In a flash Ray had shifted and placed Jeremy and Kiyan on his back without further argument. Ray launched himself in the air, the ground disappeared quickly and the forest tops flew past momentarily. In no time they had climbed high enough and ridge passed beneath them. They soared over a forest with lakes dotting the scenery. Up ahead the valley opened up and silver ribbon of a river sprawled over that landscape. Flying just above the treetops they could see a virgin forest with massive trees and webs of vines sprawling between them. Dotting the trees were some air flowers that added a speckled rainbow hue to things. The glow woods ahead told them that they would be there soon.
The yell and crashing from the woods below them told them they had caught up with Fred and Addy. Their victory was short live when they found that Addy had a flying form of her own. With a shriek she unleashed herself from the trees and unfurled her lacy wings. Even so her wings weren't not built for speed like Ray's so she confined herself to leaping from treetop to treetop. But her speed was still something to be reckoned with. With moments to spare Ray perched on the upper branches of a giant tree with white bark but with leaves that glowed all colors of the rainbow.
“That wasn't fair.” Fred yelled when he glided in to a stop. Addy glimmered back into her humanoid form and began spinning vines through the trees until a platform was securely hanging high in the trees. Suddenly realizing everyone was looking at her Addy dropped below the platform and disappeared.
Jeremy was rather worried about Addy until Fred told him that she was over three hundred years old and had been living in this valley until she sensed him and had gone looking for him. Within a few moments she reappeared with some fresh fruit and the boys fell to laughing and joking about how none of the younger kids would believe them if they told them that they were nesting in the glow woods.
It was still only around noon by this time so Kiyan proposed that they still had time to look for the caves that Fred's dad had spoken of. This idea was unanimously approved. Kiyan noticed that Addy acquired a queer expression on her face when this was mentioned. She glanced at Fred and he announced that Addy knew were the caves were.
The trip to the caves was a much less boisterous affair. Addy took them through some hidden paths under the canopy of the forest giants. When they reached a small canyon cut out by a creek she spun a bridge across it and the small party proceeded. Eventually they reached a cliff on the edge of the valley and under the cliff there was a natural cavern.
Light was not an issue as Jeremy's parents had packed a few glow sticks with his supplies. Addy seemed rather entranced with the glow sticks and was delighted when Jeremy offered her one.
Entering the cave and leaving chalk marks at the junction they progressed deeper into the earth. The light was shed on a new world of plants, fish and insects that seemed to thrive in the darkness. Moving further on the boys found a tunnel that was covered in a purple kind of crystal. The light reflected around the room seemed somewhat magical with the rainbow hues splattering the walls. Kiyan was busy examining the walls of the cave when the realization began to grow on him that he was being watched. Lowering his defenses he reached out with his mind. There was something there but he could not put his finger on it. A little farther and his mind touched Kendra, a twinge of curiosity and then a flood of detail from her. He realized he could see better with his mind than his eyes while he was connected to Kendra. Scanning the caves for hundreds of feet in each direction he finally sensed a detail that was not right.
“Young one, you are skilled for your time in this world.” A voice echoed in Kiyan's mind.
“Who are you?” Kiyan was startled but was able to convey his question through Kendra.
“I am Draxos of the earth people. You are near my home.”
“Forgive us we did not mean to intrude.” Kiyan apologized still unsure what to think.
“Nonsense, any friend of Kendra’s is a friend of mine.” Draxos responded amicably.
Feeling someone shaking his shoulder Kiyan opened his eyes and saw the rest of the group looking at him. A feeling of mild worry emanated from them.
“You kind of zoned out there for a minute” Jeremy finally said. “What happened?”
Everyone jumped accept for Kiyan and Ray when Draxos introduced himself. “We were having a conversation. That is what happened.”
“We did not hear anything and who are you?” Kiyan could feel that Fred was a little nervous now. A glance from Addy and he seemed to relax a little.
