Chapter 7 The Priestess
Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature... Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.
Helen Keller, The Open Door (1957)
Bel was up early before the dawn colored the sky. She wanted to get in a little hunting before she returned to Astranaar. Aayndia Floralwind had praised her hides and paid her with silver. Bel had been admiring a beautiful pair of daggers. The blades were hardened mithril and the handles carved of ironwood. They fit her hands and were perfectly balanced. The tradesman offered to hold the daggers until her return.
She and Gremmels carefully threaded their way between the sleeping forms of the night's partiers. Some had fallen in awkward drunken positions, while others were peacefully curled in thick robes or blankets. Gremmels carefully grabbed a leg of strider still clutched in the hand of a stout blue Kaldorei male with hair spiked up almost as tall as his ears. He pulled it gently from the cupped hand and once free made a quick dash for the doorway and outside. Bel smiled. At least one of them would have a breakfast.
She and Gremmels tracked several large bears at the western end of Mystral Lake for almost two hours before the sun painted the early morning sky with reds and yellows. She had three large pelts collected. One more and she decided she would return to Astranaar. The morning air was clean with the scent of dew drying on the grasses and leaves. A wisp of fog floated over the lake but the surrounding hills were brightening in the morning rays. The promised day looked blue and clear as she cast her eyes skyward.
Gremmels alerted her to a large form shambling behind a fallen tree. The two crept soundlessly closer. It was a large male. He was young and his fur glossy. Bel pulled two arrows and with only a whisper of a taut bowstring returning to rest, the arrows sped straight into the great bear's heart. He dropped with a muffled thud. Gremmels gave a great yawn. Bel grinned at him. "Get you up too early?"
A dark shadow raced across the ground over them and a cold breeze ruffled Bel's braid and Gremmels ears. Bel looked up in surprise. Only a moment before, the sky was empty and the morning air warming. Could the weather be turning so quickly? Bel wondered. She scanned the sky, seeing nothing.
A sultry intoxicating voice floated into Bel's ears. "Excellent shot hunter. It looks like the pelt will be in perfect condition."
Bel stood and whirled in one swift movement, another arrow notched in her bow. She jerked around again, unable to locate the owner of the voice.
"Ah, my apologies. I did not mean to startle you." The voice continued almost within Bel's head.
"Over here, on the large, flat boulder to your right."
Bel took a step toward the boulder peering carefully at it, bow at the ready.
"I mean you no harm." And a tall, slim human female dressed in long rich emerald robes appeared on the boulder. She had a vivid face with piercing green eyes and short wavy brunette hair. A tall horse, brown coat glowing in the morning sun, tossed his black mane and stood nearby.
Bel gasped. She had not detected either of them. And surely, since she was tracking bears, she should have felt at least the horse.
The woman smiled. "Come hunter. I have a small breakfast to share if you are hungry."
When Bel did not move she frowned slightly. "Ah, where are my manners, I am Lindsey, priestess of Stormwind." Her voice was warm and soothing. "And I believe you are Beleta Windsong? With your bonded saber, Gremmels?"
Bel lowered her bow, her brows knitted together. How did this human know who she was?
"Come, come. I have set out more food than I can eat myself." She waited. "Hunter, you can see I am unarmed."
Bel looked more closely at her and the faintly glowing staff lying at the priestess' feet, but made no move. She started scanning the area for any other humans.
"You have your mother's eyes, although the glow is all Kaldorei."
At this Bel stopped to stare. "You know my mother, uh, mistress?"
Lindsey smiled and in beautiful dulcet tones she replied. "Many in Stormwind know your mother, Beleta." She picked up a piece of bread and took a bite. "Umm, yes, this spice bread is excellent. I understand this is a favorite of yours. Try some?"
Bel frowned slightly, but stepped forward to the food and drink spread out on the rock and knelt. She watched the priestess carefully before breaking off a chunk of the bread for herself. It smelled like spice bread and she was hungry.
"I am hardly going to poison you." She opened a flask and poured two cups of moonberry.
Bel took the cup and murmured a 'thank you mistress' wondering how the priestess had seemed to read her mind.
"Beautiful morning, isn't it?"
Bel looked up and realized the morning did seem to be brighter and the gentle breeze was filled with the scents of freshly opened flowers. Her brow furrowed again. Hadn't the weather just seemed to be turning? She took another bite of the spice bread as she nodded in agreement and then wondered what this human was doing here.
"I was sent to find you." Lindsey spoke lowly but clearly, again seemingly in response to Bel's thoughts.
Bel choked down the piece of bread. "Me?" Suddenly the thought came to her. "Is this about my mother?"
Lindsey smiled broadly and waved her hand as to dismiss the words. "No child." She paused. "You mother is fine."
"What do you know of the human guilds, Beleta?"
This caught Bel by surprise although she wasn't sure that anything this human said to her would not be as unexpected. "Very little, mistress."
"Ah, please just call me Linds." She paused. "I belong to the guild Whispers of Solace."
Bel's eye widened.
"I see this is one you have heard about." She stopped to take a sip from her cup. "We are a group with, let's say, varied talents. Our lives are dedicated to bringing joy back in the world. To making it a safe place for everyone to live, work, play, raise a family if they desire."
As Bel listened it seemed that the priestess glowed, somehow catching the light from the mid-morning sun and shining like the early summer's Mead moon.
She had stopped and was watching Bel's face. "Sometimes it is many small things that must changed, not just the great battles, to bring us this joy and freedom. To find the lost, help the hopeless, bring light into the dark. The Whispers of Solace."
Lindsey put down her cup. "You are one with talents we seek." She abruptly rose to her feet, her staff in her hand. "I must leave you now."
By the time Bel had scrambled to her feet, the priestess was on her horse. "When you are ready, visit us in Stormwind, near the Park." The horse pranced a few steps as Linds nodded to Bel. "Lady Cyndaria is the guild leader."
"Enjoy your breakfast, hunter." Her voice came gliding back in low sweet tones as she vanished.
Bel and Gremmels stood quietly for many moments. Suddenly the heavens opened and rain poured down.
