Ah! This. Is. Thee Bessssst!!!! I love your writing style, and I'm disapointed when the part ends every time.

Part 13

As the students stood or lay on the deck, they heard footsteps approaching. The next minute a tall, energetic-looking young man had appeared on deck. Sitting up, Inanna saw that there were several other men scurrying around in the moonlight - sailors, she imagined.

"Good eve, Girian," he said in low tones. "Is all well?"

"Yes, we're all aboard, Dehar," answered Girian. He turned to Erik. "We are all here, right?"

"Huh?" asked Erik, sitting up dazedly.

"Yes, we are," answered Inanna quickly. She had had the easiest journey of anybody, having been able to slip through the shadows and get away unseen, and she had taken the opportunity to make sure everyone was there. Everyone was, even Albine, who was sulking in a far corner of the deck. "But - I don't quite recognize him."

She pointed. Standing easily on the other end of the ship was an older boy with brown hair and sunglasses, which looked incongruous, to say the least, on this ancient ship. He was looking out over the river.

Naiche stared at the boy. 

"I..." He paused. "That's Arya. Hazeline," he added.

Inanna pulled her knees up to her chin and wrapped her arms around them, feeling chilly. She was glad when Erik scooted over and put his arm around her, lending her warmth. Perhaps it was because she was so tired, but she didn't feel at all startled, only interested, that a random boy had just joined them. "And who's Arya Hazeline?"

"He was a kid at the Unicorn school," Naiche said, "but a lot older than me. I didn't know him too well. I think I heard before we left for Ardaris Hill that he had gotten kidnapped by the Aquimans?"

"Oh, that's right!" Eve broke in. "Yeah, I remember him." She turned to Rowan, who was sitting next to her - Inanna found herself wondering if maybe... "Do you? He was that really cocky guy who went around with Allie Schroemacher last year and everyone wondered what the heck they had in common, and then he broke up with her and inexplicably went in for American football." 

"I have no idea who was with who," said Rowan, running a hand through his curly hair. "Although now that you mention American football... I mean, I was on the soccer team so I don't really remember the football jocks, but I think I recall seeing him."

"Yeah, he was this big star," said Eve dismissively. "So what is he doing here?"

"I found him," said Angel unexpectedly, "being held by a small group of NO soldiers, as I was trying to get to the ship. I recognized him right away and thought I might as well save him. So I, um, used my power to fight off the soldiers, and I brought Arya along with me."

Arya had turned around and was watching them as if he knew exactly what they were saying, even though he was out of earshot; Inanna remembered that that had always been a characteristic of his. "Hi, Arya," she called welcomingly. 

After all the greetings had been finished, and they had all introduced themselves to Dahar, who was the captain of this mysterious ship, Girian explained his plan - "finally," as Inanna said.

From time immemorial, it had been known by the Guardians of Cambir that to come to Ideól, one must lift the great rock that stood behind the Darial palace. But no one had ever been able to. Only those who were descended from both humans and Archenians would be able to do so. If they succeeded, the prophecies said, a river would flow out from underneath the rock, and a ship would appear upon thid river. And if you got on the ship, it would take you down the river to Ideól. Girian had planned to sail to Ideól without the Archenians, and, once there, turn off the Fountain.

"What's the Fountain?" Derek asked.

"This river," Girian explained, "is what carries magic from Tallinn to the human world, and to do so it must pass through Ideól by way of a very sacred Fountain. But the Fountain can be stopped. When that happens, magic will no longer be able to exist in the human world. Your home will be your home again, safe forever from evil magic."

"Will we still have our powers?" Angel asked.

"No," said Girian gravely. "All magic will disappear."

This was a serious revelation. Inanna didn't mind so much about losing her powers - after all, she didn't think it would be useful at home to manipulate shadows. But she knew how much Erik's power meant to him, how he enjoyed being able to fly and manipulate air, and she guessed it was the same for most of the other students.

Clouds suddenly scudded over the moon, and a cold wind sprang up. The waves were higher and frothed against the ship's hull. Girian said tersely, "There's a fleet of ships following us. And they have NO's mark on their sails."

"What!" exclaimed Derek. "How did they get ships in this amount of time?"

"Prepare for the storm and go quickly," Dehar was saying to the sailors. "Ideól is just ahead."

