“Huh. Since when did taking out your frustration on someone else equate to a polite conversation?” I wondered aloud before running ahead to the door. I opened it and gestured them through into the night air with a courteous “after you.”
“You are very rude,” Zara muttered.
“So you keep saying. And yet I’m the one who just opened a door for you. Imagine that being called rude. But you know, there are more important things at the moment.” I said leading the way again. Mostly because I could outrun both of them. We arrived at the rear gate to find the search party entering the gate. They looked a bit worse for wear, but as Nimla had reported, no one was seriously wounded. The group also included Teilnon and my father.
Uncle Hawthorn had joined the crowd coming out to greet the returned search party. He was understandably more upset than the rest that Ferna was not part of the group. He zeroed in on Teilnon. “You dared to return without her?! You are worthless.”
“Come now, Hawthorn. We all returned without her.” My father said calmly, though I could detect fatigue in his tone. “Teilnon got us close, but something – weird happened.” He nodded at the Elmora who Teilnon owed a debt to. “Adnavier says that Tre’shriha moved us away from her lair. It just so happens she moved us a quarter mile from here. We’ll go out again tomorrow morning unless another group succeeded in finding and rescuing Ferna.”
Uncle Hawthorn did not look happy about this. The searchers certainly did not look happy. But they looked exhausted. I watched as they went inside to eat and rest. The only one who didn’t go inside was Teilnon. He stood by me, Jay and Zara. The four of us watched Uncle Hawthorn find a spot to sit near the trunk of the Great Oak.
“I hate doing nothing,” I said softly. Ferna was my cousin. One of my favorites (right after Jay). I hated not being able to do anything. I knew too that the likelihood of the Searchers getting to Ferna before her time ran out was minimal. But what I could do? “Teilnon, could you lead me to the ruins?” I asked turning to the large man.
Teilnon blinked down at me. “Excuse me?”
“What do you think you can do that the full mages can’t?” Zara demanded. I ignored her and repeated my question. Not one to be ignored. She spun me around to face her. “What are you going to do? You can’t do anything! You’ll just endanger those you are with when you can’t summon any power to help protect them.”
I turned to face her blazing eyes and said: “It’s a Test, Zara.” I said dropping her title to the shock of the four of us. But I was too distracted by an epiphany to correct myself. “It is a test....” I murmured thoughtfully.
“Oh dear. He’s put something together.” Jay muttered.
I smiled at him. “It’s a test,” I repeated for the third time.
“You’ve said that.” Zara pointed out crossing her arms irritably, one golden brow raised.
I nodded and waved her comment aside. “The Elmora came to us because of their lost relic. A relic they can’t retrieve because of the Test sealing it away. A test that can only be taken by humans. Why?” I asked them.
The three of them shared a baffled look. “Um…” Jay started to say with a thoughtful, yet very confused expression. “Why?” He turned the question back to me.
“Think about it,” I said, my heart beating faster with excitement. “Humans are weaker in many ways to the Elmora. Who better to benefit from a relic that grants wisdom?”
“Don’t forget power,” Teilnon added
“Or protection.” Zara joined in.
Softly, Jay added, “And courage.”
I inclined my head to them. It did grant all of those things, or so Caimeir had said. “Now, only full mages have gone looking for it,” I said with a gesture toward Teilnon and then the house, including the Searchers. “But they’ve been turned away. What if it isn’t magical strength that is needed, but weakness?”
“Excuse me?” Zara said, her hands falling to her hips.
“Inability, but the desire to do something.” I continued. “That’s the key.”
“That is the most ludicrous thing I’ve ever heard.” Zara pointed out.
Teilnon shook his head. “No, I think it makes sense.” He turned to me. “Your father didn’t tell the rest, but just before we were transported away from the ruins, we heard something. A … a voice that was many voices…” Teilnon shivered at the memory. “It said we were not the right ones. That we wanted too much. That we should be thankful for what we had.”
