CITY OF THE GODS: FORGOTTEN (79 page)

“Dryads.
 
I bring a gift from your sisters.”
 
He looked around, waiting for a response, but the only reply was the sound of the wind blowing through the trees. “Now what do we do?” he finally said.

 
        
Mazu knelt on the ground. “We wait. They were not expecting us, after all.” D’Molay came over and sat cross-legged beside her, the seed in his lap. “May I hold the seed?” D’Molay passed it to her. Mazu felt a surge of energy quickly pass through her as she touched it.
 
“I don’t think I’ve seen anything quite like it,” she said. Her hands cupped its smooth surface and her finger traced the wood-grain patterns as they sat quietly.

“I miss her so much, Mazu.
 
She was so full of life and wonder.”

“Such a loss will take time to heal.
 
You will always miss her.
 
Try to remember all that you gave her and all she learned from you.
 
And what you learned from her.”

“You’d be amazed at what I learned from Aavi.
 
She showed me -”
  

Suddenly a voice with a touch of annoyance came from behind them. “Why are you here?
 
This glade is not yours to dwell within.”

They turned and D’Molay immediately recognized a dryad.
 
Like the others he had met, she was lithe and thin, wearing nothing save a swath of fabric around her waist.
 
She had no shoes on her feet and her green-tinted hair was peppered with leaves and flowers. “We have something to present to your leader. It is a gift from your sister hamadryads to the southeast.”
   

“A gift?
 
We have no leader here, but I will call my sisters.” She half-ran to a tree and disappeared into it without another word.

“So that’s a dryad.
 
I understand why you wanted to see them again so badly,” Mazu teased.

D’Molay turned his gaze from the tree she had disappeared into. “I made a promise and I’m keeping it,” he said sharply. “Don’t turn this into something sordid, Mazu.”

Mazu merely shrugged at his reprimand. “The flower of my youth faded long before I even left Earth. Why would I know where your attractions for beautiful young maidens might lead you?”

For his part, D’Molay immediately felt wrong about snapping at his friend. “You’ve always been beautiful to me, in many ways,” he said earnestly. Before Mazu could reply, five dryads appeared out of the trees. They all looked very much like the first one.
 
D’Molay stood to face them, while Mazu remained kneeling.

“Fallia has told us you were sent by the hamadryads with a gift?” one of the newcomers asked tentatively. She stayed about ten feet away, as if fearful of being attacked. The others were close behind her. While not the leader, she was apparently the dryad who spoke to outsiders.

“Yes. Ptelea entrusted me with a scrying seed. I promised her I would bring it to you.” D’Molay gestured at Mazu, who still held the seed.

“Really? I have heard of such a thing, but never seen one,” the dryad exclaimed with surprise.” She looked back to the others to see their reactions. One or two seemed to know what a scrying seed was, while others obviously had no idea.

“Well, you own one now. I hope you know what to do with it. Ptelea said you might be able to send messages and share knowledge with their group by using it.”

Mazu stood up and presented the item to them, holding it in both hands with her arms extended. The dryad in the front stepped forward to take the seed. She held it like a baby as the others surrounded her to see what it was. For a few minutes they touched it and softly spoke among themselves.

“Our thanks for your effort to bring it to us. Is there some favor we might grant you?”

Mazu spoke up before D’Molay had a chance. “Yes, actually. We are trying to find Circe or the cursed Scylla. Have you heard anything about where either of them may be?”

Only one of the dryads knew what Mazu was even talking about. Her hair was adorned with strings of nuts arranged like beads. “About six seasons ago, a traveler came through our grove and I exchanged food for news of other realms. He ate of my fruit trees and told me of his travels to the Lost Realm. The man had fought many dangers there, and I remember him talking about a cursed creature called Scylla that lived in the Anagar swamp. I don’t know if that is any help.”
  

D’Molay snapped to attention and shot Mazu a sharp look. Mazu merely nodded her head in her typically calm fashion. “Yes, it is a great help to us, in fact. We are most grateful.”

“Thank you. You have truly repaid us in full,” D’Molay replied. For the first time in weeks, Mazu saw an emotion in him that wasn’t self-loathing, guilt or deep sadness. Progress on their quest was giving him purpose again.

They left the hills, making for the eastern coast of Olympia and the port of Ithika. D’Molay had an appointment to keep with the Council while Mazu planned to continue their quest. When they reached the dock, Mazu gave him the loving gaze of a mother whose child was finally leaving home.

“I hesitate to part, but I am not in good standing with Quetzalcoatl. He might well kill me on sight as he is far more powerful than I.
 
I dare not appear before the Council, at least until I can prove that he is as guilty as Set. My mere word would not be enough. Going before them now would be like jumping into a pit. Filled with snakes,” she added pointedly. “Take care of yourself and do not mention you know me to him or the Council. I have several responsibilities I have put off during all our current difficulties. I will leave a message for you when I have returned to the boat house.”

“All right Mazu.
 
I’ll wait for your message after the council has finished with me.”
 

“Good journey, then.” Mazu changed into water and merged into the lake.

