Cards of Fate Bk. 01 Ch. 05

Chapter 5- A brief history lesson

On board the Gulfstream G650ER, Jimmy was looking over the newest members of the Band. They had just taken off and would have a brief stop in Singapore before zipping down to Sydney. So far things were going better than expected. They had already recruited five of the twelve, and it was only in the second week. At this rate, they may be able to recruit everyone and still have over a month to train them before the return.

But not everything was perfect. Jimmy knew that Jacob was struggling with his feelings for both Becca and Melaine. It was a shitty position to be in. Jimmy didn't even know how to help his friend. He was just as conflicted. Becca was his sister. His twin sister. Before he and Jacob were ripped away to Denerith, Becca and Jacob were planning their wedding. He knew how much they loved each other. He was by Jacob's side while he tried everything he could to return to his love. Jimmy knew that Jacob had never stopped loving her, even after he fell in love with Melaine.

Melaine. It would be so much easier if she was not the amazing person she was. He loved Melaine like a sister. She did more to bring Jacob back from where he was heading than anyone. She never pressured Jacob into relationship. Neither of them pushed for it. They both knew how much he loved Becca. But neither could deny how much they fell in love with each other. Everything pointed in the direction that Becca was gone forever. To deny their feelings for one another was to spit in the face of love.

Even when Loriel told them they were returning to Earth, Jacob had vowed not to see Becca. He knew he would return to Denerith, and he would do anything to keep from hurting Becca like that again. For Becca to be the first recruit Jimmy identified, that was proof that Fate was a cruel bitch. Jimmy dreaded having to tell Jacob that not only was he going to have see Becca again, but she was going to be returning with them. That Jacob appeared to take it so well should have been a sign of the pain he was in.

Watching his friend sit off to the side of the plane, looking out the window, though, Jimmy realized there was more to Jacob's mood. He had seen that look on his face many times over the years. It was the look of loss and regret. He saw it when Marcus died. He saw it when they lost Mat, Berlain, and Grokol. Every time one of the Band fell, he blamed himself. Jacob always believed he could have done more to save them. Seeing the look on his face now, Jimmy realized Jacob had been protecting him. They'd lost someone else since he'd left, and Jacob was dreading telling him.

Once they hit cruising altitude, Jimmy undid his seatbelt and walked over to where Jacob was sitting. Taking the chair opposite of him, he stared at Jacob until the pressure got too much. With a sigh, Jacob finally looked at him.

"What?"

"Who'd we lose?" Jimmy asked bluntly.

Jacob held his gaze for a second or two, then everything crashed down on him.

"Lyssa and Galin," was all he could croak out.

Jimmy felt like a spear had gone through his chest. Lyssa and Galin. Two elves that had been with the Band since long before Jimmy and Jacob arrived. Brother and sister, they had been the heart of their little army. Their upbeat attitudes always brought a smile to the rest of the Band. Galin had been a scout. There wasn't anything he couldn't track, and he could be standing right beside you and you would never know. The information he brought back on opposing forces, formations, numbers, locations, and strength, had saved the Band countless times. Lyssa was an archer. She was a maestro with a bow. There had been battles that had ended before they even started due to the combined efforts of her and Runa. She had also been Melaine's handmaiden before Melaine gave up her claim on royalty. When Melaine left her elven kingdom, Lyssa and Galin joined her without a second thought. The three of them had been together for over a hundred and thirty years. Now it was just Melaine. No wonder Jacob was in this mood.

"What happened?"

Jacob took a deep breath and told what he knew.

"It was about six months after you left," he began trying to find the strength to tell the tale. "They went out hunting, like they loved to do. You know how they were. Every now and then, they needed to take some time for themselves. Anyway, a few days later Pip went to the grove to look at the Circle there. She's so excited to try for a Card. She goes to the Circle every chance she can, just to stare at it and dream about getting a Card. Melaine, me and the rest were back at the base. Duncan was bitching about having to make all the weapons for me to bring back, and we were all giving him shit about it. Then Melaine and I got a psychic blast from Pip.

"I swear, I thought I was going to have an aneurism. Pip had never sent us one like that. It wasn't even comprehendible. All Melaine and I knew was that Pip was in more distress than we had ever known her to be. I grabbed Grave's Tether and Melaine already had drawn her swords, and we were out the door. The rest of the Band followed, but they couldn't keep up. Even I had hard time keeping up with Melaine. When we got to the Circle grove, though, everyone else was able to catch up quickly."

Jacob wiped at his eyes. Jimmy could tell that whatever had happened, it wasn't just some loss that happened in battle. Those, while painful, at least made sense. This was different.

"Jimmy, it was awful. Pip was on her knees screaming and crying. I wanted to join her when I saw what she was looking at. Lyssa and Galin had been crucified onto trees. But it didn't stop there. They had been flayed open, with both sides of their chests spread wide and nailed to the trees with crossbow bolts. They had been alive when it happened. Loriel detected a preserve life spell on the trees. The killers wanted them to live as long as possible in that agony. I thought I had witnessed true evil during my time there. What was done to Galin and Lyssa went beyond any definition of evil. They were killed to send a message. The grove was chosen for that same reason."

