Champions of Serenity :Gathering the Circle

Chapter 32

The moon had set and it was still before the rise of the sun, in that dark part of the morning just before the birds woke up to sing a welcome to the new day. Airidon and Jehro jumped when Tris was suddenly there next to them, putting a small branch into the fire.

“Are you okay?” Airidon asked tentatively. There was still so much unasked and unanswered, still so much they didn’t know, it was hard to know what to say. To him, she looked wonderful but a little tired.

Tris looked from the flames and to the faces of the two men who looked as if they hadn’t had any sleep themselves. She saw concern in both of their eyes and a longing as well. “Yes, Airidon, I’m okay. I need some sleep and it looks like you do as well. I did a quick scout and we won’t be bothered here for a day or so. I would suggest you both get some sleep so we can be clear headed when we talk later today about the next step.” Tris sighed softly and looked back into the flames. She had healed and driven off the demon urge to kill with a night of intensive hunting. The smell of the deer she had given them earlier was making her sick to her stomach.

“I’m going to curl up and sleep for a while. I’ll see you all when the sun is at its zenith.” With those words, Tris walked to the far side of the fire, away from the dead meat, and rolled up in her cloak. She was asleep within moments much to the surprise of the two who had sat up for her return.

“I guess we should catch a wink or two ourselves, Airidon.” Jehro said as he watched the girl’s face relax in sleep. He looked closely but didn’t see anything more than she was willing to show even in sleep. She looked young, vulnerable, and innocent as she slept, but she had already proven she might be young but she was neither vulnerable nor completely innocent.

The others began to stir shortly after Jehro had fallen asleep, Airidon still couldn’t sleep. He was watching her, memorizing every detail of her delicate face. He never thought he would be attracted to an Elf before but she changed that. She wasn’t like any Elf he had ever heard of or met in the past.

“What? Is she just going to sleep the day away?” Shrina demanded, standing over Tris, getting ready to kick her in the legs to wake her up.

“If you touch her, Shrina, I will kill you.” Airidon said quietly, his eyes burning with sleeplessness, his voice ragged with the same lack of sleep, and his hand on his sword made it clear he meant what he said. “She has only been asleep for an hour, and if you bother her before she wakes, I will kill you.” The others watched this silently. It was the first time he had ever shown his teeth to Shrina and they were curious as to what would happen.

Shrina looked from the sleeping Tris to the threat of Airidon. She knew he meant it and she knew with his not sleeping all night he wouldn’t hesitate to follow through. Looking back at Tris, Shrina felt a tug of something, deep inside of her, and shrugged. Turning away, she walked back to the fire and started bugging Fini about what he was cooking.

Tyra and Fini exchanged a look and went back to breakfast as Airidon slowly lay down where he sat and fell asleep himself; his hand still on his sword hilt and his face turned toward Tris. Jehro slept deeply, also facing Tris, but to the side of her as well.

“She said when the sun reached its zenith, Tyra, but does that mean she wants us to wake her up or that she would wake up on her own?” Jehro said as he stood next to Tris, Tyra at his side. He had woken up an hour before and had washed up and eaten some of the venison stew Fini had made for breakfast.

“I don’t know, Jehro, I don’t her yet to say. But if she’s half the warrior she proved yesterday, she’s probably already awake and listening to us.” Tyra added and then walked away, for once agreeing with Shrina that the men seemed overly preoccupied with the newest member of their group.

Jehro looked at Tyra and then back at Tris and wasn’t too surprised to see Tris’ blue eyes looking back at him. He felt her reach out and touch his mind, gently, hesitantly, cautiously. He knew in that moment that she knew who he was and what he was and had accepted him for himself. He opened his mind to her and was curious about her continued caution but gratified that she accepted his invitation and allowed him to see a little bit into her own mind.

He knew it was a small amount, just the surface of a very deep and dark pool, but it was still almost too much for him to handle. The girl was so much more than any of them had ever dreamed and it was frightening that such a one would be part of his life. He made sure she knew he had accepted her, everything about her that she had allowed him to see and was even more surprised by her even more cautious withdrawal.

