Enchantress Awakening: Part One of the Book of Water (The Elemental Cycle 1) (16 page)

"If there is to be peril of any kind..."

"Worry not, there is no peril involved in this ritual."

"Then why must I wait outside when Ellie…" She nudged him, "Elwyn, is allowed to enter." This Gideon answered.

"We need Elwyn for the numbers, a female presence is required, the greatest peril however is not from the ritual but from any who would wish to prevent it happening. Therefore, guarding the outside is the most useful position to be in. We will be depending on you to make sure we are safe."

There was a ring of trees around the crest of the hill and before them waited Galenna and Gethin, silently they bid for them to follow. At the edge of the trees Penric stopped and took up his station while the others split into two groups, the men going one way and the women another.

Following Galenna, Caleigh and Ellie emerged into a small clearing in the centre of which stood a cauldron bubbling over a fire. In the light of the flames Galenna began to strip off her robes and motioned for the other two to do likewise. When the last of her garments hit the earth Caleigh found her eye drawn to Galenna's naked frame and not for its slimness or for the plumpness of her breasts. What fascinated her were the intricate designs in blue and green paint woven about her abdomen, thighs and all down her back. The eyes of the other two meanwhile were fixed on her.

"You have the form of a Goddess." Galenna remarked admiringly.

"Oh, I think there are some Goddesses who would happily trade forms with Caleigh." Ellie added.

"What must we do now?" Said Caleigh hoping to hurry things on and also that her blushing did not show in the firelight. Galenna ceased her staring, moved over to the cauldron and dipped her index and middle finger into the thick paste inside. With her free arm she held Ellie in position then drew a design over her back in a thin smear. Galenna then took Caleigh's hand and guided it towards the mixture, understanding what was required of her she scooped up a measure of the warm paste onto her fingertips and traced over the outline on Ellie's back over and again until it became more solid. At the same time Galenna began to draw more designs over Ellie's stomach and navel. Caleigh took her turn next with Ellie covering her back and Galenna her front. The touch of fingertips and the warmth of the paint on her skin aroused her senses in a way that was comforting, both relaxing and preparing her for the part of the ritual that was to come.

With the last of the markings complete Galenna led them by the hand onto a path different to the one they had come by taking them out into a grassy clearing larger than the one where the cauldron had been set. This time there were no fires, the light came instead from the moon unimpeded by branch or twig upon this summit. Gideon sat by, though not close, to the two other men, Gethin and a man who had not been introduced tapping out a steady beat with his fingertips on the skin of a drum nestled between his knees. Unlike the women the men were neither daubed with paint nor fully nude, being permitted in this ritual to retain a loincloth around their middles. Noting this Caleigh wondered whether this was the norm for this ritual or whether it was done to save embarrassing the outsiders. She smiled at this thought, contemplating how she could be more embarrassed than she was now standing completely unclad in the moonlight about to commence an act in front of strangers that she had not done in private until relatively recently.

Gethin began to chant and Gideon plodded to the centre of the clearing where Caleigh joined him. Ellie and Gallenna circled around them carrying aloft newly lit briars of burning herbs. "Is this strange to you also?" Caleigh whispered to Gideon.

"Exceedingly." He answered. "I have never had an audience before. It is most distracting."

"Hehe. Well, maybe it is best if you hone your eyes on my pretty face and great bosom." Caleigh suggested gesturing to her face and lifting her breasts in turn. Gideon laughed and visibly relaxed and so Caleigh kissed him on the lips and gently pulled him to the ground, kissing and caressing him into a state of easy submission. Suddenly, Gideon's eyes snapped back into focus and he looked at Caleigh curiously.

"You're using your charm to block out the distracting presences and relax me. What made you think to do that?"

"It seemed natural."

"Interesting."

"No, Gideon. The interesting thing here is that you have a woman perched atop you and your attention is not on her body. I do hope my natural charms are not wasted on you." Gideon guided her hand down into his loincloth.

"Does it feel as though I am indifferent?"

"Indeed not. Now enter me and let me share with you another kind of magic."

Soon all thoughts of their audience and the ritual faded away until it was just one body pressed against another aware only of the movements of each other. For Caleigh it was something new, neither romantic or passionate but real and deep in another way altogether, a pure physical expression of mutual understanding and mutual pleasure. In every touch she felt and knew at last how Gideon felt about her, how he wanted her and yet did not desire to possess her either emotionally, like Penric, or physically, like Robin. His was a keen fondness that ran parallel with desire without being either exaggerated or warped by it. There was something liberating about knowing this and also intriguing. If this was a form of love it was a different one to those she had known and one she could not predict the course of.