"Reshtalin?" Jimmy asked, already knowing who was responsible.

"Reshtalin," Jacob confirmed. "The son of a bitch even left a calling card. Carved on the tree in between them was a message. 'Hiding behind Loriel will not save you. I am coming.' His mark was carved below it."

Jimmy saw that the rest of the group had gathered around to hear the tale. Jimmy knew they had no idea who the people they were talking about were, but for the moment, they would have to stay confused. All his attention was on Jacob.

"The grove is only about a mile from the base," Jimmy said. "Reshtalin was able to get that close? Not to mention keep their torture hidden?"

"Runa and Xygos believe he's recruited a space or time mage. She said she felt some residual mana that pointed in that direction."

"Fuck, that's not good news," Jimmy said. "So, they could have suffered for days, right outside our door, and you would never have known it."

Jacob just nodded. Jimmy sat in silence for a few minutes. He was glad none of the others were asking questions, even though they must have had a million. Jacob just joined him in his silence. Then Jimmy started asking the important questions.

"How's Pip?"

"Devastated," Jacob answered. "Mat's death was hard for her, but this... I think it's because how close Melaine was to them. The mind bond between Melaine, Pip and me conveys emotions just as strongly as thoughts. She's not only dealing with her own grief and anger, she's having to deal with Melaine's and mine as well. Loriel is trying to find a new Circle for Pip to enter when it's time for her to try. Going back to grove wouldn't be fair to her."

"And Melaine?"

Jacob's face drained of emotion then.

"She's out for blood," he said coldly. "And I'm not sure I can stop her. I'm not sure I want to stop her. Jimmy, she's worse than I was after Marcus's death. Loriel's worried. She said she hadn't seen Melaine like this since she first found her. Lyssa, Melaine, and Galin had been together for almost a century and a half. Losing them both together, in such a sadistic way, after everything they had been through together; even with the mind bond, I can't appreciate the pain and anger she's feeling. Loriel's keeping her in check right now, but Melaine isn't going to let this go. I asked Runa and Palis to help keep her from doing something stupid, but if I'm being honest, I think Palis wants to go after Reshtalin as much, if not more, than Melaine."

"We're not strong enough yet to go after him," Jimmy said.

"I know. The one positive thing right now is that everyone is banding around Pip. She should be trying for her Card in a few days. Dammit, I wish I could be there for that. Anyway, no one's going to ruin that experience for her. Maybe, it'll be enough to calm everyone. I don't know."

"And what about you?" Jimmy asked. "How are you holding up?"

"I'm not," Jacob admitted. "As soon as I saw them hanging there on the trees, my first impulse was to track his ass down. If I lived or died, didn't matter. The ones who did this were going to die. The prick that ordered their deaths was going to die. And they were going to die by my hand. I could feel Melaine gearing up to run and fight beside me. She wouldn't stand in my way this time. She was going to be right beside me, dealing out death in a way the world had never seen.

"I was just about to start tracking, then I saw Pip again. She was still on the ground; crying, screaming, hurting so bad. My bloodlust vanished. I walked over to her and knelt beside her. Melaine glared at me, thinking I was abandoning her quest for revenge. Then she saw Pip too. She joined us and we just tried to soothe the poor girl. I really think that's the only thing keeping Melaine from going after him. Her caring for Pip just barely outweighs her need for revenge, but only by the smallest of margins."

Jimmy and the rest sat in silence, thinking about what Jacob had said. Jimmy looked at the newest members of his team. They all had shocked expressions. Jimmy knew what they were thinking. It had all seemed like a grand adventure to them. Go to a new world. Become heroes that saved kingdoms. Fight in glorious battles and be praised by one and all. But that had not been the case for Galin and Lyssa. They hadn't met their end in a glorious battle, earning honor and a place in history worthy of their accomplishments. No, like Marcus, they had been brutally tortured and murdered by a monster. Their deaths were only to send a message that there were forces out there that wanted them to suffer. And to everyone sitting around Jimmy, they realized they could be headed for the same fate. It was Becca that broke everyone out of their trance.

"I'm sorry," was all she could say to Jacob and Jimmy.

They both looked at her, then at the rest of the group. Jacob took a deep breath, and sat up straighter.

"Thank you," was all he could say in reply.

"You said that Melaine, Lyssa and Galin were together for almost a hundred and fifty years?" Owain asked. "How long do we live over there?"

"I guess we need to give you guys a better understanding of how things work on Denerith," Jacob said. "You probably have about a million questions, and I was going to wait until we had more recruited so I wouldn't have to tell this a bunch of times. But we have a long flight ahead of us, so I may as well start giving you some general information.

"Denerith is a lot like Earth. I mean, a lot. Gravity seems to be the same, so, it's probably a similar size. There's only one moon, days seem to be about 24 hours, and a year, or a cycle, depending on who you're talking to, seems equivalent to ours. While most races have their own languages and dialects, some with multiple languages and dialects, there's also the common tongue. Almost all sentient races speak the common tongue. In another twist of fate, the common tongue is almost exactly like our English. Don't ask me why. We spent hours with Loriel trying to figure that one out.

