White Oaks: Part IV - Keepers
“Who are you to barge in our home without invitation?” demanded Takodi the horse trainer, his wrinkled face stern.
The figure was on the center floor of the living room quarters now. He swept his black hood from his face. The tall man had dark yellow eyes, and more striking was the jagged, thin red scar that trailed from above his left eyebrow across his eyelid to almost touch the corner of his mouth.
The dark gold in his eyes seemed to flex, and turn pale. The strange man gazed evenly across the room. The breath caught in everyone’s throat.
Takodi stood and Fekala stood up beside him worriedly. The strange man looked deeply with his penetrating eyes into her grandfather’s. She held her grandfather by the shoulder and felt a shiver run through his bones.
“Why are you…” But her grandfather’s lips faltered and his strength dissipated into the air. Knees buckled out from under him and he fell back into his seat.
“Oh, Grandfather.” Fekala said and stood alone against the strange man’s stare. His eyes flexed and turned dark gold again. In the hush she forced out, “Saints preserve us.” Then came a low, wet growl from the man’s lips that were almost words to Fekala’s ears.
“O lepu fadt na flued na coda daekree lusu.”
“Leave us! Begone foul demon from our home and mind.” Lord Allust threatened and three guards raced in with swords drawn. When they saw the figure though, they gaped with open jaws and their gloved hands shook the glinting metallic weapons in a wave of terrible fear.
The cloaked man spoke again with more urgency, “Rodlum. O lepu fadt na flued.” His dark yellow eyes flashing dangerously at Fekala still.
She blinked discoherently and looked at her father for help.
The cold air tickled her eyes as the man leaned in towards Fekala. She gulped and took a step back into her chair, eyes wide and pleading innocence.
When he next spoke she felt his frigid breath on her face. It smelled of earth after a deep soaking of summer rain.
“Edai vidla lufa vu coda tru redla daekree. Ocum fu ha man trum trued chetta.”
And that is when Fekala noticed that he had slitted pupils, and braced herself flat against the wall. Was he one of the Ice Prince’s wolves who took on humanoid form to trick them, or perhaps it was the Prince himself? But she thought he was supposed to be a giant, and where was his crown of icicles and scepter of snow Nemiso always told the children about?
“Daes’Kihe!” Another tall foreign man came from the backdoor hallway. He was more human, his pupils round and of a normal color, blue, though shaped as almonds were. “Daes’Kihe edai klohatum truv.”
Snarling back at the other man, “Aien ha O hesu?”
And the blue-eyed man responded calmly to him, “Guatu ha hij’meh trodite aium klohatumuh.”
The black cloaked man backed away from Fekala and she gratefully slmped down to the floor and held her knees close to her body, quivering.
“Havu klouda. Trusu chetta ju ematrus novu cas lus.” The blue-eyed man gave her a sorrowful look and the two strangers left with the frosty mist they came with.
Thorath jumped up after a few seconds of silence and was heard barring the backdoor shut. No one else moved or spoke for several long minutes. The puddles the scarred man had left behind on their wood floor and carpet affirmed his image as real to Fekala.
“What was that all about?” Pasir the silversmith asked Fekala on the floor, as if she knew why. Gaoce knelt beside her and held her hand in his. With his warmth she was able to stand again and reclaim her seat.
“Whatever it was… they are gone now.” Gaoce said trying to calm his younger cousin. Fekala looked to her grandfather, he was starring blankly at his feet.
Lord Allust stated, “They will be back though. They did not get what they wanted I am thinking. They came here for a purpose, they came for some-”
“… and who knows what that is?” Pasir interrupted.
Then someone spoke all their fears, “They are the Ice Prince’s Wolves disguised as people! He knows we plan in opposition to him!”
There was rise of voices, some started to even yell in dispute.
“He knows! The Ice Prince knows.”
“Did you see the fog? It was just as the boy spoke!”
“A Wolf. He’s a Wolf.”
“He certainly growled like a one.”
“Did you see his eyes? He must be a Wolf.”
“That’s utter nonsense.” Gaoce interjected.
“No it isn’t!”
“He wasn’t a Wolf he was the Prince himself come to kill us for plotting against him.”
“He was no giant. He’s a Wolf.”
“It’s true. All the stories, they’re all true. Nemiso tried to warn us but we-.”
“SILENCE!” roared the Master of the Apple Orchards. “I cannot think with all this hubbub. Guards, place all resting troops on alert. Search the town, have those two found and watched. Do not try to interfere with them unless they look intent to do harm. I want a full report later. Go.”
The three guards who had rushed in to protect them now fashioned their weapons with sturdy hands again and left with their master’s orders, smug with importance. Fekala felt no reassurance of safety. Their people were no warriors. They were hardly capable enough to patrol their own lands. Just look at what happened. No warning at all and those two strange men just came in to their home without any resistance at all. Her father tried to quiet all their fears and sent them to their homes with guards to usher them there. Then he sent Fekala to her bed and asked for Chema’s and Gaoce’s assistance with Grandfather Takodi. He was still stiff in his chair, starring fixedly at his shoes in a disturbingly quiet manner. He would not respond to anyone, so they had to resort to carrying off to his bed and calling for a doctor to come.
