“What?” She stepped back from him. The words sent a chill through her.
“Buried in the woods is no place for a woman of such power.”
She examined his face and saw only pleading and love. “What of those who need me? Who will care for them when they are in pain?”
He tried to draw her close again. “I need you.”
Thea stepped back further from him. “And what of Dahlabar?”
Desmond frowned. “I have asked of Dahlabar. I know his and your story. When first he came, he told the king he would return to his land when the time was right.”
“No,” Thea gasped.
Desmond grabbed her hands and drew her close. “You are no longer a child. You are a woman, with a woman’s needs. Release him to return to his home.”
She shook her head. “You say he stays because of me? That he wishes to go?”
“Thea…”
“Dahlabar has told you this?”
“What have I told?” Dahlabar came from the trees.
She whirled to face him. “Do you wish to leave me, poppa-Dah? Does your first home call to you?”
Dahlabar frowned. “What is this you say?” She watched him look from her to Desmond and then back.
Desmond stepped up beside her and squared his shoulders.
“I have asked Thea to join me at the Mage School. I love her.”
“That is not my daughter’s path.”
“Who are you to say?” Desmond demanded.
“The Goddess has blessed Thea…”
“She has it within her to do more than heal animals.” Desmond’s voice held scorn. “We can train her to use the power within her.”
For the first time in all of her years, she watched Dahlabar’s eyes kindle with rage. “You think the healing is beneath her?” His voice was a blade, slicing sharp with each word.
Desmond paled, but did not back down. “You have taught her what you can. But it is time the fledgling left the nest.”
“You braying ass,” Dahlabar said, stepping toward Desmond.
“No,” she said, coming between them. “The choice is mine.” She looked from one man to the other. “Is it not?”
Desmond stared at her. “Choice? I have laid my heart before you. And you love me. I see it. Why is there a choice to be made?”
She held her hand out toward him. “But I first loved my father and the Goddess.”
“I trusted you with my daughter. Welcomed you to my hearth,” Dahlabar said. “and you have trampled both beneath your boots. Get out of my sight.” He put his hand around Thea’s shoulders. “Let’s go home, daughter.”
She twisted away from him. “I have not told my decision.”
Dahlabar glared at Desmond. “He is no longer welcome in my home.”
“It’s my home too,” Thea said.
Desmond moved toward her. “It need not be.”
Dahlabar stepped in front of him. “Do not touch her.”
“Out of my way,” Desmond demanded, adding, “do not force me to use my magic to make you do so.”
“Enough,” Thea cried. “I will not have this.” She turned and, with a strangled sob, dashed into the trees.
“Thea.”
“Daughter.”
Their words trailed her, but she did not lessen her forward fleeing. Anger led speed to her feet and on she ran, heedless of the direction she took. Around trees and over rocks she fled, splashing through first one stream and then another. At last, when her trembling legs would take her no further, she stopped and collapsed upon a flat-topped boulder. Her chest heaving, she looked around. Where was she? She listened for pursers, but all was quiet. As she breathed and willed her heart to slow its beat, the forest became alive once more around her with the trill of birdsong.
She closed her eyes and relived Dahlabar and Desmond’s angry words. Tears filled her eyes and ran down her cheeks. How could they ask her to choose between them?
She wiped at her face and eyes and looked around again. Nothing was familiar. A hunting bird cried out and she shivered and rubbed her arms. Night was falling and she was not dressed to spend it unsheltered beneath the stars.
“It is time, Chosen One. Come to me.”
The words rang in her head and she scrambled to her feet and looked wildly around. “Who are you? Show yourself.”
“You know me, Thea. Now follow my words.”
“Goddess?”
“I will care for you, daughter. It is time for you to know your path.”
“You will guide me home?”
“Your journey does not take you back.”
“But what of father? He will fear for me,” Thea said, even as her footsteps took her forward.
Dahlabar and Desmond will know you are safe. Now listen, daughter. This is where you must go.”
