Souls of Aredyrah 2 - The Search for the Unnamed One (18 page)

Reiv threw back his head and roared with
laughter, attempting to answer between breaths. “I think he is well
aware,” he managed.

But Jensa was not amused. “Well, if you
wouldn’t mind turning off your stupidity for a moment, I came to
tell you a meeting has been called.”

Reiv composed himself and wiped the tears
from his eyes. His merriment faded. “When and where is it to be?”
he asked.

“In Pobu, tonight after dark. I’m to escort
you both, but with this weather…” Jensa looked out briefly toward
the rain that had begun to come down in torrents. “Oh, the Guard
came to Meirla looking for you, by the way.”

“Did they now?”

“Yes, but no one made any indication they had
seen you or knew of your whereabouts.”

“The Guard did not harm anyone, did
they?”

“No, everyone put on a very convincing show.
I don’t think our people wish to lose their Transcendor so soon.
Guards searched every hut, but found nothing.” She glanced again
toward the mouth of the cave and frowned. “Where is Dayn anyway?
He’s going to be soaked to the bone.”

“Perhaps you had better fetch him,” Reiv said
with a hint of humor. “After all, you are already wet.”

Jensa narrowed her eyes in response, but she
rose anyway, blanket around her shoulders, and headed out to look
for Dayn.

She found him standing beneath an outcrop of
rock, but it provided a poor shelter and he had become as soaked
through as she was. He stood there, arms wrapped around himself,
shivering as he stared at the distant horizon.

“What are you doing out here?” Jensa asked.
She reached to pull the blanket from her shoulders to wrap around
his, but he ordered her to stop with a wave of his hand.

“I’m f-f-f-fine,” he said through chattering
teeth. “I couldn’t breathe in there.”

“Well, you’re going to drown out here. You’re
ridiculous.” She pulled off the blanket and draped it around him.
As she tugged it beneath his chin, Dayn reached for it, but
clumsily grabbed her hand instead. He let go quickly and turned his
face away.

“Now you’re the one who’ll be c-c-cold,” he
said. His words were directed to her, but his eyes were focused in
the opposite direction.

Jensa moved next to him and pulled part of
the blanket around her shoulders. “Here, we can share it,” she
said.

Dayn felt the warmth of her skin against his,
but instead of his shivering subsiding, it only seemed to increase.
He thought to step away, to distance himself as far from her as
possible. But where would he go, and did he really want to?

“You’re shaking,” Jensa said. “Come on, let’s
go back in.”

Dayn nodded, but found his legs would not
move. It was as though his feet had become rooted to the mud oozing
between his toes.

The rain trickled off the strands of hair
that were hanging down his forehead and flicked at his lashes.
Jensa reached a hand up and brushed it from his eyes. “What is it,
Dayn? Tell me.”

“Nothing. Reiv and I were just talking,
that’s all.”

“About what? I could tell you were not
pleased to see me. Did I offend you in some way?”

“Oh, no! It’s just that…well we were talking
about things I wouldn’t have you overhear.”

“What sort of things?”

Dayn remained silent for a moment, his knees
rocking. “Girls, that’s all.”

“I see. And were you talking about any girl
in particular?”

“Well…yes. There’s a girl where I’m from that
I sort of care about. But I don’t know if I’ll ever see her again
and—”

Jensa moved her face close to his. “Do you
love this girl?”

“Yes, but…like…I…said…” Dayn found himself
staring into Jensa’s pale blue eyes, eyes nothing like Falyn’s,
then at her lips, lips he realized could be his for the taking. But
he found his mouth as frozen in place as his feet were.

Jensa reached her hand to his face. She
traced her thumb along his lower lip, then moved her mouth to
his.

The blanket fell from their shoulders and
dropped into the mud. The air rushed around them like a blast of
cold north wind. Dayn wrapped his arms around her and pulled her
close, savoring her warm body and soft feminine curves. He kissed
her deeply, relishing the sweetness of his first kiss, wondering if
he was doing it right, wondering if she felt as wonderful as he did
at the moment. His questions were soon answered by the enthusiasm
of her hands and the passion of her mouth on his. It was then that
he realized what his sister had been so afraid of.

