The Master's Chair (The Chronicles of Terah) (31 page)

“Well, what if I’m unconscious and someone tries to take it. Won’t I get burned, too?” Theresa asked.

“No. The opal would burst into flame, but you wouldn’t be hurt,” Evelyne said, shaking her head. “Dragon’s fire can not burn anyone it protects.”

“Dragon’s fire?”

Evelyne frowned. “Yes, Glendymere’s flame is in each of our opals. Haven’t you ever heard the story of the opals?”

Theresa shook her head.

“You must be from a really isolated area,” Evelyne said with a frown. Then she settled back on her stool and said, “A long time ago, about five hundred years, the sisters who traveled around Terah were often attacked for their herbs, potions, and healing gems. Some were even sold as slaves. Sister Drixanne thought someone should do something to protect them, so she went to see Glendymere, the grandfather of the dragons. He took her into his deepest cavern, the room where he keeps his jewels. They searched through the gems he had collected on Terah and the ones he had brought with him from the land of his birth, looking for just the right stones. Finally they came across his opal collection. All of the opals had a glimmer of fire in them, but the flame in the black opals danced as Glendymere approached, so he carried them up to the surface.”

“Our opals?” Theresa asked.

Evelyne nodded. “Glendymere had some oil lamps stored in another one of his caverns and he told Drixanne to choose one. She selected a brass-based lamp with three oil bowls, one on top of the other. Then Glendymere carried Drixanne, the opals, and the lamp back to her home in Camden. When they landed behind the chapel, he laid the opals out in a circle, took a deep breath, and blew dragon’s flame into the stones. Then he breathed on the old oil lamp to light its wick. Glendymere said that although the dragon’s flame in the opals would lie dormant until awakened, the opals would protect the sisters as long as his flame burned in the lamp.”

“How did she wake up the flame in the opals?”

“By holding the opal in the flame of the lamp until the spark inside the opal began to grow.”

“Ouch!” Theresa rubbed her fingertips in sympathy.

Evelyne laughed. “Glendymere picked out an opal for Drixanne, suspended it in the flame, and then handed it to her. She mounted it in the center of her healer’s pendant and slipped it around her neck. As she stroked the opal, Glendymere covered her in dragon’s flame. According to the legend, Drixanne said that his fire breath felt cleansing and refreshing, that there was no sensation of burning at all, and all of the sisters who have been entrusted with the care of the lamp since then have said that the flame in the lamp feels cool on their hands when they place an opal in it.”

“Because they have an opal on?”

“Yes, their opals protect them from the flame.”

“Would your opal protect me? Or just you?”

“My opal won’t burn you as long as you have your pendant on, but it won’t protect you either. An opal identifies with the first person who wears it after the flame is awakened, and the dragon’s flame continues to burn in that opal until it’s removed, either by the person who’s wearing it or by another sister after the person dies.”

“What happens then?”

“The flame becomes dormant again and the opal is returned to the head of the Sisterhood.”

“Who decides who the head of the Sisterhood is?”

“Drixanne was the first, and she chose her successor before she died. Since then, each head chooses her successor as soon as she assumes the responsibility for the lamp. The lamp is kept at the Chapel of Light in Timera Valley, just as it was five hundred years ago.”

“Has anyone ever tried to steal the lamp?” Theresa asked.

“No, why would they? The only ones who are safe around it are the sisters. The flame inside the lamp would destroy anyone else.”

“Who’s the head now?”

“Brena. And Drusilla has agreed to take over after Brena.”

“Will Drusilla have to leave Drisden and move to Camden then?”

“Yes, but she’s from that area, so it’ll be like going home.”

“How many opals did Glendymere give Drixanne?” Theresa asked. It stuck her as quite a coincidence that the dragon of the legend should have the same name as the tutor that had been arranged for Kevin.

“Six hundred.”

“So there can only be six hundred sisters at any given time?”

“Most of the time there are around five hundred practicing sisters. A sister can retire if she chooses, but she must return her pendant so that the opal can go to someone who can take her place,” Evelyne explained.

