Five Corners: The Marked Ones

by Cathi Shaw

  ****

  Thia sat exhausted by Mina’s side. She’d done everything she could think of to try to help her sister, but Mina was unresponsive. Brijit was sitting in the rocker in the corner, her eyes closed. Thia knew just how worried her mother was. She sighed wishing there was something she could do.

  Suddenly the door burst open and Kiara stormed into the room, a scroll tucked under her arm. Brijit’s eyes flew open and she stared at her daughter.

  “You have some explaining to do.” Kiara’s tone was acid.

  “Kiara!” Thia protested but Brijit held up her hand and looked at Kiara.

  “So you’ve found it,” she noted, her voice quiet.

  What was she talking about? What had Kiara found?

  Kiara dropped the scroll she’d been carrying onto the table at the side of the room and then unrolled the parchment. Brijit moved to the table. Curious Thia followed them.

  "This was entrusted to me sixteen years ago. It is not the only copy but one of a handful,” her mother told them.

  Thia leaned forward and looked at the scroll then felt a pang of disappointment. "Oh," she murmured. "It's written in ..."

  "... the language of the Western realm," Kiara finished for her.

  Thia watched as Kiara squinted at the words in front of her. "It appears to be an ancient dialect, I can only make out a few of the phrases."

  Brijit was watching her closely. "It's over two thousand years old. A fragment of a prophecy."

  Kiara looked up, surprise and accusation on her face.

  Brijit smiled gently. "As you’ve discovered, Kiara, each of you three girls is mentioned." She traced the ancient writing on the parchment with her index finger. Then she sighed.

  "It speaks here of an Elder child, a fierce dark haired warrior-girl and a golden eyed ... hmm, I've never understood that part ..." Brijit trailed off.

  "A golden eyed what, Brijit?" Thia asked before she could stop herself.

  "Well, it seems to be the word for Halfling. But I don't know what is meant by that."

  Kiara was still bent over the words. She looked up at Brijit with accusation in her eyes. "What else does it say?" she asked, her tone almost threatening. Thia was shocked.

  But Kiara's mouth thinned, her eyes were cold. "Thia, Brijit is keeping more from us." She gestured at the writing. "I may not be able to perfectly translate this but it says a lot more than just mentioning us." She jabbed the parchment suddenly. "Here it makes reference to a child."

  Brijit's eyes were filled with sadness. "I'm sorry," she whispered, wilting under Kiara's anger.

  "Don't be sorry," Kiara said coldly. "Just tell us what it says."

  Brijit shook her head. "I don't know precisely what it says. I only know what I was told and the pieces I can decipher."

  Kiara didn't look convinced.

  Thia laid her hand on her mother’s arm. "Well, what were you told?" she asked gently. "It might help if you told us what you do know, Brijit."

  Brijit nodded and looked at the parchment again. "This parchment outlines an ancient prophecy in the Five Corners. It speaks of the Marked Ones."

  Thia gasped, her hand automatically going to her shoulder where she bore the strange birthmark she shared with her sisters.

  Brijit looked at Kiara. "And this part, that you can almost translate but not quite, Kiara, it says ‘From their number will be born a child who will end the current age of the living.’"

  Thia stared at Brijit and shook her head. "You mean one of us is destined to give birth to ..."

  "A savior or a destructor. Which the child will be, we do not know. But the Prophecy does indicate that this child will change the world as we know it."

  Kiara made an angry noise. "The child will end the age as we know it, you mean."

  Brijit rolled the scroll up and looked at the girls. "There are many in the Elder kingdom who believe this child will be a savior. That is why they took such pains to hide all of you here with me. The three Marked girls."

  Thia unconsciously touched her shoulder again. She wondered how Kiara was resisting doing the same.

  Suddenly Brijit looked older than her years. "Please understand. I thought I'd done well with you three; I pushed the Prophecy to the back of my mind and concentrated on being your real mother. For you see, I fell in love with each of my girls. And over time I refused to believe that the Prophecy had any truth to it. Instead I looked at myself as blessed with the chance to be a real mother to you."

