Fireclaws - Search for the Golden (6 page)

“What kind of questions?”

“Why are the stars different but the moons are not? What can you tell me about a place called Sky Raven? And most importantly, if I ever saw winged people in my visions, I was to warn him immediately. But he seemed to be obsessed with this Sky Raven place because he asked about it daily. If he didn’t like my answers, he had the guards beat me until I told him what he wanted to hear. I tried to tell him that the visions come when they will and on their own terms, but he wouldn’t listen. Finally, I had had enough and decided I needed to escape.”

If this Verledn is trafficking with demons, he should be obsessed with worrying about Sky Raven. I grinned, thinking about what Alex and Maya would do to him and his fortress.

Andea continued, “Well, the first two times, they caught me before I got out of the tower. The third time, I was on the top of the outer wall trying to figure out how to get down when I was discovered. That turned out to be the bad one.”

“Couldn’t your visions tell you when and where to go?” I asked.

“No, see that’s one of the problems...I can never see myself in the visions. Now if I had escaped with someone else, I could have concentrated on that person and perhaps seen how they might have escaped, but I had no one.”

“So when you told Kerrik to look for me in the tavern?”

“It was really because Kerrik needed to find you, right…” She smiled, thinking about something. “By the same token, you need something, as well, Ryliss…”

“What are you really, Andea?”

“I would have thought you would have guessed by now. I’m a seer, a blind seer now, actually; quite the irony, huh?”

I quickly reviewed my knowledge of the subject. “My people have no record of seers. I have heard that the Lifebane used them, but you are the first I have encountered. So are seers another form of wizard?”

“I don’t know, Ryliss. I’m the only one I know of, although magic must run in my family as Kerrik is an air wizard.”

“An air wizard! Well, that explains a lot,” I huffed, thinking about my experiences at Xarparion. Kerrik was certainly full of himself enough to be an air slinger.

The girl frowned slightly in confusion but continued, “Anyway, the third time they dragged me back before Verledn, he was actually smiling, which was a very bad sign. He said he had been reading up on seers and he theorized that a seer’s magical senses could be made much more accurate if they weren’t competing with their natural senses. They held me down; I screamed, I begged, I promised on my mother’s grave that I would never run again. The very last thing I saw were the red-hot steel rods getting bigger and bigger.”

I flinched in horror at her story; I’ll never understand humans. I looked again at the ragged black holes she had for eyes. As much as she tried to keep her eyelids closed, they still peeked out from time to time. “Andea, are you still in pain?”

“A little,” she admitted grudgingly. “It’s been a month or more, but still there is an ache at the back that doesn’t go away. The first couple of days they just bandaged me and put some salve on them, after that nothing…”

“Would you allow me to cast a healing spell on you? Druids aren’t real healers, not even close, and I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t return your sight, but it might make it feel better.”

She tilted her head and smiled in my direction trustingly. “Only if you promise I won’t wake up braying like a donkey or wearing marmot teeth.”

“Hardly, you don’t have to be asleep when I cast it; it doesn’t hurt or anything. Go ahead and finish your story, how does Kerrik enter the picture?” I started to summon the energy for the spell, letting it flow through my fingers, caressing the sides of her face.

“Wow, that feels strange…I had been lying in my bed in what served as an infirmary for the better part of a week. As I said, my eyes were kept bandaged. In the middle of the night, I felt someone lift me up and carry me to the window. I thought it was a dream, I could feel the wind rushing through my hair, and it felt so nice and cooling. There was a jolt like a slight hop, and then someone wrapped me up in a warm blanket and I drifted back to my dreams. When I woke up, I could hear a male voice softly crying over me, “By the gods, Andi! I am so very sorry!” He kept repeating it over and over; then I reached up and touched a face that I had almost forgotten. That’s when I realized I still had a family.”

I finished up the spell, my eyes teary as I assessed my work. The destroyed ragged hollowness of her eyes had filled in, and they were at least shaped naturally. But there was no color left at all, just a lid-to-lid opaque whiteness. Spooky to be sure, but they were no longer horrifying to look at. Andea fumbled around until she found my hands, then brought them up to her cheek, smiling. “Thank you, Ryliss, the ache and the phantom burning is gone, and I do feel much better, you are a good person…”

“But how did Kerrik find you?” I blurted out, confused.