“So not everyone who wants to be a sister can train to be one, there has to be an opening. Right?” Theresa asked.

“There are usually enough openings for those who have healing hands, but not everyone who wants to be a sister has the power to heal. Sometimes a woman can train for years and never develop healing hands, but she can learn which herbs to use for which illnesses, how to gather and prepare them, how to care for wounds, and with the help of the moonstone, how to assist with childbirth. Neither of the two aides I have now has shown any real potential for becoming a sister. As my aides, they can live in the chapel and work here as long as they like, but they won’t be inducted into the Sisterhood and they won’t ever wear one of the pendants.”

“I had no idea that it was such an exclusive group. I almost feel guilty for taking one of the pendants,” Theresa said.

“No, don’t feel guilty. You have the gift. If you hadn’t gone to Drusilla, one of us would have found you. We always search out the true healers. There aren’t so many who are born with the gift that we can afford to overlook any.”

A knock on the door startled both of them. They had been so engrossed in their conversation that they had completely forgotten about the time. When Evelyne answered the door, one of her aides asked if it would be all right to serve dinner in half an hour.

“That’s fine. We’re about done for now. I’ll be in the kitchen in just a couple of minutes to help,” Evelyne answered.

Then she shut the door once again and turned to Theresa. “Anything else?”

Theresa shook her head. Then she said, “I need to run out to my wagon before it gets dark and make out a list of the herbs that I need. If I go right now, I should have enough time to do it before dinner.”

Evelyne nodded and said, “Right after dinner, I’ll make my rounds of the patients in the chapel. Would you like to join me?”

“I’d love to, “Theresa answered.

~ ~ ~ ~

During dinner, the chapel staff questioned the Tellurians about life on the road. Since most of the staff was young, Darrell and Chris took turns telling stories about some of the towns they’d visited, the people they’d met, and their adventures on the road. By the time dinner was over, the young men on Evelyne’s staff were envious, and most of the young women had crushes on one or both of them.

After the dishes had been collected, one of the aides turned to Joan and asked, “Would you like your bath drawn now, or would you like to wait a little while?”

Joan smiled and said, “I’d like to take a bath as soon as possible.”

The aide nodded and said, “I’ll draw it for you as soon as I leave here. Would lavender be all right in the bath water, with bayberry candles for aroma?”

Joan sighed with pleasure and nodded. Then she turned to Evelyne and said, “You do realize that you live in the lap of luxury here, don’t you?”

Evelyne laughed. “I try to pamper myself at least twice a week with a long, hot, aromatic bath. Theresa, would you like a hot bath prepared for you after we check on the patients?”

Theresa’s smile was answer enough.

The older aide laughed and said that she’d prepare the bath in Theresa’s room in a couple of hours. Joan headed for her bedroom to get ready for her bath while the men adjourned to the back porch with mugs of scog. Evelyne and Theresa went to Evelyne’s office.

When they reached the office, Evelyne suddenly remembered the note from Taelor. She took it out of a locked drawer in her desk and handed it to Theresa.

Theresa,

Please express my gratitude to those who travel with you, and know that I will always be in your debt. Not only did you save my life, but you also treated me as your equal. For that I am even more grateful.

I hated to leave in the dead of night without saying thank you and good-bye, but I knew that if I explained my intentions you would try to talk me out of it. There is something I must do, someone I must find. I owe it to Tsareth.

I hope I caused no inconvenience by borrowing one of the spare horses, but once I made my decision, I was eager to begin.

Please do not try to find me, for I fear that would endanger you as well as me.

Forever yours,

Taelor

Theresa folded the note back up and stuck it in one of her skirt pockets with a sigh. “I hope to run into him again one day. He really was a good assistant. Oh well. At least he’s free to make his own choices now, and that’s the important thing.”

They left the office and began checking on the various patients in the chapel. Two hours later, when they were done, Evelyne took Theresa’s list and headed out to the herb shed, while Theresa made her way to her room and the hot bath that was waiting for her.

