A Ranger From Adamnar

Lord Berol stared at Lord Retak in surprise. “Are you sure about this?”

“I know it’s an unusual request, especially for an Elite rotation, but I’m telling you, I’ve never seen anything like it in all the years I’ve been training Rangers. Laren is a completely different person.”

Lord Berol frowned in concern. “Do you think they’re…involved?”

Lord Retak shook his head. “I didn’t get that impression. Besides, I saw Laren and Derek wander off into the forest several times during our patrol. No, I think it’s something else. Alana seems to have that effect on people. You remember that brute of a fighter who came in here the same time she did?”

Lord Berol nodded, “Cadius, yes. He’s doing quite well according to Waylan.”

“Well, I had him pegged to get himself thrown out before the end of a year,” Lord Retak said. “But Alana worked with him, and here he is, one of Waylan’s prize students.”

“All right,” Lord Berol replied. “I’ll have to bring this to Lord Ejrin. She has to approve recommendations for Elite rotations anyway. She may want to talk to you about it.”

“What does she know about Alana?” Lord Retak asked.

“Only what I told her when Master Iliard first came with his request,” Lord Berol replied.

“Well, there are some things I need to tell you about Alana,” Lord Retak said. “I think Lord Ejrin is in for a few surprises.”

Lord Berol shook his head. “Why is it we get all these special cases? First Laren as a favor to Master Kate, then Cadius as a favor to a friend of Bruny and now Alana.”

Lord Retak chuckled. “I think it’s your reputation as a hell raiser.”

Lord Berol laughed. “I wasn’t that bad.”

“Huh,” Lord Retak replied. “You should have tried being your trainer. You nearly drove me out of my mind. Although I do think Alana was more of a challenge to Waylan than you were.”

“Yes well, I turned out all right,” Lord Berol replied with a smile.

“Yes, you did,” Lord Retak said.

“Lord Retak wants to see both of you,” Neve said to Alana and Laren. They were sitting on Laren’s bed sharpening their weapons. None of the other trainees were anywhere near them, even though several had bunks nearby. A rumor of Laren’s change in attitude wasn’t enough to counter years of opinion building. With both her and Alana looking serious with sharpened steel, they commanded solitude over nearly half the bay. Several of the younger trainees looked at Neve like they would never see her again as she walked down the bay towards the pair.

A few minutes later Lord Retak was looking up from his scroll at them as they stood in front of his desk. “You two are getting Elite rotations,” he said. Laren and Alana were both visibly excited at the news. “Lord Berol granted my request and Lord Ejrin concurred.”

“Thank you, sir,” they said in unison.

“Granted,” he continued, “that doesn’t mean you can’t choose advanced rotations instead. After all,” and he smiled again, “I certainly wouldn’t mind having either of you doing a rotation with me, but I’m sure you’ll want to take advantage of this rare opportunity.”

“Yes, Lord Retak.”

“I’m sure you both know what the elite rotations are,” he said, “so please let me know before dinner what you’ve decided.”

“Yes, Lord Retak.”

“Oh, and one more thing. You must perform both of your elite rotations together. That is all.”

“Yes Lord Retak,” they said in unison again and walked out of his office. Lord Retak watched them go, chuckled and shook his head slightly.

“I don’t know which one of them will be worse,” Lord Geron said as he walked from the shadows and sat down in front of Lord Retak’s desk.

“I think they will both serve you well, my Lord,” Lord Retak said.

“Yeah, well don’t be too sure they’ll choose Attaché. I still think Trainee Laren would much prefer Foreign Exchange with some Borgantine or Cazleel than to be cooped up with my staff for two months.

The news of the elite rotation offer greeted Alana and Laren on its second trip around the stronghold, and threatened to prevent them from eating lunch.

“Congratulations!”

“Have you decided?”

“You know,” Grace said as she stabbed another piece of ham, “These aren’t offered to just any trainee. In fact, they’re not even offered every year.”

“If it were me,” Tulan said as he sat down at the table, “I’d want Strategy in the Regional Fortress.”

“You would,” Cadius said. He was already through his third plate.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Tulan asked, a little hurt. “What’s wrong with Strategy? You get to have a say in the big picture. You get to shape the long term plans of hundreds of thousands of Rangers.

“Yeah, well, at least it’s not Diplomacy,” Cadius said between mouthfuls.

“Somehow, I don’t think Diplomacy would suit Laren,” Grace said. Everyone laughed.

