The Renewal

by Joseph Ferguson

  Chapter 23

  The horse that Elisabeth rode upon was gentle, its gait made her feel as if she was riding in her grandfather’s Mercedes, “just so smooth” she used to say to him when she was little. She thought maybe it was because the saddle was comfortable as it conformed to her butt even with the rough terrain the ride was good. She reached down and rubbed the side of the horse’s neck, thanking her, noticing she even hadn’t broken a sweat though they had been riding for a couple hours. When she asked, Alanasse told her the horses name is Anulla and that it had belonged to his mother. He also explained before she could inquire, that his mother was their best horse trainer, until her death last year.

  “An arrow had pierced her heart in a hunting accident and the Galdar refused to heal her saying it was her time,” as he spoke she could hear the touch of anger in his voice.

  Elisabeth could also see the sadness in his eyes, he needs closure, she thought to herself. “I wish I could have sung for her,” she blurted.

  “The Galdar would have forbidden it! Though…, I do have her hunting gear still unwashed and a truss of her hair” he said with a glimmer of hope as a slight smile turned up the edges of his lips. “The Galdar said that she would sing for her, but only after magic is restored on the Earth,” he added.

  “I have never sung without the actual body, but I would still try. If you want,” she said with a smile.

  Alanasse returned her smile.

  “I would,” he replied.

  Shaun squirmed and complained about the saddle being too hard with the horse being too spirited for his taste. Alanasse was quick to answer him, “Take the weight of the scepter off your back and strap it to the saddle.”

  Shaun smirked, “Until the heir is found I’m the protector of the scepter and I don’t take the task lightly. I prefer to keep it on me.”

  “Suit yourself. I was just trying to make the ride easier. (He glared at Shaun) Shaun I too am sworn to protect the scepter and I will with my life.”

  Shaun eyed him wondering if he could be trusted. He saw that Alanasse was polite and not overbearing, yet confident in his actions, but Treyson had charged him with the task of keeping the Scepter and he would not let him down. He realized though, that if they were to make it to Nevada they were going to need help, but a paradox was developing and he could see it. On one hand En Charles was set to close the portal before any of the techno army could come through, but Treyson was still on their planet trying to rescue Sara. It would be a fine line to walk because both are needed if they were to achieve the necessary outcome to bring back magic.

  The small group had ridden for what seemed like hours before coming to a camp in a small valley between two ridges somewhere near Ohio. The land was thickly wooded with a high dense canopy creating a somewhat darkened terrain making the sentries placed on the trail invisible to the untrained eye. Three large horsemen fully armored met them on the trail causing Alanasse to hold up his hand halting their progression and leaving them as he rode up to meet them. He conversed with them quietly seemingly to argue with hand movements showing his anger before riding back to their position. He looked sadly at Elisabeth and spoke, “The Galdar won’t allow you to enter the camp awake. She said your untutored skills could bring trouble to the camp and that she needs to speak with you extensively before being allowed to mingle with others.”

  “I don’t understand, I would never hurt anyone. You know that Alanasse, can’t you tell her,” Elisabeth pleaded.

  Pulling a small bottle from his coat pocket he held it out for her to take, “drink this, I will assure your safety. You will not be harmed by it. I promise,” Alanasse spoke with an air of confidence.

  “Wait!” Shaun protested, “The Galdar or whatever she is has no right to make Elisabeth do this.”

  Elisabeth held up her hand halting him. “I will do this,” she said looking into Alanasse’s eyes, “I trust him.” Shaun just shook his head watching. Taking the orange colored liquid she removed the cork and drank all the contents. The bottle fell to the ground as she immediately slumped forward into a deep sleep. Shaun steadied her from falling off the horse while giving Alanasse a sideways glance and a shake of his head. He continued to steady her as they were led into the camp.

  The camp consisted of a few tents mostly made from animal hides, but a couple here and there looked to be of modern material. A large hut sat in the center and upon closer inspection Shaun saw that it was made from woven branches and vines. They stopped at a well-worn path leading to the hut where two men and one woman all in armor stood as if on guard.

  Shaun slid off his horse while trying to still hold onto Elisabeth, but the weight of the scepter and the fact that he had been riding for hours made him go to his knees feeling a slight twinge behind his right knee. He looked up just as Alanasse caught her and with the help of another tall man held her between the two of them. Shaun watched as they started to carry her to a large hut made from small twisted tree branches with vines intertwined. He was awed by the fact that the trees were still rooted and large green leaves were hanging from the misshapen branches creating a roof. This was a feat of magic he determined and that this must be the Galdar’s place, a little intimidation crept up into his gut. A sharp pain in his right calf muscle caused him to limp as he followed them into the hut.

  The hut consisted of a single room with a small unlit brick fireplace in one corner and an unadorned wooden rocker in another. A small cot that lay unmade underneath the only window with an empty corner at its foot. A cloaked figure sat cross-legged on a woven mat in the center of the candle lit room, her head was down with a book placed on her lap as if she was reading while her black hair trickled barely visible from beneath the hood. She didn’t move as Alanasse brought in the sleeping Elisabeth and deposited her on the cot. At Shaun’s entrance she lifted her head revealing a young woman looking to be about thirty and beautiful, her eyes fixed intently on him with a scowl as she hissed, “Charmer come no closer. If not for the scepter you carry I would not allow you in this camp. I trust not your magic.”

  Shaun smiled as he stepped forward, hand extended in a friendly manner as he spoke using his Irish accent, “Missy, me charms be of the lucky kind.”

