Champions of Serenity :Gathering the Circle

Chapter 28

The air felt lighter and the sunlight glinted gold through the leaves and needles of the trees. Just the variety of trees was enough to tell the knowledgeable that this was the home of Dryads. Tris walked through the trees, looking for a central grove, eating an apple as she walked.

It had been two days since she had left the Topsawer caravan and she felt the heavy weight of the empty road on her shoulders. She also knew that somewhere behind her, Meckin was tracking her. She could feel his mind seeking her, hoping he would find her soon. Tris had been tempted to turn back and wait for him, but the pull of destiny was stronger on her. She had to find Greenbough and fulfill her promise to Drianne.

A tall woman dressed in flowing green robes stepped from behind a large redwood. Her hair was unbound and fell heavily to the ground, flowers had been twisted into strands and it appeared as if ivy were growing up her arms and into her hair. She was barefoot and stepped with confidence on the soft undergrowth.

“Peace to you, Sister.” Tris said, coming to a stop before the woman. “I come seeking advice of Greenbough.”

“Greenbough doesn’t give advice, traveler.” Her voice was a melody of shadings in alto. She crossed her arms and looked Tris over. “Perhaps one of the others would be willing to talk to you, though. You have the look of an Elf, yet there is more to you than meets the eyes. I am Glenrose and I will show you where we meet.”

Tris nodded and followed Glenrose; recognizing the name from the tales of Drianne. Glenrose had been the Speaker for the Druidic people for over a century now and had a special bond with the Dryads she cared for. Drianne spoke of her with great reverence and respect.

The two of them stepped out of the trees into a large glade. The grass was ankle high and vibrant green. A spring bubbled up in the center of the opening. Several Druids rose when Glenrose and Tris entered. They looked between the two women and stood almost protectively near saplings and their parent trees.

“Peace to you, brothers and sisters.” Tris said softly, the standard greeting for both the Druids and Dryads. Although none of them moved, the feeling relaxed just a little.

Tris felt eyes on her and turned the full circle, nodding to the Dryads that had come to see who it was that had entered their grove. Then she moved to sit at the base of a large weeping willow, bowing to the gray-green eyes that watched her from the trunk. Pulling a loaf of travel bread from her provisions pocket, Tris offered it to the Druids.

“Who are you?” One of the younger men asked, standing between Tris and a young silver maple sapling. The parent maple moved a branch to rest it on the shoulder of the young man.

“I am a traveler, seeking the wisdom of the children of TeTua.” She slowly ate a piece of the bread and then looked around as no one moved. “I am heart-sister to Drianne.”

A sharp intake of breath from most of those standing there was all the warning Tris had as the weeping willow she was sitting under moved a branch to touch her hair. Tris turned to face the ancient male Dryad, again bowing. His voice was creaky with age and disuse, but his eyes gleamed fiercely. “Drianne lives to the far north. She guards…”

“She raised me. I wouldn’t say she guards me as much as I guard her, though. You are Greenbough.”

“Who are you?” hissed Glenrose, taking Tris’s arm and pulling her around to face her. She quickly dropped Tris’s arm and took a step back, fear replacing the anger in her voice. “Oh TeTua protect us, it’s you.”

“I don’t know what TeTua has to protect you from, I offered you peace.” Tris’s voice was sharp with irritation. Then she turned back to Greenbough. “Drianne said that you held the answer as to why I am hunted in my own home, driven from it by men whose only purpose is to possess me or kill me. She said it wasn’t her place to tell me, that you might.”

“My child, sit down and I will tell you a tale. It might be your answer, it might not; but it is what I can tell you.” Greenbough then looked around at the others in the glade. “She is the First, she is Chosen of Serenity and she will bring you no harm. Her fight is not with us but with the One.”

Tris frowned. What was she? And who was she to fight? What was she about to hear? She had a feeling she wouldn’t like it much. But the words of Greenbough had an instant reaction from the others. The Dryads stopped hovering over their offspring and the Druids, while not friendly, did sit down by their favorite Dryads and returned to whatever they were doing before Glenrose had brought Tris in. Glenrose herself joined Tris at the feet of Greenbough and finally accepted a piece of Tris’s bread.

The branches of the weeping willow closed in, almost touching the ground and creating a screen of privacy. It suddenly got warmer under the canopy of the old Dryad and Tris knew that those on the other side wouldn’t be able to hear what was going to be said inside.

“There is a prophecy written in the soil of Sandeenai that every Dryad learns when they are old enough for their roots to touch the beginning. It speaks of a time of great darkness, when a single man would rise and threaten even the gods themselves. It speaks of Serenity, the beloved child of the Supreme Creator Father, and those she would chose to be her champions, to fight the one that would rise.

“There are eight who will be chosen and Drianne was given care of the First. The First shall be equally a Demon and an Elf.”

Tris started and looked at Glenrose and then to Greenbough. They knew and they didn’t show fear. Then the importance of what she had been told dawned on her. She looked back at Greenbough, hopeful. “The others?”

