Souls of Aredyrah 3 - The Taking of the Dawn (35 page)

“War,” Nort muttered. He glanced around the
room and noticed Seela staring at him from a chair by the
fireplace. Ben was asleep in her arms.

“Ye’d best take the boy to the wagon,” he
said to her. “No need of him hearin’ any o’ this.” Seela rose, and
with Ben still cradled slipped out the door.

Uaine eyed the others. “It doesn’t have to
come to war,” he said. “Surely a compromise can be made.”

“Nay,” Brenainn said. “Tis war they want. And
I fer one am willin’ to give ‘em what they want.”

Uaine laughed sarcastically. “What they want
is Dayn,” he said. “Are you willing to give them that?”

“What did they say?” Dayn asked.

Haskel stepped toward him. He placed a hand
on his shoulder. “Not to worry, boy. No one has a mind to turn ye
over.”

“They still believe it’s you that’s causin’
all the problems,” Peadar said from the table bench. “A demon’s to
blame. Might as well be you.”

“So they still want me because they think I’m
a demon,” he said, but in truth he felt somewhat relieved. At least
the Vestry’s reason had nothing to do with Falyn.

“So what’s this all mean then?” Vania asked,
setting mugs of hot tea on the table. She looked around. “Where’re
Eileis and Ionhar?”

“Ionhar and a couple of his men took Eileis
home to help her pack,” Haskel said. “She’s not safe in Kiradyn
anymore. The Vestry as much as said so.”

“But she’s their spiritual leader!”

Brenainn snorted. “Not anymore she ‘en.”

“Then why didn’t you bring her back with ye?”
Vania asked. “What if the Vestry followed her home?”

“We tried to tell her,” Haskel said, “but
she’d have nothin’ of it. Said she had some things she couldn’t
leave behind.” Haskel raised his palms in preparation for the
argument he knew was coming. “I know…I know. But she insisted. When
we told her we’d wait, she about took our heads. Ordered us to head
back to warn the clans. Said she wouldn’t be long.”

“Don’ worry, lass,” Brenainn said. “Ionhar
and his men’ll look after her.”

“So what else did the Vestry say?” Vania
asked.

“Only that there’d be war if we didn’t turn
the boy over to ‘em,” Haskel said.

“But didn’t you explain about the drawings,”
Alicine said, “and Tearia, and the Transcendors, and—”

“The fools wouldn’t listen,” Brenainn
replied. “We were barely allowed t’ speak a word before they called
us
blaspheemers
and threw us out!”

“Threw you out?” Dayn eyeballed the
assortment of more-than-adequate weapons at the Chieftains’ belts.
“How is that even possible?”

“They were ready for us,” Peadar said. “Like
they knew we were comin’.”

Dayn eased his eyes toward Alicine and
Eyan.

“Tell them,” Alicine mouthed silently.

Dayn frowned and shook his head. She and Eyan
could think what they wanted, but he knew the truth—Falyn would
never betray him like that.

Alicine stepped to Dayn’s side. “Tell them,”
she whispered. “Or I will.”

“You wouldn’t,” Dayn whispered back.

Alicine gripped his arm. “These people are
risking war for you. Don’t you think they deserve all the
facts?”

Dayn noticed that Eyan was glaring at him,
the message in his eyes clear: if Dayn or Alicine didn’t say
something to the Chieftains, then Eyan would. Dayn ground his
teeth, realizing he had little choice. Either he told the men in
his own words, or they would be told by someone who could put their
own spin on it.

“I have something to say,” Dayn announced
stiffly. But no one seemed to notice; they were all caught up in
discussions of their own. “I said I have something to say,” he said
more loudly.

The room stilled.

“I met with Falyn tonight.”

Voices erupted in shock, Haskel’s most of
all. “Ye did what?” he bellowed.

“We met at the Well of Wishes,” Dayn
said.

Haskel turned toward Vania. “I told Eileis
not to give him that fool letter!”

Vania waved him off with a sweep of her hand.
“Wasn’t your decision to make,” she said.

“Of course it was my decision to make! Now
look what’s happened.”

Morna stepped from the shadows and approached
Dayn. “What did happen, son?”

For the first time Dayn felt shame rise to
his cheeks. His mother was a devout woman and would never
understand. “I…” he began. “I mean, we—” But for some reason the
words refused to leave his lips.

“Oh, Dayn,” Morna said, judgment in her
tone.

Vania approached her and wrapped an arm
around her shoulders. “Now, now, dear,” she said gently. “Daghadar
will be the final judge as to whether or not Dayn did anythin’
wrong.”

