DreamLyrics™ Play-by-Post Forums Hall of Fame - Latest Top 10 completed games HWD: The Heartwood HWD: Half Day's Tavern

"Yes."

Said Kadri.

"I want to hear more of this Gardner. I liked him not at all when I met him, and I like him less now."

Cesare

Despite himself he is moved by Mikal's tale.. and feels maybe he is beginning to understand Daxia a little more as a result. He knows relating these tales are going to generate stronger emotions in others and so stays silent himself, respecting those that had taken the ultimate sacrifice all those years ago.

Jankin

He was very uncomfortable under their gaze, visibly reluctant to speak his tale, but after a few minutes he drew a deep breath and nodded to himself.

"It is proper that I speak, as you are companions of the road, and we have all shared in something significant."

His eyes flicked to Mikal. Pausing to collect his thoughts and place them in the proper order, he spoke.

"As Mikal has said, I was sent to the Gardener to take the place of someone who had been killed. Ashley had been his partner. I was thrown into the middle of something I barely understood, and was not prepared for. A group of us held hands while a chant was said, and the Tree began to grow. It grew towards the bridge..."

He stopped for a minute, seeing again the horrific image in his mind.

"Ashley pulled away, breaking the circle, upset at what we had been drawn into, and made a part of without our knowledge. But it kept happening."

He looked up.

"I also do not, did not, like this Gardener."

Daxia

Her lips were pressed tightly together as Jankin told his tale. When he broke off momentarily, describing how the tree grew so rapidly... toward the bridge... she swallowed hard. She searched for the calm she knew she needed. Her eyes shifted from the woodcarver to her Unicorn.

They keep us honest, Gilly had said. Morning Star didn’t need to say anything, he didn’t need to do anything. The youngest Starrider was beginning to get more of an insight into what her teacher had meant by that statement. She took a deep breath and turned back to Jankin as he finished speaking.

“I do not blame you, Jankin, but understand that I have so much anger, and so much confusion. I will speak more of the Gardener in a moment, but I should tell you of our history... Dayalan history... as it relates to Coveners, just as I tried to tell Celi.

“I have met four Coven members since leaving Dawnview Vale... the best and the worst, I think, the Cult has to offer.” She looked up at the sky, to the Dark Patch where two lone stars stood guard against the path of the Chaos Lords.

“I had been taught that we, Dayalans, and the two Coven cults got along well,” Daxia said without taking her eyes from the two stars that inspired her sigil. “That if a follower of Mother Nature asks one of us for help, traditionally... traditionally we are required to give aid.”

She lowered her eyes to look at Jankin again. “Nothing is said of the Horned God and his followers. It is almost as if the memory of a memory of a dream floated in our history, both of Linette of Corliss and of Rurik the Gardener.” The Dayalan shrugged. “Our history was missing everything that happened at the Temple on the Border, and as far as we knew no Dayalans made it to Silk Creek Bridge. Now...” She glanced at Romana at the edge of the camp for an instant. “...now we know more.”

Dazi looked between Kadri and Dean. Darian had been more quiet than usual, and Daxia suspected Cesare had spoken for both of them; she smiled at the Hunter... perhaps Darian’s silence really did balance out her own loquacious nature.

“Kadri, Dean... if you have tales to share, I would like to hear them. But...”

She turned to Kay. “You’ve said I ask odd questions, and here is another. What name did you have for the great forest to the north? And what tales were told of it before the East came that last time?”

Darian

She had nodded at the small tale told by Cesare, but it was Mikal's tale that held her attention. Some of the things he said matched her and their experience word for word and she nodded more strongly at those things.

The empty room of Dazi and Romana and Kadri and the trail of blood from it. The telling that one of their number had been strung up. The Allaine and the Koromov at the table.

She noticed Daxia watching her. Between the odd occurences of the previous night and the seeing of the Grey Men at the tavern they had past...and like Mikal they were near the places they had once lived. She had been tasked with finding her own territory, but was she to join another Pack or found her own?

That thought caused a look to Cesare.

"Gardner speak Darian, want Hunter Hunt beasts. Hunter say no, need Hunt BeastMaster. Best with Pack but only have Hunter, Hound, Rhoni. Gardner sent others to stand as Pack. All died. Rhoni and Hound almost die too."

Her hand was sunk into Longtooth's fur.

"Hunter no Hunter without Hound."

Another glance to Cesare, this one showing a bit of the dread she had felt during the night. After that glance though, her expression returned to the normal calm demeanor.