They came together in one long exhale that needed no urging by either. Only when Caleigh rolled off her partner to lie panting and looking up at the stars did she remember that they were not alone and that they were part of a ritual. She looked over to Galenna as she approached. "Have I erred?" Galenna smiled and shook her head then put her fingers into the earth where Caleigh and Gideon had rolled, scooping up two handfuls and placing it into an earthen jar by her feet.

"Fertitlity is restored."

The women left the hilltop by a different route to the one they had come up from, one that led to a small waterfall dripping from an outcrop of mossy rock in which they were able to wash the woad markings off their bodies. Still in the afterglow of her climax Caleigh ran her hands through the water without thinking, splashing it on her face and torso. She turned around to see Ellie looking at her critically. "Is it not cold?" She inquired.

"No, feel." Caleigh answered beckoning Ellie into the falling water. Ellie yelped slightly and stepped back at once.

"That is cold."

"Strange I do not feel..." Caleigh stopped mid-sentence seeing her damp limbs before her shrouded in rising steam like from one who had exerted themselves heavily taking shelter from a cold rain.

"Behold yourself Caleigh, you have not a drop of wetness on you." Wide-eyed and intrigued Caleigh put her hand high up in the water where it trickled over the outcrop.

"Feel the water again." Ellie obliged and stepped under into the brook water. Her face lit up and this time she did not retreat for the cold.

"It is warm."

"Your powers have grown." Galenna remarked. "You felt a new love and it has made you stronger."

"I think not that it is so simple." Caleigh rebuked uncertainly, knowing what Galenna meant by love.

"Doubt not the power of a woman's fertility. It is the power that can give life to dead earth, to mend the spirit and the body. A gifted woman who is wise knows that her power and her acts of pleasure are joined together in the deepest way." Neither Caleigh nor Ellie was able to respond to this and with a serene smile Galenna pointed to a narrow track between the trees. "This path will take you back to your garments. I shall leave you now. You have my deepest gratitude for what you have done for my people tonight. Know that if your journey turns west you shall not be without friends. Fare well." Caleigh and Ellie bid farewell in turn and watched her walk away down the track she had shown. When all sound of her going faded into the night Ellie turned to her friend with a wicked smile.

"Forgive me if I err, but did she not tell you that the more men you lie with the more powerful you will become?"

"In a manner of speaking, yes."

"You really do have the luckiest of destinies."

17. Of Towers and Cobwebs

No-one spoke of what had happened during the ritual despite Penric's enquiries. The only mention anyone made to the night before at all was when Gideon referred to a conversation he had had with Galenna, apparently after Caleigh and Ellie had said their farewells. "She said that the druids and druidesses of her people had been hunted down and slain. I find this most curious."

"Why would you find that curious? Has this not been happening for many years?" Caleigh questioned.

"Yes, what I find curious is that with her folk this has happened quite recently. Why should it be so? The worst years of persecution have passed and those who were behind the persecution do not roam so far west usually. Something has changed there."

"Did that druid woman not say that their crops were dying? A bad harvest is all the excuse that is typically used to start lynching learned folk." Sir Edgar suggested.

"I wonder..." What Gideon wondered he never explained and soon the rising sight of Elevered took the group's attention to their destination.

Though Elevered was surrounded in every direction by forest, the fortress and village itself lay on an open plateau covered by soft and well grazed grass. The path they followed from the south joined the eastern road from Minerva a little way from the front gate to the encircling wall. The gate lay open and the cart passed through into muddy courtyard with stables and small gathering of wooden houses built around the periphery. For the most part, all the structures of Elvered were linked to the great tower at its centre looming many stories above the ground. On the lower levels more houses had been built across the walkways and lower battlements or else entire sections were roofed as though the village was growing out of the sides of the library fortress.

"Welcome to Elevered." Sir Edgar announced leading them from the cart towards the imposing, high-arched front doors to the citadel. "No doubt Tovrik is very anxious to see you all after all these delays."

"Wait." Caleigh called bringing the group up short. "Where are the sick and wounded attended to?"

"The infirmary is on the right, a little beyond the stables."

"Then I ask that we go there first." Sir Edgar opened his mouth to argue then thought better of it and changed direction towards the stables. Before they could enter they met Ceol emerging from under the beams into the courtyard.

