First Comes The One Who Wanders

by Lynette S. Jones

  “Those soldiers had no idea who they just let get away,” panted Joshuas, addressing her unspoken concern as he fell in beside her. “They were just trying to stop fugitives from fleeing Dirth. I wouldn’t like to be them when Darryl and Jayram find we’ve escaped.” Joshuas wiped the perspiration from his face, leaving a streak of blood in its place.

  Leilas looked at her hand covered in blood as well, still clutching her sword. “Will they kill them?” she asked as she wiped the blade on her breeches before she returned it to the sheath.

  “In all likelihood they will. After all, they are just lowly soldiers.”

  “Who happen to be men, who have families, friends, people who will miss them.”

  “You won’t make much of a warrior with that attitude.”

  “It’s probably a good thing I never intended to be a soldier then, isn’t it?”

  “Sometimes things don’t work out the way we intend.”

  Something in his voice caused Leilas to look up and find him gazing sadly off into his own memories. If it had been Gidron, she would have joined him there and comforted him. But this stranger wasn’t her master and friend, and Leilas didn’t believe he would appreciate her trying to help.

  “How did you keep them from seeing us as we left?” Leilas purposely pulled him away from his thoughts.

  “The same way you would have,” replied Joshuas, first looking down at her, then toward Dirth.

  “I wouldn’t have been able to do it,” contradicted Leilas. “They would have seen us.”

  “This morning it never occurred to you that you could kill a crafter, much less that you would. You never know what you are capable of doing, until you are called upon to try.” Joshuas smiled sadly at her and turned his mount in the direction of her mother. Leilas acknowledged the perception of his reply with her silence.

  “Are we heading for the cave?” asked Queen Daina, when Joshuas reached her.

  “It seems like the best defense for now. Do you have a better idea?”

  The queen shook her head. “Will they send someone after us?”

  “Once they realize we’ve escaped.” Joshuas nodded. “And they won’t send common soldiers.”

  “No, they wouldn’t, would they? We should make the best of our head start.”

  Joshuas took up the lead. Daina and Brenth fell in behind. Leilas brought up the rear. Menas was to the south and to the east. The foothills stood between them and her mother’s city. Their destination seemed a bit obvious, but maybe Darryl wouldn’t believe they’d head for a place that had rejected her mother so many years before.

  With time to catch her breath from the battle and flight, Leilas tried to wipe the rest of the sticky, drying blood from her hands. But it refused to be eradicated, much the same as the memories from the morning were refusing to be put aside. They kept running through her mind. But now wasn’t the time to sort through the confusion and doubt. She would deal with them, later.

  “Always later”, a voice taunted her. “One day it will be too late.”

  She checked to see if Master Joshuas had whispered the admonition, but he was deep in conversation with her mother. It hadn’t sounded like his voice, but she’d wanted to be sure. Who else could have penetrated her thoughts? She glanced around nervously. Could the crafters from the School of Land have already found them? Nudging her mount closer to Brenth’s, she satisfied herself that they were alone.

  Trying to shrug off her uneasiness, she settled in for a long ride. Yet, she found herself unable to relax. Throughout the two hour ride to the bottom of the foothills, she found herself constantly looking over her shoulder and her hand never left the hilt of her sword. The trees whispered softly in the breeze. Usually, Leilas found this comforting. But today, she heard only danger in each whisper that floated from the depths of the grove.

  Joshuas and her mother talked quietly as they rode. Brenth seemed content to ride in silence. Leilas would have liked to join in the conversation between her mother and this stranger, but a premonition told her she needed to be diligent in looking for danger. She couldn’t seem to find time to delve into serious conversation or engage in idle banter.

  “We can rest here for a few minutes,” Joshuas stopped at a small stream. Leilas looked forward rather than back and was surprised to find they were at the beginning of the foothills. The path they were following crossed the stream and continued upward into the hills from this point.

  Joshuas slipped off his horse and helped Queen Daina from her mount. Brenth slipped from his and removed the bag of food that Leilas had tied over the saddle horn. Leilas followed more slowly, running her eye over the terrain they had just covered before she was content to take the bag of food from her saddle horn and pick up the water skin that was also hanging there. She picked up each water skin as she passed by the horses and made her way to the stream where Joshuas, Brenth and her mother were washing the dust and blood from their hands and faces.

  Placing the water skins by the bags of food, she silently joined them in cleansing the vestiges of the battle from her hands and face. If she’d been with Gidron, he would have pestered her until she began to talk about how she felt about this battle and what she’d done today. He wouldn’t have let her go for hours without a word. He’d seen the effects of letting her go too long without intervening, after she’d returned from the Echoes. He’d let her dwell on her experiences for months before he’d realized that she had needed help. After that, he’d always asked and been persistent until she talked about what she was feeling. But she wasn’t with Master Frey and it was unlikely that her mother or Master Joshuas would care enough to want to know her feelings.

