A shadow streaked across the earth, silent and swift, until it crested the top of the hill. 'Twas not, in truth, a shadow at all, but a rolling cloud of thick black smoke that dissipated and left behind two enormous men. The Hellsguard fell to a reverential knee, but the Auri male strolled forward, his scales glistening in the moonlight. Tengri Geneq spared his manservant a single glance.
"Thank you, Gnasher," he murmured.
The meaty thud of a fist against a bare chest sounded out as he turned to scan the surroundings for the woman who'd promised to deliver.
The woman was a vision of white, pale silver hair smoothly falling down her back, pristine white robes that seemed untouched by the earth billowing from her waist. She had her eyes trained on something in the distance, although with the spectacles that guarded her gaze and reflected any light away, one could never tell what or if anything truly held her interest.
Her back was turned to the two that appeared from the smoke and even as the two towering figures made themselves known, she did not turn immediately.
"I have always wondered. Why that form?" Her voice carried in the stillness of the place, quiet and yet not soft, placid in tone and yet not soothing.
The scaled man was silent as he joined her, save for the rattling of his platemail and all its buckles and straps. He took up position to stand alongside her, his own gaze searching the horizon for whatever, if anything, had caught her attention.
"Familiarity and advantage. Long ago, I served in the campaigns that brought Othard to heel. 'Twas there we first made contact with Raen and Xaela alike." He shrugged. "The latter are a formidable people, warriors all. This particular male was possessed of a wealth of experiences and talents. Youth, intelligence, strength, knowledge, insight, connections, a unique history which made him an ideal platform and foundation upon which to build."
His own voice was rich and deep, his words clipped, his tone imperial... as though he stood above all others and beheld them from a throne.
"I would have been a fool to take on any other."
The horizon was barren, white and harsh. But for a small moment in time, the wind seemed still, absent, as if the frozen earth wanted to listen to their exchange. But no other living beings were about save the three. The woman did not turn her gaze away from the distant mountains covered in ice just yet.
"More of their kind seem to have found their way south," she observed casually, as if discussing the weather. A pause fell between them before she turned her head slightly. Her glasses still reflected the white of the land, but her gaze seemed to be directed at him.
"Are you prepared to eliminate your foe?"
He met her eyes with his own.
"In truth, I am not certain. Five have I Gifted so that they might accomplish what others have not. Of those, one resists his calling, one dawdles for fear of wielding power, and one finds herself paralyzed by her betrothed. The remainder stand ready... but those two alone, with the Crows at their side, will not suffice."
He scowled and shifted his feet, seemingly on edge.
"Am I prepared? Yes. I have the will and the resolve. Are my -men- prepared? Would that that were so easily answered... yet we cannot afford to wait. We can brook no further delays. He went silent months ago. He shall not remain dormant for much longer. And so I need that which I asked you for."
He turned back to the mountains.
"Payment notwithstanding, of course."
"I have what you seek," she answered, her attention also turning back toward the mountains. "It is not an easy thing to obtain, a crystal that is capable of trapping an essence of what is otherwise immortal. And yet..." Her head turned slightly towards him again. "These times seems to be in need of such a miracle, yes? And so it comes to be exist the world."
There might have been a hint of irony in the small curl that rose to her lips. "All things meet their end, sooner or later." Her head canted slowly. "It will almost be a shame to see this particular anomaly come to an end but in your hands, it must."
She reached down into her satchel, and took out a small box. Her movements were careful as she opened the box to reveal an oblong crystal within. It was a plain looking thing at a glance, opaque and dense. Its tips were encased in a darker crystal of deep black and violet hue.
"If the stories be believed, these have been used to bring immortal foes to their end. A pity that I have been unable to gather actual data of these events myself." Her words are clipped with this admission, closest to distaste that has ever colored her mood.
The pale woman looked upon the Au Ra once more. "The part of the price is the data. I only require the ends of this crystal returned back to me, if you are successful in your endeavor."
She held up the box toward him.