"Cross bridge, tree grow, bridge fall. Allaine Pack fall."

The Heartwood
The Highland Path
Highside, West of Silk Creek Ravine
After Sunset
Hasday the Twenty-first Day of Horse

Bekkah, Daxia, Darian, Mikal, Jankin, Dean, Cesare, Kadri ... Morning Star, Longtooth, Kay and Romana

As the conversations, the snippets and scrappets of story ramble on, it is finally Kay that raises a hand a waves it back and forth across the air. She looks pale, swallowing, looking between Mikal and Daxia, the color draining from her face.

"The young dark haired mascot ... that was ... that was me."

Her head dropped, she bit her lip, then she looked back up.

"Wait ... wait ...wait ... I'm not .. not just supposed to not be here, am I. I ... I am supposed to be ...dead?"

Her gaze then rose even higher, as the first stars began to come out.

"I wasn't supposed to leave Lily-kins side, was I."

She fell silent, then, drawing her knees up and hugging them tightly, as the rest of gathering spoke up, one by one by one adding their piece to this puzzle of truth and consequences.

"The Heartwood ... of course. The last of the World Forest, its very center, its heart. Otherwise it would have been something like the Left-Toe-Wood or somethin ..."

Kay would answer Daxia, almost absentmindedly, her chin still resting on her knee. But before she finished, she narrowed her brows, as if connecting dots had led her somewhere unexpected.

"You. Old man. Woodcarver ..."

She called Jankin out.

"You said, that when, when those casting the spell that killed us, one of your people, one of them, saw what was happening and broke away."

Her gaze was dagger sharp.

"What ... what did ... you do?"

That one question brought a heavy and sudden silence to the small collection, those gathered about the fire. A silence held for a heartbeat ... one that seemed to last forever. Until it was broken by a footstep, a soft one a shy one. A dainty aristocratic one.

Into the firelight Romana stepped, and as she did so she was doing something strange. Carefully, like one might handle a dagger o a sword, or something small and tiny and fragile, she took off one earring, then the other,and then her pendant necklace. Of course in doing so, it meant her hat had to come off, betraying long silken locks of the softest white, of fair slender ears that rose to cute and delicate points.

"Sea and stars!"

That ... that broke Katie Koromov from her glum retrospective. That brought the young Dayalan to her feet, her hand to her side and the fel schking of a small steel blade clearing it's scabbard. A step forward, fast and she was ready to strike.

Romana too took a step forward, a step forward, to her knees, an ungainly and yet so formal submission, her forehead touching the ground and her cupped hands offering her jewelry as if in offering.

"Romanas are Romanas are Romanas. Big fish. Powerfuls. When woke up in tavern, let tree devils kick, beat, drag, throw Romanas away ... because ... because ...

"Romanas not want hurt anybodys."

The Dayalan dagger rose.

"Please quick. Romanas do not like pain."

The Dayalan dagger hesitated.

TheDayalan dagger paused.

And then with a choked yell, frustrated, hurt and torn, Kay threw her blade hard away, turning to Daxia, still, grim, her arms straight down in little fists,

"What is she! Why ... how ... why ... does she, how does, why does she think ....

"I am a swordsister.

"I am not a bloody murderer."

Kadri

"No. You aren't a murderer." She says quietly. "Dazi wouldn't be with you if you were."

She moves to Romana moving beside her, and kneeling.

"If you decide you have to take her out, you are going to have to take me as well. Because I will not allow my friend to come to harm."

Daxia

All she could say to Kay’s worry, and — from the look on her face — dread, was, “I’m not sure I really know what ‘supposed to’ means anymore, Sister. That you are here... perhaps that must mean you are supposed to be here. Or it means I did something wrong, but Morning Star doesn’t think I did, so...” She reached over and squeezed Kay’s shoulder. “...I guess because you’re here, it means you should be.”

Daxia listened well to Darian’s tale; the mere speaking of it giving it more weight, given Darian’s usual reluctance to speak. She nods to her friend. “Ta, Darian. Hunter tale match Dayalans tale better.” She glanced between Darian and Longtooth. “Very glad both Hunter and Hound are well; much hurt in Dazi’s heart if not.”

She looked at Mikal then. “Thank you for sharing the conversation you had with Starsword Allaine. I think... I think because of your words, my Sisters of the past died — just that one time — an honorable death in battle rather than...” Her eyes flickered to Jankin and back to the Jvrillian. “...rather than being murdered by a coward perhaps touched by chaos. I wish that it had made a difference that you made those with you watch the bravery of my Sisters. It does not seem to have made a difference, but I thank you for trying, swordbrother.”