“For those of you who aren't telepathic, my name is Draxos of the earth people.” With that he stepped out of the shadows and the boys saw a tall humanoid covered with scales and having piercing brown eyes. He seemed to exude an air of dignity. None of the boys had expected to see such a civilized denizen of the caves. Draxos must have sensed their surprise because he gave a loud laugh and a smile spread across his features. “Haven't you ever seen any earth people before?”
No was the response from the boys. ”We didn't even know that there were any earth people on Thane. We knew about some on Samtan but not here.” Kiyan offered a hasty explanation.
“We are a quiet people and our eyes are used to the dark. The suns in the sky are bright so we rarely travel to the surface. We grow what we need to down here and live in peace. If your settlement were in this valley you would have met us sooner. You are welcome here as friends should you decide to visit any time.”
Kiyan sensing a lingering anxiety from Jeremy and a desire to get back to camp from Fred announced that they would love to visit some time but that the day was waning and they needed to get back to camp.
Draxos nodded. “It was an honor to meet a friend of Kendra and a dryad.”
As the boys backtracked their way through the caves there was silence between them. The conversation did not start until they were halfway back to their camp in the glowing woods. Kiyan was unsure if he was relieved or should be uneasy about the others knowing about his telepathic abilities. He wondered what they would want to know about Kendra. He realized that he himself knew very little about her.
“What did he mean by those that are not telepathic and how was he talking with you. You're not telepathic Kiyan, are you?” Jeremy worded the question strangely. Kiyan could tell he was confused.
“It wasn't until this morning that I learned to communicate telepathically, before then I could only sense emotion. Even then only strong emotions.” Kiyan was trying to avoid the other question that was sure to come about Kendra.
“That’s awesome!” Jeremy responded “And who is Kendra?”
“She was the ascended at the ceremony yesterday.” Admitted Kiyan.
“Well the earth people must really respect her, I mean she is an ascended after all.”
The sun was dying when the kayloo glided back into camp. Ray and Addy flew off in search of food and the boys began tying up their camp hammocks. A few minutes later both kayloo returned with some wild vegetables and some more fruit. After supper everyone hit the sack and soon the sounds of sleep filled the night. Kiyan lay unable to sleep, to many questions passing around his mind.
Finally deciding sleep was not going to come Kiyan climbed out of his hammock and walked over to the edge of the living platform. Seeing Addy already there made him hesitate for a moment. She must have heard him moving or sensed him, after all she was part of the plant that made up the platform. She smiled at him and looked at a seat beside her. Kiyan thought to himself that already since this morning he considered her to be something of a friend. Seeing Ray perching on a huge limb nearby made Kiyan giggle quietly. The sight of a large flying horse with elephant trunks and claws holding onto a tree was comical. A sense of embarrassment and a glimmer later and Ray had taken a form Kiyan had never seen him in. A flying squirrel was scampering over the tree and was soon perched on Kiyan’s shoulder.
“Sorry for laughing at you.” Whispered an apologetic Kiyan. “Besides I did not know you could do that.”
“You rarely climb trees to t
his height besides Addy would catch you should you fall.” Ray was confident in his response.
Hearing a soft voice in his mind, Kiyan turned in surprise to Addy. “You are one of Fredric’s best friends. I would protect you and Jeremy second to Fredric. Ray saved Fredric today because I didn’t know that humans could drown.” There was an undertone of guilt in the last admission.
Ray Interjected then. “When she bonded she learned for the first time how fragile your race was. She knows now how to care for Fred.”
Fredric, what an old fashioned name probably from the old world, thought Kiyan.
Again Kiyan felt Addy speaking. “I sprouted more than three hundred years ago. All that time I never had any desire to bond, I lived in the woods and was by myself. But last week I sensed Fredrick and couldn’t resist. I can’t explain it but he is unique, special in a way. He feels the life in the space around him even at this early age. He doesn't know it yet but he will be what you call a life mage or what my kind calls a grower.”
