Dragon! Book Two: "Revenge"

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Gareth didn’t return the hug. He stood slack, arms at his sides. The action of the Brother was so unexpected he didn’t know how to react, and the words confused him further.

“Water,” Ann hissed from behind.

“May we have water?” Gareth asked, then after hesitation continued. “Why did you welcome me back? I’ve never been here.”

The old Brother used a voice so soft it was almost lost in the rustle of the leaves in the breeze. “Of course. Water first. We should have been prepared and had it waiting.”

A young woman in a pale green robe with a hood similar to the Brother’s took the hint when the Brother glanced her way. She turned and ran for the largest structure, fully two stories high and big enough to hold a hundred people. It was the same tan colored plastered wall, cracked and repaired many times, the variations in color indicating where the work had been done.

As she threw open the door, Gareth noticed two things. First, the walls were thick, fully as thick as a long stride by a tall man. Second, there were no windows. As those two items were considered, Gareth remembered the sound of the door closing. It was heavy. The sound of the door was low pitched but soft. For the woman to open a door of that size, it must be counter-balanced and the hinges well oiled.

On impulses, Gareth watched as the woman returned through the same door. It swung open easily, although it was thicker than Gareth’s hand. It was also taller than he could reach and wider than two outstretched arms, easily the largest door he’d ever seen.

She carried a pitcher and three mugs. All of the others waited until Gareth, Ann, and Tad nearly emptied the pitcher. Gareth’s trust was thin, and he kept watch on the people as he tried to collect clues as to what was happening. Most were smiling in what seemed pleasant ways.

The Brother stood as still a stone, not even his eyes shifting. He said, “We have a cabin for you. Our assumption was that you would wish to stay together.”

“We would, and thank you, but we are in a rush to return to our lands so cannot remain here long,” Gareth told him, using his most earnest voice and hoping to draw out information.

The Brother didn’t change his expression. He answered, “Also as we assumed. A meal has been prepared so all will enjoy meeting each other. However, no business is to be discussed until after. First, you rest and then we enjoy our meal.”

The response reminded Gareth of his youth in Dun Mare and matching wits with those of the Brotherhood. Before he could prevent his mouth from speaking, words were already spilling out. “No business is to be discussed? But we came to learn.”

He expected reactions from the people standing behind the Brother, if not from the Brother, himself. But all faces remained the same. The Brother spoke again, “If you learn nothing of us during our evening meal you are stupid. I know that is not the case.”

“Because you know me. You say that I lived here.”

“See? It has already begun.” The Brother said, obviously pleased with the wordplay. “You will not let us down. Please follow Haran to your rooms. Nap, rest, I’m sure you’re tired. You will be summoned for the meal.”

Another woman stepped forward and motioned with her hand for them to follow. Meanwhile, all the others departed in different directions. Gareth stepped to her side, “You are Haran?”

“Yes.”

“How long have you lived here?” Gareth persisted while watching the small house come closer with each step.

“Questions will be answered after the meal, but you already know that.” She opened the door to a cottage built of the same mud bricks and plastered to match the shade of the desert beyond.

Again the walls were thick, only a few tiny windows high on the walls, and as Gareth stepped inside the air felt almost cool after the heat outside. The floor was stones fitted together. One room. Three beds in a corner, each with a wooden storage trunk at the foot. Three crude chairs made of bentwood stood near the center and a table with three mugs and two full pitchers. Scones for candles were mounted on the walls at intervals, and two hammered iron candleholders suspended from the wood ceiling by lines tied to loops on the wall for raising and lowering.

Haran stood aside and allowed all three to enter, but she stood at the door ready to close it. “Is there anything you require?”

When Gareth shook his head in response to her offer she pulled the door closed with a solid sound of heavy wood striking stone. The three stood in near darkness. Ann said, “What now?”

Tad said, “Water.” He rushed to the pitchers and in a delighted call said, “Hey, this one has milk!”

They all stood at the table and filled mug after mug, but none sat in the comfortable looking chairs. Tad was busy drinking milk, but Ann and Gareth waited as their eyes adjusted to the meager light in the room, each lost in thought.

Ann asked, “What is this all about?”

Gareth strode to the door and lifted the lever. He expected to find the door barred on the outside, but it opened easily and desert light burst into the room almost blinding him. A quick peek outside didn’t show anyone guarding the door.

Pulling it closed again, Gareth said, “No guards.”

Ann drew in a deep breath. “It was so hot outside. This coolness has me wanting to stay in here and one of those beds is sure to give me more sleep in a few moments than I’ve had in several nights.”

As she walked to the closest bed, Gareth reached out to Blackie. The dragon was not there. Gareth rushed back to the door and threw it open. He ran a few steps outside, fearing the worst, but almost instantly he located Blackie and almost fell to his knees in relief.

The old Brother approached on the stone walkway and said, “I’m sorry Gareth. Your powers are restricted while inside. Not on purpose, it is just the way it is, the materials used to build the house we think. I should have warned you.”

