City of IF

[Shady Stoat]

Chapter Twenty-One

How had it come to this? A few hours (no, more likely days) ago, she had gained herself the beginnings of an army. She had been close to mastering her magic. Now, she was chained and alone; in the hands of her enemy, with no idea what had happened to her allies. She was worse off than if she had never left Shift City at all.

No - that wasn’t true! Captured she may be, but powerless she was not. They couldn’t keep her here for long. The moment a guard came along, he couldn’t help but succumb to her Possession magic. It was just a matter of waiting for her opportunity and pouncing.

What if Itharien already knew that, though? How much had Keli told to Art, in their shared dreams? How much had that little traitor told his Master, in turn? She knew, with sinking heart, that she could no longer rely on the element of surprise when it came to her enemies.

Her thoughts were interrupted by an ominous shaking. She cried out involuntarily as the earth began to shudder. Shrieks and screams came out of the darkness opposite, while rocks and shale clattered down the walls and pelted her. The buzzing voices pressured her temples and the back of her skull, matching in discomfort her scrapes and grazes from the stones that were falling.

Keli spat out dust, when the quake finally stopped. Tears were running down her face, perhaps from the pain and the near-choking, perhaps not. She found herself longing for someone to turn to. Renau, Shakal… even the Oracle, if he were still alive.

Had Erath known she would end up chained in Itharien’s dungeon? His words had given her hope. They had given her the courage to fight the Cult of the Beast, instead of run from it. All along, she had assumed that she would face the dark Priest… and yes, eventually bring him down. Now, for perhaps the first time, she faced the darker truth. The Oracle had never claimed Keli would win. He had never even said she would survive. Perhaps, in the end, all he had done was project his own hopes, with no real knowledge of how the future would turn out. All he could do was give her the best chance he could, and send her on her way; a pawn in some vast and incomprehensible game.

Again, she fought against despair. He had given her something more than vain hope. It was only through Erath that she had come to know about the Stone of Oracles. The cat-seer may be gone now, but his gift was not. Not yet, anyway. Keli knew that she had imperilled its existence by her careless friendship with Itharien’s slave… but perhaps she could still reach it before the Priest did.

The idea seemed to come to her from nowhere. Somehow, she knew that it was right. Her mind ceased circling, looking for a way to escape her chains. Instead, she allowed herself to lean back against cold rock, searching for the inner peace she needed to complete her task.

Slowly, the fear receded. Her lungs filled and emptied, filled and emptied. Gradually, she emptied her minds of the cries around her, the thousand unfathomable whispers, the useless emotions that distracted her. Eyes half-closed, she was floating, following the dancing of the lights as they led her…

… fresh, scented grass… the smell of wetness and leaves and old moss… the sound of tools against stone, chipping repetitively…

She focused again, returning to the place of her dreams. The Imperial Gardens, the home of what she sought. The place where she had been betrayed.

Art was there, leaning against the tree, in exactly the same position as she had last seen him. His tear-streaked eyes looked into hers. She gazed back without compassion.

“I don’t know if I can kill you here,” she heard herself say. “If you tell anyone – if you try to stop me in any way – I intend to find out.”

His expression twisted, first to sorrow, then resignation. There was a spiritless finality to the way he bowed his head and gazed at the floor. For a moment, Keli felt the return of pity. She quenched it, savagely and strode away from him.

The guards and the workers were oblivious to her presence as she approached the wall. The hole was bigger now – certainly large enough for a child to fit through. Judging by the three small bodies lying heaped and lifeless on the grass nearby, some already had. Keli shuddered and turned away. What sort of people would use children, just to gain a trinket that they had no understanding of?

She knew it was a stupid question the moment it had formed in her mind. The same sort of people who would kill, terrorize, lie and spread hatred, just for the sake of power, that was who! Now was not the time for standing still and philosophising. She had to try and make it to the Stone of Oracles, while she still could!

Erath had said that the stone would be waiting for her; that she had to prove her worth, and take it. She had always assumed that she would have to do that by travelling there, physically reaching out and grasping it. But why? Her power was in her dreams! It always had been. The stone had called her in her dreams? Why would it do that, unless it was waiting for her to realise and claim her power over it?

Perhaps there were other ways to make the Oracle-stone her own. It didn’t matter. She was here and she was ready. This would be her test; her moment of realization.

