As they covered the ground between the boneyard and the temple, Riddick watched her carefully for signs of the psychological battering he usually got from the spirits and their equally restless mistress. Jack was breathing hard, but that was more obviously from keeping up with his pace, he hated lingering here. This place wasn't a fear he could face or cut down, and that always put him in a foul mood. But Jack seemed fine. Took him a second to remember she had that damn charm to protect her.

That was probably why he was getting a different, odd feeling from the ghosts. Almost... confused. They knew she was there, but they couldn't touch her. He felt satisfaction in that, points for Eldar.

He paused at the mausoleum on top of the last hill that looked down on the valley temple. He passed Jack his water and motioned for her to sit on the tomb steps. He was mildly surprised when Puppy came bounding up the hill a moment later. The beast hadn't deigned to follow him into the necropolis the few times it'd shadowed him. Cats and the dead didn't get along.

Puppy ignored him and padded over to Jack, butting her hand with his forehead. Damn cat smelled of birdshit and blood. Riddick grinned to himself. He'd found the present he'd left. Should be kissing up to him, not Jack. But she'd scritch him like a housepet, spoiled pussy. Whatever. He could see the molten river's reflected glare in his daughter's eyes. She looked apprehensive again.

"I'm going down there alone first. You stay up here till I call you." Jack nodded.

Riddick turned on heel and started down the slope, surprised the old man wasn't waiting for him outside as usual. He was usually pretty punctual with his welcome. On cue, he caught the telltale flare of light from the temple doorway, and Eldar bowed as he approached.

"Amadak, my liege."

"Thought we were done with this. It's..."

"Riddick, yes, I know. But you do not come alone. It is a marked occasion." The Elemental gave the larger man a severe look. Likes his damn ceremony. Riddick crossed his arms and the old man shook his head and sighed."Where is she?"

"Waiting. Till I find out what you got planned." Eldar fixed him with another disapproving and incredulous look. Only one else Riddick ever saw dare that with him was Nicola. He didn't tolerate that in most people. His lips quirked. Funny to see on the face of someone normally so serene.

"Just to meet her. Converse. Does it surprise you to find I am perhaps lonely?"

"What? Shirah and the spook brigade not enough company? " Eldar sighed, flared a bit in irritation.

"They are not allowed here, this place is protected, and I have little tolerance for their single-minded ways."

"Don't bullshit me with this lonely grandpa crap. Priests and little girls don't mix, even on a good day." Eldar flamed openly at that, billowing smoke filled the air. Riddick just glared.

"She is your progeny, Alpha firstborn. Since the spell that protects her from Shirah also blocks her from my sight, I need her present to read her." He didn't react to Riddick's growl. "You may not like this, but you're smart enough to bring her. You know my efforts are always first to help and guide you. And your kin. Trust that I will not harm a daughter of the royal line. Were I to do so, I would be at your mercy, now as always." Riddick rolled his eyes, regarded him a minute. Then he whistled.

Jack came down the hill cautiously, obviously awed by both the temple and the Elemental. She'd met Aereon once, when she was little, back on Helion. Though that was like her dreams of this place, long ago and far away. She'd known even then that her father didn't care for the ghost-like woman. In her mind, his barely suppressed anger tainted the event with trepidation. She chewed her lip as she approached, eying the older man who smelled of something more pungent and mixed than campfires but less metallic than the lava. His eyes and smile were demure, and he bowed as she halted next to her father. Puppy was a silent shadow at her back.

"Ah, so you are Jacqueline, the Alpha's firstborn. I am honored by your presence." She heard her father snort when he bowed. He transubstantiated, flaming briefly. She wondered if it was for her benefit.

"It's Jack," she corrected reflexively, fingering her hair. Was she supposed to bow too? Mom taught her to be courteous, but Dad hadn't said anything. The other man smiled.

"I am Eldar, keeper of this place, and as you know, Fire Elemental. I serve the people of Furya, and the royal line especially." Jack's eyebrow's knit.

"Dad..."

"Skip it priest. I'm the only one who calls her princess."

"You've never called me that, Dad." Jack snapped, embarrassed. Dad was always so rude. Eldar actually laughed.

