A Dream of Empire Ch. 012

"Same for us," Talos replied obviously. "Talos, and Alanna."

"I'm Jon... an' this here is my son, Jon," Jon said. Each word dripped slowly out of his mouth, as if he was carefully thinking of the next, while the gaps in his teeth provided an awkward whistle to accent his speech.

"Greetings. What draws your attention there?" Talos asked, nodding towards the north.

Jon the Elder shook his head. "We's was travelin' with a seer... from the temple, ya' know? An' she's said she needs'ta find some o' that... root? That seer's root?"

Talos nodded, letting him continue.

"But tha' was an hour ago, at least. We's just waitin' for 'er to return."

"I see. Have you thought to go after her, to see if she's alright?" Talos asked seriously.

"Wha'? Then who'd watch o'er the cart? An' the ass?" Jon shrugged dumbly.

"Your son, perhaps?"

Jon the Elder laughed, toothlessly, which greatly confused Talos. Jon the Younger's own laughter a moment later only made him doubly perplexed. He shrugged towards Jon and Jon.

"Jon's ones of them... you knows... 'special' kids. Drops 'im on his head once or twice, I says," Jon the Elder explained through vapid laughter.

Probably runs in the family, Alanna mused to her lover.

"Mm," Talos replied indifferently, shrugging. "Well, no worries. I'll go looking for the missing seer in your stead. Tell me, what was her-"

A sudden, feminine scream from the north grabbed Talos' attention. All eyes turned that way, but there wasn't anything immediately noticable through the treeline. Talos gripped the hilt of his sword, and ran towards the squealing without a second thought, with Alanna right on his heels.

Talos' mind was empty as he ran, bounding over the pine needles covering the forest floor, which muted his steps. The screams grew louder as he sprinted on. He spied a small clearing up ahead, with a small lake in the center.

'Helllp! Please!' a woman thinly cried out to anyone listening. Talos drew his sword, and located the one who yelled; she was swimming in almost the exact center of the lake, her eyes wide with fright as she looked on a large brown rock on the shore.

No... not a rock. Shit.

Bear! Talos thought to Alanna, who instantly stopped running, and hid behind a tree.

"Bear?!" she whispered. He nodded. If there was one thing on Mundus that Talos hated, it was bears. He'd never once experienced a simple confrontation with one. One time an Isbryggan Snow Bear almost had his arm for supper, even, before a sixteen-year-old boy saved his life with a fateful cleave from his axe.

This bear was a Tardian Brown, known throughout the Empire as the meanest of their kind. Their furs were highly sought after as trophies for the rich and the brave, yet they had likely killed just as many men as men had killed of them.

Talos groaned, twirling his sword through the air as he stepped towards the lake. He knew there were three possible outcomes here. One, he kills a bear. Two, bear kills him. Three, he miraculously drives the bear off by making noise and looking like a threat. The first outcome seemed most likely, but there was plenty of room for doubt.

"Wait," Alanna commanded, gripping his arm. "Try the third one. I'll see if I can't instill fear in his mind."

Right. He'd never quite get used to Alanna's sorcery, and found yet another reason to be thankful for her companionship. He nodded, and bounded towards the imposing beast.

"Hey! You there! Yes, you, you smug, smelly bear!" Talos yelled without thinking as he closed the distance. The woman treading water in the lake glanced his way, and Alanna noticed the sudden wash of relief on her face.

"Turn your hate to one who can return it!" Talos raged. He beat his sword flatly against his chainmail, and roared in response to the bear's own. "Rahhh! You fuck!" The beast stood on his - her - hind legs, and widened her claws towards the new threat. She was more than ten feet tall like this, and Talos really, really did not want to advance on her. Yet, he did.

Keep yelling!

"Come on you shit! Fear the sting of my steel! Feel the bite of my blade!" Talos exclaimed with opened arms, matching the bear's stance. "Rah! How's it going Alanna?!"

Yell!

"Rahhh! I'm out of words! Just run already! I'm sure your cubs miss you! Think of the cubs, you fuck!"

She doesn't have cubs!

"It, doesn't, matter, if she has cubs or not! Gods damnit! Run! Flee, you fool!" Talos yelled. He was getting dreadfully close to the gigantic beast now, and would be within range of her claws momentarily. He couldn't continue wasting his energy on speech, now that he had to fight. He raised his sword with both hands and assumed his favored stance.

