by P. G. Thomas
In her eyes, he saw the fire of his Moth Flame, but he felt like he was back in Alron once again, “I do not know.”
Leaning out the window, in a hushed voice, Gayne said, “We need to find someplace else to talk since people are starting to stare.”
Panry closed his eyes, “My Earth Mother is gone. It is not my day.”
“I’m right here,” John and Lauren, answered in unison.
“You are not my Earth Mother,” then Panry looked to Gayne, “Where would you suggest?”
Reluctantly he proposed, “My house?”
Panry opened the carriage door, “Enter Earth Mother. Ironweed and I shall ride with you.” After whistling, the Earth Guards went to retrieve their mounts, even those who reported to Jasmine.
When the two Earth Guard captains squeezed into the crowded carriage, they met the gaze of the Guardians, but neither asked about the strange quiet occupants or the two piles of clothes.
Looking down at the strange staff on the carriage floor, Panry saw the two large feet that held it in place. Nodding to Eric, thoughts of what had happened to the Earth Mother he sensed and the presence of Mother still had him confused. He then saw Ryan unmoving in the corner, “Champion… Do not start your story, as I already know it shall be long.”
“Crap on a stick! Sam and Hope, where are they?” Lauren leaned out the window. “Mirtza, can you stay here with—” Then she looked at Ryan, who was still unconscious. She turned to Eric, who nodded, and exited the crowded carriage. Gayne did the same, offering to drive them back to his house. “Mirtza, can you stay here with Eric, waiting for Sam and Hope to return?”
Knowing there was only one answer that she wanted to hear, she saw the fear in his eyes when he scanned the large crowd still present in the mall.
“Panry, can you please leave three Earth Guards with them?”
“No, Earth Mother, my squad does not protect or serve you.” Then he nodded towards the other elf, “You need to ask her.”
Lauren turned to the female elf, “Where’s the captain of your Earth Guard?”
“I am the captain!” exclaimed Jasmine.
“I’m sorry. Look, please, leave three Earth Guards with Eric and Mirtza. Two children were with us who seem to have wandered off.”
“You did say Sam and Hope?” asked Panry, and then he looked at the two piles of clothes, “Pups of Zack. They share his gift?”
“Everybody shut up,” Lauren’s head was spinning, as too much was happening too fast. She turned to the female elf, “You’re the Captain of my Earth Guard?” Jasmine nodded. Lauren took a deep breath, “Ironweed, can you please—”
“My men call me Ironwood,” she nodded to Panry, “Only one foul misspeaks my name.”
Even though Panry tried to hide his smile, all saw it.
“Ironwood, leave three Earth Guards here. It’s a command from one pissed off Earth Mother, so you had damn well better do it. Mirtza, you’re staying here with Eric, waiting for those two kids to return.” Just when the others started to get comfortable with the new space in the carriage, Lauren called out, “John, get in here, you too Steve. Logan, sit up front with Gayne as he gets us the hell out of here.”
Panry had his flask out, “It is not my day.”
Grabbing it, Lauren took a long drink, “Your day! Wait to you hear about my freaking month. Gayne, get us home. Now!”
*******
When they returned to the house, Ryan was still unconscious, and even though all were concerned, he was the least of their current problems. Pulling him from the carriage, Steve carried him upstairs. Returning to the ground floor, he looked at the elves who stood barely five feet tall, weighing maybe one hundred pounds, wearing multi-colored camouflage cloaks with green tunics and pants. Except for the female in the group, they all looked similar, having the same jet-black hair and eyes, with deer ears that could face in opposite directions at the same time. Hanging from their belts, sheathed swords and daggers. As the others had waited for Steve’s return, Gayne had asked the staff for a selection of drinks, giving them the rest of the day off.
Lauren was pacing. The scene of the crowd before her resurrected memories of the attic in Alron, which seemed even more crowded—if that was possible: Nine elves, six dwarves, six blood wolves, two friends, a really baffled detective, and Gayne, their confused host, but she was still three chairs short; six if you included Zack’s kids and Mirtza. It was as if somebody had dropped the box of cards that Alron had carried with him, which helped to train new Earth Guards.