~ ~ ~ ~

After breakfast the next morning, Evelyne sent one of the young men on her staff to help bring the horses in from the pasture. Then she told another to collect the herbs they had prepared for Theresa the previous night and take them out to her wagon so that she could get them stored. After everyone left the kitchen, Evelyne packed some sandwiches, fruit, and sweet snacks in a basket and carried it out to the barn.

An hour later the Tellurians rode out of Abernon on the southbound road. When they stopped for lunch, Theresa showed them Taelor’s note.

 “I was afraid of that,” Karl said after he read the note. “He’s probably going to get himself killed, but I have to admit, I admire him for trying.”

“For trying what?” Joan asked. “What’s going on?”

“From what Taelor told me, Tsareth had a younger daughter named Landis. She’s only twenty-four years old, but her father said that she was going to be more powerful than Rolan. I think Taelor’s planning to try to find her and see if he can find a way to help her defeat Rolan, provided Rolan hasn’t already killed her.”

“I wish him luck,” Darrell said in a wistful tone. “If he helps her defeat Rolan, he’ll probably have a lot of influence with her once she’s on the council. We might have a real chance to make an impact on slavery then.”

“There were a lot of ‘if’s and ‘when’s in there that haven’t happened yet. It’s a nice thought, but it’s no more than that right now, and I think the best thing we can do for the present is to forget about it,” Steve said.

“You’re right,” Karl said. “We have our own mission and we don’t need to get sidetracked at this point. He’ll either succeed or he won’t, but right now there’s nothing we can do to help him. Come on, let’s mount up and get back on the road.”

~ ~ ~ ~

They arrived at the next town late that afternoon, in plenty of time to get settled before their performance. Fortunately, there didn’t seem to be any medical emergencies around, so Theresa was able to join Joan in their room right after the show. Once the door was shut and locked, Theresa told Joan the legend about the black opal in her pendant.

Joan listened to the entire story before she said anything. Then she said quietly, “You don’t think there’s any way … surely not after five hundred years.”

“No, but the same thought hit me. It’s probably just a coincidence. I imagine Myron’s tutor’s parents just named him after the hero of the legend. I’m sure our Glendymere couldn’t be the same one. That was five hundred years ago. Dragons don’t live that long, do they?”

“I have no idea. I don’t know anything at all about dragons. In all the stories I’ve heard, they were always out to kill people, not to protect them,” Joan said thoughtfully.

“Surely Myron’s tutor isn’t a dragon. If he were, Kalen would have warned us, don’t you think?”

“If he thought there was anything to warn us about. He wasn’t the one who told us about dwarves going berserk or elves translocating. Duane and Palladin did.”

“Okay, but dragons are different. Surely he would have mentioned that,” Theresa insisted, but her voice didn’t sound quite as convinced as her words implied.

“It’s just a coincidence. It’s got to be. We’re being silly. No one would have sent us out to live with a dragon without warning us! Forget it!” Joan said emphatically.

“Okay, but do we tell the guys the legend, or should we just leave it for now?” Theresa asked.

“Leave it. If we jumped to the conclusion that the Glendymere in the legend is our Glendymere, imagine what Kevin will do! No, I think the best thing we can do is just keep this to ourselves until after we’ve met Glendymere and seen that he’s as human as we are,” Joan said with an air of finality. Then she quietly added, “I hope.”

Chapter 27

Blalick Arrives

Friday morning the Tellurians were heading west across an empty prairie when the clouds that had lain on top of the mountains for days suddenly lifted. In less than an hour, there wasn’t a cloud in the sky and they had their first clear view of the snow covered peaks.

Kalen had marked a pass between two of the mountains and told them to wait there for a guide, and up until that morning, the task of reaching that pass had been foremost in everyone’s thoughts. Now the pass was literally in sight, and although everyone was relieved to be nearing the end of the first part of their journey, no one had any idea what to expect when they got there, much less what the next eight months might bring. The idea of being introduced to the world of magic was exciting on one hand and scary on the other. And like always, now that there was no one around to ask, everyone had loads of questions. 