  Looking down at the ugly brown stain on her breeches, Leilas decided cleaning her clothes would have to wait. She wasn’t willing to ride for hours in wet pants. Her body was already protesting the unaccustomed exercise.

  “With two magiks, we should be able to defend the cave easily.” Joshuas’ conversation with her mother floated over to her. For the last two hours she’d wanted to join their conversation. Now that she had the opportunity, all she wanted was to be alone. But Joshuas’ words brought back the voice from earlier and worry twisted her stomach. It wasn’t a voice she’d recognized. The fact that someone had penetrated her thoughts could be detrimental to the safety of their trip. If they could find her thoughts, they could find her. Rather than being a help to Joshuas on this journey to Menas, she might actually be the weak link. She knew she should tell Joshuas about the voice, but she couldn’t bring herself to tell him. She didn’t want him to think she wasn’t worth much as a magik. For reasons she couldn’t understand, she didn’t want him to think badly of her. He’d already made it clear he thought she was too young and inexperienced to be considered a master. What had he said, he hadn’t wanted an apprentice? She was Gidron Frey’s apprentice and he’d declared she was ready to be a master. Joshuas’ words made it clear he didn’t agree with Gidron.

  Sitting down with her back to a rock, facing the way they’d come, Leilas chewed on the hard tack and jerky from her pack and then slipped into her own thoughts. She had much to think about and after the admonition that had been offered by a stranger, she decided to think about it now.

  “You okay?” Brenth sat down next to her and intruded on her silence.

  “As well as can be expected, considering the circumstances,” replied Leilas. Despite her need to be alone, she wasn’t willing to turn away any overture by her brother to become closer. “I suppose it could have been a lot worse.”

  “The students and masters of the school have endured much more,” agreed Brenth. “By trying to save mother and me, you saved yourself. The school is gone.”

  “How do you know about the school?” asked Leilas, knowing from the fluctuations she felt in the magic that he wasn’t wrong.

  “The way I know about most things,” answered Brenth with a slight air of superiority. “I just know.”

  Leilas accepted his explanation. She might have
been tempted to tell him he was making it all up, except for what Joshuas had said about him earlier. “What about the masters?”

  “It’s a funny thing about the way I see things,” said Brenth earnestly, trying for once to explain himself to her. “I don’t see people. I see things, schools, manors and kingdoms, what happens to them. But not what happens to the people in them. Mother is better at people. You might ask her.”

  Leilas nodded, knowing she wouldn’t ask her mother about the school, and stared off in the direction of Dirth. There was no smoke snaking up into the sky. Nothing to indicate a battle had just taken place there, there was only the disturbance moving around her. If the school had fallen, then Dirth must have fallen as well. “I wonder if father managed to save himself,” she mused. She shook her head and turned back to Brenth. “Together you and Mother must be a formidable force to face. It’s no wonder I never won any arguments.”

  “You won your fair share,” countered Brenth, finishing off his hard tack and washing it down with a swig from his water skin. “I was pretty sure you’d win the argument with Mother. I saw Menas.”

  “Then why didn’t you tell her and save us some time?”

  “Because, like you, I believed it was her choice to make.”

  “I have a lot to learn about seeing into the future,” said Leilas, shaking her head in bewilderment. “It doesn’t make much sense to me. You see something the way it’s going to be, and yet, the person still has to make the choice. Even though you know they’re going to, you can’t influence them to make it.”

  “That’s it, exactly.”

  “It might have been easier to understand had I been able to take my vows and finish my training as a master. Master Frey told me it would make more sense once I took the oath.” Leilas looked toward Dirth again. “I suppose now it never will.”

  “You are already a master and have the ability to learn what they would have shown you on your own. All you have to do is take the opportunities presented to learn,” said Brenth, staring over her head. “But if it makes you feel better, you can always go to the School of Sea.” Leilas acknowledged the truth of his statement, while marveling at the black and white of youth. In one breath he could utter astounding praise and in the next dismiss it with pragmatism. But going to the School of Sea had always seemed foreign to her. She was of the Sky.

  “Once we get to Menas safely, I’ll worry about what I’m going to do with my life. Who knows what will happen between now and then?”

  “Who knows, indeed,” Joshuas entered into the conversation, as he bent to fill up his water skin from the stream.

  “Somehow, I think everyone here knows better than I do,” grumbled Leilas, pushing her tired body up from the rock and mimicking Joshuas’ actions.

  “Well, I know for certain that we have another two hours of riding to reach camp, so we’d better get started.”

  Brenth scrambled to his feet and went to help his mother with her things. When he had her safely mounted, he slung his water skin and bag of food around his saddle horn and climbed onto his horse.

  Leilas couldn’t help thinking he was very old for his age, in many ways, much older than she. Wishing she had some of his wisdom and a larger share of his less compulsive personality, she placed her foot in her stirrup and swung into position.

  As before, she fell in behind the rest and kept watch to the rear. Again, the feeling of uneasiness crept over her as she rode. Her only comfort was that this time, there was no voice in her mind.

