Friends' meeting

(Mabry Aldaran: Mabry Slemmons; Diego Storn & Jasper: Jim Caccamo; Rafael Lindir: Laura Lulli;

Jorik Hastur: Jurij Gosso; Cristilyn Aillard & Timorelle: Cris Lawton; Kyrrdis Hamilton: Sarah Glenn;

Annelys Aillard: Annalisa Sanseverino; Roybard Alton: Roberto D'Aimmo; Myria Lanart: Julie Stampzinski)

Mabry jumped. "He's here! What's he doing here?" All signs of lightning were gone.

She actually smiled. Her dreams last night about Jorik must have been real! Surely, no one knows all the things that he could do with that Hastur gift! Maybe he could make the lightnings stop.

She sat up, and waited hopefully.

Diego looked up at the travelers with delight. "Good! More people, more opportunities to cook. And with all these folks gathered, surely we could get a game of Hearts going. Too bad the Yahtzee game is ruined. Well, I recognize some of those people; there's Domna Cristilyn, Dom Jorik....but that one looks like a chieri!"

Jasper barked with joy, running around in circles, looking for the puppy that everyone said was called "Jorik". All he saw were some humans and someone who looked a bit like a human. He was very disappointed.

 

Kyrrdis looked at the new people curiously. Her spirits had been buoyed by Timorelle's singing and the wilderness, but she had been nervous anyway at the first sight of strangers. When she saw that Jorik knew them, however, her anxiety faded.

As she dismounted, the newcomers saw a tall man, possibly an emmasca, dressed in light traveller's clothes and a dark green cloak. A glint of a heavy copper chain around her neck appeared briefly when she turned to pat her horse.

 

When Jorik saw some people he looked at Timorelle. She was smiling. Jorik spurred his horse and dismounted when he he got nearer to the travellers.

"I'm pleased to meet the three of you, Mabry, Rafe and uncle Diego!"

"Jorik!" Mabry felt better already. Surely, Jorik could help her. "I'm so glad to see you!" She gave the puppy a kiss on the nose. "You can not know how glad I am to see you. My control. It's gone! I can't stop the lightnings." Thunder rumbled. "See?"

He gave her a reassuring smile. "I'm sure we can do something, damisela."

There was a brief moment of silence, then. "Diego? Is breakfast ready yet?"

"Hungry? You must be feeling better, Mabry! It's almost ready. Be a help and get some plates out of my pack. I hope I made enough for everyone. I must be feeling better, too, because I'm cooking again. By the way, Rafe, how do you feel now that *you* have the Talisman?"

The Talisman...the past night had had Rafe to forget completely about that odd big matrix.

"Should I feel else way than fine?" the young regent seemed genuinely puzzled.

"Oh, I see, you thought that it might interfer with my laran...why, it's nice of you to worry, Diego, but I think that my laran is too weak, and my barrier strong enough for it to cause me problems"

Diego seemed contented with the explanation, and continued to do the cooking, while Rafe thought:

"I took it from you because I feared that you could misuse it, in your condition..." and he walked toward the place where Mabry was resting in Jorik's arms.

 

Such excitement! Jasper was delighted by all the new people who came to visit.

He took an instant liking to Domna Cristilyn Aillard, sitting at her feet, begging to be scratched. He also liked Jorik; he smelled good, almost like a puppy. The one called "Timorelle" startled him at first, but the sweetness of that one's spirit made Jasper feel safe.

It was a far cry from when he and Diego were off on their own, wandering around Darkover, washed ashore at Mormallo. Memories of Mormallo swamped the little dog, and he felt aprehension. Nearby, Diego picked up on the dog's thoughts, and the Priestesses, whom Diego had blotted from his working memory, came to the forefront again. How could he defy them? Every sense told him that this was not something he wanted to fall into their hands. Oh, how he wished they would hurry and get to Neskaya. He needed Myria's advice very badly now.

Jasper on the other hand was back to pestering Cristilyn. He finally got tired, sighed, and started to fall into a fitful sleep.

 

Mabry in Jorik's arms was finally quiet. Despite what she would have thought of, she seemed so defenceless... Jorik definitely felt the need to protect her. She woke up after a while and stared at him with her big eyes. Jorik said: "Welcome back, Mabry!" She didn't answer, but kept close to him.

Jorik's presence was instantly calming. Mabry felt so much better. She smiled up at him. "Jorik, how did you get here? I thought you were in Thendara."

"There are problems in the Yellow Forest, preciosa. But now get a little rest." Jorik answered by stroking her hair.

