Chapter Nineteen
Rhoswen was feeling impatient. They would be at the crossroads soon, but soon just kept getting sooner away. She was anxious to talk to Druantia. They had taken a break from the ride as Dara sent them the images from their aunt's return. Now, Rhoswen had even more questions. Then there was lunch—a Meifen lunch. She wasn't sure what they had eaten, but she pulled a piece from her teeth which looked suspiciously like a beetle's leg. He wouldn't be serving them bugs—would he? She had kept her opinion to herself, watching Vevila valiantly eating through her meal. Davy didn't seem to mind, he just dug in.
Rhoswen's eyes were heavy. She was just starting to drift off when she was scared speechless by the sudden roaring shout as six big, grimy looking men attacked their wagon. One had grabbed Kingdom. He reared back into the wagon. They felt the wagon tip and were thrown onto the ground, all except Meifen. He did a springing flip, striking the man in the head with his staff. The man stumbled, but determinedly came back at him.
Alana looked around stunned. Davy was between her and the invaders. She spied a knife nearby and grabbed it up, pulling Davy behind her.
"Kellan," Alana screamed, spying one of the men charging towards Kellan, "behind you!"
Kellan just had time to scramble away from the dirty man. Alana darted out and distracted him with the knife, giving Kellan enough time to grab a branch.
"Get back," Kellan screamed at him, brandishing him with her branch. He laughed and pushed the branch aside. Kellan sprang towards him and slugged him into the front of the head as hard as she could. She'd dropped a donkey before with that trick. The man was knocked to the ground. Kellan sprinted past him.
Alana looked back for Davy only to find one of the slavers running at him! She ran towards Davy, screaming for him to run. Meifen beat her there and used his own body to shield him. Meifen was struck in the shoulder with the man's knife. Alana was able to grab Davy and pulled him farther away from the fight. Meifen didn't even pause, but swung his staff around and took out the slaver.
Rhoswen scrambled out of reach as one of the men lunged for her. He missed and made another grab. She stabbed him as hard as she could with the knife she had used for lunch. It lodged itself into the bone of his hand. He screamed out something in pain. She sprang back looking for a bigger weapon. Meifen was just suddenly there, tripping the big man with his staff, and then striking him across his neck. He fell—still.
Kellan watched fearfully as Kane daringly dodged in and out around the intruder's feet, tripping them up at every opportunity. She was so scared for her. The big one had almost caught her!
Two of the men had Vevila trapped up in a tree. With a yell, Meifen sprang off the tree and hit each man with his staff. They yowled in pain, but neither went down. They circled the little Chinese man. In moves so fast that they couldn't be seen, Meifen had hit them countless times. Rhoswen and her sisters watched mesmerized as they staggered and fell. Meifen was breathing hard, but kept his staff still poised. When he saw that they were all down. He lowered his staff to the ground.
The sisters looked around in shock. All the slavers lay as if dead. Kellan secretly hoped they were. She didn't know what they would do with them if they were still alive.
"Very good, but not perfect!" Druantia walked out from one of the trees. The men disappeared. Meifen bowed deeply towards her.
"This is what I want you to do," Druantia told them. "I want you to learn all types of personal defense."
"So they weren't real?" Kane asked disappointedly.
"Ask Rhoswen or Kellan," Druantia instructed her.
"They were real," Rhoswen showed the wound in her hand from slipping down on the knife. She hadn't even noticed it at the time.
"They felt real to me," Kellan told her shakily, "and nasty. I know my hands hurt. I was very scared."
"They have been sent—home," Druantia told them. "Meifen is a masters-master with the martial arts. He is a trying teacher. You must work very hard to be worthy of him."
"I am honored," Meifen told them.
"You are getting maybe a little sloppy?" Druantia asked as she healed the wound to his shoulder.
"I was scared for the boy," Meifen had sacrificed his body to block Davy from the man's knife.
"You care," Druantia smiled.
"Yes," he said simply.
Druantia walked over and drew a circle into the dirt. They watched as it shimmered and an image appeared.
