Byacian (3)

I knew I was dreaming, but it did not keep me from reliving my life in the darkness. I saw my mother, so beautiful and cold, watching my father play with me on the floor of the house on Madison. I saw my brothers pushing me as I stood in the center of their circle. I saw my father and my grandfather arguing about how I should be educated to prepare me for the coming destination.

I do not know what focused me in on it, but the past seemed so real, as if I was reliving it all over again. Allow me to sum everything up for you instead of telling the long and winding story.

I was born Sabine Elizabeth Ashtoreth. My father was adamant that my first name be Sabine, my mother wanted a country club child, and so compromised as long as she could call me Libby. They divorced 3 years later, much to my grandfather's relief. My older brothers were young enough to want their mother, but my father fought for custody of me because he believed in the prophecy. I much preferred life away from my mother, more because I held a small amount of fear of her.

My mother was vain and spiteful. She felt that having a little girl ruined her marriage. She knew that when I was born my father no longer put up with her. She put all the anger and disappointment into my siblings, who then took it out on me every chance they got. They bullied me, bloodied me, and almost killed me on two occasions. Needless to say, when I reach the age of eight, and the judge said that I could, I no longer visited with my mother or my brothers. And when they visited my father, I avoided them by attending survival-training weekends. I had not willingly spent any time with my mother or brothers in over six years, and I liked it that way.

My father put his heart and soul into raising me properly. My grandfather, outliving his three older children, aided him in every way. My grandmother helped until she joined her children when I was six. We were close, and I would have willingly given my life for either of them. In fact, I gave up my way of life for them. Everything would change now that I was here, wherever that would be.

I received lessons in Tae Kwon Do, my tutors kept me busy so that I could graduate high school by the time I was eleven, I learned to use weapons like the single stick, double stick and bo staff. I should remember the Korean names, but I never put much effort into that. I learned to speak conversational Latin, Greek, Chinese and Norwegian. My days and nights were spent preparing me for the travel to Byacian.

I have to be honest, I was pretty resentful of the fact that I was the one who had to go. Why should I be charged with saving this other place? Could they not take care of themselves? Why me? What hold did this place have over my father and grandfather, and why should it matter to me?

Everything in my past led to questions. And as soon as I had the opportunity to get answers, I fall asleep. How ironic that the moment something is about to happen in my life that does not require me to work my fingers to the bone to achieve it, I become unconscious and can only think of the past. My whole life is about to unfold before my eyes and I cannot even open them to watch.

Later I realized that it was funny what motivates us. Perhaps if I had stayed unconscious I might have been better equipped for what would take place. Instead, I fear I may have miscalculated my reactions.

I awoke warm and comfortable. I opened my eyes to see the inside of the cave, only partially lit by the torches running through the tunnels. No fire had been lit in the cave room where I lay, but the blankets that were bundled atop and beside me kept me from being in the least chilled throughout the night. Even the padding I slept upon seemed designed to be both comfortable and aid in shielding me from the cold floor.

Never one to lie abed, I tried to dislodge the blankets only to find them much harder to remove than I expected. I began burrowing my arm completely beneath them, hoping it was due to their weight that I could not move them. I had only tried flipping them back from the corner, so maybe it would require more leverage from deeper beneath the covers. What I encountered beneath the blanket shocked me so much that I, to my everlasting embarrassment, screamed.

Instantly Gideon pulled his arm from around me, jumping up and pulling his sword, looking about bewilderedly when he found no enemies to slay. Within moments, the entrance to the cave room congested with soldiers and warriors, weapons drawn, running to see where the danger lay. As soon as he had released me, I scampered, yes scampered to increase my embarrassment, away from the pile of bedding, and moved further into the cave. The congested doorway let in less light, and for a moment, the confusion was overwhelming. Many, who did not see me, began to make noises about me being kidnapped from under their noses, while others, not daring to enter the cave room, looked in askance to Gideon.