Andi smiled brightly. “That is a story you will need to get from him, but I believe it started years ago and involved someone you very much would like to talk to…”

“The golden?”

“I can’t tell you specifically, but I feel strongly that the path to what you desire and my brother’s and my paths are strongly linked.”

“This isn’t just some seer doubletalk just to persuade me to rescue your brother, is it?” I questioned, gently smoothing some of the hair away from her face.

“Now would I do something like that to my new best friend?”

An hour of firmly guiding Andea through the tightly packed birch, aspen, and beech brought us to within dark elf siege bow range of the tavern, a fact I mentioned to Andea in passing.

“You can’t leave me at the tavern, Ryliss! Someone would surely turn me in to curry favor with Verledn!”

“Relax, Andi, I’m not taking you there. We’re meeting a friend of mine nearby, but I do need to find a place to hide you for a while…I don’t think the caves are safe anymore.”

I pondered the situation, what to do with essentially a helpless human child? If my friend Jules were here, she would just ask Reggie to carve out a comfortable chamber in the ground or watch over her himself. But I wasn’t issued a powerful earth elemental with my Druid robes.

“No, but you were blessed with me instead!”
I heard ominously in my head, just before a half ton of inky blackness slammed into my back, vigorously rubbing her ears and snout across my clothes, reveling in my scent. Fortunately, I managed to keep my feet or she would have rolled on top of me as well. Grabbing her massive head, I ruffled the fur and hugged her enthusiastically. All the while Naurakka growled in what I recognized as her happy ritual of welcome.

Andi stood frozen nearby, clearly afraid to move or even speak. I imagine with all the wrestling and growling sounds, she thought I was locked in a life and death struggle with a monster! And I was really, but the giggling and purring probably belied the whole mortal danger thing. Soon she was cocking her head in confusion.

“Ryliss, are you ok?” she whispered frantically once the fighting died down.

“Oh, better than ok!” I chuckled as I climbed on the back of my cat and started massaging her neck. As if her bones suddenly dissolved, Naurakka dropped to the ground, and a loud purring session ensued that made the ground vibrate. The Jag’uri rolled back and forth to make sure I hit all the good spots.

“Andea, I would like to introduce Naurakka. Her name translates to ‘Fireclaws’ in common.”

She cautiously slid forward and extended her hands until she came into contact with the broad cat’s head. Squatting down, Andi leaned forward so she could gently rub the huge triangular-shaped ears.

“I like this one already.”

The girl smiled broadly as she ran her fingers over the animal. “Naurakka is the same kind of cat you became last night; the fur is the same softness. I bet she’s gorgeous to see.”

“Oh, she is. She is a Jag’uri Puma. But for now we need to find a place for you to stay while I locate your brother. Rakka, can you please stay here with Andi for a while? I need to look for a particular tree. Andea, Naurakka will watch over you while I’m gone.” I watched her nod resignedly as she continued to stroke the big cat.

“No harm will come to the cub.”

Setting out, I walked through the trees, casting about for a glade or open area that would look promising. I had watched Julia cast spells to summon dryads or spirits of the forest many times, but Jules was probably the most powerful Druid born in a thousand years. She always made it look easy; I’m pretty sure she could summon a dryad in the desert. I sent a silent prayer to the Earth Mother for her assistance, but really expected no response.

I happened upon a flat, grassy area. Judging by the lay of the land, I would have to say this was formerly a shallow pond or pool that had finally filled in enough for the grasses to take hold permanently. It probably still got pretty soggy after a good rain, but it had been weeks since that had last occurred. Twenty minutes had passed and I still hadn’t found a suitable tree. My mind alternated between searching and pondering what Andi had told me about her being a seer. I didn’t get the feeling I had gotten the complete story from her about everything either. Still crossing the meadow, I was startled to sense I was no longer alone. There was a short, dark-skinned human woman walking silently alongside me, step-for-step. I pulled up and stopped, dark elves are not typically known for letting anyone sneak up on them. She looked old, almost ancient; her face was like tanned leather and broadly featured. She was dressed in a long, dark green gown with colorful living flowers tied into her coiled long hair. Hummingbirds darted around her head, stopping periodically to sample the nectar from her hairpiece.