“Good morrow, Jehrones. I hope you are doing better than when I saw you this morning.” Her voice gave no hint to their shared contact or to the emotional and mental turmoil Jehro knew boiled below the surface. “Is your wound giving you any trouble?”

Jehro laughed. “No, it’s as if it never happened. Are you hungry? Fini made wonderful venison stew from that deer you donated last night.”

Their voices, though soft, woke Airidon. He came alert in one moment, his hand on his sword hilt and his eyes looking around the camp. When he saw that no one was out of place and it was just a normal day, he relaxed and allowed his mind and body to catch up.

Tris looked over at the pot sitting to one side of the fire to keep warm and tried not to show the revulsion she was feeling. “No thank you, Jehrones, I don’t think I could handle it right now.” She then pulled a crisp apple from a pocket on her cloak and sat up to eat it. As she chewed the sweet fruit, she watched everyone in their routines. Airidon rubbed his hands over his face and took a long pull on a water skin then accepted a large bowl of the stew from Shrina. Fini and Tyra were sitting to one side, talking. Fini was carving a staff and he worked on it while listening to the woman next to him. Tyra was sharpening her blades, dulled from the battle the night before. The steady scrape of the whetstone against the fine steel was background for their conversation. Jehro was still sitting next to her, also watching the others, trying to see them through her eyes. And then there was Shrina.

“Oh good, you are awake, finally. I have some questions for you; miss whatever your name is.” She strode over and stood in front of Tris with her hands on her hips glaring down at Tris sitting on the ground.

Tris took a bite of her apple and just looked at the Siblen as she chewed the fruit. The silence drew on and everyone stopped what they were doing to watch.

“Well?! Aren’t you going to say something?!” demanded Shrina, her voice going from the normal shrill to almost banshee, as she stamped her foot. This wasn’t how any of the others had reacted, in fact, it wasn’t how anyone in her lifetime had reacted to her and she wasn’t sure what to do about it.

“You haven’t asked a question yet, Shrelannasha. How am I to answer them if you don’t ask them?” Tris answered the demand calmly and with another bite of her apple. She just kept watching Shrina with cool blue eyes and a face showing no readable emotion.

“Who are you? Where did you come from? Why are you here? Where did you get that apple?” Shrina fired off rapidly, smugly. If this girl was going to respond to questions, Shrina was going to give her questions.

“I am Trisinda Jaqukwen, as I told you last night. I came from Taniry in the last forested stretch of land before the frozen wastes. I’ve been keeping the beasts of the frozen wastes from penetrating the cultivated lands to the south of where I make my home. I am here because last night I helped you in battle and I thought I could take rest here with you before I continued on my journey. I got the apple from the pocket of my cloak.” Tris answered as she ate showing more interest in her apple than what she was saying.

“I know you fought with us last night. I mean, what are you doing here, on Nasinih and not back in your forest? What made you leave your home?” Shrina said again, this time more frustrated than before. This was not how it was supposed to go. She was supposed to trip up this girl, get her flustered and off balance.

The others watched and listened, amused at the simple way that Tris was taking control without the Siblen knowing it. Fini and Tyra exchanged another look and smiled.

“Again, as I said last night, I left my forest because I was following the trail of a prophecy. It’s the same prophecy that Greenbough told me about and it’s the reason the so called emperor wants us all dead. You can’t tell me that he hasn’t tried to kill all of you either separately or as a group, I won’t believe it. I also won’t believe that he hasn’t attacked what you all love most dearly to drive you to be at this time in this place. Prophecy has a way of fulfilling itself despite the best efforts to stop it.” Tris stood then, brushing the dirt from her legs and butt. She shook out her cloak and slung it around her shoulders again. “Was there anything else, Shrelannasha?”

Shrina had watched as Tris shook out her cloak and didn’t see anything fall from any of the pockets. Her mouth then dropped open when Tris reached into a pocket and pulled out a loaf of travel bread to offer to Fini and the others to eat with their stew.

