Lament of the Slave

It was great to see that even Sergeant Pinescar made it back from the maze of the Labyrinth. And he himself could not hide his joy and relief to see us. After all, Squad Four was under his charge; he was responsible for our safety, and he had failed - not my belief, but something he told me personally. Lord Egerton, on the other hand, avoided any eye contact with me, let alone speaking a word.

“Miss Grey, I can’t tell you how delighted I am to see you again.”

“It’s good to see you too, Mr. Sandoval,” I said back to the librarian, whose presence here surprised me the most. Apart from visiting his old lady friend, I couldn’t remember ever seeing him outside the library. It was all the more pleasing that he came here to see me. “You have no idea how much I’ve missed your library.”

The silence of the place . . .

The Echo was never really quiet. To human ears, perhaps, but not to mine. The horrors of the battle raging beyond the horizon could be heard even there on the cliff. The trick was to learn to ignore it. Still, the noise was there.

[Librarian: lvl 96]

Damn, that old man almost reached class evolution in the time I’ve been gone. Hats off to him, he obviously didn’t slack off.

Mr. Sandoval smiled. “That warms my heart, Miss Grey - and makes me even more curious about your adventures. From what you’ve said, I assume you’ve been somewhere for almost nine months.”

“Something to write down in your chronicles?” It was a book he was writing. Just a list of interesting people who visited his library and their stories they chose to share with him. It included me.

“Not really the first thing that came to mind, but now that you mention it . . . and if you don’t mind, writing more about you and your, shall we say, adventures would make my book more interesting.”

“Yeah, I can imagine,” I laughed awkwardly, then paused. “Of course, once I ask the elder World Trees what I can and cannot say. You’ve probably heard, but I wouldn’t want to piss off the dragons.”

“None of us would,” the woman standing next to the librarian chirped. Hands clasped behind her back, standing straight, the woman carried herself gracefully without giving away too much. Her hazel eyes, hidden behind round glasses, told a different story, beaming with eagerness to talk to me.

Which was kind of odd.

[Librarian: lvl 172]

This was the first time I had seen this freakishly strong librarian. ‘Was there someone like her in the city? Maybe she was the head of the City Lord’s library?’

“Oh, where are my manners, Miss Grey. I was too excited to see you again and - let me introduce you to Miss Hazel Mooney, my assistant.”

His assistant? Ah, the one the Imperial Chief Healer had promised to assign to him. The one who was supposed to help him find the origin of my mutations. Actually, I wondered if they had made any progress in their search during that time, if they had found out more about me given the level of the librarian, and I grinned inwardly at the thought of their expression once I told them about Rairok.

“Lovely to meet you . . .” The moment I offered Mooney a handshake, she eagerly took my hand and shook it.

“No, no, no, the honor of meeting the Guardian of Idleaf - indescribable. You have no idea how long I’ve waited for this moment, and you’re . . . so much more incredible than I imagined,” Hazel Mooney blurted out so rapidly that she didn’t give me a chance to respond.

In fact, I had no idea how - what to even say. Her fan-girl attitude took me completely by surprise. ‘Wait! Wait! Wait! Was she my first fan?’

“I-I’m glad I didn’t disappoint you.”

Mooney finally let go of my hand and waved me off. “Quite the opposite. You are everything I envisioned and more. Are those Guardian markings? Unbelievable. They are barely mentioned in the books - oh, there is so much we can learn from you.”

I couldn’t say I liked where she was going with her rant. It sounded too much like becoming a test subject again.

“Oh, sorry. That came out wrong. When you mentioned that you could talk to other World Trees and then the dragons, I got overly excited. I tend to babble.”

“I see. Well, it’s not me, but Idleaf who can talk to her elders.”

“But of course, I see; you ask her, and she . . .” her voice trailed off as her eyes fell on Idleaf, who was having fun with Ria again. “I still can’t believe I’m in the presence of a World Tree spirit. She’s so . . .”

“Weird, childlike, funny,” I listed a few of Idleaf’s characteristics off the top of my head as Mooney paused, searching for the right words to describe the spirit.

“No . . . no, no, no,” Mr. Sandoval’s assistant blurted out, shaking her head. “None of that. She’s amazing.”

