“You don’t believe me.”Kairevasigh’s voice was soft.
“It ishard to believe. Arathin is little more than a folktale. And you say you are from it.”Tommy replied in a kind voice.
Kairevasigh smiled. Humor’s light flickered faintly in her eye.“That may be so for you. But you have traces of Arathin, at least. There are no traces of Pershara back home. Maybe the only hintis some exceedingly vague reference in old myth.”Her gaze landed on Robert’s sword.“Yes, you definitely have more memory of Arathin then we have of Pershara. How else would you have a Sheyestivan sword?”At their blank looks she continued.“Are all your swords black with brass hilts?”
“That would be a no. Only blackguard and bad things have black blades.”Toliver pronounced. Robert crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow at the sergeant. The portly sergeant flushed.“You bein the e’ception, o’course.“
“Then that one is one of a kind here?”Kairevasigh pushed.
“Yes.”Robert conceded.
“Well it isn’t unique back home. All Sheyestivan swords are black with a brass hilt. The only one that does not follow that rule is the emperor’s. That one, the Nitcassa, is all black.”
“But how is that possible? Arathin was a thousand years a myth by the time I got the sword. And that was about a thousand years ago, give or take a century.”Robert mused. He smiled at Kairevasigh’s shocked eyes.“I am older then I look. The point being, how did this get there?”He said placing his hand on the sword’s hilt.
“And how did our friend get here?”Tommy added.
“If you find it hard to believe where I am from, you definitely won’t believe me when I tell you how. Kairevasigh stated.
“Say it anyway.”The mother dragon said.“We have seen some strange things in our days.”She said glancing at Bendon and Robert.
“Alright. I was an apprentice at the Ulaisékan, the Imperial Library of Sheyestiva. One of my tests was to find and study an object from a particular room deep in the bowels of the library. The Room of Mysteries was my assignment. I found it and my torch went out. I was left in the dark. But I realized that there was a faint light coming from four pillars. They were carved in old Arathin. Something about a cataclysmic war. It terrified me.”Kairevasigh paused noticing the shocked expressions on the others, sans Toliver and Tep, faces.“What?”
“It sounds familiar, but keep going.”Kindra replied.
With a raised eyebrow, she did.“I thought I saw images moving in the Kales Amei.”
“Sorry, the what?”Bendon interrupted.
“Kales Amie?”
“That. What is that?”
“It’s timeless glass. No one knows how to make it now, but anything carved in it can never be changed, erased, or broken. You do not have such a thing here?”
“No, but I remember reading about it a long time ago. Please, continue.”
Nodding Kairevasigh did.“Um…right. I saw movement in the glass. I touched it. Suddenly a white light bloomed and an intense pressure landed on my neck. I woke up on green grass with people around me and a black edged, silver-blue cored sword under my nose. The man who held it, I learned later, was the Nirami Kaizir. In Sheyestiva, he is a mythical leader who is said to have lived three thousand years before my birth.”
“You time traveled.”Robert breathed.
“That is something we know.”Bendon said.“I just made it back to my own timeline.”He continued softly. Kairevasigh looked relieved that they believed her.
“I remember hearing of a Kaizir.”Kindra said thoughtfully.“He was the Arathin king. He married a distant relative of mine, the dragon Lavala for love. It also strengthened the bond between Pershara and Arathin. I heard also that his use of magic could never be detected. He was also a shapeshifter and an incredible healer. His magic did not take energy from the healer or the person being healed. He was also said to have a magic that we dragons do not.”
“And what was that?”Tommy asked curiously.
“Mind magics. Telecy.”Kairevasigh answered. She looked at Kindra, but did not meet her eyes.“The magic of illusion, of connecting minds, of teleportation and telekinesis.”Kairevasigh looked down at her hands.“The magic that hides all others.”Kairevasigh kept her head bowed, but dropped her hands.“My people use it all the time, but we never talk about it. To do so reveals a potential weakness one can exploit. I’ve never seen people openly use it before I met Kaizir. He taught me how to hide my use of magic.”A thought came to her.“He also made the pillars that brought me to him.”
