by Lloyd Baron
“I am happy to be bonding Canace.” He glances past his friend and sees Canace talking to Derry’n. They share a joke and both of them laugh hard at it. Tak’arshi frowns and shakes his head, which only makes the others laugh even harder. “She has not said anything to me today. I am worried that she has changed her mind.”
Danlynn follows the path of Darwin’t’s vision and shrugs. “Why? Because she is spending time with Derry’n? It is not like he is going to try and take her away any more. He has changed, Darwin’t. I cannot say I understand, but I am glad he no longer looks miserable, whoever this Sabastian is.”
Darwin’t shakes his head and settles back in the saddle. He will be glad to be back on his own feet. His backside is numb and sore at the same time, an odd sensation.
He is about to say more when Canace hurtles past him. Riochald follows slightly reluctantly behind. The two girls reach the top of the hill and dismount.
Catching up to them he drops from his horse, stretches his legs and massages his back and bottom. He opens his mouth to ask why the sudden sprint but Canace puts up a hand to stop him.
In a loud whisper said through her teeth she says, “We are not meant to be talking on the way to the shrine.”
He shuts his mouth only to open it again.
Riochald lashes out and grabs him by the collar, lifting him towards her. “No words! It is hard enough for me being here at all without worrying that you will make a mess of things!” She lets him go before turning to stare at the structure ahead. She visibly pales.
The main building of the shrine is old and made of crumbling grey stone which has been brought up from the surrounding hills. Every sun more stones are found to replace ones which have become too fragile. The structure is almost completely new at the sides and top. Only the front wall is the original. It is a large and imposing building with few windows and no homely comfort. Atop the square base are three huge glowing domes, one painted yellow, one green and one blue. They represent the crossing from two single souls bonded as one. The yellow is the female, blue the male, and the green the bonded two. They are the oldest portion of the shrine and one that has not been touched since it was constructed.
Outside at the very top of the hill are five large pointed stones, set into a circle. They are believed to be the reason the shrine was build here and they symbolize the five elements. After a couple is bound they have to travel to the stones and sit within them until the sun sets. They will not be sitting in them this day—something both of them will be glad of. Everyone he has ever seen leaving the circle look so pleased to be away from them that he had secretly planned his bonding to be the last of the day. That way he would have only spent less than an hour within the stones. Not that any of his plans are important any more. He is just glad to be getting bonded at all.
Canace glares at Riochald’s back but then turns an even worse face on him. “Now, Darwin’t Utsa, I’m going to ride ahead. Keep your mouth shut while I’m gone. Already things are not as they should be.” With that she takes her first steps away, leading the horse by the reins, towards the shrine and their futures.
The very sight of the shrine makes her feel sick. The pain and hurt she suffered within its walls has been her companion for the last few long suns.
Standing now within its shadow, Riochald’s fears and hopes resurface, causing her to freeze beside the entrance. She cannot enter the building. Memories cascade through her mind, overlapping and mixing into a mass of nightmarish images. Canace stands beside her, her hands playing with her skirts, trying to make them look presentable for the masters. She has spoken a few words, but Riochald had not paid any notice to them. Concentrating her own thoughts on the single most difficult thing she has ever had to do—walk through the door.
An image of two young men standing side by side at the head of the Library stairs rushes through her. One of them laughs while the other hides his face in his hands. Master Toshin puts a hand upon her shoulder as he lowers her to the ground, alone in the bonding chamber. No young man has entered and no man ever will while she is in there. A knife stabs through her heart, into her very soul, and as it draws out takes a tiny piece of her with it. She can feel the change happen as she cries upon the marble floor.
The blackness that has always been there, just out of her reach, beyond her vision and floating into the sky moves forwards. She closes her eyes and screams as it touches her flesh and sucks all the pain and thoughts from her. A hand touches her on the back. It moves down her body and slips around her waist. The dark closes in around her and all memories flood into it. She will never be the same.
“Dymphia!” Canace yells.
Riochald shakes herself and looks down at her friend. The short blond girl stands with her arms folded across her breasts. She looks concerned but is trying to hide it with annoyance. Riochald tries a smile and finds it slips onto her face easily. This might not be so hard.
She steps up to the door and pushes it open. She bows her head as Canace passes and waits for her friend to stop and give the order to close the door.
She turns and appraises Canace. The girl she had been only a few months ago is gone. Standing before her now is a young woman with spirit and intelligence, a woman who will keep her bonded in line and build a good home for her family.
The darkness shifts across her vision.
It is not right that this newly woken woman should have to hasten in these circumstances. She should sit within the stones and have her first night with her bonded, the first attempt to have a child. They should not have to sit in the stones for less than an hour before racing to the Angels to forestall the end of the world. It is not right. It is not how this should happen.
“Riochald,” Canace whispers. “What is wrong with you?”
Her thoughts return to her friend and she pushes her black ideas away. “Nothing! It is strange being back here, that is all. I’ll be alright. Lead the way; we need to get you into your dress.”
