Tales Of Nevaeh: The Trilogy and Backstory of the Epic Sci-Fi Fantasy Series Tales Of Nevaeh: (The 4 Book Bundled Box Set)

by David Wind

  Sirod shook her head. “I have seen a dozen in my lifetime die as I am dying. Something grows within me, here,” she said and tapped her left breast. “It is a slow death; I have perhaps a year at most.”

  “May I join with you? May I look to see?”

  “You can, my cousin.”

  Areenna paused, her hands half raised to Sirod’s head. “Cousin?”

  “None but those of my female lineage ever bore the mark as do we both. I doubt not, we are of the same blood.”

  Areenna nodded, understanding her only choice was belief. The mark was not a discoloring of the skin as she had always thought. While she had never seen such a mark on her mother, after seeing the marks on the two, she was certain it had to have been somewhere on Inaria’s body.

  She finished placing her hands on Sirod’s head and joined with the woman. She called up the healing ability and searched. Sirod’s garment was thin enough so it was not necessary to remove it. As Areenna traced her hands over Sirod’s body, she watched from behind closed eyes, seeking for what caused the illness. It took several minutes before she found it. Her hand was at the side of Sirod’s breast when the skin beneath her left hand began to glow. With her right hand, she cupped the woman’s breast.

  She concentrated on the glowing ball, feeling it, sensing it, trying to determine how to help. She pushed the ability through her arms into her hands and fingers. The heat grew rapidly, almost burning as she tried to penetrate the thing growing inside. The growth within Sirod had protected itself by deflecting the energy back at Areenna.

  Lowering her hands, she opened her eyes. “I cannot heal it.”

  Sirod smiled at her, cupped her cheek with a calloused yet gentle hand and said, “You were not sent to heal me, Areenna, you are meant to heal our world.”

  “If I cannot heal you, how can I—”

  “—no,” Sirod interrupted. My healing is not for you. I know my journey here is over, but I will live on within Neleh, as my mother lives on in me… as your mother lives on in you.

  Areenna tried to form words but could not. Tears welled in her eyes and Sirod smiled at her. With one hand, the Woman of the Village stroked Areenna’s hair and gently pulled her head to her breast and held her there. Feel not sad for me. I understand my journey in this life. You must do the same. Be strong, Areenna, be strong for me, but even more so for Neleh. She will need your strength to grow.

  Areenna drew back to meet Sirod’s eyes. “Neleh will be called soon. They… they want her to be gifted.”

  Sirod blinked several times before she whispered, “So soon…” She took a deep breath. “It shall be as asked.”

  <><><>

  “She is sad,” Neleh said.

  Mikaal, who had been stroking Charka’s powerful neck and being nuzzled while Neleh stroked Hero’s wide flat nose, stopped moving to look at the girl. “Your mother?”

  Neleh shook her head. “Areenna. She is sad because she cannot heal my mother.”

  Mikaal stepped away from Charka and knelt before the girl. “You know of this?” he asked, reaching out to draw the girl toward him.

  Her eyes locked with his. Her large wheat-shaded oval eyes gazed into him, not at him. “I have known since it started. My mother knows this not, and I speak not of it until she is ready.”

  Mikaal had a sudden flash of memory. It was the first time he had seen Areenna at the school and how she had answered Master Thrumweld’s question to the shock of the others[1]. Neleh reminded him of Areenna in many ways.

  “You are very wise for one so young,” he told her. He smiled inwardly, realizing he was only a few years older than she was. Before he could say more, Areenna’s call touched him. We are ready.

  “We should return now,” he said, but Neleh was already walking to the building.

  Did you call Neleh?

  No, came Areenna’s reply.

  I think she knows.

  Knows what? About her mother?

  Yes… and about me, about you.

  CHAPTER 27

  Areenna was more tired than she had realized. The day had been long and having used her healing ability twice in a day added to her weariness. All she wanted was sleep, but there was more to do this night if they were to leave in the morning.

  When Mikaal and Neleh returned, Areenna talked about the village, drawing out Mother and daughter to get the history of their people. After learning what they could to understand their uniqueness, Areenna turned the conversation to the twin-peaked mountains.