Suddenly Jorik felt a shadow close to him. He turned slowly his head... and saw Roybard. Jorik didn't hear him coming so close. Probably because he was too worried...or Roybard deliberately tried to make no noise? It was the second time he appeared in this way.

He was looking him and Mabry as he was thinking something. Before Jorik could ask anything to him, he said: "What's the problem with her? I've studied some Terranan medicine (He used the Terranan word to say that), and probably I can help you."

Until that Jorik had trusted Roybard. But now he became suspicious. He had just sworn to protect Mabry: he couldn't make trivial mistakes. However he had to prevent him to know my feelings.

Jorik looked at Roybard and said softly: "Hush, dom Roybard. She rests now, don't wake her... I'm not all that comfortable in this position, you know, but she needs to sleep. It's treshold's sickness, Terran 'medicine' can't help her."

 

While Rafe was walking through the camp, a sudden thought hit his mind...wasn't she a chieri, that weird woman that was travelling along with the Heir to Hastur and the lady Aillard?

Who could know better about any matrix, than her?

Jorik caught Rafe's wanderings, and sent a thought to him:

"She is a chieri, I cannot introduce her to you. Ask to the Lady of Aillard or to the emmasca with the green cloak. Her name is Kyrrdis and I could swear she have Comyn blood in his veins."

 

Rafael thanked the Hastur with a nod, and turned, to see the strange person that Jorik had pointed to him. She (he?) was taking care of her horse, and something in her shoulder said to Rafe that she was feeling somehow unconfortable.

The young man hesitated for a while. They had never met before...how could he simply go to her and ask to be introduced to someone else?

Still, he strangely felt that he could trust her. And that she could help him more than both of them could think.

So he coughed softly, and said: "Domna Kyrrdis?" he hoped that the title he had addressed her was the right one "dom Jorik told me that you could help me...I'm Rafael Lindir, co-Regent to Lady Mabry Aldaran" he concluded, politely bowing to the tall, slender figure.

Kyrrdis turned to him and smiled shyly. "Hello, vai dom... How may I help you?" She did not correct his use of the feminine term. Now that he could see her face, he saw that she had large gray eyes with silver flecks in them. There was also an underlying glimmer of greenish-blue in the gray when the light hit them just right.

Jorik hadn't lied. There was something undoubtedly feminine, in Kyrrdis. And she was very beautiful, in her strange way. Rafe took a deep breath, and tried to concentrate on the question he was willing to ask her.

"I'm sorry to bother you, especially since we have just met...but I had some urgent matter to discuss with someone much more skilled than me in laran matters.

Actually, I do mean to reach Neskaya as soon as possible, in order to talk to Lady Myria, the Keeper...but in the meanwhile, I'd like to have some words with the noble chieri that is traveling along with you. May I ask you to introduce me to her?" Again, the doubt. Which was the correct way to address to those strange and fascinating creatures?

But Kyrrdis didn't seem to bother, and just nodded.

Kyrrdis felt something trustworthy emanating from the young Comyn, just as she had from Jorik, and led him to Timorelle. She addressed the chieri with a few words in a strange but musical tongue, then said in an old version of casta, "Child of grace, this is Rafael Lindir, the co-regent of Aldaran... he seeks your wisdom in a pressing matter involving the ancient donas. Vai dom, this is the noble one Timorelle of the Yellow Forest. May you be well met!"

Rafe bowed again to Lady Kyrrdis, and warmly smiled at her kindness. He hoped sincerely that he could make a better acquantaince of her. Then he turned to Lady Timorelle, and tried to find the right words...

"Noble one. I hope my plea for help won't distress you too much."

"But I find myself in possess of something that I suspect to be a very dangerous Talisman" he gulped. "And I'm convinced that it has already causes harm...at least to dom Diego Storn, if not to Lady Mabry herself". Rafe bowed again to the chieri, and waited silently for her answer.

"May I see this Talisman?" Timorelle asked softly. When Rafael handed it to her, her eyes went wide in surprise.

"Oh! It is certainly very powerful. I have no doubt that it may have caused harm to your friends. I cannot handle it. I think perhaps the best course of action would be to take it to the Yellow Forest and give it into the keeping of one of the older members of my race."

 

Mabry noticed Diego's blank expression. "He's at it again. DEE-AY-GO! Wake up!"