“Can any outside reach me?”

“If you’re worried about Belcher, you can relax. The walls of mud prevent any mental communication in either direction, although they still work if two of us are inside. But we’ll discuss more of that after we eat.”

The Brother strolled on to the shade of the orchard where he sat on a bench without movement, probably communication with another Brother, although Gareth wondered how the message reached over the mountains. Perhaps he was simply praying.

Gareth turned and reentered the cabin and closed the door. The mental touch of all ten dissipated as he entered, and disappeared fully as the door closed. For the first time in almost a full lunar cycle, he relaxed and lowered the intense shield held over Tad.

But, his skepticism forced it back into place. The bed called to him. Ann’s eyes were already closed, and she looked close to falling asleep. He said, “Tad, time for you to take a nap.”

The boy shrugged as it that had been his intent. Tad skipped to the closest bed and leaped on top, not bothering to pull back the blanket. Gareth sat in the third, his mind in turmoil, but at the same time feeling more relaxed than in several days. He stretched out to better think of all they found and instantly went to sleep.

All three woke when the door to the hut opened. Haran, the same woman who had shown them the room, took one step inside and softly announced that the food would be ready soon, and waited in the main house, then she exited. Ann sat up on her bed and said, “That was the most wonderful sleep I’ve had in years.”

Gareth couldn’t disagree. His mind felt uncluttered and refreshed for a change. Tad also acted more animated than he had in days. Together they walked out into the late afternoon sunshine with long shadows and the air warm and dry. Haran sat on a small bench beside the great doors to the main ‘house’. At their arrival, she stood and opened the door that stood twice as tall as Gareth and wide enough for all three to enter side-by-side.

Inside the temperature again dropped considerably, the dim lighting made it almost impossible to see when the door swung closed, and only a few candles fought back the darkness. As their eyes adjusted, the vast room seemed to appear out of the dark.

The floor was again stone, the walls plaster, the roof beams covered with wood planks. To their right was a table long enough to seat thirty, fifteen to a side. Places were set for eleven, all near the far end. Beyond the table was the kitchen and tables for preparation. Bins held apples, onions, carrots, and more.

Three cauldrons of similar size hung from hooks over brick-lined fire pits under chimneys spreading over the three. The chimneys were also brick, built against the wall, and their sole purpose was to vent smoke and heat outside. Enclosed ovens for baking stood knee high beyond. Gareth had seen similar in the islands where it was hot and humid, but food still needed cooking. The aromas made his stomach do a flip, but he ignored his hunger.

What drew the attention of all three was the remainder of the room, fully three-quarters of it. It was a clear pool of water, a natural pool from the appearance, and the building had been built over it. The paving stones went to the edge and were cut to form-fit to the irregular edge. The sides of the pool dropped away quickly to a depth so deep Gareth couldn’t stand in it unless his head were below the surface, yet the rocky bottom was as clear as the finest mirror.

The water in the pool glowed an eerie pale green in the dim light. Gareth could not see the source of the light. It was as if the water glowed and spread its light throughout the cavernous building.

He had also seen a similar happening in the ocean, once. But as boats rowed or sailed through it, the effect spread as if it was mostly on the surface. The water here didn’t have the same look. Instead, it glowed equally from the bottom to the top, as if the entire pool was a giant firefly. The effect made him shiver.

There was not a single plant, fish, or living thing in the water. It was perfectly translucent, and in the stillness of the room, the rocky bottom was so clear it gave the impression there was no water in the hole. They stood looking at it as if expecting something to happen when Gareth heard the slight sound of material rubbing against material.

He spun and his eyes, seeing much better now, found the old Brother already sitting in a high-back chair beside five of the women in the village, all of whom sat as still as he. Two others were working quietly in the kitchen. Counting the two babies in the arms of a pair of women, that accounted for all of them.

Ann recovered first. Her finger pointed accusingly at the pool “Did we drink that water when you gave us water in the pitchers?”

The Brother said, “Yes.”

“It wasn’t glowing.”

“The effect is hard to see in bright sunlight,” the Brother said calmly. “This building without windows was constructed ages ago to reveal the beautiful phenomena.”

Ann snapped, “You should have told us first.”

“In your state of thirst after traveling the dry lands outside, would you have refused water?”

She considered and relented. “When traveling in the forests, I’ve swallowed from ponds covered in scum, moss, and slime. I guess that water over there isn’t going to hurt me any worse. Especially if you drink it, too.”

The Brother said, “I have lived here since you were born, I imagine, and in all that time this has been our only source of water.”

Before Gareth could speak, Ann placed her hands on her hips and demanded, “What do you do here? All of you?”

The Brother smiled, his white teeth flashing in the dimness of the room. A few of the women looked to him as he spoke. “I’d expected you to recognize seven of your Sisterhood, Ann. As for me, I am not only of the Brotherhood; I am the leader of all of them.”

