show yourself!"
"That I cannot do," Juraviel replied, throwing his voice to a different place, and the old man spun again. When he had settled, Juraviel started again, his voice coming from a completely different shadow. ?She thought me lost in the Path of Starless Night, tunnels beneath the great mountains to the north. But I have found my way to here and, I hope, soon to her side again."
The man's shoulders seemed to slump a bit at that last statement, and a lump wrought of fear welled in Juraviel's throat.
"Bah, but I'll not talk to ghosts!" the old man said firmly. ?Nor to Behre-nese spies - and how do I know you're not that?"
Juraviel started out and Cazzira grabbed him tightly. ?No," she whispered.
"He knows," Juraviel said back at her, and he pulled away.
The old man was heading back around the house by that time, so Juraviel jumped out behind him. ?Have you ever seen a Behrenese soldier who looks like this?" he asked, and the man spun about.
And then he stood there, trembling, his hammer falling to the ground at his feet.
"I am no enemy of To-gai," Juraviel declared. ?And I am a friend of Brynn Dharielle. Tell me, I beg of you."
"T d'elfin faerie," the man stuttered, using the To-gai-ru label for the el-neople, a race that was prominent in their fireside tales.
"Belli'mar Juraviel at your service," the elf said with a sweeping bow. ?You know of Brynn, so tell me, I beg of you."
"I sent her to her death," the old man remarked, trembling, his hands coming up to hide his face.
"No Balachuk!" the old woman said, rushing around the house and grabbing at his arms. ?We do not know that!"
"She did battle here, against a Yatol priest and one named Dee'dahk?" Juraviel prompted.
"A Chezhou-Lei warrior," the old woman said, nodding. ?She killed them both, and others besides, and she freed the horses, though the Wraps have returned to put them back."
The couple exchanged worried looks.
"You'd best come inside," the old woman said. ?We saw Brynn once again after she fled, and we know where she went, but it is not a pretty tale."
Juraviel entered the humble cottage behind the couple and took an of-fered seat at their table, with Balachuk sitting across from him and the woman - Balachuk introduced her as Tsolona - moving to the fire to heat some water for tea.
After a few uncomfortable moments, where Juraviel had to reassure the couple repeatedly that he was no spy, and that, yes, he was of the tu d'elfin faerie spoken of in their legends, he managed to coax the story out of them. Balachuk told it, primarily, recounting Brynn's time in the village, and how she had taken down the Yatol priest and the warrior. He spoke of his last meeting with her, when she had left to join Ashwarawu's rebel band.
Balachuk's voice grew solemn as he told Juraviel of the disastrous battle of Dharyan.
"She is dead, then?" the elf asked, barely able to get the words past the lump in his slender throat.
"So I would guess," Balachuk replied, seeming equally troubled.
"We heard rumors that a Jhesta Tu was there, and took her riding off from the battle," Tsolona quickly interjected. ?Heard that she, or he, killed another of the Chezhou-Lei."
"Rumors," Balachuk huffed.
"Not all of them died at the gates of Dharyan!" Tsolona insisted.
"Then why did she not return to us?" the old man countered. So you just do not know?" Juraviel asked.
A few To-gai-ru returned from the battlefield and are scattered about the steppes," Balachuk explained. ?It is not something they are free to talk about."
Not in pride or practicality," said Tsolona, echoing a common To-gai-ru saying.
Belli'mar Juraviel paused for a bit to digest it all. ?Jhesta Tu?" he asked at length, unfamiliar with the name.
"Group of mystics who live somewhere far to the south," Balachuk ex-plained. ?One was said to be riding with Ashwarawu."
"Do you have any idea of where I might turn to find Brynn's trail, if it did lead from Dharyan?" the elf asked, and the old couple looked to each other, but Juraviel knew even before the two blank stares came back at him that they had no idea of how to respond.
Juraviel found Cazzira outside of the house, waiting for him in the shadows.
"A legend comes to life," she said with a grin.
"Let us hope that another one remains alive," Juraviel replied grimly, and they left the village to find Agradeleous, that they might head out to the