"One of the things you need to know, though, is that the cultures of the different races can vary greatly. Wars have been started over slight misunderstandings between two races. Which is another point you need to understand. Forget everything you've read in fantasy novels or seen in the movies. While some of the different races may seem similar to how they are portrayed in our stories, they are very different. For example, there are no inherently "good' or "evil" races. I have met some of the most despicable and evil elves over the years. We've fought alongside some minotaurs that were the most honorable beings I have known. Every race has their good and bad. Just like us humans here on Earth.

"So, for today's lesson, we're going to talk about some of the races you'll encounter on Denerith. Sentient races fall into three broad categories. There are the humanoid races, which assume the basic shape and features of humans. The most common ones you will see are the humans, the elves, and the dwarfs. Those three races are found all over Denerith. There are a ton of other humanoid races as well, and I will go over some of them in a bit. Then there are the beastman races. Again, these are exactly what you think they are. They're races that are hybrids of both humanoid and beast. Beastman races include those like centaurs, minotaurs, satyrs, or gnolls, which are basically humanoid people with heads and claws like canines. There are even more beastman races than there are humanoid races. The final sentient race are the sentient beasts. These are races that do not share any sort of humanoid form, but have intelligence, language, and entire cultures. The most famous type of sentient beast are the dragons. However, there are others. One is a race of creatures called the Halgresi. The Halgresi are a race of intelligent lionlike creatures. They are known for their negotiating skills, and most kingdoms have at least one Halgresi in their court to help with treaties and trade."

"Sounds pretty close to what Tolkien, Lewis, Feist, and all the others wrote about," Owain stated.

Jimmy shook his head.

"Yes and no," he said. "Remember what Jacob was saying earlier. Most of those authors really relied on the idea of good vs. evil. Look at Tolkien. Elves were the embodiment of good. Orcs bad. It's a lot more complicated than that."

"Wait, there's orcs too?" Maggie said.

"There's a race that closely resembles orcs. The Yuraketh," Jacob said. "Don't call them orcs, though. That is a grave insult to them. The yuraketh look similar to how orcs are described here on Earth. Extremely large, usually between seven or eight feet tall; very muscular; green, grey, olive, or something like a slate coloring to their skin; and two tusks that protrude upwards from their lower jaw. But that's where the similarities end. The yuraketh are not savages in any sense. In fact, they are probably the leading scholars on the planet. They live by a simple code. Balance of the mind and body. They call this the Two Pillars. A warrior who cannot debate philosophy is pitied; a scholar who cannot swing a warhammer is considered incomplete. Their society is a pure democracy, and every adult has an equal voice. They are warrior scholars, and neither title should take precedent over the other.

"One of the core beliefs of the yuraketh people is that of restrained combat. Because they are immense, killing a smaller creature without absolute justification is viewed as a grotesque lack of self-control. They fight to disarm or incapacitate unless facing an existential threat. They believe that taking a life of something smaller than themselves without absolute justification is to cause a disruption of the Two Pillars. Grokol was yuraketh. A pure mage, which is highly revered in their culture. Runa is a yuraketh as well. She is an archer/mage who has the class of Bound Pheonix.

"The Bound Phoenix is a class that is only given to the yuraketh. Unlike traditional fire mages who seek to incinerate, or traditional archers who seek to pierce vital organs, The Bound Phoenix uses flame as a cage and arrowheads as delivery systems. She uses heat, smoke, and blazing barriers to herd, blind, and disarm massive groups of enemies at once. She never goes for the kill, unless it is a very dire situation. But she can control a group of enemies better than anyone. The big abilities she uses are wildfire line, cloud volley, and welding shot.

"Wildfire line fires an arrow that leaves a trailing wall of low-heat, high-illumination fire. Enemies will not cross it, effectively splitting a crowd in half. Cloud volley rains down dozens of trick-arrows that explode into thick, choking black smoke, blinding enemies causing them to panic and lose the ability to coordinate attacks. Fiona, that's why Jimmy said Runa's going to love you. She can basically set up shadows all over the battlefield for you to hop to. Welding shot is the one that can really hurt an enemy army. She fires a searing arrow that splits mid-air. It can strike up to five targets and superheats their armor or weapon, forcing them to drop their weapons or collapse under the sudden, suffocating heat.

"But the thing you'll notice about all those abilities, none are meant to kill. Don't get me wrong, if the situation calls for it, Runa can be as deadly as any of us. But if she can incapacitate or lockdown the enemy instead, that's what she'll do every time."

"What about the others?" Megan asked. "You said that girl named Pip sent some sort of psychic message to you, but she's still to draw a Card. I take it her psychic abilities are race based and not class based?"

