Guiding Light

Yelo's mood was at its lowest ebb. She had found nothing. No survivors, no clues, not even signs of Trilljas. Thorus was a lifeless wasteland. The land had been burned, raped, emptied. Nothing but dust and dead earth. For half a moon now, she had wandered south through Thorus. The shadow of the Denar Mountains was her constant companion. Without the mountains and the few small streams that flowed down the ridge, Yelo would have had to turn back long ago. At least her canteen was always well filled.

Kiala had left her yesterday. The dekals went without food for some time, but after each moon Kiala left Yelo to meet others of her kind and hunt together. Then she returned to her. No matter where Yelo was. How the dekals found each other, or how Kiala was able to track her down, remained a mystery. They were creatures of the Goddess.

All Yelo knew about dekals was that they were all female. They grew very old, but no one could say how many there actually were. Although they had once come to Otheiá with the elendeari, they had their own mystical past. When the elendeari left Otheiá, the dekals stayed, even though they had lived so closely with the elendeari. No one knew why they had remained.

Similar in build to wolves, but twice as large, the rainbow irises of their eyes and the thick plates of horn on their backs gave them their characteristic appearance. Dekals were predators and needed the freedom to hunt. Their favourite prey was the fallow deer in the woods, but they also hunted rabbits and smaller animals. As the winters passed, the dekals gradually disappeared. Where they went was unknown. All that remained were the stories told around the campfire at night.

Kiala would return to her in half a moon. As far as she was concerned, it was time to turn back. She had achieved nothing in Thorus.

She would spend one last night on the border of Mideria and leave for the north tomorrow. And as if the goddess was unhappy with her decision, just as the sun reached its highest point, the sky darkened and rain began to pour down like buckets. Before long, Yelo was soaked to the skin. Sullenly, she put one foot in front of the other.

Just before nightfall, Yelo finally found shelter in a small, washed-out cave at the foot of the mountains.

Te'cha Jolah! - Praised be you, Jolah!

Yelo sent a quick thanks to her goddess. The cave was perfect! It was deep enough for her to find a dry place for herself and a small fire. Some half-burned pieces of wood from once mighty trees that Yelo had found along the way would give her the warmth she so desperately needed and dry her clothes.

When darkness finally fell, the sky was still cloudy. Yelo could see neither Isen nor Frew. The two moons remained hidden from her view. Yelo had little hope of seeing Jagra, the third moon, today. It promised to be a dark, dreary and lonely night. Alone with her thoughts and doubts, Yelo prepared her campsite.

Over a meagre supper of the last remnants of dried game, Yelo's thoughts wandered to Kevra. Where was she? Did she miss Yelo too? Did she even think of her anymore? What if Kevra's feelings were gone now and she only thought of Yelo with gratitude? After all, they had only shared that one kiss. Besides, Kevra was the princess and future heir to the throne of Etrion. She was destined to reunite Otheiá. What place would she have in that? Was there even one for Yelo? Uncertainty crept up inside her and self-doubt paralysed her whole body. Yelo wished she hadn't lost her heart. At least not to Kevra of all people. It would be so much easier if Kevra was just an ordinary woman. With no queendom or inheritance to claim. But no, that would have been too easy! Yelo laughed softly to herself. As if she had any say in the matter!

All she knew was that she had gone to bed one night completely annoyed with Kevra and the next morning could think of nothing but the way her hips swayed when she walked or the way her chest rose and fell when she breathed. Yelo felt the blood rush to her cheeks. Here she was, alone in a cave on the southernmost tip of Thorus, while it was pouring outside, and the very thought of her girlfriend made her blush with embarrassment. She shook her head. And another thought occupied her mind. Kevra was her girlfriend - wasn't she? Or was she just a 'friend'? Where did they stand? What were they to each other? Doubt gnawed at Yelo, and the longing for Kevra would not let her rest.

By the time Yelo finally fell into a restless sleep, the fire had long since burned itself out.

She dreamed of flying ships without a compass, of Otheiá in flames, and of a wedding to which she was not invited.

A voice finally woke Yelo from her sleep.

"Suvris, Eloneri wêrah tch'e ymtoî la. Hesta'sa, Otheiá ya di Merâéth! - Suvris, Jolah has chosen you to fight for her. But you must hurry, Otheiá is in danger!"

Startled, Yelo sat up. Her chest burned. The words echoed in her mind. Who had called her? Her still tired eyes caught the dawning twilight of the near morning.

"Is someone there?"

Yelo's voice was rough. Her hands closed around the hilts of her swords. She listened into the morning silence, but no one answered. Was someone hiding there? Or had she dreamed it all? But the voice had been insistent, urging Yelo to hurry. And it had spoken to her in the ancient language. The language of the goddess Jolah. Few knew it. So who was calling her and urging her to hurry?

Quietly, she scurried out into the morning twilight. A short time later, she returned without having achieved anything. She had not been able to spot anyone.

Perplexed, she sat down by the remains of the small fire and poked around in the cold ashes. Was she going mad? Had she imagined the voice?

The burning on her chest grew stronger. Her tired fingers fumbled for the amulet that hung around her neck next to her medallion and rested on her bare skin. It was quite hot! Carefully, Yelo pulled it out from under her shirt by the silver chain and looked at it. On the front was a kind of small compass needle, but it did not point north. She turned the jewel over thoughtfully.

"But how? That's ...!"

Surprised, Yelo stared at the back of the small amulet she had received from an old woman in Fýnôn. Embedded there, also set in silver, was a techeat. A semi-precious stone with a beautiful violet colour that faded to white in the middle. Normally. But now the colours swirled. Violet and white became red and dark blue. Only to lose themselves in a shimmering yellow. The amulet was hot in her hand. Fascinated, Yelo watched the play of colours as she heard the voice again. 

"Hesta'sa, Otheiá ya di Merâéth! - Hurry, Otheiá is in danger!"

Confused, Yelo looked up. She had heard the voice clearly in her head, there was no doubt about it. The warmth in her hand made Yelo look at the amulet again. Could it be...? Surely not. Or could it be? Was the voice coming from the amulet? The play of colours had increased in intensity. The colours were changing faster and faster. Just watching made Yelo feel queasy. Suddenly, the swirl of colours froze. The amulet started to shimmer. Brighter and brighter. Completely dazzled, Yelo held it away from her and blinked through half-closed eyelids. 

"By the goddess, what ...?"

But she never got to finish her sentence. In front of her, on the wall of her little cave, a shimmering shape appeared, the outline of which reminded her of a mountain. The image became clearer and clearer. Yelo could already make out the first shadows and crevices. What had looked like a single mountain at first was in fact a whole massif. A mountain range the likes of which Yelo had never seen before. The ridge seemed as sharp as a sword blade, but on the sides the slopes curved gently down. To the left, the ridge gave way to a massive plateau. The right side, however, fell steeply, forming the silhouette of a woman's head. Yelo stared at the image in fascination. This silhouette. This woman. She looked familiar. But she could not place her exactly. Yelo was sure she had seen this face before. But where?

"Hesta'sa, Yelo! - Hurry up, Yelo!"

There it was again! She heard the words clearly in her mind. Was this some new trick of Lokastron's? Dark magic? But why should the amulet show her this image? And where was this mountain range? Otheiá had huge mountain ranges. Where would this be? Was she supposed to go there? And if so, why? And more importantly, who had sent her?