"Say it again!" he repeated viciously. "Wh--what?" I croaked. Laval pushed me back so forcefully that every beat of my heart sent a stab of pain through my ribs (truly, I was trapped between a rock and a hard place). "You know what I mean!" Laval roared, spraying my face with greenish spittle. Then, seeming to regret his outburst, he narrowed his eyes, speaking in a softer voice. "You were muttering to yourself: 'he is among us'. Were you referring to the one we seek? The one you so helpfully brought up?" "E--war?" I choked. Laval's face darkened further. "What did you mean? Tell me!" Left with no other choice, I gurgled, "Ewar...is...among us." Quite suddenly, Laval drew his hands away from my throat and pressed them to his own head, then stumbled backward. Relieved to be rid of his vise-like grasp, I slid down the wall, coughing. I watched lazily as Laval staggered to and fro, seemingly having an argument with himself. "He is among us.... "So he is! But why will you not let me have the raven? He is loathsome, foul! Of no importance whatsoever! "No...that may yet be true. As you wish, Master Loradus." He shuddered, then removed his hands from his head. Hurriedly, I clawed at the wall of rock in an attempt to pull myself to my feet; but it proved too slippery to find purchase, and I settled back into the puddle on the ground as Laval turned to face me again.
He looked at me with a new light in his eyes, as if seeing something he hadn't before. "Get up," he growled, offering his hand. I ignored it, rising shakily from the ground. "We have fallen behind," he went on. "Master Loradus draws near to the Chi Fountain, and the passageways are fast in closing. Come." He looked down, then pulled the arrow out of himself and snapped it in half. I stared as he then turned and strode away, throwing the arrow halves aside. He was at least thirty paces on when, perhaps sensing that I was not moving, he said again, "Come!" Blinking, I ran as best I could to catch him up, every other step splashing before clanking loudly against the rock. Despite his wound, Laval kept a swift pace, and ere long, I was panting and clutching a stitch in my side. "Are you tired, raven?" Laval grinned. I nodded, swallowing something that rose in my throat. The other turned his head forward again, grin widening. "I'm only going at this pace for your sake, you know. I prefer to walk faster...." He winced suddenly, staggering a few steps, then continued on as swiftly as ever. The puddles spread across the ground became an ankle-deep pool that flooded the passageway, and as we went further, the water level rose up to my knees. The mysterious light grew dimmer. Thin veins of a blue mineral streaked across the walls every now and then, seeming to point the way.
Then we came to a fork in the passage. Laval cursed, coming to a stop at last. "We needed to be faster...." "I'm afraid I don't follow," I said, peering down both passageways. I then glanced down at the water, gently rippling about my knees. Laval laughed darkly, then winced again and clutched at his wound. "What is there to follow? We'll just have to sit here quietly and wait." "I'm sorry?" Laval snarled, eyes rolling in a most revolting manner. "Sit down!" Hurriedly, I sank down onto the ground, gingerly setting my back against the moist wall. Though I was still puzzled as to why we had stopped, I held my tongue; a rest was very much welcome at this point. Soon Laval sat down himself, closing his eyes and breathing heavily. Time passed. I stared at a pattern of blue veins in the rock over Laval's head. They seemed to glow ever so slightly, and then fade into the gray-green of the surrounding rock. Glow, then fade. Glow, then fade. In a steady rhythm. Then a sharp, strange whisper entered my hearing, but it spoke no words I understood. "Do you hear that?" I asked Laval, still staring at the veins in the rock. Laval opened a single eye, the red light reflecting in the surface of the water. "I hear nothing," said he. "Silence your thoughts, and so will you." But this wasn't simply in my head. I could hear it as plainly as I heard Laval's voice. Then the veins faded into the wall and didn't return.
