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world. I had stopped that - but the price was that my race would never rise
again. Even should I manage to someday succeed, restore my former body,
recover my beloved Dyarzi from the void and call Faral to join me with these
women, our race would never rise again. One man could not father an entire
race - and neither could two.
Palia paused, as if collecting herself in preparation for an important speech.
After a moment, she straightened her spine, standing proud and tall. I gazed
at her - she truly was the High Mistress of a thamaturgical circle, and it
showed in her bearing.
"Eddas, our people are dead. Our culture, our society, is gone. We are
voyagers through time, having arrived at the distant future to discover our
civilization in ruins. We cannot rebuild it the way it was - that simply will
never happen. Our society was like a mighty oak, grown large and strong over
the course of centuries, but then felled by a bolt of lightning from the
heavens, a force stronger than it. We cannot rebuild the oak. It is dead, and
its ruins lie around us. Yet in our hands, we carry an acorn. We can plant a
new oak, and water it, and nurture it, fertilizing its roots with the shards
of wood and dead leaves of the previous tree. It will never be the same as the
old oak - it will grow differently, and mature differently. Yet it will still
be an oak, and with care, it will regain some of the aspects that made our
past civilization noble, proud, and strong," Pelia said, and with great
ceremony, she reached into her pocket, and produced a small, hand-made box.
Bowing her head, she held it out to me.
"Eddas Ayar, beloved by all of us, we have gathered together as a
thamaturgical circle and as those who love and respect you, and with what you
have taught us, we have made this for you. The circle you once belonged to was
a circle of battle-mages, whose focus was power, war and death. Our circle was
that of nature, life, and healing. We have called upon all that we know, and
each of us has contributed a part of herself to its enchantment. We offer this
to you out of our love and respect for you, and the hope for our people's
future."
Pelia's speech was interrupted by the applause of the rest of the women - Joy
included. I wondered how much Joy knew of this, but as I glanced at her, I saw
by her expression she was merely being polite. Nodding to Pelia, I opened the
small, hand-made box. Inside was a wide silver bracelet, engraved with an
acorn. The engraving was quite well-done - it looked like the work of an elven
artisan, and was the type of jewelry an elven warrior might wear to decorate a
well-formed bicep. Probably, the Mountain Healers had traded some of their
herbs to Taliad for it the last time he'd passed through, merely asking him
for a simple silver band they could enchant, and specifying the engraving.
Judging by the design, this was apparently something they'd had planned for
awhile, and Pelia's speech was probably something she'd been working on for
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months, hoping they would succeed in the enchantment so that she would have
the chance to give both the speech and this gift to me.
I let my gaze unfocus for a moment, examining its mana-flow. They had left
little to chance - the whole was enchanted to be invulnerable from harm, and
once closed about the arm, could not be removed by anyone save the wearer,
themselves. Yet, as I examined the main enchantment, I sighed. "It... It's
very neatly done, Pelia - a very skillfully woven enchantment. It must have
weakened each and all eighty-nine of you noticeably to create it. You probably
spent months recovering your strength. The effort is appreciated, but..."
Pelia nodded. "Yes, Eddas. We do not know if it will work, either. Our theory
was sound - this much we knew from reading your book. Yet, only its use will
prove it's effect, and we cannot use it, ourselves."
I nodded in reply. Its enchantment was such that it could only possibly work
for a man. That did not, however, necessarily mean it would work for me.
Joy looked at me curiously. "What does it do, Old Man?"
"It... Well..." I found I was blushing.
Pelia smiled, and the women of her circle giggled at me in chorus. "Queen Joy,
there are many creatures in the world who reproduce through parthenogenesis.
Gorgons, lamias and a few others, as well as ordinary creatures such as some
small lizards - even turkeys, on occasion. Humans do not - but that band would
allow us to. Yet, we could not make the enchantment such that it could be used
by a woman on herself, or on another woman. If we had done so, the Law of
Tantivity would render it almost useless to us, as the drain required to
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