  She stood and walked to the tiny window. "When you carried Mina in today," she closed her eyes to the memory. "Well, my duty was brought back to me in force," she whispered, "I thought I'd failed you."

  "And you may well have at that," Kiara said savagely, anger making her voice raw. "Mina lives but doesn't she wake. Why is that, Brigit?"

  Brijit shook her head. "I don't know what kind of magik was used on her. Teague has a better idea of what we are dealing with but he is too exhausted to speak now."

  Thia started. "Why? What happened to Teague?" she asked, not bothering to hide the fear in her voice.

  Kiara told them what had happened in the clearing. "I can't explain what I saw," she concluded, "But Teague brought Mina back to consciousness if not back from the brink of death."

  Thia looked at her mother. "Could he be permanently harmed by what he has done?" she asked hearing the waver in her voice.

  Brijit clasped her hands. "Thia, he is merely exhausted. What he did ..." she paused. "It is an ancient art, one that is almost lost and Teague is an infant in learning how to control his powers."

  "His powers?" Thia whispered, not understanding what her mother was telling her.

  Brijit spoke gently. "Teague is a Draíodóir, Thia."

  And suddenly reality shifted and everything Thia had believed to be true wasn't.

  CHAPTER TEN

  Thia sat down suddenly, her heart beating unevenly. She fought to control the conflicting emotions that were racing through her mind. Teague was a Draíodóir. It didn't seem real.

  "Who has been training him?" she asked softly.

  Brijit came to stand behind her and stroked her hair gently. "He's been working with many different members of the Council over the last few years. His particular skill set is unique and he's not achieved mastery over it yet, hence the gloves. But what he did today was a miracle. He saved Mina's life."

  Thia nodded, blinking back sudden tears. Teague had saved her sister's life. She tried to focus on that rather than on what it meant that he was Draíodóir. But it was useless.

  The Draíodóir were an ancient brotherhood trained in the mystical and magical arts. They were generally feared in the Five Corners but at times they were also respected. The Draíodóir kept to themselves, often living solitary lives and as a result very little was known about them. There were many rumors that circulated about the Draíodóir and none of them were good.

  "Are you certain he's saved her?" Kiara asked suddenly. "She is alive right now but just barely. The healing you've tried has done nothing to improve her condition. Perhaps he has only prolonged her dying."

  "Kiara!" Thia protested, a sob escaping from her lips.

  Brijit sat down behind her desk and put her head in her hands. When she finally looked up, her face was grey with grief. "I know she is alive now. That is something, Kiara. That is what I will hold on to."

  "What do we do now?" Thia asked, as she fought to control the sinking sensations within her. "There must be something we can do, Brijit. If we use a healing rune together perhaps ..."

  But Brijit was shaking her head before Thia could even finish. "I'm sorry, Thia, there is nothing more you and I can do. Whatever spell that thing threw at Mina was not of human design. I've sent word to the Elders but I think it’s likely they are already on their way here. Weylon came here after a summoning. I am hopeful that their healers can help bring Mina back. I sense she is there, but unable to break from the spell. Until they arrive, we can only hope to keep her comfortable." />
  ****

  Thia escaped to the kitchen after the meeting with Brijit. As was her practice when she was upset, she took refuge in cooking. The order of preparing meals was a salve to her in times of great pain.

  To say that this was one of those times was an understatement. Mina lay unconscious, how much damage she'd suffered was impossible to guess. Brijit had told them that they were at the centre of an ancient prophecy. And to top matters off, Teague was a Draíodóir.

  The last bit of information felt almost like a betrayal. In her heart, Thia felt that she had known Teague for years. They had shared dreams and within those dreams she'd told him her deepest secrets and hopes. He was the closest thing to a friend that she had, even if their friendship was unconventional. As a child, due to her strange looks and unpredictable seizures, the Village children had rejected her. Teague had never judged her.

