exit, eager to leave Maypine behind. She reached the hall’s double doors and touched the handle. Alexia stalled at the door, painfully aware that if she left this room, it spelled doom for the Sapphire encampment in Mirrevar. She couldn’t sway the archlord, but he wasn’t the only one with the ability to help Mirrevar in this room.
“Master Lyle, Conrad is dead and Elianor Silverglow has lost her connection to the Divine. The Horned Apes are without leadership and the encampment is vulnerable. I must return to Sapphirica and mobilize King Gideon against a Celegan threat far worse than anything we’ve ever faced. You are needed.” Her voice cracked into pleading with the final three words.
Lyle leaned on his staff. “I am ashamed to tell you that I lack the temperament for battle, Alexia. This has always been so.”
Alexia stepped toward her former teacher and she exhaled Seraxa’s divine energy. This was the one person in Maypine Hold she could possibly be herself with. This was the one person here where she could rely on her tongue not tying itself. “Legend tells us that Pinarus also lacked the temperament for battle. That is why he built a palisade when he could have simply burned his enemies and claimed their homes. Yet, Pinarus stood with his people on the palisade all the same when the conquerors came. Warlords that met him at the palisade fled for easier targets. That is why a man named Pinarus still sits this seat thousands of years later. I hope that you don’t have to fight. My plan is to restore Mirrevar to a bloodless stalemate. However, the Horned Apes have lost and we fear a Bearbreaker host will smash Mirrevar if the Sentinels of Maypine don’t answer the call for help. Much like Pinarus, you might prevent battle altogether if you can deter Bearbreaker aggression.”
“Lyle isn’t going anywhere,” Eton declared.
Lyle looked relieved at his brother’s intervention. That struck her harder than the cynical archlord’s dismissal. The failure of a good man to help was more gut-wrenching than when the cynical man did nothing.
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Alexia wasn’t going anywhere with this stubborn archlord nor his cowardly brother. From a strategic standpoint, it baffled her. What kept them so intent on doing nothing when the loss of the Mirrevar encampment would be devastating to their lands? She was skeptical of the excuse that the Sentinels had been deployed to the Gap. She knew that Pinarus forces there were but a small supplement to the Heron and Roswell forces. Giving the Ruby Kingdom free access to Maypine Hold would be disastrous for the Pinarus. How could they be such fools? Zamael’s Hells! They seemed indifferent to molestation at their gates and banditry along their roads!
Pinarus leaned forward, a smile flickering on his thin lips. “You may leave now, and do not stop until you are aboard a boat or beyond our gates.”
“Two of your Sentinels molested me at your gates after planting bliss in my saddlebags,” she told them, feeling a surprising disconnection from her anger. “The reason I had an armed escort was because I killed my would-be rapers.”
Eton leaned back and had the sense to look ashamed. Lyle sighed and shook his head. Alexia jolted when the third Pinarus spoke. “You delivered Meladon’s Judgment. If only we could use your talents to rid us of these bandits too.”
Alexia recovered from her momentary shock at the boy’s presence. She studied him, having previously disregarded him. He bore strong resemblance to his father yet life still lurked in his eyes. She would place his age at around fourteen years but he could potentially be even older given his sharp words and his delicate appearance.
“Wise words, Falen,” his father begrudgingly added. “We are ashamed of your treatment at the gate. The Pinarus do not tolerate molesters and bandits, especially if they wear the twelve trees on their breast.”
Alexia stepped toward them. She hesitated, looking at the three Pinarus. Her mind groped for explanations. Is this banditry the real reason they refuse to commit to Mirrevar? Is he trying to solve these problems and failing? That would explain his brutal dismissal of a problem he should want to deal with.
Alexia weighed her words before sending them out in the world. The bargain she struck came at a cost to her, but the compensation could save Mirrevar. She tried to mask her nervousness. “Archlord Pinarus, I too will not tolerate banditry. I will pledge to eliminate the bandits if you will commit your forces to Mirrevar.”
Pinarus did not hesitate. “You have a deal. Eliminate the bandits and then I will send Sentinels to Mirrevar.”
Hope rose within Alexia and she began drawing Norali’s light from beyond the darkened sky. “Deploy them now,” Alexia countered, “with Master Lyle at the lead. The Bearbreakers may attack anytime and it will take me days that Mirrevar doesn’t have to uphold my end of the agreement.”
Pinarus grinned, but there was no mirth in him. “You are the spawn of Eron Bluerose after all. Your tangled tongue earlier was just another show. Here is the shrewd negotiator.”
Alexia shrugged. This was praise she wasn’t equipped to believe yet it did her no favors to refute his revised opinion with the truth.
“How do I know that you will honor your end of the bargain?” Eton added.
Alexia held Aurora in both hands and restored the light to it. All three Pinarus shielded their eyes from the swift change. “You heard Master Lyle announce my titles. You yourself called me savior to criticize me for perceived inaction. I have been called a hero of the people by the common folk. I seek to be worthy of these honors that are bestowed upon me. Take my promise in writing, and if I renege, use it to destroy my reputation. Without my reputation, I will lose the faith of the people. Without their faith, I cannot achieve my dream of ending the Gemstone War.”
