Champions of Serenity: Destiny Fulfilled

Chapter 14

Tris stepped from her magic and found herself not in Drianne’s glade, but somewhere else. A soft gray mist surrounded her as she looked around. Shapes took form and melted, swirling in soft hues around her, caressing her in welcome. As she looked around, a figure emerged from the fog and didn’t fade as had the others. Tris watched it, wondering.

Debra stepped forward, amazed at the girl standing before her. She was tall with long honey blond hair, her eyes were a vibrant blue and had the almond shape long equated with Elves. “Are you, Trisinda? You are so beautiful.” Debra said, unable to keep the words behind her teeth.

The small woman before Tris was remarkable. She was tiny, well-built and muscled, and had an inner strength that reminded Tris of Drianne. “You are the one called Debra?” Tris asked. Debra nodded. “You don’t believe yourself to be beautiful as well? I do. And very courageous. Do you know where we are?”

Debra gave Tris a small smile and looked around. “Well, it feels safe and warm. Even though the mist is wet, it isn’t cold, it’s caressing. If Handsome or Chaos had wanted to take us out of the picture, it would be somewhere dark and cold. I want to say we are in Serenity’s home, or palace might be a better word.” Debra looked around a little confused and Tris thought she looked young and vulnerable. “I think we are here to talk about what is to happen next. When I first told the story to my half of the Circle, we only got as far as the joining of the heroes. Then the earthquake put us into the story and it wasn’t fiction any longer.

“Tris, what is like with Airidon? I mean…I know you two are together and all…. Phil wants to be that way with me but…. I just don’t know.” Debra shrugged and looked down a moment and then around at the mist again.

Tris was surprised that such a courageous woman could have such fear. “May I call you Debra? I know you have concerns about giving into your love for Philip and that it might weaken you. But from what I have learned, it only makes you stronger. Take the chance, it’s worth the pain. It is also Handsome’s way of dealing with you. He can’t attack you physically as he can those of us on Sandeenai, so he attacks your fears. Don’t let him win.”

Nodding, Debra stopped looking around and looked directly into Tris’s eyes. Tris took a step back at the potency in the soft blue-gray eyes staring into hers. “Thank you, Tris, for helping me, with the fever and all.” Debra rested her hand on Tris’s shoulder, looking up into her face and for a moment, Tris felt small. Then she put her own hand on Debra’s shoulder and it was as if they stood on equal terms. “I know where we need to go next, Tris.”

Tris narrowed her eyes in question, wondering what Debra would come up with. “Things are more or less settled here in California. Some areas will take years to recover but we have done all we can for now. We have all of us rebuilt our lives and things are as normal as they will ever likely be. We will be ready to join with you when the time is right to strike. But I can tell that you are unsure where to strike first. So let me pose you this question. Beside Chaos, who is Handsome’s biggest supporter?”

Following Debra’s path of thought was a little difficult until she put herself in Debra’s mind. Tris still didn’t know where Debra was taking the conversation, but she knew it had a point. “I…”

“The Mercenaries, Tris. In his quest for Emperor, Handsome has pretty much alienated every race on Sandeenai, hunting a few to near extinction. But the mercenaries aren’t loyal to anyone unless they have enough money and power. Handsome has both, so he has the mercenaries. We go for his back up men. Destroy the mercenary outposts, cripple Handsome. Cut off his supply lines, crush him. Raise the people against him, annihilate him.”

Tris walked away a moment and thought about this. Then she nodded and smiled. “I like the way you think, Debra. Is that all we had to discuss?” She was anxious to put Debra’s plan into action.

“Almost, Tris, I had another thought. What are we going to do about Darin and Mike….I mean….Meckin and Korol? I mean, when all is said and done, they will be without permanent partners. And I really don’t like the thought of that, Darin and Mike are great people and I hate to think of them alone forever.”

Blinking, Tris thought about what Debra had said, surprised that once again, Debra was two steps ahead. “Serenity is limited to eight heroes, Debra, I don’t know what we can do about it. But I will give it some thought and see what we can come up with. Like you, I don’t want to see Meckin and Korolwyn alone either. Until then, I will put our plans into motion and wait your joining us. Trust yourself, Debra, and trust Philip, it is worth the pain.”

Debra smiled and nodded, promising to join with them soon and faded into the mists. Tris watched Debra go and thought about all she had said. To have such strength and compassion and courage and yet to still be hampered by such fear, it was beyond Tris’s comprehension.

Stepping into the mist, Tris felt the pull of magic surround her and then she stepped out into the mouth of the cave. She ran into the cave and into Airidon’s arms. “Hold me, Airidon.” Tris burrowed against his shoulder and held tightly to him. “I love you, Airidon and I don’t care who knows it anymore. I saw her, I spoke to her, and she was so tiny and yet so strong.”

