Rojuun (30 page)

“It is
long
in the past.” He and
Tathan chuckled. Marrraa looked back at them in puzzlement, not
getting the reference. Sir Danth continued, “I grew up in the order
and became one of the finest warriors the Knights of Morhain had
ever known.”

“I’ve met a few knights in my travels and
they’re not half as capable, nor honorable as you, Sir Danth,”
Tathan told him. “I’m glad you’re on our side.”

“I second that sentiment,” Marrraa mumbled
from in front of them.

Tathan grinned and continued. “Liselle seems
to me like the flowers she has an affinity for; beautiful, fragile
and too good for the world.” He shook his head with a sigh. “I know
I can’t keep her safe, but it doesn’t prevent me from wanting to
try.

“Aye. It will not prevent me from trying
either, my friend,” Sir Danth said with another gauntleted smack.
Tathan was going to have a dislocated shoulder if he kept talking
to the knight. “Lady Liselle is as beautiful as the stars in the
night and glows more brightly. She is lovely to speak with as well.
Both good and evil will be attracted to her as the bee is to the
flowers our lady loves so much.”

“May she find more good than evil,” Tathan
said hopefully. He became thoughtful. “Do you think that Vevin is
more good than evil, Sir Danth?”

“I don’t know, Master Tathan,” the knight
admitted. “I believe he would die for Liselle, but I am not
entirely certain that his mind is intact.”

“It’s his attraction to Liselle that
concerns me most. It seems like he feels more than simple adoration
for her,” Tathan said with a frown.

“Oh yes, I believe he does feel more than
simple adoration,” Sir Danth acknowledged. When Tathan looked at
him with widened eyes at the confirmation of his fears, the knight
went on. “I know it is not what you would wish to hear, Master
Tathan, but I believe that he is truly in love with her. I have no
idea how you should feel about it though.”

“I don’t like it,” Tathan admitted. “As her
cousin, I feel as though I should intervene, but at the same time
I’m pretty sure she would strangle me with flowers if I tried.”

Marrraa turned and gave him a funny look at
the comment about being strangled by flowers. Sir Danth chuckled.
“I trust you are right about her reaction. Lady Liselle makes her
own decisions and I believe she may be fond of Master Vevin in
return,” he said, holding his finger up to make the point.

“Do you really think so?” Tathan asked. “I
know she likes him, but he’s so . . . different?” He let out a
sigh. “I just don’t know, Sir Danth. Liselle’s feelings are
difficult to read and I just don’t know what to make of Vevin at
all.”

“Aye. He is odd, but I must say that I like
him,” the knight admitted with a small laugh. “As you said of me,
‘I’m glad he is on our side’.”

“That is very true. I don’t know that I’d
feel comfortable if he were angry with me,” Tathan admitted.

“I agree with that wholeheartedly.” Sir
Danth nodded his head. “I don’t believe I would survive a battle
against him.”

Marrraa stopped and turned around to stare
at them. “I have seen you battle, Sir Danth Human. I cannot imagine
anyone defeating you in single combat.” She was very earnest in her
praise of the knight.

“Thank you for the confidence in my
abilities, Mistress Marrraa,” the knight said with a bow. “While
there are few who could stand against me, Master Vevin is a rare
individual and I would not care to test my abilities against him.
Shall we continue?” he suggested with a gesture for her to lead on.
He didn’t want to get into details about their dragon friend.

Marrraa frowned at both of them for a
moment. Seeing that they were not going to elaborate, she turned
around and led the way at a quicker pace. Tathan and Sir Danth
followed in silence.

Tathan thought about the events since
Liselle had cast her spell. Marrraa had spoken to a council of
elders. Jarrrn was the head of the Garrrn family, but Rojuun
families had councils of elders that took care of judicial aspects
of society.

Tathan, Vevin and Sir Danth had been called
into the chamber of the elders. Eight council members sat at tables
on a raised dais while other Rojuun in fine robes sat in rows on
either side of the chamber floor. Eight was a holy number for the
Rojuun and many things were done in eights.

