Elfshadow - Elaine Cunningham [133]
"What can I say?" Arilyn returned with a flippant shrug. "It's amazing what one can do when properly motivated. I refuse to die while you still draw breath." Her face hardened.
"Maybe you're right about the moonblade, and it could be that neither of us has long to live. I challenge you, Kymil Nimesin, to single combat. May the gods judge between us."
"Your pretension is almost amusing," said Kymil. "The student cannot possibly hope to vanquish the master."
"It has been known to happen."
The elf regarded her for a moment, then he noted in a condescending manner, "My dear Arilyn, you cannot fight a duel with that lifeless blade."
In reply, the half-elf raised Danilo's sword to her forehead in challenge.
Kymil merely laughed and turned to the Elite. "Kill her."
* * * * *
Khelben Arunsun stood by a window of Blackstaff Tower, gazing out into the gathering night. Try as he might, he could not rid his mind of Danilo's words. In the matter of the elfgate, the wizard had done what he thought best. The Harper council had decided that secrecy was the only real protection for the elven kingdom, and they had guarded the secret by dividing it up like so many chunks of bread. At the time, it had seemed to be the most prudent course to take.
Now Khelben was not so sure. Harpers worked in secret, always collecting information and using their talented members to subtly thwart evil or correct imbalance. In the matter of the elfgate, the very veil of secrecy that the Harpers employed, usually with great success, had been turned against them by an elf they trusted. Therein, Khelben knew, lay the dilemma. Bran Skorlsun had been kept busy for almost forty years tracking down pretended Harpers and an occasional renegade Harper. What other disasters could occur if these false Harpers had access to Harpers' secrets?
Danilo had been right about many things, Khelben acknowledged silently. The archmage had knowingly and deliberately endangered Arilyn's life. Without the moonblade, she was unlikely to live through the night. Khelben's heart ached for his nephew, who obviously cared deeply for the half-elf.
The archmage abruptly left the window and walked to the corner of the room where the moonblade still lay. To his knowledge, Arilyn had not named a successor. To whom, then, should he send the blade? Absently he reached for the ancient scabbard, and his hand closed on air.
"What!" Snapped from his introspection, Khelben sped through the words of a cantrip to dispel magic. The moonblade faded, although its faint outline hung in the air a moment longer as if silently mocking him.
"An illusion," he murmured. "Danilo took the sword and left an illusion." The boy's getting too good to keep under wraps, the wizard thought, unable to suppress a small smile of pride.
He passed a hand over his forehead. His sympathies were with Danilo, but how could the boy be foolish enough to endanger the elfgate? Both Danilo and Bran Skorlsun were risking their lives to help Arilyn. Khelben was not sure whether he ought to be angry or ashamed. Perhaps they could do it. Perhaps Danilo could move the gate without a problem, and perhaps Arilyn could defeat Kymil Nimesin. Perhaps I should let them try, the archmage mused.
The weight of responsibility pressed upon Khelben Arunsun, and suddenly he felt very old. He walked the staircase to his spellcasting chamber to alert Erlan Duirsar. The elven lord of Evereska would not be pleased to learn that the moonblade was again whole and on its way to the site of the elfgate.
* * * * *
The sounds of battle rang through the temple gardens, drifting down the labyrinth of footpaths that wove their way to the top of Evereska's highest mountain. Two men broke into a run, the taller of them leading the way. Swiftly and surely the aging Harper raced to the top of the mountain. There, in the very center of the garden, was a sight that chilled him to the soul.
Before the statue of a beautiful elven goddess stood his daughter, fighting for her life against four gold elves. The rising moon reflected