Dreams of a Witch
-
I was of three minds,
Like a tree
In which there are three blackbirds. - Wallace StevensA cold wind fell from the mountins. The smell took Raisa to a day from her childhood. To the day she woke to find the caravan gone. The morning she met Mabon. The first morning she experienced without her mother, her father, her brothers and sisters. Tears formed in her eyes, and she hesitated to banish them.
"He told them to lock me up and keep me there, Raisa. Raryldor, who once told me he thought of me as a daughter."
It was not wrong to miss her family, she reassured herself. No law said she could not see them again, it simply wasn't done. They had received a fair sum in trade for her when she left to join the witches. She wondered whether she was missed, whether she was spoken of, even in private. None of her sisters were ever sent to Urling. She had watched with guarded jealousy as other students welcome siblings and cousins.
You have been blessed, a part of her said, to know three families. She looked at the iceblade hanging at her side. The emblem of the Circle was carved into its sheath.
_"This proves one thing to me. I can't trust anyone but myself." Fadia said as she buried a pack on the east Road.
"Why do you say this?" Raisa asked.
"They accepted a geas willingly. They gave what integrity they had, over to those things. They don't deserve life."_
Three families. One bound by blood, one bound by faith and tradition, and one bound by a smear of trees on the map of Faerun. How strange that the one she was physically closest to was the one she so often felt furthest from.
-
Lithomancy
The others carried the bag of spider parts toward Baba Cera’s tree talking excitedly, but Raisa excused herself and made for the inner camp. In one hand she held a rose, freshly picked from the cove within the pass, and in her other hand she held an arrow, freshly picked from the side of a tree spider.
The sun was sinking to the West, its rays at last piercing the clouds that had dominated the afternoon. Raisa made her way to a quiet spot within the inner camp and pulled a silk bag from her pack. She set out the rose, the arrow, and a key in a triangle and said a short invocation for each. She had never relied on the stones back home, but found herself falling into regular consultation ever since she completed her set. Tseris had taught Raisa what her mother’s sisters had taught her, but Raisa found the cauldron, the trance, too tiring, the visions too intense yet too impenetrable at the same time. The stones also allowed her to avoid asking direct questions. She often found her worries were too numerous to reduce to one question.
With a deep breath, she held the silk bag above the triangle and asked the goddesses their mercy. She loosened her grip, and the four small stones tumbled out. She waited a moment before looking down and taking in the shape before her.
Plucked from the Kobold caves, the stone of Earth lay in the dead center. The power of renewal, of change, of moving others in the world, there it lay undisturbed and undetermined by fate. She had made many speeches of late, but they had moved few. She had tried to bring about change, but her efforts had been meager, inconsistent, but stronger than her efforts in the past. That the stones could say as little as she could only troubled her. She was sure she had felt change within herself. Perhaps it only needed time to bloom. Or perhaps it will always be denied to me so long as I stay in this land, she questioned.
The stone of Water lay between the Earth stone and the arrow. Water was what lay beneath, emotion as imperceptible on the surface as the murky world beneath the waves. There the stone lay, entering the realm of the Maiden Warrior. She would govern her emotions with courage, the stones said. Yet for the Maiden’s bravery, she was also young and in the language of the stones, this could mean foolishness. This troubled Raisa; for all she kept still, she knew a flood was building. Was she wrong to hide such things? A touch of guilt entered her thoughts as she stared at the stone once gathered from the stream in Jiyyd. Her own connection to the Maiden was through the source of so many of her emotions. Perhaps the stone was suggesting her well-being was in his hands. This did not sit well with her. For all that it ached to be without him, the old him, she had been afraid that the recent Wolf – who had been selfish more than once at her expense – was his true self, unhindered by memory or past commitments.
The stone of Air, once part of the tower on the pixie’s roost, now lay near the pinnacle where the brass key also lay. The air was the domain of the mind, of ghosts and birds, bringers or keepers of knowledge. In the domain of the Hidden One, the stone either spoke of knowledge yet to be revealed or already passed. The Hidden One kept many secrets, but so did Raisa. Mabon had taught her that, in his own way, by calling her kin. She welcomed them, cultured them, made them part of her nest. Even now she was alone, seeking secrets about herself. That there was knowledge yet denied to her was only a promise of more to discover.
Rescued from Norwick’s south gate fire, the last stone lay nearly upon the rose, the realm of the Mother. The inner flame that drives all, the passion for life and the will to walk one’s own path, alone if necessary. There it lay there in the Mother’s arms where all was safe to grow, nourished. Yes, she thought, I know my path from another’s better than I ever have. This is what I told Wolf, to walk his and let me walk mine.
Raisa stared at the stones for some time, committing the pattern to memory. She found no answer in them, but knew better than to pry an answer out. She wondered how far she would walk alone if her path took her there. When darkness made even the glimmering key invisible, she collected the key and stones and set off toward the fires.
