Vedientir

  "It's good that they didn't fly away from us this time," commented Kerkio. He was careful not to speak and chew at the same time while in Eya's presence.

  Dion let himself fall backward from a crouch into a sitting pose. He got the bag off and leaned his back onto the Tree's refreshingly cold bark.

  "Are you all right?" he asked Eya. She seemed distant, and he wasn't sure if Kerkio had noticed it or not. "You don't like the food?"

  "No, the food is fine. Too much has happened today and I'm still trying to deal with everything."

  "I am sure that sitting in an unknown place surrounded by still unknown people looks weird. Listening to Kerkio and resting until morning really seems like the best thing to do."

  "I am a smart man," added Kerkio and coaxed a brief half-smile out of Eya. It almost became a full smile, but she hid it behind a red apple that Kerkio just offered her.

  "I'll try to sleep, if my eyes obey me. Thank you," she said and then took a bite out of the apple.

  Kerkio soon began smiling to himself. He and the fire were alone. Dion fell asleep with his mouth half opened and his head leaning back, Zmai was curled up inside the Tree with one front leg stretched out so he could keep one claw in the embers at the edge of the fire, and Eya's wings laid her down next to the dragon after she fell asleep sitting up.

  He pierced a thick piece of bacon with his knife and placed it above the liveliest flames. The dragon's nostrils twitched when the fat began to drip and hiss on the embers, but not even that could wake him up.

  ✽✽✽

  "Lyud!"

  A croak made its way through the dark, but it only woke up Kerkio.

  "Dion! Get up!" he called Dion with a hard whisper, trying not to wake Zmai and Eya up.

  "I heard one of your..."

  "Grak!"

  "Damovi od krpah! Mnobroy!" croaked the white raven now that he could see them by the fire. Dion jumped to his feet as if burned by the same.

  "That must be them! The legion!" he shouted and stared at Kerkio.

  "What did the bird say?" asked Kerkio.

  "He says he saw many cloth houses. It must be the tents," answered Dion. "The legion's camp."

  Kerkio clapped once and smiled contently.

  "How far away?" asked Dion, but to that question the raven could give no good answer. He simply pointed with his beak back from where he came.

  "We need to go!" he called out to all of them while Eya and the dragon were still trying to figure out through foggy eyes what was happening.

  "It's still dark, Dion. We don't know where we are and we won't be able to return to the Tree. We have to wait for morning."

  Dion knew Kerkio was right, and he let out a sigh that was almost a moan.

  "Dad told me a story of how people would cut into the tree bark when they wanted to mark a path through the forest in the night. They would then shine torches on their way back and the white flesh of the tree would shine like candles and show them the way."

  He smiled then, remembering the end of that story.

  "He also admitted that everyone used the same trick in one forest and almost all the trees were marked. They walked in circles the entire night and only the morning allowed them to find their way."

  "Besides, marking the trees would leave a long lasting trace back to the Tree," added Kerkio.

  "Right. It should remain hidden."

  "So, we wait until morning," Kerkio repeated once more.

  "Eya could fly in the direction from which the raven returned to locate them, but I'm not sure how they would greet an unknown guest in the middle of the night. Would they even believe her story? Would you even be willing to try?"

  He turned to Eya.

  "Can't we wait for the morning?" she asked, her voice bordering on discomfort.

  "Not if there is absolutely no other way," answered Dion, and even the dragon who did not understand the language could sense his impatience.

  "Kerkio, give me your knife."

  "Dion?" asked Kerkio unsure of Dion's intentions.

  "Come on. Quickly! I have an idea!"

  Kerkio spent a few more moments thinking it over but then bent to reach his already meticulously cleaned knife.

  "Bel!" called Dion and then raised and extended his left arm. The raven landed onto Dion's forearm.

  "Dion, explain what you are doing," said Kerkio as he bent forward to give Dion the knife.

