A story, discovered among the depths of the Worldpool.. a story of one
 elf.. of how he affected the World of Two Moons.. a story of..

                        What If Lord Voll Never Died?
                                  (Part Two)
                                by Jessica Orr       
                original scripting by Richard and Wendy Pini

       "I'm not sure why, Black-Hair, but I'm glad to see you alive,"
 Treestump's eyes were on Rayek, blue and calm with age.  He was not
 much older than Rayek, yet he was elder to the Wolfriders, and somehow
 had an air of wisdom the airwalker had yet to find.  "We hear you
 helped save Cutter."
        A smirk hinted at the corners of Rayek's lips, a comment to
 which he only responded with a mild, "If you wish."
        Treestump tilted his head, running his fingers through his beard
 as he regarded the arrogant airwalker.  "Seems you did some growing up
 out there in the desert, eh?"  
        Before Rayek could answer, Pike cut in with, "But how did you
 end up here?"
        The smirk grew as Rayek shifted his gaze to rest it on the
 berry-eyed Wolfrider.  "Not as messily or as unintentionally as -you-
 did," he answered cryptically as he straightened, leaving it at that as
 he turned to his one-time lover, Leetah.  He offered her a hand.  "Come
 outside," he requested softly.  "I want you to meet someone.  Unless
 you see him, the story I have to tell will not mean as much."
        As Leetah took his hand and allowed him to guide her outside,
 Treestump's eyes followed the two brown-skinned elves.  He grunted
 softly. Still thinks he shines brighter than the sun, was his thoughts
 towards Rayek.          

