Cadence

Telmeth sat wearily at the edge of the clearing, listening to the gentle song of the fey mourning their dead. Each one lost was a dear friend who had been with them for hundreds of years. Telmeth wept with the emotions he felt sweeping through their links.

Feeling like an interloper he left, deciding to take a closer look at the mountain where the dragon had slept. He climbed the rocks quickly, scrambling up the steep mountain side. He stopped to drink from a stream descending from the heights, he started on again. He felt something pulling him now, there was something up there he needed to see.

He scaled the last cliff face and came upon the mouth of a large cave. He descended into it, winding his way around the boulders scattered around the path. He came upon a nest at the back of the cave. He climbed up into the nest, heaving himself up to tumble into the nest.

There was a single egg sitting in the nest, the egg was cracked and he heard chirping from inside it. He placed his hand on the egg and felt the creature moving inside. The egg shook, more cracks appearing in the egg shell. A leg broke through the side and then the head was free. It crawled out of the egg, weak with effort. It crawled over to Telmeth and cried weakly.

“You need to feed it.”

Telmeth turned and saw Pasithea, peeking over the side of the nest.

“Fire dragon babies need magic when they are born, the magic nourishes them. Try casting fire at it. Baby dragons are born without magic and get their powers from their mothers when they are born.”

Telmeth turned to the baby dragon and drew on his links to cast fire at the baby dragon. He tried to keep it at a low power, not knowing how much this baby could take. The dragon chirped happily, and then seemed to ask for more when Telmeth stopped.
Telmeth channeled more, amping up the power. The dragon seemed to absorb it easily. Telmeth felt a pulling sensation, he was channeling the rest of the elements. He tried to stop but he could not stop the magic. He pulled as hard as he could, straining to stop the magic.

“I can’t stop,” he cried desperately to Pasithea.

“There is no need to stop Telmeth., dragons are not automatically one elemental type or another. That Ice dragon was probably trying to steal the dragon egg to raise it herself. I don’t know what this will do, more than one elemental style being absorbed like this. Maybe it will be able to use more than one element. After it stops feeding it will not need another dose, it will have absorbed the magic and made it its own. “

After a time the baby dragon stopped feeding and the magic turned off on its own.

Telmeth descended the mountain with the dragon frolicking happily behind him. It had no wings, apparently they did not develop wings until they were much older. They arrived in the clearing to find the fey were done with their mourning.

Telmeth turned to the fey and called for them to come to him.

“Thank you for the use of your magic, my friends. The last two weeks have been incredible. I will remember you for the rest of my life. I promised when I took your links that I would release them when I was done, I release them now. I need to head home, my family will be worried about me.”

Telmeth felt within himself for the links, he released all of the links besides for the baby dragons link. He felt the links leaving him but then they stopped. About half of them had wanted free, the rest had kept their links.

“We do not want to give up our link, Telmeth. You have given us a vitality that we have not had before. If it is all right with you we would like to journey with you and join your people.”

This last came from the Pasithea.

“Of course you are all welcome, my people are much like me. The other tribes are unable to make links because they have forgotten the way. We have not. We live apart from other humans but we do not have magic so we link for protection.”

“Humans have magic Telmeth, they are the only creatures besides for dragons who can link. Your magic may be stronger than ours, you take our magic and double it. If your people are like you we will gladly live among you.”

The journey home took several months. They left some fey behind who were not linked and were uncomfortable living among humans but most of the unlinked fey went with them. They were not bothered by marauding creatures, there were too many of them. The fey caught beasts as they went, training them, and bringing them along.

It was evening when they arrived back at Telmeth’s village. He and his links walked around to the stone arch. He picked up the staff used to sound the gong hanging from the arch. He struck it repeatedly, sending a deep note throughout the village.

The villagers came out of their houses and stopped in shock. They had never seen a linked fey, much less hundreds of them.

The chief walked up to Telmeth. The chief glanced at all the fey, not sure where to begin. Finally he picked up the bucket of holy oil that always sat beside the arch. He dabbed a drop on Telmeth’s forehead, his right hand and his right foot.

“Telmeth has returned from the trying, he stands before us as one who was lost but now is found. We celebrate the return and thank the maker for his providence.”

The chief turned to the baby dragon, the chief marked its forehead and right legs.

