The young lady knelt on one knee. As she waited in silence listening to everything around her she closed her eyes briefly, took in a breath of the woodlands around her and this newfound ward she inherited. She opened her eyes, thought back to what had just happened between her and this injured girl.
What was it she said, “He comes, trust him, he will not know why he cares, but he will help.” She thought to herself, “How did she know that? What gives her the power of foresight to see what has not yet occurred?” She sensed something new, high above coming down from the paths from the mountains.
She paused and asked herself, “How was it she was able to sense something so far away, what had changed in her because of that connection she felt when this ward of hers looked into her eyes?” She listened to her thought, “ I fell the world around me in ways I have never known before.” She sensed and seen life as she never had before, “ I fell the sway of the branches high above as the winds blow down from the high ranges. I smell the earth, the water within it, I hear everything around me!” She paused then whispered to herself, “What did you do to me? What hidden thing did you give birth to within me?”
She had become an observer, something not quite human, “ What is that, a person, a horse, motion above from one of the attackers?” She held her breath in silence as she realized she no longer sensed the world through her sense of sight, taste, and sound. “ Does she sense everything like this? I have this awareness now! A new connection to life, one of insight and sensation. A sense of the meter and rhythm of the life from everything around me.”
Above, a different person was in fact traveling down from the high mountain ranges riding a horse. He was purposeful, observant, but silent in his coming. He had heard the harsh edge of weapons meeting in their dance. He was a warrior of uncommon talent in “The Way” He pondered, “Ancient it is! A way of feeling the vibrations, the song, the resonance of its meter, its swell of all the senses into a vibrating, connective tissue. Like a skin that feels the sensation of hot and cold, of touch, of whispers of wind as it slides across its surface.”
He thought back in time to his training by his teacher, “What was it she said?” He chuckled inward to himself then recited the following words within his mind, “In lands where darkness, light, and balance weeps, We rise, we stand, where the connection of silence between them weeps. With hearts aflame and spirits bold, The way, our creed, in our souls, we hold.”
He paused remembering, “ For those who suffer, caught within their own imagined plight. We bear the burden; we seek the light. With our shield help up as honor, our might standfast in the loyalty we will fight. We guard the meek in endless nights.”
He continue to slowly but purposefully ride upon his horses spine, “ What was it? Oh yes, In every echo there is a voiceless cry! We vow to lift them, to reach out and help them touch towards the sky! With kindness woven in every deed, We acknowledge their pain, their desperate need.”
He smiled then, “ I, named among the brave and true! In our sacred promise, I find my due! To honor those who have fallen; the lost, the torn, those torn from the light! With diligence born of the battles worn. Truth is our armor, honesty our sword, In love’s radiant glow, we forge our accord. To dishonor the weak, to cast aside grace, Is an unforgivable sin in this sacred space.”
His horse instinctively slowed her forward pace. “ As shadows linger, as nightmares swirl, together we stand, together we whirl! Forever the crown will weigh heavy and deep, A pledge that we make, a vigil we must keep!”
He sensed the blood within his veins flowing, his pulse beating, “ In the echoing depths of this rugged land! Our hearts hold the sorrow; our souls take a stand! Until the time comes when justice shall reign! We carry the burden; we embrace the pain.”
He felt the rise of the song of the world around him, “ So here we gather, hand in hand, guardians of hope in a trembling land! With hearts intertwined, we shall not fall! For in our promise, we embody it all. “
A single tear rolled down his cheek, a reflection of the power of the words he spoke! A quiet recital to himself. He knew without hesitation as he thought to himself, “ Not just a psalm to remember, but a creed we live by! That every action taken, each consequence resulting, has purpose within the great song of life.”
As he drew closer he whispered some words to horse who he had named Princess. She stopped and he slid from her to the ground. There was no noise as his feet touched the ground, it was as if his weight was no more than that of a feather gently reaching the ground.
He reached up and drew two long knives from the sheaths on his back. He thought, “ They were crafted by a master weapons forgeman who knew the way and the song. One whose breath brought sharpness to its edge, strength of its body, swiftness to its motion, and hardness to vibrant with purpose. “
He silently moved through the woods as quiet as a deer. He was like a shadow moving where no light shone through the nearing twilight of the day. As he approached he saw a lot of downed hunters. Some whose lives had expired and others who were injured by this fighter’s sword strikes.
He continued to move less in pretense then a shadow. “ Ahead he sensed a person, someone of great power, maybe the one he had dreamed of?” What was it the dream said, “You, who have defended so many, must now become guardian of one who bears the weight of all! Our futures she holds within song. You must leave, find her, train her, heal her, protect her. It is your single purpose, that which you have been destined and born to do. Go now….”
He grew closer wrapped in shadow, then a person with a sword struck out and shifted their force to penetrate an armored opponent. The other person, this single warrior, shifted her position so fast it was a blur of motion to the human eye, then he heard and saw a flurry of arrows that swooshed through the air from below and flew in purpose to interrupt this action.
He watched with passive interest as the attacker’s sword struck but had withdrawn in the same motion thus giving this other one time to dodge. In the next moment he watched as this single warrior moved backward to the cliff’s edge then launched themselves out into the empty air.
He mused, “There was grace not seen before in that movement, this warrior had constrained power. Their decision had likely saved themself. However, to what end if they now dropped to the ground far below the edge? There must have been foresight of where trail would end.”
