Chapter 13: The Pain of Choice
Slowly the icy wind and dust subsided. As Ailanthiel cleared her eyes of dust, she surveyed the scene before her.
The castle that they were in was no longer. In fact, they were standing
amongst semi-frozen ruins, The fortress that they saw was no longer,
nor was the rest of Arlbeth. Genocide.
But very clean. Very pure.
In mere moments, Elladan’s eyes were no longer white- they had faded
back to grey. His hair returned to its normal pitch-black, and his body
no longer radiated his icy Talent.
Ailanthiel walked over to her step brother and comforted him. “Elladan…”
Elladan sighed. “… I had to do it, sister. He…” he paused for a spell.
“Father would have killed us without turning a hair. He was pure evil.”
Elladan thought for a moment. “He had been possessed for a long time,
and he didn’t remember who we were. He was… commanded to refer to us
that way. He was beyond our help.”
She touched his shoulder, understanding. But she asked, “But did you have to kill him? He was our father…”
“I know,” said Elladan uneasily. “But I had to. The whole predicament was so short notice, I really had no choice.”
Elladan saw Ailanthiel falter. “Look, I really didn’t want to do this.
My power…” Elladan paused for a moment, wondering whether or not he
should continue. “Ivy always said that emotions fueled our Talents.
“I took this to mean that our emotions would intensify our powers. And
I was right, was I not? In five minutes I laid waste to this entire
area, including the mountain, without Avallon.
“Remember what Ivy said, about being more powerful than him?”
Ailanthiel nodded.
“I see what he means now.”
His grey eyes glinted proudly.
“Before he attempted to kill us, I felt anger. Rage, more accurately. I was so… angry.”
It was as though Elladan was pouring all of his feeling into her.
“For…well, almost the first time I can remember, I felt so angry… Not
just at my father, but at everything. It all seemed to flow through me,
like I was a strainer. I remembered Surskit, Taintan, the day my mother
died, seeing Goldenstone destroyed… It was painful.”
Elladan’s eyes were damp, but he looked strong and willful. He looked like a younger version of Elberth, but with grey eyes.
“Elladan,” said Ailanthiel, softly, “I’m sorry. And I just want you to
know…” she paused for a second, “That you did what you had to do. I
understand.”
Elladan smiled somberly.
Two days and ninety leagues later, the group reached the city of Jorkus in northeastern Goldenstone.
Miraculously
Jorkus was spared from the apocalypse- the grass was still green, the
water: clear and blue. They found their old friends Finrod and Bendoc
the Manipulator at a shelter just west of town, along the banks of the
river.
The group, including Fury, whose wings were now as long as wheel barrows, was welcomed graciously into the house.
“Well,” said Finrod as he set up the table for dinner. “The five of you
returned, with mystical swords. Legends live among us.”
They all laughed happily as they ate the meal of rice, bread, salad, steaks, and branash.
They ate hungrily as they discussed the fate of Arlbeth. Even Surskit’s
foul presence couldn’t deter Korrigan from making merriment with her
friends. She even had one of her first tastes of fine Elvish wine.
“So…” began Bendoc after his first and only glass of wine. “You five
should explain what happened at Arlbeth. We, (Finrod and I), saw some
sort of explosion, and we deserve elucidation.”
Kor and Celestina explained while the others remained silent.
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