8 A Dragon’s Shadow among the Storm

Days started to pass quickly. The life in the village was slowly returning to normal after my surprising return. I spent every second I could with my family and with Ethia, going for walks and talking about all possible insignificant things, trying to regain the time we lost. My father and her uncle's hunting became more frequent, as food reserves had to be made before the biggest birds started leaving, and the other animals hiding.

Kiya received a warm and hearty welcome among the villagers. The herbalist offered her a place in his hut, as he was in need of a helper and maybe apprentice, but when she learned, that the village had a blacksmith, all debate was meaningless.

But even with the days being this busy, I couldn't get Tavs' words out of my mind. Sometimes I thought about it so much, that I felt like I started to believe him, and more than once wanted to visit the prophet and ask for details. Luckily, shortly after I would realize the ridiculousness of it all once more, and I inwardly scolded myself for being at the peak of my stupidity.

One day I met him on the way back from one of the elder villagers, where I was helping to repair a broken window shutter.

"The winter will be exceptionally severe this year," he said, looking up at the sky.

"You think so?" I asked, deeming the question harmless.

I regretted it instantaneously.

"I told you, Yanka is slowly regaining her powers and she will do anything to get to you. Maybe she thinks, that if she puts the denizens of this country and the people dear to you in danger, you will surrender voluntarily?"

I didn't want to be impolite, so I just kept quiet. Luckily, Tavs just turned around and walked towards his house before I could show my capability of being a jerk.

The feared winter came a few weeks later. The village and the surrounding forest were suddenly covered by a pure white blanket, which innocently decorated the region. But the beauty of the season was soon stifled by its cruelty. Due to the blizzards, even simply getting firewood was a difficult task, and leaving the house for longer was out of the question.

It lasted for three days, before the snow and wind finally stopped, giving way to a freezing, but sunny morning. I put on the thickest clothing I could find and left the house, wanting to visit Ethia.

In front of her house I spotted her uncle. I greeted him, and asked, if she was there.

"She isn't. She left very early..."

"To where?" I raised my eyebrows. I didn't recall Ethia telling me about any planned trips recently.

He gave me a gentle and distressed smile. "It seems you do have some memory problems still..." he said, handing me a little note.

It was written in Ethia's handwriting:

I'm going to visit my parents. Please don't worry, I will be back by evening.

"Oh..." I said softly. That's right...

Ethia's parents died in an avalanche in the nearby mountains when she was only two years old. My father was with them at that time and was the only one to survive. Since then Ethia was brought up by her uncle, and my parents helped him to take care of the child.

When she grew up, she started visiting their makeshift graves in the mountains, because the bodies were never found.

But she never before went alone...

"What was she thinking..." I mumbled to myself. "The weather could change any moment again, it's dangerous..."

"Maybe it has something to do with the fact, that I dislocated my ankle when I went with her last year."

"But then she could have asked me. She must have been aware, that I wouldn't let her go alone, if she left in secret, but why?"

"I really don't know..."

I glanced towards the low line of mountains, perfectly visible from this point in the village. Where could she be right now? Did she already cross the Elladar Plains, that separated us from the ridge? If not, maybe I could still catch up with her...?

I looked at the snow at my feet, lost in thought, and then, I don't really know why, towards the little house some distance away.

In the small window stood Tavs, his eyes squinted a bit, looking somewhere towards the north. Something cold touched the base of my spine.

"I'll go after her," I said suddenly. "I couldn't bear it, if something happened to her."

"Thank you, but be careful. And tell your parents."

"Of course," I smiled and darted back home.

Upon returning, I quickly took out a haversack from the closet in my room. I made it out of boredom during the blizzard, from remnants of material that my mother sew me new clothes from. I started collecting everything that could be useful for this trip.

"Are you going somewhere?" I heard my father, when I finished rolling a thick blanket together.

"To the mountains dad."

"Are you crazy? Why?"

"Ethia went there. Alone."

"To visit her parents?"

"Yes. I have no idea why she didn't tell anyone and I have a bad feeling about this..."

He just watched me in silence, and I was sure, he would try to stop me. But then he sighed softly and despite the obvious worry on his face, smiled gently. "Go, but be careful."

My hand, holding a little waterskin, froze just above the haversack.

"What?" my father raised an eyebrow.

