The Awakening

by Joe Jackson

  “What? I was just going to say I wonder if anything’s actually buried here anymore.”

  “We’ve found a piece of history!” Leighandra finally managed. She sat down and pulled her pack in front of her. She drew forth her journal and writing implements, and she began to sketch out a picture of the two gravestones. She could hardly contain her excitement or keep her writing hand steady as she wrote of what they’d found and where.

  “Do you suppose we should clean the area up, like we did on the island?” Audrei asked.

  Yiilu looked around the cabin and its clearing. “How odd. It is as though the Earth Mother is satisfied reclaiming only a small part of this area, and leaving the priestess’ domicile as intact as possible.”

  Starlenia went over and opened the front door, and after peering in suspiciously, she walked inside and began searching the home. It was only a few rooms, and Leighandra went in behind the rogue – as much to ensure she didn’t filch anything as to look around. Inside, things had remained mostly undisturbed, only wind and water that had found their way within effecting any changes. Leighandra glanced around the sitting room and the kitchen, and then she made her way over to what she suspected were the bedrooms.

  Audrei came in behind them, and her ears and nose twitched. She walked over to one of the bedroom doors, her brow creased, and Leighandra watched her open the door as if afraid there might be something terrifying on the other side. Based on Audrei’s reaction, Leighandra wondered if that might be the case. She dashed over and looked in, but there was nothing there but a single bed, a chair, and a chest of drawers.

  “What is it?” Leighandra asked.

  “You don’t see this?” Audrei returned with a gesture toward the bed. “Oh my God.”

  “Max, Galadon!” Leighandra called, and then she tried to get Audrei to back away from the door, but the woman wouldn’t move. “What is it, Audrei? Look away if you have to.”

  “What’s going on?” the human knight asked, drawing up behind the women. “What? Was there something on the bed?”

  “Yes,” Audrei answered, pointing at the furnishing. “This is where she died. I can see her lying on the bed as clearly as if it was happening right now. She is taking her last breaths, and Carly and something of a giant of our kind are sitting beside her, comforting her.”

  The luranar woman backed up and closed her eyes, taking in a shuddering breath. “She died in that bed, and Karinda could never sleep in it, or that room, again.” She walked over to the other room and pushed its door open, staring at that bed. “She had to stay with her mother, as they were both sensitive to thoughts, emotions, and auras. And what Kari left behind when she died was something neither of them could endure.”

  “What do you mean?” Max asked. “Audrei? What are you seeing or feeling?”

  She ignored him and walked back out of the house. “It’s still here,” she said, turning a slow circle with her arms out to the sides and her eyes closed. “It has sat idle for centuries, waiting to be reclaimed. Waiting for someone to come and prove themselves worthy of carrying it among men once again.”

  “What’s she talking about?” Delkantar asked, approaching from the back gardens.

  “She’s seeing some memory or vision of the past,” Galadon said with a helpless shrug.

  The luranar woman turned back toward the house, and the companions scattered when a ghost walked out of its doorway. Hands went to hilts, and Leighandra brought forth the song of her soul, ready to call upon her sorcery, but everyone kept their distance. The ghost was vaguely humanoid in shape, a translucent cloud of white ether that gradually assumed a more solid form. A head and tail grew out from it, and after a minute, it resembled a rir woman. It continued to take a solid shape until the ghostly image of a shakna-rir woman robed in white walked around the front yard.

  “Another ghost?” Starlenia whispered.

  “Not a ghost… a saint,” Lion corrected. “I can’t believe it… that’s Saint Bakhor…”

  “It has finally brought you to me,” the spirit said, fixating on Audrei. “How many decades I have waited for you, little one. Are you prepared to face the trial?”

  “What trial, spirit? What is this about?” Max asked, trying to step in front of his wife.

  Audrei gently pushed him aside. “I am. What must I do to prove myself worthy?”

  “Survive,” the spirit said, and it reached up and touched Audrei on the forehead.

