Pug said, “Yes, but it is still a hard thing.” He didn’t need to speak any more. He had full measure of the knowledge gained when he and the sorcerer had been joined. Now he was Macros’s equal in power, and almost his equal in knowledge. But he would miss the presence of the sorcerer, now he knew his fate.
“All things come to an end, Pug. Now it is the end of my time upon this world. With the ending of the Valheru presence, my powers have returned fully. I will move on to something new. Gathis will join me, and the others at my island are cared for, so I have no more duties here. I must move onward, just as you must stay here. There will be kings to counsel, little boys to teach, old men to argue with, wars to avoid, wars to be fought.” He sighed, as if again he wished for a final release. Then his tone lightened. “Still, it is never boring. It is never that. Be sure the King knows what we have done here.” He regarded Tomas. The human turned Valheru looked somehow different since the final battle, and Macros spoke softly. “Tomas, you have the eldar returning home at last, their self-imposed exile in Elvardein at an end. You’ll need to aid your Queen in ruling a new Elvandar. Many of the glamredhel will be seeking you out, now that they know Elvandar exists, and you’ll also find an increase in Returnings, I think. Now that the influence of the Valheru is confined, the lure of the Dark Path should weaken. At least, we can hope so. Seek inward, as well, Tomas, for I think you’ll find much of your power is now gone with those who were Ashen-Shugar’s brethren. You still stand with the most powerful of mortals, but I wouldn’t seek to master dragons, if I were you. I think they might give you a shock.”
Tomas said, “I felt myself change . . . at the last.” He had seemed subdued since his battle with Draken-Korin. “Am I again mortal?”
Macros nodded. “You always were. The power of the Valheru changed you, and that change will not be reversed, but you were never immortal. You were simply close to it. But do not worry, you’ve retained a great deal of the Valheru heritage. You’ll live out a long life beside your Queen, at least as long as any of elvenkind are allotted by fate.” At these words Tomas seemed reassured.
“Keep vigilant, both of you, for the Pantathians spent centuries planning and executing this deceit. It was a plot of stunning detail. But the powers granted to the one who posed as Murmandamus were no mean set of conjurer’s illusions. He was a force. To have created such a one and to have captured and manipulated the hearts of even a race as dark as the moredhel required much. Perhaps without the Valheru influence across the barriers of space and time, the serpent people may become much as others, just another intelligent race among many.” He looked off into the distance. “Then again, perhaps not. Be wary of them.”
Pug spoke slowly. “Macros . . . at the end I was certain we had lost.”