by F. P. Spirit
Seth was not surprised in the least that the old druid sensed the presence of Kalyn’s sister. He folded his arms over his chest and stared back up at Kalyn with a thin smirk. “Told ya.”
Kalyn appeared as if she were about to reply, but then stopped herself and shook her head. With a roll of her eyes, she grabbed her sister by the shoulders and stepped forward. “Yeah. I found Kia.”
Fran’s eyes narrowed even more, her brow furrowing. “And something’s not right ‘bout her, is there?”
Again, Kalyn glanced down at Seth, but the halfling chose to merely smirk back at her this time. Kalyn let out a short sigh, then looked back at Fran. “You’re full of surprises today. You know, you could make money at this. Next time the carnival is in town, I’m taking you.”
Fran snorted, a smile turning up her lips. “Wouldn’t be tha first time I played soothsayer at a carny. ‘Cept, that blonde always took the fun out of it. All I got was the girls wonderin’ when they’s gonna get married, while ol’ purple eyes got all the boys.”
Seth’s eyebrow shot up. He cast a sidelong glance at the old blind druid. Purple eyes? Now that’s interesting. I wonder what the odds are of another blonde soothsayer running around with those color eyes?
Raina cleared her throat, drawing everyone’s attention to her. “Back to the point, I think her mind has been enslaved in some way by magic.”
“She was a slave at Serpent’s Hollow, which we’ve got a mess of information on, by the way.” Seth swiftly added.
Fran immediately straightened her posture. “I knows what needs ta be done. Foller me. To the High Druid’s study!”
Twisted Sister
Every month I would cry your name, because it was the only name I could remember.
Seth peered up at Kalyn from the knife he fiddled with. She squatted beside her sister’s seat, staring at her wide-eyed, while Fran worked her magic on the younger girl. She’d been sitting that way for an hour now.
Jeez, Kalyn. Take a breath of air before your eyeballs pop out of your head.
Fran sat directly in front of Kia in an ornate, high-backed wicker chair that she had pulled from behind a large desk made of the same material. The old man, Qualar, stood behind Kia, muttering a chant in time with Fran’s, assisting her in the druid magic. Raina stood next to Kalyn, hands folded together, watching every movement the two older druids made.
Seth watched with keen interest as a glowing aura began to shimmer around Kia’s form. It appeared for only a moment, then abruptly faded. The young girl closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. Her eyes slowly flickered back open, as if she were waking from a deep sleep. She glanced around, confusion slowly crawling over her features.
Kalyn took her sister’s hand. “Kia?”
The girl looked down at Kalyn, her brows knitting together. “Where am I?”
“You’re safe. You’re in Bendenwood. Seth and I brought you here.”
Seth leaned against the doorsill as the girl glanced at him. She gave him a strange look, then turned her gaze back toward Kalyn. Without warning, she pulled her hand away from Kalyn and scooted backwards.
“Who are you?”
Kalyn swallowed hard, her expression turning fearful. “Why, I’m Kalyn. Don’t you recognize me?”
Recognition dawned on Kia’s face, just before her features turned hard as stone. Her voice was icy as she responded. “No, I don’t recognize you, but I remember your name.”
Kalyn leaned forward an inch, her eyes widening. “You do?”
Kia scooted back a bit more while nodding her head. “I remember it because I screamed it a lot. You left me alone, and the bad guy got me.”
Seth felt a pang of sorrow as Kalyn’s face fell and her eyes filled with moisture. He knew the feeling of letting someone down. It was not pleasant, and it never went away.
When Kalyn responded, her voice was so soft they could barely hear it. “Yes. I did. And I am so, so sorry for that. So sorry. Not a day goes by that I don’t regret it.”
Fran tapped her foot on the floor. “Now then, child’n. Both of ya was tiny lil grapes way back then. Kalyn couldn’t ‘a done nothin’ to stop the bad man, same as you, missy.” She reached forward and poked Kia on the knee. “Ain’t no reason for holdin’ a grudge. In fact, ya should be happy to see your sister! She saved ya!”