  The luranar woman screamed and fell to the ground as if struck dead. She curled up into a fetal position and screamed again. Max started to go to her, but a sharp look from the spirit stopped him in his tracks. He trembled with rage and pain as he watched his wife curled up in agony, and she screamed again.

  “Abraham!” Audrei bellowed.

  Leighandra felt her blood freeze, and her eyes welled up with tears. “Oh, no,” she whispered, then she turned to the spirit. “No, not this. Don’t do this to her. Don’t!”

  “No, no, no,” Audrei cried. “Not him. Not my baby. Don’t take my baby from me!”

  Max fell to his knees and grabbed at his ears. He started toward his wife again, but the spirit touched him, and he recoiled from a shock of ethereal energy. “Leave her be. This is her trial, not yours.”

  The luranar paladin shot up to his feet. “You cannot put my wife in pain and say it is not my trial as well, foul spirit!”

  “Please, anything but this,” Audrei continued. “Take me, not him. Max wants a son more than anything… don’t take that away from him. Don’t. He can live without me, but let him have a son…”

  Max’s eyes went wide. “What? No!” he shouted, turning back to his wife. He knelt down again and reached out, his teeth showing as he stayed his hand just inches away from his wife. “Damn you, spirit!”

  “He won’t understand. He’ll blame me. No… Max would never blame me. What did I do wrong? Why has this happened to us? God, why did You let this happen?”

  Max sat back, utterly dumbstruck, and Leighandra tore her eyes away from their crumpled friend when she saw Starlenia walk away. There wasn’t a dry pair of eyes in the area, and all of the companions were torn by their helplessness. Leighandra felt even worse for her luranar friends, having their most terrible secret laid bare before everyone with no warning.

  Just be strong enough to survive this, Leighandra thought. You may be the strongest people I know. Hang on, Audrei. Stay with us.

  The chronicler straightened out when Audrei began to sing. It was in the luranar tongue as usual, but it was that same song Max referred to when he bared his soul to Leighandra at the waterfall. How deeply it had cut him, but now Audrei was singing it during her trial. Was it to symbolize her pain, or ease it? The chronicler wasn’t sure if the sudden singing was a good thing or a sign of worse pain to come. Whatever the case, Max remained on his knees beside his wife, completely humbled by her pain.

  Audrei curled up in pain again, but only for a few moments before she collected herself. She rose to her feet, stumbled slightly, and then finally opened her eyes as she turned to her husband. “Max?”

  He rushed to her without hesitation and gripped her in a crushing embrace. Leighandra stared at Audrei, wondering how long it would take before Max noticed the difference. After a few minutes of tearfully holding her, he finally backed away to kiss her, and his eyes went wide.

  Her hair had gone stark white. Not her entire coat, but the formerly long, black mane of hair that she had braided with beads. Her icy blue eyes were now a stunning golden color. She stared at her husband curiously; did she even know she had been changed? But then Leighandra saw what had caused her confusion.

  Audrei backed away from Max and hefted up a sledgehammer that had appeared in her hand. While its haft was unremarkable, the head of the great hammer looked like a demon skull, complete with horns and fangs. It took a minute for the pieces to fall into place in Leighandra’s mind, as stunned as she was by what she’d seen, but she recognized it now.

  “The
Hammer of Damnation,” she breathed. “Gods, she… Saint Bakhor… she gave you the Hammer of Damnation.”

  “Yes. And she is a part of me now. I can feel her in here,” Audrei said, touching her fingers to her forehead and then over her heart. “Max?”

  “Audrei? Are you all right?” he returned.

  “I am. I am at peace. Max, we cannot carry our guilt and regret anymore. My greatest pain has always been watching you suffer. And you have suffered because you believed me to be in pain. The pain is gone, Max. Only the memory, the love, and the hope remain. Can you let go of the pain and the guilt, husband?”

  Max took her face in his hands. “All I ever wanted was for you to be happy,” he said, making no effort to fight or hide his tears. “I know I was not your first choice for a husband, and when we lost our son, I thought I had failed you yet again…”

  Audrei let the hammer’s head fall to the ground, and she reached up to wipe away her husband’s tears. “You have never failed me. Never. No, you were not my choice. But you were meant for me, and I am honored to be your wife and the mother of your children. I love you, Auremax Talvorus, my husband and my king.”