“We gather in the linked ones, they will be part of our community. They will sleep where we sleep and eat where we eat. They serve us and we will rule them to bring about a better way of life.”

There was muttering from the fey, the chief looked up in surprise.

“Did those fey just speak?” he asked Telmeth.

“Yes they did,” Telmeth answered, “you probably should join them with the tribe. Serving is not a great word for it.”

The chief straightened. He walked through the fey, marking them as he walked. It took a long time to mark each and every fey but the crowd stood quietly as he worked.

“We welcome the fey to our village. They will be as our family, they will make us stronger. We work with them to create a better world. They will be as sons and daughters, mothers and fathers to us. With them we will thrive.”

He turned back to Telmeth.

“You left here as a boy but you came back as a man. Your public name is Telmeth but you need a heart-name. From now on let it be known within our village that your heart name is Faede. Faede means plentiful. Enter the village Faede and let us hear of your journey.”

Faede who was Telmeth stepped through the arch with his links, the village cheered.

The villagers rushed forward, hugging him and calling him by his new name. They walked among the fey cautiously welcoming them to the tribe.

They guided them back into the village where a feast was prepared. They celebrated late into the night.

Telmeth looked around at the fey and humans and beasts, he could see them starting to trust each other. It would take time but it would be worth it. This village would be the start of something important, the reunion of fey and humans. He scratched his dragon behind the ear, it chirped at him happily and then devoured the piece of roast beast that had been provided for it. Telmeth laughed at its gluttony. This would be an interesting change full of wonder and excitement.

FIN

Dawn was just rising over the mountains, deep reds and oranges washed over the mountain tinting everything in a golden glow. Few fey were up yet, they had been up late the night before cerebrating Telmeth’s healing. Telmeth had woken early to savor the last few hours of being linked to these amazing people.

People! If someone had asked him a few months ago if fey were people he would have given them a definitive no. They had no discernible society though friendly with each other,. they made no villages. They did not even make houses. Since they had never chosen to speak with humans he had not known they were capable of speech. They seemed to him at the time as highly intelligent animals, like a wolf or a horse, not something resembling a human.

He knew better now.

He breathed in deeply feeling the world around him. Such exquisite detail, he could feel every tree, every flower, every blade of grass growing around him. The breeze was sweet with dew, the chill of morning was invigorating. He regretted that he would lose all of this later today. Not lose, give up. He kept his word, he would not hold these people against their will.

He felt a disturbance to the east, trees being broken and crushed. He strained his eyes to see the disturbance, it was too far away even with his enhanced vision. He started that way, might as well see what is going on before he roused the fey.

That is when the giants attacked, giants and ogres. They rushed the clearing casting spells at an amazing rate. Trees exploded and the ground erupted. Telmeth saw a fireball heading for a group of confused sprites. Leaping to their defense he cast a wind gust knocking the fireball up and away from the clearing.

The fey were up now and casting back at the giants, they were not going to be taken again. He felt them responding to his thoughts, earth dwarves throwing up earth ramparts and digging ditches. River nymphs rerouted the rivers to spill into the ditches giving them something to cast from.

From the sky the dragon swooped, flames spewing forth to destroy giants and ogres alike. Suddenly a huge ice dragon swept down and collided with the fire dragon, knocking him from the sky. He landed in a heap, the giants racing towards him.

Telmeth groaned, he had just finished healing. He raced off, calling on all of his links Telmeth raced towards the dragon. He cast water, ice, fire in rapid succession. He caused the trees to attack the giants, for holes to open up and swallow the ogres.

It wasn’t enough, the giants surrounded the dragon and locked him up again. He leaped, using the sprites gliding ability to sail over the barricades and landed next to the giant. He cast about him, moving too fast for thought. He jumped and weaved, acting on instinct alone.

The fey rushed forward, casting at the their enemies. The giants responded with a wild sweep of elemental powers, if it hadn’t been for the bulwark they would have all been finished. The fey started systematically attacking the giants, working in tandem to knock them off balance and keeping the giants from attacking. They were driving the giants back now, the ogres were fleeing in terror.

