She had helped Kura to her feet and words were spoken with Moeske. The Albarech was right – they were behind.
The three entered the building erected by Moeske. Elisabeth, holding Ru, walked slowly, not wishing to wake the toddler. Her cloak was still draped gently over her, wished to keep her warm as they spoke of visions and plans. Woe was the first to speak and that suited her fine. However, it was soon apparent that he intended to show them things instead of speaking of them. For speed, perhaps that was the most efficient, but lots could get lost in context and they didn’t have time for that.
She watched what he showed, now having the blanks from her own visions filled in. Once that was done, it was time to start doing what had been asked of her – putting the puzzle together.
Niece? Well, that cleared that confusion up. Ru was Kura’s niece. She wasn’t sure quite how the family lines ran but it didn’t really matter at that moment.
Woe was the son of Sintra? Another mystery solved, although Elisabeth wasn’t a fool. Judging a book by its cover wasn’t her thing. She judged people by their actions and his had not endeared him to her in the least. They would both probably notice that the young mage was sitting nearer to Kura, making sure there was space between her and the man. She gently toyed with the silver band on her finger as she listened but didn't allow her thoughts to go where they wanted.
It was a good thing that he told Kura what he had done in the Glass Temple. If he hadn’t, she would have. Not because it gave her great pleasure to do so but the Albarech needed to know the people she was working with and what they were capable of. Every piece of information was valuable.
When he finished, they would find Elisabeth unmoved. A lesson had been learned and she wasn’t going to make the same mistake again. She held the sleeping Ru, stroking her hair, focusing on what she was going to say. Time was limited and Kura didn’t like rambling.
At the very least, with him speaking first, had afforded her the time to process what she had seen and formulate a plan of attack for the information. She was built for processing information and breaking it into smaller, digestible chunks. A big part of research was just that.
Kura had just seen everything that had happened. Now it was time to hear it from a different perspective, but there wasn’t time for everything. All three were still processing so she needed to hit the main points and they could go from there. Slipping her notebook out from her pack, she let her eyes go back over some of the notes she had written previously after her meeting with U’frek. By the time he was done, Elisabeth was ready…
“Albarech, in two trials, I have had three Immortals – Ziell, U’frek, Moeske – either tell me or confirm that because I’m unmarked, I have the ability and potential to take all the information coming in and see the bigger picture, because I’m not influenced by any of them. One would have been asking. Three, I’m being shouted at. It’s too big to ignore. So, I offer you what pieces I can put together in the limited time I’ve had…..”
Deep breath.
“The Warden. Chamadarst told us to tell you that you are right about him. Son of Qylios and has a being, of unknown power, that is disguised as his daughter…and she’s influencing him. She’s imprisoned below Slag’s Deep, and the Immortals don’t know who or what it is. Everything about her is hidden from them. He swore a blood oath in Vhalar’s name to protect her. The Warden is trapped in Slag’s Deep and his powers are tied to the place. To weaken him, we need to weaken the place. There is an indication that he’s being manipulated too but I’m not sure if that’s solely the creature or the outside force that seems to be shrouding things all over the place. “
She was struggling to keep everything in her mind. Between the Glass Temple and what she had just seen, her mind was on overload.
“The creature disguised as the daughter took power from the five Scalvoris Induks. Releasing Faldrass stole some of her power. Xiur thinks releasing the others will weaken her enough. Earth, Air, Water, and the Heart. That confuses me because I thought Vega already released the Heart of Scalvoris. A Seal was broken when she did that. The Seals seem to be important but Vhalar told the one man that they were hidden as well. The Manor being destroyed on Faldrass broke another Seal. Freeing the Induk broke another. Chrien also seems to think that one of her own destroyed the Manor. “
What had U’frek said about the Manor? Oh balance….
“Balance seems to come up a lot. U’frek also talked about the Manor on Faldrass being part of the balance and he said balance held the seasons in sway and if broken, future impassable for 'living souls'. “
Ru wiggled a bit, prompting the young woman to readjust the child in her arms as she began again.
“Chrien seems to be angry at Linca on Havardr because he disrespected Lisirra, and apparently, she was keeping balance. Linca is cursed by Lisirra now. Something about the ruins on Immortal’s Tongue being balance. Balance between Moeske and her sisters, which I’m guessing is Audrae and Lisirra. Audrae seems to be the one hiding all the things in shadows. Yeva has been told what to do to set things right there, I think.
Chrien was mad about a lot of things. What else? Oh…
“Chrien is angry about the death of Fei. Fei’s grave lies below Scalvoris and apparently is ‘corked’ now. If the being under Slag’s Deep is released, the cork will blow and by all indications, that isn’t a good thing. Mention keeps being made of mortals seek to intrude at a sacred place, which I have surmised is possibly Fei’s grave.”
Her mind was starting to bog down a bit.
“Egilrun. Chamardast wants to protect it. Something about it has power and if it falls, the power will be lost. Something about the glass doing back and forth from Egilrun and Viden. I can’t be sure but the glass and all the mentions of power from underneath or such seem to be focused on the colored sands and Egilrun. From beneath you, it devours. Faldrass might be involved with that too. There was mention that the Baron had some suspicions about that.”
There were things she didn’t understand in the information. She knew the docks reference was something Kura would understand as Vega had mentioned they both had been there. She wasn’t sure about the woman Darius had referenced – the one that seemed to be not dead. She knew nothing of the Watch.
"U’frek mentioned the ‘Childen of Fei, Sons of Ati'el’ and combat that could 'rend' reality open. I don’t know who the sons of Ati’el are yet so I can’t speak to why they are involved. A lot of Immortals seem to have been tricked and manipulated, which might explain why they are crawling all over this. There’s mention of the Pirate Lords as well."
Finally, she ended with the question that had started this whole meeting.
"A Cadouri by the name of Bao has taken the place of Ru. We were instructed by Chamadarst and Ziell to come to you and tell you what we knew."
There was more. So much more but until their situation was a little more secure, she held up at that point, deciding that it was enough for the time being.
Her eyes fell to her ring again. Oh! How could she have forgotten?
Holding up her hand, she pointed out the ring. "A set of rings were gifted to Balthazar at Cylus Dusk. This is one of them. They are connected and indicate if the other is in true need of the other or is in danger. When the storm started here, my ring went off, indicating Balthazar is in 'true need' of my help or is in danger. I find the timing suspect. What if this storm isn't just here?" Of course, she was worried about him and Haven, but there was very little she could do in the moment.
Sighing softly, Elisabeth sat back in her chair, considering Kura.
"You saw the sum whole of my life in a file not so long ago. You've talked to me. You even get reports on Balthazar and I. I have to believe you have a good sense of who I am by now. I have sworn to do what I can to help."
