The Mirror of the Moon (Revenant Wyrd Book 2) (5 page)

Little was known of their beginning. Grace took comfort in knowing she was the sole person, now alive, that knew the earliest bit of their lives.

Pharoh and Sylvie themselves never alluded if they had a true beginning like most mortals. They did not know of any childhood, of a mother and a father, or of siblings other than each other. It became apparent once Grace had talked with them more that their story might, in all actuality, have been true and when they awoke in the Shadow’s Grove, that was the first time they had ever laid mortal eyes upon the world of Saracin.

From the moment Grace and her sister Torriano found the twins, they knew Pharoh and Sylvie were different than most people. Grace and Torriano could both feel, instinctively, that there was something of high spiritual vibration running its course through the Shadow’s Grove.

Peering at her eager listeners, Grace took a breath and pressed on.

“We had been on a journey, as we normally were in those times, and we had just overcome various adversities when we were on our way back through the Sacred Forest to the manor in which we lived in the Realm of Earth. At that time the Shadow’s Grove was mainly overrun with monsters, plant life, and various other things one expects to find in a densely wooded area. What we did not expect to find, however, were two very naked, very beautiful women. Their skin was like marble, which shone white as snow against the dark leaves surrounding them and the thorns which clung to them.

“We were in awe, but we did our best to rouse the women. As we found in later years the twins never did anything they did not want to do, and everything they did was done in their own time. The same held true for their waking; they awoke when they felt the time was right for them to do so.

“We did what we could to sleep in the briers we found them in. We thought it was a bit daft to stay with them, as neither of them appeared to even breathe, but their skin was warm to touch, and we could see the pulse in their necks. In good conscience we couldn’t leave them alone.

“Oh you should have saw them though, beauty as you have never before witnessed.”

Grace closed her eyes as she remembered. Skin pale and rich, like fresh cream, sturdy features that depicted one from the Realm of Earth. Pharoh with long, loosely curled black hair, and Sylvie with hair the same, only brown in hue. She relished the memory, the feeling of being helpless to leave them, for their beauty had bewyrded her.

“It might not be completely wrong to say they had chosen us to be their first followers. They may have even chosen us to be their discoverers, but that is just my theory. No one knows the truth of it, and if there was any truth to that it died with them.

“We stood watch that night, as was always done, and we were shocked to find not one single monster came around, what without a fire to keep them at bay and four warm bodies, three sleeping, two of which appeared never to wake again. This was a curious thing in itself, for the Sacred Forest in the days before the sisters was overrun with monsters and beasts of all kinds. It was damn near impassible to any but the most skilled adventurers. Torriano and I had been very foolish to have gone through there, but we were always the risk takers; there was no fun like an uncertain adventure.

“It was early morning when the two finally stirred, and the first, refreshing breath they took seemed to be the very first breath they had ever taken. They sat up without a care, and looked around them as if this was the very place they had intended to find themselves naked, cold, covered with dew, and in the presence of strangers who looked at them quizzically.

“I remember neither of them said hello; in fact, neither of them even acknowledged we were there until after they got done with their own conversation. It was, of course, very strange for us to hear the black-haired one speak of this horrible place being home, and that their mother was very wise to have sent them here.

“Now, I said before they did not know of a mother and father, and that was true, for they did not recall having a physical mother or father. However, they did often talk about ‘The Mother’ in such a reverent way that there was no doubt in my mind they were speaking of the Mother Goddess. Tori and I didn’t know what to do, for they said they desired to live here, in the Shadow’s Grove, but we knew it was no place for them to live, for the most obvious reason that no one finds the Shadow’s Grove, it finds you.”

Unlike any other realm, if the Shadow’s Grove wanted to stay hidden, it would. Legend once spoke of the very landscape of the Shadow’s Grove twisting and turning to confuse the mind if it did not desire a person to enter its borders; however, time revealed that the Shadow’s Grove was only partially like that. The Shadow’s Grove moved all around the Sacred Forest, only revealing itself to certain people at certain times without rhyme or reason.

“Such an unpredictable place would not do for two naive women as they appeared to be,” Grace explained. “Tori and I insisted they come to live with us and our two sisters. Finally they conceded, always telling us, though, that they would come back to live here in time, and so they did, but that is a different story.

“They acted much as you might expect newborns to act if they could walk and talk; however, they learned extremely fast. Pharoh was often heard talking of how strange it felt to ‘be back,’ though at the time we did not know what she meant.

“Eventually we came to learn their names, and we soon came to learn the reason they were brought here, though it took us a considerable amount of time to believe their tale. They had been sent by the Goddess to lead the people of the Great Realms back to her teachings, and to rid the land of Chaos and war. Of course, the process of us believing them was long and arduous so I will spare you the details as it has little bearing on the story we came here to discuss. In the end they proved to us, without a shadow of a doubt, that they were sent by the Goddess, and the memory of that experience still shakes me to this day.

“We traveled a lot in those days watching Pharoh and Sylvie learn more and more about the earth on which they now found themselves. Of course, all of our travels were part of their calling, so we were told, though most of them seemed to be of little significance to me. Sylvie, it seemed, was very adept at using a blade, even though at times her mind was not yet used to speaking properly. That is to say the twins would occasionally revert to wild gestures instead of speaking, applying more significance to movements and body language.”

Over time, the practice of body language—originating from Pharoh and Sylvie—became a more elegant way to communicate when done properly. Pharoh and Sylvie could carry on a whole conversation using only body language, and they would both be able to recount the same meaning to others afterwards. Angelica remembered from their lessons that the language of gesture that spies and traders used eventually came from this practice, though Pharoh and Sylvie never established a set gesture that meant a specific thing as the new gesture languages did.