Telmeth worked at breaking the restraints on the dragon, they were thicker this time and harder to break. He heard a roaring sound over head and turned to see the ice dragon circling. It opened its mouth to freeze the fey, Telmeth sent a shot of flame at it that knocked its head to the side as a wide swath of the forest was frozen solid narrowly missing the line of fey.

A giant cast a wind gust that knocked Telmeth off balance, Pasithea washed the giant away with a surge of river water.

The ice dragon swooped down, freezing the ground in a direct line towards Telmeth. There was no redirecting it this time. The heartstone hanging around his neck pulsed, he accepted without conscious thought. Magic exploded in him, he was overwhelmed with the raw power of it. It was chaos barely contained. He cast towards the ice dragon, meeting its icy breath with a wave of fire. The ice dragon swept away.

Telmeth freed the fire dragon, laughable easy with this new power. He felt the dragon moving next to him, preparing to leap into the air. Telmeth leapt with her. Telmeth had been wrong this dragon was female not male. Wingless he soared, forgetting the battle for a moment as he soared with wild abandon, swooping and sweeping through the air. A blast of ice cut in front of him, he darted around it and rejoined the battle. The ice dragon was in a fierce battle with the fire dragon, they wove and dodged shooting fire and ice in every direction.

Telmeth joined the fray, sending attack after attack at the hostile dragon. Giants launched attacks as well, hitting him and the fire dragon with elemental power. He felt the fey moving forward, trying to drive the giants off.

Telmeth hit the dragon in the face with a water attack, it stunned it and the fire drake blasted it with a seemingly unending fire stream. The ice dragon roared, it slashed out hitting the fire dragon’s left wing with its powerful back legs. Turning quickly it shot a blast of ice into the fire dragon’s chest.

The fire dragon dropped, Telmeth could feel the life draining from him. He felt the dragon pass a link to him, it was small and fragile. Telmeth felt his power waning, with the last of the fire dragon’s energy draining away he shot forward pulled on all of his links casting directly at the ice dragons chest from close range. It hit it like a hurricane. The light went out of the dragons eyes and it plummeted towards the ground.

Telmeth felt the fire dragon die and felt himself plunge towards the ground. He tried to slow himself with gusts of air but he was falling to fast.

Just before he hit he saw Pasithea send a surge of water towards him that caught him and slowed his descent. He crashed into the ground, stunned but alive.

The giants were retreating now, the ogres were gone, and the ice dragon was dead. They had survived, at great cost. Looking around he saw dead and dying fey scattered around.

“Should I release them,” he asked Pasithea, “Would they heal faster without a link draining them.”

“They are more likely to survive linked, they draw power from you just as you draw it from them. Its a link that is more than the sum of its parts. If you released them now they would surely die.”

Telmeth woke slowly, feeling every brake and bruise in distinct detail as he fought his way to consciousness. He had trouble breathing, he must have broken several ribs. He sat up with great difficulty, pain shooting through him. His burns stretched and cracked the deep burn radiating through him. His lips were cracked and bleeding, a small thing with so much else wrong, made him the most miserable.

He looked around and saw a bowl of water near him, he reached for it and gasped in pain. His shoulder was still sore from being dislocated. Moving gingerly he reached for the bowl and slowly brought it to his lips. He coughed and sputtered as he drank it, his mouth was too dry to drink effectively. But after the first few swigs he was able to finish the bowl without too much trouble.

He looked around then, he was in a small dirt cave. He had been laying on a bed of heather. There was an archway to his right, the sun was shining outside. He tried to get up and fell over, his leg was still broken. He crawled back to his bed, breathing heavily.

A sprite glided into the room and replaced the empty bowl of water with a full bowl. It chirped happily at him and then glided back out. A few minutes later Pasithea walked into the room.

“You are awake! How do you feel?”

“Considering that I fought a canyon full of giants, I think I am doing all right. It will be a while before I am able to walk again. I suppose I should release you all now that the giants are gone.”

He felt inside himself and offered the fey their freedom, but none of them took it.

“We cant separate just yet Telmeth, you would not be alive if we were not connected. You will heal a lot faster if we stay linked. Are you hungry?”

“I could eat, though Ill probably just spill it allover myself. I could barely keep that bowl steady.”

“We can take care of that.”

Pasithea stepped out of the door and came back with some kind of soup. She fed it to him slowly. It did not take him long to be full.