"Ah, concern she may hear what you do not tell? Even her choice of companion shows the truth, my liege. The midnight walkers always trail the Alphas. They have guarded their masters for countless generations. Look at the murals on the temple." He raised a hand with a flourish, but there was not a lot Jack could make out in the darkness.

"Puppy?" She reached behind her reflexively. In true cat fashion, Puppy ignored her and lay down, oblivious. Riddick snickered, but Eldar seemed unperturbed.

"Perhaps we should go inside to continue this? These grounds are protected, but spirits have ears like the rest of us, and I think your father would prefer these conversations to be private." Riddick grumbled something like 'spying witch' and stomped up the temple steps ahead of her. Jack followed his lead, Puppy and the Elemental bringing up the rear.


Riddick led the way to the sitting room and threw himself on the couch. Jack was trying hard not to gawk, but the temple was impressive. She knew the archaeologists her mother worked with would probably piss themselves if they knew a place like this was still intact. That was probably why Dad didn't talk about it. That and it was... what was a good word? Working? In use? Occupied? Suddenly Mom's work didn't seem so dull.

"What's up priest? Not your usual M.O." Eldar hesitated.

"With your permission, liege, I would move us to the alter room. As I said before, this is a marked occasion." Riddick scowled, but stood. The Elemental ushered them into a larger chamber, where a stone dais dominated the center of the room on a raised platform. It was covered in a white cloth on which sat a large roll of black velvet. Eldar skirted the dais and led them to the back of the room, where a wooden work table sat heaped with covered bowls. He walked to the large cabinet behind it, and opened a door. He pulled down a sachet on a string from among the herbs drying on racks inside and held it out for Jack.

"For your brother." Jack hesitated only a moment before taking it from him, but he saw it.

"What's in this anyway?" She was looking at the table, avoiding his steady gaze. The old man smiled.

"Mostly herbs: sage, rosemary, nettles, black poppy. There's bark from a rowan. All of that mixed and burned to ash. Also some crushed neem leaf and leeks, not native to this world, as well as loadstones and blue sea salt." Jack nodded, chewing her lip. "You ask because you opened the bag." Statement, not a question. Jack blushed and glanced sideways at her father.

"Yeah... Aiden was muttering in his sleep. I figured... I had the dreams at that age. I dumped the bag out and tried to divide it. Put some of the stuff in a leather scrap and tied it up, hid it under Aiden's mattress." She winced guiltily at her father's impassive look and then back at Eldar, who actually seemed pleased.

"As I thought. That is why he disappears often from my sight." He glanced at Riddick and then added. "Despite your father's disapproval, it is natural for you to protect your brother. And you obviously are adept at separating herbal elements. You had to have done more than just halve the contents of the bag. There is not enough there to keep you both clear from sight." Jack ducked her head and her ears went red. Riddick crossed his arms as he watched her.

"I... recognized some of what was in there. The salt, the rowan... it grows in the yard. Mom had leek in the kitchen. And sage. I'm sorry Dad. I just figured you didn't need to worry about it. It wasn't hard, and it worked." She shrugged, pulling on her braids self-depreciatingly.

"Not mad at you, just pissed at the witch. She doesn't give up."

"Who are you talking about? That's the second time you've mentioned a witch."

"Your father refers to the woman you saw in your dreams; Shirah" Eldar supplied. "She is a former priestess of this place, and a student to the Elemental arts. She carries the torch, as it were, for the slain peoples of Furya, wishes for the scattered survivors to be Called home." He shut the cabinet and moved back to the center of the room. "That task can only be accomplished by the Alpha, or, round-about, but one of the royal line." He had started to unroll the velvet fabric, but paused, staring meaningfully at Riddick. "Your father's choice has been to ignore her, but I fear there will be consequences for continued inaction. That is one reason I wished to have you brought here. I wish to calculate your future." Riddick made a noise, something between a hiss and a snarl. Not happy. Eldar sighed, wavering to flame a moment, then shook his head.

"My liege... I know you don't approve, but I require your consent. She is not Named. "

"What do you mean? You know my name." Jack seemed put out. Eldar smiled tightly, his lips a thin line.

