Chapter 5: Althea

Jake rubbed his eyes, fighting the sleep that threatened to overtake his mind. Whatever the Leadership Council was arguing about, Jake had stopped listening half an hour ago. It wasn’t as if anything new was being said, nothing that hadn’t been contended in yesterday’s meeting. He breathed deeply when he heard the inevitable phrase.

“Ask the Founder.”

Here we go, he thought. This is where they figure out that I haven’t been listening, and I’d rather be taking a nap in my private quarters or out on the training ground. Straightening, he said, “Ask me what?”

“What is the best way to avoid engaging Cryxanthia’s forces in direct combat?” This was Leonilus, one of the junior members of the Council. Young, and more widely known by his nickname, Leo, he had only recently been promoted to the status of Elite. The Council approved him to bring a fresher perspective on local affairs and political atmosphere. He was still a little naïve to the workings of the Council, but as a new member he was somewhat immune to harsh criticism. Jake was surprised he hadn’t asked a bolder question, since he could get away with it.

Jake nearly rolled his eyes. How many times have we gone over this? How many times have I told them my opinion? I don’t feel like counting. But he patiently answered, “The best course of action would be to destroy this move from its root. Assassinate Oeretni of Cryxanthia, Head of their Combative Operations. Without him, Cryxanthia’s unstable dictatorship will crumble. Cynara will be free to take back the land at Apacath’s border.”

Aria answered him with the usual rebuttal. “All by simply killing one man?” she asked skeptically.

Silent, Jake stared at the only female member of the Council. She, the Gathering’s top assassin of all people, should know the effects of a single assassination. Then again, it had been months since her last killing. Surely she wouldn’t forget the consequences of her missions that quickly? Finally, he answered with a single word.

“Yes.”

The other council members shuffled around uneasily, murmuring to each other, following this announcement. However, Aria spoke again before the debate would break out again. “Who will kill him?”

Choosing his words carefully, he replied, “I have someone in mind, though I would prefer that you did it yourself.”

“You know my style,” she said quietly, allowing the murmurs of the other council members to swell around them, drowning out her voice to all but Jake. “It wouldn’t work on Oeretni. He specializes in subtlety; my tactics would be useless. And you know my hand-to-hand combat is weak. Send someone strong in physical and magical abilities.”

“I’m glad you think that way,” he said just as softly as the noise in the room increased and the men around them began to stand for the recess. “I’m thinking of sending…”

Just then the door to the conference room burst open and a harassed and tired looking scout stumbled forward. “Urgent news from Gathia,” he gasped. “For the Founder.”

Jake stood from his chair at the head of the table and motioned for the other members of the Leadership council to be seated. “Calm yourself,” he commanded the messenger. “Catch your breath. You are of no help to us if you can barely speak.”

The man obeyed, though the council members waited impatiently with rising tension. Finally, his breathing was almost normal and he delivered the message. “Althea has been killed.”

Before he could continue, the council was in immediate uproar. Jake remained outwardly calm, though his mind was in panic. Of all times… Resting his head on his hands and staring at the table, he waited for the council to quiet down. At last, the unfortunate messenger stepped towards the founder and the noise reduced to whispers.

“Founder, we recovered her body. I think, and my comrades agree, it is fitting to hold a Ceremony of Passage for her, though it won’t be the same as it was for the founders.”

Jake’s eyes roamed the room, catching glances of council members nodding their heads before he focused on the colored patterns from the stained-glass window. The glass had clouded over since he last looked at it, and the colors warped without any recognizable arrangement. The original design was gone, replaced by a swirling mass of magical glass. With a sigh, Jake resigned himself to the signs that things were going wrong.

“Yes,” he said. “We will hold the Ceremony of Passage for Althea of Talia.”

---

Ethan awoke gasping, drowning in cold sweat, his vision swimming with the after-images of his dream. Something had stirred in his mind, something long undisturbed. At the same time, his awareness shifted to a pain in his heart that told him his dream was true. Althea was gone.

He sat up, wiping the perspiration from his face with an equally damp sleeve. Staring out into the darkness, it was impossible to tell how soon until sunrise; the moon had slipped beyond the horizon while he slept. The sky shone with millions of stars, some only showing themselves when Ethan stared hard enough. Others, the brighter and more familiar stars of the constellations, winked and danced through the stage of black silk. Everything felt a little more mundane as he gazed up at the sky; it made one person’s death seem trivial in something as vast as the night.

Slowly, his thoughts returned to his immediate surroundings. Samantha slept undisturbed a few feet to his right while the embers from the fire glowed some distance from the foot of his sleeping pad. We should have kept a watch, he thought idly, trying to force his mind away from the possibility that he would never see his mentor again.

