When The Moons And Mirrors Rise

Chapter 11

I told Ris about the pendulums when she woke up. She looked up at them as she joined October at the table, and felt the Solinan words written in her soul calling her. They startled her, and she looked back down, sitting with her new friend.
"They're strange, aren't they?" October asked.
"Yeah. How are you?"
"I'm alright. You?"
"The pendulums frighten me a bit but I'm ok. Where's Badger and Lulu?"
"Not awake yet. Badger doesn't usually come down until breakfast is being packed up."
"Do you know why the pendulums and there and why they started ringing? Badger said last night that they started on the afternoon of the thirtieth of Litu, which is when we left Orsilnon."
"Well, it's always been said that they'd start ringing when someone went to save a life whose existence was so much bigger than their own. It's written in our records, from around 1192 AE. You said you're on a quest to save the Cursed and Enchanted, right?" October said, and Ris nodded. "The prophecy also says 'bells will ring and magic sing when the mirrors arise.' So that works too."

We went looking for Kestrel, who was sitting on the bell tower with a little boy.
"That's Fraidun, that one's Shanomar, and the really big mountain is called Millyah Peak," he said, pointing enthusiastically. "Have you ever been to the mountains, Kettle?"
No, I haven't. I've stayed quite a while in Volyia, though -- the ruins west of Eltrin."
"Nice. My mum and dad took me to the mountains once. We went up Shanomar, it was really fun."

Kestrel decided she wanted to visit the record keeper, so she and Ris found Ink and went to the gatehous which was behind the kitchens. There, they found two men, both tall and very friendly, that Ris had seen at mealtimes and around the abbey. Kian was the record keeper, and he had a long beard that could probably hide about three books. His friend was Zathrian, whose head lacked hair and whose skin was tanned after decades of working outside. Ris asked if they could help her and Kestrel find stuff about the wyvern-stars. Kian pulled out several stacks of books from the shelves that lined the sunlit room, and we spent the day pouring through them. If any of us got stuck, Kian told us a date to look for, many of which were from around the middle of the GlassShatter Age. Zathrian told the most amazing stories in the spaces between discoveries. We bookmarked the most puseful pages and put the books in teetering piles as we went. Even so, there were books left open all across the floor around where we were sprawled. Around midday, Badger and one of the cooks brought us lunch, and Badger stayed to help. She liked, and had a knack for, history. Eventually the sunlight outside began to get cooler and more golden, until it started vanishing. We'd found a lot of useful information, and written the most important pieces on a couple of sheets of paper to keep.

A lot of the things we'd found were names and things the wyvern-stars had told their Enchanted about their lives. Not a lot of it was relevant, although much of it was interesting. One of the things they found out was that Lucarih'thën had no heir, and the only one who could take a ruler's place was their legitimate child. There had been several similar instances, the most famous being when Queen Cahntöath'e kept King Tohruntaheng alive for a hundred years without anyone else's help, until their daughter, Đoläröniron was old enough to rule. Queen Cahntöath'e even lived for fifty years more after the king died. That must have been what the current queen was doing, keeping her husband alive by giving him strength.

The first full moon of the year had set. The sky was blanketed with patches of wool rolled into lumps or string out agross the blue. Kian lent Ris a book to read, and she found a nice spot inder an apple tree in the yard near the gardens. Kestrel got caught up in a group of children, and Ink was sitting in one of the branches above Ris' head. The story was one of twisted and imaginary creatures in times gone by. I wondered what our tale would be of, but mostly I sat dormant beneath the tree.

After lunch, Ris and Luly worked on the garden with some of the others. Kestrel came over too, putting her magic to use. It was nice to do something, just to let her mind process the world while her hands worked ard. Lulu was a quiet girl, yet there was something about her that was full of shadows and a bright fire, something about her was secret and dark. But she was nice, and han't rejected Ris for her own oddness. She'd seen her wrist, marked with the three indigo dots. Very quickly, a thought came to mind and was immediately answered in two ways.
"When you continue on, I want to come with you." Lulu said.
"Ok." Ris smiled, and they kept working. One more to find, very likely on the way to the Tenthtide Shores.