“That settles it then. I’m going to go looking for Ferna. I just need to grab a few things first.” I started toward the house.
Jay’s hand on my shoulder stopped me. “You’re not going alone. I’m coming too!” It was on the tip of my tongue to tell him I wouldn’t be alone, but he didn’t know about Nimla.
“He won’t be. I’ll be going along. I might not be able to take this Test, but I can lead you to the right place.” Teilnon said.
“I’m still going,” Jay said stubbornly.
Zara sighed “Well Teilnon, are you up to protecting all four of us?” At our looks, she crossed her arms. “I’m not staying behind. I might not have magic, but I have been trained in some hand to hand combat.” Jay and I must have looked shocked cause she smiled. “I’m the Heir of the Ano Family, thus a future protector of our people. I need to know all I can.”
After a moment’s thought, I nodded. “I guess its all of us then.” Zara beamed at me. I had to admit, I liked that better than her glowering at me… or the thought that she would rat us out if we didn’t agree to her coming along. “Let’s gather some supplies than we’ll meet by the gate in ten minutes.”
Chapter 21
During the day, a walk through the Wood felt like walking at twilight. At night? At night it was much, much darker. The four of us intrepid adventurers stood in the eves and peered into the blackness. It was much too dark to even try entering. Primal fear had much to do with that. Teilnon drew his sword and ran his finger down the center of the blade, whispering something. A very soft golden glow followed his finger and bloomed throughout the whole blade. It was very dim, I’ve see candles brighter, but compared to the blackness under the trees it was enough to see obstacles.
“I’d prefer to make it brighter.” The large metal mage explained softly, “But I don’t want to attract undue attention.”
That was a very good point. I looked at Nimla. “I will warn you if we see anything coming.” It was then I saw a few others of her kin wave at me.
Somewhat relieved by the advance warning system I turned to Teilnon. “We’ll just have to be vigilant. Shall we?”
Time was an ethereal thing in the Wood. We could have been walking for five minutes… or five hours. We could hear things further away; calls, chitters, scrambling on bark and through the underbrush. Long, drawn-out moans that lifted the hair on the back of our necks. And then we heard the one thing I think we were all dreading: howls.
Teilnon stopped. I wasn’t sure in the dim light, but I think his eyes widened and sweat glistened on his skin. To be fair, the rest of us reacted pretty much the same way. “Drayvern.” He whispered. A collective shiver pass through the group at that.
“Fear not. They are far away.” Nimla advised me. She then chuckled “My people are having fun leading them away from you and yours.”
I relaxed, tilting my head to listen to the howls. Sure enough, they did sound like they were going away from us. “I think we are in the clear, at the moment. Are we near that turn you mentioned?” I asked Teilnon.
He adjusted his grip on the sword, head tilted as he also listened. Once sure that I hadn’t been mistaken he cleared his throat. “Yes. It’ll be at a storm struck tree surrounded by red lilies.”
We found the obvious landmark in the next couple of minutes. It kind of announced itself. The Phenix Lilies emitted a soft red light. They grew all around the roots of a very large, very dead tree. At least eighty years ago, lightning had struck the tree, splitting it down the center and burning
its insides. The top part of the tree had withered being cut off from the roots. Without the food from the leaves, the rest of the tree starved to death. Oddly enough, one could still smell the smoke from that long-ago fire.
I knew it had been roughly eighty years ago because of the many Phenix Lilies that grew around the roots. Phenix Lilies could only be found in parts of the Wood where a fire had caused devastation. Where there was ash for them to take root in. Then, they took five years at least to mature. Only then would they spawn several new plants, its flowers burning away to release the single seed each flower produced. There had to be well over a hundred of the plants, all of them producing glowing flowers.
“There is light in the Wood.” I thought I hear Zara murmur in awe.
“I know this place,” I said understanding my nagging sense of familiarity. “I read about it. That used to be a Tree Lord. He had been battling a Blood Tree that had been trying to find safety in the Old Wood. He had called a terrible storm. From it, he drew forth lightning to burn the Blood Tree. It worked.” I said pointing to a very large pile of ash that the wind had been unable to blow away since the trees grew so thick here.
