Chapter 3

            The villagers were quiet that night as they camped as far away from the carnage as the Companion herd could carry them. The highest-ranking Heralds, which had become Elspeth's council, gathered around a central fire to discuss their options.

Alberich was there, along with Myste, who leaned contentedly against him. Morna was snuggled in her favorite blanket and snoozed against Myste, her second favorite Herald. Alberich had carried her all night as they traveled, and had also been vomited on a few times as Morna's reaction headache was debilitating in the extreme. Devan had finally managed to get some tea down her, and it had solved the vomiting problem. Alberich's old tunic was now buried quite a few leagues back in the direction they had come.

Seated around the circle with Alberich, Elspeth, Myste and Morna were Elcarth, Keren, Teren, Sherril, Jeri and Herald Eldan, a spy that had reported back from the Karsite border just in time for Soul Killer. They were all just as mud and blood spattered as before and exhaustion created gray complexions and heavy eyes. Elspeth yawned and rubbed her face, then blinked several times, trying to clear the fatigue from them. Her eyes rested on Morna for few seconds, watching the little girl scrunch her face and shift in her sleep. There was nothing about the girl's physical appearance to even hint at the catastrophic Gift she housed. She was still thin, despite Alberich's hard work to fatten her back up, and her scars were still angry and red. Devan assured them that her scars would fade over the years, never leaving her completely, but not as noticeable. Her complexion was still pale underneath her golden color, and Elspeth feared the first illness that swept through the Village would destroy her and any hopes they had of taking Valdemar back. Alberich reached over and smoothed a hand over her hair with an expression Elspeth had never seen on his face, much less believed he could produce. Morna quieted instantly, shoving a fist in her mouth to chew, and Myste smiled softly at Alberich. Elspeth wanted to smile, but restrained herself.

:Well, there's something I never thought I'd see.: she  commented to Gwena instead.

:What, the Great Stone Heart being soft?:

:More than that. He's gone and found himself a family.: Then she chuckled to herself. : I feel bad for any of Morna's future suitors.:

Gwena chuckled with her. : I can just see it now. "My little girl, you wish to court? My sword, on which you wish to find yourself impaled.:

:Poor, poor suitor. Maybe she'll get lucky and find a lifebond. Then Alberich wouldn't be able to scare the poor person off.:

:I don't know. Alberich can be very scary. He might be able to delay it, if he wanted to. Alberich is smart, though. I wouldn't fight a lifebond.:

:She'll need it.:

She felt Gwena's perplexity. :Why do you say that?:

:We're about to single-handedly ruin this child's life. We haven't even talked about it, yet we all know she is the key to saving Valdemar. She won't have a life beyond training for her "ultimate destiny". It seems so cruel.:

:There, you are wrong. She already has a life beyond training. Alberich loves her with everything he has and will see to it that she has a good life and is not constantly under pressure. It will wear at him, knowing what her future is and worrying, but he will handle it. He was made for it.:

Elspeth felt her own curiosity stirring. :Is there something there I should know about?:

:I have already told you too much.:

Elspeth heaved a mental sight. :Right. Never could get a secret out of the Companions.:

Instead of trying to drag the information out of Gwena, Elspeth clapped her hands briskly and captured the attention of her inner circle.

"All right, people, we need to discuss options here. Obviously Sorrows can no longer protect us. Where do we go?"

There was an uncomfortable silence around the circle broken by the shuffles of feet and Eldan shifting the wood in the fire with a stick. Then he sat up and grinned crookedly. "Well, one thing is for sure."

"What's that?"

"We can't go to Karse."

There were general chuckles and Alberich joined in, despite the disparaging of his home country.

"What about Rethwellen?"

The suggestion came from Jeri and Elspeth shook her head vigorously.

"We shouldn't be talking about leaving Valdemar at all people. If we do, Ankara wins." Elspeth's voice was pitched low in spite of the obvious anger contained in it. "He will not run us out of Valdemar."

"Perhaps, pride is talking." Eyes turned to Alberich and Elspeth raised an eyebrow at her old arms teacher. "Win, Ankara does not, if we leave. Back, we will come, when stronger, we are."

"Alberich is right." Elcarth's voice drew Elspeth's eyes to him. He had aged rapidly in the last few years and she was amazed he had made it as far as he had. "We need to go somewhere we can raise and train the young heralds in peace, where they won't be killed for being Chosen. At this rate, the Heralds will be killed off before Morna is old enough to even think about Internship."

