Moonlight

Chapter 2

                                                                                       Eleven years later......

        Sir Kaelrin of the Dorsycian Order knelt before High Praetorix Nyktea, his head bowed in respect. "You summoned me High Lady?" The high priestess of the Goddess Alyrisa looked incredibly young for her long stint of three decades in her position. Her long golden hair gleamed in the sunlight that shined through the large glass panels that lined the walls of the Temple. 

        Her large green eyes were as vivid as the plants that filled her anteroom. As she shifted on her cushions the green and gold gilt threads on her robes glittered and twinkled in the noon day sun. She was the epitome of beauty and life. He had even heard people say that she was the avatar of the Goddess Herself. Kaelrin wasn't so sure if he believed that but he had no doubts that Nyktea had the ear of the Goddess that she worshipped.

        She leveled penetrating stare down at him. "Sir Kaelrin, I have heard good reports from your Commander. It seems that you are living up to your family legacy. I knew your father before he settled down with your mother. Seeing you kneeling before me like this reminds me of him. I understand you have come to the end of your training." she paused for a long moment a gentle smile gracing her bow shaped lips. 

        Then her smile faded and her expression became grave. "I have called you here this day to discuss a disturbing matter that has come to my attention. Over the past several years there have been reports of a herb being sold throughout the land to the apothecaries and herbalists to use in their medicines. It is being purported as a kind of miracle herb able to heal almost anything. They call it Ghealach na Beatha, or Geabeatha. While this would normally be wonderful, Alyrisa has come to me and explained the less than innocent origins of this plant. It seems that this plant is not natural, not one that Alyrisa formed into being. Rather it can only grow in the Nysartian Wood." 

         Nyktea paused and closed her eyes. Kaelrin swallowed, and was sickened by the ramifications of her words. Nyktea composed herself and continued. "I fear the consequences of what partaking of this herb could do to one. Nysarti is not known for her healing ways. None of her so called gifts come without a price. There are whispers, that some who have partaken of the herb disappear. Perhaps victims of Wolves. I have sent men to all of the herbalists to confiscate the herb, but you know how desperate humans in need of a cure can be. They will do anything, consort with any danger to save themselves and their loved ones. Needless to say the herb has been difficult to collect." She stopped her words and turned to look out of the glass at the gardens outside.

        The silence stretched as he remained kneeling. He wanted to stretch out his tensed muscles and move his legs to get the blood circulating again, but one did not stand before the High Praetorix. Her voice broke the silence. "You were born and raised in Dorchold were you not Kaelrin? That is the village that borders the Nysartian Wood. You would know all of the people there, and be able to ferret out who could be supplying the herbalists and apothecaries." 

        Kaelrin jerked his head up and looked at her as she continued to gaze out of the glass. "Your commission Sir Kaelrin, is two fold, first to find the person, or persons responsible, detain them, and have them lead you and one of our priestesses to Nysarti's Temple." The silence after this pronouncement was profound. Kaelrin completely forgot about the pain in his knees. "High Lady?" he whispered in disbelief.

       When she turned her face back to him, tears slowly leaked from her eyes. "The origin of the plant was not the only thing that Alyrisa has revealed to me Sir Kaelrin. The fact that this plant is circulating is a sign that Nysarti may be waking from her Seal. This plant did not exist before she was sealed away, therefore it must have been created after. The Seal should have prevented her from meddling in the world of man. The Gods and Goddesses were uneasy when the Nysartian Wood rose up about Nysarti's Temple, but when nothing else came of it they began to relax. When the Ghealach Beatha was first detected in the world Alyrisa tried to see Nysarti in her Seal but was unable. The Wood, it seems has become a kind of barrier impenetrable to the other Gods and Goddesses. The land had been dedicated to her for thousands of years, her power and taint has seeped into the very bedrock of the earth. It has made a kind of sense that it would rise up to protect her, that the very plants would become twisted in her image. Now though, one of these warped plants is out in the world. Nysarti has allowed someone to come into her wood, harvest these plants, and leave again and again,when she has never allowed such a thing before. She has a reason for this, she has a plan, and I fear it is not to our good. That is why you lead a team and one priestess into the Nysartian Wood, and find the Temple. There the priestess will act as a beacon to Alyrisa, she will join her powers with the other Gods and Goddesses and strengthen the Seal imprisoning Nysarti."

         Kaelrin bowed his head under the weight of her tearful gaze and words. "It shall be as you say High Lady." he whispered his voice hoarse. Nyktea smiled even as she cried. "Go Sir Kaelrin, and may the Blessings of the Four guide you and protect you." Kaelrin saluted her, his gauntleted hand fisted and thumping his breast, he rose and left the chamber.

         Kaelrin didn't know how to feel as he stalked down the corridor of the Temple of Life to the Dorsyician barracks that had been his home for the past eleven years. In all of that time he had not been back once. 

         The itch that had been so instrumental in convincing him to leave had left him almost as soon as he had walked through the ancient Temple of Dorsyce that neighbored Alyrisa's own. The Temple had become his home in a way that no where else had ever been, with the exception of the time he had  been in  Cae's presence. 

            Thoughts of her and the way she had refused to see him off had haunted him and marred his otherwise contented life. Now with this assignment the itch was back ten fold. Though he had to be completely honest with himself. A hint of uneasiness had begun to creep on him some months before, but it had been nothing to the waves of need he had to get on his horse and ride hell for leather back to Dorchold and Cae that he had now.

           "Kael! Slow down man, where have you been I have been looking for you?" Marcus his friend and fellow knight came jogging up to him. Marcus paused and eyed him in his ceremonial armor. "The High Praetorix summoned me for a mission." Kaelrin replied with a sigh and began to loosen the leather straps that held him to the metal. 

           Marcus's eyes widened and he hurried to help his friend from the burden. "A mission? To do what? Where?" he asked. Kaelrin sighed and collapsed back on his bed. "Home, she ordered me to return to my home village." Marcus stared at him and sat down hard on the chair at the desk across the room. "Home? You're one of the best Knights trained in at least a decade and she is sending you home?" He demanded getting angry on his friend's behalf. Kaelrin smiled and sat up. "No Marcus, there is something very bad happening on the Border, and she is sending me with a team and a priestess to fix it." Marcus's jaw dropped in understanding and eagerness. "Bad? A priestess as well? What is it, a full Pack or Coven incursion?"

          Kaelrin shook his head, though the High Praetorix had not sworn him to secrecy he was hesitant to speak of the matter. There was a dull pulse of apprehension every time he opened his mouth to answer, as if to say it aloud would some how bring about calamity. Marcus frowned but gave up. He was aware that sometimes there were just somethings you couldn't talk about. Kaelrin was grateful.