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Description
Alexandrite

She was still alive. It was a miracle amidst all this chaos. She stabbed a human in the stomach and moved on.

Alexandrite had always been afraid of death, not experiencing it but seeing it. Ever since she could remember, she had possessed the ability to enter people's minds and sort through their thoughts in the same way that she could sort through supplies at the trading post. Whenever someone near her had a surge of thought or emotion, she could feel it. In the midst of the battle, thoughts flew around her like startled pigeons as people became angry, hurt or frightened, or had their lives flash before their eyes, though that did not happen often. Most people were too sensible to think about anything other than staying alive. And there was pain, so much pain everywhere.

Alexandrite jumped out of the way of a low-swung sword. That dragon was causing the biggest problem, literally. Her size made her stand out, so Alexandrite could sense every time an arrow pierced the creature's wing and every new burst of angry strength that she found. As she fought, Alexandrite could not help but wonder how the dragon had produced the fire that it had dropped on the humans almost a half an hour ago.

Their army was shrinking at an alarming rate, even with the addition of the new soldiers who had appeared out of the hillside. The person riding the dragon had seemed familiar, but she could not place his name and she was too far away to look in his mind and find out. He had disappeared around the same time as the Core had and she had neither seen nor sensed either one since.

There were fewer and fewer non-humans left, less than fifty at this point. Alexandrite fought hard for one more minute of life, then one more and one more, but she knew she was weakening.

A huge wave of pain from the dragon washed over her. Alexandrite looked up. The beast's head rose above the crowd and she could see that an arrow had pierced it in the eye. As she watched, a human climbed up onto her back, ripping her scales out as he sought handholds. His armor was different from any of the styles she had seen so far, which marked him as a general, though he wore a leather bag on his back like a common foot soldier. It was clear to Alexandrite even without entering his mind that he had just one thought in it: kill the dragon.

The dwarf fell to her knees and began crawling around, searching. All the humans had been equipped with a bow and quiver of arrows each, so she yanked the first ones she found out of a human corpse's fingers. However, the bow was far too large for her and she fumbled with the oversized weapons for several seconds.

"Need help?"

She spun around, ready to kill this human too, but he blocked her blow with a practiced motion.

"It's me Rupert, the only human on your side, remember?"

She sifted through his mind and found an image of a girl, a good friend, hiding in a tent and shaving off what little hair she had left on her head. The girl turned around and saw him.

"Rupert!" she cried, with fear in her eyes.

"Don't worry, I won't tell," he said.

And that was it. He was who he said he was.

Alexandrite glanced back at the dragon. The human general was almost at the base of her neck now, but no matter how much she thrashed around trying to throw him off, he held on, ripping out more scales by the minute.

"Kill him!" Alexandrite yelled as more of the dragon's panic flew in her direction.

Rupert took one look at the man on the dragon's back and his face stiffened with hatred.

"With pleasure," he said. He snatched the bow and arrow from her hands and took aim. The human ripped off more scales and reached for his sword. For an agonizing moment, the dragon pulled up her wings, blocking him from view. She let out a blood-curdling scream and Alexandrite moaned to sense so much pain. The dragon's wings fell and she could see that the human had driven his sword into the base of her neck. While she watched, he yanked it out of her flesh, and began to hack at her back without mercy. Rupert released his arrow and Alexandrite held her breath as she watched it soar through the air and lodge in the man's lower back.

The wound was not fatal. The man reached back and ripped it out, not even wincing in pain. He threw the arrow to the ground then leapt from the falling beast to rejoin the fighting.

Alexandrite could not move. Panic surrounded her everywhere, and then she heard the cries.

"Retreat! Retreat to the caves!"

Alexandrite stood, rooted where she was with all the fear that coursed through her body and mind. Rupert picked her up, flung her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and began to run, jumping over the bodies of fallen friends and enemies.

He carried her into a small cluster of trees and paused, crouching behind a log to catch is breath. Alexandrite looked up.

She saw Jo leap over the log and keep on running. Then another person, the man who had been riding on the dragon's back, began to follow. In mid-air, an arrow struck his leg and he fell. Jo turned around and to go back.

"NO!" cried the wounded man. He yanked something from around his neck, snapping a fine chain, and hurled it and his sword, hilt-forward, at Jo. "RUN!"