"Nothing, it's just... I thought you wouldn't want me to go. I was sure you will try to hold me here at all costs."

"Some time ago, I would have. But you are almost an adult now, and I trust, that you know what you are doing."

I smiled thankfully. "Tell mom not to worry, I promise I will be careful."

"I take you at your word," we hugged shortly, I slung the haversack over my shoulder and went out into the cold again.

When I left the village's premise, I started to think about that strange sensation, that infested me upon seeing Tavs. Why did I feel like something bad was going to happen? Maybe he really was telling the truth and the situation really was about to get worse if I didn't decide to take some steps?

I stopped.

I suddenly got the feeling of being observed, like I wasn't alone... I looked around but saw noone. The forest was silent, only once or twice I picked up the cry of some bird in the distance. I came to the conclusion, that my imagination is slowly starting to play tricks on me, and started moving again, shaking my head.

Shortly after the trees thinned out and I saw the vast plain, that separated me from the now very clearly visible mountains. The sight was gorgeous, almost too bright to look at, but the worry didn't allow me to enjoy it to the fullest. I finally spotted the vague trail Ethia left in pristine white, but I didn't spot Ethia herself.

I shielded my eyes with my hand and looked up. The sun was already passing its zenith, and in the far east I saw what I feared the most. Clouds. Massive clouds. Not wanting to lose more time I set off, inwardly praying, that I would meet Ethia on her way back.

The passage over the plain took longer, than I anticipated. When I arrived at the border of the forest, the sky was already covered completely. The wind picked up and each moment threatened with the beginning of a blizzard. On top of that, upon walking between the trees, I once again felt, like I was being watched. I tried to ignore that feeling, Ethia was far more important at this moment. I started calling her.

After a few more minutes, when the snow was already cruelly blowing into my eyes, I was at the brink of being furious. I kept scolding myself for forgetting the way after only two years.

Then a ghastly thought crossed my mind. What if we missed eachother...? I came to a stop in the middle of the forest and looked back, hesitant and torn.

It was then, that I spotted a kneeled down figure through the curtain of snow to my left. "Ethia?!"

The silhouette rose and faced me, a long coat tail flapped in the wind... the hair was short, the figure a little taller than Ethia... I took a step back, but then the shadow turned around and disappeared among the blizzard.

I quickly darted after it, and after just a few steps I stumbled over something and landed face-first in the beautiful whiteness.

I propped myself on my hands, cursing fancifully at the innocent snow, which covered me from head to toe now. I quickly brushed it off, so it wouldn't melt from the warmth of my body and soak the clothes. I looked back over my shoulder and was bewildered to see a human figure laying on the ground.

I quickly turned around, kneeled down and pushed the hood back. "Ethia!"

I immediately scanned the surroundings. Who just ran off into the depths of the forest? I was sure I saw the shadow, but... I shook my head, blaming it all on the blizzard and tried to wake Ethia. I didn't really get to it yet, when I noticed something that convinced me, that I didn't hallucinate after all.

There was a small leather pouch in the snow, the thin straps tied around a little piece of parchment, that was flapping wildly in the wind. I carefully took it out and opened it.

Dear Sian,

Keep it safe. It belongs to you.

You might find it useful, when you won't be sure, whom to trust.

There was no signature. I once again scanned the surroundings, and stuck the pouch into my pocket without even taking a look inside.

I spotted a tiny hill nearby, a young cedar growing on it. The earth underneath its roots on one side crumbled away somehow, creating a cavity deep enough to shield us at least from the wind.

I carefully lifted the still motionless Ethia. I placed her in the most shielded place under the tree and started to shift the snow away. I unintentionally created some snowdrifts, and an idea came up in my mind to make them bigger to protect our hideout. But there was something more important first.

I was incredibly glad, that I took the thick blanket with me, even though it was an irritating weight on the way here. I placed it on the now snow-free part of ground and freed Ethia from the little bag she was carrying. I carefully placed her on one side of the blanked and then wrapped her up in the loose side. She was pale, but her breathing was even. I tried to wake her up again, but unsuccessfully, then checked for injuries just in case. When I didn't find anything, I decided to let her come to her senses on her own, and started to make the snowdrifts bigger.

After some time the wind in our little hideout got much less nasty and fresh snow almost didn't come in at all. Pleased with my work, I sat down on Ethia's side, leaned my back against the wall of the cavity and took out the little pouch.

