The Final Redemption by Michael Manning (little red riding hood ebook free .txt) 📕

wizards were all capable of full transformations,whether they were archmages or not.”

I reviewed some of my ancestors’memories of Gareth and they agreed with what she had said. Havingnear limitless knowledge was a flawed gift in many ways. I oftenhad to know what I wanted to know before I could remember it. Itresulted in a number of blind spots.

“You were a genius even among theGaelyn family,” I muttered without thinking.

“I find your odd comments verydisconcerting,” replied Gareth. “At one moment you seem ignorant,and at another you seem to know things that shouldn’t bepossible.”

Moira nodded her head, “It would helpif you explained where your information comes from.”

“Too bad.”

She wasn’t enthused by my response. Iignored the glare she gave me and uttered the words that wouldcause the stones to form my mostly transparent airship. The stonedisc flew apart into its twenty eight separate pieces, six formed ahexagon above, and six formed an identical hexagon beneath. Thatwas the ‘top’ and ‘bottom’ of my flying device, and they wereseparated by six feet to enable most people to stand upright withinit. Twelve pieces formed a dodecagon midway between them, muchlarger than the hexagons, giving the overall airship a disc-likeshape that, had it been more visible, would have looked somethinglike a jeweler’s diamond cut, if both sides looked like the top.The four remaining pieces helped round out the top and bottom,giving my device a more aerodynamic shape.

Gareth didn’t look impressed, but Isuspected his semi-reptilian face wasn’t capable of such subtleexpressions. At least that’s how I chose to interpret hisnonchalance as he stepped aboard. For Moira’s part, she lookedwistful, almost sad.

“Something wrong with it?” I askedher.

She shook her head as she entered.“No, not at all, it just reminds me of the past. The world that waslost when we fought Balinthor. It gives me hope that perhapsmankind can rise again. Perhaps we can rebuild the wonders of thepast.”

Her words touched something within me,but the only reaction that reached me was a spark of bitterness.“You mean ‘they’,” I corrected her. “You and I are not part ofhumankind.”

“You’re right of course, but I havehad a lot of time to dwell on my existence. I like to think thatour actions are more important than the truth of our origins. Wecan have meaning, even if we are ultimately fictitious,” she statedwith a certain conviction.

I filed that away under things tothink about as I activated my second set of stones. These were myenchanted shield stones. While the flying airship created a sort offorce-field around us, it wasn’t meant to be protective. My shieldstones on the other hand, could be set to protect us from almostany type of external force. More particularly, it should preventthe She’Har spellweave from affecting Gareth and Moira’s minds. Itwould protect mine as well, but with my armor on, it wasn’t reallynecessary.

Once I had finished, we were encasedin a sort of double walled shield, the outer one provided theaerodynamic shape, while the inner would keep our minds free fromexternal magic. Using my magic, I shaped the air around us andlifted us into the sky, propelling us forward with thewind.

The experience should have been asexhilarating as it had been the first time I had done it, ferryingRoland to see Marc, but it wasn’t. My emotions had become muchduller over the past two days, and consequently I felt only a faintthrill. Based upon what I knew, I figured I had only a couple moredays before my emotional level became what I considered dangerously‘numb’.

And considering how muchpower I’m holding now, that wouldn’t be wise.

I flew us close to the surface,staying only about twenty feet above the rolling ocean, followingthe proper course now. There was a sensation of almost intangiblepressure against my shield stones, and while I couldn’t yet seeanything; that pressure told me we were getting closer to ourgoal.

“I really can’t tell any difference inthe direction you’re taking,” offered Gareth. “I was heading duewest before.”

Since he wasn’t connected to myshield, he couldn’t feel the magic it was keeping at bay. “Justwait,” I told him. “It won’t be much longer.”

“Until what?”

That was when we finally passedthrough the illusion that had shielded the island from both oureyes and minds. Where only a moment before there had been nothingbut endless waves in every direction, we now faced a truly enormousisland. It was thirty miles across, judging from our currentperspective, and the central region rose with several snowcappedpeaks. The island was formed around those few mountains, withsweeping and deeply forested lowland reaching out to surround them.It was easily the size of the Lancaster and Cameron estatescombined, with Arundel’s thrown in for good measure.

“What the hell!?” shouted Gareth inalarm. Moira’s reaction was more subdued, but I could tell she wassurprised as well. “Where did that come from?”

“It was there all along,” I suppliedblandly. “Well, for the last two thousand years in anycase.”

“It’s huge! I should have been able tosee something that size from fifty miles away.”

“Their magic was concealingit.”

“Their magic?” Moira had chosen thatmoment to speak up.

“The She’Har.”

She kept her calm demeanor. “I wastaught to believe that they were all gone.”

“Well, yes, and no. As you have seenalready, one of them lay in stasis within my family’s home. Hermate, the last remaining father-tree, dwells here,” I said,beginning my explanation.

“So there’s only one—besides her,”said Gareth hoping to clarify.

I nodded.

“Then how in the world did he manageto cloak that entire island and hundreds of miles of ocean aroundit? Never mind the fact that I’m not even certain an enchantmentcould accomplish such a thing…”

It could,I started to say, but that was another topic. “Itwas done with a massive spellweaving. That’s the term used to referto the She’Har magic, which is similar in many ways to ourenchanting, except for its rather more spontaneous attributes. Mostspellweavings can be created as rapidly as you or I might cast asimple spell, but their nature is much more immutable…”

“We learned about that as children,”interrupted Gareth. “They used to tell us about it in our historylessons. I just never expected to ever encounter them.”

“You’re about to encounter a lot morethan illusions once we land,” I informed them both.