-
Evacuee, Coda
((catching this up to current IG events, this occurs several IG months after the last))"He left without me," she confessed again to the cold, easterly wind that rippled through the distant smoke plumes of Jiyyd. Dark clouds lingered overhead, as if too tired to climb the Giantspire. An occasional drop of rain burst on the rocks around her, but the clouds did not have the will to pour. The world stood in limbo.
Before her sat a small leather bag and two polished stones, the first of a set of augury stones. Raisa had meant to ask Wolf to help her find the final two, as if one more thing to do would have kept him here longer. Embarrassed by her own foolishness, she turned her face away from distant Jiyyd. She felt as if she had been caught in a lie but did not know who was meant to be deceived by it. Him? Or Herself?
Black wings stirred the air and landed on the gray rock before her.
“No sign?” she asked with a dry voice in Rashemi.
“None,” Mabon croaked.
She buried her head in her arms. “Why did he not say goodbye?”
“He did.”
“Not before he left. I did not know until he was gone.”
“He told you. You knew before anyone.”
“I did not know he meant it.” Raisa scowled tearfully at the raven, but he contented himself to pruning under his wing. “He said it before, many times. He never meant it, he never went through. He never left before.”
“Then he told you many times. And you did not listen.”
Raisa picked up one the augury stones and pulled it back behind her head. Mabon spread his wings, ready for flight. She dropped the stone as a sob wrack her body and a weight sink into her heart. “Why did he not ask?”
“He did,” Mabon said, wary of the stone and the small fists.
“I would have gone!” she huffed before narrowing her eyes at the distant fields and shouting. “Do you hear me? I would have gone!”
“No,” Mabon said as quietly as a raven could. “No, you wouldn’t have.”
-
Evacuee, Part Five
The vision did not take her by surprise. It was not often that they did anymore. One moment she was stirring a heavy iron kettle brimming with spider parts, the next, she was bathed in the light of dancing stairs. More than a few Romani women were touched by the Weaver or their moon goddess, and they gave no notice as the foreign witch rose from her chore and meandered off in a silent trance. The lights had caught Raisa up in their current, and she stumbled after them.
Their meanings were becoming clearer to her now. These lights, the small ones, like luminescent pin-pricks, they were the heralds. As their circle dance reached its climax, Raisa sat on a wet log and braced herself for what would come next.
The pin-pricks did not fade so much as they were dwarfed by the bloom of light that enveloped her sight. She blinked by reflex, but it made no difference. She was not seeing this light with her eyes.
The light thinned and she could make out three intertwined shapes, like bushes whose roots and branches had tangled. She gasped as the meaning snapped immediately. The bushes arrayed themselves in the pattern of the Circle's emblem. Before the light faded, they blossomed with three brilliant roses.
Raisa sat still on the log. The headache would come soon. It was better not to burden others for it passed in time without fail. When it had, she knew she must swallow her fear. She was not the bravest, smartest, toughest, kindest, or quickest of the Circle, but there were things only she saw. A time will come, she thought. All things in their season.
-
Evacuee, Part Four
@aaf01b1c4c:
Othlor Galenka,
I pray the goddesses favor you and yours. My heart was gladened to hear your daughter mastered her first cantrip. I remember how proud I was when I was first able to draw on the Art at will and not only by chance. I can only imagine how proud you must be to see her off to the spring in Immil Vale for her dedication.
The matter of the Natural Union has not yet been laid to rest. There is a male among their number who has specialized in cold spells and controlling the Worgs. He has caused many problems. The one capable of dominating others was revealed to be a hin. She may yet have the means to gain power over me, but I have learned a charm that will dispell these effects if I am able to summon the will to use it. In truth, I fear less for my life than the secrets of our order. We do not know her full capabilities.
The necromancer I have written of is also still at large. She may be under the influence of the spirit of another mage, an enchantress. If this is so, I fear she is more powerful than the other mages of this land even if they were to work together. My hopes that she can be trapped are diminishing. As always, any movement of hers toward the Erech will be noted.
Last, there is a third matter unresolved. The archdruid of the Circle here confessed to me her desire to see me as her replacement. I declined with reasonaible explanations given, such that what order exists among us would be forfeit. The fears our Sisters had of me now seem all the more unfounded. I have not become dependent upon them, but they seem to depend upon me. None expected me to remain a detached observer, influence was my purpose, but this came unexpectedly. I am at a loss in this land. How could I, an outlander whose first and second loyalties are not to this group, be its leader? Is this land so lacking in tradition? In truth, I do not know that any leader would make a difference. Though I have met more than a few who act otherwise, there is such little faith in these lands that even their own paladins are scorned, if only behind their backs. The people do not fear the gods, they do not revere their ancestors. I do not know what it would mean to lead among such as these.
I find my thoughts turning ever more toward home. Once the threat of the Natural Union is neutralized, you will hear from me.
