The noise of many others getting ready woke the warrior-sisters. They looked at each other, even the Town Inn didn’t have this much noise and activity. Although they ran the risk of the kitchen running out of food they decided to delay the breaking of their fast until some of the noise abated and instead packed ready to leave in a hurry.
They entered the common room and realised it was full, every table was taken, three huge men covered in animal furs as clothing, two guards all dressed and armoured the same, sitting with a very small women dressed in white robes, four guards at one table obviously attached to a man and a women in fine travel clothes at another table, oddly two very down and scruffy warriors seated with a minstrel, who attended to tuning his lute, plucking its strings occasionally and to round out the mystery, two women seated with two teenage boys at the last table, one was bald! Most glanced up at the warrior-sisters and then returned to their own conversations.
Charis returned the look of the woman in white robes and then led the warrior-sisters out of the common room and out of the Inn. Charis didn’t know how she felt about being ignored by the crowded common room patrons. She thought the warrior-sisters all looked impressive in their like black hardened leather armour and like black soft leather cloaks. All their hair was raven black courtesy of a certain minor spell, with Otonia and hers now shoulder length and less boyish. Dione’s was still shoulder length and Astera’s was longer than all but braided to keep her hair off her shoulders to help her stay cool when she trained. Their open faced, hardened leather helmets were hung at their waists.
She then felt a hand on her shoulder followed by a tense whisper.
“Charis, the two men returning from the stable, they look very similar to the men that kept me like an animal, I would like to kill them!” growled Dione.
“Walk on, you can’t kill anyone on ‘similar’, but if they are related we need to talk to them first before we kill them.” replied Charis.
They didn’t walk directly to the elder’s cottage but took the east road out of the village on foot. After making sure they weren’t being followed they doubled back to the elder, the way Charis and Otonia went so many weeks ago. Feeling satisfied that no one knew where they went Charis knocked lightly on the elder’s door. When it opened and just before she was waved in by the elder, she waved to her warrior-sisters to follow and they walked across from the hedge row one at a time.
“Why are there so many new faces at the Inn?” Charis asked the elder.
“How am I to know, people come and people go, but it is unusual I agree with you so I have been keeping an eye out. Really watching for strangers, like I said some did visit shortly after you and Otonia left, but none since.”
Then she was forced to stop speaking as Otonia hugged her and smiled.
“And this is Dione and this is Astera, warrior-sisters both. This is the elder, our true friend.” announced Otonia.
“Honoured to meet you.” they both responded.
“The honour is mine dear ladies. Now if would be so helpful, could you keep an eye on the Inn, Otonia will show you the special place.” she laughed.
“What are we looking for?” asked Astera.
“You generally don’t know until you know, so when you know let us know.”
“Not sure if that helps!” answered Dione as she was shown the ladder to the loft by Otonia.
“Once up there just crawl to the thatching and you will be able to see into the common room.” instructed Otonia.
"Where?" asked Dione.
Otonia asked Astera to wait while she climbed the ladder. Astera leant on her spear amused.
“I went back through the spell book and there isn’t an exact spell but there is this one. What do you think?” asked the elder.
“‘Borrowing’, odd name at least.” replied Charis as she started reading. The spell wasn’t a long one although there was a bit of a mystery around a required ingredient.
“So this means you need to find a real source of what you want to borrow?” asked Charis.
“Yes, I think so, so if you wanted to be able to jump, you would need to use frog legs perhaps, as an ingredient. It seems the only explanation that fits.” suggested the elder.
“So to borrow seeing in the dark, we would need some creatures that can do that now and then take its eyes to use in the spell? That would be messy!” offered Otonia.
“Well we have those ugly little creatures we encountered outside of Farstay, they seemed to be able to see in the dark very well indeed. Time for a Goblin hunt perhaps?” said Charis.
“Goblins. Yes their eyes could be tried.”
“Can you teach me the spell?” asked Charis.
“It will take some time but I don’t see why not.”
“We have already used up too much time. I worked on a theory that the person we are trying to meet or rescue is either dead by now or in a safe place if he is still alive so there was no rush, but the Goblins outside of Farstay has changed my thinking on this. They seem to be sieging the village it seems to capture or kill someone.” mused Charis, “Would you be able to travel elder?”
“Me? Oh I am an old lady, with brittle bones used to a gentle steady way of life.”
“What if you used some magic to reinvigorate yourself?” offered Charis. The elder eyes lit up with the possibility. She was thinking she could feel young again and cast magic and all she needed to do was leave her old life behind.
“You tempt me lass, you sorely tempt me, can I have a day or so to think upon it?”
“Certainly, without the spell and your casting I am not sure if we can succeed so if a day or two will forestall a no into a possible yes then take two days if you wish!” replied Charis.
