Call of the Herald (19 page)

"In order for me to tell you these secrets,
you have to swear the Vestrana oath, but first I must explain some
things so you'll know what you're swearing to. You don't have to
swear the oath, but if you don't, I'll not be able to tell you some
things, and neither will anyone who has sworn." The young people
looked at each other, wondering if any would refuse to swear.

"At the end of the last Istran phase, the
Varics were nearly destroyed, and they went into hiding to survive.
They knew their knowledge and beliefs were important and needed to
be passed on, so they formed a secret society known as the
Vestrana, and my family has been a part since its inception. My
grandfather swore me in when I was still a boy," he confided.

"The Vestrana opposed the Zjhon and their
practice of conquering lands and then forcing the conquered peoples
to convert to their religion. The penalty for refusal was death.
Our secret exile has gone on for thousands of years, and we have
replenished our numbers. We'll not dictate religious beliefs to
others, as we wish every person to choose his or her beliefs freely
and not be persecuted for them. We strictly oppose any religion
that mandates killing people simply because their beliefs are
different. Do you all understand?" he asked.

"I'm no good at lying," Strom admitted for
the second time. "Every time I try to lie to Miss Mariss, she calls
me on it--on the spot. I'm just not good at keeping secrets, so I
don't know if I should take the oath."

"The choice is yours; I'll not force you to
take an oath you feel you cannot keep. I will tell you, however,
that you won't have to lie. You just cannot say certain things. You
can be completely honest with someone without revealing any of the
things you must keep safe," Benjin said.

"I
can
be quiet, and if I don't have
to lie, well, then, I think I can do it," he said, looking a bit
more confident. Benjin gave him a moment to reconsider before he
continued.

"Before I can tell you any more, I'll tell
you the oath, and if you feel it is right, you should swear it.

"Here it is: 'I swear to uphold the values of
the Vestrana. I will not divulge any information considered within
confidence of the Vestrana. I will seek to free the oppressed and
vanquish the oppressor. I will give my life before I will betray
myself or the Vestrana,'" he intoned.

It was simple enough, but Benjin made them
explain it back to him in their own words to be sure they
understood its meaning. "I must ask you to understand that people
generally prepare for several seasons before they are allowed to
take the oath. There are many things you do not know, so you must
not say anything at all about
any
of this to
anyone
for
any
reason. Ever! Is that clearly understood?"

They all nodded soberly.

Once he was satisfied they understood the
gravity of the situation, he asked if any of them wished to swear
the oath. All of them wanted to, and each recited it individually.
Benjin made them repeat it until they could speak it from memory,
and he formally welcomed each of them to the Vestrana and kissed
them on their foreheads.

"I've never sworn anyone in before," he
admitted and seemed much more relaxed when he spoke again. "Many
innkeepers across the world are members of the Vestrana and serve
as part of a huge information network. Miss Mariss is one of those
innkeepers, and she has access to information few else on the
Godfist are privy to. The Vestrana have many allies, some of whom
may make a living in shady dealings, but they honor the Vestrana.
Miss Mariss suggested we seek out one particular ally. In doing so,
she had to reveal one of her most trusted secrets to me.

"There is a harbor on the east coast of the
Godfist; it's along a rough section of coast that offers very
little safe anchorage because of the many surrounding islands and
reefs that'll sink an unwary ship. The only ships known to safely
dock there are pirate ships, and even those are somewhat rare
events.

"The Godfist is pretty far outside
established trade routes, and pirate ships only dock here to avoid
pursuit, though sometimes they trade goods and information with the
Vestrana. There are now two ships docked at the cove, as far as we
know. They sought refuge from the Zjhon fleet, fearing the ships
had been sent after them. The last Miss Mariss had heard, they were
still there. She's going to try to get word to them and arrange
passage for us. Though they are not here with us, agents of the
Vestrana are doing all they can to help. I know the Zjhon are going
to scour the Godfist in search of Catrin, so I propose we travel to
the cove and leave the Godfist with the pirates. Even if Miss
Mariss is not able to contact them, we may be able to work
something out, and to be completely honest, I don't have any better
ideas."

