“You made a yeti turn into Moorin?” Wren unconsciously rose to her feet and started pacing as well. The two passed one another as they moved back and forth.
“But that’s not the interesting part,” Kestrel told her, making Wren stare at him, before he proceeded to reveal many of his adventures of the recent week.
“Oh Kestrel,” she spoke in a hushed voice. “This thing has been hunting you? That sounds bad.
“When are you going to go to Kai’s temple to learn more?” she asked.
“Soon,” he said simply. “In the next day. And then,” he left the sentence unfinished.
“You’ll see what she tells you?” Wren finished the sentence for him.
The door opened as she spoke, and Putienne cautiously crept into the room.
“We’ll see,” Kestrel agreed.
“I don’t know those words,” Putty spoke.
Kestrel switched from elven to human. “Most elves speak a different language, a different set of words, from humans. Wren and I know how to speak like elves, and we know how to speak like humans. Not many others can speak both ways,” Kestrel said.
“Why are you speaking like elves?” Putty asked.
“We wanted to talk about things that the humans didn’t need to know,” Wren answered. “It was a private conversation just for us.” She stared, and continued to stare at the girl, more fascinated than ever after having learned that Putty was really a yeti.
There was a knock at the door, and a servant entered. “Dinner is served, if I may show you the way?”
They agreed, and joined by Raines and Orren, they followed the man to a sizable dining room with a table set for over a dozen, where they joined Ruelin and the others, as well as a few members of the court. Raines and Orren were subdued, overwhelmed by the nobility of the company compared to their own humble origins.
“How are things in Graylee?” Kestrel asked Creata, who sat next to him. Wren was on Creata’s other side.
“Philip is doing as well as possible, considering how terribly the country was treated before,” Creata replied. “He’s going to be brilliant. He’s established good relations with Seafare, obviously, and with Hydrotaz as well.”
“I’m sure Kestrel knows about Hydrotaz, from what we heard about the temple there,” Wren commented.
“What’s that?” Creata asked, confused.
“The temple of Kai that everyone is taking pilgrimages to visit? You know who created the mystical statue inside, don’t you? It was our very own golden boy,” Wren lectured him.
“Really?” Creata’s head swiveled from Wren to Kestrel. “I hear it is tremendous!”
“But that’s all beside the point, because when Kestrel asked how things were in Graylee,” Wren spoke up again, “he really meant to ask how Margo is doing?” Wren spoke again.
“Isn’t that what you meant?” she asked Kestrel in elvish.
“Perhaps,” Kestrel grinned as he replied in the same language. “But I did want to hear about Philip too. I don’t really get to see Yulia that often to hear any news from her, let alone news about Margo.”
“She’s doing well,” Wren reverted to speaking the human language. “She had her baby.”
“I knew that,” Kestrel interjected. “A little girl.”
“And she stayed up in the manor house; her husband doesn’t really like to travel to the city the way Margo’s family always used to,” Wren said.
“We did see Yulia a few weeks ago; she came to visit Philip in Graylee. The two of them got along famously, I’d say. We were only with them for a week before we had to return here, but I think Philip returned the favor and went to visit Hydrotaz last month, didn’t he?” Wren asked Creata.
And so they gossiped among themselves, for several minutes, eating their food, as Kestrel watched Putienne, sitting next to Raines on the other side of the table. The girl carefully followed the older woman’s lead.
“It’s rare to have so many of elven heritage in the palace at one time,” the man on Kestrel’s other side spoke to him, as he nodded to Putty, along with Wren and Kestrel himself.
“It’s nice to be able to travel among the human nations,” Kestrel replied. “Hopefully we’ll all be able to do this more often.
“We had some human traders in my town in the Eastern Forest this spring,” he added.
“What were the traders selling to elves?” the man asked with interest.
“Well, really, they were probably there more as buyers. We had a number of little white pebbles called pearls, and we wanted to sell them to the humans.”