He pulled away. “I—I’m sorry,” he said. “I
shouldn’t have done that.”

Jensa looked puzzled. “Didn’t you like it?”
she asked.

“Of course I liked it. You’re beautiful and…”
Dayn looked down ashamedly. “It was wrong. Forgive me.”

Jensa clenched her jaw. “Very well,” she said
stiffly. “Let’s go back to the fire. It’s getting colder out here
by the minute.”

Dayn nodded silently in response, her meaning
more than clear. He reached down and retrieved the blanket from the
mud and followed her back into the cave.

BACK TO ToC

Chapter 17: Birth of the Clans

R
eiv, Dayn, and
Jensa set out in a drizzle of rain that wrapped them like a cold,
gray shroud. There was little point in waiting for the weather to
clear, it obviously had no intention of doing so, and so they left
the shelter of the cave in hope of reaching Pobu by nightfall.

The main road was a series of washed-out
ruts, but even had it been better fit for travel, they had already
decided to take an alternate route. Though it was doubtful anyone
else would be traveling in such unpleasant weather, they did not
wish to be seen, not by friend or by foe. Conversation waned as
they plodded through the thick, scruffy grasses of the meadowlands.
Dayn and Jensa managed to keep courteous distances from one
another, while Reiv trudged behind, lost in thought and seemingly
oblivious to the misery of the other two.

The trek took longer than it should have. By
the time they were within sight of the city, the sun had long since
set and turned the sky from charcoal gray to inky black. Only the
occasional twinkle of lights in the distance gave them any
guidance. They made their way in gloomy silence, the dreariness of
the landscape and the chill of the air matching the aches in their
bones and the frostiness of their moods.

When they reached the city, Jensa led them
through a series of muck-filled back streets until they stopped
before a dilapidated two-story building. It was dark and quiet and
seemed abandoned. They approached quietly, Jensa leading the way,
Dayn hesitating as they reached the doorway.

Reiv marched around Dayn and followed Jensa
inside, unmindful of the heavy stillness that surrounded them. A
single candle could be seen flickering in a nearby corner of the
room. It reflected on Torin’s face, his eyes looking like shiny
beads against a pallet of distorted patterns.

“Are we to meet in the dark?” Reiv asked.

Jensa went to stand next to her brother. He
tilted another candle to the one that was already lit, then handed
it to her. Candles brightened one by one as others in the room
followed suit. Before long the entire place was alight with halos
of gleaming flames and curious faces.

Reiv took his place next to Torin and leaned
into him, inquiring quietly as to Kerrik’s condition. Reiv nodded,
relieved by the man’s smile and optimistic response.

The interior of the place was larger than it
had first appeared, and many people were packed within it. Most sat
shoulder to shoulder on benches or makeshift chairs, while others
lined the walls. Men, women, young and old, Jecta and Shell Seeker,
even a few Tearians could be seen scattered throughout. Reiv
stepped forward and eyed the crowd, capturing the attention of each
and every one of them.

“I know you have all come at great risk,” he
said.

“Yes, prince, we have,” a disgruntled Jecta
man said. “Pray we haven’t found ourselves in a Tearian trap!”

Voices muttered in agreement.

Torin stepped forward. “You will hold your
tongues until the prince has said his piece.”

Reiv placed a hand on Torin’s shoulder. “I
may not have their trust, but do not worry, I will soon have their
ears.”

Torin nodded and stepped aside, his arms
crossed and expression hard.

“The first order of business is this,” Reiv
said, “I am no longer Tearian, nor am I prince. I am only Reiv.
”

“You are more than that,” a Tearian woman
called from the back. “You are the one the Prophecy speaks of.”

“I am not here to discuss prophecies,” Reiv
said.

The crowd mumbled with confused and
conflicted opinions.

Reiv raised his hand to quiet them.

“But you’re a Transcendor,” a young Shell
Seeker man said from his shadowy place against the wall.

“I will not dispute that I have undergone the
ritual,” Reiv replied. “I am here only to offer what I have learned
from it.”

