The Last EleMage, Chapter one, pt 1

PROLOG



SOMEWHERE THAT IS NOWHERE AND EVERYWHERE;

SOMETHING THAT IS NOTHING AND EVERYTHING PREPAIRS.



The time has come.

Finally, after all these uncounted years, the time has come.

Everything’s in place, everyone knows what they have to do, so all that’s left is to start the ball rolling.

I’m nervous, though I suppose that’s to be expected.  I’m going to be placing so much on the shoulders of a child, and there’s not much I’ll be able to do to help once things get moving.

I wish I didn’t have to do this; I wish I could shoulder this burden myself rather that place it on one so young and fragile.  But since I can’t, this is the only way.

If this fails, HE will win, and HE will gladly destroy everything that I have worked so hard to build and protect.  HE will slaughter the children, burn the gardens, and return everything to nothingness; and then HE will take HER away from me, leaving me all alone again.  I’m not sure I could survive that . . . or that I would even want to.

So much is riding on one so small . . . I can’t help but worry.  Still though, I need to be strong, for myself, for the child, for HER, and for everyone else who’s fate will ride on this gambit, whether they know it or not.

So many years of planning and preparing, and now it will be placed squarely in the hands of fate.  Failure is not an option, so may that fickle force smile upon this act of desperation.

Let it begin.





CHAPTER I

CRYSTAL



A`lanon walked down the overgrown path through the heart of the old forest.  Around him, the forest creatures passed the word of an intruder in their domain; never before in their memories had a Two-Legs ventured this deep into their woods, and it displeased many of them that one had chosen to do so now.  One creature – a large raven with feathers so black they shone blue when the light struck them – cawed an insult down at the Two-Legs from his perch in a tree well over the intruder’s head.  A`lanon looked up at the bird and cawed back, returning its insult with interest.  The raven cawed in surprise and nearly fell from its branch, then it took to the air and flew away cawing the news that the intruder wasn’t a normal Two-Legs.

And indeed, A`lanon wasn’t a normal Two-Legs.  He was Human by birth – hardly uncommon, given that Human were the most numerous and most prolific of the Five Races – but he tended to count himself separately from the rest of his Race; and had any of them known what he was, then they would have separated him from them as well. 

Of course they probably wouldn’t have known what he was unless he deliberately told them, since his differences weren’t apparent.  If a normal Human had been there to see him, they would see a young man – probably in his early twenties – going for a walk in the woods making the odd birdcall.  They would undoubtedly notice his shoulder-length silver hair and steel-grey eyes that almost seemed to shimmer in the sunlight, but those features were common to all Magi, and Magi were common to all Humans.  No, the only way they would know that he wasn’t a normal Human – or even a normal Mage – would be if they watched him use magic and knew enough about the art to see that his spellcasting was distinctly different from a Mage’s.

If that happened, and they realized what he really was . . . well, it was hard to say how they would react.  A few thousand years ago they probably would have run screaming, and likely returned with a mob hungry for blood.  Today, however, that was less likely (though not impossible).  While it was almost certain that they would be frightened, they would probably also be curious – after all, the EleMage were supposed to have died out nearly ten thousand years before.

That’s what Humans thought, anyway; and on the whole it was easier and safer for them to continue thinking that, rather than trying to explain that the EleMagi their ancestors had feared so much had actually been living amongst them disguised as normal Magi for all that time.  The time would come when EleMagi would be able to openly walk the world again, but A`lanon didn’t expect that to be in his lifetime.

A squirrel dashed out onto a branch over the path and sat up, staring that the EleMage – or Apprentice EleMage, technically, not that the squirrel would know or care about the difference.  A`lanon chittered a polite greeting at the little creature, and it went completely stiff in surprise – of course no squirrel can sit still for long, and after a bare moment of shock it was zipping around the branch and diving in and out of the leaves with excitement.

A`lanon chuckled at its antics, but then a root caught his foot and caused him to stumble, bringing his mind back to his irritation of the morning.

That morning, just after breakfast, his master – EleMage Master Kestranon – had pushed him bodily out the door of their small hut and pointed northeast.