“If he won, then why is the Tree Lord dead?” Jay asked frowning at the hulking corpse of the dead tree.
“He had to call a lot of lighting to fully kill his adversary. The two had been so close together that the lightning struck him too. He sacrificed himself to keep the Blood Tree out. It’s said the Phenix Lilies serve as a kind of memorial for the fallen Tree Lord.”
“Come on. This way.” Teilnon called. He had continued around the tree to the left. We followed him. “We shouldn’t be too far now.” We were a bit on the sad side that we had to leave the extra light provided by the Phenix Lilies, not that they had been bright or anything. But they had been something more than Teilnon’s sword.
But now we were back to just the sword. I walked next to Teilnon, my eyes constantly scanning the forest. Jay and Zara followed behind. Jay tapped my shoulder. I turned to see what was up. Jay looked particularly white when he pointed at something in the darkness. I followed the direction of his pointing finger. I sucked in a breath when my eyes met the emerald gaze of something particularly large. It had to be with eyes roughly the size of a large apple.
“What is it?” Zara asked softly turning to see what had caused both Jay and I to stop dead in our tracks. At that moment the eyes had closed, effectively disappearing.
“You saw that, right?” Jay asked me, his voice a little higher than normal.
“See what/,” Zara asked glancing between the two of us and the spot Jay was still pointing at.
I nodded to Jay. “Something was taking a gander at us.” I turned back toward the direction we had been going. Teilnon intensified his watchfulness. My gaze searched for Nimla.
As if sensing my interest she came as close as the dim light would allow her. “Nothing approached you. None of us were aware of anything lurking…What did you see?” Nimla asked after a pause.
“What do you mean by that?” Zara asked in a concerned tone.
Jay replied. “There were eyes! Big ones. They were staring right out at us! They were this big” he said using both of his index fingers and thumbs to show the size. Index fingertip to index fingertip, thumb to thumb forming a roundish shape about the size of an apple.
Nimla became more animated “What color?” She asked excitedly.
“They had been emerald green,” I replied to her and further describing for Zara and Teilnon.
Nimla gasped “It might have been Tre’shriha! She can cast an illusion of herself anywhere within the Wood she chooses. Can see through those eyes.”
“Which means any surprise we might have had is gone now,” I muttered under my breath. Teilnon gave me a questioning look. I just shook my head and gestured we should carry on.
“I thought you were supposed to be a coward,” Zara said in a confused tone.
I blinked and turned back to look at her. “So now who is being rude?”
She had the grace to blush, but she pressed her questioning. “I just don’t understand. You had a panic attack in front of the whole town the other day. You and Jay just saw something watching us, and he is more afraid than you are!” She seemed to be accusing me of something.
“I’m afraid. I don’t know what is out there.” I said with a vague gesture at the surrounding trees.
She shook her head. “But you’re not acting like a coward.”
“That’s because he isn’t one.” Jay pointed out. “It has always been an act.” At Zara’s surprised look Jay continued. “He prefers to be in the haunted Archives than anywhere else in the library. That panic attack had been because something attacked him.”
“Ferna and I hadn’t seen what it was. No one could. But it was why he was so dead set on getting into the church.” Teilnon added.
“Guys… can we not?” I asked uneasily. We were nowhere near the church at the moment…
“And for some reason he prefers people think he is a coward,” Jay said with a pointed, aggravated expression, ignoring me.
“Why?” Zara asked incredulously.
I shrugged. “It's easier.” I continued walking, but I could feel their eyes on me. I heaved a sigh. “Look, people will think whatever they want to think. And what good would it do to waste time and effort trying to point out what they could already see for themselves if they would bother? And what attacked me, none of the clan would have been able to do anything against. They can’t even see it. Its one of the reasons the Elmora are here, to keep it away.”
