The Dawning of Power

Chapter 19

Though the years may change us, we see each other as we were. -Ort Sisteva, wanderer

With the connection between her and Edling's stone broken, Catrin reeled. Prios reached her before she hit the ground, and he lent her energy; her head swam with it. All around, people panicked. Many sought to flee, others seemed frozen by fear. The guards pulled Master Edling back to his feet, and he wiped the blood away from his nose. Before Catrin could compose herself enough to stand, he stooped to retrieve his stone. Prios lashed out, again using only short bursts of energy. Edling deflected each one with his stone, but he was losing ground.

Do not connect yourself to him. Disconnect from the energy before it reaches him.

It had never occurred to Catrin before, but even in her muddled state, it made sense. Struggling to stand on her own, she let Prios bolster her strength, and they attacked in unison. Edling could not block every attack, and he was sent spinning. At the same moment, a brief buzzing filled Catrin's hearing, as if a bumblebee had flown past her ear; then there was another. Looking up, she saw arrows raining from the sky; archers lined the trembling roof.

Before she could draw enough energy to protect herself, the sky went dark as Kyrien intercepted the hail of arrows; some bounced harmlessly across the flagstone, but Kyrien cried out as he soared away. Using his wing, he took a parting swipe at the archers, knocking three from the roof and sending the others sprawling. With another cry, he wheeled and swooped, plucking Chase and Prios from the crowd, like pulling grapes from the vine. His thoughts flooded Catrin's mind as he gained the clouds: Your flock is safe, my queen.

On the terrace, only Master Edling and two of his guards remained, all others had fled. Demanding all her body had left to give, Catrin charged Master Edling, howling as she came. He held up his stone and she laughed. Then, using short bursts of energy, she attacked the flagstone, sending a shower of fist-sized rocks and debris into his face. Both guards went down, and neither tried to rise. Only their breathing gave any indication of life. Master Edling teetered and looked as if he would fall, blood trickling down the side of his face.

Catrin took advantage of the opening. Rapid bursts flew toward Edling and he screamed. Energy slammed into him and sent him spinning. As Catrin stopped her attack, Master Edling stood facing her on wobbling knees. With finality, she issued one last attack, sending a ball of lightning and fire soaring into Master Edling's chest. Tumbling over backward, he landed in a sprawl of arms and legs. Catrin knew she could easily finish him, but she'd had enough of killing.

For a moment she stood, swaying on her feet and breathing deeply. Then, from the corner of her vision, she spotted movement. There, someone crouched behind a collapsed bench, but he could no longer hide from Catrin, and he must have known it, for he stood.

"You," Catrin said, a haze of blood clouding her vision.

"Please," Baker Hollis said. "Let me explain."

"Explain? You want me to let you explain? Did you let my mother or my aunt explain? Did you?" she demanded, and he cowered before her wrath, but she was denied retribution. A blast of wind cast Baker Hollis's hair away from his face, and Catrin drank in his fear. She wanted him to suffer for what he'd done, but quick as a snake, Kyrien snapped her up in his jaws, somehow keeping her secure without impaling her on his daggerlike, back-turned teeth. In the next moment, she was soaring through the skies, and the beauty of it was almost enough for her to forgive Kyrien. He'd deprived her of revenge, but he had saved all that was truly precious to her, and she let her anger slip away.

Her father was safe.

In a clearing north of the Wall, Kyrien landed and gently lowered Catrin to the ground. Benjin and her father approached with concern on their faces. Only when Catrin stood did either of them visibly relax. Kyrien craned his neck and brought his eyes level with Catrin's. She saw his pain, felt it as her own. Slowly he extended his wing, and Catrin ran her hands along the smooth skin that covered his wing structures. At the second joint, she found a broken shaft protruding from his flesh, blood seeping slowly from the wound.

No one spoke; all were seemingly mesmerized by Kyrien, who watched Catrin as she worked, making low noises in his throat. Using both hands to get a grip on the slippery and splintered shaft, she pulled. With a wiggle and a jerk, the shaft and point came free, and Catrin stepped away from Kyrien's wing. In the next breath, he turned and flapped his mighty wings and, using his powerful legs, thrust himself into the air.

"Wait!" Catrin shouted. "We should clean your wound!" Kyrien trumpeted in response and sent her a vision of him swimming in the seas, letting the salt water cleanse him. As she turned, though, nothing mattered more than reaching her father, and she collapsed into his arms, sobbing.

"Oh my dear Cat. You've come home to me. I'm so sorry. I let you down."

"No you didn't," Catrin said. After wiping her nose, she wrapped her arms around him and held on tight. "You're here. That's all that matters."