Within a few days Telmeth felt well enough to walk outside, he sat in the grass watching the fey work. There was a beauty and symmetry to it, taking the beauty of nature and enhancing it in subtle yet discernible ways. Flowers bloomed and grass grew where a field dryad or nymph strolled. Trees straightened and deepened under the ministries of numerous forest fey. The very air felt full of the magic of life.

Telmeth spent his time talking with the fey, learning of their secret ways. They were no longer shy with him, they were as connected to him as they were to their land. They would talk for hours of the ways of the forest, the balance of life. They caught and cooked wild game, never elemental creatures because they looked on them as distant kin, but plenty of deer and rabbit and turkey.

Telmeth was surprised by this, he had always been told that the fey were peaceful people who never hurt anything.

Pasithea laughed at this, “We follow the way, we do not take more than we need but that is what they are there for. The wolf is not evil because it catches a rabbit, that is what a wolf does. We are fey after all, we need meat as well as plants. The animals do not suffer, they are taken quickly and cleanly.”

“I guess that makes sense, we humans know very little about the fey.”

“You are doing better Telmeth, soon you will be able to go home.”

“That should make me happy, but I will miss this place. It is peaceful here, I feel like I belong.”

“That is because you are linked with all of us, you feel the trees growing and stream flowing and know a little of what it is like to be fey. We will miss you as well, I do not know if all humans are like this but we have been filled with more purpose since we linked. It will be too bad when you leave for home.”

Telmeth nodded sadly, evening was over and night was coming. He walked over to the little hut they had made for him, fey had no need for houses. He lay down in his bed of heather and dreamt of fields growing under sunny skies.

The giants were not hard to find, they had holed up in a box canyon to the west of the mountain where the dragon had slept. Telmeth flitted from tree to tree, blending into the environment as if were nothing more than a specter passing through. He approached the canyon from above, cautiously crawling forward the last distance so as not to skyline himself.

He was not prepared for what was lying in the canyon. Hundreds of giants were milling about, feasting on the elemental beasts. The dragon was tied up tightly with ice, fire, air, water, earth, and tree magic. Between the dragon and the canyon wall were the dryads, nymphs, and sprites held in a large warded pasture. Much like a three course dinner the giants were working their way through the courses; the beasts were the appetizer, the dragon would be the main course, and the fey would be the dessert.

Telmeth climbed down the cliff face at a juncture where the cliff face jutted out, obscuring his descent from the giants. A young nymph saw him descending and started to panic, an older one put a hand over her mouth before she had a chance to scream.

Telmeth approached the group slowly, not wanting to frighten them. He stepped within their ranks, obscured from the eyes of the giants.

“I am here to help, do you have any control over your magic?”

“We have a little control, the giants like to play with their food. If we can strike back they think it is good fun, though they warded us enough that we wont be able to do much. The warding is in the fencing around this pasture, the nearer we come to it the more our magic diminishes. We would climb out while they were busy but the fencing puts an upward limit on our magic as well. Above ten feet we loose all strength and fall to the ground.”

Telmeth did not feel any less linked, the magic from Pasithea, did not feel as if it had been reduced any, probably because she was outside of the wards. He searched for water in the area, there was an underground river flowing beneath the surface. He concentrated, pulling the water up through the earth. When it was close to the surface he ran it parallel to the canyon undercutting the fence but not letting it fall yet.

One of the river dryads walked over to him, eyes accusing.
“Lost one, how did you do that magic, are humans walking the path again. That is not creature magic, creatures have limited use of the magic, they could pull the water up if they worked together but they could not pull it near the surface and then have it move around under the ground like that. Where did you get your magic.”

“The nymph Pasithea linked with me, temporarily, to stop the dragon. I promised to release her when I was done, I did not steal her magic if that is what you are asking. I would not know how to force something to join with me, it has to be voluntary.”

“That is how all magic is, voluntary surrender and mutual respect. I know the waters of the river, understand them. They work according to their nature, and within that nature I can use it to protect myself and make this world a better place. Fey have more powers than your animals you link with. We know that humans are drawn to power, that is why you lost it. Would you really release such a powerful link?”