“Did anythin’
wrong
?” Haskel cried.
“He disobeyed my orders for one!”

“But I love Falyn,” Dayn protested. “It’s not
right that I can’t see her!”

“I don’t care whether ye love her or not,”
Haskel barked. “You’ll not be seein’ that girl again!”

“You can’t order me about!”

Peadar squared his shoulders. “You’ll not
talk to your elders like that, boy,” he said.

Dayn felt his own nerve shrink. Maybe he had
gotten away with disrespecting his uncle before, but no one in
their right mind would disrespect a Chieftain. “Sorry…sir,” he
muttered.

“Don’t be tellin’ me. It’s your uncle ye
should be apologizin’ to. Ye owe him your respect.”

Dayn slowly lifted his eyes. “Sorry,
uncle.”

“I mean it, Dayn,” Haskel said. “You’re not
to see that girl again, ye hear?”

Dayn opened his mouth to retort, but then
snapped it shut. Nothing he wanted to say at the moment could be
construed as respect.

“And if ye have an idea to dishonor your
uncle by sneakin’ off again to see her,” Peadar added, “you’d best
think twice. As Chieftain of the Aeries, I order ye to stay away
from Lorcan’s daughter. Clearly she’s the one that warned the
Vestry about us comin’.”

“That’s not—” Dayn began, but then he
adjusted his tone. “Falyn wouldn’t do that.”

“How did ye know to meet her at the well?”
Haskel asked accusingly.

“From her letter,” Dayn said.

“And when ye met the girl, did ye by any
chance mention that we were headed to the meetin'?”

“Yes, but Falyn wouldn’t have had time to
tell the Vestry before you got there. She and I were together for a
long time. We only left when we saw—” Dayn stopped mid-sentence,
realizing it best to leave Eyan out of the conversation. No sense
in them drilling his cousin for information that Dayn would just as
soon them not know.

“When ye saw what?” Peadar asked.

“When we saw how late it was getting. There’s
no way she could have told them before you arrived, that’s
all.”

“Regardless,” Uaine said. “We need to make
preparations. I for one believe the clans should head home first
thing in the morning.”

“An’ do what?” Brenainn asked. “Wait in our
cabins ‘til the Vestry sends men with torches to burn us out? I say
we stay ‘n fight!”

“I agree, up to a point,” Peadar said. “The
women and children must leave of course.”

“Why must the women leave?” Vania asked
defensively. “There’s not a woman amongst us that can’t wield a
carvin’ knife or a pitchfork.”

Uaine scoffed. “Very well, Aerie women may
stay.”

Peadar eyed the other Chieftains. “I’ll not
be askin’ any of ye to stay and fight for the Aerie. It’s Dayn they
want. He’s our responsibility.”

“The way I see it,” Brenainn said, “some of
us’ll stay and some of us’ll go. But if it’s yon Dayn they’re
after, then he needs to be leavin’ too.”

“No! I won’t!” Dayn couldn’t believe what he
was hearing. “If there’s going to be a fight on my account, then
I’m staying. I—I—” Suddenly Dayn felt the room tilt and spin. His
stomach was churning in one direction while his head was whirling
in the other. He fell to his knees, clutching the ground for
support.

“Dayn!” Alicine cried, but her voice sounded
a thousand miles away.

Dayn’s tunic became drenched with sweat. He
felt someone place a hand on his back, but it felt like fire
against his skin. Heat filled his senses. It singed his throat and
flared behind his eyes. “Fire,” he gasped.

“What do you mean, boy?” Uaine’s distant
voice demanded. “Is it the demons? The Vestry? Are they sending
fire?”

Dayn felt himself yanked up and shaken.

“Tell us what you know!”

“Leave him be!” Alicine pulled Dayn from
Uaine’s grip and helped him to a bench.

“What’s wrong with him?” Uaine asked. “Is he
possessed?”

“No,” Alicine said. She wrapped her arms
around Dayn protectively. “He gets ill sometimes, that’s all. He’s
not possessed. It’ll be over in a minute. You’ll see.”

Morna rushed to Dayn’s side with a damp
cloth. “My god, he’s burning up!” She held the cloth to his
face.

Alicine took it from her. “He’ll be fine,
Mother. Go get him something cool to drink.”

Dayn doubled over and retched onto the
floorboards. “And bring another cloth.”

When Dayn awoke he was lying on Eyan’s bed, a
circle of concerned faces leaning over him. He blinked, trying to
bring them into focus. “What happened?” he muttered.

