Crooked Finger and the Warl of the Dead

by Rex Hazelton

  Spoush's misty form emanated nobility in a warl where none held such rank. He was a handsome waterkynd, though no one in the community could be called plain looking. Spoush had a reputation for having wisdom. Being rash was not his way, nor did anger suite him. Still, it was clear that Lylah had irritated him with what he assumed was her wanton ways.

  In spite of the prophecies that said a human and waterkynd would Come Together, those that emerged after Jeaf Oakenfel first visited Mythoria, later interpretations said the utterances’ implications were metaphorical in nature. The reference to a child coming out of the two being Together was taken to mean the waterkynd community would benefit from the exchange of magic that would take place between the Hammer Bearer’s son and the waterkynd who had become significant acquaintances.

  Assuming this exchange would give the waterkynd insight on how to travel to other realms that were beyond their reach gave the Mythorians motive to begrudgingly accept the relationship that was developing between Lylah and Kaylan. Still, the multiple ages they had spent keeping themselves apart from other creatures who shared the Warl of Man with them had forged an iron hard resolve to not accept any notion other than friendship being the extent to which the relationship between a solitary human and a single waterkynd would reach. To think that more would come from this association was tantamount to heresy in the Mythorian's thinking.

  The Mother of the Waterkynd, as the metaphorical child would be called, was construed to be a reference to the mystery surrounding the exchange of magic that would take place between the prophecy's principle players. The waterkynd were angry to learn that Kaylan had used the Pool of Transportation to enter the Realm of Vapor. The fact he had transformed into an Ice Dragon in the Realm of Ice had nearly driven them to renounce the prophecy that, so far, had enabled them to tolerate the disturbing relationship. As it was, the strange prophecy had been buried beneath a pile of utterances that were viewed as being too ambiguous to understand.

  "It is impossible to Come Together with a human," Spoush explained with a voice that sounded like a hard rain was falling. "None but a waterkynd can enter the Realm of Vapor through the Pools of Transition; and none can Come Together unless they go there."

  "But Kaylan did go to the Warl of Vapor. And the Pool of Transition took him there."

  "How did this happen?" Not happy at having to talk about things that had been purposely marginalized by Mythoria's scholars, Spoush didn't want to draw attention to the troubling prophecy. "Do you have power to twist our mode of traveling to your will as the defilement we washed off you suggests? If so, you have brought danger to Mythoria. Can't you see that your love for the human has compromised our safety? It has put us all in jeopardy. To remedy this, you must break off your relationship with Kaylan and set him free."

  "Set him free? I haven’t coerced him in any way, nor have I cast an enchantment over him. Kaylan does as he pleases. Neither has he captured my heart with any magic other than that which makes him who he is. We love each other. And I won’t leave him trapped in the Hall of Voyd as he now is even if you threaten to banish me from Mythoria.

  "Spoush, it isn’t me who endangers our home, your willful ignorance has done that. The defilement I unwittingly transported to Mythoria only reveals we are vulnerable in a way none knew existed. It doesn't suggest that evil dwells in my heart. Ab'Don's unbidden magic followed me through the Pool of Transition as I sought to escape from Ar Warl. Nothing more has happened. What will you do about that?"

  Lylah's form took on a firmer aspect as she spoke. It was as if she was transforming into a human being like Kaylan was. What has the man done to her was the thought the cloud of waterkynd shared.

  Privy to the silent conversation that was taking place, Lylah replied: "It’s true, Kaylan has changed me, but not in the way you think. He has expanded my vision and enlarged my heart. I feel that I am more of a waterkynd than I have ever been before, though I can no longer distance myself from the humans that live in the same warl we do as all of you have done. I'm convinced that it's not an accident that we find ourselves occupying the same space.

  "Do any of the other realms we call home contain such beings? Why only here? As base as they seem, humans are uniquely related to us in ways we are yet to discover."

  "What of the Bro’Noon and the giants?" The cloud passed this thought to Lylah. "Surely we have no relationship to them."