She just hoped she was up to it…

Not sparing a glance for the boy or the be-weaponed guards, she approached the wall. As soon as she got close, she began to feel the strength radiating from the bricks themselves. There was something from within, resisting her, testing her defences. Even the workers paused as they felt the force surging out.

Eyes wide, she took another step forward. It was like fighting a hurricane, every advancing pace a struggle. Malevolent forces buffeted her, tearing at her hair, scouring her flesh as it flew and flayed and fought with her.

As if from the distance, she could hear screams. For a moment, she wondered if it was her own voice echoing through her ears. The movement from the corner of her eye told her otherwise. One of the workers had obviously succumbed to the effects of the wall. She heard the chaos as the guards ran to end his madness, but she dared not look away from her target. Already the protecting spirits were changing their tactics, breathing confusion and forgetfulness into her mind.

She shook her head, trying to throw off the attack. Blinking, she wondered as the green turned to grey around her. Still their silken voices persisted, slippery and soothing, even as they raised the hairs on her neck. She felt her memories dripping away like blood from a leaking wound. Her name; her purpose; her surrounding; all began to fade around her, leaving her dizzy and disoriented.

She was here to do something. Yes – but what? And where was here? She saw only mist, and the faint outline of a wall ahead. The memory of a memory of a memory. Keli grasped it with the desperate strength of a survivor. Willing all her efforts to focus on the wall, she strained to see it more clearly. The ivy, thick in patches, mutilated and severed where the picks had been busy. The grey, irregular stonework beneath. A hole, tattered and rimmed with the dust of broken rock. Yes, it was coming back. She took a step forward, reached out and touched cold stone…

… and was plunged into darkness. Not just darkness of sight, but a black absence of anything. She could no longer feel the wall against her fingers. Her ears felt muffled, as if stoppered by wax plugs. The air felt neither cool nor warm as she breathed it (was she still breathing, she wondered?). There was no ground beneath her feet, no scent of grass or flowers, or any thing that had ever lived.

Now she could remember. The memories hurtled back into her head, thrown at her with a force that jarred her.

‘Just another trick,’ she thought, feeling the press of panic. ‘It’s just another trick. I need to…’

… to what? What did she have to fight against blackness? There was no object that she could reach out and attempt to learn about. She couldn’t possess darkness – there was nothing to possess! Her spirit-walking skills were negligible, and even if she could do it, she was dreaming! How could she wander out of her body when only her mind was in the dream realm? She shivered, feeling alone and lost without Shakal’s guidance.

The thought of the young wolf brought the answer to her. An answer so obvious that, had she been awake, her cheeks would have been burning.

“This is your dream… you are the master of it…”

Why was she allowing the Stone’s Guardians to set the terms of her vision? If it was her domain, then she had to make it so. A lesson learned in her very first session with the wolf – and seemingly forgotten with equal ease.

She summoned her concentration and began to build, using the darkness as her canvas and her imagination as the palette. The guardian forces began to batter at her again. She drew from their energies, making them part of the new creation, and they withdrew in confusion. Brick by brick, she began to assemble the ivy-imprisoned enclosure. Stone by stone, the structure grew, becoming solid as she demonstrated her strength to those who held the stone.

Finally, the wall stood complete before her. She paused for a moment, observing the child-sized hole, only an arm’s length away. Then, with a half-smile, she turned around, to view the enclosure’s interior.

“Very clever.” A deep, familiar voice murmured in her ear. “Who would have though the ape-child would paint herself on the inside of the barrier?”

Heart hammering, Keli turned to find Malkai standing beside her. He glanced disinterestedly at her, then turned to face the Oracle’s Enclosure. His expression spoke of having expected something a little more impressive.

It was easy to see why. The ruins of a once-splendid arboretum lay before them. Rare trees and shrubs had been buried under mounds of parasitic ivy. Rocks and fountains had been cracked open and left to rot by the weeds and brambles lining the path. There was a marble path towards the centre of the enclosure, but it was as overrun as any fairy-tale castle. Thorns, vines, weeds, toppled ornaments and, in all probability, more debris, further than her vision could reach.

“It will not do you any good, human,” growled Malkai, in satisfaction. “The Stone of Oracles was never meant for your kind. A mere human could never hope to master its complexities.”

Keli found herself rising, indignantly, to the bait. She stopped herself, forcing herself to think before acting. Why was Malkai here at all? She had already beaten the Wolf Leader in real life. Was he a test – or merely a distraction? She decided to find out.