Inside the new Watering Hole, a fire burned in the hearth, and the aroma of food drifted from the kitchens. Catrin thought it was perhaps the happiest moment of her life. Sitting in the same room with her father, her uncle, Chase, Strom and his mother, Osbourne flanked by his parents, and Prios by her side, she could hardly believe it. Laughter filled the hall as exaggerated tales were told, and Catrin raised her mug. "I want to thank you all for being here. Without the people in this room, I would certainly be lost."

Those gathered cheered and raised their mugs. Miss Mariss emerged from the kitchen with a roast over potatoes and onions. For the first time that any of them had ever seen, Miss Mariss sat down to eat with her guests. "We're all family here," she said, smiling. "You all can help yourselves." A moment later, the door opened. Kenward entered, followed by Nora and Fasha, all grinning like fools. "Here comes the rest of the family now."

"You're not giving away our greatest secret, are you?" Nora asked as she walked up behind Catrin and kissed her on the top of her head. "It's good to see you didn't get yourself into too much trouble. I had a hard time keeping Kenward from running off to save you." Kenward actually blushed.

"So what's this well-kept secret?" Catrin asked.

"Ah, the fish is off the hook now, Sis," Nora said with a wink at Miss Mariss.

"'Sis'?" Chase asked. "You two are sisters?"

"That is to say we were fathered by the same man," Miss Mariss said, "but sisters we are. I inherited the good sense to stay on land."

"And I got the good looks," Nora said. Kenward laughed, and she smacked him in the back of the head. "Fool boy."

The door opened again, and Brother Vaughn entered. "Many pardons for my tardiness. I saw the most fascinating variation of finch on my walk, and I simply had to find its nest."

"Please sit," Miss Mariss said, not completely out of her role as hostess, and she handed him a plate. As they ate, a silence fell over the hall, conducive to quiet introspection.

"There is something I don't understand," Osbourne's father, Johen, said. "What is this 'blood scourge'? Does anyone know? Will it really poison the crops?"

"I have a theory," Brother Vaughn said. "In the great shallows, far from here, we passed an enormous mountain. It exploded from within and sent a cloud of fire and ash high into the sky. This was also the source of the giant wave that assaulted your harbor, the Falcon Isles, and other places in the world. The red snow had the same smell I remember from the shallows, just before the mountain exploded."

"But how could something so far away cause red snow here?"

"Just as the oceans carried the great wave," Brother Vaughn said. "The winds must have carried some of the fouled air here. I don't think there'll be any long-term effects, save perhaps fear."

Johen looked doubtful, but Catrin felt a great relief. The red snow was a frightening anomaly, and it made her feel better to have a more practical explanation.

Looking at her father, she marveled at his strength. His hair had gone gray, and he walked with a limp, but his eyes still held the same steely strength. Even when he smiled at her, his face at its softest, there was strength of conviction.

Benjin looked older too-all of them did-but his relationship with Fasha seemed to be bringing out a much younger personality. Catrin watched them as they laughed; there was excitement in their eyes as they discussed plans for the future. Catrin lacked their enthusiasm; ahead she saw a long and difficult road, and she wasn't certain she would ever be truly happy again.

Peace had not been made, and she doubted her attack on Master Edling would endear her to those who already considered her the enemy. Despite having forgiven Kyrien for pulling her away, she had a burning in her stomach, and she knew it could only be quelled by resolving her anger toward Baker Hollis. He had said he could explain, but there was no explanation that could be sufficient; no circumstances could have warranted such a cowardly act. If he'd had his way, Catrin, too, would be dead. Trying to recall the image of her mother and aunt became frustrating, as all she could form was a vague and gauzy image. Memory was fading, and she could no longer picture their faces in her mind.

"I have men looking for Baker Hollis," her father had said, but it came as a shock when a man arrived with an urgent message. "Catrin, Jensen, Benjin, Chase," Wendel said, his voice a harsh baritone that sounded only barely in control. "Come with me." All conversation stopped, and anxiety poured from everyone in the room. Catrin urged Benjin forward, wanting to escape the confined emotion. Her father led them to one of the buildings not built from a greatoak, made instead of pine with a thatch roof. Reddish water dripped onto the dirt floor as the snow inexorably melted. On a crate, with his hands tied, sat Baker Hollis. A well-muscled guard stood behind him, alert and seemingly ready for any threat.

"Untie him," Wendel growled. Baker Hollis rubbed his wrists and began to cry. Everyone who was crowded into the small room had reason to want him dead. By the look of him, trembling and crying, he seemed poignantly aware.