Kia scooted back as far as her seat would allow. “She didn’t save me. She just fixed her mistake a bit too late.” She fixed her eyes on Kalyn, glaring at her darkly. “Every month, I would wake up from the magic they put on me, and every month I would cry your name, because it was the only name I could remember. You never came.”
Kalyn’s voice cracked with emotion. “I did come! I came today! I didn’t even know you were alive until today!”
Kalyn paused a moment, swallowing hard as her eyes brimmed with tears. “I’ve never forgotten you. When I saw you, I knew who you were right away, even though you’d changed. I risked everything to get you out and save you.”
Kia’s face softened just for a moment, but then she looked away, setting her teeth together. “Still too late.”
Kalyn’s eyes darkened, her eyebrows knitting together as her lower lip trembled. She stood to her feet without another word, and bowed her head, turning away, her hands curling into fists.
Raina placed a comforting hand on Kalyn’s shoulder, then took a step past her toward Kia. “Hello, Kia. I’m Raina. I know you must be dreadfully tired and hungry, so I will take you to a nice room to eat and rest. Would you like that?”
Kia looked up at Raina and blinked, her eyes widening with anticipation. “Oh, yes! I am so very hungry!”
Raina smiled kindly at the young girl. “Good! Before we go, though, I was wondering if there was anything you can remember about the cult that enslaved you?”
Kia’s brow slowly formed a line, her hazel eyes filling with thought. “I… I can remember some things, but… they’re fuzzy. I remember lots of snakes, and mean men with whips.”
Her face abruptly took on a frightened expression. “…and a big snake with a man’s face!”
Just as swiftly, her expression changed to one of confusion. “Wait… that’s odd… can a snake have a man’s face?”
“They sure can,” Seth said with certainty. “Saw it myself.”
Kia swiveled around and regarded him for a moment. “How can a snake have a man’s face? That’s just silly.”
Seth responded with a shrug. “Not so silly when they’re trying to kill you.”
Kia continued to look at him oddly.
Fran let out a long sigh. “Raina, dear, take the poor thing to my room and feed her something that’ll put some color into her face again, will ya? I gets the feelin’ that Seth may know more ‘bout the goings on in that pit than the lil’ one.”
Raina nodded, then gently took Kia by the arm and helped her up, ushering her to the door. Kia glanced back at Kalyn, mixed emotions clearly reflected in her face. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but was distracted when a thin woman with prominent elven features and an abundance of red curly hair walked into the room.
“What is the meaning of this?” the woman asked, peering at each person in the room with her sharp green eyes.
Kalyn spun around and stood to attention, quickly wiping her sleeve across her eyelashes.
Qualar raised his hand and pointed to Fran. “It was her idea!”
Fran crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair, a smirk turning up the corner of her lips.
Raina gracefully bowed to the red-haired elven woman. “Forgive me, High Druid. I was just leaving with this girl, Kia. She was enslaved, and her mind dominated by a snake cult for the last several years. She has just been freed, and is in need of nourishment and rest.”
The High Druid scanned Kia up and
down, then dipped her chin in a slow nod, saying something in a language that Seth did not recognize. With another bow, Raina pulled Kia out the door, which the elven woman then promptly closed behind them.
The High Druid spun around and narrowed her eyes at Fran, her tone hissing like acid. “I see my study has once again proven useful to you.”
Fran’s smirk widened, making Seth appreciate her all the more. “Yep! Good thing ya has it, Lysandra. Don’t knows what I would do without it.”
The High Druid, Lysandra, closed her eyes and dipped her chin. She raised her hand and rubbed the bridge of her nose, a nearly silent growl escaping the woman’s throat. When she finally looked back up, she glanced first at Seth, then at Kalyn. “And who is this tracker and Halfling that you have invited into my office?”
Kalyn executed a deep bow. “I’m Kalyn Rhan of Deepwood Fort, ma’am. And the short feller is my friend, Seth, one of the famous and highly praised Heroes of Ravenford.”