“Who is, ‘she’, Tris?” Tyra asked. When Tris looked around, she found the warrioress in the arms of Fini and smiled at her.

“Debra.” Tris said simply. “I know where we are going to attack first. But for me to outline more of the plan, we need to meet with Drianne so she can be part of it. So in the morning, we will go to her glade and there, we will plot. The others will be with us before the week is out.”

Then Tris surprised everyone by taking a small spoon of the stew that Fini had made for dinner. She looked at it a moment and then lifted a bite to her lips. Thoughtfully, she chewed the cooked meat and root vegetables, allowing the flavors to blend in her mouth and she swallowed them.

“Are you okay, Tris?” Meckin asked, watching her carefully, as were the others, waiting for some kind of change in her.

“I’m fine, Meckin. I just wanted to try it and see what she saw in it. Finbrahner, you did a good job with the seasonings, but I don’t like the taste of cooked meat, I prefer mine living or at least raw. I won’t bother her about eating it anymore though.” Tris then reached for one of the roasted potatoes and ate that instead. “When we meet with Drianne in the morning, I need each of you to be ready with a few things. Jehrones, I will need your maps, Finbrahner, I will need your tracking. Korolwyn, I will need you to play spy for us, Meckin, I will need your knowledge of the old ways. Shrelannasha, Tyrandeannah, Airidon, I will need your cunning in planning and enacting those plans. Sleep well this night; it could be the last in a long while.”

Tris stood then and retired to the small room she shared with Airidon near the very back of the cave complex. As she rolled into her blankets, her thoughts turned to Debra’s final concern and wondered just what could be done for Meckin and Korolwyn when the battle was over.

“Have no fear, dear Lady Trisinda, consideration for Black and Brown has already been set in motion.” Chaos said softly as he watched her fall into slumber. He licked his lips in remembrance of a morning spent with Lady Debra and smiled again. “Yes, Lady Debra, it may surprise some you think so much with your heart, but it doesn’t surprise me. I hope my plans for Black and Brown won’t disappoint you.”

For a moment, he considered letting Dreybrenic know that Debra and Tris had plotted his downfall. Then he decided to let Dreybrenic’s pride in how he has dealt with his campaign to conquer Sandeenai stand or fall with this assault. He wondered for a moment what Sheagnek was going to do, but decided it really didn’t matter. When all was said and done, the prophecy would be fulfilled and Dreybrenic would die.

The next morning, as the sun was touching the eastern side of the stream, Tris washed her face in the icy water and gathered her thoughts. She had taken her Circle to Drianne’s glade several times during the winter months, so she had no fear they would be able to find their way. She left a brief message letting the others know she would meet them there and made her way to Drianne’s glade.

Entering the beautiful clearing, Tris noticed a few more flowers had been added and some birds had made a home in a nearby tree. “Good morning, Drianne.” Tris called out and made herself comfortable in the hollow between two roots.

“Ah, Peacock, what brings you here this early? Did you remember to bring your new family?” Drianne opened her eyes and looked around.

“They will be along when they have woken and broken their fast. I wanted to take a few moments alone with you. I spoke with Debra, my human counter from that other world.”

Throwing her branches high, Drianne reached for a stray breeze and allowed it to tickle her newborn leaves. She laughed as she enjoyed the new season and her laughter invited Tris to join her.

Shrina was the first to wake after Tris had left. She found the message and puzzled over it while she served herself a big bowl of fruit and grain porridge that Tris had left them for breakfast. Debating on whether or not to wake Airidon to ask him about it, she missed Korol’s entrance as well as Jehro’s.

“I see Tris was up early. Is she going to meet us at Drianne’s?” Jehro asked, startling Shrina. He grinned at her and ducked the spoon of cereal she had thrown at him; and then laughed at the outraged growl that came from Meckin behind him.

Meckin came to the fire, brushing the food from his chest and glaring at everyone impartially. He sat down and looked at the pot filled with cereal and growled again. Reaching for the leftover stew from the night before, he served himself a big bowl.

“Meckin….”

He just looked up at Shrina and growled again. Turning his back on the others, he watched the shadow of the flames against the wall while he ate. He had had troubling dreams the night before, dreams of his ancestral home and the monster that lived in the darkest depths. He knew Tris expected some kind of miracle from him in the way of answers, but he was too afraid to really remember what life had been like in the mountain fortress that was now Dreybrenic Greshinea’s home.