For the next couple of days the Tellurians traveled in relative silence, each lost in his or her own thoughts about the future. Joan mentally made lists of everything they needed to do to prepare for the trip to Camden in the dead of winter while Karl’s thoughts centered on food and shelter for the next eight months. Theresa planned the workroom she was going to ask Karl to build and speculated about which herbs might grow wild in the area. Steve reflected on everything they had seen, learned, and experienced as he organized the journal he wanted to write. Darrell designed an athletic field in his mind and tailored a workout a program for everyone except Theresa and Kevin. Chris alternated between excitement and dismay over the prospect of being Kevin’s assistant, and Kevin, who had no idea what he was headed into, just wanted to get there and get on with it.

The closer they got to the mountains, the more tension they felt. They finally rode into Sheridan around lunchtime on the last Sunday in May. It was a small town located at the base of the mountain range, and according to their map, it was the last town travelers would see for days, if not for weeks. Only one road went through Sheridan and when it left town it headed straight up the mountain. Common sense demanded that they stay in town Sunday night and start up the mountain early Monday morning, even though the last thing any of them wanted to do was to put on a performance.

Sheridan wasn’t the smallest town that they’d performed in, but it was close. However, since so few people passed through Sheridan, a minstrel show was a really big deal and everyone for miles around came to hear them sing. Almost as soon as the Tellurians started performing they were caught up in the crowd’s enthusiasm, and before they knew it, they had performed for a little over two hours and had enjoyed every minute of it.

Monday morning was gray and drizzly when they rode out of Sheridan, and although the drizzle ended around lunchtime, the clouds stayed with them until mid-afternoon.

When they reached the pass, they found an established campsite. There were a couple of three-sided sheds for storing wagons or carriages, and four larger sheds with fireplaces and wooden floors for people to stay in. A short ways from the campsite were several large corrals for horses, mules, and oxen. The area between the corrals and the sheds had been cleared, but a thick forest of pines surrounded the campsite on the other three sides.

The shelters were a welcome sight, especially with six inches of snow on the ground. They decided to use one of the sheds for sleeping and a second for cooking and storage, leaving the other two vacant in case anyone else happened to arrive at the pass that night. Since they had no idea how long they might be at the campsite or where they were headed when they left, they unloaded most of the food, cooking gear, and their clothes. By the time they unpacked, stored the wagons, and tended to the horses, it was evening.

Dinner was unusually quiet. After they had finished eating and were sitting around the fire, Joan asked, “How long do we stay here? I mean, how long do we wait for our guide?”

“I don’t know,” Karl answered with a shrug. “I guess we stay as long as it takes.”

“I understand what you’re saying, but what if no one shows up? How long do we wait?” Joan persisted.

“For right now we should probably plan to wait until either our food supply gives out or our supply of hay for the horses runs out. Then we’ll have to decide what to do next. But don’t forget, Glendymere’s expecting us. If we don’t show up soon, I’m sure he’ll send someone out to check on things,” Karl said. Then he turned towards Steve and asked, “Don’t you think so?”

Steve nodded. “Let’s give it a few days before we get concerned. We made pretty good time. They may not be expecting us to be here yet.”

“I just wish we had some idea whom we’re supposed to meet,” Darrell said. “They should have told us something about our guide, something to identify him.”

“Yeah, like a password,” Chris agreed, “or a physical description. Something.”

“They might not have known who would be meeting us,” Steve said.

”Well, I don’t like the idea of coming this far and then just going off with a complete stranger,” Darrell said with a frown. “After all, there are a lot of people out there looking for us.”

“You know, Kalen left out a lot when he was telling us about this journey,” Karl said as he was staring into the fire. “Sort of makes you wonder what else he didn’t tell us.”

Karl didn’t see the look that passed between Theresa and Joan, or the slight blush that crept up Chris’s cheeks, but Kevin did.