The High Druid focused on Seth, her bright eyes narrowing. “I’ve heard some tell of them.”
Seth responded with a barely perceptible nod. He wasn’t quite sure what she had heard of him and his friends. If anything, it probably came from that old druid back in Ravenford.
The elven woman raised her eyes and chin, slowly walking toward the large desk. “I am Lysandra Melassul, High Druid of Bendenwood, as I assume you have already guessed.”
She stopped beside the high-backed chair and glared down at Fran, “Do you mind if I borrow your seat?”
Fran didn’t bat an eye. “Don’t mind t’all. I needs to stretch my twigs and branches anyhow.”
The old druid slowly stood, stretched, then sat down in Kia’s vacated seat. Seth found himself liking this old woman more and more. He had yet to form an opinion of this elven woman, Lysandra, but she seemed rather uptight. The corners of his mouth upturned slightly. Kind of reminds me of Glo.
The High Druid took her chair and moved it back behind the desk. She slowly sat down and readjusted the seat to her liking, then soundlessly began to reorder the things on her desk. Everyone watched in silence until she was done. Lysandra then leaned back, propped her elbows on the arms of the chair and interlaced her fingers, folding her hands together.
Seth had to repress a snort. Definitely reminds me of Glo.
Lysandra took a deep breath. “Now then… I assume Kalyn and Seth are the two chosen ones that you sent to investigate Serpent’s Hollow?”
Her tone was smooth and quiet, though it dripped with ridicule.
I take it back. She’s even more uptight than Glo.
Fran nodded. “Sho is! N’ they brought us back ‘a mess of information,’ as young Seth put it.”
Lysandra’s emerald green eyes shifted to Seth, her expression rather bored. “Well?”
Seth glanced at Kalyn, to see her rubbing her hands together. She smiled at him, though her eyes were dark and missing that familiar twinkle that normally lit up her entire face. “Another hero story, and this time, I’m in it!”
Seth peered back at the High Druid and narrowed his eyes. There was something about this woman he just didn’t trust. “Sorry, but I don’t just blurt information out to anyone.”
Lysandra sat up taller in her seat. “Oh? Only those you trust, I assume? And I am not one of those.”
Seth shrugged. He wasn’t about to placate this pompous woman, High Druid, or not. “I don’t trust the old guy either. Sorry, but not sorry.”
Qualar did not seem to take Seth’s slight to heart. “Great! This means I can go do something fun now, like eat cake and drink cider. Raina did mention cake.”
Seth amended his initial impression of the old guy. He did seem to have his priorities straight.
Fran grabbed Qualar by the arm as he turned to leave, spinning him back around. “Not so fast, you ol’ goat! You is a representative of the fire maniacs, and you is gonna want to knows what the young’ins found in Serpent’s Holler.”
Qualar raised a finger toward Fran. “First off, it’s Circle of the Sun, not the fire maniacs! Next, you’re always bossin’ me around, you moon lover!”
“That’s ‘cause you’d be lost if I didn’t.”
Qualar placed his fists on his hips. “Oh really? And just what do you think I do when you ain’t around to boss me around?”
A wide smile split Fran’s face. “Get lost and burn stuff down, I’d imagine.”
Qualar opened his mouth to protest, but stopped, thinking better of it. He merely shrugged and nodded. “Ya got a point.”
The High Druid let out an exasperated sigh. “Are the two of you done yet?”
Fran grinned at the red-headed elven woman. “Fer the moment, we is.”
The old blind druid then swiveled in her seat to face Seth. “Now, young feller, let me tell ya somethin.’ Qualar might have a few bricks missing in that ol’ noggin o’ his, and the High Druid ‘n I def’nitely butt heads…”
Fran leaned forward in her chair. “…but they is druids, tried n’ true. I trust the two of ‘em with my life. So, if we is gonna do something about the cult, then you is gonna have to tell ‘em all ya knows.”