  "Give it," said Dion, but he did not take the knife. Instead, he deliberately pierced his palm on the tip of the knife before Kerkio could react or turn the knife the other way. Kerkio was surprised for a moment but decided to say nothing and watch Dion's next move.

  Dion turned and pressed his bloodied palm onto the bark of the Great Oak. He made a few circles on the bark near the dragon's head who now awake enough to be interested in what was happening.

  "Stai tu," Dion asked the dragon and then swiftly turned and ran into the forest away from the group and the fire that now hid in smoldering embers.

  "Don't go too far!" demanded Kerkio when he understood what Dion was up to.

  "Do you really think he will be able to find it?"

  "I hope so!" Dion yelled back. "Can you still see me?"

  "Yes!" answered both Kerkio and Eya.

  Dion continued farther into the forest, turning randomly between trees, going around some, thinking about this and that, trying to completely confuse both himself and the raven.

  "See me now?" he asked once more when he noticed he was warmed up and winded from running. There was no answer.

  "Bel," he called to the bird.

  "Naides me? Naides mey karv? Tam, na drvou?" asked Dion. "Can you find me? Can you find my blood? There, on the tree?"

  "Mislyam ada," replied the raven. "I think I can."

  The raven flew off his arm and left Dion alone in the wet silence of the cold forest, but this time Dion wasn't worried. He was certain this would work. It had to.

  "Ada!" he heard the raven speak from not too far away.

  "Sahad ada!" said the raven again. "I can now!"

  "Grak!" he called Dion once more but then flew back to Dion to help guide him back to the Tree. He croaked all the way back to help Dion follow him more easily.

  Dion could not hide his smile when Kerkio, Eya and the dragon saw him and the bird return. Charn, who had returned to the Tree in the meantime thinking Dion was there, was also waiting for them.

  "The raven really found the Tree on his own," said Kerkio. "Both found it, and the black one wanted to go to you, but the dragon called him back. It seems to me that he explained to the bird what was going on, and it also seems that we will not have to wait for the morning," added Kerkio.

  "Eya, are you rested enough? Can you walk with us?"

  "I understand that it is of great importance to you that we do so - yes, I am rested. I am ready to go."

  "Zmai? Hodamo dalye? Esi volyan?" Dion repeated the same question to the dragon.

  "Ada," he answered and stepped onto the fire to extinguish it.

  "But what now?" asked Kerkio. "Neither you nor your blood is there where the raven saw the men and the tents. How is he going to take us there?"

  "Bel! Take Charn! Find the cloth houses again. Be quick!" he commanded the ravens and once again they set out to do what he asked them to.

  "They will have to find the tents again, and that is exactly what I told them to do. When they find the tents they will return to me, and then we will correct our path until we reach the legion. Do you remember the direction from which the white raven returned the first time?"

  "I remember but I hope we won't have to make many corrections," answered Kerkio before he led them into the forest.

  "This way."

  ✽✽✽

  They walked for at least two day parts without stopping, found a road and followed it west for a while before the ravens came and forced them south and back into the cover of the forest.

  "Do you hear that?" asked a voice in the forest and the
group stopped moving as if frozen by a spell. Dion even left one of his feet in the air, and then gently finished his step, careful not to make a sound. The ravens landed onto a branch next to him and stopped moving completely, obeying Dion's silent command.

  "There is something in the forest," said a voice.

  "It's those birds again, I tell you," replied another male voice.

  "I can hear footsteps. I could hear footsteps."

  "Hey. Wake up," said a new, quieter voice, and then the dragon disturbed a few leaves on the ground.

  "Stop there whoever you are!" said the same male voice who tried to wake up that someone who was with him.

  "Bring that torch here!" ordered a fourth voice that didn't even try to be quiet.

  Dion and the others from the group could not see a fire from their hiding place. They could now only hear loud footsteps banging on earth and stone as they went into the distance, obeying the command to bring the torch closer.

