Inexorable: Part Six

     Night was falling, and Ryddle was finally beginning to realize that he was going to have to admit failure. There was no chance at all that the diminutive Blumaroo would have come this far, and there was as little or less chance that he was going to find anything in the dark. Eyries possessed night vision to some degree, it was true, but not the kind he needed now. In darkness his eyes were suited only to seeing things close to him. He could search walking through the forest. That was about it. And it wouldn't be much use either.

     So now, thanks to his general hopelessness, he was alone, lost, dejected, and in the rain. Moreover, he hadn't found Tom and he hadn't helped the villagers at all. Even though they had given him a home and much more besides.

     Where was Scrappy? Where were Flytta and Sylver? What had happened to the villagers? All questions that could not be answered, no more open to him than the fate of Phantom.

     Ryddle remembered his last landing with a pang of depression. Now that he was wet and tired, he would have to settle for little better than a crash landing. There was no point in flying further.

     Although it was rather strange…

     It was rather strange, he observed with interest, that the forest seemed to be thinning. And what was that up ahead? It looked almost like…

     A house.

     "Illusen's Glade!" he cried joyfully, spiraling down toward the beautiful little cottage the kind Earth Faerie called home.

     As he had foreseen, Ryddle landed badly, one wing crumpling painfully under him. It wasn't badly hurt, though, he could tell, and there was no time to worry about it now. He stumbled up to the doorstep and battered on the green door with a weary paw.

     It opened and a pretty Faerie dressed in delicate shades of green and brown stood over him. Illusen herself, he saw blearily. He was glad that her smile looked sympathetic and good-natured, because he was tired and felt unable to cope with anything.

     "Here, why don't you come inside for a hot drink and warm bed?" she said, her smooth voice beautifully melodic. Ryddle dragged himself in, barely aware of his surroundings. Ah, something soft and white. A real bed. It was nice to see one after so many years…or had it only been days?

     He flopped down it, everything fading into blackness.

     Ryddle awoke with a yawn, feeling cared for and comfortable. Illusen sat by his side. "I thought you'd never wake up," she said with a smile. "When you feel like sitting up, there's a cup of hot chocolate waiting for you.

     Ryddle immediately sat up. The Faerie handed him a steaming mug and he sipped it eagerly. The taste was heavenly.

     He drank for a few minutes before he could think of anything else. Suddenly he realized how rude he was being. "I'm sorry," he muttered. "I didn't mean to come here, actually."

     "That's perfectly all right," she replied cheerfully. "Why would I give out quests if I didn't like young Neopets about the place?"

     Then Ryddle remembered, and he put the hot chocolate hastily on a bedside table. He scrambled out from the warm covers and felt his neck to make sure the shard was still there. It was. Ryddle turned to Illusen, wondering where to begin.

     "It's wonderful here," he said honestly. "I only have to be awake for ten minutes to know that I could live my life here happily. But I can't stay any longer, I'm afraid. I have to find my companions, who are missing somewhere in the forest - or beyond, I don't know - and I have to deal with this." Knowing instinctively that he could trust her implicitly, Ryddle held up the shard that was strung around his neck. "It's a shard of Darigan's orb. I don't know what to do with it. Apparently Kass is searching for it, and I know I could buy my safety with it…"

     The twinkle left Illusen's green eyes, and she stepped backward, grasping the back of a chair. Ryddle was surprised at her shock. "That - thing!" she said venomously. "There were those who thought that Morguss made it…but if only they knew how dangerous it really was. Jhudora's favorite plaything, shall we say."

     Now Ryddle was shocked as well, and somewhat awed. "Jhudora?" he repeated pensively. That certainly explained its power, even if it existed now in only a shard.

     "Oh, yes," Illusen replied. There was a note of grimness in her voice that Ryddle would not have imagined possible. "How it ended up in the hands of Darigan, I do not know. You have probably heard that my main reason for moving to Meridell was that I wished to distance myself as much as possible from the scheming Jhudora."

     Ryddle nodded. Every young Neopet in Meridell had heard this tale; however, as he grew older and a little wiser, he had believed this to be nothing more than a rumor.

     "Well, that's true. It may sound radical to you. All the same, anyone who has met Jhudora would sympathize with me. Now, Kass is a different proposition entirely."

     Doing his best to brush away everything he had been told about Lord Kass as a small child, Ryddle waited silently for her to continue.

     "It's my belief that someone has Kass under their thumb, because I remember meeting him at one point. He was never exactly the nicest Eyrie in Neopia, even the nicest Darigan - but he would never have taken control of the Darigan Citadel underhandedly. I don't think he would have gotten rid of Jeran like that, either."

     "Gotten rid of Jeran?" Ryddle knew that a few days ago, he would have been overjoyed to hear this. Now he wasn't sure what he thought.

     "Haven't you heard?" Illusen gestured rather hopelessly toward a stack of newspapers on the table. "It's all over everything. I'm as sad to hear it as anyone; Jeran was brave, and a good knight."

     "Oh," murmured Ryddle. There didn't seem to be much he could say. After an awkward silence, he asked, "So what do you think I should do with the shard?"

     "Only one thing can I tell you. Whatever you do, whatever happens, whoever you meet - never, ever let Kass get his hands on it."

     Ryddle looked for a moment at the Faerie, trying to calculate just how far he could push her. He didn't mean to be disrespectful. He just needed to get everything straight, and make Illusen see that he couldn't do everything she said. He decided to risk something bold. "What if I decide that it's worth it to gain safety for the ones I love?"

     'I don't think you understand just how ruthless Lord Kass is - or has become. There is very little chance that he would keep his word. Of bribes and promises, he has offered many; few have ever been fulfilled. And naturally, he has to silence those that have been betrayed, or his rule would topple under him."

     "Ah," said Ryddle.

     After another short pause, Illusen roused herself. "You're not going to find anyone in your current condition. I would suggest - and you are free to choose as you will, for I can see that your are one of those independent spirits who do not take orders very kindly - that you stay at my Glade for a few days. Get yourself rested and well-fed. In the meantime," she added with a hint of amusement, "you might try and get a few of those burrs out of your tail."

     Ryddle was taken aback. Wasn't he the one Sylver had called a "doormat"? He had always obeyed orders without questions. Depending on them was part of his nature.

     Or was it? He thought back to the elation he had felt, standing up to Sylver, and then the feeling of being a free, equal citizen in the village, bound by nothing except a general sense of duty owed to his family and companions.

     "I'll stay. For a day or two," he decided. Whatever happened, he had proved himself beyond anything he had ever expected. Tragedy had struck, and then more of it. Now he was stranded, grasping for straws as he wondered what had become of all he held dear. But he had come through it. He was alive, and he was strong. And no one could make him give that up.

To be continued...