An: Yes I know it has been more than two and a half weeks since I updated. You have the right to yell at me. In this chap I finally get to that cliffhanger from chapter 9.
And a couple of side notes:
Tigress of the Moon: I do actually read Mercedes Lackey books. She's one of my favorite authors. I just recently finally managed to get By the Sword after looking for it for about 2 years. ( that book is so hard to find, I can get the Mage Winds trilogy and the Mage Storms but not By the Sword? I also had the same problem with the Last-Herald Mage I could find the first and the third books but not the second. Luckily I found it last month. )
Yvaellis : Tamora Pierce was actually the one who really got me on to fantasy books. I started with Wild Magic and the rest of the Immortals quartet, then I read the Lioness quartet, I did read her Circle of Magic and the first of the Circle opens but I haven't read her new Tortall quartet. I really have to go out and get it.
And Arigatou to the rest of you incredibly nice people for reviewing. If you want to e-mail me with the usual stuff (question comments etc.) Or anything else then you can reach me at saturamelsi@hotmail.com
A bee buzzed lazily in Keldar's ear wakeing her from a light sleep. She opened her eyes and looked up at the leafy crown of the oak tree she and Satura were lying under in the shade. She and the mage had stopped for a morning break. A small stream flowed merrily over rocks and into a large pond. A cool breeze smelling of wild roses and lily of the valley stirred the oak's branches.
A small sigh from her left drew her out of her lazy musings. "Relaxing isn't it?" Satura turned her head and smiled at her. "Yes, being out in nature really-" the mage stopped and sat up abruptly all of her attention focused on the air over the pond. "What's wrong, Satura?" Keldar asked, sitting up herself. "It's the endpoint for a random portal." The mage answered her attention never wavering from the pond.
"Can you tell what's coming?" "Yes, but I think who is coming is a better question." "Who?" The druid asked, puzzled. "It seems some of the members of our party will be joining us sooner than we thought." Satura answered. "Which ones?" "Well, I'm detecting a female presence and two males. All of them have Suzaku's aura around them." Satura said. "So it's the miko and two seishi? But which seishi?" Keldar asked.
"Hmm, let me see..." The mage trailed off as she focused her magic on finding out which of the poor seishi were with Miaka. She had been through a random portal twice in her life and in her opinion once was enough. Those things were damned unpleasant to travel in for a Delikan, she hated to see what traveling must have been like for people from a different world. Meanwhile, Keldar was cursing her inability- not for the first time- to detect non-druid magic. Her druid training forced her to limit herself to druid and nature spells. "It's Miaka, Tasuki and either Nuriko or Hotohori." Satura finally said. I wasn't around the last two long enough to get a good feeling for their auras." "And the Guardians?" Satura gestured off to their left.
A blue mist was starting to gather in the area. Two vague shapes were starting to take shape within the mist. Satura felt a small portal open and close, followed by confused whinny. Shadow shook his head trying to clear it and figure out where in the world they had ended up. Next to him Zyra was shaking off the last effects of the magic and looking around. She then spotted the two women. You look familiar. She said to Satura.
"I guess I should since I just met you two weeks ago." The mage replied. Leira and Sunfire had crept up beside the women. Sunfire! The wolf exclaimed. She looked back at Shadow. Thank the gods we at least ended up somewhere safe and with people we can trust. Yes, but who is next to the mage? Shadow asked. "She is Keldar My'ava a Druid." Satura replied. "The leopard is Leira, her Guardian." So you managed to find the last member of our group? Zyra asked. "Yes." Satura focused back on the pond. "Oh dear, looks like there's going to be some wet seishi here soon."
The wolf and unicorn looked around them in sudden confusion. You mean none of the other came with us? Shadow asked. "No they're still coming." The mage pointed at a large blue circle that had appeared over the pond. It's over the pond? That might cause some problems; I don't think Tasuki can swim. Zyra said. The two women looked at each other, shook their heads and started to remove their boots and belt pouches. They then removed their half-robes and sashes, leaving them in the shirts they wore underneath. Keldar then removed the feathers in her hair, and then helped Satura remove the feathers in her hair.
They then walked to the pond's edge ready to jump in and fish out anybody that needed help. The portal started to get brighter and soon screaming could be heard. Three human shapes came through and fell screaming into the pond, thoroughly soaking themselves and splashing water on Satura and Keldar. The two women dove into the water when the miko and seishi didn't surface. Satura dove under the water and grabbed a sinking Miaka and dragged her back to the surface, helping the sputtering and coughing girl to hold onto a sunken log.
She looked over her shoulder to see that Keldar had grabbed the purple-haired seishi –Nuriko, she now remembered- and had gotten him to hold onto a rock outcropping. "Tasuki is still down there!" The mage called. Keldar nodded and both women slipped under the surface again, they spotted the wildly thrashing bandit, who was trying vainly to surface. They both took hold of one of his arms and towed him back up to the surface and out onto the shore where a worried Zyra rushed over and started to lick his cheek.
