The Eye of Elicion: The Kinowenn Chronicles Vol 1 (51 page)

Maya offered her a glass of something hot.

“Lavender tea?” asked Lucy, and Maya nodded. “I think I need help sitting up first.”

Justin raised her into a sitting position. He had the tattoo on his wrist. She gave him a weak smile and took the cup from Maya. The Lady watched from her throne, head cocked. Lucy sipped her tea and began to feel better. Her throat was dry, and tea helped with that.

“When I realized what I had done, I worried if you had gotten out first or not,” Lucy said to Justin.

“I hadn’t taken more than a couple of steps when it began to shake. I ran towards Maya and Gavin in an attempt not to get crushed. What did you do?”

“In brief and simple terms? I refused to continue taking the test,” said Lucy.

“Is that a problem?” asked Maya, shooting a concerned glance at the Lady.

“Does the Lady have another test she would like to give me before I am worthy to talk to?” asked Lucy.

“The Lady is satisfied,” she said with a half smile. “Although, I do feel you owe me a set of arches.”

“We can discuss that after I’ve rested,” responded Lucy. “Since we’ve all passed your test, tell us about the Eye.”

“What do you want to know?”

“Where is it, for starters?”

“Here,” said the Lady moving her hand slightly, and they saw what had remained hidden before. On her hand was a ring. It looked like ice with water moving inside of it.

“Can we have it?” asked Lucy.

“A bold question,” commented the Lady.

“I’m feeling a little bold,” responded Lucy. “It must be the tea.”

“What do you intend to do with it if I give it to you?”

“Destroy it or take it back to the school. We’ll even let you choose,” said Justin.

“Then you may have it,” said the Lady.

“Just like that?” asked Justin amazed. “Why?”

“Because it has done much more harm than good. I would like you to take it to the school. You may destroy it there if you wish, but I want it gone from Kinowenn, and I want the word spread that it is gone. Then, people can stop searching for it, both the good and the bad. They can still search for Kleth if they want to. It will still be here. I am tired of the Eye and the mythology surrounding it. After all, it is only a tear.”

“Only a tear?” asked Maya puzzled. “I thought it had magical powers.”

“It’s more of a pretty good luck charm. It does have the power to help keep the wearer healthy, but there are herbs to do that. Some people mistake the effects of hard work and sensible thinking as magic.”

“That’s it?” asked Maya again. “Why all the stories?”

“Stories spring from many sources. This story sprang from jealousy. The fisherman gave the ring to his sister. She kept it as a good luck charm. She handed it down to her son who also kept it as a good luck charm, so forth and so on. The son also happened to be a hard worker, and while he worked he thought. He found ways to save money and ways to use what he had to make more money. He loved the sea and had many sons. Not all of them loved the sea so he bought a parcel of land.

Some of the sons fished, others farmed, and some left the area altogether, but all of them were thinkers and hard workers. The ones on land bought some sheep and their wives spun wool and made blankets and sweaters that were not only functional but beautiful. They made dyes not only from herbs, but from things found in the sea that their fisherman relations brought for them to use. The proceeds went to more land, more sheep, and fields to farm. One son enjoyed baking. The family helped him finance a bakery and supplied all his wheat. Eventually, through hard work, practical thinking, saving, and planning, the family owned most of the town. One of them became mayor, others became traders, all of them had large families, and eventually they essentially owned many lands and in turn a kingdom.

People who do not do well, or are lazy, tend to look at those who are doing well and try to find a way to get what they have. Some of them did not see the hard work and did not understand practical thinking. It had to be something else. It had to be luck or magic. Then rumors started of a good luck charm that was magic, and everything went bad from there on. People thought they would also have good luck if they had the charm.

Battles were fought. The mythology grew. Soldiers and peasants going into battle believed they would win because they had magic on their side, and those fighting against them feared they would lose because they had magic against them. If you’ve ever fought a battle, you know that morale is very important. Small groups of brave or stupid people fought their way in to try to steal the charm so they could have magic on their side.