“Go that way, then head east on the first path you come to.”  The older EleMage had said, and then he’d slammed the door in his Apprentice’s face before he could even ask what the Netherworld was going on.  After nearly a minute of banging on the door and shouting had failed to yield so much as a bout of swearing from his master, A`lanon had been forced to turn his back on his home and head northeast as he’d been told.  Kestranon was notoriously stubborn, and if he’d decided that he wasn’t going to acknowledge his apprentice until said youngster had done as he was told, than nothing in the world would make the old geezer change his mind.

It had taken A`lanon the better part of two hours to find the path – though it was really more of a game trail with delusions of grandeur – and then another hour and a half had been wasted stumbling and ducking and swearing his way along the disused track, and for all that he still had no idea why Kestranon had sent him out here.

It wasn’t out of the question that Kestranon had simply sent him on a wild goose chase – as a matter of fact the older EleMage had once sent his apprentice to bring back an actual wild goose as part of his training – but if that was the case then why hadn’t he told A`lanon what he was supposed to do out here?

A sudden glimpse of movement from the corner of his eye caused A`lanon to start and he spun to face whatever it was, only to find himself staring at a gnarled old tree.

“Mother, A`lanon.”  He said to himself.  “Don’t start jumping at shadows, now.”

“Talking to yourself isn’t such a great habit to get into, either.”  The tree said.

This time A`lanon really did jump, but then he noticed how a cluster of knots in the tree’s bark looked a lot like a Human face sporting a thick walrus mustache . . . in fact it looked a lot like one mustached face in particular.

A`lanon smiled.

“Oh, I know that, Master.” He said to the tree possessed by Kestranon’s magic, knowing his words would be conveyed to his master wherever he was.  “It’s just that it’s been so long since there’s been anyone else worth carrying on a conversation with.”

The face in the tree bark twisted into one of Kestranon’s wry grins.

“You’re right.  Ever since that chipmunk of yours died there’s been no one else simple-minded enough to speak with you on your own level.”

In the interest of time, A`lanon decided to be the bigger man and not deliver an ego-crushing comeback . . . besides, he couldn’t think of one.

“I hope you didn’t have me come all the way out here just to have a battle of wits with an enchanted tree.”

“Well I though I should set you up with an opponent of your own skill level.”  Kestranon said levelly, then he waited just long enough for A`lanon to get the insult before he continued.  “No, A`lanon, there’s a perfectly good and very serious reason why you’re there.”  Gone was the mocking laughter from his master’s voice, replaced with a gravity that A`lanon had rarely ever heard, but had learned long ago was meant to be heeded.

“A`lanon, for longer than I care to remember, you’ve lived here with me, and I’ve taught you the ways of the EleMagi.  I’ve not gone easy on you, yet you’ve never let me down.  You’ve risen to every challenge I’ve set before you, no matter how daunting or unfair.  You’ve applied yourself to your studies with the eagerness and determination of a true scholar; you’ve shown a gift with the EleMagic that I never would have imagined when I first held you as a babe all those years ago.  In the days of the Collegium an apprentice would usually train for nearly twice as long as you have to reach the level you’re at, yet I suspect that even had you lived in those days you would have been extraordinary; therefore, despite your youth, it is my opinion as your master that you are now ready to create your own EleMage Crystal.”

A`lanon’s eyes widened and his brows reached for his hairline.  The Crystal Rite was the coming of age for an EleMage.  Until an EleMage had his or her own Crystal, they were just an Apprentice and a child, and couldn’t be counted amongst the ranks of mature EleMagi.  A`lanon hadn’t expected to be sent out the perform the Rite for several more years, so to hear Kestranon – who was notorious for not praising or complementing anyone without insulting them in the same breath – to tell him that he thought he was ready was a real surprise.

Kestranon continued.

“Now, before you go getting all excited, I should warn you; this will be dangerous.  In the days of the Collegium one in five Apprentices died while trying to complete the Rite, and it’s no easier today – as a mater of fact it may be harder given the need to hide who and what we are from Humans.  If you accept this, then you will be on your own; I will not be able to help you in any way, not even to save your life.  If you do not feel equal to this task, then tell me now and return home.  I promise I will think no less of you.”