"Let's fucking do this, then!" Talos roared at his bestial opponent with adrenaline coursing through his veins. His mind was made up, and he glared defiantly ahead towards imminent battle.

Suddenly - and, perhaps, life-changingly - the bear fell onto her forelegs. She quietly growled at him, and soon turned away, bounding off uneventfully into the trees.

She's gone. For good.

Talos stood in shock for a moment, his mind racing, until his legs gave out under him. He fell to his knees and clutched his throbbing heart. "Ohh gods. Oh my fucking gods." He remembered to exhale. He remembered to breathe. He didn't tell himself to laugh, but he did anyway.

"Are you okay?!" Alanna loudly asked. Talos couldn't help but grin as he slowly worked his way back to his feet.

"Ah, yes!" another woman unexpectedly answered. Right. Talos wasn't here yelling at bears for his own amusement or exercise. He rose to his feet, and sheathed his sword.

Alanna removed herself from Talos' thoughtstream to instead scan the lady of the lake. She was scared, first and foremost. Her gaze was fixed on Talos as he rose to his feet and turned towards her. She wasn't entirely sure that her ordeal was yet over, and so far remained in the lake, treading water. Alanna figured she should present herself and calm those nerves.

"It's okay. We're only here to rescue you," Alanna explained as warmly as she could, walking towards the lake. "The bear's gone now. Did you forget how to swim?"

The seer glanced her way. She was young of face, and Alanna reasoned she had twenty years of age or so. Her brows were still raised in shock, and her eyes appeared as wide, blue sapphires. She shook her head to answer Alanna's jest, and swam towards the shore; towards her, specifically.

"Thank Yana for your arrival," the seer exclaimed as she treaded closer. "I thought that was the end of me."

"The bear was troubled, as if you'd startled her," Alanna nodded with a smile. "We're glad to help." She stuck out a hand to the seer, and helped lift her from the water.

"I nearly tripped over her while I was gathering root. Thank you. Thank you so much."

Alanna nodded towards Talos, who ambled towards them wearing the world's largest grin. "Thank him. He's the brave one," the enchantress teased. She re-entered her lover's mind, fearing naught from the seer.

"Ah, yes! Of course," she exclaimed, turning towards Talos. "And it's just like me to forget my manners, too. My name's Cassandra, I serve in the Temple of Yana as a seer. I thank you, savior, from the bottom of my heart."

"You're welcome," Talos replied, bowing an inch with his hand over his own heart. "Name's Talos, from Evora. The sorceress is Alanna, from Catriona."

"A pleasure. Truly, truly a pleasure," Cassandra smiled.

Her teeth were a radiant white, and shone in stark contrast to her long wet hair, which was a dark brown. She wore a long white dress, which would have normally hung loosely against her form if it weren't soaking wet. It had a modest neckline, and long sleeves which opened at her wrists. The white fabric continued past her wrists to hang loosely under her arms, which would have given her an illustrious look if it, again, weren't soaking wet. Most of her skin was currently visible under the fabric; Talos tried not to look too much, but couldn't help but notice that-

Alanna cleared her throat, snapping him from his train of thought.

"Fortune to us that we were wandering by when you screamed. Jon-n-Jon didn't appear at all eager to find you," Talos smirked. Cassandra smiled in reply, and tried smoothing out her dress. She'd noticed his stare.

"That sounds about right. Charming folk though, Jon-n-Jon. But what brings you so far from Evora, Talos? Don't tell me it's only to save little ol' me from the wildlife."

Talos laughed. "No, unfortunately. We've come to seek the Oracle's guidance, as I'm sure many do."

Cassandra frowned at the statement. "Of course." She started to trudge towards the edge of the clearing, towards a purse laying atop pine needles. Cassandra turned to face them after she retrieved it.

"My apologies to you both, but seeking the Oracle may prove difficult. She, ah, passed on from this life months ago."

"She's dead?" Talos asked incredulously.

"Months ago?" Alanna added.

"Why has there been no news of it?" Talos continued.

"The whole Empire should have heard of her passing by now," Alanna finished.

Cassandra shook her head, her swiveling gaze finally given rest. "I should say the previous incarnation of the Oracle has passed on, and there has not yet been a replacement. The Oracle herself is timeless. She has no name, and so she never dies, gods be good. You see, to be the Oracle is to lose your former identity, and assume one semi-divine in it's stead."

Alanna nodded. "Oh."