Jo grabbed the things and Rupert took off. Alexandrite kept her eye on the strange man as she retreated with Rupert. He was disappearing, starting at his feet and moving up his body. Jo turned to run, tears that he had been taught a Fairy should not be ashamed of streaming down his cheeks, and the man watched them go, radiating such panic before he his head vanished that Alexandrite passed out.

~~~

She woke as they passed under the waterfall. Rupert was still carrying her, though she could not say how far they had come. Three other people had passed under the water by the time Rupert reached the passage up to the water tunnel, one of whom was Jo, who was still clutching the sword in one hand and the silver necklace in the other.

Jo followed close behind them up the stairs and down the river tunnel to the doors of Angalee, but neither he nor Rupert could see in the sudden darkness. Rupert tripped over a large stone lying in the middle of the passageway, throwing Alexandrite to the ground, and then Jo tripped over Rupert and landed with a howl of pain.

"Where are you?" Rupert whispered.

Jo swore and Rupert followed the sound of his voice.

"What's wrong?"

"I think I broke my arm!"

Rupert glanced around in the darkness. "Perfect," he muttered. "A broken arm, an army of humans coming to kill us, and a maze of tunnels in a pitch dark city. I can't see a thing!"

"You can't? I can." Alexandrite pushed herself into a sitting position. Her head swam with the last few wisps of the man's panic that ran through her mind. At least there were only two other people nearby. Out of habit, she reached out with her thoughts and entered the changer's mind. She flew past his memories, the dictionary of words that he knew and the cluster of interwoven lessons he had learned, searching for the list of people that he had met. As she passed his imaginings, she caught a glimpse of a young woman, the same one she had seen the last time, Lor. She was lying on the ground, staring up in terror at a man with a raised sword...

"STOP THAT!" Jo roared, his voice bouncing off the tunnel walls.

Alexandrite glared at him through the darkness for interrupting her, but Rupert was not about to let her off.

"You can see in here?" he asked.

She snorted. "Of course. I'm a dwarf."

"Do you know if there's another way out?"

"No, but I do know the way into the city. Amber let me see it after she led Lor and Willow in."

Shouts echoed into the tunnel from outside the waterfall.

"We have to go."

Rupert stood and hauled Jo to his feet.

"Show us the way!"

Alexandrite groped for Rupert's arm while Jo put his good hand on Rupert's shoulder, and then they were off in a flat out run, retreating through the dark, unmarked passages while their enemies followed not far behind.

Alexandrite closed her eyes for a moment and searched through her own mind for the particular memory she was looking for. It would be in the vast vault of thoughts that were not her own. She pushed aside thought after thought, not even pausing at the sight of the great Lor in her last moments, the one that had come from Jo. In seconds, she had found what she was looking for and her eyes flew open again.

She threw Amber's memory in front of her like a great transparent tapestry that only she could see, matching her turns with those of her grandmother's, made years before. When she skipped over the part where Amber had stopped, too afraid to go on, Alexandrite found that breathing was easier than it had been before. She scolded herself for forgetting that memories preserved emotions, and pressed on.

As they hurried through the darkness, they passed frightened clusters of dwarves and fairies who had managed to run into the caves at the retreat. None of them paid any attention to three other soldiers lost in the tunnels, though Jo and Rupert yelled at them to follow.

At last the tunnels opened up into a vast chamber, half filled by a large pond. A glowing red light near the edge of the water illuminated the entire cavern. Rupert let go of Alexandrite's hand and all three ran down to the waterfront.

A small crowd was gathered there, no more than twenty people. The two elves had made it, as well as the humans from the village, the other five of Korcal's chosen fairies, and five dwarves. Korcal was counting them all, while Lapis tended Birch's wounds, scolding him for sneaking off to battle. Everyone was whispering and glancing nervously around the dark city.

Emily spotted them first and broke away from the group, running. She skidded to a halt in front of Rupert and looked as though she wanted to fling her arms around him, but she held herself back.

"I was so worried...when you didn't show up..."

Alexandrite brushed past them, eager to get away from the tangle of thoughts that were jumping around like fleas now that the immediate danger was gone. Jo walked over to Korcal's side and bowed his head.

"What's wrong?" she asked him. "I mean of course, other than being trapped in a dark cave with death around the bend."

She had meant it as a small joke, but Jo did not laugh. He drove the man's sword into the ground so he could have his good hand free and pulled the necklace out of the hand on his broken right arm. He held it up, and in the red light that shone from Korcal's sword, Alexandrite saw a many-pointed star with another star in the middle.

"Willow's dead," Jo said, his voice cracking.

Alexandrite was stunned. That scruffy-looking man had been Willow?

Korcal reached forward and touched Jo's broken arm. His skin glowed red and then the light shrank, wrapped tight around his arm and penetrated to his bones, making sure they were in place. All the light moved toward the break, and for a moment, the glare was stronger than the light from Korcal's sword. Then it faded and Jo dropped his arm to his side, now bound in red Fairy cloth. Korcal shifted her balance away from the cloud of red smoke, the loss of magic having visibly weakened her.

Lapis came forward and pulled the necklace from Jo's fingers.

"Korcal," she whispered. "This is the key!"

"Yes, I know," Korcal said. There was a hint of sadness in her voice, but no memory came floating after it for Alexandrite to examine and she knew better than to try to pry into a sorcerer's mind.

Korcal looked away from her sister toward the main passage.

"Lapis," she said. "Take them across the lake and into the dragon's room. Jo will be able to open the door because Willow gave him the key. There is another door in the cavern leading into a river tunnel. Get in a boat if one is there, or conjure one, and the river will take you into the valley. Seal off any doors you go through." Her head snapped toward one of the side passages and her eyes grew wide with fear. She turned and pushed Lapis toward the water. "Go!"

Lapis stared at her for a moment, and then turned toward the far side of the pond.

"Follow me everyone! Make as little noise as you can and swim for the other side!"

After a few seconds of hesitation, everyone followed. Alexandrite expected almost everyone in the group to be poor swimmers, splashing around like large animals in a small space, but few of them struggled. Emily and Rupert helped Suzie, and Daniel's two sisters helped him. Ivy swam like an otter, slipping through the water and darting among the people in the group, though hunting for her next victim was a thought long driven from her mind.

When they had reached the other side of the pond, Lapis dove and everyone followed one or two at a time. Alexandrite went with a cousin, Halite. Just before she ducked under the water, she heard shouts from the edge of the pond. Alexandrite had a brief image of what Korcal could see when she turned around: all that was left of three races and all that was friendly of another, diving below the water to drown or escape. She felt Korcal's fear, and the image was gone. She dove under the water and headed for the tunnel in the rock.