His words were met with utter silence, and
Catrin struggled to make sense of all of it. She could not imagine
leaving the Godfist, her home, and had never thought about going
any other place. The others seemed to be having similar problems
assimilating the information. Chase was the first to find his
voice.

"Where would we go?" he asked.

"We should go to the last place they would
expect us to go, to the Greatland--into the heart of their
empire."

"Do you really think that's the best thing to
do?" Catrin asked, incredulous.

"The Greatland is the largest and most
heavily populated landmass on Godsland. We can disguise ourselves
and hide much more easily among so many people, not to mention the
huge area they would have to search to look for us. It may also be
that getting you to the Greatland is the best way to help fulfill
the prophecy."

"You really believe I'm the Herald?" Catrin
asked, fearing his answer.

"I'm not sure what I believe," he said, "but
I know you have important tasks ahead of you, and no matter what
you or I believe, you have already done some important work.
There's no going back, I'm afraid. From now on, you'll be the one
who was declared the Herald, whether you are or not. Truth can be a
difficult thing to find."

Catrin had never heard Benjin speak so
profoundly, and she wondered what else she didn't know about the
man she had worked beside for so many years.

"I'm sorry I don't have all of the answers. I
wish I did," he said, shaking his head. "In many ways, I'm just as
confused as you are. To follow our hearts and hope we make the
right decisions is the best we can do. Do we agree we should make
for the cove?"

He knew their answer and told them what to
pack and what to leave behind. During this activity, he pulled
Catrin aside but seemed to have trouble choosing his words.

"I've sworn the Vestrana oath," he began. "A
message given into my trust must be delivered, unopened, to the
intended recipient unless it cannot be done. There is a strict
protocol on this, and I must honor it, even when I don't want to. I
considered breaking my oath when Miss Mariss gave me this message.
I thought about reading it before I gave it to you. I even
considered destroying it without reading it. I'm ashamed to admit I
was tempted, but I will keep my oath. This unopened message is for
you. You don't have to tell me what it says. I'm just the
messenger," he said as he handed her a tightly rolled parchment
closed with wax. The seal impressed in the wax belonged to Nat
Dersinger.

After moving off to a quiet place by the
fire, Catrin stared at the parchment. She did not want to open it,
afraid of what it might say. Nat was a pariah, his outlandish
ranting about the coming of Istra and the dawning of a new age too
disturbing for most people to give any credence to. Some said he
was mad; others claimed he was afflicted with some disease, but
most agreed his public sermons were the ravings of a deranged mind.
Catrin had to wonder, now that many of his prophecies were actually
coming true, whether Nat was mad or everyone else was.

An uneasy feeling gnawed at the pit of her
stomach as her beliefs began to crumble beneath her. Fear crept in
where her fallen truths no longer held sway, and yet she felt
liberated to pursue limitless possibilities that would open to her.
She tore the wax seal away and unrolled the parchment.

My dearest Catrin,

My fondest wish is that you will walk in
peace and light and that your mind will always remain free.

Some say I'm deranged, but I leave that for
you to judge. What I am sure of is that you must embrace your role
as the Herald. I implore you to use the divine gift you have been
given and that you do not squander it.

I have studied all scriptures and holy books
available to me, and I want to help you learn to use the power of
Istra's light. You have experienced its improper use, even though
you did not intend to exploit it, so you are aware of its
power.

If you choose to pursue the divine gifts you
have been given, I beg you to seek knowledge. I hope to bring
knowledge of these to you, but if I cannot make my way to you in
time, seek out the Cathuran monks; they may be able to help
you.

Before your journey takes you beyond the
Godfist, you will be besieged.

Remember these words when you fear you have
made the wrong choices:

Vestra's light warms Godsland.

Water ascends upon the wings of his warmth,
and the skies disperse it at will.