"Makes sense to me," Talos lied, shrugging. "And what of you, Cassandra? Are you capable of similar prophecy?"

"Similar, yet not nearly as fruitful. There is no doubt that I will not be the next Oracle. No one seeks Cassandra for her visions," she softly explained, pouting as her name passed her lips.

Talos nodded, stepping forward nevertheless. "Then let me be the first. I'm looking for someone. Someone very important to me."

Cassandra bit her lip. "I-I'm sorry, Talos, but I'm afraid that I'm unlikely help you. I couldn't even forsee that bear."

Talos smirked at the woman's dry jest. "Would you not at least try, humble Cassandra, so we may see for ourselves if your prophecy bears fruit?"

She giggled for him. "I would glady perform a scrying for my saviors. But please, expect nothing of it," she said, waving a hand dismissively. Cassandra opened her purse, and fumbled about within it for a moment. "I have root and mortar. Only a sanctified blade is yet required, for the bloodletting."

"Sanctified?" Talos asked, thinking of his own knives and blade.

"Ah. One blessed by a seer, and which has not yet taken life."

Talos thought on it a moment, then drew his meteorite-steel blade from his hip and twisted it skywards. "And can you perform the blessing?"

Cassandra smiled, gazing into his eyes, and nodded hesitantly after a moment. She closed the distance between herself and Talos with graceful stride, softly, slowly bounding towards him. When she arrived, she took the offered sword pommel first. She then gripped it with both hands and thrust it skyward, gazing at the blackened steel glinting in the sunlight.

"It will do, I think. Does it have a name?" she asked.

"Does it need one?" Talos replied.

"It helps."

"I name her Cassandra, then," he said without thinking. "Is there anything else you need?"

She shook her head with a smile. "Only time," she whispered with face aflush, handing the sword back to him. "But, we should first let Jon and Jon know that I am safe, and to continue on to Selphyse without me."

"We'll gladly escort you home in their stead," Alanna warmly offered. "I wager we'd be better companions, anyway."

"I dunno about that, Alanna," Talos shrugged. "Jon-n-Jon have the wine."

-=-=-

Talos took the lead through the trees and back towards the dirt road to Selphyse, guiding the trio with sword unsheathed in the waning light of day. They found Jon and Jon just where they'd left them: gawking with a modicum of concern, alongside the road, while watching over their mule and cart. Talos, being the generous man he wasn't, purchased a bottle of wine from Jon the Elder without haggle, with Tatiana's coin. Cassandra thanked Jon and Jon for what little service they provided in her rescue, and bid them farewell after a curt blessing for each.

"Well, where to, Cassandra?" Talos asked of the seer, as he watched the Jon family business trundle away. Cassandra smiled, and led the trio away from the road. The seer required a stream of the mountain to perform her blessing, and Alanna was thankful that the stream was not only nearby, but was also situated at level ground from where they stood.

After a short, uneventful, and yet remarkably pleasant half-hour hike through the pine trees, they eventually came across a burbling stream flowing restlessly downhill. Talos and Alanna decided on supper, then, as they watched the seer perform her religious task beside the water.

It seemed such a simple thing, really. A whispering of words into the blade's steel, holding it to the light, then washing it with water. The several-minute cycle would be repeated twenty-nine times before the ritual was deemed complete.

Alanna was positively awestruck to see such a ceremony performed in front of her, yet Talos was left unconvinced of its significance. Sure, he believed that Cassandra believed that the ritual mattered; but that was as far as his faith would take him. For now, he contentedly munched on his jerky, as he let those more magically-inclined to enjoy their moment of sanctity.

The sun was nearly set by the time Cassandra completed her ritual. She daintily stepped towards Talos, and reverently held out the blade with opened palms. She knelt before him.

"Talos... I offer you my namesake, now blessed by Yana until the day she takes life from men or mer. Do you accept my offering?" Cassandra asked softly.

"Yes. Uh, I do, Cassandra. Gratitude," Talos awkwardly accepted. He carefully removed the longsword from her grasp, to avoid biting her pale skin. The weapon felt just as mundane as the day he purchased it in Catriona, but he held it up to the warm glow of the sunset nevertheless.

"It's said to bring good luck," Cassandra eagerly explained, smiling as she watched him twist the sword through the air. "The blessing, I mean. It's said a blessed blade assists it's wielder, to ensure they never have to use it to take life."

