Chapter 24

Finn’s arms shook from the effort of his morning workout. He focused on his form and pushed up for the final count, holding himself in what the military termed the front leaning rest position, arms fully extended, back and legs straight. He lifted one arm up and pivoted to a side plank, reaching high behind him, before lowering the arm, and repeating on the other side.

The burn in his arms and core was what he wanted. Staying in control, he returned to his starting position, then lowered himself to lie flat on the floor. It was the last exercise in his routine for this morning. It felt good to flex and push himself. He breathed deep, then hopped up and headed into his luxurious bath and its soaking pool.

He worried about Elara, having expected to see her last night after dinner. Her absence troubled him. He thought they were at least friends, even if she was only attracted to him by her cursed spell. He shook his head and climbed from the pool after only a quick refreshing plunge.

Yara had told him breakfast was served after morning devotions, but he heard nothing outside his window, high above the portico of the grand entrance to the temple. With the sky still mostly dark, he decided it would be a while before breakfast was ready. Rather than wander searching for something to eat, he pulled out his phone and laptop.

The quantum tap he had created powered both. He checked the connectivity and saw they were both working as well, albeit at a lower bandwidth than he expected. He typed a few commands, trying to see if his viral hack on the phones of the government had returned any data yet.

The mapping screen he had hacked together lit up with yellow, orange, and red spots. Each spot was a location where a conversation of possible interest had taken place. The color indicated how many of the keywords he had programmed were used in a given discussion. He was shocked there were so many hits mere days after starting the spread of the virus.

He needed to narrow his search parameters. He wanted specific people who were compromised, not every politician or aide who mentioned the agency. Finn opened a fresh window and began typing commands. It would take some time to perform the modifications he desired.

The pink dawn was visible through his window when there was a knock on the door. He was surprised the clock on his laptop showed he had been working for nearly two hours. He stood, stretched, and crossed the room, hoping it was Elara.

“Yara,” he said as he opened the door. “Good morning.”

She smiled at him and walked into the room without invitation, as if it were her right. In some regards, Finn decided it might be. She was a full sister and had been his guide last night. Not fully understanding temple etiquette, Finn simply followed her.

“I came to fetch you for breakfast, Finn,” she said as her eyes fell on his laptop and phone. “What are you doing?” She bent closer to look at the screen.

From his experiences with Elara, Finn knew she would not be able to read the tight text, and even if she could, he doubted she would follow the arcane coding displayed on his screen.

“Working. I still have a connection to my world, through my devices. It’s slower than I expected, but it lets me send and receive data from some programs I set running back home. I’m trying to refine them, to search for what I’m looking for.”

Yara’s dark eyes widened at his words. “You can communicate with your world?”

“To a certain extent. I haven’t tested the limits yet. Besides, I need to be cautious. People there are looking for me and most likely some others I’ve interacted with.”

Yara was silent, clearly thinking. “You’ll need to discuss this with Mother Nightbloom when you meet with her after breakfast,” she said and then appeared to dismiss the thought from her head. “And on that note, are you hungry?”

They returned to the common dining area and ate together once more. Breakfast was porridge, a staple from Finn’s youth, seasoned and flavored with fruit and honey. They both had tea with their meal and lingered at the table afterward for a second cup.

“I expected to hear something of Elara last night,” Finn said, hoping his friend was going to be alright.

Yara eyed him, as if weighing both his question and her response. “You’ll need to ask Mother Nightbloom your questions. I did not see either after dinner. My instructions to take you to her apartments were delivered by a novice before morning devotions.”

Finn frowned. He was worried that Elara would be penalized for actions taken from beyond her control. He said as much.

Yara shook her head. “Our trials are not specific challenges, Finn. For all I know, Mother may have decided her capture and the geas to find you were her trial. There was no gathering of sisters, to raise an acolyte up to become a sister, but apart from that, I don’t know how Mother may have decided to handle Elara.”

Her tone touched a nerve. “You don’t like her,” Finn said.

Yara’s blush returned, and she shook her head. “I don’t dislike her, though many sisters seem to believe that. I opposed her being allowed to undertake her trials so young. Many thought it was personal animosity. Some thought I was jealous of her abilities. Even last night, after dinner, I heard whispers of people thinking I was with you to take her down a notch.”

Finn’s eyes widened.

“I wasn’t. I truly want Elara to succeed. I think we were hasty to allow her to undertake the trials five years earlier than any acolyte in memory, that’s all.”

Finn studied her open face. Her eyes told him she wanted him to believe her, but he was not certain she spoke the whole truth. Reminding himself he was a stranger relying on the temple’s good will, he nodded.