Concentrating, she willed the dream to compliance. Slowly and with great resistance, the vines and weed-strands began to uncurl themselves from the marble path. They retreated as she watched, shrivelling back inch by inch, leaving a single step clear. She walked it, turning her thoughts to the next patch of marble.

“Getting in is easy, man-child,” remarked Malkai, conversationally. “Do you think, even if you manage to work your way to the centre of the web, that you will be able to escape? Why should the Guardians care who reaches the stone? Only the worthy can use it – and you are just another power-hungry ape, looking to play with toys far beyond your understanding.”

Even knowing that the taunts were designed to provoke her, Keli couldn’t help but challenge him.

“The Oracle said the stone had been waiting for me.”

Malkai’s tone became gleeful. “The Oracle would have told you anything you wanted to hear. He was desperate, he knew he would be dead within hours. Why, if he was so great, did he allow himself to be trapped inside the City, to die at the hands of ignorant torch-wielders?”

Keli took another step. It was getting harder to concentrate on the path, with that mocking voice in her ear. She glared at the brambles, willing them to move.

“Erath said he had to die, to lead them away from me,” she retorted.

“If you were that important, why did he not leave Shift and seek you out, before the siege came? You were the last tool in his possession, the lowest on the list. He used you, lied to you. He hated humans as we all did. Somehow, in his last days, he fooled himself into thinking there was a chance you might turn against your own kind to help us.”

The weeds forgotten now, Keli turned to the Were, outraged. “I tried to help!” she said, voice rising. “That’s why I want the Stone of Oracles – to aid me in defeating Itharien!”

He advanced on her, nose to nose. “And what makes you so superior to those you would defeat? You want the Stone because the stone gives you power. Why does the dark Priest want it? For the same reason! If the Cult of the Beast had not rejected you, turned you into an outcast, would you be as eager to face up to the evil deeds of your species?”

Keli felt a sudden flush of uncertainty. “Yes.”

Malkai’s sneer told her that he had seen through her defiance.

“Yes, of course,” he mocked. “Just as all the other City-dwellers do. They go to their churches, whether or not they believe. They bow their heads and pray to gods they have no faith in; and when somebody gets beaten or sent off to sacrifice, they jeer and chant and fill their heads with gratitude that, this time, it wasn’t them. Tell me, man-child. Tell me that you would face pain and death to defend the beast.”

“It’s not like that!” Keli shook her head, trying to free herself from the tangle of his accusations. “I’m not evil. The rest of them – they’re not evil either. Being scared doesn’t make you…”

Her words trailed away into uncertainty. Visions of sitting in the temple, watching as a woman was beaten, crossed her mind. She saw again the eager faces of the crowd, the hatred leering out from them; and she wondered. Was that fear, or misplaced anger? Was it ignorance… or something more sinister.

She rallied against her doubts. “There were good people too. The ones who took food to the Oracle. The people on the East side of the river. The innkeeper who let me go. None of them were what you describe, they were only…”

Again, she stopped. This time, though, it was not for lack of words. She finally noticed a tendril of ivy as it swept past the back of her heel. As she turned, she could see the path disappearing under the tangle of plant growth again. It squirmed and crawled over the path, surrounding her in a tiny island of marble.

Malkai’s eyes gleamed with cruel amusement as Keli looked back at him. Filled with sudden anger, she tried to blast him out of the dream with the force of her will. He didn’t so much as flicker.

Another bramble began to crawl over the toe of her boot. She wrenched her attention back to the undergrowth and began to clear her slow path again, trying to ignore the rumbling laugh that echoed through the enclosure.

Keli began to sweat. The dream had a life of its own, and the Guardian was obviously not out to make it easy on her. Still, now that her attention had turned back to the brambles, she was beginning to make progress again. All she had to do was stay focused on her goal and remember that this was her own vision. Nothing could harm her, if she didn’t let it.

Another pace forward. Then another. She could see the tangled outline of a great shape, not a long way ahead. Perhaps that was the statue that Erath had spoken of? Perhaps she was closer than she had thought.

Barely had she registered the sense of triumph when a new voice caused her to falter.

“Keli?”

“Art?”

Her eyes widened as she looked to the other side of the path. After a second, though, she turned back, disgusted.

“You’re not real. Get out.”

The boy watched her, coolly. “What are you going to do with the stone, if you reach it?”

She ignored him. The next step of branches and vines began to untangle themselves.