The next thing Inanna knew, she was lying on the wet deck, and the storm had broken out in full force. The wind screeched and howled in her ear. Erik was struggling to go below, and Dehar was shouting to Girian, over the noise of the wind:

"We're not by Ideól after all! We're off course somehow. We're by the Rivers of Storm and I swear before the storm broke we were miles away from them. There's black magic here somewhere!"

Inanna forced herself forward and crawled below with Erik. The ship pitched and tossed like a carousel horse gone beserk. She couldn't even feel queasy - the terror she was experiencing blocked out all physical sensation. It was dark and noisy with the cry of the wind. Now and again she managed to lift her head and catch sight of another student clinging to the ship's floor.

Then, just as the wind screamed in triumph and the water came rushing into the hold, she heard a tingling, high, clear sound. It echoed away through the tiny hold.

Suddenly the horrible, bloodcurdling wind died away, and the ship was steady for a moment. Inanna lay on the floor in a ball, ready for the next sickening turn-over, ready to hear the angry wind again. None came. There was silence everywhere. The ship stayed quiet. Outside, she heard birds singing a dawn chorus - the merry, lilting chirp of the chickadee and the poignant, piercing whistle of the robin.

Inanna lifted her head and looked around. Erik was gone, and moonlight was shining in. Slowly, quiveringly, she got up and unsteadily walked to the ladder. She climbed to the deck and saw a scene that made her well up with joy.

The ship was anchored in a small stream. Tall trees grew along the banks, and exquisite night wildflowers bloomed here and there. It was still dark, but perhaps not quite so dark as it had been before.

On deck, the sailors had collapsed. They were staring at the moon and breathing the cool, spring woodland air. Dahar was standing, but his face was pale. Erik was nowhere to be seen.

Inanna walked forward to the captain.

"What happened?" she asked faintly.

"The NO fleet caught up to us. It was sent by Aelia, I'm sure - she's the accursed traitorous wife of Tiraz, ruler of NO, and the one who pulls all the strings behind the scenes, as wives so often do." He snorted. "She used to be on our side. Now she's a dyed-in-the-wool Nighthawk, through and through. I saw her on the banks of the river as we started off, and instantly suspected there'd be trouble."

"But - what saved us?"

The young captain frowned. "I don't rightly know. We were just going to be captured when I heard the sound of the clairhorn. It's an ancient Archenian horn that dissolves evil magic when it's blown, and it destroyed the fleet or sent it back home or something - at any rate, the ships vanished. But none of us blew it, I'm sure, and I don't know who else might have. Anyway, the point is, we've arrived at Ideól."

We've arrived at Ideól. It was a tremendous thought. 

Slowly the students disembarked. They saw now that they were on a little island in the middle of the river, ringed by trees. The river cut through the island in the form of a stream, which the ship had been anchored in. It was beautiful. The air was fresh and sweet, and the noise of the stream running through its banks was the most fitting of music - merry and cool and tinkling.

"Let's get the fountain turned off, then," said Derek. "If we can find the fountain..."

"All of you will need to participate," said Girian instructively. "That was an ancient requirement in the prophecy - you would have to work as a group, with absolute and utter trust in each other."

"Sounds good to me," said Angel cheerfully.

"And this is coming from the person who couldn't bear to be teamed up with a couple of Dragons," Derek teased.

"Yeah, well, I thought that over a bit," admitted Angel. "And I'm sorry I said you had a low intellect, by the way."

"Oh, that's okay," said Derek, and they shook hands.

But then a cold voice cut through the conversation.

"I'm not doing this."

"Albine, this is just getting ridiculous," said Inanna severely. "After everything we've done for each other, haven't you seen that Dragons and Unicorns can work together? Aren't you ready to give up your silly ideas?"

Suddenly Albine's face changed. It was no longer malicious, or guarded - he had let down his cold exterior, and suddenly they saw only bewilderment and misery on his face.

"No!" he burst out. "I need to rethink everything I've ever been taught, okay? I don't understand anything any more. I've been almost killed by the head of the organization that practically brought me up. I don't know what to think or where to go." He was almost screaming. "How do you think it feels to have the person you've betrayed someone to, turn on you and betray you as well? To have an arrow pointed at your throat? You don't have anything to cling to anymore. You're lost. And that's what I am, and I'm not trusting anyone, least of all you. There's no such thing as trust in this world."

He turned and stalked away, leaving a stunned group huddled on the shore.

"If we don't turn off the Fountain quickly," said Girian in the gloom, "NO will have enough time to send out another fleet. And if they do - we'll never be able to fight it."

A little wind moaned in the trees. The air was suddenly very cold. Night was over, but the day had not yet begun.

