The Fire and The Storm - The Nexus of Kellaran #2 novel Chapter 115

Part 18

“The part that made me cry was something Mark had said with a hearty laugh. Yazadril had stated how proud he was of Nemia, his beautiful young new wife, who was only two hundred and fifty-eight years old. Mark found it funny that Yazadril considered her at her age to be his beautiful young new wife, when the oldest person Mark had ever known up to that day had died of old age at the age of seventy-six.”

She paused a moment, and took a deep breath. “Dead from ageing at seventy-six years old, and the eldest person Mark had ever known. The sadness of that struck me so deeply, and I found it amazing that such people still lived most of their lives with great joy, despite knowing that they were cursed to live without the use of magic, and doomed to an early death. Knowing that everyone they cared for were going to sicken and die, and very soon, and there was nothing that they or anyone else could do about it.”

She paused, then raised her gaze with fierce determination, and almost shouted her next words, so great was her intensity; “Well that will not happen again! We have beaten death by old age in every thinking mammalian race, and in the process, we’ve found a way to give the use of magic to all who lack it! Already the worst sufferers of geriatric degradation are being Healed…!”

She stopped and actually flinched a bit as the huge cheer from the many thousands all around her reached her and washed over her with palpable force. She waited for it to quiet before she continued, but it just went on and on, and only seemed to get louder. Almost everyone present from the short-lived races seemed to try to talk to their neighbors at the top of their lungs at once, their joyful yelling interspersed with new cheers.

After a few moments of unending cacophony, she decided that she’d already said everything that needed saying, so she smiled and gave a simple bow before walking back to her party.

This prompted an even louder response as the crowd realized that she was leaving the podium, and they cheered her mightily for her accomplishment.

She was barely off the podium when she was overwhelmed by the crowd. Every human, dwarf, gnome, giant, Selkie, and gargoyle who was near her wanted to thank her, touch her, shake her hand, hug her. As the full significance of what she’d announce set in, almost all of them began either weeping with joy or laughing hysterically as they realized that they were all delivered from early death, and granted the power they’d always envied in those who had it. She began to panic as they all closed in around her, but Yazadril cast a Force Shield tight around her skin, then quickly grew it to a two meter sphere, pushing the people away from her.

“Just smile and wave and walk back to us, Love.” Yazadril advised her. “I’ll keep the Shield moving with you.”

So she did, while Yazadril cleared her way through the crowd as gently as possible.

The frenzy of joy and the incredible din of the crowd went on and on, long after Hilsith had returned to her party and been safely ensconced within Yazadril and Nemia’s protective arms.

“I… hadn’t really considered their reaction.” she revealed to her party. “I’m overwhelmed!”

“This is really too much.” Mark decided, and cast a spell that blocked most of the incredible noise from his party and those they’d been speaking with before Fire had spilled Hilsith’s news.

“Well, thank you, that’s much better.” Osbald said with a smile at conversational volume.

“You know,” Emeroth chuckled as she looked around at the scene, “If someone doesn’t do something soon, this is going to become nothing but a huge party, and it’ll be hard to get anything else constructive done here tonight.”