As absently as Kay gave the name of the great forest, the elder Dayalan said, “No, it would be called the Dirkwood.”

She looked sharply between Jankin and Kay, then, at her question to him. Before she could say anything more, however, Romana — her brave, brilliant friend Romana — entered the small camp’s firelight, removing all her jewelry. It echoed, mirrored her actions in the Temple on the Border in Tashka’s presence.

When Kay leapt to her feet, Daxia also rose, though she had no fear that Kay would actually harm Romana... not after Romana prostrated herself on the ground. She merely observed. Just as Romana was Romana was Romana, Dayalans were Dayalans were Dayalans. Oh, she was not so naive to think the tales Romana had shared about how Dayalans were viewed in the East were without some seed of truth. But Daxia knew Romana was safe — for the moment — once she was on the ground. Daxia was fairly certain Romana knew that as well.

So she waited while her young Initiate came to the same conclusion, while Kadri — who, though sister might be, did not understand that basic core truth of Dayalans — unnecessarily knelt beside their friend.

And when Kay turned to her, so angry and frustrated and hurting, demanding answers... declaring the core truth of Dayalans, Daxia just studied the youngster for a moment. Kay reminded her of... well, a younger version of herself... the version Starsword Kassia always called a cobble block, the version Starsword Rena often had to cuff on the side of the head for sloppy sword work, the version even Starrider Gilly chided gently at times. Though Kay seemed less of a cobble block.

“What is she? A Princess of one of the Thousand Towers of Kh’Lhy’ra, a pawn in a terrible game played by her father that would have resulted in another incursion from the East had we not rescued her from those her father sent to retrieve her after your Rhoni descendant, Madoka kha'Ayanna kha'Kame kha'Chikato khal'Homura Akemi Koromov, rescued her from her Tower. That is an incursion I’m not sure many would have survived — perhaps not even those in Dawnview.

“The why and how...” Daxia held Kay’s eyes, seeing a far more potent level of anger than she had possessed when she’d asked Romana why the Eastern princes attacked the West. “...are a much longer tale that I would be happy to share as we continue our journey to Talantal.

“And of course you are not a murderer. Romana believes that as well, Kay, because you are a Dayalan and I am a Dayalan, and I am not a murderer. She and I, an Eastern princess and a Dayalan, have found a way to not only coexist peacefully but to become friends. You lived your life fighting against the East, and I only lived my life hearing the horrific stories of those battles.

“Still, I will ask you to trust my judgment for now, and sit. I am not going to ask you to be happy about it, because there is no way that can happen in a heartbeat. I only ask that tonight, you hear our tales... tomorrow and the next day and however long it takes, hear my story of how Romana came to be my friend... talk, just talk, with Romana... and only then form your own judgment.”

Daxia nodded to the spot by the fire where Kay had been sitting. “Sit, sit.”

Then she looked at Romana and Kadri, and shook her head. “Kadri, do you really believe Romana was in any danger with me standing beside Kay?” She shook her head, but smiled slightly. “Someday you will understand Dayalans as well as Romana does.

“And Romana... up, up. You are brave and wise to show Kay you are not a threat to her. Thank you. But you sit sit, too... maybe beside Kadri and Bekkah, yah? Dazidazidazidazi need tell of terrible night now.”

The Starrider waited for both Kay and Romana to sit down before she took her seat as well.

But she sat quietly for a handful of heartbeats, staring into the fire, gathering her thoughts.

“It began with pounding on the door, and someone calling for ‘Yurisdotter’. Asking if we had finished. Saying the Gardener needed to know what we’d beaten out of the prisoner.” Daxia shook her head, bemused. “No one ever — ever — has called me simply Yurisdotter. And that voice outside the door... said that the Gardener wanted her broken so badly she couldn’t use her sorceries.”

She had to pause then, lips pressed tightly together as she took several breaths. “I think that’s when I decided I didn’t like this Gardener.” Glancing sidelong at Kay for a moment before focusing her attention back on the fire, she said, “I can’t speak for every one of the fullhand of fullhand of Dayalans in our time, but I don’t think beating a prisoner nearly to death is something we’d do; it seems dishonorable. But given the circumstances then... I can’t say what my Sisters might have done then.

