However, not until now, after having sparred with him and almost losing, had the ‘devotion’ begun to rage within him. With the feeling came emotions and longings that he was fighting to suppress but couldn’t. He understood now why the elves in the past were referred to as ‘Children of the Wielders’.
As he stared into his eyes, which were glowing brighter than normal, he wondered what was happening to him. He felt a strong desire to do something that he had always looked upon with disgust. What should he do? Should he fight the desire or should he give in? He wondered if the other elven guardians felt even a little of what he was feeling. He tried not to scream as he studied in detail his honor tattooed over his eye. He couldn’t believe that he was seriously considering doing it. The implications of the choice he was about to make would forever change the course of his life.
18
Traven woke with a start. He could have sworn that he had heard a scream, but all was now silent. He decided that it must have been the remnants of yet another bad dream. He shifted in his bed and stared up at the ceiling in the predawn darkness. He felt like he hadn’t gotten any rest all night.
Yesterday had drained him, and he had been looking forward to a good night’s rest. After his two sword matches the previous morning, he had spent the entire day practicing wielding the ambience. He had started by practicing wielding fire, wind, water, and lightning. He had then spent the rest of the afternoon and evening practicing whispering on the wind and screeing. By the end of the day, he had been able to scree the path that he and Studell had taken all the way from the coast.
Screeing took more energy than he would have expected, but it was so exciting to him that he had kept practicing into the night. It was amazing to see something far away from above and then be able to magnify it. He had gotten to the point where he could focus on a single sea bird and follow it in its flight. By the time he had finally stopped and gone to bed, he had a throbbing headache.
The peace and rest he had hoped to find in sleep had never come. Throughout the entire night he had continued to dream over and over about the crown of Kalia and the absence of the Princess Kalista. The details of the dream always changed except for the crown always being present and the princess always being absent. He would awake at the end of each dream with a sense of hopelessness and loss.
Despite all of the distractions the day before, he still had not been able to completely shake the depressed feelings he had felt the previous morning. He was not looking forward to carrying the same feelings with him throughout the coming day. He found it strange that the dreams could affect his mood to such an extent. The princess had been in his dreams almost constantly for the past few weeks, but he never imagined her absence would leave him feeling empty inside.
He didn’t know if it was the vividness of his dreams or something else. Perhaps Eldridge would have some advice for him. His dreams had previously led him to the cave in the marsh. Perhaps his current dreams meant something as well. He had never been overly superstitious, but having such vivid dreams and strong emotions related to them left him wondering if his dreams did indeed mean something important.
Traven determined that he wasn’t going to get any more sleep and left his room. After going through his morning routine, he returned to his room and freshened up. It was still too early for breakfast to be served, so he decided to practice screeing in his wash basin.
The keeper had mentioned that if a wielder created his conduit high enough, he could see all the land at once. He decided that he might as well give it a try. So far he had only tried to view the desert and the coast nearby. Time slowed as he created his conduit and sent it reaching for the heavens. He pushed it as high as he could, faintly feeling the end of it somewhere far overhead. He created his sheet of water and pulled down the faint light of dawn.
At first he was confused and didn’t understand what he was looking at. Studying the image, he finally realized what it was. He was seeing the entire land of Kalia! He was able to make out the western coast all the way to the towering mountains on the eastern edge of the kingdom.
He stared at the image in awe. He had no idea that he would be able to get the conduit high enough to see so much of the land at once. He followed his journey to Faldor’s Keep in reverse as he gazed over the map. His eyes traced a line down the coast to where he suspected Jatz was and from there to where Calyn was. He then traced a line back along the river to Four Bridges and then to Kavar. From there he traced a line back into the woods to his home village of Oak Tree. It was just like following his path on a map, but the image before him wasn’t a map. It was real! Everything he saw was actually there.
Could he really look anywhere in Kalia he wanted to? The thought intrigued him greatly. Not only would he never need a map or get lost again, he would be able to check on places he was nowhere near. He concentrated and formed a second conduit down from the top of the first. He was soon looking at an image of only the eastern part of Kalia. He lengthened the conduit even more and was soon looking at a familiar forest and then at the village of Oak Tree. He located his grandparents’ home on the outskirts of the village and focused on it. Soon his grandparents' small home filled the dish.
Traven’s mouth fell open in surprise. At the side of the house, his grandfather and grandmother were weeding the garden. He was flooded with emotion at the sight of his grandparents. He hadn’t realized just how much he missed them until now. A tear fell from his eye and splashed into the basin of water, distorting the image. He stared at the dish and waited for the image to become clear again.
He knew that screeing let him see exactly what was happening, but for some reason he hadn’t thought he might see his grandparents. He took several deep breaths as he calmed his emotions. The water in the dish soon cleared, and he resumed gazing at the two wonderful people who had raised him and allowed his dreams to flourish.
