The Tigrens' Glory (37 page)

“Yes, that’s what we were told by one who would know,” Kyerion said.

“Glory has no relatives here.  Normally I’d discuss her care with the Dracons, but since you are her Rami, or meant to be anyway, you get the responsibility of helping me decide how to proceed with her care.  If you want it.”

“We do,” Kyerion said.  “Thank you, Doc, for trusting us with this honor.  We know how seriously you take the care of your patients.”

Doc nodded, not surprised by their response.  They might not recognize the name
Jasan
, but they were still Jasani in his mind, and he knew what to expect from them.

“I have a question,” Kirk said.

“Yes?” Doc asked.

“Her injury is now healed.  Why must she remain in this tank?”

“Good question, and the reason I asked you here,” Doc said.  “We can either leave Glory in the healing tank, or remove her from it.  Here are the pros and cons.”  Kyerion nodded, though the idea of getting her out of that tank had him instantly ready to choose that option.

“While she’s in the tank her bodily functions are suspended, much like yours were in the hibernation tanks.  She doesn’t need food or water, her muscles won’t deteriorate, her hair won’t even grow.  Outside the tank, she’ll remain in a coma like state, but time will not be suspended.  Her body will need to be fed, and her bodily functions cared for.  The longer she remains in that state, the more her body will deteriorate.

“In my opinion, it’s best that she remain in the tank until you’ve decided how to proceed with returning her to consciousness.  Keep in mind that I’ll need at least one hour, and would prefer two to three hours, to remove her from the tank.”

“Why so long?” Kirk asked.  “We awoke as soon as we were out of the hibernation tanks, as did most of the other prisoners we released.”

“This isn’t a hibernation tank, it’s a healing tank,” Doc said.  “The two are not the same.  A healing tank interacts with the body in many more ways and in a much more complex fashion than a hibernation tank.  As I told you before, I could pull her out in an hour if it were absolutely necessary.  But I’m not doing that unless I have to.  It’s easier on the patient to gradually shut down the various systems she’s connected to that are currently maintaining her body.”

 “As much as we want her out of the tank, it seems clear that she is better off as she is until we decide how to go forward,” Kyerion said with a sigh. 

 “I understand your need, and appreciate your patience,” Doc said.  “Aside from the risk to Glory, there’s another matter to consider, too.”

“Which is?”

“Being told that she’s your Arima is one thing,” Doc said.  “But I’ve seen what happens to a male-set when they actually scent their Arima for the first time.  Each clan is different of course, but since you’ve avoided going into Glory’s cabin and scenting her possessions, I assume you aren’t ready to deal with the physical aspects of that.”

“You’re correct,” Kyerion said.  “We need our minds clear right now in order to focus on how best to help Glory.  If our bodies are flooded with hormones it will become more difficult for us.  That would not be in Glory’s best interest.”

“Agreed,” Doc said.  “Have you figured out how to bring her out of her coma yet?”

“We know that we need to destroy the door she’s created in her mind,” Kyerion said.  “We just haven’t figured out how to do it.” 

“Well, let me know when you’re ready so I can begin pulling her from the tank.”

“We will, Doc,” Kyerion replied.

Chapter Thirty

“Kyerion, I was thinking it might be a good idea to invite the Katres and the Lobos over to discuss this problem with Glory and the door,” Lariah said at lunch a couple of days later. 

“You think they’ll be able to help?” Kyerion asked, willing to take whatever help they could get at this point.  They’d spent days trying to come up with a solution to their problem and still had no answers.  Their time hadn’t been wasted, however.  When they weren’t busy soaking up as much information as they could on the vid-terminal, they’d explored every inch of the
Ugaztun
, learning everything they could about it from how it was built to how to navigate it.  Being Druids, they learned at a rapid rate, but there was so much to learn that they’d barely scratched the surface.  Unfortunately, none of their knowledge, new or old, helped with the problem of how to awaken Glory.

“It can’t hurt,” Lariah said, bringing Kyerion back to the moment.  “We worked together…,” Lariah trailed off, her eyes narrowing as her mouth turned down in a frown.  “I’m so stupid,” she said.  “It never occurred to me, to any of us, to tell you how Glory managed to free you.”

“And it never occurred to us to ask,” Kyerion said slowly, a faint glimmer of hope rising within him.  “I remember telling Glory that Spirit was needed, an impossibility, of course.  Then she left for a time.  When she returned she said something about others helping her.  I thought she used some extreme form of Dream Walking.  Will you share with us what was done?”

