Children of the Sun and Moon (29 page)

“Are you
alright princess?” he asked, but she ignored him and stopped in the
middle of the bodies.

“Those who die
here must be returned to the soil,” Koral yelled. Then she reached
her arms over her head and began to glow. It was something Glavlin
had seen before and within a breath, she was the silvery tree once
again.

“You must find
Gillock,” exclaimed Glavlin to Darly.

Darly nodded
and sprinted off through the trees.

Within a few
seconds of her moving off into the forest, the ground began to
shake. Although they weren’t certain what was causing it, all
assumed it had something to do with Koral changing. They quickly
moved away from the tree, and found once they were a distance away
the shaking did not affect them as much. It felt as if it would
last forever, but a few minutes from when it started, the shaking
suddenly stopped. The group looked at each other, and Glavlin
decided to move back towards Koral. When he came back to the area
where the fighting had occurred, an unusual sight greeted him. The
bodies were gone and all signs of a small battle having taken
place, erased. Where the ground had been trampled now lay
wildflowers and the trees scarred by sword strikes no longer showed
any signs of ever being hit. Koral, still as a tree, stood tall
bathed in sunlight, unharmed.

Koral looked
around, surveying her surroundings. She recognized where she was,
and awaited the arrival of the Earth Mother. Moments later the area
in front of her began to shimmer, and the Earth Mother stepped into
the field.

“Hello again,
princess,” came her voice.

“What is it you
want of me?”

“So impatient,
but no matter. You are again a tree in the waking world and your
friends are worried about you. “

Koral just
stared, not knowing what it was the Earth Mother wanted her to
say.

“Your time here
will be short. I have brought you here again to warn you. One in
your company is spelled and reveals all to the Order. The traitor,
which has plagued your company will be revealed soon. One of your
company will cease to exist. Not all are destined to see this to
its end.”

Koral was about
to question the Earth Mother’s cryptic words when she felt the pull
back to the waking world. As she slowly ascended, the dream she had
about Eric swirled around her. He was running towards the door,
surrounded by light, and she could not follow. The images changed
to that of wizards fighting and the births she had seen before. One
image in particular kept reappearing. It was that of a young wizard
and judging by his surroundings, it was an image from long ago. At
first she was confused by the image, since it kept appearing
between all of the other images. Then it all changed, and the image
kept continually repeating in front of her and finally she
understood what it meant.

Gillock,
Glavlin and Eric sat near Koral. It had been some time since she
had transformed, and all thought she would have returned by
now.

“I think she is
coming out of it,” exclaimed Eric.

The tree again
began to glow and Koral reappeared, dropping to the ground. She
opened her eyes to see all her friends gathered about her. She
moved her eyes from one face to the next, stopping on Gillock. “You
are one of the first wizards, but not just any wizard. You knew of
the prophecy, were on the island when it was foretold, and a part
of my family since that day. What is it you are not telling
me?”

Gillock knew
with her powers growing quickly, so there was a chance she may
figure out some things, but never this.

“There is a lot
I have not told you, and I have no plans to reveal any of that
information soon.”

Koral scowled,
but realized she was just going to have to be patient. Remembering
what the Earth Mother had said, she felt it was time for her and
Gillock to talk in private. “There were things revealed to me by
the Earth Mother,” she stated, getting to her feet. She again faced
Gillock. “Things I think she wished to be shared with you.”

“You need to
rest. Let’s move you to a pallet and we will talk there.” He took
her arm and slowly they made their way to the area they had set up
for her.

“How long this
time?” she asked.

“Only a day.”
Gillock carefully lowered her onto the blankets set out. “Now what
is it the Earth Mother has told you?”

“She said
someone in the company is spelled and giving information to the
Order, and the traitor will be revealed soon. She also said not all
of us will see the end of this journey.”

Gillock nodded.
He had already been told by Dilmek about the spell on him, but he
was not about to let Koral in on it quite yet. “Well, thank you for
telling me. I will have to think on this information. I want you to
rest now. We will be heading into Keenley in the morning.”