Seth really liked this old druid, Fran. He was warming to Qualar as well, though he still didn’t like this snooty elven woman. A thin smirk crossed his lips. “Maybe. But I don’t think they need to know all I knows…”
A smile turned up one corner of Fran’s mouth. “We don’t car ‘bout yer past or yer love life or anything in-between. Just anything that has ta do with snakes.”
Seth let out a derisive snort. He could just imagine this feisty old woman in a deep discussion about the order of things with Aksel. She would be sure to drive the little gnome crazy. The thought caused a wicked grin to spread across his face. “Remind me to introduce you to a good friend of mine one of these days. You two would hit it off just perfectly.”
Fran snorted back at him. “Sure, why not. Now what’s it ta be, young feller?”
Seth took a deep breath, then shrugged. “Fine.”
He moved next to Kalyn, then launched into an account of their time in Serpent’s Hollow. Kalyn occasionally interrupted him, adding a few short observations of her own. Yet once he recounted what he had seen in the caves, everyone grew silent.
Lysandra leaned forward, propped her elbows on her desk and steepled her fingers, resting them against her lips like Glo did. Seth arched an eyebrow as he spoke. The resemblance is uncanny.
In the end, Seth told them most of it, but he left out the part about Glo’s previous encounter with the dark woman in the portal. As he said, these folks didn’t need to know everything.
When he was finished, the High Druid closed her eyes and sighed. “All that you have just described greatly disturbs me. I feel this is something that must be brought to the council’s attention.”
Fran slapped her knee. “Now yer talkin’! But there’s just one lil hiccup with that.”
The High Druid closed her eyes and winced. “Here it comes…”
“The council is too slow!” Fran said, tapping her foot impatiently on the floor. “Sounds to me like this cult is nigh ready to do whate’re it is they is wantin’ ta do, n’ I gets the feelin’ we don’t has the time to get the counsel stirred up ‘bout it.”
Lysandra held a hand up to stop her. “There is nothing we can do about it, though. Until the council is informed and understands the threat, the druids will not move.”
Kalyn shifted on her feet, “What about Seth’s friends?”
Seth cast a side-long glance at her. “‘Friends’ is a loose term.”
Still, she has a good point.
Kalyn waved a hand dismissively at him. “Whatever. The point is, we could call in the Heroes of Ravenford. They’re a small enough group. They could sneak in without much trouble, unli
ke an army of bears, but they’re powerful enough that they could really put a hole in the cult’s boat, so to speak.”
Lysandra shifted her gaze from Kalyn to Seth. “Would they? There is a high probability of failure and death.”
Seth let out a short sigh. If he knew his friends, they’d jump at a chance to take down the cult. Especially Lloyd. The young warrior was set on taking down every last cultist to protect the Lady Andrella. “Somehow that never seems to stop them. Trust me, I’ve tried.”
“Would you really want them to?” Kalyn said with mock seriousness.
The side of Seth’s mouth twisted into a lopsided smirk. “Probably not.”
Lysandra looked between the two of them, then turned to Fran. “I trust you can handle this, Fran? I have more sane things to do, like calling a council meeting together.”
Fran saluted the High Druid. “Leave the insanity ta me.”
Lysandra reached into her desk, pulled out a piece of paper, and stood. “Very well, I shall leave you to it. If you can find the kindness in your soul, do keep the ink from splotching my desk.”
With that, she strode across the room and left, closing the door behind her. Seth felt the air in the room turn far less stuffy with her departure.
Meanwhile, Fran got to her feet and moved around the desk, sitting down in the chair. She felt for the paper, then for the quill and inkwell.
Seth exchanged a glance with Kalyn. Can the old woman really write?
“Uh, Fran?” Kalyn moved around the desk slowly.
“Don’t worry! It ain’t normal paper. This here is magic paper. It’ll get a note to them thar heroes in the blink of an eye!” Fran dipped the quill in the ink and traced her fingers over the top edge of the paper, then set the quill down and began to write.
“Fran!” Kalyn exclaimed, “You can write letters?”
Fran’s quill stopped moving. “Jus’ what do ya think I’m doin’?”
“Keeping me from eating cake, that’s what.” Qualar folded his arms and huffed.