The Ways of Mages: Starfire (22 page)

The two Lords of Darkness inclined their heads before looking over at her. Altana had never truly been scared before. She was now because in their eyes she could see that even if they were limited, there were more creative ways to make her suffer then killing her. She should know this, as she had used a few such tactics hersel
f
…

Arathin- Qwincha, Marlhema

Jewel rocked in her rocking chair. She was knitting a blanket for next yea
r’
s winter, not that winter was terrible on the coast. A blanket made cuddling on a chair with a cat in her lap just that much more cozy. And right now it gave her something to do with her hands. Grim and the other three she had saved from the sea were sleeping. The wounds they had received from the shipwreck were miraculously minimal, but whatever had brought them to Arathin had tired them. So they eat her broths and medicinal teas and slept.

All the questions she had remained unasked.

After two thousand years of nothing but nightmares of home it was almost too much to ask her to wait more. But she had to. The man who was her father had to rest. As she thought, her hands worked industrially. Sam-the-Unwise was curled blissfully on her lap under the forming blanket. Other cats were also around. One was patting at the yarn as it wriggled up to her fingers.

“
It is good to see that has not changed
.”
A familiar voice said from the door way.

Jewel turned and saw Grim leaning against the doorframe with a smile on his face. Jewel leapt from her chair, much to Sa
m’
s disgust.  At least he landed on top of the blanket. Jewel paid the resilient little white cat little heed. She raced to Grim and hugged him
.“
I thought you would never wake up
.”
She said into his chest.

Grim held her for a long time. Jewel savored the moment. Grim eventually pulled back. He tucked a stray strand of silver hair behind her ear his expression troubled
.“
Much time must have passed since we last saw each other. It must have
.
”

“
Are you feeling better
?”
She asked knowing that it was worst then he knew.

He nodded
.“
And the others are awake as well
.
”

“
Come then. Let us talk and share stories, for there is much we both need to know
.”
With that Jewel entered her home.  Sure enough, she found the other three sitting in her living room before the fire. They looked up at Jewel when she entered. Jewel smiled her heale
r’
s smile; calm and serene
.“
I am glad to see that all of you are awake. Introductions are in order, I believe. My name is Jewel A
l’
Dap-Holden
.
”

The other woman smiled
.“
Thank you for pulling us from the sea, Jewel. My name is Jacquelyn DeCotes. My friends call me Jay Dee
.”
The dark haired woman looked Jewel over for a moment before continuing
.“
I think we are going to be good friends if Thomas is to be believed
.
”

Jewel blinked at the use of the familiar in which Jay Dee had referred to her uncle. Jewel glanced at Grim and saw him smiling tenderly at Jay Dee. Yes, there was something these two had not told her yet, but if it was what she assumed Jewel was happy. If Jay Dee had caught the eye of Jewe
l’
s beloved uncle then she must truly be something special.

Jewel turned back to the group sitting on her couches. The younger of the two men grinned at her, having caught her looking between Grim and Jay Dee
.“
My name be Jingles. No fancy last name. Just Jingles
.”
He said nodding his head so that his earrings jingled which encouraged a cat to leap up on the back of the couch and stalk said earrings.

The oldest man in the group smiled as Jingles tried to discourage the hunting kitty.  He turned to Jewel and inclined his head
.“
I be Captain Wilaim, Lady Jewel. I used to be the captain of her good ship the Lucky Blue Wing before the sea chewed her up
.”
The last he said sadly. A look of horror entered his eyes.

“
It is good to finally hear your names
.”
Jewel replied
.“
That is one of my questions answered
.
”

“
You have many
?”
Jay Dee asked.

“
You have no idea. Uncle, please sit
.
”
 
Jewel said gesturing for Grim to pick a seat. He sat, no surprise, next to Jay Dee.  Jewel sat down in her favorite chair
.“
First, the last I remember of home was coming to rescue you
,”
She said looking at Gri
m“
from Altana. But the rescue party came racing back with her on their heels. We escaped her by using a time/ space location device that Robert and Gawin created in South Port. The next I knew, I was here
.
”

“
Well, I did escape. I wo
n’
t go too much into the details other than to say I managed to get to the sea where Jay Dee fished me out of the water. I sent a message to the rebel forces that I had escaped and to stay away from Mortia
.
”

“
It must have come after we left for you
.”
Jewel said shaking her head slightly
.“
We did
n’
t hear anything
.
”

Grim nodded
.“
As it is, Jay Dee brought me to Grinley. She and I are engaged and are to marry sometime this year. On our way back to Pershara to rejoin the army we were caught in a storm
.
”

“
And a giant sea monster came and destroyed the ship
!”
Jingles cut in, his voice shivering.