*****
For five days Thea followed the Goddesses’ words, walking deeper and deeper into the forest. The sixth morning found her before a mountain, its peak lost among the clouds. A path led upward.
“Climb,” the Goddess urged.
Her feet sure, Thea followed the twisting route. When the sun rode high, she saw it, a dark hole in the mountain’s wall. “Am I to go in?” But no answering words came to her. From within the cave came the soft sigh of wind brushing treetops. She peered into the blackness and as she watched a flame flared and then vanished. What was that? As she stared it flickered once more. Curiosity surfaced, but still she hesitated. Overhead, thunder rumbled, and then a fat drop of rain pelted her head. It was followed by another and then another. With an annoyed shrug she entered the cave. Why would the Goddess bring her this far, only to let her die?
She followed the flaring flame deeper and deeper, until the opening behind her became nothing but a small hole. The walls around her began to glow a soft golden-green. The soft sighing she heard earlier was now a throaty rumble. She had been trailing her fingers along the cave’s wall, and with her next step her hand found nothing. She stopped and took a deep shuddering breath. The sound echoed back from the chamber before her, and even with the walls surrounding her glowing brighter, its top was lost in the darkness above. A boulder the size of a small mountain rose from the middle of the cavernous room. As she watched, its sides heaved and the throaty rumble again filled the area.
“By the Goddess,” she whispered, and then gasped as a flame flared from the boulder’s farthest end. At her gasp, a window in the boulder opened. Thea blinked and knuckled her eyes, no, not a window—an eye.
A voice, warm as the sun’s kiss and sweet as fire-bush honey, flowed into her mind. *At last, Chosen, you are here. I am Zara, avatar to the Goddess. Come forward and hear my
words.*
Part Four
Thea looked skyward. It should be time for Zara to return from her hunting. She and the
dragon had been together now eleven sunrises. The first night and on into the next day, Zara had told her she was to be the Goddess’ voice to the mortals. That she had been blessed with the ability to not only speak to mortal creatures, but also to be understood, and to understand those of magic, and this would aid her in the Goddess’s wish: an end to Daradawn’s strife.
She had listened to the dragon in silence, accepting all said, but a fear grew inside her. How was she to stop dwarf from hating fairie, and elf from despising man?
When she voiced her fears, Zara’s rage rang in her head.
*They will be made to listen. It is the Goddess’s will. Our first visits will be to the villages of men. The word of us will spread.*
She thought of the priests of the Temple of Ogdah and took a sudden delight in imagining their faces as she and the golden dragon landed among them.
*I ask first that I be allowed to seek out my father and Desmond. They must hear of my decision from my own lips.*
*It will be as you desire, Thea,* Zara mind-sent, and plans were made to journey to her home village.
A shadow floated across the valley clearing and she looked up. Zara fl
ew between her and the sun. As she watched, the dragon glided downward in a slow spiral and, at the last moment, back-winged and floated to the ground like an enormous butterfly. Thea’s stomach knotted. They had talked of how she was to ride the dragon’s back. Behind the great head, spine ridges began and she was to seat herself between two of the ridges. She understood the plan, but had yet to mount the dragon.
Zara turned her golden eyes upon Thea. Her mind-voice came, sated and smug. *We fly?*
*Yes.*
The dragon extended her right front leg. Taking a deep breath, Thea walked to it. The dragon’s scales were slick beneath her boots, and Thea slipped and slid backwards.
*Remove them,* Zara sent.
Balancing on one foot, she pulled first one and then the other boot free. Holding the boots in her hand she looked up the length of the extended leg.
*Mount, Thea.*
She placed her foot upon the leg, just above the first talon. The scales were warm against her skin, their pattern altering from slick to grainy and then back to slick as she climbed the gentle incline. Behind the dragon’s head, Thea gathered her skirts above her knees and straddled the first spine ridge. She fit easily between the ridges, but blessed the bundled skirt beneath her bottom.
