Aydrian, desires no less than did Bestesbulzibar."
Pony slumped back against the wall and slid down to a sitting position.
She noted that Bradwarden, hovering over her, silently asked her permission, and so she gave a slight nod.
"Well, ye might come in then outa the cold," the centaur told the Touel'alfar. "I just bringed in some more logs and me friend here's to get the fire blazing again soon enough."
Juraviel moved in tentatively and sat down opposite the low-burning fire pit from Pony. They said nothing as Bradwarden dropped some more kindling on the coals and Pony took out her ruby gemstone and her serpentine. She brought a white-glowing shield up over her hand and forearm, then thrust the hand among the logs and called upon the powers of the ruby. In seconds, she had a fire blazing.
Then she sat back, her blue eyes staring at Juraviel above and through the leaping orange flames. She didn't speak at all, and made no motion for him to do so.
And so they sat quietly for a long time, just getting the feel of one another again - as friends and not as enemies.
"Lady Dasslerond believed that your Aydrian was the only hope of our home," Juraviel finally explained. "He alone could defeat the spreading rot of the demon dactyl, so she believed. And so she kept him as her weapon. In her mind, the Aydrian who was your son died that night on the field, and while you were saved, he was not. Not truly. What was taken from you was not your son, but rather the hope of Andur'Blough Inninness.
"I know that it must sound horrible to you to hear it put so callously,"
Juraviel continued. "But you must understand that our entire existence is threatened. Even saying all of that, I tell you without condescension and without condition that my Lady was wrong in her assessment, and in trying to use any man in such a manner."
"And we see the result."
"Her price has been ultimate," Juraviel reminded. "But now we must get beyond her grave error and salvage what is left of the world." He gave a helpless little laugh - a curiously human gesture, and nothing Pony had never heard from him or any other elf before.
"The great irony here is that the root of my Lady's error was my own doing, I fear," Juraviel explained. "It was I who pushed Lady Dasslerond and my people too close to the affairs of humans. We became more involved than ever since the time of Terranen Dinoniel - and the world was certainly a different place back then. And now here I am, risen from the ashes of my ruined homeland, once again to interject myself and my people into the affairs of humans."
"Instead of running away and hiding."
"Indeed," the elf agreed. "We could do that. We have found our kin, the Doc'alfar, and they have extended their hand to us. We could allow Andur'Blough Inninness to fade from our memories, and find a new way and a new life far removed from Aydrian and Jilseponie and all other humans."
"Then why are you here?"
"Because he's knowing that yer Aydrian, this thing yer Aydrian has become, was partly the doing o' him and his kin," Bradwarden reasoned.
Pony regarded the centaur, then slowly turned back to regard the diminutive figure sitting across the fire.
"He speaks the truth, my friend," Juraviel answered her unspoken question. "We of the Touel'alfar bear great responsibility for King Aydrian and the monster he has become. And so I come to you, out of mutual need, and offer to you my services."
"The armies of humans are vast," Pony reasoned. "And if Aydrian is as powerful with the gemstones as we believe, he would seem unstoppable."
She gave a little shrug. "My people will survive the tempest that is Aydrian. The human lands will go on long after he is dead, long after we are all dead. Your own numbers, though, are diminished, by your own admission. Go and hide, Juraviel - I tell you that as your friend. Go and hide your people away. Your warriors are magnificent, I agree, but you do not number enough to offer any true advantage to our cause. We will win or we will lose, and not a hundred elves could possibly tilt the balance."
"I do not intend to throw my warriors in battle before your Aydrian ever again," the elf agreed. "We cannot afford to lose many more, else we will cease to exist altogether!"