Realizing that there was no threat, Gideon lowered his weapon. He waved to the burgeoning crowd, sending them back to their beds. He turned back to face me, but still said nothing until even Aristomache had left the doorway to the cave room. He gestured to the pile of blankets, and from the almost violent gesture, I assumed he would wrestle me into them, if I did not return of my own free will. I struggled to my feet, both of which were freezing in the short time of the entire altercation. Stumbling on the almost numb appendages, I returned to the bedding.

My eyes grew enormous when he joined me there. I must be honest; I have never had a boyfriend, never even kissed a boy. I have never had much experience with them, other than sparring and lab partners. For me to be sharing a, for lack of a better term, bed with a man, and he was a man, it was blowing my mind. I know that my breathing must have changed, because I felt myself beginning to hyperventilate. I stopped the reaction immediately, challenging myself to control what I could for the moment, before I tried to control what seemed beyond me.

"Would you like to tell me why you screamed in the middle of the night, when there is nothing to be afraid of here?" His voice sounded dangerous, controlled and low as it was. He began pulling blankets over both of us again, and I lay back down with my head on the pillow I had been using before. He adjusted the covers, and again placed his arm around my waist.

I did not move. I tried to barely breathe. Allow me to tell you what I found when I felt beneath the blanket, a man wearing nothing at all. This is how he settled in beside me yet again, arm at my waist, muscled arm relaxed against my, thankfully clothed, arm, and leg draped over my thighs. I might die of shock, but I was absorbing every sensation.

"No answer?"

Realizing he had asked the reason for my scream, I flushed hard. The heat from my face alone could have kept the caves warm for the next few days. My face afire, I closed my eyes, guiltily enjoying the heat pouring from his body into mine. "I have never," I began. My tongue tied and I raised my right hand from beneath the blankets to squeeze the bridge of my nose between my thumb and forefinger. I opened my mouth to try to explain again, but no words came forth.

I felt him lever himself up to look into my face, and I flattened my hand to cover as much of it as I could. The light creeping in was surely on my side in keeping him from detecting my embarrassment. A few heartbeats passed, then I felt his arm move from around my waist to pull my hand down. Slowly, as the hand moved, I opened my eyes, first one, then the other. I expected to find an angry man, one who demanded an explanation of the latest events, instead I found myself confused.

And Gideon was smiling down at me. That was what confused me. "Why are you smiling?" I cautiously asked. My hand, now with no where to go, burrowed back beneath the blankets that had been dislodged by the both of us. His hand reached over to brace himself above me. His grin though, was nothing short of delighted.

"I wondered if you would be as innocent as the prophecy led us to believe. And it seems you are." He held that smug look again, as if he won a prize that I was unaware of being. He again lifted a hand; forefinger extended out, and touched it to the tip of my nose. After pressing lightly, he replaced his arm back around my waist, carefully not touching me beneath the blankets except when he reached his destination.

Caught by what he said I questioned, "What prophecy?"

"The one foretelling your arrival in Byacian." He countered. He lowered his body back down to lie beside me again, pinning me beneath the blankets. Glancing down without moving my head, I realized he was closing his eyes preparing to sleep.

"Don't go back to sleep. I want answers." I whispered, finally coming alive. I turned my body to face him, levering up slightly myself. I knew instantly that I should have kept still. Looking into his face, I understood the inspiration for Lewis Carroll's Cheshire cat. That grin crossing his face instantly sent danger signals through my head.

"And what answers do you seek, elskede?" His voice was husky. Even as innocent as I was I knew what was about to happen. Even as he raised his head to allow his lips meet mine, I jerked myself back and away. I then attempted to roll out of the bedroll. Now while my attempts were met with fifty percent success, I had made it a competition, and thus one of us had to lose. He, I knew right away, was going to win.

I missed his lips, but in trying to roll away, I was caught by his arm around my waist. I knew continued struggles would only make things worse, so I stopped trying to roll away, and brought my hands up to his shoulders as he again rolled over and levered over me. I put my hands there, not to deter him, but to occupy them. I knew if things got beyond my control, I would use my hands to separate us in any way possible. He may be missing an eye or have blood coming from his nose, but I was not going to keep him from assuaging my curiosity first.