“Of course I would. If all I was after was a powerful link I would have left already with Pasithea in tow. My village could use protection of this magnitude. We are often attacked by giants and ogres. Working together with the snakes, dogs, and other creatures we are able to drive them off, but with a Nymph we would have to worry a lot less. This magic is incredible, no one from my village has ever linked with a fey greater than a sprite.”

“I am a man of my word,” Telmeth continued, “I will release this link as soon as these giants are dealt with, or I am killed. But she will be free again.”

Most of the fey looked doubtful, but they moved closer to him. He felt his heartstone ping repeatedly. There were a few people who had linked with more than one creature, usually a pack of elemental dogs, but he had never heard of a link with so many at once. It seemed like all the fey were offering to link with him.

“I will release you, if you wish, when I am done here,” he said, ” when I have destroyed the fence climb the cliff face and escape. I will slow the giants down and release the dragon if I can.”

With that he accepted the links. He felt as if he was on fire, dunked into a lake of freezing ice. He could feel every breeze, every blade of grass growing. Slow, fast, steady, growing, solid, and whimsical energy flowed through him; it was muted though, the fence was still muting their powers.

He struck at the fence, causing the ground to collapse and breaking the ward that muted their magic. He overflowed with energy now, could feel everything, everywhere. He raced forward towards the giants. He needed to buy the fey time to escape. He sent a wall of flames at the giants that stunned them. He pulled on the river and it shot out of the ground and pelted the giants knocking them to the canyon walls. The earth erupted, avalanching downwards to bury the giants. He was at the dragons side, striking at the bonds that held it fast.

He was struck from the side, a wind giant had launched a gust that slammed him into the wall. The fey’s strength supported him and kept him from dying but it winded him and slowed him down. Rocks were launched at him. He dodged and weaved, acting defensively, no time to cast magic. He smothered a fire blast with a gust of air, burned the tree branches reaching to crush him.

There were too many of them too fight alone, the fey magic was more nimble but the giants magic was stronger. If he did not do something soon he would be crushed. Glancing back he saw that the canyon was empty of fey, at least they had gotten away. He sent a wave of fire at the dragon, it burned through the wood magic and melted the ice magic.

Dodging another attack by throwing himself to the side he blasted the earth tie with water. The dragon roared, water was dangerous to a fire dragon. Telmeth called to the grass, causing it to attack the earth tie. Only two more left, air and fire.

Telmeth tried to jump to avoid a fire blast but found that his feet had been tied to the floor by vines. He brought up a wind gust that slightly dissipated the blast, but not entirely. He flipped end over end and crashed into the valley wall. He felt his leg break, and one of his shoulders dislocate.

He lay there panting as the giants moved closer. With his last bit of strength he wove an air gust, he threw it desperately in the direction of the dragon. It struck the fire magic that held the dragon down. With the last bond broken it burst forth, roaring its triumph, it sent a wave of fire in all directions. The fire blast hit the giants and knocked them to the ground.

They scattered, running for the hills with the dragon in close pursuit.

Telmeth lay in a heap, unable to move. His head swam and vision narrowed. He didnt even have the strength to sit up. He fought to keep his eyes open. He thought he saw Pasithea, but that was impossible since there was no stream nearby to bring her here. With that thought he collapsed, unconscious, on the valley floor.

Several days were spent in this way, the giant roaming the mountains catching creatures and storing them in its numerous satchels, singing to the trees to keep his prey from escaping at night. There had been some close calls, one time a fire hound had been deposited into Telmeth’s satchel and the beast had attacked him. Telmeth had tried to link with it but it was no use, it wouldn’t link. Telmeth had managed to get his hands wrapped around it and held it still for a long time, a violent wrestling match that had left deep scratches down his legs and side. Eventually, after what seemed like hours of gentle petting the beast had calmed and stopped struggling. Telmeth had cautiously loosened his hold, when the fire dog had not attacked he had moved to the other side of the satchel and sat down wearily.

The dog was gone now, sent to the same place as all the other creatures. Why it had not eaten him yet Telmeth didn’t know, he couldn’t be that lucky forever. He continued to watch and try to cut his way to freedom. All he succeeded in doing was dulling his knife blade.

A distant noise drew Telmeth’s attention, a loud roaring sound. Looking up he saw an ice dragon circling, apparently thinking that the forest giant might make a nice meal. It dove spewing ice at the giant, freezing a line in front of it. The giant slipped on the ice and crashed to the ground, dropping several of its satchels, including Telmeth’s.

