Thirty Three: Meditation Revelation

It was strange to try to dive into meditation while laying down. It actually took a number of tries before I could settle into my serenity, my cabin. Even after I mastered that, every time I tried to move outside that space in my mind I would be thrown from the meditation. I was just too distracted.

I'm sure the sliver of moon will have crested the sky above before I was able to control my meditation enough to look around. But once I finally did it, I made every movement slowly so as not to disrupt the connection I was finally able to make.

The world was different. It was covered in a fog of magic. The veil of it was so thick that it was hard to look through, and now I knew why I had never really tried before. It was hard to believe that Nassir could handle this all day, every day.

I could 'feel' my way around in the dark by seeing the essence of life and magic that settled on everything. Things felt different, looked different, than they did with my other senses. Life and magic, they seemed so similar when I concentrated on them like this. What I could see of the valley from where I lay on the soft grass, was patchy with bright and dull spots of bright life. I could tell where buildings were, and those had more magic in them than anything else. Then I could tell where the gardens and animal yards were, since they were abundant with life and life-aiding magic from the witches.

I felt my physical body swallow. A twinge in my left arm told me it was going to fall asleep soon, the way I was laying on it. I ignored it and pressed all my concentration on the ground. I had to find the trail that Nassir was following.

There were many trails to see. All different colors and brightness. The strongest traces of magic were from her, Schula, and Nassir. Under that was an array of other traces, and it was hard to distinguish between people and animals who had walked by.

I was son engrossed in inspecting the traces of power, that I jumped in alarm as a yellow shape pressed against me. It made my heart beat against my chest and my eyes popped open wide. I was breathing hard in alarm as I was jostled out of my meditation and back into my body.

"Wren, it is alright," Nassir said as he reached out a hand and held my wrist.

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes.

"You scared me," I said with a soft laugh.

"It was not my intent. I was just curious to see what you were doing instead of sleeping," Nassir said.

I blushed, thankful for the cover of night and Nassir's altered vision that he couldn't see my embarrassment.

"I was just... trying to see the trail you were following," I admitted.

"I thought we were sleeping," Schula complained from my other side.

"Sorry." I turned toward her as she was rolling onto her side with a yawn.

"Can't sleep with that intruder out there?" Schula asked.

I shook my head.

"I have had enough sleep," Nassir said. "I could be persuaded to move on, if we must."

"Me too," Schula said. "But not until I go down and grab something to eat."

I laughed and stood up, brushing grass and dew form my backside. "I can go, I'm the fastest runner."

"I don't know," Schula said. "If there is an intruder in the valley, maybe we shouldn't split up."

I nudged her shoulder with my leg. "But it was okay when you were about to go alone?"

She smiled and winked at me. "You caught me. I was just worried for you when you said you'd go."

"Why don't we all just walk a little farther. We are near Gilly's place and the sun will be up in a few hours. Wren, did you not tell me she wakes well before dawn?"

"She does," I said. "That's a good plan. We can keep going until we reach the height of the valley that's closest to Gilly's place. I hope she made some of those goat cheese rolls last night."

"Fine." Schula sighed. "I might die of starvation first though."

"Let's get moving then," Nassir said with a grin. "I wouldn't want you to starve."

I pulled Schula and Nassir to their feet, and we brushed the grass off of each other. The moon was already on it's way down when we began moving. The evening sounds of crickets and the occasional bats from the caves were all that accompanied us for a while. It was easy to fall back into step as we watched for signs of something other than the witches.

But one sharp noise stood out over the crickets and the bats. A high pitched 'Caw' echoed over the valley.

My head snapped toward the sound. It wasn't as though Puko was the only raven here. Several of the witches kept familiars, and a number of them were also ravens. But my gut told me I knew exactly which bird just cried out in the late hours of the night.

"Something is wrong," Schula said. "Let's go to him."

"But..." I was torn. "The trail?"

"It's done us no good so far," Nassir said. "Go to him. Something feels off."

I took a deep breath, then ran. They could catch up if I pulled ahead, but I had to see what was going on. Something spurred me forward as I kicked my heels out and sprinted down the valley. I ran straight through the square at the bottom, and shot right back up the other side.

The wind seemed to push around me, the moonlight giving me more than enough to see by. And my own fire, it tingled with anticipation. There was something to be seen where Puko called out, and I had to get there to see it.

I dodged buildings and crested hills. I woke more than one person on my pursuit of Puko's call. When I finally came to a field near the opposite wall of the valley, I spotted Puko right away. He was flying in a tight circle over one spot, and as soon as he saw me he began making a racket.

"Puko! I'm here. What is it?" I rushed to his side, and to my horror I found another witch on the ground.