Once Gillock
was certain Koral was asleep, he moved off towards Glavlin and
Eric.

“What is
happening to my sister?” questioned Eric.

Gillock sighed,
and sat down, staring intently at the fire Eric had created. “I'm
not certain,” he said after a moment. “Her powers are growing far
more rapidly than I had anticipated. And if she continues to morph
into a tree, it may get worse.”

Eric shook his
head. “She is the strong one. I am the one which should be a
hindrance to this quest.”

Glavlin gently
placed his hand on Eric’s shoulder. “You and I have not been on
this quest together for very long, but you are not a hindrance to
it. You have proven your abilities, many times already. Do not sell
yourself short.”

Gillock just
nodded his agreement. Eric is whom he had figured would be a
problem. It amazed him to see Eric had also worried about how he
would handle the situations which arose.

“I will admit,
your highness, my thoughts of you on this quest were also ones of
worry,” stated Gillock. “But Glavlin is right. You have proven your
worth. Just look at how well you deal with the goblins. Only one
with your training and abilities would have been able to accomplish
such a feat.”

Eric gave a
weak smile. He appreciated the compliments and reassurances,
especially from Gillock, but he wasn’t convinced they were accurate
assessments.

“How is your
friend?” asked Glavlin, figuring a change of subject was in
order.

“He is well.
Only minor cuts and bruises,” answered Eric. “What about his
travelling companion? She is quite unusual.”

“Yes, she is,
and I think we need to learn more about Maeve before we head into
Keenley,” remarked Glavlin.

Gillock nodded
his agreement but before he could make a suggestion, Eric was up
and moving towards Dilmek, and his strange new companion.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Duke Dubar
paced nervously. The Easterners ships were spotted on the horizon
two days ago, yet not one had made any attempt to come into the
harbour. He stopped his pacing, looked out the window, and caught
his breath. One of the ships had finally moved in closer, and
looked like it would dock within the hour. Sighing with immense
relief, he set to find Captain Moore and Baron Lychen. Both would
need to be present at the meeting.

The three men
gathered in Dubar’s study. They had met with the Easterners here
many times, and wished to keep them contained. They were to be
allies in a war, but none of the men trusted them. There were four
of them this time. They had only met with Changru, whom appeared to
be a type of leader and Testra. The two new men in the group were
introduced as Morleg and Boroten. Dubar, having met with the
Easterners many times over the years, had no trouble with their
accent. The deep, guttural sound they produced when trying to speak
the king’s tongue was amusing, but no one laughed. The men were
easily around seven feet tall, and built to be fighters.

Their dark
tanned skin showed many scars, and Dubar could only assume they
were from battles. There was a danger surrounding all of the men,
and no one wanted to offend them.

“Thank you for
coming. I hope your trip was not eventful,” stated Dubar. Changru
smiled. His face so tanned it had taken on a leathery appearance.
His smile was not one of humour. His teeth were brown, and it
looked as if he was smiling to amuse Dubar.

“It be good.”
He turned to his men and muttered something in their native tongue,
and all four began to laugh. “Yes, it be good,” responded
Testra.

Dubar turned to
his associates, but did not get any help. “Well, that is good news.
Now, shall we set about our business?”

“We come to say
no help now.”

“What do you
mean no help now?” inquired Lychen.

“Emperor says
no help now. Needs to still get warriors. Will come within a
year.”

Dubar’s face
turned red. “A year! This is unacceptable! We assumed since we saw
so many ships in the distance you had brought the men we
required.”

“No,” stated
Testra. “We go in two sunrises. Then come back with trained
warriors. Emperor has said it so.”

Dubar collapsed
into his chair. This was not what he had expected at all. “When you
return, will the warriors be ready? We were hoping to train them in
our fighting ways.”

“They will
fight our way. You will win.” The statements made by the Easterners
were so matter-of-factually none of the men could even voice their
concerns.

Duke Dubar
finally spoke. “Then return to your ships. We will see you within a
year.”

The four men
bowed, and then left the stunned duke, baron and captain to their
thoughts.