"I see you understand that I would win." It was strange how he could almost read my thoughts. "I know that curiosity rules you." Now it was frightening. How could he know what was rattling through my mind? "Your face is like an open Book. It will be my pleasure to learn all its secrets before you become my wife."

I almost screamed again at that tidbit. I kept it in, however, but could not keep my mouth from falling open in shock. "I'm sorry, your what?" I asked, having kept the panic out of my voice, but I felt it's fingers easing into me. I was only sixteen; I had never done anything but study and learn to control myself. I had only ever lived for other people, first my father, now for Byacian. I wanted an opportunity to live for myself before I had to marry some guy who just assumed it was okay to jump into bed with me, while he was wearing no clothes.

On this thought, panic was edged out by anger. How dare he assume he could do that to me? He was right, I was as pure as the driven snow, so what made him think he could crawl in bed with me? What made him think I was going to marry him? Now I was hot.

Now most people use that as an expression, I unfortunately, having been newly imbued with magic, and not knowing precisely what I could do, meant that literally. I felt the same as ever, but my skin began to heat. First, Gideon's expression changed from smug and condescending to surprised, then wary as he threw himself away from me, pulling the blankets with him in his haste, so his body was not uncovered this time, but he eyed me as if I had bitten him.

Still beyond anger, but mindful that everyone would come running if I began wailing like a fishwife, I gritted my teeth and spoke through my clenched jaws. "What do you mean, when I become your wife? Don't I get a say in who I marry? I have a mind of my own you know." I leaned up and looked at him with angry eyes.

Gideon looked at me, then his forefinger, letting his gaze follow his arm up to his chest. Laying propped up, inches from me, I saw the red skin, but until he pulled back the blankets so that he could look beneath to survey the damage, did I realize that he was injured. My anger cooled enough that I truly looked at him for a moment, all my attention switching to him rather than my anger at him. I came to a full sitting position to get a better look, and he lowered the blanket to look in my direction again.

His skin was violently red. In places the redness was accompanied by swelling and on the tip of his forefinger, there was a blister. He did not, to his credit, accuse me of anything. In fact, he looked very calm during a very painful experience. I was still so confused as to what had happened that the confusion must have shown on my face. "Elskelde," he began gently, "you must take care with the fire magic. It will burn me to death if you do not learn to control it quickly." A small smile lifted the corner of one side of his red face.

For the first time, I realized I had done this to him. Contrition pouring from me, "What can I do to make you better?" I scrabbled forward onto my knees. I reached out my hand to touch him, as if to test the wounds, but stopped at his quick indrawn breath. I raised my anguished eyes to his face; my hand hovered over his burned shoulder.

"What do you know of healing?" He inquired.

Too anxious to hold anything back, I tried jokingly, "Kiss it make it better?" Honesty poured from my features as the half-hearted joke fell short.

Gideon chuckled. "Elskelde, I am immortal. This will heal soon, so you have no need to worry." He used his left hand, the unburned palm to gently grasp my extended hand and fold it within his own.

Still desperate, I looked at the angry color of his skin and then back up to his eyes. "I have to do something. This is all my fault." Tears actually came to my eyes as I watched him stiffly adjust how he sat, moving so that less of his skin was abraded by the blankets.

Amusement and pain lingered in his gaze as he focused back on my face. Then I will let you try your therapy." The small smile lifting the corner of his lips again.

I willed myself to calm down; at the same time I was wishing with all my might that kissing him would actually heal him. I was not going to deny myself the sensation, though I felt so guilty about it now that I had caused him injury. He had leaned forward the slightest bit, still holding my right hand in his left. I decided I was going to make this work, so help me I had caused the pain without much thought; surely I could take it away if I wanted.

I leaned forward to meet his lips, keeping my lips together since I had no idea how to kiss otherwise. The kiss, chaste as it was, still rocked the foundations of my world. There were no words to describe how wonderful his lips made me feel, no expressions that would cover this feeling that I now possessed. The kiss had nothing to do with sex and everything to do with discovery. I closed my eyes to absorb more of the feeling, and Gideon let out a low growl as he felt my response.