"I want you to watch carefully of what had just happened," she told them. "It could have been true. Those slavers could have breached this land."
"What about the protections?" Kellan asked, "The raven mark?"
"There is always a battle going on between good and evil," Druantia told them. "Good does not always win. Any spell or protection can be overcome. You must be diligent. Why did you not use any of your magical gifts?"
"I didn't even think to," Kellan said surprised.
"I can sing, what good is that?" Vevila asked her.
"I will show you," Druantia motioned them towards the reflection.
They gathered around the images and watched greedily. Unlike images from scrying with glass or water, they could hear as well as see. First they watched the way it had played out. Then Druantia showed them where their gifts could have contributed to their victory.
Vevila was seen singing a song that mesmerized the men. Alana was also talking to mesmerize them, or feeling what the earth had to offer for their downfall. Kellan was pulling them down to the earth, or flinging them away. Kane was either launching them the way she had pushed her aunt, or was throwing rocks—really big rocks. Rhoswen's gift took the most work, and concentration. She could see possibilities, but in order to act on them. She had to be very fast, and very sure.
"Dara is a healer," Druantia told them. "What a healer knows to put someone back together, they know how to tear them apart."
"Euww," Alana squirmed.
"If an enemy is going to do worse to you, or people you love. Be determined to do worse to them." Druantia told her. "Be committed to their downfall—or you will not succeed."
"Yes, Druantia," Alana nodded. She should have poked out that man's eyeballs. She had the chance. Next time…
They watched a replay of the attack several times more. Meifen would describe either what he was doing, or what they could have done. He also praised them when they had done something either very brave, or very smart. They also watched as the picture showed them more about their gifts, and how to better enhance them.
Rhoswen felt a tap on her shoulder. Druantia beckoned to her. She followed her away from the others.
"You have questions?" Druantia asked her.
Now that she was here, Rhoswen felt shy and a little stupid for her questions.
"They were good questions," Druantia told her. "Ask."
"Why was mama able to bring Jay back from the dead?" She asked bluntly. "I'm glad he's back, but why? And why couldn't papa and mama be brought back, too? Was it a life for a life? Did papa die so Jay could live? Why all this—anyway?"
"Sit," Druantia instructed. Rhoswen sat stiffly in the grass. Now that she had asked, she felt like crying.
"I saw what your mother and father were doing and supported it," Druantia told her. "I only intervened that the worlds they merged actually stayed separate, thus the raven. Only the raven can cross the barriers."
"Why would you do that?" Rhoswen asked.
"Would you choose for a plague way in the future, when medicine is more advanced, to hit your shores?" Druantia asked.
"I see," Rhoswen said quietly, imagining more than just dead potatoes.
"We, even I, cannot bring back the dead," Druantia began. "However, sometimes there is divine intervention. It was not yet time for your father to be taken from you. It was the choices and deeds of another that caused for it to have happened. If Keegan had not put himself into harm's way—a choice he made—a child would have been taken instead. Your mother was given such an interv
ention with time realities. She could have chosen to pull back time and save your father, but there were no realities where an innocent would not have died. She chose to honor her husband's choice. She chose to pull back time for Briana's sake, so that Briana would not also be feeling the pain which your mother was feeling."
"She knew all this?" Rhoswen cried.
"She did," Druantia told her. "She chose an—all win—reality. She chose unselfishly."
"And her death?" Rhoswen asked.
"It was her time," Druantia told her. "I do not know the answers to why. There is an understanding between the divine and every person as to when, or what that person will learn, or feel with every life. We, including myself, forget while we are in our mortal body. We remember when we are again in spirit."
"That seems pointless," Rhoswen frowned.
"Spirit can know many lives," she told her, "flesh, usually only the one. Some people can remember more, but they are rare. It is like an agreement, we make with ourselves," Druantia tried to clarify. "We want to experience something, or to learn something, or maybe even to have something. In spirit we choose how best to get it. We are given the guidance, and the opportunity. It is up to us if we do as we plan."
"Maybe Vevila wanted to sing?" Rhoswen tried to reason out what Druantia was saying, "and now she has been born with a really fine voice, but it's up to her to sing?"