It grew so ridiculous that I took the Eye, created Kleth, and brought it here. I tire of people still looking for it. I tire of people doing things for the wrong reasons. You had to kill people in self-defense simply because you were trying to get here. How many more people have to die for something that is only a tear? If you take it and people know it’s gone, they will stop looking for it. Here.”

The Lady finished her speech and handed the ring to Justin. He put it on his finger.

“If people know the Eye is real and that we have it in our possession, won’t we be in a lot of very real danger all the way back to Taran’s?” asked Lucy.

“I rather think that between the four of you, you can handle a lot of very real danger,” replied the Lady glancing at the archway. “Still, I will make things easier if I can. I will put you back where I found you. You can find your way from there. There are people here searching for the Eye. I will let them have a vision of me giving it to you and then I will return them to where they came from. I will be selective about those I choose to return. No one who lives ahead of you shall return. Only those who live behind, far to the north, or far to the south. At first people will think they are raving mad lunatics, but after the word travels that there are many lunatics with the same story, people will start to look and they will start to look where the lunatics were found. Hopefully, by the time anyone starts heading in the right direction, it will be too late to catch you.”

“How will people know we’ve left with it?” asked Gavin.

“Taran can handle that for you. He can say he saw you leave with the Eye. You can show it to him so that he can accurately describe it. He can let them know that you intend to keep it or destroy it. Either way, make it clear that it will never come here again. That should work.”

“Doesn’t that put Taran in danger?” asked Justin.

“Taran can take care of himself. I can help protect him, and he can always go to the school himself if things get too difficult for him.”

“If people are looking for us, it will make it difficult for us to come back and do other things here,” said Justin.

“Not at all. I said everyone would see me give you the Eye, and everyone would have the same story. I did not say that the story would look like you. There will be two men and two women, but you will look different enough to them that you will never look like any description they give.”

“I suppose we should get moving,” said Gavin, picking up his pack.

“You need not leave yet. I have prepared a room for you. You may eat here, rest, and leave in the morning. Lucy may be strong, but what she did took a lot out of her. She could use the sleep. Also, some of you still have questions for me. I’ll let Lucy stay and ask hers. That way she only needs to be moved once.”

The others went through the door behind one of the tapestries.

“Have you any questions for me?”

“Yes, but I’m not sure they are the questions you are expecting.”

“I love nothing more than an unexpected question,” she said implying a sense of humor behind a serious face.

“Were you the snake?”

“Yes,” she said simply.

“Why?”

“I knew you would figure it out if I pointed you in the right direction. You did very well.”

“Is there any advice you would give to me?”

“Learn to master your power before it masters you. Uncontrolled power can be dangerous. You are able to accept things about yourself when you need to use power that are harder for you to accept on a daily basis. Work on balance. Do not be afraid of yourself. That is the worst thing you could do.”

“The nightmares don’t make that easy.”

“That is one thing I can do for you. I will make the nightmares stop. For now. They will stay away as long as you are working on balance and acceptance. They will return if you cannot learn to control yourself and accept who you are.”

“Thank you. That’s more than I would have asked for and more than I would have hoped for.”

“Next question?”

“You are Ishalla, aren’t you?”

“That is one of my names.”

“Why were you crying so long ago?”

“That is a conversation to have when we meet again.”

“I look forward to that meeting.”

“Anything else you’d like to know?”

“Not really. My mind is muddled, and anything else I could think of to ask could only be turned around. The mechanics of the archway for instance. I’d be interested to learn more, but I’m not in the mood to take it all in. I can think about it some more. That way I’ll know the questions I want to ask about it when we meet again.”

“Don’t you even want to know when that will be?”

“Not particularly. The future is a fuzzy thing, and I think I like it like that.”

“You amuse me.”

“Good. I’d hate to be remembered as boring.”