In faith,
Raisa
-
Evacuee, Part Three
“Awkward silence,” Fadia said.
The world around Raisa glimmered despite the darkness, but neither Fadia nor Wolf saw it. During the day, Raisa’s visions brought clarity to everything around her. During the night, bright shapes moved impossible across her vision and the effect was dizzying. The meaning of the daylight visions seemed clear to her, but the night colors troubled her. She stared off across the lake as Wolf and Fadia continued to speak.
I guess we are done. Wolf growled. You are leaving, Archdruid Fadia?
Fadia shook her head. “Not after what Raisa said.”
What did she say?
“She said the Circle would fall apart. I’ve ignored honest, sincere advice too much since I took this position. At the least, I want to stay to fix what I’ve done.”
It has already almost fallen apart once. And you were still archdruid.
Could she have heard the words, Raisa would have scowled at this. But she was trapped in a trance. Instead, Fadia simlpy nodded.
“And thanks to all of us, it didn’t. It showed me that I have to improve.”
How?
“For one thing, I need to stop being so lily-livered about everything.”
Lily-livered?
“Weak. Indecisive.”
“Wolf, change back, please.” Raisa’s voice cracked as she shut her eyes tightly. The vision had subsided, and she only had a few more moments of peace.
I can control it.
“Please. Is not that.” Raisa gripped her skirt, her knuckles white.
I would like to stay like this. I feel more comfortable.
Raisa grimaced and squeezed her eyes shut even tighter. The pain began low in the base of her skull, just behind her ears.
Fadia sighed. “Please, Wolf?”
The pain spread through her head. Raisa gave a gasp and began to rub her temples. Surprised, Fadia reached out to hold Raisa’s shoulders.
“Are you alright?”
Raisa shook her head, sending waves of pain scattering through her head. Words were too much at this point. Fadia gently pushed her back so that she was lying on the bank. “I have some vervain you can chew on. Should help any pains in your head. What happened, dear?”
Raisa chewed on the root half-heartedly, but did not answer. Fadia squeezed her hand.
Wolf’s bones popped and cracked as he resumed human form. He knelt beside her and laid a hand on her forehead. Divine magic flowed through him and into Raisa, causing her to shiver. “Work last time. I think,” he said.
Raisa swalloed and relaxed slightly, though she was still tense. Wolf stroked her hair.
“I am sorry,” she managed after a moment’s silence. Her breathing grew steady.
“It’s nothing anyone did, Raisa. It’s nobody’s fault. You have nothing to apologize for.”
Wolf shook his head. “Raisa, let’s get you into a bed at the inn.”
“Here,” Fadia volunteered. “I can help carry her.”
“I can walk,” Raisa said meekly.
“Are you sure?” Fadia asked. “I don’t want you to fall and hurt yourself.”
“If she couldn’t, I can carry her. You don’t need to.” Wolf said as they helped Raisa sit up and stand.
“I’d still like to help,” Fadia said with a slight smile. “It’s not a matter of needing to.”
“You first,” Wolf said to Raisa once they were on their feet. She slid her arm under his, and he smiled at her.
The three of them entered the Boarshead. The crowd from earlier has dispatched. Fadia smiled at the couple. “I’ll be right outside your room, Raisa. If either of you need anything - anything - let me know.”
“Thank you. I will.” Raisa and Fadia hugged. “We are here for you as well.”
“Will stay with you, make sure you alright,” Wolf said.
Together, they headed up the stairs.
-
Evacuee, Part Two
Wiping her eyes, Raisa headed north past the inn and the small group sitting outside by the bench. Lucidious was among them, and he watched Raisa pass by silently.
“We’re a family ,Wolf.” Fadia’s voice came from near the lake. Raisa paused behind one of the fruit trees. “That family is the single most important thing in my life.”
Wolf grunted. He lay in wolf form at Fadia’s side. You haven’t shown that. Not to me at least.
“Do you think I’ve betrayed it?”
You betrayed it a long time ago.
Unseen by either, Raisa bit a fingernail.
“How so?” Fadia asked, seeming puzzled.
You don’t know? Think.
“I want to know what you think.”
You don’t care what I think.
“Yes, I do, Wolf.”
Lucidious approached Raisa from behind. When she turned to look at him without greeting, he bowed his head and slipped back to the inn.
“Hell, you’re one of my favorite people in our whole entire family!” Fadia said. “Please, Wolf, I want to know. I want to improve.”
Why am I one of your favorites? What have I done for the Circle?
“What you’re doing right now is one example. You’re speaking up. You’re keeping me honest.”
I almost turned into something you hated.
“I couldn’t hate you.” Fadia shook her head. “Please, will you tell me?”
I’ve told you many times.
“I see.” Fadia sighed. There was a long pause. “Would you rather someone else led our family?”
Wolf did not answer.
“I thought so. Who would you prefer?”