“Of course,” Lariah said.  “I know you’ve been catching up on recent history with the vid-terminal.  Did you read the transcript of the Gathering of the Nine?  In particular the section referring to the Lehen Triad, what we call the Three?”

“Yes, we did,” Kirk replied, frowning.  “I can’t say we enjoyed the part that spoke of the Tigren and Owlfen murdering so many in blood rages, but we understand why that was believed to be the truth.” 

“Don’t worry, Kirk,” Garen said.  “The truth has already been sent to Jasan.  All will know what really happened in those dark days.”

“Thank you, Highness, we appreciate that,” Kirk said, then he turned to Lariah.  “I apologize for the interruption, Princess Lariah.  Please continue.” 

“Summer Katre, Saige Lobo and myself are the Three,” Lariah said.  “When the Nine spoke to the clans through us, they gave us the ability to gather Spirit, a power we now know was meant to be used specifically for saving the three of you.  Glory had a mosaic that Hope Bearen gave her from the same store of items that held your power cup.  On the day she freed you, Summer identified the mosaic as a power safe.  The three of us filled it with Spirit and, when she was ready, Glory drew that power from the mosaic to make herself solid enough to open your tank and free you.”

“Are you saying that three
women
were able to channel Spirit, and a fourth was able to wield it?” Kyerion asked, more shocked by this than by anything else he’d seen or heard since learning they’d been asleep for seven thousand years.  “In our time, women did not wield magic.”

“Nor do they now,” Garen said.  “They are, however, quite good at tapping into power and channeling it to be used by their Rami.  In this case, they channeled it into the mosaic, and Glory drew on it to make herself strong enough to do what had to be done.  She didn’t actually
wield
it.”  Garen shrugged.  “Besides, the Three are…different.  For the sake of the future of the Jasani, we do not question their powers, nor do we ignore their advice.”

Kyerion nodded, understanding that some things should not be questioned, though he very much wanted to.  Glory was the more important subject at the moment.  “So, the mosaic Glory told us about is a power safe.  We were quite young when Mother began it, and we never actually saw it once it was completed.  May we see it?”

“It’s in Glory’s room,” Lariah said. 

“I’ll go get it,” Val said.  He stood up and vanished. 

“I should tell you that the mosaic broke when Glory drew the last bits of Spirit from it,” Lariah said.  “Whether it’ll still work or not, I don’t know.”

Val returned with the mosaic and handed it to Kyerion.  Kyerion ran his fingers over the gemstones depicting himself and his brothers, reminded strongly of their mother.  Lariah was right.  There was a thin crack running diagonally across the mosaic from one corner to another.  He sent a trickle of Water into it to confirm his suspicion.

“Our mother had a powerful gift,” he said, handing it to Kirk.  “As do the Three.  The amount of Spirit it would have taken to crack this object is astronomical.”

“Is this the only mosaic she had?” Kirk asked, staring at the mosaic in his hands.

“Yes, it is,” Lariah replied.  “Why do you ask?”

“Because she told us there was a female depicted with us, but I see only we three.”

“May I?” Lariah asked, holding one hand out.

“Certainly,” Kirk said, handing the mosaic across the table.  Lariah studied it for a long moment, her eyebrows raised in surprise. 

“How odd,” she said.  “It’s gone.”  Val and Trey both looked over her shoulder. 

“She’s right, there are only three tigrenca now,” Trey said.  “But we all saw the fourth one.”

“I don’t understand how you would know if it was male or female,” Kirk said.

“We didn’t,” Lariah said, handing the mosaic back to Cade.  “Glory was certain of it, though.  In fact, she believed that the female was your Arima.”

“Yes, she told us that,” Kyerion said.  “I’d forgotten, with everything else.  She said the image was of a tigrenca with orange and black stripes and blue eyes, correct?”

“Yes, that’s right,” Lariah said.  “We all saw it, but it’s gone now.”

“Orange stripes and blue eyes is…
was
…a common color combination,” Kyerion said.  “It’s also the coloring preferred by the Guardienne of Clan Tigren.  She watched over us while we were in the hibernation tanks.  Now that we are freed, her presence is not needed, so she’s no longer there.”  Kyerion paused in thought before looking at Lariah again.  “Highness, do you think the Three would be willing to channel Spirit again?”

