Fallen Embers (The Alterra Histories) by C. S. Marks Page B

away. He had felt an undeniable sense of foreboding concerning his friend and King, and, with the instincts of a long-time comrade-in-arms, had followed him. He heard Ri-Elathan’s screams in his mind before his ears perceived them, whereupon he ran into the chamber of the Stone to behold the King, both hands clutching the pedestal, writhing in horrific agony. Without hesitating, he grasped his friend’s shoulders and drew him back, though it was difficult.
    Still, the King struggled, his face a mask of horror, his blank eyes clouded with pain.
    “Come back! Come back to me,” cried Magra, praying that Ri-Elathan was not in the grip of madness—he had seen that happen before to those of lesser fortitude. “This is a vision only. Whatever you are seeing is not happening now. Come back!” He gritted his teeth and turned on Shandor. “Let him go, you self-important, impotent shadow!”
    Shandor found this amusing, somehow, and the vision was broken.
    Rain lay in Magra’s arms, his teeth clenched, his vision clearing. When he looked up at his friend, his eyes filled with tears. This revelation was not as bad as he had expected—it was far worse, and he had not yet seen the end of it. “ Why did you interrupt me?” he asked his astonished friend. “I had not yet learned all!”
    “I…I thought you were dying,” said Magra.
    “I may have been, but you should not have stopped it,” said Rain, getting to his feet with Magra’s help. He staggered forward, for his strength had left him. His heart pounded, sweat had soaked his clothing and his hair, and his entire body trembled. “Leave me!”
    “But…my lord…”
    “Leave me, now !”
    Magra turned and left the chamber, his heart filled with sorrow and dread, as Rain called upon the last of his strength to stand once again before the Stone.
    “This is…this is what will be?” he asked, as the tears threatened to come again.
    And I have not said all. There is more that you must learn .
    “Is there no other way?”
    I warned you, but you would not listen. Now you must face the consequences. You sought to learn, and learn you will. Hold no hope in your heart, Farahin, nephew of Liathwyn. Your fate is sealed, unless you would abandon it .
    “If I abandon it? Do I have that choice?”
    We always have choices. But if you turn from this end, the Battle is lost. It is your death that will inspire them. Without it, they will falter, and Wrothgar will prevail. The choice is yours .
    Rain ground his teeth. “ Show me,” he said. “Show me what will happen if I choose otherwise.
    Shandor did not answer. Rain gripped the Stone with both hands. “Why are you silent? I asked you to show me what will happen if I choose otherwise. Are you incapable, or have you nothing to say?”
    And what other choice would you make, Farahin? Would you refuse to go to war? Would you run from Wrothgar when he confronts you at last? Let’s be clear on precisely which choice you are referring to. Would you abandon your position as High King to run into the Greatwood ?
    Rain started back just a little. “How do you know about that?”
    You are gripping the Stone. I see it in your heart. Could you really live with such a choice ?
    “Show me.”
    And if I choose otherwise ?
    “If someone had shown you what happened to Liathwyn, that you would be separated from her beyond the hope of ever seeing her again, that you would live your life in eternal loneliness and longing…would you have chosen otherwise?”
    Shandor did not reply, but the light of the Stone diminished.
    “Now, show me,” said Rain. “Show me…please.”
    Shandor did.

    Ri-elathan, who knew now that he would be the last of his line, turned from the Stone and left the chamber. He had just enough strength to make his way to the place where Shandor’s cold, dead form lay in its crystal coffin, ice-blue eyes staring lifelessly up into the empty air. Rain slumped onto the floor beside the pedestal, his head lolling back on