  Sirod’s knowledge was deep and she spoke for a long time, describing the trail leading to the mountains and the two paths available to reach the peaks. “One is on the northeastern side, the other on the western,” she said, after summing everything up.

  “The northeastern slope is the more difficult; it is steep and somewhat narrow,” she explained. “The western slope is easier but will take another day to reach. The trail to it is dangerous as the ice fields end and the sea begins. The waters are treacherous and often wash over the trail.”

  “You have been on the northeastern trail?” Mikaal asked.

  “Many times. I go every year to make certain all is undisturbed.”

  “Can we join? Can you show me the trail?” Areenna asked.

  “Yes.”

  She clasped Sirod’s hand and reached out with her mind. When they joined, Areenna saw the snow-covered slopes, and the groove of a trail cut deeply into the mountain, which was as narrow as she had said. Areenna gauged the width and judged it barely wide enough for the kraals. She was surprised to note how close they were to their goal, and how far they had come.

  She continued to watch Sirod’s mind pictures showing the trail to the top, and around the first peak. Then she descended toward the second, shorter peak and finally reached the spot on the mountain near their destination. From this high vantage point, Areenna could see the base of the mountain and the miles of land stretching toward the sea that expanded endlessly west. Yet, the area at the second peak was hazy and unclear. Areenna sensed something—not Sirod—clouding the view. She wondered if the Eight had set it in that way in Sirod’s mind.

  She broke their joining and drew back. Glancing at Mikaal, she asked silently if he had seen. He nodded.

  “Thank you, Sirod. We will go as you suggest, by way of the northwestern trail.” Areenna yawned.

  She shook off the wave of tiredness that followed, but Sirod said, “You must sleep.”

  “I have more to do.” Areenna stood and turned to Neleh. “Come here,” she said to her.

  Neleh left her chair without question and stood before Areenna. “When I was your age, I was sent to a special school to learn many things. You do not have the chance to do this, but you are already older than your years. It is time to learn more. Will you trust me to help you do this?”

  Neleh gazed at her and, without touching Areenna, silently said, you are a woman of great power. Why would I trust you not?

  Areenna knelt before her. “As are you, Neleh. I sense great strength in you.” She raised her hands and put them to either side of the girl’s head. Are you ready?

  When Neleh nodded, Areenna closed her eyes. What I do now is to gift you three times with abilities. These are for you to carry to your tests on the Island.

  Instead of answering, Neleh opened herself completely to Areenna—opened her mind and her heart and drew her within. There was a calmness within the child, so deep and so soothing it caught Areenna by surprise. She breathed slowly, accepting the unexpected tranquility of the girl. While floating with the serenity of Neleh’s mind, Areenna identified the gifts for Neleh.

  The first was the simplest, the gifting of truth sensing. For a girl of her years, this would be invaluable. The second gift was the one of her own mother’s ability—the lifting. This gift would serve both as a tool and as a weapon. Areenna prepared the third gift, but before she could transfer the power, Neleh interrupted her.

  The girl’s eyes turned upward, disappearing and leav
ing only white showing. A heartbeat later, her eyes were normal again. Neleh raised her hands and covered Areenna’s with her own. She shook her head from side to side. She says it must be from him.

  She? From him?

  The… the sorceress; she told me it must be from Mikaal.

  You know about Mikaal?

  I know he is not like other men. I know he has the powers of women.

  Areenna turned to Sirod. “Do you trust me? Do you trust Mikaal?”

  “What need have you to ask? You know such is true,” Sirod responded.

  “What happens next cannot be spoken of, ever,” Areenna said.

  Sirod nodded without speaking.

  Areenna dropped her hands from Neleh’s head and stood. She turned to Mikaal, who was staring openly at the three. The third gifting must be from you.

  If there had been a time for laughter, it would have been now, but laughter was the last thing called for as Mikaal’s mouth dropped open, and his eyes widened with disbelief. Me… how… I….

