"I just want you to know, it's safe to return," Haygen said. "And if you want, I will take you back home." He looked about him. "We can leave now if you are willing. I have Horses ready."
Selene smiled. "You've done a wonderful thing." She placed her hand on his cheek. "Coming all the way here. My little boy. So grown. But I see in your heart that you don't want to leave any more than I do."
Haygen turned his head. She heard the truth in her words and cursed his mother for her insight. "I just want you to be safe."
They sat in a private corner near the vegetable gardens. The rows upon rows of the east garden needed little tending with the help of Druid magic, but every once in a while, his mother brought him out here for small talk to reconnect with her him.
"Safe?" asked his mother with a soft smile. "Where is joy in safety when others suffer and darkness looms."
Haygen put his hands to hips. "There's always...darkness looming all the time. I just wish you had the old grove back with the old cottage and the old Druids. Back the way it used to be before..."
"We need to move forward," said Selene.
Haygen shook his head and looked to the sky. The sun rode high in the blue sky, mocking him with its power. "I don't know how."
"What of the Cold Ranger?" asked Selene.
"Cold Ranger? You mean Anyu."
"I see the way you look at each other."
"I can take you back and return to her."
"She gathered her people to fight for the Seeking Stones," said his mother, "and you want to run off? I don't think that is what you want."
"No."
She embraced him, her head barely at the middle of his chest. She pulled away and held his hand. She led him over to the Seeking Stones. "It is time for you to speak with the Stones."
They made it over to the Stones and he looked about making sure no one watched him.
"Why do you call her the Cold Ranger?" asked Haygen confused out of the blue.
Selene laughed. "She's the only one to go into the lake of the Seeking Stones naked, saying that the water was warm like a bath."
That sounds like her, Haygen thought. Suddenly, he didn't like the idea of a bunch of Druids seeing Anyu naked and he changed the subject.
"Alright, so what do I do?" asked the Half-orc.
"If you are willing, I would like you to take the Rite. The Path of the Willows. The initiation." She looked away, her eyes down. "We would like it very much, if the will is yours, to embrace bloodline of our family and fight as one of us. You never had the opportunity before as, well, I knew you were leaving us and the power is sacred. However, since you returned as you are..."
The Druid Passage, thought Haygen. The Path of the Willows. He remembered seeing the ceremony so many times back home. Normally given to children, and back then he always wondered why he never walked the gray stones back in the old grove.
"I would become a Druid like you?" asked Haygen. His shifted warily, not sure how he felt about using magic even if it was one with nature.
Selene nodded. "We, Wayland and I, have found you more than worthy." Then she added, "The Arch Druid's approval is needed."
Haygen nodded. "Wayland is a good Man. He loves you. I can see it. And you love him."
Selene said, "I do. And you love Anyu."
"I do," said Haygen. "But she also loves the wild. "
"As do I," said Selene reassuring him. "Shouldn't we all?"
Haygen considered this. "Alright, should we get this rite of passage thing going?"
Selene ran off. "I'll assemble them now, gather your friends!"
[][][]
The Druids dressed Haygen in an off-white homespun tunic that covered his shoulders and ran down to his knees, having made quick adjustments to it for his height and girth. A brown sash drew the tunic closed about his waist and a crown of green and pink wildflowers adorned his head. They placed a long necklace of more wildflowers about his neck.
A half moon rose and the stars came forth to bare witness to The Path of Willows. The Druids, donned in their formal robes, had their ceremonial daggers hanging on their sash. With one hand on their curling wooden staffs, and the other holding a Willow branch torch, they formed two columns lighting Haygen's way to the towering Standing Stones.
"You look handsome," said his mother.
"Thank you, Mother," said Haygen. I feel ridiculous, he thought. He glanced to Anyu.
The Ranger stood biting her lip with raised her eyebrows. She braided her hair back the way he always liked, wearing her Ranger leathers. She looked like a rainbow when the sun hits a waterfall just right—the best part of the waterfall. She calmed herself and approached him with an embrace. "You look...nervous. Don't be. Druidry runs in your blood. Embrace it."
"Where's Kayla?" asked Haygen adjusting his tunic. "I wish she was here." He lifted his arm and smelled. The scent of Sage and Willow bark from his ceremonial bath still lingered.
"She's off on a mission...handsome," said Wess with a grin.
Haygen squinted. "You're looking, and acting, like your old self, Wess." He embraced his tiny friend. "I'm glad you're here."
"I feel fantastic," said the Faeling, "can you imagine if I missed this?" His bright, keen look returned. "A real Druid ceremony. It's going to be wonderful."
"Shouldn't take long," said Haygen. "We need to stay vigilant."