I was, in fact so involved with what was happening, that I forgot about his burned skin, and brought my left hand to curl around his neck. He never made a sound, but I felt him flinch. I disengaged my lips from his slowly, looking at him, my right hand still in his, my left hand around his neck, my fingers curling at the ends of his dark hair. As I watched, the redness seemed to be seeping from his skin, and Gideon was watching me, watch him.

My mouth had dropped open in shock yet again, and after a few moments, I finally met Gideon's eyes again, releasing the back of his neck, and pulling myself further from him. His mouth was pulling into a genuine smile, and when I finally got control enough to close my mouth, he whispered my earlier words back to me. "Kiss it make it better." He leaned forward to kiss me again, this time leaning far enough that the blankets moved with him. I leaned back and gently disengaged my hand from his. He looked disappointed, but did not question me further other than to raise a single eye brow.

"It already healed the burns; there isn't any more reason to kiss you." I tried to sound haughty and instead sounded as nervous as I felt.

He quickly turned away and buried his head in the pillow I had been using, using it to muffle what was sure to have been loud laughter at what I had said. The muffled sounds and gentle shaking of his shoulders went on for awhile, but finally he looked up and, catching me watching him, chuckled a bit longer. When he finally regained control, he tried to get me to lay back beside him, promising to be there just to keep me warm and not to do anything beyond flirtatious. When I tried to question him, he said he would explain everything I wanted to know in the morning, until then, he needed to rest.

I helped him arranged the blankets around us, and laid in the spot I had been previously. When he tried to wrap his arm around me, I pushed it back to his side of the bedroll. He sighed loudly, but acquiesced. It took me a while, but I finally fell back to sleep, hearing him fall to slumber first. This time when I dreamt, it was of the future, and how glorious it seemed to be stacking up to be.

I awoke the next morning and I knew instantly that I was alone in the bed. I was not alone in the room however, and I turned my head to see him slipping into his shirt before sitting to pull on his boots. One of the torches in the tunnel must have extinguished because the shadows lay deeper over the interior of the cave. I made to roll over to face the entrance when Gideon spoke softly.

"The sun is not quite up, but if you want to rise, we can begin your training." He never turned his head, but I knew he had heard the blankets move. He pulled the boots into place and laced them tight. I stared for a moment longer before I looked to find my belongings.

I rose to my feet, the lesson of how cold the cave floor was still fresh in my mind, staying on the blankets. I scrambled quickly to grab my pack and the boots beside it. It was not until I was at my pack that I realized my cloak was missing. But I scrambled back to the blankets and sat before making inquiries.

"Where did my cloak go?" My voice was rusty from not being used yet this morning. I realized that I had not brushed my teeth or washed my face from the night before. Truly girly thoughts of morning breath in front of handsome men made me groan internally before looking to Gideon for an answer.

His eyes crinkled at the corners. "Myrrdin borrowed it to test its powers." With the look of amusement in his eyes, I knew he knew something about my cloak that I did not. I opened my mouth to ask, then thought better of it. Every time I asked a question, it seemed like I found out something I did not want to know. It was too early for unpleasantness.

"Will I get it back today?" I realized another question took its place. Shaking my head, I slipped into my boots and freed my favorite weapons from the pack. Gideon nodded, his smile fading as he realized I was not going to ask the question he wanted.

I had considered changing into another set of clothing, especially since I truly felt grimy. Looking up, I realized that changing would mean doing so in front of Gideon, because he was going no where without me now. But, after a good workout I was going to be glad I had not wasted a change of clothes.

Gideon's eyes were drawn to the double sticks I pulled from the pack, he stared at them as I lifted the pack and placed it over my head into its intended place. The metal was bare, but during formation, my father had green dye added to one of the metals, so the bands of different colored metal made for an eye catching weapon. I have a feeling, from the smirk that appeared on his face, that he did not consider these semi-hollow sticks a suitable weapon. Anyway you look at it, I held a direct advantage over almost every being in Byacian, he just did not know it yet.