“Your internal politics are your own. I worry the spell may be affecting her. I found her to be a loyal friend on my world. I hope I can continue to return her friendship.”

Sister Eclipse nodded, as if dismissing his concern. She lifted her teacup and finished the drink. “Perhaps the mother will have better answers for you,” she said as she stood.

Finn followed, tracing their passage in his memory until they were back at the high priestesses’ door. Yara knocked and waited for the command to enter before opening the door and motioning Finn inside.

She started to pull the door closed when Mother Nightbloom spoke from deeper within the room. “Please join us, Yara,” she commanded.

Finn saw the priestess sitting at a desk tucked in an alcove under another window. Morning light illuminated her desktop filled with papers arranged in neat stacks and small piles. Mother Nightbloom rose from her work and faced them before motioning to a small seating area situated before a glass-paneled door leading to a small balcony in the cliff-face temple facade.

“I hope you slept well, Master Finn,” she began.

“Just Finn, please Mother Nightbloom. I prefer that form of address.”

The older woman frowned but nodded. “Finn. As you wish. I hope you found our hospitality acceptable.”

“It was delightful, Mother Nightbloom. Can you tell me anything about my friend, Elara?” He asked, wanting to get to what he saw as the most pressing problem before them.

Mother Nightbloom nodded. “The spell is deeply tied to her, Finn. It is beyond my abilities to remove or break the spell. Her quest to deliver you to the dark mage remains, though I hope I have reduced the power of the compulsion it exerts on her.”

Finn nodded stoically, keeping his fear hidden. He wanted to know she was free of the spell so he could determine if she liked him without its compulsion, or if he was only a tool she could deliver to her rapist.

“So, what does that mean?” He asked. “I mean, is there something I can do to help? Should I seek a way to return home so my effect on her is reduced?”

Mother Nightbloom shook her head. “No, that would not help and may hurt her more, depending on what path the geas took. I’ve decided Elara should visit the Celestial Realm. If a power in our worlds can break the spell, it will be there. I sent her on her way last night.”

Finn fought a sense of panic. How did someone get sent to the Celestial Realm? It sounded a lot like death to him. “What does that mean?” He managed to ask.

As if sensing his fear, Mother Nightbloom reached out and patted his hand.

“Our worlds are linked through the portal stones, but also through natural folds that cross space and time. The portal stones seldom connect directly to the Celestial or Shadow realms. It is the power of those two realms that powers the stones which channel natural flows of power that exist in each world. However, each realm does have at least one of the natural folds leading from it to the shadow and to the light. I sent Elara to find that fold and plead with our goddess for relief of this curse.”

Finn’s mind parsed and weighed her words. As he had thought, there was some other way of traveling through these realms besides the stones. If the source of power was the realm of gods and the realm of shadows, they could be like the flow of charge from positive to negative poles on a battery, or even the poles of a magnet. He knew about power flows. Maybe he could help his friend.

“I need to go to assist her.”

“No,” Mother Nightbloom responded. “If you are with her, the compulsion will be too strong. She will turn away from her task to meet the demands of the spell. You must remain apart from her.”

Finn ground his teeth. “I want to help her.”

“Your desires do you credit, Finn, but I would prevent you from aiding her directly. Let her travel and entreat with our goddess, then be ready to aid her on her return. You’ll be safe here until then.”

“Mother,” Yara said, interrupting for the first time from her position standing behind Finn. “Finn can still connect to his world through his devices. There must be a path back to his world. Perhaps it would be helpful to find the fold leading there for his future return, once Elara is safely free of the spell.”

Mother Nightbloom raised an eyebrow at him. “Tell me what you can do, Finn.”

Finn was not certain the high priestess understood everything he said, but she nodded at the analogies he used when she looked confused. He had practiced using metaphors for explaining technical details when describing things to Elara.

“So, you can pursue your quest that was interrupted from here?” She finally asked.

“Yes, but at a slower pace, Mother.”

She smiled at the use of the diminutive title, appearing pleased he had relaxed some in her presence.

“And what of our world? Elara mentioned you could see the sigils on the portal stones. Do you have any power with them?”

Finn pursed his lips. He had been able to see the flow of power and the way the portal sigils affected that flow but was not given time to study them deeply.

“I’ve not noticed anything like that since we passed through the portal stone. I don’t know.”

Mother Nightbloom nodded. “We should help you investigate this gift. Yara, you wish to train novices, I think Finn may be the most promising novice we have at the moment. I want you to assist him. Find what you can do to help him.”