“Hello, Ryliss, I am pleased to finally meet you,” she said aloud, her voice sounding high-pitched and strangely musical.

I froze and the little hairs on the back of my neck rose straight up. The only other time I can remember that happening was in the presence of King Alex’s parents, the Nova. Dropping to my knees, I bowed my head and dutifully whispered, “How may I serve you, Earth Mother?”

She smiled and chuckled, the sound of her voice like wind chimes. “You already serve me very well, my child. Please stand and walk with me for a ways.” I did as she requested and fell in with her as we continued our walk through the tall grass, stealing glances at her when I could.

“My dear, I would have you deliver a message to your King Alex for me.”

“Certainly, but why would you choose me for this task? King Alex already counts Julia and Lin as kin, and as real Druids, surely they would possess more credibility with the King.”

Her laugh pealed out across the warm meadow like small bells. “It is always the questions with you, young scholar, isn’t it? Don’t worry, I am not offended. In fact, I find you strangely refreshing. And don’t ever believe you are not a ‘real Druid’ just because you did not attend some wizard school. Being as one with nature comes from the heart, not a spell book.”

“But there lies the crux of the matter,” I said resignedly. “I would feel more comfortable with the spellbook, or any book for that matter. If it weren't for Naurakka, I would be a total fraud in the forest.”

“Times are changing and my guardians of nature must be intelligent and resourceful enough to change with them. My Druids can no longer wade into the fray animating trees, causing floods, and wielding plagues of locusts. There are currently only ten living Druids on the entire planet…well, make that eleven,” she said, tilting her head as if contemplating a private joke only she was privy to, and then continued, a frown crossing her face. “I lost hundreds of my guardians to the undead and the human armies that attempted to use the Druid’s powers for their own purposes. It will be centuries before those losses can be replaced, if ever.”

“If ever?”

“Trouble brews on the horizon, young Druid, and therein lies the message. The gods of this world, weakened though they are, are very angry. Even though the Nova saved this world from destruction, they feel as though Sky Raven is nothing more than a Nova-based foothold to take over this planet. They are jealous of the power and want Sky Raven either subjugated or destroyed.”

“But King Alex has no designs on ruling the world. He will only interfere if there is demon magic involved,” I protested.

She stopped, winked at me, and chuckled. “I know that, Ryliss. Alex is a good man, and he and Maya are wise and fair rulers.”

“Forgive me, Earth Mother, but now I am really confused. On one hand, you maintain the gods of this world are angry at Sky Raven, and on the other, you acknowledge that he is a good ruler. I mean, aren’t you one of the gods of this world, as well?’

She sighed and continued walking with a quickening pace and a fierce determination. “I am the Earth Mother; I existed before the first primordial ooze washed up on a rock and decided to make it home. Do not count me among these late-coming pretenders that call themselves the gods of men. I require no worshippers to survive, nor is my power based on their prayers or numbers. I will continue to exist until the day our ‘new sun’ becomes old and burns all life on this world to a crisp and it once again becomes a lifeless rock.”

“Well, then, can’t you just tell the gods of men to back down?”

“Child, I prefer not to interfere in the ways of man or their ridiculous gods. You forget while I am the deity of fluffy goslings, pretty daisies, and delicate waterfalls…” She punctuated this by making a stunningly beautiful turquoise and orange flower rise up out of the mossy floor and paused for effect. “…I am also the goddess of tsunamis, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions.” I shuddered as the ground split directly under the pretty flower revealing molten lava, which instantly crisped all the plant life in a five-foot circle, and turned it to dust. “At any time, if I choose, I could destroy all life on this planet down to pond scum. I’ve done it many, many times; entertaining, yes, in the short run, but oh so boring waiting for new results. Humans, in another time and another place, might say that I have anger management issues, which is why I have you Druids, to handle all the annoying human and elf situations.

