The Lost Prophecy Boxset

by D. K. Holmberg

  Slowly, the familiar itch, the feeling of being watched, returned. He had not felt it since awakening in these strange lands. Jakob looked around, but saw nothing. The feeling did not leave. Readjusting the trunk slung on his back, he walked on and tried to ignore it.

  After walking for a while longer, the silence and his curiosity of the daneamiin overcame him. He quickened his steps and was soon walking next to the daneamiin. Brohmin watched him as he passed, a trace of an amused smile on his face, and Salindra hurried her steps to match, and they were soon walking in a tight cluster.

  “I am Jakob Nialsen,” he said, unsure what else to say.

  One of the daneamiin nodded. “We know you, Jakob Nialsen.”

  “And I am Salindra Indrianne, of the Magi,” Salindra said.

  “We know you, Salindra Indrianne,” came the response from the second daneamiin.

  “How do you know me?” she asked softly.

  One of the daneamiin turned to her then. Strange eyes peered at her deeply. “The fibers spoke of your coming.”

  A sour expression briefly crossed Salindra’s face. A few moments of silence passed until Salindra again spoke. “Since you know us, may we know what you are called?”

  One of the daneamiin spoke. “I am Chollin om’Daysma sen’Johmi.” The words came out quickly, flowing from his mouth in the ancient language.

  The other daneamiin followed suit. “I am Elin om’Yanda sen’Urin.”

  Jakob tried repeating the names to himself and found the task difficult.

  “I am pleased to know you, Chollin om’Daysma sen’Johmi. And you, Elin om’Yanda sen’Urin.” Salindra seemed able to repeat their names easily.

  The daneamiin seemed to laugh. “You may call me Chollin.”

  “Elin,” answered the other.

  These names Jakob thought he could master. “Where do we travel?” he asked.

  Both Chollin and Elin smiled, barely wrinkling their hairless features. “We travel to our home,” Elin answered.

  “When will we arrive?” Salindra asked, excitement in her voice unrestrained.

  Chollin turned and looked at her then, with an expression on his face that Jakob could only call confusion. “We have already reached its edges,” he answered.

  He looked around, not sure how they could be at the edge of a city. Everything was still dense forest to his eyes. “We have?”

  Brohmin laughed, and the daneamiin looked at him a moment before nodding. Their gaze swept up to the branches of the trees. Following their gaze, Jakob stared as he saw shapes in the branches that he hadn’t seen before. Structures were hidden high overhead. He almost convinced himself that he saw movement, too, though wasn’t sure of it. The trunks of a few of the larger trees had lines etched into them that looked much like doorways.

  “You live in the trees?” Jakob finally asked. Salindra simply stared wordlessly.

  “No,” he answered. “We live with the trees.”

  “How is that different?” he asked.

  “We could not live without the permission of the trees,” Elin said, nodding toward the treetops.

  Jakob looked up, again catching a glimpse of movement and structures high above him. He saw the flow of the energy around him, the daneamiin, Salindra, and around the trees. It was getting easier for him to see it, requiring less concentration to come into focus, now just another part of everything he saw. Almost underlying everything he looked at, if he stared long enough. The energy pulsated slowly, and he felt the pounding in his head in sync.

  “What do you call the energy that surrounds everything?” Jakob asked the question hesitatingly, unsure what he was seeing, unsure how he was seeing it, or even if it was real.

  Brohmin stared at him curiously. “What do you see?” he asked.

  He shook his head, uncertain how to explain.

  Elin saved him from explaining. “Everything around us has an inner force,” he began. “It is what we call its ahmaean,” he said, turning to glance at Brohmin. “It is what drives everything. That which gives life and is life. If the ahmaean is bright enough, some can see it radiating from within.”

  “Much in this land is bright,” Chollin offered, nodding to the trees.

  Ahmaean? How is it that I can see it?

  It wasn’t the first time that he had. When he’d seen the creatures—the groeliin—he’d seen it around them. And it had been there in his visions as well.