  "That must be them," whispered Dion to Kerkio.

  "Damovi od krpah?" he then whispered his question to the ravens.

  "Ada."

  "Your voice seems very familiar," said the stranger who called for the torch, "but you talk weirdly. Introduce yourself!"

  "You first," answered Dion.

  "Dion, introduce yourself," whispered Kerkio after Dion's answer. "Don't waste time on this now," he finished and at the same time slowly and silently unsheathed his sword.

  "Hey! Hey!" the man called out loudly from the darkness in front of them.

  "There's no need for swords so early in the morning. Besides, there are a lot more of us than there are of you."

  "And how many of us are there?" continued Dion, becoming quite irritated by the stranger.

  "Three light-footed and two quite heavier ones," answered the man, and his answer was followed by five loud voices laughing.

  "Please step out and come to us on the road and into the light so we don't have to come get you," said the man, himself losing patience with the strangers hiding in the forest.

  "My name is Meden, and around me is the rest of the guard of Aelan's South legion. We will not harm you in any way."

  "Meden Tai!?" shouted Dion in surprise but no answer came from the other side for almost too long.

  "Who is there?" shouted Meden nervously.

  "Dion! Your brother's friend. Your neighbor Dion! We are coming out!" he said and did so.

  "What is going on here?" said Meden, not faking surprise when he saw Dion step out of the forest onto the road.

  "How in the name of the four kingdoms did you end up in Syevnor?" he asked a moment before the dragon pushed his head out of the cover of the bushes.

  "Watch out!" screamed Meden and pulled Dion closer to protect him.

  "No! Wait!" shouted Dion even louder than Meden but that was all that he could say before he fell to the ground, thrown off balance by Meden's strong pull.

  "Calm down everyone!" commanded Kerkio sternly and stepped out of hiding in front of confused legionaries.

  "He is one of us," he said and placed his hand onto the dragon's head.

  "She is too," he added, and Eya then stepped out of the forest behind him.

  "And them," he added once more when the ravens landed on the dragon's back.

  "Is that... Is that a dragon?" asked one of the legionaries while Meden helped Dion back onto his feet.

  Kerkio smiled at the inquisitive legionary.

  "How much of the legion is left?" Dion asked Meden. He could not see their numbers in the dark, nor could he stave off the burning question any longer.

  "What do you mean?" asked Meden in return. "The legion is whole. Renk's forces withdrew as soon as they saw us next to Syevnor's forces."

  "We thought you were all lost when the messenger pigeons returned to Echa."

  Meden nodded.

  "A group of Renk's men managed to get to them. They destroyed all the cages and let the birds go. That happened after all the operations had already ended. A day before we were to return to Aelan. No one was worried too much about them until the next morning when the Tree in Landir refused to open the Path home. After it continued not working the next day, Aris ordered us to go by foot to the sea. So, here we are, on our way to Phares Nova."

  "I have to see him," said Dion, and his brief smile began to subside.

  "I see you carry the standard with you," replied Meden in a somber voice.

  "I bring bad news to him and to all of you. The kingdom is in danger."

  "Pelin?" asked Meden at once.

  "He took refuge in Echa with the rest of your family. They are in a safe place, but I do not now for how long that is going to be true."

  "Refuge? What happened to Echa Rei?"

  "Later," said Dion. "Aris first."

  "Follow me!" said Meden immediately and with a sure step began making his way through the ever-increasing number of legionaries exiting from their tents strewn on the left side of the road.

  ✽✽✽

  "No," began a man who by bearing alone stood out among others even in darkness. He was a large man with gray hair and an almost overly-long gray beard, and he wore a white shirt of the highest quality that now reflected the fire of a nearby torch. He looked more like some old scholar than the leader of the South legion.

  "I am not so old to have my eyes deceive me, even in this light," said Aris. "What are you doing here in Syevnor? Did I not see you in Rei before I departed for Syevnor?"