“Besides, I am much too busy. As much as I appreciate that the planet was not incinerated, the solution the Nova came up with certainly messed up the natural world. The new solar day is slightly off and the tides still aren’t right. I have geese flying the wrong directions even after five years, but then again, geese were never my most brilliant fowl. Salmon migrations are still bollixed, and don’t even get me started on the cicadas and their migraine problems…”

I shook my head dubiously, choosing to ignore her complaints. “But yet, aren’t you interfering and taking sides by giving King Alex this warning?”

She giggled and then tilted her head expressively. “I need to remember never to engage an academic in a debate. To put it bluntly, my young dark elf, I admit I favor King Alex’s position in all of this. That’s why three of my best Druids call Sky Raven home. Besides,” she paused as if deciding what else to reveal, “in a way, Alex is as much my son as he is the Nova’s.” The confusion on my face must have spoken volumes, as she smiled sheepishly and continued, “You recall the Nova needed to negotiate with the gods of this world to obtain a body for Alex before he could be born.”

I nodded.

“So what does a god of thunder, a god of wine, or a goddess of beauty, know about creating a living, breathing organism out of thin air? Pffft, I’ll tell you! Absolutely nothing! They were in an absolute panic when they heard the Nova’s request.”

“And so they were forced to come to you, Earth Mother,” I filled in.

“That’s correct, child, and it was quite a piece of work, too. Besides being genetically perfect, I added a few small enhancements of my own. So you see, I like to think I had a tiny part in Alex’s success, and…” she grinned, “there may have been a few other timely aids thrown in as well.”

“I will give King Alex your words, Earth Mother,” I said, sensing the discussion was nearly over. “I have a blind human girl that I must escort to safety; would it be possible for you to heal her affliction?”

“No, child, the young seer’s path is already set in motion; any interference on my part would be detrimental to all. But the threads of your destinies are intertwining as we speak; follow your heart. Now, I believe we have reached the object of your search.”

I had been so absorbed in the conversation that I really wasn’t paying attention to where we were going. I looked around curiously, what I had been searching for was a grand old formidable oak tree because I was hoping to coax out a dryad that would agree to watch over Andea. But the clearing where we were currently standing contained only a scrawny young laurel tree that looked like every moose and deer in the forest used for its personal scratching post.

“Umm, Earth Mother, I was searching for a large oak…”

“Yes, I know dear, but Daphne, here, needs a mentor…”

“Daphne?”

My companion stretched out her staff and tapped the side of the small tree. Instantly, there was a shimmer, a bending of the light around it, and just like someone slipping through the parting of a curtain, a young woman stepped out. She had short, spiky jet-black hair, dark, almost obsidian eyes, and attractive human features with a small button nose. When she saw me, her eyes grew very wide, and she nervously tried to smooth out the wrinkles in the dark green shift she wore over threadbare leggings.

When she shifted her gaze to the Earth Mother, she started to stutter, “M…My…” Then her eyes rolled back into her head and she slumped to the ground, instantly transforming into a large black bunny rabbit. The creature had its eyes closed tightly as it flopped over on its side and kicked spastically as if it were having a fit of some kind.

Stifling a laugh, I looked askance at the goddess, who winced and remarked, “Hmmm, her first impression skills need some work, I will grant you that.”

“What is she?”

The Earth Mother looked up from watching the display on the ground and sighed. “She, my young Druid, is an anomaly…a mistake…an abomination…a freak of nature, if you will.” She caught my shocked expression. “Oh, don’t worry, I mean that in the nicest possible way. Much of my best work starts out that way; its how new species come to be.”

“But...”

She smiled innocently. “I will be going now, Ryliss; you should have more than enough to do for a while. Keep up the good work. I do believe your other companions are becoming anxious.” At the last word, her image folded, changed, and shrunk down to a small gray dove, which then flittered off into the larger trees beyond and disappeared.

A few seconds later, Naurakka stalked into the clearing with a cackling and very excited Andea riding on her back. I reached down and scooped up the rabbit, cradling the poor shivering creature in my arms.