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Karissa found herself standing in the middle of a village under attack.
It was after dark, but the streets were filled with noise and motion as
the villagers scurried to escape their attackers. Several of the
buildings were aflame, their crude thatch roofs burning high to the heavens.
Peasants were darting all around her, but no one seemed to notice her presence.
Suddenly, a lightly armored raider thundered by on horseback, savagely
chopping down a fleeing man before riding on.
She could neither move nor speak, only watch helplessly as the poor unarmed people were slaughtered. To her left, a trio of the raiders dragged a young girl out of a hut and into the street, while ahead of her an old man struggled futilely against a large hunting dog as it worried his arm mercilessly. There was a loud crash to her right as one of the burning buildings collapsed in on itself. She thought for a moment that she could hear the cries of those trapped inside as they burned to death. Just then, Karissa caught a glimpse of another man on horseback farther down the street. Unlike the others, he remained calm and still, as if overseeing the carnage. He was silhouetted by the flames so it was hard to make out any details. She had a sense of incredible power--evil power--emanating from the dark figure. Then a most peculiar thing happened. Without moving, Karissa suddenly found herself standing directly before the dark rider. Her gaze traveled upward; his horse was large and jet black, with flaring red nostrils and a wild, flowing mane of hair. The creature's head hung low, as if ashamed of its rider. The man himself was clad in a fine suit of plate armor, black as well and decorated with a myriad of arcane and somewhat disturbing designs, and an equally black sword hung at his side. Clasped around the knight’s shoulders was a blood red cloak that billowed in an unseen wind. Karissa’s eyes traveled up to the man's face, framed in long hair as unkempt as the horse's, and.... ...she was startled from her sleep by the harsh cry of a raven. Rolling over on one side to face the window, she saw that it was morning. Perched on the sill was the source of the noise, a large jet-black raven, around whose leg was a small message tied with a red ribbon. Karissa sat upright in bed, rubbing the sand from her eyes and yawning loudly. The raven stared at her calmly as she arose and walked to the window. She removed the message from its leg, and immediately thereafter the bird flapped noisily into the air and departed with another loud squawk. Karissa walked back to the bed and sat down on the corner. She untied the ribbon and rolled open the message. Dona Karissa, I have been plagued by some interesting and troublesome dreams as of late. Some of these dreams were clearly unnatural or magical in origin, as later adventures proved. I write to you of this matter because I recall your telling me once that you had some skill in divining the meaning of dreams. I would entreat your help in translating these nocturnal visions, which are visiting themselves upon me with increasing frequency. If you would be so kind as to aid me with this, I would be most grateful. Upon receiving your positive reply, I will arrange for a date and time for us to meet. Once again, I humbly request your wisdom in these matters. In
Light,
Sir
Aeric Bannier Caerna
Knight
of the Realm
Castellan
of Ahrothen
Bailiff
to the Court of Warwick
Good Sir Aeric, I, too, feel we should meet. There is an unusual energy in the wind this day. We should meet today, before nightfall. Would the Pool of Daggers be acceptable? Unless I hear otherwise, I will be there by the hour of ten. In
Light,
Dona
Karissa
Later that day, Karissa was sitting on the shore of the Pool of Daggers. Above her, a great oak spread its leafy boughs to shelter her from the hot late morning sun. Her attention was drawn to the road, where from far away she could see an approaching rider. As he got closer, Karissa could tell that it was Sir Aeric. He stopped his horse about twenty feet from her, dismounted, and lead the animal over to where she was sitting. Karissa began to stand, but a wave of his hand told her it wasn't necessary. He hooked the reins in the crook between the tree trunk and a low branch, then sat down next to her on the grass. "Thank you for seeing me, Karissa," he said. "No need to thank me,” she replied. “I, too, have had strange dreams lately. In fact, your raven woke me from one this very morning. Tell me: what has happened in your dreams as of late?" Karissa asked as she shuffled her tarot cards. "Well, it's not that I've been having unusual dreams as of late, it's