When all lights were doused, Fekala put on her leather boots, strapping them up to her knees, and a pair of thick pants and woolen shirt. She crept from her room and peaked into her grandfather’s. Her father was sleeping in a chair beside the bed. She saw her grandfather’s chest move up and down slowly.
Steadying her own breath, she went through the hallway window. The manor guards would be downstairs pacing the floor and drinking hot apple cider. It took some time before she found that she could just reach the large oak branch near the roof’s edge when the wind blew it towards her. Begging for a hard steady wind she waited. It came to her great relief and she grasped it and let her feet drop off the roof. She swung on the branch till she got her legs to wrap around the trunk and climbed down with as much swiftness as she could muster. Fortunately the wind made the leaves and grass rustle with an almost constant persistence to cover the noise she made but did not blow hard enough to hinder her.
The Master of the Apple Orchards’ daughter then took flight through the rows of blossoming trees. She deftly leaped over the irrigation canals and let the wind guide her through the darkness. Praying to the Saints that she should not be seen by her father’s many guards, she reached the bridge that would take her onto the main road.
Fekala walked alongside the dirt road, in the brush and bramble, so as to hide from the traffic and patrol. The moon was dark that night and so was the shadows that the Black Forest cast from just across the hill.
“What am I doing? What am I doing? Am I running away?” Fekala whispered to herself. Then in deep thought “No. So why am I doing this? I just have to see for myself.”
Cold wetness surrounded her. And her nose and cheeks were stung red from the sudden chill.
An intoxicatedly heavy voice spoke behind her, “Chu ote uinu hi’meh?”
Fekala tripped and fell on her chest. She spat out up decayed leaves and grass. Fekala then flipped over onto her back so that she could see the speaker who had startled her so badly. In horror she crawled backwards till a large tree blocked her path.
He stood looking down upon her with laughing dark yellow eyes. His companion seemed concerned for her, however. The strange man with slitted pupils was pleased with himself, pleased he had frightened her. And that made her mad.
“You followed me,” She snapped at the scarred man and his blue-eyed companion.
“And a good thing too. “ spoke the Blue-eyed man kneeling down beside her. “Evil is out and about on nights like tonight? I am sorry we frightened you so.”
“You-You speak…”
“Yes…My name is Owyn and I believe your the Orchard Master’s daughter, correct?” And he smiled at her warmly as she nodded in answer. Fekala knew it was stupid and absurd, but she felt linked to this man. It was as if he was an old friend though this would be only the second time she had seen him.
Annoyed, “Aien esu edai swa jebrodi ejain?”
Owyn helped Fekala to her feet as he answered the scarred man. “Edus tren chaf edai gin am, chu ote klohatumuh aum ite ta o ev credodi na hett lus Daes’kihe.”
The scarred man looked put out but did not voice his anger.
Owyn sighed and turned back to Fekala. “And this is my dear friend Charkol Daes’Kihe.”
She dusted off the last of the leaves and pulled the last of the twigs from her cinnamon hair. She was then shocked to see the scarred man go stiff and his nose start to sniff the air like a wolf might.
“Is he quite alright in the head, your friend?” She asked pointedly at the dark yellow eyes so that he would know she was talking about him.
Owyn laughed softly. Daes’Kihe stopped and his eyes narrowed on the two of them suspiciously. He asked Owyn in a demanding voice, “Aien hoh chu teed?”
Owyn ignored him and Daes’Kihe asked him the same question more insistently. Fekala had a feeling she knew what he was asking Owyn. He was wanting to know what she had said about him. But Owyn wouldn’t translate. Daes’Kihe crossed his arms and leaned against a tree, he seemed to doze off, disinterested once again.
“Who are you two exactly?”
“Um-well that’s rather hard to explain.” He scratched his head. “You would think I ‘d be good at this by now… Okay. First of all, I guess is do you know about the Howlers?”
She shook her head.
“Well you might call them something different here. When they come, they bring darkness with them, though the sky is bright and sunny its of a solid black. And they shroud your vision and senses further with a thick polluted fog of a moldy greenish-gray color. And you hear them howl as they steal people away and then vanish without a trace.”
“Oh! The Ice Prince’s Wolves! I know all about them.”
“Wolves? They are certainly not wolves. Daes’Kihe can contest to that fact, but… I guess I can understand why you would think that… But what’s this about an Ice Prince?”
“The Giant Ice Prince. He’s the one that haunts our Black Forest and when he gets hungry he sends out his Wolves to take people from our village. He conjures a cloud of a magical cold Fog to mask his Wolves and sometimes he sends out blizzards to ravage our poor orchards,” Fekala explained. “Nemiso told me about it all. She escaped from the Wolves you know. She even saw the Giant Prince himself.”
“I believe you may be mistaken.”