“Well, Laren, what do you want to do?” Shiri asked?

Laren just shrugged and kept looking at her food.

“We’re still thinking about it,” Alana said.

Grace asked, “Why are you both still thinking about it?”

“Lord Retak said we have to do our two rotations together,” Alana said, trying to sound casual. It didn’t work much. Everyone turned to look at Laren.

Laren looked up from her plate briefly and mumbled, “I’m lucky to be doing my rotation with her,” and looked back down at her plate and continued eating.

“As would we all,” Grace said, “It’s just strange for two trainees to be required to do their rotations together. It happens often enough by choice…”

“But that’s different,” Shiri interrupted.

“How is it different?” Laren asked, glaring at her.

All of this attention was wearing on Laren after just a few hours. Since she and Alana had come back from Patrols Laren hadn’t yelled at a single other trainee, but Alana could tell she was about to snap. Alana stood up and said, “I’m going to go for a short run before Admin class.” She looked at Laren, who was just staring at her food. “Do you want to join me?” Laren was on her feet and heading to the door before Alana got to ‘me.’

“What’s eating her?” Cadius asked.

“She’s not used to the ‘Glow Of Alana’,” Falar said. There was some nervous laughter at the table. Alana’s jaw dropped as she stared at Falar, then she burst out laughing.

Laren was already a few hundred yards west of the stronghold by the time Alana was able to catch up with her. She noticed Laren tended to take running from her problems literally. “Why do they care what we do?” Laren asked as she hurtled a large fallen log, landing soundlessly on the soft forest floor. She was the quietest runner Alana had ever run with, except for Lord Chasimar.

“Lots of different reasons,” Alana puffed.

“I wish they would just mind their own business.”

“Yeah well, that’s never going to happen,” Alana said. She wasn’t sure how much longer she could keep up and keep talking. “Laren slow down.”

“I’m not going that fast,” Laren said.

“You’re sprinting.”

“Can’t you keep up?”

Alana said, “I don’t know anyone who runs as fast as you.” She slowed. Laren slowed to stay with her. They ran in silence down Frament’s Trail towards Skellet Falls. They wouldn’t make it all the way to the Falls and back to Admin class on time. Alana was sure Laren would much rather run through the forest than sit in a classroom reading ledger scrolls. She felt the same way.

“What should we do?” Laren asked.

Alana slowed to a walk and Laren did the same. “I wonder why we’ve been given so little time.”

“I thought you’d be wondering why you had to do it with me,” Laren said.

Alana rolled her eyes. “Laren there’s nothing wrong with you and soon enough everyone else will know that too. I can’t think of another trainee I’d rather have by my side in a fight.”

Laren ducked her head hide her blushing. “Yeah, well, none of the elites have much fighting.”

“Foreign Exchange is right out,” Alana said. “I’m in hiding.”

“That means Diplomacy is out too,” Laren said.

“Yeah.”

“So it’s Attaché or Strategy,” Laren said. “Attaché can be anywhere at any Garrison, or Regional Fortress.”

Alana said, “It could also be at the Headquarters Fortress. There are lots of high order lords up there with plenty of Attaches. In fact,” she continued as she stopped walking and lifted one foot to rest it on a log to stretch, “several of them have whole staffs.”

“But wouldn’t Strategy be the best thing for you?” Laren asked. “You could hide out in some Regional Fortress war room for two months.”

Alana shrugged. “I think we’ll have to do them both so it’s just a matter of which one to do first.”

They both stood there in silence for a while. Finally Alana asked, “I guess you’d want to do Attaché first?”

“Why,” Laren asked.

“Well, it’s the more exciting one and you’ll be testing before you get a chance to do the second one.”

“I won’t be testing this time,” Laren said.

Alana looked at her but said nothing.

“I’m not ready,” Laren said.

Alana was trying her best to hide her excitement. She nodded slightly and waited. Laren started to pace.

“I don’t know why I’m not ready,” Laren said finally, exasperated, as if she were letting Alana in on the tail end of an argument. She stopped pacing and said, “It feels like…” and she trailed off and went back to pacing.

Finally, Alana said softly, “It’ll come. Don’t push it”

After Admin class, Alana and Laren packed their gear and headed for Lord Retak’s office. They were going to the Ranger Fortress Headquarters to be attaches to Lord Geron, the second most powerful Ranger on Ranwar and next in line to the Ruby Ranger, Lord Lof Vonas.