In Diego's mind, another flash of precognition blurred his reality. A man with a magnificent mane of hair and a poisonous snake--"Marcello!" Diego cried out loud. "No! *No*" Then Mabry's voice snapped him back to reality. Diego said, "Oh gods! Marcello! He's in danger, and I can't do a damned thing to help."

Many of those around him who knew the bitter history between Marcello and Diego wondered to themselves why Diego would care anyway.

Diego himself started to wonder as well. Then it hit him painfully; despite Lord Serrais' treachery, in a deep emotional way, Diego was still attached to Marcello. Fighting back tears, Diego went to Domna Cristilyn and said, "Domna, I have had the most horrible vision about the father of your child."

 

Elsewhere, in the camp, Annelys was watching her companions. She began to understand that something was going wrong.

She preferred to let the others sleeping, and silently she went closer to Kyrrdis: she seemed still awake.

"Mestra" she started whispering "I'd like to thank you for your kindness. You have tried to help me in Thendara, when my brother came and said I couldn't start this journey... Really, you are very kind. Probably, you could help me once more... I think there is something I don't know...and...if you can introduce myself to the others... I prefer not to ask this to my brother. I think...well...less he knows, the better is."

Annelys smiled as ever (Kyrrdis was almost aspecting a smile!) and waited for her answer.

"I would be pleased to do so, domna," Kyrrdis said, rising. "It will give me a chance to introduce myself more fully as well." She set what was in her hands down and Annelys saw that it was an opened featherpod and a length of thread twisted out of the soft fibers.

 

Far from our heroes, at Neskaya:

This night was Myria's turn to watch the great monitor-screen that showed the status of all the matrices registered by the tower. The grid was covered with glowing blue dots, some alone, others in large clusters representing towers and cities. She looked closer- there was something strange, a new matrix of great power which she had never seen before.

She decided to go onto the Overworld to investigate...

As easily as the wink of an eye, she slipped into the other reality. The two-dimensional map she had seen on the screen translated into three dimensions in this virtual reality. At her back was the familiar presence of her own tower. For a moment, she allowed her mind to dwell on how glad she was to be home... Ahead of her she could see Arilinn, bright with the presence of many leroni. Far in the distance was the familiar shape of Dalereuth. But the strange matrix was not in either of them... in a moment she found it, off in the distance in the other direction. It was the direction she associated with Corandolis, but she had not seen an active amtrix at the tower in many years.

She looked closer, sensing once again a powerful talisman, re-activated after years of quiescence by the presence of nearby minds. She thought, with a shudder, of the artificial matrix carried by the child Marja...

but no. This was something different. She strode towards the ghostly presence of Corandolis. She appeared, as she always did in the overworld, as a woman in a red keeper's robe, much taller here than in physical reality.

She saw something familiar- it was the matrix keyed to Mabry, the one whose presence she had sought when back in Thendara. 'I knew that girl would get into trouble,' she thought to herself. Mabry was not alone, she saw with some relief- there were many other familiar presences there. Among them was Jorik Hastur; she was able to contact him easily through the link they had formed before departing on their separate journeys.

"Jorik!" she called. Her voice seemed to echo across the misty plain of the overworld, but on the earth below only he could hear her. "What is happening? Have you located Damisela Mabry?"

Jorik sensed Myria's lightful mental touch. "I'm here, Myria. And Mabry is here. But Diego and Rafael found her before me.

"They discovered a matrix in the old tower of Corandolis and they asked the Noble Timorelle for help. I don't know whether Mabry is under control of the matrix or simply in lack of training, but she is again suffering from something similar to Treshold Sickness. What I have to do, Myria? I don't want to let her alone, but I have to go to the Yellow Forest."

"Threshold sickness? I'm not surprised... It is imperative that she come to Neskaya as soon as possible. Rafe can bring her. But what is Diego Al- Diego Storn doing there? I've heard some strange things about him... What sort of matrix? A tower matrix? You know that high- level matrices can't be used outside a tower. I think you ought to bring it to Neskaya, where it will be safe."

"There is also the possibility that Mabry is keyed with the matrix..." *What am I doing?* thought Jorik *Am I looking for an excuse to keep Mabry with me? She needs her training!*

"OK, Myria. I'll speak with other people and I'll try to convince them."

 

Diego Storn was growing impatient. Dilly-dallying had never been his strong suite. That damned Talisman was dangerous and it needed to get into the hands of someone who could handle it. Yet there they sat around the campfire, yakking instead of moving! Worse yet, Diego was having visions again, this time of the Priestesses of Mormallo sweeping down over the travelers and slaughtering them while trying to wrest the Talisman away. Danger, danger, danger, yet no one wanted to move!