"Don't worry." Otis clapped him on the back. "Everyone else is on guard. Wayland told me he has something special in store. Let's enjoy this moment, Haygen."
Haygen smiled. "I would never have made it if it wasn't for you, Otis."
They clasped forearms and embraced. Otis beamed at him with a look of pride.
"Is the initiate ready?" asked Wayland raising his cudgel. He wore his ceremonial robe, and his twisted wooden emblem denoting his rank as Arch Druid.
"He is," said Selene. She dressed in her Druid robes as well, and leaned on her own staff.
"Is the honor guard ready?" asked Wayland.
Otis, Anyu, and Wess took their places in a line behind Haygen.
"They are ready," said Selene.
Wayland let his hand glide towards the Stones. "Proceed." In his other hand, he held items of Druidic tradition.
Haygen walked barefoot past each Druid in the column at a steady pace. He inhaled the Willow smoke as they instructed him. Once he reached the edge of the lac. He kept his eyes on the water, trying to ignore the glistening black monuments.
Everyone took their places. His mother stood to his left. Wayland to his right. His friends lined up behind his mother.
"The initiate will say these vows," said Wayland.
As the Arch Druid said his phrases, Haygen repeated his words.
"I vow to be one with the stones, the river, the land and trees.
I am one with the mountains high and the valley beneath me.
Let the lords of the woods, the lords of the lakes, the lords of the earth, watch over me as I watch over their children.
I vow to stride the earth as I was born to remember my vows until I can step no longer."
"Accept these gift as you become one of us," said Wayland.
Haygen opened his hands and Wayland placed a small book with a wooden cover. On top of that, a long, wide knife with Willow wood handle. Next, he placed a short walking staff in the other hand. The thick wood twisted and turned and formed a solid wooden ball on the end.
"Accept these as tools to guide you on your Druidic journey," said Wayland.
"I will walk the path," said Haygen.
"You may pass your tools to your honor guard before you enter the circle," Wayland announced.
Haygen turned to his friends. He gave Wess the knife, Anyu the book, and Otis the staff.
Wayland asked Haygen to turn his palms to the sky, so he did. The Arch Druid moved his finger over his left forearm and inscribed a Druid glyph that Haygen knew to be a shield. On his other forearm, a glyph of a tree.
"The initiate will drink from the lake, and enter the circle," said Wayland.
Haygen stepped into the lake, knelt and cupped his large, green hands. He let the cold water fill them, then drank many gulps. The water tasted like any other ice-cold lac water to him, though. He stood, his tunic wet now, and made his way into the middle of the circle, the water to the tops of his calves. The runes flashed immediately, shining a bright white light across all of Green Haven. Haygen brought up his forearms to stop the blinding. Instead, visions flashed before him.
Anyu holding his hand
An open grove with tall gray stones
The hand of a Man handing him a horn of ale
Powerful arms about his throat
Treading barefoot down a winding path in the woods
Darkness
The open ocean as far as the edge allows
"You deemed yourself worthy many a time in my name. I've watched you rise out of your own darkness. I watch you climb your mountain still."
Adrunnah.
Haygen's eyes snapped open. He sat in the water, shivering.
"Haygen!"
He recognized the voice. He looked up, expecting to see his goddess, Adrunnah. Instead, he saw a familiar face among the Druids and his companions.
"Kayla?"
The Kowluun She-elf reached her hands out to him at the edge of the lake. "Yes, it's me." She waved him over. "This way now. Come on."
"Right," said Haygen. "I'm coming." He stood up, stumbled to a knee, then sloshed steadily to land. "You're here."
"Yes, I'm here," said Kayla.
She stood between Anyu and Otis. Her eyes looked sullen, and her smile looked false as she spoke. Her shoulders drooped forward. He could tell she needed her Wizard sleep. The Arch Druid's voice snapped his thoughts back to the ceremony.
"Haygen, son of Selene," said Wayland, "has walked the Path of the Willows. Welcome him into our fold."
The two shook hands. Wayland formed his Aegis around both of their hands, symbolizing Haygen's bond with the Druids.
Haygen watched as the thick brown bark wrapped around their hands in unity. I need to learn that trick, he thought.
As Haygen and his honor guard walked back through the column of Druids, they each bowed before him in welcome.
"Now, we shall feast!" yelled Wayland.
"I'm afraid we will not get that chance, Arch Druid," said Kayla.
"What news do you bring, Kayla Windshaper?" asked Selene.
The Wizard ignored the Druid and turned to Otis. "I've seen Lord Vöhl's army. His legion approaches."
Otis shouted. "To arms! To arms! All to defensive positions!"