The Tower Of The Watchful Eye: The Legend Of Kairu Book 1 (43 page)

“
One wrong step and we will kill you,” the leader stated. “We
have enough problems with Kairus in the forest.”

Here
, Cathy said as a memory flashed
through my mind.

“
Yes, the Tower is here on other business. They are
investigating the weird wolf prints,” I said.

“
Wolf? Far from it,” the leader said. “It’s a Masquade, an
ancient forest guardian that has been corrupted by a Demon. Your
Tower was no match for it. All the Mages you sent are now part of
the Masquade’s army.”

“
How many more did they send?” I asked.

“
That is a question you can ask the Mistress,” the leader
answered. “I do not wish to be out here any longer than
necessary.”

“
Then we must hurry,” I said.

The leader
held out her open palm and a piece of vine unravelled from around
her wrist. She closed her hands around the vine and approached
me.

“
You must wear the Vines of Sharana,” she said. “It is for our
protection.”

“
I was waiting for something like this,” I said accepting the
vine. “You get use to it after a while.”

I started to
wrap them around my wrist and the Nao leader shook her head.

“
It goes around your neck,” she said. “The poison can get to
your brain faster after I activate it.”

“
How comforting,” I said sarcastically as I wrapped it around
my neck.

The vines
gripped into my skin and grew increasing uncomfortable and itchy. I
tried to scratch around it with no luck.

“
Shall we go,” I said. “Then longer I have to wear this, the
crankier I'm going to get.”

The leader
smiled slightly and motioned us forward.

***

Our walk
through the forest was pleasant. The Nao moved at a pace that
suggested they had all the time in their world and nothing would
ever bother them.

Or they are just screwing with you,
Cathy said.

That would
make more sense.

The forest
started to thin out a bit but that only meant the claustrophobic
feeling was finally leaving. We stopped and the leader of the group
looked back at me.

“
You should consider yourself lucky,” she said. “Only a select
few of your species have seen what you are about to
see.”

She turned to
a nonspecific section of forest and held up one hand.

“
Watusa Donari Kabu,” she whispered into the wind.

The forest in
front of me started to meld and change as the trees disappeared to
reveal a small clearing with houses and many Naos walking
around.

We walked into
the city and I couldn’t help but stare in awe at the houses. They
were trees that had been magically shaped as they grew. The city
was small, housing a very small population in comparison to a
village in Nesqa or Balendar.

It wouldn’t surprise me if this was their only village
too
, Cathy said.
We probably could have killed them all.

Shh! They can
see through us. If they see your murder thoughts, we are dead
before we can move.

The Nao
villagers watched me in fear as I walked past. They could see the
vine around my neck and my escorts but they still watched in terror
as if this was a trick.

The group led
me to the large building in the centre of the village. The door
guards moved aside and the leader and I entered the building.

Inside the
building was a giant spring. The water glowed with a blue light
from small creatures that swam in it. The room was otherwise
sparsely decorated with only a couple of tables holding scrolls.
The leader led me past the spring to the back of the building. A
Nao in a horned headdress and wolf pelt kneeled before a large
statue of a Tree Creature holding an orb.

“
Welcome home, Sister Carlia,” the Nao said as she stood up
and turned towards us. “I see you have brought me a person of
interest.”

I had noticed
that the Nao's vines were the easiest way to distinguish one from
another. It seems that they grow in a different way on each
Nao.

I don’t think they would appreciate you staring at their
bodies,
Cathy said.

I’m just
trying to learn more about them. This isn’t a perverted thing.

If I end up looking like one of these in your next dream, I
am going to beat you with a tree trunk,
Cathy replied.

“
This Kairu was seen along the western side of the forest,
Mistress,” Sister Carlia stated. “We were out training Apprentice
Fawna when he gave her quite the fright. He claims to be on a
mission for Keeper Anderson.”

The Mistress
looked me over and approached Sister Carlia. “Share with me
everything.”

The Mistress
and Sister Carlia’s eyes both glowed white for a second before
returning to their normal black. The Mistress looked back at me and
studied me thoroughly. Not wanting to risk anything, I stood
quietly and waited.

“
Interesting,” The Mistress said. “Share with me
everything.”

“
What?” I asked nervous as her eyes glowed white.

The world
disappeared as images flashed before my eyes too quickly to
understand. I don’t know how long it went on for but when my vision
refocused I was on the ground staring at the Mistresses feet,
gasping for breath.

What the crap!
Cathy
exclaimed.

What
happened?

She watched all your memories,
Cathy
answered
. I just managed to keep mine
secure!

A hand reached
down for me and I looked up to see it belonged to Sister Carlia. I
took the hand and she helped me back to my feet.

“
Thank you,” I said still feeling a little fuzzy.

“
The Mistress didn’t order your immediate death so I can grant
you this small act of kindness,” Sister Carlia said
softly.

“
Does that mean you will take back your vine?” I asked tugging
at it.

“
Only when the Mistress says so,” she said looking back
towards the Mistress with a small smirk.

I looked at
the Mistress who had closed her eyes and stood perfectly still.
When she opened her eyes they were just settling back to black and
she nodded to Sister Carlia.

Sister Carlia
held out her hand and the vine loosened around my throat. I grabbed
it and pulled it away as fast as I could and returned it to Sister
Carlia’s hand. It coiled around her wrist and she lowered her
hand.

“
Thank you,” I said to both of them.

“
You have led an interesting life Andrew Holcombe,” the
Mistress said. “Your situation is also unique and I believe because
of it we may be able to help each other.

