by Joshua Hoyt
Chapter 16:
Tom woke. Terror coursing his body. Had he let Cody die? Frantically, he searched the cave. Cody slept peacefully where he had lain down hours before. Tom sighed with relief. It had only been a dream. Slowly he relaxed as he watched tiny streams of sunlight fill the cave. He climbed out of bed, busying himself to get the memory of the dream out of his mind. He started the fire and prepared breakfast for the others. He went through the motions but horrible sickness filled his stomach. Over and over he glanced at Cody, reassuring himself that his friend was still there.
“Tom, are you ok?” Aithnea asked after watching Tom's repeated checks on Cody.
“Yeah I’m fine,” Tom replied quickly.
Aithnea walked up behind him and put her arms around him holding him tight for several minutes. Tom held her hands, feeling the warmth that she always filled him with. She loosened her grip and turned Tom around to face her. Her eyes looked like shining emeralds. She's so beautiful. He pulled her in close and held her tight. They stood holding each other for a long time while Aithnea rested her head on his chest. She gave him strength and it melted the worries and pain away with Aithnea he knew that he could make it through this. That in the end things would be ok. A hissing noise came from behind him and he realized that the water had boiled over. He quickly turned and pulled the pot off the fire.
“Well Tom, don’t quit your day job,” Cody said as he stood up. He yawned and stretched then walked over to the fire. Tom lowered his head not able to look into his friends face. The hurt in Cody's dream eyes was still to real. Cody leaned over the fire and stirred the coals. “That was a crazy night wasn’t it. I can’t believe that Caspin’s a werewolf.” He looked over at Tanya as she stretched while sitting on her bedroll. “And to see Tanya fight was inspiring. I think even John would be hard pressed to beat her.”
“I heard that,” John said walking up behind them. “She is rather amazing though isn’t she?” John added after a moment.
Tom still looked down as he pretended that the mush needed more stirring. Aithnea’s brow creased as she watched him. After a few more minutes of watching Tom stir the over stirred mush, Aithnea said, “Tom and I’ll go and get some more wood for the fire.” She grabbed his hand and headed for the secret passage. Tom tried to resist, but she always won. He didn’t really want to stay in the cave with Cody anyway.
They left the cave with Cody yelling, “Don’t get lost in the woods.”
Tom and Aithnea hurried down the passage and out into the woods. Tom picked up a piece of wood that the early dew still clung too. As he reached for another piece Aithnea grabbed his arm and turned him around to look at her. “Tom, something’s bothering you. I can feel it. You forget that we’re connected. Even if we weren’t, it's so obvious the way you're acting.”
“It’s nothing. It was just a dream,” Tom said trying to escape her gaze.
“Let me help you. You don’t have to do everything by yourself. We’re all in this together. Whether we want to be or not.” Aithnea looked down at the ground.
Tom watched Aithnea’s black hair fall forward around her face. He pushed the hair back from her face, lifted her face with the cup of his hand and held it. He lowered his head slowly and kissed her on the lips. “Aithnea, I know that you’ll always be there for me. It’s just hard for me to remember that because others I've loved in the past are now gone. I don’t want to lose you too.”
Aithnea smiled. “Tom, you’re just acting sad so you can kiss me.”
Tom smiled back, but it soon faded. “I’m so worried that I’ll let everyone down. I’ve never had to worry about anyone but myself before, and it’s scary. I’m worried that I’ll lose you.” He lowered his head as he felt the burning in his eyes. He didn’t want to cry in front of her.
Aithnea pulled his head up and looked into his tear filled eyes. She smiled and standing on her tiptoes she kissed him gently. “It’s like I said you’re just trying to get a kiss.”
Tom smiled and wiped at his eyes. “It worked didn’t it?”
She grabbed him around the waist burying her head into his chest. “You’ll never let me down, Tom. I know that you’ll always do your best and that’s good enough.” She gave him one more hug and then started to gather wood. “If we don’t bring back some wood then they’ll think that we were just out here kissing. We don’t want that do we?” Tom grinned and started to gather wood. Once their arms were full they returned to the cave. Tom could tell, by the smell of it that someone who could cook better than he, had taken over the task. They dropped their wood by the fire and with the others scooped breakfast into their dishes. Tom and Aithnea sat down next to Cody. “You two have a good time?” Cody teased. Tom looked over at Cody and smiled. The dream was fading away.
The companions finished eating and packed up their things. Tanya stayed close to Caspin, helping him whenever he needed it. Tom walked up to Caspin, “Is there anything that I can help you with?”