"Good catch," Jacob replied. "Pip is special to us. She's of a race called the Feythari. A slender, smaller-than-human humanoid race of long-lived, highly psionic beings. They're usually somewhere between four and five feet tall, and are strikingly beautiful; lithe proportions, luminous eyes, and have these softly glowing, rune like markings along their skin. They can have a wide range of psionic abilities; telepathy, telekinesis, or limited precognition, just to name a few. Most only have two or three of these as core talents and the combinations can be limitless. The one ability all feythari have is what's called Mindweave. This ability allows them to connect several minds together briefly to share senses, memories, and intent; very useful for hunting and coordinated defense. You can understand why they are so in demand for armies. Pip shows a strong aptitude for telepathy and mental override, which is just a fancy way of saying she can strongly influence what someone is going to do if they don't shield themselves from it.

"They mature slowly and live anywhere from 400 to700 years. Their physical aging is rapid after birth but slows to a much more gradual rate after their first eighteen years. Many appear youthful for centuries. But it's their societal and cultural structure that makes them so unique. They live extremely solitary lives. Most will only live with their mates, forgoing all contact with others. But when the females become pregnant, the parents will seek out one of the hidden birthing grounds. This is the only place that a group of feythari will congregate.

"The parents will locate a birthing ground and give birth to their child there. The family will remain there with other feythari families for the first eighteen years of the child's life. All the adults take part in teaching the children the subtle arts of perception, etiquette, and self-discipline. Education emphasizes solitude, meditation, and the ethics of touching other minds. According to Pip, at any given time there are fifteen to twenty different families living at a birthing ground.

"At eighteen the child leaves the birthing grounds and undergoes a Solitude Rite--seven years of wandering and silent meditation to establish their solitary identity. Of those that survive, most never return to any sort of communal living. The parents usually return to their solitary life, but some stay to continue the education of children at the birthing grounds.

"After the seven years of the Solitude Rite, when the child is twenty-five, they are considered to have come of age. This is when they are allowed to enter the magic circles to determine if they receive a Card. Due to their extended life span and solitary lifestyle, most feythari will only have a single or maybe two children during their lives. Many do not survive the Solitude Rite. As such, like the elves, the feythari have much higher chances of receiving a Card, though they usually gear towards the tradesman classes in the arts and nature realms. While they can speak the common tongue, they prefer to communicate telepathically. This is not a language exactly, but communication in understanding. Images, emotions, ideas, it allows communicating complex conversations almost instantly.

"On rare occasions, a feythari may form a mind bond with one or more from another race. Bonds are rare but sacred. This usually only happen when a feythari feels they owe a life debt to another. A bond forms through a voluntary mindweave ceremony that permanently links the minds, and only with mutual consent from all parties involved. The bond that occurs from the ceremony is much stronger than the regular mindweave. Bonded individuals share empathy, can sense each other across great distances, and gain access to each other's thoughts and emotions. Bonds are lifelong and often override their solitary instincts. A Solitude Rite is considered complete if a feythari forms a mind bond before finishing the seven years. They believe that if one forms a mind bond, they will not be living in solitude anymore and the rite is unnecessary.

"So, as you can imagine, a mindbond is not a small matter. To a feythari, a mindbond represents the most sacred of connections. They will fiercely protect anyone they are bonded to and are loyal to that person to a fault. If you bond with one, you are in essence opening your mind to them and they to you. To be bonded is to be dedicated to the one you are bonded to. This isn't a romantic or marriage type of commitment. A bond goes far beyond that."

"And you and Melaine are bonded to Pip?" Becca asked.

"Yeah," Jacob said. "It was just under a year after Marcus was killed. Melaine was still trying to help me get over it, and we went on a lot of scouting missions together. Pip was only in her first year of her Solitude Rite. One of the main purposes of the rite is for the young Feythari to find her 'home site'. Because most go on to a solitary lifestyle after their rite, they look for a location they will spend their lives. They look for mist-shrouded valleys, ruined towers reclaimed by vines, deep river caverns, the upper branches of ancient forests, anywhere they can set up a home to live alone and in peace. They adapt to deserts, mountains, coasts, almost any environment, with ease. Once they find their site, they are extremely protective of it. Nurturing the vegetation, protecting the local wildlife. This is their sanctuary.

"Pip had found a small patch of woods and was claiming it as her own. Some poachers started hunting in the area because it was also home to a herd of lumari. These are deerlike creatures with spiral horns that are highly prized for the magical properties of their pelts. Their fur glows like starlight and blankets made from it can keep you warm in the coldest of conditions. The pelts also have some healing properties and can protect you from bad dreams and psionic attacks. The lumari are peaceful herbivores that will not fight back no matter what is done to them. The herd was one of the main reasons Pip chose that patch of the forest.

"Anyway, when Pip saw the poachers hunting the herd, she immediately went to protect them. The poachers were too many. They captured Pip and slaughtered the entire herd. To the poachers, this was a windfall. Not only had they gotten enough pelts to make a fortune when they returned, they had also captured a feythari. Because it's so rare to find a feythari, let alone capture one, they are in high demand as slaves.

