The Shards (19 page)

“It was not as it seemed,” he explained. “There was purpose to Ormachon’s behavior.”

“As I suspected,” Esta said, nodding her head.

“None of us believed it could be true,” Preston added, as he gazed knowingly at Elion.

“It is a complicated story, and I have no facts to support my belief, but I am convinced that the ‘betrayal’ was necessary,” Tomas said.

Elion stood in the background listening intently to every word Tomas uttered. He was still smiling, but his worry had not fully abated.

“Elion?” the boy said to him, realizing that he had not joined in the conversation along with the others. “Are you not happy to have me back too?” Tomas joked.

“More than you could imagine,” Elion declared. “But I know there is much you have to tell us, and I am anxious to hear it. Who else abides in this mountain?” he asked bluntly.

“Elion is convinced that we are not alone here,” Esta explained. “It has been troubling him since you disappeared.”

“Tell us, Tomas. Where were you? What happened to you?” Stephanie asked.

Tomas walked toward the fire that still burned in the middle of the floor, and he beckoned the others to join him around it. When they had all finally sat down once more and they could each look upon one another easily, Tomas began to speak.

“Yes, Steph, I was stricken beyond measure by Ormachon’s actions,” he related. “My mind was overwhelmed by the revelation. I must have collapsed, because the next thing I remembered I was lying in this very room, and my head was pounding.”

“You did. I carried you back here to the cave Preston discovered just before the storm hit,” Elion explained.

Tomas smiled at his friend.

“It seems that without you, my brother and I both are unable to take care of ourselves,” he laughed. “That was no ordinary storm, Elion,” Tomas replied, and his demeanor changed dramatically with those words.

“We suspected so,” Esta confirmed. “But the cavern sheltered us sufficiently from it. Preston spotted it in the nick of time,” the Queen nodded to the dwarf warmly.

“The mountain is shielded,” Tomas said. “‘Twas no coincidence that you found it when you did, Preston. Thank the First that we met one another,” Tomas said gratefully while simultaneously grasping his friend’s arm.

“The fabric weaves of its own will,” Esta said. “Have you something to tell us, Tomas?” she then asked. “As we said a moment ago, Elion is convinced that we are not alone here. Are you of the same mind?”

“I have sensed the presence of others since we entered this shelter,” Elion confirmed. “Though now the feeling seems to have abated,” he said curiously.

“Your instincts were correct, Elion, and they are correct once again,” Tomas reasserted. “When I awoke it was not entirely of my own volition. I was ‘called’, much as my brother’s teachers were ‘called’ to Pardatha by Baladar. I knew not why at first, but I suspected from whence the summons came. Even in the darkness, I knew just where to go. In a semi-conscious state, I walked to a chamber that had been warded and concealed deep within the heart of this mountain. There, I met with others of my kind, Chosen, who had gathered here for a number of reasons,” he related to them, clearly unconcerned about revealing the events to his friends.

“This is quite unusual,” Esta said gravely. “I have neither heard nor read of any other such meeting.”

“These times are not like other times,” Elion said. “But, would you or I or anyone other than a Chosen have been privy to this type of gathering had it ever occurred before anyway?” Elion asked.

“You make a valid point, Elion,” the Queen agreed. “Though my dear husband was a Chosen too,” she reminded him.

“But it was unprecedented regardless,” Tomas said. “Quite unprecedented!”

“Have they all been betrayed by their trees?” Stephanie asked anxiously.

“Some have in other ways,” Tomas said candidly. “But perhaps ‘betrayed’ is no longer the proper word to use to describe what was happening. The Lalas in their infinite wisdom are simply keeping things from us all. For what reasons, we do not know, nor will they tell us. But the others have convinced me that Ormachon gave away my location only to force us into this shelter from which, by the nature of the rock and the convergence of power herein, even his vision has been blocked.”

“This mountain is impervious to both the Lalas vision and the Dark Lord’s intrusions?” Elion asked.

“It seems so, Elion,” Tomas replied. “That is why they chose this site to convene.”

The others drew closer to Tomas, and their eyes were now glued upon the boy.

“Had we not been pursued by that storm, Preston would never have searched for the entrance and we would never have taken refuge here,” Tomas explained.

“And you would not have found the others,” Esta completed his thought.

“Exactly!” Tomas agreed. “We would have continued on our way to Avalain, and I would not have had a chance to meet with them. The Chosen could not have summoned me as they did whilst we were roaming the open land. Their summons could have been overheard or detected, and they could not risk that.”

“Why could not Ormachon simply have told you or instructed you or whatever it is he does when he communicates with you? Why did he have to reveal to Colton where you were?” Stephanie asked.

