-1My first Valdemar fic…please, please read! This is after Darian's Tale (Owlflight, Owlsight, Owlknight) and stars two OC's of mine, along with a few old favorites. Please correct me if I screw something up, as I don't have my handy-dandy Valdemar dictionary with me at the moment. On with the disclaimer!
Disclaimer: I own nothing more than my OC's, one bond bird, one sardonic kyree, and a seemingly innocent Companion. Now, ONWARD!
Of Hawks and Herbalists
It all started out as a rather lovely day, you know, blue skies, warm sun, balmy breezes ruffling my short hair and the creamy feathers of my cooperihawk bond bird. Ametha soared happily beside me as I strode across the canopy, hopping deftly from limb to limb with the ease of any squirrel. Unlike my cousin Darkwind, I had taken completely to the life of scout, ignoring the occasional nagging of my mage-powers, slight as they were. I possessed only the ability to detect magic, not the use, and gladly. I only had to be within sight of the Vale to feel the poisonous taint of the cracked Heartstone of the old Vale. But such thoughts disappeared in the glorious day, and I was rather glad for once about taking over another's shift.
I chuckled to myself as I thought of Summerstar and her Shin'a'in horseman, lying abed all day long…she had always had a liking for men with midnight hair and eyes to rival her own. I personally didn't care one way or the other as to what my lover looked like, just that he was good. And that brought up a few unpleasant, recent memories of my last flame…his crazed grin gleaming through the darkness as he stalked closer…Ah, but my thoughts run amuck, and I finally came to the edge of my patrol, and taking in the obviously twisted landscape, I sighed tiredly. It would be a long, long time before the land would be cleansed, and I knew all too well that it takes generations to clean an area as large as the new k'Sheyna lands. I slipped to the ground, and held up a hand for Ametha. Swooping in, she gently closed her large claws around my glove, and I smiled as that hawk-beak opened in her version of a grin.
Beautiful as her brother Vree, Ame was that ever-constant steadiness in the back of my mind. I worked my fingers around her keel bone, scratching the little areas that she couldn't get, slowly moving up to rub her head. She closed her eyes in ecstasy, soft little chirps coming from that wicked beak. She was the exact opposite of her nest-mate, though, calm and dignified, yet loving as any bond bird. I adore her so, and setting her on my shoulder, I met her mind, adding a caress there too to appease her demanding nature.
:What goes, bright-feather:
:Vree here! Vree waits! Go see Vree: I was pleasantly surprised by this, because where Vree was, Darkwind wasn't far behind. He must have returned for a visit from his new wife's country, k'Valdemar. I grinned like a fool and laughed out loud, startling a young dyheli doe. Apologizing to her, I turned my mind back to my excited bird.
:Go see Vree:
:We'll go see Vree and Darkwind, bright-feather: She chirruped and I heaved her off, then began the long lope back home, leathers flying, feathers dancing as I sped down the trails, fleet as any dyheli.
It felt good to be back in my home Vale, rather than in the new k'Leshya base. We had spent a month, we mages and scouts that k'Sheyna could afford to send, helping our new cousins adjust to the cooler climes and set up their defenses. I slipped into the Vale quickly, pressing down the crowded path to make room for the rest of the scouts, who were rushing into see their old mate. Glancing about, I managed to slip in beside my other cousin, Darkwind's older half-brother Wintermoon. He obliged me and scooted back into the tiny hollow, chuckling as the others swarmed past. He glanced at the long primaries that I'd braided into my scrubby mop of rust-brown hair and chuckled as they blew into my face from the crowd's backwash.
"How goes it, Wingsib?" I shoved the feathers out of my face to answer him.
"As fine as anything like this can be, cousin. Had he any idea as to what this lot would do?"
"He suspected, I'm sure, but certainly he didn't believe it. And all the festivities have barely begun." He laughed and I groaned, then sidled out, passing him a wave as I left. If I had any brains, I'd get to Darkwind and talk to him before the other scouts had strung him too far out. Darkwind drunk was the same as Darkwind asleep: useless. I sent Ame up into the ekele branches to keep her from getting into too much trouble while I navigated the throngs of excited Tayledras. Back and forth the valleys of thought and words flowed, the usual undercurrent of life intensified in the presence of one of their heroes. Drab still in my scout leathers, I slipped as daintily as a hertasi in and out of the crowd, oblivious to the peacocks around me.
Oblivious to Vale topography too, apparently. Nearing the Heartstone, I suddenly stumbled across my cousin, literally. Intending to jump from the ledge, I fell right on top of Darkwind and Elspeth, who caught me together, but there was a bit of a problem. He had jumped up as soon as my legs hit him, and our heads both rang from smacking forehead first into one another. I lay on the ground groaning, he in his mate's lap. All around me were the many mages of k'Sheyna, my uncle Starblade, Icefall, the rest of the Adepts, the Masters, the Journeymen and the Apprentices,….and Rainwing. Former lover of mine, he had ditched me for a comely young k'Leshya trondi'irn by the same name. I didn't care, and so I had avoided him, getting on with my life. But his ever present snickering mind-voice seemed to jar my thoughts. From that unpleasant upheaval, I turned to the present state of affairs.