~~~

A small band of humans ran out of the passage toward Korcal, but in a flash of red light, the men in front fell back, dead. The others charged at her and all fell under her sword.

Several more groups of humans emerged from various passages over the next half-hour. None of these first survived, but then came a larger party. Despite her exhaustion from the strain of battle, Korcal fought long and hard but in the end they outnumbered and defeated her. The soldiers held her alive for the Lord General Madoc to pass judgment on.

Late in the day, though no light came into the caverns, the party accompanying the Lord General found its way into the city of Angalee. The soldiers formed a ring around Korcal and Madoc three men deep, cutting off all escape. Madoc bound Korcal's hands and threw her to the floor, then kicked her so that she rolled over and gazed up at his face. He sneered at her.

"It is said that all Sorcerers are related." He pulled from his back a leather bag and loosened the drawstring. "Please help me, for I cannot see any resemblance." And he drew from the bag the head of the Alder.

Korcal screamed then, for her dead brother and for her people, now all dead save for six, and she screamed with her hatred toward the humans. It is said that all the humans still wandering the tunnels could hear her, no matter if they were three feet or three miles away, and all thought that she would curse them and destroy as much of the army as she could.

Madoc struck her and she was silent. With his own hands he beat her as though she were a common criminal, and when he could beat her no more, he stood over her, staring at what he had done.

She was bruised and bloody, both eyes black and her nose broken. She lay as still as though dead, but then her blood-coated lips opened.

"May Earth pass her judgment on you," she whispered so that only Madoc could hear. In one swift motion, he raised his sword and brought it down, severing her head from her neck, then stuffed it in the bag with her brother's head. He stood over her body for a long while.

At last, he spoke to his men.

"Search the tunnels. Kill everyone you find."

