this evening at the First Inn?'
'Certainly. We can find our way out,' Benjin said.
'You should pay a visit to Milo and Gustad. I'm sure they'd be glad to show you their experiments,' she replied with a wave, and Benjin closed the door behind himself.
Nervous and self-conscious when left alone with Mother Gwendolin, Catrin quailed. The woman's grace and eloquence made her feel crude and ignorant, and she was somewhat cowed by Mother Gwendolin's reaction to the word magic.
'Well now, where shall we begin, hmm?' Mother Gwendolin said. 'Perhaps you could describe your experiences with power. That would help me understand what you know.'
Catrin sighed, took a deep breath, and prepared to verbalize the indescribable. She began by detailing the events surrounding the attack on Osbourne and how she had thought she would die. Then she tried unsuccessfully to relate the feeling of the world flying away from her.
'Hmm, yes, that explains a great deal,' Mother Gwendolin said. 'It is my belief that the human brain is capable of much more than most people realize. There are doorways in our minds, like portals to ancient knowledge, most of which are closed. Some doors can be opened gradually over generations. I believe those opened by a parent before the time of a child's conception are made easier for the child to open, and I have hypothesized that these doors can be blown apart by traumatic experiences. It is my unproven theory that the unconscious mind can sometimes override the conscious mind for the sake of self-preservation, but I digress.
'It would seem a major doorway fell before the threat on your life, and you instinctively triggered a chain reaction, unleashing a blast of energy. It is my belief that one cannot create energy. One can store energy, harness it, release it, but not create it. Again, I digress, please continue,' she said.
Catrin went on with a bit of excitement. She hadn't known what to expect, but at least Mother Gwendolin had some answers for her, even if they were vague and unproven. She managed to tell the tale of the destruction of the greatoaks without crying, but Mother Gwendolin's astonished reaction made it difficult.
'By the land. The Grove of the Elders and the Heartstone destroyed.'
'You know of the place?' Catrin choked.
'Only from legends and scripture, but you described it perfectly. It was a very sacred place where the land's energy was said to be almost palpable.'
'It was. I felt it.' Catrin sobbed, once again suffering the guilt of destroying the once beautiful place.
'You could not have known, dear. Now, now, don't cry,' Mother Gwendolin said softly.
Catrin then told of her experiences on the plateau and how the water seemed to repel her. She described the emotions she had been experiencing when she slammed the ground, and Mother Gwendolin looked thoughtful but remained silent. She went on to tell about her trials among the Arghast, and about the striking of the well.
'Clever,' Mother Gwendolin said.
Finally, Catrin described her attack on the Zjhon fleet. She tried to express in words her energy vortex spinning in a similar manner to the rotation of the storm, and how exhausted she had grown trying to maintain it. Only when she reached that part of her tale did she remember the fish carving, and she quickly filled Mother Gwendolin in on the overlooked details. Mother Gwendolin's eyes flew as wide as saucers, and Catrin grew quiet.
'Wait one moment before you say anything more,' Mother Gwendolin said. She went to the door and summoned a nearby guard. After she whispered something in his ear, he left at a run. Catrin wanted desperately to ask what was going on, but she sensed Mother Gwendolin had good reason for her silence, and she also sensed an aura of excitement.
A sudden knock at the door startled them both, and Mother Gwendolin rose to meet the guard. The man was winded and said nothing as he handed her a leather-bound book. Mother Gwendolin turned back to Catrin and quickly flipped the pages, clearly not wishing to prolong Catrin's torment; then she held the open book out.
'Does it look like that?' she asked, no longer able to contain her excitement. Catrin's heart slammed into her throat, and she knew before she looked at the pages that she had found and destroyed some ancient relic. One glance at the page confirmed her fears, and she nodded with tears in her eyes. She didn't miss the caption written in bold letters above the drawing; it read, Imeteri's Fish. Mother Gwendolin looked at her with a mixture of horror and foolish hope. 'Please tell me you lost it,' she pleaded then sat down hard as Catrin shook her head.
'I didn't know,' Catrin said through her grief. 'No one told me. I swear I didn't know. I needed the strength to stay alive. I didn't know.' She sobbed and curled into a ball, and Mother Gwendolin held her.
'I'm so sorry, dear Catrin. I'm a foolish old lady. I didn't realize the extent of your pain, and I've only served to make it worse. You are a remarkable young woman, and I'm proud to be known by you. I'll be more careful from now on. I promise,' she said while Catrin cried on her shoulder.
'I destroyed Imeteri's Fish.'
The aroma that came from Miss Chambril's kitchen was enough to drive away most of the group's fears, but Chase had no appetite. Since their arrival at Ohmahold, a nagging intuition kept him from ever truly relaxing, and he paced the common room, waiting for Catrin to return.
'She'll be fine,' Benjin said as if reading his thoughts, and Vertook nodded firmly in agreement, but even their reassurances sounded thin and weak to Chase's ears, and he continued to fret.
'What do you think will happen next?' Osbourne asked, his voice quivering, betraying his own fears.
'The snows have begun,' Benjin said. 'The passes will soon be impassable, and I doubt anyone will arrive at Ohmahold or leave before the spring melt. We have little choice now but to settle in for the winter and make the best of the time we have.'
'What will we do?' Strom asked.
'Perhaps a visit to Gustad and Milo, as Mother Gwendolin suggested, would be a good place to start. Learn all that you can, for you can never say what knowledge will mean the difference between life and death. Keep me apprised of all that you hear, and somehow we will piece together a plan.'
'You go,' Chase said to Strom and Osbourne as they stood to leave. 'I'll wait here for Cat.' Strom looked him in the eye, and they exchanged a silent vow: Somehow they would keep her safe-somehow. Icy wind tore through the common room as Strom and Osbourne pushed opened the doors and leaned into the wind.
When the doors slammed shut, Chase kicked a nearby chair, venting his frustration. Catrin needed him, and he had no idea what he was supposed to do. Anxious and frightened, his thoughts ran in circles, and still no path became clear. He could only hope that something would show him the way. Until then, he would pace.
Chapter 9
The world is but a pyre of timber waiting for the tiniest spark to unleash an inferno.
Deep in the night, Catrin woke to find herself curled up on a cushion. Nearby, Mother Gwendolin snored softly. Catrin felt strange and scared in the silent darkness. Curling into a ball, she concentrated on positive thoughts and sought her center. As she drifted between sleep and wakefulness, she began to feel deep vibrations of power from within the stones of the temple. It was a comforting sort of energy, and it lulled her back to sleep.
When she woke again, she was alone; a tray of fruits waited in a corner. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she plopped down next to the tray and helped herself to some apple slices and a few grapes. The sweet taste refreshed her and helped chase away her morning lethargy. Suddenly remembering that Benjin and the others had expected her back and knowing they were probably worried about her, she scrambled to her feet and charged