I’m not making this decision. It’s for the Circle to decide if they want a new archdruid, not me.
“I’m only asking your opinion.”
Don’t ask me this.
Lucidious approached again and whispered to Raisa from behind while she clung to the tree. “Send me away if you want to be alone. I’ve never seen you like this. If there is anything I can do?”
“I-“ Raisa began. “I am only worried. Perhaps I should leave them.”
Wolf’s ears perked and his head turned to look at them. Raisa looked at her feet once she met his yellow eyes. Wolf rose silently and padded off into the night. Lucidious gave a sigh then slipped back to the inn once more.
As Raisa stepped closer, Fadia’s shoulders slumped and she buried her face in her knees. Raisa laid a hand on her shoulder.
“He’s right,” the archdruid whispered, defeated.
“I am sorry, I should not have watched. He will not talk again for some time.”
“Why not?”
Raisa shrugged. “This is how he is.”
Fadia sighed and closed her eyes. “At our Circle’s next meeting, I’m going to step down. Are you willing to take my place?”
Raisa’s hand stilled and she sat in silent shock.
“I’ve ruined the Circle, Raisa.”
“You have not.”
“Wolf was right,” Fadia said with a shake of her head. “I’ve betrayed this Circle. Betrayed every single ideal we have. Even betrayed out alliance with the Wolves.”
“What? How? When?”
“My conflicts with Vine ruined our relations with the Wolves. I made us all look like cowards out there against that mind flayer. I’ve been weak, indecisive, and malleable on all of the most important issues that’ve faced us. I’ve ignored sincere, honest advice.”
“You brought life to something that was dying,” Raisa interjected quietly. “We all make mistakes when we start. None of us envy you, Fadia, but we all respect you. You brought Silinia back. This alone says much.”
“Wolf said it himself,” Fadia interrupted. “I’m the archdruid and nothing more. Could be me, or anyone else from our Circle”
“But we voted for you. All of us were happy with this. We still are. We would only have made different mistakes”
“You would have been much more prudent though. Of that I’m sure.”
“I could have cost us allies.”
“I’d have to disagree. How so?”
Raisa hesitated then, thinking back on a confrontation earlier that evening. “Grag.”
A gray coated wolf approached them then and gave a wolfish sigh as it lay beside them. Raisa offered him a hand and began to scratch behind his ear.
“I did not say it the way he heard it,” she continued, “but it had its effect. You saw. And with the Eastlanders.”
“That was outside of anyone’s control.”
“I was against the war from the start. At least against our involvement. I may have angered our friends if I had spoken.”
The three were silent for a time. Raisa’s mind drifted to the reactions others would have, and at last she spoke again. “If you step down, I fear we would fall apart.”
Fadia looked up at the sky, then met her eyes.
“It would be difficult to gain respect,” Raisa continued. “From others, from each other.”
“Just for this, you should be an elder,” Fadia said, pulling her knees back up to her chest.
A fleeting smile skirted across Raisa’s lips, but faded as quickly as it had come. In the distance, Raisa saw colorful lights like wisps passing through a beam of sunlight slowly drift down from the night sky that was only beginning to lighten in the east. She dreaded what would happen next.
-
Evacuee, Part One
In the red light of the setting sun, the tower and wall threw long shadows across the commons. Her anxiety muted, Fadia knelt down before Raisa, Wolf, and Tseris at the base of the tower. Raisa smiled faintly up to the archdruid.
“You mind if I sit with you for a bit?” she asked. The question took Raisa by surprise, but she and Wolf answered in the negative. Fadia smiled with some effort.
“How do you feel?” Raisa asked, trying to gauge her friend’s state.
“Better,” Fadia replied. “Are you sure you’re not mad?”
“I am not,” Raisa said, hesitating only as she thought what Wolf’s honest answer might be.
Tseris adjusted her veil, watching the three of them silently with her dark, inscrutable eyes.
Wolf did not answer, though Fadia waited.
“This thing must have left an impression on Oreth,” Raisa said in reference to the strange creature they had seen at the crossroads and in hope of steering the conversation elsewhere.
“Wolf? Are you alright?” Fadia asked.
“What?” came the reply.
“Are you alright?”
“Fine.” His voice was as flat as ever, but Raisa had learned how to read the tone of even his one word answers. She bit her lip as she watched Fadia, who clearly knew the lie as well.
The archdruid looked down. “You just seem upset, is all.”
Wolf shrugged.
“I just want my brothers and sisters to be happy. That’s all.” Fadia brushed her hair behind her delicate, pointed ears as she met Wolf’s eyes.
“I’m happy.”
Cike strolled up to the group and began to unfasten his armor. Nods were exchanged. “Are you all well? Did the mind fly-er return?”
Fadia spoke, “I’m well, Cike. And no, thank the gods.”
Raisa looked away from the group. No amount of talk on her part would hide Wolf’s feelings. She felt an urge to fill the space between Fadia and Wolf, but did not know how.