“
You are familiar with the danger in our forest. The
Masquade’s army grows stronger as your Order of Magic continues to
try and fight it. With you already being possessed by a Kairu, you
will not be able to join its army. If you could weaken the Masquade
enough, we can perform the ritual that will cleanse the Kairu from
the guardian and banish the guardian to the afterlife.”

“
We do not have a ritual for such an act,” Sister Carlia
stated.

“
Andrew does,” The Mistress smiled. “In his Ritual Book is the
same ritual that he performed on himself to remove his Kairu.
Andrew, if you are willing, will you allow me to see your
book?”

“
Of course,” I said as I removed it from my pack. “I don’t
know how much help I can be against the Masquade. I can’t stand
against everyone. I’m afraid it’s too much for me.”

The Mistress
nodded and motioned for us to follow her. “I have seen inside you.
I know what you are capable of and the potential you carry. It is
not in our nature to trust another species but this is a special
circumstance. Our numbers are few and we will need everyone for the
cleansing.”

We stopped in
front of the spring and I looked down. The little glowing orbs swam
towards the edge as if it could sense us.

“
This is our Life Spring, the Scared Well as you know it,”
Mistress Velias continued. “Inside here is every Nao spirit that
has lived and will ever live. This is our anchor onto this world.
By giving you a piece of it, we are literally giving up a part of
ourselves. This is a sacrifice that I am willing to make, if you
are willing to fight for us.”

“
I am willing to fight for you but we are talking about an
army and an ancient guardian here,” I said looking at her. “You saw
my memories, I struggle against one Mage.”

“
You have many tools at your disposal,” she said softly. “You
hold a Buyi’dati, a focusing crystal, and a powerful Staff. If you
allow me those, I will join them together for you. The weapon will
be sufficient enough to equal the odds.”

I looked back
over the Life Spring. “There is no other way?”

“
I’m sorry, human, but no,” Mistress Velias said. “Those are
my conditions.”

“
You know, this makes the Evenawk Rebellion look like a mild
disagreement in comparison,” I smiled looking back at
her.

She smiled in
return. “You accomplished that though.”

“
Very well,” I said as I handed her the book, staff and
crystal.

Just like that?
Cathy asked.
Her case wasn’t convincing.

It didn’t need
to be. It was inevitable. Everywhere we’ve gone we’ve had to do
something before we get rewarded. If it wasn’t this, it would have
been something else. Keep digging through those old spells. We are
going to need everything we can get.

You got it, Andy,
Cathy
said.

“
Thank you,” The Mistress said with a slight bow. “I will
begin the preparations. I know you are interested in our history
and culture. Feel free to ask any question and Sister Carlia will
answer in full.”

“
You are serious?” Sister Carlia asked.

“
I am serious,” Mistress Velias said.

“
You’ll have to forgive me,” Sister Carlia said turning to me.
“This is the first time another species will hear the full
truth.”

“
You can trust me with it,” I said.

“
Where shall we start?” she asked.

“
From the beginning,” I answered.

Chapter 37

The Nao
history was very spiritual. As Sister Carlia told me the beginning
it felt more of a religious retelling then from an historical point
of view.

It started at
the dawn of time where the Tree God, Alfoa, created a new species
of trees with sentient life serve as guardians after Alfoa left the
Physical Plain. He called upon his loyal servants in the Spirit
Plain to inhabit the sentient trees and bounded them to the Life
Springs. Upon death, they would return to the spring to wait to be
reborn and keep the cycle going. When the spirits first entered the
Physical Plain, all the memories of the Spiritual Plain were wiped
out except for Alfoa’s mission to protect the sacred forest of
Szwen and the Life Spring. This has become their never ending quest
until the day Alfoa returns.

When Sister
Carlia started talking about their rebirthing, I really had to pay
attention. She explained that Carlia had always been her name since
she was a spirit in the Spirit Plain. She cannot remember her many
past lives but she said that any of the skills that she has learned
in a previous life will continue with each life. Her example was
Tree Crafting. She said that the day she was brought into this
world, she grew her house without being told what to do.

The whole
history and knowledge transference was weird to me. It seemed like
their history was similar to Humans in the sense that everything
was told orally until it was first written down. The Nao were
probably the same as the Humans or Evenawks, evolving their way
through history, but the very magical nature of them leaves me
doubting there isn’t some truth in the history as Sister Carlia
told it.

Sister Carlia
teaching me the history also gave me a chance to get to know her.
She was Mistress Velias apprentice and would take over as the
leader of the Nao after her death. She spoke as if she was dreading
the day. Despite being wise, knowledgeable and her smooth treatment
of an ‘anomaly’ like me, the Masquade situation weighed heavily on
her mind.

“
How long do the Nao live for?” I asked.

“
100 years,” Sister Carlia answered. “After that we return our
spirit to the Life Spring so another spirit can live and
serve.”

“
How old are you and the Mistress?” I asked.

“
I am 46 cycles old and Mistress Velias is 99 cycles old,” she
answered. “She has one more cycle to make sure I am prepared but
I’m afraid I won’t be the Mistress we need.”

“
You will do fine, in time,” Mistress Velias said as she
emerged from another room. “I am glad that we are both here to deal
with this Masquade problem.” She turned to me and handed back my
items. “Thank you for lending them to me.”

“
Thank you for upgrading my staff,” I said as I looked over
the white Staff. The crystal was secured firmly at the top but I
couldn’t see how.

“
Sister Carlia, how fast can your scouts get our friend out to
the Daru’ka?” Mistress Velias asked.