If she said so. Idleaf was simply Idleaf. But sarcasm aside, “She is, isn’t she?” I’ve never seen anyone enjoy life so much.

A gentle presence brushed against my senses. Captain Rayden called for attention. Truthfully, I wished I could be as gentle with my aura, but I still had a long way to go.

“I know how excited you all are to have these two back. I’m glad myself. However, as you can see, they need a bath, decent clothes, and probably some rest.”

No one really argued with that, certainly not me and Stella, and it seemed not even the City Lord, who, from what I remembered, was usually at odds with Rayden.

“I know from my own experience that it is better to discuss things with a clear mind rather than when one is swirling with emotion, so I suggest - and I am aware that some of you are burning with eagerness to find out what happened to Grey and Palemoon, so am I - nevertheless I suggest that we postpone the talk until tomorrow morning. That is, IF . . .” She held up a finger and looked at me and Stella. “. . . if we are not in danger because of your return.”

There was nothing to think about, and we both shook our heads.

“No, ma’am,” Stella said. “We are not aware that our return could cause any immediate danger to anyone but ourselves.”

“Wait, what? What do you mean, Stella?”

“That what you and I know, Korra, has value.”

“And what has value is worth the risk to certain individuals,” Sah added, nodding in approval. “In other words, someone dumb might try something even dumber.”

Sah didn’t need to say more; I understood. No sooner was I back than someone might have tried to kidnap me. Slavers, mind mages and who knows who else - not the worry I had in Traiana’s nightmare. On the other hand, it did mean that I was indeed back.

“Exactly.” Rayden nodded and heaved a sigh. “Unfortunately, it’s not just stupid people doing stupid things. The whole city has been on edge ever since Idleaf’s joy hit the city. Someone might try some shit just because it’s an opportunity.”

And yet here she was, with all her lieutenants, a couple of master guards, and a regular guardsman, dealing with me and Stella. I couldn’t help but feel guilty, but at the same time, I took great pride in it. They were there for us, for me, even if they were needed elsewhere.

With all that said, the question of where to take a bath and where to spend the night arose. Unlike Stella, I didn’t have a home here in Castiana.

“You can come to my place,” the aura warrior suggested, reading me like an open book. But I wasn’t blind either. Her mother’s look was clear enough to tell me not to dare. 

“Perhaps later,” I refused as politely as I could, hoping that Mrs. Palemoon would see things differently later, with a clear head - as Rayden put it.

So, the Broken Mug? Or some other inn? Neither. After telling Rayden about the group of seekers we had left in Fallen’s Cry with less than good intentions regarding Stella and me, I ended up going to the barracks, accompanied by Deckard, Sah, the lieutenants, and Squad Four. And the rest? Stella went with her mother and the City Lord - plus some City Guards Rayden had assigned to protect them until things calmed down and cleared up. Ria hurried home after a heartbreaking farewell, and Enola returned to her work at City Hall. The two librarians immersed themselves in a discussion of World Trees’ intercommunication as they slowly made their way back to the Old City Library.

And of course there was Idleaf.

It was so weird to have her around all the time again, to be surrounded by everyone, and especially to be away from Stella. For eight months it had been just her and me - every time I turned around, she was there. Not now, though. It tugged at my heartstrings more than I thought it would.

Granted, it wasn’t just her and me in the Echo. There were others. Especially Traiana, who, when I thought about it, was something of a spirit like Idleaf herself. Only more measured and thoughtful, not demanding attention all the time, and instead of having to explain things to her, she was the one I looked to for answers. 

Not anymore, at least for a while. To see her again, to talk to her, would require reaching the bottom of Fallen’s Cry, or in other words, accomplishing something no one had ever done before. 

Anyway, I reached the Castiana City Guard Barracks, and while struck by nostalgia, I enjoyed the local baths. Lying there soaked in warm water, something I never got to enjoy in the echo of the past, I entrusted Idleaf to ask her elders about the truth we could tell others of our venture into the core of the Labyrinth.

 

***

 

“Hurry, Mr. Sandoval,” Hazel Mooney urged the old librarian to walk faster. If she hadn’t found it wrong, she would have left the old man behind and run ahead to the Castiana City Guard Barracks, where the meeting regarding the return of the Guardian of Idleaf and her friend Stella Palemoon was to take place.