And as the sound of rushing water filled the air, the whispering voice faded away as well. "About time," said Laval, getting to his feet. I followed his example, still squinting at the rock where the dimly glowing veins had been. All the while, the rushing of water grew louder in my ears, but I ignored it, stepping closer to the opposite wall, searching in vain for any streaks of light or color in the rock.... "Raven!" I turned my head quickly; the air before the fork in the passage was shimmering, rippling, much like the surface of the water in which we stood. Then the two passageways seemed to come together into one, which opened out almost immediately into another cavern. Laval beckoned impatiently, and I slowly stepped towards him, all thoughts of luminous minerals and unnatural whispers drifting to the back of my mind. "The Chi Fountain lies just beyond that opening," said Laval. "But...I would not tread there...." He shivered, and I took another step forward into the deep, deep blue emanating from the opening. The sound of rushing water was much clearer now, but I still had yet to catch a glimpse of the source; a cloud seemed to hang in the small stretch of passage before me, obscuring everything in the cavern from view excepting its radiance. Then I felt something whistle through the air past me.
I turned sharply to see what it was, but it disappeared down the passage as swiftly as it had appeared. "Why do you wait," came Loradus' voice from the cavern beyond, "when what you desire most is at hand?" "I fear for my loyalty to your cause, Master Loradus," returned Laval, before I could open my beak. His voice was shaking, its natural tone returning somewhat. "I could be lost if I entered this place...." There was a vicious snapping sound from ahead, and I jumped aside as a bolt of violet lightning flashed down the passage, curling itself about Laval's neck like a chain. I looked on, horrified, as Laval screamed, his limbs twitching. "Your loyalty is already failing you," said Loradus, sounding very faintly disgusted. "Rizzo...come along, would you?" Eye wide, I hurriedly stumbled through the cloud and into the immense cavern beyond. And though Laval's screams of agony were still ringing in my ears, right then all I could do was stop and stare. The entire cavern was bathed in the deep blue light I had seen from the passage, and it all seemed to come from the massive, perfect sphere in the heart of the place, encased in an inverted, teardrop-shaped mountain of ice. This sphere swirled and pulsed and crackled with energy; it looked almost alive (in a way), and it was most certainly not composed of any substance or element with which I was familiar. From four places about the edge of the sphere, four streams of what I knew must be Chi water flowed out, falling in gentle, graceful arcs towards the ground. Here, at last, was the Chi Fountain.
"Loradus--stop this--" Upon hearing this, Ewar's voice, I dragged my eye away from the Fountain, searching for him. A search wasn't quite necessary, however, as he stood not ten paces from me. And standing beside him, holding the other end of the twisting, crackling chain of violet lightning in both hands, was Loradus. His face was set grimly, and, with a jerk of his arms, Laval came tumbling in, grasping at the length of chain about his neck and gurgling rather than screaming. Holding it in one hand now, Loradus snapped the chain of energy like a whip, bringing Laval to his knees; then he coiled it out of existence with a quick twist of his arm. Glancing back at the magnificence of the Fountain once more, I rushed over to the others. Gorzan was pulling a clearly furious Ewar away from Loradus, and Worriz was keeping an equally unhappy Eris from drawing any closer (Razar stood to one side, counting the same coins over and over while humming to himself). I limped up to Loradus cautiously. "Er--what is--?" In an astonishingly fast, fluid movement, Loradus drew his bow from about his torso and fitted an arrow to it, aiming betwixt my eyes. "Step back," he said, his flat voice somehow filled with menace. Frowning, I complied. He then turned on the spot and let the arrow fly. Seeing where it was headed an instant before it struck did not enable me to close my eye, though I wish I could have. Loradus' target was Laval.
Razar's hum began to sound very forced. "Stop!" screamed Ewar, fighting against Gorzan's grip. "Stop this now!" Loradus fitted another arrow to his bow, then turned his head to Ewar. "How I discipline my servants is up to me, and me alone," he said, firing the second arrow. It didn't miss. "Enough! Really!" said Eris, also struggling to get at Loradus; but no amount of protest would stop him. I stood frozen to the spot, incapable of any kind of movement whatsoever, staring as Loradus fired arrow after arrow; at last, he pulled a thirteenth from his quiver and stared at Laval with an expression of mild disdain. "You remind me of the dastard fool I once was," he said. "Always thinking your way is best." He fired this last arrow; and as it, too, failed to miss, I regained my senses, rushing towards Loradus's turned back-- Then someone snatched my wings from behind, pulling with such force that I fell flat on my back. And as the air rushed from my lungs and I fought to draw breath, Razar's frightened face appeared above me. "You--!" I choked (or tried), for the air was slow in returning. But Razar merely shook his head, saying, "You don't want to run in on that, my friend." I grunted, attempting several shallow breaths. A void began to expand in the center of my mind.... Then, at last, air flooded back into my lungs, and I sat up, gasping.