Alana had a pretty good idea what they would be doing. She had seen court politics first hand for most of her childhood. She imagined the running of the Ranger Stronghold system on Ranwar couldn’t be too much different from her own Barony’s government.

A few people were watching them as they walked between the buildings towards the Head Trainer’s office. It was fewer than usual, now that Alana could only tie Lord Berol’s record. Alana was glad for the lessening of attention.

“Do they stare at you wherever you go?” Laren asked as she looked sideways at yet another group of Ranger trainees watching them as they passed.

“Everywhere.” Alana responded flatly. “As good as you are they would have done that to you too.”

Laren finished her sentence for her, “Except they’re all afraid I’ll deck them.”

“Were,” Alana corrected.

“Whatever.”

When they got to Lord Retak’s office, a Ranger lord they didn’t know was waiting for them.

“This is Lord Hwanleth,” Lord Retak said as they entered.

Lord Hwanleth appeared to be middle aged man, with short black hair lightly peppered with gray. Of course Alana could no more guess the age of a Ranger lord than their life story. Once a Ranger reached lord, they were immortal and there was no telling how old they were.

“I see you’re ready for traveling,” Lord Hwanleth said. “Good, we’ll depart immediately.” He looked back at Lord Retak in a silent request for concurrence. Lord Retak nodded. Lord Hwanleth motioned once quickly with his finger tips for them to come over and held out his arm. Alana knew he meant for them to grab hold in preparation for teleporting. As she and Laren grabbed hold, Alana wondered if Laren had ever teleported before. She glanced over at her. Laren’s expression said if she had teleported before it was not something she enjoyed.

Lord Retak’s office blurred and Alana felt the familiar pull from the center of her chest. Another office came in to focus. Alana quickly let go of Lord Hwanleth’s forearm, looked around to get her bearings and checked her gear. Laren was swaying slightly with her eyes closed. Lord Hwanleth kept his forearm aloft and watched Laren until she recovered.

There were several other people in the office. There were nine desks situated near the walls, all facing inward. The owners of five of the desks appeared to be elsewhere at the moment. The remaining four people were looking at them.

Once Lord Hwanleth was sure Laren had her senses again he introduced them to the other four people in the room. Pointing to a young, slender elven woman with long black hair and eyes so black that it seemed like she had no pupils he said, “This is Ashan Frenell. She is Lord Geron’s liaison to the Cazleel Elves.

Ashan rose gracefully, glided over to Alana, and held out her hand. She smiled slightly, which only served to make her already very thin lips almost disappear. She said, “Gahl endui, tagat Terin Berinath.” Ashan’s hand was soft, warm, and seemed frail, as if her bones were hollow.

Alana still didn’t know what that meant, even after having heard it three times now. “Pleased to meet you,” she said, hoping it was the right response.

“And hello to you Laren from Erordinville—Cavendroi,” Ashan said as she extended her hand again.

Laren grabbed her hand, shook it hesitantly and said, “What does that mean, ‘Cavendroi’?”

“It means Protector,” Ashan said.

Laren looked over at Alana, who shrugged.

Lord Hwanleth introduced the remaining three people in the room, two men and one woman. The four of them, he explained, a Sage and four others who were currently with Lord Geron, comprised Lord Geron’s personal staff. “Just set your gear over there,” he said, motioning towards a corner. “Let’s get you to Lord Geron. There’ll be plenty of time to unpack and settle in later.

The three of them walked outside the office, and down a short, low hallway whose walls were covered in names, none of which Alana had ever seen before. Very bright light shone in through the opening at the other end of the corridor. Alana had to squint against it as they emerged from the building into the open.

They were in the middle of the Ranger Headquarters Fortress at the heart of the Great Forest. Tall temples towered over them on all sides. In between those were nestled many other smaller buildings, though each had many stories as well. The large central courtyard was full of people, mostly human Rangers. Interspersed throughout the crowd, though, were several creatures of other races a few of which Alana recognized.

“Laren,” Alana whispered. Laren was standing slack jawed and Lord Hwanleth was walking away. Laren began to walk but didn’t stop looking around. They followed Lord Hwanleth to a building that looked like a small fort. It looked silly to Alana to be sitting as a tiny structure amidst all these gigantic stone temples and many-storied buildings. It didn’t look like it could protect anything or even hold all the people just visible in the vast central open area, should its walls be needed for protection.