A`lanon considered for a moment, carefully inspecting his own thoughts and emotions, then he nodded.

“I’m ready, Master.  I will undertake the Rite.”

“Very well.”  Kestranon said, his voice growing even more serious.  “To create your Crystal you will need seven items, one for each of the seven Elements.  For Fire you will need a scale of a Royal Salamander, for Water you will need a mermaid’s tear, for Earth you will need a diamond, for Air you will need a Roc’s feather, for Light you will need a hair from a Unicorn’s tail, for Darkness you will need the pollen of a New Moon Dreamblossom, and for Life you will need the first leaf of a new oak tree.  It will be up to you to find and obtain these items, though I will tell you that at least some of them can be found in this very forest if you know where to look.  While performing the Rite you may not ask or accept help from any EleMage or Apprentice EleMage, but other than that you’re only limits are yourself and your power.  I will be watching you, and I will be able to speak with you through my magic, however that is all I am allowed to do.  Also, you may not return home until you have completed your Crystal and earned the right to be called an EleMage.  Do you have any questions?”

“No, Master.”  A`lanon said.

“Good.  Then as of this moment you are on your own.  May Magic and the Mother watch over you.”

A`lanon sensed the spell withdraw, and the tree became simply a gnarled old tree once more. 

A`lanon glanced around, but there were obviously no signs saying ‘Apprentice EleMagi on the Rite go this way’ or anything else helpful, so in the absence of a better idea A`lanon resumed walking down the path.  He could just see the peak of a lone mountain over the trees, and without a set destination in mind it was as good a landmark as any to follow.

After about twenty minutes, the path entered a clearing around a large old oak tree.  Since it was late spring, the only acorns were dead husks on the ground; however with a living tree and a touch of EleMagic, there were ways around nature’s limits.

As A`lanon approached the tree, he carefully swept it with his magic senses to see if it was home to a dryad, or nymphs, or anything else that might take exception to what he was about to do, but he found nothing more dangerous than a  couple of  squirrels.  Once he was sure it was safe, A`lanon extended a tendril of the EleMagic into the trunk, merging it with the pulse of Life that flowed through the tree.  From there he felt his way along a branch until he reached its end, and then he began to work his magic. 

Isolating his chosen branch from the rest of the Tree’s Life, A`lanon instead supplied its life himself, matching the tree’s slow, steady pulse.  Then, he began slowly accelerating that pulse to accelerate the growth of that single branch.  For a time nothing seemed to happen, but after about a minute the blossoms on the branch began to die and slowly transform into acorns.  He kept the spell up, and soon the leaves on the branch – which had turned bright autumn colors – fell away, and the rest of the acorns weren’t far behind.  For several more minutes the branch was bare, but then it began budding once more.  A`lanon slowly eased back on the spell, slowing the pulse of Life within the branch until it once more matched the pulse of Life in the tree; then he allowed the tree’s Life to flow back into the branch and withdrew his tendril of EleMagic.

He left the tree as he had found it, blossoming in late spring, and the only sign that one of its branches had lived a year in a matter of minutes was a scattering of fresh autumn leaves, and a handful of fresh acorns on the ground.  A`lanon selected three of the acorns and picked them up, then, glancing into the branched of the tree he chattered to the squirrels hiding from him, and they hesitantly came out and twitched their noses at him.  Holding out his hand with two of the acorns, he chattered again, apologizing for disturbing their home.  A little encouragement, and both of the squirrels scampered through the branches and leaped onto his outstretched arm to each grab one of the tasty treats.  Smiling, A`lanon pointed out the other acorns on the ground, and the squirrels dove for them, and were soon shoving the nuts into their cheeks as fast as they could.

Still smiling at the cute little creatures, A`lanon withdrew to the far side of the clearing.  There he knelt and drew the small work knife Kestranon always made him carry; stabbing the blade into the dirt he dug a small hole and planted the third acorn, then he buried it and tamped the earth down.  Quickly wiping the blade of his knife on his trousers, he returned the tool to its sheath, and then reached into the leather pouch he wore on his left hip and withdrew a small canteen.  He poured a little water on the ground over the acorn and returned the canteen to his pouch, then he took a deep breath and held his hand over the spot and closed his eyes.

