As the group forms, there are many questions concerning identity. After all, they are all strangers to each other regardless of prophecies spoken, or stories told. Emotions are not always easy to come to terms with. However, for them to be successful, trust will become an important virtue for them all to have between each other.
Morning came and Jyriad had woken early to scout out the parameter of the island. He began to muse about the events that had just occurred, “Who is this young lady, Asharlyn? Where did she come from? How did she gain such power? There are too many missing parts to what we know about her.”
Jyriad began to gather firewood from the deadwood lying about the forested island. As he began to return to the camp to prepare the fire for breakfast he continued to think about Asharlyn. “ I wonder who her parents were? How was she raised? What moral compass did her parents try to teach to her? Did she even have parents she knew, or was she an orphan, a street urchin?”
Jyriad arrived back at camp and saw that Krystina was up and had begun preparations for breakfast. He brought the wood to the cooking area and began to build up the fire for the morning meal. He looked over at Krystina and smiled at her but said nothing. She looked at Jyriad, then her eyes shifted to where Asharlyn was sleeping.
He nodded to her and went to the kettle used to heat water for teas. He went inland to where there was fresh water that had formed from an underground spring rising through the earth to form a deep pond in a rocky basin.
As he bent down to fill up the kettle he thought, “This is going to be complex, I have two charges; one who is a mystery, Asharlyn. The other that became an integral part to her when she came to her aid during that ridge battle. Then again to her aid once she jumped to save herself, Krystina. “
Jyriad paused, then thought, “ If that wasn’t bad enough then an entity comes to visit from the beginning of time to tell me I’ve been charged with becoming Asharlyn’s and Krystina’s guardian.”
Jyriad mused, “ Then there’s Krystina, emotionally searching for answers to who these two strangers are. He understood her conflict. She had been changed by Asharlyn to become something more than she had been. Oh of course there’s Asharlyn, our fates bound by some ancient prophecy. “
He stood up with the kettle now full of fresh spring water, “Her new companions were both characters of extraordinary abilities. None of which she was familiar with and then there were these feelings, connection, commitment, loyalty to Asharlyn and my own internal battle without understanding the why behind it all.”
He arrived back at camp, Asharlyn must have woken up as Krystina was with her now, likely looking over her wounds and attending to helping her to get dressed. He hung the kettle on the hook to allow the water to heat. He called out to both Asharlyn and Krystina, “Morning, fresh water for tea is heating up. Is there anything I can I do for the both of you?”
Krystina responded, “We will both be out soon to help with breakfast. Asharlyn wants to assist however she can.” Jyriad considered quietly, “Maybe after we eat a bit I can gently begin to question both of them to get a better foundation of who they both are.”
Krystina helped Asharlyn come over to the eating area. Asharlyn immediately began to prepare some herbs and other plant parts into the brewing hot water for tea. Krystina started on preparing foods for the grill. She also went over to her storage for the camp site and brought out some cheese she began to slice for the meal.
Once the food was ready they all sat down and ate the food and drank some of the tea. Jyriad asked Asharlyn, “This is a wonderful tasting tea, can you teach Krystina and I the recipe?” Asharlyn looked at Jyriad then replied with a smirk, “Why, you plan on getting rid of me once I am healthy again, or maybe you and Krystina are…”
Jyriad caught the subtle shifts and responded, “Whoa! That was quite a leap of assumptions you just served, don’t you think?” Asharlyn chuckled, “Just teasing you a bit, although, I was a bit more serious concerning my comments about you and Krystina.”
Jyriad glanced over at Krystina who was looking over at him and said, “Asharlyn, Krystina and I just met. I mean yes, she is a smart, beautiful lady whose skill in archery is quite good but the difference in time of knowing you two is minimal indeed!”
Krystina appeared to accept that response gracefully, she then replied, “Asharlyn is a bit of a tease as you can see. I think she’s trying to understand who you are since I am a bit of an open book to her. “ Krystina paused, then continued, “Especially after she did whatever that was she did to me.” Krystina looked back at Asharlyn who looked a bit uncomfortable after Krystina had spoken that comment.
Jyriad decided it was time to change the direction of the conversation and asked Asharlyn, “Could you share a bit of who you are? For instance, where did you grow up? Who were your parents? Where you from a small village, town or larger city?”
Asharlyn looked uneasy but decided to give it a try, she felt it was important that they knew something about her. She replied, “My childhood was a good one! I grew up in a home full of love, sharing, and learning. My mother would teach me how to read and write. How to cook, and about my father.”
Asharlyn thought a moment, “ My father would teach me of the importance of being able to defend myself, to know the way of the sword.” He would say, “Asharlyn, you need to learn how to protect yourself and your mother. I have no son, only you, so I need you to become just not average but really good at weapons.”
