I know I should clean up, but it’s too late now. Besides, it’s like I keep telling Reale, my home isn’t dirty; it’s just…cluttered.
Jeena smiled at the thought of her adoptive mother. Reale and her bondmate, High Lord Trenadine, had taken her and her brother Ceril in after their parents were murdered. The kindness of both Reale and Tren had been a light that had helped bring her out of the despair of that horrible period in her life.
Pushing the sad memory to the back of her mind where it belonged, Jeena took a quick glance at her reflection in a small mirror mounted to the wall. She frowned. While she wasn’t vain, she knew she looked like anything but a high priestess at the moment. Her long silver hair was a tangled mess, and several dirt smudges contrasted sharply with the otherwise light complexion of her face. Only her molten silver eyes bespoke of her service to the Lady of the Tree. Jeena raked the fingers of her left hand through her hair in a halfhearted attempt to straighten it out before seeing who had knocked.
When Jeena finally opened the door, she was surprised to see Menetror, the herald and chief administrative assistant to the Council of Light. The old elf looked harried. Jeena thought he always looked harried.
“Menetror,” Jeena said trying to sound pleasant in spite of her fatigue. “What brings you here so early?”
The old elf bowed low. “High Priestess. I bring greetings from High Lord Trenadine. He requests your immediate presence in the Hall of Meetings.”
“Why so early? The council has a meeting scheduled for later this afternoon. Surely the high lord can wait until then. What’s this about?”
“I’m not at liberty to say, High Priestess. However, the high lord said it was urgent.”
Knowing full well from past experience that she wouldn’t get additional information from the tight-lipped elf, Jeena conceded defeat.
“Fine. Tell the high lord I’ll be there shortly. I just need to make myself a little more presentable.” Jeena waved her free hand at the wrinkles in her robe. The light-blue cloth was also covered in dirt stains. “I’m afraid I fell asleep in my robe when I got home from training last night.”
Menetror shook his head. “I’m sorry, High Priestess. The high lord said to tell you to come at once and as you are.”
Jeena grew more curious. Her adoptive father wasn’t one to exaggerate need. If the high lord said to come at once, something was definitely out of the ordinary.
“Very well. Lead the way, and I shall follow.”
Menetror bowed once more before taking off at a fast pace toward the palace.
Jeena was grateful the old elf had come on foot. She liked walking.
Besides, she thought. That means the need isn’t all that urgent after all. Otherwise, he’d have brought horses or a carriage.
Even without the aid of horses, the old elf set a blistering pace. It took only a few minutes to get to the palace gates. Shortly thereafter, they were standing in the Lady’s Garden outside the Hall of Meetings.
Menetror stepped to one side and waved Jeena forward. “The high lord wishes to see you alone, High Priestess. If you don’t mind, I’ll see to my other duties now.”
Jeena nodded her head in dismissal and turned toward the Hall of Meetings. The gardens were beautiful as always, but she paid them no mind this morning. Her thoughts were on other matters.
What could’ve happened to warrant a summons? Try as she might, Jeena could think of nothing.
With a shake of her head, she followed one of several white-stone paths. Before long, she was at the marble columns that separated the hall from the gardens. Since the garden side of the Hall of Meetings was an open wall except for a few support columns, she was able to walk directly into the hall. Once inside, Jeena understood the reason for her summons.
Nine high-backed stone chairs were spaced out at the front of the hall. Several marble tables were in front of the chairs. High Lord Trenadine sat in the center of the nine chairs. The fingers of his right hand were tapping nervously on the tabletop before him. Two children stood on the opposite side of the table from the high lord. The children were human. Jeena recognized them instantly.
“Dren; Brachia,” Jeena said. “I’m glad to see you, but why are you here? In fact, how are you here?”
Brachia spun around at the sound of Jeena’s voice. Although it had only been two years since they’d last been together, the young boy looked older than Jeena remembered.