Extending a tendril of the EleMagic, A`lanon felt his way down through the earth until he touched the bright spark of Life within the seed.  Though its pulse was so slow as to be almost nonexistent, it was there, and A`lanon gently merged his EleMagic with it.  Then, like he had done with the branch, he sped up the pulse and awakened the seed.  The tiny tree inside stirred, felt the warm earth around it, and broke its shell; it felt its way up, towards the warm sunlight, and in moments it broke the surface and unfolded it’s first leaf.

A`lanon slowed the pulse until the sprout’s life was beating on its own, then he withdrew from it.  Reaching back into his pouch, A`lanon pulled out one of the small enchanted sample jars that were another of the things Kestranon always made him carry.  Releasing the wire clamp holding the lid shut with a practiced flick of his thumb, A`lanon carefully plucked the delicate newborn leaf with his other hand, taking care not to damage it or harm the tiny seedling.  He placed the leaf in the jar and sealed the lid, automatically activating the spells on the glass that would preserve the leaf perfectly against time, insects, and the elements until he needed it again.

He returned the jar to his pouch and stood up, but some thing drew his eye back to the tiny sprout.  If he walked away and left it, it was probable that it wouldn’t survive.  Either some creature would eat it, or the other plants would starve it for light and water.  What’s more, even if it did mature, it would not only have to compete with older, established plants for those things, but for space as well.  He knew that it probably would have had a life like that even without his intervention (provided it had avoided being eaten as an acorn) but especially since he’d grown both the acorn and the sprout out of their normal season he felt sort of responsible for it.

A sudden idea occurred to him and he smiled slightly.  Raising both hands over the sprout, he held them at waist height; then, once he’d merged a tendril of EleMagic with the pulse of the sprout again, he started the plant growing once more – only this time he used his EleMagic to guide the forming roots and branches in the shape he wanted.  The trunk grew straight and even, and only sprouted branches near the top.  Those branches he twisted and wrapped around each other until they formed a heavy mass covered in blunt spikes.  The roots he twisted and wrapped around each other so that they formed a single blunted point.  Finally, after about three minutes, he reached out and pulled, not a tree, but a staff from the ground; its head was a mace-like mass of branches, its base a spike that would be good for many things, and throughout its length Life pulsed in time with his own heart.  It was sturdy yet flexible, meaning it could serve as both a weapon and a tool, the living wood was a perfect channel for his EleMagic, and since some of his own spirit was infused into the wood, it would live as long as he did.

Hefting the staff, A`lanon’s smile grew.  It felt good in his hands.

Turning back to the clearing A’lanon noticed that the path he’d been following continued out the other side of the clearing, and since he still didn’t have a better idea, he followed it again.  For thirty minutes the trail wound through the woods seemingly aimlessly, wandering south of the lone mountain, but then it ended at a small river that cut roughly perpendicular to the route he’d been following.  There was no sign of the path continuing on the other side, so A`lanon knelt and drank while he considered his options.  From the look of it, the river was born from one or more streams flowing down from the mountain, and given its direction, it was likely that it would eventually merge with the Chellorin River, more than a week to the east.  Since both of those objectives seemed equally unhelpful, he decided mostly on a whim to head for the mountain.  He followed the river upstream for a mile or so, but then he began to notice a sound that was out of place in the deep wounds.  At first he thought it was just the sound of the river, but as he got closer the sound separated and became more distinct, causing him to slow while he tried to make sense of it.

It sounded like a group of girls or young women laughing and talking, but seeing how deep in the woods he was, he didn’t see how that could be.  The nearest settlement was more than a day away to the southwest, so there was no reason for the village girls to come all the way out here.  That likely meant that what he was hearing was a sound made by some sort of creature, and while he could think of a few that could make sounds like that, none of them had any more business being here than the village girls did.