        The wind blew harshly and Leetah clutched her coat around her
 tightly, her auburn locks getting caught and flying wildly in the wind. 
 By contraste, Rayek's own jet-black strands flicked calmly, flecks of
 white clinging to them.  He gripped her hand tight, but not too tight,
 as if he were afraid she might blow away in the wind, but was as
 delicate as glass and therefor might shatter at the slightest bit of
 force.  Presently, an image came to view, a figure huddled on a rock,
 braving the cold.  The only thing that made him stick out from the
 white was the slightly violet-tinged glow that trickled from his hand
 onto the surrounding stone.  The soft sound of humming, only slightly
 out of tune, somehow made its way through the sound of the rushing
 wind.  Then the mumblings came with it as well.
        "..oh yes, this maimed and miserable rock shaper remembers you,
 Greymung.. from the warts beneath your eyes to your twisted gobbling
 mouth, oh yes!.." There was a soft chuckle.  "But Guttlekraw gobbled up
 you, didn't he?.. with all your gold and jewels for sauce.."  Suddenly,
 a pair of large, bright brown eyes were upon them as the disfigured elf
 looked upon them, his ancient face folding as a smile spread across his
 face.  "Ah, Brownskin! This is the Leetah you spoke of so many times!" 
 His brown eyes twinkled. "Very beautiful!  And very strong!  I feel the
 power in her pretty hands!"
        Caught off-guard, Leetah could only stare at the scars that
 lined the rock-shaper's face, and at the bit of cloth where his other
 arm would be. 
        "You look at me with pity."  Leetah blinked, looking up at the
 strange elf as his tone shifted, his eyes gentle.  "Why?  I am free. I
 belong to myself now."  The ancient elf started to his feet, moving
 towards the pair. "Thanks to this brave one here." He nodded once to
 Rayek, then smiled amusedly at Leetah's perplexedness.  "Oh.. he has
 not told you tet?  Sit! Sit!  It is a tale I never tire of.. and I'm in
 it!"  Rayek reached to touch the rockshaper's arm.  "Oh! My name is..
 uh.. eh.." He blinked, then his eyes sparked with recognition. 
 "Ekuar." He offered a lopsided grin.  "I shape rock."
        Rayek smiled, stepping forward.  "More than that.  He is my
 teacher."
        "Teacher?" Leetah blinked once, then moved to stand, pausing
 midway there. "Rayek! The way you helped me to heal Cutter.. the way
 you lifted the pull of the world from his body.. taking all the strain
 away from his heart!"  She stared at him as he started to turn away
 from him, her green eyes wide and round.  "You were not able to use
 your powers in that fashion.."
        Rayek smirked, folding his arms over his chest as he kept his
 eyes forward, not meeting hers.  "Until now."  With only a trace of his
 familiar self-satisfaction, Rayek prepared to recount the events of
 seven years past, only to be interrupted when a practiced, gently calm
 send overlapped him, the touch strange and unfamiliar, but strangely
 reminding him of his dear Mother of Memory. 
        ** I trust I am not interrupting anything? **
        "Eh?"  Ekuar looked up to see who was sending, then looked up
 farther. "Oh! Oh-ho my!"  Leetah and Rayek, too, looked up, and Leetah
 heard her one-time suiter inhale sharply at what they saw. 
        One of the giant bondbirds looked down at them from atop a rocky
 perch.  It was devouring an elk - in fact, all that was left was
 cleanly picked bones by now - and had been there since the conversation
 had started and had otherwise been ignored.  What was new, however, was
 the figure of a Chosen wrapped in white furs tending to it.  Picking
 through her memory, Leetah remembered the name of the Chosen, her nose
 wrinkling.  Kureel's younger brother, and just as nasty.  Reevol.
        Rayek blinked, opening his mouth.  "Who..?"
        ** Reevol. ** Leetah's sending was unfocused and rough, but the
 magical shadow of the nearby palace was enough to highten her minimal
 ability.  ** No.. of course not. ** She glanced at Ekuar and Rayek, a
 silent request to stay quiet.  ** We were.. just talking. **
        ** Indeed. ** With a natural grace, Reevol glided down towards
 the three-some below, the white fur cloak trailing behind him.  His
 sharp crystal eyes gave Leetah the barest of glances, instead settling
 on the maimed rockshaper and the black-haired rogue.  His eyebrows
 lifted.  ** And who are these? **
        ** My mentor, Ekuar.. and I am Rayek. ** Rayek's tone was one of
 subdued awe, looking at Reevol through half-slitted eyes.  After a
 moment, he sent, almost awe-struck, ** You.. You can fly! **
        A smirk settled on Reevol's face, replying with only a dry, **
 How perceptive. **
        Leetah stepped forward, her leaf green eyes hardening to jade. 
 She started to cut in, but Rayek held her back with a fluid gesture,
 his amber eyes lighting to a candle yellow.  ** You misunderstand,
 Reevol..! So can I! **
        Leetah blinked.  "What?"
        Rayek turned to her, his eyes dancing as he took her hands in
 hers.  "I was going to tell you, Leetah," he whispered excitedly. 
 "Ekuar taught me many things, helped me to make my talents grow.. I can
 fly!  Like a bird or.. or a G-Glider!" He forced out the unfamiliar
 word with barely a blink, too caught up in himself.  Leetah felt
 something in herself plummet by the overly self-satisfied look started
 to take over his eyes.  "Look!" A faintly magenta glow surrounded Rayek
 before his feet left the ground, spreading his hands with a broad
 smile.  "Look!  The old power which you said was lost to all of us.. is
 mine!"
        Leetah swallowed, saying nothing.
        Reevol, however, was unimpressed and commented, ** All of -my-
 folk can fly.  It is nothing special. **
        Rayek faltered, a stung look coming over his face as Reevol's
 words bruised his pride harshly.  Disappointed, his gaze dropped, then
 lifted to Leetah, hoping to have impressed his one time lover, but all
 his eyes met was startlement and horror.  He swallowed once, a bitter
 fist taking hold of his stomach.  So long had he waited for this
 moment, to show Leetah his talents, to watch amazement and wonder wash
 over her lovely face.. but this?  This was a terrible disappointment. 
 He felt Ekuar's hand on his shoulder, the three fingers squeezing it
 gently, offering support, but he shrugged it off. "I.. should go speak
 with Kahvi," he finally mumbled, walking - not gliding - away quickly,
 feeling the healer and Chosen's eyes at his back.
        Leetah hugged herself, turning away.  He's become a Glider, she
 realized, her thoughts bitter and cold.  So proud and vain, and he can
 fly now.  My beloved Rayek has become a Glider to the core.  She felt
 tears on her cheeks, but the cold wind whipped up silently, freezing
 them to her skin. Biting her lip, she reached up to brush the ice from
 her cheeks, eyes lowered to the ground.
        ** Interesting little floater, isn't he? ** Reevol's unwanted
 sending cut through her thoughts.  The healer turned to see the
 Chosen's crystal eyes still lingering after Rayek, his arms folded over
 his thin frame thoughtfully.  ** Tastes of magic. **
        Leetah felt sick when she thought of what the Gliders could do
 to her Rayek, but before she could respond a soft, haunting melody sang
 over the hillside.  Elven and wolfen voices blended together in a
 single song of grief and harmony, echoing off the surrounding
 mountains.  Her eyes shifted to see the Wolfriders and their wolves
 crying out their grief to the uncaring stars. Unneeded, she murmured,
 "The howl is for One-Eye and Woodshaver.." She looked to Reevol. "I
 should be there."
        The Glider rolled his shoulders, his crystal eyes taking a
 fierce look to them.  ** You howl for a tribemate slain, and for a
 beast as well.. but not a Chosen? ** he asked, his tone betraying its
 edge.
        Leetah looked at Reevol for a moment, tilting her head, then
 turned away, silenting padding away, her footsteps silent upon the snow
 as she moved towards the grieving Wolfriders.
 