  The daneamiin said that some could see it, but judging from Salindra’s expression, it seemed that she could not. Could Brohmin? His face was unreadable, and Jakob was left to wonder. How was it that he could?

  What was happening to him?

  The thought lingered, unanswered, and they walked a while longer in silence. Occasionally, a sound from above or the call of a bird would disturb the noise of their progress, but it was rare.

  “We are not separate from the forest,” Elin continued after a while. “We are a part of it and live with it.” He looked at Jakob and then Salindra. “We do not take anything that is not offered to us, and we take only that which we need.”

  “How many daneamiin are there?” Salindra asked.

  Elin considered the question a moment and then looked to Chollin. “Too many to count, I suppose.”

  “Too many to count throughout this land?” she questioned further.

  Elin looked at her then nodded. “Yes.”

  “How many live within the city?” she asked.

  Chollin shrugged again. “Too many to count there, as well.”

  Salindra’s face went white. Jakob suspected the Magi had never considered that what lived in these lands could rival the numbers in the known land.

  “How can all of you get enough?” Salindra asked.

  “The land provides,” Elin answered.

  “How long have you been here?”

  It was Chollin who answered. “We left the plains long ago.” Salindra watched him, as if waiting for more, but it was all the answer he would offer.

  “When?” Salindra asked, and was silenced when Brohmin laid a hand on her arm. Salindra ignored him. “How did you come to these lands?”

  “There was a time long ago when we lived with your people,” Elin said. “Men enjoyed fighting too much for us, enjoyed hurting each other more than we could bear to watch.”

  Chollin continued for him. “Our people moved to these lands. Some followed us here, trying to bring us into their struggles, and so our lands were broken from each other.”

  Questions raced through Jakob’s mind, but he didn’t get a chance to ask them. Three other daneamiin emerged from within the forest to join them as they walked. He hadn’t seen them or heard them approach. They were simply there. He looked around to see where they’d come from, but found no sign of it. Chollin and Elin slowed them to a stop.

  One of the new daneamiin looked at them. “You are welcome among us, Brohmin Ulruuy.”

  Brohmin nodded, and there was the same strange fleeting expression to Salindra’s eyes.

  “You are welcome among us, Salindra Indrianne,” the daneamiin continued. “You are welcome among us, Jakob Nialsen.” The voice was higher than either Chollin’s or Elin’s. Her head was as bald as the others.

  Giving them no time to reply, she turned and led them forward. Chollin and Elin followed. Jakob suddenly realized that he could see light through the trees overhead again and realized they must be thinning out. A clearing of the trees in the distance grew larger, and their pace increased.

  When they reached the clearing, Jakob saw the sun drifting low in the sky, casting shadows over everything. It was then that he realized the forest did not end as he had thought. Instead, it opened up in a huge circular clearing with forest on all sides. Trees as tall as any of the Great Forest formed the border of the circle.

  In the center was a large structure of sorts, glowing more strongly with the hazy energy, the ahmaean, than any he had seen so far. It appeared constructed from a combination of grass, trees, and ro
ck that had seemingly grown together, forming the building. It was huge and stretched high into the sky, the top of the mound reaching toward the upper branches of the nearby trees.

  The strange building was beautiful. Walls were covered with lush grass that turned to stone about halfway up the building. A tree grew from the center of the building, its massive trunk stretching high above the roof.

  That tree was immense, towering high overhead, much higher than the surrounding trees. Rope walkways hung suspended from its branches, reaching out to the surrounding trees. There were hundreds of these walkways, he saw, all made of a greenish brown rope blending into the forest. A few daneamiin walked along them.

  He stood in awe.

  Chollin nudged him. “We must continue.”

  Jakob looked at him, and the daneamiin smiled. As he turned his attention from the huge building, he realized that the clearing seemed to be filling with more daneamiin. There were more than he could have imagined. He looked up above again, and saw many within the trees as well.