A copse of trees grew right up against the riverbank, and A`lanon was forced to circle around them, pushing through the underbrush as he did.  The greenery completely blocked his view, so he was a little startled to stumbled out of the brush and enter a large clearing.  He glanced around and saw that the clearing was surrounding a large pool where the river widened after coming down off the mountain.  The pool was deep and clear and sparkled in the sunlight, and in it . . .

A`lanon smiled.

“Well, well, two for one, is it?”  He said to himself.

Swimming in the pool were a half-dozen mermaids, and frolicking in the shallows with them was a golden Unicorn foal.

A`lanon started to step forward, but then he faltered as something occurred to him.

Mermaids were the female merfolk; they were cheerful, carefree, and fun loving, though they could sometimes be a little simple minded.  They loved to laugh and play, but they would flee from anything difficult or sad; but if that was the case then how was he supposed to get a tear?

A`lanon shook his head and stepped forward, raising a hand and calling out to the players across the pool.

“Hello!  Hello there!”  The mermaids and Unicorn stopped their game and turned to look at him.  He smiled and waved at them.  “I was wondering if you might be able to help me.”

Curious about the newcomer, both the mermaids and the Unicorn foal came over to investigate.  The mermaids cut straight across the pool, and so they arrived first.  As they pulled themselves onto the bank to get a better look at him, he smiled again, and they began giggling and whispering amongst themselves like schoolgirls. 

They were all beautiful, with long shining hair and eyes in shades of blue, green, teal, and even one light lavender, and with the scales of their lower bodies in matching iridescent colors.  Their human skin was as smooth and flawless as a porcelain dolls', and their figure’s were as full and shapely as any pubescent young man would wish for.  They wore no makeup, and only a breast wrap of woven sea grass for clothing, but they had strung necklaces and bracelets of coral and seashells, and they’d woven a surprising number of ornaments into their hair – from bits of glass or metal to gemstones, they didn’t seem to care what it was so long as it shone or sparkled.

A moment later the Unicorn foal arrived, and after a curious sniff to see what A`lanon was, he began enthusiastically nosing at the visitor’s clothes to see if he had anything edible tucked away in a pocket somewhere.  The foal was young, probably only about three or four years old; he was still only around twelve or thirteen hands high, his fur was bright gold in color and the long hairs of his mane and tail looked like strands of pure sunlight, and he had yet to develop the signature horn of his kind – which was a good thing for A`lanon, as the way the foal was nosing at him he would have been gored repeatedly if the horn had been there.  As it was A`lanon just laughed as the foal nearly knocked him over with his enthusiastic search, and to distract him A`lanon began rubbing the base of his ears, causing him to adopt a goofy look of pure bliss as he leaned into A`lanon’s hand.

“How may we help you, Mage?”  One of the mermaids asked.  “Are you lost?”

“No actually.”  A`lanon said.  “I’m on something of a quest.  You see, I am actually an Apprentice EleMage.”

The mermaids ‘oohed’ and pulled themselves a little closer, but the foal was too busy enjoying the ear rub to care about anything else.

“I am currently in the middle of performing the EleMage Crystal Rite; the coming of age ceremony passed down from before the days of the Collegium.  If I can complete this Rite, then I will earn the right to call myself a full EleMage.”  A`lanon smiled at the mermaids.  “In order to do this, I need to gather items representing the power of the Elements, which is where you all come in.  Two of the items I need are a Unicorn’s tail hair,” he nodded at the foal, “and a mermaid’s tear.” 

The mermaids recoiled from him as though he’d just announced that he was carrying the plague.

“Our tears?”  One of them said, her voice slightly fearful.  “But we don’t want to cry.”

Seeing that the mermaids were about to vanish into the depths of the pool, A`lanon quickly knelt by the edge of the pool – causing the foal to nearly fall over as the support of his hand was removed – and smiled reassuringly at the mermaids.

“I know.”  He said.  “I know, and I don’t want to make you.”  He reached out a hand to the closest sea-woman.  “I promise, I won’t hurt you.”  Comforted slightly by his smile and the tone of his voice the mermaids came back to the bank, and the one he’d offered his hand too took it, and he kissed it like a court noble.

“Thank you.”  He said, then he stood up and fell back a step.  “Actually I was rather hoping that something would come to me while I collect a hair from your young friend here.”  He bowed slightly to the foal.  “With your permission, of course.”

