by Dana Davis
The first two songs were lively and meant to gather the tribe. The next two had everyone on their feet, jumping and gyrating to the music. The performance ended with three much calmer songs, eerie in a beautiful way, and Adelsik felt peaceful here, despite the unusual weather. Thankfully, the Keive used torches similar to the Zark to keep blood insects away. There was one final song, the same each night, which played while several women and girls fetched the night meal. Six adolescent girls carried woven reed trays to the isolated tents. There were always six, even if two had to share a single tray. Different women prepared the meal each night, a rotation of duties. Adelsik didn’t need Henny’s insight to notice that.
After a simple meal of fish, rabbit, tubers, leavened bread, water, and the roasted insects that no one in the quest but Har’guana would touch, everyone disbanded with calls of well sleep and an early rise and headed for their huts. The quest lingered just long enough for the men to acknowledge hearing the Vedi’s babe before they split up. Adelsik shared a hut with the other women of her kin, while the men had a separate dwelling.
“I absolutely love that little Ahl.” Henny grinned. “I wish she would sit in my lap but she seems interested only in you.” Her blue eyes looked dark in the dim light of the fat-burning lantern. “What does she see in your hands? Do you hide treats for her?”
Adelsik laughed. “No. I wish I knew why she was so intrigued.” She held her palms to the lantern but saw nothing unusual. “I’ve asked her but she only speaks Keive.” She turned her attention to Wren. “Do you think it wise to have Tsianina separated from us?”
“These people have shown nothing but kindness. Besides, we’re leaving in the morning.” She let her braids hang down now. “Get some rest. We have quite a bit of walking to do.”
Adelsik fought a groan. Why did none of these tribes have horses or wagons? She had protested riding when Haranda snatched her from her root home, but after walking so much on this quest, a mount would be a relief to her feet. Of course, riding caused pains elsewhere but that seemed a fair trade. And they could travel much faster.
Once settled on her woven grass mat, she fell asleep to thoughts of the Vedi’s new babe.
Wren met her in the Netherworld, in her dreams, and reminded her to slumber. Lyssinya came shortly after.
The red-haired Sage looked a bit frazzled. “The child is here.”
“Yes,” Wren acknowledged.
Well that answered part of Adelsik’s concern about who besides her kin had heard the babe’s cries.
Wren cocked her head and crossed her arms. “Where is your quest now, Lyssinya?”
“We’re camped in the woods approaching Pire.”
“You’ve made quick progress.”
“Yes. I have an animal urger among my group. He called several wild horses to aid us.”
Wren nodded and her looped braids swung.
Taniras would be an asset for tasks like that. Adelsik still fought surprise at the woman’s wolf singer status. So much had changed with Haranda’s group. As of last night, Eletha still slept. No one had any luck waking the little treewalker, not even from the Netherworld. Tonight they would try again, this time allowing Lyssinya to assist. The Sage had shown loyalty to her word, and already Adelsik and the others had learned things they didn’t think possible here. That didn’t change Adelsik’s opinion of her, though.
Haranda’s yellow daisy floated down from above to join them and shimmered into the Gypsy.
“Has Eletha awakened?” Wren said.
“No. Predula is worried and wants us to do whatever is necessary to bring her back, anything we can possibly think of. She’s with the youngling now, keeping watch over her mundane body.” Adelsik and the other women nodded. Things must be dire for Predula to order such an attempt. “You heard the babe?” Haranda eyed Lyssinya. Her manner was still uneasy around the Sage, guarded.
Adelsik could hardly blame her. After all, she had experienced a nasty beating from a strong slumberer. Adelsik doubted Lyssinya was the one who had beaten Haranda and Thad, though. The Sage seemed to have as many strict rules as Gypsies. Many were the same rules, in fact. But Adelsik would buck against being treated like a youngling here in the Netherworld. That just wasn’t fair. She had earned her new title and the Goddess had accepted her, given Her Kiss as recognition.
“Yes, we all heard,” Wren said. “But we need to get Eletha well. Perhaps afterward, that little treewalker won’t try tasks outside of her strength.”
Adelsik couldn’t believe Eletha had found a complete text with the aid of trees. She still had no idea what treewalker Energy was like, no matter how many times Eletha had explained it.