“Are you going to use it to make yourself more like them?”

The question was so strange that it threw her concentration.

“Like who?” she found herself saying.

“Like the Weres,” he said, a hard edge creeping into his voice. “That’s what you want, isn’t it?”

Anger was making it hard to concentrate on the path. Just the sight of her betrayer was making her blood pound faster.

“Shut up,” she snapped, watching a tendril of weed diminish.

“You’ve turned your back on your own kind.”

“They turned their backs on me!” she shouted, whirling to face him.

“They’re dying! Itharien is killing them and you’re doing nothing!”

“What could I do?” she countered, fists clenched.

“When did you try?” His voice blazed. “You left the Pig & Pilgrim. Did you ever stop to consider the trouble that the innkeeper and his daughter might get into, for letting you go? Did you think of your own family, when you ran away from them? Would you care to know what the Lord Justice of Itharien did to them, suspecting that they helped you to escape?”

“Go away!”

“You don’t want to hear?”

Keli screwed her eyes up and struggled through the next step on the path. Her throat felt tight and her eyes stung as she stared fiercely ahead.

“I don’t want to hear your lies,” she managed, at last.

“I can understand that,” continued the boy, his voice alight with false compassion. “You don’t like me, do you? You don’t like any of us humans – we’re not as good as the wolves and the cats and the snakes. Isn’t that why you kept running away? Isn’t that why you deserted your family and your friends and your duty? Isn’t it why you found a reason to hate me?”

It was too much. She turned, her voice virtually a scream.

“Found a reason? You traitor! How dare you?!”

“Easy to find a rationale, isn’t it?” he said, as pleasantly as if he were discussing the weather. His eyes were cold through the smile. “When you’re determined to hate your own species, you’ll find a way to think the worst.”

“You told Itharien about the stone!”

He looked at her, quizzically. “And if I did? Would you have done any differently, in my place? Or would you rather I, too, took my punishment while you ran away?”

“I wouldn’t have…” She stopped, realising that Art had succeeded. The path was crawling with vines again.

Her thoughts were awhirl. She knew that she had to concentrate on working her way to the centre of the enclosure, but control seemed a long way away.

Was Art right? Did she hate her own kind? Had everyone around her suffered because she had failed to protect them?

Or was Malkai right? Was she just a human, longing to get back to her own species, willing to sacrifice everyone else to do it?

“Perhaps they both are?”

A new voice. Keli’s spirits sank further. Shakal’s image, obviously sent to torment her.

“What will you do with the stone if you retrieve it?”

The girl gritted her teeth and tried to block out the sound of Shakal’s voice. Another few steps and she could make it through the tangle to what lay beyond.

“Stop the dark Priest? Kill him? What then? Do you think his evil legacy will stop there? Someone will step up to take his place – unless you kill that one too. What about the one after that? Will you wade through rivers of blood to destroy everyone who opposes your victory? Or will you step up to take his place yourself?”

“The real Shakal wouldn’t be saying this,” gritted Keli, willing the last rank of vegetation to disappear more quickly. “She knew I was trying to save everyone.

Shakal’s bark of laughter was so familiar that Keli almost believed, for a moment, that her guide was truly in the dream with her.

“Save everyone?” the wolf repeated, caustically. “You cannot even save yourself, human. There is no room in your world for anyone besides you.”

The accusation stung. Keli leapt to her own defence, knowing that it was wrong but unable to help it.

“You think I don’t care?” she bit, savagely. “I have to live through Itharien’s sacrifices every night. I’ll have to keep watching people being tortured – people dying – until I stop him. That’s why I need the Stone of Oracles. That’s why!”

Shakal tilted her head. “Have you listened to yourself? You want to stop Itharien… because his activities cause you to suffer pain. If the dreams were to cease, would you really care that the sacrifices continued? Or would it be enough that they had finally left you in peace? In the end, human, yours is the only heartbeat you hear, in a dark and lonely room.”

Keli gaped, stunned.

“The Stone of Oracles can defeat Itharien – but not when wielded by someone locked away by their own selfish desire for safety. You are not the rightful wielder. Turn back while you still can.”

Keli looked at the path again. The wall of thorns stared back at her, thin but defiant.

Was she the right one? Her mind was spinning with doubts. Erath could have been wrong – or desperate, when he chose her. Everything the Guardian had said was true. She had left devastation in the wake of her every decision. She had acted when she should have paused, and paused when she should have acted. Now she was fighting a fight she could not possibly hope to win. Even if she stopped Lord Itharien, she would never stop the hatred behind his rule. She couldn’t even truly say that the hatred didn’t exist within herself!