"Now that's a good bit of irony," Talos smirked, sheathing the weapon. "A boon that's only appreciated once it's gone. But I thank you, again."

"My utmost pleasure, savior," Cassandra warmly replied. Talos offered a hand to help her to her feet, which she clasped between both of her own. He lifted her with a firm, yet tender, strength.

"So, are you prepared for the, uh, scrying?" Talos asked.

"I am," Cassandra answered with a mischevious grin, pointing a thumb over her shoulder. "But the sun isn't. We'll need to wait 'til morning, when he shines brightly once more."

"Mm. In that case, we could probably make another three miles before nightfall," Talos suggested.

"We... could. But I'm not so eager to return to Selphyse just yet," the seer admitted through her smile. "There's a nice place nearby which I'd like to show you. Ah, and you, Alanna. We could make camp together, instead of miles."

"A far better idea than walking," Alanna nodded.

"Agreed. Is the place sacred?" Talos asked.

Cassandra tilted her head. "In a way. Does that bother you?"

"I only ask for the wine's sake. I intend to empty it tonight, and not lug it up the mountain on the 'morrow."

"Ah," she giggled. "Nothing we could do there tonight will upset the goddess, drink included."

"We? Thought the seers didn't drink," Talos smirked.

Cassandra laughed cheerfully. "Where would you ever hear that, Talos? The Temple of Yana practically runs on wine." She began to walk eastwards at a leisurely pace, towards the mountains. Her gaze remained turned in Talos' direction as they made their way.

"Huh. Who knew?" Talos said dryly, raising his brows towards Alanna.

You know what she wants of you, right? Alanna silently asked of him, raising her brows in turn.

Wasn't born yesterday, honey.

-=-=-

Cassandra led the party towards the mountains as the sun set on their backs, and eventually found a well-hidden pathway of stairs carved into the stone. There were only thirty steep steps, much to Alanna's relief. The stone staircase led to a decently-sized cavern, with only a single dry chamber. Two stone pillars flanked the entrance to the cavern; one had a man's face carved into it, while the other held a female visage. Cassandra brushed her hand against the stones when she arrived, and whispered something inaudible beside them. The stones lit with a dim, bluish-purple glow, which illuminated the entrance to the cave.

The trio settled in for the night, opening their bottle of wine and sharing simple stories of their lives. Alanna and Talos avoided the subject of Dun Aysla and it's moon tower, of course, but the Emerald Moon was briefly brought up. According to Cassandra, it had been visible in northern Tardia as well, which led Talos to believe that it had been a global event.

Still, the night was going well. The girls laughed at Talos' bad jokes, and much wine had been consumed by all. Lustful glances were occasionally shot in Talos' direction from the seer, which he kindly ignored. Alanna eventually complained about the hike up the mountain between sips of wine, as was her way. She then handed the bottle to Talos, who rebuked her.

"I, on the other hand, appreciate the wilds here," he said. "I was quickly growing tired of Redstone, even after only a week there. I'd forgotten how crowded it is in the city, really. You have to navigate through the shit-and-piss-filled streets just to get to market. It's revolting," Talos groaned.

"Now that's true," Alanna admitted, "but you probably shouldn't use such foul language in present company, honey," she chided him.

"Gods, you two! Please stop treating me like some old hag," Cassandra chuckled. "I'm but a young woman, just like you Alanna."

"Who's also a seer," Talos shrugged.

"Only because I was born here. If Alanna and I were swapped at birth, she'd be in my place instead."

Alanna frowned. "That's all it took? Did you not have a choice in the matter?" she asked sympathetically of the seer. Cassandra too lost her smile, and her gaze fell to the floor.

"No... no, not really. I was presented to the Temple on my sixth name day. They asked me if I wanted to go, of course, but... what little girl says no to that?"

"That's tragic," Alanna pouted. "I can't believe you sparked so young."

The seer nodded sadly. "Neither could my parents... it came early in my fifth year. In the midst of supper, even."

Alanna's eyes widened. "Goodness. Mine came late in my tenth... late enough to have an almost-normal childhood, anyway."

"Ah, but listen to me," Cassandra sighed. She lifted her gaze, and gave her two companions a forlorn smile. "It's just like me to ask for pity between a bottle of wine. So much for treating me like a young woman, huh?"

Talos passed the bottle to Cassandra, figuring she needed it more than he did. She opened her mouth to thank him, but decided to just take a quick swig instead.