Disclaimer: The characters are owned by Tamora Pierce, but the plot is owned by me.
A/N: Takes place during Kel's probation year.
A/N2: I am so sorry this has taken so long. I'll have a longer a/n at the end of this chapter.
Keladry Warrior Goddess
Chapter 4: So it Begins
Kel said shaking with laughter at her cousin's surprised face. "WHAT?"
-Five Years Later-
"Neal, you must do exactly as I say." A voice whispered in his mind. Neal saw a long hallway, one that he did not recognize. In the hallway he saw himself, Prince Roald, Merric, Owen, a young Yamani girl, a young brunette girl, and a young man who looked much like the brunette. They were walking down the hall towards a large elaborate door. On the walls were tapestries of the many gods and goddesses. As the group came closer and closer to the door, Neal found that he knew the goddess in one tapestry personally; it was Kel. Only, it didn't look like the Kel he knew. This Kel looked older and lighter, though he wasn't sure how that was. "Nealan concentrate." The voice came again. This time he could almost recognize it, but not quite. "You must find this hall. Do not worry about the people in the hall at the moment. That will all work out on its own. But Neal, please listen. It is exceedingly important that you find this hallway. I cannot tell you where it is, but I can help you. Throughout this month you will go on a journey that will bring you together with the people you see in this dream. Prince Roald, Merric, and Owen you already know. But Yukimi, Margarry, and Colin you do not. Yukimi was a very close friend of mine from the Isles. Margarry and Colin are brother and sister; you have met their father, but I cannot tell you who he is. You will have to discover that yourself. There will be one more girl joining you on your journey, but her position is not definite. She will have to decide that on her own. While your journey will not be hindered by her decision, the Fates will be altered. I cannot say yet which path will be the best, or which will be chosen. All I can tell you Neal is that you have twenty-eight days to reach this hallway. I cannot say if it will matter how long it takes you. In truth the time, aside from the twenty-eight days, may be inconsequential. Remember only the path you take can decide the Future.
"Now Neal, gather Roald, Owen, and Merric. The count down begins NOW!"
Nealan of Queenscove woke up with a rather large headache and the memory of a very realistic dream. Neal put a hand to his head to stop the headache. As the headache faded Neal laid his head back down on his pillow. From his calculations he still had two more bells until he needed to be up to start training with Lady Knight Alanna. Suddenly he sat up straight in his bed. "I KNOW that voice!" he exclaimed. For such a scholarly young man, it sure took him a while to recognize his best friend's voice. "But wait if that was Keladry, than that means that that probably wasn't a dream, but a vision…oh gods, I'm talking to myself again." Neal smacked himself on the head, quickly pulled on some semi-clean clothes and rushed out the door. "Owen! Merric! Roald! Get your butts over here!!" Neal called into the squires' hall. Many head peeked out of their doors, most giving Neal a death glare for having wakened them up so early. Finally he spotted Merric's door. And of course he was the only one on their hall that hadn't peeked out the door. Neal pounded on Merric's door.
It finally cracked open and a head popped out, only it was the head of a squire Neal didn't particularly know well. He heard the door to the right of him open, just as he heard a voice saying, "Neal why are you shouting my name?" Neal looked over at Merric who was standing outside the door to the right of him. Neal looked at the squire whose door he was standing outside of and said, "I'm not really here, this is some crazy dream. Now go back to bed." The squire looked at Neal like he was an idiot and muttered some word Neal didn't quite catch under his breath.
"Nealan, I'm waiting." Merric said, causing Neal to look back over at his friend. "Oh of course, um…I seem to have forgotten why I came over here." Neal said smiling sheepishly. "Well then I'm going back to bed, I was having a wonderful dream."
"Oh right, a dream. That's what I have to tell you about."
"Neal I don't want to hear about how you seduced the prettiest court lady into your bed again. That dream's been getting really old."
"No it's not about Lady Patricia. It's about Kel." Merric looked sharply at his friend. "She sent me a vision. We need to find Roald and Owen. It involves them too."
-Realm of the Gods-
"I hope that works Grandfather." Keladry told Silius. "So do I Granddaughter. For if it doesn't well who knows how long this war will last. It's been five years, and even Mithros has given up on ending it. I hope your friends can help." Kel looked down at the mortal world with sad eyes. "We can only hope."
-In another Meeting with the Leaders of Tortall-
"I can't go on like this much longer. I haven't seen my family in nine months, Majesty. I'm afraid I must retire." Lord Wyldon, now former Commander of the King's Special Forces. "I understand Wyldon." King Jonathon said with a sigh. "I'll send for your family to meet you here so you can ride home together. At the moment they are at Fort Smythee."
"Thank you Majesty. It will be nice to see Vivian again. Also my youngest daughter Margarry just turned thirteen. She and Colin are the only children I still have at home."
"I know the feeling. Roald's the only one we have left. All the others have been married of or sent to live with their betrothed's family." Jonathon said with a sad look on his face. "I'm sorry Majesty, I'm being selfish. At least I have contact with my other children. It must be difficult to not be able to contact your own children. It's been five long years." Lord Wyldon said with the knowledge of a father.
It was not safe for Jonathon or Thayet to send letters to their children, who were living in countries either involved in war or trying to stay out of it. "So mote it." Jonathon said out of habit. Wyldon prepared himself to leave the war chamber. "Tell the page boy to send for Raoul, I'll have to be looking for a new Commander." Wyldon nodded and walked out of the room.
A/N: So I've come up with a completely new plot (not that I really had a rock solid plot to begin with). I'm going to go back and re-do chapters 1-3. I won't change them much, just add a foreshadow or two, and correct some grammatical errors I noticed. I've decided who Kel's romantic interest will be, and I'm not telling. LOL. The character is my own, but the idea is not. If you're really into war stories I'm sorry to disappoint you but even though this story seems like the war would be the main part it won't be. I mean I'll mention battles now and then for effect, but if I tried to make this a real war story you would probably all hurt me. So, as you have probably guessed, I won't write Chapter 5 until I redo Chapters 1-3. But I have a lot of free time on my hands now, and I've been in the writing mood, so I should be updating quicker (not that that's saying much sine it took me over a year to post this chapter. Oopsie). Okay, that's the end of my extremely long a/n. (Exactly 193 words). P.S. Sorry this chapter is so short. I couldn't figure out anything else I wanted to add to it, that didn't need to be in the next chapter. ( Now it's 224).