They smiled at each other. Then the Lady motioned and the door opened. Maya entered to ask her questions, and Justin helped Lucy into the other room. She was able to change into her pajamas and ate some food before falling into a deep sleep on a comfortable bed. It was a wonderfully dreamless sleep. None of them discussed their experiences in the archway, and none of them discussed what questions they had asked the Lady or her answers. Even Justin and Lucy only had one small discussion about the whole experience.

“I’m glad you bent instead of breaking,” said Justin.

“I didn’t do either. I was the storm,” responded Lucy.

That was it.

They woke up feeling refreshed and ready to start the potentially dangerous journey back to Taran’s cabin, the doorway, and the school. The Lady provided them with a filling breakfast of fruits, breads, porridge, and sausages. She also supplemented their packs with nuts, more travel bread (hers was flavored with honey and thus much better than the ones they had bought in Plint), and plenty of fresh water. It was never good to underestimate the importance of plenty of fresh water. The Lady wished them safe travel and put them on the plateau they came from.

They looked at each other. Each was wondering if the whole strange ordeal had really happened or not. Perhaps that was why everyone who survived the archways was marked with a tattoo. To remember what had happened, what they had overcome, and what they had learned. Also, Justin had the Eye of Elicion on his forefinger. Another reminder of what had passed and what still lay ahead. Finally, Gavin mounted up and motioned to Maya, conveying that he was ready to follow her lead back across Kinowenn. The rest of the group mounted, and they rode for quite some time in silence. Each was concentrating on his or her own thoughts but did not feel like discussing them out loud.

Justin and Lucy did talk enough to establish that Lucy would watch the way behind them and Justin would concentrate on what was ahead. This gave Lucy practice and also allowed Justin some time to think. They rode hard that first day. They did not know how long the Lady would wait until she started letting people out of Kleth, but knew that the faster they reached their destination, the sooner they would be safe. By the time they camped that night, some of the pensiveness of the individuals had waned. They joked and laughed while they ate dinner.

The next day of the journey went like the ones leading up to Kleth. Lucy and Gavin went through drills on horseback. Lucy was getting much better. Justin joined in periodically as well. He liked to keep his skills fresh.

“Come on Maya, you should practice too,” said Gavin riding up next to her to try to convince her.

“I’m busy trying to lead us in the right direction,” she replied.

“Justin or Lucy can lead long enough for you to run through some forms with me.”

“I’d rather not.”

“You need the practice. What happens if we are attacked?”

“You don’t think that the three of you can handle anything?”

“Oh, I’m certain that we can, but we wouldn’t want you to later accuse us of stealing all the fun for ourselves.”

“I promise to refrain from doing that no matter how difficult it becomes for me,” said Maya.

Gavin gave up trying for the day. Maya seemed determined, and Gavin had learned he could only push her so far before she became irritated with him. Maya was one of those people who held on to irritation for longer than the initial irritant warranted. He still thought she should practice more, but he also felt he could try again tomorrow.

Lucy continued to learn about herbs from Maya. She also agreed it was good to know multiple ways to accomplish things, and you never knew when herb knowledge could come in useful. Besides, it was a good way to pass the time. It would have been boring to do nothing but ride day in and day out no matter how much you loved horses.

They stopped at Plint on their way back. It was enjoyable to stay at the inn again. Clean and serviceable mean a lot to a traveler. Molly was happy to see them again so soon and placed them in the same rooms. The food was good, and they bought supplies while in town. They discussed whether or not they should stop in towns or avoid them. Justin argued it might help to listen to rumors and find out if the Lady had started any. After they knew how the land lay, they could choose to avoid other towns or they could use them to find out more information.

The inn was busy that night. It was easy for them to blend in with the crowd, enjoy the fresh rye bread and noodle soup, and listen to the talk around them without seeming suspicious.

“Have you heard the rumors?” one man asked his dinner companion.