Description
Alexandrite

She was still alive. It was a miracle amidst all this chaos. She stabbed a human in the stomach and moved on.

Alexandrite had always been afraid of death, not experiencing it but seeing it. Ever since she could remember, she had possessed the ability to enter people's minds and sort through their thoughts in the same way that she could sort through supplies at the trading post. Whenever someone near her had a surge of thought or emotion, she could feel it. In the midst of the battle, thoughts flew around her like startled pigeons as people became angry, hurt or frightened, or had their lives flash before their eyes, though that did not happen often. Most people were too sensible to think about anything other than staying alive. And there was pain, so much pain everywhere.

Alexandrite jumped out of the way of a low-swung sword. That dragon was causing the biggest problem, literally. Her size made her stand out, so Alexandrite could sense every time an arrow pierced the creature's wing and every new burst of angry strength that she found. As she fought, Alexandrite could not help but wonder how the dragon had produced the fire that it had dropped on the humans almost a half an hour ago.

Their army was shrinking at an alarming rate, even with the addition of the new soldiers who had appeared out of the hillside. The person riding the dragon had seemed familiar, but she could not place his name and she was too far away to look in his mind and find out. He had disappeared around the same time as the Core had and she had neither seen nor sensed either one since.

There were fewer and fewer non-humans left, less than fifty at this point. Alexandrite fought hard for one more minute of life, then one more and one more, but she knew she was weakening.

A huge wave of pain from the dragon washed over her. Alexandrite looked up. The beast's head rose above the crowd and she could see that an arrow had pierced it in the eye. As she watched, a human climbed up onto her back, ripping her scales out as he sought handholds. His armor was different from any of the styles she had seen so far, which marked him as a general, though he wore a leather bag on his back like a common foot soldier. It was clear to Alexandrite even without entering his mind that he had just one thought in it: kill the dragon.

The dwarf fell to her knees and began crawling around, searching. All the humans had been equipped with a bow and quiver of arrows each, so she yanked the first ones she found out of a human corpse's fingers. However, the bow was far too large for her and she fumbled with the oversized weapons for several seconds.

"Need help?"

She spun around, ready to kill this human too, but he blocked her blow with a practiced motion.

"It's me Rupert, the only human on your side, remember?"

She sifted through his mind and found an image of a girl, a good friend, hiding in a tent and shaving off what little hair she had left on her head. The girl turned around and saw him.

"Rupert!" she cried, with fear in her eyes.

"Don't worry, I won't tell," he said.

And that was it. He was who he said he was.

Alexandrite glanced back at the dragon. The human general was almost at the base of her neck now, but no matter how much she thrashed around trying to throw him off, he held on, ripping out more scales by the minute.

"Kill him!" Alexandrite yelled as more of the dragon's panic flew in her direction.

Rupert took one look at the man on the dragon's back and his face stiffened with hatred.

"With pleasure," he said. He snatched the bow and arrow from her hands and took aim. The human ripped off more scales and reached for his sword. For an agonizing moment, the dragon pulled up her wings, blocking him from view. She let out a blood-curdling scream and Alexandrite moaned to sense so much pain. The dragon's wings fell and she could see that the human had driven his sword into the base of her neck. While she watched, he yanked it out of her flesh, and began to hack at her back without mercy. Rupert released his arrow and Alexandrite held her breath as she watched it soar through the air and lodge in the man's lower back.

The wound was not fatal. The man reached back and ripped it out, not even wincing in pain. He threw the arrow to the ground then leapt from the falling beast to rejoin the fighting.

Alexandrite could not move. Panic surrounded her everywhere, and then she heard the cries.

"Retreat! Retreat to the caves!"

Alexandrite stood, rooted where she was with all the fear that coursed through her body and mind. Rupert picked her up, flung her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and began to run, jumping over the bodies of fallen friends and enemies.

He carried her into a small cluster of trees and paused, crouching behind a log to catch is breath. Alexandrite looked up.

She saw Jo leap over the log and keep on running. Then another person, the man who had been riding on the dragon's back, began to follow. In mid-air, an arrow struck his leg and he fell. Jo turned around and to go back.

"NO!" cried the wounded man. He yanked something from around his neck, snapping a fine chain, and hurled it and his sword, hilt-forward, at Jo. "RUN!"

