Jeremiah was standing in front of everyone in the forbidden room. He along with Matáo and Mrs. Clary had arrived back at the Sanctum four days past. Matáo's arm was badly injured and even with the medicines and magic, it was slow to heal. The arm of the creature that was severed by the portal closing, laid on the table in front of everyone in the room to see.
When the group had arrived, they quickly ran to meet with Wilhelm. They informed him of everything they had learned while in Oaken Meadow. Jeremiah had collected several papers that included the enemy's attack plans, along with maps and other strategic information for their battle plans.
Matáo informed him of the information they had obtained in the interrogation of the worker. Through him, they learned about the catapults that the enemy planned to use in the attack and they confirmed it when they found drawings of the machines in what Jeremiah had gathered from the desk. They also learned that the attack was to happen the night of the winter solstice, which was just under five weeks away.
They told Wilhelm that they had also learned the identity of the man leading the attack. They didn't know his full name, the creature referred to him as Master Claremont, and they also made it clear that they (the Luna Stala) and he were working for someone else. Everyone present, rightfully, made the assumption that he was working for Jemot.
After they had told Wilhelm everything that they had learned, he spent the next three days in conference with the elders. Jeremiah went to the palace to inform the king and the other generals and Protector Bridgewater, while Matáo spent that time in the healing ward of the Sanctum.
Jeremiah had arrived back at the Sanctum early this morning and he and Wilhelm called a meeting of the Brotherhood with those that were present at the Sanctum. When the meeting convened, J?kob confessed that the twins had gone absent and that he had been searching for them the past four days with no sign of where they could be, but he planned to keep searching.
Petra had left with Ryan, Chloé, and Jonah, who were still on their mission in the Crescent Mountains, and he, and they, were unable to return. Rayne had returned from informing the elves of Jemot, and she and Kara were present, along with Bridgewater, Jameson Truwood, and the others. Jeremiah and Protector Bridgewater informed everyone of the king's plans for a preemptive attack on the enemy base at Oaken Meadow and the defensive preparations that were being made at the capital city.
Once everyone had been apprised of the current circumstances, the meeting shifted to a discussion on how to defeat the Luna Stala. Jeremiah demonstrated how light affected their bodies. Even though the arm was no longer connected to the body, it still maintained the properties within. Legends told that the Luna Stala could heal themselves very rapidly within the darkness, but without a body, the arm could not heal itself anymore.
They did discover that in darkness, the arm could be injured. In all of the old tales, the creatures were basically indestructible. If one was mortally wounded it would seek a dark place to heal itself. Once injured, if light was present, they could not be bound with anything, but if it was dark enough to bind them, they would heal. This is why the legends claim them to be unable to kill in battle.
The Brotherhood discussed the matter for hours and had come to no conclusions on how to destroy them. They left the meeting, each with a new purpose. Kara and Rayne went back to the elves to inform them of the plans and to seek their wisdom about the creatures.
Jeremiah and Matáo set out with Bridgewater and Truwood. They went to the capital city to finalize the attack plans. Jeremiah was to lead his forces through a Sentinel Tree in the herae northwest of Oaken Meadow to flank Claremont's forces. Truwood was to accompany Erík, one of the three princes and his forces through the Oaken Meadow tree, while Matáo and K?dú, another one of the princes, were to enter through a tree to the west.
The eldest prince, Níkōlì, who controlled the largest regiment, was to station his forces at the palace with his father. He was to defend the city, the palace, and to be held in waiting to send reinforcements if necessary. With the orders given, Jeremiah and the others left for the palace while the rest of the Brotherhood stayed behind at the Sanctum.
Wilhelm and Mrs. Clary began researching the Luna Stala while J?kob and Wi?dwyr? patrolled the skies in search of the twins, when he wasn't training with the elders. Nìa was left alone with nothing important to do, and felt left out. She spent most of her time studying healing methods and potions, but would sometimes ride with J?kob to search as well. She missed Jessie and hoped she was okay.
On the sixth day that they were certain the twins had been missing, the two of them discovered a large bear that had been killed by something. It was near where they had found a camp that appeared to have been left in haste. They were uncertain if it belonged to the twins, and they became more concerned. They searched the area and found nothing more of interest, so they returned to the Sanctum for the night.