Eton Pinarus frowned and shook his head. “Brother, this is twice a win for us,” Lyle said. “She would destroy the threat from within and we would shield ourselves along our border. I know her heart is true when she says she wants to honor this agreement.”
One word was all the heir offered. “Please.”
Eton Pinarus grunted. He looked up at the ceiling of his audience hall. Alexia waited on edge for a space of ten turns that felt like ten degrees. He didn’t lower his gaze when he gave his ruling. “I will commit five hundred Sentinels and twenty Knight-Sentinels to Mirrevar. If he wills it, Lyle may march with them. My host will leave as soon as preparations can be made,” Eton declared. “Should you persuade more of my citizens to volunteer, I will allow it.” He narrowed his eyes, “You will agree to your end of the bargain in writing. If you do not keep your promise, I will destroy more than your reputation, Bluerose.”
Alexia knelt, still enveloped by Norali’s hopeful, guiding light. “Thank you, Archlord Pinarus. The light shines on you and your ancestors would be proud.” She turned her gaze onto young Falen Pinarus. Alexia beamed at the young lordling. “I look forward and I see that Maypine’s future is bright.”
Falen shined a toothy smile at her. “If our future is bright, it is because we have you to shine the light.”
Alexia lowered her eyes. She tried to don her stoic mask lest the Pinarus think her weak.
“You have grown so much,” Master Lyle reiterated, “yet I still see the same dreaming girl at your core.”
“Be mindful of the ever-changing wind,” Alexia recited. “It is a force beyond knowing. It has no name. It yearns and turns without pattern. It is neither your friend nor your foe. It deflects the arrow shot at your heart. It strands you at sea. It is an impossible force. It cares not for those who seek to control it. To master it, is to master the unknown. To master it, is to master chaos. To master it, is to master destiny,” she finished, quoting the first lesson Lyle the Lordling ever taught her. She focused and combined Norali’s light with Zafrir’s wind energies and blew the light around the room.
Alexia was touched by that wetness on the rim of Lyle’s eyes. “Last span, there was a space of several turns where the wind disappeared and I failed to breathe in the very air. I have thought a great deal about those missing moments where the wind was mastered. The impossible becomes possible when one is willing to be the master of destiny. Our destiny is in your hands, Master Alexia.”
Alexia felt her own eyes glisten as cracks formed in her mask. “If we are going to have a Second Great Peace, it will not be on my efforts alone. Peace will be the product of every voice coming together, louder than the voices of Zamael that prolong our fighting. You only lack the temperament to battle because your heart belongs to Leverith. Go to Leverith. Go to Mirrevar. Help me forge peace. I need you, Master Lyle.”
Lyle’s lip quivered. “The quietest girl with the loudest song to sing, you have ever been afraid to show your light to others. There are good men and women who will give everything they have for a better future, if you guide them toward it.”
Alexia knew he spoke the truth. She was ashamed of all the hiding she had done in the past few days. She could not merely wish for peace. She had to work for it and that meant guiding Leveria toward their destiny. She willed herself in that moment to fight her impulses to hide in the shadows of her shyness when she could shine light on peace and love. Even though it terrified her, she would begin right now.
As she exited the Pinnacle, Alexia repeated her intentions focusing only on the why and the what she needed to do to hold back the fears of how she would do it. Her nerves were frazzled as she climbed the ancient palisade wall. Rain poured from the dark clouds and pelted Alexia’s head, trying to steal her warmth and resolve. She maintained her focus on Norali’s hope and kept emitting an aura from her staff as she gazed into the city. She raised her staff and sent beams of light through Maypine, summoning the city’s citizens to her. People gathered despite the rain.
Alexia turned her mind, trying to attune herself to Dalis. Her self-soothing exercises helped her arrive at a calm. She focused on the falling rain rather than the assembling people. She focused on the places and people that brought her peace, so that she might bring peace to all. Her light shined brighter as she merged her Norali focus with a Dalis focus. Alexia pulled Dalis’s divine energy into her while emitting Norali’s light. She focused for several turns then released. Light blasted up at the dark clouds, banishing them from Maypine’s sentinel shrouded canopy, clearing the way for the sun to fill in the spaces between the ancient groves. The top of her hair shifted from brown to gold. Alexia pulled the rain until all of it was with her and then funneled the excess into the nearby Eagle River. She held onto Dalis’s tranquility and Norali’s hope.
Alexia expanded her mind again. Now she reached for the most important of all. Alexia gazed down into the city, opening her heart to the people assembling to watch. Now that her magic had cleared away the clouds, people were vacating their dwellings and places of work to see what was happening. A powerful pang of fear assailed her tranquility and threatened her hope as a crowd larger than the encampment in Mirrevar assembled to hear her speak.
She fought against the fear, deeming it neither justified nor helpful. I was able to speak in Mirrevar. I can do it again. I will not let fear keep me from shining. I will not let fear get in the way of my dreams. Even though I am afraid, I need to find the courage to rise up and inspire them. I need to share my dream. I will share my dream.