“He made them?”
“Yes. He said that he would have three sets made. The first he kept in Arathin at his palace that later became the Ulaisékan. The other two he said he would send to Pershara, the cities of Vandenberg and Thioden.”
There was a brief silence as people absorbed her story.
“So Kaizir wrote the Prophecy of Jaitu Du Munde, the Way of the World.”Kindra pondered.
“What be you talkin’about? What prophecy?”Toliver asked confused.
“The Way of the World goes like this: When the blood of Kings, Mages, and Dragons mix in love and lust will the beginning meet the end. The Alpha and Omega will meet face to face and the stronger will prevail.”Kindra recited.“What is it dear?”the mother dragon asked Kairevasigh.
Kairevasigh was staring at her in shock.“But…but where is the rest of it?”
“That is all there is caved into the stone pillars of Thiodan.”Bendon answered.
“But that is not all of it. Kaizir told it to me before I touched the pillars again and ended up in this time. He said‘the way of the world is tied to the Three. It is done in threes. When the blood of Kings, Dragons, and mages mix first in love then later forced in lust will the beginning meet the end. What once was broken will be re-forged. The two that were shattered will meet their Breaker and upon that Sword’s edge will faith be tested. The Alpha and the Omega will met face to face and the stronger will prevail. But their strength depends upon the Three of Three: The Fulcrum, the Star’s Sword, and the Catalyst…”Kairevasigh finished reciting but stopped from saying anything more for a strange expression overtook Bendon. She wondered if something she had said had stirred loose a memory. But then he said a name that made no sense to her.
“Perela…”Bendon whispered, stiffening. His eyes were wide and his skin pale.
“What is it, old man?”Kindra asked.
Bendon gave himself a mental shake.“Sorry, I just received a message from my daughter...”He began to tremble, meeting Kindra’s eyes.“The army is going to be facing the Fires of the Damned in three days’time. They need our help.”
“But the city is at least a week away.”Toliver pointed out.
“I suggest we find a way and get moving.”Tommy said picking up his stuff.“And as we move, we can discuss the discrepancy in the prophecies and figure out what or who the Three of Three are.”
They never did get a chance to talk for the wind picked up and a storm from the north dumped ill-timed snow and freezing rain. They had to seek shelter in an empty cave. Bendon repeatedly tried to continue on, but Kindra and Robert convinced him that he would be of no use to Perela dead of cold or too tired to work magic. Bendon stayed. But his expression of worry saddened the rest of the group. But there was nothing any of them could do till the storm cleared.
Off in the distance lightning struck with a wicked flash...
Sometime later, roughly early morning, the faint moonlight found its way past the freak storm’s clouds and found Tommy and Robert at the mouth of the cave. The two men hugged their cloaks to them to keep the cold at bay. Robert, in his heavy cloak and out of fashion riding cap, seemed not as bothered by the cold as Tommy. The younger man breathed warm air on his numb hands in the hopes of keeping them for the rest of his life. Robert chuckled at the thief.“Cold?”he asked.
“Heh heh. You could say that.”Tommy said wryly, He glanced at Robert sidelong, shivering“I must ask though, are you somehow related to a snow bear?”
Robert’s eyebrows rose. A smile lit his eyes.“Mayhaps.”
Tommy rolled his eyes.“Mayhaps, says he, mayhaps.”He said in a rueful voice. Tommy returned his gaze to outside the cave. He looked out into the snowy wonderland and blinked several times. In a soft voice he whispered for Robert to tell him if he saw it too. Tommy knew the other man had when he heard the very audible gulp.
“That…can’t be good.”Robert muttered softly.“We should wake the others.”
“Agreed.”Tommy said without looking away. Neither man moved, however, too concerned that if they took their eyes away the beast would attack.“Unless I miss my guess, that is the strangest Tree Gir I have ever seen.”
Intelligent golden eyes blinked at them from the fuzzy white muzzle. Neither man had ever heard of a white Tree Gir before. As if it had heard Tommy’s observation, it winked. The Tree Gir winked. Tommy felt his mouth go dry.