        Unseen, Rayek watched it all from a place on the rocks.  His
 arms were folded over his chest, his eyes on Leetah.  His eyes were
 also bright with tears, his thoughts bitter and his own as he watched
 her join the Wolfriders.  Watched her touch Cutter's arm with a
 fondness she used to reserve for him and him alone.  Watched her lovely
 lips part and heard her sweet voice join their coarse, untrained voices
 in chorus.  Unable to watch more, the airwalker turned away, moving to
 leave..
        "So -she- threw you over for the Wolf Chief, eh, Airwalker?" 
 Kahvi cocked an eyebrow at him, her brown eyes glittering at him
 curiously.
        Rayek's teeth gritted, giving a half-mumbled reply.  "It.. was
 Recogntion."
        "Recog.. what?"  The War Chieftess gave him an odd, confused
 look, then blinked as she pulled up a dusty, long forgotten memory. 
 "Oh.. yes.  They still bother with that, do they?"  She chuckled
 softly, a touch of pride to her voice as she leaned back against the
 rocks.  "My folk have been breeding without it since we called
 ourselves Go-Backs!"
        "It shows."  
        Kahvi arched an eyebrow at Rayek's growled reply and tsked
 softly.  "You were meant for lovemates, not for a lifemate."  She
 touched his arm.  "Enjoy it!"
 
        Welcomed by the Go-Backs, the Wolfriders and Gliders soon
 discover they have much in common with their hardy hosts, though
 differences are numerous as well.
        Pike laughed, jabbing his spear into the air, his brows furrowed
 into a sinister grin.  "See that reach?  For throwing or stabbing a
 spear's the best!"
        Tok, a GoBack, smirked, sliding a finger along the blunt end of
 a jagged looking troll sword.  "Ha! You want to talk reach?"
        Without warning, a flash of movement and silver cut through
 their conversation, lashing out between them to seize a towel on a
 nearby bench, only to yank it back with another flash of silver.  Tok
 and Pike whirled around to gape at the Chosen, Hoykar, as he fingered
 his talon whip with an amused smirk.  "Yes, little warriors," he
 grinned. "I would like to 'talk reach'."
 