“He gained a confidence by so doing, one that was extremely hard to earn. And he has surely confused Colton enormously as well. This is what we all surmise,” Tomas related.

“Correct me if I misstate what you are trying to say,” Elion said. “Ormachon advised Caeltin of our whereabouts in order to frighten us into this cave so that you would then be summoned by the other Chosen? Is that not a bit farfetched, Tomas? I realize that it must be hard for you to accept what Ormachon has done, but regardless, this seems so unlikely, does it not?”

“Unlikely as it may appear, I believe it to be true,” Tomas said honestly. “Something is preventing the Lalas from telling the Chosen what they are doing. But, surely they have a master plan that motivates their actions. We know they are dying, slowly, one by one,” he continued. “We do not know amongst us why or what we can do to help them. What we hope is that the Gem of Eternity holds the key, and find it we must if we are to have any chance of saving ourselves and maybe even the remainder of the trees.”

“Colton wants to find it as well, I guess,” Stephanie said. “If he finds it first and destroys it what chance will the rest of us have?”

“Little or no chance, Steph,” Preston said. “Don’t the trees know where it is? Why can’t they just direct your brother to it?”

“The location of the First who harbors the Gem is known to no one,” Elion replied. “It has been so since the beginning of time.”

“Not even to the other Lalas?” Stephanie asked.

“No. They do not know either, though they are bound to it in many ways,” Tomas responded. “That was the only way to insure its safety. That is also why the First has never bonded with anyone.”

“Why is it that now the light is being withheld? Does the First not know the effect such a masking is having on the world?” Esta asked, frustrated.

“Caeltin has grown powerful. His reach has extended beyond his realm and he may be close to discovering its whereabouts himself. The shielding of the light may be a devastating but necessary result of that,” Elion surmised.

“And so the Chosen agree,” Tomas said. “And they believe that the weakening of the Gem’s radiance has resulted in the continuing demise of the trees. They cannot or will not live in the absence of the light.”

“So the conclusion brings us right back to the beginning once again,” Esta said. “We must find the First and thereby the Gem before that evil beast does. And the longer it takes us, the more trees will die and the more our world will suffer.”

“Exactly!” Tomas agreed. “And Ormachon did whatever he did in accordance with a plan that we may never fully know or realize.”

He paused for a moment while everyone digested all of what was said.

“They fear for the first time in thousands of tiels,” Tomas began to explain. “And we may therefore not understand all of their actions any longer.”

“That is nothing new to me,” Stephanie remarked.

“Me either,” Preston concurred with her.

“It does seem logical after all,” Elion agreed. “I was very skeptical before, but there is a consistency to what we have said that rings true.”

“Yes, it certainly does. But why would Ormachon want Colton to think that he is helping him?” Preston asked, still confused.

“He would only want that if he wished the Dark Lord to think that he has given up on us,” Stephanie said casually.

“That’s it!” Elion almost shouted. “What you said makes perfect sense, Stephanie. It will certainly cause his confidence to flourish after his recent defeats. If he thinks that the trees have forsaken us and accepted dissolution as our inevitable fate, he might be thrown off guard, if only for a moment.”

“Perhaps a crucial moment!” Esta agreed. “And that could give Davmiran and the rest of us just the advantage that we need.”

“It could also generate a trust that the trees could use to their own advantage later on,” Elion added.

“What must the Dark Lord be thinking?” Esta mused. “He knows that the Lalas have no more knowledge about the whereabouts of the Gem than he does. And now he thinks the trees, either one or many, are assisting him in preventing us from finding it ourselves. Thus, he must be convinced they have reconciled themselves to the conclusion that he has been pursuing since he first was exiled from the others.”

“A natural conclusion considering that the trees really are dying!” Preston noted.

“And the best way to assure him of this would be to sacrifice you, Tomas!” Esta said.

“Or Dav,” Elion added.

“Or both!” Stephanie said, and gasped once again. “Oh, I hope your brother is safe if his whereabouts have been revealed as well.”

“Davmiran is safe,” Tomas confirmed. “That much I know for certain!”

“That is a relief to hear,” Esta said. “I understand now why you are not quite so disturbed as you were before, Tomas. Reason and hope combined can be a potent elixir for an uneasy soul.”

“When hope alone will not suffice,” Elion added. “And in this case, we all required more than wishful thinking. But there is still so much we do not know.”

“We can speculate forever about this and be sure of no more than we are now,” Preston said. “I say we start moving again and talk on the way. We will have plenty of time to ponder all of this.”

“I agree,” Esta said. “We should return to Avalain as we planned.”

