Part 41 (1/2)

Watching the gossamer strands gradually thickening gave her an idea. She traced them down to their source within her consciousness, to the dark pulsating ent.i.ty she thought of as the heart of the One. Forcing the strands back with her mind as she had been trying wouldn't work, she could see that now. Instead, Erienne wove a pattern with the mana around them, using the attractive and repulsive elements to funnel the strands back on themselves, making loops that fed back directly into the pulsing core.

Almost at once its energy lessened as it was forced into relative dormancy, feeding only on itself. At the same time Erienne felt a wave of tiredness travel through her. She could part.i.tion her mind to maintain the simple mana shape that blocked the One strands but it would drain her slowly.

She snuggled up to Denser, feeling the comfort of his gently moving body as he slept. He stirred a little at her touch, then stilled.

It is a lesson consummately learned. You are a very talented mage. Cleress's voice, soothing and quiet, stole into her mind.

Erienne's instant irritation at the intrusion was replaced by relief that the Al-Drechar were still with her.

I wondered if you'd be watching, she replied. But don't push your luck.

You must learn to control the One without us as soon as you can. Tonight you understood a tiny part of that control.

Meaning?

That what you felt were the merest tendrils of the potential of the One magic. Myriell was holding back the tide with you.

Erienne blanked for a moment. How small a force was I being exposed to just then?

Perhaps a thousandth, said Cleress. Minuscule.

Erienne gasped. And she had felt that energy easily enough and seen it feed and strengthen.

How could I ever hope to control or use the whole?

You cannot. No one can, not even us. We will teach you to keep the ma.s.s dormant so that it becomes second nature, and to use only that which you need. It is a tightrope but you have the ability. Now do you begin to understand?

What? But Erienne knew exactly what the old elf meant.

Lyanna could never hope to contain it. She was too young even to weave the simple mana shape you just employed. Erienne, the One returned to rest when it transferred to you. In Lyanna, it was fully awakened. By the time we met her it was already too late. The Dordovans had set something in motion that was unstoppable.

You still let her die, said Erienne, but her hatred was fading.

We really did have no choice, Cleress's voice pleaded inside her. As a host for the One, Lyanna was doomed, Erienne. And she would have killed us all before she died in torment had we not effected the transfer.

By 'us' you mean the Al-Drechar.

Initially, said Cleress. But you've seen how the One feeds on the elements around it. And you know what the uncontrolled power can do hundreds of miles distant. Before it killed her, the One would have gorged itself further, making the destruction you witnessed seem as nothing.

All right! snapped Erienne.

Transferring the One to you was the only way to stop it but keep it alive.

Yes, I-Erienne broke off, considering for a moment. And what if I hadn't been there to host it?

We would have had to extinguish it, said Cleress, her tone leaden. And we couldn't afford to do that.

Erienne froze, all thought of sleep gone. She opened her eyes and looked down on Denser, still sleeping beside her.

There's something I have to know, she said, fearing the answer. Could you have extinguished the One and kept my daughter alive? Her heart thudded in the silence inside her mind. Could you?

Cleress sighed. It was possible, she said eventually.

Thank you for your honesty, said Erienne, feeling her strength collapse. Now get the f.u.c.k out of my head.

Erienne, no- And take your senile witch sister with you.

Erienne, please- Get out. Now.

I'm afraid we can't do that, Erienne. It was Myriell, voice strong, with no hint of sympathy.

Erienne felt her mind filling with a fury she had no desire to quell, her grief was.h.i.+ng over her again as if Lyanna had died just there and then.

Go. Your touch sickens me. She could barely get her thoughts in order.

It had to be that way, said Myriell.

You let her die for an experiment. She could still be alive. The tears were falling down Erienne's cheeks and her body was rocking where she sat in the bed. She could still be alive.

And countless numbers would now be consigned to death with no one and nothing to save them. This was no experiment.

Don't give me that. You're lying.

First it would have been all the elves, next everyone on Balaia, said Myriell, like she was listing goods on a cart. And we mean everyone.

Go.

We will not.

You're lying. Lyanna died two seasons before the Elfsorrow took its first victim. Erienne couldn't believe what she was hearing. Just what exactly am I supposed to be able to do with this curse inside me? March to Xetesk and take back what they stole with my overwhelming power? Think I'm stupid? You want the One for yourselves. To perpetuate what you have. I'm your legacy and that's all. Don't try and make me into a saviour.

Erienne, you have to listen to me, said Myriell. Will you do that?

I don't appear to have much choice.

Erienne felt used. More like a mere receptacle for the One than a saviour of nations. And helpless with it. Because the One was awakening, and though she wanted the Al-Drechar out of her head she knew she couldn't survive without them. For now, at least.

Please don't think of it like that, urged Cleress, her tone so much softer than her sister's.

How the h.e.l.l else do you expect me to think? Talk if you must. I'm listening.

Myriell's voice filled her mind once more.

The One opens pathways. Lets you see outlines of possible futures if you know what to look for and if you study for long enough. And we have had all the time in the world to study. There was a sadness to Myriell's voice now, its stridency gone. Before we were even aware of Lyanna, we feared for Balaia. The stress in the mana over the colleges was critical. So much mistrust, so much risk of destructive power being unleashed. And then Lyanna came along as an answer to our prayers. A girl strong in the One can do so much good.

And as we watched the world through the flow of the mana and harmony, we saw more danger signs, more potential for darkness. It was already apparent a crisis of huge proportions was coming. We could almost taste it. But even we were surprised at its scale and swiftness.

Yes, we could possibly have saved Lyanna but the risk in losing the new birth of the One magic was too great. And though we are distraught at the loss of your daughter, we have been proved right. What we see is never certain at the outset but there is always a sense of good or evil, and what we had sensed was so terribly bleak.