"Melaine and I were camping when we heard the poachers set up their camp. They weren't quiet and had no idea we were nearby. Normally, we wouldn't have bothered with what we thought were just some hunters, but later that night we heard the screams. The poachers decided to have their way with Pip. As soon as we heard the screams, we went to investigate. Pip was tied up, and the poachers were all taking turns with her. They weren't gentle and they weren't satisfied with just raping her. She had killed two of their men trying to protect the lumari, and the poachers were taking their revenge.

"Melaine and I didn't even bother to check in with the other. We saw what was happening to the poor girl and rushed the group. The entire fight lasted less than a minute, and then there were six poachers dead around the campfire. We immediately set Pip free and gave her some healing potions. Pip was in no shape to return to her forest, so we scavenged what valuables the poachers had and burned the bodies. We took Pip back to our base and Loriel helped heal her. From that point on, Pip was attached to us. She begged Melaine and I to bond with her, saying she owed us her life and she was duty bound to protect us. After a week or two of her continuous badgering, we agreed. She's been with us ever since."

"Pip does mindweaves with all of us," Jimmy said, taking up the story. "She loves all of us and will do anything to protect us. But the only two she has done a mindbond with are Jacob and Melaine. She can communicate with us all telepathically, but it's nothing like what she has with Jacob and Melaine. They can sense each other's emotions, share thoughts, and communicate psychically, having what would be an hour-long conversation in seconds."

"You're able to sense what Melaine is feeling?" Becca asked, trying not to sound jealous.

"Sorta," Jacob admitted. "It's more that I feel what Pip is sensing from her."

Everyone took a few minutes to process all they had heard. It sounded fantastical. All these different races, all these cultures, it was a lot to take in. Maggie had a question though.

"What about Loriel? You both talk about her so reverently. What is she?"

Jimmy started to laugh loudly.

"That is a question for the ages," he said. "Loriel is something completely different. No one's really sure what she is. Race wise, I mean. What we do know is that she has been around for a long time. I mean a really long time. Before we get to her, let's get back to Owain's original question about how long some races live on Denerith. In general, humans live somewhere between 80 to 100 years, if nothing happens to them. Pretty similar to Earth. Dwarfs can live up to 200 or 300 years. Yuraketh are about the same. Feythari can live 400 to 700 years. The elves are the longest living of the humanoid races. They can live between 1500 to 2000 years. But that's only talking about the non-Cardholders. For those of us who have Cards, our aging process is drastically slowed down. We can live four or five times as long as those from our race who don't have Cards. You all can expect to live four or five centuries if you're lucky. Some of the elven Cardholders could make it to ten thousand years.

"But that's just a drop in the bucket to how long some beast races live. Dragons are considered the longest living of all creatures on Denerith. Beast races can't draw Cards, but dragons still have lifespans that most would consider immortal. There are some that have been alive over one hundred thousand years. Consider how long that is. The oldest fossils we have found of homo-sapiens here on Earth are only 315 thousand years old. That means we've only had about four or five generations of dragons in the entire history of mankind on Earth.

"Loriel is older. Much older. Dragon records go back tens of millions of years, and there are references of her even in the earliest. To put it in easy-to-understand terms, when the dinosaurs were walking around Earth, odds are Loriel was probably already alive on Denerith."

Maggie just shook her head trying to comprehend something that old.

"I would say that's impossible, but just about everything you two say sounds impossible," she said with a sigh. "So, what does she look like? A humanoid race, beastman, beast?"

"For all practical purposes, she looks very human," Jacob said. "She's taller than most, about six foot six. Incredibly beautiful. Long white hair, but she appears to be in her early twenties. Why she looks human, but has been around long before any humanoid race was on the planet, nobody knows. But even the oldest records of the dragons describe her as she looks today."

"That's not even the strangest part," Jimmy continued. "Loriel doesn't have a Card. She's probably the most powerful being on all of Denerith, but she's not a Cardholder. She has more abilities, and they are way stronger, than any Cardholder, and no one knows why. Jacob and I have just resigned ourselves to calling her a Celestial. It's as good a name as anything for her race."

"She sounds like some sorta God. Is she the only Celestial?" Fiona asked.

Jimmy and Jacob gave each other a nervous look. The others caught on quickly that there was more to this than they had said.

"She would be the first to demand she's not a deity. But as for your question, we know of at least one more," Jacob said sadly.

Everything clicked in Becca's mind then.

"Reshtalin?" she asked, already knowing the answer.

Jacob nodded.

"Yeah, Reshtalin," Jacob said. "Some say he's been around as long as Loriel. He's nowhere near as powerful as Loriel, though. According to her, he'd never taken an interest in what happened on Denerith before. He just sat in his cave, meditating, watching the world go by. Then about five hundred years ago, he started becoming involved in the world. He started rounding up Cardholders and convincing them to join his crusade. Most of Denerith doesn't even know he exists. But he's tried to infiltrate all the kingdoms, growing distrust, eroding power structures, trying to plunge the world into chaos. He does it very subtly, but he's definitely trying to destroy alliances that have existed for millennia. No one knows what his endgame is, but Denerith is already feeling the effects of his manipulations.