He reached out, hands clasping the sides of the box gingerly, eyes fixated on the crystal within.
"There may not be any remnants left of this relic when we are through with it. Such is the destructive nature of the energies that the Gifted will bring to bear upon it." The male's voice was distant, pensive. "That said, whether shards or fine sand, I shall see the ends returned, as requested."
He shook himself from his reverie and shut the lid, took the box from her and slid it under one arm. He turned to the Hellsguard and beckoned with the other hand. "Gnasher!"
The Crow rose to his feet and threw a rucksack to his captain. Tengri knelt, his back to those distant peaks, and slipped the box into the pack before rummaging through it further.
"Part of the price, you said. Before you elaborate, I beg you to consider a gift. If, that is, you are interested."
There was no delight in her visage at the mention of a gift. Not a flicker of anticipation or even curiosity. A slow cant of her head was her only reaction. She seemed to be studying him for a moment longer.
"A gift," she echoed. Those words hung in the air, as if it was a foreign concept. "Unexpected, but... yes. Interested."
She watched as the box was put away, still nary a glance given to the Hellsguard.
The Geneq surfaced at last with his prize. Held in one hand was a small black leather journal of some sort, entirely nondescript save for a title etched into the front cover: "Attempt IX". There were no other distinguishing features, no clues that would yield insight as to its contents.
"Bring him," ordered Rotunda as he slung the rucksack over one shoulder, and at his command the Hellsguard approached.
The Roegadyn wore little more than a pair of ragged breeches. His chest, torn and ragged and rotten as it was, seemed bloated, and the fiend walked as though he were bearing a great weight. One massive hand rose into the air... and plunged into that barrel of a chest. A sick squelching sound accompanied a titanic effort as the Crow drew forth a... a man from within. The poor bastard sucked in a deep breath and started screaming and flailing as he hung in the monster's grip by his wrist.
Bone Gnasher wasn't having any of it. He seized his prisoner by the back of the collar, spun him around, and drove him down onto his knees. The man burst into sobs. Though he looked far too worn, too old, and too pathetic, he would have been instantly recognizable to those who had known him in another life.
The man was Ser Besten.
There was a long bout of silence that fell between them, again the winds were dead still, as was the woman in white. Her glasses almost gleamed white with the reflection of the snow, veiling her skin in a paler hue.
"Curious," she broke the quiet with a monotonous observation. "Have you also mastered the art of returning the dead back to life? Last I knew of this man, his body was found in the middle of Thanalan, gutted and bled dry."
"The Ritual of Crows was designed with the intent of shackling departed souls to this world by way of a corpse," explained Rotunda as Besten sobbed. "In my bid to regain my mortality, I perverted and corrupted that ritual in order to chain the spirit to living flesh." He tapped at his own breastbone. "I was dead I live again. As does Sarangerel. As does this man, difficult and frustrating though it was to reanimate his corpse."
He held out the journal for her to take.
"These are my notes on the altered process. The decidedly magical process. You will find that I have omitted instructions as to how to bind the new being to one's will. That, I am afraid, shall remain my secret... for now." Rotunda Crow shrugged. "This is my gift to you. This journal and this man, for study. You may have Gnasher, as well, for a time... though I would want him back."
White gloved hand reached out and took the journal from the Au Ra's hand. The woman glanced to the weeping form of the man, still her expression blank. But when she answered, there was a hint of satisfaction that only tugged at the very edge of her words.
"Very well. My gratitude for your gifts." The glaring reflection of her spectacles turned toward the Hellsguard. There was a smallest curl of one corner of her lips. "And I shall return this one to you as well, when I am done."
The scientist seemed to study both the subjects at hand before turning back to the Xaela. "You have provided me with an interesting specimen. But I require another. My current studies involve... your kind." A pause, and the dark violet gaze seemed to penetrate through the spectacles to bore straight into him. "And that of dragons."
"You obtained this body for you own use." She seemed to be analyzing the details of his body, as one would an inanimate object. "I require Au Ra specimens of my own. Raen or Xaela, female or male, does not matter. And I require blood of dragons. As much as you can gain access to. Fresh or preserved pristinely."