"No, my child. Named. Traditionally Furyan children, in their sixth year, are given a true Name known to only the priests and the parents. It speaks of who they are, what they will be in this world and the next. It ties their thread of destiny to the lines they are from allowing them access to things beyond themselves." He put his hands on the stone dais and met Riddick's eyes. "The Name is recorded in the Book of Lines, in a parent's blood. We wait until the sixth year because of the planet's volatile orbit. In ancient times, because of the world's violent geology, many would die before that age... so only those strong or favored would survive the astro-geologic cycle. Archaic, perhaps, but as with all rituals, there is power that gathers in both belief and repetition. " He paused, waiting. Jack did not disappoint.

"But Dad wasn't here when he was six." Riddick came up behind her, poked her with a finger.

"What you know about that?" Jack shrugged.

"Not much. Mom says you don't talk about it. But I know you weren't here. Necro War. Recolonization. Dead planet. Duh." The Elemental nodded. He had uncovered a bowl sitting next to the velvet, he stirred the contents absently.

"You are correct. Your father was thought dead, with good reason. But he was also a blood Alpha, member of the leading Line. Royal lined children's Names were deemed important enough for inclusion upon their untimely death. Your mother took sanctuary here while she was pregnant. Thus, even in the chaos of the Necromonger campaign, as you were delivered, your Name was chosen and recorded, my liege. " The old man frowned and looked at the scowling man before him.

"That, ultimately, is how Shirah knows you, and has connection to you, no matter where you dwell. She was there at your birth, used your mother's blood to record your Name, before they both quit this place in search of sanctuary."

"You weren't going to volunteer this before now?" Riddick's tone was annoyed. Eldar faced him impassively.

"I share what is necessary. You have little patience for religion, tradition, lore or anything you deem superfluous. You place little value on the past and less on the future if it does not directly affect those you care for. As I am bound by a code of noninterference, I must wait til questioned to volunteer such things."

"That's shit and you know it," Riddick growled, but held his temper. It was a lot to chew on, and he wasn't going to lose it in front of his kid.

"So why can't you Name me now?" Jack looked between the two men. "I'm old enough."

"It must be done at the proper time. I have broached the subject with your father, but he did not seem interested. It is best to keep with tradition at this point, wait until your brother reaches his sixth year, when I believe, you will also be double his age?"

"By the fucking numbers." Riddick added. Eldar took this and Jack's nod as acceptance and moved on.

"With your father's permission then, shall we continue?" Riddick grunted, and Eldar motioned Jack to stand beside him. He let her look at the five knives arranged decorously in their velvet sheaths. Each was ornately decorated in carved runes and inlaid with minerals indicative of their corresponding element. One each for the five: fire, water, earth, air and aether. He knew which one to pick, but decided to take the opportunity to both satisfy his own curiosity and make a point to the reluctant Alpha.

"Jacqueline, please hold out your hand." Eldar called a flame to his own, and held it out for the girl to see. "First, I wish to verify what element calls you. You are a child of two very strong embodiments, your father's Fire and your mother's Water. There is little doubt, with your Furyan blood, which is stronger, but if my preliminary calculations are correct, the blending of such strong forces will manifest in a natural proclivity."

Jack had no idea what half of what the Elemental said meant, she was still analyzing the words in her head when he dropped the fireball in her outstretched palm. It was good she'd been distracted, or she would have pulled her hand away. She gasped a bit as the little sphere hovered over her hand, then wavered and dissolved, licking over her fingers briefly. It stung a bit, but didn't really hurt. Kind of like the poi she'd seen fire-spinners use at the summer festivals in town. Low temperature burn. She stared at her palm in wonder.

"That fire was elemental, child. Of my own making, do not attempt that on your own," Eldar was nodding to himself. He called another ball into being, and used it to light the herbal mix in the bowl on the alter. "You will have talent with Fire. " He pulled the knife corresponding to the element. The blade was blackened steel; burgundy fire opals, orange-white fire agates, green peridots and rubies were inlaid in the hilt. He held it up for Jack and her father to see. "I will need blood now child, willingly given." He glanced at Riddick, making sure he had marked the words. Jack took the knife, admiring the glint of the dark blade as much as the sparkling stones.

