Lore Rune (Rune Trilogy Book 1)

by Catherine Beery

  “By the First Forge…” Teilnon muttered agast. Even my father stopped speaking for a moment.

  White-faced, Ferna met my gaze “What did this to you?”

  “Figure it out later. Let’s take care of that wound before it goes completely septic!” My mother said pushing her way to my side. She started ordering for water and fresh cloths. Teilnon and Ferna were wise to act quickly to follow those orders. My mother didn’t stall to see if they were doing what she wanted. She just opened her medkit that she carried with her everywhere. All the common remedies were stuffed in it. It was a first aid, not a cure-all.

  I lay on the floor quietly. I was getting help. I was in a safe place…

  “Kel, stay with me.” My mother’s voice demanded.

  I blinked my eyes opened and frowned at her. “I’m not going anywhere,” I muttered.

  “Don’t fall asleep yet.” She cautioned.

  “Why not?” I asked looking up into the peaked roof of the sanctuary. The ceiling had been made of a clear crystal so the Ano family could be comfortable while attending church and the sun could light up the interior. Three large chandeliers adorned with hundreds of candles were suspended from the arched columns that held up the crystal. Lit by fire magic and placed strategically they could light the room almost as brightly as the sun at night. A fountain near the entrance and the airiness of the building helped the Sorins and Brens feel comfortable. There were plants and wooden floors for my own family to feel at ease… Every building in town had to be built with all of our people’s needs in mind. For me, at that moment my comfort came from the peace of the Lord that filled the place. That soothed my spirit and assured me that I was safe.

  My eyes started to close in relief again. Fear had lost its grip on me… and while my body ached, my soul felt at ease for the first time in a long time. A quick, light sting on my cheek snapped my eyes open again. I blinked in surprise at my mother. “No. Sleeping.” She reprimanded.

  “I’d listen to her if I were you.” My father added from my other side.

  It wasn’t fair that they were both ganging up on me. Just not fair. “I wasn’t sleeping. It's just so peaceful in here.” I muttered. I focused on the chandelier above my head. It wasn’t lit yet. Late afternoon light continued to filter in through the crystal ceiling. I smiled and winced at the same time. My mother was smearing something into the gashes. My body tried to twitch away from her somewhat painful touch, but I was still feeling remarkably relaxed. It was almost a high… not that I would know what that was like. I’m just guessing.

  “What gave you these wounds? Was it the corrupted elemental?” My father asked as my mother worked. He helped her, but he wanted information. I was too blissed out to really care.

  I slanted a look at him. “I think it might be blasphemous to say in here.”

  “Kel, we can only help if you actually answer the question.” Shellna’s voice came from nearby. Huh, I hadn’t realized she had followed me in. I figured she wouldn’t want to be anywhere near me considering what had happened to her.

  “Help me?” I almost laughed, but that made my sides hurt. “You can’t even see him,” I said watching a bird fly overhead. I think it was a crow. Was it a crow? A large black bird anyway. I like crows.

  “See who?” My father’s frowning face blocked my view of the sky.

  I would have scowled at him, but that was too much effort. “The one I told you about. Him.” It wasn’t too much effort to smile when relief powered it. “But its okay. He can’t get in here. Which is why I think I shouldn’t say his name here. Would be rude.”

  “What is your son talking about, Plavea?” Another said from the front of the building. I knew that voice well, even though I had only heard it a few times. I almost sank back into despair. But I refused to. I snatched at the peace that the despair had started to push away and pulled it right back. If I never left this floor, I would be happy. As long as that peace covered me.

  My father stood up and left my immediate vision. “High Zieneng dae Ano, his wounds are gravely infected. He can’t exactly be expected to make much sense at the moment.” My father said in a respectful tone.

  “Ah, then would it not be better for him to be moved somewhere where his wounds could be better taken care of?”