Tengri smirked as he gave her a half-bow in acknowledgement of said gratitude. He seemed either oblivious or indifferent to her intense regard for his features.
"Acquisition of said specimens is simple enough. We shall have them in hand soon enough." He frowned. "Dragon blood, however... that is a different matter altogether. They have a hierarchy. I take it the blood of, say, a lesser wyvern will not suffice for your purposes."
"No. Lesser specimens, nor scalekin or beastkin will not due. I require the blood of a true dragon." Her words were spoken calmly, their rhythmic cadence. It was either that she did not doubt the capability of the man speaking before her or she simply expected it to be done.
"And the Au Ra, I prefer them robust. I need not weak and fragile things. They need to be able to withstand afflictions." A pause, as she seemed to be regarding him again. "Such as the one you chose for yourself."
“Xaela will suit you better, then. The steppes harden them, whereas the jungle coddles the Raen, keeps them soft, frail."
He smiled for her. There was confidence in him, and a measure of arrogance... but he seemed almost self-aware to a degree, for there were no signs of hubris in his voice.
"Dragon blood... from a true dragon." He chuckled. "'Til now, I hadn't the cause to pit our magic against theirs. They are eldritch and potent beasts. In more prosperous times, I would have relished the opportunity to hunt one down, and yet..." he glanced at Gnasher, "I am still replenishing the ranks, and so I must conserve our strength for the impending finale."
He looked back at her and winked.
"I know of two potential sources, in Thanalan of all places, which might yield the blood you seek without the confrontation I anticipate. The first is a great wyrm, guised in human form, who plays at passing judgment upon the lesser races. We have seen him at his games and we believe he can be convinced to donate to our cause, given proper incentive. I shall barter with him; you shall remain unknown."
Tengri sighed theatrically.
"Alas, the other potential source would have made for a -live- specimen, had we the means to ensnare it. As matters stand, I am loathe to part with Epinoch's bane." He hefted the rucksack, adjusted the seating of the strap across his shoulder. "Perhaps, if there were another shard of auracite at hand...."
He eyed her appreciatively.
"Warren Castille's beloved - she who is bonded to the Arbiter - has been possessed by a dragon, of all things."
The Au Ra was a charismatic man, one would have to be blind and deaf not to notice it. His arrogance was tempered by discipline and while his authority was strengthened by his insight. But if such observations were made by the pale woman, she did not make any outward expression of it, if anything it was recorded like any other statistic in her mind.
"Possessed... by a dragon," Raelisanne repeated in a monotonous tone, seemingly unimpressed. But the pause that followed was accompanied by slight thinning of her lips. There was a slight arch to her pale brows when she continued. "The Arbitor also seeks to draw out and eliminate this possession?"
She stared through the Xaela for a moment longer. "He too seeks an auracite." There was a cant of her head. "And he came to you. Why?"
"He did not come to me at all. Not at first. One of the Gifted did, to ask favor on Castille's behalf. I am known to the man to have considerable... capabilities where the procurement of rare and valuable goods is concerned. Indeed, I have built my public persona around such a reputation. The Arbiter went to him, and he in turn came to me, and so here I still stand, to learn whether I might parlay the prospect of mutual benefit into favors owed and debts paid."
He canted his head this way and that, as if deliberating. "The first source is easier. Little risk to either of us. But the second holds more promise."
"I may be able to procure a second auracite." Her eyes narrowed slightly, her words slowing as if with caution. "I know some things of this Arbiter. He is not of the sort that I would trust with favors to be returned in good faith. At least, not to me. He consorts with those who seek to do me harm."
Her arms remain crossed, but there was otherwise no tension in her frame even as she spoke her foes. No glimpse of animosity either. "What would he have to offer me in trade for a rare item as this?"
He scowled. "Little, in truth, beyond the beast itself. He carries in him an anomaly I've not seen elsewhere... though I cannot be certain, I believe that no small measure of self-inflicted pain and torment somehow serve to fuel his aether reserves. Perhaps that would be worthwhile."