Rain shapes the land and gives life to the
fishes, and the fishes sparkle in Istra's light.

May Istra and Vestra guide and bless you,

Nat

Catrin sat back, confounded by what she had
read. Nat was right about the disastrous results of her tapping the
strange energies, but his words of warning were unclear to her.
That he would make this effort to get a message to her only to
leave her with a riddle seemed ludicrous. Frustrated, she tucked
the parchment into her pocket, hoping to make sense of it at some
later time.

When she rejoined the others, Benjin's eyes
met hers. When she had no comment, he simply nodded and finished
checking his pack. He then stood and pulled several pieces of
rolled parchment from his pack.

Addressing all of them, he said, "You've been
sworn, and this information is in the Vestrana confidence. You must
not divulge it to anyone, and you must destroy this if you believe
it could fall into anyone else's hands," he said, handing a copy to
each of them. "The journey we're about to undertake will be
perilous. I wish I could offer you the chance to walk away, but our
situation is too dire; you are in peril if you stay or if you go. I
think we should stick together, but I want each of you to have a
map in case we get separated.

"This is a highly unusual practice. It's
dangerous in the extreme to have so many copies of anything in the
Vestrana confidence, but this is a highly unusual case, and I've
made an exception. Be certain no one else gets these maps," he
reiterated firmly. "We leave before dawn, and I want a double watch
tonight."

* * *

The snap of a branch in the distance behind
Nat increased his level of panic. For weeks, he'd been hiding in
the hills. Miss Mariss had urged him to find Catrin, but he had no
idea how to do that. Only his visions and dreams provided any
guidance, but those proved difficult to interpret and decipher. The
only things he knew for certain were that Catrin must survive and
that she was in terrible danger. In the end, he was left to wander
in the wilderness, battling his own despair as he searched for
someone who did not want to be found. He could have passed her and
her companions a dozen times and he would never know. He was a
fisherman, not a tracker.

Finding Catrin was now the least of his
problems, though. The Zjhon were searching for her as well, and
they were close behind him. If they found him . . . He tried not to
think about the horrors he might face. Even with his staff, he was
no match for a trained swordsman. Instead he concentrated on moving
into the thickest and most forbidding undergrowth he could find.
When he could no longer make forward progress, he curled into a
ball beneath a veil of thorn and briar, hoping those who pursued
him would simply pass by.

Eventually the light began to fade, and the
beat of Nat's heart slowed. Weariness more complete than any he'd
ever known began to wash over him, coaxing him to sleep, luring him
into the land of dreams.

Somewhere between sleep and wakefulness, the
scene before him changed, no longer did he see a canopy of twisted
vines and curved thorns bathed in moonlight; instead he watched as
Catrin was surrounded by the shadows of death. Moving like the
wind, the darkness closed in on her, blocking out the light and her
life. Just as he thought her flame would be extinguished, Catrin
fought back. To Nat's horror, she did not attack the darkness
directly; instead she tore the land asunder and hurled it at her
foes. Her every step rent the land, leaving cavernous gouges and
craters wherever she trod, and still the darkness came, unthwarted
and undaunted.

Clawing his way through the darkness, Nat
clenched his jaws as the thorns bit deep. He could not stop,
though, no matter how great the pain--he had to find her.

Chapter 11

One man's offal is another man's harvest.

--Icari Jundin, mushroom farmer

* * *

Benjin woke them early. When he checked on
the health of the unconscious soldier, he seemed almost relieved
the man had died in the night. He and Chase dragged the dead man
from the cavern and hid the body with the other.

When they returned, Benjin examined the pile
of armor and weapons the soldiers had carried. He took a short
sword, belt sheath, and bracers for himself. The sword had a black
leather handle and a decent edge--not a fine blade but good to
have. He motioned the others over and began to distribute the dead
soldiers' belongings to the rest of them. He gave Chase the other
short sword, belt sheath, and bracers. The boots went to Strom and
Osbourne to replace their lighter shoes.