“Though I have always dreamed of Avalain, I have never wanted to go to it more than I do right now!” Stephanie said. “Do you think it is safe for us to leave here?”

“The storm has passed,” Tomas said. “Colton has turned his attention elsewhere for the moment since he lost our trail. He seeks other things now. It is safe.”

“Have the others all departed as well,” Esta asked of the Chosen with whom he met previously.

“Yes. They have all returned to their homelands by now,” Tomas replied. “We have agreed to keep in contact though.”

“Oh?” Elion asked. “This is an encouraging disclosure.”

“A council of sorts?” Esta inquired.

“You could describe it so,” Tomas replied. “Circumstances have made it ineluctable.” Stephanie looked at him strangely, and he smiled. “Necessary, Steph,” Tomas clarified. “That means necessary,” he repeated, and she blushed.

“Do the Lalas know of this?” Elion asked.

“No,” Tomas answered. “That is the pattern of secrets, is it not? One leads to another. They have theirs and we now have ours,” he said somewhat sullenly. “Though it will be most arduous to keep this from them, hide it we must.”

“Ineluctable?” Stephanie asked, smiling.

“Yes, exactly,” Tomas replied and he grinned back at her.

The ring felt hot against his chest, but it was a comforting feeling, not at all a disagreeable one. Stephanie walked over to him and squeezed his arm affectionately, and he kissed her lightly on the forehead. Preston too sidled up to him as well and patted him sharply upon the back. Esta and Elion looked on approvingly, and then they too walked up to Tomas. They had inadvertently formed a tight circle near the waning fire, five strikingly different silhouettes casting long shadows upon the wall of the cavern. They stood together in silence for a moment or two, with their heads bent and their eyes closed, and then as if on cue, they simultaneously separated. Without any further words, they all began to gather their belongings and prepare for the journey to Avalain.

Chapter Twenty-one

Tamara placed the scroll back in the leather container that she had removed it from when capture seemed so imminent just moments ago. With a sigh of relief, she sealed the case and slipped it into her blouse once again. Muttering a few words of thanks to the First under her breath, she followed Etuah as she led them deeper and deeper into the mountain. The strange woman did not question her about the scroll and she did not offer any explanation herself.

The rough-hewn walls became smoother and smoother as they advanced, and the surface upon which they walked also grew less hazardous to traverse. Though many more tunnels appeared which led off of the one they walked through, Etuah did not waver for an instant in the direction in which she moved. The entire passage was curiously luminescent despite the fact that they had left the pit into which they had originally plummeted far behind. That had been open to the sky and therefore lighted by the sun from above regardless of its depth. Now though, they were deep into the rock where no illumination from above could reach any longer, and yet they could see with no problem. Tamara and Angeline both found this odd, and they scanned the walls and ceilings for torches or glow lamps, but there were none to be found.

“How is that we are able to see so clearly?” Tamara inquired while still checking all around her for the answer, and Etuah looked at her with her enormous, platter like eyes and simply smiled.

“I wonder why she did not answer you,” Angeline whispered in Tamara’s ear. “Do you think she wishes it to remain a secret?”

“I do not know, sister. But if you have noticed, the light seems to accompany us as we walk, as if it turns on at our approach and turns off behind us as we advance. Look back. It is dark,” she observed.

Angeline turned to look behind her, and lo and behold, it was pitch as night.

“Etuah carries nothing in her hands,” Angeline said.

“No. I see that. It is curious,” Tamara replied, pondering the situation.

They walked and walked for a long while in silence, following behind Etuah closely. It was hard to tell if they were descending or not, though the air seemed a bit more fragrant and certainly no thinner than before. The odor was musky but not unpleasant at all. In fact, it seemed to be refreshing as they breathed it in.

“Would you care for some water?” Etuah turned abruptly and asked.

“That would be wonderful,” Tamara replied not realizing how parched her throat was until the Drue mentioned it.

“In a moment then, we will stop for refreshment,” Etuah said. “There is a spot just ahead.”

They rounded a bend in the passage, and as they entered what appeared to be a chamber of sorts, they could hear the dripping sound of water echoing off of the walls. It was becoming easier and easier to see despite the fact that there still seemed to be no obvious source of illumination. The area that they had just moved into was not very large, and in its middle stood a pool of utterly still liquid. The pool itself was a perfect circle in shape, and the water came right to the top of it making it seem as if you could walk right across it without breaking stride or falling in. From the center of the ceiling hung a long, thin stalagmite that stopped about ten feet above the surface of the pool.