She saw the truth – and then she saw the truth beyond the truth.

“There’s no-one else,” she breathed, and walked forwards, even as she willed the vines to part before her.

The final strands disappeared, and she emerged into the central clearing. Whether her dream had altered the enclosure or not, she didn’t know; but the statue seemed untouched by the passage of time. Carved in a pale, silver stone, it was sculpted in exquisite detail. A bearded giant, slender, with a mane of hair that flowed down his back, the deep-set eyes seemed to stare directly at Keli. Mouth slightly open, she stared back. It was only when she tore her gaze away that she noticed the dark, green-veined stone, clasped in the statue’s hands.

Her heart soared with elation. The Stone of Oracles. That had to be it! With trembling fingers, she reached out to take it.

The stone refused to budge. It seemed fused to the fingers of the statue. Keli pulled harder, her brow furrowing in concentration.

“The Stone of Oracles…”

“…cannot be taken. It…”

“…must be given by the guardian.”

Keli froze, mid-effort. As she watched, a single figure glided into the clearing with her. It changed with the turn of the seconds; one minute Malkai, the next Shakal and then Art, only to begin the cycle again.

“The Stone was meant for me,” she said, flatly.

“Indeed. It is yours by right, but…”

“… the stone’s power was never meant to…”

“…be absorbed in one burst.”

“I don’t understand,” insisted Keli. “Are you saying the statue is trying to protect me?”

“It will release its treasure to you when…”

“…you decide which aspect of its power…”

“…you most wish to access.”

The guardian continued, its voice and aspect changing as it spoke. Now Malkai stood before her, speaking calmly and with purpose.

“Take the stone from me, human. I can offer you the combined powers of the Oracles. Their magics can be yours at a touch.”

Now the figure changed, becoming smaller until the boyish face of Art looked at her from under dirty locks.

“Let me give the stone to you. In an instant, you will know all there is to know about the soul-stones and the Ancient Race that spawned them.”

Features and frame clouded again, only to emerge as Shakal.

“Listen to me. I can grant you connection to all things living, here and now. You do not have to go through this alone.”

Keli gazed blankly as the guardian continued to twist its form. Was this the final test? Could she trust the guardian to tell the truth – and, even if she could, was it the complete truth that she was hearing, or the fragment it wanted her to believe?

Time was too short to do nothing – and if the guardian was right, she had to choose. With so many painful mistakes behind her, she only hoped she could redeem herself this time…

[Mother Goose]

This sounds to me very much like Paris's choice: power, knowledge, or love. Although he chose "love" and brought on the Trojan War, I think this love - connectedness with all living things - is of a different kind and is most likely to lead to salvation and peace.

I choose Shakal-form to receive the stone from.

[LordoftheNight]

Personally I think she would be tempted by Malkai's offer. In a way, simply because it's her enemy offering it to her, it almost makes what he says more real.

People who consider your friends often tell you what you want to hear, while your enemies tell the painful truth. I think she'd go for power, because otherwise she won't - or at least, she may feel that she won't - have enough power to win. Her doubts are already building, and here she is being offered a way out.

[Chinaren]

I am inclined to go for the power one too. Simply because I think it would be the most useful.

Of course, as Mother Goose mentioned, it may be a test. Bah, I hate tests. Go for the Power! :D

Nicely written chapter there Stoats.

[DukeReg]

She would definitely go with the connection with all living things offered by the Shakal image.

All of the trials on the way up the marble path were playing on her doubt about her belonging to any group of living things, whether she was really doing it for their benefit, and so forth.

Another thing is, being alone or as good as alone has been the major thing holding her back from confidence and progress towards victory. As soon as she gains allies, she moves forwards in leaps and bounds. She doesn't need to spend any more time wondering about whether humans really are evil, or who can be trusted, or anything like that. It will just hold her back.

No matter what she chooses, she still has to defeat Itharien. The best way to do that is to undermine his power base of followers. Connection with the living would involve understanding how to deal with people, I am sure.

Finally, I don't think this was Stoat's intention, but maybe Keli imagined this choice as being presented by Shakal because it's the option she trusted the most to end well for her.
Shakal is the only one represented by the three images that she trusts, and even if what I just proposed is not true, Keli would tend to choose it, despite herself and any rational line of thought.

