A Plea For Help

My breath caught in my throat as I cleared the line of trees and passed into the clearing.  A tower of rough stone loomed in front of me at the center of the clearing.  Its surface seemed to be one solid piece of rough stone.  It was surrounded by four oak trees, one at the each point of the compass, and stretched up past the trees by at least 20 feet.  The contrast from the surrounding pine forest was startling.  This was definitely the place.  I circled the tower slowly, crows watched from the top of the tower and the branches of the trees.  I made two full revolutions of the tower to be sure that there were no entrances.  Yes, this was definitely the place.

I dismounted, straightening my cloak and coat underneath.  The traveling clothes felt strange compared to the robes I usually wore.  As soon as my feet touched the ground, a stir went through the crows gathered around and watching me.  They shifted on their perches and spots along the tower top, their agitation growing with every step closer to the tower.  So far my information was accurate, but it did me no good if I had to stand out here waiting while the world ground on without me and the aid of this individual.  I stopped ten feet from the wall, unsure if I closed to the wall itself if the myriad of dark sentries would do more than merely watch.  Anxiety crackled in the air for an eternal moment, and then one crow leapt from the wall, and dived straight down the wall.  The other crows took up a raucous cry as the lone bird hurtled towards the ground.  At the last second, it pulled out of the impossible dive, and gracefully settled on the ground in front of me.

“Who are you, and what do you want?”  it croaked, and cocked its head to one side.

“I am the Wizard Haldreth Youlle from the Arcane Order, and I have urgent business with the Lady Laurelle on behalf of my masters.”  I said with more confidence than I felt.

Despite the assurance that I was safe unless I threatened the Lady, it was hard to believe that with several hundred crows watching me intently.  The crow continued to study me for an eternal moment in silence, then spoke again.

“What sort of business with the Mistress?”  The messenger croaked.

“Urgent business for her ears alone.”  I insisted with a forced firmness.

“So be it.”  And with that, the bird flew back up to the top of the tower, and disappeared out of sight.

With that done, the other birds seemed to relax slightly, and merely watched me with a multitude of beady black eyes.  I did my best to appear calm, but while a few crows are not a threat for one with my talents, but this many could overwhelm me with sheer numbers.  Sure, I could kill a few of them, but there would be plenty left over.  And that didn’t even take into account if the Lady Laurelle did not take exception to me harming her companions.  I had it on very good authority that she treated any transgression against these birds as if it was one of her own children.

After a few minutes of these cheerful thoughts, the bird, presumably the same one, flew over the wall, and landed in front of me.

“You may enter the Tower.”  With a sweep of its wing, a portion of the wall swung out, and revealed a cozy entryway with a bench to the side, and a row of pegs along the wall.  None of the pegs were occupied at the moment, and a set of stairs rose around the inside of the wall, climbing to the upper floors.

“The Mistress will meet you at the top.”  It said, and with that, took off again winging its way back to the top level.

I swallowed a muttered thought about the lack of hospitality, careful to make sure it was not heard.  It was a very good sign that I had gotten this far.  Maybe the information I had bought would actually prove to be right.  I would have to be cautious though, one wrong step, and it might well mean the end of me.

I climbed the twelve levels around the wall of the tower, each floor giving a tantalizing look into the life that Laurelle lived.  The first floor was merely the entryway, and the second proved to be a sitting area.  Floor three was a kitchen, and floors four through seven merely showed a line of doors off a hallway that bisected the tower. Floors eight through ten proved to house a library and work area.  That was a shock seeing so many volumes outside the Order’s libraries.  The last floor gave no hints as to its function, and then I was through a trap-door and up onto the roof.  A gust of wind tugged at my cloak, and I gathered it around me against the sudden chill.

Across the tower, there was a striking woman in a dark green dress that seemed to be paying no attention to the wind or the cold, staring over the edge of the tower into the distance.  Her long black hair spilled over her shoulders and ran halfway down her back.  Her arms were bare, for her dress merely covered her shoulders, and I noted that her dress was of a style that was favored by nobles about a century ago.

“Welcome Learned One.”  She said evenly, turning slowly to face me.  So far so good.

“Thank you for seeing me, my Lady.”  I replied with all the respect I could put in my voice.  To my relief, my voice remained steady.

“What brings you here?”

“I have come on behalf of my masters to ask your assistance with an army that is coming your way.”  I began, she waved her hand and I fell silent.

“I know of them,” she said “they are of no consequence.”

“But, they number in the thousands and comprise all manner of dark creatures.  Orcs, ogres, goblins, giants, and other things are whispered of.”

“Get to the point.” She said, her voice taking on an edge.

“We of the Brotherhood were wondering if you might lend your substantial talents-”

Laurelle threw back her head and cackled madly.  The crows leapt to the air, startled by her sudden change in mood.  I jumped as well, suddenly wary.

