Daughter of Hauk (The Raven Chronicles Book 1) (23 page)

              Arwenna paused for a moment to smell one of the many flowering bushes. A small smile crept onto her face. Turning to the priest, she said, “You should look into planting some blooms that will attract butterflies.”

              Confusion was written all over his face, “Butterflies? Why would you say that?”

              “Trust me. Hauk likes butterflies.”  Her smile broadened, amused at the look on his face. “Shall we continue?”

              Stammering a bit, he started walking towards a door on the other side. “He’s in here. He hasn’t told us his name. He arrived almost a year ago and simply asked if he could have a small room.”  The priest stopped outside a plain wooden door.

              Arwenna glanced at Y’Dürkie before lightly knocking on the door. A muffled voice quietly replied, “Enter.”  Taking a deep breath, Arwenna pressed down on the latch and entered. She could hear Y’Dürkie follow her and close the door behind them.

              The room was small and simply furnished. The white walls reflected the light streaming in through the glass. A man knelt on the floor in front of the makeshift altar. Arwenna and Y’Dürkie stood quietly, waiting for him to finish his prayers.

              “I may be here a while. Please feel free to discuss what it is you came here for.”  The low voice drifted across the room, the recognizable timbre of her one-time companion made her smile again.

              “Still spending all morning in prayer, Bah’Laush?  I thought you had gotten to where you could do that on horseback.”  Arwenna kept the tone of her voice light.

              Bah’Laush started upon hearing her voice, rising slowly before turning to face her. “Arwenna?” He blinked, as if not believing his eyes. “Y’Dürkie? What are the two of you doing here?”

              “We came to find you, Bah’Laush. I need your help.” 

              Bah’Laush’s brow furrowed. “My help?  Arwenna, be serious. There’s little I can do that would help you. Or anyone else for that matter.”

              Arwenna gave him a direct look. “It’s time to stop punishing yourself over one small infraction and come back among the living.”

              Bah’Laush sighed and sat down on the bed, waving her and Y’Dürkie to take seats as well. “One small infraction?  Arwenna, I
killed
someone!  To take a life is one of the most serious sins.”

              Refusing the chair, Arwenna moved in front of her old friend and knelt in front of him. “Not always, no. What you did was in defense, to keep the rest of us alive. You don’t have to hide away because of it.”

              Taking a deep breath, she continued, “Bah’Laush, Senyan’s changed. He’s become undead. He’s completely ruled by a demon that was hiding in that raven of his. We’re trying to find a way to stop him, but I need you to help us. There’s a relic we’re searching for, and the clue to its location is buried with a man that died centuries ago. I need you to come with us to his tomb, help us communicate with him and find out where the relic went when he was assassinated.”

              “What do you plan on doing with this relic, when you find it?  Kill Senyan?  I can’t kill him any more than I could you or Y’Dürkie!”

              “I don’t know if it will kill him, just that it will help us defeat him. He’s not the same person you knew, Bah’Laush!  He ordered the slaughter of children. While we were fighting, he sent troops around to our rear and began to kill the male children of the men fighting!  If we don’t do something to stop him, the world as we know it will be occupied by demonic creatures and undead. Who knows what he will do to those who are alive. I don’t even want to think about it.”  She shuddered involuntarily, remembering his threat of placing a collar around her own neck. “You have to make a choice, Bah’Laush. You can sit here and wait for him to come find you…and I’m certain he will…or you can come with me and help us. Wouldn’t saving the lives of millions of innocent children be worth the cost of destroying him?  I’m not asking you to be the one to kill him, or anyone else on this journey. Right now, I just need your help talking with one spirit. Once we have the relic, you can come back here and hide from the world again if you must.”  She stared up into his eyes, willing him to agree.

              Looking away from her, Bah’Laush glanced towards Y’Dürkie. Arwenna knew that her face would show him the truth of her words. Y’Dürkie had repelled that rear attack and saw the devastation and despair left behind. The realization of what was going on began to show on his face. Arwenna watched anxiously for him to make his decision.               When he finally closed his eyes and nodded in agreement, Arwenna let out a big breath in relief and rose from the floor.

              “Who else do we have, Arwenna?  Is it just the three of us?” Having made the decision, Bah’Laush’s voice carried the conviction that it had before.

              “Barek and Gabby are with us, as well as another. We’ll explain all that once we get on the road. There’s a lot you still need to know.”  Arwenna leaned against the wall, wondering how he would take both her change and Lexi’s.

              Bah’Laush rummaged through the chest purposefully. Finding his old pack, he threw a variety of things inside. Arwenna and Y’Dürkie stood silently, waiting for him to finish. He slung the now full pack and signaled his readiness.

              Walking back out of the cell, they saw the priest still waiting for her to emerge. She stepped aside with Y’Dürkie, giving Bah’Laush time to say his good-bye to him. As they were concluding, she spotted Barek and Gabby entering the courtyard. Cabal led them, the disapproving scowl still present on his face. Barek said something to him and Cabal stopped where he was while Barek and Gabby continued towards Arwenna.

              Meeting them halfway across the courtyard, Arwenna let them know that Bah’Laush would be coming with them. “It took some convincing, but he’s agreed to come along. At least for now. It would be best if we tried to keep him out of any fights if we can, though.”  She paused, “Did you get directions or a map?”

              Barek nodded, “Yeah, the Sister was a great help. If we wanted to head out today, we’d be on the beach by tomorrow night. Spend the night, cross over in the morning. She told us there usually were boats that could be hired from a nearby village. There’s going to be trouble once we set foot on the island, though. The ghosts that live there don’t just come out at night. Some come out during the day and aren’t partial to visitors.”

