Kamahl released the sword and allowed Seton to take it from him. Seton held it and gazed at it. Kamahl dropped onto a pile of furs, exhausted from the fights and the flights and the vision of the orb.
"What does it mean, Seton," he asked. "What does it all mean?"
"For the answer to that, you will have to ask Thriss," said the centaur. "Now get some rest. I must determine how to reverse this curse, and that will take some time."
"How did your meeting go with Laquatas and that Cabal witch?" asked Dinell when Eesha returned to camp from her early morning negotiations. "I wish you had allowed me to attend. I do not trust either of those people."
"Would you have been able to see through their lies any better than I?" asked Eesha, testy from a morning of deciphering Braids's gibberish and Laquatas's falsehoods.
"No, ma'am," said Dinell, "but I could have guarded your back should it become a target for more than just a barbed tongue."
"A point well taken, Lieutenant," said Eesha as she flipped back the flap on her tent and strode into her command post. "But the meeting was in the open, and both sides watched from a distance. I was more worried the truce wouldn't hold than I was about one of those two heathens trying something while my own guards watched."
Eesha dropped into her chair and buried her face in the crook of her wing, exhausted from the mental and verbal battles she had fought all morning. When she looked up she saw Dinell, still standing at attention in front of her desk.
"So, how did it go, ma'am?" he asked again. "What are our orders?"
"The meeting went about as well as we expected," said Eesha. She quickly rearranged the figures on her map, placing most of the white warriors in a classic wedge formation at the edge of the forest with the smaller squad of black figures in a loose group behind the safety of the wedge. "Our troops will cut a wide swath into the forest, while the Cabal raiders provide support from the safety of our rear. Laquatas will be safely tucked in the middle."
"We have to march into that… that jungle with the Cabal at the ready to stab us in the back?" asked Dinell.
"It's not quite as bad as that," replied Eesha, taking the rest of the white figures and placing them in rows behind the Cabal group. "Your division will guard the rear, to protect their mages, of course."
"And to protect our own troops from their mages," added Dinell. "Braids agreed to this?"
"She knows we will uphold our end of the bargain," said esha. "We are the Order. We honor our agreements."
"And where will you be stationed?" asked Dinell, looking at the formation. "Surely you don't intend to expose yourself in the front?"
"No," replied Eesha. "Do not worry about my safety, Lieutenant. I plan to fly back to the Citadel to bring back reinforcements. We will abide by the agreement and not turn on our new allies. But once we have the aven mages we need, we can finish this campaign by ourselves and leave the fate of our Cabal friends to the forest."
"Does Laquatas know you plan to return to the Citadel for reinforcements?"
"Yes," said Eesha. "He actually encouraged it. Said that if we have to turn this campaign into an all-out war against the forest, we'll need every warrior the Order can offer."
"At least he understands our value," said Dinell. "Perhaps he can be trusted after all."
"I still have my doubts," said Eesha as she unbuckled her sword belt and placed the crystal sword of leadership on the table. "That negotiation was too easy. I believe the mer wants me out of the way to make it easier for him to exert control over our forces. But I will beat him at his own game. Before I leave I will officially place you in command of the Order forces. You will cany the crystal sword as a symbol to our troops. Laquatas will find it very hard to exert influence over our warriors while you carry the sword."
Dinell straightened his back even further and saluted. "Yes, ma'am. Thank you, ma'am."
"Good morning, my friend," said Seton as he nudged Kamahl's shoulder with his hoof. "The forest is awake, and so should you be. Come, I have prepared a meal for you."
Kamahl rolled off the pile of furs, stood up, and raised his hands above his head, stretching his arms backward until he heard a loud succession of pops. He had not slept that well or that long for quite some time, and the aches of many months had finally settled into his body. A hearty breakfast and a good, long run. That's what he needed. That's what Balthor would have called for on a morning such as this.
As the barbarian's thoughts turned to his stalwart dwarf friend, he remembered Jeska as well and went to her side. The operating table had turned into a cot, and she seemed to rest peacefully. Kamahl reached out his hand to brush an auburn lock from her face and was surprised to find her skin warm, not burning hot. Her face was no longer flushed. In fact, it seemed almost too pale, and her hands were actually cool.
"Is she… Will she be all right?" Kamahl asked as he turned to face Seton.
"I have done all that I can," said Seton. "Now it is up to Jeska. She will live, or she will die. Either way, the choice is hers to make. I have removed the fire that was consuming her. Whether there is enough left of her will to return, we will know in time. Now she must rest."
Kamahl walked over to the table where Seton stood, eating nuts and berries from a bowl. The barbarian concentrated on the floor and raised up a crude-looking chair of brambles and vines and then, gingerly, took a seat at the table.
"I don't remember you talking in such riddles when we met in the pits," said the barbarian as he filled his own bowl with nuts.
"The byproduct of a contemplative life I'm afraid," replied Seton. "With no one to talk to for weeks on end, I tend to start talking much like I think. Phrases, sentences, words come out in a jumble as my mind races ahead of my mouth. I apologize."
"I never saw you as the contemplative type," said Kamahl as he crunched down on a nutshell to get to the meat inside.
"That was another person you met in the pits," said Seton. "I played the part I was assigned at the time. This is the real Seton you see here today. I have given my life to Thriss and spend my days serving the forest."
"Then why did you leave the forest to enter the pit battles?" asked Kamahl.
"It was the will of Thriss," replied Seton. "When the orb appeared, Thriss could feel its power. I was sent to determine its nature and, if need be, fight for it. I failed to retrieve the orb, but Thriss has watched you and the progress of the orb for a long time. He believes it is in good hands now."
"Well, I don't believe that," said Kamahl dropping the shards of his nutshells back in his bowl and pushing it away from him. "Look at what I did to my sister-what I almost did to my people. I don't want it anymore. I want to bury it in a deep, dark hole."
"I know," said Seton. "That is why Thriss believes you to be the proper wielder of the orb. You are the only person to have ever rejected its power."
"I will not wield it," said Kamahl, stomping his fist on the table. "So your Thriss, whoever he may be, will just have to find another champion."
"The storm is coming, Kamahl," said Seton, cryptic again. "You can either face it with knowledge or run from it in ignorance. Either way, your path lies through the heart of the forest, through the domain of Thriss."