It was Gelwyn.

My gut twisted sharply. I was furious that the intruder got another witch, but I had to admit I was still mad at her. No doubt she'd find a way to blame me for this, too. Stupid. She was so stupid to be out here in the middle of the night on her own. She knew damn well what was going on.

I clenched my jaw as a thought occurred to me. She took her role as the valley keeper very seriously. Maybe she was out here to catch the intruder herself. Of course she would think I wasn't capable of it. I shouldn't be surprised.

"Puko, which way did they go? Did you see them?" I asked.

Puko dove off toward the south along the valley wall, then resumed his tight circles over Gelwyn.

"Thank you, Puko!" I called and ran south. That bird was going to get a whole liver to himself. Or maybe a giant bowl of cherries. Or maybe both, when this was all over with.

My feet flew through the tall grass as I tried to breathe. The intruder was here. So close, they were so close and I was about to catch them if only I could find their trail now.

But they were no doubt being crafty about it. After all, they had kept hidden for nearly a month already. A chill ran down my back. They had been here a whole month, and they didn't act until Schula and I sensed them. None of the witches would have been attacked if it weren't for us raising the alarm.

This was probably all our fault, but this was also my chance to make it right.

I stopped in my tracks. I had been running blindly in the direction Puko sent me. But what I needed now was a fresh trail of magic.

I stood, closing my eyes. Breathing.

One... Two... Three...

I tried to rush it, cursing when I stumbled in and out of that magical state. I sat down and tried again.

One... Two... Three...

I thought about trying to dive in again, but no. It was too soon. Patience would lead me to my target.

One... Two... Three...

I went in. The world around me was abuzz with the gentile energy of life. But one stark silver line ran through it all. A mass of hurried energy that didn't belong in the grass with the crickets and snakes and rabbits. It clung higher on the valley wall, right against the steep rock wall that the caves sprung from. And it was still going south. I could just about make out the ball of silver light that sprouted it all, running ahead.

I snapped open my eyes and darted off, startling a sleeping nest of swallows in a nearby bush. My boots tore up the ground beneath me as I raced higher and farther down the wall. A breath of fresh air had caught up behind me, and I grinned.

My little pause to meditate allowed Schula to catch up with me.

"Wren!" she called out.

"Along the wall!" I answered.

We sprinted, heading south and a little east as we reached where the valley began to curve. My heart raced as I looked ahead and made out a darting figure against the mouth of a cave. It dipped inside, and I pressed my feet harder.

"The third cave!" I called out.

"I saw!"

We met the mouth of the cave with thunderous footsteps. We echoed off of it, but so did the intruder. My boots tried to slip against the smooth limestone floors several times, but I stayed upright as we wound through the cave.

My heart fluttered when we caught sight of our target. We were much closer now. My nose flared, taking in the scent of something I wasn't expecting at all. A fae.

We reached a straight length of cavern and Schula threw her arms out in front of her. I saw what she was doing, and I reached for her shoulder with my left hand, pushing my power into our bond. Schula sent a stream of ice underfoot in front of us.

It had exactly the desired effect, because the fae ahead slipped. We wasted no time in running forward, Schula scattering the ice as we went.

The fae was lithe, and dressed in black. Their skin was some kind of gray, but it was hard to tell in the cave with almost no light in it. Even our eyes weren't that sharp.

"Stop!" Schula shouted as we reached out to grab at the fae.

They wrestled and squirmed, and in one dangerous moment they twisted in Schula's grip to place a hand at my face. No doubt this was the sleeping spell we had seen on the witches. I shoved the hand away just as Schula yanked them back by the shoulder. And then, as we were wrestling with the fae, the stone around us began to move like waves of water.

"Stand aside!" Nassir called from behind us.

We were happy to do so, and just as we jumped back, the limestone underfoot reached up to swallow the fae down to his chest. He was well and thoroughly stuck in the stone.

I was panting from the chase, and I sat down hard on the cave floor. Schula did the same, and Nassir walked over to join us.

"What do we have here?" Nassir asked.

Schula and I glanced at him. The fae was about Nassir's size, dressed in dark colors but his skin was a light bluish-gray and it stood out in the dark cave. He strained against the stone that had him captured, hissing curses and snarling as he resisted.

"Who are you?" Schula demanded. "Why are you here?"

His eyes snapped up to the white fae, and he snarled. "I am here on behalf of your father."

Schula took a step back, her hand flying over her mouth.

"No," Nassir growled.

"Why would I lie, Nassir the stone shaper?" The fae cackled as Nassir's face drained of color.

"What do you want?" I demanded.

"I want what my king wants," he said, locking eyes with me. "And my king wants your death."