By the way, in response to LOTN, Shakal may be her friend, but there is no precedent for her telling Keli what she wanted to hear. Quite the opposite.

So yeah, that's why I choose the Shakal image's option of connection with all living things.

[LordoftheNight]

That's not what I mean. Your enemy is deliberately going to pick up on your worst feature, while Shakel as her guide has to offer at least some encouragement, otherwise she'll feel it hopeless.

[Mother Goose]

Power corrupts. If she chooses that, she might defeat Itharien, only to become a dictator herself, waging war to extend her "benevolent" rule over more and more people, some of whom might not even want it!

With the connectedness option, she can draw on the power and knowledge of all the races, possibly even the plant life like the ivy guarding the Stone.

[Tazgirl180992]

Couldn't see choose none of them and choose to do it for the well being of all those innosent. That is what the guardians are ment to do isn't it? Guard those who need guarding, destroy those who are intent on making others suffer? Do it for everyone!

Btw, great chapter! And sorry about not being online for ages!

[Argonaut]

I say go for the connection to everyone, for all of DukeReg's reasons.

However, the knowledge of the souls-stones is tempting. If she knows how they work and how to contorll them perhaps she can release the souls or something and remove the power that they give Itharien.

Still it seems she needs to win this battle with ideology. Just beating down the cult wont heal the rift between humans and weres. She needs to somehow turn people towards tolerance instead of hatred. Of course that's a long-term goal. I wouldn't expect her to be able to magicly make everyone nice all of a sudden :)

[Chinaren]

Mother Goose wrote: Power corrupts. If she chooses that, she might defeat Itharien, only to become a dictator herself, waging war to extend her "benevolent" rule over more and more people, some of whom might not even want it!
.

Oooh, cool. I like that option!

[Mother Goose]

LOL!

[LordoftheNight]

Yeah, I was actually going for that, but didn't want to say it unless it put people off. Of course, I'm sure she is strong enough not to turn evil, at least in her mind.

Of course, if she has to make some sacrifices, and allow some people to die for the greater good, then that's all right.

[Chinaren]

'Evil' can be subjective. Like you say, if people think they are doing it for 'good' then they may press ahead.

One moment you are helping an old lady cross the road, the next your armies of darkness are crushing countries underfoot. In an attempt to help all the old ladies of the world. It can so easily happen. :shock:

[Starwalker]

This is what I see:

“Take the stone from me, human. I can offer you the combined powers of the Oracles. Their magics can be yours at a touch.” = Power

“Let me give the stone to you. In an instant, you will know all there is to know about the soul-stones and the Ancient Race that spawned them.” = Knowledge

“Listen to me. I can grant you connection to all things living, here and now. You do not have to go through this alone.” = oneness with the world

Now my question, everything has been a test, perhaps this is a test too and the choice she should take / make is the one not offered.

[Smee]

What choice is that then?

[Starwalker]

All the choices she has been given are choices where SHE is the reciepient of something, giving nothing in return.

I would say the one not mentioned, which is the one which would give the most in the end, is where she gives of herself to help others without expecting a reward.

[The Powers That Be]

Ok, I may be misremembering some of what has gone before, so correct me if I'm way off here on something. But my choice is...

None of the above.

The Stone has been messing with her the whole way. Why? Because it's protecting itself. Now, it's offering her the exact things she doesn't have - power, knowledge, connection with others - because it figures she won't be able to resist those.

The problem is that there's too much power floating around. And power corrupts, as Goose reminds us. Who's in charge of it doesn't matter. The best-intentioned folks will succumb (remember this? "She saw again the eager faces of the crowd, the hatred leering out from them").

The Stone will offer her whatever she wants. What Keli has to do is take what she needs. Break the power of the Stones (the Soul-Stones and the Stone of Oracles). The Stone will resist to the last, fight for self-preservation. But Keli's here to turn off the switch, and she shouldn't leave until she has.

Edit: Thinking about it a bit more, I think she needs to take the Stone from herself, not from one of the three the Stone is choosing. She has to manipulate the Stone in her dream, hard as it may be.

[Chinaren]

Wow. Powers, that is what a SGame comment should be like! I hereby present you with a Chinaren Hall Award for your comment.



The large award can be seen in Chinaren Hall of Heroes. A 50F prize goes with this one. Congratulations.