“Where did you get that bread?” Shrina didn’t think about what she was doing, she simply marched over and looked into Tris’s pockets, all of them on her cloak and found them all empty. She reached in and wiggled her fingers around in them and then glared at Tris. “I saw you shake it out and nothing fell, that bread wouldn’t have stayed in a pocket with the shaking you gave it. What are you?”

“I got the bread from the same place I got the apple, Shrelannasha, my pocket. I guess you could say I’m a magic user when I have to be, a warrior when I have to be, and most of the time, I’m just person who wants to be left alone to live her life in peace. Right now, I don’t have that option, so I am going to do whatever I have to in order to get back to my home and my peaceful lifestyle. Now then, if we have cleared up who I am and what I am, can we maybe start talking about the important things?”

Tris sat down again on one of the logs next to the fire and found that Airidon had moved to sit on one side of her and Jehro was on the other side. She looked from one to the other and then across at Tyra and lifted an eyebrow in a silent question. When Tyra shrugged, Tris shook her head. Then she reached over and broke a piece of the bread off of the loaf and started to chew it.

“What important things?” Shrina said, sitting down next to Tyra, scowling as she also noticed the seating arrangements.

Tris waited until she had finished her bite, then pulled a flask of a mint smelling and tasting juice and took a drink. She offered it around, but only Jehro took her up on it. He took a tentative sip and then a much bigger pull, enjoying the sweet, sharp taste. Tris left the flask out for anyone else who would want to try it.

“Last night, I scouted the area and we are days away from the nearest patrol of Handsome’s. We could stay here and wait for them to attack us again. But that would be the height of folly and I don’t think any of us here are fools. That leaves us with eight choices.” She pointed the compass points indicating the choices. “Personally, I’m going to head south and then east. I am looking for passage to Catira where the only known Temple of Serenity is located.”

“Wait a minute.” Tyra said, holding up her hand, frowning. She seemed to be thinking about something, trying to bring to mind a memory from her childhood. “My uncle once told me about that temple.” Her voice was slow, hesitant, as Tyra drug the memory to the surface. “It’s a small building, not very opulent like other temples are. In fact, if you didn’t know it was a temple you would think it was derelict. My uncle said it was a glamour placed on it to keep it safe until the time was right. He also said it was the only Temple of Serenity in the entire world. I asked him about it and he laughed and said that if I was lucky I would never learn the answer to that question and if I wasn’t lucky I would wish I had never asked it.” Tyra looked at the group and shook her head. “I don’t know what he meant by that and at the moment, I’m not sure I want to.”

“Who is Serenity?” Shrina asked, confused, but for once, her voice wasn’t shrill or demanding, it was in a normal tone and register.

“She is a goddess, Shrina.” Jehro said, trying not to sound impatient. “I’ve never heard of anyone building a temple to someone who wasn’t a god or goddess.”

“I know that, Jehro. But is she important that she must hide her temple or is she nobody and that’s why she only has a one small one? I mean, all the other gods and goddesses have temples and shrines all over the place as well as priests and followers and such. Granted, some aren’t as prominent as others, but still….you can find at least one temple and shrine in every town.” Shrina said, rolling her eyes, but keeping to the reasonable tone.

Tris reached into an inner pocket of her cloak and pulled out several scroll tubes and set them on the ground at her feet. She saw Jehro holding himself in check as his eyes gleamed with excitement. “Will you please look in those, Jehrones?” She then pulled out a few more and then started opening them up. As she scanned the text on the scrolls, she felt drawn to one still in the pile. Tris made herself work through what she was reading before reaching for the other.

Jehro then gave a crow and looked up, a defiant look on his face. “I found something. And from this, Shrina, I would say that Serenity is pretty important. Listen to this; it’s a stanza from an old ballad. ‘Serenity shall give Eight her Star/ And with the Star comes her shoes. The dark shall fear her Champions/ But her Heroes themselves must choose.’”

Tris then looked up from the scroll she was reading and handed it to Jehro. “This is what I was looking for. Follow along with me, Jehrones, to make sure I don’t forget anything.” She gave the group a half smile. “The one who raised me made me memorize most of these a long time ago,” she explained.