Marrraa stood in the center of the chamber
floor, telling of the events in the cavern and the human’s
decimation of the sstejj. Many of the Rojuun in the room expressed
disbelief at various points in the story. After she was finished,
the council asked the humans to approach one at a time. Each was
asked to tell their version of what happened.

Tathan was first and told them a simplified,
modest version of events, which still seemed to impress them a
great deal. Sir Danth gave a clinical description of his actions,
which didn’t quite portray the violent deaths of the sstejj at the
point of his greatsword. They both downplayed Liselle’s magical
display as much as they could, which meant that it was merely
awesome instead of earth shattering. They admitted Liselle was
capable of powerful magic, both healing and offensive magic, but
warned that she was still inexperienced and the amount of magic
used was more than she could handle. The companions assured the
council that they would help to guide her in the future.

When Vevin’s turn came, he asked the council
about sstejj and their habits. The council told them that the
sstejj had hunted Rojuun for a long time, but the monsters had not
always existed. They told him how the sstejj primarily hunted their
race, forgoing easier prey just to get at one of them. They also
told Vevin details about the anatomy of the sstejj.

The council told Vevin many things before he
sat down. The elders were very happy with their questioning of
Vevin even though they hadn’t actually asked him one single
question. Sir Danth and Tathan looked at each other and shook their
heads in amazement.

Everyone was asked to leave the chambers
while the Council of Elders deliberated. Tathan and Vevin checked
on Liselle then ate a meal in their common room. Sir Danth went
outside the dwelling to stand by the lake in contemplation.

When they were brought back in, the elders
thanked them for their actions in the cavern. They had sent a
scouting party to verify the story. The scouts found the charred
and sliced bodies left behind as there hadn’t been enough time for
more sstejj to eat the corpses. Marrraa told them later that the
scouting party had given their report to the council with
awe-filled voices.

The council gave the companions a reward
above and beyond their pay. Four gifts were to be divided as the
companions pleased. They chose Liselle’s reward first, a necklace
of fine platinum and jewels more beautiful than any of them had
ever seen. That was saying a lot considering that Vevin was a
dragon, Sir Danth had guarded royal treasure and Tathan was a thief
with a taste for wizard’s vaults. The second treasure was a large
tapestry of a bejeweled cavern with rivers flowing through it while
fairies flitted along the water. Sir Danth admired it. The council
agreed to set it aside for him until such time as he could collect
it. Vevin took a golden dagger with a bejeweled hilt that was
perfect for his treasure trove. Tathan accepted the last item, a
gold ribbon ring with two small pearls set in it. They told him
that it could cause the wearer to be invisible for a short time
once per day. It was the best thing they could have given him.

After the council rewarded the party, it was
made clear that they would still be expected to honor their
contract. Liselle would be allowed to rest as long as needed. The
elders were certain the rest of them could handle the duties, as
they had proven so capable. It was an unceremonious end to the
ceremony, but the group didn’t mind. It was good to have it
over.

The next day, Tathan and Sir Danth had gone
out to provide protection for a gate crew. The crew would build a
new gate in each of the twelve tunnels. The doors of the new gates
would remain open until such time as they would be able to lock the
entire cavern.

In the past, efforts to build gates had been
futile due to the number of sstejj in the cavern. With Tathan and
Sir Danth protecting the crew, a gate was successfully built that
first day. Now they were traveling to the next tunnel with every
expectation that it would be finished as well.

There weren’t as many sstejj as there had
been the first day the companions had fought, but the boys were
able to make a game out of seeing who could get the most gill
shots. Marrraa had brought three young warriors in training in
order to teach them how to fight the monsters. The humans made it
easy for the Rojuun to gather around individual sstejj and test
their skills on it.

Hours passed before the next gate was
finished and the party made their way back to the dwelling. The
workers were happy at producing so much work two days in a row.
Marrraa was happy that she had been able to train the young
warriors. Only one came back injured. He had a broken arm from
trying to imitate the human’s gill shots. He would be fixed up by
the healer and be ready to go in a week or two.