As Tamara watched, a single, thick drop of water fell heavily from the pointed stone into the pool below, and it caused the surface to ripple from the center out in a perfect rhythm, until the waves reached the edges and the water became still once again. The sound that the droplet made when it hit the main body of water was so beautiful that both of the women gasped in response. It was almost musical; high pitched and resonant.

Once they all entered this chamber it became clearer to them that the light was coming from Etuah herself, for as she walked further into the open space, they could no longer see the areas behind her as clearly, while those before and around her suddenly became visible.

“You carry no light with you, Mistress,” Tamara said. “Yet, your presence illumines the area around you. How is it so?”

“As guardians, we Drue are endowed with certain gifts. Our skin is unlike yours,” she replied. “We retain what light we gather when we have the opportunity. It will fade with time.”

“So you are the source?” Angeline asked.

“In a manner of speaking,” she said. “A vessel, perhaps, would be a better description.”

Etuah bent her long, thin body at the waist in an incredibly graceful manner and stuck the end of one suctioned finger into the pool. Scooping the liquid into it as if it was a cup, she pursed her thin lips and sucked it in loudly.

“Come,” she beckoned to them. “Drink of the pool.”

Tamara and Angeline walked to the edge and crouched down. Each of the women cupped their hands and dipped them into the water. It was cool to the touch, and it refreshed them even before they brought any of it to their mouths. Tamara gazed into the perfectly clear water and saw Etuah’s reflection looming behind her. Something caused her to turn around sharply and look at her face. The Drue woman was staring at her intently with a curious expression spread over her broad, flat countenance.

“What is it, Etuah? Is there something about me that disturbs you?” Tamara asked suddenly self-conscious.

“No. Not at all. It is just that I sense a power within you that has been absent from the places we habituate for a long while. We are the guardians of the space left behind. Rarely are we fortunate enough to have a Chosen amongst us.”

“A Chosen?” Tamara gasped. “Oh no! I am not a Chosen,” she stammered as she rose up and faced the slender figure before her. “You are mistaken, Etuah. I am merely one of the sisters of Parth. Never would I presume to be a Chosen!” Tamara apologized for the Drue’s error, shaking her head vigorously in denial.

“Disclaim what you will. I sense a Chosen nonetheless,” she replied, dismissing Tamara’s protestations.

“I would surely know if I was a Chosen, would I not?” she asked, embarrassed by their host’s words. “I am so far from being one, that it is laughable. But I am most flattered by your misconception. Would that it were true,” she replied, and she continued to look down at the ground humbly. “A Chosen,” she muttered to herself. “Me, a Chosen!” she scoffed.

Etuah nodded her head, but said nothing more about it. In the meanwhile, Angeline was still stooped over next to the pool, gazing pensively into the still water. Tamara looked away from the Drue, anxious to change the subject which still caused her some discomfort. She walked over to her companion and crouched down next to her.

“Something has caught your eye, sister?” she asked.

“Have you looked into this water yet, sister?” Angeline replied.

“Yes,” she answered. “But all that I saw was Etuah’s reflection. Why? Is there more I should have seen?”

“The pool is so deep, yet it is clear nearly as far as I can see. Though nothing disturbs the stillness of the surface, there is movement in the depths of it. With each new drop that falls, it changes completely,” she replied.

Tamara stared into the water too, and this time she immediately saw what Angeline was talking about. It did not seem like water any longer as she gazed deeply into it, but more like a portal into another world. It was hard to see at first, but the images became clearer with scrutiny. But, just as she felt she was beginning to discern figures and shapes amidst a heavily wooded background, a heavy drop of water hit the surface and caused a ripple to emanate from the center to the edges. As if this was a book she had been reading and a page had been turned before she was finished with the previous one, the entire scene before her eyes shifted. Once she was able to focus again, the scene she stared at was totally different from that of just a moment before.

“Curious, sister. Did you see that too?” she asked.

“Yes, I did. I have been watching this for a while longer than you, sister. It has changed with each new drop of liquid that falls from above.”

“What is it that we are witnessing?” Tamara asked Etuah, turning away from the pool and looking back at the Drue.

“Bits and pieces,” the woman replied. “The water is infused with life. It expresses itself as it wishes.”

“Oh!” Tamara said, as if she understood what the woman was saying. “Is this the future or the past we see before us?”

“Is there a difference?” she asked, confused. “It is what it is.”

“Certainly there is a difference between what was and what will be,” Tamara said.

“For you perhaps. Not for us. We are the guardians of what is; of the void that is out of time. Here, nothing will ever change again,” she said. “There is no future and there is no past for us. Once the shards have been removed, these spaces no longer exist in the fourth dimension. Only the water renews itself and it brings to us concurrences. It matters not to us where they stand in time.”

