A Song of Snow and Ashes

by S.J. Drew

polite nod. The humans were not as polite. Some openly stared, and they started to talk to each other. She felt a blush rise. As embarrassed as she was, she realized that she hadn't seen a single human woman yet.

  Hanae stepped onto a wooden platform at the base of a very large tree. "Come on."

  Eliora hesitantly followed, and stared up the ropes that were attached to the platform, but the tree canopy was too dense for her to see how high up the ropes went.

  The demian tugged on a rope causing a bell to chime somewhere in the foliage. Then the platform started to move upwards.

  She moved to the middle of the platform, fists tightly clenched.

  "Don't worry, it's perfectly safe," said Hanae. "You'll get used to it."

  "Good," she replied, her voice trembling slightly.

  The platform took them about fifty feet up, and stopped in front of a dwelling cut into one of the largest trees.

  "This is what the humans call the palace. It's merely the place where the king lives and conducts his business. It doesn't sound much like what they call palaces." The demian led her to a building that looked as though it was half in the tree. She opened a wooden door, and they entered a sort of large study. A male demian wearing a gold circlet was seated at a desk on the opposite side. There were a number of bookshelves along the way, and a few other people were also seated at desks. Hanae led her straight to the crowded demian and bowed. "Your Majesty, this is Eliora, the Champion. Eliora, this is his Majesty, King Freyne."

  "Should I bow or something?" she whispered to Hanae.

  "It's proper."

  She did so, feeling embarrassed.

  "Welcome, Champion," said the king. His yellow hair had turned dark in places, like the wilting of a leaf, and his face bore wrinkles, showing his advanced age. "We are honored you choose to come here."

  Her face flushed, but no seemed to notice her discomfort, or they were too polite to say anything.

  "Hanae will be your guide to our part of the city and our society. However, we are not fighters, so you will have to spend much of your time with the humans. They will teach you what you need to know to combat the Darkness."

  "Alright, I guess."

  "But we will try to make your stay here comfortable. If you need anything, just ask Hanae."

  "Thank you. That's very kind."

  "We do our best. If that's all, you are expected at the dining hall with the humans."

  "Thank you. I'm sure I'll have questions later."

  He bowed slightly. "Good evening, LightBearer."

  She bowed clumsily. "Good evening, your Majesty."

  Hanae led her back to the platform.

  "Are there clerics here?" Eliora asked.

  "We do not have clerics, as such, but there is a priest of Light among the humans."

  She frowned. "Only one?"

  "This is a small community. Only one is needed."

  "How many families are here?"

  "I'm not sure. Most of the humans here don't have families. There are a hundred of them, I'd say," the demian answered.

  She contemplated this until Hanae stopped her in front of the doors on the side of a large, longish building.

  "This is the human dining hall. Sometimes they hold large meetings here. I'll go fetch Aidan. He's supposed to be waiting here for you," she said cheerfully and entered the building.

  She caught the sound of loud talking and the smell of unfamiliar food. "God, give me strength," she prayed. A warm wave of calm swept over here.

  Hanae emerged in a few minutes with the sullen Aidan.

  "Good evening, my Lady," she said, and walked away.

  "Come on," he snapped.

  She steadied her nerve, and followed him inside. The room was large enough to hold about a hundred people, but only about fifty were inside. They were seated on long wooden benches by large wooden tables, eating and talking, but went silent as she passed by. She couldn't help but notice that every single person was a man. Aidan was walking swiftly to what she guessed was the head table, since it faced all the others. Seven older men were seated there. One was dressed in white robes, similar to her own desert clothing, so she guessed he must be the priest. She wondered why the priest didn't offer to translate for her, and filed it away for future consideration.

  Aidan stopped in front of a fifty-something man with gray hair, blue eyes, and a beard and mustache. He spoke in his language, she heard her name, and then he turned to her.

  "This is Hialmar. He's the leader for our community."

  "How is this going to work? I just say something to you, and you translate?"

  He nodded. "Unfortunately, it's the best we can do for now."

  The man called Hialmar spoke, and Aidan translated. "How did you get here?"

  "An iridescent led me."