*You are ready?*”
*I am.* Thea placed her boots upon her lap.
Dirt and leaves gusted as Zara flapped her wings. Thea leaned forward and shielded her face against the neck ridge before her. A jolt vibrated up her spine, almost knocking her teeth together. It was followed by another and then another. Then her stomach lurched. Surprised, she sat back and opened her eyes. Wind gusted into her face and blew the hair that had escaped her braid straight out behind her. Out of the corner of her right eye she caught movement and turned her head in time to see the great wings stroke downward. Zara’s body rose with the movement and Thea bounced upward. With a shriek, she wrapped her arms around the spiny hump before her. The sudden movement sent her boots sliding from her lap and she watched them tumble downward toward the land falling away from them.
*I am sorry, Thea.* Zara’s mind-voice was ripe with amusement. *In time this will become easier for both of us.*
Unable to form a thought, Thea watched the trees and streams grow small beneath her. Then Zara skimmed a mountain’s peak and there was nothing left in Thea’s mind but awe-filled wonder. Above the mountain, the dragon spread her wings and they glided, first up and then down.
*How do you do so?* Thea asked.
*I ride the air,* Zara said.
All too soon, a village neared beneath them. Thea leaned to the side and looked down. It was hers. From the sky view it was easy to see the Temple of Ogdah rising from the village’s center, the shops and homes clustered around it like a hen with chicks. Only one other structure challenged the temple’s stature, and it on the far end of the village, the Mage School. All below was vacant and still. As she watched, the first bells of morn pealed from the temple tower, summoning the priests to early prayers.
*Where will we land?* she sent to the dragon.
*Beyond is a wide valley. Brace yourself. I fly higher to hide among the clouds. It would not do to send those below into a panic.*
Zara circled downward. At first Thea watched, but then closed her eyes as the continuing movement made her stomach pitch.
*Hold, Thea.*
And then a jolt jerked her head back, quickly followed by the spine-jarring thuds.
*We are here.* Zara sent. Thea opened her eyes. As she stood, she realized her hands and face were stiff with cold. Gloves and something to shield her skin would be needed before she rode dragon-back again.
On the ground, she looked around. She knew this valley. Dahlabar’s cottage lay just beyond the ridge.
The cottage looked the same as she neared the closed door. Her palm ready to press itinward, she stopped and knocked instead. There was no answer. Where was her Poppa-Dah? She tried to recall what day this was, but had no idea. Could he be in the village? Tempted to go inside, she instead turned away. The cottage felt hers no longer, and an ache formed in her stomach. Fighting tears, she walked around to the lean-to. The cart and Maple the pony were gone.She winced as she stepped on a stone and sighed at the thought of the walk ahead of her. First she’d find Dahlabar, and then boots, gloves and warm coverings for her arms and legs. But what of Desmond, a voice asked. If the Goddess wills it, then we shall see, she answered and began her walk.
The village was just waking as she entered the square. Yawning farmers unloaded wagons, preparing for the day’s hawking of goods. Thea kept her head down and, ignoring the stares at her bare feet, headed toward the bakery. It was where Dahlabar always went first.
She heard his voice while still outside the shop’s door. “A full scheckle? That is robbery.” The bartering had reached its ending She smiled. A full scheckle it had been for their week’s worth of bread and rolls for the past three summers, and a full scheckle it would continue to be, but both the baker and Dahlabar so enjoyed playing out the scene.
Conscious of her wind-whipped hair and rumpled gown, she stepped into the shadows of an ally and waited. She heard his humming as he neared and called. “Poppa-Dah.”
Dahlabar halted, then peered into the dimness. Trembling, Thea stepped into the sunlight. He said nothing, just stared into her face for a long moment and then dropped the paper-wrapped bundle and opened his arms wide.
With a small cry, she jumped into them and felt them close around her. “Poppa-Dah,” she forced by the lump in her throat. “I am sorry.”