*claps so hard hands hurt* owwwww

So much excitment in this one (and lotsa Inanna!!!)  And GASP it was loooooooong!!! :DDDD

Ooh, Iffy says <mymoz.> That sounds kind of like a name in the Bible... and definitely like a good fantasy name.

Part 14

Albine walked until he could no longer hear the others' voices. The air was cold and clammy; though his eyes, as usual, were closed, he could tell that dawn hadn't broken yet. But he was unaffected by the chilliness of the night. Anger was heating him up, anger and bewilderment.

Albine had always been lonely. The day none of the neighborhood kids had wanted to play with him because he was "the weird one"; the day his best friend had dumped him in order to get into the more popular group; these and all the other half-buried remembrances came rushing into the light again. He knew, now that he was older, why he had had such trouble making friends. He had been a defiant boy, always ready to argue and even get into fights, his frustration fueled by the fact that his parents' poverty was nothing like what he saw on TV. When his parents received the Dragon School's offer to take Albine, they accepted gratefully, hoping that it would be the making of their rather unpromising son.

At the school Albine applied himself to his studies rather than socializing, and soon became one of the top students there. He was taken into NO's confidence far before the others were even told they had magic powers, learning about the Nighthawks' history and plans to rule the world. He was trained to admire the heroes of the organization: Gregoris, its founder; Terryen, who had made it what it was today; Telyar, its present head. He grew up believing that everything he would do must be for the glory of the Nighthawks, and that the Unicorns were the enemy. Little did he know that NO had planned the division between the schools to keep the students from ever uniting against them.

It had come as a shock to see his classmates forget the old rules so easily. He had partially accepted Erik, a Dragon, as leader, but he had never been reconciled to the general situation. Helping NO behind the others' backs had only come as second nature.

And now - !

He sat wearily down on the damp, mossy banks of the stream, feeling like an old, old man. He didn't know if he could ever forget that moment when Aelia, one of the rulers of the organization he had worshipped all his life, had pointed her arrow at him. Even though he knew the unscrupulousness of her world, he had been willing to trust her. And if it hadn't been for Derek, that would have led to his death. Training taught him not to trust his fellow students. Experience told him he could no longer trust the Nighthawks. The world seemed a bleak, empty place, without a single friend in it.

And after all you've done, why would anyone want to be your friend? a voice whispered inside him. He didn't even try to fight the knowledge that came with it. He had not only hurt himself, but everyone else too.

But Ideól is a strange place, full of magic for those who need it, though none can say how or why that magic came to be. As Albine sat there, trying to stifle his tears, he heard a strange, soft noise, clear and high and piercing, although it wasn't the sound that was piercing; it was the emotion that it caused him. After a few seconds he realized it was the sound of a flute. Music.

Never had he heard such music. It sounded like the Savia Andina songs his mother used to listen to - piping, poignant, windy notes that fluted and danced over the low, breathy, sweet undertones that seemed to flow like a river. Albine trembled. Something strange was happening.

And then an image flickered behind his closed eyelids, playing across them as if on a movie screen.

He saw his old home, shabby and gray and poverty-stricken, and on the ramshackle porch, his mother and father. His parents. How could they have changed so much? They had always been worn and anxious, but now his father's hair was gray, and the lines on his mother's forehead were deep, as if etched into stone. A letter lay on the bench beside them.

"Albine - our son - gone -" his father was saying brokenly. He paused, struggling to speak. "He'll have been killed by now, with all the fighting going on between NO and the Aquimans." At first Albine was puzzled; wasn't the war between the two supposed to be secret? But he supposed it was difficult to keep battles unknown. "Elise, what can I do to save him? Our only child, alone and lost - " His father's voice broke on the last word, and he buried his face in his hands, his shoulders heaving.

Albine's mother had been silent all this time, not even crying, with the calmness which she had passed on to her son. Now she suddenly took her husband's hand almost violently. The agony died out of her eyes, and a new light of desparate resolution transformed her face.

"We can save him, and we will. It says here that he was last seen at Ardaris Hill, flying on a phoenix. It's nearby and I'm going there. If he found a phoenix, so can I. And I'm going after him."

"It's so dangerous..."

"I know," she answered tenderly. "But I owe it to him. While there's hope that he's still alive, I'm not giving up. I promise I'll find him - and he'll be all right."

She started down the porch steps, but her husband stopped her.

"I'm going too."

