Chapter 10: A Piece of Myself

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"My name is Uvie," the girl says, "Ico sent me to you; I am her friend."

"Why couldn't Ico come to me herself?" Auberon asks, not ready to let go of his anger or mistrust, "What have you done with her?"

Her mother had told her often of the spirit that had given her powers, but she'd never said how beautiful they are to look on, with their strange hair and skin, and the otherworldly glow in their eyes. Nor did Aven ever say how very human they are in their emotions. Uvie stands in awe of this spirit she summoned, and yet she pities him, for despite his magic, he is just a man, concerned for the fate of one of his own, not knowing what has become of her. "My mother holds Ico prisoner," Uvie explains, "I cannot break the magic that holds her. So Ico sent me to find you, to free her."

"How do I know this is not some trick or yours to capture me as well?" Auberon asks, his eyes narrowed in suspicious slits.

"It was Ico that gave me the bowl of water to bring here to summon you," Uvie says, "Not even my mother has that kind of magic. Not yet, anyway. She means to kill Ico and eat her heart, to take her magic."

Auberon's jaw drops in utter horror, "Eat her heart?' he gasps. Not even the dragons are so cruel, he thinks. Or so deranged. "Take me to her. Now," he commands.

"Wait," she says, standing defiant before him, "What will you do?"

"I'm here to rescue Ico, nothing more," Auberon says, knowing that's not entirely true. These creatures have taken one of his and threatened her life, and they must pay for that.

"The people fear my mother," Uvie says, "They had no part in what she does. You must promise you won't harm them, or try to take revenge."

Auberon nods reluctantly. Freeing Ico is the most important thing, and he doesn't have the time to bargain with the girl. Nor does he have the power in his exhausted state to take on her whole clan; he must save what her has left to face her mother, the one with the magic to fight back.

"And...what of my mother?' she asks, maintaining her defiant stance as her voice falters.

"Your mother holds a fairy captive, and intends to eat her heart," Auberon says firmly, "She must be punished."

The girl's lips tremble, and a tear forms in her eye, but does not fall as she nods in resignation. "I understand," she whispers.

Auberon finds himself moved by Uvie's plight, offering her aid even while knowing her own mother would be harmed, even killed for it. 

"I will be merciful," he says gently, "As much as I can be. But if she has harmed Ico in any way..."

Uvie nods again, biting back tears. "Come, then, before my mother can carry out her plan."

"What are they doing?" Auberon asks as they crouch behind bushes at the outskirts of her clan's encampment.

"Building a new hut," Uvie explains, "The hut right there," she points forward, "Belongs to our chief, Tor. And behind it is my mother's hut. They have the highest place, so their huts are built first."

Auberon is fascinated by the activities of those who don't have the ability to craft their homes by the will of their minds alone.

"How to get past all these people unseen," Auberon muses, speaking to himself. Illusions are the easiest magic, but to weave a glamour on such a large scale, to make all these people simply not see him as he walked by, would exhaust more of his power than he can spare. There is another way, but he'd be putting a lot of trust in the girl...

"Take this jewel," Auberon says, deciding that he has no other choice. As he speaks, a glimmering gem appears in his hand, which he places in hers,  "It contains a piece of myself. Go to your mother's hut. Once you are inside, and safe, use it to summon me."

Auberon watches her go, hoping his trust is not misplaced.

Uvie strolls through her village largely unnoticed by the people as they go on with their daily chores, completely unaware of she has saved them all. Someday, she promises herself, they will know, and they will herald her as their savior. She'll be their Spirit Talker, even greater than her mother, because they will love rather than fear her.

Ico watches with apprehension as her captor making strange intonations at her fire. Auberon's rain stopped some time ago, and Uvie has not yet returned. If Auberon lashed out at the girl in anger, all may be lost, she thinks in fear.

Her anxiety is lessened when she sees Uvie enter the hut, but the girl is alone. Did Auberon not come?

Aven rises swiftly and cuffs Uvie on the ear. "Stupid girl!" she shrieks, "I gave you a simple task, to guard the door while I was away. Yet when I returned I found you gone, my hut unprotected!"

Ico rises to help Uvie as her mother throws her to the ground, dragging her by the hair, but the circle of stones will not let her pass, and she can only stand and watch in horror.

"I'm sorry," Uvie cries, "Please, Mother, don't!" The jewel she carries hidden in the pouch at her side responds to her distress.

And Auberon appears.

"You will not harm her," he growls as he pulls the surprised woman off her daughter.

He drags the woman forcefully to the circle where Ico stands imprisoned. "You will free her," Auberon hisses in her ear.

"No!" the woman shrieks, staring Ico as though mesmerized, "She is mine! Her power is mine! The Spirit has brought her to me, and you will not take her!"

Something is wrong here, Auberon thinks as he holds the struggling woman. Uvie said her mother had magic, but he senses nothing within her. How does she work magic when she's not of magic? So many questions, but now is not the time for puzzles. He must see Ico freed from this prison.

"You seek power, woman?" he says gently, his lips close to her ear, "I am far more powerful than your captive, the most powerful of my kind. Release her, and you can have me in trade."

Aven relaxes, stops struggling, "You would take her place in my circle?" she asks.

"I would," Auberon promises, his voice low and seductive, "Free her, and I will be yours. You have my word."

Auberon watches, fascinated, as the woman makes her incantations and gestures. If this is magic, it's like no other magic he's ever experienced.

"Step out of the circle, Ico," Auberon says when the woman finishes her rite.

After so many days held here, Ico steps over the stones, and nothing holds her back. She is free.

"And now you will take her place," Aven says, her statement almost a question.

"I promised it, didn't I?" Auberon answers, smiling.

"Don't!" Uvie cries, "She'll kill you!"

"Do not worry for me, Uvie," Auberon says. Aven stands unmoving as the fairy lifts a hand to her cheek. "You have no magic, no power," he whispers, his eyes looking deep into hers.

"I have no magic, no power," she agrees, her voice wooden.

"The spirit, my spirit, is gone," Aven says, sitting on the ground with a thump, "The voice, his voice...gone." She stares at a spot behind Auberon's head, seemingly unaware of him or her own daughter beside her.

"What did you do to her?" Uvie asks.

"I showed mercy," Auberon answers, "I took her power, but not her life." In truth, he doesn't know quite what he did himself. The woman never had any power to take, and all he could take from her was the belief that she did.

Without another word, the fairies disappear in a flash of light.

Uvie feels the weight of the jewel still hidden in the pouch at her waist; the spirit didn't ask her to return it. And, though he never did speak his name to her, she whispers, "Auberon," and the jewel warms to her voice.