that I've been experiencing a lot of dream-based communication lately,” Aeric said, “and I want to be able to use it effectively when it happens." "'Dream communication?'" "Yes. Do you remember when that old man came to court a while back, claiming to be Eld Magnil?" "Of course,” she said with a hint of a smile. “Who could forget something like that?" "Well, it was from that point on that I started to get these visions in my sleep. Many of them were shared by other members of the court-the old man's 'Adventure through Time and Space' and Queen Merenia's story, to name two of them-but there have been others as well. “Do tell,” she said. "Towards the end of the Regal Beagles' page-turning, I was in the middle of discussions with my fellow clansmen about the future of Clan Caerna. One night, I had a dream, in which Lady--no, Queen Merenia--came to me, and told me that the clan would be restored to its former glory and that she watched over me and her wife. At the time this seemed a lot more bizarre than it does now, for at the time we all still believed Merenia to be dead. "The experience which really stands out in my mind, though, is a recent adventure I had with Sir Lucerne and Magestrix Scarlette. I won't go into details, but we encountered a creature that fed off of other people's nightmares. It was able to go into a person's mind and extract all of his or her deepest memories, knowing them as if they were its own. It tried to trick me into siding with it by showing me tragic memories of its own life which were similar to mine." Suppressing the urge to ask him to go into further detail about his past, Karissa considered what Aeric had told her. "That is all very interesting, Sir Aeric. There are some things that I can tell you. I know that Eld Magnil did not send you on that dream-quest; that old man was but a messenger in a familiar form. It was thought that many Companions would not have gone if they knew who had actually invited them. Queen Merenia is also very skilled in dream-questing, so that does not worry me too much. The creature, however, leaves me a little unsettled. Can you tell me more about your encounter?" "It was a week ago,” Aeric began, “I received a letter from Sir Lucerne, asking my assistance on some adventure he was undertaking. Along with his wife, we rode to the lands west of Barden, where we found a village in a terrible state. The villagers spoke of monsters stealing people in the night, and many were afraid to sleep for fear of what awaited them in their dreams. "I can tell you little of the creature itself. According to Majestrix Scarlette, it was a faerie like her--or once was, before the tragedies which transformed it into the thing we fought. At first, all we could see was a shadowy outline; then, as its will began to manifest upon our minds, its form became clearer. It was a tall, gaunt humanoid shape, with dull gray eyes that once must have shone as newly-polished silver. It spoke no words, but communicated directly to our minds. While it did not speak, the thing was not silent by any means...when I first made to assault it, it let out a horrific cry the likes of which I hope to never hear again. It was a cry of utter anguish and despair, a cry which spoke of centuries of pain and regret. The creature's scream tore at my very soul; had I been a lesser man, I might have perished on the spot. More than that I cannot say.” Without really waiting for Karissa to absorb everything he had just told her, Aeric asked, "about the dream-quest…if the invitation was not from Eld Magnil than who was it from? And how do you know this?" "The invitation was from the Voice," Karissa said, pausing for a moment as if she were waiting for a response from someone else. "The Pendragon sent you,” she finished simply, “by my will--indirectly, that is." "By your will?" Aeric asked. "Yes,” she said. “I made a vow to the Pendragon to undertake a quest, and it was felt that I was losing touch with my purpose. In order to regain my focus and improve my skills as a druin, the Pendragon told me to invite members of the court to review my progress on that quest and how events in Warwick have effected it. So I asked Eld Magnil for guidance. Little did I know that the High Druin was trying to invoke Eld Magnil at the same time… Hence, Eld Magnil sent invitations to those that were felt would benefit from knowledge of my quest." Aeric scratches his head thoughtfully. "I'm not sure I understand. What is your quest? And what is 'the Pendragon?'" "To put it simply,” Karissa explained, “the Pendragon is the opposite of Shadowcast. It embodies all the good that is Warwick.” "I always thought that Magnaroth rom Caerna--the ‘Caerna Dragon,’ as it were--was the opposite of Shadowcast," Aeric said. "I don't know much about Magnaroth--about the Caerna Dragon--but I know that it is still very young. The Pendragon has been around since before the Court of Warwick existed.” Karissa paused for a moment. “To be honest, I don't really know all that much about the Pendragon, either. It gave my page class a quest that allowed us to be squired, and it was the Pendragon's voice that spoke to you in the dream world. It is also the Pendragon whose movement you see out of the corner of your eye on the melee field. The Pendragon is everywhere." Dona Karissa took a multi-colored cord from her belt. "Have you not heard about this?" she asked. "No, I haven’t," Aeric replied. "It is a long story as to how this cord came into my possession, and I will not bore you with all of it. I will simply say that I do not wear a traditional knighting cord; Xana has mine for safekeeping. This is my cord pro tem. The night that I was ordained as Druin of the Mandala I made a vow to the Pendragon. I vowed to Quest for the Light. Until I fulfill that vow, I will not wear my cord." "So what exactly is your quest?" Aeric asked. "I must Quest for the Light,” Karissa answered. “No more, no less." "And what exactly does that mean? Can you be more specific?" "I wish I could be, but even I don't know exactly what is meant by it. That is why I am now a Druin of the Grail. The next level is Druin of the Light. Maybe that’s what the Pendragon meant. I thought perhaps it meant for me to become Sovereign, as the Queen is the ‘light’ of the land, but all that thought did..." Karissa began to cry again, "…all that did was cause my sister to die." Aeric moved towards her, tentatively putting his arm around her shoulders. "Don't be so hard on yourself,” he said as gently as he could. “Why would you think that?" "It has been the way for many years in my family,” she started to explain. “There are always two children. One is chosen to be sent away, while the other grows up to inherit the throne. Once the child that was sent away feels that he or she is ready to rule, they return and take over. Tiggeria became ruler of Blyth after our birth parents died, and now, I have inherited the throne from her. It is my responsibility to find a husband and have children so the cycle can continue." Karissa pulled the small box out of her basket. "There are many more of these in the Royal Vault in Blyth. Each contains the Light of three. When I die, I will share my box with my mate and my first child." She said as the tears returned. "Karissa..." Aeric said softly, giving her shoulder a squeeze. She struggled to regain her composure, but to no avail. And for once, it was okay. Somehow, she was not ashamed to be weak in front of this man. It felt so good to have his arm around her…. "Now...now you know why I hide my face beneath this veil,” she said through her tears. “I am ashamed of what my selfishness has caused. I don't feel I am ready to rule a people I do not truly know." At her words, Aeric took Karissa by the shoulders and gently but firmly turned her to face him. "How did your selfishness cause this situation?" he asked. "You just told me that it is tradition in your family to send the younger away while the older is groomed to rule. You followed tradition. Where is the selfishness in that?" "I didn't know,” Karissa says, not really understanding the question. “I didn't know that my interest in becoming Queen of Warwick would do this. I'm not ready. I don't want to leave. This is my home, not Blyth. Why can't my destiny be here? Why??" "Destiny?" Aeric let go of her shoulders and stepped back a bit. "I don't believe in it. Your desire to be queen of Warwick is no more responsible for your sister's death than..." he trails off a bit, as if reconsidering his example. "Tell me, Karissa," he asked instead. "What would happen if you did not return to Blyth to claim the crown? Who would rule in your stead?" "For now, the high council is taking care of the day-to-day activities in Blyth,” she said. “They contact me on all other decisions. The crown itself is mine…in fact, I wore it at Masque, although I did not know what it was at the time. It was sent shortly before her death. I just don't feel right wearing it. It just doesn't seem right.