Jo grabbed the things and Rupert took off. Alexandrite kept her eye on the strange man as she retreated with Rupert. He was disappearing, starting at his feet and moving up his body. Jo turned to run, tears that he had been taught a Fairy should not be ashamed of streaming down his cheeks, and the man watched them go, radiating such panic before he his head vanished that Alexandrite passed out.

~~~

She woke as they passed under the waterfall. Rupert was still carrying her, though she could not say how far they had come. Three other people had passed under the water by the time Rupert reached the passage up to the water tunnel, one of whom was Jo, who was still clutching the sword in one hand and the silver necklace in the other.

Jo followed close behind them up the stairs and down the river tunnel to the doors of Angalee, but neither he nor Rupert could see in the sudden darkness. Rupert tripped over a large stone lying in the middle of the passageway, throwing Alexandrite to the ground, and then Jo tripped over Rupert and landed with a howl of pain.

"Where are you?" Rupert whispered.

Jo swore and Rupert followed the sound of his voice.

"What's wrong?"

"I think I broke my arm!"

Rupert glanced around in the darkness. "Perfect," he muttered. "A broken arm, an army of humans coming to kill us, and a maze of tunnels in a pitch dark city. I can't see a thing!"

"You can't? I can." Alexandrite pushed herself into a sitting position. Her head swam with the last few wisps of the man's panic that ran through her mind. At least there were only two other people nearby. Out of habit, she reached out with her thoughts and entered the changer's mind. She flew past his memories, the dictionary of words that he knew and the cluster of interwoven lessons he had learned, searching for the list of people that he had met. As she passed his imaginings, she caught a glimpse of a young woman, the same one she had seen the last time, Lor. She was lying on the ground, staring up in terror at a man with a raised sword...

"STOP THAT!" Jo roared, his voice bouncing off the tunnel walls.

Alexandrite glared at him through the darkness for interrupting her, but Rupert was not about to let her off.

"You can see in here?" he asked.

She snorted. "Of course. I'm a dwarf."

"Do you know if there's another way out?"

"No, but I do know the way into the city. Amber let me see it after she led Lor and Willow in."

Shouts echoed into the tunnel from outside the waterfall.

"We have to go."

Rupert stood and hauled Jo to his feet.

"Show us the way!"

Alexandrite groped for Rupert's arm while Jo put his good hand on Rupert's shoulder, and then they were off in a flat out run, retreating through the dark, unmarked passages while their enemies followed not far behind.

Alexandrite closed her eyes for a moment and searched through her own mind for the particular memory she was looking for. It would be in the vast vault of thoughts that were not her own. She pushed aside thought after thought, not even pausing at the sight of the great Lor in her last moments, the one that had come from Jo. In seconds, she had found what she was looking for and her eyes flew open again.

She threw Amber's memory in front of her like a great transparent tapestry that only she could see, matching her turns with those of her grandmother's, made years before. When she skipped over the part where Amber had stopped, too afraid to go on, Alexandrite found that breathing was easier than it had been before. She scolded herself for forgetting that memories preserved emotions, and pressed on.

As they hurried through the darkness, they passed frightened clusters of dwarves and fairies who had managed to run into the caves at the retreat. None of them paid any attention to three other soldiers lost in the tunnels, though Jo and Rupert yelled at them to follow.

At last the tunnels opened up into a vast chamber, half filled by a large pond. A glowing red light near the edge of the water illuminated the entire cavern. Rupert let go of Alexandrite's hand and all three ran down to the waterfront.

A small crowd was gathered there, no more than twenty people. The two elves had made it, as well as the humans from the village, the other five of Korcal's chosen fairies, and five dwarves. Korcal was counting them all, while Lapis tended Birch's wounds, scolding him for sneaking off to battle. Everyone was whispering and glancing nervously around the dark city.

Emily spotted them first and broke away from the group, running. She skidded to a halt in front of Rupert and looked as though she wanted to fling her arms around him, but she held herself back.

"I was so worried...when you didn't show up..."

Alexandrite brushed past them, eager to get away from the tangle of thoughts that were jumping around like fleas now that the immediate danger was gone. Jo walked over to Korcal's side and bowed his head.

"What's wrong?" she asked him. "I mean of course, other than being trapped in a dark cave with death around the bend."

She had meant it as a small joke, but Jo did not laugh. He drove the man's sword into the ground so he could have his good hand free and pulled the necklace out of the hand on his broken right arm. He held it up, and in the red light that shone from Korcal's sword, Alexandrite saw a many-pointed star with another star in the middle.

"Willow's dead," Jo said, his voice cracking.

Alexandrite was stunned. That scruffy-looking man had been Willow?

Korcal reached forward and touched Jo's broken arm. His skin glowed red and then the light shrank, wrapped tight around his arm and penetrated to his bones, making sure they were in place. All the light moved toward the break, and for a moment, the glare was stronger than the light from Korcal's sword. Then it faded and Jo dropped his arm to his side, now bound in red Fairy cloth. Korcal shifted her balance away from the cloud of red smoke, the loss of magic having visibly weakened her.

Lapis came forward and pulled the necklace from Jo's fingers.

"Korcal," she whispered. "This is the key!"

"Yes, I know," Korcal said. There was a hint of sadness in her voice, but no memory came floating after it for Alexandrite to examine and she knew better than to try to pry into a sorcerer's mind.

Korcal looked away from her sister toward the main passage.

"Lapis," she said. "Take them across the lake and into the dragon's room. Jo will be able to open the door because Willow gave him the key. There is another door in the cavern leading into a river tunnel. Get in a boat if one is there, or conjure one, and the river will take you into the valley. Seal off any doors you go through." Her head snapped toward one of the side passages and her eyes grew wide with fear. She turned and pushed Lapis toward the water. "Go!"

Lapis stared at her for a moment, and then turned toward the far side of the pond.

"Follow me everyone! Make as little noise as you can and swim for the other side!"

After a few seconds of hesitation, everyone followed. Alexandrite expected almost everyone in the group to be poor swimmers, splashing around like large animals in a small space, but few of them struggled. Emily and Rupert helped Suzie, and Daniel's two sisters helped him. Ivy swam like an otter, slipping through the water and darting among the people in the group, though hunting for her next victim was a thought long driven from her mind.

When they had reached the other side of the pond, Lapis dove and everyone followed one or two at a time. Alexandrite went with a cousin, Halite. Just before she ducked under the water, she heard shouts from the edge of the pond. Alexandrite had a brief image of what Korcal could see when she turned around: all that was left of three races and all that was friendly of another, diving below the water to drown or escape. She felt Korcal's fear, and the image was gone. She dove under the water and headed for the tunnel in the rock.