“I don’t know how to say this, but there is another bit of information that Kalen neglected to mention. Xantha told me in a dream soon after Taelor joined us.” Kevin paused and took a deep breath. “Glendymere’s not human.” Once more Kevin paused, this time to look around. Chris was busy staring into the fire. Theresa looked at Kevin expectantly, and Joan’s mouth had quietly formed an “o”. Everyone else simply looked puzzled.

“Well, what is he then, an elf? That wouldn’t surprise me at all,” Darrell said off-handedly. “What’s the big deal?”

“He’s not an elf. In fact, he isn’t any type of humanoid,” Kevin said. “He’s a dragon.”

“A what?!” Darrell exclaimed. “A dragon?”

“Yes, but before you get too concerned, Xantha said that we wouldn’t actually be staying with Glendymere, just in the same general area. Most of you won’t have to be around him,” Kevin said slowly, letting his words sink in.

“Most of us?” Steve asked. “What do you mean?”

“Well, Xantha also told me that I’d need an assistant. I’ve asked Chris if he would be willing to help me while I’m training with Glendymere and he’s agreed to do it. But the rest of you will have very little contact with Glendymere, if any, according to Xantha.”

“Chris, you’ve known that Glendymere is a dragon?” Karl asked. Chris just nodded. “Why didn’t either one of you tell us?”

“That was my decision Karl, not Chris’s,” Kevin said quickly. “To be honest, I didn’t see any reason to tell you. It was definitely a distracting thought and I didn’t think any of us needed any more distractions than we already had. And there was nothing to be done about it anyway. Dragon or not, Glendymere’s the sorcerer who has been selected to tutor me, so we had to come.”

“I found out that Glendymere is a dragon while we were in Abernon,” Theresa said slowly. “Or at least I found out that about five hundred years ago there was a dragon named Glendymere who came to the aid of the Sisterhood.” Theresa’s fingers absent-mindedly caressed her medallion. “It’s his dragon’s breath that burns in this opal.”

“And Theresa told me about Glendymere the next night,” Joan said. “We discussed bringing it up, but we really didn’t think that the Glendymere of the legend could possibly by the same Glendymere as Myron’s tutor, that was over five hundred years ago, but even if it was, what difference would it make? We still had to go.”

“So Steve, Darrell, and I were the only ones who didn’t know? Is there anything else that needs to be mentioned at this point?” Karl snapped. He was irritated with Kevin for not telling him, but he was angrier with his wife.

“Look, don’t blame them. They probably figured that I’d freak out and call the whole thing off if I found out about Glendymere. I nearly did when Xantha told me,” Kevin said quickly. “At first I thought it was just a nightmare, but then Chris told me what Taelor had said about the assassination squads. Xantha had warned me about them in the same dream, so I figured the part about Glendymere had to be true, too.”

Darrell’s face was a couple of shades lighter than normal. His mouth was slack and although his eyes were wide open, they had gone glassy and weren’t focused. He looked like he was in a trance.

“It makes sense,” Steve said with a slow nod. “If Glendymere is the best sorcerer on Terah, he would be the Master Sorcerer if he were human. Of course, that doesn’t rule out an elf, but Kalen knew that the idea of an elf wouldn’t bother us after being around Duane for so long, so he would have told us that. Therefore, Glendymere would have to be something that might spook us for Kalen to fail to mention it. It’s like the slavery issue. If Xantha hadn’t told Kevin about it, I don’t much think Kalen would have brought it up. He didn’t want to take any chances that we might refuse to go.”

“You’re probably right,” Karl said, slowly nodding his head. Then he looked at Kevin and said, “But I still don’t understand why you didn’t tell us.”

“Like I said, I found it unsettling and it hasn’t really been out of my mind since Xantha told me. I had planned to tell you once we reached the pass, but I really didn’t see any reason to mention it earlier.”

“A … a … dr … dr … dragon?” Darrell stammered. Then he whispered towards Kevin, “Like in the stories? Breathing fire? Lots of big, sharp teeth? With wings?”