That evening, Nìa had received word from Ryan and the others. She had been wanting to speak with him, but in order to conserve the magic in the charms, they hadn't spoken since the third day of his journey. He told her about what they had discovered and the progress that they had made, and she broke the news to him about the twins disappearing from the Sanctum. They ended their talk and she went to tell the others of the expedition. Afterwards, she told the remaining members of the Brotherhood what she had learned, and then retired to her room and went to sleep.
*****
It had been three days since Jessie had met her bird companion. Joel had been asleep when she appeared to Jessie in the form of a young woman, and he did not believe Jessie when she told him about her. During the day, the raven would perch on Jessie's shoulder as they walked, and at night Jessie would change the bandages on her wing and then climb a nearby tree to let her watch over them while they slept.
The bird stayed as a raven for three full days and nights. Jessie thought that it might be due to the injuries. On the evening of the third day after the bird, wolf, woman, had saved them from the hungry bear, she reappeared to both of the twins as a young woman. Jessie wrapped her in a blanket to hide her body from Joel until Jessie found her something to wear from the spare clothes that she had brought with her. They were small, but would have to do.
Joel was shocked when the bird had turned into a woman. He had trouble finding words to describe his surprise, even though Jessie had told him many times about her. They sat and talked until the moon was high before the woman regained her bird form. Tonight she was a beautiful white snow owl. Jessie and Joel had learned many things about the woman, most of which was interesting to them.
They learned that she was once a witch who had done many terrible things, and that she had been cursed to roam the land until she had atoned for her wicked ways. Most of her memories had been stripped away from her, but the few that she had left her angry. She spent many years in anger, due to the curse. She had been trapped in the body of a raven, unable to speak and unable to use her magic.
She was never given any guidance on how to atone for the crimes that she had been punished for, but after many years, she discovered that when she helped someone who was in need, she could return to her human form for a short time before returning to animal form. She also learned that when she gave assistance that risked her own life, when she returned from her human form, she would be able to transform into a different animal.
To them, the strangest thing that they learned about the woman was that she did not know how long she had been cursed and that she did not remember her name. Jessie wanted to call her Raven because that was what she had known her as, first, but the woman didn't like that. After trying many different names, it was decided that they would call her Tor-kenna, which in the ancient language means to disguise one's appearance.
The following morning as they were packing up the camp, Jessie removed the bandages from Tor-kenna's wing and the bird flew out ahead of them. She began acting as a scout for the twins as they made their way towards the elven realm. They still had several leagues to travel, but the road was empty and they were able to quicken their pace. Joel's feet had become accustomed to the long walks and did not bother him as often.
Six days passed by, and the twins' adventure had become boring again. They had gone through the same routine, day after day, and nothing exciting had happened. On the morning of their eighteenth day away from the safety of the Sanctum and their friends, Tor-kenna informed them that they should reach the elven border by nightfall.
The twins became excited, for they knew that it marked the halfway point to the sea. They quickly broke camp and started their journey. Before Tor-kenna transformed back into a raven, she cautioned them about the dangers of the elves. They were, by nature, a peaceful people, but fiercely protected their way of life from unwanted trespassers. There would be traps and other devices to hinder them from crossing into the elven lands.
As they ventured forth to the land of the elves, the twins, with Tor-kenna leading the way, were hoping to cut through a section of the elves' territory to save more than a week's travel on the road. The road that they were following made a turn south when it neared the border. From there, it travels around the border for many leagues before veering northward again and into a human settlement that sets on the coast near the crossing into the elves homeland.
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The three of them traveled all day. The sun wasn't as warm as in summer. It was a cool autumn day and the sky was overcast. There was a northern wind that began to blow in and the twins were ready to make camp as soon as the sun reached the top of the trees as it began to set. Joel built a fire so they could warm themselves while Jessie began unpacking the tent that they had brought.
They could see, from where their camp was, that the road ahead of them began to turn southward. They knew by this that they were near the border. Tor-kenna had flown off while Jessie was setting up the tent. She returned a while later in wolf form, dragging the carcass of a small deer.
Joel began removing some of the meat while Jessie went to find some wild herbs and other things that she could use for making a stew. With the cold air biting at them, she thought that would be a fitting meal for the three of them. After Joel had removed all of the meat that they could use, Tor-kenna took the remains far from the camp in order to prevent unwanted visitors in the night.