Silence descended on the room as if the ceiling fell without noise. Neither Ann nor Gareth moved. They looked at each other and Gareth averted his eyes to look at the table, again. He noticed the two in the kitchen had paused in their preparations. The whole room was still as death and silent as a tomb.

Ann spoke first. “You are Sisters?”

All seven of the women nodded, some more vigorously than others.

“Why are you here?” Ann asked.

One holding an infant said, “We were called.”

Gareth recognized the same sort of evasive answers he’d grown up with. He looked to the Brother and said, “You are the leader of the Brotherhood?”

“I am.”

Gareth hesitated again, prepared to play the word games to reach the answers he needed. “There is a secret hierarchy in the Brotherhood, I believe. Are you saying that you are the single Brother who all others eventually report to?”

“I am.”

There seemed to be no humor or deception in the answer. Gareth had often been in such situations as a boy with his teachers. Changing the type of question often provided better answers. He said, “Were you elected to the position?”

“No.”

“How did you come to acquire it?”

“My predecessor appointed me, as he before him.”

Still not satisfied, and still standing, Gareth walked to the chair across from the Brother while thinking of what to say. All eyes and ears in the great room focused on him. He finally said, “One of the Brothers was my teacher while I grew up. He has always been honest with me, even to the point of telling me he cannot answer a direct question. You know who I am. Suppose I reach out with my mind and speak to him and have him confirm your identity?”

The Brother smiled wanly, and in a softer voice said, “Gareth, I know who you are, and I know your powers. To communicate with the Brother, who you claim as a trusted friend, a relationship that I heartedly agree with, you must travel back up the mountains and at least to the top of the pass. Please do not insult me with more unrealities.”

Tad, having seated himself beside Gareth, wriggled in his chair and seemed intent upon speaking. A hand on his knee stilled his tongue before it began to wag. The Brotherhood didn’t know of Tad or that he could combine his abilities with those of Gareth and together they could speak over the mountains. Gareth would keep Tad and his abilities to himself.

Gareth said, “The point being, I can confirm your identity and your position—after a long walk.”

“Yes. That is your prerogative.”

“For now, let us continue and see where it takes us,” Gareth said, trying to smile. “Ann, can you confirm these women are Sisters?”

Ann nodded slowly. “I believe they are.”

Gareth said, “How?”

“Small things. The Sisterhood is unknown to most people, and they obviously know of it. But there is more. There are no insects inside this building. None. And there is food in those bins but again no flies, mice, or other pests. Given a source of water and abundant food, the only method to keep them clear of here is with a Sister’s powers with creatures.”

“Fair enough,” Gareth said, turning back to the Brother. “This is almost a desert. I can understand building this structure around the only water to protect it, but I have more questions, beginning with wanting to know your exact position here. Not the Brotherhood, but here.”

The Brother spoke quickly, “I think of myself as a caretaker of this place. I watch over the buildings and grounds, ensuring there is ample food and that repairs are performed. While they attend to births, I work with the children, educating them and teaching them to use their abilities.”

“There are only two babies,” Gareth snapped.

“Until recently there were seven older children. You know one, but there were others.”

“Belcher. He was born here?”

For the first time, the Brother’s eyes flicked away before returning as he set his chin. “As were the other boys.”

“Belcher was your student, and he was born here?”

“Over time, many have been born in this community.”

The evasion again in the answer. However, Ann half stood and looked at the Sisters. She said, “All of you came to this place to have your babies.” It was not a question.

Each of the women nodded but said nothing. The two who had been working on the food in the kitchen came to the table and seated themselves. One of them said, “For the sake of our babies.”

Ann turned to her. “What does that mean?”

“We want the best for our children. The Brotherhood helps them, and us.”

“As teachers?” Ann demanded. “There are fine teachers in our world on the coast.”

“My world is not on the coast,” the same woman said.

Gareth turned back to the Brother, confused. He raised his eyebrows and waited.

Then Brother cast a disappointed look to the woman, and then as if giving up something he hoped to withhold, he said, “From the top of the rise when you first found this settlement, did you notice three other paths?”

Gareth shook his head.

“There are four. One leads over the mountains and to the coast to the west where you live. Another leads over the white mountains to the southeast. Two others, to the northeast and north, also across mountain ranges. Our Sisters come here from all four roads.” The Brother settled back into his chair and waited.

Gareth recovered enough to speak. “There are other lands? Lands with people?”

“In each land there are men of your abilities helping the populations avoid wars, preventing famines, the spread of contagious illnesses, and a hundred more things that do not favor one sect over another. They do their work in private, unknown.”

“Who are the Brotherhood?” Gareth asked. “What is the purpose, or foundation of it? The reason for its existence?”

The Brother smiled. “I often describe us as the ‘hands and feet’ of those few men with your unique abilities. We do what we can to pass on knowledge and provide help to the general population. It is often rejected, and we are murdered, jailed, and beaten in the performance of our tasks. However, you know those things as well as I do. To say we are misunderstood is to minimize the situation.”

Ann pointed to the glowing water. “That has something to do with it.”

Again she was not asking a question.