  "I can only answer your question by saying that the form we assume in the Realm of Man is both human in shape and dimension. We never represent ourselves as giants or Bro’Noon, nor do we chose to take the shape of a deer, bear or any of the other creature found here. Each of these is important in their own way, especially the more human-like beings; but the humans stand apart from these in a way those appeals to our intrinsic aesthetics. As such, it’s apparent that a connection exists between us. My love for Kaylan has revealed this to me."

  Sensing that she had sent the other waterkynd to thinking, Lylah took advantage of the opportunity this presented and began to make the plea she had come to make. "My love for Kaylan also compels me to ask for your help to free him from the cruel captivity Ab'Don has cast him into. The time to fear that the Sorcerer might become a Goar is past since he became one the moment he imprisoned Kaylan.

  "Though you might not like it, Kaylan is as much a waterkynd as he is a human. You know this to be true. The moment you melded with his father back when Mystlynor first brought the Hammer Bearer to Mythoria told you that such a possibility existed in the Oakenfel bloodline. That's why you offered to give Jeaf and Muriel sanctuary here. Don't let your reluctance to accept the foretelling about The Mother of the Waterkynd keep you from seeing what's really happening. Whether you like it or not, the prophecy can't be disregarded, change has come and Kaylan stands at its heart.

  "Again, I appeal to you... give me your help. For all practical purposes, a Goar has captured a waterkynd; and the monster will use his dark magic to ply open a life that has been entrusted with our secrets, though Kaylan doesn't know what he carries inside of him yet.

  "Will you fight the Goar with me? Will you protect a waterkynd from being torn apart in the way the Goar will need to do if he wants to uncover the treasure within?"

  Spoush separated himself from the agitated cloud so that his voice could be heard. Thoughts alone wouldn’t convey his emotions. "Much about the Oakenfel's has perplexed us, but Kaylan is not a waterkynd. At best he is a mutation not dissimilar to a cretchym. Though you love him, he is no more of a concern to us than any of the happenings that take place in this realm of rock and soil, this mundane place that we barely notice

  "Even if the obscure prophecy contains a measure of truth in it, we will not break our time honored tradition and interfere in the affairs of man and beast. We are beings set apart. Kaylan needs to look to his own family for help. Not us."

  Lylah's form coalesced into ice though she didn’t change shapes. "He is my family. And so are you Spoush, and all those around you. Have you considered that our indifference to this place comes from arrogance and not from the otherness of our being? We are here! I contend that wisdom will never say that this unimportant. It is time we learned the lessons this mundane, as you call it, realm has to teach us. And when our education is complete, we might find that the Realm of Man is not as unremarkable as we think. Kaylan has taught me this, not with words but with the otherness that lives within him, an otherness whose spark can be found in all the humans."

  Spoush calmly replied, "Your request is denied. Since we have cleansed you of the defilement you brought into Mythoria, our discussion is over. Lylah, heed my words: It’s time to distance yourself from all but your own kind. Return to the place where you belong. Going beyond, as you have done, will lead to nothing but folly. As a waterkynd, you know that Kaylan's life will end too soon no matter what you do. He is but a passing vapor destined to be burned away by the ever rising sun. But you’re not."

  ****

  Lylah was disquieted by Spou
sh's composed demeanor and by the indifference the other waterkynd displayed as they drifted back to the pools of water that sat on the horseshoe-shaped cliff overlooking Mythoria. But instead of following them, she turned and let the Eyre River's current carry her along as she began her journey back to the Largryk Sea and to the scent of the precious blood that was found there.

  Indulging herself with a brief respite, Lylah was lost in thought for a time. Later she would call on her powers and speed off to retrace her path to the Sorcerer's abode. Descending out of the Thrall Mountains' heights, where the Pool of Transition was found, seemed the least advantageous approach to the place where Kaylan was imprisoned, if any approach had advantages. Surely this direction was being closely watched. Her plan was to lose herself in the traffic that used the river as an avenue to reach the hall. The memory of the boats and barges, filled with goods Ab'Don needed to supply his fortress, had given her this idea.