“Yeah, a dragon. In fact, his scales are golden, and he has a white goatee and green eyes. He’s not really bad looking, if you can get past the teeth, and the smoke coming out of his nostrils.”

“How do you know what he looks like?” Karl asked.

“I asked Xantha what he looked like, so he showed me one of his memories. I asked him if he could show it to all of you, but he said he couldn’t.”

“Why not?” Karl asked.

“He said he can communicate telepathically with all of you, but he’d have to establish a mind link to share his memories, and I doubt if any of you really want him to do that.”

“Why not?” Joan asked.

“Because once a mind link is established, it’s there for life. He would know every thought you ever have. Absolutely nothing would be private,” Kevin explained. “He established a mind link with me before I left Terah and he has been in my mind ever since, but until that day at Kalen’s, I thought he was just a figment of my imagination. The mind link must be pretty powerful to span the gap between the worlds.”

“You’re right,” Karl said. “I don’t want anyone to take up residence in my head.”

“A dragon?” Darrell whispered.

“Come on, Darrell. Shake if off. Kalen and the others would not have gone to all the trouble of sending us here to meet him if we weren’t going to survive the introduction. You’ll get used to the idea. I did,” Chris said, grinning. He took Darrell’s arm and helped him to his feet. Then he put an arm around Darrell’s shoulder and led him outside. “Let’s go check on the horses before we head for bed. Come on.”

~ ~ ~ ~

Kevin and Chris were on watch the next morning as day began to break. While Kevin put on a fresh pot of coffee, Chris went down to the corral to check on the horses. He stood at the gate and counted to be sure that none of them had wandered off, and when he turned around to head back, he stumbled over what looked like a slab of rock about two feet long. The rock seemed to be connected to a small tree trunk, but the trunk got larger instead of smaller as it went up. As Chris’s gaze wandered up the strange tree trunk, he was astounded to realize that it was a leg and that the rock was a foot. Chris quickly backed up against the gate, and when he found that he could go no farther, he stopped and stared open-mouthed at the largest man he’d ever seen. Chris’s head only came up to the middle of the man’s thigh. He wasn’t sure how tall the giant was, but he was more than twice as tall as Chris.

The man appeared human, just magnified. He wore black boots, black leggings, and a dark gray, long-sleeve tunic. Around his waist he wore a maroon sash with green geometric designs embroidered on it, and attached to the sash was a scabbard and sword. The sword hung from the man’s waist to the middle of his calf, a good five feet at least. His bronze face was surrounded by a thick mane of black hair that tumbled down to his shoulders and was held out of his face by a headband that matched his sash. Directly under the headband were black eyebrows so bushy that they seemed to extend from one side of his head to the other, and peering out from under the canopy of hair were two eyes the color of jade. His long handlebar mustache blended into the full beard, which hung halfway down his massive, muscular chest. Peeking out from behind the thick beard was a large white opal that glittered with every color of the rainbow.

When the man opened his mouth to speak, Chris cringed, expecting a thunderous roar, but the man’s voice was quite soft and melodic. “I have come in search of one named Ke-vin-O-Reil-ly. Do you know of such a man?”

“I think I do. Hold on and I’ll get him for you,” Chris answered as he started to edge his way around the giant.

“Hold on to what, sir?” the giant asked in a quizzical voice.

“Uh, nothing. Sorry. What I meant was for you to wait right here while I go get him,” Chris said as he skirted the giant and started backing away toward the shed.

“Very good, sir. I will wait here,” the giant said with a nod.

Chris turned and sprinted to the shed where Kevin was. “Kevin, you’re not going to believe this. There’s a giant out there. He asked for Kevin O’Reilly, only he said it like it was one word. It’s got to be you. He must be our guide. Man, you are not going to believe this guy. He is huge!” Chris was talking so fast that his words ran together.

“Slow down. What are you talking about?” Kevin asked as he started towards Chris.

“Come here!” Chris grabbed Kevin’s arm and hurried him over to the door. “Look, down towards the corral. Do you see him?”