“He...... he isn't mad at me for not telling about being telepathic is he?” A hesitant Kiyan finally mustered the courage to ask.
A soft musical giggle sounded in Kiyan’s head. “You are the reader, you tell me Addy laughed obviously with a mischievous streak of her own. “But no he isn’t mad, just happy for you. The fact you did not read him to try and find out means his trust is well founded. Kiyan felt Addy observing him. “You are more sensitive than most are, I cannot communicate with many of your race like I can with you.”
Finally feeling satisfied Kiyan let himself revel in the silence of the night, bathed in the light from the nebula and the glowing woods he closed his eyes. Reaching out with his mind he heard incoherent whispers of a dream from one of the boys, reflecting that, he let his other barriers down and listened to the soft symphony of a thousand night creatures in an attempt to find a cadence or a rhythm to the chaos. He felt the measured pulse of the suns and following that. He felt something different. It was not emotion or thought that he felt. He let it materialize in his mind’s eye until he saw the forest in a new light. It seemed to glow with energy, every insect and animal glowing with a brighter, more agitated light than the trees and vines that shone with a steady powerful glow in varying shades of the rainbow.
Pulling his mind in after watching the symphony of lights for a few minutes he looked around the camp. The camp glowed the same color as Addy and bands of energy passing between Addy and Fred. Strangely there were filaments of energy extending from Fred to the surrounding area. Jeremy looked peaceful in a small sea of blue and Ray? Ray was emanating disturbed waves of the same energy that Kiyan could see strands of reaching from himself. Pulling back on the energy closed Kiyan’s mind’s eye but before the vision faded he saw a bright light approach. Recognizing the same peace and calm from the dreams, he knew who it was. More questions but it was too late, a feeling of pride from Ray or Kendra and it was gone. Feeling himself slipping into a deep dreamless sleep he felt Ray moving him and then settling down in the hammock with him in his squirrel form before everything faded.
Chapter Three: Awakening
Joshua sat in his home with his wife, thinking about a multitude of things. He was a man of average build, not overly strong but well able to match younger men. A few grey hairs marked his temples, he wore them well, a sort of ennobling touch. Remembering that day so long ago when the administrators of the concentration camp had decided he was too old to be of any more use and had condemned him to the incinerators. The only crime that he was guilty of was being born. A shiver ran down his spine. Not looking to be more than thirty, everyone knew he was one of the oldest elders on the joined worlds. The memory of that day resurfaced and continued to haunt him. He remembered being shoved into the gas chamber and the gas hissing into the room.
Holding his breath at the memory caused Sandra to look up from her sewing. She well knew what he was probably remembering. As the gas filled the room he remembered clearly the flame that started at the far side of the room. Watching it billow and roll toward him, it must have only been a second but it felt longer. Feeling faint from the gas and the sight of death approaching he had sunk to the ground. As the blinding light overtook him something happened, a pair of hands grabbed him and the light from the fire seemed to grow dimmer until it was gone. He remembered waking after some time in a green lush valley with a few other people lying in the grass around him. Then he saw her. It was an ascendant. I wasn't until afterwards that he found out what she was and the only thing she had told him was her name. Kendra.
The last two days passed through Joshua's mind. He knew about Kiyan's past, he knew that the Kendra had brought him to the village. He also assumed that she had been the ascendant at the ceremony the other day. The question of who the boy was hadn't crossed his mind for several years. There were too many possibilities. He could have been a refugee from earth, but no one had ever been gifted before five hundred years old if earth born. It took some time to regenerate the DNA. Fourteen years ago someone had been exiled for a crime that had resulted in a couple deaths, but the timeline was not right for his child. The fact that a parent had chosen to give up a child seemed the most possible scenario but that still seemed remote. No one ever had a child unless they wanted one. Whatever Kiyan's origins were, Joshua was sure that Kendra had a good reason for bringing him to this village.