He led me to the mouth of the room, then to another close by. The room held a running stream with a trickling of water coming from the cave wall and the water ran behind a stone shelf. I ducked my head realizing that this is where I was to relieve myself, and now that I heard the trickle of the water, the urge to do so almost overwhelmed me. Gideon smirked, but left to stand outside the room, going around the corner and staying out of sight. I quickly made use of the water, the motion of the stream carrying it out and away and enabling me to wash up just a bit from the water that slowly cascaded down the wall. I then pulled myself together and made my way back out the door to meet Gideon again.

I heard stirring from some of the other occupants of the caves. Gideon, hearing this as well, motioned for us to get moving. I followed him through a labyrinth of tunnels. Torches dotted here and there, showing the golden red color of the cave walls. Occasionally I would catch a glimpse of a group in a cave room. Everyone I glimpsed still slumbered, but from what inference I caught from Gideon, that would not last much longer.

The torches abruptly stopped and in the shadows cast by them I was barely able to make out two sentries. A nod passed between Gideon and the men, and I let my eyes adjust to be able to take in their visage. My eyes beheld two warriors, one dark, one pale, both made me feel tiny. Each at man stood to almost seven feet and to my astonished eyes, they both carried broad axes on their backs to match the enormous swords at their waists. Their shoulders were twice as wide as my own, and since neither wore a shirt in the cold, damp of the caves, I saw that both took their workouts seriously. They met my gaze, and with nothing better to do, I nodded to them. Miraculously, they returned the greeting, the dark one let a corner of his mouth raise in a half smile, but amusement shown in both their eyes.

I continued behind Gideon, and realized he moved from shadow, falling into complete darkness. I suppose I must have made a noise, though I do not remember it, because Gideon turned and picked me up again, as he had done the night before. He swung my legs up and turned us back the way we had come. A grunt came from the darkness, from one of the warriors, and a hiss of steel on leather played across my ear drums.

"It was only the darkness." Gideon whispered back to the men, and again came the grunt and sound of a weapon being put back in its sheath. Having allayed their interest, he again turned and moved toward the entrance. The darkness became worse and worse, eventually becoming absolute. I tried to keep track of the twist and turns that Gideon pursued, but finally my patience was rewarded when I smelled the fresh air of the outdoors.

He let go of my legs, gently lowering me to stand at the entrance to the cave. I looked out over the complete darkness of the predawn. I looked out over the valley below and the mountains directly in front of us, the ones that seemed to be tinged with gray at the edges, as if they were losing their battle to hold back the sun.

I realized I had been right about the trees, they were even blacker than the cave had seemed, though that may have seemed less black because of the company I kept. I listened intently, hearing the scurrying of night animals as they made their way back to their burrows. I knew in some cases this was more necessity than just instinctual, using the night as cover. In Byacian, the predators were sometimes the prey of the sun.

I came to realize that Gideon was watching me, rather than the scenery. I never looked his way, but pulled away completely. I had become comfortable standing beside him, his arm behind my back, snuggled into his side. Again, when I pulled away, he sighed as if in frustration, or disappointment. However, in my pulling away, I adjusted the metal sticks in my hand, and it recalled us to our purpose.

Gideon pulled me, leading me by the hand, down the path to the left of the cave mouth. It was only thirty feet or so to the valley floor beneath us, and except for the path leading from either side of the cave mouth to the valley floor, the foothill the caves rested in were a sheer, stone wall straight up from the valley floor. The wall was pitted, and could probably be climbed, but the paths made that a silly proposition. The valley floor at the base of the path was covered in dense grass that had been trampled enough to lay flat, but otherwise was probably three or four feet high. The grassy area was met about thirty feet by trees that were saved from being too dense by having a path that led through the trees, though I would not want to traverse that path at night.

He seemed to release my hand reluctantly once we reached the center of the clearing. He pulled a wooden sword from his belt that I had not noticed, as it had hung behind his metal weapon. "We will see what you can do with your toys before I teach you to fight with real weapons." His tone, had it been any more condescending, would have been a physical slap to my ego.

