Frostfell_ The Wizards - Mark Sehestedt [100]
"It is time, Lady," he said. "The council of the omah nin gathers."
Amira gave Jalan a gentle shake. "Jalan," she said. "Jal, you must wake up."
He stirred, turning so that the blanket fell away from his face. His eyes went wide and he gasped.
"It's dark," he said.
"I know, dear. We're in camp. We're safe. But you must wake up, just for a little while. You and I have been invited to a council."
Jalan squeezed his eyes shut, and his whole body shuddered. But he forced himself up, and he and Amira followed the belkagen, his staff emitting its cold green fire and lighting their way. The camp was spread out in a shallow valley that probably turned into a river in spring and early summer. Autumn-bare trees, their branches drooping under a heavy load of snow, lined the ground between the valley and steep embankment, and the Vil Adanrath had made fires and erected small lean-tos beneath them. Wolves and elves slept in some of the campsites, others were empty, and a few sat beside fires and watched the trio pass.
The omah nin had built his fire at the very edge of the camp where the eastern embankment fell to a flat area of scrub and boulders, all made into formless humps of snow.
Behind a large fire stood Haerul himself, shirtless but with a long cape of black fur draping his shoulders. His hair was unbound and hung heavy with snow well below his waist. He was almost as tall as Gyaidun, but his frame had the lean strength of the elves. Scars crisscrossed his torso, and one particularly nasty gash, long healed, streaked down his neck and chest. Like the rest of the Vil Adanrath, only bits of pale skin peeked out from a twisting maze of black tattoos.
As she approached the chieftain, Amira caught glints of red among the darker inks and thought at first that they were new scars, still raw from healing. But her breath caught in her throat when she took a closer look. They were runes, and although there were differences, she recognized them. She couldn't read them, but there was no doubt that they were the same language as was carved into her new staff.
"Belkagen," she whispered. "Those marks upon the omah nin. What are they?"
The belkagen slowed his pace and turned to her. "Those are the marks of a chieftain. In the west, your kings wear crowns and wield scepters. Among the Vil Adanrath, those red runes mark him omah nin."
"What do they say?"
"Not now, Lady."
"But they are much like the runes on the staff given to me by the oracle."
The belkagen nodded. "Most likely they were carved by the same hand."
"You mean the omah nin has been to the oracle?"
"All omah seek Hro'nyewachu, who chooses the omah nin. Now hush, Lady. Please. This is not the time."
They walked amid the gathered crowd. Amira counted ten other Vil Adanrath gathered-elves anyway. The wolves milled about so that she had trouble counting them, and they came in every color, from a black deep as coal to a white that became one with the snow. Among the elves, Amira was surprised to see three women. They looked no less fierce than the men. One had a disfigured face, half of which was a mottled burn-scar, and one eye stared out milky white.
The belkagen stood across the fire from the omah nin and bowed. "Omah Nin, I have come to your council, and I bring Lady Amira Hiloar, War Wizard of Cormyr, Inisach tin Nekutha Hro'nyewachwe. I request that those who speak the common tongue of the west do so, that we might honor her presence."
The omah nin turned his heavy gaze on her, and she was bowing before she realized it. "Well come to my fire, Lady Amira," said the omah nin. "You honor us with your presence." He motioned to each of those seated around the fire, calling each of their names. Leren was the only one she had already met. "Please, sit. We have much to discuss."
The belkagen sat on the ground amid the ring of elves.
Amira and Jalan settled in beside him, and she leaned toward him and whispered, "What was that you called me? Inisaktin Neku-something?"
The belkagen turned to her and said, "Inisach tin Nekutha Hro'nyewachwe. It means you sought