Caspin glanced at Tanya. “Tanya, I think, feels that she owes me and so I can’t even move without her right there.” He smiled.
She smiled back kindly. “Caspin, it's only fair that since I was the one to hurt you that I should be the one to helps you.”
“I disagree with it being your fault but I’m grateful for your help. You’ve a very wicked sword. I’ve never been hurt that badly before.”
“It’s an elven blade, made from a forge in the heart of the white forest. It’s one of a kind and made by a master sword smith,” Tanya said. She held the blade out admiring it.
Tom looked at the blade. It appeared to be different than before. It was a silver blade and it appeared to glow. Vine etchings interlaced the silver handle and several gems were set into it. Tanya must have noticed that he stared at it because she handed it to him hilt first. He carefully took the blade from her. The weapon was light and well balanced. This could easily be hung on the wall as a piece of art. Tom held the weapon for several minutes testing its balance and weight. Cody walked up. “May I hold it?” he asked. His eyes were sparkling as he wiped his sweaty palms on his pants. Tanya nodded and Tom handed the weapon to Cody. He stepped back a few paces and performed several maneuvers with the sword. “With this weapon I could easily best you,” he said looking over at John.
John looked at Tanya. She nodded with an understanding smile. John pulled his own weapon from its sheath and taking a defensive stance approached Cody slowly with his weapon ready. Cody looked at her nervously and then at the sword. “Go ahead, you can’t break it,” she said.
Excitement rippled through Cody’s body as he approached John with the weapon at the ready. He immediately took the offensive and swung the elven sword at John with as much force as he could. As Cody swung the sword it seemed to pull Cody off of his feet and throw him to the ground. John laughed so hard he nearly fell over. An amazed Cody lay paralyzed on the ground. Tanya walked over to Cody and bent down next to him. She touched the sword and his back at the same time and whispered in elven.
“Cody the problem with the sword is that it has only one owner. When someone who is not the owner tries to use the weapon, it paralyzes them,” John said through fits of laughter.
Cody sat up after Tanya removed her hand from his back. He looked first at Tanya and then at John then held the sword up to Tanya, looking at it in awe. Cody picked himself up off of the ground and dusted his backside. “I only have one thing to say to you two, you had better watch out,” he said. He then smiled broadly. Cody looked at the sword again. “Thank you for letting me hold it though.”
Tanya nodded at Cody. “You'll, one day be a true weapons master. Remember that it’s the master that makes the sword not the sword that makes the master.” Cody looked at her for a few minutes longer than normal then blushed. He quickly turned and went back to packing. Within a few minutes all was ready and everyone turned to John and Kristiana for direction. John and Kristiana looked at each other. Making a decision John said, “We’ll seek o
ut the locations on the tapestries.” Turning to Caspin he continued, “We not only need but want your companionship, but we understand if....”
“My mission is your mission, and now that we have an understanding of my condition, I see no need to go to Archelaus. I believe that it’s God’s will that we have come together at this time. My calling is with you,” Caspin said.
“Kristiana and I think we should seek out the monks of the eternal word and ask for permission to enter their library in the city of light.”
Caspin looked up at John in surprise. “John, no one has ever been admitted to the library without being a member of the order. How do you plan on getting permission?”
“We’ll need to figure that out as we travel,” John replied. “We'll also need to get a better means of travel than foot, otherwise it'll take us months to get there.”
For a moment all was quiet. “We could always ask Archelaus for a car,” Cody suggested.
John looked up at Kristiana and then back to Cody. “I’m not sure where he stands and if he can be trusted.”
Looking annoyed Kristiana looked at John and said, “We need help, and we have no reason not to trust him.”
“I just don’t feel good about it. He aligned himself with the witches once before, who’s to say that he hasn't done so once again,” John said.
“He's always said that was a mistake, and he wouldn’t dare now that he has aligned himself with the enchanters and the healers. He would lose their support if he ever turned back to the witches.”
“We need to get resupplied, and he seems to be our only ally at this time,” Caspin said.
“Maybe he’s not,” Tanya said. She started playing with the hilt of her sword. “We can always go to my people. They may be willing to help us in our quest.”
“That might work. But, I thought they wouldn't let outsiders in,” John said. His attention now lay on Tanya.
“They’ll allow us to enter if I am with you,” she said.
“I say we vote on it. I don’t think that anyone should make this decision alone. We can go to Archelaus, or we can go to the people of the white forest,” John said. “All who are in favor of Archelaus?”