“You were ill,” Alicine said.

“Ill?” Dayn tried to lift himself onto an
elbow, but Alicine pushed him back down.

“How long?” he asked

“Not long. Do you remember anything?”

Dayn closed his eyes as he tried to recall.
“Fire,” he said. “Something about fire.”

“What about it?” Peadar asked him.

“I-I don’t know. Maybe the mountain is going
to send fire or—”

Uaine stiffened. “Are you claiming
divination, boy?”

“Call it what you want,” Alicine said. “But
when we were in Tearia a similar vision saved thousands of
lives.”

Haskel looked at her suspiciously. “Explain,”
he said.

“Dayn would get sick from time to time. When
it happened, he would say the earth was moving, but no one else
could feel it. Right before the eruption, he got sick, only worse,
like now. That time he saw a vision. He saw what was happening
under the earth and in the mountain. He warned everyone in the city
of Pobu to get out.”

“Pobu?”

“Yes,” Alicine said. “He told everyone to get
out of the city and they did. That morning, the mountain exploded.”
She narrowed her eyes at Uaine. “If the people hadn’t listened to
Dayn, they would have died.”

Brenainn moved closer to the bed. “So, lad,”
he said softly. “Is that what yer seein’ for us?”

Dayn swallowed thickly. “Maybe…I—I don’t
know. I just saw fire.”

Uaine threw his arms up. “This is
nonsense.”

“No,” Peadar said. “It could be a warnin’
from Daghadar. An opportunity to save ourselves.”

“And if Dayn is wrong?”

“Nothin’ lost, nothin’ gained,” Peadar said.
“The Aerie are the closest to the mountain. If it’s fire it’s
sendin’, we’ll be the first to know it.” He turned to the others.
“You each have a decision to make: whether to stay and help us
against the Vestry, or leave to prepare for the mountain. We don’t
know that either one’ll reach our borders at all, but before ye
make your decisions, ye need to tell your folk what Dayn’s
foreseen, even if it goes against their beliefs.”

“The Sandrights will be leaving,” Uaine said,
then he seemed to reconsider. “But I’m a fair man. I’ll give them
the choice.”

“Very well,” Peadar said. He turned to
Brenainn. “I’ll not ask ye to stay, friend. You’ve always had our
backs, but we may be facin’ a fight we can’t hope to win.”

Brenainn stroked his beard. “Well, I be
thinkin’ that anyone who leaves is a damned coward—no offense to
Uaine here.” He slapped his hand on Peadar’s shoulder. “Never knew
a Basyl to run from a fight. We’re wi’ ye, all of us, if ye’ll have
us.”

Peadar smiled. “Indeed we will.” He then
turned his attention to Nort. “Nort, your homestead is the next in
line after Haskel’s here. Would you be willin’ to take some of
Brenainn’s men to your place to prepare a second line of
defense?”

“Aye,” Nort said. “I’ll leave first thing in
the mornin’ with Seela and Ben.”

“Good enough,” Peadar said. “I’ll explain to
the Aeries what must be done, and I’ll speak with Ionhar and Eileis
when they return.”

The men dispersed to spread the news.

Vania leaned down and felt Dayn’s forehead.
“How are ye feelin’, dear?”

“My stomach’s a little queasy, but otherwise
I’m fine.”

“I’ll mix ye up a brew.”

“No. No need,” Dayn said hastily. “I’ll be
fine. Really.”

Vania nodded, but he could tell by the set of
her mouth that she didn’t believe him. She turned and took Morna by
the shoulders, then guided her to bed. “Let’s all of us get some
rest,” she said. “Big day ahead.”

Alicine sat down next to Dayn. Eyan, who had
been hovering in the shadows throughout the entire conversation,
slipped to their side. “Is what ye say true?” he asked. “Is the
mountain really goin’ to send fire?”

“Not to worry,” Alicine said. “If it is,
we’ve been given plenty of warning, right Dayn?”

“I hope so,” Dayn said. “But it seemed
different this time.”

“How was it different?”

“I don’t know, just different.” Dayn took
stock of their worried faces. “Listen, the Chieftains have agreed
to warn the clans, haven’t they? That’s a lot more time than the
Jecta received in Pobu. Everything will be fine, you’ll see.”

But Dayn wasn’t so sure. There was something
about this vision that was more disturbing than all the previous
ones. This time he had not only seen the fire, he had felt it. But
of even more concern was the fact that he had seen a person
standing between it and the mountain. And that person was Reiv.

Back to ToC

Part Four: The Edge of
the Abyss