…" "You didn't know the crown was yours? But how could that be?" Aeric asked. "I should have known that something was up when Tiggeria sent me a rather large package just before Masque. It was filled with things that ‘Mother’ always wanted me to have. I should have left right then and there, but I stayed in Warwick. She heard about my ambition and thought I wanted her crown! I never got to tell her otherwise. If I had just gone to her, she would still be ruling Blyth and all would be well here with me in Warwick. Oh, Sir Aeric," she cried into his shoulder, “now do you see why it is all my fault?" Aeric held his tongue and took a moment to comfort Karissa, holding her tightly in his arms before speaking again. "But that doesn't explain why she was killed...." he began. "She knew her time in Blyth was short, so Tiggeria decided to walk the countryside she knew and loved one last time. From what I understand, only a fairy accompanied her. It is believed that this fairy led her to her death by taking her too close to a dragon's lair." "On purpose?" he asked. "That is the thought so far. I am told that it is similar to how my birth parents were killed," she said. Aeric held her at arm's length away from him, looking her in the eye. "Then it is the fairy's fault your sister is dead, not yours! This could have happened at any time! The fairy did not hear of your sister's decision to abdicate the throne to you and decide to lead her by a hungry dragon's lair to punish her, did it?" Aeric stopped upon seeing the look of horror on Karissa’s face. He took a step or two back away from her and looked away from her. "I'm sorry, Karissa. My words are too harsh. Forgive me." "No, Sir Aeric,” Karissa said, “it is I who should apologize. I have burdened you with my problems, when it is obvious you have problems of your own. Your words were not too harsh…they were true." "Neverthless, I should know to restrain my tongue, or at least think before I use it. And as for my 'own problems,'" he said, returning to her side and placing a hand on her shoulder, "they are no excuse to ignore the plight of a friend." Karissa looked up at his words. Aeric's face had softened, and the hint of a tired, friendly smile could be seen just beneath the surface as he looked at her. He let his hand fall away from her shoulder, and looked off into the distance again. "You have responsibilities, just like the rest of us. You cannot shirk them. You wouldn't shirk them, otherwise...." "Otherwise? Otherwise what, Sir Aeric?” Karissa asked, getting angry now. Not at Aeric but at life, at the fate which led her to this painful decision in her life. “Why shouldn't I just stay here in Warwick? I like it here. This is my home." Aeric looked back at her. "You have a responsibility, a duty to the people of Blyth. Your people. You may consider Warwick your home, but you have the royal blood of Blyth running through your veins. It is a 'noblise oblige' which you cannot deny." Aeric looked away again. "You're not the type of person who would ignore such a responsibility, despite what it means giving up personally. If you were, I…I would not care for you as much as I do." Karissa paused for a moment. "You are right, Sir Aeric. I will not be shirking my responsibilities. I owe that much to my sister, but I can't subject anyone, least of all you, to my fate." "We all have responsibilities in life,” Aeric said. “A queen's responsibility to her subjects, an innkeeper's responsibility to his patrons, a…brother's responsibility to his brother...resisting them does no good. If you must go, then go. Embrace your responsibility and do not drag your heels or have regret. If you do, then it would be better if you did not go at all, for the only thing worse than the man who runs away from the hand Fate has dealt him is the man who plays it poorly because he hates it so.” He said the words with conviction, as if they came straight from his heart. Perhaps they did. Changing his tone a bit, Aeric continues. "I said I do not believe in destiny. That is not exactly true. I did believe in destiny once. I thought my destiny was to be a poor baron's son, to be nobility in name only, and I railed against it. I fought all my life to escape that. It did me no good. I didn't have much, but I had something, but I ended up with nothing. Don't do that to yourself. You have friends here and, I'm sure, in Blyth. That will not change unless you do." Aeric reached forward and lifted the veil from he face. His hand lingered for a moment, and then dropped to his side once more. He looked at Karissa’s tear-streaked face, exposed in more ways than one. "Why do you wear this veil, Karissa? Is it to hide the tears you are so ashamed of? If you mourn not your sister, but your lost life here, then you should be ashamed. How selfish." Karissa looked down. Her eyes stung with the truth of his words, but it was more than that. To hear something she had been telling herself for so long come from someone else's lips, from Aeric's.... "But you are not selfish." He interrupted her thoughts. She looked back up at