“And what should me and my talents do to aid you in this?”  she asked, her tone mocking.  “Drop a mountain on them?  Have the very land swallow them up?  If you knew enough to find me, you should know enough that you and your masters are much more talented in wholesale destruction.”  She began to pace, and slowly the crows settled back on their perches, but every last one of them had its gaze fixed on me.

“Do you know how long I have been living here?”  she asked with a dangerous glint in her eyes.  I shook my head slowly.  Where was this going?

“I planted those oaks outside when I first came here.”  She said softly.  I thought back to how big those oaks were, and my mouth dried.  Those trees were the biggest oak trees I had seen, easily several centuries old.

Then she fixed me with her gaze, and as I looked back, I saw the wisdom of centuries, maybe millennia.  My world lurched, and I broke the gaze, staggering slightly.

“You begin to understand, that is good.  I’m glad to see the teaching has not completely gone to waste.”  She began to pace slowly back and forth, her tone taking on a lecturing quality.  I was too shocked to be offended.

“Myself, and others like me have always remained neutral.  We take no part in the doings of the world, save to heal those who seek us, and to reveal the future for those who wish to see it.”  She looked at me, and I nodded. 

“You and your brethren think you are the pinnacle of civilization, but many others greater and lesser than you have thought the same.  I have seen empires rise and fall like wheat in a farmer’s field.  All things are transient.  Even me.”  She paused for a minute to let me absorb what she was saying.

“I may not be immortal, but I am not ready to leave this world yet.  When this army comes through, I will heal their sick, and tell the futures of any who ask, from the lowest slave to the generals of the army, as I have done for ages.”  She turned, placing her hands on the edge of the wall, clearly dismissing me.

“So you will just stand by and do nothing?” i asked hotly, forgetting my orders, letting frustration guide my words.

She froze for a moment, and then slowly turned back to face me.

“How dare you come here and tell me of cowardice.”  With each word, the crows around her grew more and more agitated, rising off the wall and trees, circling overhead in a writhing black mass.

“What do you know of life, history, and the world, youngling?” she whispered, investing the last word with such scorn.  “What arrogance to stand before me having lived a mere fifty or sixty years and claim I do nothing.”  She took a step towards me, her eyes flashing.  The mass of crows swirled even faster over her head.  I took a step back, then another.  A third step brought me up short against the wall of the tower. 

“Change is part of this world.  If you do not change, you die.  You and your masters seek preservation, to maintain the status quo.  In nature, if things stagnate, they are overtaken by others that adapt, change.  If you do not change, you are dead.”

My mind raced trying to find some way to defend myself.  I brought up many plans and discarded them.  I was outmatched in power, for even if I managed to kill her, chances were good the crows would go mad, and rip me to shreds before I could form another spell.  If magic was no use, then words would have to do, but so far they had seemed so inadequate.  At best she was amused as at a child trying to solve the world’s problems, and then angered at my ignorance.

“Everything in nature has a purpose.  Even a forest fire leads to new growth, new opportunities.  New trees and other plants rise in the ashes of the ancient forest.”

I cast about in an attempt to find some argument or scrap of information that might save both myself, and this rapidly degenerating situation.  I brought forth several speeches and discarded each of them rapidly.  She had proven to me several times in the last minutes that I was over-matched here.  I was left with the choice of revealing what I suspected, or lying to her, and likely dying for it.

When you have the potential of several more lifetimes in front of you, self preservation is a very strong thing to overcome.  Besides, I believed us doomed if I did not secure her allegiance. 

“And what of it when the dead rise, and march to war?  Is that part of the natural order?  They are coming for Gerrard Kranstadd.”  I whispered hoarsely, hoping I was making the right choice.

The moment seemed to freeze in time for an eternity, Laurelle’s eyes widened slightly, and the crows seemed to freeze in place.

“Those fools.”  She whispered.  “They did not listen when I told them to kill him and the other dark apprentices.”  Her eyes looked through me across space and time.  I froze, not daring to even breathe.

“You foolish boy, you should have said so at once.”  Her eyes hardened, and her face writhed in fury, but the crows remained where they were.  Maybe I would survive to bring her with me after all.

“Forgive me, my Lady, but I don’t know this for certain, it’s just whispers and rumors.  But what else can it be?  There are only a few that have been around since those times, and they never speak of it.  It is only hinted at in the history books we do possess.”  I trailed off slowly, afraid I had said too much.

“Very well then.” She said briskly.  “We will leave at once, the army will not move quickly, but we will need all the time we have.  I will meet you outside when I have gathered what I need, and made this place safe until I return.”

I nodded in relief and went downstairs, hoping that securing her aid did not cost me my life when I returned to the Council at her side.