Look forward, she told herself. This is another step toward peace. Alexia reached again for Leverith. She touched her free hand to her sternum and thought of Zander. The Ruby and the Sapphire couldn’t fight anymore. There was no place for such hate in Leverith’s land. Alexia let her soul attune to Leverith as she focused on the love of Zander, of the people of Maypine, of the people of Leveria.
She channeled the Divine of Love’s spirit and became a beacon of moon-blue light as it radiated around her. Leverith’s spirit streamed from her staff, dispersing into the crowd. She magically amplified her voice so that it would reach each listener. “People of Maypine! I am Alexia Bluerose!”
To her astonishment, the crowd, which now numbered in the thousands, erupted in raucous applause and cheering. They chanted her name and many of her unofficial titles. Alexia tugged on Dalis’s waters to keep her calm but allowed herself to feel Leverith’s love growing stronger as the feedback loop strengthened her bond with the crowd.
She held up her acacia staff to silence the crowd. While she hid from people the past few days, while she grew up dreaming of peace, even while she dreamt in her bed, Alexia had been preparing for this moment. She had written letters that were never sent and journaled her daydreams for years. To her, taking her time to thoroughly think through what she wanted to say, without the self-consciousness, was far easier than speaking it to another person. The various pieces to her speech had been crafted throughout her lifetime and now she had to force herself to assemble them in front of thousands.
She inhaled, held, and exhaled. “We are living at the sunset of the Third Leverian Era and it is dark. Zamael fills us with hate and drives us toward vengeance. This pursuit of vengeance bleeds us to death. This same darkness swallowed our parents and it threatens to swallow us but we will not let the light fade. We will not leave our children in absolute darkness!”
The crowd cheered. Alexia honed back in on Dalis’s waters to find some tranquility as her fear threatened to paralyze her. She shined her light, both Norali’s white and Leverith’s blue, and sent it streaming through Maypine. Alexia held onto hope and love as tightly as she could. She yelled above the noise, “Together, we will reforge Leverian peace and build a Leveria where Leverith’s light shines!”
The masses of Maypine chanted her name. She had their allegiance but that wasn’t enough. Allegiance without action wouldn’t change Leveria, it wouldn’t defend Mirrevar, and it wouldn’t be enough to protect Leveria from the Chimaera.
There are good men and women who will give everything they have for a better future, if you guide them toward it.
Alexia clenched Aurora and raised it high to silence the crowd. “I love you. I believe in the goodness that exists in all of you. We are at the sunset but we will not survive to see the sunrise of a new era unless we banish the darkness!” Alexia’s mask broke and her tranquility evaporated, water gliding down her cheeks. “I can’t do this alone.”
The raucous crowd went silent as Alexia searched for a way to reclaim her stoic strength. Her mind started to go blank and she started to panic. Lyle Pinarus climbed the palisade and stood beside her, with Falen Pinarus following him. “You are not alone!” Falen declared.
“Maypine stands with Leverith,” Lyle Pinarus bellowed. He put his hand on Alexia’s shoulder. “We stand with, Alexia!”
The crowd chanted. “We stand with Alexia! We stand with Alexia! We stand with Alexia!”
“You are almost there,” Lyle whispered to Alexia, “guide them.”
Alexia stood up to her full height. “To protect our lands, we must prevent aggression! To forge peace, we must let go of Zamael’s hatred and embrace Leverith’s love! To see the sunrise of a new era, we must drive away the darkness!” Alexia thought about mentioning the Celegans but hesitated. If she looked too far ahead, she would lose sight of the here and now. Peace first.
The crowd applauded, but Alexia was not done shining.
“Before we can have peace, we must protect ourselves from further conflict. Mirrevar may fall into the hands of the Ruby Kingdom. If that happens, your lives and lands will be in danger and peace will be even harder to forge. We are at war. We must defend ourselves while keeping our hearts and minds open. I know this sounds impossible but the impossible becomes possible if we are willing to become the masters of our destiny. We can protect Mirrevar with love in our hearts rather than hate.
“Archlord Pinarus is sending Sentinels to Mirrevar as soon as he can. However, that may not be enough to stem the tides of war and light the way to peace. I need your help. We have seen enough death and killed too many good people just because we were born across an imaginary line on a map! War and hate have been king and queen for too long! It is time we return to the reign of peace and love! It is time the Ruby and the Sapphire people forgive each other!”
Alexia unleashed her built up emotion. Love and light flooded Maypine and the crowd’s emotions amplified. “I am going to Sapphirica to convince King Gideon Sapphire to end this war! I ask you to help me keep the peace and stand guard one final time through this dark night before we usher in the sunrise!”
The thousands gathered in Maypine chanted her name and made vows of action. Alexia smiled as she stood atop the Pinarus palisade, a beacon of light. She was simultaneously drained from addressing the crowd and rejuvenated with hope that after seven centuries of conflict, Leveria might finally achieve a lasting peace. She would be the guiding light shining on that path.