Diego sat down and wrote Mabry this note, which he left near her travel pack:

Dear Mabry,

I am sorry to break a promise to you but I must leave now and will not be going on to Neskaya. You have both Jorik and Raphael to keep you company, so you certainly don't need me. I will give you my casta version of Scrabble as an "I'm sorry" gift. Mabry, heed my warning. Get to Neskaya as soon as physically possible. I sense real danger for all of you. Beware of the Priestesses. Stay close to Jorik and Raphael at all times and don't go anywhere without your sword.

Mabry, I have truly enjoyed our time together and in a way wish we had never found the Talisman nor been found by the others. I know it sounds cowardly, but I can't stay here; I am taking Jasper with me. We are going to Castle Storn for a while, but that is just a secret between the two of us. *Please* don't think of me harshly for leaving like this, but I feel that I have no choice.

Your friend,

Diego Storn

Mabry woke to hear a slight stir nearby. She turned over, and tried to ignore it. She tried to get back to sleep, but unfortunately her curiosity was to highly developed for that.

Mabry glanced at Jorik and Rafe and the others who were talking around the fire. They seemed certain that she was asleep, and she saw no reason to let them know otherwise. If they knew they'd make her go back to sleep - they seemed to think she made of glass these days.

Mabry found a package with a note attached. She perused it carefully.

"I will give you my casta version of Scrabble as an "I'm sorry" gift."

So that was what was in the package. Diego was a very nice person, and Mabry was going to miss him. Of all the people who have been her regents, he was the one who had come closest to treating her as an adult.

"…. and don't go anywhere without your sword."

As if! She hadn't gone without her sword - except to balls, and other formal occasions, and even then, she always had a very sharp dagger - since she was eleven.

"Mabry, I have truly enjoyed our time together and in a way wish we had never found the Talisman nor been found by the others."

"So do I," Mabry murmured. "So do I."

Mabry knew Diego was right. She needed to get that training from Myria at Neskaya, as unpleasant as it would probably be. Maybe when she had control over myself again, she'd find Diego, and they could go on adventures again.

Maybe they could bring Jorik along.

At the thought of Jorik, he seemed to appear right beside her. "Chiya? I thought you were asleep."

Mabry hid the note in her pocket. "I was. I just wanted a drink of water."

Mabry could see that he knew she was lying, but he wasn't going to pry. He reached out a hand and stroked my cheek. "Mabry, we have to get you to Neskaya soon. You're looking really bad."

"I know." Her voice was rueful. She hated it when men were right, and they knew it! Even from Jorik it was maddening, and Jorik was one of her best friends. Mabry smiled at the thought. She remembered his visit to Castle Aldaran - could it have only been one or two months ago?

Jorik broke her from my reverie by handing her a glass of water. She wasn't really thirsty, but she gulped it down, rather than admit to her lie.

"Now, good night." He said softly.

Mabry lay down, and drifted off to sleep, wondering how Jorik had known she was up.

 

All was silent that night. At last Mabry fell asleep in Jorik's arms; Annelys was sleeping close to Kirridis and her cousin Crystilin; Rafe tried to remain awake, but then I fell asleep; Roybard too was laying near a tree sleeping.

Suddenly Rafe heard a noise. He opened his eyes, and he could only leap up before he saw a silent flash in the nigth. He saw also some men -...seven...eight...or more?-and saw also their weapons...Terranan lasers!

He shouted to awake his companions. Roybard was the first to react. Immediatly he understood what was happening; he called his sister:- Lys! Stay down! - and he ran toward her, while lasers continued to flash in the night....

Kyrrdis instinctively reached for her sword and scuttled low on the ground away from the noise, nerves jangling with the feel of immediate danger. The lasers seared across her night vision, bright red lancing across the softer red of the figures moving. She touched Numa with her mind and he stirred to life under her tunic. *Stand ready, old friend*, she thought.

Moving behind the pack animals, she cast a psychic veil over herself, a veil that said,"I'm not here". Once it was in place, she cautiously peered around a chervine to get a better view.

 

Mabry thought: "Ah! My out-of-control Rockraven Gift is finally good for something!"

 

Zap!

Mabry's aim was a little off, instead of hitting one of the people with the lasers, she hit a nearby tree, which serendipitously fell on one of the men with the lasers, trapping him quite neatly. He couldn't move.

*Well, at least he'd be useful for questioning later, wouldn't he?* concluded Mabry for herself, lifting her shoulders.