"Oww…Watersong?"
"Owww…yeah, it's me, Darkwind. Sorry 'bout that." He winced, but we pulled each other up and dusted ourselves off.
"It's alright, Wingsib, I've had worse." I chuckled wryly as he rubbed his temple, though, and he patted the seat opposite Elspeth. "So, little sparrow, how have you been?" I sank into the mossy stone, and shyly rubbed one of the leather rosettes on my left gauntlet. I felt all their gazes on me, so unused to attention as I was, but none so smoldering as the one Rainwing gave. He sneered as I answered pleasantly enough, and I saw that gleam of madness return.
"Not bad, cousin. Scouting, my leatherwork, Ametha, all in my life is well." He raised an eyebrow, and I took off the gauntlet that I had been toying with. Handing it to him, I wasn't surprised by the look of shock and pride on his face, and pulled my knees up to my chin as both my cousins exclaimed over the blue-dyed leather and miniscule beadwork. As I watched them, I felt the presence in my mind begin to rise, and fought to keep my face from twisting in agony as Darkwind pummeled me with questions, begging to know what colors I used, what stitching. Then, it receded, and I sighed, and glancing down at my calloused hands, realized they were trembling. I hid my eyes beneath my feathers, fearful of all but my feet.
Rainwing. Mage-lashing my mind, he brought me yet again to my knees. Was it so hard to leave me alone, to let me go? But being formerly his, he thought that I belonged to him, that my body, my soul, were both his territory. I looked up then, and saw before my teary eyes the cold smile, the dark glint of power-mad lust deep within his eyes. My mind screamed against Rainwing's coercions, but my face was like stone. Shock deafened me, and being unusually quiet, Darkwind noticed too, for he laid the gauntlet down and took my hands, gazing into my face. I saw his lips moving, but not a sound could be heard, and he had to resort to Mind-speech.
:Watersong? What happened to you? What's wrong:
:N-nothing, Darkwind. Nothing at all.:
:Don't lie, little niece.:
:Father? What..:
:Who was Mage-lashing you: My uncle was not a man to be ignored, but I could not have forced the name out around the coercions, not on my own. I choked, standing up to try and force it out, but did not flee, for to do so would put me in even greater danger. He would find me, and when he was done, for my outrageous display would earn me the most degrading and breaking maneuvers he knew, I would be a corpse at best, a shell at worst. But I had one weapon, and so I pulled down my shields, giving Starblade, Icefall, Darkwind, and Elspeth my mind. It was my cousin who found the three coercions, one on each Gift, and they ripped each one free, leaving me sobbing but sane in their arms.
"R-rainwing…" I whispered it, but they couldn't hear.
"What?"
"Did she say what I thought she said?"
"Rainwing…"
"Goddess! She did say his name!"
"It…was Rainwing…"
"Hush, child…Master Rainwing! Stop!" I touched Ame's mind, soothing the blood-rage she had sprung into at my attack, and she gave me her eyes, letting me follow the chase through the crowded Vale. His robes of emerald flared out, slowing him down in the small space he could run in, and bless Darkwind and Wintermoon, they hadn't let themselves be drug into encumbering robes. Ame added her revenge to his humiliation, swooping down and yanking great lengths of his silvery hair from his scalp. The other two slipped through the sea as easily as I had, and the brothers tackled him, eliciting a cheer from some youngsters, and a cool thanks from Icefall.
"GET OFF OF ME!"
"Darkwind, Wintermoon, haul him to his feet." They followed the Elder's orders, both men sharing the same mask of cold rage. Elspeth supported me with an arm and a ready shield, her eyes glinting with the same dangerous anger as her husband. With a sharp gesture, Icefall's whip of mage-energy was just barely visible to me, but Rainwing crumpled to the ground, shivering, blood streaming down to stain his robes and jewelry and remaining hair, his breath coming in gasps.
"You are now sealed from the Heartstone, and I've closed all your magic channels. You are not strong enough to even Mind-speak now. But your victim shall decide upon your punishment, and be grateful that she is a just lady. I would have submitted you to the Heartstone of the old Vale, unshielded." The crowd gasped, horror masking their faces, but he was not lying. He turned to me, and held out a hand.
"Watersong?" I took a breath, then left Elspeth's kind embrace. I walked slowly to Icefall's side, conscious of every eye in the Vale on me, trembling so hard that I felt that I ought to fly to pieces. He seemed so far away, across a vast space, empty of Tayledras and hertasi, the air still of tervardi song. Not even the bond birds made a sound, all unnaturally silent.
"TSSSEERRRR!" Ametha's and Vree's twin cries split the bubble of eerie quiet, and instinctively I threw an arm up to catch them both. But they weren't alone, as every other bond bird, including Rainwing's owlet, soared in, crying defiance in their bristling feathers, their ear-wrenching cries. I was surrounded by raptors of every shape and size, with Wintermoon's huge birds, Corwith and K'Tathi, perched above me, and Uncle Starblade's massive eagle-hawk Hyarr wrapping himself around my feet. But the most amazing thing was the single thought they all seemed to share: NO HURT WATERSONG!