  “Many have not seen a man before,” Elin said, addressing Jakob and Brohmin. “Nor a Mage,” he told Salindra.

  “Come,” Chollin said.

  As they walked toward the building, Jakob found his eyes glued to the enormity of it. His mind found it difficult to understand it, grown from grass, dirt, and stone, yet fitting together perfectly. They circled around the outside of the building, finally reaching a huge doorway. The growing crowd around them cleared as they walked. An occasional whisper was heard, but for the most part, they were silent. It was unnerving.

  From within the open doorway came another daneamiin. His hairless head was wrinkled with age, but there was a bright wisdom in his eyes that shone with intelligence unlike anything Jakob had ever witnessed. A white robe covered the daneamiin and flowed in the slight breeze that wafted through the clearing.

  “Jakob Nialsen,” came his deep voice as the daneamiin turned toward him. It was full and musical. “You are welcome among us.” The daneamiin turned then to Salindra. “Salindra Indrianne, you are welcome among us.” Turning to Brohmin, “Brohmin Ulruuy, your return warms me.”

  Brohmin nodded.

  Jakob didn’t know how to respond. “Your welcome warms me,” he spoke, remembering the greeting from the clearing.

  Salindra followed his lead. “Your welcome warms me.”

  The elder daneamiin smiled at them. “You will find rest this evening. Tomorrow, we will meet.”

  With the words, two other daneamiin emerged from inside the building. One walked toward Salindra while the other moved toward him. As the daneamiin approached, Jakob heard a soft, sweet voice call to him, “Follow me, Jakob Nialsen.”

  He followed her but looked over his shoulder and saw Salindra was led in a different direction. Brohmin remained with the older daneamiin. They spoke quietly to each other.

  The daneamiin led him toward a tree at the edge of the clearing. He was completely disorientated and unsure if it was near where they’d entered the city. It didn’t matter, he realized. He was suddenly very tired, and his body felt as though he had traveled much longer than it had seemed.

  They reached an enormous tree and a small arched opening that looked like it was a natural part of the tree’s growth. The daneamiin ducked into the opening and motioned him to follow. He dropped his head and followed her. It was small inside, but a narrow stairway circled upward around the inside of the tree. It, too, seemed as though it had grown that way.

  She led him up the stairway; though narrow, it was easy to climb. Enough light filtered in for him to see and after constant turning for step after step, they reached a break in the stairs. It wasn’t the top—the stairs climbed higher—but she directed him into a small room. It was dark, yet enough light filtered in through a hole in what could only be the bark of the tree that allowed him to take in the room. The ceiling was low and the floor was covered in grass.

  “You can take rest here,” she motioned.

  He nodded, looking down and dropping his pack lightly to his feet. The daneamiin turned to leave, and as she did, he asked, “What’s your name?”

  A soft smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. “I am Alisandra om’Lenoalii sen’Enheaardliin.” He must have made a strange face, because she laughed then and said, “You can call me Anda.”

  He smiled. “Thank you, Anda.”

  “Rest now, Jakob Nialsen,” she said before turning again to leave.

  He didn’t need any more prompting. He lay down in the grass and immediately began to relax. It was refreshing, reminding him of how the grass in the field had felt as he had lain in it. He smiled again and drifted to sleep.

  Chapter Six

  Roelle studied the small village that appeared in the distance. There was a low wall, built with river rock that looked to be about waist high. Thatched roofs were visible, as well, probably no more than a few dozen in total. Not a large village, but a place where about a hundred people could live.

  Roelle took the lead as they rode toward the village. They'd been traveling for over a week, and everybody had a sort of road weariness to them already. She wondered if some would begin to lose faith, realize that what they might have thought of as a game was something else entirely. So far, none had said anything to her, but the nights had passed with less laughter than they had at the beginning.

