"Trees call out to people?" Strom asked; Osbourne elbowed him in the ribs.
Catrin ignored him and walked through the trees, listening for the slightest contact. With her new vision, she saw energy fields around the trees and just about everything else. A nearby tree showed signs of disease, its leaves riddled with spots; most had already fallen off. "This one."
"Put your arms around it and pull yourself close. Don't turn your head to the side; look straight into the tree and press your nose and lips against the bark."
"You want her to hug and kiss a tree?"
"Shut up, Strom!" everyone else said in unison.
Catrin didn't let it bother her, she would do almost anything to increase her powers, and that realization was exhilarating as well as frightening. Approaching the tree, she reached out her arms and embraced it. Pressing her face against the jagged bark, she waited. Nothing happened.
"I don't feel anything," she said, her voice muffled against the bark of the tree. Disappointment coursed through her.
"I'm sorry. That's all the ancient druid text said to do. I don't know anything else to try."
"This, too, was worth trying," she said, still hugging the tree. "Thank you, Brother Vaughn. Thank you, tree." Just as she was about to pull away, she heard a faint melody. Pressing her face harder against the tree, it grew louder and clearer. Harder she pressed and louder it grew.
"Catrin?" she heard someone ask, but she ignored him and everything else her ears heard; she listened, instead, with her heart. The melody grew louder and took on more intensity. The bark her face was pressed against began to feel warm and soft, and slowly her face slid forward, into the tree. It was a bizarre sensation, but she did not feel threatened; instead she felt like an honored guest.
Before her third eye, a figure materialized. Childlike in build, the figure had a beautiful face, full of wisdom and the serenity of ages. "Greetings, heart of the land."
"Greetings, tree mother," Catrin replied, unsure where the words had come from. Like the echoes of a distant past, she felt as if she had done this before; it felt natural and right.
"It has been so long since your kind has spoken to us. I suppose we stopped listening."
"The knowledge was lost," Catrin said. "It was only recently rediscovered."
"Speaking to you makes me weary. I am so very tired."
"I see a disturbance in your energy. Can I help you?"
"Thank you, heart of the land. You are kind, but it has been so long, I don't remember how. I've forgotten the old songs. But I'll try."
Wrapping Catrin in a warm embrace, the dryad began to sing. Her energy flowed against Catrin's, and slowly they began to merge. From deep in Catrin's mind, a new melody came, playing harmony to that of the dryad. Together they sang until their energy vibrated and undulated. Like dark spots in the dryad's aura, the disturbances swirled and coalesced, but the melody seemed to vibrate them apart, and Catrin began to focus on them. Some she took into herself, trying to make order from chaos. A feeling of nausea and weariness overwhelmed her, and she thought she might lose consciousness.
"You are tired, heart of the land. You must go now, but I thank you. I send you away with a gift. Live well, heart of the land. Live well."
In the next moment, Catrin was back in her body and the bark was biting into her flesh. She pulled away and steadied herself; her legs wobbled and shook. "I don't know your name. Please, tell me your name," she said, and in the back of her mind she heard a voice whisper: Shirlafawna.
"Are you well? Catrin! Talk to me!" Chase said.
"I'm fine. I'm just tired," she said, but then she gasped. From behind each tree peeked a dryad in their physical forms, and they greeted Catrin as friends. Shirlafawna had given her a glorious gift indeed. Looking at Shirlafawna's tree, Catrin sensed the energy field recovering even if her eyes still saw disease; her senses showed a return to health; the physical would follow. Somehow, that she knew. Despite her exhilaration, she was truly weary, and she returned to the cavern to rest.
Chapter 8
Without forgetfulness, forgiveness is incomplete. -Amelia Kudara, maidservant
"Do you see that?" Brother Vaughn asked as they walked back from the river.
"I see it," Catrin said as a strange shape flew overhead; it was unlike any bird she'd ever seen.
"The winged foxes are found only here. My uncle brought me here when I was a boy, knowing how much I loved anything that flew, and these were his gift to me. A marvel unlike any other, unique to my homeland."
"They're beautiful," Chase said as another fox leaped an impossible distance between two trees, using its winglike membranes to sail through the air. It was then that Catrin recalled what Brother Vaughn had said about needing a ship where foxes roost, and now she understood his meaning.
Nearby, a violet hummingbird floated around some bushes, looking for one last drink before his migration. Catrin watched him with all her vision, mesmerized by his beauty. He seemed to sense her scrutiny and boldly flew in front of her, weaving back and forth before her face. For a moment she was connected to him, and she lent him energy for the long journey. Extending her hand, she offered a perch, and to everyone's surprise, he landed on her finger, chirped, and momentarily stuck out his translucent, strawlike tongue.
After a brief rest, the bird chirped and seemed to wish them farewell before leaping into the air. He turned and flew straight as an arrow, and Catrin could still sense him long after he was lost from sight, the sensation growing fainter as the distance between them grew.
"That was one of the most remarkable things I've ever seen," Brother Vaughn said. "I've coaxed them with sugar water, but never have I seen one land on a person."
"He sensed me watching him, I think," Catrin said. "When he came to look at me, I offered him a place to rest, and then I lent him energy for his journey."
"Truly astounding," Brother Vaughn said.
When they returned to the cavern, Catrin no longer had to wonder who the intended recipient of Brother Vaughn's message was, for Nora, Kenward, and Fasha Trell waited within, already talking with Benjin. Though Catrin had never met Fasha before, there was no question who she was; the family resemblance was remarkable.
"Good. You've returned," Nora said with a nod. "We've no time to waste. There're still soldiers in these parts, and I want no part of fighting on land."
The greetings were made in haste as everyone scrambled to gather the gear. Catrin felt as if a strong wind were sweeping her away as they marched toward the coast. At the bottom of a rocky ridge, two ships waited in a small cove: the Slippery Eel and the Stealthy Shark.
"When I got Brother Vaughn's message, I knew it was time we did something more," Nora said. "Duty calls us to help in the name of the Vestrana. For many lifetimes the Vestrana has been a useful tool-a convenience-but now it must serve its true purpose. We must help the Herald achieve victory over the madness. I don't need a seer to tell me it's so."
"Thank you, Captain Trell. All of you have my thanks," Catrin said.
"Are you joking?" Kenward said. "Do you think I'd miss the greatest adventure of all? Not me."
Nora smacked him on the back of the head. "You'll behave yourself and follow orders, fool boy."
"Yes, Mother," he said, but then he glanced at Fasha and they grinned at each other.
Nora rolled her eyes. "They'll be the death of me yet," she said. "The real question is how to get to the Firstland. We could spend a lifetime wandering the seas and not find it. What do we know?"
"I've never found anything to prove it," Brother Vaughn said, "but I've always believed the Firstland lies to the south. If we could find the Keys of Terhilian, we would have a much better idea. The old texts say in the great carving of the Terhilian Lovers, the man points to the Firstland and the woman to the Greatland."