The Last Druid (17 page)

Lina looked from him to Ca
lla and back again.  She got up and walked back onto the grass. 
Touchy,
she said. 
And just what is your rush to get away from me?

“We’re trying to get to Elenan,” Calla
replied.  “Some of the Brilken monsters almost caught us at the border.”

Lina
blinked.  Interesting—so they were running
away
from the Dead Lands.  But why did they run to the enchanted lands of the Nymphs?  She had heard rumors from the other birds and beasts of the area that things were not all well among the Malc.  What help could these two hope to get from them? 
May I ask why you go there?
she asked.

The two of them exchanged a look, apparently trying to decide if it would be a good ide
a to tell her.  In the man’s eyes she saw anger and suspicion while uncertainty dominated the girl’s emotions.  “To prepare for the future,” she said.

“Calla!” Hiran hissed.  “You do not know if this creature can be trusted!”

“And there’s nothing that says we can’t, Hiran; it was the same with you.  Look at her: do you really think she’s one of Dranl’s spies or some other servant of Bralon?  That she apparently knows the Nymphs serving Elenia could prove helpful to us later.”

Hiran folded his arms across his chest, frowning at them both.  He didn’t like any of this—it was written all over his face.  Lina thumped the ends of her two outer tails against the ground.  So they knew about what was causing the darkness that
grew further and further across the world with every day.  But how could they possibly stop it?  The ancient prophecies said a girl-child of the woods who had the power to stop the spreading darkness would someday come.

A girl-child of the woods…

She stopped when she realized she was staring at Calla, and something seemed to click in her mind.  She decided to study her with her animal senses.  She could detect a kind of magical energy coming off of her with her whiskers, almost like that of the few Nymphs she had met, but older in some way.  And Calla could understand her speech, a talent also common among the woodland spirits.  But she wasn’t one, she looked nothing like them—no green hue to her flesh and hair, no faint bark-like texture to her skin.  She had to be more closely related to humans.  But there was something there, some kind of magic.

“We should go Calla,” Hiran said impatiently.

Abruptly Lina stood up. 
I am going with you
, she said.

“
Hiran,” Calla said, “she means to follow us.”

Hiran
paused.  “Are you serious?”

“That’s what she just said.”

I said I was going with you, not following you
,
Lina said. 
There is at least a slight difference.

Hiran
looked down at her, indecisive.  Reluctantly, he agreed.  “She had better not cause any kind of trouble,” he warned as he started walking.

Oh please—if anything, I am trouble’s worst nightmare
.
  Lina trotted alongside Calla as they marched through the grass.

XX

Calla

Calla thought it was nice to walk once more in tall, living grass under such a clear, blue sky.  She didn’t talk much to Hiran that day, noting how he seemed more determined to keep quiet; she thought it was odd, but chose not to press the issue.  Instead she found herself talking more with the Tri-tail, Lina.  The large wolf-like creature hopped through the grass by her side as they talked, though they kept their voices down so they wouldn’t annoy Hiran too much.

Ca
lla had heard from Mai how the lands where the ancient world still had a hold were constantly shrinking now; Lina seemed to have felt the effects of that firsthand.  She had been witness to the changing of the world for the past few years, watching as the grass shriveled with the moving border; any creature caught in the shadow’s reach died right where they stood; the trees dying when they were touched, standing as somber monuments in the dust that once nurtured them for a while before eventually they too crumbled.

This was Lina’s world; it wasn’t the place of safety anymore like Cal
la’s world was for her.

Somewhere around the middle of the afternoon
Hiran called out, motioning for them to join him.  As Calla came up to stand next to him he pointed towards something up ahead.  She looked off in that direction and saw a large, white tower standing far taller than any of the trees surrounding its base; it was dwarfed only by the mountain looming up from behind it.  The trees stood together in a thick wall, hiding much of whatever land sat behind them save for the occasional glimmer of some light poking through all the green.

Ca
lla looked at Hiran.  “Is that Elenan?” she asked.

“Yes,” he replied, but for some reason he
sounded grim about it.

Lina let out a whine as she yawned. 
It’s a giant cone of stone in the middle of a forest,
she said, apparently unimpressed. 
What is so special about that?

“The trees are hiding the rest of the city, Lina,” Cal
la said to her.

I knew that; I have been here before, though at the time I was just passing through.

“I know this is not your ideal terrain, my furry friend.  But this is where we must go.”  Hiran looked back down towards the trees, a distant look in his eyes.  “I should warn you, some of the customs here may seem a little strange to you.  In general things have been getting worse here, mostly politically; I have been away for a while, so I am not sure if things have changed any more in that time, for better or worse.”  He sighed.  “Unfortunately, this means getting you an audience with the Lady will be much harder.”

Ca
lla felt a sinking feeling in her gut.  “But Mai was saying there wouldn’t be a problem with that.”