Kristiana, Aithnea, and Caspin raised their hands.
“All who are in favor of going to the white forest?” John asked.
Tom, Tanya, Cody and John raised their hands.
“Then it’s decided. We’d better get moving,” John said. He picked up his pack.
“Tanya you'll take the lead with Aithnea. Kristiana and I'll stay in the back to cover the trail. Cody and Tom help Caspin with his gear and anything else he needs.” John looked to Tanya to start out.
Tanya headed for the back of the cave, opening the secret passage and moved quickly on with Aithnea at her side. Tom and Cody picked up much of the gear and helped Caspin along behind them. Kristiana wasn’t too happy and argued with John in a hushed voice as they left the cave.
Tom, Cody and Caspin just managed to keep up with Tanya, as they struggled along. Tom looked over his shoulder and saw that John and Kristiana had still not left the passage. Maybe she doesn’t like elves or is she just dedicated to Archelaus and if she is why?
“What do you know about Tanya and her people, Caspin?” Cody asked.
“Well, I know that they live in the white forest, and that they keep to themselves most of the time. Tanya must be one of their leaders or she wouldn’t be wearing that sword she has. Very few of those swords are made, and it’s a great honor for her to have one. I also noticed while we were at the Aetos stronghold that she was a leader there. I can only surmise that leadership is her training.” Caspin's voice trailed off into thought.
Tom looked hesitantly at Caspin and then ahead. “Caspin, what happened to you, I mean how did it...?” Tom stopped not able to find the right words.
“I once was the priest of a small village in the far north. There I was respected and loved by the people. The people were good to me and I felt like they were family,” Caspin said. He smiled as he spoke, but a hint of sadness in his tone betrayed the smile. “I tended to the needs of the people with my abilities and they would help me in other ways. We lived together as a family for many years. One year it was colder than normal, and there came reports of people disappearing from their homes. Being the leader I went out with a few men to see if we could find what attacked our village. We traveled for many days following strange tracks that led from the village. We were eventually led to a cave where we found a werewolf. He attacked us instantly. During the battle two men were killed and another bitten but he lived still.” Caspin looked down through misted eyes. He stopped for a second to catch his breath, then continued. “We killed the beast and burned it in the cave. On the way home the man who had been bitten became ill, and I knew that he had the sickness and would soon change. He had three small children and his wife had died the year before. I wasn’t sure what would happen if I removed the sickness, but I knew if I didn’t do something, the man would eventually change, and his kids would be without father or mother.” Caspin’s voice went hollow as he recounted the tale. “I laid my hands on him and removed the sickness… You see when a healer heals, part of what he heals has to be absorbed into his own body. There is always a sacrifice to be made to remind the healer of what he has been given. The sickness was too powerful for me. I began to turn into the monster that we had just killed.” Caspin paused again looking off in the distance.
“I prayed for many days, hoping that God would take this curse from me. Then it was made clear to me that I would be stuck with this curse for the remainder of my days. When I changed the people of my village became frightened and chased me away. I may not have died that day but my heart was torn to pieces as those whom I loved and who had loved me began to hate me. I traveled for many days not knowing what I would do when I came upon a plant that I had not seen before. I was told to eat it, and I found that when I ate it I could control the curse. I don’t know why I must live with this curse but I have faith that there is a purpose to it.”
Caspin stopped talking and each withdrew to his own thoughts. Tom could not understand a God that would do this to someone like Caspin. Caspin had always served Him and was still faithful even after being rejected by his people and, to Tom, his God. Tom continued to walk in silence, not wanting to see the pain etched into Caspin’s face.
The group traveled the rest of the day, taking short breaks to rest and eat as the land started to change from mountains to flat lands. Tom’s spirits lifted as he felt the warmth of the sun on his face even though Tanya kept the pace fast and he struggled to support his own weight, let alone Caspin's weight. Caspin leaned more and more on Tom and Cody as they walked. Tom worried that Caspin could not go much farther when Tanya finally came to a halt. They set up camp in a group of rocks. Cody helped Tanya and Aithnea use one of the fire tablets to heat water for Caspin’s tea. Tom sat down on a rock and pulled out food for the group, looking forward to the dried meat and nuts that Tanya had packed for them.
“I’m sorry for the hard march today. I had to make sure that we made it to this grouping of rocks for protection,” Tanya said. She looked at Caspin with concern.
