The Fire and The Storm - The Nexus of Kellaran #2
Chapter 114

Part 18

"You didn't decide that." Fire suddenly stated. "Who'll do what when, that is. You precogged it just now, along with knowing that it'll be a big night, right?"

Amirgath cocked an eyebrow at her. "If by 'precogged', you mean precognition, including foreseeing, soothsaying, and prophesy, then yes, you're right. How did you know?"

She shrugged. "I just got a feeling off you like I get when Six does it."

"Interesting." Amirgath nodded, then turned and looked at something to his left.

"Excuse me, my protégé arrives." he announced, and appeared three hundred meters away beside a vast Translocation circle just as Zarkog appeared within it.

The space Amirgath had vacated was filled almost immediately by Grakonexikaldoron, and the gold dragon exchanged greetings with the group as she gave Somonik a hug with one arm and her tail. "Strange to see him here." growled Osbald, whose eyes hadn't left Zarkog since the instant the great black dragon had arrived.

"He put his mark of justice right under his ass, six millimeters wide." Six revealed with a giggle.

"Typical." Osbald growled, then couldn't help but smile at the humor of it. "Though he's sworn, sentenced, and punished, he's seen the error of his ways, and he's even apologized, he's still unrepentant."

"He is a bit of a character, isn't he?" Fire chuckled.

"He is, to say the least." Osbald chuckled. "You seem more... tolerant, of him, than I'd expect you to be."

She shrugged and smiled. "We have uses for him. For one, he's gonna kill a lot of demons, I expect.

"You have uses for him." Osbald repeated with a grin. "Well that's lucky for us, since I have no use for him whatsoever!"

Val floated up and gave him a hug around his neck and a kiss on the cheek. "Don't worry, Osbald. We have uses for you too." she giggled.

He laughed, then abruptly stopped when he realized that they were completely serious, despite their warm smiles. Then he laughed even harder.

The rest chuckled along with him, until Senchak's gaze was drawn to new arrivals. "I find it damn strange seeing Zwak Deathbringer and his Sylvan here in The Hall of The Just Alliance!" he grumbled. "Isn't it though?" Emeroth mused with a raised eyebrow as they watched the Sylvan take their places.

Fire glanced to her left, her attention drawn by a ten-year-old human boy who was desperately trying to hide the fact that he was weeping. He was accompanied by his mother who surreptitiously tried to comfort him, his father who ignored him, and his twelve-year-old sister who stood away from them two meters, embarrassed by her brother's loss of control. All of them were openly watching the group around Mark with open and rapt fascination.

"Excuse me a moment." Fire said as she turned to approach the weeping boy. She stopped quite close to him so she wouldn't have to raise her voice over the constant noise of the thousands of conversations. "What's the matter?" she bluntly inquired.

"Nothing." he sniffed as he wiped his nose on his sleeve.

Fire frowned up at him. "Don't be silly. Something's obviously wrong, and I can probably fix it whatever it is, and I will if I can. Don't pass up the chance."

He did his best to pull himself together and re-assemble his dignity, assisted by a bit of angry resentment at her attitude. His family glanced back and forth between their conversation and Mark's group, who were also watching and following Fire's conversation with the boy. His father swallowed at a lump in his throat brought on by the sudden attention of the mighty, and the girl moved to stand with her family again to share in it.

"I'm Baym Shgongshtip." the boy stated. "We're from Bhia. I'm a wizard. I've been one for four years, and I've worked like a slave at it since I was six, sixteen hours a day with one day off a week. I'm one of the best wizards my age in Bhia. And I can only do six spells. Six measly spells, with almost no power.

"But I've got good senses. I can tell when a wizard's casting a spell, and I can tell that right now, you're casting a lot of 'em, with a lot of power. It doesn't even seem like you're even thinking about it. And you're only seven.

"I'm sorry, I know I'm being petty. I wouldn't've said anything if you hadn't insisted. But it sure seems like I've wasted four years of my life somehow. I could've had a lot of fun in those four years." "Hmm. You mind if I Read you?" she inquired.

When he hesitated, she grew impatient. "Look, Hilsith's team on Hiliani have found a way to give every human alive the ability to use magic, and everyone's gonna get some instruction. But if you're as good as you say you are, you can handle more than the basic instruction. Let me Read you and Link with you, and I'll give it to you. I can guarantee that I can make you capable of casting a lot more than six spells. Or you can go somewhere beyond my sight."

"Okay, go ahead." he quickly decided, and his mother nudged him. "And thank you." he added.

She cast her psionics, then considered the results, and nodded. "You're right, you're as good as you say you are. And believe me, you haven't wasted four years. You're instructor isn't that competent, but you did the best you could with the best instruction you could get, given your family's circumstances. You've developed a lot of discipline, except for your little lapse here tonight, and more importantly, while your ability to cast magic hasn't progressed much, your intellectual and intuitive grasp of the process has been advancing nicely.

"Because of that, I figure you can handle this much."

She cast on the boy again, and he froze, then slowly gained a rapturous expression.

She was about to turn away when Six privately reminded her that they intended to win the hearts of the populous.

She smiled at each of the boy's family and gave them a little bow, and said; Good day to you all then. I hope you enjoy the proceedings."

They smiled and bowed in response, and she took her leave of them.

As these things had been happening, Mark had remonstrated her with an irritated psionic rebuke. "You've prematurely announced Hilsith's news! Now she's going to have to announce it immediately, or everyone here and everywhere else will know it in about five minutes by word-of-mouth before she can do so!"

He appeared on the center of the dais, actually standing on the Truthstone of Falgaroth, and Spoke to the huge gathering with magical augmentation. "Good people of The Just Alliance..." He paused a moment to allow everyone to give him their attention as a gigantic Revealing lit above him, showing his front view to the audience all around him, and the room's ambient light dimmed somewhat. Soon every eye was upon him, and the clear surface that walled off the water-filled section was lined from floor to water-line with attentive spectators. "Good people of The Just Alliance, thank you for gathering to hear what we've accomplished on Hiliani while we were away.

"For us, it's been more than seven and a half years, and everyone on Hiliani has contributed to great accomplishments. None more so than Hilsith; Master Healer, whose focus has been on solving one of the most intractable problems on Kellaran.

"To explain further, I present Hilsith of The Warm People, of The High People, of Hilia and Hiliani, and of The Just Alliance Fast Response Force's Healers' Contingent."

Hilsith appeared beside him, floating in the air at the right height to give him a warm smile and a quick hug.

He stepped back with a grin and disappeared, and she settled to alight upon the Truthstone. She slowly turned all the way around, then clasped her hands behind her back and looked down. Those who expected a grand presentation were surprised when she spoke to the entire world in the tone of one chatting in a kitchen over tea.

"When my love for Yazadril and Nemia was new, and we were still living in First Valley, there was a morning when we were eating breakfast. And Yazadril shared a Reading with us of his first conversation with Mark, when they'd first met. Though much of it was pleasant conversation, I was so saddened by what I heard that I began to cry a bit. Nemia thought that I was saddened by the horror of the deaths of Mark's entire community, and I was, but that wasn't what made me cry."

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