There was a small, irregularly cut, semi-transparent stone, its beautiful deep green shape not quite a triangle, more like a fang, slightly curved at the tip. A long leather band was attached to it, as if it was meant to be some sort of necklace. Who would leave something so beautiful and valuable to me? And how was this stone supposed to help me with anything?

I suddenly heard Ethia's silent moan, and she finally started to show signs of life other than breathing. "Hey," I greeted her with relief, when the two azure orbs started to stare at me in confusion. "You're a master in finding the most inappropriate places for naps..."

"Sian...?" she whispered finally.

"Yes, it's me."

"But how did you... what happened?"

"I followed you. And the second question is what I wanted to ask you. Why didn't you tell me that you were going?"

"I... I thought you still needed your peace... that you didn't want to leave your parents for longer, that you wanted to make up for those two years..."

"You're so silly..." I sighed. "I was separated from you for equally long, I would also like to regain what I lost with you..."

She smiled apologetically and looked around a bit. "Where are we...?"

"In a makeshift hideout I made for us, unfortunately still in the mountains. I didn't have much time or possibility to think of something better to prevent us from being buried alive..."

"But what happened to me?"

"Why don't you tell me? I found you knocked out in the snow."

"I don't remember anything... I was on my way back, when it started snowing... but what happened then...?"

"Then why did you even come here? You saw what was happening over the past few days."

"Tavs told me, that the weather won't change throughout the entire day. He must have been mistaken..."

I raised my eyebrows. A strange thought suddenly sparked in my mind. I recalled Tavs, standing in the window of his house. He wasn't mistaken... I thought. He lied to her!

I must have made quite a weird face, because Ethia asked with concern: "Is something wrong?"

"No no, I was just wondering... did you meet anyone else here?" I was glad to find a way out of this line of thought.

"No... should I have?"

"Right before I found you, I thought I saw a shadow in the snow."

"You must have been seeing things."

"Maybe..."

For some time we sat in silence, listening to the howling wind. After a few minutes she spoke again. "What are we going to do now?"

"Just wait I guess... unless you have the strength to go back under these circumstances, although I don't think that would be the best idea."

"Not the best indeed..."

"How are you feeling by the way?"

"It's not bad, but I've been better..." she seemed to suddenly notice something. "Are you not cold?"

Fair enough, I was sitting on cold ground, while she cuddled with a thick blanket. "I'm fine, don't worry," I reassured her.

Apparently she didn't believe me, because she snuck one of her pale hands from beneath the blanked and grabbed mine. "Your hands are so warm... how are you doing this?"

I didn't notice until she actually pointed it out. I spent the last few hours in freezing cold air, and just a few minutes ago I was building snow walls. And despite all that I didn't feel cold at all. On the contrary... "I have no idea..."

"Maybe you have a fever?"

"Nonsense, I feel great."

Still, something was off. I usually avoided cold and was pretty sensitive in that aspect. And now I didn't feel anything at all. I bit my lip. Something was incredibly wrong...

I wasn't sure, but I assumed we spent a good few hours there, listening to the blizzard passing through the approaching dusk. I was busy thinking about everything that was happening around me, slowly turning the stone in my pocket between my fingers. Meanwhile Ethia practically took a nap in the blanket.

When the storm died down at last, night shrouded the forest already. We rolled the blanket together again and emerged from our hideout. The fresh snow made our journey harder, so we arrived at the village shortly before dawn.

Elithia's uncle, although sleepy, was immensely happy and thankful for bringing his niece back safely. I quickly freed myself from the flood of gratitude under pretence of being tired and wanting to soothe my for sure worried parents. But when their door closed behind me, I didn't go to my own.

I was thinking about this the whole way back and came to the conclusion, that Tavs was behaving very weirdly towards me ever since I came back after these two years. Not that he wasn't always strange, and I didn't mean just his weird "prophecies"... I didn't want to evade him anymore, I wanted to hear what he had to say after almost sending Ethia to her death.

I knocked on the door of the small house, not even caring that he could be asleep. I soon heard the silent "Come in" though, and entered. "Oh, it's you."

"I didn't think that would be a surprise to you. You can see the future after all..."

He squinted a little and put the feather down. "What are you driving at?"

I took a deep breath. "Why did you lie to Ethia?"