He was delighted to see that they appeared healthy and happy, working together in the early morning spring sunlight. His thoughts had been turned to them after seeing them in his dream the other night. It gave him a certain amount of peace to see that they were well. Perhaps he would have the chance to visit them once the battle with the army from Balthus was over. They would be so surprised to learn that he was a wielder.
Thinking of his grandparents and the love he had for them led his mind to think of someone else that he had strong feelings for, the Princess Kalista. Of course, the feelings he had concerning her were from his dreams and not from reality. He wondered where she was and what she was doing. If he could scree his grandparents, why couldn’t he scree an image of the princess?
He smiled at the image of his grandparents one more time and let the image fade away as the eastern part of Kalia came into focus. He knew that the Princess Kalista was traveling with the Royal Army on its march to Candus. He stopped and thought about where the army would be. They had left from Calyn almost a month ago. He supposed the army would be somewhere near Kavar. As he made the image move closer to the city, he noticed a smudge to the north. As the image got closer to the smudge, he was happy to see that it was indeed the Royal Army.
He continued magnifying the image until he could make out the individual soldiers in the army. They were marching northward in a long column. He supposed that he would find the princess towards the head of the column and moved the image along the column of soldiers until he reached the front. He then magnified the image even more.
He smiled to himself. The princess was indeed at the head of the column along with Commander General Gavin and Blaize. The sight of his friend at the head of the army brought a large smile to his face. However, his gaze soon left the warrior and rested upon the graceful figure of the princess. While he watched, Commander General Gavin leaned towards her and whispered something in her ear. She tilted her head back towards him and laughed as she looked up at him adoringly.
A pang of jealousy emerged within Traven’s chest. He quickly tried to suppress it. He wouldn’t deny t
hat he found the princess attractive, but he had no reason to feel jealous of her attention towards the commander general. Gavin was her fiancé after all. He took a last look at the Princess Kalista and let the image fade. Having seen her again had done nothing to alleviate his sadness. In fact, the longing to see her again in person was now even stronger.
He once again tried to shake off the feelings he had awakened with but had no success. Glancing at the window, he supposed it was late enough now that he could get breakfast and look for Eldridge. He was anxious to ask the keeper about his dreams. He left his room and made his way to the dining hall. As he descended the stairs his ears picked up some commotion at the other end of the keep, but he couldn’t make out what was being said. The keep was always so silent that the noise seemed out of place.
He entered the dining hall and was excited to see Eldridge already sitting and eating his breakfast. Traven was so anxious to ask the keeper about his dreams that he started walking towards him before he realized he hadn’t grabbed his breakfast yet. He turned around, picked up his breakfast, and quickly walked over to the keeper to eat.
He tried to wait patiently for Eldridge to finish his meal but without much success. He shoveled his own food down rapidly and sat fidgeting as the ancient man slowly continued to eat his breakfast. Finally the keeper set down his spoon and looked at him with a hint of a grin.
“It appears that you are anxious to say something to me,” he said. “I suppose I am done with my meal. What’s on your mind?”
“Dreams,” Traven replied.
“Dreams,” the keeper mused. “I was wondering when you might ask me about them. However, I don’t think you really mean dreams. I think you want to know about visions.”
“What do you mean?”
“Dreams and visions are two very different things,” the keeper continued. “Everyone dreams while they sleep. Sometimes dreams are happy, sometimes they are sad, and sometimes they make no sense at all. However, visions are something totally different. Only wielders have them, and not all wielders, only some. Apparently you are a wielder that has visions while you sleep. Am I right?”
“I guess so,” Traven replied. “I’ve been having dreams that seem more real than normal, and I often have a variation of the same dream over and over.”
“You are describing visions, not dreams,” Eldridge reminded him. “I guess I will start by explaining what visions are. From there we can analyze your vision and see what we might be able to discover.
“A vision is like a dream in that it normally occurs while you are sleeping. Though, some wielders had visions while meditating as well. Visions have a purpose. Dreams don’t really mean anything. They are just the mind sorting information. However, visions tell truths. Sometimes they point out important things that the wielder needs to think about and sometimes they show the future.
“The tricky thing about visions is they are not necessarily straight forward in their meaning. Visions usually contain important symbols. Most of the vision is unimportant and will change from night to night. However, the important symbols will not change. They are what must be focused on in order to understand the meaning of the vision. Even then it is tricky to ascertain the true meaning of the vision. Many a wielder misinterpreted a vision with disastrous results. One must be careful when trying to gain meaning from a vision. Does that all make sense?”
“Yes,” Traven replied as he pondered what the keeper had just told him. Thinking back over his repetitious dreams, he was now certain they were visions. There was always something, a symbol, that stayed the same.
“Now let’s analyze your visions,” Eldridge said with a hint of excitement. “When did you first start having them?”
Traven thought back to when he first remembered dreaming about the cave that held Faldor’s chest. It had been almost a year ago, just a little before he had his awakening.