Elspeth rubbed her hands over face again and growled in her throat. "How can we take Valdemar back when we aren't even here? Ankara will know we are gone and he will go wild, destroying everything. I can't let him do that to Valdemar!"

"Elspeth, listen." Karen was speaking now. "Valdemar is its people and they are gone! There are some left here and there, but we can't help them. Ankara is already running loose through the country and those that could leave already fled. We need to think about the children, Elspeth, the Trainees. More and more are dying. Morna and one other are all that is left of the latest class."

"She's the only one left of her class." Heads turned again as Devan dragged himself to their fire and slumped onto the ground beside Myste. "Her classmate just died."

Breaths gusted out as the circle slumped and the implications of this news settled in.

"We have to leave." Elspeth voice was tired and quiet. "Where do we go?"

"Rethwellen."

"Rethwellen."

"Rethwellen."

The name traveled around the circle until it reached Elspeth, who nodded. "Rethwellen, it is. We can ask my uncle for-"

"Perhaps, I can be of some help."

A woman stepped out of trees, and Elspeth felt her breath freeze in her chest. She was beautiful, dressed in black with eyes that included no pupil or iris, on a field of stars.

They all rose, and kneeled, except for Myste, who stood but did not kneel due to Morna's weight. The child did was tiny for her age, but it was not possible for Myste to kneel without bruising her knees. When the Star-Eyed moved towards them, Alberich rose and quickly stepped in front of them, blocking her path to Myste and Morna. She smiled gently and held her hands up to show she had no weapons, but that made no difference to him.

"Fierce Alberich, have no worries. I will not harm them."

"Trust you, I do not."

The Shin'a'in Lady looked taken aback for a moment, then she smiled again gently. "They chose right when They chose you to be her protector. Guard her and love her well, Alberich. She will need it." Instead of trying to push past Alberich she turned to face the rest of the group. "You need a place to go, and I have a place to send you. My clans will protect you until the time is right."

Elspeth stepped forward. "Your clans?"

"Yes. I think Tale'sedrin will be a good clan for you. You will blend in there. No one will think anything of it."

"But how will we-" Elspeth broke off as a white light bloomed and grew intensely bright, everyone to wince and cover their eyes, then faded. They all stood in a field of long grass under a sky that was strewn with a number of stars that could only be described as awesome. What was even more shocking was the group of people standing before them. A short distance behind them, a group of brightly colored tents could be seen, glowing from the inside to produce a strangely stained-glass effect. A man stepped forward from the group, striding confidently toward them. His hair was long and dark but his green eyes sparkled merrily at the startled group of Heralds and villagers.

"Welcome, friends of Valdemar. I am Kra'heera, of the Children of the Hawk. Be welcome in our clan"

Elspeth swallowed and stepped forward. "Greetings, Kra'heera. I am Elspeth, of Valdemar. We thank you for your hospitality."

Kra'heera grinned. "Good. Now that the formalities are over with, what say you to getting your tired Heralds and villagers settled? We have prepared for you."

Elspeth raised an eyebrow. "Prepared? You knew about us before?"

"Indeed. The Bright Star told us long ago that you would be coming."

"It would have been nice if She had told us," Elspeth grumbled, then jumped in fright as a beautiful black horse strode up to her side and shoved its head against her back.           :What is wrong, Chosen?:

:A rather large black horse wants me to scratch its head. It isn't a warsteed, is it? I've heard some scary things about them.:

:I have no idea what you are talking about. The only creature with hooves near you is me.:

:But, you're white, and this creature isn't.:

:Chosen, I assure you, I am the only creature. Now scratch my head, it itches from all this magic.:

"Oh my…." As Elspeth weakly spoke, Kantor glided up beside Alberich, who also started in shock.

:My friend? What is wrong?: Kantor sounded concerned, then he saw himself through Alberich's eyes and snorted in amusement. :Ah. The Shin'a'in sense of humor can sometimes be skewed. Apparently they get it from their Lady.:

With that, Kantor shook himself and his black coat quickly faded back to the luminous white Alberich was accustomed to. While the rest of the Companions quickly did the same, the gathered crowd of Shin'a'in began chuckling, then began the massive task of organizing an entire village and converting them into Shin'a'ins.