“I didn’t understand what was happening; but seeing Romana with her white hair... and... and hearing her called a prisoner... well, it gave me a really bad feeling. It didn’t help that I couldn’t talk to Morning Star. That really worried me.

“But then, like Cesare and Darian, I looked out the window. That’s when I knew where... or rather when... we were. I’m not too proud to say I was scared. There are no stories, none, of Dayalans at the Battle of Silk Creek Bridge. We’d always just assumed it was because our ranks had been so decimated that none of our Sisters were able to get there.”

She chuffed out a laugh devoid of humor.

“Well, I suppose it’s time to write another letter.” At that she shakes her head. “I remembered the tile the Innkeeper had given me — it turns out to be Sea of Fog, by the way — and thought how nice it would be if Kisa would just write me a letter like normal folk do, instead of sending her cryptic tiles, which — while beautiful and well treasured — only make sense after the event about which they refer has come and gone.” Daxia sighed. “Though Camelia would have recognized it, I suppose, since it was the Rhoni woman who identified it for me.”

She took a deep breath, held it a moment, then sighed it out.

“So after our prisoner here thumped her head on the wall...” She looked up and across the fire at Romana, rolled her eyes, then lowered her gaze again. “...the three of us went downstairs.

“We didn’t have to do much more than open the door before I could hear a very angry Dayalan — you don’t grow up in the temple and not recognize the dagger sharp tone of an angry Starsword — arguing with a man.

“I carried Romana downstairs... everyone seemed pretty impressed with her Highness Kadri,” she said with a hint of a smile, “but about as unimpressed with me as most people are these days of Dayalans. Some Jvrillians — well, given the time period, Knights of Roth, I suppose — were in the hall, Kay here brushed past us and down the stairs.” She smiled again, briefly. “Here our story intersects with Mikal’s, as our Kay does seem to have a fondness for food. When we got downstairs, the man — this Gardener — dismissed my Sisters with such contempt that I could barely believe it. A Starsword... who was an Allaine? My opinion of him lowered even further. An Initiate...? Well, having been one so summarily dismissed, that would not be surprising... but a Starsword?” Daxia could only shake her head.

“I simply observed all that was happening in the room. It almost reminded me of my days back in the Allaine court,” she added softly. “But again the Gardener lowered himself in my eyes by once again giving disrespect to Verchovai Allaine.

“Because Romana and I had spoken at length over the past several months, I managed to bluff my way to an answer for his question... that of which totem would cause the most disarray among the Eastern army should it fall. It was also fortunate that I had looked out the windows, for I knew what the tallest banner depicted.”

She clenched her jaw at the remembrance of the sight. She could not bear to speak of such desecration. In one repetition of that night, her Sisters had fought their way to that totem and cut it down before they, too, were cut down.

“As Rurik...” She, too, spat the name out as Lily Allaine had done so long ago... as an insult. “...continued to present my Sisters with nothing but contempt, I believed my opinion of him could grow no lower. I wish I had been right about that. The Starsword and Kay left, but I stayed for a few moments. Kadri had said she had no wish to watch suicide in action, so I stayed to speak a few words to her. Oh, it was a simple reminder to Kadri about what we had witnessed, what we had done in the Temple ruins outside Bordertown... but I had hoped to shame this Gardener, to remind him that the women who held that bridge were made of steel... Darksteel... Ironsilver, and worthy of respect for what they did, would continue to do.

“Little good that did. I was becoming concerned that madness had taken him... that chaos had touched him... when he addressed me again, demanding that I leave.”

Her eyes narrowed and her nostrils flared in anger.

“I could hear in his voice the full force of his anger when he ordered me again from the room to seek my vengeance on the bridge. Vengeance? I had no thoughts of vengeance after Bordertown, only grief at the loss of so many Sisters and...” She looked up and pointed to the two stars peeking through the Dark Patch. “...pride for Tashka and Linette who saved his bloody God from death, and were tortured for three hundred and fifty years for their troubles.” Daxia dropped her hand back to her lap, but continued to look up. “He was the one seeking vengeance, and my Sisters paid the price for his arrogance.”

Again, she paused, then shook her head and focused again on the edge of the fire, the glowing embers of wood. A smile played along her lips.

“Then Kay came back looking for me... I was so confused that she seemed to know me, know me well enough even to call me Dazi... but she did make me smile with a message from her Starsword Starpriestess-ness Allaine-ship wanting to know if I needed an engraved invitation.