D’Molay found it almost ridiculously easy to find passage to the City now that no care or secrecy was required. After an uneventful voyage and an evening spent in a central inn that was pure luxury compared to the rough living he’d done of late, D’Molay nervously waited with other witnesses outside the grand double doors that led into the Council chamber. The Council was interviewing those who were directly involved in the “incident” at the Fortress of Ares. His trip to the dryads with Mazu had helped him deal with the worst of his depression, but his grief over Aavi’s loss was still raw. He resented being commanded to speak about her in public, but D’Molay knew he held information that the Council needed to know.

One of the large doors opened and Zeus’ scantily dressed buxom attendant beckoned for him to enter. He followed the dark-haired women into the great domed chamber, walking across the polished marble floor towards the center of the room. In front of him, seated in large ornate throne-like chairs, were Shiva, Konohana, Zeus and Quetzalcoatl, the current Council members.
 
Eros was standing in the center of the chamber addressing them. Also gathered in the great room were Ares, Zephyrus and other priests and assistants to the gods. D’Molay felt a surge of heat spread through his arms and legs. Whether it was from being nervous or the magic of the pledge he had made with Glaucus, he could not be sure. Either way, it was a reminder that he needed to continue searching for Circe and Scylla. He hoped Mazu was all right, wherever she was.

“I saw the huge ball of light explode far beyond the cage,” Eros was saying. “I didn’t see what caused it, and being trapped kept me from trying to find out. I was just lucky to be in a safe place.”
 
Eros gave the Council a slight shrug of his shoulders as he finished, causing his large feathery wings to rise and fall slightly as he did so.

Konohana gave Eros a thoughtful look. “What do you know of this girl, Aavi?”

“I met Aavi while we were on patrol looking for invaders. She was D’Molay’s companion. Zephyrus and I found him near death at the time, and we delivered them to the fort healers. Aavi was . . . different from most mortals. There was a purity and innocence in her emotions that I don’t usually sense. I later learned that she had lost her memory, so perhaps that accounted for her purity.”

“Did you ever get the impression that this Aavi was more than human in some way?” Shiva asked.

“No, I don’t think so. She just seemed to be a very gentle girl. Though she did seem to be very perceptive in reading people’s emotions.
 
Once I got her safely to the fort, I didn’t really give her another thought. There was so much going on.”

Zeus leaned forward in his chair. “We accept that you don’t know, but have you an opinion on what caused that energy burst?”

Eros was surprised that he was being asked to speculate. The Council really seemed to be grasping for straws. He did remember the first thing he thought when the blast happened and shared it with them. “At the time, I assumed it was you, Lord Zeus. I thought you had created some kind of lightning that wiped out all the invaders. Certainly some god must have intervened on our behalf, but perhaps they wish to remain anonymous?”
 

Quetzalcoatl greeted that theory with a grunt and a dismissive wave. “Are there any other questions?” he asked the others. Hearing no reply, he continued. “Very well, thank you Eros.
 
Bring on the next witness.
 
Let’s move this along.”

Eros stepped away from the dais as Zephyrus gave him a supportive ‘thumbs up’ gesture from behind Ares’ back.

Konohana looked at a list which floated in the air before her. “Jacques D’Molay, please step forward.”

D’Molay felt a rush of adrenalin at hearing his name. As he reached the place where he was expected to stand, Zeus stood up and directly addressed him.

“Despite the fact that you are a mortal, you have served the Council well. Do not think we forget that, but many of the events concerning this woman, Aavi and the beast found in the Olympian Realm seem to revolve around you. We expect that you will answer some of the questions we have about these matters.”

“Please ask, Lord Zeus, I want to tell you what I know.”

“Excellent. Now, how did you meet this Aavi?”

As Zeus turned to retake his throne, D’Molay began his testimony. He told the Council about finding Aavi in the street and taking her to Kafele the healer. They then wanted details about where she had gone and whom she had met.
 
D’Molay told them the whole story of Aavi meeting the Oracle and being taken by slavers. Although he had a strong desire to tell them of his search for Aavi and other details of their journey, he strictly focused on the main events and people that Aavi had met in her travels across the realms: Set, the prison, the journey to Olympia, and finally to the fort and the explosion.
  

“You obviously spent a goodly amount of time with her.
 
Who or what do you think she really was, D’Molay?” Zeus asked.
 
D’Molay was ready with an answer, but he hesitated, knowing it was not one the gods would want to hear; but he was certain it was the truth.

“Everything she did, and everything that happened, proved to me that there was only one thing that Aavi could be, Lord Zeus. Aavi was an Angel from the Heavenly Realm.”

A mix of shocked silence, gasps, and mumbles of disbelief swept through the chamber. D’Molay could pick out Zephyrus’ hearty laugh, followed by a slapping sound, no doubt a chastisement from Eros.

“An Angel? Ridiculous!”
 
Zeus managed to sputter out.
 
“The Heavenly Realm has been sealed off for thousands of years.”

“She can’t have been an Angel. Nothing ever leaves there,” Quetzalcoatl said blandly, as if the idea was not at all controversial. D’Molay wanted to accuse him of conspiracy against his own world, but his promise not to bring up his kidnapping of Mazu stood firmly in the way of revealing all he knew.

The four deities put their heads together and whispered to each other for a moment before Shiva spoke to D’Molay to reassert their opinion. “The Heavenly Host is not permitted here. This is part of an agreement that has been in effect for thousands of years. You are obviously mistaken.”