Chase stood with his hands balled into fists, and Catrin had never seen Uncle Jensen so enraged. The pain that radiated from them was nauseating, and Catrin nearly fled, but she had to know. If she did not witness this, no matter how painful, she would never forgive herself.

"Why?" her father demanded.

"I'm so sorry," Baker Hollis said. "I didn't know it would kill them. They made me do it."

"Who?"

"The Greatlanders," Baker Hollis said.

"How did they make you?"

"They took my little Trinda. What those monsters did to her, I'll never know, but she's never been the same. I should have killed her, freed her from the horrors, and let them kill me, but I couldn't do it. It wouldn't have saved Willa and Elsa, even if I had. The Greatlanders would've found another way. Please forgive me."

Wendel stood, hovering over Baker Hollis, seemingly on the verge of exploding, but then he seemed to deflate. "The people responsible still hide in the Greatland?" he asked in a voice just above a whisper.

Catrin thought it the most frightening voice she'd ever heard. "The person responsible is dead," she said, only then releasing her anger. She had been ready to rip Baker Hollis to pieces, but now she could find no target for her fury. She remembered the look that haunted Trinda's eyes; she remembered the pain she had plainly seen for so many years. How could she blame Baker Hollis for wanting to protect his daughter? "Arbuckle Kyte ordered their deaths, and mine, but now he's dead. It's over. There's nothing more we can do."

Uncle Jensen wheeled in frustration and kicked the door, which fell before his fury.

Chase bent down and looked Baker Hollis in the eye. "If you ever endanger my family again, I'll hunt down you, your daughter, and everyone you ever loved. If you get threatened into hurting us again, I suggest you come to me first."

Baker Hollis nodded, sweat dripping from his nose.

Chase followed his father into the night, also venting his rage on what remained of the door.

Benjin left Catrin and Wendel alone with Baker Hollis. Catrin sat in silence, trying to reconcile her feelings; her father seemed frozen in time. "I'm sorry about Trinda," Catrin finally said, and Baker Hollis looked up in surprise. Confusion radiated from him, as if he suspected a trap. "I'm sorry about her pain and yours. I'll never get my mother or my aunt back, and you'll never be able to fix what happened to Trinda. For those things, I am truly sorry. I don't like you, and I'm still angry, but I won't kill you." Her words fell like rolling thunder, and there was finality in them.

"Release him," Wendel said, and he turned to leave. Catrin followed him and rushed to catch up when she saw his shoulders begin to shake. For a moment he allowed himself to cry, to once again mourn the loss of his true love, but then he drew a deep breath. "You're stronger than I," he said without looking up. "I couldn't be more proud of you, Catrin. You've grown to be the woman I always knew you could be."

"I draw my strength from you."

"I would've killed him if it weren't for you," Wendel said, still staring at the ground. "I wanted so badly to hurt him, to make him feel my pain." Wendel raised his eyes to Catrin's. What she saw there was not weakness; it was vulnerability presented as a gift to one he knew would not hurt him.

"I love you, Daddy," she said, and he held her tightly as they cried.

"I love you too, my little Cat."

Warmer weather banished the blood scourge, and the memory began to fade. No longer did people instantly react in fear, and Catrin felt she was making progress at winning back her own people, but it still felt good to be out in the wilderness with only Chase and Prios, searching for the underground lake.

"I'm tellin' ya," Chase said, "it's this way. I recognize that outcropping of trees." Already he'd been convinced three times, and all three times they were disappointed. Catrin found it hard to believe that someplace where they had spent so much time would be so difficult to find, but those memories, too, had begun to fade. Prios just shrugged and followed Chase. He'd become more open lately, using the chalk and slate Uncle Jensen had given him to communicate with those who could not hear him in their minds. In some cases, he used the slate simply because hearing his voice was something not everyone was prepared for, and some people did not seem to understand his gestures and body language. The slate and chalk appeared to remove a barrier of fear that seemed to keep many from becoming close to him. Now he seemed to enjoy using it for fun, as if it had become a game for him.

Chase stopped and turned when Prios tapped him on the shoulder. Prios held up his slate. Hungry, it read, and Chase laughed. Prios had written the word hours ago, and at regular intervals tapped him on the shoulder, showing him the same word. From his pack, Chase produced three of the pepper sausages he knew Prios wanted. Since the first time he'd tried one, he'd wanted little else. Prios smiled and accepted the sausage. Chase shook his head and put the other two back. He tossed Catrin an apple, and he nibbled on some cheese, saving the sausages for the next time Prios held up his slate.

Satisfied, they continued their search, and Catrin started looking higher, trying to find the peaks she remembered to orient herself by them. It was not something she was skilled at, but the direction she guessed was the same as the path Chase chose next, and she moved with renewed confidence. "Look!" she said as they moved past a pile of large rocks overgrown with bushes.