  Panic slammed through my system at that logical question. “NO!” I said sitting up. My eyes watered from the pain. My mother moved to stop me from moving further, but I was too quick. I’m not sure how considering how woozy I was feeling. But I couldn’t let them take me from my sanctuary. Not yet. Possibly not ever. I was on my knees facing the High Zieneng despite my mother’s and Ferna’s protests. “Please no!” I said bowing low to the High Zieneng, my forehead touching the ground. “I’m begging you, don’t make me leave the sanctuary!”

  “Kel, darling, don’t make the wounds worse. And he does have a point.” My mother said gently.

  I shook my head frantically. I met her gaze for the first time since coming in here, praying she would understand. “Better I die in here than go out there. He is out there. He did this. That’s why they are so bad…This is the only safe place. Please don’t make me leave!”

  “There is a betrothal service tonight for Zara.” The High Zieneng replied with a shake of his head. “I am sorry, but I cannot have a raving sick person interrupting the service, Plavea.”

  “I won’t rave,” I spoke up before my father could. “You won’t even know I’m here. I’ll just sit in that dark corner over there.” I said pointing at the corner farthest from the front of the church. “Or, if you prefer, I will happily sit in the broom closet. I won’t bother you at all.” I said quickly.

  The High Zieneng was a powerfully built man with a thick mane of red hair. Though kept short, it still looked somewhat wild. His eyes were the same blazing gold as all his family. He was a man whose bloodline was woven with the fire of the sun. The King of all Solzien mages around the world. To say that he was not used to a mere plant mage begging to be allowed to sit in a church broom closet was similar to saying that water was wet. A fact so obvious it shouldn’t need to be stated… but I might be a little out of my mind at the moment… so… yeah.

  My poor parents couldn’t seem to decide whether to be worried about my health more or the fact that I dared to speak to our venerable leader so. My health won because it was my mother shaking her head. “Kel, we need to take you somewhere that we can better treat those wounds…”

  At that moment the door to the church crashed open. The wind whistled as it was allowed entry. Everyone in the room turned to see who was rushing in. Out of the corner of my eyes I noted my family, Shellna, Teilnon, and the High Zieneng frown in confusion. I’ll admit, I was just as confused…

  For on the threshold stood a crow.

  Chapter 14

  “What in the name of Heaven caused that door to slam?” Shellna was the first to speak. “It couldn’t have been that crow.”

  “And wind doesn’t pull doors open.” My mother agreed. “Teilnon, would you be a dear and close that door? That was just too weird.” She muttered the last under her breath.

  Teilnon shook his head slowly in confusion but moved to do as she asked. The crow watched as he approached. Once Teilnon reached that distance that most birds decided was close enough it beat its wings, but it didn’t fly away outside. It flew inside. Teilnon tried to stop it, but it nimbly avoided his attempts and cawed in what sounded to me like humor.

  It flew about the room before landing atop the chandelier above me. I peered up at it as it peered down at me. Meeting its gaze made me feel… odd. Not a bad odd, just odd. I felt stricken with a sudden and vital truth… It was staring me right in the face (literally), and I still wasn’t sure what it was.

  “Bird, you are not welcome in here.” The High Zieneng said. “I do not wish to kill you, but I must insist that you leave this building at once.” He continued. The crow ignored him… it’s a crow. Eldish is not a language it understands. I thought but was wis
e enough not to say. The High Zieneng flicked a small ribbon of flame into existence and sent it up into the chandelier. The flame lit the candles and chased the crow away from its perch. The crow shrieked in indignation before diving away. But it did not go to the door, it just went to another chandelier. The ribbon of flame followed after it.

  My mother pulled me gently to my feet which pulled my gaze away from the spectacle above. “Come Kel. We should get you to the infirmary and see to your wounds. Before that bird accidentally spreads its germs to you.”

  I pulled away from her. “Haven’t you been listening?! It's not safe for me out there!”

  “You can’t stay in here for the rest of your life.” She pointed out.

  “I can’t go out there tonight. I just…. I can’t” I protested.