Fred, now that was another thing. Joshua knew only of two other dryads that had bonded with humans. They seemed to instead like living in seclusion in the forest. The most interesting thing about the two humans had been the fact that they had both become strong life mages. Life mages were a whole new level of benders above elementals. To be a life mage one usually mastered a school of bending. With special training after showing an aptitude they would learn how to bend the life forces around them. The strongest ones were capable of people as well as being able to control the growth of plants. He remembered that one of the dryad bonded life mages had been reputed to cause an entire forest to grow in one night. Perhaps there was more here than met the eye. A trip to Samtan might be warranted just for more information on the subject. If he left now Joshua could be back before sunset.
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“Are you sure that Fred is going to be OK?” Kelsey asked Harlem.
“You remember how good Catlin was with Sandy.” Harlem responded.
“But he was a golem that had sat in the village for several years not some wild tree creature. She almost killed him at the lake remember?” Continued Kelsey.
“Thank God Fred was OK but now that Addy is bonded with Fred, he is safer than probably ever in his life.” Harlem countered. Smiling as he remembered watching from the ridge as Kiyan flew over and then his surprise when Addy erupted out of the forest and took flight with Fred. Oh to be young again. Having seen Addy in her humanoid form had made it easier for Kelsey to let Fred go on the camping trip but there were still some doubts. The news that Addy had a flying form would have to wait.
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Addy was somewhat apprehensive as she watched Jeremy and Kiyan fly into the water of the lake that formed just beyond the glowing woods. She seemed to have had an effect on Fred as he chose to wade into the water slowly this morning. After the ritual of scrubbing and diving Jeremy proposed that he and Kiyan practice water bending.
“I don't know how to bend, I just know that I have potential to bend, Kendra was helping me.” Kiyan protested. “Besides Fred can't bend and I don't want to leave him out.”
Addy’s soft voice sounded in Kiyan’s head. “Fredric is a life bender, also an earth mover. One of my sisters joined with an earth mover so I know some about how to bend earth. I can help him with that.”
“What, me! How? A life mage and an earth bender? I can't bend, I was tested and I couldn't move any of the elements.” Fred sputtered.
Addy spoke again. “There was no earth bender at the testing so you hadn't been properly tested.”
“But a life mage? That's impossible
.” Fred announced adamantly. “They are too rare.”
A small laugh sounded from Addy, this time she slowly forming words aloud. “We dryads can only bond with the strongest life mages.”
“Life mage?” Jeremy finally understood the conversation. “Wow Fred you sure lucked out.”
“It can't be.” Fred remained unconvinced.
Kiyan remembered the conviction the other day that had seemed so strange about Fred being a life mage. It must have been Carlisle's idea that had been picked up from the ceremony. But then there had been that dream, the one where Fred had walked through the mountain that broke into a field and the grass had grown and flowers had bloomed in his footsteps.
Returning to reality he realized that Fred and Jeremy were looking at him, seeming to expect a confirmation either way. How did I get into this position where I'm the one supposed to know, better yet, how do I know, Kiyan wondered.
“I'm pretty sure it’s true.” This Kiyan knew deep within his heart.
“How can you be sure?” Fred seemed disturbed by the finality in Kiyan's tone.
“Carlisle told me.” Kiyan was not willing to divulge more.
“Carlisle?” That seemed to settle Fred's mind as a wave of resignation emanated from him.
Jeremy watched as Fred walked out of the water and assumed a bending form with Addy flitting around him apparently giving pointers as Fred adjusted his posture.
“Does Addy know how to bend?” Jeremy finally asked Kiyan after a minute of watching.
“I don't think she can bend but I didn't know kayloo could talk out loud either. She said that she know how to bend like Ray knows how I swim even though he is different than us.” Kiyan explained.
“That's not fair.” Jeremy looked somewhat annoyed. “There isn't any one here that knows water bending to help us. Unless Ray has some secret knowledge.” At the Jeremy's accusation Ray yawned dramatically and stretched out to take a nap.