Fadia stood. “I’m sorry.”
As she walked away, Raisa’s emotions opened in her expression. The space she hoped to bridge had become chasm.
“Ah what is wrong with Miss Fadia?” Cike asked.
“Wolf, you are going to let her leave like this?” Raisa asked, trying to control her anger but her eyes narrowed.
“Like what?”
“Worred you are mad at her.”
Tseris took this time to leave, and while goodbyes were being said, Wolf slipped off in lupine form. Raisa watched him disappear to the north, then turned to Cike, at a loss for words for some time.
“I do not know what to do,” she quietly admitted.
Cike found himself at a similar loss. “I understand not what happens?”
“You saw Fadia at the crossroads, yes? The way she was?”
Cike nodded. Fadia had been frightened more than either of them had ever seen. Not Arthro, not the Crystals, not even the great winged demons had frightened her. But this strange creature that could control minds had left her a wreck without anyone of them catcing more than a fleeting glimpse of it.
“Wolf is angry with her, because she would not leave when he asked, perhaps. Now he will not tell her. I think she fears it is worse than this.” Raisa looked down and brushed some mud from her knee.
“Worse than thus?”
“That Wolf is angry at more than just today.” She sighed. “And perhaps he is.”
“But why?”
“The troubles we have had. The Circle, I mean.”
“You think he wishes to leave?”
“He did, once at least.” She hid her face behind her sleeve.
“Think you he still has such feelings?”
“Sometimes.”
He nodded slowly.
“Cike, what should I do?”
“I know not. Truth, I myself have doubts of my pack.”
“Of the Wolves?”
Cike nodded and they were silent for a time.
“Stand by whatever decision he does come to. Tis all you can do, your love is what he does need now.”
“Even if he wishes to leave?”
“If he leaves means it you must hate he? That you and the Circle must turn your backs on he and aid he not if his life is in danger?”
“No, no, but he was considering leaving,” her voiced cracked. “Leaving all of us, going to another land.”
“Sometimes one needs to walk the path alone, if truth he does love you then he will consider thus. He needs to know he has family here. Loved ones.”
Raisa rose slowly and straightened her skirts. “Thank you, Cike. I think I will find them.”
“Miss Raisa?”
“Yes?”
“Enjoy what time you do have now. Enjoy it and cherish your happiness.”
A sob caught in Raisa’s throat. “And you.”
-
It was a sunny afternoon. Norwick was quiet and the fields were well under control, so Raisa and Wolf ventured to the spider pass. On the hill overlooking the cold falls, Wolf assaulted her back with a snowball. He mimed his innocence despite the shortage of other travelers on the road. Raisa gave him a hard look but silently marched on. As he passed her, she bent over to pack her own snow ball, but never wishing to be obvious, she carried it into the spider woods with her.
Wolf watched her, puzzled, as she set the snowball down on a ruin before strapping into her light leather outfit, and he continued to watch as she picked up the snowball, one handedly unsheathed her scimitar, and marched into the woods. As she neared the first spider, he stomped on the ground and motioned to her shield, still strapped to her back. Raisa was never a strong fighter, but she is quick and smart: one handedly she held the first spider at bay, but was hit twice by its fore-legs when she attempted to advance. When it at last curled up, legs twitching, she turned to Wolf, who was standing in mum confusion, and wiped her wet, icey hand on his head.
Though she pulled her shield onto her arm and even called ice to her aid, Raisa did not fare well with the next few spiders. She gritted her teeth each time she was hit, knowing full fell what she should have done and that she should have prepared more spells before stepping into the pass. She began to feel more and more foolish as the spiders landed lucky blows. Finally, ashamed, she turned to Wolf and said they should head back, though they had not even ventured a quarter of the way yet.
Within sight of the northern ruins, she paused as the world glimmered all around her. She stopped, suddenly sensititive to the crackling of her own footsteps on dry leaves. Not here, she thought, not now. The falling leaves traced spirals of dazzling light. On every tree each strip of bark stood out in sharp contrast. The brilliant sunlight flowed down through the canopy, bathing everything in a sharp glow.
She could hear the spider descending from the tree and sneaking up on Wolf, but her body felt sluggish as she turned and faced it. Her mind felt as if it would race ahead as her body and the spider danced together, slow and deadly. When the spider lay in pieces, she stood over it and stared at the pattern the sparkling green blood made on the leaves. She could almost make out its meaning…
Wolf nudged her, and remembering where she was, they headed back toward the small camp. The vision wore off, and she was left feeling the pain of her wounds and knowing what would happen next. She felt the first sharp pain in the base of her skull.
When the headache waned, Wolf, Elord, and Bryn were staring down at her as she stared back, lost and embarassed.