  "Why did you chose to come here?"

  "I didn't. The...," she paused a moment, stumbling to find a word for "Matriarch." She tried again. "The head of the Order of Light in my city sent me here. She told me that the demians would help me."

  "Did she say how they would help?"

  She shook her head.

  The group at the head table looked a little annoyed.

  "Can you fight?"

  "Do you mean, have I been formally trained? No, I haven't."

  Now they were shaking their heads.

  "What, exactly, are your skills?" Aidan's translation seemed to accurately reflect the frustration she heard in the voice of Hialmar.

  "I can read and write my own language, as well as the Light language, it seems. My job was to record the debates during meetings of my government. I'm not a warrior."

  "Do you know any magic?"

  "I've not had arcane nor divine training," she answered.

  Aidan put his head in his hand as he reported that. There was more grumbling from the table. Hialmar spoke again. "Alright, the leader is going have a meeting with the Council. I'm to show you where to get dinner. Come on."

  "Meeting? About what?" she asked, following. She guessed the Council must be the governing body for the community, and the seven men at the head table were filtering out of the dining hall for what she guessed was a more private meeting. It was painfully obvious they were not pleased with her answers.

  "You, of course."

  "Did I do something wrong?"

  He just shook his head and led her to a window with a counter that was on the side opposite the head table. Judging from the smell and smoke, it was connected directly to the kitchen. He said something, and a middle-aged woman showed up.

  "Finally, women," she thought. She noted that the woman's outfit was different from her own. She was wearing a light blue top with the sleeves rolled up and a long, dark green skirt.

  He said something else, and she bustled off, then returned quickly with two bowls filled with thick stew. She set those on the counter and disappeared into the steam and smoke.

  "See, you just ask the kitchen ladies, and they bring you food," he explained, taking her to a nearby, empty table.

  "What is it?" she asked, staring at the stew. Food in her country was mostly flatbreads, lentils, some dairy products from goats, but not much meat.

  "What is it?" he repeated, surprised. "It's stew. Made from deer meat."

  "Deer?" She wracked her tired mind, and dug up a vague image of a largish animal with four skinny legs, and a rack of horns on its head.

  "You don't know what a deer is?"

  "I do. I learned a little about forests in secondary school. I just had to remember," she replied, getting annoyed.

  "Well, that's something."

  "Did I do something wrong?" she asked again.

  "What, you can't guess?"

  "Just tell me."

  "Jomei, the priest, comes in this morning and tells us about this Champion battle. We don't know what to do, so Hialmar says not to worry. Then this afternoon you appear. Jomei confirms you are the LightBearer. Hialmar as
signed me and Hanae to you hoping that you could understand the Light language or the demian language."

  "So your people are a little surprised. I don't understand the problem."

  "The problem? The problem?" he repeated, sounding surprised and exasperated. "You're some foreign woman who shows up on our doorstep and then promptly passes out. None of us were real happy about that, but we figured surely the Light One or you or whoever sent you knew what they were doing, right? But no. It turns out the people who sent you didn't give you a plan, and it turns out you can't fight, don't do magic, and have no useful skills to fight the Dark Champion. That is the problem," he explained angrily.

  By this time, the rest of the people in the hall were staring at them, but she didn't notice.

  Already stressed from the shocks of the day, her frayed temper snapped completely. "You-you," she started, annoyed that this language didn't have the right words. "Listen, I didn't ask for this. I've just been ripped away from everything I've ever known and loved and practically abandoned in this foreign city," she shouted.

  "And now we have to babysit you, no doubt. Too bad the Light One couldn't have picked us a decent Champion," he retorted.

  She stood up abruptly and kicked the bench out from underneath him. Neither he nor the bench were light, but she hit with enough force to knock him to the ground and slam the bench into the bench at the adjacent table. She switched back to her own language, insulted his parentage with a few choice words, and stormed out, heading directly for her new cottage. She had enough presence of mind to lock the door behind her, and then she threw herself down on the bed and cried.

  After an hour, she heard a gentle knock on the door.

  She wiped off her face and went to answer it.

  The man in white robes was standing