There were two Rangers standing guard at the main entrance. They both inclined their head as Lord Hwanleth approached. There was no smaller courtyard or ring of buildings inside the outer wall, as Alana expected to see. Immediately upon entering the small fortress, however, they were indoors. Alana noticed that the inside of the fortress seemed a lot bigger than the outside. After walking through a long, wide hallway with many doors and even more people moving quickly in each direction, they ended up in a large atrium with a stained glass ceiling.

They walked towards the center of the atrium, towards a group of Rangers standing there amongst the shrubs, fountain and marble benches. Lord Hwanleth said quietly, “Stand behind me and don’t speak unless spoken to.”

“Yes, Lord Hwanleth,” Alana and Laren said quietly in unison.

Lord Hwanleth stopped a few feet from the group. Alana recognized Lord Geron, Lord Lof Vonas, and Grandmaster Philip. She didn’t recognize the other three—two men and one woman. The two men looked like Rangers, fighters or possibly Novadi. The white robes adorned with dark purple runes told Alana that the woman was a fifth order Wizard. While Lord Hwanleth spoke with Lord Geron, Alana and Laren looked around.

At one end of the large atrium stood a wrinkled old tree. Its branches were twisted many times and its leaves were small and golden brown. Its trunk seemed too thick, though, for its barely fifteen foot height.

“Greetings, Terin Berinath,” Alana heard in her mind.

“Long life to you Great One,” she replied.

“I shall live for as long as I live.”

Alana felt the rest of the atrium fade away. The light in the large open space dimmed and the old tree glowed brightly. She stood in front of it and then knelt, although she didn’t know why. “I would serve you with my life, should you ask it of me.” They were her words but they seemed to come from somewhere else. She wasn’t even sure she had spoken them in a human tongue.

“I accept your oath, Terin Berinath,” the old tree replied. “Your day will come before many more rings grow. For now, you will serve others. I will call you when I need you.”

Alana bowed her head again and closed her eyes. She felt a great warmth and at the same time a vast resigned loneliness. She also felt a hint of darkness, like a canker marring the serenity of the forest. These feelings were similar to what she had felt before by the river. This time, however, the emotions did not overwhelm her or threaten to engulf her. She merged with the spirit of the forest but was not, this time, consumed by it. Slowly the light returned to the atrium and she felt a gentle hand on her shoulder.

“Alana, come away now,” Grandmaster Philip said gently.

Alana opened her eyes and blinked in the sudden brightness. She was kneeling at the foot of the gnarled old tree, just a foot away from its trunk, her hands each placed upon a small root which barely broke the surface. She looked around to see that many other people stood and stared, all a good distance away. It seemed none of them wanted to, or were allowed to come very close to the tree.

Alana tried to stand but found her legs didn’t want to support her. Grandmaster Philip caught her under her arm and held her on her feet until she could stand on her own.

“I heard that your trainer said he thought the Heart had spoken to you,” Philip said with a smile. “Now I have seen it for myself.” He helped her walk back away from the tree towards Lord Lof Vonas and the others who were standing together a few feet away. “Can you stand?”

“Yes Grandmaster,” Alana said.

“The weight of the forest can be a bit daunting,” Lord Geron said.

“Did you just make that up?” Lord Lof Vonas said, smiling. Everyone laughed. “Simon, please see to your attaches. We can continue our discussion later,” Lord Lof Vonas said.

“Yes my Lord,” Lord Geron said and bowed slightly. The group split apart. Lord Lof Vonas and Grandmaster Philip walked together towards the old tree, quietly talking to each other. All the other Rangers went their way except Lord Geron and Lord Hwanleth.

Lord Geron looked at the pair of trainees and said, “I hope you had a chance to get settled in. We have a full day ahead of us.” Alana and Laren just looked at each other.

“What’s next?” Lord Geron asked of the closest of his three advisors, a middle aged woman who looked like a Sage. She certainly wore common Sage garb of blue robes, dangling ink flask, several quills and scroll cases. If she were a Sage, then those scroll cases could be just as deadly weapons as the sword Alana wore.

“Probably a Sage,” Alana whispered to Laren.

“Then where’s the glasses?” Laren whispered back.

“I wouldn’t be much of a Sage,” The Sage said, turning her head halfway to look at Laren out of the corner of her eye, “if I couldn’t even fix bad eyesight.” Laren blushed.