  Resigned to what fate would bring her way, Lylah began the journey back to the Hall of Voyd without talking to her parents who were now in the Realm of Vapor. Why would she involve them in her folly, as Spoush called it? She wasn't willing to share the danger she was facing with them, nor did she want them to try to talk her out of doing what she knew she must.

  ****

  Alysha and Loryn left the Warl of Vapor as soon as they heard what had happened to their daughter. Once the search for Lylah, in the areas surrounding Mythoria, proved fruitless, the two went to meet with Spoush and others who had talked with her. Lacking Lylah's explanation of her own actions, the couple was at a loss to make sens of things without further input.

  Wrapped in concern over the details they had been given, those that spoke of the defilement she had brought with her to Mythoria after she escaped Ar Warl, Loryn was the first to speak. His voice sounded like hail stripping leaves off of a tree as he began. "Lylah said she went to Ar Warl?"

  Being good friends with Loryn, Spoush used a conciliatory tone as he replied. "Your daughter went as far as the Hall of Voyd in an attempt to free Kaylan. Though I think her intentions were good, they lack a waterkynd's perspective. Her relationship with the human has made her place too much value on temporal things that have little impact on beings that transcend such limitations. It has made her thinking small. As a result, Lylah exposed herself to Ab'Don's magic and subsequently brought its defilement to our fair warl. It's clear that something must be done about her misguided quest."

  "Surely you don't think her concern for Kaylan is misguided?" Though Alysha was not entirely stunned by Spoush's admission, hearing him voice the growing consensus among the waterkynd regarding her daughter's relationship with Kaylan was unsettling. Alysha still believed the Prophecy of the Mother of the Waterkynd should be interpreted literally. Knowing Lylah was pregnant with Kaylan's child only confirmed her belief. "Prophecy says that Lylah's relationship with him is key to the waterkynd gaining access to magic that will enable us to go where we've never gone before."

  "Alysha," Spoush assumed a patronizing demeanor as he spoke. "Neither Lylah or Kaylan's names our found in the prophecy you're referring to. It’s the Oakenfel bloodline that is the key to unlocking the mystery surrounding the magic we will one day be given, not Kaylan himself. If he dies, as is likely from the report we've heard, there are three other brothers who can fulfill the prophecy. If not them, fate may chose one of their children. As inscrutable as prophecies often are, fulfilling such prognostications could fall to one of Jeaf's descendents that could be born long after his grandchildren have died."

  "Are the humans so repulsive that you would water down the prophecies that speak of their importance to the waterkynd to such a degree as to make them ineffective?"

  "Water down? Are you using humor to point out a waterkynd flaw?" Spoush’s friendship with Loryn had never included his wife, especially since she had the temerity to leave the Warl of the Waterkynd to go wandering off and dance at the Prophetess and Hammer Bearer's wedding. "If so, your poor choice of words lets me know where Lylah's wantonness comes from."

  "Spoush... that was uncalled for!" Loryn's voice sounded like a torrent of wind blowing through falling rain.

  "Loryn, you must understand my annoyance with ALysha and Lylah. Why aren't you controlling your females?"

  "I understand that you are troubled by the defilement my daughter brought into Mythoria, as am I. But instead of dismissing this fact by supposing it is an anomaly bred by my daughter's so called, wantonness, I see it as a warning we should heed. Mythoria is not as impregnable as we think. The black snake that followed Jeaf Oakenfel into our warl when we brought him back from the encounter he had with the Lord of Regret outside his childhood home- an encounter, I might add, we foisted on him- should have told you this."

  Not appreciating his friend’s chastening, Spoush replied: "The only thing it told me was that encounters with the humans are best avoided since no other breach has taken place apart from their involvement."

  "What of the Goars that have broken into the Realms of Vapor, Water and Ice?"

  "Even then, Loryn, Kaylan was responsible for a Goar invading the Realm of Vapor when Lylah used illicit magic to transport him there, since he was clearly the monster's target."