Together, the two old people went down the street, slowly and hesitantly, but with a determination that would have done credit to Gregoris himself. And as they went, the image slowly shifted to show the places they had gone through. Ardaris Hill, burning in a sea of September goldenrod, the crickets softly chirping in the underbrush. An apple orchard, with an oriole perched among the leaves of the smallest tree. A beach, with ocean waves rising and crashing and rising again, the color of liquid jade. A rushing heap of bougainvillea draped like pink silk against a wall, vibrant against the silent old cypresses that grew behind it. A vision of tiny, glowing, rubylike Japanese maple leaves against the azure sky made Albine catch his breath; a second later it was replaced by the sight of a swallow skimming through the sunrise air over a sparkling river and then suddenly arching up, up, up, into the air, bursting out of all bonds in an explosion of power and freedom.

Gradually the image faded, but Albine didn't even notice. He was realizing his parents were roaming the world in search of him. They really did care about him. They hadn't given up on him the way he was sure everyone else would. The world gave them and him so much beauty. He had seen it in the images; places and scenes of breathtaking wondrousness. Yet they had to spend their lives in looking for him, and he had spent his life in ruining everything. He saw it so clearly now. Tears stung his eyelids, and he didn't even try to wipe them away.

And for the first time in ten years, his eyes opened.

***

Conversation was slow back on the shore. Far off in the east a flush of rose color showed. The birds were singing even more than they had when the ship landed. Everyone was sitting around, trying to bring themselves to realize that even after all the hard work they'd done, all the dangers they'd faced, it might have been for nothing.

Leaves rustled behind them. The branches parted, and, turning around, Manu saw a boy standing there, a flush of joy and triumph on his face. He was a tall, erect figure, his head up, his shoulders firm. His lips were curved in a smile, and his clear gray eyes were sparkling. Something about him looked familiar, but Manu couldn't think who on earth he might be.

"Who are you?" she asked curiously.

The boy coughed. "Er, um, how should I say this? I'm -"

"You're Albine," said Erik flatly.

"None other." But now he seemed a little shy.

"Well, I'm glad you're back," said Inanna, a bit dubiously.

"Wait, let me explain," said Albine eagerly, and he proceeded to tell them everything. He really did seem like a different boy, Manu thought as she watched him. He was lively, animated, he even made a joke once, and yet there was an air of earnestness to him that made it clear he meant what he was saying. She liked him, she realized with a start. She couldn't bring herself to realize that he was the same skulking, shifty-eyed figure who'd hung around the group for so long.

"I'm sorry," he wound up by saying. "I really am. And I hope it's not too late to turn off the Fountain, because I'm ready to do it."

"No hard feelings, man," said Derek, shaking his hand warmly. "We all make mistakes."

"And it's not too late," put in Manu. "To turn off the Fountain, I mean."

Albine smiled at her. "Then let's go do it."

***

Hidden deep in the very center of Ideól was a tiny stone basin. The inside was lined with azure and orange tiles, each one carrying an inscription written in an alphabet no one knew. Cold, clear water splashed over and through it, flowing in from the stream at one end, and flowing back into the stream from another. Droplets, silver in the half-light, splashed from it, spraying the students as they walked closer. Manu felt a shiver run trhough her. This was no ordinary place. Even the birds had a special clarion sound to their songs.

For a moment they all just stood there in a circle, listening to the soft plash of the water. Their mission was as good as finished. Even if NO's ships were to arrive, they could turn off the Fountain the second they chose. It was good just to stop for a moment and let the knowledge sink in.

"I'm so happy we've done this," said Onyx at last, wistfully.

"Not happier than I am," said Manu warmly, throwing an arm around her friend.

"It's changed us all so much," mused Aurnia, staring at the water. "Onyx is cured. We've gotten our magic. We're all really good friends now." She paused a moment and looked up at them, suddenly impish. "Derek and I are together. "

"I knew it!" exclaimed Eve. "Oh, and that reminds me, Rowan and I are also a thing now. And of course everyone knows that Erik and Inanna..." She nudged her brother.

"No. Absolutely not. I mean. Um -" said Erik, but everyone was laughing, Inanna included.

"Okay, let's get down to work," she said, pushing a wisp of blond hair out of her eyes. "How do we turn this thing off?"

Girian walked over to the base of the fountain. "Look. Here's a lever," he said. "And here's another, and another... One for each of you, arranged in a circle around the fountain. Each of you take one, and pull."

