Page 118 of Oaths & Vengeance
Darrow clenched his fists, so I put a calming hand on his arm. He turned to meet my gaze. I gave him a pleading expression, reminding him how important it was that we tolerate the arrogant druid. He took a deep breath and relaxed a little.
The guide for the other group arrived, taking the three of them away. Ours stood and grabbed his cane before hobbling toward the back of the library. We dutifully followed him. He reached a set of shelves stuffed full of books and stared at the left side briefly before his eyes narrowed on something on the top row. It was far out of our reach. I looked for a ladder nearby, but I didn’t see one.
Idwal tapped at a hefty, brown tome with his cane. “Darrow, if you could be so kind as to pull that one and hold it for me.”
My husband used his powers to lower the book into his waiting hands. The process continued several more times until we all held at least one heavy book. Then, the druid led us to a nearby table, where he had us spread out our finds. His gaze ran across them before reaching for a dark red tome that was among the largest.
“This one has a list of all the known habitable planets that have been compiled over thousands of years and includes some details about them. Every few centuries, someone is born on Paxia with the ability to open distant rings, and most do some exploration during their lifetime to add to our knowledge.”
“I had no idea,” I said, giving him a surprised look.
He settled into the nearest chair with a creak and a groan as he opened the book. “Tell me, young lady. Do you often feel the urge to use your gift to visit other places?”
“Yes.” I nodded. “Especially once I became strong enough to leave Therress.”
“What is the most difficult portal you’ve opened?” he asked, studying me closely.
“Well, the one to eastern Penoria with the large ring and the one to where the Naforya Fountain should be were both the most difficult.” I chose to leave out my trips to Jolloure Island since that wasn’t relevant, and it wasn’t quite as taxing as the other two locations.
Surprise lit his features. “You successfully opened both of those?”
“Yes.”
“Excellent, then perhaps you are the one we need.” Idwal turned to Darrow. “Tell me the name of this planet, so that I might look it up.”
“The seer called it Earth, but he mentioned they have many languages there, and it might also be known by Terra, Jord, or Erde.”
Loden cleared his throat. “There were actually more names, but we stopped writing them down after a while.”
The druid grunted. “At least the natives choose nice and simple words. You would be surprised how often planets are called something ridiculous that no one could possibly pronounce, such as Marztepinqtopulandol. I spent months trying to wrap my tongue around that one before succeeding.”
“You did it well,” I said, thinking it would also take me months.
He shrugged. “It is one of the nearest habitable planets to us and has some fascinating species living there, though nothing of true higher intelligence. Their only humanoid beings have just begun to form written language in the last handful of centuries. As a result, I couldn’t fathom why they chose such a ridiculous name for their planet, but of course, they failed to consult me on the matter.”
Idwal sighed and returned to his tome, flipping the pages carefully as he searched for the planet we needed. It took him several minutes while we patiently waited. Finally, he found it halfway through the book.
“Here it is,” he said, skimming the text. “We’ve had several channelers visit Earth over time, with the first almost two and a half millennia ago. At that time, dragons and magic were prominent, but the only intelligent, non-bestial races were humans and sorcerers. Hmm, it appears they’ve never had the fun of fae descending upon their lands and disturbing their way of life. How fortunate for them.”
We said nothing to that. I was half-druid and had heard all my life that my mother’s people resented giving up two-thirds of their planet so the Seelie could live here. Of course, I could hardly blame them. Our arrival and the subsequent period afterward had been a dark time for everyone involved, but especially those native to Paxia.
“Interesting.” Idwal continued skimming the pages. “It appears the dragons on Earth are not nearly as amenable as ours and often attack people. They even eat them, though ours will do that if they go rabid. That’s what the slayers are here for, of course.”
Within Alavaar, we had a handful of druids who were naturally fireproof and born with the mark of a dragon slayer. They could be quite ruthless and cunning, able to kill even the largest and most threatening of the beasts. We didn’t need to call them into service often, so they served as warriors the rest of the time, protecting the realm from other types of enemies.
His eyes rounded when he reached a page near the back. “Over a millennium ago, humans and sorcerers grew tired of the violent dragons. They banished them, along with all magic, to a hellish dimension known asKederrawien. The channeler present at the time barely escaped before the incident occurred. I cannot imagine how the people there could have done such a thing without the assistance of the Unseelie, but as I recall, that period was the last time anyone from Faelaria could open a portal to distant planets.”
“So, they could have helped Earth’s inhabitants do it?” I asked, surprised.
Darrow frowned. “I wonder if that’s where they used to get their human slaves. Except, I am certain they didn’t count on not being able to return for so long.”
I’d heard there were magicless people on Faelaria, but I’d never considered that they weren’t native to the planet. There’d never been a reason to look into the matter.
“If I had to guess, some humans were also swept into Kederrawien when the spell took effect. It would have been easy enough for the Unseelie to take them from there since they have little trouble traveling dimensions.” Idwal rubbed his chin. “We know that it ceased to exist a decade ago when it merged with Earth, and they’ve lost access to their source.”
“How do you know all this if you can’t go there?” Loden asked, frowning at the druid.
The library curator gave him a disdainful look. “We have a seer whose primary task has been to keep track of the fountain, of course. Thankfully, he has assured us that it remains hidden and currently has guardians watching over its location.”