            Alberich's tent was so brightly colored as to hurt his eyes. He did not mind that though, especially since one of the bright designs was of Vkandis Sunlord. Apparently the Lady really had prepared the Tale'sidren for their arrival, and he was becoming more and more grateful for their arrival every moment. Healers had inexplicably flocked to the Tale'sidren camp over the last few weeks and now they swept in, taking over the casualties for the exhausted Valdemaren Healers.

            Morna was currently curled up in a pile of bright blankets, sucking on her fist and sleeping fitfully. Her continued whimpers worried Alberich and had him sitting up late in the night, abstaining from his own comfortable pile of blankets, in spite of his eyes, which tried to close repeatedly. He looked up abruptly as the tent flap was pulled back and a woman with gray-laced black hair ducked through. She was thin and muscular, like most of the Shin'a'in. Unlike most of the Shin'a'in, her palms were soft of any but calluses from riding horses and the bag slung over her shoulder gave him the hint that she was a Healer. Following in her wake was a small boy about the same age as Morna. He was a strongly built little brute, but his ice-blue eyes were big and soft, containing a kindness that belayed any possibility of misuse of the strength given to him. His dark hair was contained in a myriad of braids, like his mother's, except his was short enough for the braids to stick up wildly in every direction. Alberich, who was wondering how he was going to deal with the little girl's hair when it got longer, figure her hair would end up in braids very like the little boy's as soon as it was long enough.

            "You are Herald Alberich?" Her voice was smoky and dragged his wandering attention back to the present. "Greetings. I am Sa'yen, and this is my son, Marek. She is the child Morna?"

            "Yes."

            The little boy, Marek, wandered over from the tent flap and clung to his mama's breeches. He gabled something in a liquid language Alberich assumed to be Shin'a'in, then looked up when his mother smiled down at her son and looked up to Alberich.

            "He says she is very pretty."

            Alberich smiled at the boy. "Thank you."

            Morna's occasional whimper abruptly turned into a full nightmare and Alberich leaned down and scooped her up in his arms before he could even think about it, crooning to her in Karsite. The nightmare did not lesson and he felt his heart give another little twist as tears began running down her tiny face. The gasp of the woman jerked his attention away from Morna.

            "This child is under assault."

            "Assault? How can that be? Right here, with me, she is. Harmed, she cannot be."

            She could not help but smile at his blithe assertion that nothing could hurt Morna as long as he was there, then quickly sobered. "Her spirit is under attack from many evil spirits. I cannot tell what."

            Alberich flashed back on the last time Morna had screamed like this, when he had entered her mind and slew her monsters. "Monsters, they were not."

            The Healer looked at him curiously. "I assure you, these spirits are quite monstrous."

            "No. When Morna arrived, a nightmare she had. A horrible nightmare the mind-Healer believed it to be, and to enter Morna's mind and slay her monsters, I was told. Not monsters, they were?" His question was more of a statement.

            "No. I believe they are the souls of those she kills. She kills by stealing their souls. Instead of releasing them to continue on their journey, she carries them with her. When you slew her monsters, you destroyed the souls so they could not hurt her."

            Alberich was not comfortable with the concept of destroying souls, but as Morna continued to scream and cry in fright, he realized it was something that needed to be done for the survival and sanity of this tiny child. "Then, again, her monsters I shall slay."

            When Alberich came back to himself, sweat drenched and exhausted, Myste was sitting on the ground facing him. Marek had fallen asleep with his head in her lap, clutching a tiny, well-worn, wooden dagger in one fist. When she noticed Alberich was back in his body, she gently lifted the boy and placed him in Morna's pile of blankets. It was then Alberich realized his blankets had been moved until they were next to him.

            "Welcome back, Alberich. Her monsters are no more?"

            "Finally, all dead. Hard fought, hard won, it was. Soul slaying, not made for it, am I."

            Myste helped him to lean back into his blankets and adjust Morna so she was lying more comfortably. "On the contrary, you are the only person who is made for it. Why else would the gods choose you to be her guardian?"

            Alberich snorted. "Some guardian, am I. Put her in a tree, I did, out of trouble, her to keep. But out she gets, and an army she destroys, while on I look. By a child, saved."

            "A wonderful child that needs protecting."

            "His mother?" Alberich weakly motioned towards the boy with his free hand.

            "She needed to tend some other patients and he insisted on staying here and guarding Morna. He says it's his job."

            "Bah! My job, another child does."

"Go to sleep, Alberich. I could take you right now, and then you would really feel like a bad guardian."

            Alberich fell asleep smiling.