"Perhaps when we are done, I will teach you to fight with no weapons at all." His expression scoffed at my words, and I realized how little I knew of the man before me. I had only met him the night before, and for all I knew he had crawled from beneath a rock somewhere. I cocked my head to assess him more thoroughly as I fell into fighting stance.

I separated my double sticks, one in each hand, and began slowly rocking on the balls of my feet. I raised my right hand so the stick was almost even with my shoulders, and the left held in front of me at waist level, one for attack, the other to block, both interchangeable. My eyes became more focused, intent on the mock battle that would play out between us, this I had no intention of losing.

Gideon smirked at my stance, bringing the wooden sword to rest in both hands and holding it much like a baseball bat. I watched him begin to circle me, and despite my urge to do otherwise, I held my position, using the sound of his moving feet to anticipate his attack. When he had circled one third the way around, just far enough to range into my blind spot, his feet shuffled, signaling his attack; he swung, holding back and expecting me to not expect his swing.

I was the one smirking. I raised my left hand, pivoting on the ball of my foot to meet the swing, and spun the stick in my right hand until it pointed down rather than up. I then swung into what my Tae Kwon Do instructor referred to as the sweet spot, his groin. I too held back, not wanting to seriously injure him, but still wishing to make an impression. The blow hit, not his groin, but his inner thigh but still elicited a grunt of surprise.

"Perhaps your training will be easier than I assumed." He murmured as he stepped back. Not knowing what to expect, I turned to fully face him and stayed in a defensive stance. Gideon, not sure what to make of the blow I had dealt, luck or skill, decided to try his hand at a little brute force retaliation.

The blows came swift, one on top of another, nothing too brutally forceful, but still the onslaught was not what I had expected for a second attack. I did not disappoint however, when I blocked the first few incoming blows, then began trying to retaliate on my own. My first swing met air, the second a gauntlet covered forearm. The next few were harder, as if he understood that I would be able to withstand them, and that I was far more that he had anticipated.

We continued like that for sometime, somehow very evenly matched. His give, my take and vice versa. A sheen of sweat covered his face, and I occasionally ranged back to swipe at the droplets attempting to fall into my eyes. He swung the sword one handed now, occasionally switching from left to right handed, hoping to catch me at a disadvantage. The best thing about the weapons I held was their ambidextrous qualities, there was no striking hand or defending hand, both played each part. Gideon found out that morning that I took my weapons seriously.

The sun came up on the fight. The first rays of morning sun illuminated the colors of my double sticks, making them flash with golden glows. I kept blocking and swinging, neither of us penetrating the others defense, until I went for his body, aiming with my left, rather than the right, and grazing his abdomen where his shirt had ridden up from raining blows. The glancing blow would have normally been shaken off as nothing, and the fight would have continued, had my double sticks been made of normal materials.

Instantly Gideon backed off. His right hand went to his side, then jerked away as if it still stung where I had hit him. Curious, I asked, "So what does that make you?" I kept the sticks up, balanced on my feet as if the fight were about to start again in an instant. "Are you fey or lycanthrope?"

Gideon's face jerked for a moment, then his smile returned. "My mother was half-fey, and the blood still runs in my veins. The sticks are iron?" His eyes seemed to comprehend the reason for their use as opposed to a sword.

"And silver, a few more things were also used. A splinter of the Cross of Acre is supposedly in each one as well." I said it casually, as if I did not know the power the sticks would hold over the different creatures in Byacian. He nodded, understanding the purpose for the sticks even further. When in Byacian, the things I may run across that would do me harm would be less likely to do so with an arsenal such as these weapons. Fairies, good and bad, were extremely "allergic" to iron. Lycanthropes, no matter what they turned into, hated silver. Demons hated all religious artifacts, and a true sliver of the Cross would have done enough damage to get away from such beings. A simple sword would have fought one, maybe two of these foes, but my double sticks would fight off even more that that, and most things would not cross me because they would sense the presence of the metal or artifacts.