In that instant, Eris and Ewar burst out of their captors' grip and charged Loradus, who kicked the slumped figure of Laval ere turning sharply to face them. Then, before I had the chance to regain my feet, cry out, or even blink, he blasted Eris across the cavern with another bolt of violet lightning, drew out an ornate, glittering dagger, and slashed in Ewar's direction. My insides seemed to drop away. Far, far behind me, something struck the wall with a sickening thump! Worriz rushed in then, his limbs hardening to stone before he could ever touch Loradus; Gorzan fell to his knees and wept openly; Razar remained directly behind me, moving very little (if at all). Loradus glanced about grimly, then raised his dagger again and stepped closer to Ewar, who held both hands tightly to his throat. Realizing what he was about to do, I tried to scramble to my feet; but it was all for naught. Loradus swung the dagger in a diagonal downward arc, on course with Ewar's head. And yet, a feather's-breadth from impact, the blade rebounded, Loradus's arm jerking upward as he fought to keep hold of it. Ewar cried out as if he had been struck, however, removing a hand from his (unmarked, though softly glowing) throat and bringing it to his head. Strangely, Loradus looked as though he had expected this, merely readying the dagger for another stroke.
This time he aimed for Ewar's midsection; and when it rebounded again, he brought it back in position, striking over and over until Ewar was bent double. "So it is true," Loradus muttered. "He is the Lost One...." He slid the dagger out of sight within his cloak, then kicked Ewar to the ground. And that was when I rose; slowly, deliberately stepping up to Loradus the lion. Even having seen what he could do--especially having seen what he could do--I could barely contain my fury, my hand shaking as I brought it up. "Exactly what do you hope to accomplish...through such brutality?" Loradus turned calmly to face me. "Ravens," he said. "Always last to come the aid of their so-called 'friends', in the interest of saving themselves. If you saw brutality, you did nothing to stop it." "Be that as it may," I returned, taking a deep breath that did nothing to calm me, "you cannot expect me to trust you after all this!" And I swept a hand, indicating the fallen or frozen forms of the others. Loradus narrowed his eye. "To the contrary, Rizzo.... I expect you to trust me with your life." "I already have; and it seems a poor choice in hindsight." "Aah...." I continued to meet Loradus's stare, knowing that as long as we could hold intelligent conversation, I was in no danger. The trouble was, I knew not how much longer I could contain myself; and the instant I turned hostile could well be my last. As if having seen into my mind, the corners of his mouth twitched. "You fear for your life; as I thought...." He reached a hand into his cloak again, and I took an involuntary step back. Loradus tensed, and I froze, taking care to keep my face unreadable, my claws twitching slightly at my sides. Very slowly, Loradus withdrew his hand from inside his cloak. It was empty.
Despite everything, I felt my face begin to betray my fear and confusion and anger. I swallowed a lump in my throat that felt like a stone. What was he doing? If he wished to strike me down, why did he not act swiftly, as he had before? Were all the others to die ere he laid a finger on me? All too suddenly, giving no chance to react, Loradus whipped out what looked to be a shard of glass; jagged and misshapen, it was the length and width of an open palm, but no thicker than a leaf. I flinched, bringing my hands up to shield my face. After several moments of standing in this way, I relaxed my arms very slightly, peering over them to Loradus. He had not moved. "Are you quite done?" he asked. I lowered my arms further and didn't reply, expecting him to fling the glass at my now unprotected face at any moment. But all he did was extend his empty hand, beckoning. "Come closer." I tightened my fists and narrowed my eye, but closed the distance betwixt us all the same. "Thank you," said he, lifting the glass--a fragment of a mirror, as it turned out--to the level of my eye. "Now look, and tell me what you see." Rather unwillingly, I stared into the glass, at first seeing only my own grim face. Then a deep azure light shone out of it, eventually swirling into the image of the Chi Fountain. "Yes?" said Loradus, and I realized puzzlement must be showing on my face. But for some reason, as I continued to peer into the mirror, I no longer cared about hiding my emotions. "I see the Chi Fountain," I muttered. Loradus nodded. "The answer to your problems." And he began to pull the mirror away. "No--wait!" I said, still looking into it. "There--there is more!"