"That's why Loriel brought us there in the first place. She felt we could be the wrench in whatever he was planning. She never told us why we would be so important. I'm not sure she even understood why. But she was convinced that Cardholders from Earth would be the key to protecting Denerith from his plans. That's why she created the Blanks in the first place. To give those who came from Earth the powers of the Cards."

"That's why Loriel need all of us. To fight against Reshtalin?" Megan asked.

"None of us are powerful enough to fight Reshtalin," Jacob said emphatically. "Loriel may be much more powerful than him, but make no mistake, Reshtalin is still one of the most powerful beings on the planet. Could one of us become powerful enough to take him on? Possibly. Doubtful, but possible. As I told all of you earlier, those of us who gained our powers through the Blanks started off at much higher levels than those who received their Cards from the Circles. We also seem to advance in our classes much faster than those from Denerith. It would probably take a human Catalyst eighty years to reach your level, Becca. In just ten years, Jimmy had become the most powerful Monk that we know of. The closest monk we know to Jimmy's level is three-thousand-year-old elf named Cyrisius, nice guy, by the way. And he's still behind in power. There are six Reapers that we know of alive today, including me. Two have been alive for over a thousand years. If all five were to go against me at the same time, they might defeat me, but it's not a certainty by any means. Considering we were only there for ten years, you can see how quickly those who gain powers from Blanks, or that come from Earth, not sure which, gain power.

"So, yes, it's possible one of us could eventually become powerful enough to defeat Reshtalin, but believe me, that day is far in the future, if it ever happens."

To know that there were beings that much stronger than they were was a sobering experience. It was becoming obvious to the new members that they were going to be in battles against superior foes. Foes who for all their denials, approached the levels of deities.

"I don't understand," Owain said. "If Loriel is so powerful, why doesn't she just go after Reshtalin herself? For that matter, why does she need any of us? It sounds like if she wanted to, she could easily rule the planet, and no one could stop her."

Jacob shook his head.

"Loriel doesn't operate on the same level as the rest of us. Could she take over the world? I have no doubt she could. But could and would are two very different things. Think about it. She has been around to see entire epochs past. She has seen evolutionary changes, entire races and species develop and die out. Even the dragons who are so long lived are just blinks of her eyes.

"And through all that time, she has never tried to exert her control over Denerith. She influences things. Someone that has lived for millions, possibly billions, of years, won't think like the rest of us. Ruling means nothing to her when the life of a kingdom is so short in her eyes. Still, even though our lives are over in heartbeat to her, she wants to guide us to become all we can. But directly controlling things is something she doesn't do. She is welcomed into any throne room. Almost every kingdom has at one time or another asked for her counsel. But that's all she'll do. Provide counsel. She has negotiated more peace treaties than can be counted. But she never directly gets involved in conflicts. There has only been one time that I have ever seen her get directly involved in any confrontation. When she stopped the fight between Melaine and me."

"Then why is she gathering up all of us?" Megan asked.

"Because she needs us to do what she won't allow herself to do," Jimmy said. "The members of the Band are some of the most powerful Cardholders out there. She finds them and brings them into our merry little group. Cardholders that progress faster, have rare Cards, have stronger abilities. Ones she feels can serve as protectors against those who want to abuse their abilities. She brings us together and uses us to keep balance in the world. We're sorta like the U. N. security forces. Not beholden to any one kingdom. Most of our missions are trying to stop wars, not participate in them. But Loriel will never fight in them."

"Sounds like a wanker to me," Fiona muttered. "What ya' describing is someone who could stop all the killing and wars, but don' got the balls ta do it. Least she could do is squash that Reshtalin bloke."

Jacob shook his head.

"Think about both of those things. Loriel could threaten all the races to get in line and live peacefully. That's not peace or freedom. That's oppression. Say she did that. Then one day the dwarfs decide to test her. They attack the elves. Loriel comes in and wipes them out. All the other races are now afraid to do anything for fear of drawing her wrath. Peace through oppression is not peace.

"Now consider your second thought. She goes after Reshtalin directly. She would probably win, but at what cost. Reshtalin may not be as powerful as Loriel, but he's powerful enough that a battle between the two of them could wipe out all life on Denerith. Think back to what I said earlier about mages reaching the mythic level in spells. Those spells, even with the amount of damage they could do, are tiny little firecrackers to what Loriel and Reshtalin are capable of. There's a reason the United States and Russia never used their nuclear stockpiles. It was called 'mutually assured destruction'. If either launched their missiles, the other side would have no choice but to launch their own. Sure the U. S. could have completely eradicated Russia, but everything else, including the U. S., would have been eradicated as well.

"Loriel and Reshtalin know what a direct confrontation between them would lead to. Neither wants that. So, they use us instead."

"Well, maybe not a complete wanker," Fiona conceded.

"Oh, she can be a right bitch sometimes," Jimmy laughed. "Trust me, there are times we have all wanted to hit her. But the most annoying thing is that she usually turns out to have made the right decision, no matter how wrong or stubborn we thought she was beforehand. We've learned to trust her judgement.

