*** THIS STORY HAS BEEN REWRITTEN. ***
If you are coming back after having started reading before 28 October 2016 please start again at the beginning.

Please feel free to skip or skim my rather extensive notes... but if you skip the notes and then complain about something that I explained there, I will laugh at you.

Introduction to the rewrite: Well, I've been working on this story for more than ten years now and I've read through it so often I think I can't actually see it properly anymore. I am both incredibly lazy and an unbelievable perfectionist, and those traits have come to a head most spectacularly in the writing of this story. While I've always known from the beginning how I wanted this story to end I was also always a little fuzzy on how the middle was going to go. So as I slap-dashed each chapter together that middle wandered far from center... wandered, in fact, into a dead end, where I wasn't sure how to connect the threads that were there to the ending I already had written in my head. There was (to quote my favorite online unofficial parody musical) literally no way to move forward from this point.
But (to quote again) if I can't move forward, why shouldn't I move back? I decided to go back and completely rewrite the story, taking my time and making sure to guide it in the direction I wanted instead of just trying to get something written and posted quickly.
Barbara Mertz is quoted on her website as having said, "Inspiration is all very well, but it will never replace sheer dogged determination." I love crossovers, and my favorite characters being able to interact on the flimsiest of excuses, so I was certainly inspired to write this story- but the only reason I ever finished it was indeed the determination to get it finished. I feel as if, in the time it has taken me to get this story written down, I've lost a bit of the passion that made me want to write it in the first place, but I think that determination to get it done has made it a better story in the end. I think it's not good enough to deserve 10 years in the making, but it is a fun little story and I hope y'all enjoy it. My favorite thing about the Valdemar series is Lackey's ability to create characters who are truly human individuals, and I hope I've remained as true as possible both to them and to that spirit.
Hopefully it's been so long since you read the first draft that you can appreciate the rewrite without any trouble, though some scenes have not been changed much at all. At any rate, I hope the story amuses you, and for those who have been fans from the beginning, thank you! I only wish I could have been able to finish this in a timely manner for you, but I suppose late is better than never. I guess I needed the maturity I've gained over the past few years in order to be able to release my perfectionism enough to just have fun with writing this. In any case, Zhai'helleva.

Disclaimer: All characters, settings, languages, etc. of the world of Velgarth are the intellectual property of Mercedes Lackey, and are probably owned by some corporation also. I do not own them and I am receiving no monetary compensation for this fanwork.
Dates used are estimates taken from the timeline at the beginnings of Owlknight.
Rating: This story is rated T or equivalent- not recommended for children under the age of 13. This story contains some adult language, instances of peril, and mildly explicit "adult themes."
Summary: When White Gryphon is threatened by a new evil, a vision reveals that the answer lies in a history not yet written, and a trio of mages with powers not yet defined.
Spoilers: By its nature, this story contains spoilers for every book the characters here have been in, which include the following trilogies: The Mage Wars, Last Herald-Mage, The Mage-Storms, The Mage Winds, and Darian's Tale (Owl trilogy). While this story will be infinitely more enjoyable if you are passingly familiar with those books, I feel the only really important spoilers are for Storm Breaking, Winds of Fury, and possibly Owlsight.
While it is not canon, this story also draws from my previous story "The Man in the Wind and the West Moon," which details the initial meeting between Moondance and Starwind; I have included some of those details, which are not made clear in canon, in this story.
Dedication: This story is dedicated to all the readers who waited patiently for me to fight through real life, perfectionism, and laziness to finish it. My especial thanks to Emily- I'm sorry I couldn't finish this in time for you to read the end, but I hope that one day we will both be in a place where I can hand you a copy and we can laugh about it together.

"Collide"

- Chapter 1 – Future Tense -

The day was calm and bright. Gryphons wheeled in the sky above the glistening city nestled into the side of the cliff. The sounds of the denizens of White Gryphon going about the business of the day drifted up toward Amberdrake as he looked down over the city from the staircase landing where he stood. The clear sky reflected in exact opposition to his mood.

He supposed that, with the way things had been going of late, it was the day and not his mood that was out of place. Still, it was nice that even in the middle of the chaos that had descended upon the city, life could continue- could have moments without tension and fear. Goddess, but there's been few enough bright moments lately...

And, today, they were about to see whether there would ever be bright moments again. Snowstar was ready; the other three mages were prepared. There would be no more waiting.

The kestra'chern sighed. Truth be told, he was probably the most apprehensive of the group, but keeping up brave fronts was something that was his job; and, despite the fact that quieting his rambling thoughts was proving a struggle today, it was also something he had become extraordinarily good at in his life.