“Pearls?” the man’s eyes widened. “How did you come to have pearls?”
“The imps traded them to us, and we have no use for them. The imps get them from shellfish in the rivers and swamps where they live,” Kestrel explained. “But the traders from Hydrotaz didn’t have enough money to buy all the pearls we have; still, it was nice to sell some of them.”
“You have more of these pearls?” the man asked with greater interest. “I deal with jewelers here in Seafare.
Kestrel reflected momentarily. Perhaps he could ask an imp to deliver some to Seafare, he decided.
“Would you like to see some? I could show them to you tomorrow,” he suggested.
“Yes, yes, by all means,” the man eagerly agreed. “I’ll be happy to come back to the palace tomorrow to look at a sample, if you have some.”
“How many are you interested in?” Kestrel asked, and they proceeded to work out the arrangements of an unexpected business meeting to be held the following morning.
After dinner, as the crowd moved out of the dining room, Kestrel moved to Putty’s side, and walked with her.
“Did you enjoy the dinner?” he asked.
“The food was good, but the only thing the people did was talk and talk,” she complained.
Was that the view of a teenager, Kestrel wondered, or of a yeti, a personality more used to action than the passive activity of life in a palace.
Come to me Kestrel. Come visit my temple now, Kai’s voice sounded in his head.
“Now, my goddess?” he asked. “Right now?”
Now, Kestrel, the goddess affirmed.
“I have to go on a mission,” Kestrel told Putty. “You go to your room, and I’ll come see you later.”
“Can I be with you?” the girl asked.
“No,” Kestrel replied. “Not this time,” he tried to soften the firmness of the answer.
“Are you still my friend?” Putty asked. She looked at him with large eyes, moisture starting to brim within them.
“Yes, Putienne! Yes, we are still such good friends,” Kestrel took both her hands in his, willing reassurance to transfer to her, or wishing that he could. “You are my special friend. I will not leave you; I just have to go make a visit,” he explained.
“Now go wait for me. Wait in my room if you want, and I’ll be back soon, I promise,” he said, then released his grip on her hands and turned away. He walked rapidly, then turned to look over his shoulder, and saw that Wren had gone to the girl’s side, and was comforting her, for which Kestrel felt grateful; he had a command from a goddess, and he felt compelled to obey.
He slipped out of the palace grounds, into the dark streets of the city, then proceeded on the short trip to the temple that Kai’s followers had erected in the ancient beginning days of the city. The door was open, and Kestrel walked into the sanctum, where a hooded figure stood alone, head bowed in contemplation.
Kestrel kept his distance, and circled around to the far side of the worship space, and stood expectantly.
“I’m here, my goddess,” he said softly.
“So am I Kestrel,” the hooded figure replied in her vibrant voice from across the open space. She raised her hand and pressed her hood back, revealing the extraordinary features of Kai, clearly visible to Kestrel even in the dim interior of the temple.
“Come to me,” she said, beckoning him towards her spot.
“You look g
ood, Kestrel,” the goddess told him appraisingly when he reached her. “You survived. That’s good, so very good.”
“I’m pleased to see you my goddess. Thank you for saving me in Hydrotaz. I would not have survived without your help, and Kere’s.”
“We need you Kestrel. And we love you too, of course,” the divine features smiled. “And, strange as it is to say to a semi-mortal, we are in your debt.
“But right now, there is a dire problem, and we are turning to you to find the answer,” Kai told him.
“Is it the Viathin? The return of the monsters we thought were gone?” he asked.
“It turns out that it is that, though we started out believing there was a different problem. That is what so preoccupied us this summer, until this recent unpleasant discovery,” she told him.
“Krusima disappeared several weeks ago,” Kai revealed. “Not long after you disappointed him. “We came to realize that he no longer answered our calls, and when we searched for him, we could not detect his presence. We were worried, so worried that we reached out to the other gods and asked them to help us find him.