“Something about Kay...” She looked sidelong again at the Initiate, smiled and shook her head. “...feisty and likeable, I suppose, like her cousin Dandelion. I had to ask if her Allaine-ness Starsword-ship grumpy, growly Priestess would make me one. Then she — in a very roundabout way, mind you — threatened to drag me out by my ankles.” Daxia chuckled softly. “You were the only good thing about that night Kay. I think that’s why I did what I did.”

Now Daxia simply looked at the tips of her boots, her hands starting to fidget almost of their own volition in her lap.

“Outside, at the base of the bridge, the Dayalans were tending their wounded. There were not so many wounded compared to the number of women on the Bridge... a wall of shields, women holding spears. Starsword Allaine was making her way to the front. On foot.

“There was a group of Coveners beneath the pine tree. It was so much smaller than it had been when we arrived at the inn. I thought nothing of it... the Coveners being there; the ballad The Breaking of the Coven tells the tale... however incorrect it turns out to be... of the Battle of Silk Creek Bridge, and the presence of the Coven at the battle.

“We chatted, Kay and I... I was trying to figure out what my place was in all of this, what it was I was supposed to do. Well, besides just watching and hopefully learning something. Since I’d used my divine spells against the Avatar in Bordertown, I mentioned that I would have to ask her Priestess-ness to renew them... only to realize they had already been renewed.”

Her fingers stopped fidgeting long enough to flex several times.

“And... and cannot explain how it’s possible... but they remain with me even now. Though I can’t explain it, I do thank my Lady Dayala for the boon.

“I spoke then of Morning Star, without mentioning his name, and Kay looked at me as if I had cracked my head hard against a stone and dislodged my brain. All the Companions were lost at the Temple, she said. But Morning Star hadn’t been at the Temple; his brother had been.”

The redhead looked up then, past the circle of light into the darkness... unerringly finding the form of her friend. There was nothing to say that had not already been said. She could never feel that loss as deeply as he did, but that did not mean she did not feel the loss as deeply as she — a mere mortal — was able.

“I knew that it was impossible for me to be standing on that bridge, conversing normally — even if I was asking odd questions and saying peculiar things — if my Unicorn had died at the Temple. I saw the three hundred and fifty year old remnants of the Eastern army’s destruction; that had been enough to nearly turn my stomach. And I knew... I knew Morning Star was somewhere. I could almost sense his presence. I just didn’t know where he was.”

Dazi looked at Kay again before giving her attention to the Eastern princess. “Kay wanted to know why the East hated us so much. I couldn’t explain it, not really. Even here, today, I’m not sure how many of my Sisters besides Starlord Kassia could say.” She sighed. “There is a reason for it, though the best answer is likely Dayala only knows.

“I continued to push on the subject of my partner, and I knew something had changed when Kay used part of his title that he and I have been expanding upon... his most magnificent font of all... then said the only critter called Morning Star was a fairly mean stallion out behind the blacksmith’s shop.

“Every Sister I meet feels the need to point out how much I talk. Well, I think considerably more than I talk, and I study everything possible.” She glanced up at Bekkah, then a brief glance at Dean, before lowering her eyes to study her boots again. “Had I been born male, I think I would have liked to have been an Eye of Hastur.

“But Kay’s response made me realize that the very unpleasant stallion she mentioned was, indeed, Morning Star. Try to imagine the impotent rage an immortal might feel being stuck in the form of a mortal horse. It’s no wonder he had gotten a reputation for biting anyone who came near him... even if it was not a real memory for any of them. But sea and stars, it was real for him!” She shuddered.

“That’s when the East started to move again. When Kay mentioned that they’d held the bridge for twenty five days, and — her exact words, for I cannot ever erase them from my mind — it feels like we’ve been doing this forever...”

She swallowed hard. “I don’t know if it’s some kind of curse or just the madness of a God, but I believe the battle does go on forever. Or, based on the last tile Kisa sent me — Sea of Fog — perhaps only when the fog is thick.

“But we were standing close, so close to the break in the bridge. And... and... and I knew no Dayalan survived that night. I didn’t understand why I was on that bridge, about to engage in battle with the East and probably wind up dead. I didn’t know if I’d wake up in my bed as if it was a bad dream, or if you’d have to somehow fish my body out of the Silk Creek. I no longer knew where I belonged; I just knew that I belonged with my unicorn. Tcha! I am a Starrider!