As Drake ascended the steps to the chamber where they were going to perform the ritual he breathed deeply and paused to organize his mind before he pushed open the door and went inside. Snowstar looked up briefly but returned his concentration to what he was doing; the mage was outwardly as composed as he always appeared but an empath could easily read that his intense concentration masked a deep uneasiness. Skandranon came to stand beside his friend, and as Amberdrake placed a hand on the gryphon's shoulder he felt the muscles under his hand hard and tense with anxiety.

"We're almost ready," Skan said, and Drake had to bite his tongue to keep nervous laughter at bay. For all that the waiting had been excruciating, now that the day was actually here...

"I'm glad someone is," he muttered instead. The look Skan shot him was not amused.

:I am ready Papa Skan!: Kechara came bounding over to where the pair stood.

"Good girl Kechara." Skan grinned at her, a smile reserved for her even in the middle of his trepidation. "Wait for Snowstar, then listen to what he says, alright?" She grinned back and romped over to come to a straight halt a few feet in front of Snowstar. Her tail twitched as she raptly fixed her attention on him, waiting for his signal.

Drake glanced around the room; people milled about, but soon they would be asked to leave. Except for the three mages who stood in a loose circle around Snowstar- mages with a particular gift in the area of foresight; mages who'd had visions... They were the ones who had first known of the threat- the ones who had proposed a solution before the threat became evident to everyone else. These three mages had been frightened almost out of their minds by what they had seen; until other reports had supplemented theirs, and people had started to take their warnings seriously, they had been frantic in their attempts to get the Council to listen to them.

Snowstar raised his head and nodded to Kechara. He must have given her more instructions via mindspeech because she scampered to the center of the floor and turned to look at him for approval. The three mages also moved out, taking diamond point positions around Kechara in the center and leaving Snowstar the fourth point of the diamond. Snowstar looked at Drake and the kestra'chern, taking the hint, started herding people out through the doors. Winterhart was one of the last ones out; she took his hand and squeezed it before turning and ushering out the people in front of her.

Amberdrake was thankful for that; not only her absence at what was, hypothetically, the most dangerous part of the process, but also her serene outward confidence, and her gentle reassurance that she was with him, always. He went and stood beside Skan. They were the welcoming committee; the spell would probably leave most or all of the mages involved unconscious, or at the least extremely weak. Drake and Skan, and a small group waiting outside, were in charge of making sure their new visitors felt... at home. Drake smothered a slightly hysterical laugh at that last thought and turned all his attention to Snowstar.

The k'Leysha Adept was the most powerful mage in the city. If he couldn't do this... they were all doomed. Amberdrake held his breath as a feeling of power filled the room. The four mages raised their arms, in perfect synchronization with each other, and Kechara's eyes glowed with blue light as she sat in the middle, facing Snowstar. The little gryphon and the mage seemed to be staring at each other and the pale light grew stronger as it spread and seemed to fill the room, curling around the other mages. The feeling of power grew too, until it felt like an enormous creature crouched in the room with them, its presence overwhelming. Amberdrake shut his eyes against the light and the hand that was pressed firmly against Skandranon's shoulder trembled. There hadn't been such a gathering of power since before the war and the destruction of Urtho's tower.

Suddenly the feeling of power dissipated, and as the light faded Amberdrake could hear someone screaming.

Instinct overcame restraint or fear, and he stepped toward the noise, but Snowstar held out an arm weakly to stop him. Drake frowned at Snowstar, then glanced at the room in front of them.

The three mages were collapsed where they had been standing. Kechara was standing dazedly where she had been sitting, looking around in alarm. Three other men had appeared, as if out of the air, one standing more or less in front of each mage.

The rightmost two from Amberdrake's position stood looking around confusedly, their posture becoming more defensive as they regained some of their equilibrium. The man farthest to the left was lying on the ground, screaming as if his soul had been torn out.

Amberdrake pushed past Snowstar and went to the man, attempting to see if he was injured. As soon as he put his hands on the man, an inhuman shriek sounded and only a shouted warning from Skan saved him as he dropped and rolled, coming up in a crouch a few feet away.

A huge bird, a falcon, had its talons buried in the floor in a direct line from where Amberdrake's head would have been. It shrieked at him again, its feathers mantled, and it backed away a few steps to stand closer to the man it was protecting, swiveling its head around in an effort to keep an eye on everyone in the room. Was that a bondbird? Amberdrake glanced at Skan in amazement.