 

The first thing Annelys saw was her brother running toward her with his sword in his right hand. Only after few moments she saw also the men...and their weapons.

She had only a dagger, and she wasn't very skilful. However, their camp was a mess, and, while Roybard was between her and the men, she could come closer and try to backstub someone...but suddenly she saw a lightining...it struck the tree near her; it was like an explosion in her head...suddenly her gift started to work and she could feel strange feelings...fear, anger, worry...and hate, hate, hate...a strong hate. It struck like the lightning, and Annelys fell. Just before losing consciousness, she tought something about her brother...and something about the anger of the Alton family....

A light flash of Elhalyn gift had warned Jorik of the attack. He couldn't help thinking the whole thing was a trap. They probably wanted him. He tried quickly to think something... They were advantaged by their long-distance weapon...

Jorik had to act before they kill all the guardsmen. He concentrated, looking for help. He wanted to project an image of himself to ask the Terranan what they were doing there. If he were their objective and they had shot him, perhaps they would have been scared because him image wouldn't be suffering from the lasers.

Jorik knew that it wasn't much of a plan, but in any case it would have allowed our party to react to the surprise attack.

The trick did the job. A powerful source of power surged in Jorik. He didn't know whether Myria, or Timorelle, or the Talisman itself had helped him.

But a perfect image of himself stood up and addressed to the supposed Terranans.

"Hey, people! I'm here. What are you doing?"

They directed their coward weapon toward his image. Of course it wasn't suffering from that. Jorik started to walk toward them, saying: "How do you dare to shoot with your craven lasers to the Heir of Hastur and his companions?"

Someone said: "It's a damn trick!" but a huge ligthning broke the sky. The lightning wasn't real and most of them fled.

The guardsmen, Roybard and Kyrrdis beated easily their direct opponents, being body to body now.

And now, there was the man under the branch Mabry throwed the lightnings at. They started questioning him.

"Are you Terranan? Have you something to do with the Yellow Forest? Who

were your targets?..."

But... Where was Rafe? Mabry said that she had seen Rafe the last time just before she had uprooted the tree with a lightning. Mabry and Jorik started to call Rafe. They wondered if he was safe, but they could not find any track of him.

They were in a great sorrow because they were about to conclude he should have died during the fight, even if they hadn't been able to find his body.

Suddenly he came up. He was holding his right shoulder with his left hand, and he silenced the fear written in our eyes:

"Someone had to follow these guys, right?"

Mabry flung herself in her young regent's arms, mindless of his hurts. Rafe's face, though, said that, still being happy for her demonstration of love, his shoulder ached more than he would admit.

"Where have you been! I was so worried for you!"

"You were taking great care of yourself, if I did see well, weren't you?"

And his face was a mirror of his feeling, again: he was proud of his lady, but he was deeply worried for her misuse of her laran.

"Anyway, I had to do something. Jorik, I'm sorry, I lost them. They shot at me, and hit my shoulder, slightly...but still I had to stop for a while.

"When I reached them they were already on board of an aircraft, and I could only shout all my rage at them." Jorik patted Rafe on his other shoulder, and wave of comfort came from him. Rafe felt that the Heir of Hastur was contented with his deeds.

All at once, Rafe seemed to remember something. "The aircraft was terran, no doubt. But it hadn't the Empire banner on it!!"

Mabry was out of breath and tired, but she knew this COULDN'T go on. As little as she liked the idea, and as sure she was that Domna Myria and her would not get along well at all, she had to get to Neskaya soon. She couldn't keep on throwing lightning bolts around like this. If it continued she'd end up like poor Dorilys, and she definitely did not want that.

"Rafe," Mabry said, as she carefully wrapped a bandage around his shoulder. "I don't think this can last much longer. It isn't much further to Neskaya, is it? I have to get there soon. I don't want to loose control and accidently fry you or Jorik."

Rafe obviously agreed with his lady. Mabry knew they would be leaving soon, but not before they had got some information out of our prisoner.

 

After what Rafe had said, the first question was silly. But the others were still important and urgent.

Roybard came closer to Jorik. His face was still disturbed. After he had seen sister fell, and became a furious fighter... Jorik thought that whatever secret he was hiding, he must really love his sister.

Roybard whispered in Jorik's ear :- I have never seen Terranan without the Empire symbol...except on Earth. When they venture in an alien world, they always use it. Like a Talisman.- He made his ambiguous smile.

The Terranan prisoner was looking at both of them with a astonished glance.