Manu grasped the stone lever in front of her. It was tiny - just a small knob almost indistinguishable amongst all the lions and kings and horses that had been carved onto the fountain. And it didn't feel like anything special. No tingle, no thrill, no chill - ooh, that rhymed. 

Focus, girl, she told herself sternly.

Solemnly they all took their places. The sun was almost up. The air was warmer, a soft caress against their skin. Erik held up a hand.

"One - two -"

Manu saw black sails towering above the trees off to her left.

The Nighthawk ships had come.

But she looked around at her companions, and knew that it didn't even matter.

"Three."

Manu pulled the lever.

A ray of sunlight fell through the trees, pouring molten gold over the trees and the fountain. Suddenly the noise of the water trickled off. To the left of the fountain, the stream was still and silent; to the right, the stream was still flowing, but it was carrying away the last of the fountain's water. The basin, that had been full, was half-empty.

There was a long silence. Manu glanced back to the ships, but there wasn't a trace of them, and somehow she was sure that they had vanished back to wherever they came from.

"We did it," said Erik at last, slowly lifting his hand off his lever. He looked around at them all. "We did it!" he repeated, his face breaking out in a smile.

And then they were all laughing, hugging, breaking away to stare incredulously at the emptying fountain, coming back to laugh and hug some more. Some of them were crying. Manu felt something warm trickle down her own face. Yeah, she was crying too. Well, what did it matter? She leaned against a tree trunk and listened to the birds and stared at the glistening dewdrops adorning the grass, and felt nothing but happiness.

***

"So now we have to decide what to do next," said Girian at last, when they'd all had their fill of rejoicing. "You still have one choice in front of you - either stay in Tallinn, or go back to your home. One or the other. Once you've set foot in one, you won't be able to switch anymore."

"I want to go home," said Eve immediately, and most of them nodded in agreement.

Amber chose to stay in Tallinn - after all, there was Fianal, and he didn't want to leave the Karalins. Girian chose to go to the human world. He'd had enough of magic, he said, and they could all understand why, after the Guardians had turned out to be evil. None of them suspected that Angel was another pressing reason he wished to go to the human world.

Aurnia took the longest time deciding - she was at home in both places, with humans and with the Karalins. But at last she decided that she, too, was a human at heart - and anyway, she couldn't be a film director if she stayed with the Karalins.

And so they took their leaves of each other.

"I'll always remember you," Shyama whispered to Amber.

Amber smiled her mischievous smile. "We'll still be friends, don't worry. I'll always be thinking of you too."

"When you're not thinking about Fianal, that is," Manu teased.

At long last they left. The island seemed very still and silent in the afternoon light, without the laughter and chatter of the young people. I, watching from the palace of Darial, let out a sigh. They were safe, and so was the world.

But I couldn't help wondering who on earth had blown the horn back when they were facing NO's magical tempest. At least someone had, though - without that person, they would never have been able to even get to the island.

"Iridescence."

Startled, I turned. Kardis stood there, his gaze steady, but humbler than of yore. In one hand he held a curved, ivory horn-shaped thing. I recognized it at once.

"Iridescence," he repeated, and a wry smile tugged at his mouth. He held out the horn to me. "I blew the horn. You were right. Those kids just saved everything, and I wanted to help them out."

I smiled. "I was right?"

"Yes." He nodded, his face serious. "I apologize for - all that."

Just like that, I was forgiven, and I had forgiven him. "I've missed the way it used to be between us."

"So have I," he answered. "So have I."

Epilogue

I was home. The students were home. They were reunited with their families, the way I was reunited with Kardis and the other Archenians. Albine's parents were very glad to see him again; he too was overjoyed at being with them. The students all remained friends, and were sent to boarding schools where there was no danger of their teachers turning out to be evil magicians. Eve and Rowan became merely good friends when they were older. But Erik and Inanna, and Aurnia and Derek, and Angel and Girian, all eventually got married; and the rest found good partners too, and jobs and lives they loved. Onyx became a nurse. I always thought that was interesting, given how she had struggled to cure herself and make others healthy back when she was a child. I continued to keep a watch on them all, but especially Onyx - after all, she was my descendant.

And far away in the mysterious river that flowed between two worlds, Ideol was silent and empty. The last of the magic water trickled out of the fountain. But there was always a feeling of waiting about the island. Sometimes the wind, sighing in the trees, seemed to be whispering a message that we could understand if only we let ourselves. For the Fountain might be empty and the battle won, but no story is ever truly over...

~~~~~~

The End