Skandranon wasn't looking at him. He was slowly advancing on the bondbird, clucking softly in an attempt to soothe it. To give the bird credit, it did not appear to be at all afraid of the enormous gryphon and it refused to give ground, buffeting the gryphon's head with its wings when Skan got too close.

The man had stopped screaming. He was lying on his side, one hand clutching at his chest, as if to ensure that his heart was indeed still there, and breathing in quick, shallow gasps. The bird quieted slightly, especially after Skan backed off a bit. It turned to the man and nibbled worriedly at his fingers. Almost automatically his fingers moved in a caress. "Kesuki," he whispered to the bird. The word was not familiar to Amberdrake, and for a moment he feared the translation element they had woven into the spell hadn't worked. The man looked up at him. "Why?" he asked, his face drawn and haggard. "Who are you?"

Drake looked up and met the eyes of the other two men as well, their faces suspicious and questioning. He bowed his head. "Please. I am sorry, but we are in desperate need of your help."

"Well, you certainly have a dramatic way of getting one's attention," the man who had been in the center said waspishly. "Is there anything else you needed while we were at it?" He was stroking the crest of another bird, one whose species looked entirely unfamiliar to Amberdrake; as the bird twittered in agitation what looked like fire cascaded off its feathers.

The third man stepped forward, glancing at the second man as if seeing... not a ghost, so much as something that should not exist the way that he saw it now. "Firesong?" he said, his voice uncertain, not so much in the identification as it was with the reality of his surroundings.

The second man turned to him, eyes narrowed. "Who are you?"

The third man looked long and hard at the one he had called Firesong, as if memorizing his face. "Darian," he said; a glance at Amberdrake, almost as an afterthought, seemed to say that Drake was not welcome to take that as an introduction. "What is going on?" His cool, controlled words were almost as effective, or perhaps more so, than shouted expletives would have been. And the frankly enormous owl gripping at his shoulder with talons as long as Drake's fingers didn't hurt his presence any. Drake didn't try to put him off, though truly explaining "what was going on" would take a very long time, since not even Amberdrake really knew.

"That is... extremely complicated to explain," he started, "but let me say again that we were in need of your help. We were... forced to... call you here." His eyes narrowed as he assessed what to say- what they would believe. Sketi, he didn't even believe it. "We brought you here, from out of the future."

That earned him a few incredulous glares... which faded into thoughtful looks; particularly from the one called Darian. "So," he asked, "who exactly are you?"

Drake inclined his head. "Amberdrake k'Leshya, of the city of White Gryphon."

All three of them gasped in utter astonishment, looked around themselves again as if seeing the place for the first time, and Darian's incredulous eyes fell on Skan. "Right. So don't tell me, you're..."

"Skandranon Rashkae," he started but it was Firesong who finished.

"The Black Gryphon. Of course. Why not?" He shook his head, though whether in denial or something else, or in denial of what, Drake could not be sure. "Surely this is some elaborate hoax, though I assure you I do not find it amusing."

Snowstar stepped forward. "I am sorry," he said, and meant it, "but this is no hoax."

It was Darian who spoke next. "I look forward to hearing more of this incredibly complicated story of yours, but perhaps we should sit down. These men," he gestured to the mages lying on the floor, unconscious, "need attention." He glanced at the owl peering over his shoulder when it hurred inquiringly. "And perhaps we could have some dinner?"

Drake nodded and went to open the doors. He admired this Darian's diplomatic skills under pressure. Snowstar moved to check his other mages and Kechara scampered wearily to Skan.

Firesong went to the other man, who was still seated on the floor and offered his hand to pull him to his feet. "And you are?" he said, his tone jesting- reminding the man that he was the only one there who had not yet been identified, but also implying that he wouldn't be surprised if the man didn't particularly care to reveal himself to the group just yet.

The man accepted his hand and once he stood in front of Firesong- their faces mirroring each other strangely, long white hair framing pale eyes- he said simply, "Moondance."

Firesong gasped as if burned, and Darian's head came up. Moondance glared at them and Kesuki hissed at them from the mage's shoulder. "What is it?" Moondance said warily.

"Moondance k'Treva? You..." Firesong began, but Darian cut him off.

"I think we should find out more about what is gong on before we... start to talk to each other." He looked at Firesong uncomfortably.

Firesong returned his look, seeming to remember how Darian had called him by name even though he would have sworn he had never seen the other man before. "Yes. I suppose so."

Moondance looked at them suspiciously. "I suppose," he echoed, and he followed them as they left the room.

-o-