“I cannot speak of them unless they are here, First. If you would know them, you must find the only temple dedicated to Serenity. Her priests and priestesses have the entire prophecy written down. From them shall you learn the whole truth.

“Child of Drianne, chosen of Serenity, the road you seek guides you south, across the ocean, to the lands of the Wizards. It has been seen that you will meet with others chosen as you have been, but they will not know you as you know them. It is given to you, the First, to know more than the others.

“I have given you what I can, Child. You have my blessing and my hope that you will fulfill the prophecy before the darkness can completely destroy the good of this world. I tell you this as well, within a short space of time, the Dryads will be leaving this plane until the prophecy is fulfilled. We are too great a threat to the evil that is rising and it is the only way to survive. Now you have the choice, do you return to your heart-sister and turn your back on a world that desperately needs you? Or do you follow the road laid before you by Serenity and save an entire world from extinction?”

The branches that had crowded close opened then and fresh air danced under the canopy of the weeping willow. A few of the Druids looked up from their tasks and then went back to work. Tris now saw what it was they were doing. Special seeds had been dropped and the Druids were storing them against a future when the parent trees might not be there. It was a solemn work and even the saplings did what they could to protect their young growth and possible siblings against the tide of darkness all prayed would never reach them.

“What will you do, First?” Tris turned her head slightly and looked down as Glenrose touched her shoulder softly. After the Druid dropped her hand, Tris looked back up at the glade and at the preparations being made.

“My name is Trisinda Jaqukwen.” Her voice was soft, for Glenrose alone. “I was raised to face the bitterness of life and the sweetness of death with the same resolve. Drianne placed my feet on a path far to the north. She would not be pleased if I left that path now.”

“Is it just for her sake then?” Glenrose allowed her concern to fill her voice. A red cardinal flew down and landed on Tris’s shoulder, the same one that Glenrose had touched a moment before. Reaching up, Tris took the tiny bird in her hand and gently caressed its breast. Then she flung it high into the air and watched it take wing.

“I dream of seven people, I have dreamed of them for months now. When I was first attacked, something happened. I was…joined with another mind, another person, from another place. Since then, I have had to learn how to deal with things I’ve never had to before, not the least of which is human emotion.

“I don’t need some prophecy to tell me who it is I seek, I know who they are. One is kin to you, Glenrose, I have seen him. Do I stay on this path for Drianne alone? No. Do I stay on this path for the good of a world I hardly know? No. I stay on this path because it is something I must do. I feel it as surely as the wind against my skin, the beat of my heart, the blood lust that fills me when I must fight.

“The world will never accept me for what I am. In the end, they may accept me for what I have been chosen to do, but never just for me. Why should I risk everything for a world that would so close me out? No, I don’t do this for Sandeenai. I do this for me, because I must.” Tris turned to look fully into Glenrose’s face. She saw in the gentle face of the Druid woman pain and acceptance of a harsh truth. “I am what I am, Glenrose, and nothing can ever change that.”

A sad smile touched the eyes and lips of Glenrose. She once again reached out and touched Trisinda’s shoulder, gripping it as a friend would. “I give you peace, Trisinda Jaqukwen, and I give you my blessing as well. You are right that most will never truly accept you, but know this; there will be those who will. Don’t be too hasty to turn away the hands of friendship offered you, they will be genuine and you will have need of that friendship before your path ends. Seek my kinsman, search out the others, and find peace within yourself.”

Tris nodded and accepted the friendship offered, resting her hand for a moment on the Druid’s shoulder. Then she picked up her staff and followed the game path out of the grove, allowing the Druids the chance to finish their important task.

Once out of the grove, Tris lifted her face to the wind and let it caress her skin. She sent a mournful cry on the wind, grieving for her sister whom she may never see again. “Go in peace, my dearest Drianne.” Tris whispered to the wind to carry back to her forest.

The thoughts of someone nearby caught her attention. Meckin was close, too close. Tris didn’t know why, but she knew now was not the time to have him join the chosen of Serenity. His time would come, but not yet. Closing her eyes, she lifted her arms and let another wind pick her up and toss her into the sky, as she had done the bird not so long ago. The next moment, she was streaking across the sky as a falcon, racing the shadows of the clouds, heading south.

“My children have played their role, Serenity. I am calling them home now, that they might be spared the fate of the infant Fawn race.” TeTua informed his sister.

“Thank you, Brother, for your help.” Serenity held her brother for a moment and then allowed him to leave her home. She moved to a fountain and looked into the mist it created and watched as he gathered his children in his embrace and took them to safety. For a moment, Serenity envied her brother the closeness with his children. Soon, she thought, I too will have children of my own, chosen with which I may be so close.

She then turned to watch her chosen as they moved closer to each other. Serenity planted a dream in Meckin’s heart when he lost the scent of Trisinda. The seventh headed to Meckadon where he knew the First would come eventually. With a soft sigh of sadness that her children must go through this hell before they found the one place they all belonged, Serenity turned her back on the fountain. Whatever happened, Serenity knew that her chosen would overcome it. The Father had promised.