Chapter Four: Awakening of Destiny
"I foresee the ruin of the people. The wind will die. The seas will rage. The very earth will rot. And a darkness will shroud the world."
- The Prophetess Elzeiah,
From the Book of the Prophets
"Now the Age of Ruin has come. But as the great darkness spreads to engulf the world, be hopeful: four Warriors of the Light shall appear."
- The Prophet Lukahn,
From The Writings of Lukahn
Rhea put down the book in front of her, glanced past rows of bookshelves in the warm, stuffy library, and looked at Lothar. An older woman sat beside him, her curly gray hair pinned up, her hands tucked into the folds of her habit.
Lothar looked at the woman, named Maia, and asked, "So the light warriors don't have to search for the crystal hearts – they'd already have them?"
"Yes, they should have them in their possession."
"I wonder why they haven't shown up yet," he muttered.
"Others have searched for them, but most have given up," she told him. "We'll just have to keep hoping."
Outside, Rhea saw a group of people in black coats surrounding a caravan and loading it. The word 'Quadrin' was printed on its side. The red coat was easy to pick out from the crowd.
"Hello there." Vieno hefted a large crate, bending their knee to hold it up while they got a better grip. "Out visiting people?"
"Lukahn's partner," Rhea answered.
"Did she have anything to say?" Vieno pushed the crate into the caravan and got out of the way of those behind them. "Or he – I shouldn't just assume." It was generally common for a male and female prophet to partner together in their visions, as well as marriage.
"No, she didn't have much. Just that they would have the crystal hearts on them, but no other way of knowing who they are, or where they could be…" Rhea almost forgot that Vieno hadn't heard the entirety of the conversation.
But they understood what she meant just fine. "Crystal hearts, eh? Maybe you could open a store, pretend to be jewellers that buy used jewellery."
Lothar grinned. "Yeah."
"You guys look like you're getting ready to leave," Rhea commented.
"Just putting away a few things we've bought. I don't know much about the buying and selling, really. I'm just a guard."
"Did Vieno tell you about what happened last night?" It was Saundra.
"Oh, no. What happened?" Lothar asked.
"Nothing much. I saw someone outside my window last night. He was climbing the wall, probably trying to get to the roof. He didn't bother me, though."
"Hmm. That's weird."
"Did you hear of the princess?" It was Donatien, and Lothar was surprised – he thought it might have been the first sentence the man had spoken in his presence.
"Oh, Rhea, you haven't been introduced to these two yet, have you? This is Saundra, and Donatien. This is Rhea," Vieno told the two. Donatien nodded, and Saundra greeted her loudly.
"What about the princess?" Lothar asked.
"She's been kidnapped by her guard," Saundra said. "They just got a ransom note the day before yesterday. He's asking for everything the kingdom has to offer."
"Oh, my gods, that must be the girl Sir Felix was talking about," Rhea muttered.
At the mention of Felix, her brother frowned. "Right. That guy. He was looking for her."
"And now the king is talking of Light Warriors," Saundra said, looking at Lothar expectantly. "He thinks they will come save Sara."
"Oh, yes, because Lukahn told him so," Vieno grinned. "I hope for Sara's sake that he's right."
Lothar and Rhea were walking back to their room when a shriek split the air. It was near the city gates, and the guards lay on the ground, injured. Three large horses trampled the ground, shaking their heads, nostrils flared, ears back, the whites showing in their eyes. A toddler was crouched to the ground, dangerously close to the wild beasts' fleeting hooves.
One man tried to grab a horse around the neck and was dragged until he fell to the ground, clutching bruised ribs. The baby let out a little wail. Everyone else hung back, too afraid to approach the wild animals.
Then an odd creature came creeping towards the scene from the city-kept road that cut through the wilderness beyond the walls. It was a cloud of navy robes, feet visible beneath the hem, thin and bony with long appendages and fully furred. The pattern that travelled up its legs was black stripes on brown.
A silence fell over the crowd. The wild horses stopped, one hoof an inch from the toddler's tiny hand.
The creature lifted one claw-hand – it stood on two legs, but it couldn't be human – and a blast of fire exploded from it, snaking through the air and twisting around to catch on a horse. And then chaos erupted.
Another blast of fire and the creature rushed forward, claw flashing to finish the animal off. It grabbed the baby, pulled it close, and the child was hidden in the folds of its baggy robes.