He raised his shirt and looked at the wound, the new sunlight was able to illuminate the wound that darkness would have concealed not long before. The blisters looked red and painful. He flinched on seeing them, but raised humor filled eyes to meet mine. "Perhaps we should try your remedy again?" He raised one brow in a questioning, yet arrogant, gesture.

"I think you should suffer for awhile for being a condescending ass." I replied tartly. I could not believe he expected me to aid him after the way he had spoken to me this morning. What unmitigated gall this man had. I turned to walk away from him, but found myself facing a small ring of people that had come upon us when the fight had become intense. Not having heard them, I was unprepared to meet the varied expressions on all of their faces.

The sentries had amused and commiserating faces for Gideon. Aristomache had on an angry expression, which shown mirrored by a few other women behind her. Myrrdin was slightly smiling, as if he had expected this the whole time. There were others I had not yet met, but their expressions ranged from disapproval to amazement. Not knowing what else to do, I said, "Good Morning."

"Perhaps we can carry on with the important training now, and leave this senseless battering for later." Myrrdin's attitude of smug assurance was slightly worse than Gideon's, but I felt a little less abraded by it since he seemed to be on my side at the moment. Myrrdin looked past me to Gideon, who gave his assent, then led us both away from the others. I grabbed the bag I had discarded earlier that held all of my things, my cloak that Myrrdin had borrowed lay over the top. We traveled into the tree line a ways, and I almost lost what was going on around me to the forest that quickly surrounded us.

I noticed that when the others tried to follow the three of us, the trees moved to keep them out. I only shuddered slightly, and continued on, following behind in Gideon's wake. Dendroids were powerful allies, being that it is hard to kill trees that range in height of thirty to eighty feet tall. Their skin is bark and their branches and leaves were often used as weapons. When one tries to make the forest their friend in Byacian, sometimes it is a little more difficult that simply camping in the wilderness.

I put my double sticks through the tethers of my bag, and set to striding, Myrrdin in front, Gideon behind me. We traveled for what seemed like an hour, the daylight through the trees was hard to judge by, before they began to really watch their surroundings as if looking for something in particular. Intrigued, I paid more attention to our surroundings, but until we happened upon it, I never saw anything different but the trees.

Gone were the newer, small and close together trees, now the trees were further apart, more spaced. They were older, more settled, full of mystery and knowledge. No one spoke to the Dendroids without an invitation, to do so was to insult them. But not all of these would still be moving Dendroids. The older they got, the less they like to move, until they reverted to their original state of being trees, if fire or war did not destroy them. That there were so many here led me to believe that this was a holy place, and that gave me a small amount of pause.

The path eventually led to a small clearing, where a woman sat beside a small fire, her dark cloak covering all of her but her face. At the edge of the clearing a small stream played along the shore and a cool breeze ruffled our clothes. I looked at the woman, small, frail and seemingly old. She met my gaze with eyes that held no white. The dark orbs seemed to miss nothing about me as we entered the clearing. The men stopped, Myrrdin staying slightly back and away, Gideon nervously staying only a few steps back from where I moved forward to meet her. She rose to her feet to come forward.

"This is the Square?" She whispered. As if something else spoke to her, she tilted her head to hear it better. When she tilted her head, the hood of her cloak fell back and exposed a full head of beautiful dark hair. Her skin, the color of cream, gleamed in the dawn light. "She is different than we expected, not better, not worse, only different." She continued toward me, and suddenly my feet felt rooted to the spot. My body felt unable to move from my position in front of her, and I knew that something was coming. Something irrevocably life changing was about to happen, and I was not sure that I was ready for whatever she was about to do.

"She is to be fully imbued?" The voice that played in her head was not shared with the rest of us, and I felt the beginnings of true fear as she came close enough to touch me. I thought of what she said briefly as I watched her movements. Her hand, no longer contained by the cloak, glowed with a white aura. That hand was beginning to rise and its destination seemed to be me. "It is my duty to serve you." She finally said to the voice, and my paralysis was broken when her hand touched my own.