“
Aye, near the barrier maelstrom
.”
Willaim continued
.“
No idea how we could have steered that far off course
.
”

“
T’
was the sea monster
!”
Jingles insisted.

Grim nodded
.“
I do
n’
t doubt you. Doc Harding had been working with it
.
”

“
And it killed him
.”
Jay Dee said grimly.

“
And everyone else, but us
.”
Jingles replied.

“
And we almost died too. Either we would fall into the maelstrom or the curtain of light would kill us
.”
Willaim mused.

“
A curtain
?”
Jewel asked puzzled leaning forward.

“
Yes
.”
Grim said, his hand holding Jay De
e’
s
.“
Lit up the stormy sea like the sun had fallen to earth. There was a hole in i
t
…”

“
We were floating toward it
.”
Jay Dee said looking at Grim.

“
There was a lot of magic because the pressure must have knocked us out
.”
Grim said nodding
.“
It is a miracle that we still made it back home
.”
At that Jewel got up and began to pace, wringing her hands
.“
Jewel
?
”

“
How long did your adventure take since you escaped Mortia to the storm
?”
She asked softly.

“
A couple months
.”
He replied.

Jewel stopped her pacing and bowed her head. Her hands clutching each other tightly.

“
What is it, lassie
?”
Willaim asked.

“
Then the sword sent me back in time
.”
She whispered.

“
Pardon
?
”

Taking a breath Jewel turned to face all of them
.“
I told you that the rescue group; that being Kindra, Robert, Bendon, Tommy, Toliver, Tep, Gawin, and myself had escaped Altana through a device that Gawin and Robert had made. The thing had been powered by Rober
t’
s sword, but its cradle was very sensitive to movement. Gawin, our baby, and I were the last to step through
.
”

“
Hold on. Baby
?”
Grim asked raising his hand to stall her.

Jewel smiled sadly
.“
Sorry, Gawin and I got married before we came after you.
I’
ll tell you the other reasons other than our love that led to it later.  Gawin and our baby slipped through the portal before I did. We had been fighting Altana at the time. The sword kept moving. I tried to set it back to where it had bee
n…
the next I knew I was here
.
”

“
Where are the others
?”
Jay Dee asked leaning forward. Her voice was troubled.

“
I do
n’
t know
.”
Jewel replied. She met each of their eyes as she continued
.“
You are not home. This is not Pershara. This is the southern part of Arathin
.
”

“
What?
!”
The people before her cried out in shock.

“
Arathin is a myth
!”
Willaim pointed out.

Jewel nodded
.“
People here would agree with you, because they have only heard the name in myth. But this is Arathin
.”
She looked at Grim
.“
A few months have passed for you, but for me it has been much longer. The portal sent me here and back in time
.
”

“
Back in time
?”
Grim asked worried.

“
Yes
.
”

“
How far back
?”
Jay Dee asked.

“
Well, if you are present time, then roughly two thousand years
.”
Jewel commented as she dug through papers on her desk.

“
How are you still alive
?”
Jingles asked stunned.

Jewel glanced over her shoulder at him
.“
Dragon blood. Kindra, the last of the True Dragons, was/is my mother. I can be any age I want, really
.”
She turned toward them with a scroll in her hand. With her free hand she gestured over her face and hair. A light pressure touched the backs of their necks. The old, silver haired Jewel was replaced by the version Grim knew well. Her hair returned to its vibrant copper red and her skin smoothed to that of youth.  She smiled at them
.“
It is the same for Perela
.
”

“
Perela can do that too
?”
Grim asked softly.

Jewel nodded.

“
What have you there
?”
Jay Dee asked nodding toward the scroll.

“
My proof that we are no longer in Pershara. This was my first real proof that I was
n’
t just two thousand years in Pershar
a’
s past
.”
Jewel unrolled the scroll
.“
This is a map of Arathin. And we are here
.”
She said pointing to the eastern most edge of the land mass
.“
We are just outside Qwincha in the country of Marlhema
.
”

The color drained from all of their faces. They could not refute the fact that they were no longer in Pershara or anywhere near
.“
Then how do we get home
?”
Grim asked hollowly.

“
That I do
n’
t really know
.”
Jewel replied.

“
But our people need us
.”
Grim insisted.

Tears appeared in Jewe
l’
s eyes
.“
I do
n’
t know if there is a way. And trust me I have been searching and searching. I did
n’
t know what had happened to you. I still do
n’
t know what happened to Gawin or any of the others. I have searched for some passage to Pershara, but no ship captain knew of what I was talking about. They have never heard of Pershara. Only vague myth mentions it a
s“
the other continent
.
”