The Sage finished recounting Lord Geron’s schedule, intermingling it with brief descriptions of the people and cultures he would be dealing with at each meeting. The other two attending Lord Geron spent most of their time looking everywhere but at the pair speaking. Although they looked like they were unarmed, Alana got a sneaking suspicion that they were in fact very well armed. She wondered why the second most powerful Ranger Lord on Gorthus needed bodyguards.

They all strode towards one of the larger temples. The years had bleached it to a very pale green. The outer wall looked like the trunk of a very broad tree, with towers and spires that sprang forth in odd places from the walls like branches of stone ending in large blossom like bulbs with small windows. Each tower was covered with a roof of very large leaves. The temple came to two points, though, instead of the one point of the other large temples around the square. Light shone out from a lone window about half way up the front wall, and also from the windows of one tower sticking out the left side about half way up. Laren looked over at Alana quizzically.

“Temple of Diasamon.” Alana whispered back. “The two tall spires are because he’s one of the Twins. Igean temples also have two points on top. She pointed over to the left, “Asaeria.” It was a hundred foot white stone temple that seemed to shine a little brighter than the light could account for. “Aniyatomei,” she said pointing farther left to a shorter, gray temple that seemed to blend more readily with its surroundings, its first floor looking more like doors than walls.

The meeting with the High Priest of Diasamon lasted two hours. Alana and Laren were not allowed to attend.

“You two will stay out of trouble out here?” Lord Hwanleth asked before the group went inside the High Priest’s audience hall.

“Yes, Lord Hwanleth,” they responded in unison. They walked around the immediate area, never straying too far from the great audience hall’s main door. Also walking the halls were priests, clerics, and druids from many races. Alana even once saw the gleaming plate mail of a Paladin, though he didn’t come close enough to greet. He walked with a purposeful stride, his heavy steel boots echoing his progress back after him as he strode out of sight.

“…entirely convinced he sees the danger.” Alana caught the tail end of Lord Hwanleth’s remark as the five of them emerged from the great audience chamber out to the waiting area.

“Still,” Lord Geron responded, “he is correct about their overall strength. They just can’t muster the forces for a full scale assault on the Southern Borgantine nations.” The troop didn’t stop walking as the two lords discussed this unknown foe, so Alana and Laren fell in behind them. They walked out of the temple back towards Lord Geron’s offices. Alana guessed it was to another meeting.

“He sees all war as the enemy,” Lord Hwanleth said. “He would begrudge the Borgantine their self-defense. Besides, the Handlar are the smallest. They deserve to be allowed to make all the preparations in defense they possibly can. If the Scepoli come at them, they’ll be hard pressed to hold their ground.”

“He is the High Priest of the healer god,” Lord Geron said. As the group walked across the vast interior field from the temple towards Lord Geron’s office building, several runners approached with scrolls. Alana noticed all were met a short distance away by one of the two bodyguards, who took the scroll and wordlessly bid the runner depart.

Laren whispered to Alana, “Notice how they don’t let anyone get too close to Lord Geron.”

“Yes,” Alana whispered back.

“I’ve been gauging the speed and distance and I think these bodyguards are gauging it too, so the weight of an attacker can’t carry them into the center of our group.”

Alana looked at Laren with raised eyebrows and said, “You’ve put a lot of thought into this. I wouldn’t have thought of that.” Alana glanced over at one of the bodyguards who glanced back at her and nodded his head almost imperceptibly.

A little further along a young magic user apprentice came towards them. Alana recognized her instantly.

“Ciaran!” Alana went over to her and hugged her. “What are you doing here?”

“I live here now,” Ciaran said with a smile. Alana looked first to Lord Hwanleth for approval, and with his nod they walked together behind the group. Ciaran continued, “I got invited to study here. It’s a real honor. Not too many apprentices train here.”

Laren said, “Your great grandfather wouldn’t have had anything to do with that.”

Ciaran frowned. “No, actually, he didn’t. I tested very well for my apprenticeship. I earned this spot all on my own.”

“I knew you would be a good Wizard,” Alana said.

“Well, I’m not a Wizard yet,” Ciaran said. “I have at least ten years to go before I can test to wear Wizard’s robes.”

“It sounds like you’ll make it,” Laren said. Ciaran’s jaw dropped. Alana smiled but said nothing. “What,” Laren asked, “I can’t give you a compliment?”

“Well, I never thought I would hear one from you,” Ciaran said.

“People can change when they really want to,” Alana said.

“Where are you guys staying?” Ciaran asked.