Wren placed hands on her hips. “Any more on the poison herbs Taniras found?”
“The Bankari are in an uproar that anyone would dare use such a potent herb,” Haranda said. “They’re scouring the city and waters but I fear the culprit has already left. Probably took off soon after Eletha drank from the tainted cup.”
Wren nodded.
Adelsik studied her former clan mother. “Will she be all right, Haranda?” The little woman had been a bramble in her bodice on many occasions but she was a former clan sister. And she had been poisoned just sunrises before this latest illness.
Haranda studied her. “Let’s hope.” Funny how that gaze no longer made Adelsik squirm. “Shall we?”
The three stood in a line and reached their awareness out among the dream bubbles, searching for the red leaf footprint. It didn’t take long to locate the treewalker. Lyssinya used the Energy to draw Eletha’s bubbled footprint closer, something Adelsik and the others hadn’t known possible until recently. They had always traveled to the dreamer, not the other way around. Yes, they could call another slumberer to them but not those without that Energy. Sage ways intrigued Adelsik and she carefully observed Lyssinya’s actions. The red leaf footprint quivered as they entered Eletha’s dream.
The Netherworld changed around them. This night, Eletha sat in a tree of vivid browns and greens as usual, but the white nimbus around her seemed to be shifting colors, like an ever changing rainbow, not at all how it should be with a non-slumberer. Eletha’s nimbus should be faint. The little woman still didn’t notice them. Adelsik glanced at Haranda, Wren and then Lyssinya.
“She’s fighting to stay alive,” Lyssinya said.
Adelsik’s heart raced and Haranda made a faint noise.
Lyssinya drew closer until she stood at the base of the tree and gazed up. “Eletha Lavine! You had better answer me, girl!”
The treewalker made no acknowledgements, just as the previous night, and kept her eyes closed, head wafting side to side. Lyssinya hooked thumbs into her belt and her eyes narrowed. “I won’t have disobedience from a youngling! You look at me!” With that, she raised her right palm and sent a blue spark to Eletha’s thigh. Again, the girl didn’t respond. “Adelsik, come here.”
Haranda nodded and Adelsik obeyed.
The Sage turned bright green eyes on her. “I want you to climb up to her. Touch her. Use the slumbering Energy to create a spark if you have to, the way I taught you.”
“Do you think that wise, Lyssinya?” Wren said. “She wavers between life and death.”
“Adelsik is strong. And we’ll keep our Energies touching her in case we have to pull her back.”
She didn’t like the sound of that. “Pull me back from what?”
“From Death, child.”
The blood drained from her face and she swayed.
Lyssinya placed a firm hand on her shoulder. “We won’t let anything happen to you. But Eletha knows you as a clan sister. You’ve had your differences. That might be what she needs.” The Sage turned to Haranda and nodded.
The Gypsy stepped to Adelsik’s side and gazed into her eyes. “Goad her. Make her angry. I know you can do that. Perhaps not as well as Maesa but you just need to get her attention. Get her to focus on you long enough to bring her around.”
Adelsik wet her dry lips an
d swallowed. She concentrated on her youngling dress and changed it into breeches. This time, Lyssinya didn’t keep her from altering her clothes. She began to climb. “Eletha Lavine.” She grabbed branches and tested her feet in niches. “You have the manners of a goat. You should be wearing a dress, not those silly breeches.” Nothing. The nimbus still changed colors around the treewalker’s otherself.
Finally, Adelsik reached the tiny woman and wedged her backside into a niche. She held onto nearby branches and tried not to look down. Otherself or no, she didn’t like the idea of falling. “Eletha, you awful woman. Look at me.” Nothing. Eyes still shut. She reached out a tentative hand and touched the treewalker on her arm. Eletha’s nimbus pulsed against her hand and fingers like she had never felt, warm then cold, a flickering yet faded essence against her senses. Goddess, help me! The woman was slipping away. She was also aware of the three women below, of their Energies caressing her body. She shook the treewalker. “Eletha! Eletha bloody Lavine!” Still nothing.
She envisioned a blue spark traveling through her body and into her hand the way Lyssinya had taught her, keeping in her mind the slumbering warmth and the essence of her otherself, something that took quite a bit of concentration at first. This wasn’t truly sparking Energy, just a very good reproduction and she had to remember that just to hold onto it. She released the spark at close proximity to Eletha’s thigh. Then another. One the third, the woman moaned. Her eyes flew open but they didn’t seem to recognize Adelsik.
