The Alcora Chronicles

Vaeryth

Vaeryth

North the acid rain will come,

And down will pour the death,

Be poison to only some,

And health to all the rest.

East will melt in raging fire,

The sun will bake the earth,

Scorching even church and spire,

Everything will burn.

South is where the waters rise,

And spill over the beach,

All manner of creatures try,

To outrun water's reach.

West is where the beasts will call,

And climb from Hell below,

Death will follow as they crawl,

They're drawn towards the Stone.

Alcora's End is surely here,

If not yet, then soon,

Air and land will fill with fear,

We all will meet our doom.

I flew upright, my head pounding and aching as the Sight left me. With each line of the Elder Spirits' rhyme, a new image had flashed through my throbbing mind. Blistered flesh and drowned children... I was almost sick at the thought.

I breathed the night air deeply and once my head had cleared, I was left with a sadness in my heart that threatened to overflow into tears. As I lay on my back, staring up at the top of my tent, listening to the wind in the trees and the sounds of the night creatures, I willed myself not to cry.

Not for the first time, I wondered why I was cursed with the Sight. Not for the first time, I asked why I possessed it so strongly. And not for the first time, the Elder Spirits yelled at me. They said I should be grateful that they saw me worthy of their 'gifts.' I asked them what the rhyme meant and they laughed. Use the brain we know you have, shaman, they said. The answer will present itself soon enough.

With a sigh, I rolled onto my side and pushed my long hair behind my ear. Closing my eyes, I felt the tears fall and heard the Elder Spirits laugh again. It took a while, but sleep claimed me again and this time, my dreams were not plagued with visions brought about by the 'gift' I was burdened with.

"Vaeryth! Get up, Shaman! We're leaving." I slowly rose from the depths of sleep and looked around to find that my tent and all my things had been taken away while I dreamed. So, we were moving on today, then. I sat, stretched, and offered my morning prayer to the Elder Spirits. They saw it as a silly ritual, but I saw it as a sign of gratitude and respect, and they knew that.

I washed my face in the cold, clear water of the nearby creek and went in search of my chief. I would need his help to understand the poem from the Elder Spirits. He was already mounted on his horse when I found him. "Chief Farron!" I called up to him.

"What is it, child?" he asked in the deep, concerned voice that he'd used almost my whole life. "We are about to depart."

"I know, but I need to speak with you-"

"Vaeryth, surely it will wait until we reach our new camp?" The chief sounded tired and I noticed, now that I had taken a moment to really look, that he was breathing heavily.