“I told Kay to stay where she was, that I’d be right back. And I strode right up to that black stallion with the white star on his forehead, saddled him, and rode back onto the bridge. And I trusted Morning Star to find the right Path, because I couldn’t see any Paths anymore. Not a single one.”

She looked up then, looked at each person around the campfire, finally ending with the young Dayalan beside her.

“I’m not a Starlord; I don’t have that gift to inspire others to stand strong. Well, I don’t think I do. But last night, a mere Starrider riding a unicorn disguised as a warhorse did for our Sisters what even Lili-kins hadn’t quite managed to do... strengthen their resolve. I did what was necessary.

“Yes, I knew they’d come straight for me. Either I would live or I would die, but either way, it was not going to be without a fight. Because that’s what we do, da? It is what our Sisters did at the Port of Lys in the First Age; it is what Verchovai Jeminy Kilkenna and her band did on a dandelion covered hill protecting Risha’s followers... was little Kisa Allaine Lili’s younger sister as well as the current Heir’s namesake? No matter. It is what we have always done and always do... we buy time. We are always just buying time.

“You saved my life, Kay, and very nearly lost your own. Had I not stumbled into the past, had you not been at my side saving my life, you would have been at Lili’s side. Perhaps that helps answer where you are supposed to be; perhaps, for now, you are supposed to be at my side.”

The Dayalan shrugged as she raised her eyebrows at Kay, looking nearly as perplexed about the matter as the youngster. Then she looked at Jankin.

“And then the chanting began. The tree grew, it grew large and unnaturally. Its roots reached out and tore at the base of the bridge. And the bridge began to crumble.

“I pulled Kay up behind me, probably causing one of my broken ribs to jab a lung because breathing became awfully darn difficult. But Kay was hurt worse than I was, and I knew how far we had to move forward. I didn’t stop to think of consequences; I simply did what was right.

“And then I watched my Sisters fall with the blocks of honey marble into Silk Creek.

“Denied their right to die in battle, denied their right to die as Dayalans.

“Because the Gardener betrayed them. Because he was a foul rotted sack of flesh that lacked humanity... a thriced poxed son of a diseased whore, a cowardly chaos-struck pile of cow dung.”

She paused. Though her voice had never risen, the tone had become as dagger sharp as Starlord Kassia’s often was, and the anger was again reflected in her eyes.

“If I had any interest in vengeance, you would be in far more danger than Romana ever was. But I’m not interested in vengeance; I don’t see the point of it. I’m interested in truth.”

Although she paused to breathe... once, twice, thrice... her eyes never left the figure of the woodcarver.

“So please do answer my Sister’s question, Jankin. What did you do when that one person of your company broke away?

“And while you are sharing truth, perhaps you can also tell me how it came to be that the Heartwood, the remains of the World Forest over which my Lady rose to create the First Day, is now a place of darkness called the Dirkwood.”

Kadri;

She looked over at Dazi and spoke very quietly.

"No. I was about as certain that I wasn't in any danger as I could be - and truly not concerned for Romana - yet a point had to be made."

She sits back, crosses her legs, and puts her hands on her knees.

"That point goes for anyone else here as well."

She shrugs, then sits back to listen.

Cesare

That look from Darian touched him to the core. Fear. Not something he had ever seen on her face. And not fear for herself.. but for Longtooth.. and for him. He had to respond, it was instictive. No words, just raising his arm to encircle her waist and pull her gently close. No words, but the gesture tells her he is here.

He watches the drama unfold between Kay and Romana, then listens to Daxia's tale, almost spellbound.. but again little snippets add to his knowledge and understanding.. and he shivers slightly, feeling the touch of the Fates yet again. He has always though there is more to their group than just a chance meeting on the road.

He nods as Kadri speaks, agreeing the bond that is now between them all.. and wonders whether Jankin will be drawn into it.. or excluded..

Bekkah

She could only listen in silence. She had not experienced any of this. And she half-wondered if she would have simply slept through the night had she been at this inn with the others. But still her eyes brimmed with tears at the tales. So much death. She made no move when Romanas stepped forward. She knew that she could not stay the hand of the Dayalan should she accept Romanas' sacrifice. She was not surprised when no blood was shed.

Like everyone else, her gaze now turned to Jankin. There was more to be explained this night and he seemed to hold the last of the tale.

Jankin sat, taking it all in, absorbing the hurt and more that was beyond everyone's words, acknowledging to himself, first, his own culpability. When each had said their piece and all eyes were on him, he spoke. His voice was hoarse from pent up emotions of his own, kept rigidly in check, as he re-lived the moment of his choice.