  "And the other Goars that found their way into our warl, were humans responsible for these too?" Loryn spoke with a forced composure that was in keeping with the weight of the words he spoke. "Spoush, open your eyes. The Prophecy of the Mother of the Waterkynd was not given to trouble us with unneeded concerns; it was meant to help us deal with a problem that revealed itself through the reoccurring Goar invasions. And as it has turned out, the unfolding prophecy that my mate and daughter have been drawn into has uncovered the first Goar to be found in the Warl of Man- the Sorcerer who rules over Ar Warl."

  "You sound like Lylah," Spoush admitted with a sense of disappointment.

  "I'd rather like to think that she sounds like me."

  "Then I must say," Spoush stood taller as he spoke, "you are all wrong. You make too much of this prophecy. And, I might add, you make too much of yourselves. The Warl of the Waterkynd's well-being does not lie in your hands. Nor does your daughter's fleeting relationship with this human have any bearing on our safety. To think such a thing is total hubris. That's why we didn't go with Lylah to free a human that she had the arrogance to proclaim was as much a waterkynd as any of us."

  Seeing the conversation wasn't going anywhere good, Alysha decided to tell Spoush something she had not shared with anyone else except Loryn.

  Using a voice that sounded like rain falling on a leaf-covered forest floor, she began her telling by asking a question, "Do you know why I went to dance at Jeaf and Murie's wedding, an act that drew me and my family into the Prophecy of the Mother of the Waterkynd?"

  "Our prophets must have told you to go," Spoush brusquely replied. "But that doesn't add any more clarity to the prophetic utterance. It's still subject to interpretation."

  "If it wasn't for the dream I had the night before I left for Wyneskynd and the wedding that was to be held there, I probably would have agreed with the interpretation you so adamantly adhere to. After all, I’m a waterkynd who relishes my otherness just like you."

  "What dream?"

  "A dream that would have been devalued as much as the prophecy it relates to if I had told it out of season, a dream where Whystime came to me."

  The name of the Dream-Messenger was well known among the waterkynd. Like them, he and his kind were removed from the base Warl of Man. They had an otherness that separated them even farther from the corporeal realm. Pure spirit, Whystime and his kind were servants of the Singer himself. As such, the waterkynd had few contacts with the beings that surpassed them as much as they surpassed the humans. And the contacts they did have were given a special place in the communal mind that was used to define what it means to be a waterkynd.

  "We wouldn't have devalued a dream Whystime had appeared in."

  "Wouldn't you? Then why did Whystime war
n me against being hasty to talk about our meeting? Why did he tell me to wait until a time would arrive that would give me no other choice but to share our conversation? Whystime informed me that the Prophecy of the Mother of the Waterkynd would be set by the wayside. Still, he exhorted me to wait until I could no longer hold my peace before sharing my experience. And you accusing my daughter of being wanton has driven away my desire for peace."

  "How am I to believe that you're not making this all up to protect your daughter's reputation?" Spoush could barely say the words he had uttered.

  "I am a waterkynd." Alysha lifted her vaporous chin in pride over her declaration.

  "As am I," Spoush said as he bowed his head to Alysha in a show of deference the Mythroians were in a habit of giving to each other. Ashamed at his misguided accusation, he added, "Speak on."

  Knowing Spoush wouldn't dismiss her words offhand, Alysha went ahead and told the waterkynd about her nocturnal vision.

  In my dream I saw a bright flash of light on the cliff top above the pool of water where I took my nightly repose. I soon discovered the burst of illumination had accompanied Whystime's arrival in Mythoria.

  Looking down on me, the Dream-Messenger reached out his hand and bid me to come to him. Accepting his invitation, I left my bed and drifted up to place my hand in Whystime's own. Before long, I found the Dream-Messenger leading me through the forest that lay west of Mythoria. On we went, passing through the night shadows as we travelled to a destination unknown to me. Though I was overwhelmed by the Dream-Messenger's presence, I found that I was still able to take pleasure in the babbling child-like voices rising from the lively brook that paralleled the path we were taking. For a time, I was lost in their banter as they puzzled over our presence.