“We really need to wake the others.”Robert repeated like a broken record. The Tree Gir gave them a toothy grin and barked the broom hitting a carpet bark Tree Girs were renowned to have. The others awoke with a start.
“What the hell?!”Toliver swore seeing the creature outside.“Why for didn’t ya wake us up?”
“We were preoccupied. But you are awake now, right?”Tommy asked. The sergeant grunted and pulled his sword free. Bendon eyed the Tree Gir, wriggling his fingers. Pressure began to build. Kindra led the others to take sticks from the fire.
Kairevasigh leaned closer to Tep and asked“What is that thing?”
“Tree Gir.”The lad replied, his eyes wide.
“Do they eat horses?”She asked thinking of her missing horse. Except for the fact that the beast was white, it resembled closely the creatures that had hunted her before and had chased her up a tree.
“Anything they can catch.”Tep answered her question. Kairevasigh gulped.
The white Tree Gir remained sitting where it had since Tommy had first seen it. It was larger than any Tree Gir Tommy had seen before. The last pack he saw just outside of Thioden had members who were seven feet long. This beastie had to be, at the very least, nine feet high, which could only mean it was longer and taller when it was standing. Arrr UP!!! It barked again. It was as if it was trying to get their attention.
“I wonder what it wants.”Kindra mused.
“To eat us, that’s what.”Toliver answered.
Kindra eyed him for a moment.“If that were the case, why hasn’t it already done so?”Toliver blinked owlishly at her. The rest of the party was just as taken aback.
“She has a good point.”Robert murmured.
“She ismy lovely Kindra.”Tommy said with a wink in the mother dragon’s direction.
“So kind of you to say so, dear.”The dragon answered with a smile.“You were always such a sweet boy.”
Bendon walked so he stood between Robert and Tommy.“What do you want?”He asked the watching Tree Gir.
The Tree Gir met his gaze with mischievously twinkling golden eyes.“The question is not what I want, but instead, what you want‘He who is lost’.”
The group stared in shock. Robert shook out of his surprise first.“How can you speak, and how do you know who Bendon is?”Robert asked.
“We had this conversation once before, Robert Kimbridge.”At everyone’s questioning looks, Robert shook his head in confusion. The Tree Gir sighed gustily.“I guess it cannot be helped, after all, we were both different then. Forgive me. You questions, though well asked, are not what we were discussing.”The Tree Gir turned back to Bendon.“You, my dear wizard, have a dilemma. Your daughter is in danger, any who have pups could tell.”The Tree Gir smiled when it said‘pups’as if at some inside joke. For a canine face it had very human like expressions.
“What is it to you if that is the case?”Bendon demanded.
The humor died from the Tree Gir’s face. Bendon saw genuine pity in its eyes as it continued.“If it is, you must hurry. I came expressly to get you to continue your journey. I also came to warn you. A long walk is before you, and you will be tempted to stop at the village a mile to the south east to get horses. Do not go. You will never reach your daughter in time that way.”
“Then what would you suggest?”Bendon inquired with a raised eyebrow.
“You already have the fastest option available to you. Fair journey.”The Tree Gir said standing and walking back into the woods suddenly.
“So basically,”Tommy muttered in shocked amazement,“The white Tree Gir wants us to walk. Why does this feel like a trap?”He asked looking at the rest of the party.
Bendon gathered his cloak and began walking out of the cave.“We had better get walking. And don’t worry, if it attacks I’ll fry it.”
Tommy raised his eyebrows at the wizard’s declaration. He knew the old man could be feisty, but he was surprised by the bluntness of the wizard's statement. But Tommy knew too that Bendon was very worried. To be honest, so was he. He had become good friends with Perela and Duncan during their adventures to Thioden.
The thief hung back waiting for Kindra. The woman had her head bent in thought.“Kindra?”Tommy asked. Kindra glanced up at him and smiled. Tommy could not help but smile back. But he saw that her eyes were still dark with whatever she was thinking.“What is it, love?”he asked.
She smiled ruefully.“Nothing gets past you, does it?”