They broadcast this all through the masses, and even Rainwing paled by their vehemence.
I, for my part, could do nothing more than stare at my Ame, speechless in gratitude and in love.
:Ame:
:Yes:
:Thank you, bright-feather.:
:Welcome, 'Song: She nuzzled my mane, being the closer of the two, and I kissed her beak, feeling for the first time in so long that I could do so, and not risk hurting her. Though Rainwing had once been able to break through my shields, he could no longer even lay a finger on me without a thousand raging raptors bearing down on him, eager for blood. I looked down at Rainwing, sadness at what we had once had, and cool disdain for him now mixing. I could not speak, though, but it was not for the coercions. The only voice I had left was my use-name, Watersong.
I reached down and slowly unslung the wooden flute from it's silken tube, and shifted both Vree and Ame to a nearby tree branch. Lifting it to my lips, I closed my eyes, and thought for a moment, What melody? Should it be a lullaby, a love song? Or…a song of the broken, the flightless, the lonely hearts? Yes…The melody I chose was one I rarely did, for it seemed to make my kin rather uncomfortable around their invisible servants. I could have cared less about their comfort then, though, and began to softly blow the notes beginning 'Song and Servitude'.
Icefall, whom I thought would have been annoyed, watched me play almost longingly, his eyes sad at the truth behind the lyrics. He knew why I played it, understood how the message was to be relayed, and so left me to my devices. Though I am not a vain Hawksister, I hold a great deal of pride in my singing voice and talent on the flute, for it was singing and playing for the great Healing Adept Firesong that I earned my use-name, once when I had visited k'Treva so long ago, with my mother and Shin'a'in father in attendance. And their passing made it's way into my notes, soaring like the hawks on a thermal, dipping, swooping, sweeping along the treetops, the grasses of the Dhorisha Plains, Tayledras and Talesedrin becoming one.
I chose not to sing, for to sing the words would have left me in tears. The notes leave only an ache, old and scabbed over, but still pulsing with my blood. I ended on the saddest of notes, the ones so high and full of hope, brought down by the darkest. Around me, my kin were either stonily gazing away, or sobbing silently, collapsing to the ground even as I did. Hyarr's great golden eyes were worried as I closed my own, and I felt his mental nudge, hoping that I was alright. With a smile, small as it was, he was appeased, and finally let his bond-mate kneel down beside me. I felt Darkwind and Elspeth too come near, but the ordeal finally got to me, and my last thought was of the winds and endless sky…
First Valdemar fic! Yay!
I need help, but that isn't the topic here, is it? I beg you for reviews, I beg you for flames, I even beg you for noncommental accidents.
Glossary-
For those who don't understand Tayledras terminology or don't remember it, here's a few definitions for your content.
Bond bird- the companions and mind-mates of nearly every Tayledras. Bred stronger, larger, and smarter, bond birds are primarily raptors and owls, with the sole exception of Firesong k'Treva's firebird Aya.
Mage-powers- Magic, in essence.
Vale- A Tayledras community, often in a small valley. The Vales of all the Tayledras Clans are covered by a veil of power generated by the mages of a Clan. This veil protects against both weather and enemies, forming a barrier against all but Tayledras.
Heartstone- This is the equivalent of a natural node of magic, to which the leylines are connected or rerouted to in the areas where a Clan is present. The only difference is that it is controlled and very much a part of Clan life. Only one Heartstone has gone rogue, and you'll have to read Winds of Fate and Winds of Change to know which one.
Shin'a'in- The nomadic herdsmen of the Dhorisha Plains. Their heritage is identical to that of the Tayledras, save for somewhat recent changes in past history.
K'Sheyna- A Tayledras Clan.
Dyheli- A deer-like resident of the Peligir Forest. Intelligent in degrees, these silver-white creatures are as fleet as any Valdemaren Companion. (And don't tell me you don't know what a Companion is!)
K'Leshya- The Ghost Clan, the k'Leshya Clan are the remaining third of a race split since the time of Urtho and Maar.
Ekele- The treehouse homes of the Tayledras.
Hertasi- Lizard-like race who serve the needs of the Tayledras and the k'Leshya.
Trondi'irn- Specialized healers and caretakers of the gryffins.
Tervardi- Bird-like musicians and artisans that live also among the Tayledras.
Talesedrin- Talesedrin was one of the first nine Clans, and not so many years ago, was nearly completely destroyed by raiders. One survived, Tarma shena Talesedrin, but as she took the Oath to the Warrior, she was forever celibate, and had to find another to carry on the Clan name in children. Their story is told through four books and numerous shorter stories, and now Talesedrin is the Clan made of both Outlanders and unwanted ones, forming a common bond. Watersong's father was the great-grandson of his Clan's founding father and mother, making her related to many in Talesedrin, and more than a few up north. One particular lives in Valdemar…
Laters!
KD