        They hunt.
        Scouter dug his heels into his wolf's sides, urging the wolf
 forward, his fingers tight on his knife's hilt.  The snow bear roared
 in pain as Treestump's axe found flesh again and tore, splashing blood
 on the eldest Wolfrider's fur vest.  The Chosen, Talno and Aroree,
 zigzagged through the air, Aroree brandishing her talon whip and Talon
 with a crossbow, fumbling with his newly-learned weapon, firing bolt
 after bolt into the snowbear, wasting ammunition even as Aroree's talon
 whip sent fur flying.
        From afar, Dewshine and Redlance watched with the GoBack named
 Skot. Dewshine murmured a worried comment, but Skot shrugged it away. 
 "Oh, he's finished, all right," he reassured her.  "He just won't admit
 it."  He laughed softly.  "Snow bears never do."
 
        They learn.
        Yif traced the markings in the tree with his finger, splinters
 embedding in his glove.  "Twelve eights.  And then some."  He
 straightened, looking at the cloud-maned Wolfrider.  "That's how many
 turns of the seasons we've been here."
        Skywise whistled softly, his eyes wide.
        Yif nodded slightly. "That's how long the Palace has been
 calling to us."
 
        They argue.
        Vaya gritted her teeth, shaking a fist at Strongbow.  "Listen!"
 She barked. "Your wolves can feed off the roving herd all they want. 
 Just keep them away from the double-cursed pens!  Understand?!"
        Strongbow shot her a tight-lipped look, then turned to leave,
 his thoughts his own as he idlyt scratched behind his wolf's ears.  I
 was in a cage once, he thought.  Hated it. He glanced to his wolf. So
 would Briarsting.  "Taking to killing deer now, wolfling?"  The harsh
 voice sliced through his thoughts and Strongbow looked up to stare into
 Kureel's hateful eyes. 
        "Since you can't shoot bondbirds, I guess you need to kill the
 GoBack's bonds now, huh?"
        Strongbow narrowed his eyes, relishing the image of cracking
 Kureel's neck and throwing him to the wolves.  He brushed it back to
 the back of his mind and instead ignored the Glider, his fingers
 tightening over Briarsting's fur as wolf and rider stalked off.
 
        And they brood.
        "Stop admiring your hands and put on this new coat!"  Mekka
 forcibly tried to push the fur-covered coat on Leetah, her brown eyes
 flashing beneath her headband irritably.  "You can't go about in colors
 bright enough for trolls to spot you in pitch blackness!"
        Leetah didn't spare the angry GoBack a glance, staring silently
 at her hands, feeling drained.  As Mekka drapped the coat over Leetah's
 shoulders, the healer thought, Admire.. these hands?  Feeling worried
 eyes on her, she folded her hands in her arms, looking towards the
 Lodge entrance.  They have taken a life.  What can heal that?
 
        What indeed?
        "Aaahhh!" Clearbrook forced out a battle cry through her lungs
 as she slamed her knife against the shield, her gray eyes flashing with
 blood hunger, throwing Vaya off balance as she slammed herself forward
 again, her foot sweeping to trip the GoBack.  Behind her, Yeyeen's
 talon whip sang through the air, its talons taking hold of her
 opponent's crossbow and flinging it aside with ridiculous ease.
        Clearbrook lunged forward at the same moment Yeyeen did, pinning
 Vaya to the ground even as Yeyeen forced Yif down as well.  Behind
 them, Kahvi, Cutter, and Voll watched silently until Kavhi spoke, a
 smirk on her face. "See Old Bird?  Wolf Chief?  Vaya and Yif.. they're
 not used to being put on their guard.." She turned, giving them an
 encouraging smile.  "You came out of your troubles richer by warriors
 who hunger for revenge!"  She turned back, folding her arms over her
 chest.  "That's the best kind."        
        "Let me up, curse you!"  Vaya squawled, glaring up at
 Clearbrook.
        "Aye!" Yif echoed her, on his back and shooting an equally angry
 look at Yeyeen.  "We're not trolls!"
        Lord Voll folded his arms over his chest.  ** Yes, ** he agreed
 softly, not knowing that only Cutter bothered to recieve his words.  **
 But I worry.. **
 
