The Realms of Ethair (19 page)

In response, the creature licked her cheek
and moved its side to the opening as near as possible with its
broad feathered wings. Karina could not decipher what Velor wanted
her to do until its lion head gestured to its back.

“
You want me to climb on your back?” Karina
said incredulously. She looked down and regretted her mistake. The
ground was a long way down from where she stood. “You have got to
be kidding me.” She half-turned from the window and realized there
was no way she could escape the novice’s notice. But her questions
could not wait any longer.

She closed her eyes and attempted to
levitate.

Nothing.

Sighing, Karina hiked up her nightgown and
stepped onto the windowsill.
Thank the Mother nobody had thought of installing
glass in the window
, she
thought.

The chimera
sensed her predicament and maneuvered himself so
that she could reach him by the neck. Karina stretched an arm out.
Her fingers had brushed his hair when she felt herself tip forward.
The ground surged up to meet her. Frantically, she grabbed the
window with her other hand and pulled herself back on the
windowsill. She stayed in a crouch, her heart pounding wildly at
how close she could have fallen to her death.

“
Holy Mother!” Karina saw a head peeking
from a window below her. The novice had heard the chimera and may
have wondered why it lingered.

With one arm reaching for the creature,
she pushed her legs out and grabbed his thick mane. For a few
painful seconds, she hung on the chimera’s hair. His eyes were
trained on hers and suspiciously held bemusement. Suddenly, he rose
upwards and dove. Karina lost her grip and felt herself flying in
midair. Then, he swooped again, precisely positioning himself
underneath her. She slid to the side. This time, Karina was ready.
She snatched at his mane again and pulled herself up on his back.
She encircled her arms around the creature’s neck, her heart
drumming in her chest.

Then, s
he remembered the novice. The girl had watched the whole
incident with fear and…fascination? While she stood dumbstruck,
Karina took the opportunity to make her exit.

“
I’ll be back,” Karina said,
breathlessly.

The chimera seemed to know where she
wanted to go. They flew eastward, to the heart of the forest. To
Kelor-dan’s palace.

The courtyard was visible to the naked
eye. From what she could see, they have been expecting her. Devatas
and beasts mingled by the fountain. Several of them made room for
her flying companion to land. They did not cheer as they touched
ground but bowed formally to her. A Devarian noblewoman removed the
scarf she wore and offered the silken material to their Liyanna.
Karina became conscious of her appearance and blushed with
embarrassment. She must look like a madwoman to the Forest Folk.
When she made no move to accept the gift, the noblewoman draped the
cloth over her shoulders and hung back. No one commented on
Karina’s state of undress nor the redness of her face.

They waited
. To do what?
Her mind recalled the Devarian court protocol.
Hierarchy was important. The higher the rank of the Devata compared
to yours, the deeper the obeisance. She managed a general bow
accepted in all circles. The effect was immediate, the animals
relaxed and the Devatas straightened. Then, the men were bending at
the waist and the females were dipping a low curtsy again. The
leaves rustled behind her. Karina turned around and saw Kelor-dan
smiling at her.

She imitated the women in greeting the
Prince. He bowed slightly to her. Kelor-dan had never done that to
her in public before. The gesture meant he was acknowledging her as
an equal.

“
Liyanna,” he murmured close to her ear and
kissed a cheek. He stepped back and studied her face. His smile now
held a trace of sadness.

“
You have questions,” he observed. “You
have brought new knowledge in your awakening. Alas, you do not
understand it.”

“
I’ve been having
visions. It’s all jumbled up. Some of it has one
Sentry and you, Kelor, in it.” Another distant memory flashed
before her: the Prince talking to her privately when Pellinor
interrupts them. “Why do I keep seeing you? Whose life am I
seeing?”

Kelor-dan offered his arm, which she silently
accepted. He led her to the dormant fountain and bade her sit
beside him.

“
You called me Kelor,” he said. “It has
been thousands of years when a young woman called me by name alone.
She said, ‘Titles are of no importance when the world is falling
apart. Friendships, however, are priceless and lasting when it is
built on honesty, trust, loyalty and love.’”

“Who is she?”

The Devarian Prince twisted around, gazing
at the clear pool of the fountain. The moon and stars illuminated
the night sky. Its reflection on the pool, however, was not the
subject of his attention. She followed his gaze. The woman looking
directly at her had pale hair and skin. Her eyes were also light.
The right eye’s iris though had two colors – gray and brown. Karina
lifted a hand to her face. The woman in the pool did the same. Her
shock was mirrored back to her.

“How can this be?”

“
There are things in this world that cannot
be explained by words alone. But I am certain of one thing. You and
Alena share one soul.” Kelor-dan did not look at her or even
attempted to comfort her.

They were alone in the courtyard. The
Forest Folk had left discreetly during their conversation, except
for one horse and rider. Karina had noticed them nearing the palace
grounds from the west. They had halted just behind the fringes of
the clearing.

“
Pellinor, what brings you here at this
hour?” The Prince had noticed Karina’s reaction when she recognized
the Captain.

“
Someone called me, Prince,” Pellinor
drawled, emphasizing on the first word. He led his mount to the
fountain. Karina turned to the side letting her hair cover her
face. The Captain paid homage to his Prince.

“I did not summon you.”

“
I was compelled,” he sniffed indignantly.
In a softer note, he continued: “By the Liyanna herself. She is
here.” Pellinor’s eyes roamed at the shadows for the wisp of a
woman-child with black hair. “I have heard she has risen from her
sickbed quite recently. Where is she, Kelor-dan, that I may scold
her for pulling me away from my patrol?”

“
I didn’t call you.” Karina faced Pellinor
fully.

“
Alena,” he said sharply. The Captain’s
reaction was a stark contrast to the reception she had received
moments ago that Karina had the urge to laugh and cry at the same
time. Here was somebody who felt as bewildered as her.