  "You did. I was there with you and father the night before the legion went to aid Syevnor."

  "So why in the name of the four kingdoms has your father allowed you to go to Syevnor when he knew it wasn't safe here?"

  "Syevnor seems to be the safest place in the world right now," answered Dion and then moved closer to the light so that Aris could see the battle standard.

  "Renk?" asked Aris, already suspected something. "I had found it suspicious how quickly they fell back to the safety of their lands in the northeast. It was Renk's game to weaken Aelan. Where is he? What has he done?"

  "It's not just Renk who is in Aelan," answered Dion. "He seems to have turned Irion against us and has also brought with him monstrous allies we have never seen before."

  He stopped then to wrestle with a troubling thought.

  "Is Bar Renk one of the inheritors? Is he the one who gave the Nightmares access to these kingdoms?"

  He shook his head and continued talking to Aris.

  "Doros and Rei are lost, and Echa has been under complete siege for the last several days. This morning that is about to dawn will be the seventh day of the siege." It took some effort to say that aloud. He knew that all of these men around him were from those three cities or the surrounding villages.

  "Tialoch is being destroyed from the inside," continued Dion and saw anguish overcome Aris and the legionaries who were standing around them. "The last thing we heard before we left Tialoch was that Renk was coming from the east, and that is why we have come here. The king cannot help Echa. The First legion has its own war to wage."

  "You do not need to speak anymore," said Aris, clenching his jaw.

  "You come to us from Landir, I presume. That means the Trees are working once more?" asked Aris. "How was Renk able to control the Trees so completely?"

  "Renk does not and did not control the Trees," answered Dion, shaking his head slightly, trying not to say more than would be wise right now. "I am certain that the Tree in Landir is still not working, nor is any other Tree that we have known of."

  Aris titled his head and that made Dion hurry up with his explanation.

  "We have indeed come here through a Great Oak, but that Great Oak was unknown to us until recently. It's not far from here, it's on this side of Valan's wall."

  "How is there a Tree near Valan's wall?"

  "That question cannot be answered quickly, and we should really start thinking about heading back to that Tree. The mark that I left there to help us find it again might fade, and we wil
l have to search the entire forest then to find it again.

  "Well how did you know about that Tree and now you don't know how to return to it?" asked Aris, but as soon as he saw Dion's reaction he struck a new deal.

  "A long story that you are going to tell me on our way back when there is enough time, but tell me this now - where are you going to take us?"

  "There is another new Great Oak. It's located in the hills between Barda Rei and Phares."

  "In Aelan!" cheered Aris and gestured with his right hand as if to say "There you go!"

  "You haven't brought only bad news with you," said Aris. He sounded and looked relieved. He turned his back to Dion then, for a moment, and looked south down the road where most of the legion's tents were put up.

  "Home!" shouted Aris loudly and suddenly, and his voice sounded like the first thunder of an unexpected summer rainstorm.

  "We have a Great Oak!" he shouted once more.

  He believed he did not have to say anything else and the legionaries proved him right immediately.

  The morning breeze carried Aris's news mixed with the scent of wild flowers and those who were already awake could see to where Aris's words have gotten. His words stopped by every tent and entered it to wake the legionaries, and then the words would grow stronger and louder as they were passed on to the next tent, followed by the light of newly lit torches.

  "Home!" shouted the legionaries.

  The road began to look like a river of flame slowly flowing south, and the voices that carried the words were its gurgle.

  "How far away is this Tree in Syevnor?" asked Aris when he turned back towards Dion.

  "Two day parts. Maybe a bit more."

  "Lead," replied Aris at once.

  "Now?"

  "Now. The legion will follow. Lead the way."

  Dion started walking backwards at first, complying with the commander's order with a dull look on his face, but it only looked like that to others who watched him. Inside, he felt light-headed and he burned hot, fueled by rekindled hope that everything was going to end up all right, that he will see his family again alive.