Hazel stayed up all night, unable to stop thinking about what she’d seen and who she’d had the pleasure of finally talking to. A freaking spirit of a World Tree and its Guardian. Upon her arrival in Castiana, a backwater in the eyes of a citizen of Wagonbrei, the capital of the Sahal Empire, she was shocked at the nature of her job and the state of affairs in the city. 

Attacks by mind mages, someone the Wagonbrians believed had been dealt with and was a thing of the past, beasts of power from the legends in the forest beyond, and a World Tree growing in it. Those trees were something unique to Iawelles, the continent of the elves. That surely made the young girl, a survivor of the gruesome experiments in Arda, an object of interest for those pointy-eared bastards.

And in a way, since Korra’leigh Grey was the reason Hazel had stayed in this backwater that had become her home longer than she had ever imagined - she hated to admit she had grown quite fond of the city - it also brought a degree of danger to her.

Nothing compared to the leisurely, prestigious, danger-free position of a librarian’s assistant in the Great Library. But the dangers of working in this backwater paled against what was happening in Castiana - just the thought of it made her heart race. In this small, labyrinth city, history was being written. 

“We’re early, with plenty of time to spare, Hazel,” the old man replied, showing no sign of quickening his pace, much to her frustration. What’s more, he was right. However, as the time to find out what had happened to Korra’leigh Grey and Stella Palemoon approached, she couldn’t bear to wait in the library any longer.

Mr. Sandoval, she was sure, was no less curious, but he was better at tempering his emotions than she was. Something that bothered her. After all, to get a job in the Great Library, she’d taken courses in decorum and etiquette - she knew how to behave like a lady. Yet, as she was well aware, when it came to the things that excited her, all that fell aside and her enthusiastic self took over.

“At last,” Hazel breathed, at which Mr. Sandoval chuckled as they passed through the barracks gate. She didn’t let it bother her. Instead, her eyes went to the building to her right, where the office of the Castiana City Guards Captain, a former Sahal Army General, Sanysia Rayden, was located. The first place Hazel had visited here in Castiana, and the place where her doubts about the job the Imperial Chief Healer had offered her, had been dispelled. The boring job for some old librarian she thought she was doing to get into the good graces of the greatest healer in the Empire turned out to be far more important than she could have imagined.

And that was when Korra’leigh Grey was ‘only’ a Guardian of Idleaf. Now that she and Stella Palemoon had peered behind the veil of the misshapen space in Fallen’s Cry, one of the twenty-six labyrinths on Eleaden - oh, just the thought of what they saw there made her skin tingle with excitement.

Of course, as Mr. Sandoval had said, they were early, and so they were the first to arrive at the room where the meeting was to take place. 

Hazel didn’t really care. It gave her time to get ready, to get out her notebook, to check that her pens were working, and that she had all the books she might need for reference.

As the time approached, the room, woven with runes and enchantments against outside eavesdropping so strong they gave her goosebumps, began to fill with people. More or less the same crowd that had come to greet Grey and Palemoon at the City Hall. But Hazel didn’t care who was there. Her eyes, hidden behind her glasses, the tool that helped her see finer details and kept her eyes from tiring, were focused only on the trio that came last - Stella Palemoon, Korra’leigh Grey, and the spirit of a World Tree, Idleaf.

And after a few words from Captain Rayden about the security and confidentiality of this meeting, all attention turned to the two returnees. Now it was time to hear what they had to say.

“Well,” Grey began, obviously nervous. “The World Trees have come to the consensus that knowing the nature of the place where Stella and I found ourselves could endanger the existence of the labyrinths.”

Hazel’s heart sank, her excitement gone. They weren’t allowed to tell them anything. It was devastating to hear, and to her embarrassment, she couldn’t help but let out a disappointed sigh. Thankfully, she wasn’t the only one.

“BUT they are aware that as time passes and the labyrinths near the end of their lifespan, there will be more and more cases like ours.”

Wait! Labyrinths were reaching the end of their lifespan? Medvin’s hairy balls! Hazel immediately grabbed a pen and started jotting down notes.

“Hold it, Grey,” the City Lord stopped the Guardian of Idleaf. “Are you telling me that our Labyrinth is about to - stop working?”