"Yes, maybe like that," Druantia agreed. "In my first life I was barren. I wanted very much to have children, so I bartered for that with the next life. Now, I have all of you."
"Are you flesh," Rhoswen asked, "or spirit?"
"I have revivified," Druantia explained. "I was mortal. My mother was half human and half Elfin. My father is an angel. When I died in my second life, I was given the opportunity to change and watch over my children. My children would be destroyed without a keeper. So I chose to watch them. I was revivified by the divine. I am energy that can move as spirit, or flesh."
"Why would they destroy your children?" Rhoswen asked appalled.
"Children between human and angel are taboo," she said bluntly. "My mate was human, which made my children more human than angel—a Nephilim. At one time the Nephilim walked the earth. They were evil and vile. They corrupted all that they touched. These were destroyed. I am charged to not allow such ever again."
"What if one is born?" Rhoswen asked.
"It will not be born," Druantia told her firmly.
"Celeste?" Rhoswen asked.
"Is not a Nephilim," Druantia answered. "They have an inverted soul. They cannot hide. Celeste's as pure as any human could be."
"Why aren't you a Nephlin," Rhoswen asked.
"I was enough Elfin—not human," she answered.
"That next life," Rhoswen asked shrewdly, "it didn't go as you thought—did it?"
"No," she stated. "You can produce the raven."
She held out her hand. Rhoswen trustingly reached out to take it. There was a flash, a pain, and Druantia was gone. She looked down at her hand and didn't see anything. She looked deeper and saw the faint outline of a raven.
:You will know if they are worthy of the raven when you touch their hand.: Rhoswen heard Druantia's words. :No one can cross without the raven. Except by direct divine intervention.:
She looked up with surprise to find the others practicing with staffs. She had been so absorbed with what Druantia had to say, that she hadn't noticed that the training had begun. Kane came running over to her carrying two staffs.
"Druantia left these for us," Kane said excitedly. "They already have some wards etched into them, and there is a tool that we can use to scribe even more. Come on."
Kane shoved a staff into her hand and hauled her over to the others. The staff she was holding seemed to fit perfectly in her hand. They seemed to be made from the forests iron wood trees. As she studied her staff it flared. She didn't recognize any of the wards. She looked at the others using their staffs. The staffs were all different. They seemed to be perfectly made for whoever was using it. Rhoswen was wondering if the staffs adjusted for the holder, when a ward on her own staff flared brighter. She realized that it was her name written in Gaelic. This was made just for her by Druantia herself.
Rhoswen wasn't too sure that this was such a good thing, when she saw what Meifen expected her to do. She watched as Kane flawlessly went through her moves. He even had Davy practicing hit movements and tumbling. Rhoswen sighed. It looked like an awful lot of work. She looked down at her wounded hand and nodded. That could have been very real. She jumped with surprise and watched as her wound healed shut. Determinedly, she joined in. Meifen nodded with pride and acceptance.
"This is just the beginning," he told them. "You will also learn to fight—without a staff."
They worked out until dinner. Meifen allowed them to choose what they wanted out of the baskets. Surprisingly, Davy chose the dish which Meifen had made earlier.
"What is that?" Vevila asked Davy.
"Beetle with barley," he told her surprised. "Mama fixed it special."
"Oh," Vevila's smile looked a little strained. "I think I'll just have the chicken."
"That's not chicken," Davy looked over her shoulder.
"Of course it is," she scolded him.
He just shrugged. He had watched Meifen fry up the frog legs that very morning before the girls were awake. He remembered because Meifen winked at him.
They didn't have a very long evening. Everyone, except maybe Meifen and Davy, were tired and couldn't wait to get to their beds. Meifen still built up a fire. Kellan was thankful as she gazed into it. Rhoswen thought it would be awhile before she slept. She had a lot to think about. Not so, she fell asleep before she even got the covers correct. She wasn't aware when Meifen pulled them up for her.
The next morning found them too sore to move. Meifen insisted that they get up and stretch. Then he had them reviewing what they had learned yesterday. They were then sent out to look for eggs. Breakfast was already cooking when they returned.