  “And I am honored to call you my wife, and to be your husband,” he returned. “But you are different now, Audrei. Is this… is this truly you? The spirit has not taken hold of you in some way, has it?”

  A twinge of mischief curled the corner of Audrei’s lupine snout. “You will see tonight.”

  “Audrei!” Max protested with a chuckle, but then he closed his eyes briefly and sighed. “Audrei, Audrei… if you are safe, happy, and satisfied, then so am I. You are my heart, and I would not trade you for a thousand sons.”

  “Great Spirit, you two are killing me,” Starlenia sniffled.

  Even Yiilu was teary-eyed. Elves weren’t known for showing that sort of emotion to outsiders, but the druidess didn’t seem to care. She watched with rapt attention and an open heart. And at her feet, Vo’rii lay with her head down on her paws.

  “Yiilu,” Audrei prompted. “The cabin itself is a reshaped tree spirit. If you would be so kind as to speak to it, you may release it from its willing servitude, and it should yield to us the sixth and final jade seal.”

  “You have Saint Bakhor’s spirit inside you?” Delkantar asked, finally approaching. He faltered when Audrei turned those golden eyes onto him.

  “I do. She had to cleanse me of doubt, fear, and guilt first. Now I feel ready for what lies ahead; ready to do my part.”

  “Then let’s get the seal and return to Karinda,” Galadon said. “She’s not going to believe this. Hell, I can hardly believe it myself, and I just witnessed it.” He gripped Max lightly by the shoulder. “Why did you never mention your son to us, my friend? Why do you hide things from us? How many times have you told Starlenia or the rest of us to share our burdens?”

  “I know,” Max said, glancing down briefly before he met the older knight’s gaze. “It was wrong of me… of us. Forgive us, my friends. It was never about whether we trusted you with our secrets, but that we did not want to burden you with them. And that was wrong. We were wrong. I was wrong.”

  Galadon patted the side of Max’s face, and the two knights embraced. “You’re a better man than your father, Max. And your father was a hell of a man. Never doubt that.”

  “Thank you, my friend.”

  Yiilu was speaking with the cabin, which was a sight. But then a face appeared in the side of it, and a tree sprite stepped out of the wood. After conversing with Yiilu for a minute, the dryad disappeared back into the wood, and then the house began to reshape itself. The walls, the roof, even the windows and doors melded into limbs and a trunk, eventually forming up into a great oak tree. It was perfectly placed so that its shade would ever be on the two graves that sat below it. From what Leighandra could see, all of the furnishings and other items in the house itself had been absorbed into the tree in some fashion.

  …All but for one.

  A little rag doll in the shape of a terra-dracon woman hung from one of the lower branches. Audrei took it down and held it tight to her breast. She walked over and looked at the graves one last time and smiled, then gestured about. “Let us make our camp here. There is little daylight remaining, and it has been a long and exhausting day, particularly for me.”

  “What about the seal?” Galadon asked.

  Yiilu approached the tree and spoke again to it, and she placed her hand on the trunk. An opening appeared, something different than what had happened with the sphinx’s chest, and the druidess took the seal from within. She brought it over to the rest of them, and laid the six seals out on the ground between the companions. “This has been some journey,” she commented.

  “And it has only just begun,” Audrei added.

  ~ * ~ * ~

  Leighandra watched her two luranar companions during their return trek. If Audrei had made good on her tease after being transformed, they were being discreet about it. They seemed closer now, something Leighandra hadn't really expected was possible. And just as after Max had told her his secret and then been crowned king, he seemed much lighter of spirit.

  Audrei was definitely different now. She spoke a little more formally, but the joy and warmth of the woman was still ever-present. It took Leighandra a couple of days to realize it was a manifestation of confidence and courage. Audrei had been pulled along with them when she wasn't ready and still doubted herself. Now, whether it was a product of surviving the tests or carrying Saint Bakhor's spirit within her, she walked, talked, and acted with confidence in everything. And the sledgehammer, as large as it was, hardly bowed the woman's shoulders as she carried the symbol of righteousness across her back for days.