  Her eyes seemed to flare as she scooted back, “your jesting will be your downfall imp. I will not fall for your tricks,” she shouted then began to hurriedly sing. Shaun began to feel his body stiffen as he took a step back from this woman. He was fully aware but unable to move, frozen in her spell. She was powerful he realized but not very humorous, a person to steer clear of he thought, if he could. Her singing stopped but her spell did not as a grin crept upon her pretty face, “that should hold you for a while,” she said as her petite body seeming to glide in one movement standing to her feet, about a foot taller than Shaun. “Now to tend to this girl,” she spoke. She motioned for the others to leave, “take the charmer with you and keep an eye on him. He’s dangerous.”

  “We will Galdar,” Alanasse said with a little bow and a turn towards the door. The tall man, who helped to carry Elisabeth grabbed one side of Shaun and helped to carry him out backwards down the worn path past the guards who snickered in unison irritating him. They stopped and turned him to face a large tent made from animal skins with the door pulled open and the aroma of what smelled like bacon frying waft past his face. His outside was stiff and numb but his insides rumbled from hunger as he watched Alanasse enter then emerge with a plate of steaming food. Shaun watched as he sat at a log bench facing him teasingly, setting his plate on table made from skins stretched taut between two small thin logs. By the time Alanasse was done eating Shaun could feel tingling in his hands and feet, his mouth and jaw were also becoming movable.

  “Alanasse that was just plain mean, knowing I couldn’t move and we hadn’t eaten in a while,” Shaun said as he struggled to move his arms and legs.

  “I’ve been frozen by the Galdar twice, the first time it took me most of the day to completely thaw out, but the se
cond time because I used my will it was much shorter. I figured I would help you use your will,” Alanasse said with a smile and a chuckle. “Plus I was really hungry,” he added.

  Shaun took his first wobbly step and headed into the tent. Alanasse laughed heartily when he emerged with a heaping plate full of fried pork and bread. “You were hungry,” Alanasse said as Shaun sat beside him on the bench. Shaun didn’t speak, but just crammed his mouth full and stopped only when his plate was empty.

  Elisabeth woke to a dark headed woman staring into her face. Feeling the soft bed beneath her she rolled over onto her side trying to avoid the pretty woman’s glare. “You do possess the magic of the voices. It is rare for one as young as you to have free use of it and to reach the other worlds with it is even rarer. I could not employ them until I was in my second age,” the Galdar said in a whisper.

  “Your second age,” Elisabeth questioned?

  “Mmm…, I forgot you Earth dwellers are naïve when it comes to magic. Singers have the capability of reversing their age once they reach their seventieth year and the known spell usually takes off fifty or sixty years. My grandmother had six such second ages before she died,” she answered.

  “Will you teach me the words to sing,” Elisabeth asked?

  “If you reach that age you will know it. That’s part of being a singer,” the Galdar answered.

  “What is your name,” Elisabeth asked her?

  “I am the Galdar and am known only by that to the people, but I will tell you my name since your magic will be able to reveal it anyways. It is Lorna,” she said as her head turned looking towards the corner of the room with a grimace upon her face.

  “My magic is more than singing for the dead,” she asked with a puzzled look?

  “My child you have very powerful magic, but it lacks many qualities such as knowledge and experience,” the Galdar spoke as she looked back towards Elisabeth.

  “Will you teach me…, Galdar,” Elisabeth seemed to beg?

  “Elisabeth when we are alone you can call me Lorna and yes, I could help you with the knowledge, but unless the sword and the scepter are united it would be for no reason, you would not be able to call on it should they fail.”

  “I trust that Treyson will be able to succeed, he does have my twin sister Esther helping him,” she said with a smile.

  “Twin,” her head again turns towards the corner and her voice becomes a worried whisper, “that’s odd, I’ve never heard of a singer having a sibling for they are always an only child.” She eyes widened as she spoke again looking back at Elisabeth, “I would like to meet her. Does she sing also,” she asked.

  “No,” Elisabeth giggled, “she thinks I’m weird when I sing for the dead and thinks I make up the voices that speak to me.”

  “Does she make fun of you,” Lorna asked?

  Elisabeth smiled, “sometimes, but I remember once when we were younger that a bunch of other kids were picking on me and ridiculing me because they saw me singing for a squirrel that had been killed by a car. Esther got mad and her face turned real red as she scared them off. She didn’t hit them, though I’m not sure what she did, but they all ran off some of them were even crying.”

  “Ah she’s your protector, I see now, but why isn’t she here protecting you?”

  Elisabeth sat up, a look of anger flashed across her face, “I need no protector. I know how to fight,” she exclaimed.

  The Galdar smiled speaking softly while touching Elisabeth’s shoulder, “I know dear, but there will be some battles in which you won’t be able to protect yourself. Sometimes when you are singing you can sometimes tune out the world and that can be dangerous. Alanasse has been my protector though sometimes his mother protested it.”

  The Galdar again turned to the empty corner at the foot of the bed and began to sing, the words making no sense to Elisabeth. For a brief second she became aware of another presence in the room, a familiar one, but she couldn’t place who or what it was. The leaf covering in the doorway blew open for just a moment. After the Galdar stopped she asked Elisabeth if she felt the other presence in the room, she replied, “yes” but didn’t understand. The Galdar told her that she had felt it since Alanasse had brought her in, but at first thought it was Shaun’s magic. “At first I tried a song of uncovering and when that didn’t work I changed it to a song of pain and that chased them out. They both laughed.