“Actually, we don’t know yet,” Alana said. Ciaran looked surprised.

“We’ve been going to meetings since we got here,” Laren said. “We’re headed to another one now.”

“There’s a lot of that going on here,” Ciaran with a smile. “I’m sure you’ll get sorted out soon enough. Well, I have to go. It’s great to see you guys again.” Ciaran gave Alana another hug and hesitated and looked at Laren.

Laren held out her hand and Ciaran took it. “Good luck,” Laren said as she shook Ciaran’s hand. Ciaran smiled then walked quickly in the direction of a long low building that looked somewhat like a warehouse.

When they arrived at their destination, Lord Hwanleth said, “This is the Ranger headquarters building. No less than a thousand people work in this building and they all work for Lord Geron.”

Laren asked, “Lord Hwanleth, doesn’t everyone work for Lord Lof Vonas?” Lord Geron laughed.

“Indirectly,” Lord Hwanleth said. The group began to walk quickly up the large front stairs up to the second floor. Several guards came to attention as the group neared the large doors that opened up to Lord Geron’s offices. Lord Geron’s bodyguards opened the doors for him and the rest of the group walked through. They walked through the outer office into the inner office, the smaller room in which Alana and Laren had first set foot in the Ranger Headquarters.

The Sage began to talk about the rest of Lord Geron’s schedule to him as they walked into Lord Geron’s private office room. Two of the other people sitting in this inner office got up and followed them in with scrolls. Lord Hwanleth continued quietly to Alana and Laren, “Lord Geron is the second in command of the Stronghold Ranger system on Ranwar. His first responsibility is to implement Lord Lof Vonas’s vision.

“The Regional Fortress Lords work directly for Lord Lof Vonas and Lord Geron works directly for Lord Lof Vonas and almost everyone else works for one of those eight Lords. Lord Lof Vonas has his own protocol office like this one,” Lord Hwanleth motioned around them, “but it’s about three times this size. Have you determined yet the job of the protocol office?”

“It’s to make sure Lord Geron doesn’t look like an idiot,” Laren said. Everyone in the room laughed, except Lord Hwanleth.

“You should be careful with your word choice, trainee,” he said with a slight frown. “Not everyone would see the humor in your candor.” Lord Hwanleth went on to describe the makeup of Lord Geron’s full organization. It numbered about two thousand people, a full third of whom were Rangers. Only about half of his organization worked here and the rest were scattered throughout Ranwar implementing guidance and tracking progress.

After Lord Hwanleth finished his overview, Alana asked, “My lord, why does Lord Geron need bodyguards? Isn’t he one of the most skilled Rangers on the planet?”

Lord Hwanleth’s expression became serious. “Even the most skilled warrior cannot always stop an assassin’s blade.”

“But why would someone want to assassinate Lord Geron?” Alana asked.

“Did you hear about the battle of the Silver Arrow in Narsacalius?” he asked.

Alana nodded and said quietly, “I was there.”

Lord Hwanleth stared at her in shock. After a while he said, “You’re that Alana?”

“Yes, my lord,” she answered in almost a whisper.

“You saved Lord Geron’s life,” he said, his voice filled with awe. “He told me about you after they got back here.”

“Oh,” Alana replied, her face flushed.

“It’s certainly nothing to be embarrassed about, Alana,” he said. “Now I understand why he took you on. He rarely takes trainees as attachés.” He frowned slightly. “But you’re supposed to be missing.”

“I…well, I am,” she replied.

Lord Hwanleth chuckled. “Indeed. But,” he continued, “to answer your question, Lord Geron and Lord Lof Vonas were both marked for death by the temple of Arnitath by the Anti-Paladin that was there.”

“Oh,” Alana said. She clenched her jaw and said a low voice, “If I could, I would wipe every temple raised to Arnitath from the face of Gorthus.” Both Laren and Lord Hwanleth looked at her in surprise at her vehemence. She looked at them and her face reddened again. “I’m sorry,” she said. “They marked Uncle Iliard too. I guess I take it personally.”

Lord Hwanleth nodded. “Understandable. Come now, let’s get the two of you settled in.”

As they as followed Lord Hwanleth out of the office, Laren noticed Alana was trembling. She moved closer to her and whispered, “Hey runt, are you all right?”

Alana nodded, but her face told a different story. Her hand crept up the place where the amulet of Asaeria lay against her chest. The emblem was still warm from the surge of power that had gone through her when she made her vow.