She seemed to consider that for a moment, as one gloved finger tapped idly against her arm. "I will see what I can do about obtaining a second. But the price of the dragon is yours to pay, not his. The Arbiter needs to offer me better than himself for a second crystal. I already have a few Highlanders with aether reserves who are more than capable of surviving their share of torment."
She turned from the Xaela, looking to the mountains again. "Ask him if the chance to save his love is worth the price of a friend's life. If he is willing to pay a costly price, then I would be willing to give him what he needs."
Her head turned just slightly, as if she was glancing at the Au Ra from the corner of his eyes. "I predict his answer will be righteously opposed. Or uncharacteristically willing, his pride seemingly bent by desperation. I know of the Arbiter. Men like him will lie and kill dishonorably and brutally to achieve what he sees as right. Either way, I believe the Arbiter will not deliver. I shall leave to you if he lies or tells the truth about his willingness to sacrifice a part of his soul. That... along with whatever resides in his beloved, would be the price of a second auracite."
Tengri barked a laugh. "How well I have come to know you!"
The Au Ra turned and walked a ways from her, along the crest of the hill.
"I predicted this. I told him in no uncertain terms that you would demand such a price, such a sacrifice. That all transactions with you are give and take."
He glanced back over his shoulder at her. His white eye blazed in its socket where it hid behind a lock of his green hair.
"Perhaps he has yet to stumble upon an alternative. Perhaps desperation will drive him to reconsider. I do not know. What I do know is the answer he gave me a fortnight ago."
The former Crow snorted.
"I shall set Sarangerel to the task. She will treat with Jredthys for us. You will have your recompense."
The pale woman watched him leave; her arms remained crossed and her countenance unmoved as ever. She seemed to stare at him just a moment longer than needed, that blank stare that almost seemed blinding with the snow white reflection in the spectacles. She answered his laughter with silence, although there was a nearly imperceptible tension to her jaw. It was gone in another breath.
"Very well," she said coolly in response and turned from the Au Ra's departure. She seemed to return to the study of the mountains, and did not turn the Xaela's direction even long after he had departed.
"Thank you, Gnasher," he murmured.
The meaty thud of a fist against a bare chest sounded out as he turned to scan the surroundings for the woman who'd promised to deliver.
The woman was a vision of white, pale silver hair smoothly falling down her back, pristine white robes that seemed untouched by the earth billowing from her waist. She had her eyes trained on something in the distance, although with the spectacles that guarded her gaze and reflected any light away, one could never tell what or if anything truly held her interest.
Her back was turned to the two that appeared from the smoke and even as the two towering figures made themselves known, she did not turn immediately.
"I have always wondered. Why that form?" Her voice carried in the stillness of the place, quiet and yet not soft, placid in tone and yet not soothing.
The scaled man was silent as he joined her, save for the rattling of his platemail and all its buckles and straps. He took up position to stand alongside her, his own gaze searching the horizon for whatever, if anything, had caught her attention.
"Familiarity and advantage. Long ago, I served in the campaigns that brought Othard to heel. 'Twas there we first made contact with Raen and Xaela alike." He shrugged. "The latter are a formidable people, warriors all. This particular male was possessed of a wealth of experiences and talents. Youth, intelligence, strength, knowledge, insight, connections, a unique history which made him an ideal platform and foundation upon which to build."
His own voice was rich and deep, his words clipped, his tone imperial... as though he stood above all others and beheld them from a throne.
"I would have been a fool to take on any other."
The horizon was barren, white and harsh. But for a small moment in time, the wind seemed still, absent, as if the frozen earth wanted to listen to their exchange. But no other living beings were about save the three. The woman did not turn her gaze away from the distant mountains covered in ice just yet.
"More of their kind seem to have found their way south," she observed casually, as if discussing the weather. A pause fell between them before she turned her head slightly. Her glasses still reflected the white of the land, but her gaze seemed to be directed at him.