Pain arced through me, and I felt my body bow backwards at the spine almost bending me in half and bringing me to the tips of my toes. The light from her hand seemed to glow with a hot white fire that filled my lungs, my veins, and my pores. The sensations overwhelmed me, and just as I thought the worse was over, the light seemed to change color and I felt so cold I thought that I would shatter without having moved. The blue of the aura was so pure and resplendent, I could not believe that it was causing me this suffering. The cold flowing through me had an ebb and flow, the worse coming and going, leaving behind only slightly less pain.

The light changed again, this time to a golden brown, and I felt so heavy, as if I would become stone itself and be forever frozen to this spot as a statue. The pain lessened to a dull ache, no longer throbbing through me. Finally the color changed again, to a light green that made me feel light and free. The pain no longer held me and all other sensations forgotten as I stood in the same spot as before, still on my toes, but upright. She still stood before me, but now I saw everything about her, from the way her skin felt against mine to the way her body smelled of the smoke of the campfire and the earth of the forest. Nothing seemed the same. I realized then, that nothing was the same.

She looked past me to Gideon, smiling. "She has now been imbued by me and is ready to begin assuming the responsibility of the Square." Then I felt her hand leave mine, the rough calluses of her palm abrading the same on my hand. She seemed somehow slightly diminished, as if I had taken away some of her power, but her stature never changed. She again tilted her head to listen to something I could not hear, then turned her back on me.

A sudden knowledge filled me, and I whispered, "Thank you, Aruru." She paused, without turning, nodded her head, then made her way to the stream where a small raft waited. She calmly climbed aboard the raft and as soon as she was settled, unseen hands guided the raft down stream and away from the clearing. Her exit being so dramatic, we waited wordlessly for a few moments before I turned to speak to either of them.

I turned to ask what had happened, knowing that either of the people left in the clearing would know more than I of what had occurred, when suddenly, just like the sudden epiphany of a few minutes before, an influx of knowledge drove me to my knees. Scenes, as if from a movie, played before my sightless eyes, as I curled into myself and tried to control what was happening. My lungs burned in my chest, and I realized that I had not taken a breath since the images began. I inhaled sharply, and concentrated on keeping an even flow of air coming in and out of my lungs. That small amount of control seemed all I was capable of at that moment.

Just like the pain before, one moment it was there, the next instant it was gone. I lay on the ground, breathing heavily of the grass beneath my cheek. My eyes itched, and I blinked them several times to bring them back into focus from being so dry. I felt the hands on my back, Gideon's hands trying to comfort me in my confusion. I could feel the anticipation in the air from both men, so excited for me to get up and face them.

I felt anger surge through my veins. I had been in Byacian for less than a full day and I had been unconscious or asleep for most of it. I wake up and have to defend myself in a mock battle. Then I have to walk for miles to be tortured by an old woman. When that is over, I am rendered semiconscious by delusions. And these two, my supposed "future husband" and an old man are excited?

I felt Gideon move, much quicker than I would have anticipated. I turned my head, the anger I felt on my face, to see where he and Myrrdin stood and saw the fear in their eyes. Instantly, my anger fled. I was confused and hurt and was letting those emotions override my common sense. Gideon had taken care of me, Myrrdin needed me safe, the were only attempting to ensure that I had all the weapons necessary in my arsenal.

I slumped back to the forest floor, so exhausted I did not want to contemplate the walk back to the caves. Gideon and Myrrdin drew close again, and I felt gentle hands smooth back my hair, then turn me over on to my back. I closed my eyes against the glare of the sun coming in through the leaves.

"I knew we should have asked Aruru to imbue her last. She was not ready for the destructive power that fire holds." Gideon's voice was low but harsh with remorse.

"It is better for us if she has those powers. You never know when attacks may come from..." the rest of the sentence trailed off, but I felt the tension curl in Gideon's body. Whatever had been said had made him angry. I attempted to turn my head to face him again, but the motion was too much for me and the void that had threatened took over leaving me unconscious on the forest floor.