“Oh, no, no. They call her mad but I know she is telling the truth. And it’s not just me, Gaoce believes her too. When you two came we were having a meeting about it even. An expedition is being put together to go into the Black Forest and find the Prince and his Wolves…” Her voice trailed off as she saw the look her new friend was giving her.
Owyn’s was deeply troubled by Fekala’s convictions. “I… I am afriad that this woman is a Changling. A thing made of clay and foul magic to replace that of the one they steal. They leave Changlings usually to deter loved ones and sometimes, as it seems this one’s purpose is, to keep the truth hidden behind fairytales. Changlings typically don’t last very long. Especially in places where it rains often. They lose the illusion of human intelligence and emotion in water.”
“It hasn’t rained since she returned from the Black Forest.” Fekala said softly. “We’ve had a drought for almost six moon-spans now. Father thinks we might have to have water carried in from another town. Father’s guards.. they found her the other night, picking up imaginary things beside our irrigation canals.”
Owyn nodding in understanding. “It was probably killing the water sprites so that they would not call forth the rains. A very powerful person created this Changeling to be so smart as to keep the rainstorms at bay this way.”
“Water sprites. How was-how could she kill them?”
“It-”
“Stop calling her ‘it’.” Fekala said fiercely, eyes tearing up.
“Sorry… She would have had to starve them, plucking all their food up at night and carrying it far enough away from any water source that they could not get to it. Water sprites feed on starlight caught in dew. That’s why your father’s guards couldn’t see what it-she was picking up from the ground… I am truly sorry. You must be friendly with this Changeling then?”
Fekala nodded, “She was the only one that-that understood me.” The blue-eyed man let her take a moment to gather her thoughts. He patted her back sympathetically. Owyn disagreed that a Changeling would understand a person’s feelings but felt it was unnecessary to comment.
Daes’Kihe began to sniff the air again in his drifting sleep. Then with a whiff from an east-blowing wind he bolted awake and froze, both Owyn and Fekala followed his line of sight to the other side of the main road. The bramble and brush there was heavily laden with shadows that didn’t lay right or shouldn’t be there at all.
Owyn held Fekala behind him protectively. Fekala said in a hushed voice, “What’s wrong? What is it ”
“The evils that are out and about on nights such as this.” Owyn whispered back.
Daes’Kihe’s rumbling growl encouraged her fears to flourish. She saw his hair stand on end, and the shiver run through him like he was an animal. With his teeth bared and snarling, there was no real difference between the scarred man and an animal, thought Fekala. She saw the cold wet mist materialize around Daes’Kihe, his cloak began to perspire from it. Owyn was very calm… and quiet. He was listening so Fekala tried to listen for a sound too.
But, all she could hear was her heartbeat in her throat. She strained her ears for a whisper, a rustle, anything that was distinctly different from the sounds of forest life. And that’s when she noticed it. There were no sounds, no cricket chirping, no soft flap of owls flying, or crinkle of a night sleuth on the forest floor. She looked over the protectively outstretched arm of Owyn into the disfigured shadows across the road. They shifted every so slightly forward towards the moonlit dirt road, forward towards them. Fekala drew in a quick breath and Owyn made her take a step back.
Daes’Kihe was now standing beside Owyn. Fekala had never seen or heard him but now his own personal cloud of cold wet mist hung at her feet too. She shivered in his cold presence, but was glad for it…. whatever it was Daes’Kihe held power over would surely give the shadow creature pause.
It crouched and sucked the light from all around it, till an ill sort of blackness surrounded all of them. Fekala clutched at the back of Owyn’s shirt. The silence bashed in at her from all sides. She begged for a wisp of sound besides the thumping in her chest. She pleaded until she could take it no more.
An unannounced gust of wind swept down from the treetops and spun the dirt from the road into little tornadoes that wove between the shadow creature and the three. It brought the moonlight, taste, and oh so lovely sound back within its feathery grasp. The shadow creature did not like this wind, and it swallowed the last of the light it could stand to eat and left the three of them in the gale. The wind subsided and dissipated with Daes’Kihe’s mist.
Both Owyn and Daes’Kihe turned around to face Fekala.
“Furhavu noda daekree.” Owyn said pleased. Daes’Kihe sneered at his companion for his comment.
“Um…” asking Owyn to translate for her.
“Sorry-I said…’welcome, wind keeper’. You’ll have to forgive Daes’Kihe he doesn’t like being shown up by another.”
“Wind keeper. What? I-I don’t understand. What does that mean? And what was that-that horrible shadow creature thing. It was going to eat us wasn’t it?” She looked all around for the nightmarish monster expecting it to bound out from behind a bush or tree and suck the light from her body.
“We should probably get going. I will explain on the way.”
“On the way to where?”
“To collect the last keeper of course. Kloro would be furious with me if I came back without the last one when we are so close. ” And then mumbling to himself aloud, ” I believe Daes’Kihe called her Juniper, really bothersome and stubborn too.” He sighed at his own comment. “Like I do not have enough on my plate without having to deal with irrational daekree.”
October 24th, 2008 at 4:51 am
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