Jeremy roamed
through the castle. In the past few days, he had begun to realize
how quiet it had become. Even with all the women, elderly and
children now living within the castle walls, it was still strangely
quiet. Robyn’s death still hung heavy over the entire town.
Although he had betrayed them to Malena, he had still been a part
of the castle. Jeremy sighed and quietly muttered. “My dear Robyn.
Would you have helped her if you had known what kind of evil being
she really was? And the goddess help me, for when she is released,
many terrible things may happen.”

He paused
outside of the door to the throne room. He knew inside Olrond and
Korben were waiting. It was time to discuss his strategy. The only
problem was he had not come up with one. With so many things
occurring recently, he had not been able to keep his mind on the
upcoming war. Taking a deep breath, he opened the door and moved
towards the waiting men.

“We have news,
your highness,” said Korben, and his voice had an almost cheery
note to it. “Baron Lychen has pulled all but a handful of his men
out of this area. They have all been called to Keenley.”

“Keenley? The
only reason for making this move is if he is not so confident with
an attack. He wants reinforcements.”

“That’s the
conclusion we came to as well,” stated General Traug. “But the
soldiers in Keenley are not very well trained. It will take them
months to get themselves organized enough to attack.”

“This is indeed
good news. We will have more than enough time to get things
prepared. When they do attack, we shall be more than ready.”

“Although I am
optimistic about this recent development, we cannot forget Lakin is
up to something.”

Jeremy nodded
to Olrond. “Yes, we must not take our eyes off of him.”

“I do not think
he will be a problem. Not yet anyway,” said Korben. “He needs us to
be distracted and with Lychen moving his men away, he is not going
to be too happy.”

Olrond smiled.
“Yes, he was expecting a war to begin. Now, he must wait and if the
children succeed before the war starts, he may have trouble
attacking us.”

Jeremy’s smile
faded. “That is if we are organized enough. When the children
succeed, a new threat may arise. We cannot forget about
Malena.”

“It is a threat
to worry about another time,” said Korben, his voice quiet. “She
may not have the strength to fight us right away.”

Olrond nodded
his agreement. “Let's just set about fortifying the town. We have
more than enough time to build a decent wall around the town now. I
feel it should be our main focus.”

“I agree,”
remarked Korben. “The men are already prepared; they just need time
each day to keep up with their training. Building a wall would keep
them occupied.”

“Do you have
scouts following Lychen’s men?” asked Jeremy.

“Yes,”
responded Korben. “I ordered them to follow as far as the river,
then I will have scouts posted along the river to make sure they do
not return. Early reports have a good chunk of the town of Sprague
moving off to Keenley.”

“Well, at least
the baron is taking responsibility for his town. For once,”
remarked Jeremy.

Korben smiled.
“Yes, quite out of character for the baron.”

Jeremy could
not help but smile. Times may be bleak, but he was the king, and he
was expected to be light-hearted. If the townsfolk saw he was
worried, it would cause alarm.

“So what will
be our next move?” asked Olrond. Jeremy sighed and sat down. “I am
not sure. It is good news that the baron’s men are moving out, but
with Lakin so close by, we still need to be prepared.”

Olrond nodded.
“I agree, but this does give us some more time. We should continue
preparing the men. I know we both have trained groups, but they are
trained quite differently. It’s time we combined our knowledge and
teach them a new way.”

“My lord, an
entire patrol has gone missing,” stated Captain Moore. “We must
assume the twins are in the city, or very close by. The patrol was
scouting just outside the walls. No more than a day’s ride. An
all-out alert must be issued.”

Dubar was
tired. First, the problems with the easterners, who, although
stated they would not be helping them earlier that day, were still
in the city and causing many problems. Fortunately, they had picked
up supplies and appear to be planning to stay aboard their ships.
Now a patrol has gone missing and the twins may be in his city.
Slowly he raised his eyes to meet the captain’s. “Fine, fine. Do
what you must,” responded Dubar, waving his hand towards the door.
Captain Moore quickly left to organize his troops. The entire town
would need to be searched, and it was going to be a daunting
task.