"Are you prepared to eliminate your foe?"
He met her eyes with his own.
"In truth, I am not certain. Five have I Gifted so that they might accomplish what others have not. Of those, one resists his calling, one dawdles for fear of wielding power, and one finds herself paralyzed by her betrothed. The remainder stand ready... but those two alone, with the Crows at their side, will not suffice."
He scowled and shifted his feet, seemingly on edge.
"Am I prepared? Yes. I have the will and the resolve. Are my -men- prepared? Would that that were so easily answered... yet we cannot afford to wait. We can brook no further delays. He went silent months ago. He shall not remain dormant for much longer. And so I need that which I asked you for."
He turned back to the mountains.
"Payment notwithstanding, of course."
"I have what you seek," she answered, her attention also turning back toward the mountains. "It is not an easy thing to obtain, a crystal that is capable of trapping an essence of what is otherwise immortal. And yet..." Her head turned slightly towards him again. "These times seems to be in need of such a miracle, yes? And so it comes to be exist the world."
There might have been a hint of irony in the small curl that rose to her lips. "All things meet their end, sooner or later." Her head canted slowly. "It will almost be a shame to see this particular anomaly come to an end but in your hands, it must."
She reached down into her satchel, and took out a small box. Her movements were careful as she opened the box to reveal an oblong crystal within. It was a plain looking thing at a glance, opaque and dense. Its tips were encased in a darker crystal of deep black and violet hue.
"If the stories be believed, these have been used to bring immortal foes to their end. A pity that I have been unable to gather actual data of these events myself." Her words are clipped with this admission, closest to distaste that has ever colored her mood.
The pale woman looked upon the Au Ra once more. "The part of the price is the data. I only require the ends of this crystal returned back to me, if you are successful in your endeavor."
She held up the box toward him.
He reached out, hands clasping the sides of the box gingerly, eyes fixated on the crystal within.
"There may not be any remnants left of this relic when we are through with it. Such is the destructive nature of the energies that the Gifted will bring to bear upon it." The male's voice was distant, pensive. "That said, whether shards or fine sand, I shall see the ends returned, as requested."
He shook himself from his reverie and shut the lid, took the box from her and slid it under one arm. He turned to the Hellsguard and beckoned with the other hand. "Gnasher!"
The Crow rose to his feet and threw a rucksack to his captain. Tengri knelt, his back to those distant peaks, and slipped the box into the pack before rummaging through it further.
"Part of the price, you said. Before you elaborate, I beg you to consider a gift. If, that is, you are interested."
There was no delight in her visage at the mention of a gift. Not a flicker of anticipation or even curiosity. A slow cant of her head was her only reaction. She seemed to be studying him for a moment longer.
"A gift," she echoed. Those words hung in the air, as if it was a foreign concept. "Unexpected, but... yes. Interested."
She watched as the box was put away, still nary a glance given to the Hellsguard.
The Geneq surfaced at last with his prize. Held in one hand was a small black leather journal of some sort, entirely nondescript save for a title etched into the front cover: "Attempt IX". There were no other distinguishing features, no clues that would yield insight as to its contents.
"Bring him," ordered Rotunda as he slung the rucksack over one shoulder, and at his command the Hellsguard approached.
The Roegadyn wore little more than a pair of ragged breeches. His chest, torn and ragged and rotten as it was, seemed bloated, and the fiend walked as though he were bearing a great weight. One massive hand rose into the air... and plunged into that barrel of a chest. A sick squelching sound accompanied a titanic effort as the Crow drew forth a... a man from within. The poor bastard sucked in a deep breath and started screaming and flailing as he hung in the monster's grip by his wrist.
Bone Gnasher wasn't having any of it. He seized his prisoner by the back of the collar, spun him around, and drove him down onto his knees. The man burst into sobs. Though he looked far too worn, too old, and too pathetic, he would have been instantly recognizable to those who had known him in another life.
The man was Ser Besten.