  The others were different, too. Leighandra recalled Delkantar's first thoughts about Audrei, and his doubts that she was a priestess. Now, he treated her with deference, and whether the luranar woman noticed his frequent glances or not, Leighandra did. Galadon and Lion were a little subtler about it, but the change in the woman obviously amazed them as well. Leighandra wasn't sure which deity Lion served – she wasn't sure if the shakna-rir as a whole followed any one or a smaller subset of them – but the luranar priestess awed him.

  Starlenia, by contrast, kept a bit of distance from the luranar now. She frequently made little jokes, calling them disgustingly cute or something to that effect, but whatever she truly felt, she kept it to herself. Leighandra wondered if perhaps Starlenia had gone through some trials with her husband and children in her secretive past, and seeing Audrei and Max endure the saint's trial had awakened those memories. Something kept her quiet and a little distant from the luranar couple, but Leighandra still had yet to figure out exactly what.

  Yiilu and Audrei were spending more and more time together, speaking of their divine paths. Leighandra couldn't recall a time she had ever seen two people of such different faiths sit and not just speak, but listen with such enthusiasm. Audrei had never made a secret of her respect for what Yiilu could do, and now, after Audrei’s healing ministrations in Emerald City, the healing of Delkantar and dispelling of the demon, and then the trial she underwent and survived with Saint Bakhor, the druidess was taking a keen interest in the luranar's faith.

  If they bolster each other’s faith, there’s no telling what they’ll be able to do together, Leighandra thought.

  They reached Karinda's tower after several days, and the archmage met them outside. Without a word, she approached to stand before Audrei, taking in the woman's stark-white hair, golden eyes, and the unmistakable sledgehammer across her back. Neither woman spoke, but after a minute, Karinda put her hand to her breast as if to quell her racing heart.

  “You have my mother's spirit upon you,” she breathed, and Audrei nodded. “She has wandered the rooms and gardens of our old home since I laid her to rest. Eventually, I had to stop visiting, as it pained me too much to see her linger without explanation. Now, she has settled upon you for some purpose, and bequeathed to you her mighty hammer. Do you know
why, precisely?”

  “No, but as you have said to us so many times, the truth will be revealed in its proper time,” Audrei answered with a soft smile. She pulled forth the little terra-dracon doll and handed it to the archmage.

  Karinda made no effort to hide her emotions, hugging it to her chest and letting forth a deep, calming breath. “It is pleasing to know people do listen sometimes. You must tell me everything that has transpired. Have you gathered all six of the jade seals, then?”

  Yiilu set her pack down and pulled all of the stones out. The archmage looked at them and her breath caught, and then she put her hand to the end of her snout. At last she found her voice again, “Then the time is upon us. The end of one era, the beginning of another. Now, all of the mystery and wonder of Arakiel will be revealed, for good or for ill. Come, there are those you need to meet.”

  They followed the archmage into the tower, but before anyone could take a seat, she gestured for them to continue with her. She led them up the stairs to the third level, and Karinda opened the door. What lay beyond was one of the finest displays of magic Leighandra had ever seen. For rather than a round room like the one downstairs for visitors, this door opened into what looked like the inside of a sprawling, stately mansion. Rooms and doors split off from the central chamber on every side, and in the center was a furnished, open sitting area.

  Two half-demons were in the center of the room playing with a couple of children. They looked up when the newcomers entered, and Leighandra took in their features. The male had red stripes across his face, shoulders, and arms. He was dressed casually, but rose to his feet when he saw they had visitors, towering several inches above even Max and Galadon. The female was also fairly tall, nearly the same height as the knights when she stood up. She, too, was dressed casually, and the children huddled around her legs when they saw all the new arrivals.

  Karinda waved toward the two. “My friends, I would like to introduce you to Lady Karian Vanador, the Avatar of Vengeance; and her mate, the Warlord, Kristofer Isaiah Jir’tana.”