“That’s when we found out that your father was missing as well,” she revealed.
“Morph? Morph is missing?” Kestrel was shocked. “Not that I could tell,” he added with quiet bitterness.
“They both have left our land, and after the battle and the revelation of the Viathin, I have begun to understand the chilling truth of what we face. Our companions – two divinities of our land – have been captured by the god of the Viathins in some distant land, and the monsters have found a way to use Krusima’s and Morph’s powers as if they were their own when they return here,” she explained.
Kestrel felt his stomach flip with sickness at the revelation. He did not want to think about Viathins returning to the land, spreading death and cruelty through the lives of millions of people.
“I know, Kestrel, it seems grim,” the goddess read his unspoken fear. “But all is not as bad as it seems. There are two problems here, and we have faith that you can resolve these.
“The first problem is the return of Viathins. There do not seem to be many; your great solution in the last war was very effective. There were none left in our world after your blessed waters spread across all the lands. So somehow the water that you caused to flow has ceased to protect us, perhaps because the Viathins were able to use Krusima’s power to circumvent it.
“Go back south Kestrel; go back to the land where you won the battle, and restore your protection so that no more Viathins will come among us. There cannot be many here now – for we believe there were very few of them to survive. Only those who were already beyond our world, starting to plunder their next victim, could still live, and we do not want them to come back and multiply here once again.
“And beyond that,” she continued, “I ask you to go to the world beyond ours, where Krusima and Morph must be held. Set them free – bring them home.”
Kestrel stood in dumbfounded silence. The goddess had just revealed an extraordinary set of circumstances, scenarios that he would have never imagined, situations that were beyond his comprehension.
“These are great challenges,” he said, not knowing what else to say.
“They are great, but they are not beyond what you and your companions can accomplish. You have shown before that you can do great things, Kestrel,” the goddess’s voice was wistful. “And we will help you as we can. My strength is not so diminished now as it was before, thanks to you,” she told him.
“What companions do you mean? Who will you provide?” Kestrel asked.
“The companions who are here with you now, of course – the ones who came here with you, and who will go with you,” Kai said. “And also the imps, and the others who you will find along the way.”
“There,” Kai pointed to a dim corner near the entrance to the sanctum, and a light suddenly shone there. Two figures stood suddenly revealed, as Kestrel stared in confusion.
“Wren? Putienne?” he said in astonishment. “What are you doing here?”
“They came with you,” Kai replied. “And since they are so loyal to you, they shall make great companions. Here,” she held out her hand, open palm up, with two rings lying atop. “Give each of them one of these, and tell them to wear them at all times, to provide new abilities they will need.”
“Kestrel?” Wren replied. “We followed you. Who have you been talking to? Yourself?”
Kestrel looked at the goddess in confusion. “They cannot see me, of course. I came here to talk to you, not them,” she replied. “Take the rings, Kestrel. Tell your companions to wear them. They will make your journey easier.”
He reach out and plucked the rings from her palm.
“We shall talk again, do not fear,” the goddess told him. “Go back to the palace and play with your daughter for a few days, then be on your way.”
“Where should I go first?” Kestrel asked.
“You’ll go the right way, whichever way you go.” She smiled at him. “Take care Kestrel; your heart’s desire is waiting for you at the end of this journey.”
And then she was gone.
“Kestrel? Are you okay?” Wren cautiously asked.
“I’m,” he paused, not sure what to say as he reeled from the astonishing revelations of the goddess. “I’m fine,” he said.
“What were you doing?” Putty asked, as Kestrel approached them.
“I was talking to Kai. You saw her there,” he answered.
“We saw you,” Wren replied.
“And Kai – the woman I was talking to,” he finished the observation.
“We didn’t see a woman – just you,” Wren contradicted him.
“But she was there. Talking. She told me so much!” he said. “She made the light shine on you, and she gave me these rings,” he held out the two bands of metal that rested in his own palm.
