Page 83 of Into the West

Sai recovered first. “This . . . is unprecedented.”

“Well,” Kordas managed, “what happened back at the Imperial Palace was unprecedented. Uh . . . can we invite it inside the Veil?”

Jonaton’s jaw worked. “Uhm. I don’t know. I don’t know if it’s safe to do so.”

“I be good.” All three of them started at the words. But Kordas acted first. Because those words, and that tone, sounded so like his youngest, Jon, that he simply could not deny the creature.

“Please enter the Veil, my young friend,” he said, and a little tiny voice inside whispered and hope you don’t regret this.

The thing moved under his hand, heaved itself up on what became six stubby granite legs, and began moving—slowly, one weighty, careful step at a time—toward the gate. The Dolls parted to let it move, and so did the crowd of Valdemarans bundled up in their coats and cloaks. No one said a word, but they certainly were watching, some with curiosity, some with concern, and a few with wonder. He remained with it, walking slowly beside it, and then had a moment of panic when he realized it was not going to fit through the gate—

But as the Elemental approached the gate, it began to—stretch. A little like a slug, in fact—it elongated itself, spreading the bulk out behind it on new legs that appeared at the end of it, until it was as long as three barges and supported on twelve legs, six on either side.

It paced deliberately through the gate, Dolls following, people following the Dolls. Once inside the Veil, it paused for a moment, then moved toward a patch of grass next to the slowly growing manor, and settled there.

“Help,” it said simply. “I help.”

And at that, the manor lurched a little, and visibly grew by another hand’s-breadth, while the Valdemarans gasped aloud.

A new sound came from the Elemental then, a sound that Kordas could only compare to the sound of tinkling pebbles tumbling over one another in a barrel. After a moment, he recognized the sound for what it was.

Giggling.

He pulled off his coat and used it to sit on, settling himself down at the creature’s “head.” “So far away from—there—and here you are,” Kordas replied, wiping his forehead and hair back. “How did you find us? How did you get here?”

“Follow mama’s wise knows. She say, ‘Saver is where you feel true he is.’ I dive into world-home, come back up here.”

“I’m impressed. We are all very fragile compared to you. Thank you for being careful,” Kordas quite honestly spoke. An Elemental was immensely strong, physically, and this was a youth who might be somewhat clumsy, if it was anything like humans, horses, and hares. “And I think we should get to know one another.”

“Yesssssss,” it agreed. “Mama say, no give true name. Saver give me name.”

Well, that was easy enough to understand. Elementals that had a sense of self seldom revealed their actual names to humans. Names had power, and knowing the name of something often gave a mage power over that thing. Knowing that, choosing a name for an Elemental, might affect them in ways he didn’t know, so no Doomchip Boulderdeath name for the child. Something innocuous. “Well then, let’s call you Pebble, shall we?” he suggested, thinking the creature might be amused at being compared to a tiny stone.

He was right. It giggled again, and radiated delight.

“And I am Kordas,” he continued.

“Kor-dasssss. Saver,” Pebble confirmed. “I help Kor-dassss.”

The creature spoke very slowly, which—so far as Kordas’s limited knowledge told him—was normal for an Earth Elemental. Its sibilants sounded like escaping steam. The Six, Jonaton, and every other mage who wasn’t terrified to get near Pebble soon gathered around it to hear what it had to say. Kordas was obscurely relieved when Sydney appeared, tail high, sniffed the front of the thing, leapt to the top of it, explored for a few minutes, then settled in for a nap on the warmth. Meanwhile, every Doll that wasn’t in the initial welcoming party came by and patted the side of the creature.

It was slow going, and needed patience, but Pebble was quite clear, if slow, and eventually they got the whole story. After the fall of the Capital, Pebble’s mother had taken it away and healed it, and listened while Pebble recounted what had happened from the time it had been stolen from her in the midst of a romp on the surface to the moment when she had sensed Pebble at last, and erupted into the Palace to free and avenge her child. And it very soon became obvious that while Pebble might be a child, it certainly was bright, observant, and, even in slavery, and despite its pain and confinement, able to “see” things quite clearly. Pebble was friends with the vrondi in the Dolls, and they commiserated on their captivity. It had immediately understood when it saw Kordas that he was very different from the mages whose job it was to torment it. It had asked the Dolls about him, and heard from them that Kordas was going to send the Dolls to free it.

And it knew exactly who to thank for freeing it.

And once its mother had it back again, and her raging temper had cooled, it had told her about the human who was different. The “Saver.” Kordas.

Once all the lingering wounds had healed, she and Pebble had set out to find the Saver.

That had proven to be beyond even their formidable powers. So Mama had turned to the other Elementals for help—at least, the ones she could contact.

That, too, had proven fruitless—until, suddenly—it wasn’t. And the vrondi had flocked to the two Elementals to tell them what they wanted to know.

“Oho!” exclaimed Ceri. “That would be when we cast the spells that let the Dolls talk to their kin!”

“Was that what the vrondi told you, Pebble?” Kordas asked.

Kordas sensed Pebble emote something like a shrug. “Day, day, day, many many day, no. Then day yes. Vrondi say here, true. Mama say go. Pebble come. Pebble thank. Pebble help Saver.”