Microsoft Zone Archive/Player Chronicles/The Call
Original Link (now dead) - http://zone.msn.com/asheronscall/ASHEthecall45.asp
The Call
by Aytalya
"Tell me what, Aytalya?" Shador repeated.
He had caught her off guard, making her flinch when he first appeared behind her and Lord Rand. Aytalya was by no means prepared for this confrontation with Shador yet. She had planned to carefully think out her speech before she told him of her decision.
He waited wordlessly for her answer, and by the grim look on his face, she knew he'd already heard what topic she and Rand had been discussing. Just how long had he stood listening to them, she wondered.
"Well, Shador," she began carefully, "Take a walk with me and I will tell you everything."
She did not want to get into the inevitable argument in front of Rand, possibly making him feel like he was in the middle of it. This was going to have to be between only herself and Shador.
They walked a ways down the riverbank in stiff silence. Aytalya had pulled an arrow from the quiver on her back and was twirling it between her fingers. She was trying to appear nonchalant despite her damp palms and slamming heart. Finally, she could bear the silence no longer.
"Shador, you have grown much in your knowledge of magic and the ways of this land in a very short time. Why, you could probably teach me some spells now!" She tried to laugh, but it only came out sounding forced.
Suddenly, Shador halted in his tracks and grabbed Aytalya's shoulders to turn her to face him. Startled and tense, her hands dropped to her sides, the one still grasping the arrow tightly in her fist.
Shador saw this and snatched the arrow, snapping it in two by squeezing one hand around the shaft. He violently threw the pieces to the ground and gripped Aytalya's shoulders once more.
His eyes bore hard into hers, forcing her to drop her gaze. He really wasn't much taller than Aytalya, but she felt like she was standing face to face with an iron golem. Her shoulders were maybe half as wide as his and his biceps were about as thick around as one of her thighs. His fingers dug painfully into her skin, but she refused to let him see her flinch. She swallowed hard, knowing that he wouldn't dare cause real harm to her, but still feeling like a helpless bug pinned under his stare. He spoke first.
"I know you have something you want to say to me, but I have something to say to you as well. I will speak first."
Aytalya was content to allow him that.
His stare softened, and he relaxed his grip, though still holding her firmly.
"I want you to come with me."
She was perplexed. "Come where?"
"I want you to come away from Stonehold. Leave this Serpent's lair, and follow me instead."
She almost wanted to laugh. "I cannot leave Stonehold. Our family is here and all my friends. This is my home. I belong here, in this town of the Light."
"You don't understand, Aytalya. This place is corrupting fast. I have been a Serpent long before we ever came to this land. I have seen how that witch they call their Queen manipulates people with her false charms--"
Aytalya cut him off. "You have no idea what you are saying, Shador! You will get yourself killed for sure!"
"No, listen to me, Aytalya. You do not know them as I do!"
His grip on her shoulders grew forceful again, and she clamped her mouth closed against her protests.
"My brother Druez has always been a man of great temper, but he always knew what was right, and wasn't afraid to admit if he was wrong. He no longer knows the difference. She tells him what is right, and he obeys her like a Virindi's drudge slave. And the others, they are just as blinded by her as Druez is. They flock to her like she is the Queen of all the Light, but she cares nothing for this Light you say you belong with. The Light has brought her the one thing she wanted from it. Do you know what that is, Aytalya?"
She was too afraid to interrupt his angry tirade, so she shook her head. He had to be going mad!
"The only thing that woman ever wanted from your precious Light was an army, and now she has it." He dropped his hands forcefully from her, and held them up in surrender.
"And she has my brother to lead it, oblivious to what she truly is -- a snake."
"Shador--" She was hesitant to say anything although Shador seemed finished with his speech. "Shador, it can not be as you say. She is only one woman, and she's hardly even seen by anyone. So many good people, such as Lord Keldarin and the Peacekeepers, would not follow her so blindly were it not for their faith in the Light of Good.
"And as for your brother, Druez, he is a difficult man to get along with, but he is an excellent choice for a war leader against the Darkness. He will do anything to please our Queen, and she will see to it that he does not go too far."
Her vassal picked up her hands and held them cupped between his own.
"Aytalya, you and I can do so much more for the Light. I will make you my Queen. And I know others will follow us. I have been friends with Elrion and Shira for ages, and I know they will follow me, and you have your friends as well. Your voice and my leadership can rally and unify an army that will make the Serpents look like banderlings!"
"My place is with the Serpents, Shador. You may leave if you wish, but I will not."
"My place is with my brothers too, but I would leave them if you would come with me. We can show them what fighting for the Light truly is. That town grows darker each day I go there. So many people, and I can just feel the tensions rise. It will all come crashing down, and I have a feeling that Druez will be the one to cause it. He has always been in charge, and I know he must feel his rule is close to being challenged. If you will not leave with me, I will give my oath to him. Perhaps it is not to late to save him from that snake. You will of course have to swear your oath to me, now that this is all decided," he ended.
Here it was. Her turn to tell him what she must. She started to reach for another arrow from her back, but then remembered the fate of the last one.
"Shador, I have already chosen a new patron, one who I know only follows the Queen for the sake of the Light. It is no secret to anyone that Lord Druez has no fondness for me, so I thought it would be best to choose a patron not of his relation--"
"Who is he?" Shador demanded. "Is he this secret lover I hear you visit? You didn't think I knew about that, did you?" he said to her startled look. "Is he the one? I will kill him!" His eyes were fire again.
"Shador, you are being ridiculous. My new patron and I are certainly not lovers!"
He was not listening to her, and he had begun pacing along the riverbank, muttering angrily.
"I should have known! That's why you will not leave to follow me!" He laughed bitterly. "And I allowed you to make me believe your heart belonged to the Light."
"It's not like that Shador!" She insisted, but her words were falling on deaf and jealous ears.
Shador's finger shot out accusingly. "Speak to me no more, Aytalya! I offered to make you a Queen, and you would rather chase after some lover than your dreams of winning against the Darkness."
"Shador, would you listen to me!"
"Do not speak to me unless I ask you to, Mistress." He sneered the last word, a worse mockery than he had ever before meant. "I want nothing more to do with you."
He whipped out a small magical wand, spoke, "Shurov Thiloi," and disappeared into some unknown portal.
Aytalya didn't even notice that he had already learned the spell only a few weeks after she herself had.
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