and De'Unnero, who saw the beauty of Elbryan and Jilseponie, and of Bishop Braumin Herde. If you would so readily die for your principles, my friend, should not they be given the same opportunity?"
Bishop Braumin chuckled at the strange irony of that implication, that it was his duty to allow his flock to be slaughtered.
He strode across the room and hugged his dear friend, patting him hard on the back. Yes, Braumin Herde was quite grateful to Brother Viscenti at that moment, for the man had indeed helped him sort through the swirl that was in his mind.
"Jilseponie has gone to Roger," Viscenti remarked. "Watch the fire of Roger Lockless when he learns of the events in Ursal. He will rally Palmaris, if you will not!"
Braumin pushed Viscenti back to arm's length. "Or both of us, or the three of us, will rally all the region as never before!" he said with a determined smile.
Just beneath that determined smile, that shared pat on the back, though, lay the realization that the coming darkness might be the greatest threat ever to face the city of Palmaris. For always before, when the hordes of the demon dactyl threatened or the foul stench of Father Abbot Markwart pervaded the air, Palmaris had had an ally in the greater city of Ursal.
This time, though...
Chapter 2 Warnings on the Winds
The feel of the breeze on their faces came as welcome relief to the two elves who had spent weeks wandering the dark ways of the Path of Starless Night. This journey had taken much longer than their original trek under the mountains, when they had been heading to the south, for Belli'mar Juraviel and Cazzira of Tymwyvenne were determined properly to mark those paths leading through the Belt-and-Buckle, leading from Tymwyvenne to To- gai, the land they hoped now to be securely the province of Brynn Dharielle. For while Juraviel had left the ranger in the southland, he had not done so with a light heart, and he was determined to keep track of her progress in freeing the To-gai-ru from the conquering Behrenese.
Despite that burning curiosity and his deep feelings for Brynn, Belli'mar Juraviel hadn't regretted his decision to turn back to the north. His responsibility was, first and foremost, to his people, the TouePalfar, and to his home, Andur'Blough Inninness. Lady Dasslerond had sent Brynn to the south to free To-gai because she had thought the To-gai-ru more sympathetic to her people than the Behrenese, and because she feared that the stain of the demon dactyl, the rot that had begun to infect precious Andur'Blough Inninness, might force the Touel'alfar on that southern road in the near future.
That need seemed much lessened to Belli'mar Juraviel now that he had come to know Cazzira so intimately, however. Not because the stain of the demon dactyl was any less dangerous to his precious homeland, but because he had found the race of the Doc'alfar, the lost cousins of the Touel'alfar. And as his relationship with Cazzira had grown, Juraviel had come to understand and believe that the elves of Corona would indeed reunite into one community.
The two races were different, physically. Though both were about four feet in height, and lithe of build, the Touel'alfar were possessed of translucent wings. And while the Doc'alfar had dark hair and very light skin, the result of living in their dark and foggy homeland bogs, the Touel'alfar had colors more reflective of the daylight, bright hair and light eyes and skin glowing with the warmth of the golden sun.
But now, over the months, Belli'mar Juraviel had come to look deeper into Cazzira, beyond their physical differences, and had come to see a soul that was very much akin to any of the Touel'alfar. They were one people, of one heart, and with mostly superficial physical differences that would fade over time as their communities rejoined.
That was Belli'mar Juraviel's hope, at least, and his plan. And so he had come back through the mountains, to the northern slopes near to the Doc'alfar land of Tymwyvenne, with Cazzira by his side, and with a third elf, not yet born, growing within Cazzira's womb.
"This is not the same tunnel that we entered with Brynn those years ago,"
Juraviel remarked, squinting as he surveyed the region, his eyes unaccustomed to the light - even though it was late afternoon and the sun was already beginning to set.
"But we are near," Cazzira assured him, and she pointed to the northwest, to a distinctive mountain