A set of memories flooded her mind. Her eyes
settled at the sword hanging from Pellinor’s belt. She quickly
looked away only to find him scowling at her. He had completely
recovered from his initial shock.

Pellinor was still upset and he was
accusing her for the summons. Karina was forced to review her
exchange with the Prince.

“
I didn’t. I just said that you and Kelor
keep appearing in my visions.” Pellinor’s gaze hardened, leaving
her more confused than ever.

“
She does not know,” Kelor-dan
said.

“
What is it that I don’t know?”

Pellinor did not answer. Instead, he folded
his arms and glared at his horse’s withers.

“
Maybe I did summon you unconsciously,” she
admitted. “And since you’re already here, Captain, can you tell me
why I just saw you trying to kill me?” she demanded, frustrated
with everyone’s reluctance to explain things to her. She quickly
regretted her outburst as soon as the words were out of her
mouth.

The Captain of the Sentries flinched as if
she had slapped him in the face. Kelor-dan turned his head towards
her.

“
I didn’t mean—”Karina started.

Pellinor bent forward, addressing them as
Prince and Liyanna. He excused himself saying that his duties in
the west can no longer be delayed. He leapt onto his horse and
disappeared from view.

The Sentry rode his horse at neck-breaking speed
as far away from the palace as possible. He stopped at Sinta Lake
to let his mare rest after the abuse he had done to her. With the
cloudless sky and the moon showing her face to the world, the water
spirits have put on a performance. They invited everyone, Forest
Folk and Merleinans, nearby to watch. He would have appreciated the
production more in another time. At the moment, he could not shake
away the ghost of Alena standing before him after countless years
of peace.

Every one of the Devatas who had survived the
Atlantean Wars and the Shift recognized the presence of a powerful
Liyanna when the Keeper Arturion returned from the third dimension
with a human female. He had been glad for it meant change in many
aspects, particularly in preparation for the new era.

In the past months, concern for the
Liyanna had been palpable throughout the Devarian Realm. While the
energies flowing out of her unconscious body had benefited the
many, others remembered a similar occurrence after Alena’s
passing.

He had been young and angry then. He
blamed the humans for everything that had happened. Alena, a
Halfling and former Princess of Rituvan, was a friend to almost
everyone. She had very nearly convinced him that her race was worth
saving. In the end, she had betrayed him and he had paid her in
kind. Revenge is sweet until one realizes the foolishness of youth.
He had been blind of many things but no more.

The memories of his youth had faded over the
years that Pellinor had failed to detect the signs. The chimera’s
reappearance had not been a coincidence. The creature had adopted
Alena as his own ever since her half-brother Rualdor ascended the
throne. It had scented the Liyanna in the woods and recognized her
soul.

Pellinor dreaded what the present Liyanna has
been remembering. Her eyes had been unseeing before it landed on
his sword hilt. Pieces of her past life’s memories have been
haunting her.

If she remembers everything,
would she still see me as a friend?
he thought. Already her influence among his kind
grows stronger. He had never been overly concerned of how the
Devarian court and humans viewed him. Now, it seemed he wanted
a
human
to accept
him.

The activities in Sinta Lake had drawn him away
from his troubles. The atmosphere in the area was thick with the
water spirits’ Glamour. They flitted about, diving and resurfacing
from the water; creating mini rainbows, ice statues, and music
while they performed a
common Devarian court dance. Merleinans in the audience
swayed on their feet following the rhythm of the melody. Several
Forest Folk danced at the shore. Others were more daring as they
asked Merleinans to be their dance partners. There was a loosening
of inhibitions from both races. They were genuinely enjoying
themselves; such a thing had never occurred in his lifetime until
now.

One of the Devatas caught his eye. There
was no mistaking the uniform and the proud features of rider and
horse. The Sentry was a few feet away from the crowd, his
expression surprisingly pensive. It was impossible to catch
that
Devata unprepared. To see him
in such a mood was…unsettling. Discreetly, he approached
Pellinor.

“
Commander.” The Devata was not as
preoccupied as he appeared to be. His gaze lingered at the scene
before him.

“Captain. You’re not with your riders?”

“
This is my home. I can do whatever and be
wherever it pleases me,” Pellinor said curtly, glancing sideways at
Reno. “What do you want?”

“
I happened to meet a novice of the
religious order. She had asked me to help locate Karina. She was
last seen riding on the back of a chimera. The beast flew east.”
The Commander doubted what the girl witnessed. Karina would have
been frightened of the creature.
Hadn’t there been a similar encounter
before?
He had heard
Pellinor had saved her then. It was more likely that the novice had
mistaken the animal for a chimera.

“And you think I saw her?”

“I considered it a possibility.”

Reno waited.

“No one of her seeming has been seen to enter
our kingdom.” Pellinor nudged the mare with his knee.

The pause was enough to suspect the
Sentry’s denial. Reno analyzed Pellinor’s reply. He had said
‘
seeming.
’
The Commander had learned from Kala that Karina’s physical
appearance had altered.

“Wait.” The mare stopped. “You have seen the
Liyanna.”

The Sentry did not respond.

“I am calling on the wager I won. Take me to
her at once.”

“As you wish.”

The earth trembled violently. Reno
struggled to keep his balance, momentarily losing his focus on the
Sentry. As the quaking gradually stilled, he looked up. Before him
stood a palace built as part of the great ancient trees.
Staircases, corridors, and balconies made of wood had been sung to
shape on tree limbs and trunks. Creepers and flowers decorated the
whole area. Devatas in court finery strolled in the garden,
distracting themselves in a similar fashion to the water spirits in
Sinta Lake. His presence, however, ceased their use of enchantments
and Glamour. They stared at the Commander openly.