“Charis, Charis, something is happening outside!” Dione was down from the loft and heading for the door, Otonia following her out of the cottage.
Before Dione was one of the trappers shouting at the two women and their sons shaking a collection of furs and reaching for one of the sons, the one with hair on his head, by pushing his mother to the ground. Dione unwound her lasso and then threw it about his chest, forcing his arms down and trapped against his own body. The furs he carried dropped to the ground. He looked towards Dione in surprise and took a step towards her and Otonia, who at that exact moment pulled for all their worth and he toppled over, flat on his face.
A smaller trapper was looking on and pulled a hand axe from his belt and charged at them. As he was about to complete the arch of his strike a spear point with leaf shaped blades around it appeared under his chin, penetrating through his brain and cracking out of the top of his skull, lifting his body momentarily off the ground before his weight at the end of a long spear pulled him and the spear back down to the ground.
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Dione and Otonia looked between themselves over their own shoulder to see Astera holding the shaft of her two handed spear which she set between them to protect them. Her eyes wide, lips curled back and her grip weakening on her spear, realising in grizzly blood and bone detail the death she just dealt.
“You have killed my son! You murderous bitches, you will pay for this! You are dead, you are all dead!” came a shout and anguished yell from the stables as the trapper ran towards them waving his fists.
Astera snapped back to the present. She tried to extract the spear from the young trapper. She needed to throw her spear end over Otonia so she could pull it out of the younger trapper’s skull clear of her warrior-sisters and the rope they were holding. Her sisters were pulling on the rope to keep the trapper prone rocking on his large girth. He was struggling, trying to pull back and stand. The young trapper’s head was firmly impaled on the spear resisting Astera’s urgent efforts to release it.
The Trapper paused to pull a hand axe for each hand and let out a huge yell, his head slightly raised to the sky! Then an arrow transfixed his eye and the yell stopped but the instruction to charge was still present. He took two steps forward and then fell forward, the arrow snapping off, when it hit the ground, which forced the arrow deeper penetrating his brain a little more to make sure he was dead.
The sudden silence caused the roped trapper to stop struggling as he looked from Charis, with empty bow in hand to his friend who was now dead, lying face down on the ground but ten paces from him. His face turned bright red and he struggled enough to pull the warrior-bitches towards him and a gleam of revenge appeared in his eyes. Astera released her spear as she pulled it free and facing away from her sisters, vomited.
“Enough blood for one day.” The voice was quiet and calm, with an authority used to being obeyed.
Everyone looked towards the Inn doorway and an ancient lady in a white robe flanked by her two warrior protectors was standing there.
“Stand and admit your actions caused the death of your companions, although if you continue I am sure the warriors there will kill you so you can join them.”
He took in the scene, the bitch with the bow was ready with another arrow, the other that speared his friend’s son, was set again with her spear. The third was returning from a cottage with spear, while the bitch that roped him was coiling her rope to be ready again. There was no winning today, so he needed to wait until a tomorrow, which wouldn’t be the day after this one as he needed to tend to his dead. He turned away from all of them and reached down and grabbed the young trapper to drag him next to his dead father.
“Master Trapper, do we still have a deal sir?” called out a man in fine travel clothes. His wife partner was standing next to him.
“We know of Death, it doesn’t stop what has been settled. I will need two days.” replied the trapper.
“Thank you, sir.” The man and wife took themselves back into the common room of the Inn followed by their four guards.
Astera was shocked, while there was no sympathy for the trapper, it seemed cruel to talk business when you were grieving over the death of friends. She wondered what she would be doing, would she be stoic or would she fall to the ground blubbering if the same befell her.
Otonia was helping the mother up; her son was hovering over her. The other mother was huddled with her son, both frightened.
“Mother and sons, please be my guest.” The lady in the white robe waved them into the common room of the inn. Otonia didn’t move. The lady was old, very old, in fact probably older than the elder, yet she was still confident in voice and body. She and her guards followed the mothers and their sons back into the Inn.
Charis stood watching the trapper. He was bringing a horse team towards the bodies and as he turned the team a leather sheet was attached by rope to both of them. He then rolled his friend’s son, the young trapper first to the far side of the sheet, so it was a smaller effort to roll his good friend onto the sheet. He took one look back towards Charis and then led the horses away up the west trail until out of sight.
Otonia, Dione and Astera joined Charis and they turned to head back into the elder’s cottage.
“Well remind me not to get on your bad side!” quipped the elder, looking at Charis, “time for tea and you know well you will need to kill him also and then all his family and so on, don’t you.”
“I couldn’t let him attack that mother and her boy.” protested Dione.