  “What is it you think you see, Leilas?” Joshuas’s voice spoke in her mind, instantly giving comfort and easing her distress.

  “Someone is watching us,” answered Leilas, speaking only to him. Joshuas said nothing, but she could feel him probing with his mind.

  “I feel nothing. Are you sure?”

  “No, it’s just a feeling.” Leilas said nothing about the voice she’d heard earlier. Perhaps it was just her nerves that made her think she’d heard something, that made her feel as though she was being watched.

  “Feelings are not something to be ignored,” replied Joshuas. “Let’s take a few minutes to rest,” he said to Brenth and Queen Daina as he brought the group to a stop. Dismounting, he moved to Leilas’s side.

  “Follow the feeling with your mind,’ He said, placing his hands on hers. Where is our crafter?”

  A little surprised that Joshuas was taking her unease so seriously, she tried to focus on the origin of her feeling. Slowly, she felt herself moving outside of their small circle and moving toward the eyes she felt were watching. It was much clearer now, the probing. Following the path of power, she moved closer to the source. With a small gasp she found herself looking up into the eyes of Jayram, through green mists. She wasn’t sure how she knew it was him, but she knew.

  Pulling quickly away, she felt the probing cease and saw the mists begin to recede. Grabbing Joshuas’ hands to steady herself, she slowly made her way back through the paths she’d traveled until she was back on the road with a concerned Joshuas staring down at her.

  “It was Jayram,” she told him breathlessly. “He was tracking us with the mists.”

  Grunting, Joshuas looked into her eyes and seemed satisfied with what he saw. “So much for hoping we might slip through unnoticed. Still, the cave is our best defense tonight. We have a good head start. Even crafters are bound by some laws of nature.”

  But not bound to the earth as were her mother and brother. Leilas cast a worried glance in their direction. Crafters of the Land could change into animals that could travel swiftly and silently. Their enemies could travel the distance they’d covered in half the time.

  “There’s a trick I’ve used in the past,” continued Joshuas, “if you’re willing to try. I’d use it, but Jayram seems to have found you, not me.” Leilas waited in silence. If he was looking for a reason why Jayram was able to find her so quickly, she didn’t have one. “And if he found you once, he’ll probably be able to find you again. When he does find you, in your mind, show us turning around and backtracking. Cross the stream, continue on the path that follows the trees. Make up scenery, so he believes you’re going in that direction. He won’t know it’s a lie, until you don’t see some landmark he expects you to pass. It may buy us a little time. Brenth can lead your mount so you won’t be distracted by where we are really going.”

  “And when he does realize it’s a lie and sends someone after us, what then?”

  “We stand, fight and hope we’re stronger. We can also hope that Darryl wearies of the search before they find us. He’s presently angry that we slipped away, but he may decide that his battle was successful enough without our deaths and abandon the search. He can’t believe that putting you, your mother, and brother to death is worth spending a great deal of time or energy pursuing. After all, your mother was never a central character in Dirth. Neither was your brother and Darryl can’t be very interested in a student from the School of Sky.”

  “What about Jayram?”

  “I think he’s still content to do King Darryl’s bidding.”

  “And I thought the crafters would leave each other alone,” remarked Leilas sarcastically, thinking back on what the masters had taught her concerning the crafter schools.

  “Jayram’s reasons for helping Darryl are still clouded,” Joshuas accepted her point reluctantly. “But there are some crafter’s who believe the powers aren’t as balanced as the Council of Sky believe them to be. There’s a lot about the world that the masters at the School of Sky have missed because they choose to stay within the walls of the school. It’s easy to be misled when you don’t venture into the world and rely on others for the news.”

  “All the masters have to do is call the mists and look around,” Leilas argued with him. “They know what’s going on.”

  “The mists can lie. They didn’t know that the School of Land was going to attack,” Joshuas jabbed back. “The Council has been content to let people like me tell them what is happening, and no
t every crafter is as honest with them. Many have their own reasons for sharing information with the masters and for withholding it. The Council has been remiss in not keeping a better eye on the balance of power.”

  Leilas wanted to argue with him, but knew she was venturing into a part of the Crafter’s Guild about which she knew very little. She’d spent her time learning the craft. Learning how to play the game of politics associated with the Guild hadn’t been of any interest to her. She’d always assumed she’d avoid that arena. Listening to the politics of her father’s kingdom as she was growing up had been more than enough for her.

  Many crafters lived their whole life and never had to worry about what the Council did or didn’t do and how the powers were distributed throughout the earth.

  “I hope you’re right about Darryl. I hadn’t envisioned spending the rest of my life as a fugitive.”

  “We never know what will be accorded us in this life.” Joshuas headed back for his mount. “We simply deal with what comes our way, one day at a time.”

  “That’s an interesting philosophy for someone who deals in centuries instead of years.”

  “It’s kept me alive this long.”

  “And how long has that been?”

  “Master Joshuas was an old master when I was a child,” Queen Daina spoke softly, interrupting their conversation for the first time. “Even then, the Menas couldn’t remember how old he was.”