[Argonaut]

A fantastic idea Powers! Break everyone's power and level the playing field :)

[DukeReg]

There have been some good points made about rejecting all 3 options. I am convinced now that this is the best way to go. I was thinking of it in terms of a simple choice where you get what you ask for, and must choose from the list given. Since that is probably not the case, I retract my argument with its wobbly premises. :lol:

[Mother Goose]

Levelling the playing field by breaking the power of magic does not sound smart to me - Itharien has all the soldiers! Keli has a few packs of wolves, but her pack wasn't too successful in keeping her out of the dungeon where she ended up.

I'm not sure she can grab the stone for herself anyway. Didn't she try that?

I still think the connectedness idea is the most promising, drawing together not only the magic-users Itharien is trying to eliminate, but even the basically good people he has cowed and deceived into being his mob.

[Shady Stoat]

Poll's up. Vote please :D

[LordoftheNight]

Voted most definately for power. Because without the power to defeat her enemies, all else she does is worthless.

[The Powers That Be]

Mother Goose wrote: Levelling the playing field by breaking the power of magic does not sound smart to me - Itharien has all the soldiers! Keli has a few packs of wolves, but her pack wasn't too successful in keeping her out of the dungeon where she ended up.

"What shall it profiteth a man to gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?"

Accepting the help of the stone on the stone's terms cannot end well, in my opinion. She becomes a servant to its power that way. Beating Itharien might be easy, but the negative long-term impact will be devastating.

The war that follows won't be easy. But the people who serve Itharien are largely motivated by fear, the way I see it, and this Soul Stone stuff is a big part of that. To beat Itharien, she'll need to win the hearts and minds of the people - not just bludgeon them with her ill-gotten power.

[Argonaut]

Powers, you are my kind of guy, I like the way your mind works. If only I hadn't already voted.

[Shady Stoat]

Anybody is free to change their vote at any point before I start writing. Simple PM me, or post in thread, with what choice you made and what you'd like to change it to.

Of course, if you want to leave it the way it is, I could live with that too :D

[DukeReg]

This was a tough decision.

Giving herself to the stone seemed like a kind of spititual slavery or suicide. The 3 options originally presented are based on the assumption that she will actually get what she asks for, which I doubt. I don't see the stone as a friend, or as an enemy, but rather a dangerous tool that she frankly can't afford to try to use.

In the end I voted for breaking the stone's power. The poll has this joined with Powers' idea of Keli handing the stone to herself by manipulating the dream (I'd rather she threw it to the ground and shattered it.)

The symbolism isn't 100% clear to me, but I don't think the consequences of Keli breaking the Stone's power are becoming a dictator. She'll still be the underdog, but with the opportunity to make people rebel against Itharien, and stop him getting worse.

[Solomon Birch]

Though what Keli really want's to do is run away screaming, hide and cry until her eyes dry up and fall out, but methinks that is no longer an option. Damn. ;)

I thought Power's suggestion makes alot of sense, and would be the kind of thinking if Keli was in a logical, understandable situation. But she is not. This poses a dilemma. She would, out if instinct alone, choose Shakal, but I don't think she trusts even her within this dream-scape, and as it has no votes, I shall shunt it away into the shadows like so much luminescant moss! :shock:

The last option also sounds a bit far-fetched. We may all want to beleive that Keli is the selfless heroes of ours, and the Were's dreams, but the truth is she is not. She has come a long way since leaving home, but she is a far cry from sacrificing herself when there is no guarantee that it will solve her problems, and thus, those afflicting the Were's and the fear-consumed Human's of the land.

This brings me back to Powers point. Hrn. :?

After deliberation, I think she would go along this line of reasoning more than the others. She doesn't trust Shakal in this dream, and she trusts Malkai and Art even less. And she is not the kind of character who throws themsleves into the flames to save others. So I think she would scream, angrily ignoring the lying figures around and in her rage and fear, destroy the stone. Hopefully this wont go and f*** everything sideways. :-o

*holds breath* :shock:

[Shady Stoat]

Thanks for the tie-break, Soily. Since the poll's been up for 3 days, I'm closing it and getting to the writing part.

Great discussion, guys. Thanks for that :D

[Solomon Birch]

Looking forward to the next chapter Shady! Tis getting tense! :-o

*holds breath* :shock:

[Solomon Birch]

Keep at it Shady! We know you can do it! :D

[Shady Stoat]

Next chapter's up. Locking this thread. Thanks everyone :D