Jyriad asked Asharlyn, “Was your father a soldier in the Imperium army?” Asharlyn appeared to be briefly trying to come to terms with something then said, “He was a commander actually! Just not anyone but a highly respected one. It was said of him that if he asked those under his command to volunteer for some dangerous duty, not a single person would decline to respond. “ They would reply to him with, “In honor we find grace, in war we find loyalty, in commitment we find the truth of who we serve. We are one with you our commander.”
Asharlyn went silent momentarily, Krystina looked at Jyriad, then he moved over to her and place his hand hesitantly on hers to silently say, “We’re here for you!” Asharlyn glanced down at their hands. She then angrily replied, “None of that matters though! In the end my father would be taken away by the very same Imperium he dedicated his life too. Betrayal! I’m sorry, I can’t talk about this anymore today.” The tears began to flow down her cheeks.
Krystina came over immediately and wrapped her arms around Asharlyn. Jyriad quietly said, “Asharlyn, I am sorry for what they did, I did not realize!” Asharlyn looked up and when their eyes met a vision formed between them. That connection they had met in some secret space that only they shared.
He saw them gathering up the family placing the mother and a young Asharlyn in a carriage while her father was being ruffly led away in chains. A broken man by this act from those he thought he had given a lifetime in honor.
Jyriad then leaned in and gave Asharlyn a gentle kiss on the cheek. He took out a handkerchief dabbed the tears from her cheeks and said to her, “Thank you for sharing, take some time to recover now.” He rose, looked at Krystina who understood he needed time to absorb what had just happened.
Jyriad turned and walked away towards the water’s edge, back to where he had met her, and knew he needed to speak with someone about Asharlyn, and this shared pain with her. When he arrived the carved-out stone was still there.
He walked over, sat down and extended his senses outward. He felt her then, on the edge of his awareness. He called out, “Zu’u Bonaar Laan Hin Qalos”, “I humbly request your presence.” He translated her speech to his own inwardly.
He felt her coming in like a leaf falling from the heavens and then gently landed to stand in front of him. She then bowed her huge head and said, “Sos Do Dii Sil” which roughly translated to “Blood Of My Heart!” He reached out and laid an open palm on her head.
There was a sensation of separation and then he found himself with her in another place and time altogether. She then said, “You know she will know we have spoken! She is aware now, she is after all ‘the singer, the storyteller, the shaper of tomorrows for many.’ Her power is beyond our understanding. It is rooted in the creation of time and all it controls. The glue that holds us together in this place!”
Jyriad replied, “What you ask of me, of them, the pain that it causes, it is…” She interrupted him, “It is not because of us, her fate had been set from before even I had come into life. Yes, I understand it is hard to hear, to see what has been done to her. I also know that she is important to you. I sense that you would not be here now if that were not so!”
Jyriad, silent for a moment then said, “I feel this connection to her, at the root of my being as if our destinies were tied together now! That one cannot go forth without the other. We are bound together soul-to- soul as I have never been with anyone or any creation before. It hurts so much, I feel every ounce of pain she has experienced! I see it as if it is me that it has happened to! “
The stars shifted, time moved forward, both of them felt the impact of his feelings through their connection of the blood they shared. Then another voice, it was her again. “You are beginning to understand the words of the prophecy, remember; “Unbroken forever their souls are bound, in endless love, written across the vaults of eternity.”
Jyriad began to cry in earnest, his soul cried out, “ I am unworthy of that endless love, she deserves better than me! How am I ever to fulfill that promise?” The new voice replied, “Hi Los Gro Naal Fin Lot Naat Gein Sil” , “You Are Bound By The Great Promise, One Heart!”
They both sensed a separation then a returned to the place where they started, when they returned, there stood Asharlyn with Krystina who was helping to hold Asharlyn up. Krystina then said, “It’s true, they exist as you said, forgive me for not believing.” Jyriad drew back his palm from her head, stood up and turned around to see them both standing there.
He stood there with tear-stained cheeks and watery eyes, looking like a puppy who had lost its mother. Asharlyn was so moved by his compassion. She had Krystina help her to shuffled to him. She then reached up and kissed him on the cheek, pulled back slightly then whispered to him. “Oh Jyriad, hold me and never let go!”
Krystina fell to her knees lost in emotion of what she had just witnessed between these two. This touching outpouring of love in such a pure and innocent way. A breeze then rose from the lake and blew in to swirl around them all. It brought with it comfort. It came upon them all, leaving them whole as if it had bound them heart-to-heart for the long journey ahead.