“All great gifts come with a great price,” Bel murmured.

“Aiyah,” Ellysetta agreed, “and the price of the greatest gift ever given to the Fey—the gift of Azrahn—is the temptation of the Dark Path. No Elf will ever fall to Darkness. They are incapable of it, because the gods never gifted them with the fullness of Azrahn. But the Fey can, because we can choose to wield our magic for good or evil.”

“If Azrahn is such a boon to the Fey,” Tajik interrupted, “why would it be outlawed and why would its use be wiped from the memory of the world? “

“Because in Sevander’s time—and Tevan’s own—many of the Fey began seeking ever greater and greater power—especially those who were strongest in Azrahn, including Sevander’s uncle. They began to focus exclusively on the Darkest powers of Azrahn. They became the Mages. Sevander’s uncle was, in fact, the Mage who transformed Fellana into a Fey.”

“And then used the tairen’s power he’d gotten from her to wage war against the Fey,” Dax said.

Rain nodded. “And his descendants continued his work, raising an even greater army. A force the like of which the world had never seen.”

“The Army of Darkness,” Gil said.

“Aiyah,” Rain agreed. “And it was as devastating a force as the legends portray—much worse than the revenant army this Mage put together. It was so devastating in fact, that after he defeated it, Tevan Fire Eyes and his tairen and Elvish advisors decided the Fey were not ready for the great and dangerous power of Azrahn. With their help, he wiped all knowledge of its use from the world. In doing so, he robbed the Mages of all the secrets of their Dark magic and created the Time Before Memory.”

“He and his advisors thought that by outlawing the use of the Dark side of Azrahn, they would spare the Fey the greatest temptation of the Dark Path,” Ellysetta concluded. “And they did. The world entered a time of great peace—the golden years of the First Age. But over the millennia, the Mages began rebuilding their lost knowledge. And as generation after generation of Fey banished their most powerful masters of Azrahn for weaving it, the Fey unknowingly drained their own bloodlines of the magic most essential to their survival.” She glanced at Gaelen. “That’s why the dahl’reisen thrive while the Fey wither. Because so many of them are still powerful masters of Azrahn—and because between the High Mage’s breeding efforts and the remnant magic of the Mage Wars, the Light and Dark sides of Azrahn were being combined again.”

“So are you saying the dahl’reisen are the real key to returning fertility to the Fey?” Eimar asked, looking troubled at the thought. He had fought with dahl’reisen as his allies, and approved their bloodswearing to Ellysetta, but cozying up to warriors who’d chosen the Shadowed Path still did not sit well with him.

“Nei, not the dahl’reisen,” Rain corrected. “Azrahn. Azrahn is the key—and the connection between the tairen and the Fey, not only because our magic sprang from Lissalukai’s great fire, but because every Tairen Soul starting with Tevan Fire Eyes are the descendants of Fellana, who was the last of Lissallukai’s bloodline. That’s why our fates are so closely entwined. The Tairen Souls keep Lissallukai’s blood—and, with it, her greatest magic—alive and strong. And Ellysetta, who combines Fey, tairen, Elvish, and even Mage powers, is the most powerful master of Azrahn born since Lissallukai herself. It is Ellysetta—both through the children we will bear, and every child conceived as a result of her fertility weaves—who will return the fullness of Azrahn back to the tairen and the Fey.”

Ellysetta curled her fingers around his and smiled. One day in their lifetime, they would see the skies over the Fading Lands once more filled with tairen and hear the streets of Dharsa ring with the laughter of Fey children. Her children—their children—would be powerful Tairen Souls, just as they were, raised in love amid the Fey and the pride. And that was reward enough to make the great price of her gifts worthwhile.

“The Elf king of Tevan’s time Saw what would happen,” Rain concluded, “including the fact that Ellysetta would be born to bring the fullness of Azrahn back to the tairen and the Fey. So upon his advice, Tevan ordered the creation of the Mirror of Knowledge and the Elf king told his descendants to watch for her birth.”

“You really were born to save us,” Marissya said.

“And so she has.” Rain raised a glass of chilled faerilas. “To the treasures of the past, my friends, and to the joys of a bright future.”

27th day of Seledos

Rain stood on the balustraded terrace just outside the ballroom of the Dharsa’s newly restored royal palace and looked out at the gleaming gold-and-white beauty of Dharsa nestled in the forested hills. He closed his eyes and inhaled the aroma of jasmine and honeyblossom and the sweet, intoxicating fragrance of Amarynth that wafted on the cool evening breeze.

For a thousand years, the world behind the Faering Mists had been his prison. Now, at last, the Fading Lands was home once more, and for the first time in centuries—perhaps for the first time in his entire life—he was truly at peace.

His quest to save the tairen and the Fey was complete. He had found the woman Shei’Kess had sent him to find, and together they had saved the tairen and the Fey and brought the promise of life back to the Fading Lands.

Rain drew in his breath again, and a slow smile curved his lips as a new scent, familiar and beloved, danced across his senses like a warm caress. Turning, he held out his hand.