He pressed her back and looked into her face. “Do not cry, daughter, and do not make apologies to me. It was I who sent you fleeing. It was not my right to force your path.”
“It was the Goddess’s will,” she said. “If I had not fled I would have not learned of her plans for me.”
“What has the Goddess shown you?”
“Her avatar Zara. She waits for me in the valley beyond your cottage.” She felt tears threaten. “I have come to tell you and Desmond, and then I will be off. Popp-Dah, I don’t know when I will return.”
“I understand, daughter, but I will miss your sorely. How will you and the avatar travel? Afoot?”
She shook her head with a shaky smile. “Zara is a…”
“Thea?” The voice came from behind them and they both turned.
“Desmond.” Love coursed through her and she took a step toward him. The young mage stepped back, avoiding her outstretched hand.
“You have returned.”
She dropped her hand as she nodded, hurt leaving her unable to form a word. Was this the way it was to be? She had yearned to see him, but now? What would his reaction be at her leaving once more? She had thought their love strong enough, but now doubt left a cold lump in her stomach.
“What have you decided?” Desmond said. “You’ve had over twelve sunrises to do so. Do you come to be with me at the Mage School?”
She shook her head. “Desmond…”
But he cut off her words as a red flush rose into his cheeks. Desmond whipped around to glare at Dahlabar. “This is your fault, old man. You seek to tie her to you.”
Her father sighed. “No. This is not what I wished, but I feared it would become so.”
The young mage looked puzzled. “I don’t understand.”
As Thea started to speak, Zara’s words entered her mind. *We fly?*
*One moment more,* she said, *then we will leave.*
At her words, Dahlabar’s eyes glistened with tears.
“To whom do you speak, Thea?” Desmond said. “You do not stay with me or go with Dahlabar?”
She held her hand out toward him again. “I have come back to say good-bye for a while…”
“What do you mean? You love me.”
“The Goddess requires me to walk another path…”
She watched the blood leave Desmond’s face. He grabbed her hands and pulled her toward him. “No, I won’t let you go. You can serve the Goddess her
e. You have done so these many years. I was selfish. I care not that you remain at the cottage with your father.”
“Desmond, I…”
She moaned and shook her head as Zara’s voice came again.
*Thea.*
“I’m coming.”
“What is wrong?” Desmond said. “To whom do you speak?”
“The dragon,” she said, rubbing her forehead. “Zara has not yet learned to speak quietly.”
The mage dropped her hands and stepped back. “A dragon?” He looked from her faceand into Dahlabar’s. “Your daughter is ill. We must take her to the Mage School. They will heal her mind.”
Thea frowned in exasperation. “I am not ill. My mind is fine. Zara is the Goddess’s avatar. She aids me in my journey…”
Desmond did not wait for her to finish her words. “No one can speak to a dragon.”
“She hears me in her mind, and I her,” Thea said. “She brought me here upon her back.”
“No,” Desmond said, grabbing her by her shoulders. “We will help you.”
Zara’s roar of outrage made Thea scream and drop to her knees.
“Dahlabar, help me,” Desmond said. “We must take her to the mages.”
“Let go of me,” Thea said. “Do you wish the dragon to come?” She saw Desmond’s hesitancy and rushed on. “I will take you to Zara. Will that convince you that I am in my right mind?”
The mage shook his head. “But how can it be…” he murmured as Dahlabar helped her to her feet.
“I will show you. But first I must make a few purchases.”
*****
New boots upon her feet, Thea told them of her journey as she led them toward the valley. Dahlabar asked questions, but Desmond remained quiet. She felt his gaze on her as they walked. What went through his mind? Could their love withstand the separation, or was this the end?
*We come,* she sent ahead to Zara.
They stopped behind the shelter of a tree. “Wait here,” Thea said. “I don’t know how Zara will react to strangers.” She did not wait for their response, but turned and walked from them.
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