  Roelle rubbed her eyes. She was tired as well. Partly because she stayed up later than most, working with any who chose to practice with her. She began to understand why Endric had been willing to face all comers. Not only did it improve the skill of those who served under him, but practicing with them, even those with lesser skill than he possessed, helped him continue to improve his own skills.

  In that way, Roelle had found that she had continued to improve with the sword. Teaching especially had helped her to develop. In the demonstration of the various catahs, she had to be more exacting in the way she performed them. Even those whose defense she hadn't quite learned, she had begun to see and formulate her own way of defending them. She wondered if Endric had done something similar. Perhaps that was how he became so skilled and feared.

  She raised a hand, calling the line to a halt. Hester rode up to her. Since that night by the fire, he had become something of an advisor to her. She appreciated his wisdom, something she suspected Endric had also anticipated. In some ways, he reminded her of him.

  “What do you think, Hester?”

  He squinted, studying the village. “Well… You've got nearly one hundred Magi with you. I can’t imagine many more people than that live in the village. Might be that our approach will cause more problems than you want.”

  Roelle nodded. She had felt the same. “How far are we from the next city?”

  She should have spent time studying the maps. She had one in her pocket that she had folded and rolled up, but she didn't have the same familiarity with them as Hester did.

  “The next? The next real city is probably Rondalin, but that’s more to the east than what we’re traveling. There are a few smaller towns, all larger than this village, that we can stop in if you're concerned about supplies.”

  “It's not supplies,” she said. The soldiers had continued hunting, and now they had more than enough meat. The lands were plentiful, though she wondered whether it would remain the same the farther north they went. “We’re looking for information about the Antrilii. Will these villages have stories about them?”

  Selton had ridden up alongside her. He’d remained somewhat distant over the last few days, though he had joined her in practicing several times, and had improved each time. He said nothing after they finished, returning his practice stave back with the others. She would have to talk with him one of these nights. She couldn't afford to lose her friend over this, or risk marginalizing him either.

  “They get merchants through here the same as other villages, traveling from village to village. That's how rumors reach these places.”

  Roelle looked back at the
line of horses. Most rode two or three abreast, a long caravan of Magi. They weren’t nearly as neat or orderly as the Denraen soldiers had been when she had traveled with Endric, but then again, she hadn't expected them to be. She was simply happy they kept a steady pace.

  “Let's take a few into the village,” Roelle suggested. “Not so many that we frighten them, but enough that they get a sense of who we are.”

  Hester smiled and nodded. “Probably a good suggestion. Once they hear the Magi have come, they'll talk. Too many, though, and I suspect they'd tell you whatever you want to hear, regardless of whether it’s true. So maybe only a couple.”

  Roelle glanced to her left. “Selton? What do you think? Bring Jhun as well?”

  “Matthew,” Selton suggested. “He looks younger, might not be quite as intimidating as the two of us. Especially given how you’ve been—”

  He seemed to catch himself before finishing.

  Roelle smiled, letting the comment slide. “You think you'd be too intimidating?”

  Selton started to smile. “I can't help but that the gods gifted me the way they did.”

  Normally, Roelle would think Selton was joking. He had a dry wit, and she'd always appreciated that about him, but now, she wasn't sure what his reaction meant. It was possible that he was being serious as he’d been since leaving the city.

  “Let's go so we can get back before it gets dark,” she said.

  Selton rode back and gathered Matthew. While he did, Lendra rode up to Roelle.

  “Mind if I join you? Just to observe. Novan would be upset if I missed the opportunity to record the Magi's first meeting with the great village of Snider.”

  Hester shot her a look that Lendra seemed to ignore.

  Roelle wondered if there was something she missed, but decided it didn't matter. “You can come. Observe only.”

  “What else do you think I’d do? Isn’t that what Novan did?”

  Roelle laughed softly. Novan never listened to anything the Magi instructed him to do. She didn't know the man well, but it seemed as though he took joy in needling first Haerlin and then her uncle. “I think Novan has his own ideas about what he can do.”