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felt a sense of release. His Price was paid.
He had paid harder ones, over the years, and lighter ones. Serving the people of Sentarshadeen as
both Light-Priest and Wild-mage was sometimes a difficult task, and often called for him to tell far
less than he knew.
To lie to that troubled, terrified child, however to drug him with the cordial that kept the magic in
his blood from resonating to the presence of the Wild Magic...
It had been Maelgwyn's Price. And he had Paid it. He dipped a hand into the pocket of his robe and
ran a hand lovingly over the worn leather of the Three Books there.
Yet it had troubled him enough that he had done something he had rarely done before. He had
asked the Wild Magic why such a Price should be set. He had received no clear answer nor had he
expected any just the suggestion of a test he might set for young Tiercel, if he chose to.
If Tiercel Rolfort had not passed that small test, would he have found some way to call him back? To
keep him in Sentarshadeen? Even... convince him to return home?
No.
Danger was coming, such as the world had not faced in a thousand years. He must trust the Light
and the Wild Magic to deal with it in Their own way. This small test had been only for the peace of
mind of an old man whose part in Tiercel's story was over. And, perhaps, to strengthen Tiercel, just
a little, for the greater tests to come. There would be many others.
Maelgwn could Sense it.
AT half-past Morning Bells, the three of them rode out along the Old War Road. Simera was leading
Thunder, as the pony seemed to like her better than it did either of the others.
"Lunch?" Harrier suggested cheerfully.
"It isn't even Midmorning Bells yet," Tiercel said with a groan.
"And we're not stopping until we reach Fort Halacira," Simera said firmly. "We'll have lunch there,
see Kellen's Bridge, ask about the condition of the road east, and go on."
"And ask after Wildmages," Tiercel said with a sigh. He didn't think they'd find any just waiting
around at Fort Halacira, though.
"Might as well ask after unicorns," Harrier said. "If you want to," Simera said.
FORT Halacira had once been a storehouse or a barracks nobody was quite sure which centered
around extensive mines that were no longer worked. These days, Fort Halacira was a mill town.
The River Angarussa gave power to the machines that ground grain and milled lumber for half the
villages around, and they heard it long before they saw it.
"It's louder than the Docks," Harrier said, wincing.
"Just be glad we're on the War Road and not the Delfier Road, or we'd have been run down by
freight wagons half a dozen times already," Simera pointed out. The road between Fort Halacira
and Sentarshadeen was even more heavily-traveled than the road between Armethalieh and
Sentarshadeen. "There will be less traffic north and east of here."
"And fewer inns," Harrier pointed out.
"The War Road goes as far as Ondoladeshiron, if you want to follow it," Simera said. She looked at
Tiercel.
He shrugged. "I have no idea." But I think I know how I can find out.
Fort Halacira was used to travelers both those who came on business and those who came to
view the remains of the ancient monuments at the center of the town. The three of them stopped
for a meal, then, at Tiercel's insistence, went to see the old mine.
"It was built by Elves thousands of years ago," Tiercel said.
"It's a mine," Harrier said.
Mine it might be, but it had been one of the Ancient Wonders of the Elven World, and the
Compendium had mentioned the Jeweled Caverns in the chapter about Elves.
But when they got to it, there wasn't much to see. Only a very large stone building that identified
itself as the Fort Halacira Granary Stores and Office of the Magistrate. In front of the building's
imposing facgade was a tall stone monument, crowned with the shape of the Eternal Light, which
stated that upon this site had once stood Fort Halacira, an ancient stronghold of the Elves, where
the Knight-Mage Kellen had fought a great battle against the Endarkened.
"So much for ancient history," Harrier said with a rude snort.
"It was a very long time ago," Simera said gently, looking at Tiercel's face. Tiercel just shook his
head. He knew he was stupid to be disappointed. It was ridiculous to think it would all still be here.
He just needed it to be.
"Can I help you?" a young man asked, walking down the steps. He was dressed in clerk's robes,
not a laborer's tunic. Obviously he worked in the Magistrate's office here, and was leaving the
building on his way to his midday meal.
"Oh," Tiercel said, blushing faintly. "I was just wondering. My friends and I... we've come from
Armethalieh and we were wondering... is any of the old Fort left inside? The part that was built by
the Elves?"
The young man smiled at them. It was obviously a question he was used to hearing. "Oh, no," he
said. "All that was cleared away a long time ago."
KELLEN's Bridge was less of a disappointment.
It was less than an hour's ride north along the river, but the town had not grown in that direction,
and though the Avribalzar Forest had long since vanished into the sawmills of Fort Halacira, the
meadow that played along the Angarussa's banks was sunlit and peaceful. Even the Light-shrine
that stood beside the bridge was deserted at the moment.
"Made by magic," Simera said. Even she sounded impressed.
"Huh," Harrier said. He dismounted from Lightning and walked forward to take a closer look. "It
looks like one piece of stone. Think you could do that, Tyr?"
"No." Tiercel didn't even have to think before he answered. Everyone knew the story of Kellen's
Bridge, where ice had turned to stone when Kellen had led his troops across the river to fight
against the Endarkened. He wasn't exactly sure, anymore, that it was true. It was a pretty story,
though.
"Well, the War Road is on the other side," Simera said firmly. "Let's go."
Unlike the War Road farther south, which was little-used and had few travelers, the War Road
between Sentarshadeen and On-doladeshiron was the road that took most of the light traffic. The
Avribalzar Road wider and with a good stone foundation had been constructed for heavy freight
wagons and for driving the herds down from the northern pastures. This meant that while the road
wasn't exactly clogged with travelers, they met and were sometimes passed several times that
day, and both Tiercel and Harrier had plenty of cause to be grateful that they had quiet gentle
mounts. Horses who took exception to every cart or other horse on the road would have made
things difficult.
"WELL?" Simera said. "Sun's westering. And there's an inn up ahead. Do we stop there and burn it
down or freeze it out? Or do we turn off the road and look for some place to sleep under the
stars?"
They had long since passed the last of the farms beyond Fort Halacira. The open country they rode
through now, Simera told them, was devoted to the needs of cattle and sheep, and the few
villages that tended to the needs of the drovers lay far from the road, built close by wells and open
water. They would not return to true forest until they passed beyond Ondoladeshiron, assuming
they continued heading eastward.
Both of them looked at him, and Tiercel realized that both of them were waiting for him to make a
decision about what they should do next. He thought about it. It wasn't as if they were actually
going anywhere in particular. "Ride north until you find a Wildmage" wasn't much of a destination. If
they rode north for long enough, they'd bump up against the border of the Elven Lands and then,
he supposed, they'd have to turn back. It would take them a good long time to get there, though.
He wasn't really sure where it was. Nobody was. He supposed the Elves liked things that way. He
wondered why.
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