Martin blinked. “Where?”
Tathar answered. “We do not know. He vanished in the night, a few days after the Midsummer’s Festival. Occasionally he would wander off to be with his own thoughts, but never for more than a day. When he did not appear after two days, trackers were dispatched. There were no tracks from Elvandar, though that is not surprising. He has other means of travelling. But in a glade to the north we found marks from his boots. There were signs of another man there, sandal prints in the dirt.”
Martin said, “Tomas went to meet with someone, then didn’t return.”
“There was a third set of tracks,” said the Elf Queen. “A dragon’s. Once again the Valheru flies upon the back of a dragon.”
Martin sat back, understanding. “You fear a return of the madness?”
“No,” said Tathar instantly. “Tomas is free of that and, if anything, is stronger than he suspects. No, we fear Tomas’s need to depart in such a manner without word. We fear the presence of another.”
Martin’s eyes widened. “The sandals?”
“You know what power is needed to enter our forests undetected. Only one man before has had the ability: Macros the Black.”
Martin pondered. “Perhaps he’s not the only one. I understand Pug to have stayed upon the Tsurani world to study the problem of Murmandamus and what he called the Enemy. Perhaps he has returned.”
“Which sorcerous master it is proves of little import,” said Tathar.
It was Baru who spoke next. “What is important is that two men of vast powers are about upon a mission of mystery, at a time when it seems troubles have returned from the north.”
Aglaranna said, “Yes.” She said to Martin, “Rumours have reached us of the death of one who was close to you.” In the elven way she avoided naming the dead.
“There are things I may not speak of, lady, even to one as highly regarded as you. I have a duty.”
“Then,” asked Tathar, “may I ask where you are bound, and what brings you here?”
“It is time to go north again,” said Martin, “to finish what was started last year.”
“It is well you came this way,” said Tathar. “We have seen signs from the coast to the east of massive goblin migrations northward. Also the moredhel are bold with their scouting along the edge of our forests. They seem intent on discovering if any of our warriors pass beyond our normal boundaries. There have been sightings of bands of renegade humans riding northward, close to the boundary with Stone Mountain, as well. The gwali have fled south into the Green Heart, as if fearing something approaching. And for months we have been visited by some ill-aspected wind of evil, which carries some mystic quality, as if power were being drawn to the north. We are concerned over many things.”
Baru and Martin exchanged glances. “Things move at swift pace,” said the Hadati.
Further conversation was halted when a shout went up from below and an elf appeared at the Queen’s elbow. “Majesty, come, a Returning.”
Aglaranna said, “Come, Martin, Baru, witness something miraculous.”
Tathar followed his Queen, turning to say, “If it is indeed a true Returning and not a ruse.”
The Queen and Tathar were joined by her other advisers as they hurried down to the forest floor. When they reached ground level, they were greeted by several warriors who surrounded a moredhel. The dark elf looked somehow odd to Martin, showing a calmness beyond what was normal for the dark elves.
The moredhel saw the Queen and bowed before her, lowering his head. Softly he said, “Lady, I have returned.”
The Queen nodded to Tathar. He and others of the Spellweavers gathered about the moredhel. Martin could feel a strange, fey sensation as if the air had suddenly become charged, and as if music could almost be heard. He knew the Spellweavers were working magic.
Then Tathar said, “He has returned!”
Aglaranna said, “What is your name?”
“Morandis, Majesty.”
“No more. You are Lorren.”
Martin had learned the year before that there was no true difference between the branches of elvenkind, separated only by the power of the Dark Path, that which bound the moredhel to a life of murderous hatred toward all not of their kind. But there was a subtle difference in attitude, stance, and manner between the two.