The Ranger's Return

There the oldest living men on Vyrv cast their eyes down upon me. There I knelt before them, limbs bound, wondering that they might not listen to reason. The Great Elder leaned forward from his seat atop the dais with a patience in his tired eyes, a verdant cloak of leaves blooming from his nape and spilling over his shoulders, whispering alongside his careful motions. Flaky bark consumed his shoulders and grew to a place above his elbows, allowing a near-full range of motion. His hair was dyed a brilliant shade of emerald that might make one believe him capable of drinking the sunlight.

The walls of the great mahogany chamber loomed over us, imposing upon us its fearful might as the second largest tree in Vunkei and ascending into darkness; it was an impenetrable void suspended above our heads, swaying this way and that in the breeze. Thorny red vines scurried across the circular face enclosing us, clawing their way down along forked paths. Undersides of giant mushrooms reflected the warm glow of hearth-fire back unto us, reaching upward from whence they held fast upon the walls.

The Great Elder mustered up saliva in his mouth and broke the looming silence in a reverberating voice, ‘Tell us, Silvi, do you remember not the vow you spoke before Statavilna?’ The words escaped rasp and strained, yet enunciated with clarity. The four Lesser Elders sat two and two on either side of him. They held upright with a stern pride.

‘“I will live the life of a leaf on the wind,”’ I said reciting the final parts of the words. ‘I don’t return without reason! Please, listen to—’

The Great Elder raised his hand and loomed over me, ‘“Never to return before your presence again.” Those were the words, and you knew the consequences for breaking them.’ He lowered his hand, ‘Now, what do you have to say for yourself that is so important you must break your sacred promise?’

Tears welled in my eyes, it took all my focus to not choke. ‘The princess Irabel, she brings an army upon us— upon you.’

‘Very noble of you indeed,’ the Great Elder huffed, ‘but you know well you were not our only ranger, we had word of her incursion two full days before your return.’

‘Please, that’s not all, Great Elder. She possesses a power not seen in the Tien Empire for over two centuries. She has trained herself in the ways of Iksi and now wields the elements as Westerners do.’

The Great Elder softened, contemplating my words for a moment with a subtle twitch in his brow, ‘Have you any proof? Surely you don’t return here lightly, bringing naught but hearsay. It takes remarkable talent to train oneself in the use of Iksi as you claim.’ Lesser Elder Adana whispered something into the ear of the Lesser Elder beside him; his eyes shadowed me in judgement in response to what he had heard.

My voice quavered, ‘Then remarkable talent she has, Great Elder. I do not speak falsely. I stopped in Atuen during my journey back to the Green Mountains, I was there when it fell. It was not simple men with torches that razed that town, but the flames of her very own hands!’

Lesser Elder Adana spoke this time, his lively voice rang throughout the chamber dismissively, ‘An oathbreaker twice over she is now that she’s returned here! Why should the Elders trust her word? Perhaps she tries to work her way back into our good graces upon her princess’s behalf!’

My face flushed with heat, ‘I would sooner die than be lackey to someone so vile! She threatens my village in the Green Mountains and you dare make such accusations of me? An oathbreaker I am, but never a traitor! I beg you to take your conspiracy and whispers elsewhere, Lesser Elder, they are ill-placed in this matter,’ The words spit from my mouth.

‘You would be wise to watch your tone, Silvi. Your fate is in his hands as much as it is mine,’ the Great Elder boomed. ‘Lesser Elder Adana, for what reason would the princess herself send word of these newfound powers that would devastate us so if left unseen?’

‘If what she says is true,’ Lesser Elder Adana said, ‘Then why shouldn’t the princess send word first and place her spy in good standing with us? We’d discover it for ourselves in due time regardless.’ His face remained as stone, yet did not conceal the smug look in his eyes.

‘This is madness! Great Elder, I’ve served you loyally all my life. Exile or no, I have the utmost respect for you and Statavilna and indeed most of the Elder Council,’ I resisted shooting a stare in Lesser Elder Adana’s direction, ‘If Vunkei is not sufficiently prepared it would mean its total destruction like that seen in Atuen.’

The Great Elder looked to those sat at his right, and then to his left, before his gaze then returned to mine. His words creaked like old timber, ‘We require some time to discuss privately.’ With that I was hoisted by the two guards that stood audience to the whole affair. They brought me to a dungeon beneath the Chamber of the Elders where I was given a barely passable meal and straw mattress. This seemed a good sign in my mind, and soon the exhaustion claimed me.

* * *

I dreamt that night. Statavilna, the Guardian Tree, towered before me, her mast soaring far beyond great billowing clouds. Her mighty boughs stretched out into the heavens, a shower of blossoms descending from her sky. A blinding halo of light engulfed her and punished any that might lay eyes upon her.

‘Silvi. Daughter of Aida,’ her words boomed within my mind, ‘My child shall shortly be born of your world.’