“Of course,” Lariah replied without hesitation.  “But the mosaic is broken.”

“We won’t need it,” Kyerion said.  He turned to Kirk.  “Tell Doc to begin the process of removing Glory from the healing tank.  While we’re waiting, we need to practice meditating.”

“Meditating?” Cade asked in surprise.

“Yes, meditating,” Kyerion replied.  “I have an idea, but we’ll need to Dream Walk the way Glory did.”

***

A couple of hours later the Tigren, Dracons, Katres, and Lobos gathered in an unused guestroom that had been set up specifically for their needs.  Two of the small tables meant to seat four had been pushed together.  Six chairs surrounded it, one on each end, and two to each side.  The power cup sat in the exact center, where the two tables met.

“How did the meditation go?” Lariah asked while the others took their seats.

“We succeeded twice,” Kyerion replied.  “Partially.  The first time Kirk did not appear, the second time Cade was missing.  Then we ran out of time.”

“Well, third time’s the charm,” Lariah said brightly.

“I have not heard that said before, Highness, but I sincerely hope you are correct,” Kyerion said. 

“If you want to delay this, we can,” Garen said.  “Otherwise, we’re ready.” 

“No, Highness, we must continue,” Kyerion said.  “Glory has been removed from the safety of the healing tank, and we don’t want Doc to have to put her back in it.”  Garen nodded, and they joined the others at the table where Arima Katre, Arima Lobo, and Nahoa-Arima Dracon sat.  The women’s Rami stood behind them, ready to share their strength should it be necessary. 

While the Tigren had had several opportunities to meet the other Clan Consuls since their release, they hadn’t yet met their Arimas, though they’d seen them at a distance a few times.  Now that they were in the same room with them, Kyerion was surprised by the power he sensed radiating from all three women.

“You are Chosen of the Eternal Pack,” he said to Saige, then bowed with great respect. 

Saige reached up to touch the large heart shaped diamond that imbued her with Heart Sight, surprised to find that it was hidden beneath her shirt.  “How did you know?”

“We are High Druids,” he said.  “As our powers return to us, our sight becomes clearer.” 

“Is that why you wear the mark on your cheek?”

“Yes,” Kyerion replied.  “It is the
Triskele
, the mark of the High Druids.  It represents the Nine Clans of Klanaren, and our commitment to care for all.”

“What of the arm bands, and the torcs you wear?” Saige asked curiously.  “Do they have meaning?”

“The armbands mark us as Consuls, the torcs signify our clan,” Kyerion explained.  “In our time, all Clan Consuls wore such bands, though I see you no longer do so, and the torcs were not uncommon.  It was not usual for High Druids to also be Clan Consuls, but when we were called to the post, we chose not to refuse it.”

“Thank you for answering my questions,” Saige said.  “I know I can be a bit too curious sometimes.”

“We do not mind, Arima Lobo,” Kyerion said.  He turned to Summer, tilting his head to the side while he considered her.  “You have an ancient and venerable soul, Arima Katre.  And a powerful one.  We appreciate your aid in this, all three of you.  Whatever happens, we thank you for sharing your gifts with us in this effort.”

“Glory is important to us, too, Kyerion,” Lariah said.  “We’re glad to be of help.”

“This can work,” Summer said. 

“
Can
work?” Saige asked with a frown.  “You don’t know for sure?”

“No, I don’t, though I wish I did,” Summer said.  She looked up at Kyerion.  “I do know that once the door is destroyed, you’ll need to close yourselves off from the rush of memories that will assault you.  It won’t last long, but it will be the most dangerous part of this whole thing.  If one memory is allowed to penetrate one of your minds, you’ll all be lost.  Once the memories move away, you’ll need to find Glory and make sure she recognizes you, and knows where she is.  Only then will you be able to help her wake up.”

“How do you know this?” Cade asked in surprise.

“No idea,” Summer said.  “Sometimes I just know things.”

“It’s strange, granted,” Maxim Katre said with a smile.  “But Summer is never wrong.”

Kyerion, Cade and Kirk looked at each other, then looked back at Summer.  Kyerion sent a thread of Water toward Summer, not completely surprised by what he found.  The Tigren raised their fists to their hearts and bowed solemnly.  “We thank you, Kelta Summer, Seer Druidess, for your assistance.”