Calanthe

Chapter VII

Ranvir

That morning they awoke to swords pointing at them from every angle. On the outer edges Even was slumped. Ranvir felt a surge of panic before he realised from the rise and fall of the boy's chest that he was sleeping.

The people holding the swords looked nervous but sure. Ranvir recognised them as a handful of travellers they had seen on the road. The pack of Warriors had travelled for several days since landing at the first village. Those days were mostly uneventful and they had only passed other farming villages. Three of his men had decided to leave and make a new life for themselves. This left Ranvir with six warriors plus himself and Zetta.

Ranvir had seen these fellow travellers stopping in at the same villages and appearing to take the same path as themselves but no direct confrontation had occurred. Until now. Two young men and an older women stood above his group, their swords pointing at the faces of the Warriors.

"Why are you following us?" The woman spoke. Ranvir was surprised to hear her voice in the language of his people. A light twang of the native accent of the country they had landed distracted him and he scrutinised her carefully. Their appearance was ragged and the woman's hair was black with wisps of grey streaked all through it. The two men were twins, he could tell by their matching brown eyes and black hair. There was something in the shape of their noses that Ranvir couldn't quite place. Suddenly he blurted out "Are you their mother?". The woman faltered then looked Ranvir directly in the eye, her stare was fearsome. Then she broke into a laugh and said "Men usually tell me I look young for my age but I think you just shattered that confidence boost!"

She sheathed her sword and with uncertain looks her two sons also sheathed theirs.

"The name's Caridad." She held her hand out to help him up. Ranvir was still in a dreamy state and couldn't quite process what was taking place. Caridad and her twin sons were in a similar situation as Ranvir and his party it seemed. They had left the homeland many years earlier when the sons were only children and she was a young woman. Because of a mistake she had made she feared they would be killed, so fled across the sea to this country and lived here ever since. Caridad would not elaborate on what she had done to cause this situation so Ranvir didn't push the subject and decided to respect her privacy.

Both groups shared a meal and Ranvir noticed that Frode was rather interested in Caridad, more than Ranvir himself was. Ranvir smiled to himself, perhaps Frode could find someone else after all.

Bjorn suddenly let out a great exclaim. "Where is Zetta?!"

Ranvir stood immediately. The familiar blonde hair of his sister was no where to be seen. He cursed himself inwardly, he was supposed to be looking after her, how could she have disappeared?

"Don't worry yourself Bjorn, I'll go and find her."

Soon Ranvir came across a familiar sandal print on the ground. The sun was now in full beam. Ranvir had no doubt it would be easy to find her. She had taken a small animal track. The rolling hills seemed oddly void of life for the time of day. The trail he followed was slowly going upward to the top of this small hill. The glint in his eye alerted the man to a small stream at the bottom of the dip between two hills. He had followed this path around the corner and was no longer in sight of his party. Up ahead familiar blonde hair was waving in the breeze. Zetta was sitting upon a large boulder in the centre of a grey group of similar boulders. They had been rounded by time and had smooth edges hinting at the wind howling through the hills, or flash floods from the stream down below. Ranvir called to her but Zetta did not stir. He carefully climbed the boulders until he was perched on the grey mound beside her.

"What is it Zetta?"

Rather than upset she looked up at him with a grin. In front of her lay assorted seeds and herbs as well as a gold pendant depicting a tree stump carved into a chair.

"I have been practising my powers brother! And I saw into the future!" She looked at him with excitement. Ranvir was thrilled but then a sense of dread swept through him. An old woman from the village had helped her to discover her potential. If Zetta's powers kept growing it would mean she would have to go back home and abandon all her ties to family and friends so that she could become a völva. He hoped that it wouldn't come to that, völva were usually old women that travelled the land giving their wisdom and the gods wishes to those that asked, at a heavy price, but Zetta's gift had appeared when she was young. He didn't know what could become of her if she became one at such a young age. Instead of voicing his worries he inquired as to what she saw.

"Keep following the path you are taking but soon the group shall split for better or worse. A new arrival shall take your heart."

The group shall split? Ranvir was immediately on edge. Their fates were already decided by the gods wishes but Ranvir couldn't begin to think of his group splitting. And what could it mean by a new arrival taking his heart? He only just met Caridad and her sons, perhaps they planned to kill him and take out his heart to use in some twisted way. He didn't know their history or what Caridad did to make her run away to this land.

"Come on Zetta, pack your things, let's go back and meet with the others, a group of three met with us before I came looking for you, come and tell me what you think of them. If your powers are growing then you must be able to read their auras.

"Ranvir, my powers don't work like that."

The leader turned from his sister and started to head back the way they came, slightly embarrassed by his presumption. Truth be told he had no idea how her powers worked. Only one völva had ever visited the village in his life time and she had spent the majority of her time in the man's house whom had called for her. Ranvir had only glimpsed her in the market place. Her very presence made people give her a wide berth. She had been wearing odd clothes but Ranvir was young so hadn't remembered the details.

"I will tell you what I think of them, I can tell a lot about a person from just the way they walk." Zetta called to him.

Suddenly Ranvir was conscience of his tread.