“Yes, mother,” she said.

“Start with the Moon Pool of the Mountain,” Mother Nightbloom instructed. “If he can sense or see power there, explore other sacred places. You are not to venture near a portal stone without guardians, is that clear?”

Finn wasn’t sure if that admonition was for her or him but nodded just the same. At least he would have something interesting to do while he awaited his friend’s return.

Elara enjoyed the sunrise as she moved briskly along the high forest road leading from the temple, along the mountain’s ridge. Soon, she knew it would begin descending toward the river far below, and she would have to abandon the easy pathway.

Of course, if she thought about it, easy was never a description for her path or tasks. The start of her trial had been an opening to a grand adventure in her mind. Now, looking back, it was the calm before a storm. Two days of easy travel had lulled her into a misplaced sense of competence. The raiders had disabused her of that notion.

She still believed fighting to protect others was her duty. Just as fighting for Finn and his quest was a duty. She wished they had been able to meet under different circumstances. Now, she was leaving him and his quest for justice behind her with every step.

Malachi, she thought. She would not say his name aloud, refusing to give him more power in this world, but silently she could curse him. He preyed on the weak. Elara sensed he wanted power and mastery of the realms. She believed he wanted to soil her again, body and soul. She would not rest until she could resist his siren call and his willpower. Elara could not be her own woman until she beat him. She would not know her own heart until it was free from his wicked grasp.

The pathway turned to the right, starting its gentle decline, and Elara stopped to look for the moss-covered marker post the Mother had told her about. Tucked into the roots of a tree on the upslope side of the road, she spotted it. She brushed her fingers against the moss, feeling the sigil hidden beneath, and then seeing it glow with the barest hint of the Moon Goddesses power.

This was the way.

She stepped off the road, careful to leave no trace of her passing, and slipped into the forest. The roots gave her hard purchases to move away. When she glanced back and could no longer spy the road, she stepped onto the mossy floor of the forest.

The Enchanted Forest was home to the Moon Goddess’ temple for many reasons, but Elara was taught it was here to honor the huntress aspect of her deity. With that in mind, she looked down at her travel garb and quickly cast her spell to change her attire.

Weaving Moonbeams seemed so much easier here, she thought. After the struggles she had faced in Finn’s world, maybe she had gotten stronger.

“I must focus,” she chastised herself. “I need to leave Finn and his world behind me. I need to find the fold between worlds.”

She moved deeper into the forest.

Mother’s instructions were specific and vague at the same time. She found the first marker and followed it, but now did not know what to seek.

“Follow your instincts,” Mother had said. “Embrace the huntress and follow the path before you. Find the second marker and then the third. Our goddess will guide you, if you are worthy.”

Embrace the huntress.

Elara paused, letting the feel of the forest enfold her. The earthy scent of damp dirt and rotting leaves touched her. Rustling leaves in the breeze sounded high above, a soothing background on the crisp morning. She let her gaze drift around. She knew there was something she needed to see, without knowing what she looked for.

A hint of movement teased her sight. Rather than move to get a better view, she waited. A doe emerged in the distance, walking from tuff to tuff of green grass. The doe was young, her coat a rich brown speckled with white. She moved from shadow into sunlight, her ears twitching as she listens intently for any sign of danger. Her features were framed by a pair of large, dark eyes that seem to hold an air of curiosity and wariness in equal measure. Her delicate hooves scarcely make a sound on the forest floor.

Elara held her breath, watching. She knew it was the sign she needed. Moving slowly, she placed a careful step on the damp earth and moved to follow the beautiful creature as it led her further from the pathway of man.

“Come along, novice Finn,” Yara teased as she stood at the door of his guest room. “You need to do more than focus on your magical devices today.”

Finn wanted to argue, but knew she was right. So similar to Elara.

He stood and stretched his arms high above his head. “What task will you set me, mistress of this novice?” He asked with a grin.

“You need to learn our written language if you hope to decipher sigils you may see.”

“The sigils are your writing?” He asked.

She shook her head. “No, but the books and scrolls that describe them are. Besides, every novice can read and write, or they never rise to become acolytes. Mother Nightbloom has tasked me with teaching you, so it is time you start learning.”

Finn grabbed his phone, unwilling to leave it behind, and followed her from the room. Just as he had done with Elara, Sister Eclipse pointed to various words shown within the temple and explained what they were. She also had a small slate with a piece of chalk and would stop and write common words that were not labeled. Door, hall, floor, light, all were written, repeated, erased, and then written again by his hand. Slowly, he learned.