Tommy inclined his head in a courtly way.“Why no, Madame. As a humble thief, one must learn to be observant or else some pretty jewel might slip by.”
Kindra shook her head at him.“Scamp.”She muttered.“As I recall, I let you find me.”
“Glad you did.”Tommy said putting his arm about her shoulders.“Now, tell me, what were you thinking about?”
“Something about that Tree Gir…its eyes reminded me of my grandmother’s brother, Firen. But Firen died during the Fall…”
“Could it be someone related to him?”
“Perhaps. He had been married twice before he died. I know he at least had a son, but I haven’t heard anything from him for a long time.”
“Could that Tree Gir have been him? And if it was, why didn’t he come forward as something less…threatening?”
Kindra shook her head.“That is what I don’t understand. A dragon would not have threatened. He would have offered to help…. But…”
“But what?”
Kindra sighed“Fieressen had always been different. Noble in his own way, but unpredictable too. My mother used to say that it was the Ucora in him.”
“Ucora?”Tommy asked puzzled.
“Unicorns born from the Heart of Fire. They were a people who came from Arathin. Firen married one named Lady Cyendara. Fieressen had been their son, a child of both with the abilities of both. Mother said he paid a price for his gifts, but I never learned what. Nor did I actually see him often. He was always elsewhere. For all I know, he is either dead and if not dead, well…he would be elsewhere. He might have survived the Fall if he wasn’t hunted down; he is very old, after all. One that old would have a large well of magic.”
“Dare I ask how old?”
“Older than me and I have two-thousand, one hundred eighty-two years.”
“Damn! I mean, I wasn’t going to ask how old you were.”Tommy said quickly.
Kindra reached up and patted his cheek, amused at his flustered state.“I know, love. You always did have good manners. As to Fieressen, he would be a little older than three thousand.”
Tommy flinched“Dare I ask what dragons consider‘a little’?”
Kindra grinned.“A century.”
Tommy whistled softly.“So, when you say in‘a little while’I should expect to die waiting?”
Kindra raised an eyebrow at him.“Maybe.”
Tommy groaned.“I don’t like that word.”He muttered. Kindra chuckled softly at him. Tommy decided it was time to continue their previous conversation before she said that word again.“Okay, say it wasn’t this Fieressen, could it have been someone else? Did Firen hav
e any other children with his second wife?”
“His second wife was a powerful mage named…let’s see…Kaylynn. I know they had children. But I think they also died during the Fall.”
“Well, I would guess that at least somebody survived.”
“That seems so, but why just the cryptic warnings instead of actual help?”Kindra asked.
***
Golden eyes watched the group heading south. The white Tree Gir kept to the shadows. His sharp ears had caught Kindra’s final question and he rolled his eyes and flopped down in a deep snow drift. I did help you, you just haven’t figured it out yet. He thought. And you should know already, cousin, the way of the world does not always travel the way you would wish. The Tree Gir got up and trotted away toward the spot where the lightning had struck the tree earlier, its cinders still warm.
Chapter Eleven- The Innocent Stream
“Thioden is not the only sentient thing to test those who come to it…” -Kaizir
Arathin- Plarn, Marlhema
Zeeve stared grumpily at the window. Gray dawn was seeping though and still there was no Terana. He hadn’t seen her since Jeremy had lectured him. Razyan would not be pleased. Hell! He wasn’t pleased. He had sat on her bed all night. Sometimes he had succumbed to the thousand pound weights on his eyelids only to start awake a minute later thinking he heard Terana come in. The black bag Razyan had given him rested near him like a guard dog. His eyelids were closing again. A growl rumbled from his tyrant stomach. Sleepy, hungry…what next?
Jeremy.
He should have guessed.
Jeremy knocked on the door even as he opened it. His black hair was disheveled and his hazel eyes were expectant. It looked like he had just jumped out of bed.“Terana?”He asked, suddenly realizing the girl was not in the room. Jeremy looked disappointed. His eyes settled onto Zeeve.“Zeeve, do you know where she is?”
The Ways of Mages: Starfire Page 10