Esra (27 page)

       “Looks can be deceiving,” he answered her thoughts, causing her to blush deeply.  He smiled kindly at her and paused for a long moment, appearing contented to sit and take his time. “I have your first test.”

       “Oh,” Esra exclaimed in surprise. “Already?”

       “Yes,” he nodded.  “I know that you have only just arrived, but it is time.”

       “What must I do?”

       “As you well know by now, the War Council will convene in two fortnights.  The Elves have already sent their representatives and the King will be sending his son, Prince Bronnen.  We have an Assembly on their way to plead our case to the Shendari.  I must say our relations with them have been greatly improved since Fynn has been able to communicate with a few of the members.  We have high hopes that they will be able to select a Daughter to send to our Council.  The trouble, Esra, will be the Unni.  There has not been a Human allowed in Fira Nadim Forest for almost a hundred years, since Baelin was born.”

       “Since…what?”  Her breath caught in her throat as she tried to swallow.  She must have heard him wrong.

       “Since Baelin was born,” Nor continued.  “He is ninety eight, you know.”

       The look of astonishment on Esra’s face must have been very plain, as Baelin looked away in embarrassment. “Ninety eight?  But that’s impossible!  He can’t be more than thirty!” 

       “Nay Esra, it’s true,” Baelin replied softly, meeting her eyes.  “I am a fourth Unni.  My grandfather was chief when he took a Human wife, my grandmother.  She gave birth to the half Unni that was my father, who also married a Human.”

       Esra’s head spun as she tried to follow the chain of events almost a century ago and what this meant.  His massive stature, gold tinted eyes, even all the soft, dark hair that covered his body now made sense in a new way.  And since the Unni could live for hundreds of years, it was no wonder he appeared to be so young.

       “Do ye remember how I told ye my first Assembly died?”

       “Aye,” she thought back to their night by the Fire when Baelin had opened up to her for the first time about his past.

       “Well, they died of old age, not in battle.”

       “Oh my.”

       “Looks good fer an old man, don’t he?” Fynn jested. 

       “I’ll say,” she agreed.  Looking back at Baelin and the pained look on his face, she had a sudden urge to let him know it was alright, that this news did not change the fact he was her best friend.  She reached under the table and took his hand, gently squeezing it for a moment before letting go.  Esra saw his shoulders relax slightly and she turned to the Great Keeper Nor.

       “So why is this a problem?  Shouldn’t the Unni make an exception fer such a time?”

       “It’s not entirely that simple.  The Unni are naturally inclined to privacy and do not appreciate visitors in any sense of the word.  They are wary of Humans and their ways, and even more so since the unification that once existed between the races has collapsed.  They have become more and more independent and secretive, and are virtually impossible to contact or communicate with.  There was also a bit of an…incident…that caused some of the Unni people to shun Humans.  But that is another story altogether, one which we will leave for the journey.”

       “But what could I possibly do about all this?”  Esra asked, still confused.

       “Your first test is to bring Zakai, the Unni-se, here for the War Council.”

       “Bring him here?”

       Esra sat for a moment in stunned silence.  Not only was she supposed to accompany her Assembly to Fira Nadim Forest, but she was expected to bring back the Unni-se himself.  Had she not been so utterly terrified of this prospect she would have burst out laughing. 

       “Zakai is Baelin’s uncle, so we are hoping that helps to smooth things over a bit, or at least allow you a council with the Unni-se.”  Nor rose to leave, bowing at the others in the group before turning again to Esra.  “The Great Keeper of Destiny has seen our fate if this does not come to pass.  You must find a way.  Good luck.”

       He exited the room before Esra could fully absorb what had just occurred.  She sat staring open mouthed at the people around her table. 

       “What just happened?” She asked croakily, blinking away the dizzy feeling behind her eyes.           

“Ye’ve just got yer first test!” Arland squeezed her shoulder encouragingly.  “I must say it’s a big one, but have no fear.  We’ll all be with ye.”