“You will all remember from history lessons that Aaridnay was the first sorceress to grace the Great Realms, or at least the first sorceress we humans knew of? Well Aaridnay had set up a system of teaching which Pharoh did not seem to think was right at all. Aaridnay’s teachings, she told us, were adequate, but not complete. A sorcerer was much more than what Aaridnay had believed, and being such they could do much more than they had previously been taught. In essence, Pharoh told us, a sorcerer could do anything they set their minds to. Not being a sorcerer, I was never part of the lessons.

“There was one, however, that was able to follow the lessons perfectly. She was the first person, other than my sisters and I, to became one of the twin’s followers. Her name was Porillon. She was an apt pupil, excelling in everything Pharoh taught her.

“Pharoh and Sylvie taught people about wyrd and sword craft, but it was not in an attempt to wage war with other humans; instead it was to educate them in defense and the proper ways of eliminating dalua.”

Grace took a moment to refill her pipe, which had grown cold. After lighting it once more, and taking another drink of her palisum, she resumed her story.

“It was during this time, their pilgrimage as they called it, that we ventured back into the Shadow’s Grove, this time not to find a place dense with foliage and undergrowth, but instead to stumble into a clearing as large as Meedesville. In this clearing there stood a variety of rundown, ragged looking buildings. A large keep stood in the back, built into what looked to be mountains, though I don’t understand how mountains came to be there unless they traveled around with the Shadow’s Grove. This keep Pharoh claimed for herself calling it the Sorcerer’s Keep. Sylvie chose a domed building in the center of the large lake naming it the Protector’s Hall. Other buildings stood around the clearing, and they were all connected by wooded walkways. In the very center, what we began to call the courtyard, stood a large wooden building that in very many respects resembled a tavern. One of the followers, though I forget her name now, suggested it be called The Haven, for that is what this clearing really was—a haven.

“The Shadow’s Grove was a very strange place, and we never found out where this establishment came from. It was uncertain whether the buildings had always been there waiting to be discovered or if they had suddenly appeared responding to some unknown need or wyrd.

“Pharoh and Sylvie alluded the land and the Mother were providing them with a gift, but that statement was just as curious as the grove. It could mean the buildings appeared there only moments before our arrival to give us all shelter, or the gift the land and the Mother had given was the revelation of this rundown habitation in an undiscovered part of the Shadows Grove.

“In time Pharoh and Sylvie were named the Keepers of the Shadow’s Grove. This was much like being named a Realm Guardian, though the responsibilities were much greater seeing how this place was now claimed as hollowed ground by the twins.

“There was more traveling and more teachings, but before long Pharoh met a very nice man whom she soon fell in love with. History books tell us that Arael gained Pharoh’s love using the old name of Iblis, a name that many did not remember being that it was so old. They also tell us he won her love through charm and courtship.”

Angelica remembered reading about this once, and the details soon came together in her mind. Pharoh had become so enamored with Arael that she gave little thought to the teachings and the slaying of dalua she was originally sent to do. While Pharoh’s sister noticed this, Sylvie figured Pharoh would come around in the end, and that she would do what was right, and needed to be done. Grace’s next words finished where Angelica’s textbooks left off.

“While the sisters normally had good judgment, it wasn’t so this time. Pharoh never resumed her teachings of the Goddess, though all of her teachings so far had been written down in books and scrolls.” Grace gestured to Joya. “In fact, the book you carry was one of the first ever written and all that Pharoh had to teach was transferred into those books. This shows you why only some of it can be read at certain times. The reason is simple concepts must be grasped before the complexity of others can be fathomed. There are still passages in that book my sister herself cannot read.

“Pharoh never came back to the task, but Sylvie had never given it up. Many speculated, in the end, it was that which saved Sylvie while Pharoh died: Sylvie remained true to the Goddess, Pharoh did not.

“Porillon, it turned out, was not only devoted to Pharoh and Sylvie, or I should say that she was not devoted to them at all. She was, and still remains to this day, a deeply devoted Alarist.”

The silence following Grace’s statement penetrated the room.

“Wait a minute,” Angelica said, drawing all attention to herself. “I have only heard of Alarism a couple times before, and then only in passing. Isn’t that a Chaotic religion?”

“Alarism is the religion that Arael started. It is an affront to the Goddess, and smacks in the face of all things holy and good in this world. You are a very bright woman, Angelica, for Alarism is not something often spoken or written of.

“It is also very interesting that Porillon used a golem to attack us. They literally are ‘humans of clay.’ That which was the first human was thought to have been a golem, and all of us descended from her. The idea that Porillon is creating them to kill us almost seems an affront to both religions—Alarism because Arael so hated the first human, and the Goddess because Porillon is using the Mother’s first creation to attack the descendants of the first human.”

“No one is sure why she turned over to Arael’s side, though it has been said she was jealous of me and the way Pharoh and Sylvie treated me.

“Arael had thirteen disciples, two of which he trusted above all others. One you all know was Samazahd, also a Grigori, and Porillon, who was the only human among his dark disciples. Now, you can all imagine she must have been exceedingly rare for him to take her to his side seeing how he was cast out of the Ever After because of his abhorred dislike of ‘humans of clay.’ No one really knows why he trusted Porillon so much. It could be he feared her talents, or that he was secretly in love with her. Rest assured, however, he did not take her to his side because of respect. Arael respected no one but himself.

“There is one other reason, besides her markings, that I entertain the possibility Porillon is the Mask. She was once an advisor of Pharoh and Sylvie themselves. She turned out, in the end, to be nothing more than a spy for Arael. For this reason I always thought she could be the Mask. The markings on her face only prove my point more, as if time and wyrd are working together to show her true identity.