"When Ashley broke away, I held fast to her hand, but she tore it away. The circle was broken, and she would not return to it. I looked to the Tree that I'd been a part of creating. The damage had been done, the horror achieved, the atrocity perpetrated. A person's hand from Ashley's side reached towards me, seeking to close the circle. My foster father's stories about magic left unchecked, broken spells left to run their course having terrible consequences were in my mind.

"I knew I had been unknowingly made to be a part of doing a terrible wrong. I also was afraid of what worse might happen if the working wasn't brought back down to earth, sealed, and ended. I took those hands. I do not know if it was the right thing to do or not, or even what happened next, for that is when the vision stopped for me."

He paused. Tears were flowing freely down his face, unregarded, but his voice remained tightly controlled.

"I have no answers for your other question. My stay in that other place and time was brief compared to most. Much less happened, though at the same time you could say that the most important thing happened. I... I make no excuses, for there can be none. Just an explanation. I was a part of killing many. I made the choice that seemed the safest, with my limited knowledge, to keep worse from happening. I feel the weight of each death on that bridge on my spirit and always will."

Jankin sat, and waited.

Daxia

Daxia sat looking at Jankin, as if trying to made a decision.

She sat for what seemed like a very long time.

Finally though, she stood, walked around the campfire to Jankin’s side, and looked down at him.

“We all had to make choices. We all tried to make the best choices we could under the circumstances. When the fog rolls across Highside Heather, the Gardener is still there insulting my Sisters and using them as pawns in a game of Horses and Castles, the Coven circle still raises the tree that destroys the Only Bridge, my Sisters still die.

“I see a Path — a thin and faint one — where that cycle might be changed, might be stopped... a Path where no Dayalan ever again has to say it feels like we’ve been doing this forever. You are the tile where the Path branches, Jankin.

“The past is the past, and cannot be changed. The wounds of Silk Creek Bridge cannot be undone.”

“But perhaps we can change the future, and allow old wounds to heal so that no new injuries are inflicted on others.” The Dayalan reached out a hand to the Covener. “Would you be willing to try, simply try, to repair what the Gardener wrought and your God continues to remember every foggy night?”

Janking sat mute, awaiting his judgement.

At her words, he nodded once, slowly, and deliberately went from the bench to his knees, taking her feet in his hands and bowing his head down to touch them with his forehead. He then stood, took her hands and said simply, "This I will do."

Mikal

He sits quietly as others tell their tales. As Daxia speaks he has his eyes downcast, but he looks up as she firmly states that perhaps his actions allowed the Dayalans to choose the honourable way to die, perhaps for the first time in an eternity of endelss repetitions of the past. And he breathes a deep sigh, and nods thankfully, when she refers to him as 'swordbrother'.

"I suspect each of us, or perhaps at least each who slept together in a room, experienced the history of the battle separately. That the actions of the others did not affect how each group's experience unfolded. That is why in my version the Allaine rode Dean's horse into battle and Dazi and Kay were not there at all, while in Dazi's version, only she was mounted and the bridge fell with the Dayalan's upon it."

(OOC - Daxia might note that this might be only the first or second time Mikal referred to her by her informal name.)

Cesare

His arm remains around Darian as Jankin makes his explanation.

It is clear than Jankin acutely feels the weight of the event of the previous night, and his words do him credit. As far as the Rhoni is concerned, Jankin has passed his 'test of the moment', not that his opinion carries much weight here. He is Rhoni, and does not expect to be counted equal with others.

So it would seem their small group are all moved to a greater or lesser degree by yet again history repeating itself before their very eyes. And he is glad that they are. They should be and it says well for the future of their group that it is so.

The Heartwood
The Highland Path
Highside, West of Silk Creek Ravine
After Sunset
Hasday the Twenty-first Day of Horse

Bekkah, Daxia, Darian, Mikal, Jankin, Dean, Cesare, Kadri ... Morning Star, Longtooth, Kay and Romana

"You know, when my mother was saying good by to folks who stayed at the farm, if'n she liked them she said fair travels.

"If'n she didn't, she'd say, fair travels, and may your journey be an interesting one ..."

Kay looked between Daxia and Romana and just snorted, crossing her arms and settling back down into her place. And then her eyes went wide, as Romana gathered herself up and with a friendly shrug of her shoulders flounced down next to the younger Dayalan.

"Whaaaa ..."

