Brian Pratt - Warrior priest of Dmon-Li

James wakes during the night and can hear her soft singing coming from outside. Getting up quietly so as not disturb the others, he goes to the window and sees Lyria outside sitting on an old tree stump. His eyes open in amazement when he sees little creatures, three altogether and no more than a foot tall, sitting before her. They seem to sway to the music as she sings.

They remind James of garden gnomes his grandmother used to have in her flower bed. These were dressed nothing like them, but the height and general resemblance is close.

He moves to the door and opens it as he walks out. As soon as the door begins to open, the singing stops and when he is again able to see her, the little creatures are gone.

She turns her head to look at him and flashes him a slight smile. “Hello James,” she says.

Coming over to her, he looks around to try to see the little creatures but they’re no where to be found. “Where are they?”

“Around,” she tells him. “But they’re extremely shy.”

“What are they?” he asks her as he comes to sit by her.

“Spirits of the earth,” she explains. “You’re fortunate, very few people have ever seen them.”

“How can I get them to come out?” he asks her, still looking about.

“If they want to, they will,” she replies. “And they rarely want to.”

“They come out to you,” he says.

She gives him that smile again and says, “I’ve been here a long time, they’ve learned to trust me. I think they like my singing too.”

“So do I,” he says before he even realizes it. Blushing, he turns his head away and looks out over the lake.

“Thank you,” she tells him and then reaches out and pats him on the arm.

“It’s peaceful here,” he observes when he at last has found his voice.

“Yes, it’s the reason I’m here,” she says. Then she continues, “Partly, anyway.”

“Partly?” he asks.

“We needn’t go into that now,” she tells him.

They sit there for awhile, enjoying the tranquility of the night when he says, “Have you had any other dreams foretelling the future? Like the star falling?”

“Oh, many,” she says. “Dreams are very important if you just know how to interpret them.”

“Do gods ever talk to you?” he asks.

“No, I’ve never known them to talk to anyone but their priests,” she tells him. “And even they don’t always understand what they’re trying to say.”

“I think I have,” he suddenly admits.

“Oh?” she says. “And what makes you believe that?”

“Ever since coming here,” he says trying to avoid mentioning where he’d really come from, “there’s been this little creature, about four and half feet tall. He appears and disappears in unusual fashions.”

“And?” she asks, prompting him to continue.

“And, well, he gave me the Star of Morcyth,” he explains. “Could he be Morcyth? He denies it though.”

Shaking her head, she says, “I doubt it. Every god has minions who deal with the mortal world. This creature may be one of Morcyth’s on this world.”

“But he doesn’t act like any I’ve heard of before,” he tells her. When she glances at him, he continues, “I mean, he takes me to get pizza, that’s a food where I come from. And then he takes me to a place of fun and amusement I used to visit as a child. It all seems rather pointless.”

“I doubt if it is pointless,” she says. “The gods and their minions never give straightforward directions to those from whom they want something. But whatever he’s been doing, there’s a meaning behind it. Usually the one who’s experiencing it will understand at the appointed time.”

“But why wouldn’t they just come out and say it?” he asks.

“I don’t know,” she admits. “But that is the way they work, mostly. What you need to do is think hard about what transpired during each visitation and see if anything has a meaning other than what happened.”

“Take my dream about the falling star,” she says. “Did it mean a star actually fell? No, it was pertaining to you coming here. Why you were to come here remains unclear, but here you are. The gods see far into the future, or rather paths that the future may follow.”

“Paths?” he asks.

“Yes,” she replies. “Let me explain. Say I wanted you to go from here to my house. If I asked you to, you would turn and go straight there. But if I saw that the result of that would be for you to fall and hurt yourself, then I may not tell you to go there, but arrange, through another series of events for you to make it there by another path. A series of events that would enable you to go without hurting yourself. Does that help you understand?”

Nodding his head, he says, “I think so.”

“Good,” she says. “Now, you should try to go back to sleep if you can.”

“Alright,” he says, yawning. “I am getting tired again. Will you be alright here alone?”

Smiling at him, she nods and says, “I’ll be fine, but thank you for your concern.”

James gets up and walks back into the house where he pauses by the window again as she begins her song once more. He looks out and sees the three little creatures once again standing around her in rapt attention.

He goes over to his bedroll and lies down, letting the sound of her voice lull him to sleep.

When he wakes up in the morning, he sees Jiron sitting at the table holding a necklace of beads and hair. As he gets up, Jiron turns and waves him over to the table. “Here,” he says as he hands him a note that was lying on the table. Taking the note, he reads what’s written on it:

James,

Take this necklace, it will prove useful in the days ahead,

Lyria

He looks around and Jiron says, “She’s not here. I looked for her but she’s nowhere on the island. The boat’s still here though.”

Over on a side table is stacked a bunch of fruit and roots, “I guess we’re suppose to take those with us?” he assumes. The idea of having something more than meat makes his mouth water.

“It looks that way,” Jiron replies. “They weren’t there last night.” And then he indicates where three jackets and a tunic are lying on another small stand against the wall.

James examines the necklace for a moment, a leather string with beads and a four inch length of braided hair hanging from the middle. “Wonder what this is for?” he asks.

Shrugging, Jiron says, “A charm perhaps?”

“I don’t think so,” replies James. “There’s no magic to it.” He looks at it for a moment more before putting it into his belt pouch. Looking over to Miko who’s still sleeping, he says, “Guess we better wake him and get going.”

Jiron gets up and goes over, nudging him with his foot.

Snapping awake, Miko sits up and looks around, at first disoriented. Then he sees the stacked food on the side table and gets up as he makes his way over to them. “Is this for us?” he asks, turning slightly toward James.

“We think so,” he replies.

Taking several of the fruits and a couple roots, he brings them over to the table and commences eating. He suddenly looks around and asks, “Where is she?”

“Don’t know,” Jiron tells him. “She was gone when I woke up.”

“Too bad,” he says through a mouth full of fruit. “I kind of liked her.” Then he notices the tunic and jackets. Going over to them, he takes the tunic and slips it over his head glad to have one on again. He’s been bare-chested ever since his old one had been used for James’ leg. “A perfect fit,” he announces. Then he takes one of the jackets and puts it on as well. When he finds it’s too big, he looks through the other two until he comes across one that will fit him. He brings the others over to the table and hands them to Jiron and James.