“But you like being looked down on?”
I shrugged again. “I’m used to it. Besides, I don’t plan to hang around much longer.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Jay demanded,
I glanced back guiltily. “I’ve been planning for a while to go see the world once I awakened my magic and showed that I was proficient with it. I was going to ask if you would want to come along, but its still a ways in the future.”
“I hate to rain upon the parade, but what would you have done if my father deemed you too big a risk and decided to keep you ungifted?” Zara asked. I shot her a frightened look. That was too close to my own fears. “A panicked mage can make terrible mistakes.” She pointed out.
“Councilor Shellna knows what happened. So does your father, for that matter.” I said.
“But the town doesn’t.” She said simply. “What if that happens? Will you be content to stay and continue as you are? Wouldn’t you rather not risk that?”
I walked in silence for a moment. Long enough for me to realize that it didn’t really matter. “I don’t have control over what people think. They make their own decisions. But to answer your first two questions, I wouldn’t be content. I have dreamed too long of seeing the places I’ve read about.” I shook my head.. “I’ll leave anyway.”
“How would you do that? You’re a non-mage.”
“Probably pretty easily, princess. Three non-mages have already slipped out of town.”
“But we have Teilnon with us. He’s a full mage. Probably anyone that saw us noted him.”
“Hmm. Good point.” I felt her satisfaction. I glanced back at her with a smile. “I’ll just leave with Teilnon. Or Jay if he wants to venture out once he’s a full mage.”
Zara lost her smile. Her brow rose. “You also forget that you are the Heir of your House.” I couldn’t help it, I started to laugh. Jay joined me. Teilnon was as stoic as ever. Zara was not pleased that we were laughing. Laughing at her. “What is so funny? You have responsibilities. Duties to your House.”
“Look, princess,” I said making a real effort to control my humor. “Let me just illustrate to you the differences between you and I. You are Zara Ano. Soon to be Zara dae Ano. The High Princess of the Ano family – and thus all of the Solzien clans. I am Kel Plavea. According to you, I will always be Kel Plavea. But even if I get to add the ‘dae’ to my name, I am still not a prince. I have no
special responsibility to my House. Not unless they suddenly decide that I should sit in a place of honor when greeting distinguished guests. For the most part, I am just another of the many young folk of the House. I’m only distinguished mostly by the fact that I sometimes wake half the House when I’m having a nightmare. To others, I’m fairly handy with finding good quality herbs, and I make some fine mundane remedies. But for the most part, I can focus on my studies.
“So you see, being the Heir of House Plavea means next to nothing. Royalty we are not. Royalty we need not be. Just competent at what we do. Shall we? Ferna is running out of time.” Happily, she consented to continue on without further questioning.
“And now so are you.” A deep, yet feminine, multi-toned voice remarked from the shadows.
Chapter 22
“Kel!” Nimla called her warning a wee bit too late. But I guess I could cut her some slack since we were dealing with an ancient elemental of untold strength and ability. An elemental that was suddenly all around us. The four of us stood back to back. Teilnon brandished his glowing sword. But I really doubted how well that sword would serve him against the creature we were against. He was also gazing in open mouth shock along with the rest of us.
Tre’shriha had taken the form of an Old Wood Treasure Sianatyl, Sianatyl were uncommon and beautiful creatures. They had graceful serpentine bodies that were covered with feathers. In an Old Wood Treasure’s case, its feathers were black. Which helped them blend in really well with the lighting under the canopy. Similar to a bird’s, their four legs were not feathered, but scaled. Also black. Their toes were long, claws sharp, to enable the Sianatyle to climb effortlessly. In fact, the species were well known for their grace of movement through any terrain. Their versatile, prehensile tails helped. I don’t think the creatures knew what the word ‘obstacle’ meant. And they were not confined to the ground or water. They had two main feathered wings and two smaller sails that helped stabilize them in the air. The sails also allowed them to glide between trees.
Lore Rune (Rune Trilogy Book 1) Page 15