Telmeth was at the opening to the satchel in a heartbeat, sawing at the woven vines that made up the clasp to the satchel. In a few minutes he was out racing for the trees, he disappeared into the underbrush. He ran for what seemed like miles as he heard the giant roaring and the dragon answering in kind behind him.

He was deep in the mountains now, months away from home. The giant had set a steady pace, almost as if it were going somewhere specific. Whatever it had been doing it was done for now, nothing ever stopped a dragon.

Not for the first time Telmeth wished he was bonded to something. He could use the speed of a fire dog, or the endurance of a stone horse. Even the levitation that came with a wind sprite would be useful for getting up and down some of the cliffs in his way.

He set off at a brisk pace, keeping an eye out for marauding creatures. As far as he knew no one had ever been this deep into the Erysichthon mountains. There were bound to be some fantastic creatures here, creatures no one had ever seen before. With the right link he could possibly make it back home, without it there was small chance he would ever make it.

He wished the elders had been more clear about how this link was forged, they seemed to think that there was no way to explain it and that he would have to discover the link on his own. The opportunity would be right and the link would be forged. Simple as that. Yet no matter how many creatures he approached none of them offered themselves. He was going to be unlinked forever.

Pausing at a small stream to get a drink he was surprised by a water nymph appearing in front of him. Startled he jumped back and turned to run. Water nymphs were known to pull people in and drown them. She motioned for him not to flee. She looked around carefully looking for danger. When she was sure they were alone she turned back to him.

“Where have you come from, lost one? We have not seen your kind here since you left the way and set your own path.”

Telmeth tripped and fell backwards. He had known that nymphs and dryads and even sprites were intelligent to one degree or another but no one had ever told him they could speak. They had always been treated as if they were an advanced animal not as a sentient being. Capable of setting traps, or evading snares but communication was supposed to be beyond them.

“While I was seeking my link to prove my worth and protect my village, I saw my friend being hunted by a forest giant. I rushed to help him and his fire dog but was captured by the giant instead. My friend fell hard and didnt move, his dog dragged him into the bushes while I distracted the giant. I spent days trapped, not knowing if the next moment might be my last. When the dragon attacked the giant I saw an opportunity and escaped. I am on my way home now, if I can find the way.”

The nymph grimaced, “The giants have been more active of late, and more plentiful. I have seen more giants in the last few weeks than I have in my three hundred seasons of life. Many of my people have gone missing, it is a lonely place. These fields and forests were once overrun with the fey; nymphs, sprites, dryads, and ferries all living together in peace. We drove out the ogres and other evil beings, we tamed the carnivorous beasts. It was a land of plenty. We served a fire drake who kept out land free of giants. We provided fire cows and ice deer in season and he protected our lands. But the giants came in number and trapped him while he slept, I do not know if he is alive or dead I would seek to help him but I can not travel far from my stream.”

Telmeth wished that there was something he could do for this nymph and her people. Giants were horrid and not to be trusted, they destroyed for the fun of it, not even with the good excuse of necessary sustenance.

“Which way did the giants take him, I will see if he is still alive. If he is I will try to free him. Maybe in time he can free your people.”

“Thank you, I would give you a gift if I knew you would not misuse it. I would give you a temporary link, you would use my magic but you must promise to break the link when you are done. Nymphs do not serve the lost ones.”

“I promise that when this is done I will free you from this link.”
His heart stone pulsed and he found himself linking with this beautiful nymph. Thoughts and emotions washed over him; fear of being trapped, anger at the giants, incredible sadness at the loss of friends. He was filled with the calm of the mountain stream, filled with slow moving power. He felt stronger and more alive, filled with steady energy that pulsed through him waiting to be released.

“My name is Telmeth, I am honored by this link. What is your name?”

“My name is Pasithea, thank you for helping us.”

“Thank you Pasithea, I will return when I can.”

With that Telmeth set off into the mountains towards where Pasithea had indicated the largest concentration of giants could be found. He took great leaping strides, racing up the mountain as fast as the stream raced down. Small power next to a group of giants, but maybe enough to free the dragon if he could find a way around them.