That’s to be expected, she thought. Humans age twenty times faster than elves. Even knowing the aging differences, Jeena was surprised at how much more mature the boy looked. If he’d been an elf lad, she would’ve guessed his age at two hundred. She did a quick calculation in her head. He must be about ten in human years now.
Jeena took a closer look at Brachia’s sister. The effects of two years were even more pronounced on Dren. When they’d last met, both Dren and she had been about the same physical age. Now the human girl definitely looked the older of them.
Jeena was glad to see the children. She’d grown to like them the last time they’d been together. In fact, she’d even invited them to share her home in Silverton, but they’d declined.
While he might be older, Brachia proved he was as impulsive as ever. The boy rushed toward Jeena with arms outstretched and gave her a big hug. Jeena hesitated only for a moment before returning the boy’s show of affection. She gave his sister one of her best smiles.
Brachia and Dren weren’t the ones who harmed my family, Jeena thought. I bear them no ill will. They’re children after all.
“Jeehana,” said Brachia with an ear-to-ear grin. “Omar missed you. Why haven’t you come back to see us? You said you would.”
Before Jeena could reply, High Lord Trenadine spoke. “So, you do know them? They told me as much.”
“Yes,” Jeena said. “I know them very well. These are the two children who repaired the Staff of the Lady of the Tree.”
High Lord Trenadine nodded his head. “As I suspected. However, I didn’t ask, and they didn’t say.” He looked at the two children. “I was just telling them it was highly irregular to have uninvited guests popping up in the palace; especially humans.”
Prying herself loose from Brachia’s grasp, Jeena held the boy at arm’s length and looked him up and down. “You’ve grown, Captain Brachia.” She gave him a friendly smile. “I do believe you’re turning into a real pirate.”
“Don’t encourage him, Jeehana,” said Dren. “He’s hard enough to live with as it is.”
Jeena smiled before asking her original question again. “Why are you here, and how?”
“How?” said Dren. “We were teleported here by the Oracle. Why? Because he told us to bring you back. The Oracle said to tell you it’s time.”
Jeena frowned. “Time for what?”
Brachia answered before his sister got a chance to speak. “The Oracle didn’t exactly say. I think he wants you to go on another mission. He said we needed to fetch you posthaste.”
Jeena looked at High Lord Trenadine for guidance. Her adoptive father spread his hands and shrugged his shoulders, but gave no advice. She wasn’t surprised. The easy-going high lord was one who preferred elves to work out solutions on their own whenever possible.
“Well,” said High Lord Trenadine. “I’ll leave these two in your capable hands. They’re your responsibility now. Keep them close. You know how some in the city feel about humans.”
“Yes, High Lord,” Jeena said in her formal voice. As a member of the Council of Light, Jeena normally went out of her way to make sure she avoided familiarity with her adoptive father when they were in official settings.
“As for you two,” said the high lord with a mock frown, “make sure you mind the high priestess. The citizens of Silverton aren’t used to visitors. And…,” he added with a smile, “the next time you want to visit the Lady’s Garden, perhaps you should wait for an invitation.”
“Yes, sir,” said Dren.
Brachia snapped to attention and ra
ised his hand to his forehead in a salute. “Aye, aye, Captain.”
Jeena noticed the high lord do his best to suppress a laugh and fail miserably.
“All right, out with all of you,” he laughed. “I’ve got work to do.”
Waving Dren over to her, Jeena led the two children out into the gardens. Both children stopped and stood open-mouthed at the vast array of colors of the garden’s plants and flowers. The morning sun reflecting off the numerous statues of gold, silver, and titanium made the garden even more spectacular than usual. Jeena allowed the children a few minutes to revel in the beauty of the area before ushering them down one of the garden’s many paths.
As they walked, Dren waved her hand to indicate the garden. “It’s beautiful. We didn’t get a chance to appreciate it when we first got here. The high lord caught us as soon as we materialized. He took us straight into that room.”
Jeena nodded her head. “Yes. High Lord Trenadine likes to spend his mornings in the garden clearing his mind in preparation for the stress of the day ahead. I suspect the Oracle knows as much.”