       “With me? 
With
me?”  The hysteria was spreading through her chest as her dream replayed itself over and over in her head.  “With me to where?  To the land of slow, painful deaths?”

       “Esra, get ahold of yerself,” Cane said firmly.  “Ye may have gotten the sense that the Unni are very…fierce…and although they may fight as such, they are not an uncivilized people.  They are simply different from us.”

       He was right, but the fear in her was nearly overwhelming.  More than anything, Esra was someone who could not tolerate people who judged others unfairly, who could never see beyond their own small world.  The combination of the vivid nightmare and the enormous amounts of stress she was under had created this image of the Unni as a frightening, barbaric race, just as Cane had guessed.  It was disappointing to her that she felt this way, but she could not deny it.  She wanted to believe in the strong people who brought Yanquor Trees from across the Kingdom to help build this fortress of learning. 

       The Elves, the most similar to her own race, had not frightened her in the least.  Especially now that she knew a few of them.  She was conscious that they had many differences but had nonetheless been ready to accept them.  Even the Shendari of Fire Lake had intrigued her as a secretive and eccentric race.  Yet for some reason the thought of going to meet the Unni horrified her.  Maybe because they were known as ‘the war people’ or were physically intimidating, with horns and yellow eyes.  But no matter what the cause, Esra knew she was being unfair.  Cane and her grandparents did not raise her to be so intolerant, so prejudiced.  Isn’t this what she was fighting against, intolerance and injustice?  After all, Baelin was one of them, or at least partly, wasn’t he?  And although he fought with great power, wasn’t he a very gentle man?  And one of Esra’s best friends?

       “I’m sorry, I’m just frightened,” she apologized, looking towards Baelin then back over to Cane.  “Ye have not taught me to be so narrow-minded.  Of course I will try to do what I can to bring the Unni-se back to the Jade Gardens.”

       “Well, ye know what they say about fear,” Cane said mildly.  “If we never had fear of anything, there would be no need fer courage.”

XXIII

       The Assembly met in the Magick Room for a lesson on Tur after checking that the Skycatchers were being readied for their journey.  In the interest of time, Humi, the Keeper of Speed, was packing Nadia and Esra’s clothes into carefully tied bundles for the Horses as they practiced.  They all took a seat around one of the round tables in the back of the room as Arland reviewed the basics of Tur.

       “When ye hear the word Tur, it refers to both the language and the magick that a Keeper uses to communicate or access knowledge on various subjects.  So if ye remember, Tur is how Keepers speak with one another.  We can even use these spells over great distances.  Also, ye cannot get into the Stronghold without it, as a spell protects the fortress from outsiders.”

       “A Keeper can store information with Tur like they could on a scroll, maintaining maps, spells, and details about our task.  It comes in very handy in cases like today, where we do not have much time to prepare.  When five Keepers come together we can communicate directly with the Great Keepers.

       “There are two ways to use Tur.  One occurs at the beginning of a task or lesson when the information is ‘written’ on our arms by the spell.  We can use this Tur independently.  It would be very difficult if one of us was captured and we could not use Tur to complete our task or guide ourselves home.  We will all see the same map no matter where we are or who we are with if we call upon it.  The other form of Tur takes no preparation and deals with communicating with each other.  We do this as needed during a task, especially if we need to split up or stay quiet.”

       “So how does one get a map or other knowledge onto their skin?” Esra asked, turning over her arm.

       “A Great Keeper must do this fer any new information or when we receive another task.  Remember, a task is different from a test.  A test is a specific challenge fer a particular Keeper which will result in a Gift when complete.  Tasks are what Assemblies are given to complete together fer various reasons.”

       “So we don’t need all five of us to say, look at a map?”

       “No, only to speak with a Great Keeper.”

       “But what happens if someone is captured or dies?”