"No! It's got my child," one woman shrieked. Guards rushed forward, spears aimed at the blue robes. The fire flew outwards in a circle, licking at a second horse's heels.
Something seemed wrong. Rhea took a step forward, but Lothar's hand held her, restrained her.
As the second horse fell, the creature turned to face the last, holding out a clawed hand to ward it off, the flames starting, the guards rushing, and a child's cry rising, she realized what was wrong.
"No, stop!" She tore herself from her brother's grasp, ran to the creature in blue, rushed to get between it and the guards. "Don't kill it!"
The guards tripped and knocked into each other as they pulled up their spears, trying not to hit her. And a weak whinny behind her told her the last horse was dead.
"What are you doing?" The woman who screamed was the mother. "Get out of the way!"
"It saved him," Rhea snapped indignantly. Her brother stared at her, looking disbelieving. Vieno and some of the caravaners were also in the crowd, a drawn sword in Vieno's hand. They put the sword back into their scabbard.
Rhea turned and saw the creature reach into its robes, pulling out the baby. It held the boy out, the child dangling from his shoulders, and passed him to Rhea. She held the baby uncertainly, carrying the baby to his mother.
She found herself rushing back to the odd creature, and when it slumped, hit the ground, first on knees, then lying flat, she gasped, got down and wrapped her arms around it. Blood seeped from one sleeve and when she tried to lift it, found it very light considering its size, but too big for her alone. She shook with nervous energy.
Lothar grabbed the creature's legs, and then Vieno gently put Rhea aside and lifted its upper half from the shoulders. They headed for the inn.
Rhea had rushed to the Bright temple and learned a Cure spell. She'd always been told she had an aptitude for healing like Lothar, as they'd inherited it from their mother, but she'd always avoided magic. Something about it reminded her of her mother, and brought painful memories. And Lothar never bothered to learn, either, though they were both old enough now.
At the inn, she cast the spell, then put her knowledge of herbs and natural techniques to work, putting poultice on the injuries found on the furred torso, wondering how such deep cuts had come about, then bandaged them. The creature opened its eyes and hissed at the lamp.
"I need to keep it lit, to work on you." She got an idea. Not wanting to scare or confuse it, she took a cloth and slowly draped it over its eyes. It calmed soon after that.
She entered the common room and saw her brother. "Um, I'm done, and I think it's sleeping."
"Okay, I'll be up in a minute."
"Goodnight, Rhea," said Vieno.
She walked into the room and saw the creature up, walking around, holding the lamp above its head in what appeared to be an attempt to light its path without seeing the direct flame. "Oh! Hello."
The creature spun to face her. A hood covered its face in shadow, but its eyes glinted, just like those of a cat or dog. It stood stock still for a few moments, then waddled away behind the bed nearest the window.
"No, no, don't be scared." She walked over to it and put a hand on its head. "I'm Rhea."
The creature began a garbled set of sounds that must have been a language, so at least it could talk. But it didn't sound like any language she'd heard. When it stopped, she tapped her own chest and said, "Rhea. Rhea." Then she tapped its chest, away from the injuries, and looked at it expectantly. It flinched at the touch, probably out of surprise, but didn't try to run away.
"Loki." Then it swayed back and forth a bit in what looked like confusion, shaking its head. It muttered a few more things under its breath.
Lothar entered the room and closed the door quietly. "Hey," he whispered.
"Loki, this is Lothar. Lothar." She tapped Lothar on the chest.
"Lothar…Rhea." Its voice was gravelly, a deep, guttural growl, but their names were recognisable, unmistakable.
"Here." She took the lamp and covered it. "You should lie back down." She led it to a bed and settled the creature in. Then she took the lantern and snuffed the flame.
That night, Rhea woke with a start and turned over. A jewel was clutched in the creature's hand, and it sat up, awake, staring at it as the gem, set into a pendant, glowed green. She saw a light on her bedside table and looked at it to see one of her crystal earrings glowing a gold shade. She looked around the room and saw Lothar sitting up in the chair by the desk, there not being enough beds, and staring. "Rhea…" he muttered.
"What? This means nothing," she lied.
"Rhea, you and Loki…are Light Warriors."
She glanced at Loki for confirmation, saw only its animalistic eyes reflect the moonlight back at her.