"I wish he would let one of us cook," Vevila complained quietly.
"Why don't you offer," Kellan asked her.
"Oh," Vevila looked surprised. "I've never cooked before."
"A nice time to start," Meifen surprised them both. "You will choose and cook lunch."
"Me?" she asked confused. "I'm only nine."
"Ha," he said. "I was only five when I made my first meal. You are a little slow maybe?"
"No, I'm not," Vevila said stung. "I can do that!"
"Good," he smiled. "Then you may also choose for your breakfast. I was cooking my clothes. They were getting a little—stiff."
They looked inside the pot. Sure enough, Meifen was cooking his spare robe.
"We will stay today and wash all of our clothes," he told them. "Yours are a little—stiff, too. Even Kingdom has noticed."
"AWW-EE, aww-ee," Kingdom bobbed his head.
They did as Meifen said and stayed there that day cleaning out their clothes. When they had the spare set clean and drying, Meifen had them clean the originals. Kellan and Alana felt a little shy about their near nudity, but Vevila and Kane seemed to glory in their total nudity. Rhoswen seemed indifferent to their situation. She was busy reading her mother's writings.
They chose foods out of the basket for their breakfast, mostly oatmeal with nuts and berries. Vevila did cook lunch—with Meifen's assistance. She didn't actually cook anything, but put together little meat and cheese buns. She beamed proudly when her sisters ate what she provided and complimented her on it. Meifen assigned Alana to help cook the next meal.
The next day they made for the seashore. They arrived that afternoon. It was as they remembered it. Alana sat and paused to listen, no surprises here. They spent the next two days at the beach site. Meifen had them practicing defense both days. The sisters had gotten very proficient with the staff. Kane was also very agile and quite the acrobat. Where Kane and Alana were fast, Kellan was strong. Only Meifen would fight against Kell
an.
"When you are better," he told her. "You will learn control. It is not always desirable to smash the crap out of everything."
Vevila and Rhoswen were rather indifferent fighters. This bothered Kellan and Kane.
"They aren't trying very hard," they complained to him.
"When they are threatened," he told them. "They will try harder. Remember Rhoswen with her knife."
Kellan nodded. When they were looking into Druantia's reflection, Kellan was surprised by how fierce Rhoswen was during the attack. She wouldn't want to be on the other end of that knife. She had never seen Rhoswen so angry before. Kellan was sure that the knife would have found its way into that man's heart, if it had been close enough.
Kellan looked sadly around. They were packing up to go home. She had so enjoyed the beach. She had also enjoyed the freedom of romping around. They had never been gone for so long, or for so many reasons.
"We will be back," Alana told her. "Anytime we want."
"Yes," Kellan agreed, "but never like this with Meifen teaching us so many things."
"I miss Dara," Alana confided. "It hurts. Like part of me isn't here. We talk every night, but that is not the same. Life is going to be different now. She's always going to be off healing someone." Alana laughed sadly. "Even I have been volunteering her healing. I promised that she would look at Chargers gums and teeth."
"You can bet she will, too," Kellan hugged her close. "You two can visit him together."
"We're packed," Rhoswen interrupted them.
Meifen had them pick up everything. He even had them bury the ashes and smoothen out the sand. It looked totally untouched.
"What path are we to use to travel back?" Meifen asked them.
"From here we can travel straight back and avoid the bog," Kellan mentioned. "We would come out a little past the village."
"I think that would be best," Rhoswen agreed. "I don't think I'm up for more visiting. No one's on that track."
"I agree," Alana said simply.
Kane and Vevila just shrugged.
"What is he asking?" Davy asked Vevila
"Which route we want to take to go back home," Vevila told him.
"Will that be to my home, too?" He asked hopefully.
"No," Vevila answered sympathetically, "but we will find your home."
"Promise?" He asked.
"Promise!" She answered firmly.
"When we get home," Rhoswen told Vevila. "We can start scrying for his parents."
Vevila just nodded.
"Kingdom, Home," Alana called out.
Return to Toc