A rustle from the bushes sent Ethan scrabbling for his dagger and needles, fingers ready for a spell. His heart beat rapidly when he saw two glowing eyes reflecting the light from the embers. As they approached cautiously, Ethan made out the slim, ragged figure of Samantha’s dog, now imprinted in his mind as Raven of the Night.

Now looking much friendlier in Ethan’s point of view, Raven came up to him and dropped a scroll in his lap before sitting at his side. With trembling fingers, Ethan opened the message, summoning a feeble flame to read.

To: Ethan of Talia and Samantha of Apacath
From: Jake of Apacath
Return to Headquarters immediately. Horses from Kalispell if possible. Ceremony of Passing to be held with waning moon, approximately 2 days for travel. Both of you must attend.

His worst fears confirmed and his sadness too much to bear, Ethan cried. Raven patiently bore his weight as Ethan wrapped his arms around the black dog, seeking comfort in the thick fur and warm skin. When Raven’s tongue sought the salty tears on Ethan’s face, he couldn’t help but laugh. At last, Samantha opened her eyes. Embarrassed that she might see him crying, Ethan tossed her the message and turned away.

The tears slowed and the world came into finer focus. Birds began to shift in their nests overhead. To the east, the black of night was soon imbued with pink and gold of dawn. Life and nature passed, continuing as usual. Irrationally, and knowingly so, Ethan thought bitterly that time should stop, that it was unfair for everyone but Althea to enjoy the new day.

These thoughts quickly disappeared when Samantha gently touched his shoulder, offering the comfort that he needed, yet wanted to deny.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered.

Her simple words sent the landscape out of focus as his eyes filled again with unbidden tears.

---

Samantha ran her fingers over the smooth black silks that lay folded on her bed at Faitaille. It had been a while since she last wore them, and each time she hoped it would be the last. Sighing, she picked up the fabric and changed out of her Kalispell uniform, still sweaty from the brisk ride from the Academy. They had arrived early, but Jake had summoned them both to a special meeting. Though she had other clothes to wear, nothing stopped her from wearing the black silks of mourning.

Tightening the sash at her waist, she took note that the loose tails fell to her knees, lower than they used to. Either someone gave me a new sash, or I’ve actually lost that much weight. A quick glance at her reflection in the bath confirmed that although she had grown slightly taller, she was much thinner. After a moment, she abandoned the thought and left for Jake’s meeting.

She was surprised, yet not surprised, when she found Ethan downstairs in black silks as well. He looked better than he had when they left Kalispell, heavily shaken by the blow of losing his mentor and friend. Samantha led the ride to Faitaille, fearing his distraction would lead him off the road. Now, the paleness was gone from his face, replaced by a pink flush from the exhilaration of riding. His hair, still damp with sweat, stuck up at strange angles, probably rumpled when he pulled on his silks. Smiling slightly at his distracted appearance, she joined him to gaze out the window. The cliffs surrounding the Faitaille valley vaulted beyond the ring of trees a few hundred paces from the window.

“We’re lucky we got in before the snow,” she said.

At the sound of her voice, Ethan jerked back to reality. “Yes, we weren’t expecting snow in the eighth month.”

“A tribute from the spirits, perhaps.”

He looked down, strangely fascinated with his hand resting on the window sill. “Yes. Perhaps.”

Jake’s voice called out from his office. “Ethan! Samantha! What took you two so long?” he bellowed. “You came in twenty minutes ago. I have a meeting to conduct! In you get.”

A smile lingering on her lips, Samantha pulled Ethan up the short stairway to landing on the second floor right outside Jake’s quarters, more commonly called the Founder’s Office. Ignoring formality with her cousin, Samantha flung open the double doors and strode in unannounced. She then proceeded to plop down on the comfortable couch in the corner. Ethan, not accustomed to her lax behavior with Jake, looked somewhat appalled. According to convention, he knocked on the already open door and announced himself clearly.

“Ethan of Talia, reporting to Founder.”

“Thank you, Ethan,” said Jake, glancing pointedly at Samantha, who lay draped over the arm of the couch, examining a dagger on the end table. “And Samantha, you’re trailing dirt on the couch.”

“My pleasure, founder,” she replied flippantly. “I’m discouraging you from sleeping on it all the time. Your bed is right in the next room, you know. No need to nap on the couch to stay near your work.”

Awkward around the two cousins, Ethan cleared his throat from where he stood at the door.

“Come in, Ethan. Sit down and get this excuse for a cousin of mine to sit next to you.” Jake turned aside to hide a smile.