"Like all Furyan blades, it is killing sharp. Run it along your palm, but not too deep." Jack took a deep breath, turning to gaze at her father, somehow wanting to prove herself to him in this action. Riddick stared impassively as she slid the knife across her skin, fisted her hand and handed the wet blade to the Elemental. It stung fiercely, but she wasn't going to cry, and she knew it would close up soon if she kept pressure on it. She held her injured fist up at chest level, but away from her body. She didn't want to have to explain blood on her clothes to Mom.

Eldar meanwhile, had taken the knife over to the smoking bowl on the alter. He was chanting to himself as he ran the dripping blade over the rising smoke, then brought the blade back to his chest, covering it in both hands as he transubstantiated to fire himself. The blade at his center sizzled briefly and went bright orange with the heat. Jack recognized the mixture of smells she'd felt earlier in the wood. It was an eerie moment of deja vu and made her shiver. Goosebumps pricked her skin as she watched the Elemental's human form dissolve completely. For a long moment, there was only the crackle and hiss of fire. Then Eldar's disembodied voice rose from flames.

"Jacqueline Taras Riddick, first daughter to Ciad-Sìol, Taras-Ja shall be your Name. Mark carefully what is said, and take care where you repeat it. Most clearly I note this blood, your blood, will be the catalyst for the homecoming, though the Call will not come from your throat. You are bound like a diamond in bedrock, under pressure, surrounded by forces not of your own making. How this proceeds is divergent. On one path, I see you choking on the roots of the dead. If the shadows do not claim you, you will be the right hand to the future, priestess of the people. Protector and guide to the future Line. On the other, as the darkness consumes you, you will be the left hand, destroyer and ruler both... skinwalker and tyrant. Your power will extend far beyond this planet, as you take up the warlord's call. Balance will be lost."

Jack backed up and Riddick moved protectively to hold her.

"Daddy..." she whispered. "I don't like this."

Eldar's form re-emerged from the flames, and settled slowly, still smoking. "What is stranger, is that it is not your choice. It will come from your father which path you take. I am sorry child, that is what I see." He set down the knife and shook his head.

"But I don't want to be a priestess or a tyrant. I want to be a pilot or in the IS like Ziza," Jack's tone was petulant, still tinged with fear.

"Don't worry kid, these guys don't know everything." Eldar tried to smile reassuringly as he replaced the knife and rolled the velvet package closed again.

"It is true that visions of this sort are often symbolic. We cannot take them literally, and what words mean at one time may change in another. Nothing is ever decided until it passes into history and even then it is open to interpretation. Do not dwell on it child, those around you will endeavor to protect you from the worst. The seas of time are often in flux." He gazed at the pair before him and continued.

"While I know it strains the bonds of courtesy, I must confess that readings such as this drain me and I require rest. The temple grounds are safe and you may stay as long as you choose, but I must retire." He led them back to the door of the sitting room, where Puppy was snoozing on the rug. "I would speak to both of you again, perhaps separately, in the future." He bowed low and returned to the alter room, pausing in the doorway. "Forgive my not seeing you out." Jack watched him, and saw something like exhaustion cross his face as he shut the door. She heard her father whistle from the the hallway and quickly turned to follow.

Riddick was already heading down the front steps by the time she caught up. He paused in the front courtyard, staring off into the distance.

"Don't think I need to tell you, but don't tell Mom about this. Don't want her to worry." Jack looked up at him skeptically. He grinned down at her and pulled her into a hug.

"Don't you worry either, princess. I've seen a lot of weird shit and come through it okay. You know I got your back whatever nonsense the universe decides to spew. Now lets get home before your Mom wakes up and we have some real problems to deal will."

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Notes: my beta pointed out I never explain the "first daughter to Ciad-Sìol" thing Eldar says. It's Gaelic, for "First Line." He's basically just saying she's a daughter of the royal lineage.

When I was researching names for "Rumpelstiltskin" a few chapters ago, I looked up 'Riddick', and it tracks back as Irish/ Celtic/ Gaelic. So that's why.

And for those interested, but not that hardcore into the mythos - Amadak is Riddick's Furyan name from the "Hunt for Riddick" webgame, there's a tombstone on Furya that bears that... you can read about it here: . - about halfway down the page. So that's cannon. That's what got me started with the "Names" and "Naming" bit.