While the concern in Lord Egerton’s voice was directed at the financial implications of such a notion, the ramifications of such an occurrence could not be ignored. The three labyrinths in Sahal yielded a considerable amount of raw materials.

“Well, they should work for centuries to come, but yes, they will eventually reach the end of their lifespan.”

“How do you know that? Isn’t that bullshit you made up?”

“Uncle!” Stella Palemoon scolded the City Lord. “She speaks the truth.”

Lord Egerton gritted his teeth. “Fine, but how do you know? How can you know such a thing?”

“A fair question, if I may say so,” Mr. Sandoval, sitting next to her, spoke up. “Until now, the lifespan of labyrinths has been a matter of pure speculation. After all, their existence spans millennia. We have no idea by whom or how they were built.”

Hazel’s heart almost stopped, her breath caught in her throat, her hands shaking. She almost missed it, the twitch of Palemoon’s corners, the slight flick of Grey’s ears, but it was there. They knew; they knew how labyrinths were created.

“I would like to tell you how we know, but . . .” Grey paused, all eyes on her words, waiting to hear what she had to say. “But the World Trees have come to the conclusion that while some of what we know is history and knowledge that should not be forgotten, some is better left unknown to the world.”

Maybe it was Hazel’s excitement, or the lack of air in her lungs, or the blood rushing through her veins, but Grey seemed to put a strange emphasis on her last word.

“Are you talking about Geas? If so, I’ve prepared some,” the Imperial agent asked, and Grey nodded. “Yes, and no. While the elder World Trees have no way to stop us from talking about it, at least not forcefully and without sending in their Guardians - nor those who will suffer the same fate as us - they advise us to adopt the cautious approach and take an Oath.”

“An Oath, Grey? I’m not familiar with that.” 

“You’re not talking about the Oath the World Trees took, are you?” Captain Rayden asked, fearing she might. Hazel, on the other hand, stopped breathing altogether as excitement gripped her, hoping the Guardian of Idleaf was talking about just that. To be subjected to the same Oath as the World Trees and possibly the dragons - she was at a loss for words.

“It’s all right, Agent Sah. The elder World Trees have taught Idleaf.”

“Yes, may I? Who’s first?” the spirit squeaked, eager to try out her new skill.

“Me,” Hazel cried at once, holding up her hand.

“Okaaay . . .” the spirit chirped a word Hazel had never heard before, her eyes sparkling with excitement.

“Wait, Idleaf. I have to tell them what the Oath entails first.”

The spirit whimpered in protest; Hazel, on the other hand, was struck with embarrassment.

“What the elders taught Idleaf is not the Oath they took, but merely a derivation of it. Still far more powerful than a Geas. A Geas is the spell that binds you to its contents. An Oath is something you bind yourself to. To violate it is to go against your very being. That’s what they said - I’m no expert,” Grey said awkwardly, scratching behind her ear. The room was silent. Everyone knew what Geas could do to its bearer, and the Oath was supposed to be even stronger.

“However, I agree with the elder World Trees. Some things Stella and I know can be dangerous in the wrong hands, so I’ve already taken the first part of the Oath.”

“Wait. Doesn’t that mean you can’t tell us anything, Korra?” asked the taurus, one of Grey and Palemoon’s former squadmates. And Hazel had to admit that it was a damn good question.

The Guardian of Idleaf smiled. “Only outside this room and this time. Until I take the second part of the Oath, which will specify what can and cannot leave this room, I will not be able to leave.”

“Oh, I see.”

“With that said, I think I should be the second to take the Oath,” Palemoon said, looking around the room, her eyes falling on Captain Rayden, asking her permission.

“Go ahead,” the former general told her with a strange smile on her lips. “It’s your choice. I’m honestly amazed at how well you two are handling this so far. Oh, and as for the Oath - it doesn’t make me particularly happy, but I’ll take it. As someone responsible for the safety of this city, I need to know.”

So did Hazel. That little hint about their knowledge behind the origins of the labyrinths was enough to make her drop any reservations she had about things like Geas. And yes, she had some. After all, she was no stranger to the stuff. As a former assistant librarian in the Great Library, she had been bound by a Geas or two.

Much to her surprise, however, only after a brief consideration of the matter all present agreed to take the Oath.