"Caleigh, I am glad to see you safely among us at last." Ceol greeted.

"There was no peril, happily. How fare Halda and Saebald?"

"Saebald is dead. Halda will be hale soon enough, he rests for now." Caleigh smiled sympathetically. She had known from the moment she had looked in Ceol's eyes what his news was to be but it was still a wretch to hear it. Caleigh had been here before and knew well that almost any comment seemed inane after news of a death and so merely put her arms around Ceol instead. They stood in silence for a moment breathing with each other and when the moment seemed right Caleigh looked up at Ceol and tried to find the words he needed to hear.

"Think not he died in vain." Ceol detached himself from Caleigh and held her by the shoulders at arm's length.

"Did he not? I would feel greater comfort if he had died defending his folk against a mortal foe but this...these people were not even our enemies. He died for a misunderstanding, or so I understand from Tovrik."

"This is true only in part. The folk of Calderon are not our enemies and they were tricked into the actions that led to Saebald's death. Yet this does not tell Saebald's part. If the folk of Calederon are not our mortal enemies, those who tricked them into attacking us certainly are. Had Saebald not been alert and fell of hand then this attack would likely have taken us all unawares and they would have attacked in greater numbers. Then surely more of us would have perished and the folk of Calderon would be our enemies indeed. It is thanks to Saebald that we can name this sadness a misunderstanding." Ceol smiled ruefully at Caleigh's assessment.

"You have a craft of mind like unto Tovrik, yet I cannot say your words are without truth. I thank you for your comfort it does ease my spirit to see things so. Now I know that my vengeance lies with those who set these events in motion. But come, you must not tarry longer with concerns for others, Tovrik has been patient enough and you must begin to think of yourself and your own protection."

"As you wish, I will see Tovrik now though my thoughts will stay with you and Halda."

Tovrik awaited them atop a broad set of stairs set in the centre of the wide entrance hall to the fortress. All around the pale grey stone and black and white chequered floors shone in bright daylight that reached every corner and permitted very few shadows. A rustle of feathers made Caleigh look up and there disappearing beyond the endless staircases was a richly coloured falcon. Somehow she had never imagined that Tovrik's hall was a place that wildlife would run free.

"Welcome, welcome all newcomers and old hands alike. Sir Edgar, would you care to show our new arrivals to their quarters?"

"Of course" Sir Edgar gestured down a corridor to the right and Caleigh went to follow when she was held by Gideon.

"Oh."

"Caleigh, Gideon, follow me, if you will." Tovrik took them up a flight of spiral stairs to an archway where a lifelike falcon made of gold perched above the double doors on the stonework overhang. The doors opened inward at Tovrik's approach and revealed an antechamber with three doors leading off in different directions. Turning into the leftmost of the three they came into a mid-sized room which Caleigh took at once to be Tovrik's study, being as it was lined with bookshelves and arrayed with a selection of curious instruments set around an impressive darkwood desk. "It is good to finally have you here Caleigh, I am very glad you have decided to join us."

"Forgive me for the delay and for the trouble I have caused..." Tovrik held up his hand to silence Caleigh.

"The cause for your delay is known and I do not begrudge it for a moment. Thanks to you we now have friends in new places and know a little more about what is happening in the world outside these walls."

"Do you know everything that happened?"

"I know enough and I require no deeper explanation than what I know. One aspect of this that I shall draw my attention to, however, is how the Calderians were fooled into attacking you in the first instance. I find this curious and troubling."

"May I ask one thing?"

"Of course you may."

"How do you know of all this?"

"I learned all I know from Gideon."

"How? Gideon arrived with me."

"Caleigh, remember we are wizards." Said Gideon. "Words need not always be exchanged in person."

"Am I to learn this secret?"

"In time, Caleigh allow us to keep some of our tricks to ourselves for a while." Tovrik soothed. "The important thing is that I have this news and I have had some hours to contemplate it. What are your thoughts Gideon?"

"There is some dark work afoot. I am sure that the recent deaths of the Calderan druids and the presence of magic in this foil are no coincidence."

"I agree with you, I believe some of our old friends have made a return." Tovrik noticed the curious expression that instantly passed over Caleigh's face. "Of course when I say friends I mean quite the contrary."

"You know who is behind this?"

"I can guess and if my guess is right then we must be more careful than ever. Gideon, would you mind if I charged you with investigating this? I should like to know of what is passing in the lands to the west."

"I had intended to offer as much."