“Eletha Lavine. You listen to me, woman. Maesa wants a word with you, you little snit.” She slapped the woman’s face and thought she saw a spark of recognition in those dull blue eyes. “Are you listening to me, youngling,” she added in her best imitation of Haranda.
The treewalker’s lips moved.
That’s it, Eletha. Talk to me. “What’s the matter youngling? Got a briar stuck in your tongue? You must have something to say to me.” She slapped Eletha’s leg with the aid of a spark.
“She’s responding, Adelsik,” Lyssinya said. “Keep going.”
Eletha started to close her eyes and Adelsik’s heart raced. “Oh, no, you little chit. You can’t get away from me that easily.” Another slap to the woman’s thigh. Another. “I thought you never walked away from an argument, Eletha.”
The woman focused dull eyes on her. “Adelsik?” she uttered somewhat breathlessly.
“Yes. Well, looks like you’re not such a fodderbrain after all.” The eyes began to go distant again and Adelsik pinched the woman’s chin in her fingers. “Are you afraid of confronting me?”
That seemed to get Eletha’s attention. “Adelsik?”
“Yes, you said that, snit.” She released Eletha’s chin and intentionally allowed the woman to see her arm come up and gave her another slap on the thigh. “Are you afraid of me?”
The eyes showed more life. “Stop.”
“Stop? Is that what you want? Well, you’ll just have to stop me yourself, snit.” Another slap. Another. Each one getting more life from Eletha.
“What are you doing?” the treewalker said with more emotion.
“I’m challenging you, Eletha. I’ve struck you several times and you have yet to raise a hand to me. I do believe you fear me.” Eletha’s eyes hardened and her breath came in puffs. Yes! “You don’t seem so dangerous to me. More like a fancy girl. Perhaps I should put ribbons in your hair.” With that she thought up several ribbons of various colors and held them up for Eletha to see.
“No ribbons.”
“What? Well, I think they would look nice in your hair, all curled and tied in bows, like a fancy girl.”
One hand gripped Adelsik’s wrist, weak but determined. “No ribbons.”
“You can’t thrash me here in this bloody tree, Eletha. We have to be on the ground for that. And I can run faster than you, little snip.”
The hand tightened on Adelsik’s wrist and there was fire in Eletha’s eyes. Suddenly, the nimbus around her otherself glowed yellow then white. Steady. No more altering colors. Then it faded almost to a normal state, pale white.
“Is that all you can do?” Adelsik taunted. Warmth filled her senses as the treewalker’s essence grew stronger.
“You’re almost there, Adelsik,” Lyssinya said. “Don’t give her up.”
Adelsik gave the treewalker her best smirk. “Why, you really are a fancy girl, Eletha Lavine. Meant for dresses and sewing and suckling babes.”
The tree disappeared and Adelsik found herself on the ground. This was still Eletha’s dream. A flaming-haired, little woman lunged for her. Wren stepped in with Haranda and the two grabbed Eletha.
“Look at me, youngling,” Haranda said.
The little woman’s eyes still burned at Adelsik. Had they been in the mundane world, Adelsik was certain she would weep at Eletha’s hands.
“Eletha! Look at me, youngling.”
Those blue eyes shifted to her clan mother. “Mother Haranda?”
“Yes, youngling. Do you remember what happened to you?”
“I—I was in the tree. We were looking for the text.”
“Yes.”
“The trees found it and showed it to me. I had them bring it up.”
“Yes. We have the text. But I need you to go to your mundane body and wake up. Do you understand?”
“I’m not awake?” Her eyes shifted back to Adelsik and she reached out. “I’ll thrash you.”
“Eletha.”
“Yes, Mother Haranda.”
“Adelsik is not your concern just now. I want you to wake up. Do you understand? You can’t harm Adelsik here. She’s only real if you wake.”
“Then I’ll wake.” The little treewalker straightened her back and gazed with hard eyes onto Adelsik.
Lyssinya stepped close. “I can send her back now. You go, Haranda. Make certain she wakes.”