There was a long bout of silence that fell between them, again the winds were dead still, as was the woman in white. Her glasses almost gleamed white with the reflection of the snow, veiling her skin in a paler hue.
"Curious," she broke the quiet with a monotonous observation. "Have you also mastered the art of returning the dead back to life? Last I knew of this man, his body was found in the middle of Thanalan, gutted and bled dry."
"The Ritual of Crows was designed with the intent of shackling departed souls to this world by way of a corpse," explained Rotunda as Besten sobbed. "In my bid to regain my mortality, I perverted and corrupted that ritual in order to chain the spirit to living flesh." He tapped at his own breastbone. "I was dead I live again. As does Sarangerel. As does this man, difficult and frustrating though it was to reanimate his corpse."
He held out the journal for her to take.
"These are my notes on the altered process. The decidedly magical process. You will find that I have omitted instructions as to how to bind the new being to one's will. That, I am afraid, shall remain my secret... for now." Rotunda Crow shrugged. "This is my gift to you. This journal and this man, for study. You may have Gnasher, as well, for a time... though I would want him back."
White gloved hand reached out and took the journal from the Au Ra's hand. The woman glanced to the weeping form of the man, still her expression blank. But when she answered, there was a hint of satisfaction that only tugged at the very edge of her words.
"Very well. My gratitude for your gifts." The glaring reflection of her spectacles turned toward the Hellsguard. There was a smallest curl of one corner of her lips. "And I shall return this one to you as well, when I am done."
The scientist seemed to study both the subjects at hand before turning back to the Xaela. "You have provided me with an interesting specimen. But I require another. My current studies involve... your kind." A pause, and the dark violet gaze seemed to penetrate through the spectacles to bore straight into him. "And that of dragons."
"You obtained this body for you own use." She seemed to be analyzing the details of his body, as one would an inanimate object. "I require Au Ra specimens of my own. Raen or Xaela, female or male, does not matter. And I require blood of dragons. As much as you can gain access to. Fresh or preserved pristinely."
Tengri smirked as he gave her a half-bow in acknowledgement of said gratitude. He seemed either oblivious or indifferent to her intense regard for his features.
"Acquisition of said specimens is simple enough. We shall have them in hand soon enough." He frowned. "Dragon blood, however... that is a different matter altogether. They have a hierarchy. I take it the blood of, say, a lesser wyvern will not suffice for your purposes."
"No. Lesser specimens, nor scalekin or beastkin will not due. I require the blood of a true dragon." Her words were spoken calmly, their rhythmic cadence. It was either that she did not doubt the capability of the man speaking before her or she simply expected it to be done.
"And the Au Ra, I prefer them robust. I need not weak and fragile things. They need to be able to withstand afflictions." A pause, as she seemed to be regarding him again. "Such as the one you chose for yourself."
“Xaela will suit you better, then. The steppes harden them, whereas the jungle coddles the Raen, keeps them soft, frail."
He smiled for her. There was confidence in him, and a measure of arrogance... but he seemed almost self-aware to a degree, for there were no signs of hubris in his voice.
"Dragon blood... from a true dragon." He chuckled. "'Til now, I hadn't the cause to pit our magic against theirs. They are eldritch and potent beasts. In more prosperous times, I would have relished the opportunity to hunt one down, and yet..." he glanced at Gnasher, "I am still replenishing the ranks, and so I must conserve our strength for the impending finale."
He looked back at her and winked.
"I know of two potential sources, in Thanalan of all places, which might yield the blood you seek without the confrontation I anticipate. The first is a great wyrm, guised in human form, who plays at passing judgment upon the lesser races. We have seen him at his games and we believe he can be convinced to donate to our cause, given proper incentive. I shall barter with him; you shall remain unknown."
Tengri sighed theatrically.
"Alas, the other potential source would have made for a -live- specimen, had we the means to ensnare it. As matters stand, I am loathe to part with Epinoch's bane." He hefted the rucksack, adjusted the seating of the strap across his shoulder. "Perhaps, if there were another shard of auracite at hand...."
He eyed her appreciatively.