When she returned, she was a snow owl and she flew up and perched herself on a limb above the tent. Joel had draped some strips of the meat on a branch to cook and dry out in the smoke from the fire. When they were finished, he handed a couple to Tor-kenna on her perch, and placed the rest in his pack for later.
When the stew was done and they had eaten their fill, the twins left the fire to die down and they climbed into the tent and began to fall asleep with a snow owl keeping watch over them as they slept. As Joel laid there, he was uncertain why he felt like Tor-kenna could not be trusted to know about their destination. Something inside was keeping him from fully trusting her, even though she had saved their lives.
*****
Chloé awoke swiftly, to the sounds of shouting and fighting. Jonah and Ryan were trading punches back and forth and yelling at each other. Chloé's head was in a fog and she couldn't make out what was being said by the two of them. She watched as Jonah grabbed hold of Ryan and threw him to the ground.
Jonah kept swinging his fists at Ryan, while Ryan tried to block him. After several moments, Ryan was able to push him backwards and away from him. In the struggle, Nìa's necklace fell away from Ryan's neck and slid its way over to where Chloé was at. She yelled at them to stop. They didn't listen. She looked around their camp site in the tunnel to find something that she could hit them with.
She found a large stick that reminded her of a club. Ryan had Jonah on the ground now and he was choking him. She stepped behind him and swung her club and hit Ryan in the back of the head. He fell over to the side and Jonah climbed on top of him and began choking him. Chloé swung again and hit Jonah in the head, knocking him unconscious as well.
She looked around. Try to figure out what set them off. She only made out a few words that they were saying, and they weren't making sense. She spotted the strange mushrooms that she had seen in her dream beside where they had been sleeping and she became concerned.
She picked up Nìa’s necklace and tried to contact her. "Nìa? J?kob? Wilhelm? Anybody?" she said, after activating the charms. "Hello," said J?kob in response. "It's an emergency," began Chloé, "I need to speak with someone who knows about poison mushrooms." "I will get Wilhelm," replied J?kob, and then it was silent.
After what seemed ages to Chloé, J?kob said, "I have Wilhelm, Mrs. Clary, and Nìa, all holding my hand. What is the emergency?" Chloé explained how Jonah and Ryan were trying to kill each other. Then she told them about her vision that she had had a few days past and described, in as much detail that she could recall, about the mushrooms.
Mrs. Clary knew right away what was happening. She called it tungl-sjúkr, or the moon sickness. It was caused by breathing in the spores of the gor-kúla mushroom. She explained that it is almost always fatal, but can be cured if discovered in time. She gave her a list of ingredients that she would need to concoct an antidote.
Luckily, she had most everything in her pack. Nìa had prepared a makeshift potion making kit for their journey and she hadn't had to use any of it. The only ingredient that she still needed was some of the mushrooms. Mrs. Clary warned her not to breathe it in while harvesting it, so she wrapped a shirt around her mouth and nose a couple of times and began collecting the mushrooms.
She had placed a pot over the fire to boil some water before she began. She did everything exactly like Mrs. Clary had instructed her. When it was finished, it smelled like mushroom soup, but was thick, like porridge. After it cooled, she ate some of it to prevent her from succumbing to the effects of the spores as well. She woke Ryan and fed him some and then did the same with Jonah.
It didn't take long for the potion to work, but it did take some time for them to recover from the hit to the head that Chloé had given each of them. Once they had regained their whits, she explained to them what had happened and apologized for hitting them as hard as she did.
Before they packed up their camp, Chloé stored the rest of the potion in her pack. They needed to eat some of it every day that they were around the mushrooms. The boys finished clearing the camp and they set off in the direction of the third marker. Each of the maps described it as a bear, and after finding the other two markers, they were certain that they were close to the next marker.
They searched each of the caves on the maps and some that weren't. Several hours later and nearing the time to make camp again, Ryan had gone ahead of the others, but he stumbled over a rock and fell into the wall beside him. As the others approached him, they said, "You found it," excitedly. He had hit his head on the wall and he sat there rubbing it and asked, "Found what?"