  Thia could remember a myriad of occasions when she'd sought Teague out in her dreams to gain his advice and comfort. She thought Teague had done the same with her but now doubt crept into her mind and she wasn't so sure.

  As she reviewed her memories of the time they'd spent together in the dreamscapes, she was starting to see a very different picture from the one she thought she knew. If Teague truly were a Draíodóir, he would have started his training very young, even before they'd started sharing dreams. And yet he'd never even hinted as to what he was.

  Thia tried to remember what he had told her about himself and she realized that Teague had shared very little about the particulars of his life. She felt close to him that was true. She even felt as if she knew him and yet now she had to ask if she ever really had known him.

  She supposed part of it could be explained by the fact that Teague claimed that he didn't realize she was a real girl until arriving in at the Inn. Why would one tell particulars of their life to a dream girl? One usually assumed that in dreams things were transparent.

  This Thia could reason out but it didn't ease the keen pain she felt when she thought of what the future might hold. What did it mean to be friends with a Draíodóir? Did that even happen? She'd never heard of it.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Kiara watched as the Elder party rode through the early winter sun. She’d been outside training again – she couldn't stand to be inside with Thia and Brijit hovering over Mina. Mina was still teetering on the brink of death, a fact they all knew but none of them would voice.

  Kiara felt useless and inept. In an effort to get her mind off her sister’s fate, she'd tried to recruit Jake and Tom to spar with her. Tom had flat out rejected her invitation and while Jake had accepted it, he’d done so reluctantly.

  For Kiara's part she couldn't help feeling that he was just going through the motions with her. Caedmon's words haunted her training and finally she was the one to call an end to the sparring. Jake seemed relieved and made an excuse to go into the Inn for a drink. A few minutes later, Kiara caught a glimpse of him laughing with Sukey inside and she wondered if an interest in seeing the serving girl hadn't been behind his agreement to train today. Disgusted she returned outside to pack up her things.

  She was gathering up the last of her training equipment when the sound of the hoofs from the Elder horses rang through the air.

  Kiara stood where she was, wiping the sweat from her brow and squinting against the sun as she watched the party approach. She raised her eyebrows in surprise. There were more in the party than they’d expected. She counted fourteen riders. Brijit had said that never more than three Elders travelled to check on them at any one time. This looked like a small army.

  The lead rider was clearly of the Western realm. He was tall and lean and, although it was hard to tell with Elders, Kiara would put him at a just a few years older than herself. He had blond hair and green eyes that were eerily similar to Mina's. He was clearly the leader of the party. He dismounted in a smooth fluid motion and the others followed his lead.

  "Kiara Carnesîr?"

  Kiara nodded; surprised that he knew her name.

  "I am Meldiron Lossëhelin, of the Western Realm. We are here for Minathrial."

  Kiara stiffened at his choice of words. He made it sound as if he were here to claim Mina. She reminded herself that the ways of the West were different than those of the Lowlands.

  "We have been expecting you," she told him.

  Meldiron gave Kiara a hard look. Then he turned to the rest of the party. Two Elders, a man and a woman, stepped forward. Although she could not say how she knew, Kiara could tell they were older than Meldiron. Elders did not age like humans. There were no lines on their faces and their heads were free from grey hairs and yet, they had the sense of wisdom and experience about them. But at the same time it was clear that they respected Meldiron.

  "This is Saldur and Bellasiel. They are two of our most respected healers."

  So they did know of Mina's condition. Kiara didn't even try to guess how they had come by that information. Elders had skills that normal mortals did not possess.

  Bellasiel stepped forward and grasped Kiara's hand. Her eyes were such a pale blue they were almost without color entirely. "We are here to help your sister," she said, her voice soothing. "Will you take us to her?"

  Kiara nodded and led them into the Inn.

  "Brijit!" she called. Her mother emerged from her bedchamber, looking tired and old.

  "Thank the spirits!" Brijit exclaimed when she saw the Elders. She stepped forward and clasped hands with Bellasiel, murmuring in the language of the Western realm.