"Still, you're all missing a big point here. Loriel has the power to erase all of Denerith without breaking a sweat. But making the Blanks, and sending us back to get you, that almost drained her completely. That should tell you something about how special she thinks we are. For her to use that much power to get us, there had to be a good reason."

"Ok, so what about the rest of the Band?" Becca asked. "We've heard about those you've lost, how many of you are still in the Band, and are there other races you haven't told us about in the Band?"

"Let's see," Jacob thought for a minute. "You've heard about the dwarf twins, Duncan and Angus. Both Warsmiths, but Duncan concentrates on metal weapons and heavy armor, where Angus's skills lie in weapons made from natural sources and light armors like leather or dragon scale. They'll work together on some items, using material from both their specialties. Like your spear, Megan.

"Melaine's an elven Blade Dancer, and you've heard all about her. Pip's a feythari, like we said. She doesn't have a Card yet, but we're all sure she'll draw one. Because of their low birthrate and survival past twenty-five, most feythari do. Runa's a yuraketh Bound Phoenix, and she's pretty quiet, like most yuraketh.

"Then you have Kaz. She's a minotaur Hornsworn. Like the Bound Phoenix, the Hornsworn is a Card that's only drawn by certain beastman races, specifically those with horns. She's what most would describe as a tank class. Because of her race, she despises any sort of 'dirty fighting'. Honor means a lot the minotaurs, but for those that are Hornsworn, honor and loyalty is everything. She will never attack an enemy in any other way than face to face. Everything about her class is built around drawing the attention of enemies and protecting her teammates. One of her abilities is called Shared Pain. She can actually absorb some of the damage done to her sworn teammates, taking their wounds for herself. As you can imagine, she's incredibly tough. She fights with a giant great axe and a shield made of bone. To just about anyone else, her great axe would be a two-handed weapon. She wields it with one hand. Trust me, its impressive to watch.

"Almost the complete opposite of Kaz is Palis. He's our human Asunder. Where Kaz concentrates on protecting the team, the only thing Palis concentrates on is damaging the enemy. Asunders operate on a simple philosophy. The fastest way to mitigate damage is to remove the source. Think of a rampaging force of nature. Asunders don't concern themselves with any sort of defense. No shields, and definitely no heavy armor. Shit, we have enough trouble getting Palis to wear leather armor. If he could, he'd probably fight naked. To an Asunder, time defending is time that could better be used on offense. Palis has two inherent skills that play into this. Wounded speed and linked opponents. With wounded speed, the more damage he takes, the faster he becomes. Linked opponents grants him increased strength in his attacks the more consecutive strikes he lands against different opponents. A battle starts, and Palis rushes in with his broadsword to take down as many as he can as fast as he can.

"The last Cardholder we still have in the Band is Xygos. He's a Solarant. The solarants are a race of nomadic desert dwellers. The have a long live span, usually 500 to 700 years, but they don't base their age on years. They track their age through the changing of the dunes in the desert. They reach maturity at about thirty years and appear to stay that age for almost their entire lives. Then they age rapidly over the last twenty years of their lives. It's quite apparent when a solarant enters endlife. Those going through the final years are highly revered by their society. They're tall, have very sundrenched skin, and shimmering hair that reflects the sunlight. Their eyes are usually a gold, silver or deep violet which helps them filter out the sun's rays. Aside from that, they look very human like. Solarants also have a couple racial abilities. Biomimicry allows their lungs to recycle internal water. They can go up to a month without having to drink anything. The other racial ability is dune swimming. A solarant can 'swim' through sand and loose earth like we can swim through water. Obviously a helpful skill to avoid sandstorms, or more importantly, attack opponents from below ground.

"Xygos's class is The Sculpter. This is a type of earth mage. Almost all solarant Cardholders who don't draw a tradesman Card draw one that is a form of earth or air mage. What distinguishes The Sculpter from other earth mages is that is also give some low-level water spells as well.

"Any questions so far?"

Everyone shook their heads. It wasn't they that they didn't have questions, they just didn't know where to begin with them. Jacob decided to continue his lesson.

"Two other races that we used to have Card holding members of are the Fairies and the Trankles. Berlain was our fairy Death Diver. Death Divers are fighters who specialize in arial combat. But don't think of fairies how they are portrayed here on Earth. These are not your friendly little butterfly fairies. Roughly human sized, fairies are vicious fighters with exceptional strength. Their wings are more like dragonflies, and though the membrane appears thin, the wings are very durable. They have four separate wings that move independently of each other and flap at high speeds allowing the fairies to hover and make quick direction changes in flight. Fairies have hollow bones which make them very light. While not bulky in musculature, the muscles of fairies are dense and compact like a coiled spring. This allows for their great strength, but also quick and agile movements. They have similar livespans as humans.

"Aside from the wings and the sharp claws, they appear human in every other way. Like I said, they are vicious fighters who divebomb their opponents. The only weapons they use are short spears, often ignoring them in favor of their claws and teeth. Every fairy you meet will be a Cardholder. This isn't because Cards are more commonly granted to fairies, in fact it's the opposite. It's very uncommon for a fairy to receive a Card. The reason you'll only meet fairies with Cards is that fairies are an extremely isolationist race. They never leave their communes, unless they draw a Card. Then they are banished from the commune."