-
((continuing, finally…))
Raisa awakened drowsy and blindfolded in the back of a jostling cart. A gravely shriek in nearly unintelligible Rashemi nearby alerted her to her familiar's presence. Whoever drove the cart pays no attention to Mabon's pleas to be released and only chuckled at his cursing. When the cart finally stopped, Raisa was lifted into the air by two pairs of perfumed women's hands. Despite the hard path she was carried over, she drifted back into an uneasy sleep.
~ - ~
When she awakened. Raisa knew Mabon and herself to be alone. The smells and sounds told her she is within the woods. She reached behind her head to untie the blindfold, but it was held fast with an ornate lock her fingers could make no sense of.
"Mabon?"
"Yes?"
"Is this the Urlingwood?"
"I believe so."
"How long did we travel?"
"Most of a day. It is nearly evening."
"Yes. I heard the nightsong. Are you still caged?"
"No."
"How far are we from the forest's edge?"
With a caw and a flutter of wings, Mabon shot up through the canopy. Raisa felt the damp leaves and cool earth around her. The ground sloped toward her feet. In the stillness, she could hear the trickle of water. With great effort she pulled herself toward the stream and drank the cold water with cupped hands.
"No more than an hour's walk straight east," Mabon said from above.
"Then that is where we head. And then follow the edge of the woods south."
"I don't like this."
There came a rustling in the bushes across the stream and the sound of rooting and snorting.
In time, wings fluttered and Mabon’s talons sunk into Raisa’s shoulder.
“We are at the northern edge of the woods.”
“Then Urling is due south. Along this stream, yes?”
Mabon hesitated. “Yes, but that would take us through the heart of the wood.”
“Are you afraid?”
“No. Yes. Of course I am. You know it’s forbidden. We’d be eaten alive before ten beats.”
“You are forgetting who led us here. We are being tested.”
“So? Don’t they also lead prisoners here? To die? How will the guardians know who we are?”
“The guardians serve the goddesses as well as the Sisters. Their will be done.” She traced a shape in the air then was silent a moment. “Did they leave any mark on me?”
“Only the blindfold.”
“Then it will have to do.”
With that, Raisa lifted herself from the ground. The bushes across the stream rustled again. Mabon leapt from Raisa’s shoulder with a harsh caw.
“Who’s there?” she asked when the raven had settled.
“N-nobody,” came the trembling reply.
“Show yourself.”
A twig snapped.
“A boar,” whispered Mabon. “Young. Telthor, I think”
“I am Raisa of the Fir Dyerninas, daughter of Elefe, ethran of Bhalla, druid of the Circle of Quercatha Terr.” She bowed low. “Who do I have the pleasure of greeting, sir boar?”
“Rumplehoof,” the boar answered. “Of the Urling Rumplehoofs,” he added.
“Well met, Rumplehoof. You have served the Sisters long?”
“No, I don’t think so.”
“You are a telthor, yes? You must have died bravely.”
“Well, I…ah…”
“Do you know the circle where the Sisters meet? At the center of this wood?”
“Raisa!” hissed Mabon.
“Yes,” the boar snorted.
“Please lead me there, Rumplehoof.”
~ - ~
Night fell, as it often did. The three moved slowly through the wood. Not a thing troubled them on their way. The woods were eerily still.
Raisa could feel the gathering of Telthors and other guardians before she could hear them and long before Mabon whispered the description of the scene into her ear. The circle was made of large painted rocks. Surrounding it were a hundred animals and a few ghostly men. Raisa could see a pulsing, spirit light of a warm blue even through her blindfold.
“Who approaches the Circle? Who brings upon themselves death? Step forward into the light.” The voice belonged to the ancient spirit an old dire bear.
Raisa stepped forward. “I am Raisa of the Fir Dyerninas, daughter of Elefe, ethran of Bhalla, druid of the Circle of Quercatha Terr. My companions are Mabon, my familiar, and Rumplehoof, a friend and one of your own, I believe.”
“Little boar, come forth. Why have you brought these two here?”
“She asked to come,” Rumplehoof’s voice shook with his body. “I thought she must be was one of the Sisters.”
“The penalty for impersonating a Sister is death,” the bear growled.
“I was taken to the northern edge of the woods by my Sisters as a test of my faith. I am only returning to Urling by the quickest route.”
“Why should we believe you? We do not know your scent.”
“I have been gone from this land for many years, but I know the three prayers to the goddesses.”
She then chanted the three prayers, one for each of her people’s goddesses. The animals and spirits were still, ears perked and attentive for each syllable.
The old bear was not satisfied. “You say you serve Bhalla. Call upon her.”
Raisa took a deep breath. It had been untold days since she had last prepared spells. Slowly, she moved her hands in through the arching path and she glimmered in light. “There.”
“The sisters do not travel through Rashemen without their masks,” the bear growled.
“I am masked.”
The crowd was silent.
“Rumplehoof, lead her to Urling. Let the Sisters deal with her.”