"Warren Castille's beloved - she who is bonded to the Arbiter - has been possessed by a dragon, of all things."
The Au Ra was a charismatic man, one would have to be blind and deaf not to notice it. His arrogance was tempered by discipline and while his authority was strengthened by his insight. But if such observations were made by the pale woman, she did not make any outward expression of it, if anything it was recorded like any other statistic in her mind.
"Possessed... by a dragon," Raelisanne repeated in a monotonous tone, seemingly unimpressed. But the pause that followed was accompanied by slight thinning of her lips. There was a slight arch to her pale brows when she continued. "The Arbitor also seeks to draw out and eliminate this possession?"
She stared through the Xaela for a moment longer. "He too seeks an auracite." There was a cant of her head. "And he came to you. Why?"
"He did not come to me at all. Not at first. One of the Gifted did, to ask favor on Castille's behalf. I am known to the man to have considerable... capabilities where the procurement of rare and valuable goods is concerned. Indeed, I have built my public persona around such a reputation. The Arbiter went to him, and he in turn came to me, and so here I still stand, to learn whether I might parlay the prospect of mutual benefit into favors owed and debts paid."
He canted his head this way and that, as if deliberating. "The first source is easier. Little risk to either of us. But the second holds more promise."
"I may be able to procure a second auracite." Her eyes narrowed slightly, her words slowing as if with caution. "I know some things of this Arbiter. He is not of the sort that I would trust with favors to be returned in good faith. At least, not to me. He consorts with those who seek to do me harm."
Her arms remain crossed, but there was otherwise no tension in her frame even as she spoke her foes. No glimpse of animosity either. "What would he have to offer me in trade for a rare item as this?"
He scowled. "Little, in truth, beyond the beast itself. He carries in him an anomaly I've not seen elsewhere... though I cannot be certain, I believe that no small measure of self-inflicted pain and torment somehow serve to fuel his aether reserves. Perhaps that would be worthwhile."
She seemed to consider that for a moment, as one gloved finger tapped idly against her arm. "I will see what I can do about obtaining a second. But the price of the dragon is yours to pay, not his. The Arbiter needs to offer me better than himself for a second crystal. I already have a few Highlanders with aether reserves who are more than capable of surviving their share of torment."
She turned from the Xaela, looking to the mountains again. "Ask him if the chance to save his love is worth the price of a friend's life. If he is willing to pay a costly price, then I would be willing to give him what he needs."
Her head turned just slightly, as if she was glancing at the Au Ra from the corner of his eyes. "I predict his answer will be righteously opposed. Or uncharacteristically willing, his pride seemingly bent by desperation. I know of the Arbiter. Men like him will lie and kill dishonorably and brutally to achieve what he sees as right. Either way, I believe the Arbiter will not deliver. I shall leave to you if he lies or tells the truth about his willingness to sacrifice a part of his soul. That... along with whatever resides in his beloved, would be the price of a second auracite."
Tengri barked a laugh. "How well I have come to know you!"
The Au Ra turned and walked a ways from her, along the crest of the hill.
"I predicted this. I told him in no uncertain terms that you would demand such a price, such a sacrifice. That all transactions with you are give and take."
He glanced back over his shoulder at her. His white eye blazed in its socket where it hid behind a lock of his green hair.
"Perhaps he has yet to stumble upon an alternative. Perhaps desperation will drive him to reconsider. I do not know. What I do know is the answer he gave me a fortnight ago."
The former Crow snorted.
"I shall set Sarangerel to the task. She will treat with Jredthys for us. You will have your recompense."
The pale woman watched him leave; her arms remained crossed and her countenance unmoved as ever. She seemed to stare at him just a moment longer than needed, that blank stare that almost seemed blinding with the snow white reflection in the spectacles. She answered his laughter with silence, although there was a nearly imperceptible tension to her jaw. It was gone in another breath.
"Very well," she said coolly in response and turned from the Au Ra's departure. She seemed to return to the study of the mountains, and did not turn the Xaela's direction even long after he had departed.