Draig

Majister

"For we know the whole creation groans..." Romans 8:22

Dane followed Theo down the stairs. Theo tapped his staff in time with his stride, moving with a grace that belied his large frame. At the bottom of the staircase, the Caprices waited.

The floor was inlaid stone with intricate designs that reminded Dane of astrological charts. Constellations in copper vied with fine, filigreed silver, reflecting the moonlight, shafting from above. The Caprices hovered in a circle. Above them, mists piled like tall frosting on a cake, contained. As Dane and Theo approached, the fog swirled, sending tendrils snaking away in all directions. A wisp of fog touched Dane's cheek. Oppression snatched his breath and bathed him in a sudden sweat. Shuddering, he struggled to follow Theo down the last steps. The Caprices drifted toward the tall Majister. One gestured for Dane to move closer.

Dane pressed in, trying not to touch a Caprice. The Dread lessened immediately. The Caprices must be singing, though Dane could not hear them. Theo and Dane huddled within the robed circle. The mists receded, piling above the floating figures again.

The Caprices held the dread back, creating an oasis of peace in the midst of despair.

Theo shifted from foot to foot, watching the mists. Without ceremony, he plopped on the stone floor, patting it. "They're singing. The Caprices will do their best to keep us from the Dread with the Song. Make yourself comfortable. We'll wait here," Theo said.

"Wait for?" Dane asked.

"Sara. She is your faisant now. Time flows differently where she lives. It shouldn't take long for us, no matter how long it is for her."

Dane digested this. He didn't want to appear a fool, yet there was much he yearned to know. Even so, this was a Majister. A real Majister. Not a half-trained new one but a real one, from the old days. Even sitting cross-legged on the cold stone, Theo was impressive. Intimidating. Dane chose his words with care. "We're waiting for Sara?"

"Aye lad, she has a task and I daresay knows it. The Cyntae would have helped her to understand her task, much the way you hear the Song. She will know what she is to do."

Dane gulped. "Cyntae?"

Theo studied Dane, calculating. "How much do you know of them?"

"Very little," Dane said quickly. "My father taught me what he could, but he always feared much had been lost. We knew precious little about faisant."

A number of emotions passed over Theo's face. Sadness, anger, grief. He schooled his expression, coming at last to calm. "You have seen fae, of course? Sara would have appeared to you at first as fae. So just as the Harmony Bond makes you into a majister, it transforms her into a faisant. "

"Faisant live in another world, a world very different from this one. You visited it? Theirs is a world of wonder, mystery. They become tied to this world and to the Song through their arts, their acts of making. Each possesses potential to create, very like the Storm King himself. Faisant are fundamentally attuned to the Song. They're creators, and powerful ones, at that. The work they do binds them to the Song as they grow in mastery. Eventually the Song draws them to drink from it, directly. Each is chosen and directed by the Storm King and allowed interaction here. Their work reverberates throughout all worlds, strengthening the Song. " He paused, "Your faisant is very special indeed."

"They speak to the Storm King?"

"Not directly. Their gifts give them the ability to touch the Song and through the Song, they hear, translating its magic to their work. They do not always understand.
"But you both ascended through the Inner, speaking with each Cyntae in turn," Theo said. He gestured to the tower rising above them. "A special case...which brings me to the task at hand.
"You have become a fledgling Majister by virtue of your courage, talents and the trial of the Inner. Your training would normally be completed here. Given the times, 'twill have to be done on the road. We must retrieve the refrains of the Lorica. All of them. That is your life's quest...One of them at any rate."