Ethan obliged, dragging Samantha off the couch to sit in the wooden chairs in front of Jake’s desk. The square room was decorated simply with sparse furniture and bookcases on three of the four walls. There were three doors: one leading to Jake’s bedroom, the other to the Council room, and the double doors through which Samantha and Ethan had just entered. Opposite the double doors, a large window curved outward, bringing in plenty of sunlight, the panes casting shadows across Jake’s large oak desk. At present, his papers were scattered across the wide surface, leaving space only for a small painting of the Apacath castle in wintry landscape and a glass, taken from the dining hall, filled with writing utensils.

Shuffling the pages into vague piles, Jake began outlining what he needed them to do. “The Ceremony of Passage is traditionally performed by a group of four essedarians, one master of each minor element. A combination of elementals pays tribute to the dead, and the spirits. However, for the founders, their bodies disappeared, whereas we have Althea’s body. In this case, we are combining the elements to cremate her body and join her with the spirits.

“I would like the two of you to join the Passage Masters, Ethan representing Water, Samantha representing Fire. Earth and Fire will cremate her body, while Water and Air spread the ashes. Any questions?”

Ethan leaned forward in his seat. “I’d like to speak before the ceremony.”

“It would be appropriate,” Jake said with a nod, “seeing as she was your mentor, and friend I presume.”

“Yes,” Ethan whispered, closing his eyes for a moment.

“Then it’s settled. Leonilus and I will be Earth and Air, respectively. The ceremony will take place tomorrow at dusk on the south field, weather permitting. Spread the word. Black silks of mourning are to be worn, though most members have already put them on like yourselves. That is all; you are dismissed.”

Sobered by the talk, Samantha behaved and bowed her head respectfully as she and Ethan left.

---

Dusk came earlier in the Faitaille valley than at Kalispell or Kamali. Three hours after the noon meal, the main building of headquarters was empty, save a few sentries. The masses of essedarians, clad in black silk, gathered on the south field as the sun crept closer to the highest peak in the west. Darkness slipped in among the waiting crowd. The wisps of cloud turned the pink of cherry blossoms in spring, then deepened to orange and crimson.

On a raised circle of stone, Samantha stood with Leonilus, Jake, and Ethan behind the pyre where Althea’s body, preserved with spells, lay. In contrast with the living, she was dressed in a pale blue, almost white, healer’s robe. Her features were still young, for she had lived just over two cycles and time had not yet aged her. An aura of contentment and peace on her face, she had been lain out with her hands clasped at her chest, her chin raised toward the sky, and her eyes closed. Flowers wreathed her hair, and small blossoms were strewn over the pyre.

Looking completely calm, with no trace of the grief that had made him so weak only two days before, Ethan stepped forward to address the gathering. He took a deep breath and began.

“I was fourteen years old when I first met Althea. She found me and saved me from near-death. From that day, I only remember her face, her eyes: blazing with passion and empathy. She decided my destiny for me as I slipped in and out of consciousness, barely clinging to life. Althea was a master healer, more so than any I have ever known. Every one of her patients was a friend she was trying to save. I tried to learn that from her, the undying love for all living things. Nothing was wasted to her, not even her efforts that failed, nor the lives she could not save. Even when there was no hope, she believed in that bit of chance. She always gave more than her all. She never gave up.

“Now, in the Ceremony of Passage, we say farewell to one of our best essedarians. A great fighter and compassionate to her end, she leaves us now. Though her body goes to Earth, Air, Water, and Fire, her memory remains forever. May the spirits fill the chasms in our hearts, and whisk away the pain created by her parting.”

With that, he stepped back and the Passage Masters fanned out around the pyre. Leonilus began with a hum, soon taken up by the audience. He cast the Earth elemental, covering the pyre with vines and branches, roses and irises, until the myriad of plants obscured Althea’s body. Next, Samantha added a note to join the hum and cast the Fire elemental, wreathing the living foliage in orange and red flames, taking the body with it in a blazing core of heat. Ethan and Jake sang notes in harmony to the other two, the varying pitches shivering through the audience like waves in an undulating sea. Together, they cast Water and Air elementals, carrying the ashes high into the clouds and away into the river.

The hum faded, and the crowd slowly dispersed. Jake looked up to the sky, whispering a poem to the spirits.

Guide the ashes through the sky,
To river, cloud, and meadow.
Do not settle, let them fly,
Leave the spirit free to flow.
Life goes on without pause,
But we will still remember,
All the virtues and the flaws
And hold them close forever.