Kay's exclamation was cut short.

"Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhh ..."

Romana put her finger to her lips.

"Listens! Not polite interrupt stories! Princessessesseses knows!"

Kay just gave Daxia ... a look.

Daxia

The redhead's lips twitched in a barely perceptible smile when Romana flounced down next to Kay. At Kay’s... look... Daxia merely raised an eyebrow and shrugged.

No amount of court training, however, could keep the startled look off Daxia’s face when Jankin bent down to touch her feet. That training did keep her still; she didn’t move, she reined in the urge to kick him. Oh, not because of anything done in the past... no. No, the urge to push him away came from right here and right now. He touched her feet. And the obsequiousness made her a little nauseous.

By the time Jankin stood and took her hands, though, she had schooled her emotions and her expression to calm and neutral. After all, it seemed as though he did — in his own way — exactly what Romana had done when she prostrated herself in front of Kay.

And so she nodded once to him as she squeezed his hands before turning to the rest of the group, hands on her hips.

“We have a choice, and it is one we must make together. Most of us have traveled together for fullhands; we have fought side by side, we have shared meals, we have shared our stories. In Bordertown, you stood with me — despite any of your reservations and misgivings — to break a curse placed upon my Sister and her partner three hundred and fifty years ago. Even I would admit that making that attempt was just short of monumentally stupid.

“But with your help, the curse was broken; Tashka of Darkdown and Linette of Corliss Fields now guard the Dark Patch, as is fitting for two who prevented the sacrifice of the two Coven Deities.”

Daxia looked at each of them in turn, her attention holding longer on Romana and Kay.

“I ask that we now stand with Jankin in his quest to still the foggy nights at Highside Heather so that those who fought and died that night can find peace in Krysta’s embrace, and so no other travelers risk what we endured last night.

“The past is the past. We cannot change what happened that night; the Tree grew, the Tree destroyed the Bridge. Many died... once, the Dayalans died with honor; once, the youngest of them disappeared and did not die. Though we cannot change the past, perhaps with our help Jankin can find a way to quiet the night... to show this God that His Consort did not truly die, for Mother Nature cannot truly die.

“This is a battle for which I have no guides on strategy or tactics. I see nothing on this Path that is clear but Jankin’s presence.” She paused and tilted her head as she looked at Romana. “And perhaps... perhaps the presence of our Princess of Kh’Lhy’ra.”

She put a hand lightly on Jankin’s shoulder.

“Jankin is willing to attempt this quest. I am willing to stand with him.

“Will the rest of stand with him, too?”

She glanced for a moment over her shoulder at Morning Star. “If you have any objection to this, now would be the time to say so, Your Magnificent Font of All Knowledge.”

Kadri

"Ever and always. An unclear path is but an invitation to clear our own. I am with you. I have made my statement - and if Jankin is with us, then I am with him. Fate, destiny or our 'paths' may command certain things continue - but I was never very good at taking orders."

She tilts her head and grins widely.

Mikal

He shrugs. "Perhaps it will distract me, at least temporarily, from this urge to kill those we meet clad in Grey. It is usually not such an overwhelming thing, but the proximity seems to make it worse. It's probably a good thing I've generally tended to stay away from here since I left."

Jankin

He looked supremely uncomfortable. How was it that everyone was so completely comfortable with this secret he'd spent his life keeping so deeply buried? Still and all, he'd made a vow, and deemed it a worthy one. He did his best to stand resolutely as the rest had their say.

Cesare

He considers his position on this. There are a number of things that link to him in thios group, some stronger than others. He has training to receive from Mikal and a debt to repay to him, he has a responsibility to Romana too though there are aspects of that he shies away from now, there is his ongoing relationship with Darian - and he now (uncomfortably in some ways) acknowledges that its length and depth is new territory for him, he has friendship and/or respect for many of their group. And although he never fully understands all this history and deity stuff that seems to reach out from the past to touch them, he finds he trusts Daxia's instincts such that he has found a certain.. pride in what they have achieved together.

Unconventional, risky certainly, but he thinks Daxia is a good leader and that she and Mikal make a great team. At present they hold both his respect and his loyalty - not something lightly given, especially to a Gaijin.

And if nothing else it will be interesting..

"I'm in."

Bekkah

"I should hope you'd know that you don't have to ask such a thing of me. I'll do what I can for any of you." she said simply, looking across the fire at Dazi.

Dean

Dean glances at Lady Bekkah, sighs, shrugs, and nods.