The Chronicles of Tenroha

Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

Jäkob waited outside of Wiɳdwyrɱ's room for Chloé to arrive so that they could work on his skills with the ancient language. The council had been meeting every day for the past nine days. They had been discussing the situation that was spreading through the realm, and Jäkob hadn't been able to have any of his lessons with Wilhelm since the meeting began. Jäkob expected that today would be like the rest, so he was eager to meet with Chloé. Since he and she had been working together, his knowledge of the ancient language had improved to a point that he could almost have an entire conversation without needing help to find the right word. He was proud of himself for progressing as quickly as he was, and hoped that Wilhelm would be too.

When he was with Wilhelm, Chloé, or Wiɳdwyrɱ, he would try to use the old language, solely, when speaking with them. He had asked that they did the same to help him along, and it did help him to learn the language faster than Wilhelm had hoped. Jäkob would spend his free time, between sessions of the meeting with the council, practicing to read the old texts to help improve his knowledge of magical spells and other things. Now that he could read the ancient scrolls and parchments for himself, he was able to begin working on his own.

Jäkob entered Wiɳdwyrɱ's room, still anxious for Chloé to arrive. It was nearing time for everyone to go to the dining hall, for breakfast, before the meeting was to continue. In the days leading up to the meeting, as the Varðaðr, or Watchers in the common tongue, began to arrive at the sanctum, Jäkob had become very excited. He was being introduced to other magic users from every corner of Tenroha and every place in between. He was in awe of just how many watchers there were in the land.

The meeting was held in a room that Jäkob had never been to before. The day that the meeting had begun, he and the others entered a room at the sanctum that was as large as the Hall of Dragons and filled with replicas of several different trees that were carved from stone. They were arranged in a giant circle that encompassed a large marble table that was placed in the center of the room. Jäkob and the others took their seats, as guests of the council, at the table in the center with the elders. He watched as Wilhelm and Mrs. Clary took their seats in front of their prospective trees, along with the rest of the Watchers. One by one, they all began to take their seats in the chairs that were positioned at the base of their representative trees.

Before the meeting day had come, Wilhelm had explained to Jäkob and the others that there was a tree that represented each of the sentinel trees scattered across Tenroha, and that no two trees were the same. The meetings were mostly long and boring to Jäkob and the others. The first day, a roll was called to see who was not in attendance. Jäkob counted forty-two different statues around the room; including twelve empty chairs at the end of the line of trees nearest the exit.

He later learned, at dinner, that those particular empty seats were for the Sentinel Trees that reside on the dark side of the mountains and with the barriers in place from the time of the raising, the Varðaðr for those sectors were unable to retake their place. The seats have been vacant ever since.

There were also four others that had not arrived at the sanctum. An apprentice of one of the absentees had arrived at the sanctum several weeks beforehand. He had been sent by his master to warn the council of the attack on his herað, (the district or sector of land that he watched over) as he went to assist the people of the town that resided in Pinewood Forest. It was his wish that the council would send more help to assist the townsfolk.

The apprentice and a few others went back to investigate the following morning and found the deviation left behind from the attack, and it was assumed that the watcher, Orik of the Pines, had perished in the fight. There were no townsfolk to be found, and most of the buildings had been burnt. The fates of the other three absentees were unknown and it was thought that they may have perished as well, trying to defend their homes, but no one was certain of this. No word had reached the council to inform them otherwise.