Ryan stood and went to where the others were standing. With the combined light of their torches he now saw that the wall was a very large rock that looked like a giant bear had laid down for a nap. They all became very excited because they only had one more marker to find and according to the maps, they should arrive at the cave with the glowing stones within a day's time.
They made their camp in the arms of the bear-like stone formation. Chloé saw that there were mushrooms near them, so they all ate some of the potion that she had made to prevent the moon sickness. Chloé passed some bread to the boys and they shared their dried meats and some fruit with her.
They were entirely too excited to fall asleep so they talked through their excitement until they were sleepy. They began to each fall asleep and Chloé drifted off into another vision. As she slept, her visions showed her the twins reaching the elven lands and being greeted by Kara.
Her vision switched to her beloved, Jeremiah. He was riding a horse into Oaken Meadow with an army at his back. She watched as he approached the desolate city. The men began to fan out along his sides, readying a charge for the attack on the walls and northern gate.
The vision changed again. She saw herself standing in the cave with the glowing stones. She watched herself walking through the cavern, spinning in amazement at the awe of the wonders before her. She saw herself stop in mid turn and she began to stare into the distance. A look of horror rushed to her face as a shadow began to engulf her.
She awoke quickly. She was shivering with fear. Her visions always left her disoriented and overflowing with whatever emotion was expressed in the vision. This time it was a fear she had never felt before. What bothered her the most, was that she didn't see what had frightened her in the vision. All she saw was a large shadow eclipse her, and then she was gone.
She woke the others and they cleared the camp and set off down the windy paths that led to the lost cavern with stones that glowed. They walked in the direction that ?dger's map showed. Petra had never found the sleeping bear and the dwarven map of the cave system showed nothing past the bear.
The walls of the cave narrowed. They had to walk in a line behind one another. There were several areas where they had to climb over piles of rocks and other debris laying on the floor beneath them. After the sixth or seventh pile they were climbing over, Ryan noticed that there were bones mixed in with the stones.
The cave began to open up again and they could see a glow emanating from a cavern in the distance. Eagerly, they began to run forward into the cavern ahead of them. The cave that they were now standing in was beautiful. There were gems of different shapes, sizes, and colors embedded in the walls, ceiling, and floor. With the glowing stones scattered around the open cave, the gems sparked in the light and the cave looked as though they were standing in the night sky.
Ryan and Jonah began inspecting the cave. They were filled with joy and amazement while they searched. Chloé, through the long day's walk, had forgotten about her dream and been caught up in the awe of the spectacle that was the chamber they were in. As she looked around the cave, taking in the moment, she heard Ryan call out, "I think I found Njal Ulf, or what's left of it." Chloé looked to see Ryan and Jonah standing on the bones of a giant creature.
They began sifting through the pile of bones to see if the magical armor, Náttúra, was somewhere within. They began to notice that this particular mound of bones contained more than just the skeleton of the ancient beast. It appeared to have the bones of men, dwarves, and other various animals piled on top of the legendary wolf. They searched tirelessly but found nothing but bones and the occasional weapon or shield.
Their excitement began to wear off, and the three of them began to feel fatigued and hungry. They decided to make camp. Chloé did not see any of the poisonous mushrooms, but they all ate some of the potion just in case. Since their travels began, they hadn't had a decent meal unless they were in one of the cities. On the road, they ate meager portions of dried meat and bread.
Tonight's meal wasn't much different. Their rations were starting to run low, but they could feel that they were getting close to their goal and ate heartily. Ryan had placed some potatoes that he still had in his pack, along with an onion and some of the dried meat, into a pot that he filled with water from an underground spring. Since there was no wood in the caves, he lit a fire using a dwarven jelly to cook the stew.
While they were eating, the sounds that had been emanating from around them started to change. The sudden change in the sounds left them with an ominous feeling of woe. Chloé stood and began trying to find out why the sound had changed. She was walking near the center of the cavern when she heard a noise that sounded like an unusual growl coming from a tunnel that led to another cave.
She turned to see what had made the growl. She took a few more steps in the direction of the adjoining cave and heard the noise again. It was hard to see into the tunnel. There were none of the glowing stones on that side of the cave, so she stepped closer. The growling became louder. From the darkness, a wolf that was larger than the skeleton by their camp, leapt from the tunnel and landed over the top of her and she screamed as it drug her into the tunnel.