The foal considered him a moment, then he grinned mischievously – which was a rather odd sight on such a horse-like face.  The foal whinnied, but thanks to A`lanon’s connection to the EleMagic, he had no trouble understanding it.

“You may have a hair, EleMage.”  The foal said.  “But you’ll have to catch me first.”  He darted forward and shoved A`lanon hard with his nose, causing the Apprentice EleMage to stagger backwards a step, then he took off around the pool, leaping over the river in a single bound.  On the other bank he stopped, turned, and crouched on his front legs like a playful dog.  “No leaving the clearing, but other than that anything goes!”

A`lanon chuckled, leaned his staff against a nearby tree, and then took off after the foal.  The foal darted away, little more than a golden streak in the air, and the chase was on.

For uncounted minutes A`lanon and the foal chased each other around the pool as the mermaids cheered them on, and all the while A`lanon’s mind considered the situation.  Young thought the foal may be, he was still only a little slower than lightning, and as tireless as all his kind, meaning that A`lanon’s didn’t have a prayer of out running him or out pacing him.  That being said, the foal was still young, and he didn’t have the years of training and experience in analyzing a situation and adapting that A`lanon had.  In addition, A`lanon had the power of an EleMage to draw on (some of them anyway) so what it really came down to was whether or not A`lanon could outsmart the agile little Unicorn.

The first thing A`lanon tried was to rob the foal of his footing by loosening the particles of the stone around the pool into something like sand, only less tightly packed, but the foal was able to skim across the top of the makeshift quicksand without slowing more than a little; in fact the move proved more of a hindrance to A`lanon since he couldn’t maintain the spell and protect himself from it at the same time.  He quickly re-hardened the stone, but then he began causing it to shoot up walls and pillars of rock to block the foal’s way.  The problem there was that his reactions were a little slow since he was also focusing on just trying to keep up with the golden streak, and so the foal was able to continually dodge and evade the obstacles, once more leaving A`lanon at the mercy of his own deviousness.

Skidding to a stop and waving a hand to push the stone obstacles back into the ground, A`lanon changed tactics.  Plunging a tendril of EleMagic into the water, he lifted several liquid columns from the pool and began striking at the foal, trying both to trap it and to soak the ground in hopes that it might slip.  Neither happened as the foal danced back and forth between the attacks with ease, neighing in mocking laughter at A`lanon’s efforts.

Feigning exhaustion, A`lanon let the water fall back into the pool.  He and the foal stood on opposite side of the river, the foal prancing around to taunt the Apprentice EleMage.  A`lanon waited, readying the two spells he would need to cast in a hurry when the moment came.

Suddenly it did; the foal’s mocking prance turned his back on A`lanon for just a moment, and in that moment A`lanon summoned the powers of Air and Water simultaneously.  The latter he spread over the pool, and the former he built up behind him to lend him speed.  By the time the foal could see him again, he’d covered more than half the distance between them, not by rounding the pool as the foal had expected, but by sprinting straight across it.  For a fraction of a second the foal froze in surprise, and that should have been enough to end the chase, however one of the mermaids suddenly decided to get in on the fun and threw her arms around A`lanon’s legs.  The move caught him by surprise and shattered his concentration, so when he hit the water he hit hard and sank. 

For a few dragging seconds he couldn’t move, stunned by the high-speed belly-flop, but then his instincts kicked in and he fought his way to the surface.  The mermaid who had tripped him was floating nearby, laughing, and her friends weren’t far away.  Even as he coughed and sputtered for breath, a second mermaid – apparently having forgotten that even a full grown EleMage can’t breathe water – leaped and dove on top of him with a squeal, pushing him down under the surface again.  once more he fought his way to the surface, only this time he threw a hasty spell around him to help him stay afloat.

“Now, ladies, that’s just not fair!”  he protested as three of the mermaids converged and tried to pull him under again, but they just laughed harder.  It wasn’t that they were trying to kill him – they were too innocent for that – it was simply that they were so caught up in the game that they’d forgotten that landfolk like him could drown – not that that would make him end up any less dead if they got too carried away.