Wren stared at his hand.
“What rings?” Putty asked.
“These,” Kestrel raised his hand and thrust it forward.
“Kestrel, there’s nothing there,” Wren told him in a concerned tone of voice.
“There’re two rings, plain as day!” he asserted.
“There’s nothing but the skin of your hand,” Wren replied heatedly.
“Here,” Kestrel took one of the rings, held Wren’s hand, and easily slid the band onto her finger.
As he removed his hand from hers, the ring suddenly glowed brightly, for just a moment.
“Where did that come from?” Wren cried, suddenly seeing the ring.
Kestrel didn’t reply. Instead, he turned to Putienne, gently took her hand, and slid the remaining ring upon her finger as well. A moment later the ring flashed brightly, and the girl squealed in surprise.
“This is good?” she asked.
“I hope so,” Kestrel said. “Let’s go back to the palace and I’ll explain,” he suggested, and he led the way back out of the temple.
“We’ll do our best for you, my goddess,” he said softly as he looked back when they parted through the doors.
“Kestrel, I don’t discount anything you say or do,” Wren told him as they started walking. “But this is all very strange.”
“Why were you two in the temple? Why did you follow me?” Kestrel asked.
“You left so abruptly, it didn’t seem right,” Wren told him. She looked at Putienne. “Your friend seemed so upset, we decided to follow you to see if you were in some kind of trouble here already. I know you’ve just arrived in Seafare, but I don’t put anything beyond you,” she added with a grin.
There was a sudden flurry of shouts from the interior of an alleyway they were passing, and a small group of men came rushing out at them, armed with clubs and knives.
Putienne was walking on the side closest to the robbers, and before Kestrel or Wren could react in any way, the girl suddenly transformed from her delicately beautiful form back into a large, muscular, hairy yeti, and she roared at the oncoming a
ttackers.
One of their number was nearly to her already, a club raised over his head. Putty swung a long arm at him as the men from the alley stopped in their tracks, astonished by the changed circumstances. Putty’s aim was true, and she struck the man in the chest, sending him flying backwards to land in a crumpled heap. The other attackers screamed in fear, and fled back down the alley, as Putty started to chase after them.
“Putty! No!” Kestrel managed to shout, astonished by the unexpected change. “Don’t chase them,” he added.
The yeti froze in midstride, then turned and looked at Kestrel, a murderous gleam in her eye, but one that faded as the heat of the moment faded. She looked down at the unconscious robber she had disabled, then she transformed back into her human-elven-form once again.
“Kestrel! What in the name of all the gods and demons just happened?” Wren shouted at him, as she grabbed his arm. “Did you use your powers to change her?”
“I had nothing to do with it,” he replied as he broke free from her grip.
“What happened?” he asked an obviously shaken Putty. “Are you okay?” he asked. He felt his heart fill with compassion for the girl, and he enveloped her in a hug.
“I saw them, and I got mad at them,” Putty explained in the limited vocabulary she had learned. “And then I was big and strong again,” she replied. “When you said ‘no’, I stopped and grew little again.”
“You didn’t make her change like that?” Wren asked.
“No, not at all,” Kestrel replied. “I wouldn’t do that to her.”
“How did it happen? Can she change herself?” Wren asked.
“Maybe,” Kestrel said speculatively. “Maybe Kai’s ring lets her control her own shape,” he followed an intuitive leap.
A moment later he shouted in surprise and jumped back, as Putty erupted while he hugged her, and turned back into a yeti.
“Putty!” he wheezed, as the yeti gave something like a laugh, then turned back into a beautiful girl once again.
“I did it!” she said.
“What does my ring do?” Wren immediately asked.
“Heaven help us. I don’t know,” Kestrel replied with a worried grin.
“Fortunately for you, it doesn’t let me throw thunderbolts,” Wren growled. “What does it do?”
The Guided Journey (Book 6) Page 36