Darwin’t sits alone on the grass beside the circle of stones. The bonding will begin in less than an hour and Canace will be ready by now. She has to sit in the dark in her gown before he is even allowed to enter the shrine. Tak’arshi had been so overjoyed at the thought of witnessing a bonding that he had begun to cry again. Chaz’s temper had broken and she’d shouted at him. This of course made him worse and he now sits with Derry’n trying to calm down.
The big warrior has taken Danlynn off to give him some training with a sword. His friend is an excellent shot with his bow but incompetent with anything else. He had protested, which is Danlynn’s way, saying that he has powers and why would he need to use a sword. Fia merely picked him up by the back of his shirt and hauled him away.
Darwin’t is grateful for the peace. He loves having his friends around him. They fill him with feelings that keep him sane; yet they also make him worried. Since learning of their abilities he has not slept. Just the idea that they can all use magic is so preposterous that he still has a hard time believing it. What makes it worse is that not even Tak’arshi knows what Canace can do. Her power could be simple like Tarfleam’s, but it could also be dangerous. What if it comes out when she is mad and lashes out without knowing what she is doing? She could hurt someone, or worse—kill them.
He tries to block the thoughts from his mind and stares out over the shifting green sea of the country. It feels good to be back in Hillsbough, his home. The cities of the south, mighty as they are, cannot compare to the sheer beauty of an open meadow. Just the smell is enough to make him content. There are no smoke fumes or chamber pots being emptied into the gutter here; just the smell of grass, flowers and the breeze attacking his senses.
Movement to his left draws his attention and he shifts to see who approaches. The old, grey-haired healer clambers over a rock to reach the inner sanctum of the circle. He makes a show of it and Darwin’t smiles to himself. They still do not know much about the healer. He has not given them a name and now as he thinks about it he is not sure
he has ever asked. He decides to ask a few questions of the man who saved his bonded.
The healer makes a small gesture with his hand as way of a hello and settles beside Darwin’t on the stone. He adjusts his robes and runs his fingers through his long beard. Before Darwin’t can speak, the man begins a tale.
“It was about twenty-two suns ago when she first came to me in my dreams. A beautiful woman bathed in light, wearing a flowing white gown covered in diamonds and other gems. She gave me a mission to start training as a healer. My name back then was Nigial and I was not a kind man. I lived in Biramare in the south, within the thick Forest of Ankas.
“I was a blacksmith, but had a side business in smuggling from the western continent: people and Timberweed, the banned stuff, not the weak rubbish that you have probably smoked. I was well-known for my sharp mind and bad temper. I was feared by everyone within the town and loathed by the other smugglers. I am not proud to admit that I ordered the deaths of many men. Avarice was my only goal in life and I was well on my way to being notorious.
“It was at my peak that she first came to me. She begged me to change my life and train as a healer. She told me I had the gift within me. I ignored her for the first few visits but then she showed me what I could do. I had ordered the death of a local businessman, and this angered many of the citizens. They decided to stand up to me for the first time. I left the tavern after a night of drinking and leering at the women to be confronted by ten men with pitchforks and hammers. I fled, but it was raining and I slipped in the mud. They beat me badly and at the end the man’s brother stabbed me in the chest with his three-pronged sword. I knew then that I was dead.
“She came to me while I lay on the ground, my blood mixing with the rain and mud. She talked me through what I needed to do. I followed her instructions, believing them to be mad thoughts before death. I would have done anything not to have died there. It made me realize that I wanted to live. Not for money or power but just to have life.”
He turns and stares at Darwin’t. He smiles grimly. “Once I was fixed she told me what I was meant to do with my life. And so it started: my journey to the royal household and my training as a Master Healer. I have not heard from her in many suns. Or I had not until the morning you arrived in the cells. She told me you were all in danger and needed protecting. Something about the Lord of Dragons needing healing.”
“Lord of Dragons?” Darwin’t repeats. “But you healed Derry’n!” The nagging panic re-enters his heart as he stares down the hill towards the man to whom they are speaking. “He is the Beast Master. If he can talk to animals then I guess he could talk to dragons.” He sighs and slumps down on the rock. “I do not know what is happening to each of us. Your story has led you to find us. This woman you speak of has guided you on a path that has crossed ours. You believe this was her plan?”
The healer nods. “I do.”
“Then she must also be the same woman who has guided Kloek, Derry’n’s cat. I wish I had heard her voice. Unless it is the girl, the one in my dreams, the girl who has wings of light upon her back, if it is her then we will meet her soon.”
The healer brightens, and for the first time since he has been with them he laughs. Patting Darwin’t upon the back, he stands and does a jig, flailing his arms about and kicking out his feet.
Darwin’t roars his enjoyment and claps a beat which the healer picks up and begins to whistle along with. The mirth is short-lived.
“Someone approaches from the south-west!” Tak’arshi calls as he bounds up the hill, followed closely by Derry’n. The healer stops abruptly and turns in the direction indicated. Darwin’t does the same.
He stares hard yet cannot see anything. The trees in the far south are all he can make out in the distance. “I see nothing!” he exclaims.
“I can feel power,” Tak’arshi mutters, a slight quiver in his voice. “Power I have never felt before.”