There wasn't, of course--at any rate, not until he held it out again and the light swirled into a different image--but I felt oddly drawn to it. "Well?" said Loradus, with the slightest bit of impatience. I shook my head, trying to make out what exactly the mirror was showing me. Darkness rushed past, then a hand closed too tightly around a Chi orb, shattering it.... Rain fell from the sky in sheets, droplets running down the edges of another Chi orb--it was resting in an outstretched hand, as I soon realized. Then lightning struck, shattering it as well.... I blinked. These were memories.... The surface of the glass began to swirl again. "This--this mirror," I said to Loradus. "What does it show?" "What did you see?" he returned, with more than a little urgency. I glanced up at him. "I..." "Come." He decisively whipped the mirror away, holding it by his side. "We have to gather the Tears of the Fountain." "But--" He reached out a hand and slapped my face to one side. I drew breath, completely shocked, though the sting of pain at my cheek was barely noticeable. Faintly, I heard Loradus walk swiftly in the direction of the Chi Fountain; and, once my nerves had recovered somewhat, I followed. As I drew closer to the Fountain than I had before, I saw that the four streams of Chi water filled four separate pools--dish-shaped rock formations rising up from the ground, the sides of which sparkled with strange minerals. And as the water poured in, reacting with these minerals, teardrop-shaped crystal forms, rather like Chi orbs, floated to the surface of each pool. But that wasn't the end of the cycle. At length, each crystal form would melt back into the water, flowing over the edge of the pool and further flooding the place. "The Tears," said Loradus harshly, beginning to gather several himself.
I watched as he placed them, one by one, into a sack he had taken from his cloak. "D-do these 'Tears'--" "Gather them!" "But--" "Rizzo." "Will we not be--" "Rizzo." Loradus turned and glared at me, and all the terrible things he had done flashed before my eyes. I shivered slightly, caught part-way betwixt fear and fury. "Very well," I murmured, and as I turned to begin collecting the strange and puzzling "Tears" of the Chi Fountain, I saw something glinting in Loradus' hand: the fragment of mirror. I slanted my eye. I wanted desperately to see the rest of what it had to show. But it seemed Loradus would not allow it.... As I lifted one of the Tears from a pool, I very nearly dropped it; the crystalline substance radiated cold. Unnerved, I hurriedly slid it into one of my pouches, drawing the strings over it. Then, making certain Loradus had his head turned and keeping mine over the pool of Tears, I reached a hand out to the side and carefully closed my claws about the mirror fragment. Loradus gave no sign as to whether he knew what I was doing, save perhaps a slight snort. I waited several moments more, lifting a second Tear from the pool, then pulled at the mirror very gently. It began to slide from his grasp, bit by bit.... Soon (much sooner than I had expected), the fragment of mirror was in my quivering hand, which I withdrew as swiftly as was possible, dipping it into the pool before me to avoid suspicion. Still Loradus seemed to notice nothing. Breathing an internal sigh of relief, I pulled my hand, dripping, from the pool, turning my back to look into the mirror. As had happened before, all I could see in the glass at first was my own reflection; but within seconds the swirling light returned, and my emotions faded away. I squinted, not wanting to miss anything.... "Rizzo!" Loradus' sharp voice entered my hearing.