Tamara looked at Angeline to see if her friend understood this any better than she did herself, but it was clear from her expression that she was perplexed as well. They both sipped of the water nevertheless, and then they rose and stood beside Etuah. It was incredibly refreshing, and the two sisters smiled at one another involuntarily after swallowing some of it.

“We must go. You cannot remain with us for long,” Etuah said, beckoning them to follow her.

Tamara was unsure if the Drue meant that because they had other pressing matters to attend to or because it was dangerous for them to stay here, but she heeded her guest’s words without any further questions and hurried to follow. They walked down the stone path and kept as close behind their host as they could. The passage that they walked through seemed more and more like a roughly hewn tunnel as they drew further away from the point in which they entered. Those passages that extended off of the main one that they traveled were of varying widths, but most of them were certainly not wide enough for a human to traverse. They veered off in all different directions in no discernible pattern.

“Did your people create these burrows?” Tamara asked, rushing to keep up with Etuah.

“No. They are what remain,” she answered questioningly, as if Tamara should have already understood this.

“I am sorry for my stupidity,” Tamara confessed. “Was there something here before that is no longer? Shards? What exactly are shards?”

“When the great tree died, it left these spaces behind,” Etuah explained. “The wise one came and collected the shards, the essences. After that, we arrived.”

“You said you were the guardians of the hollows. Are the hollows what we call the forbidden spaces?” Tamara asked.

“Forbidden to all but the Drue,” she replied, bending her long neck in acknowledgment.

“Yet we are here now?” Tamara said.

“Yes,” she said meaningfully.

“Is it wrong that we are here? Are we in danger?” Tamara felt compelled to ask by the ominous tone in Etuah’s voice.

The Drue opened her eyes wide and they seemed to cover almost her entire face.

“You are here because you must be. The Evil One has forced this confluence,” she replied. “Where is there no danger these days?” she then asked. “Here in the hollows, it is only more conspicuous.”

A shiver ran down both of the women’s spines with that response. Neither expected an answer like that. But before they had a chance to ask anything further, the passage widened considerably and it appeared as if they were nearing its end.

“I will protect you as best as I can,” Etuah said suddenly. “Take a deep breath, each of you, and take my hands,” she instructed them, and then she offered each her long, oddly shaped fingers to grasp. “Do not look into their eyes,” she warned.

The two sisters glanced at each other in fear and wonder, as they hurried to follow Etuah’s directions, wondering who she could be referring to. So far, they had neither seen anyone else nor heard anything other than their own voices. Both Tamara and Angeline reached out anxiously and clasped the Drue’s hands. The suction tips adhered to their wrists immediately in response, and they each felt a rush of energy flow through them. It was as if they had just awoken from a long and restful sleep, and just in time it seemed. As they walked into this more open chamber at the end of the passage, they could hear sounds that practically caused their blood to freeze in their veins. Muffled screams and agonizing moans echoed off of the walls and assaulted their senses mercilessly. Pleas for help from both ancient voices as well as youthful ones could clearly be distinguished among the horrible sounds that flooded their ears. Shadows seemed to cross right before their eyes, causing them to flinch and jerk protectively, and they could feel rushes of damp, stale air blow across their faces.

“We are crossing the nethers, the barren spaces where the lost souls are stranded. Stay close to me,” she warned, and she gripped them even more tightly with her fingertips. “They will not harm you whilst I am here.” Etuah lifter her head and flicked it to the left and to the right as she spoke. “Be gone! Leave us be. These humans cannot help you.” Her tone of voice harbored no hint of anger, but rather a profound sadness inundated her words. She turned first to Tamara and then to Angeline, while blinking her bulbous eyes slowly. Her lashes were unusually long and when her eye lids closed, they reached nearly to the middle of her cheek. “They will remain here forever. It is our charge to insure that is so. Careful now, do not be lured into their grief,” she warned the women.

Tamara thought that remark strange, considering how sorrowfully she spoke to them moments ago. Etuah seemed so kind, it was odd for her to wish suffering upon any creatures.

“Who are they? Why would you want them to abide so? They are in pain, are they not?” she asked.

“They have given themselves to the Dark Lord. There is no way out for them save dissolution. If they should be released from this confinement it could signify only one thing!” she replied sharply. “Sympathy for them I have, as I would for anything that suffers. But, if the day comes when I find they no longer haunt my days and my nights, it will mean the end of time for us all.”

Tamara recoiled immediately at her remarks. The thought of these spirits doomed to eternal pain and suffering caused her to wretch involuntarily. Angeline’s eyes brimmed with tears and she struggled to clear her vision and continue on.