The Trailokya Trilogy, Book One: The Shadow Soul

Chapter 29

"She's just woken," Gediel said.

They smiled soft, bittersweet expressions.

"I must report to Voil on the mission," Gediel excused himself.

"Many thanks to you, watcher, for the return of my captain," Bade said, grasping his forearm.

Mikhael gave him a nod and pat on the shoulder. The officios stepped around him, but Callidora remained. She watched him expectantly. He thought she waited for him to return the braid now that he had retrieved Maiel. Shamefaced, he hoped she would forget it. Drawing the fiery lock from his pocket he offered it to the leader. Callidora closed his fist around the braid.

"I have no more need of that. She's here," she said, gesturing to her heart.

In the small skirmishes that had taken place, Callidora led the unit with distinction and gained her confidence and the respect of her commanders at last. There seemed a great many reasons for all of this to have happened. However, none would satisfy the emptiness he felt. Gediel tucked the token back in his pocket. It wouldn't help him move on, though he suspected Callidora planned it so.

"Don't stray far, Wolf Leader," Callidora said to him.

Gediel opened his mouth to ask the reason.

"We'll speak again soon. Now, I wish to see my sister," she cut him off.

Callidora stepped around him. She hesitated and turned back.

"Thank you," she said.

Callidora continued toward Gragrafel's house. Looking rather puzzled, Gediel stood watch a moment too long. Mikhael and Bade grinned at him from the steps, believing they saw a spark between him and Callidora. His mien darkened and he grit his teeth. Callidora wasn't his and he wouldn't accept such a ketu, even if the king demanded. The engels took note of his scorn and he turned away from them to continue home.

Standing on the outskirts of his grange, Gediel breathed in the fresh air and focused on his duties. The dogs and wolves had been ignored for too long. They needed their training and such excursions into other realms only delayed their development and hurt the armies they would soon join.

Chiron ran ahead, his tongue lolling happily from his mouth. His gait was joyous, though his master was gloomy. In fact, everyone seemed good-humored that day. Gediel shook his head and wiped his brow. Some of the wolves and dogs gathered to greet him, wagging their tails so hard their back ends swayed. He mumbled to them and went inside the house. They piled in after him.

Gediel entered his bedroom. The brook cheerfully chattered as it wound about the bed, under the narrow bridge to the other side of the room and out across the bottom of the hillside. Crossing the little bridge to put away his collection of weapons, he noticed the hill. More trees grew there and a narrow stream of water poured into the brook from its rise. He squinted, trying to see better. Gediel shook his head again and went to discard his armor and weapons. Once the blades and other accoutrements were tucked inside his cabinet, he turned out of the room and followed the path along the stream from his bedroom to see what was causing the waterfall. At the base of the new stream, he set his hands on his hips and scowled. He wondered if the dogs had been busy on the hill, digging holes again and thus rerouting a spring. Trudging to the top, he found that several tiny saplings sprung from the ground in a crescent pattern. At the center, a spring bubbled up from inside the cracked bedrock and through the soil, making a strong spout.

Shifting his attention toward the streams, he saw they were full, but not overflowing. They seemed wider and deeper. The flow emptied into the capable river beyond the wood. Scratching his head he wondered at this odd development. The hill had been barren for centuries. Not a thing would grow there but two palms, and he'd never quite figured out what he wanted to place on it. So, instead, he left the ground naked with its low tufts of grass for company. Now it seemed the hill had other ideas in mind.