Fighting his way through the playful mermaids, A`lanon managed to reach the shallows and haul himself out of the water.  Once he was out of the mermaids reach he sat and coughed for a moment, then used a touch or EleMagic to draw the mud and water away from his skin and clothes, leaving him perfectly clean and dry.  An equine snicker cause A`lanon to look up to see the foal standing less that twenty feet away.

“Ready to give up, Apprentice EleMage?”  He asked.

“Not a chance.”  A`lanon said, and with a sudden wave of his hand caused a massive surge of water to blast out of the pool and soak the area where the foal had been a fraction of an instant before.

As the chase resumed, A`lanon began closing the gap between him and the foal – both literally and figuratively.  Though he couldn’t match the foal for speed or endurance, he was getting a feel for how the young unicorn thought and reacted, and so his attempts to catch him were coming closer.  Finally, after more than forty minutes of breakneck racing and madcap gambits, A`lanon succeeded.

With A`lanon hot on his tail, the foal blasted around a corner, leaning hard into the turn.  Since he expected A`lanon to still be behind him, he didn’t look back as he made the turn, so he missed it when the Apprentice EleMage swerved in the opposite direction and ran several feet straight up a tree.  Then, once his momentum was exhausted, A`lanon turned, preformed a few quick calculations in his head, then summoned the wind to aid him as he launched himself off the tree like an arrow from a bowstring.  Moving nearly as fast as the wind itself, A`lanon caught up to the foal as it was rounding the next corner; The foal caught a glimpse of him coming and tried to veer aside, but he misjudged the speed.  A`lanon threw his arms around the foal’s neck, then twisted and dug his heels into the dirt, dragging them both to a stop.

“Got you!”  A`lanon panted, grinning triumphantly.

The foal considered him through one large blue eye, then the mischievous grin was back.

“You’ve got me.”  The foal said.  “But can you keep me?”

Before A`lanon had a chance to react the foal began spinning and bucking with a speed and frenzy only a Unicorn can muster, and A`lanon found himself swinging from the foal’s neck like a large and rather tasteless scarf.  After a handful of tooth-jarring, limb-stretching, life-flashing moments, A`lanon lost his grip and went spinning through the air like a discus.  He skipped twice across the pool before landing with an ungraceful splash in the shallows on the opposite side.

Coughing and spitting, Alanon sat up and wiped mud and water from his eyes.  then, parting his sodden hair like a curtain in front of his face, he glared over the pool at the prim foal.

“That wasn’t polite.”  He scolded.

Unrepentant, the foal gave him a smug grin, which looks even odder on a unicorn than a mischievous one.  In spite of himself, A`lanon burst out laughing.

All around the pool the mermaids were laughing, many of them so hard they seemed to be having a hard time staying afloat.  Near where he sat, one of the sea-women pulled herself into the shallows and reached up with one hand to wipe at her face.

Realization struck A`lanon and banished his laughter in an instant.  He leaped to his feet, plunging his left hand into his pouch and diving at the mermaid to catch her wrist with his right.  She stared at him, startled, but he smiled and held up another of his sample jars.

“May I?”  He asked, then held the jar to her cheek.

A single tear, shining like a liquid diamond, slid from her ivory skin and into the jar.  With a triumphant grin, A`lanon snapped the lid shut and sealed the jar.  For a moment the mermaid looked confused, but then understanding dawned in her eyes, and a smile spread across her face.

“A mermaid’s tear.”  She said, a little breathlessly.

“That’s right.”  A`lanon said, grinning.  “It never said it had to be a tear of sorrow.”

The mermaid beamed at him for a moment, then she suddenly threw her arms around him and kissed him.  the move was so unexpected that A`lanon stumbled and fell back into the water and sank to the bottom.  For a few seconds that lasted an eternity each, the mermaid kissed him thoroughly, then she broke away and vanished into the depth of the pool with a bubbly giggle, leaving a dazed and cross-eyed A`lanon to pry himself out of the mud.  He sat coughing in the shallows for several seconds, but even once his lungs were clear his head was still fuzzy from the effects of the mermaid’s kiss.