“‘In the beginning of Sandeenai, the Supreme Being gave life to seventeen gods and goddesses: eight male and nine female. One female called Serenity stood for peace and the Supreme Being wanted this world to be peaceful, not warlike. A male called Chaos didn’t agree with the plan and tried to kill Serenity. From her wound spilled the first divine blood and it formed a star-like shape. None but the gods and goddesses have seen the Star. Serenity defeated Chaos, and the Supreme Being gave her the charge to keep him controlled. He also gave her the Star as her symbol and only those she chose could wear it. He gave her two shoes: one for peace, the other for immortality. She could give these gifts to those who served her. To those who turned from her calling, Chaos devours. Of the fifteen gods and goddesses left, six follow Chaos and nine follow Serenity.’

“‘The gods and goddesses then created the races: Elves, Demons, Unicorns, Dwarves, Dryads, Centaurs, Dragons, Naiads, Merfolk, Chamelings, Sibish, Wizards, Orcs, Pegasi, Gnomes, Siblen, Faeries, Druids, Sylphs, Werfolk, Talking Animals, and Humans. The Supreme Being created the balance of good and evil. Giving Sandeenai to Serenity and Chaos to rule, the Supreme Being slept.’”

Silence followed Tris’s telling of what was on the scroll. Jehro nodded to confirm that is what it said; he then added that this scroll was written almost three hundred years ago by a Centaur philosopher.

“So, it sounds like this Goddess Serenity is rather important, in fact, probably the most important Goddess ever.” Airidon said softly. He had been ripping up pine cones and tossing the pieces into the fire. After he said this, he threw the mangled remains of the one in his hands into the fire. “What does all of that have to do with us?” He allowed anger to color his question.

“When I first heard that stanza, I thought it referred to eight of the great heroes of the past.” Fini said slowly, sorrow in his voice. “But after hearing about Greenbough’s prophecy and sending Tris to this Temple of Serenity and of how we all dreamed of Tris and she of us…..that stanza refers to us. Only, we are six, not eight. That means two are missing and we need to figure out who those two are and find them before Dre…”

“Don’t, Finbrahner, don’t ever say his name.” Tris hissed, silencing him and looking around quickly, carefully. “He is a blood magician, Finbrahner. That means that he has tied his name into all that he does and just by saying it can draw his attention to you.”

“Is that why you called him Handsome before?” Shrina asked.

“Yes. It’s best to use a nickname for him, that way he can’t find us as quickly.” Tris said and offered Shrina a small smile for noticing and commenting on it. “As for what Finbrahner was saying, I agree. We are the focus of that stanza, as well as the prophecy we have none of us not yet seen. And there are two others we have yet to find.” Tris didn’t mention the fact that she knew who one of them was, it still wasn’t time.

“So, we locate this prophecy and then we find the other two and then what?” Shrina asked.

“Then, Shrelannasha, we fulfill the prophecy whatever it may be.” Tris said as she gathered her scrolls together to put them away.

Shægnek paused in her work as she heard the words of history being spoken by the First. She moved to the window to watch the group and to see what was going to happen.

“It isn’t always that simple, Trisinda Jaqukwen.” Shægnek whispered to the window. This girl was powerful and rightfully so, but first, she needed to learn what being vulnerable was like. She needed the compassion that was natural for Debra but completely alien to Trisinda.

Turning to look around the library, Shægnek’s eyes rested on several skeins of yarn. She moved quickly, needing this to happen before it was too late. How could she have missed this important detail?

Chaos walked in as Shægnek was putting the final stitches in place on the knitted set of matching pot holders. He lifted his eyebrows and looked at the goddess.

“Taking up a hobby, sister dear?” He missed that the dominate color was yellow or that the pattern within the yarn was circular rather than square.

“Always, Chaos, Dear. You don’t think I spend all my time on prophecies do you?” Shægnek kept her voice even and tied off the final stitch. She then looked over the work and then walked to the window to see what was happening.