Had that stupid Terranan forgot everything? If so his mind should have been wiped out and some non-Terranan had to be involved in the blasted matter. Jorik intended to investigate further on that. But now he had to encourage his fellows. He gathered them.

"We are facing an enemy that does not follow any civil rule, an enemy who does not have any honor, that uses long distance weapons. I know what every one of you is thinking. If they use their silly long-range weapons, why could we not use our own terrible long-rage weapon?"

"I hear a grumbling from you. I know that it's impossible for us to think to use them, but nevertheless we have to face the problem.

"We cannot use our matrices to attack because a matrix that Had drunk blood will want it again. And again. Those silly terranans don't understand that a similar effect comes with their laser too. Killing with them would change something in their soul and they would kill forever...

"But I don't want to talk about them. I want to talk about us. We can't use our matrices to attack, but we can still use them to defend ourselves."

"To make a little shield is an easy trick. By joining our efforts we will be able to protect our lifes. We will let every time a laran-gifted on guard. Now back to work!"

 

Roybard looked doubtful, and told this to Jorik.

Lord Hastur, - he said - surely you know that Terranan medicine can do even worse things to people. I cannot believe one of us...no, it's impossible! No one would use his or her powers in this way...or no?-. He smiled, as if he was proud to have instilled doubts in their minds.

 

Rafael listened to Jorik's words, and thought that the guy really knew his job.

The Heir to Hastur had been trained to be a leader, and this was showing out, finally.

The young regent asked to himself how he could have ever thought about Jorik as a harmless men.

Mabry was sitting near Rafe, and she was staring at Jorik as if she was looking to Aldones himself. Her eyes were brilliant, and Rafael felt a sting of jealousy in his heart. The girl had never looked at him that way.

Rafe raised, holding his shoulder, and said:

"My laran isn't so great, but I''d be happy to lend a hand, my lord Jorik"

Mabry raised, too "You'll have my help as well, Jorik"

Rafael was about to contradict her "You won't do anything like..." when a single gesture from Jorik calmed the Lady Aldaran. He just put a finger on his lips and winked to her. But it was enough, and Mabry sat back.

What Rafael couldn't hear was the thought that Jorik had addressed to Mabry.

*Hush, chiya.* Wave of affection followed the mental words *I definitely won't risk your thin barriers*

"Come, Rafael" Jorik continued aloud "You can well monitor us. But don't try too hard, since you're already weary from your wound"

The group gathered, and Jorik acted as the tenerezu, while the shield grew stronger and stronger.

 

Annelys looked nervously at her companions.

She didn't like very much the idea of a closer contact with her brother...Should she have to say this to Jorik? Were their conflicts dangerous in a circle? Annelys thought there wasn't time for her fear. She tried to remember to herself that her brother had saved her life in the fight (or tried to do so), and came to join to the circle.

Roybard was waiting for her with a large smile.

Kyrrdis moved towards them and offered a hand to each. She wondered if Roybard were truly ignorant of the dissonance between himself and his sister, or if he somehow enjoyed it. She hoped it was the former, since rapport tended to reveal things that were hidden; an argument could ensue if Roybard were simply being difficult. Since Jorik was acting as tenerezu, it might be possible for her to act as a buffer between the two siblings.

Slowly, each mind started to join the circle. At first it was not simple.

These people were different, and they had met shortly before. But they had to complete a great task, so each of them did hie or her best to collaborate.

But there was something wrong...Feelings that were totally inadequate in that place, in that circumstance...

Sadness. A great sadness. *Roybard?*.... And tension, like he was souspicious, and was doing a great effort.... *Roybard.* Kirridis touched gently his mind, trying to calm him. And then fear arrived. That was Annelys' feeling. And Kirridys was just in the middle.

What did the other feel?

Kyrrdis took their energies in, filtering out the fear and sadness, sending the pure energons to Jorik for the shield. She attempted to break down the painful emotions, rather than sending them back to their owners... the back of her neck prickled with the effort.

Jorik was really surprised by Kyrrdis. That girl was very skilled in laran use!

She acted as an under-keeper and left him, with all his Hastur gift, with almost nothing to do!

So it was easy to build the shield. It grew stronger and stronger, slowly while the energons' flux was passing through Jorik's body.

However Jorik was glad that circle hadn't been meant to be permanent. Too many person were not harmonic and too many secrets were to keep... And Jorik was among those with secrets to keep.

New adventures are to come! And Mabry and Rafe will find them on The road to Neskaya

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