“Almost a year ago,” he replied. “I believe I had my first vision before I even had my awakening. Is that possible?”
“Yes,” the keeper said while scratching his head. “It is rare to have them before the awakening, but it is not unheard of. I believe Faldor began having visions before his awakening. And do you still have the same vision?”
“No. I stopped having my first vision after I found Faldor’s chest. It was the vision that led me to the cave where the chest was hidden. I had been dreaming continually of the entrance to the cave.”
“Fascinating,” Eldridge said with a large smile. “So in a sense, it was your vision that ultimately led you here.”
Traven thought about it and nodded. If not for the vision that had led him to the cave, he would never have found the map to Faldor’s Keep.
“And now you are having a different vision?” the keeper asked. Traven nodded once again.
“I began having this new one right after I found Faldor’s chest. It didn’t really bother me until two nights ago. The dream, I mean vision, changed. The last two mornings I have woken up feeling disturbed.”
“Like I said earlier,” the keeper began, “Visions will change often. It is the symbols that always stay the same.”
“I think that’s what’s bothering me,” Traven replied. He hadn’t known that there were symbols in his visions until the keeper had mentioned their importance, but now looking for them in his visions, it was easy for him to identify them. “The vision was always different, but there seemed to be two symbols that always remained the same. Two nights ago, one of the symbols vanished.”
“Hmmm,” Eldridge mumbled. He sat thinking for several moments before continuing. “Perhaps if you describe the visions to me, I can help you decipher a possible meaning.”
Traven looked around uncomfortably. He wasn’t eager to share either of the symbols from his vision. It embarrassed him to have to admit out loud that he was dreaming of the crown of Kalia and the Princess Kalista. However, he knew that he needed to be honest with Eldridge if he wanted the keeper’s help in deciphering the meaning behind the two symbols.
“Well,” he began nervously. “I’ve been dreaming of the crown of Kalia. It’s one of the symbols. In all of my visions it’s either being placed on my head or it’s already on my head.” He paused, gathering the courage to share the other symbol.
“Go on,” the keeper said encouragingly.
“The other symbol that was in all of my dreams until two nights ago was the High Princess of Kalia.” He could feel his cheeks burning as Eldridge stared at him intently.
“Those are two very interesting symbols indeed,” the keeper noted. “I was not expecting two symbols with such obvious importance. You are sure that those are the two symbols in your visions?”
“Yes,” Traven replied. “They are the constants. They seem more real than anything else in the visions and seem to pulse with energy. Even once the princess vanished from the visions, I always knew during the vision that something was missing that should be there.”
“I believe you’re right then,” Eldridge said with conviction. “Those are the symbols. Now we need to decipher them and understand what they mean.”
Eldridge sat quietly for awhile, pondering the possible meanings. Traven sat silently as well, feeling awkward to have his visions of the crown and the princess out in the open. He wondered what the keeper was thinking about him. The ancient man shook his head several times as if dismissing certain thoughts, but finally cleared his throat to speak.
“Let’s begin with the crown,” he said quietly. “The symbol of the crown could be either literal or symbolize something else. So a very literal translation of your vision would be that you will be crowned the High King of Kalia. I highly doubt that is what the vision means, but it could mean that. I would suspect that it symbolizes power. Perhaps it means you will gain immense power or you will seek power to rule over others. This slightly worries me, for the desire for power was how the Wielder Wars began.”
“I don’t want to rule over anyone,” Traven cut in.
“
Oh, I’m not saying you do. You are not a symbol in the visions, so it really doesn’t matter that the crown always ends upon your head. It could have nothing to do with you whatsoever. I would guess that the vision most likely symbolizes that something will happen to dramatically change who has power in the land. That is easy to believe, given that a wielder has gathered an army and is marching to challenge the High King of Kalia.
“It is your second symbol that really had me thinking. Not only is the symbol a person, but you mentioned that the symbol disappeared. I would say that you will cross paths with the princess in the future or that she will have an important part in the change of power in the lands. That being said, I wonder why she disappeared. Do you think she could have been killed?”
“No,” Traven replied. “I just screed her this morning.”
“You screed her this morning?” the keeper asked with surprise. “Never mind that question. If she is still alive then that theory is wrong. Hmm, do you think it means she will die soon?”
As much as Traven wanted to deny what the keeper had just said, it rang true to him. As Eldridge had posed the question, the feelings of loss and sadness instantly washed over him as strong as they ever had in the last two days. The princess was in trouble. He felt certain of it. He had to help her. In his previous visions she had often asked him not to forget her. But how could he help her? She was on the far side of Kalia. The only way he could protect her was if he was with her. He suddenly knew what he needed to do.
“I think you’re right,” he said to the keeper. “I must leave the keep and go to her. I need to protect her from being killed.”
“Let’s not get carried away,” Eldridge said with a chuckle. “There is much for you to learn before you head back into the outside world. We don’t even know if that is what your vision means.”
Wielder's Rising Page 17