“What would that be?” a man said, raising his
fist into the air. “Can you offer us freedom from the oppression of
the Throne and the Temple? Can you offer us food on our tables and
medicine for the sick? Can you offer our children hope for the
future, or give us back the pride we’ve lost? What is it you
can
offer us?”

“Knowledge. The rest is up to you.”

“That’s easy enough to say,” a woman said.
“But what good is it?”

“You will have to be the judge,” Reiv
replied.

Voices in the crowd began to swell, and
Reiv’s eyes flashed a command for silence. The room became quiet.
Bodies stilled as they watched and waited.

“The world of Aredyrah was once a larger
place,” Reiv began, “but it is larger today than you have been led
to believe. There are others in our world, those who live on the
other side of the mountains. They have shared Aredyrah from the
beginning. The people of the north are different from us in many
ways, and yet they are more like us than not.”

A few gasps were heard, and voices mumbled as
heads leaned to listen to their neighbors. Words of doubt made the
rounds.

“What proof do we have that what you say is
true?” someone in the crowd asked. “How do we know there’s this
other place beyond the mountains? Who’s ever seen it?”

“Dayn has seen it,” Reiv said, motioning his
arm in Dayn’s direction. “Dayn is from the other place. It is
called Kirador.”

Dayn had remained in the shadows, staring at
his feet in quiet contemplation. But his head shot up when his name
was mentioned. Reiv’s eyes, as well as every other eye in the room,
were focused upon him.

Reiv motioned him forward. “Come, Dayn. Tell
them.”

Dayn stepped forward and gazed at the sea of
doubting faces. “I…I am from Kirador. It’s true,” he said.

“But he looks Tearian!” an elderly man on the
front row cried. “How do we know this isn’t some sort of
deception?”

“It is no deception,” a woman’s voice boomed
from the doorway. All eyes turned in the direction of the shadowy
form behind the voice. New mutterings began as Brina stepped into
the room with Alicine and Nannaven at her back.

“Dayn is my son,” Brina said as she marched
across the room and took her place at his side.

Shocked voices echoed around her, but Brina
gave the crowd no time for further comment as she ordered silence
with a firm display of her palm. “He was born with a mark,” she
said, gesturing to the birthmark on his neck, “and for that I was
not allowed by Temple law to keep him. I took him to the
mountain—”

Words of astonishment resonated throughout
the room. “To the mountains? The forbidden place? The home of the
gods?”

“Yes,” Brina shouted over the voices. “I took
him to the mountain cave to beg the gods to cure him. I did not
care if it was forbidden. I would have given my very soul to save
him. It was there that I met someone I believed to be a god. He
took my child with the promise that he would heal him and return
him to me in a year’s time. But he never came back. I went there
year after year seeking to have my son returned to me, but never
again did I see the god beneath the mountain. Then, several weeks
ago, I went to visit my nephew, Reiv, and found him with two
strangers, a boy and a girl. Reiv believed them to be Jecta
thieves, but a miracle happened. I recognized the mark on the boy’s
neck. When I questioned him I learned he had been taken from the
mountains as a babe and raised by a family on the other side of
it—a family from Kirador. It is there my son has been these past
sixteen years, until fate gave him cause to leave that place and
seek the truth.”

“Maybe it’s just a tale he told,” someone
accused. “Maybe he lied about his whereabouts.”

“My brother doesn’t lie!” Alicine stepped to
the forefront. “Dayn’s my brother, not by blood, but by the life
we’ve shared. I’m also from Kirador, and before we came here we
didn’t believe in you any more than you believe in us.”

“Before I lay my life on the line, I want
more proof!” a man said. “All we’ve been given is the word of a
former enemy and that of a Tearian woman and two children.”

Reiv threw a glare over the crowd. “You
demand proof of what you know to be true! I am here to give you the
knowledge I was instructed to reveal, so listen well. Truth is a
power long kept from you, and it will be the power that frees
you.”

The room grew silent, and eyes turned to him
with fearful longing. Even those who had expressed doubt stilled in
their seats. Then Reiv began.

“Long ago our people were not divided by
mountains, or fear, or religious superstition. Though our cultures
were different, our natures were not, for we were all made in the
image of the Creator. While those of the north believed in one god
only, and those of the south in many, we all shared the belief in
the same Creator.