Needing to clear her head and the room, she called out, “John, Logan, Steve, Gayne, you who holds the Heart of Earth Mother, Panry, Ironweed—I mean Ironwood. You all stay, everybody else, get out.” She could see the dwarves register an objection with their eyes. “Seriously, go guard the backyard, front yard, hell, even the roof if you want to, just get out.” Walking over to Gayne, she had no idea of what to say, and instead, grabbing a bottle of honey wine, biting into the cork, she spit it out before taking a long drink. “Can anybody tell me what’s going on?”
As the Granite Guardian shrugged his shoulders, the other five all replied, ‘No.’
Lauren set the bottle down, lowered her head into her hands, and began to cry. “It’s too much—my daughters. I shouldn’t be here. I should be looking for them.” Pushing back her tears, she looked at John, “I’m going upstairs to have a long, hot bath and a good cry. You’re going to explain what has happened,” then she pointed to the Earth Guard captains, “and they’re going to tell you what they know. Then the six…” She looked at the Granite Guardian, shook her head, “the five of you’re going to discuss what we saw today. When I come back down those stairs, I want to hear answers, and I cannot express how badly I want to hear those words. John, that water will cool faster than my temper will heat up, but when I’m done, the first person who says something like not, naught, or don’t know, I’ll shove this staff so far—” Then she turned, leaving the room.
“That is my Earth Mother?” asked Jasmine.
While Panry wanted to smile in some ways, Lauren’s frustration made him understand that something more was happening, and the statement of a daughter still had him confused. “You heard the stories told by Oxron. Earth Mother that his father protects, her birth name was Lauren.”
“Two armies she destroys, traitors, Hoyle?” Then Jasmine turned to John and Logan, “Unchosen—I mean, Earth Mother, Bastard. Asleep in carriage was Rage Heart. Sword massive, Champion?” Opening her flask, she took a long drink, “It is not my day.”
“Who’s Oxron?” asked John.
“Icefeather is his last name, son—”
“The son of Alron?” John downed his drink, “Holy crap!”
“Do we tell Earth Mother?” asked Panry.
Jasmine set down her flask, “Tell her what?”
“She doesn’t know?” stated John.
“Some details I did not tell Oxron.”
“I’m not trying to be rude or hide anything from you,” began John, “but I need some time to think about this, and right now, I don’t have it. While I’ve never tried to be more than what I was here, just a lost smart kid doing what he could, I need to change that. Being the Unchosen and Earth Mother, I forbid you to tell Lauren—I mean, Earth Mother, that Oxron Icefeather is in your Earth Guard. I further command you to keep him away from her at all times. In fact, keep him away from all of us.” He turned to Panry, “Get me his belt buckle. I don’t care how.”
“You cannot command me!” Although a new confusion was registering with Jasmine, “Only Mother can.”
Logan raised a burning fist, “What about Sister?”
“I suggest you honor his request,” advised Panry, “else others shall try to persuade you to see his wisdom. The Champion they will include and Rage Heart. When we have time, I shall provide details to you, but for now, your path is clear.”
While disliking it, she nodded, “His belt I will get, which I shall hold onto until I have
answers. Then I shall decide what actions are correct for Earth Mother.”
“Words similar I have spoken, but her actions she shall determine, not you.”
“Everybody to the table since we don’t have much time.” Then John began to tell a story that would make the bards drool. He raced through, advising them at certain points he would provide more details later, like the Granite Guardians, but he hit all of the key points: the triplets, their arrival, Ironhouse, the trollmare attack in the forest, and the major events in Alron. Just when they thought he was done, he asked Gayne if he could check for any more honey wine in the cellar. Turning to the dwarf who held Heart of Earth Mother, he asked him to check the front yard, using the guise that he had heard something. Then he sped through the story of meeting Tranquil and Fury.
