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

matter at this point. Lyralliantha’s commands would not beignored.

“How do you speak to them?” askedGareth. He and Moira stood beside me while a ring of Kritecksurrounded us, watchful that we did nothing harmful to thefather-tree. “Can it communicate telepathically?”

“Yes,” I said nodding, “When it’sawake it can. But only the tree can initiate theexchange.”

“I don’t understand.”

“You have to think like atree, a really old tree. They don’t actually sleep, their mindsjust move at a vastly slower pace than ours. They operate on anentirely different timescale than we do. When I sayawake, I’m actuallyreferring to special moments when the She’Har accelerate theirthoughts. During times of emergency or stress they will speed up tomore human-like speeds—mentally that is,” I explained.

“So what do we do?” saidMoira.

“We wait,” I told her.

The loshti remains withinmy line despite a hundred generations. Your memories are clear, yetyou are not my son.

The mental voice came with a powerfulpresence that swept over us. In some ways it was like the aurapossessed by the gods, or myself now that I was heavy with power,yet there were subtle differences. As the father-tree’s attentionfocused on us, I felt a sense of depth and complexity that wasabsent from my previous experiences. Tennick’s mind swept over us,examining and studying. I had the feeling that he knew more aboutus within those first few seconds than even we were awareof.

Your son is dead. I am apoor copy, but still I am left to fulfill his will,I responded.

State yourpurposes, the presencedemanded.

You have already seenwithin me. You know them, Ireplied.

I do. State them, so thatI may know what ‘you’ know of them, saidthe last tree of the Illeniels.

I sighed inwardly,the restoration of the She’Har and thepreservation of your children.

Our children,the mind of the first archmage informedme. Images flashed through my mind, ofMatthew and Moira, little Conall, and tiny Irene, before I had beenseparated from them.

My first impulse was todeny that they were my children, since both Lyralliantha and Moira had made it clearto me that I was not the original Mordecai, but even as the thoughtstarted I realized that in every way that mattered, they were mychildren as well. Yes, ourchildren, I agreed silently.

The Kriteck are veryagitated. They expected the arrival of my Kianthi. It will bedifficult to restrain them.

That puzzled me. Do they not follow your will?

In general, yes, but Icreated many of these with complex intellects, in preparation forthe coming trials. Though their lives are short, they are stubbornand willful.

What trials?I asked.

You have seen thebeginnings. The god-seeds have returned to this world, andMal’goroth has upset the balance. There will be a reckoning. Thestruggle that is building will test existence itself.

‘God-seeds’ was an unusualword in the She’Har language. It might be more correct to translateit as ‘spirit-servants’, but it had no direct cognate in the humantongue. Tennick was referring to entities that we called the DarkGods. What will you do?I questioned.

Ultimately, I am the causefor this disruption. Lyralliantha will help me to atone for mymistakes, but the burden of my sins will fall upon your shoulders.Your people will decide the fate of this world.

I didn’t like the sound ofthat, but it was what I had expected. Whatmust I do?

Lyra was wrong to bindyou, just as you were wrong to bind those with you. The two besideyou will be pivotal in the coming storm. Rely on their strength,trust them. Slavery will lead only to destruction. The Kriteck willaccompany you. Lyra must be returned.

I felt a shift in the earth as ifsomething had moved. Shifting my attention, my magesight revealedthat four massive growths surrounding the father-tree had brokenaway. The newborn Kriteck unfolded, stretching massive wing-likeappendages as they began to move. Their bark-like skin was coveredwith small vines, but as they moved I could see that they wereshaped like a grotesque parody of Gareth’s dragon form, except theywere each easily twice his size. Their heads were much smaller incomparison to their bodies, and there was no visible mouth, just amultitude of eyes.

They lowered their bodies to theearth, and the forest around us came alive with movement. TheKriteck were climbing onto their massive flying brethren. I wasamazed at their numbers, as well as their variety. Tennick hadcreated them in many forms, small and large.

Bring my Kianthi tome, he commanded.

And then?I asked.

Then we go towar.

Chapter 23

“Keep that shield up, Your Highness,”admonished Dorian. He had made Ariadne take one of the wooden roundshields from the gatehouse. She couldn’t wear any of the armor buthe hoped it would offer her some protection.

She grunted, “It gets heavy, keepingit up all the time.”

“Then put your dagger away and useboth hands,” replied Dorian. “I’m more worried about you catching astray arrow than whether you can stab someone.” They were insidethe front entry hall now. The resistance so far had been minimal.Four guards had been stationed inside the doors but Dorian hadkilled them before Evan and Alan had even crossed the thresholdbehind him.

“Where are we going?” asked Gerold. Itwas the first time he had spoken since they met Dorian at thegatehouse and there was a nervous warble in his voice.

“The royal living suite,” announcedAriadne. “Mother and Lady Thornbear were there when they sent methat message.”

“Begging your pardon, Highness, butshouldn’t we find the King first?” queried Alan.

The princess’ face blanched for amoment, “I think we’ll have a higher chance of success reaching mymother.”

Dorian put a hand onAlan’s shoulder and leaned close to his ear, “The King is mostprobably dead. They would have made sure of him first. TheQueen might bealive.”

Alan winced, “Forgive mypresumptuousness, Your Highness.”

Ariadne straightened her back andlifted her chin, “Never fear to speak to me openly, Alan,regardless of our current or future stations. Any that follow metoday, fighting for my sake and for the sake of Lothion shall beheld high in my regard.” She raised her voice, making certain thatthose around her could hear, “I will never forget the bravery andloyalty of those who fight beside me today. You have inspired mewith your courage and honor, whether you be man or maid. I willforever hold those with me now as dear to my heart