~ - ~
“Good day, Sister Galinka.” Raisa recognized the smell and touch of her old mentor as she was embraced. The sound and smell of the village surrounded her. At long last.
They went into Galinka’s hut, and Raisa fed upon all that the older woman could find for her. She waited for Galinka to explain what had transpired and asked no questions.
“You did well, Raisa. Your heart is in Rashemen, as I knew it would be. But we fear your eyes are not. Until you choose to return to good, you will wear this mask in our lands and keep your title of ethran. Be of good use to the Sisters, do not grow distracted or entangled too far in the affairs of the outlanders, and I am sure they will not lose faith again. When you are ready to stay, we will test you a final time and you may become a true hathran.”
Raisa nodded and touched the blindfold on the table beside her. Had she been wearing it at the time, the silky cloth would have grown damp.
-
Raisa overlooking the Falls of ErechFrom the final pages in the diary of Raisa Dyernina:
@0e4abfe8df:
In two days I will stand at the base of Erech falls and within an hour of that I will stand outside Rashemen's borders for the second time in my life. Sister Galinka has recommended I travel by foot. She said there was no better way to appreciate the world than to watch the people and customs slowly blend on a long road. I think she knows I am afraid to take a village position, to have so many dependent on me. When I asked to take my dajemma, she agreed readily. I am glad to have her on my side. I will miss her advice and friendship more than anything over the next year.
@0e4abfe8df:
It has been over two years since that last entry. I will have to keep this short. There was little ink in the bottle I left in my old chest. When I opened it, this book was the first thing I pulled out. It is strange to read as a woman the thoughts of the girl I once was. Have I changed so much? I read about things that once annoyed me to no end and now I only laugh. Tomorrow I speak with Sister Galinka. I will have more to write and more ink then.
@0e4abfe8df:
Sister Galinka and I talked from noon to sundown. I told her all about the friends I have made in Narfell and about Wolf, the Circle, and all the troubles we have seen. She told me about the war with the hag out at Citadel Rashemar and the problems we've had with the new Ironlord. Near the end, we were silent for a time until at last she asked me if I wished to return to Narfell. I answered all of her questions and there were many. She seemed very understanding, but I felt she was worried for me underneath. Tomorrow I meet with a small council of sisters to discuss my test.
The way here was slow. The Damaran merchants were cautious. Many times they paused along the road to scout the way ahead. At one point a wheel was lodged in mud so firmly that it took hours to pull it free. Every time we stopped I felt my heart rise in my chest and pull me toward Wolf. I have never been so far from him, even in anger. At times I feel like the river that seperates us is wide and uncrossable, at other times I want to take my cloak and run into the night to be with him. I wish he were here. It would make this all more bearable.
@0e4abfe8df:
The three sisters who spoke to me today asked many of the same questions Sister Galinka did. Except they were much more demanding. All of my answers were scrutinized. They have accused me of losing loyalty to them and our people. I have been asked to fast and pray for my heart to resolve. I was afraid I had angered the Sisters somehow. Now I find I have lost their faith, which is much worse. How will I convince them again? May The Three lend me strength.
@0e4abfe8df:
I've begun to lose my voice. I lost my tears last night, though they've given me all the water I ask for. I find it dulls the ache in my chest. Since I can no longer speak them, I shall write a few prayers here:
Earthmother, subdue every evil and unclean being so that he may not cast a spell on us nor do us any harm.
Earthmother, engulf the unclean power in your boiling pots, in your burning fires.
Earthmother, calm the winds coming from the south and all bad weather. Calm the moving sands and whirlwinds.
Earthmother, calm the north winds and the clouds, subdue the snowstorms and the cold.@0e4abfe8df:
I have lost track of the days and nights. This hut has no windows. Sleep gives me no relief. In my best dreams, I sit at the fire while friends come and go. In the worst, I am chased from one place to another by something I cannot see.
@0e4abfe8df:
The sisters visited me. I don't remember what was said. Perhaps I only dreamt it.
@0e4abfe8df:
This diary gives me no comfort. I was a selfish girl.
((to be continued..))
-
Raisa sat alone in the Jiyyd commons on a beautiful late afternoon. They western sky was a shimmering orange-pink dotted with purple clouds all fading to blue in the east. She was sewing together a gash in her armor when a transluscent blue little girl approached her.
"Little miss?" Raisa asked hesitantly.
"Yes?" the girl replied.
"I didn't expect to see you again?"
"Why not?"
Raisa set her sewing aside. Night fell quickly, and all was dark. No one came to light the street lamps, and the commons were lit only by the small, shining girl. A swarm of bats passed over the heads, and suddenly they were surrounded by cave walls.
"I'm dreaming, aren't I?" Raisa asked, as she ducked below the bats and held her arms above her head. The girl didn't answer. "Did you come to visit me or did I come to visit you?"
"You are in my cave." The little girl had found a jumprope among the rocks in the cave and began to skip in place.