When Jasmine reached for her flask, which was empty, she turned to Steve, “You did meet—what did you call them?”
Staring intently back, he realized the room was quiet, “Sorry, it just takes a little bit to get used to your…dialect.”
Holding his flask upside down, Panry was thinking about purchasing a much larger one— or maybe two or three. “While similar trouble we have, we are not rude, mentioning such.”
Nodding, Steve saw Jasmine staring at him, remembered the question, “Gods.”
When John heard Gayne crest the top of the stairs, he turned to the group, “Now, tell me what you two know since that bathwater is cooling.”
Fortunately, even though their stories had started three years earlier, they were shorter. Jasmine and Panry took turns telling the events of Mother growing quiet, and without Earth Mothers to protect, they had been tasked to investigate the dying forests. Of how they started to hear stories of the strange attacks in the Newlands, and of Mother’s last words, telling the children to flee. With no direction from Mother, Panry had continued to search out forest north of the Bright Coast, and Jasmine advised that she had done the same to the south. Then a month ago, Mother suddenly commanded them to find Earth Mothers. Panry explained how they had heard of Earth Mothers in the Bright Coast, adding nobody knew what happened to them, nor had they seen any since their arrival.
During the events at the mall, the image of the brand never appeared on the conjured screen, which had stayed focused on Zymse Darpac. “I still say it’s all connected, Kid, The brand on those assassins, and then they brand that baby here. I just wish I had a better look at it.”
“Is he legend?” asked Jasmine.
Logan let out a chuckle, “Nope.”
“Does he have a name perchance?” asked Panry.
Apologizing for being an absent-minded host, John quickly introduced everybody; each nodding to the others when he spoke their names.
Except for Jasmine, whom he had called Ironweed, but she quickly corrected him while glaring at Panry. She nodded towards the clean-shaven dwarf, “You did call him ‘he who holds Heart of Earth Mother?’”
“Yes, I’ll explain it later.”
Asking Gayne for a piece of paper with a writing instrument, when Panry had them, he drew the brand seen on the small child as it had rolled onto its side.
Looking at it, Steve nodded in agreement, “How could you see it?”
“Elf eyesight is great.”
“See, Kid, I told you they were connected. You can’t find a brand that the trollmares are afraid of a million miles away, and then we find the same one here,” Steve looked at the group then took a long drink. “Damn it!”
Logan let out a short snort, “He’s one of us now.”
Should never have switched shifts that day.
“Can it be that simple?” John polled the surrounding group. “One man?”
“Kid, think of it this way. A corrupt government where a deadly disease breaks out, but another country has a cure that it offers to the infected people. When the official government ignores the suffering, those who received the healing now support those who supplied the aid. Add a bit of propaganda, a few shipments of smuggled weapons, a few black ops, and before you know it, the old government is blowing in the wind, hanging from ropes.” Steve saw the confused looks on Panry and Jasmine, “Like what happened here last time. This Zymse guy was most likely sitting on the brand the whole time. Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s breeding those trollmares. How he minimized the religious leadership of Mother, I don’t know, but you heard him, saying he didn’t know why she would unleash such a horror.”
John shook his head, “No, his exact words were, ‘In all truth, while I have no idea why your Mother would release these creatures onto the lands, angered she must be.’ He also mentioned ‘natural magic’ too many times, like he was trying to sell a replacement.”
“He has Earth Mother’s children?” asked Jasmine.
“Who in their right mind would do something like this?” asked John.
“Nobody, Kid. This guy is sick. Something else is motivating him.”
“The name of this sick bastard?”
Even though they all turned to face Lauren, only John replied, “Zymse Darpac. We just haven’t figured out what to do next.”