Up above rested the rotting remains of the screen Chase had once made to hide the light of their fire. Seeing the place brought back feelings of fear and anxiety, but there were also good memories. Catrin climbed without regret and felt the same sense of awe when she entered the man-made passage. Piles of walnuts still lay where they had been left. Much of the food was gone, and the shelves were overturned, most likely raided by scavengers.

Chase found a salted perch that was nearly whole. "I wonder if it's still good," he mused, holding it up as if he were about to eat it. Prios wrinkled his nose and shook his head; then he smiled and pointed at Chase's pack. Chase laughed and produced another pepper sausage.

Catrin looked beyond the remains of their camp and used her imagination. She pictured all the openings cleared and repaired and boats floating across the hidden lake.

"Now that we've found it again," Chase said, "what will you do?"

"I'll prepare for the future," Catrin said. "I believe what Nat said, and even if he is wrong, what do we stand to lose? If we don't prepare, we stand to lose everything."

"You know I'll help in any way I can," Chase said, and Prios moved to her side.

He smiled and nodded. I will help.

"The first thing we need to do," Catrin said, "is make sure we can find this place again. Then we'll go back and talk to my dad and Uncle Jensen. We'll figure something out."

As they walked back into Lowerton, Catrin saw a young boy running down the middle of the roadway, and she was struck by recognition.

"Elma!" he shouted as he ran, and Catrin laughed.

Prios squeezed her hand. Elma?

"It's a long story," she said.

"I tol' you I was gonna be a great adventurer some day, didn't I?" Jessub Tillerman said. "I sailed all the way to the Falcon Isles and then on t' the Godfist. Just like my dad!"

"Did your gramma and grampa come with you?" Catrin asked. Jessub was bigger and older than when she'd seen him last, and he seemed offended by her question.

"Yeah," he said. "A whole shipload o' people came from the Greatland. Most came t' see you, but I came t' see my dad!"

"Your father is a fine man," she said.

Jessub seemed to forget all about being insulted. "D'ya really have a dragon? What's 'is name? Where is he? Can I see him? Did he really pick ya up in his teeth? How come you didn't die?"

Catrin tried to answer his questions, but each answer spawned a dozen new questions, and she was exhausted by the time she reached the Watering Hole. Her father and a room full of people, some she recognized, some she didn't, waited within. Seeing Milo and Gustad made her smile, and she ran to embrace them.

Rolph and Collette Tillerman moved through the crowd to greet her. "When Martik said his skills were needed here, I knew we had t' come," Rolph said.

"I'm so glad t' see ya," Collette said, and she hugged Catrin.

A moment later, Brother Vaughn approached with a beautiful woman on his arm; they both smiled. "Catrin, this is Mirta Greenroot. You've never met her, but she received a gift from you. It was to Mirta that I sent the pyre-orchids you harvested."

"Thank you, Lady Catrin," Mirta said. Her genuine smile and the twinkle in her eyes endeared her to Catrin instantly. "So much sickness has been stopped because of your gift. I dried it and ground it to powder. Whenever sickness began to spread, I was able to save people and prevent further spreading. I sent powder to healers across the Greatland. Your efforts saved hundreds if not thousands. Now I bring pyre-orchid to your people, as a gift."

Tears filled Catrin's eyes, overjoyed to know that she may have actually saved more lives than she had taken away. It did not banish her remorse, but it did make her feel much better about herself. "Thank you, Mirta. It would seem you and Benjin deserve more credit than I. He insisted we harvest the flowers, and you made certain they did not go to waste. You have a generous heart. I thank you for coming so far to deliver your gift."

"I think I'd like to stay here," Mirta said, suddenly shy, and she looked up at Brother Vaughn.

"Be welcome, Mirta," Catrin said, and Brother Vaughn smiled. Wendel approached. "We found the cavern," she said to him.

"I knew you would," Wendel said. "Before you returned, I wasn't well enough to search for it myself, and no one could find it armed with only my description. With a lot of work, it could be a good, safe place. Many of these people have come here to help you. All you need to do is ask."

"You're right," Catrin said, overwhelmed by the responsibility and expectation. So much had happened in so short a time, she had difficulty gathering her thoughts. Remembering how Mother Gwendolin had used the viewing ceremony as a way to find clarity, Catrin wondered if she couldn't create her own ceremony.

She stood up on a chair to address the crowd. "I want to thank you all for coming… and for everything you've done along the way. A new day has come, and we must prepare for what lies ahead. I feel I have a purpose I must fulfill, but I must first grasp the true nature of that purpose. When I return, I will enlist the aid of all who are willing."