The small kitten pops its head out of Derry’n’s pocket and yawns. It looks around the group of men and then stares up at the big man. Derry’n frowns, shakes his head and then sighs unhappily.
Darwin’t goes to ask what the cat had said when Derry’n drops to his knees, both hands fly to his head and he grips it tightly. His face distorts with effort and pain. He clenches his eyes tightly closed. The cat drops from the pocket and writhes around on the ground, making a soft moaning sound.
“Derry’n?” Darwin’t says, the panic flaring again.
The man’s eyes snap open, and they are no longer his. They are large and yellow with round black pupils. He clenches his teeth and tries to stand. The healer gets an arm under his shoulder and helps him to his feet.
“I can see them, two of them on a wagon. I cannot see who they are yet. I will try to get closer.”
“What is he doing?” the healer asks at the same time as Darwin’t.
“I think he is seeing through the eyes of an animal. And by the looks of it, it is some kind of bird.”
Tak’arshi scans the sky and thrusts a hand out. Hovering in the distance is a tiny dot which circles above the approaching wagon. Suddenly it dives straight down. Derry’n gasps and his eyes flicker back to their normal color. He leans forwards to rest his hands on his knees. Coughing once he brings up some phlegm which he spits on the grass. “I could not stop its dive. I killed it.”
Darwin’t puts a hand on the man’s back and rubs it as he starts to cough again. He waits for the man to calm before asking his question. “Did you see who is on the wagon?”
Derry’n stands up and his face pales. “Yes. It’s your Aunt Maida and Tye Slocot. They are running from something, I am sure of it. They both kept looking over their shoulders.”
“My aunt!” Darwin’t exclaims as he bounds from the ring of stones to stare at the ant sized shape in the distance. “What could they be running from?”
Tak’arshi joins him and points past the wagon and into the trees. “That,” he says blandly.
Darwin’t stares but cannot see anything. Derry’n and the healer step up and Kloek scrambles back into his warm pocket.
“There is a cloud of dust on the air,” the healer says and then he drops back a step.
“Cloud?” Darwin’t asks. He looks into the glorious blue sky and frowns. “Where?”
“Atop the trees.” Tak’arshi blurts before hurrying away. “We must get the others!”
“Why?” Darwin’t yells, his anger besting him. “Tell me what is going on!”
Tak’arshi turns and for a moment the hollow Dark Clan stands before him. Then his stony face cracks with fear. “An army approaches.”
***
Riochald steps into the Old Library and shudders. The sweeping staircase leading to the upper balcony mocks her with its colorful ribbons and bows. Her eyes narrow as an old man glances up at her from his desk in the centre of the room. He smiles broadly and pushes back his chair, scraping it loudly in the silence.
Canace is still in the dark, waiting for the time when she will be ready to call Darwin’t into the shrine and be bonded. They call it Giving Into the Darkness and then Filling yourself with the Light, a passage from the Book of Prophecy, apparently. Her last command to Riochald was to go to the Library and fetch Master Toshin. He is to be the one who will guide her from the light into the arms of her bonded.
Riochald knew this would be a part she would have to play, but she had tried to put it off for as long as possible. The thought of coming into the Library fills her with more fear then facing a horde of ghouls. She could summon against the latter and destroy them; she could not really do that to this ancient room.
Master Toshin reaches her and holds out both his hands in welcome yet he pulls them back with disgust when they touch her aura. He frowns and then smiles again to comfort her. Riochald smiles pleasantly even though she feels sick in his presence. Something about the man stirs inside her, and her hands move to her stomach without her knowing.
“Riochald Haldana,” he says in a croaky voice. “
Well, are you not a sight for my old eyes! I thought to never see you again after...” His words trail off and his face loses its warmth. “I take it you are still not bonded? Such a shame! You have always been a pretty girl.” He strolls past her and begins his walk towards the chamber where Canace waits. “Will you join me for a while? I know you will have to find her young man, but I would like to have a talk to you. You can walk with me to the Great Hall where your villagers await and then I will let you go.”
Riochald just stares at him. The very thought of spending more time in his company frightens her for a reason she cannot define; but there is no reason for her to feel this way. He has always been a kind man, and he was a tower of strength in the days after her failed bonding. He had looked after her and given her food and wine. She smiles then as she remembers the night she drank an entire bottle by herself. The memories of that night are fragmented, although she can recall laughing. Then why does she fear him now?
He holds out a hand but pulls it away again. “Come now, child. I won’t force you to come,” he smiles but his features become anxious.
Inside her mind a path of darkness builds. Her aura turns in on itself and races into her memories. Missing pieces of that time in her life, long pushed away and forgotten, buried deep and smashed so that she could not remember them, are all swept up in the oil. Like a child’s toy puzzle, they slot together: the wine, the music and the stories being told, her tears and fears of being alone and unwanted. The man who was there to protect her until her parents could come and take her home with them—the first and only girl to leave without being bonded.
She sees him clearly, a few suns younger but still old. He drains the last of his wine and stands, pulling Riochald from her chair. She tries to stand but in her drunken state she slumps to the carpeted floor of the Library. He laughs with her yet as he bends to lift her he slips and his body ends up pressing against hers.