        Thoughts are ever on battle and on weapons.
        Strongbow placed his hands on his knees, looking over Redlance's
 shoulder as yellow-green magic flowed evenly from the treeshaper's
 fingers.  ** That's it, ** he sent encouragingly. ** Make me a bow just
 like the one I used to have.  Nightfall's never suited me. **
        "I'll try," Redlance murmured, his brow heavy with
 concentration.  "But the wood around here is soft!  You may have to
 settle for horn and sinew."
 
        And so the days pass.  But, although reecovered, Cutter is
 withdrawn and moody, as was Lord Voll.  But while the Glider Lord tried
 to recover from his brush with death by exploring the GoBack's strange
 way of living, trying to become closer to his Chosen and the other
 elves as well, Cutter found himself atop a snowy hill, feeling the wind
 whip through his hair as he looked off to where the Palace's magical
 glimmer could just barely be seen.
        Leetah looked out at him, pausing near the elk pens, her fingers
 wound together.  Her voice too soft to be heard over the rush of the
 wind, she called out, "Beloved..?"
        "It could be your fault, you know." Leetah's head tilted
 slightly as Kahvi commented aloud, sharpening her mount's antlers as
 Ember and Suntop played int he snow.  "A close brush with death can
 change an elf for the better. But to be kept from death with its his
 time..?" She snorted. "Who knows how that could twist his insides?" 
 She smirked, moving slightly as she concentrated on one area, patting
 the elk's muzzle to keep him calm.  "We Go-Backs don't hold much with
 magic.  It can foul up the good order of things.  And Healers?" She
 tossed Leetah a pointed look.  "They're poison to a warrior's spirit..
 ah!"  The elk moved suddenly, the sharpened point of his antlers
 catching her finger. 
        "There!" Kahvi turned, gesturing to the single droplet of
 crimson on her finger.  "A healthy respect for pain keeps you alert -
 ready for anything. Knowing a healer's around to close every little
 scratch can only you make you careless.." She paused, a frown settling
 on her face.  "Or worse, soft!"
        Leetah's look was cold, as was her reply. "You are partly right,
 Kahvi. The Sun Folk depended too much on me and it weakened them.  I've
 changed." Her voice hardened.  "I've even killed. But death will 
-always- be my enemy! I will always fight it!"  She turned away, folding
 her arms over her chest. "As fiercely as you battle trolls!"
        Smiling slyly, Kahvi gave no reply, popping her wounded finger
 in her mouth as she turned back to her tasks.
 