"So I am." Raisa sighed as she sat against the wall in a meditative position. "Do you have a message for me?"
The little girl shrugged and skipped into the darkness of the cave.
-
The night wind blew hard against the walls of the house dragging with it uneasy spirits from the North Country, the ghostly whispers of ancient troubled memory. The children could feel these voices in the back of their minds, but their attention was drawn to the sound of horses and men on the road outside. It was too late for this much activity, and that troubled them more than the settling winter. Men barked orders at each other. Tools, barrels, and more were dragged into homes and shops. Berserkers from the Owlbear Lodge howled and hooted as they patrolled the streets.
It began with a hush that settled in a wave from the West side and swept over the village. Then a roar of confusion as the arrows descended. The last of the commoners pulled themselves inside as the archers ceased. The berserkers began shouting challenges to their unnamed assailants. Then the ruckus began, and the children buried themselves under the bedclothes. The youngest huddled in the middle as the oldest peaked over the blanket’s edge. None dared look out the window.
The door crashed into the wall as it flew open. The neighbors crammed through the doorway, their own children in tow led by Pieter, the eldest, who had been brave enough to put both feet on the slick layer of ice covering the river just that afternoon. The parents rushed to close the door when all were safely inside, but it was too late. A dark figure threw its shoulder into the door and it gave way with a loud crack. Swords flashed. Adults and children alike screamed. Not even the eldest child dared peak after that until the sounds of battle died down and only weeping and cursing could be heard outside.
Raisa was the first to stumble out of bed. Her parents were safe, but Pieter’s father and younger brother lay tangled on the ground. There was no sign of the others.
Raisa turned the page in the heavy book in front of her, only then realizing she hadn’t truly read a thing on the page before. Her mind was still on the stranger in a red robe, dark skin with tattoos in a style she hoped to never see again. There was a Thayan in Jiyyd. Her temporary home, yes, but home nonetheless. Except she no longer felt at east within its walls. Not even the elementals or the sniper had managed to shake that feeling from her. But now. Now she remembered how she learned of true evil.
The official word was that slaving raids no longer occurred. Those who lived in small and undefended villages could hardly imagine there would ever come an end. Everyone but the youngest children knew why so many disappeared that night. It was no mere sacking by a barbarian tribe.
But the evil made itself known best when Raisa, as a young ethran, helped stop one such raid. An arrow had taken a mount from under a raider. His chest was crushed. When it came time to burn the dead, the raider’s helmet was removed. It was Pieter. There was no mistaking the twist of hair on his forehead, the jaw of his father.
A Rashemi knows that many in Thay are of the same stock, that they were Rashemi by blood together before Mulhorand. But they were always considered less than traitors. They were weak-willed and as greedy as their masters. They had forgotten their nation’s goddesses and its traditions. But this raider before Raisa was no foreigner. This was a boy from her village. How many more had he condemned to lives of fear and pain? How much had he suffered to come to this?
Raisa closed the book and settled back on the couch in the Regal Whore. It had taken all her will not to kill the red-robed one where he sat, and even then she had gone outside the gates to calm down. She was not sure she could control herself for long.
-
I think last night
You were driving circles around me
Kristin Hersh, "Your Ghost"The claws…THE CLAWS
Raisa sat up suddenly. Only the faintest rays of morning light passed through the conopy above the hidden glenn to fall across her pale and terror-stricken face. The voice of Tseris echoed through her sleep-dulled mind. Her friend's reading had left her numb and terrified the night it was given, but after the orc seige the following day, the details escaped Raisa whenever she tried to recall the images. Now they floated back to her across the waters of her dreamstate. The moon. The cavern beneath a mountain. The claws.
Raisa shuddered. She knew those claws now. Four pairs had attacked her friends early that night in the glenn where she now lay. At least one other pair was known to roam free, not counting the unknown allies they might find across the divided land. The vision had been a terrible warning.
She looked down at the figure beside her. Wolf lay peacefully asleep as Raisa gently stroked his cheeks. She wanted to speak to him, but she knew this vision would only trouble him. The night she sought guidance from the goddesses on the hill, he had stopped her when she burnt herself on the fire in her trance state. He did not yet understand this side of magic. He knew only what came to him instinctively. He once grew angry at a spell she had cast that he called unnatural.
Raisa traced a pattern on his chin and reclined against an elbow. She would have to speak to Tseris privately. Divination was a dangerous tool, she knew, and only a fool relied too heavily on it, she had been taught. But her friend had shown real talent at reading the signs. Raisa knew what claws. Though she expected the answer to be far from literal, she wished to know what mountain, what cavern, and…
Selune's silver face had shown brightly through this vision. Raisa lay back in the grass, comforted by that thought. She resolved to seek a certain holy man as soon as she was able. He had shown himself just before the claws were known. His patron would be paid respect for that gift and the vision.