him and found his expression not angry but sympathetic, a little sad even. "You are a strong person. Your strength is in your heart and in your spirit. That is why everyone loves you." He pauses for a heartbeat. "That is why I love you." Aeric looked off towards the horizon. "You have taught me a lot about myself. I came to Warwick to hide from the misdeeds of my youth, to hide from myself. Instead, I have found myself. I wanted to be a good man, but I didn't really believe that I could be. Now I do. You've shown me that. I see myself in you; at least, the person that I can become." He looked down at the ground once more, then returned his eyes to meet hers. "I believe that you are the most noble and honorable person I have ever met. Please don't prove me wrong." Karissa paused for a moment to pull some objects out of her basket and place them beside her. Although he tried, Aeric could not catch a glimpse of what they were. She began to swirl her right index finger clockwise in the Pool of Daggers. As she did she chanted, "Eld Magnil, Lord of Light, display your truths." As he watched, the swirling blue water, he saw that it began to change into different colors. Finally it became black, and Karissa removed her finger from the water and picked up an amulet from her side. "Do you recognize this?" she asked him. "Cecily gave this to me on her wedding day. It is a guide, if you will, to love." Karissa looks down at it for a moment. "Sir Aeric...I do not love you in that way," she said softly as the amulet began to glow a bright blue. "This isn't about love," he said somewhat angrily, turning away from her. "It is about you and your responsibilities." He pauses for a moment, thinking. "I’ve said too much. I am sorry to burden you with such things at a time like this." "Don't be sorry, Sir Aeric. I... I... I just have a lot of things on my mind right now," she said, looking down at her hands. After a moment of awkward silence, she said, "why was it that you were worried about your dreams? Was it because of the creature, or was it something else?" "I just wanted to be able to direct these visions better, to dream-quest as you do," Aeric replied, glad for the subject change. "I don't like the idea of magic swirling around in my head that I have no control over." "I understand." Karissa stares at the black circle in the Pool of Daggers for a moment. "Dream Magic is a difficult thing to master. You must be in touch with yourself and those who you wish to reach. The best way I know how to do that is to learn to function in a meditative state and study the Druin ways. With practice, you could construct mental walls to keep people out." "Can you teach me how to control my visions? At least, how to control myself within them, so that I may be able to better interact with them?" "I don't know how good of a teacher I would be,” Karissa said uncertainly. “I just sort of do it. I don't really have control. It really depends on who sends you on the quest. It depends on how much control they want to give you..." Aeric frowned at that answer. "I do not like the idea of someone else controlling me, even if it is only in the world of dreams. If I cannot exercise any control over these visions, then show me how I can prevent them altogether. They have been coming way too frequently lately for my taste." "I wish I could teach you how to prevent them, but I don’t know how. Even I cannot prevent them. What I do know is this: the stronger your mind is, the less likely they can control your actions in the vision. It does not take a powerful person to dream-walk, but it takes a well-learned person to chose the path they follow. I can not train you in these ways, you have to learn on your own. I can only show you the tools you need to be stronger mentally, but you are not ready for them yet. There is still much that clouds your mind.” Karissa stared into the black hole. "You must learn to forgive.…" "Forgive, you say?” Aeric’s voice rose in frustration and anger. “Forgive who? I am not a vengeful man. Since I came to Warwick, I have never sought revenge against another, and of those who wronged me before then," he said, lowering his voice, "none remain among the living. So who, then, must I learn to forgive?" "Yourself," she said quietly. "I don't know what you're talking about," Aeric said evenly, his voice betraying no emotion. "I can only tell you what is told to me, Sir Aeric. See this spot?" Karissa pointed to the black ‘hole’ in the water. "It was conjured to show truths, all truths at this point in time. It has told me you need to forgive yourself. For what, I do not know. I can only speculate." |
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