"Why are the banished?" Maggie asked.

"Fairies place a strong belief in the legend of Tiabor the Ruthless. According to legend, the fairies were once one strong nation. Tiabor drew a Card and became a powerful mage who ruled over the fairy nation with an iron fist for centuries. Because of Cardholder's extended lifespan, Tiabor was able to control the fairies for many generations. When Tiabor was defeated, the fairies separated into thousands of small communes and spread them across the world. Knowing this would weaken themselves, the location of the fairy communes are closely guarded secrets. Each commune is completely self-sufficient and believes in total isolation from the outside world.

"Never wanting to allow another Tiabor to arise, all fairies are required to enter a Circle on their eighteenth birthday. If they draw a Card, they are banished from the commune. Cardholding fairies dedicate their lives to protecting the areas around their communes, even though they can never return to them. They live in isolation but are able to create strong bonds with other races. No one is sure what triggers the bond, but certain fairies feel drawn to certain members of other races and will become extremely loyal to them. All Berlain could tell us was that when he was around twenty-five, he felt an uncontrollable urge to seek out Loriel. He stayed with us until his death."

"That doesn't sound like the Tuatha de Danann I grew up hearing about," Fiona said.

"Certainly not," Jacob laughed. "Like I said, the fairies of our myths are nothing like the fairies of Denerith. But moving on to the Trankles. The trankles are a diminutive race of expert scouts known just as much for their sharp eyes as they are for their sharp tongues. Standing only about three feet tall, they are easily underestimated, but their natural agility and unmatched survival instincts make them the finest scouts of the humanoid races. They have large, luminous eyes which give them exceptional low-light vision, and oversized ears that can swivel to pinpoint sounds miles away. Not ears like elves, but rather more like large cat ears. They typically have earthy skin tones, messy hair woven with twigs and other forms of camouflage, and overly expressive faces. Their small frame allows them to blend perfectly into underbrush, making them virtually undetectable. Trankles intuitively understand how to traverse dense forests, treacherous mountains, and unforgiving swamps without leaving a trace. Deep down, trankles are fiercely loyal, compassionate, and protective of travelers and nature. They will gladly give their last ration to a stranger.

"Their primary method of showing affection or breaking tension is through biting sarcasm and ruthless, deadpan teasing. If a trankle likes you, they will relentlessly mock your fashion choices, but they will also be the first to pull you out of a ravine. If you are lucky enough to visit a trankle village, which is difficult because they are so nomadic they rarely stay in the same place for more than a couple of years, expect to receive a very strange welcome. Instead of a traditional greeting, visitors are welcomed with a rapid-fire comedic roast. It's a cultural test to see if guests can laugh at themselves.

"Mat was our trankle Pathfinder. Almost all trankle Cardholders who don't draw a tradesman Card, draw one that is related to scouting. When he died, Loriel made us bring his body back to his clan. Jimmy, Pip, Melaine, Kaz, Angus, Duncan and I spent six months tracking them down. His funeral was an interesting event. Hearing all the trankles roast him was disturbing at first, but when you realized how much it was a show of respect from them, it was really touching. When we were about to leave, three trankles begged us to take them with us. Scot, Jon, and Elle. They didn't have Cards, but I'll be damned if they aren't some of the best scouts I have ever worked with. We call them the Trankle Triplets, even though they aren't related. They took Galin's death hard."

"Wait," Maggie interrupted. "There are non-Cardholders in the Band?"

"Oh yeah," Jimmy said. "Loriel tries to recruit the best, Cardholder or not. Besides the triplets, we have a human named Winston, who is our stable master. He may not have any special abilities, but he can tame and train a horse better than anyone. There's Lathrin, an elven fletcher whose arrows are some of the best in the land. Gabrielle and Simon are a married human couple. Gabrielle is our cook, and I'll tell you, she can cook. Simon is our tanner. Between the two of them no part of an animal we hunt is wasted. Carid is another human. You'll never see him far from Loriel. He's her personal scribe and he documents everything. I'm not really sure he ever sleeps. Then there's Alize. She's an Aviarian. That's an avian beastman race. They have these huge expansive wings and strong taloned feet. They are some of the fastest flyers in the world. Almost every kingdom has a few aviarians in their employ. They serve as messengers and emissaries. Killing an aviarian who is carrying a diplomatic message or serving as an emissary is condemned in all kingdoms. I've never heard of an aviarian Cardholder, but they may exist. Alize is the best of them, though. Even fairies have trouble keeping up with her in the air. If she shows up in a kingdom, whoever is the leader is sure to welcome her and see to her immediately. She carries almost as much respect as Loriel."

"That was a hell of a lot of exposition," Owain said. "Talk about an info dump."

Jimmy smiled at them and said, "Yeah it was. Who's ready for a quiz on it?"

Their shocked stares caused Jacob to laugh out loud. Jimmy smiled that he had gotten his friend to forget their troubles for at least a little while.