Being Heard

"Yours?" Alaron was at a loss for words.

"How did you not recognize your sister's bag?" Renat shook his head.

"I am not good with women's accessories, alright?! For all I knew, they could have had matching bags on purpose!" The Guardian realized how ridiculous he sounded and changed tactics. "And why would I assume it was Mairwen's bag? How did Dania even get it?!"

After contemplating for a moment, Mairwen shrugged. "I've no idea, but a monster took it from me, so she must have somehow gotten it from him. In the end it doesn't matter. What does matter is…this!"

Mairwen's last word was more of a squeal. For as she reached into the bag, her hand found its way around a familiar object.

Triumphantly, she pulled out the item and brandished it like a sword.

"The mirror!" Eira, Renat and Alaron all exclaimed. Their excitement was palpable.

"Whoop-tee-doo," Polymedes snorted. "You people sure do like looking at yourselves to be so excited about a looking glass. Perhaps I should make that my next business venture…"

Lilith thwaped the satyr upside his small horns. "You fool. Can't you see that thing is magical. It's glowing."

Indeed, it was. That meant that either No one had activated the message which Mairwen had viewed when her bag was stripped from her or a new message had come since then.

The princess guessed it was the latter.

"How nice...you get your items back just as your brother loses mine." Polymedes grumbled.

"Have your precious hawk get your boat..." Alaron spat. "And stop complaining."

"Not my hawk..." the satyr was silenced as Mairwen held the mirror firmly in both hands in front of her.

A familiar feminine voice carried across the pristine landscape. "I have not heard from you in days now, and I must say I am worried. I hope you got my message about avoiding the fight in Oblivion and that you are safe and sound."

Mairwen winced. 'That is likely the message that got lost with my bag since I did not see it. Not that it would have made a difference. The four of us did not go to Oblivion by choice anyway...'

The message continued despite the princess's thoughts, "Please respond when you can. As for me, I am following a clue and am no longer with the elves. I am in good company and feel fully healed. Please do not worry about me. We will try to be careful..."

"Ha!" Alaron couldn't help but laugh. "You know that means she is doing something dangerous. Our family never manages to do things the easy way."

"How do you want to proceed?" Nath had recognized the Empress's voice. Since he could guess that the humans were actually in search of the Empress and not King Ithel, the he-elf did not want to presume that they would continue the same way with this new information.

"Hmm, what do you think, Mair?" The Guardian watched as the blue-eyed woman stared intently at the mirror.

Realizing the message had long been over, she tore her eyes away from her reflection and looked back at the group. "I'm not sure. I wish there were a way to get to them or them to us. That is, if we can even find out where they are. What if mother has given up checking the mirror after so long?"

"She would never do that," Alaron shook his head, "but there is only one way to know for sure. If we can pinpoint her quickly, I think I know of a way to get to her."

Mairwen nodded. Lowering the glass, she lifted it once more and took a deep breath. She had so much to say.

-------------------------

The lizard sprung down from the trees in a desperate attempt to catch its prey off guard.

It was only thanks to Zan's catlike reflexes that the abomination had been unsuccessful in its hunt. The Guardian had caught the flash of green out of the corner of his eye and dove with his arms around the unprepared Empress.

A talon of the creature caught the edge of Zan's mundane cape as it whooshed by. The fabric tore like paper under the razor sharp nail.

Missing its mark, the abomination crashed to the ground with an ugly hiss. All too soon it was back on its feet to try again.

Rage filled its empty eyes.

"Another one?" Brinn sighed. "They are worse than gricket-roaches!"

The elf looked on the hulking creature with disdain. Most all the smaller creatures had fled the area, making the small cohort the only viable meal for the carnivore. Its desperation had moved it into action.

It took another run at the Empress only to be stopped by a wall of ice. "That's my close personal friend, there! You cannot eat her!" Reyan called angrily.

The lizard raked against the cage. Ice chips flew in every direction.

"Gela, do you think you can get Foxie to help the creature back into his right mind?" Aurora asked the bear-man.

Gela stroked the kitsune and tried to pull her down from around his neck. Foxie, however, was unwilling to budge.

"It's no use. He is all the way gone…" Gela announced sadly.

During the trip around the barrier, they had run into many of the abominations since leaving the cabin behind. Both wolf and lizard had attacked them and met their end at the cohort's hand.

Sadly, it was getting to be normal. And even young Jaymes and his tutor had stopped reacting with the fear that they had at first.

Strangely, only two things tied each of the abominations together: they were alone, and their humanity was gone.

Had they been some of Taran's earlier experiments gone wrong? Or had time and isolation in the wilderness sent them over the edge to being permanently feral? Or--and this is what Aurora feared the most--would this eventually happen to all the abominations, even Gela who was fighting so hard against the madness?

"Is Foxie positive?" Aurora hoped against reason that Gela was mistaken. But she could see with her own eyes that there was no person left inside the shell of the lizard. There was a fundamental shift in its being. It had become a mindless beast. "Such a shame."

The lizard clawed through the ice cage, which the people had hoped would calm him, and made a break for the closest being: Nurlan. But he never got close enough to actually strike.

Two well placed arrows along with daggers guided by wind magic from Brinn and Alvar all pierced the soft points on the lizard. He staggered backwards screaming out in pain.

But then, at the very last moment, a flicker of humanity lit in the abominations eyes as the Empress neared.

"Thank you," he said with his final breath.

"Be at peace," Aurora answered, her eyes filling with tears. While some had tried to spit in her face, others, like this abomination, had embraced the release from the monster.

"Let me guess, you want to bury him?" Brinn sighed.

"He was one of my subjects, and beyond that he seemed to regret his mistake in the end." Aurora glanced over to Jaymes, who still had his head buried in his tutor's robes to avoid seeing the death. "I think we all need that closure," she whispered to the elven princess.

Brinn understood. "I'll take care of it."

Reyan had found a way to pummel the earth with his ice powers so that Brinn and Alvar could blow the earth onto the creature and bury him quickly. While not as efficient as the gnomic magic, it was fast enough that the group was on the road again in less than an hour.

While the others seemed to have come to terms with the grim reality and were quietly dealing with it in their own way, Jaymes could not yet let the matter pass. "There has to be a way to fix this! A way to reverse this. Dania would never want her work used like this!"

"She isn't doing it by choice, Jaymes." Frode hugged the boy's shoulder. "If your sister is anything like you, she is doing everything possible not to help make these things. It will be alright."

While the old scholar could not actually promise such a thing, he still felt it was the right thing to do. Now that he trusted those around him and could see they were working for the good of humanity, Frode had faith that if it was remotely in their power, these heroes would fix what was broken.

"Keep up hope, Jaymes," Aurora said gently. "Keep fighting for truth and justice. We need your spirit to keep us going."

"I will do my best. And when I can't go on, I will ask the Maker himself for help!" Jaymes was silent for a moment. He walked with his eyes closed holding his tutor's hand.

'Sweet boy,' Aurora smiled.

Fetching her pack from Nurlan, the Empress reached inside to get her last bit of sweets she had stowed away in order to give it to the brave young man.

As she looked inside, a smile bloomed on her face. "I think the Maker heard you, Jaymes."

From inside, she retrieved a glowing mirror.