“With Mai, it would not
have been a problem.  She was a Nymph and didn’t need anyone’s permission to get through; she also knew most of the secret ways to reach Elenia’s seat, if not all of them.  What she failed to tell you was that the Malc have stepped away from following the Lady, though many of them would be quick to tell you their efforts bring them closer to Her.  Anyone who speaks out against the High Council—who think they are the most blessed of everyone—are severely punished.  Only certain elite families are able to escape the Council’s control; my friend Ren and his wife are one of the few families that have not been swayed.  They hold too much power in the community, and none of the Council dare to move against them unless they have a very good reason to do so.  For that same reason they cannot be forced into following the Council’s orders if they choose not to in the first place.”

“So what can we do?”

Yes, what do we do?  Do not forget about me.

“We will go to see Ren—for now that is all we can do.  With a little more luck he might be able to help us come up with another plan.  We shall see how it goes from there.  Come.”  He led her and Lina down the grassy slope.

The sky was a bright orange by the time they reached the edge of the forest.  Down here among the trees Calla could just hear the noise from the city as it echoed off the trees only a little louder than the sounds of the night animals, shouted voices rising up from behind the walls.  At this point Hiran insisted on silence, since they were so close to a place he seemed to dislike most.  Silence was hard to maintain with fallen leaves and ground-up plant life crunching underfoot.  As loud as they were, the sounds of early evening seemed to help drown out some of their noise.

The stars were just starting to appear above them when they finally reached their destination.  Cal
la didn’t really see much of the house standing before them, except that it stood as an even darker mass in the moonless night.  There were a few yellow-orange dots scattered across the walls, the only evidence that anyone was there.  Hiran guided his two companions around hedges and large stones until they stood before a large wooden door barely illuminated by the lamplight from the window next to it.  He paused, listening for some sound of anyone moving near to where they stood.  Cautiously he raised his hand and knocked lightly on the wood with his knuckles.  He had barely taken his hand away when the door swung wide open, light pouring through so brightly it blinded Calla; it took several minutes for her eyes to readjust.

Someone sighed. 
“Every time,” a man’s voice said quietly.  “When you need my help, you sneak in at night like a burglar to ask for it.  Why must this always be?”

“There are fewer questions asked, my friend,”
Hiran replied.  “Especially now, it is better if none in the city tried to know what it is I do.”

“Secretive as always.  What is it this time,
Hiran?  You break the law or something?”

“No,
and it is not as simple as that. I need you to help me hide something—something very precious.”

“Precious to you?”

“To us all.”  Hiran stepped off to one side and motioned for Calla to come out from behind him; nervously she approached the man.

She could see this stranger a little better now.  He stood about as tall as
Hiran and had the same double-pointed ears, but the similarities ended there.  He was more muscular, but kept a kind of elegance throughout his frame.  His shoulder-length dark hair was streaked with gray, yet he still seemed to be a young man.  From looking at the robe he was wearing Calla thought they might have woken him up, but he had responded too quickly to Hiran’s knocking on the door; he must have just been getting ready to turn in for the night.

He raised an eyebrow as he looked her over.  “A stray?” he asked, a hint of laughter in his voice.  “Or perhaps you found her during your wanderings and want to hold on to her for a little longer?”

Even in the dark Calla could see Hiran’s eyes blaze with anger.  “You dare?” he hissed through gritted teeth.  “Of
Elenia’s
girl?”

The laughter disappeared from the man’s face instantly
.  His eyes widened.  “For real?  The one we have waited for these many years? The one foretold in the ancient prophecy?”

“Now do you understand?”

“That changes everything.”  The man scratched his chin.  “If the Council found out…”

“They must not—they would only try to use her for their own ends.  That cannot be allowed to happen.”

“Otherwise all hell will be unleashed—all would be lost for sure if they got their hands on her.”  He sighed.  “I will not blame you if we see trouble as a result of this—we are long overdue for our share of it.  But my wife and I and all in our house will do what we can to protect her.”

“She will need to see the Lady, and soon.”

“That will be difficult at best.  We will need some time to think that through.”  His gaze drifted down towards Calla’s feet.  “Is the creature going to be staying as well?”

“I am afraid so,”
Hiran replied.  “We could not get her to leave us.”

Why do you make that sound like such a bad thing?
Lina asked, offended.

“We can handle having it around, I guess.  Just so long as it leaves my wife’s cat alone.”

As long as it does not annoy me too much.

The man looked up at the night sky.  “It has grown so late,” he said.  “The Council has eyes everywhere, and we risk being found out if we are not careful.  Still, I will watch the girl for you and do what I can for her.”

Hiran nodded his approval.  “I will try to find some way up to the mountain away from the Council guards.  I will come back for her when I have found it.”

“I hope you do,
Hiran.  So much is at stake now.”

Hiran
walked over and kissed Calla lightly on her forehead.  “I will return,” he said quietly in her ear.  “As soon as I can.”  He pushed her gently towards the door; Calla walked towards the man hesitantly.

When she stopped just inside the front hall and turned to look
back at him, he was already gone.

XXI

Elenia

She stood at the top of the mountain, looking down at the city below her.  Her heart felt heavy in her chest from her sorrow.  She was almost ashamed to look on those people she had protected for so long.  Ruled by fools
rather than wise men, and not once did they even try to speak up against them.