              Taking in the information, Arwenna made some quick decisions. “Let’s get back to the inn and leave as soon as we can, then. We should still do our best to keep him out of the fighting. Let him keep us alive until he gets back into the swing of things.”  She paused again. “Lexi was going to ride out with us, she just didn’t feel right about coming here. All things considered, I can understand why.”

              The sound of Bah’Laush jogging towards them interrupted the conversation. With a nod towards Barek and Gabby, he adjusted his pack. “Do we have horses, or are we on foot?”

              “We’ve got horses back at the inn where we are staying. We were just discussing that we should be heading back there now and gathering things so we can head out of town. From what Barek found out, we’ll have two nights on the road before we find the island.”  Arwenna nodded towards Father Tinian, letting him know they were ready to leave.               The priest led them back through the maze of the temple and to the front door.

              “If any of us can be of further assistance, Chosen One, please send word and we’ll do what we can,” he bowed towards Arwenna.

              “Thank you, Father. I will keep that in mind.”  With a smile, she followed the others out the doors and back down the massive stairs.

              Lexi was waiting for them back at the inn. Arwenna noted that she had done a lot of the packing for the group already. In less than thirty minutes, they were back on the horses, winding their way out of town.

              Riding next to Bah’Laush, Arwenna saw all sorts of questions on his face. “Wait until we get out of town, Bah’Laush. There have been a lot of changes since you left us. Explanations are best done when there are not as many people listening in.”  Seeing him nod, Arwenna relaxed. It was still going to be hard for him to accept some of what she had to tell him, but he would adjust fast enough.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

            
 
B
y the time they made camp that night, Arwenna had been able to tell both Bah’Laush and Gabby what had happened since they last ran together. The idea of Arwenna’s status was easier for them to handle than Lexi’s. It took Lexi demonstrating a few of her new abilities before it really sunk in.

              The discussion around the fire was light for the most part. Some of the more humorous misadventures they had experienced were told, relaxing them all with laughter. Arwenna leaned back, the warmth of the fire keeping the night air from becoming too chilly. The camaraderie around the fire warmed her spirit as much as the fire itself. It wasn’t long before she found herself dozing off.

              A sandy beach was before her, one she had never seen before but seemed familiar in some way. A man and child were building castles in the sand down the shore. Without warning, the child stood up and called out to her. “Mama!  Come look at the castle Daddy helped me build!”  Arwenna stared at the child as he came running up to her. She let the child pull her by the hand closer to the man. It was Joss, smiling up at her. Arwenna started to smile back, but her eyes widened in terror as black lines began to appear just under his skin.

              With a start, Arwenna bolted upright in her bedding. The fire burned low, doing nothing to chase away the chill coursing through her body.               Lexi was there, looking at her intently.              

              “He’s doing it again, Lexi.”  Arwenna’s voice was barely above a whisper. “I don’t know if it was Senyan or Corse, but one of them is playing with dreams again.”  She gratefully gulped at the cup of water handed to her and relayed the dream.

              Lexi waved her hand at the fire and it roared back to life. “I can protect the others from dreams, Arwenna, but you’re off limits. Hauk is rather possessive of you. You’re going to have to come up with your own way to keep them from finding you. Now that we know it’s happening, I might be able to help here and there within the dream itself, but I won’t be able to keep them from coming.”  She picked up a stick and poked at the fire. Sparks flew upwards towards the starlit night sky. “Just be careful. If you start hearing voices or whatever, let me or Hauk know. You
are
still praying to him, aren’t you?”

              “He doesn’t usually give me a direct answer, but I’m still doing prayers of some kind every day. At least it seems more right than praying to Silas ever did.” Arwenna stared into the heart of the fire, finally giving voice to the question she’d been wanting to ask for the last six months. “Why me, Lexi? Of all the clerics out there, why’d it have to be me that Hauk chose?  Or that Corse came after?  Or that offshoot branch of Silas decided to use?”

              Lexi didn’t answer right away. The pause was long enough that Arwenna began to think her cousin would never reply. “I don’t know for certain, Arwenna, but I think part of it is from the strength you have inside you. Hauk saw it early on and wanted to take you under his wing just in case things went bad. As far as Corse and that group of Silas, they’re opportunists. They saw a way to use you, just like they are using Senyan now. Though I think Senyan’s doing his best to make it so he’s the one doing the using at this point.”  Another pause gave Arwenna time to digest her words before Lexi continued. “It’s possible that Corse is afraid of you or of what you’ll be able to do one day. There’s still a lot of untapped potential in you, Arwenna. I think that Corse was hoping to kill you the night of the raid before Hauk could touch you. He was late, luckily.”  She poked at the fire almost absently.

              Staring into the fire, Arwenna considered Lexi’s words carefully. She had never thought that Corse would fear her or what she would be able to wield as far as magic. Dreams would be harder to fight in, but she had to try. Corse and Senyan were both well versed in that particular kind of magic.
If they can get me to fear them
, she thought
, it’s going to undermine what I may have to do later
.
Bohrs tried to control me with fear, but this is different. What they want is different. They want me to go away. Bohrs wanted me cowering in front of him
.               With a heavy sigh, she lay back down. Sleep did not come again that night.

              The rest of the camp woke up shortly after dawn and they ate quickly before tearing down the camp. They mounted their horses, eager to renew their journey.

              It was mid-afternoon when the forest around them gave way to a stretch of beach. A small fishing village sat in a sheltered cove to the south. About three hundred feet straight out from them sat a small island. The ruins of buildings peeked out from the foliage that had taken over in the last few centuries. Vine-covered walls, crumbled by time and encroaching plant life, jutted out at odd angles. Windows no longer fitted with glass stared back at them as if empty eye sockets. Shadows and wind played havoc with the plants, making it hard to decide if the movement was real or a memory.