Brachia spun around as if trying to take in the whole garden at once. “It’s amazing. I could stay here forever.”
Jeena smiled. “Yes, it’s very beautiful. Well, it should be. Elves have tended this garden since the time of High Lord Carndador a hundred thousand years ago.” She pointed to a small bench off to one side of the path. “It’s said the high lord and his bondmate High Priestess Shandristiathoraxen would often sit on that very bench and let the beauty of the garden soothe away the stress of the day.”
When it became obvious the children were in no hurry to leave the gardens, Jeena took charge and directed them toward an exit. She had things to do.
“Get moving you two,” Jeena said. “I’ll show you our city as we walk. It’s been many years since any humans spent time in our city of Silverton. You should consider yourselves privileged.”
For the next hour, Jeena led the children through the streets and byways of Silverton, the capital city of the country of Silvertine of the Slyvrastran elves. The sight of the two human children drew stares, but as Jeena had hoped, no one bothered them since they were with her.
When Jeena took the children to see the Tree of Light, they were spellbound. She didn’t blame them. Even after seeing the tree almost every day for the last 322 years, she was still spellbound herself. The tree was as tall as a hundred elves standing one on top of the other, and its limbs stretched almost a bowshot from one side to the other.
“That’s the biggest tree I’ve ever seen,” said Brachia.
Dren nodded her head in agreement.
Jeena smiled. “The Tree of Light was planted by my ancestor, High Priestess Shandristiathoraxen, almost exactly a hundred thousand years ago. She had to rescue the seed from a fierce demon. The Tree of Light has guarded the Slyvrastran elves ever since. Without the Tree of Light’s protection, I dread to think what would happen to my people.”
“My uncle helped an elf get a seed once,” said Brachia. “He’s a great fighter. He’s a wizard scout. You should meet him one day. I think you’d like him.”
Jeena frowned, but immediately replaced it with a smile to avoid hurting the boy’s feelings. Still, the thought of any elf needing or accepting the help of a human adult male was ludicrous. However, the boy’s comment did remind her of something.
“Why are you still living at the Oracle’s? I thought you told me the reason you couldn’t come stay with me was that your uncle was coming to get you.”
“We did say that,” admitted Dren. “Then the Oracle said the time wasn’t right yet. He said both our uncle and us had things to do first.”
“That wasn’t exactly how he put it,” said Brachia. “He said the variables didn’t yet have the necessary values. He’s always talking like that. He’s a computer, you know.”
The word ‘computer’ brought up an image of a box with flashing lights. The children had used such boxes two years previously to help repair the Staff of the Lady of the Tree.
“A computer?” Jeena said. “How can the Oracle be a computer?”
“Brachia,” said Dren. “I told you not to go around telling people that. It’s supposed to be a secret.”
“Jeehana isn’t people,” said Brachia sounding a little defensive. “She’s our friend. Aren’t you, Jeehana?”
Jeena gave the boy her most dazzling smile. “I’ll always be your friend, Brachia. I’ll always be yours too, Dren.”
“See,” said Brachia to his sister as he stuck out his tongue.
“Now back to your talk about a computer,” Jeena said. “I fail to see what a box of flashing lights has to do with the Oracle.”
“Oh,” said Dren. “My brother’s being too simplistic. The Oracle’s actually a living gas that thinks logically. Computers are also logical, but the Oracle’s way more advanced than a mere computer. We think he’s part of ‘the One.'”
Keying in on one point of the girl’s words, Jeena shook her head. “A gas? How can that be? I’ve met him. He’s a human like you. You introduced me to the Oracle yourselves.”
Dren looked at her brother before answering. “Yes, well, we didn’t know it at the time. After living with the Oracle for the past two years, we’ve figured things out. We’re pretty smart for our ages, you know.”
“But the Oracle’s human,” Jeena insisted.
“Actually, he just uses a hologram to present a human form,” said Brachia.
“A holo-what?” Jeena asked.