Charis held a hand up, “What is done is done. We are sisters; we live and die for each other. It would probably be best to sleep here tonight if that is alright with you elder?”
Upon agreeing, Dione and Astera went to the Inn to settle up and gather all their equipment and bring it back to the cottage.
They returned with a message. Charis was to meet the Lady in the White robe on the village green, alone or not, it did not matter.
Charis went alone; it was approaching middle of the day, the sun almost directly above her. The sun being a comfort to her, Charis felt a calmness; without really knowing why. She should have been wondering, cautious and suspicious. Somehow she felt she was walking these steps for the thousandth time, familiar and comfortable.
The Lady in White was there looking towards an overgrown statue. She was flanked, at a distance by her two guards. Closer to her, cleaning the statue, were a couple of non-descript villagers.
“I am glad you have come alone. I thought you would. I think I know a little of you just from observing you.”
“I came alone because if there was danger it would be mine alone and I would suffer it alone.” replied Charis.
“Your warrior-sisters didn’t agree with you, they are here also, they love you, which seems as it should be. Do not be alarmed, I knew that would be the case also, but there is nothing to fear.”
“Why did you ask me here?” asked Charis.
“I sense something special in you. I don’t have any idea what that means, my sight has been fading for many years, hence why I am here. I prevented you from killing the last trapper because I want your reputation to spread, I know this action places you in danger, but I know it is needed. Again I do not know why and unfortunately I won’t be alive to witness it, I only hope you can, in time forgive me.”
“Truth be told I am surprised I am still alive.” Charis looked up at this mysterious old lady, “it has been better and easier surviving with friends.”
“And lovers?” she smiled.
Charis couldn’t help herself but blush, maybe it was her age, maybe it was not having a mother and in any case she couldn’t stop herself in front of this venerable lady in white.
“It is natural. To find love in this world is difficult enough, without searching for it in only half of the population.” she smiled as finished her words, which relaxed Charis as well.
“I hope you will be here at the same time tomorrow to witness my death. That is the real reason I asked you here. Although I sense this won’t be possible, so I forgive you.” Charis allowed her to pause and think a little more. "So I will try something challenging now."
“I am not due to go anywhere that I know of.” Charis said with furrowed brow. She was still waiting for the elder to give a reply.
“Not yet you don’t. Before I go I need to introduce you to one of our mysteries.” She led Charis slowly, closer to the Shrine. “This here is a shrine to the Goddess Saph; they have fallen into disuse, except for the ceremony I will be performing tomorrow, so it needs to be cleaned occasionally and completely. When the world was full of magic they could transport messages, people, anything really so I have read. One of the privileges of age is access to rare knowledge within rare tomes. It helped if you were a Priest or Priestess of Saph, but it wasn’t unusual for others to attune to the shrine.”
She interrupted herself to instruct the workers she was supervising to call them back to a location that wasn’t cleaned to her satisfaction. When she spoke to them they heard her, but Charis felt when she spoke to her no one else could hear them.
“I feel magic returning to the world, it may still be years away, but it will be in your lifetime and I see a significant future around you. You may die tonight, but what you have started won’t, whatever that is. I need you and your warrior-sisters to approach each Shrine and clean it down and then say the prayer I am about to tell you. This prayer will possibly attune you to the Shrine. Then once you have attuned two linked shrines you can say another prayer and use the linked Shrines to move items or yourself across the world. You must hold this secret close to you, you understand?”
“I understand, but you do realise I am just sixteen years old, the daughter of a Blacksmith and uncertain due to circumstances if I would ever be welcomed back to my village. I am not special in any way that I know.”
“Well then, for an old lady will you at least pretend to believe me and follow my instruction?”
Charis nodded in agreement, not really knowing why, but knowledge was knowledge if for no other reason.
They spent the rest of the day practicing the prayers and then late, just before dusk the Lady took Charis to the spotlessly cleaned Shrine.
“You must stand here at the front and look to the sun in the middle of the day to attune the Shrine. The favour of the Sun is important. Then when you can travel you need to place yourself and others in front of each of the seven faces. If you are three or seven your travel will be favoured.”
“Why have you explained this? Spent your time with me? Won’t your order feel betrayed, that you have told an outsider of your secrets? It is not that I am ungrateful, but I am a very young gamble for you. You also said it requires magic and there is none in the world?” confessed Charis.
“Because I have been told to, the Goddess has commanded me.” She replied.
Charis’ knees almost gave way due to the weight of that statement. Her face must have reflected the way she felt as The Lady reached out to her and steadied her. The ancient Lady in White needed to steady a youth of sixteen Death Seasons.
“The Goddess’ will be done.” The Lady in White stated.
Her two guards approached and suggested they all retire for the night as it would soon be dark.