The Floodgate - Elaine Cunningham [33]
"Kiva, the necromancer disappeared over two hundred years ago. No doubt he is long dead."
"Since when was a necromancer inconvenienced by death?" Kiva spoke as if quelling a child who interrupted his elders' conversation. "Do you think him incapable of transforming himself into a lich?"
Andris had no answer. The specter of an undead Akhlaur dwarfed any possible response into insignificance.
"There is more," the elf woman went on. "It was Akhlaur who created the laraken, fashioning it so that whatever magic the monster absorbed would pass to its master. Now the laraken is again within Akhlaur's grasp. That can only speed his return to power and to Halruaa. When he emerges-and eventually he will-alive or dead, it matters not-it will be as the most powerful deathwizard Halruaa has ever known. If he is to be stopped, it must be now."
Andris nodded slowly, seeing a thread of logic in Kiva's complicated tapestry.
How could she avenge herself and her people if the wizard responsible for so much suffering was beyond her grasp? Given what he knew of Kiva, her plan involved more than a simple spellbattle confrontation. He did not exactly trust Kiva, but if at the end Akhlaur was vanquished once and for all, wasn't that worth the risk?
The elves seemed equally conflicted. "I am called Nadage," the elf spokesman said at last "I am a scout and warrior. What you suggest is a matter for the elders."
"There is little time," Kiva protested. "Such a trip would take days."
"Not so. When humans were first spotted in the forest pass, battle preparations began. We can reach our camp by nightfall. You will come and speak before the People."
Without further discussion, the elves turned and headed westward. Kiva gave Andris a little shove, and they fell into step behind.
"Perhaps it was a mistake for me to come with you," Andris observed softly.
"They seem reluctant to speak their minds before strangers."
"It is not the elven way. I was born in this jungle, but I have been gone for many years. You'll notice that they did not welcome me with joy or offer to gossip about all that has happened since I left."
"They disapprove of mixed blood?"
Kiva gave a derisive sniff. "You jordaini have a talent for understatement."
Andris found this painful, but logical. "Reasonable enough, given the dwindling numbers of elves. I assume they perceive elfbloods as a threat?"
She sent him a small, hard smile. "If they considered you a threat, you'd be dead. Did you notice that they did not look at you?"
"Yes, but I was too busy being glad they didn't shoot at me to worry about it overmuch," Andris responded. After a moment's consideration he added,
"Perhaps I owe my life to the fact that they thought me already dead."
"That's very close. They called you karasanzor. That means 'crystal one,' and it is a term of respect. They did not look at you because we do not gaze upon the crystal ghosts of our elf kin."
Andris gestured toward his translucent form. "So looking like this is a good thing, according to the forest elves?"
"It puts you in a unique position," Kiva agreed. "You're clearly human-you should pardon the expression-but you appear to share the karasanzor's fate.
Furthermore, you faced the laraken and lived. They don't know what to make of you."
"They are not alone," Andris muttered.
They did not speak again until the elves stopped for the evening. The scouts showed them to a small house built high into the forest canopy, well away from the camp itself.
Andris and Kiva ate the fruit that the scouts left for them and settled down for the night. Deeper in the jungle, the unseen elves began to sing. The melody was slow and languorous, with a gently pulsing rhythm.
Andris had never known a mother, but he suspected that this song was a lullaby. Never had he heard anything so moving. It comforted and saddened him at the same time.
Kiva stopped brushing her hair and turned to him. "What do you know of the Lady's Mirror?"