  It is a gift, she told him, given from your own abilities to Neleh. You… push it to her. If she is able, if her powers allow it, she can accept your gift. Be prepared, she warned. Her mind is unlike any I have ever touched.

  Stay with me.

  I cannot during the gifting; however, I can stay with Neleh and help her understand what you give.

  Mikaal drew in a deep breath, walked the five feet and knelt before Neleh. He started to speak, but the child stopped him by taking his hands and placing them where Areenna’s hands had been a minute before. She covered his hands with hers and closed her eyes.

  Mikaal entered the calmness of the child’s mind. He drank in the peacefulness, let it soak through his every fiber and when he was done, concentrated on his own abilities. Within seconds, he knew exactly what gift to give—fire.

  When he finished, he heard Areenna instructing the child while all he could do was float within the strange calmness. Even now, it lingered on within him after he had parted the joining.

  “You must not use this gift or the lifting until your full power comes. Do you understand?” Areenna asked. When Neleh nodded, Areenna continued. “Very soon, your body will change and you will start to become a woman. When that happens, your mother will begin your training.” Turning to Sirod, she added, “Be ready, for I sense she has matured faster than most. The changes will be upon her soon.”

  Sirod’s eyes darted between Areenna and Neleh. “I understand. It was so with me. I was the same age as she is now. There is a difference, though. She already accesses more power than did I at her age.”

  “This is a good thing. As soon as the first flow begins, her training must.”

  “It will be as you say.” Sirod shifted her gaze to Mikaal. “Can you tell me how… how Mikaal gained a woman’s power?”

  “I cannot explain how, only that he was born to it as were we.”

  Again, Sirod’s head tilted sideways as she digested Areenna’s words. “It is beyond my understanding of how, but of the darkness there is nothing. I speak of this to no one as you have asked.”

  “Thank you,” Mikaal and Areenna said at the same time.

  Sirod smiled at them and seeing Areenna’s eyelids begin to droop, said, “It is time for sleep. Come.”

  Standing, Sirod walked to the far side of the room and opened a drape, exposing two beds. “Take one; Neleh and I will share the other.”

  “We do not wish to impose—”

  “—it is settled and time to change from the day’s clothing.”

  “We thank you for your generosity,” Mikaal said as Areenna picked up the traveling bag with her clothing and went to the other room, closing the hanging drape behind her.

  Sirod smiled at him. “Generosity it is not; rather fulfillment.”

  Mikaal’s brows furrowed. “How so?”

  “We have waited for centuries, always on guard, always with patience and today, to be the one… The honor is the fulfillment of my… our people’s purpose. To know we have carried true what our ancestors had foreseen and tasked us.”

  He reached out, took her hand and squeezed it gently. There were no words needed.

  Sirod glanced at Neleh, who had been standing silently near. “May I ask for a favor?”

  “If I have the power to grant it,” Mikaal said with a nod.

  “Neleh’s father was a good man, but he was taken from us when she was but four. The ice he hunted the large freesh upon was weak. It cracked while he fought with the freesh. He fell through. I know not if you and I shall meet again, but I would ask, even though you leave us in the morning, you accept Neleh as her guardian.”

  The speaker of the Eight... She said Sirod’s people will be our defense and we their salvation. It is strong within me, a sense of returning here. I believe we must do so, Areenna whispered in Mikaal’s mind.

  No sooner had the silent words filtered through his mind than his precognitive ability flashed and he saw himself with Neleh, walking along a road in Nevaeh, not in the Frozen Mountains—when was unclear.

  Neleh’s, pale eyes locked on him. “It is an undeserved honor,” he said formally.

  “Come,” Sirod said, rising to her feet. She motioned Mikaal to kneel before her and the same to Neleh. They knelt there; Mikaal’s left side pressed to Neleh’s right. She placed one hand on Mikaal’s head and the other on Neleh. A spark leapt from her hand to him. It traveled through him and moved to the child. A few seconds later, Sirod lifted her hands. From outside came the sharp call of Charka as Mikaal’s aoutem felt the bonding of man and child.