I tried not to wince. "What are you doing?" "Arranging my pouches," I returned evenly. Loradus humphed. "Be quick about it." "As you wish." A dark shape began to form in the mirror, and I brought it as near to my face as I dared, so as to better see the image. It was Laval. He was lying on the ground (not far from us, I knew) almost completely submerged. His snout and knees were the only things visible above the Chi water, other than the shafts of the thirteen protruding arrows. He was clearly running short of breath. But why was the mirror showing me this? What was I to do? A dull fog seemed to have settled over my mind, and all I could do was stare as the image shifted. It showed me Worriz this time, frozen in stone mid-lunge. Earlier, I might have noticed the expression of mingled anguish and fury on his face, but now I felt oddly detached from him; I realized with mild surprise that I didn't care about him in the least. The image shifted again, and I widened my eye, bringing the mirror back slightly. Ewar was desperately trying to keep his head above the Chi water, but his arms would not support his own weight, it seemed. And so he flailed pathetically, above water one moment, under the next, gasping in pain as his head glowed blue where Loradus had attempted to stab him. I watched blankly for a few seconds. The image shifted yet again. "Eris?" I whispered instinctively, no longer caring if Loradus heard. She was lying face-down in the water, wings at awkward angles. I felt a twinge of something looking at her broken form, but whether it was devastation or disgust I knew not.
I held the mirror fragment in both hands now, abandoning all pretense of gathering Tears from the pool beside me, mentally imploring it to show me more. The glass seemed to comply, images now quickly flashing across its surface. I let my eye grow wider and wider as it began to shake within my grasp, light pouring out of its depths-- I struggled to keep a firm hold on it, my arms shaking violently-- Then a strangely familiar whispering entered my mind, and the light abruptly turned to inky darkness, pressing in on my eye and ears-- I screamed, but no sound left my beak. Then a hand wrenched the mirror from my grasp, and I fell forward, palms slapping the surface of the Chi water before meeting the ground not far beneath. I gasped, my senses and emotions returning in a flood. Desperately, I attempted to calm my breathing. The effort would not last long. "What did you see?" came Loradus's voice, in a tone I wouldn't have expected of him: that of one running out of time. I raised my head, at once noticing the mirror in his left hand. He pushed it out of sight inside his cloak. "What does it show?" I asked again, remembering with fear the things I had looked upon. Loradus bared his teeth, his fangs seeming unusually large. "What--" "D--darkness," I said quickly, for that sight (or lack thereof) had been the most memorable. "But--I should like to know--what this mirror is, exactly." I cowered under Loradus's intense stare. "Very well," he said after a moment's pause (and a strange blink that had looked something like a twitch of fear). "This mirror reflects upon our past, present, and future. Looking into it allows it to take hold of your mind, neutralizing certain thoughts and feelings and exaggerating others as it sees fit. It's practically harmless if kept away; but, once you have looked, you are bound to it. "After I showed you the Chi Fountain, I could tell you were being drawn by its influence, and so I allowed you to take it. Now tell me: what did you see?"
This was all a bit much for me to take in; my head awhirl with half a dozen different emotions, I blurted for no reason, "You showed me the Chi Fountain?" "Yes--I told the mirror to display it." Still I was confused. "Why, then, must I tell you what I saw?" "Because everything else came directly from the mirror!" "Er..." My head was spinning now, unable to cling to a coherent thought. "The mirror...is in possession of me?" "Yes." "Why--" "Enough." Loradus flung the sack of Tears at me; I caught it, balancing on my false leg, which promptly buckled. "Come--your 'friends' need healing." I did my best to swallow all the questions on my tongue, but as Loradus turned and strode towards Laval, one jumped off regardless. "Can--can the others be healed?" Loradus beckoned me over, taking a Tear from the sack in my arms. He then tightened his grip about it until it shattered, the shards melting into the surrounding air, the energy remaining in his grasp as a pulsing, insubstantial orb--much like its larger counterpart in the center of the cavern. With a gentle push, Loradus sent the orb drifting down to Laval; it disappeared under the water, into the forest of jutting arrows betwixt his snout and knees. I waited impatiently. After several moments, Laval twitched, then began to lift the rest of his head above water. His arms surfaced as well. It brought to mind the time I had very nearly died for the arrow in my chest--dimly, I remembered Loradus giving Ewar a droplet of the Fountain to heal me. "Come along," said Loradus, turning and walking towards Ewar now. I followed, my mind wandering elsewhere. Could these droplets do anything more besides healing? And if so...?