Tyra also came out of her sleeping cave troubled. She had been visited by her own demons in the way of the shade of her mother. Tyra didn’t really remember her mother very well; she had been killed when Tyra was only three years old. Tyra remembered seeing her mother in battle leathers with a sword in one hand and a carved staff in the other. The sword was dripping with blood and a white glow surrounded the gnarl at the top of the staff. Her mother had been trying to tell Tyra something, fear in her eyes as she looked at her daughter. Then a sword tip plunged from the front of her mother’s chest and a bubble of blood formed in her mouth instead of words and her mother was dead. Now, Tyra’s mother was still that young woman but it wasn’t blood coming from her mouth it was words; hard, crisp, cutting words that stung against Tyra’s skin but didn’t make any sense to her mind.

Fini followed his mate from their room, his own face worried as he watched Tyra stumble to her normal spot by the fire. He helped her dish up some of the steaming cereal and sweetened it for her with some honey. He didn’t seem all that interested in eating his own breakfast and just tore a piece of bread from the loaf and took a small serving of the stew to dip the bread in. His own dreams had been of his youngest sister, Jessie. She had called out to him as the current of a river swept her away. He had tried to get to her but was too far away.

Airidon was the last one to make an appearance by the fire. He noticed the preoccupation of his companions and hoped that Tris had some answers for them all. He quickly ate his own breakfast and then cleared his throat. Everyone jumped and looked to him. “It’s time. We must be off to Drianne’s glade and to plan for our next steps. Let’s go see what Tris has in store for us.”

Without another word, Airidon slung his sword around his waist, tucked a dagger in his boot, and slid the two swords into the sheaths on his back. Nodding as the others joined him, he led the way into the forest.

“They are coming, Peacock.” Drianne said as she heard the steps of the rest of the Circle approaching her home. “There is an air of trouble about them; perhaps they are afraid of me?”

Tris laughed and leaned back against her trunk. “How could anyone be afraid of you, Drianne? I think rather they had troubling dreams and don’t know what they portend.”

“Why do you think that, Tris?” Noshtra asked, sliding into the clearing just before the others and sitting down at Tris’s feet.

Tris shook her head and waited until the other seven joined them and found places to sit around the Dryad. When all had sat down, Tris looked at each of her family. “I see I am not the only one troubled by dreams.” Tris shared a look with Noshtra as several of the Circle jumped at the simple words. Noshtra nodded her acceptance and laid her head down on her paws to listen to what would be said.

Before Tris could say anything else, she felt the presence in her mind she knew as Debra step forward. Welcoming the woman from a place called Earth, Tris grinned a feral grin. “Jehrones, please get out your maps.”

Jehro paused as he reached for the tubes containing his maps as he felt something tickling the back of his mind. He smiled and welcomed Jared and the two of them shared a few thoughts with a rapid fire exchange. Then Jehro rolled out the first of the maps and gathered a couple of rocks to keep the corners from rolling up. “Okay, this is the latest map, drawn just a few weeks before Handsome decided that I would make a good wall mounting over his fireplace and took me and Tyra from Tealshire. We know from firsthand experience that Neasah moves around, so that position isn’t always accurate. We also know that Savine is no longer a town, thanks to Handsome’s temper.”

“Jehrones, I would like to point out something.” Tris interrupted. “I didn’t think much about it at the time because I really didn’t remember who I was and after I did I was too busy trying to figure a way out of my situation. But Handsome had a catalyst or power base in Savine.”

“A power base? I don’t understand.” Airidon said, leaning away from the map and looking at Tris.

The musical voice of Drianne started before Tris could come up with the right words. “Those who use magic must get the power and energy from somewhere, Airidon. Those like Tris and others of her races and Jehro and the other Chamelings take that energy from their own bodies or from the earth around them. Wizards, like Tyra, can either take energy from the same places or store it in items, like wands, staffs, charms and so forth. Then there are those who steal magic, like Handsome, who must create places to store energy and those places are called power bases or catalysts. How big was the power base, Tris?” Drianne sounded worried.

“I didn’t get a chance to really measure it, Drianne. It was a building off the side of the town square that no one was allowed to enter. Handsome visited it several times a year. The townspeople said that he would sometimes perform rituals there and would take young children to sacrifice. No one would even look at it if they could help it and I felt the constant buzz of power coming from it.” Tris answered.

“I would suggest you take a look, Tris, and find out if it is still there and how strong it is.” Drianne said as if her word were law. Korol thought that if Drianne had been human, she would have crossed her arms and tapped her foot while she waited for Tris to do the chore.

Tris closed her eyes and called her magic to her. When she opened her eyes, they were purple and she saw things a little differently. Looking at the map again, Tris picked up a handful of dirt and rubbed it between her hands. Her body jerked as a small pile of dirt fell on Savine. Tris continued to move her hands over the map, slowly, the magic filling her and making the glade fill with a stifling feeling of airlessness. Three times more her body jerked and each time a different sized pile of dirt would fall on the name of a town. With a shudder, Tris fell back from the map and allowed the magic to flow from her and leave her, her eyes fading from bright purple to pale blue.