  “Kel – I cannot treat those wounds properly here. Let’s go!” She said reaching for me. The crow chose that moment to fly just over our heads. My mother shrieked and ducked. I gasped and watched the crow fly. It wheeled about the front of the church before coming back toward us. Away from us, the ribbon of fire and its new many friends closed in on the bird. Obviously trying to drive him toward the open and waiting doors. But the flames couldn’t come close to us without risk of causing harm. The ribbons pulled back, but they blocked the front of the church.

  The crow glided between my mother and me before flapping its wings to slow down. As if it was about to land. A strange blurring obscured it before the shape grew into that of a man. But it wasn’t a man that was standing beside me and my mother.

  I had only read about what he had to be. Of all the peoples who lived in our world, the Elmora were the most beautiful. Not only that, but they were also immortal. It was said that in the Garden of Creation there had been springs of elemental power. The Elmora had bathed and drank from the springs. Because of that, they gained magics that even a clan of human mages couldn’t dream of. For some Elmora had bathed in all the springs.

  There were accounts of powerful Elmora shapeshifting. Other stories of them healing usually fatal wounds. They also had control over all elements. In sort, Elmora were a force to be reckoned with, magically speaking. But of course, they also trained for centuries and were renowned warriors. And artisans. And masters of about any craft out there. Which made sense considering they had quite a bit of time on their hands.

  Lately, in recent years, they were not exactly known for interacting with other races. They tended to keep mostly to their homeland in the north, though they did relatively regularly visit large cities. A few times a year. But in capital cities, Like Eldin City, Elmora were known to have embassies.

  But our clan town was not one of those places. This was the only Elmoran I had ever seen. He had an athletic build and stood a little taller than my father, who was not a short man. His green and brown clothing (trousers, shirt, and vest) that one could see past the light armor were of a fine fabric that I didn’t recognize. Perhaps someone who had more knowledge in textiles would have had a name for it, but I didn’t. But more fascinating to me was his armor. It shimmered like metal but was woven instead of plate. It wasn’t exactly chainmail either. His hair draped down past his shoulders and had the strange characteristic of all Elmora in that the roots were blond that transitioned to a dark brown at the ends. Tokens and beads had been braided into his hair.

  I took in his presence as unobtrusively as I could, but I must not have been as discrete as I had hoped. By the time I got to his face, he was grinning at me, his eyes laughing. And that was when I actually got a good look at his eyes. One was a leaf green. The other was a silvery blue. I gasped in surprise. I’d never seen any living thing with different colored eyes before. Our Elmoran guest’s grin got even bigger. But there was something more important that I felt upon meeting his gaze. The sensation I had gotten from looking at the crow had only gotten stronger.

  Unsure of what was going on, I looked down. I felt his gaze linger on me for a moment more before he turned to my mother.

  Understandably she was gaping at the sudden appearance of an Elmoran in our midst. To her he spoke, his voice musical and entrancing. “Taking him from this sanctuary would be a terrible mistake, madame. The wounds must be seen to here, upon sacred ground. Anywhere else and the Shadekin will further the infection.”

  She frowned in confusion and worry. The High Zieneng approached. His golden eyes flashed, but he was otherwise calm. “I apologize for trying to shoo you away, but we were not expecting guests. Now, what is this you are talking about? Who are you?” the questions demanded answers.

  Our immortal guest met the High Zieneng’s gaze and answered “To you, I am Lorekin lae Hanlais Draelanis. I am here because we received a request for help that no one else could answer.” In the deepest shadows behind one of the columns, I caught sight of Nimla and a few of her companions. She looked beyond relieved that Lorekin was here.

  Did they see him attacking me? Had they sent for help from the Elmora? I wondered. I also wondered why, since no one else could see my nightmare.

  Lorekin turned his attention back to me. “Here lad, why don’t you sit down? You look a bit pale. What have you done so far?” He asked my mother while guiding me to one of the benches. The movement caused my sides to ache. I winced. “Still paining you?”

  I glanced guiltily at my mother before nodding. My mother sighed. “I did just start treatment. – hey! Those won’t do any good if they’re not on!” She protested as Lorekin pulled her poultice wraps from my sides. It hurt when he did that.