“Except you will before the night is over. Today was a very unusual and challenging day.” Lauren took a deep breath. “Panry, while you may have told me never to do this, I need to. I need to apologize for what I said even though I don’t remember all who I may have offended. Since I need to rest, I’m taking one of the berries Gingaar gave me, hoping my dreams will be free of the words that I cannot speak, but tomorrow I want to hear your plans. I thank you all, even those I forced into the rain, so please apologize to them for me.” Then she headed up the stairs, to tend to her sleeping husband, before seeking a nightmare-free sleep that only Mother could provide.
After everybody had breathed a sigh of relief, Panry turned to Jasmine, “I agree with Earth Mother, as this day was most different. Mother’s presence was strong, but when I sensed my Earth Mother, it was odd. When I saw her image, I thought Earth Daughter, not Earth Mother. Mayhap that is why my image and sense do not match. She does not fully bloom?”
“What do you mean?” asked John.
“While I sensed her, it was like part of her was absent, like she was not whole.”
John lowered his head, reached for the honey wine, “Lauren had triplets.”
“Even though you mentioned this before, your word triplet does not translate to elf, even though I heard it.”
“Three, all born at the same time.”
“Three born? Such is possible? Since the message was to find Earth Mother, not Earth Daughter, the image sent did not resemble what I expected.” Then Panry paused, remembering the vision he had received, “The first vison was three, but all were the same. I thought that Mother repeated her message.”
“How old are the Earth Daughters when Mother usually senses them?” asked John.
Jasmine answered so that Panry would be unable to corrupt the natural event. “While Mother will embrace them when first born, she does not call until later. When a child becomes an adult, and an urge to raise a family starts to blossom.”
When John scanned the table for something to drink, all of the bottles were empty. The thought of Lauren’s daughters becoming young women seemed so far away, like he planned to be when that time arrived. “Have any children ever been called Earth Mothers before.”
Both answered, “No.”
John wondered if after spending four years in Calicon, if it was possible that residual magic had been absorbed, so when Lauren and Ryan had conceived their daughters, the magic had also mated. He always thought that the gold or heavy magic belonged to Mother, and the lighter magic belonged to Sister. Remembering hearing stories about the gift of Mother being passed from one generation to the next, he now wondered if Lauren had given birth to the three most powerful Earth Mothers in Calicon, “Panry, you’re not looking for one, you’re looking for three.”
“You are not serious?”
“You have no idea.”
*****
**
“I don’t know where they went or when they left, as we were all looking at the stage.”
“Eric,” John pleaded again, “Keep your voice down, please.”
“How do we find them?” The concern written on Eric’s face was etched deep, “Even though I don’t know what Ryan said to convince Zack to let them join us, their conversation was intense.” Starting to throw his mug, he checked his anger, “Now we have five children to look for!”
“You need to calm down,” advised John.
“I agree with the Kid, as anger will not solve anything.”
Eric shook his head, “We’re so screwed because we can’t look for the triplets, and how do you find two shapeshifters?”
“They probably found something,” replied John.
“Then why didn’t they tell us?” asked Eric.
“I don’t know!”
Steve walked between them, acting like a referee, “We’re not going to solve this tonight. I saw what Zack did. If those kids have his mother’s brains and his father’s ba—,” he glanced at Jasmine, “bravado, they’ll be fine.”
“If they don’t?” began Eric, “Alron was the peewee leagues, but the Bright Coast is the majors. We’re not talking about a special team sent onto the field, which has been trained, they’re just damn kids.” He turned, heading towards the stairs.
“Will they be okay?” asked Mirtza.
“Since they are the pups of Zack,” advised Panry, “options many they have. I am sure that he schooled them with more than books, so we do not have to worry.”
“Who is Zack?” asked Jasmine.
“The Legend Absent,” replied Panry.
Then she scanned the bottles in front of her, realizing her knowledge of the past events shared the same state, empty of the desired contents.
Chapter 2
When the first sun were beginning to rise, Sam let out a quiet yelp to the large alpha female they had been following that night, as he knew traveling during daylight would be unsafe. Sniffing the air, as she crossed the street heading towards an alley, the two large timber wolves followed. Knocking over a refuse container, a large leg bone fell to the ground that she pushed forward.