Then they waded back in and helped Miaka and Nuriko get to dry land. The three Suzaku people spent the next few minutes trying to catch their breath and rid their lungs of the water they had accidentally breathed in. Once she had cleared her lungs and calmed down some, Miaka looked over at her two friends relieved to see they were soaking wet and dripping, but were otherwise fine. "Where are we now?" Nuriko asked. A towel hit him in the face followed by two more landing on Tasuki and Miaka. "You're a day's ride south of the capital." A voice said.
All three froze and looked up. A woman with honey-colored hair was leaning against the trunk of a huge oak tree. "Satura!" Miaka and Tasuki exclaimed. The girl started to get up, but was stopped by Satura's upraised hand. "No hugging until your dry." She said firmly. "I just got dry myself." Miaka sat down and started toweling her hair. "Keldar!" She called, looking for her friend. "Did you find anymore towels?" "A few." Keldar shouted back. The miko blinked in confusion. Who was 'Keldar'? She wondered.
An unfamiliar figure came into view. Keldar tossed the towels she held to the girl and two seishi who each took one, all the while looking at the strange person. The druid sat by Satura, reclining against the oak's trunk. "Who are you?" The miko finally asked. Keldar smiled. "I am Keldar My'ava of they Dyra Clan, I'm a druid." "I'm Miaka Yuuki and these are my friends Tasuki and Nuriko." Miaka said gesturing to the seishi as she named them. "Keldar is the last member of our group." Satura said. "What?!" The three exclaimed. "You are?" the bandit asked.
"Yes, this is my guardian Leira." Keldar stroked the cat's fur. Leira butted her head against the woman's arm, making a sound close to a purr. "What happed to our horses?" Nuriko asked. "Their with our horses. The animals and your packs are fine. Which reminds me, I need to go tell Garret where you are." Satura started off to where the horses were leaving the miko and seishi, with the druid. "So you're a priestess?" Keldar asked Miaka. The girl nodded. "How did you come by the title?" the woman asked, looking at her with interest. "Would you like to hear the story?" The druid nodded. Miaka took a deep breath. "It all began the day my best friend Yui and I went to the library..."
*****
Garret felt his knees go weak with relief and suddenly found himself falling out of the saddle and hitting the ground. Hotohori and Chichiri reined their mounts to a stop and stared in surprises at the sprawled form of the bard. They looked at each other a moment then back at Garret. "Um, Garret? Are you alright na no da?" Chichiri finally asked. Garret didn't answer right away. He was still trying to absorb the message Satura had sent him.
The message, unfortunately, had left him weak with relief, which was not a good thing when trying to stay on a horse was concerned. So he had slipped and ended up eating dirt. The bard finally rolled, spitting out the dirt in mouth. He sat up and looked at his friends. "I just got a message from Satura. Miaka, Tasuki and Nuriko somehow ended up with her." Relief flooded through the emperor and monk, Garret couldn't help grinning when he saw the two of them start to lean dangerously to one side, and before he or they knew it, the two seishi had joined him on the ground.
Garret couldn't help laughing at the two as they sat up and spit out the mouthfuls dirt, they had acquired. Hotohori sat up and brushed off sleeve and pulled a stray twig from his hair as he tried to regain his dignity. Chichiri on the other hand, just sat up and dusted his clothes off and focused his attention on the bard. "Did Satura say anything else?" He asked. "Well, aside from being wet Miaka and the others are fine." "Wet?" Both seishi asked. "The portal's endpoint opened up over a pond. They had to be fished out of the pond. Satura said she found Tasuki at the bottom, trying to thrash his way to the surface." Grarret said, grinning. The mental image that provided caused Chichiri to shake his head, while smiling in amusement. Hotohori covered a grin with his hand, the amusement latent in his eyes.
"I also have another piece of good news." The bard said. "What?" Hotohori asked. "Satura found the last member of the Six." "She did?!" Both seishi exclaimed in shock. "Yes, her name is Keldar My'ava, she's a druid. Satura met her when some bandits were beating on her and chased them off." "Why were the beating her?" The monk asked. "Because she's a druid." At the two confused faces staring at him, Garret felt inclined to explain further. "Druids are seen as the scapegoats of Delika, their blamed for almost everything. Lack of food and lack of jobs, Satura told me that the bandits after Keldar were blaming her because they couldn't cut down timber in the Old Forest, which is actually preserved by the Crown not the Druids. No one is allowed to cut down any tree in the Old Forest. The bandits were using that as an excuse just to go after Keldar, which is another thing druids are used for- people looking for something or somewhat to hurt so they can feel good about themselves." Garret's voice had taken on an angry edge. The two seishi nodded in understanding.
Kreesha bumped her head gently in Garret's shoulder. The druid is safe now and we are loosing time on our journey. I suggest we continue. The bard looked at her and sighed. "She's right, we should get going." The three men stood up and mounted their horses again, starting off for Clat's City again, with lightened hearts.