The party was informed that Liselle was
awake just as they entered Garrrn Cavern. Both Tathan and Sir Danth
ran back to the dwelling.

Chapter
28

Liselle reassured the boys that she was fine
while they hovered around her bed with concerned looks. She had
slept a while longer before waking up hungry again. Vevin had
brought her more food, which she nibbled on.

Tathan sat at the foot of the bed. “I’m glad
you’re safe, Cousin. A part of me knew you were fine, but another
part worried the magic had damaged you.” Liselle saw tears welling
in his eyes. His jaw was set in a manly attempt not to let them
flow.

“There’s no damage, Cousin,” Liselle told
him softly. “I know you’re worried about me. I worked hard to keep
that spell under control and just barely managed. If I had made a
mistake, I would have died,” she admitted. “The plants in the
cavern are different from plants above. They give their energy
differently and don’t have as much care for my well-being.” Liselle
held up a drumstick to make her next point. She
really
liked
the drumsticks and eyed it hungrily while talking. “I learned
quickly what happened and I will have no problem controlling it in
the future. Please believe that this will not happen again,” she
finished and took a large bite of the drumstick that taunted
her.

“I
do
believe you. You learn magic
faster than anyone I’ve known and show intelligence in using it,”
Tathan said with relief in his voice. “I feel a responsibility for
you, Cousin. I know you can take care of yourself, but I still feel
as though I should look after you.”

Liselle wiped drumstick juice from her chin
with a napkin Vevin handed her. “I look to you for guidance,
Tathan. You know the world better than I do. While you look after
me, you’ve also been respectful of me, which is nice because it
means I don’t have to bonk you in the head,” she finished with a
wide grin, sticking her tongue out at him.

Sir Danth laughed loudly. “Well said,
Milady. Well said. It is good to see you in high spirits. Have you
been given your share of the reward, by the way?”

“Reward? What reward?” That got Liselle to
stop eating for just a moment. “We got a reward? I don’t think I’ve
ever gotten a reward before.”

Vevin brought it out in a beautiful box,
which he opened. “I wanted to wait ‘til everyone was here before
giving it to you.” The jewels on the platinum necklace glistened in
the light of the room when he opened it.

Liselle brought a hand to her throat and
gasped. She ran fingers over the delicate weave of patterns in the
necklace. “It’s so beautiful.”

“Our actions in the cavern that first day
were considered heroic,” Sir Danth explained. “The Rojuun believe
that horde of sstejj would have broken through the gate and overrun
Garrrn Cavern had we not been there to fight.” He crossed his arms
and took a serious tone. “I believe they may be right about that
fact.”

“Oh, that reminds me.” Liselle looked away
from the necklace. “Something is driving the sstejj to kill the
Rojuun. Something dark and sinister.” Vevin put the necklace back
in its box while Liselle grabbed another drumstick and began
nomming on it.

“Something? What sort of something, Milady?
Can you give us more detail?” Sir Danth asked.

“I don’t know. The plants told me there’s
something sinister driving the sstejj to kill Rojuun,” she said,
waving the drumstick in emphasis. “They don’t really speak or give
me images, communicating in . . . concepts I suppose.” She looked
at the drumstick in disappointment, realizing that she wasn’t going
to get to bite it until she finished speaking. “The creature,
whatever it is, lives in the dark depths of the caverns along with
the sstejj. They both have an unnatural hunger for the Rojuun and
will keep trying to kill them until they’re exterminated.” She
pounced on the drumstick that had waited so patiently for her to
finish.

“What do we do with that information?”
Tathan rubbed his chin in thought. “We originally came here to get
information about the Rojuun for Mother Tree.”

“I realize that I recently broke an oath,
Master Tathan, but I do not intend to stand by and let a noble
race, regardless of their misguided opinions about humans, be
slaughtered by monsters,” Sir Danth said.

“Oh no! I like the Rojuun, Tathan.” Vevin
stood and nodded his head rapidly for emphasis. “They have
beautiful music, paintings and lots of treasure. They’re nice too
and their voices are pretty and fun to listen to.” He stopped.
“Although I still haven’t had a chance to taste one . . .”