Ris, Kestrel, and Lulu took their harvest into the kitchens. Zathrian was helping out, and he came with them to grab the last armfuls.
"That's a lot of vegetables." Zathrian said.
"What are we going to do with it all?" asked the cook, opening the door for them.
"Eat it," squawked Ink, who sat on one of the tables.
"I could make a pie," suggested Ris.
"I'll make a salad," Kestrel said.
"Alright. Hey, Zathrian, have you got anything to do at the moment? I'm a bit low on workers today, and I've got washing up that needs doing." They got started on their tasks -- Lulu and the cook made the pastry for Ris' pie, .
"Ris, when are you planning to keep going?" Kestrel asked.
"Two more days, maybe tree. It's nice here, but I want to keep moving."

She could feel the wyvern-stars calling to her, almost singing. The claritity of the Solinan words made it feel like they were hunting her. The pendulums, with their constant tolling and resounding notes, still made her uneasy with their strange song of danger anfd battles. Nonetheless, it was a pretty song.

After dinner, Ris, krestrel, Lulu, October, and Bader sat by the fire. Ink sat on the back of Ris' chaor, and Lulu was petting Cobalt. October had her cat, Louis, purring on her lap. Kestrel gave Opal scritches, and Badger was holding Pear. They talked about their childhoods, mostly asking Ris about Orsilnon and Kestrel about Tasyënlor. Ris told them about Saryar, Rumour, and Fox, and how tier shadows would act out stories for them. Ris missed themt friends could be family too. She was looking forwards to her adventures, and to continuing on again, but for now the rest was nice. Ink told them a few stories too, intil eventually they drifted away to their beds, yawning as they went.

I decided to go exploring around Kenshalta. There was a tree near the wall on the outside, so I climbed down drom the battlements. Argenti lit my way, and a gentle breeze gave a sense of life to shadows I hid in as I went. The sky was almost entirely clear, and the few clouds were thin and wispy. Other creatures were awake, some leaving trails in the grass, some calling to each other, some silently watching me as I danced into the village. It was smaller than Orsilnon. There were a few windows with candlelight still, but not many. I walked past a chicken coop and under a swaying sign for a dyer's shop. The next turn I took led me past a sheep pen and into open fields. I followed the breeze and my nose out beneath the sky, and stood still in the cool night with grass up to my ankles and an ant trail near my feet. The sound of the pendulums could be heard even out here. They were faint though, and much more beautiful now that they weren't the loudest sound in my ears. My natural link with Ris let me hear the Solinan words too, although they weren't any less eerie out here where the pendulums were quieter.

I stood like stone for hours, hands empty and fingers outstretched, shadow-black eyes watching the parths of the stars, mind empty but muddled with thoughts. The grass rippled and bent. The moon- and starlight made the night's darkness blue and gentle. I watched the night go on, eyes unseeing but soul alive and full. I felt the wind blow on, tasted its sweetness and the sense of summer it brought. I listened to the grass rustling and nocturnal predators prowling.

The sky started getting lighter. It was almost daybreak when I moved again, shaking myself and going back to Kenshalty. Wind chimes jingled and spun in the whispering breeze. I saw an older woman walking towards me -- I did't know her name but I'd seen her at the abbey a couple of times.
"Good morrow," she said. "You're Promise, Ris' shadow, right? What are you doing out here so early?"
"Good morning. I was exploring. What about you, though. Stella isn't quite up yet." Well, not that standing stool in a field for a night counts as exploring.
"Oh, just a habit," the woman smiled. "I don't think we've talked before. I'm Eirian, the local wizard."
"What magics?"
"Air elements, and a bit of shapeshifting. That takes a fair bit of work though; I'm only good at turning into an owl yet. I haven't quite got the hang of my other forms yet."
"That's cool."
"Thank you. Well, I'd better get going, and you should get back to the abbey before breakfast otherwise you'll miss it." I smiled and headed on, and she walked further into Kenshalta. She'd forgotten shadows don't eat, but it didn't matter since mealtimes are great for talking to friends.

"What did you explore?" asked Ris when I sat beside her."A bit of the village, and then I stood in the meadows until morning. I met Eirian on the way back, too -- she's the local wizard." Kestrel asked bout Eirian, and October said she was new. The previous wizard had moved at the start of the year, and Eirian was the most experienced magic user in Kenshalta -- which didn't say a lot. But Lulu said she'd been practising every day, and was improving quickly.