Haranda nodded and disappeared. With a wave of Lyssinya’s hand, Eletha disappeared too.
Adelsik felt a bit weak but relieved that her former clan sister had responded to her. Very relieved. Had the woman died—oh, Goddess, she couldn’t stand that thought. Her eyes moistened and tears streamed down her cheeks.
Lyssinya gathered her in and she allowed the Sage’s comfort. “You did well.”
That got Adelsik bawling and Wren smoothed her hair. She stayed in the women’s embrace until she calmed. Wren hadn’t tried to use a facsimile of calming Energy here or else she couldn’t. Using the Slumbering in that way took a lot of concentration and power, combined in just the right manner. Though she had no doubt Wren would be able to do it one day.
The white-haired Gypsy studied the Sage. “Thank you, Lyssinya. We owe you a debt.”
“You owe me nothing save your trust and obedience.”
Wren’s hand stopped caressing Adelsik’s hair. Would these two take to fighting? After all that had just happened? “Trust is earned, Sage Lyssinya Atan Colewin.” Wren’s voice carried a familiar strained quality Adelsik had heard many times. The Gypsy kept her temper in check for now. “And we owe no obedience to anyone save the Vedi and the Goddess Herself.”
Lyssinya’s body stiffened. Adelsik had completely stopped weeping and she pulled away and wiped her wet face to watch the exchange.
The Sage’s thumbs hooked into her belt and that freckled face grew dark. “We’ve been over this, Gypsy Wren Dinsen. I’m in charge here and you will obey my wishes. Lest you want a demonstration of my powers.”
The white-haired Gypsy narrowed dangerous eyes on Lyssinya. “I’ve agreed to your lessons and allowed you to continue teaching this new-oathed with the Vedi’s blessing.” One hand flicked at Adelsik but neither woman looked at her. “You have been entrusted to assist us with the treewalker youngling. That will have to be enough for now.”
Lyssinya stiffened and Adelsik knew she was about to give Wren the demonstration she had promised, when two footprints drifted their way, a rainbow over a sunflower. Ved’nuri! Thank the Goddess! The footprints shimmered into the t
all, opposing woman dressed in a majestic guild-trimmed gown and gold flower crown. Blonde curls hung to the middle of her back and she focused clear eyes on the Sage. Had Adelsik not known better, she would swear the woman had not just borne a child. There was no flickering of the nimbus around her now. She was solid and bright as ever.
“So, you are Sage Lyssinya Atan Colewin, Air designation of the Goddess ways.” Ved’nuri gave the woman a measuring stare.
“Yes, Ved’nuri.” Then Lyssinya did something that caught Adelsik off guard. She curtsied, respectfully.
Ved’nuri, who didn’t require any to genuflect in the Netherworld, nodded her approval once the Sage was upright again. “My news concerns you, as well.” Those intrusive eyes, swirls of Goddess colors within, glanced at each woman. “Where is Haranda?”
“With Eletha, Ved’nuri,” Wren said. “Adelsik brought the treewalker back from death’s fingertips, with the Sage’s assistance.”
The crowned woman’s gaze fell on Adelsik and she fought the urge to cover herself. “Well done, new-oathed. I knew you wouldn’t disappoint.”
Adelsik smiled.
Colorful eyes moved to Lyssinya. “I thank you for assisting.” The Sage nodded politely then Ved’nuri turned to Wren. “You heard my babe enter the world, did you not?” Her stomach was no longer round. In fact, it was as flat as before she ever got pregnant.
“Yes, Ved’nuri. We all heard. Gypsies and Sages alike.”
“Well you can deliver news that he is healthy.” How disappointing. Adelsik had hoped for a girl. Ved’nuri seemed to read her. “My son is strong in body and Energy. He is exactly as the Goddess wants him.”
“Yes, Ved’nuri.” Adelsik had to work to hold that intrusive gaze.
“Lyssinya, I have given my permission for Adelsik to continue under your tutelage, but she is new-oathed, deemed so by the Goddess herself, and will be treated as such in the Netherworld. Anyone who is not respectful of her title will answer to me.”
Adelsik fought a cheer as she watched the Sage’s mouth drop. The red-haired woman glanced at Adelsik and back to the crowned woman. She gave a brief bow of her head. “As you wish, Ved’nuri.”