~~~

A small band of humans ran out of the passage toward Korcal, but in a flash of red light, the men in front fell back, dead. The others charged at her and all fell under her sword.

Several more groups of humans emerged from various passages over the next half-hour. None of these first survived, but then came a larger party. Despite her exhaustion from the strain of battle, Korcal fought long and hard but in the end they outnumbered and defeated her. The soldiers held her alive for the Lord General Madoc to pass judgment on.

Late in the day, though no light came into the caverns, the party accompanying the Lord General found its way into the city of Angalee. The soldiers formed a ring around Korcal and Madoc three men deep, cutting off all escape. Madoc bound Korcal's hands and threw her to the floor, then kicked her so that she rolled over and gazed up at his face. He sneered at her.

"It is said that all Sorcerers are related." He pulled from his back a leather bag and loosened the drawstring. "Please help me, for I cannot see any resemblance." And he drew from the bag the head of the Alder.

Korcal screamed then, for her dead brother and for her people, now all dead save for six, and she screamed with her hatred toward the humans. It is said that all the humans still wandering the tunnels could hear her, no matter if they were three feet or three miles away, and all thought that she would curse them and destroy as much of the army as she could.

Madoc struck her and she was silent. With his own hands he beat her as though she were a common criminal, and when he could beat her no more, he stood over her, staring at what he had done.

She was bruised and bloody, both eyes black and her nose broken. She lay as still as though dead, but then her blood-coated lips opened.

"May Earth pass her judgment on you," she whispered so that only Madoc could hear. In one swift motion, he raised his sword and brought it down, severing her head from her neck, then stuffed it in the bag with her brother's head. He stood over her body for a long while.

At last, he spoke to his men.

"Search the tunnels. Kill everyone you find."