  “Ti m’shava.” Lorekin muttered distractedly. I didn’t really blame him since I could now see the wounds as well now. They looked even worse… My mother gasped. I could see the worried looks on the other’s faces.

  “And you said this would be even worse outside,” My father asked in disbelief.

  “Yes.” Lorekin glanced at me before looking back at my parents. “The Shadekin would have likely used it to weaken his will and take his body and soul.”

  I shivered in reaction to that while my parents shared a troubled look, their faces pale. “What is this you keep mentioning?” The High Zieneng demanded. “what is a ‘shadekin’?”

  Lorekin rolled his eyes. “Don’t you people ever read your histories?” He pulled away the rest of the bandages my mother had applied. I wrinkled my nose at the smell. That wasn’t good at all… I felt a bit sick now. “Hold on, lad. I’ll fix you up. Just hold still. Do you know anything about Shadekin?” He asked. I figured he did so in order to get me to think about something else as he moved his hand slowly up and down an inch over my skin. A warm tingling followed his hand along the ragged, angrily infected gashes.

  I bit my lip as the warm tingling began to burn. But I struggled to think of what he had asked. While He had never called himself a Shadekin as far as I could remember, I figured that was who Lorekin was talking about. I still really didn’t want to talk about it, but I didn’t want to think about the slowly building pain in my side either. “He, he said that … he was my nightmare… my destiny… he is my dark…ness.” I panted through the pain. “And that he was stronger than me.” I stopped talking as the pain spiked. Sweat beaded on my forehead as I fought the instinct to move away from the source of agony.

  “Ti m’shava, lad. I am sorry. But I need to clean this out.” Lorekin apologized.

  “This nightmare Kel has been talking about, it isn’t just a nightmare?” My father asked. He was pale watching the Elmora heal me. The High Zieneng and Teilnon had backed away so they couldn’t easily see my wounds, but still hear all that was being said. Shellna had crept closer, but she also kept her eyes averted.

  “Not just a nightmare. A living nightmare.” Lorekin said softly, his attention was fixed on my wounds. “A being of the Abyss. An Enemy of all Creation. Everything it touches is corrupted. Which is why I need to clean this out. You might want to bite down on something, so you don’t hurt yourself, Kel.” He advised. My mother offered a de-barked and sanded stick from a Julvern tree.
Biting on it would release a gentle pain reliever.

  I accepted it between my teeth. I was instantly glad she had it because whatever Lorekin had been doing, he increased it. Sped it up or something. I don’t know. But it burned. Like a hot iron was being shoved under my skin. I couldn’t hold still anymore. Being the closest, my parents moved to help keep me still.

  “It is looking healthier, Kel. They’re closing up even!” My mother told me, her voice breathless with awe. After a moment I found I could breathe again. I glanced down at my left side. The terribly infected gashes were gone. In their place were three seven to eight-inch-long pink scars.

  “Halfway there, Kel. Ready for what comes next?” Lorekin asked me. I was very sure I wasn’t, but I knew that would not be an acceptable answer. And the longer we waited, the worse it would be. I shook my head but said around the stick “sure, why not?”

  He chuckled. “I like honestly. Brace yourself.” He cautioned before starting the process all over again on my right side. It was worse the second time around. Why is it always worse the second time around? Possibly because I know what is coming and its even worse in my mind. Maybe cause my nerves were already primed by the first and reacted faster. It's also possible that my right side became even worse while he had worked on the left. I don’t know. But I can tell you that I was biting that stick hard. The fact that it didn’t splinter in my mouth was quite impressive to me. Tears ran down my face and Teilnon had to help restrain me, so I didn’t hurt anyone and myself. Though I must admit that he looked a tad green.

  Relief washed through me when Lorekin finished. I sagged against the backrest of the bench. My family and Teilnon stepped away so I could have some room to breathe. I pried my teeth free of the stick and handed it back to my mother. My teeth had left their mark. She took it back and wrapped it in a dirty cloth that I knew was destined for the fire pit. Not everything could be cleaned well enough for reuse.