Caspin gave a weak smile and said, “Don’t worry about me my dear. I know that we have a long way to go. I’m sure with continued support from Tom and Cody, and the tea,” he raised his cup in toast, “I’ll be fine.”
Still looking worried, she tried to comfort him. “We won’t need to march as hard tomorrow. We should be within the shadow of the white forest by tomorrow night.”
After Aithnea had finished preparing the tea and giving it to Caspin she sat down next to Tom. They sat close together eating their food in silence. He could feel her warm body next to his and reached over and held her hand. Cody smiled at Tom causing him to blush slightly. John and Kristiana discussed something at the edge of camp. Tom only caught bits and pieces of the conversation. Kristiana still felt that they should have gone to Archela
us and John tried to console her. Tom could still remember the warning that Archelaus had given him the day he left and wondered if they should have gone to Archelaus as well. He worried about how Archelaus would react if he found out that they were hiding something from him.
The group finished eating and John set up the watch schedule in which Tom and Cody would take the middle watch. Tom lay down under his blanket and fell asleep quickly, only to be awakened in short time by John for his watch. “Be vigilant tonight. I have a feeling that we’re being watched.” Tom nodded quietly and walked over next to Cody on the edge of the rocks.
“Do you see anything?” Tom asked.
“No, but that doesn’t mean anything,” Cody said with a shrug. “If John has a feeling, then we'd better keep a close watch.”
Tom looked out into the darkness and couldn’t see much, but he felt a chill run up his spine as he felt unseen eyes staring at him. However, the night stayed quiet and the unseen eyes remained hidden. Tom sighed when their watch ended, relieved that he wouldn't need to stare into the darkness while images of monsters crept into his over active imagination. He stood and stretched then walked over to Aithnea and Tanya and woke them.
“John says that he thinks there is someone watching us, so be on your guard,” Cody said to Tanya.
“Thanks for the warning,” Tanya replied.
Tom had a hard time falling asleep, worrying about who or what watched them in the night, but finally slept, albeit fitfully.
The next morning Tom woke with a soft shake from Aithnea. Tom looked up into her face and smiled, seeing her green eyes shining down on him. How he would love to wake to those eyes every morning. Tom stared at Aithnea for a moment longer before she smiled and kissed him lightly on the forehead.
“It’s time to get up, sleepy head,” she said.
Tom smiled back and stood, glancing around to see if others had not been watching. He still felt some embarrassment by the obvious attraction that Aithnea and he shared. Still, he held her hand as they joined the rest of the group, and sat down next to Cody. Tom dished some food into a plate and ate while he stole glances at Aithnea.
“We should be able to get to the edge of the forest by tonight if we move quickly,” Tanya said.
“Did you see anything on your watch?” John asked.
“No, but I did have the feeling we were being watched. I think if it had been the white eagle clan, they would have attacked already,” she said.
“What other people would be out here?” Tom asked in between bites of food.
“Well, sometimes my people come this far out, but generally they keep close to the protection of the trees. It may be just another group of travelers,” she suggested.
They finished their breakfast quickly and packed their meager belongings. Within a few minutes they were ready to head out again and Tanya took the lead with John and Kristiana taking up the rear. Tom and Cody helped Caspin as they walked along behind Tanya.
“So Tanya, how long has it been since you've been home?” Cody asked.
Tanya looked over her shoulder. “I've been gone for about ten years,” she responded slowly.
“Why did you leave your home?” Aithnea asked.
Tanya looked down for a moment before responding, “I left to find meaning in my life. I didn’t agree with all the traditions of my people. I felt that I could help the world more by venturing out among humans.”
They continued on for a while longer when Cody asked, “What did you do for the white eagle clan?”
“I was a captain there and helped train the men. My main focus was on training the elite guard,” Tanya answered.
“It must have been hard to fight them,” Tom suggested.
“It was difficult, and I am grateful to all of you for not harming them too seriously. Things could have been much worse. It’s my way to make a decision and then to follow it through, no matter the consequences.” Tanya seemed to be a little sad as she spoke.
Tom wondered what consequences had happened to her when she left her people. He watched her for a while. She moved so confidently and it was no surprise to him that she followed through with what she started. He thought about the many times he had become uncertain about his own choices and even now he wondered if he should have answered the note that had come so long ago. What would his life be like if he had not gone out on that dark night? He remembered the headmaster and how he used to seem to be so big and powerful to him. Maybe I should go back and visit him when this is all done? Would he even be able to recognize me? What about Jacob and Peanut? I would definitely like to talk to them again. I want to make them pay for what they did to me.