       “We can still communicate with each other, just not the Great Ones.  Also, Tur is invisible to all of Tallen’s forces.  This has been one of the greatest defensive spells ever created by yer father, Adonis.  Tallen gives off a specific magickal aura, as all sorcerers do.  Similar to how each Animal has a unique scent.  He has left his ‘mark’, ye could say, on each of his minions.  Adonis was able to use this to devise a way to block the discovery of Tur around those associated with Tallen.”

       “Very useful.  Cane told me that most of the Elites are soldiers, not sorcerers.”

       “True, many are skilled warriors but possess no magickal abilities.  Of the group that captured ye in the forest, only two were able to cast spells.  Natural sorcerers in LeVara are few and far between, especially when most of them reside at the Stronghold.  That is why we are so concerned that Tallen has found a way to ‘convert’ a non-sorcerer.”

       “So do ye keep the old Tur information even when ye receive a new task?”

       “Some of it.  We keep some spells that we don’t use very often, but not much else.  And to be quite honest, having Fynn around with his superb navigational skills means there is not much need even fer maps.  We have found that it is too risky to walk around with all the other knowledge, even with protective spells in place.  Ye can use one arm or both to read Tur.  I think it’s easier to see a map when ye use both, but I only use my left arm to accept messages.”  Arland spoke a few soft words and placed his strong arms palm up on the table as she watched the snaking black script become slightly illuminated.  The lines came together after a moment to reveal the familiar “L” shape of Sorley, the houses small dots among the hilly landscape.  He uttered a few different words and the map changed, focusing now on the area around Esra’s house.  The woods, barn, fields, house, everything was detailed accurately.  The dark lines were even raised slightly at the higher elevations, giving the map a textured, dimensional look.  It was as if one were looking down at the town from a hundred miles above. 

       “Every square inch of LeVara has been captured in this form by the Keepers.”

       “Amazing,” Esra leaned forward to study the softly glowing picture before her.  She had never seen her grandparent’s farm laid out like this.  “What were ye saying to make it appear?”

       “Tur is a form of insight or sight magick, one of the five types.  Cane has already taught ye most of the language, correct?”

       “Aye,” Esra nodded, remembering back to their long lessons over the last brutal winter in Sorley.  “But not how to use it.”

       “If ye already know the language that will be the easy part, trust me,” Arland assured her, brushing a wisp of stray hair out of his pale blue eyes. 

       “Sight magick includes all spells and sorcery related to divination, communication, and insight into other places or times.  Tur is the most common and widely practiced form of sight magick, as all Keepers use it.  There are very few of us who can use the more prophetic sides of sight.”

       Nadia, who had been shimmering next to Esra in her chair suddenly became a solid form and leaned in to join the conversation.  “All insight spells are started with the Tur word fer sight.”

       “
Orro?”

       “Right.  Tur spells are structured from the most general piece of magick, which are spoken first, to the more specific pieces spoken last.  Let’s say I wanted to look up a map of yer farm again.  I would say
Orro
first, indicating that I will be using sight magick.  Then I would say
Wey
, the word fer knowledge followed by
Sim
, the word fer map.  In other words, ye are saying a spell of sight magick to gain knowledge from a map. Then ye would say yer general location,
LeVara
, followed by the town’s original name,
Sorley
.”

       “So I would say
Orro Wey Sim LeVara Sorley
?”

       “Perfect.  And that would bring up the town map.”

       “So how do I see the farm?”

       “Tur can only store information however we tell it to.  If we want to get a closer look at any part of the map, we must tell it what we want to see.  So I would say the most specific part of the spell last to show yer exact farm.  If yer farm had a name, I could use that.  Otherwise I would use a combination of words such as the home of Esra, or
Yana Esra
.  That would bring ye to the picture ye saw.  If I wanted to go directly to the map of just yer farm, I would say all those words in succession.  Ye can also use the general words for east, west, north and south to move the map towards where ye want to see more, if ye aren’t sure of the specific location.”

       “So how many maps are there?”

       “Well, really there’s just one fer all of LeVara, which Cane will be giving ye.  It’s just that ye can look at very specific parts of that large map depending on which words ye say in succession.”