Ethan searched the throng of people for Samantha. The impact of Althea’s death hadn’t seemed to hit her until they met for the ceremony. She had been unusually quiet, even lacking the attention to respond to his attempts at conversation that morning.

Through the growing darkness, there was no sign of her in the meadow, even after everyone had left. He felt for her energy patterns with no luck. Finally, he gave up and headed towards the main building of headquarters, concluding she must have gone inside already. With this thought prevalent, he was surprised when almost he tripped over her lying in the grass.

“Samantha!”

She opened her eyes. “Hi,” she responded quietly. Upon close inspection, Ethan saw she was in such a state of calm and peace that her energy barely pulsed.

“I’ve been looking for you.”

“Really?”

“Are you all right?” he asked, checking her over with a healer’s eyes.

“I’m fine.”

“Then prove it to me, you’re as still as death.”

“My lips are moving.”

“I meant your energy. I couldn’t even find you in an empty meadow.”

She sat up, the effort of moving her muscles forcing the energy to shift. “What if I didn’t want to be found? What if I wanted to still myself so much that I died?”

“Please,” he said, his eyes begging as much as his voice. “Please tell me you have something to live for. Tell me that death is not your only option.”

“It isn’t an option, Ethan. It’s a choice.”

“You have people who care. Live for them.”

“I do. But Althea is gone now, and Jake is busy.”

“Jake is always busy, but he still cares.”

“I’ll admit he does.”

“And what about me?” he asked, laying back to look at the stars coming out.

“What about you?” Her chin tilted up to gaze at the sky as well.

“I care.”

“I’ve wondered about that. Why do you care?” She glanced at him, but turned back to the constellations.

“You want the truth?”

“What else would you give me?”

“Fine. I don’t know why. That’s the truth.”

“Then give up.”

“I can’t. I can’t just give up caring.”

Reaching over, she turned his head toward a constellation in the southwest. “See that? Orion the Hunter. That’s who you are, Ethan. You are a hunter who can never reach his quarry. No matter how hard to try, the thing you seek is moving at the same speed away from your hands. You will never touch your goal.”

“What if I already have?” He grasped her hand, still resting on his cheek.

Slipping out of his hold, she stood and replied, “Then you have been a fool to think you have reached it.”

---

A/N: I think I'm fond of this chapter. (Other than that, I can't think of much else to say...)

Iccorp2: Yay! New reviewer! Just so you know, Jake spoke with Aidan before meeting up with Aidan and Amy in the prologue. I was hoping the reader would assume that Aidan had approached each of them individually first, then brought them together to leave.
As a reviewer, you've hit most of the major problem spots. I had a really good but somewhat insane English teacher freshman year of high school, and she taught me a lot about writing. I took her poetry class, too, where she helped me with prose as well. It makes me a little paranoid when I'm writing, but at least I'm conscious of the problems in my writing. Plus, my friend (who also took poetry and forgets that poetry is different from prose, but helps nonetheless) CRs each chapter, usually before they come out. (CR is a term my English teacher used, it means "color revisions"-- literally my friend takes a colored pen and murders the printouts). Very sorry, I haven't gotten to reviewing your story/stories yet!
Lord Duffikus the Devourer- please tell your Creator that just from the way you've written the review, I can tell that he is an excellent writer. Tell him not to doubt his own abilities. ;D Otherwise I'll put him into the mines of Cryxanthia. Mmm, hard work AND an oppressive government!

Color Blanca: AAHHHH!!! Stop changing your pen name! It's confusing me ! In the meantime, IT'S NOT ALL ABOUT MONEY!!! (Actually, it is, but no one needs to know that)

Panzuriel: Sorry I'm a bit irregular in my updates. Sometimes I get spurts of creativity and sometimes I write two sentences in a day. Plus school started, so I've been focusing on homework rather than writing. In the meantime, I'll try to keep reviewing your story! Thanks for referring StoryJunkie!
The two disappeared founders? You'll just have to wait --evil laugh--...
A lot of the line breaks were spots where I wanted to change the flow of the story, or they happened at different times. I became a little addicted to them in that chapter.

EmilyTheWise: Aidan and Amy with Ethan and Samantha? Well... --evil laugh--

rrmehta364: Another new reviewer! Hello! After all the reviews about the intro, I'm thinking of modifying it a bit. Mostly it's to make my job easier while I'm telling the story. This way, I don't have to make long passages about channeling, etc.

StoryJunkie: Yet another new reviewer! Welcome! Yes, shivers are... for lack of a better word, shiverful. Wow that was a really weak word. Hey, stories are like drugs to me, too! I just can't get enough!!!