He watched the attacker sheath their sword, then walked to the edge of the cliff trail looking briefly down. He thought, “they would not tarry there long with an archer below.” Sure enough, they turned away and began checking the bodies of the dead and injured left behind by the one who had ejected themselves over the edge. He thought, “ However, there was another feathering these hunters, located somewhere in the valley down below the ridge. “
He decided he better make his way down to see if anything could be done to help whoever that fighter was. Maybe they were the one he had been sent to guard? I mean they had taken on all these bounty hunters with grace of movement, purpose of speed. There was a grace rarely seen in the traces of their dance.” As he checked those whose life now laid beyond. He recognized some of them from his travels and had come across mercenaries of this sort before.”
He went back to his horse and silently mounted her up into the saddle. He turned her towards the trail that would lead him down to the base and behind where this person had fallen. Once he had made his way down he dismounted his horse again.
This time he began to walk towards the spot where he knew the fighter must had fallen. As he drew near he heard the pull of a notched arrow and stopped his forward motion. He paused and slowly raised his hands and displayed them as being empty. Then a voice from the shadows asked, “ Are you he that she said would come?” He responded to the person in shadow, “ She said that to you? Even after falling all that distance?”
A quiet pause then, “ Yes, she, she is different than you and I. We’ll maybe just me! There is a quiet power within her. She touched me and opened something deep inside. I see, I…” Her voice drifted off as if she had no words to describe what had happened to her.
He sensed the conflict within this person. He spoke to her, “May I come closer? I can help if she is injured. I sense you may need council as well!” A quiet stuttering response, “Yes, she is injured, and we both need your help if you are he that she said would come.” He heard the motion of the notched arrow being relaxed and the bow returning to her back.
As he approached her he said to her, “My name is Jyriad Elysian, we need to act quickly, or we might not be able to save her.” She responded, “I am Kristyna, Jyriad.” He knelt beside Kristyna and immediately reached out to begin to sense whether the fallen person had any broken bones or not.
His hands began to move across the injured person’s legs, arms, shoulders, and hands. Kristyna was watching this with intense curiosity and asked, “Are you an empath? You appear to be sensing more than physically examining her injuries.”
Jyriad quietly responded, “Maybe, let me focus first on her, then we can talk.” Kristyna felt satisfied enough with this response. She thought to herself, “ He was polite, almost kind in his way.” His fingers touched the fallen girl’s hands and when they connected, a glowing light came alive in the growing darkness. It stunned him and they both heard the girl moan suddenly. He felt her consciousness reach out to his own and their minds touched briefly.
He observed Kristyna watching this take place too, she held back on asking anything based on what she was seeing. Then he heard the voice of the fallen person in his mind, “You! You’re the one from my dreams! Who are you? How is this happening, and what’s happened to me? I feel like… I know you somehow!” The light grew and then surrounded Jyriad and the wounded girl. The brightness forced Kristyna to shield her eyes with her hands.
Kristyna suddenly blurted out, “Jyriad, what’s happening? What is going on between you and her? I sense her consciousness again as she was awake but…” Jyriad was still mentally connected to her consciousness somehow and replied to the injured girl, “I am a friend, I am here to help you with another. Her name is Kristyna.” Jyriad heard in his mind, “I am so confused, I…” Then immediately afterwards the glow of the light vanished as if it never existed, and the consciousness of the injured girl left him.
There was a sudden strong crackling of lightning in the clear sky above and as Jyriad looked up and felt a sudden down draft explode upon them, he saw the shadow of something large blocking out part of the starlit night. He silently thought to himself, “Oh no, what portent is this that she has awoken again?”
He returned his attention to this injured girl lying on the ground. “ I sense that some of her injuries have been healed during our connection and maybe… but he best not contemplate that right now. He sensed that the greatest danger of her passing to beyond the veil had passed. “
He asked Kristyna then, “There’s a pouch inside my pack over there with a silver cask in it. It will look like those that some use to carry their liquor in, but it contains medicine. Would you please hand it to me?”
Kristyna searched in his pack and found the cask he had referenced. She considered, “ It was inscribed with a strange language. Almost runic in nature but more intricate in design. I am well-traveled from my days with the imperial army as a scout and sometime medic, however, I do not recognize these letters at all!”
She handed it to Jyriad who was gently sweeping his fingers across her forehead trying to see if her consciousness would come alive again. “ I sense the exhaustion of the battle, the fall, the results of her injuries and that connection between them had taken its toll on her!”
Kristyna observed, “She appears calm now, almost at peace with herself. I wonder?” She tapped Jyriad on the shoulder and handed the cask to him. She watched him touch the runic letters and whisper something inaudible, then the letters suddenly lit up with a bright greenish blue color and then was gone.
He then removed the cap and took some of the liquid from it. Poured some on his fingertips and he gently rubbed his fingers between the injured girl’s lips rubbing the liquid across them. The injured girl’s breathing slowed, and she appeared to be at rest now. Jyriad placed the cap back on the cask, handed it back to Kristyna who he knew was full of questions by now. He told her, “She can be moved now without worrying about her injuries getting worse. She will be good until we reach your camp!”
He strapped his backpack on then knelt and slipped his right hand under the injured girl’s shoulders and his left under her knees. He lifted her up and then allowed her to slide close to him. He held her like that to help provide what body heat he could. He then looked and said to Kristyna, “Okay, where to now?”