My perception quaked. I couldn’t tell if I was standing upright or falling over. I held up a hand to shield my eyes before I spoke, ‘Your… Child?’ No response came other than a violent whirr lingering on the air. ‘Why are you telling me?’ I quavered, but still I was met without response. The roiling vibrations set my nerves alight. I began to cry, ‘I’m sorry.’ Tears rolled down my face and I fell heavy to my knees, ‘I’m so sorry.’ It was too much, my senses were ablaze and searing.

* * *

Shortly after I woke I was brought back before the Elders. I couldn’t tell what time it was for sure, but I supposed that it was later in the morning.

‘We have come to a decision,’ the Great Elder announced confident and without delay, ‘We will heed your words and see if there is indeed any merit to them. We shall make a decision at such time that your message can be proven true or otherwise. In the meantime, you will have to remain in custody.’

The decision was as much as I could have hoped for, but it wasn’t enough. ‘Let me fight!’ I burst out. The Great Elder paused. ‘You need every able body fighting for you, and you know well of my capability!’

His brow furrowed, ‘Of course we know well of your capability, and while our trust in you is unproven, it is as well a potential threat that we may not risk. That is not my decision alone but the decision of the council. A final decision, I should add.’

I couldn’t stand the thought of sitting helpless in a cell during the attack, I wouldn’t. Just as he began to dismiss me I spoke out one last time, ‘Statavilna spoke to me last night! In a dream. She’s to bear a child!’ Now the council was silent. The shock of the Lesser Elders was plainly evident, yet the Great Elder seemed hardly moved.

‘Heresy! Lies!’ Lesser Elder Adana hissed at last, ‘Statavilna would speak to you who have forsaken your promises to her? Utter ridiculousness. You expect us to believe this drivel?’

The Great Elder lifted his hand and Lesser Elder Adana went meek. ‘This is a serious claim, Silvi, one that carries great consequences. Are you certain that you wish to proceed down this path?’

What am I doing, I thought, it was just a dream, why did I tell them? But I knew too well that it was more than a dream. It was a memory of something far more vivid than that. ‘It is, Great Elder. I know it to be true with all my being. As true as my knowing of you sitting here before my eyes.’

‘Did Statavilna speak anything else to you in this dream?’ the Great Elder asked.

‘No. She spoke my name and what I told you and nothing else. I felt my body might fray at the seams, coming apart in a fiery death so great her presence was. But beyond that she told me nothing,’ I said hanging my head.

Lesser Elder Nev, a shorter woman with soft wrinkles covering her face, sat presently, ‘Statavilna hasn’t spoken to anyone outside of direct communion with the Guardian Tree for a thousand years,’

The Great Elder nodded, ‘Indeed, and I am inclined to believe that it may have happened again. Does the sensation she gave not match that which we experience when we Elders commune with Statavilna at her Guardian Tree? This is not an experience many would know, yet her dream matches it exactly.’

Lesser Elder Adana scowled, ‘Preposterous! Merely a lucky guess! Or perhaps she had heard of it through rumours and hearsay. Not all Elders in the past have kept quiet enough about their knowings.’

Lesser Elder Nev spoke, concern carrying in her voice, ‘What do you believe to be the meaning, Great Elder? Is Statavilna truly to deliver her child unto us?’

The Great Elder nodded slowly in his thought, ‘Perhaps so, Lesser Elder Nev. Or perhaps it is a metaphor. It is hard to know for certain with Statavilna. Enigmatic are her ways, and at times, I believe, that is her intention.’ Now he looked to me and continued, ‘There is much for you to do in this world yet, Silvi. Statavilna has snared you in her spider’s web, and with many plans it would seem. Using my authority as Great Elder, I am overruling the decision to continue your custody. You will fight alongside the men of Vunkei.’

Lesser Elder Adana shot up from his seat, ‘Great Elder! Please! I must protest! Have you lost your wits? This breaks all procedure!’

‘My overruling is the procedure and you would do well to remember that, Lesser Elder Adana!’ the Great Elder boomed, ‘You have been on the Elder Council long enough to know that I do not make such decisions lightly.’

Lesser Elder Adana’s face twisted, ‘As you say, Great Elder,’ he said, pushing the words through his teeth.

My heart sank into my stomach. That actually worked? I thought to myself, He believes me! The dream was real? I had so many more questions, but it was hardly the time to ask.

‘Release her,’ the Great Elder commanded and a moment later my bindings were gone. ‘The council is dismissed, I would like to have some words with Silvi in private.’

With that the Lesser Elders were stepping down from the dais and passing by me without a glance. The doors creaked and concluded with a soft thud. The Great Elder spoke in a hushed urgency, ‘We are in dire times, Silvi, and it does not surprise me that Statavilna has devised a solution to our strife. You must take care though, I suspect you have made more than one enemy today. Not even the Elder Council is immune to being blinded by their pride. They will not come around easily, not until your words are fulfilled and they may see the prophecy unfold before them with their own eyes. Even then they will surely harbour resentment, for they do not like to be made to look a fool in their wise positions,’ he picked at a loose piece of bark on his shoulder in thought before something snapped him back to awareness, ‘Steel yourself, Silvi. War is coming.’