He just stared me in the eyes attentively for a few moments, before he leaned back in the chair. "I didn't lie to her," he finally said. "Even I can be wrong sometimes."

I belatedly realized, that I had no plan for this outcome. I just wanted to press him for answers, I was too tired to think about what to do should he deny it. I was about to capitulate, when suddenly I felt something warm on my thigh... in my pocket... I sneaked my hand inside and my fingers found the smooth surface of the stone left to me by the stranger.

And I got a sudden feeling of understanding.

"You're lying."

Tavs sighed, sounding like someone, who's given up. "It seems that trying deceit in front of you is meaningless by now... You are starting to wake up..."

"What are you talking about? Does that mean that your previous words were a lie as well?"

"Partially..."

"Stop wriggling and tell me what is going on!"

"What, they didn't tell you?"

"Who?"

"You didn't meet you companions? How come you have your stone then?"

"'My' stone?" I took the crystal out, it's surface cold again. "You mean this one?"

Tavs' eyes sparkled at the sight of the gem. "Yes, this one..."

"It's not mine. I found it."

"Even if that's true, it wasn't a coincidence. This is your sirath."

The chaos in my head was getting unmanageable. "Listen, would it hurt you to explain something clearly for once? Who are you really and don't lie to me!"

"I'm a spy in Shaeth's service..."

"So... the part about Shaeth was true?" I stammered.

"Partially. To be honest, truth entwined with lie so smoothly, that I almost believed in my own words..." he gave me an innocent smile.

"I want the full and pure truth then. What do you want from me?"

"If I told you, you could become a too serious threat to us... you probably will anyway..."

"Why did you waste so much time then?! You've been living in this village ever since I can remember, you had so many occasions to get rid of me, so why didn't you?!"

"I don't feel the obligation to tell you."

I tried to stay calm, but it wasn't easy. The thought that I once trusted this man made me fell nauseous. I opened my mouth, but before I could lash out on him again, I heard a faint rustle somewhere behind my back...

"If you don't wish to tell him, would you allow me to do it?" came a gentle voice, that almost made me jump. I turned around quickly.

A dark figure stood in the shadow by the door, its features covered by a hood. Tavs jumped to his feet.

"Who are you?!" demanded the young prophet.

The silhouette calmly pulled back the hood with one hand. It was a boy... no, rather a young man, probably my age. There was intelligence and nobility in his eyes, that were not exactly green, but held a note of blue when looked at from a certain angle. A familiar looking crystal hung at his neck, but it was sky-blue, and the hilt of a sword poked out from underneath his coat.

I immediately associated these few features in his appearance.

"It was you... it was you who I saw in the mountains."

The stranger smiled gently. "Yes, it was me," his voice was almost palpably warm, his tone kind and apologetic.

"And you left me this stone..."

"Yes."

"But... who in the world are you?"

"My name is Sril..." it sounded, like he wanted to say more, but in that moment Tavs slumped back into his chair.

"You are...?" he stammered.

I've really had enough by now. Nothing I heard over the past ten minutes made the chaos in my mind any better. "Listen..."

"Don't worry Sian," the stranger interrupted me softly. "I will answer all of your questions in a moment, but please allow me to clarify something first..." he turned to the prophet again. "If you know who I am, then you must also be aware of what I can do to convince you, that helping Shaeth is a mistake."

Tavs just sat there motionless for a moment. I don't think I've ever seen him this disturbed before. Finally, he hung his head and sighed heavily.

"You win..." he said silently. "I would rather try to escape from him, than face you here..."

"I'm glad you understand." The guest paused shortly and a small smile played across his lips. "You should flee from here as soon as you can. Don't worry, I won't spread any word about you to anyone. Maybe Shaeth won't even care about pursuing you."

He was willing to forgive that swindler? And not just that, he was practically ready to offer him help? This guy must be out of his mind...

Before I could raise my voice in the matter, the stranger looked at me with those innocent eyes. "Do you know any place nearby, where we could talk in peace?"

It took me almost a minute to gather my thoughts in all my confusion. "Yes but... that would be outside. And it's cold..."

"I thought that shouldn't bother you anymore?"

I didn't even ask.

"Well then... I know a place."

He nodded and opened the door, making an inviting gesture for me to go first. I hesitated for just a moment, but finally turned away from, Tavs and left the house. The mysterious stranger followed me soundlessly.