Lady of Poison_ The Priests - Bruce R. Cordell [47]
Marrec addressed the Nentyarch, internally reminding himself that the elf was due his respect, "Honored one, I am the servant of Lurue, the Unicorn Queen. I have been on a road long not only in length but also in years. I hope that you may have the answers I seek."
"Your quest is not unknown to me," said the Nentyarch. "My hunter, Elowen, whom we missed in her long absence, has explained your plight and your quest."
Fallon, still standing nearby with the chest holding the Keystone, shot Elowen a frown. She favored him with a small shrug in return, the ghost of a smile on her lips.
Marrec responded, "Then can you tell me for what reason my path has led to this girl, Ash, and now to you? Do you know what her significance is, and… can you tell me what ails Lurue?"
"I can try. Let the girl come to me."
Marrec guided Ash a little closer to the pool, then released her hand.
The Nentyarch studied Ash for a good minute. Quiet reigned in the hall, save for a few small coughs in the back. Finally the Nentyarch said, "I can see there is something more to this girl than meets the eye. If what I suspect is true, then I don't doubt that all the Rotting Man's thoughts and many of his agents are bent on finding this girl you name Ash."
Marrec held his breath, waiting for the revelation.
"But I must be sure." So saying the Nentyarch stood and walked through the crystal pool surrounding his throne. The pool was only a few inches deep. Marrec noticed that the Nentyarch waded through the pool without getting the least bit wet. He stepped out of the shallow pool to stand next to Ash.
"Let us have a better look at you," the Nentyarch murmured. He placed one hand on the girl's shoulder and raised the other above his own head. In his raised hand he held a sprig of greenery. The girl was unfazed but spoke: "Ash."
The Nentyarch smiled, saying, "I doubt that is your true name. Let us find out, shall we?"
Then he began to utter a series of sharp, ringing syllables, one after the other, which continued to ring through air as if individual voices. As the Nentyarch uttered each new syllable, the ones before it continued to sound, until after just a brief time, a mighty melody of rich sound reverberated through the hidden hall. Still the Nentyarch added to the voice, layering on yet more notes. The slow crescendo slowly built to a sound so intense that many stopped up their ears.
Finally, the Nentyarch brought down his raised hand, throwing the plant cutting he held into the pool. The sound cut off instantly, but light blossomed in the pool, growing from the point where the plant cutting had splashed. The light formed the image of a night sky. The sky seemed idealized, shorn of obscuring clouds, but sprinkled with thousands of tiny points of starlight.
A ray of light shot up from the pool, becoming a wide shaft of light. To Marrec's eyes, the shaft seemed to burn with hope. He reached for it, but just as suddenly, the light winked out, as if extinguished before its time. Marrec felt that the light had been stolen away, but as despair threatened to claim him, a tiny of flicker, a spark, rose up from the pool. It was but a twinkle compared to the beam of before, yet it was a glimmer of hope.
The spark rose from the pool, moving toward the Nentyarch. The tiny firefly light came to rest, hanging just above the brow of the little girl, Ash, like a flashing jewel bound in a queenly circlet.
As the light blazed stronger on her brow, Ash said, "Araluen."
The light flickered out and the scene in the pool died away. Marrec held his breath, looking to the Nentyarch for explanation.
The Nentyarch laughed. He said in a wondering voice, "This is the aspect of good long promised. The Child of Light!"
Wondering whispers broke out in the court. "I don't understand," said Marrec. "This is the Child of Light, sent to the world by Lurue. Lurue long promised a champion of the green, which would aid us in our long fight against the growing power of the