"Very good."

"If you will excuse me I will begin to look into the matter at once."

"By all means do." Gideon left leaving Caleigh with a sense of hearing only part of a conversation.

"Are you sending him away? He has only just returned to you."

"He will be with us for a few days yet. Gideon rarely departs without a thorough preparation."

"Are you not imperilling him sending him to where our enemies are?"

"Our enemies are seldom in one place to be found and Gideon is thoroughly capable of protecting himself. Indeed he is thoroughly capable as a whole, if I tried to spare him from the more arduous undertakings he would be quite insulted."

"Was my training such an undertaking?" Caleigh asked with a grin.

"It was an important responsibility. I hope it was not too arduous for either of you."

"No, it was not. Gideon is a very good teacher, though he may not believe it."

"And you, no doubt, made a perfect student. I can tell at a mere glance that your power has grown immensely since we last met. This is good for us all. I do not exaggerate when I say that your training was and is an important task. Though I gave you the choice to stay away in truth much of our efforts here would have proved futile without you."

"Well, I am here for whatever use I can be."

"Much use, I am certain but all such demands of you can wait. I realise this is all still new to you and there must be much you would wish to learn and makes sense of."

"There is so much I would wish to know that I do not know where to start."

"Well then, let us start with the beginning shall we? Would you like to know how we reckon the various arts?"

"Very much so." With a nod Tovrik took them back to the antechamber and to the middle of the three doors she had seen before. Behind the door was a large open chamber devoid of furnishings or windows. A dim light kept it from complete darkness though the source of this light could not be discerned.

"Did Gideon tell you about the elements?"

"Yes, he said in the west our magic comes from the element of water, although that is a metaphor of a kind."

"Hmmm, yes, a metaphor of a kind. Most magic lives in a metaphorical state, so in a sense these things can be both metaphorical and literal in their meaning. Of course, saying this sounds wise but it is not saying much of any substance, is it? So let us look at the thing from its origin. Man, before civilisation, before Kingdoms and castles, a primitive creature living in tribes. One day one appears in their mists capable of controlling water and he is revered, why?"

"He can keep the tribe alive."

"Good, so what is water in its literal sense?"

"Wet?" Caleigh squeaked uncertainly.

"Beyond that?" Tovrik continued heedless.

"Well, with water we can drink and we can grow crops to eat."

"Yes, water at its most basic is life, this is the literal magic. What is water then metaphorically?"

"Empathy?"

"Perfect answer, how did you..."

"That's Gideon's answer."

"Ah, what do you think he means by that?"

"Well, if water is life and all things must live then...it is something we share?"

"Quite, it is that which we all have in common and that which binds us to each other. The common need for survival, the successful harvest that feeds a community, and also think of the water within us, blood, think how we are tied to each other by blood. So let us see our water wizard doing his work." Tovrik pointed his staff towards one corner of the room, which she now appreciated was pentagonal in shape. In this corner a large spider appeared glimmering turquoise in colour rapidly weaving a web in the same hue. "To another tribe comes a man who knows the lore of the earth and this tribe prospers, why?" This time Caleigh had to think for a moment before answering.

"Mayhap he knows where the best land is?"

"Yes, and he knows what is in the land. So what is earth then, literally?"

"Our surroundings?"

"And metaphorically?"

"I am less sure."

"Say what occurs to you."

"Perhaps...things."

"That which we can know and touch of the world around us." Tovrik clarified. "In one sense material and in another flesh and bone, our physical selves." Tovrik pointed his staff at the corner to the right of the busy spider of water, who by now had filled its nook from top to bottom, and another spider appeared, this time golden brown, and likewise began to weave a glistening web where it appeared. "There is another tribe in this primitive world who have suffered greatly by the hands of nature and other tribes. Then one day a man comes to them who knows how the wind will blow and where the rains will fall and harkening to him this tribe survives disaster and toil that surely would have finished them, what is his gift to them?" Caleigh smiled confidently at this question.

"Knowledge."

"Yes, interesting is it not? Many would wrongly guess that the element of air related to breath but breath is not what fills the sky. Fish breathe under the waves yet they still feel the winds rocking their world from above. Air, or rather the sky, is quite simply the limit of our horizons and herein lies the metaphor for the sum of our knowledge, relating this time to the things we cannot always touch." In the corner to the right of the golden web a further web took shape with a sky blue spider at its heart. Tovrik turned to the side now with back to the web of water. "Who comes next?"