  <><><>

  It was almost midnight. The large ship, once again speeding on the sea with the three new passengers safely aboard, swung wide when it passed the chasm so it would not be seen by the Dark Master’s ship. After picking up the three, they’d learned that upon completing her testing, Akassia’s instructions were go to where they’d waited for the ship.

  After she had returned to the western Landing, she’d found Laira waiting for her with three more kraals. The Eight had called Laira to the landing as well. They’d ridden non-stop to Welkold, alternating the kraals they rode for the ones they had not. There, Prince Trebor had joined them, such being part of their summoning. “All we know,” Akassia had said, “is that we are needed and will learn what we must do when the time comes.”

  “When we started away from the Landing, three more women were arriving. Have you ever heard of such?” Laira had asked.

  Enaid had not, but she had foreseen this happening. An hour later, the three went below for much-needed sleep, leaving Enaid to watch the waves crash from the ship’s bow. Roth stood next to her while Timon guided the ship as only he could. Ilsraeth had stayed below to talk with the three until they fell asleep.

  Staring at the white cresting waves, an unusual warmth formed deep within her, in the seat of her power. The warmth spread, turning to heat and filling her with a slow moving fire that did not burn; rather it flowed in a soft and secure way—then it was gone. In its wake, came the unexpected understanding of what had happened.

  She turned to Roth, put her hands on his shoulders and turned him to her. “Mikaal… he has become guardian to a woman child.”

  “How can this be?”

  “I know not,” she said, “only that he and Areenna are safe. They are near their destination, and he has become the guardian of a child of power.”

  <><><>

  Somewhere between midnight and dawn, Areenna’s eyes opened. She was on her back. Mikaal lay next to her. The heat from his skin touching hers was as close to fire as possible, yet it mattered not, as the spot in the center of her forehead vibrated with warning.

  She concentrated on the sensations, seeking the disturbance. Above her, on the yellow thatched roof, Gaalrie stirred and joined her. She searched slowly and carefully, never rushing, moving cautiously, and drawing quickly back when she touched the outer reaches of a hovering darkness. The instant she did, she knew it for what it was. Wh
ile scarcely grazing its essence, bile had risen into her mouth; the bitter coppery taste was all she needed to understand what had awoken her. A wraith.

  Her intuitive ability for time told her it was an hour before daybreak. She was undecided if she should wake Mikaal. She thought about the wraith. It was perhaps a day behind. She knew it moved slowly, seeking them in every crack, every crevice along the trail. She would let Mikaal sleep until daybreak. Then they would have to go, and go fast. She could not let the wraith find them. This wraith had a different aura than the others she’d faced and was certain if the wraith caught sight or scent of them, the Dark Master would know instantly.

  <><><>

  Daybreak came swiftly and with it, Areenna told Mikaal about the wraith. She had spent the time between finding the creature and Mikaal’s waking, to work out a way to hide from its seeking. Only she knew this would be impossible on the narrow trail leading up to the mountain peaks.

  In just under an hour, the four had eaten a filling meal and Neleh had gone outside to feed the kraals. When the others went outside carrying their small bags, they found themselves facing a crowd of people standing in a semi-circle around the kraals.

  “My people wish to thank you,” Sirod said.

  “Thank us?” Areenna echoed in question. “For what do they do so?”

  “For what you do, for what you will do,” she said in a low voice.

  Areenna regarded the faces of the people standing there, all so different, each not perfect, each emanating a warmth she drew within her. The connection between them was older than she could imagine, yet new to both she and them. While she had grown up with the fealty of the people of Freemorn, this was different. There was a sensation of something so familiar, so deep and so old, she was humbled.

  Do you feel it? she asked Mikaal silently.

  So strong I… but he could say no more.

  A man stepped from between two others and walked to them. He was old, very old. He had a face framed by silk white hair and lined with deep wrinkles; his eyes were the light blue of the palest of crystals. He walked with a limp from a leg that was both shorter and wider, a walking stick aiding his short journey. When he stood before Areenna and Mikaal, he dipped his head. When he raised it, he gazed deeply into her eyes.