        Cutter stood atop the hill, staring down at his reflection in
 New Moon's blade. His own indigo eyes flashed back at him, weighted
 with thought. Moments passed and the Chieftain found himself lost
 within his own eyes, lost within his thoughts, not noticing the passage
 of time until a pair of serpentine eyes looked back at him.  Startled,
 Cutter stepped back a step. "Eh?"
        "Leetah told me of your quest.." Rayek stepped forward, using a
 metal-tipped spear as a walking stick.  "It seems I misjudged you."  He
 tiled his head slightly, speaking words he never thought he'd speak.
 "You are more elf than beast.  Maybe the Palace was not your original
 goal, perhaps it is only the whispers and memory of an old, fool Glider
 Lord and a tribe of inbred warriors.." The airwalker paused.  "But it
 is a worthy one.  Are you still game to win it?"
        Cutter paused for a moment, then slumped, knees bending into a
 crouch, pushing his knife into the snow with his palm over its hilt. 
 What started out as a growling mumble slowly started to grow louder.
 "WE've been burned out.. hunted.. captured.. killed.. tortured.. lied
 to.. and all but boiled in fish oil..!  We're within spitting distance
 of the thing that started that whole mess.. and I'll be buried in zwoot
 dung.." With sudden fire, Cutter jumped to his feet, whirling around so
 fast snow sprayed around his feet, New Moon flashing in front of him.
 "..before I let a bunch of blood-hungry TROLLS stop us now!!"
        Rayek smiled a sly smile. "Yes, the trolls.. they live to keep
 us from reclaiming the Palace."  He shook his head. "I don't know why. 
 What use could it be to them?"
        "Trolls don't have reasons, just greed!" Cutter growled softly,
 turning around again, holding New Moon before him.  "Kahvi says these
 slopes are riddled with traps and pitfalls."      
        "True." Rayek nodded once.  "Even Go-Backs who have managed to
 'go back' over the mountains.. have never returned."
        Cutter's reply was determined. "But -we- will!"
        "The moon sword must not cross over -- to play its part!"
        Rayek whirled around as a cracked voice interrupted their
 conversation. "That voice!  That voice again!" he choked.
        Cutter growled. "Two-Edge!"
        "It must go in.. In.. IN...!  And stab the Mountain's heart!"
        A rising moan drew their attention away from the pair of yellow
 eyes that gleamed at them from the shadows of the rocks.  Cutter's
 wolf-keen eyes found the forms of Gliders on the nearby hills. 
 Aroree's arms were draped around Skywise's neck, but now she seemed to
 have collapsed over him. Eresir and Talno's faces had drained of blood,
 leaving them colorless, and even stone-cold Kureel looked startled.  It
 was Aroree who first cried out, "The voice! The voice from the wall!"
        "He whispered to me!  He tormented my dreams!" Eresir seconded
 her, his wail tortured. 
        Skywise shot Aroree a worried look, sending confused queries to
 her as Cutter whirled away, forcing down his rising questions.  How
 long had they been there?  How much had they heard?  "Enough rhymes,
 sick-brain!" he yelled out.  "Was it you who told Guttlekraw of our
 coming?  Was it you who shot down Lord Voll?
        "Find us both, my treasure and me.." the shadow whispered
 softly, the cracked voice strangely musical in its rhyming.  Then an
 ear-piercing shriek shattered any illusion of melody as a familiar
 scramble of green-yellow-and-pink came into view.  "Eeeeeee!" the
 preserver squealed. "Help!  Nastybad dig-dig!"
        Cutter boggled. "Petalwing!"
        Rayek flipped his spear over with casual ease, the weapon
 snapping into a ready position quickly.  "The preserver! Leetah spoke
 of it.."
        "-- Well, whatver she told you is true!"  Cutter growled, New
 Moon drawnas he stalked towards the half-troll and the preserver. 
 "That pest's good for one thing only!  It can lead us to the Palace!" 
 His eyes narrowed at Two-Edge, silenting wondering why Skywise and the
 Gliders nearby weren't helping.. why were they just -standing- there? 
 "And you knoiw it, don't you, Two-Edge?  Let the bug go -- NOW!"
        Two-Edge grinned maliciously.  "Come!" he hissed.  "Come and
 take it!"
        Fearlessly, Rayek and Cutter strode forward, both weapons held
 in front of them.  With a movement too quick for their eyes to
 register, Two-Edge's hand slipped behind a rock, a mysterious 'click'
 somehow making it past the wind to their ears. Then the ground was no
 longer there, and though Rayek instinctively pushed himself to the air,
 Cutter fell with with a vehement curse, disappearing down the hole.
        Ember's cry shattered the air.  "Oh no!  Father!"
        Cutter, at gravity's mercy, rolled and bumped and thudded down a
 narrow, rocky hole until even that disappeared and he was in freefall. 
 Then, his face met the ground and pain washed over him, blacking out
 for a few seconds.  When the moments passed and awareness dug a
 handhold in his mind again, he awoke to black, pain, and a strange
 place.  The thick scent of decay and pain overpowered his senses.
        Then something growled.
                
                To Be Continued...