“What does the size of the piles represent?” Jehro said, careful not to disturb any of it.

“How strong the power base is in that town.” Tris said, her voice sounding subdued, tired. “It’s ugly, the way he has raped the very land itself of its lifeblood to give himself power. I wonder what the Bad Lands were like before he got his hands on them.”

Shrina walked around the map, frowning. “So, we have Pryena, Galogosch, Kreben, and Savine with active power bases. We also have Pryena, Galogosch, Kreben, and Rehven as mercenary strongholds. He could have more on Taniry or Catira, we just don’t know. What do we hit first?”

“I can vouch for Taniry, well up until last spring.” Airidon said. “He had a few mercenaries here to keep control, but there really aren’t enough people here to bother with. And those he had in Rehven can be here within a few hours so he really didn’t need to create such a place here. Taniry will fall behind us, as soon as Rehven falls.”

“Only a few of the disgruntled in Catira would ever consider working for Handsome.” Tyra added. “I know most of the mercenaries there personally and there isn’t enough money in all of Sandeenai to buy their loyalty to him. He’s been trying to gain a foothold in Catira for years and all he’s gotten so far is an outpost in Saldowns and a few thieves.”

Fini nodded and stood his ground behind Tyra, backing her up if she needed it. Tris smiled at them all and pointed back to the map. “The most important thing is to cut him off from his power bases and his mercenaries. That means we attack Pryena, Galogosch, and Kreben first, as those three meet the criteria of both. Then we will decide if Savine or Rehven is the next target. We will have to do this in a two pronged assault.”

“What do you mean, Leader Tris? Can’t we just go in and burn those power bases and the mercenary bases and be done with them?” Drianne gave a small screech of fear of such an action. Jehro shook his head and Tyra went white with the thought of it. “Okay, dumb thing to say….but why?”

“Korolwyn, ask Michael what happens when something called a nuclear weapon is exploded.” Tris said and waited. Everyone watched as Korol’s eyes looked down and his thoughts turned inward. His eyes flew open wide and he looked up, his own face paling. “Now you understand why we can’t just set the power bases on fire. The result would be the same. We can and probably will set the mercenary bases on fire though. That is what I meant by two pronged.

“Half will go in and do the physical damage while the other half will drain the power sources and cleanse it before returning it to the earth. Drianne will be testing each of you in the next couple of days to see who will make the best receptacles for the magic. Airidon will be leading the group who goes in and attacks, I will be staying here to lead those stealing the magic. Tyrandeannah, you will be going with Airidon because you are the only one with the magic to transport everyone quickly and quietly. This means, Tyrandeannah that you have a week to figure out how you are going to move four or five people from here to there without alerting anyone to your coming.”

Tyra nodded, hoping she wasn’t as pale as she felt. Since learning of her magical heritage she had only dabbled, allowing Tris to do the majority of the magic around the forest. She was still in the incantation stage of magic use and now Tris said she had to learn how to do it silently. “Gods above and below,” she thought, “I hope I can do this.”

“Jehrones, since I won’t be going, I will need you to let Airidon have detailed maps of Pryena, Galogosch, and Kreben so that he can better plan his attacks. Korolwyn, you get to be spy for the next few days. We need to know how many troops are where and what the best place to hit them would be based on fortifications and such. Airidon, which one do you want to hit first?”

Airidon looked at the four towns with piles of dirt covering their names. Kreben, being the closest to Hades had the largest pile. He jabbed his dagger in the center of the pile and saw a small puff of smoke rise. “We will begin there.” He said simply.

“Korolwyn, tonight, get all the information you can on Kreben.” Tris started.

“Uh, Leader Tris, can I do more than just spy? I know I can’t give away our plans and such by causing trouble. But if the chance arises where I can maybe scare someone or set a booby trap, may I?” Korol asked, his charcoal eyes looking at Tris with a boyish gleam in them. “Please?”

Tris looked at Airidon and saw him shrug. Then she looked into Drianne’s eyes and shook her head. Noshtra just humped and stretched. “If the chance comes, Korolwyn, you may take it. Just be careful and don’t give yourself or our plans away.”

Korol’s shout of joy echoed through the forest and at the edge, a young wood cutter and his wife turned away from the forest, finally believing the stories about it being haunted. A young gopher, coming from its burrow heard the shout and dove back into the ground, not yet ready to face the world after a winter’s sleep. And a god laughed with the Shadow.

“I like the way you think, youngling.” Chaos said and sat back to watch. Tris and Debra were very devious when it came to crippling his servant. Again, he wondered if he should warn Dreybrenic and decided against it. Dreybrenic was tired of Chaos managing the takeover of Sandeenai, so Chaos would keep out of it. And if Dreybrenic complained about it, Chaos would remind him of it in a way Dreybrenic would never forget.