Dren cut in to explain before Brachia could get started. “A hologram is like an illusion spell. I think the Oracle uses a hologram of a human as his avatar so people will accept him more readily. However, I assure you that he’s a gas. All battle computers are a living gas. The Oracle isn’t a battle computer, but I think he’s the same species.”
Jeena held up her right hand in a stopping motion. “Slow down. You’re confusing me. Let’s go back to my original question. Why are you here? I mean really. Please don’t tell me you don’t know. I find that difficult to believe.”
Dren looked at her brother again. When the boy nodded, she spoke. “The truth is we didn’t want to speak in front of the other elf,” admitted Dren. “The Oracle told us to tell only you.”
“Tell me what?”
The girl took a deep breath. “The Oracle wants you to come with us into the future. He has a mission for the three of us. He says the algorithm requires you as a variable to produce the desired results.”
Jeena shook her head. Things were getting out of hand. The last time I met the Oracle, he spoke of algorithms and variables. They were meaningless gibberish to me then. Now the children are talking the same nonsense.
“I can’t go to the future even if it were possible,” Jeena said. “I’m the high priestess. My people need me.”
“You have to come,” insisted Dren. “The Oracle says the fate of three galaxies depends on you coming.”
“No,” Jeena said trying to be forceful without sounding too harsh. “No one can travel to the future. Even if they could, I wouldn’t go. Nothing anyone says or does will convince me to go.”
As the words left her mouth, Jeena felt a tickle at the back of her mind. The tickle transformed into a sense of peace. She felt a presence in the peace. She’d felt the presence before. It was the presence of the Lady of the Tree of Light.
“You must go with the children,” said a soft voice in Jeena’s head. “You must help the elf friend. I’m depending on you, my high priestess. Go now, or all you hold dear will be lost.”
“What elf friend?” Jeena asked. “What must I do?”
No answer was forthcoming.
“Lady? Lady?”
The tickle in Jeena’s mind disappeared. The peace was gone as well. The Lady had departed.
Jeena looked at the children. They obviously hadn’t heard the Lady’s voice, but they were staring at her just the same.
“Very well,” Jeena said. “I’ll go
with you. The Lady has spoken.”
Chapter 5 – On the Defiant
_______________________
The tingling stopped as everything came back into focus. At this point in his life, Richard had been on enough missions for ‘the One’ that he no longer tended to react violently. Consequently, he was able to suppress a yell as he took stock of his surroundings.
He was still in his battle suit, but it was no longer in armor mode. Instead, his battle suit was in the leather-like consistency it maintained when its power source was inactivated. The thinness of the battle suit allowed him to feel the texture of the metal bench upon which he now sat. He felt the vibration of a hyper-drive reverberating through the bench.
I’m back on the Defiant.
“Nick,” Richard said into his shared space. “Are you here?”
“Obviously,” said Nickelo. “I’m right on top of your head. You’re still wearing your battle helmet. Where else would I be?”
Richard was more interested in adjusting to life back on the Defiant than responding. Looking around, he realized he was sitting at the recon ship’s dining table, right where he’d been before he was teleported out.
Twelve sets of eyes were staring at him.
A stocky dwarf in a camouflage jumpsuit sitting on his right shoved a plate with a half-eaten simulated steak in front of Richard. “Sorry, Rick. I thought you’d be gone longer. I did wait a little while. Since I couldn’t see your steak going to waste, I commandeered it.”
Richard recognized the dwarf. His name was Storis. Richard plucked another memory out of his mind. The dwarf was one of a half-dozen on the Defiant who made up the recon ship’s security detachment. A quick glance around the table identified three of the other dwarves in the detachment. Several gnomes were also part of the dozen sitting at the table. They were some of the ship’s mages. A male elf and two human teenagers sat across from the gnomes.
That’s Tia and Matthew.
“Very good,” said Nickelo like an adult might speak to a young child. “You’re regaining your memory of the physical dimension faster than usual.”
Wizard Rebellion (Intergalactic Wizard Scout Chronicles Book 5) Page 6