  Clearly her mother and Bellasiel were no strangers. Kiara felt a prick of annoyance. While Brijit claimed to know only what the Elders told her, it was becoming more and more obvious that her mother had been keeping secrets for a long time. Kiara wondered if Brijit even recognized when she was hiding information from them anymore?

  Saldur stepped around the women and made his way into the sick room. Brijit followed with Bellasiel and the door closed firmly to everyone else. Kiara stood staring at the closed door for a moment, wondering what was happening on the other side.

  A throat clearing reminded her that she was not alone. Kiara turned to find Meldiron immediately behind her with a tall Elder. She looked at them, questioningly.

  "This is my kinsman, Arion." Meldiron gestured to the tall dark-haired Elder beside him. Kiara immediately did not like him. He had a haughty aura about him and gave her only the briefest of nods.

  "Weylon Forborrow is here?" Meldiron asked Kiara.

  Kiara nodded.

  "We would have counsel with him. Bring him to us," Meldiron told her as if he expected her to do his bidding.

  Fighting back her irritation, Kiara showed the Elders into the Great Room and then went to Weylon's room. He answered her knock immediately.

  "They are here?" he asked before she could speak.

  Kiara nodded silently wondering how he knew they had arrived.

  "I will bring Teague and Caedmon."

  "Fine," Kiara muttered under breath as she found herself now staring at Weylon's closed door. She wasn't impressed at the way she was having doors closed in her face this afternoon.

  When the men had gathered in the Great Room, Kiara stood to the side of the room refusing to leave. They were in her home and she had some questions that she intended to get answers to. She wasn't going anywhere.

  After preliminary greetings, the party sat at a long table. Kiara moved forward and took a seat at the end beside Caedmon. She looked around the table, silently daring them to ask her to leave. But no one questioned her presence and she felt a flicker of disappointment that there wasn't any opposition. She ignored Caedmon pretending that she hadn't seen the small twitch of his lips when she took her seat. He could read her mind far too easily.

  "Where in the forest did the Hunter find her?" Meldiron asked Teague seriously.

  Teague wrinkled his brow. "I'm not sure, we'd been hunting for a while. I don't know this area well ..." he looked helplessly at Kiara.

&n
bsp; "We found them in Nell's Clearing," Kiara said in response. "It’s the approximate centre point of the forest."

  Meldiron nodded thoughtfully, his expression troubled. "Draíodóir, you say the Hunter disappeared without a trace."

  Teague nodded. "There was no body."

  Arion looked annoyed. "If there was no body, then you did not kill it," he said flatly. "It teleported. You know what this means."

  A concerned murmur drifted around the table. The Elders were clearly upset.

  "Your presence is known," Meldiron stated flatly.

  Weylon nodded in agreement, his brown eyes serious.

  "We will wait to consult with Bellasiel but time is now of the essence," Meldiron noted. "Weylon, I suggest you start making preparations."

  Again Weylon nodded. Kiara was annoyed. They seemed to be talking in code even with her present. The next moment everyone rose. Apparently the meeting was adjourned and she still had no idea as to what was going on. Perhaps if she could talk to Meldiron alone she would get some answers.

  "Shall we prepare rooms for your company?" Kiara asked Meldiron.

  He smiled at her. "Thank you for your hospitality," he said politely. "But we will find our own lodging."

  Teague appeared at her side. "Elders only sleep under the stars," he told her quietly as they watched the large party leave.

  "In winter?" Kiara asked in confusion.

  "In all seasons," Teague said with a wry shrug. Then he gave Kiara a small smile. She noticed that he looked especially strained and she wondered if he's recovered from his encounter in the forest.

  "Thank you for what you did for Mina," she found herself voicing the words before she had fully formed her thoughts.

  He looked surprised. Then shook his head. "Thanks are not necessary. She is essential to the future."

  With that he left the room. Kiara watched him go, her brow wrinkled as she wondered what he knew that she did not.