Author's Note:

RaynDragon

Authors' Note

We'll take a couple of weeks off before starting #5. In the mean time, you can email or leave comments to let us know what you thought of this one. (Subtle hint, eh?)

"I will do all I can," Marus said, nodding.

"We know you will, Marus." She smiled at him, taking a step backwards and vanishing.

Marus stood there for a moment, his mind filled with unanswered questions. He looked down at his hands and realized the cup and sandwich had vanished at some point. Instead, he held a book. The cover of it showed it to be a copy of the Holy Book, which had been compiled long before by the most devout priests and bishops who had traveled the lands, spreading the word of the Gods. He opened it, almost out of habit, but found the pages were blank. He gasped, and looked at the cover again. This time the word "new" appeared before the title.

Marus woke suddenly, sitting upright in his bed. He sat there, pondering his dream, and Kielle's words, for a long time, until he heard the sounds of birds waking and singing their morning song. Then he put his robes on, taking care that each fold was in it's place, before heading out of his room to the new day ahead.

"You thought you would never hear our voices again?" she asked.

"It has been a long time since you answered me."

"Although you understand some of why, don't you?" she said, more as a statement than a question.

"Yes," he replied humbly.

"You were never forsaken, you know that. And you never will be. But for a time our presence here will be less obvious. The people will need help understanding that, Marus. They will need to be reminded that in every beautiful sunrise, in every crop brought in, in every joyous new birth--that we are there. People will need to hear us through less miraculous means than sometimes in the past."

"Prayers will still be heard and answered, but sometimes it will be in more subtle ways. You have still been granted our power, even if it is diminished for a time. It will be up to you to rebuild that for us, so that we can make our presence more plainly known."

"You have always heard us and seen us, even if indirectly. Now we need you to show others to see and hear us the same way. We have been preparing you.

Author's Note

It felt strange to him to have the room all to himself, and he felt another pang of sadness as he thought of Ullden and Narien again. He sat quietly at the edge of the bed and prayed for a while before laying down under the covers. The mattress almost seemed too soft to him as he lay there, waiting for sleep. He found himself having a difficult time finding a comfortable position. It seemed to take hours before he felt himself begin to drift off.

The dream came slowly, like an early morning fog slowly rolling over a lake. It sifted across him gently, and yet somehow he knew it to be a dream. Perhaps it was because of what he'd been dreaming just before it, running through the battle in the cave in his mind again. But that dream fell away like sand through his fingers, replaced by the new one. He was sitting on the rooftop of his church. His place. With a sandwich and a cup of something to drink. He took a sip to see what it was, and smiled at the tartness of the lemonade inside.

It took a short while before the dream was anything more than a surreal moment of peace from his past. He knew the moment to be his, something from his memories. He'd been in that moment before, eaten that sandwich, drank that lemonade, watched over the fields from his rooftop nook. Yet he knew that none of it was real. He knew it to all be a dream. He relaxed into it, let it take him where it would. And that was the point when the voice joined him.

Hello, Marus. it was a woman's voice, soft and soothing.

Marus looked around him, but did not see any figures. Nothing of his dream had changed.

"Hello?" he asked of the air around him.

"I am here."

The voice seemed suddenly solid behind him and he turned around quickly to look. He stopped just as quickly upon seeing her face, afraid that if he moved again she might just disappear.

"Kielle?" he breathed, almost afraid to say her name. She appeared to him looking the same as one of the church statues turned flesh, although she stood tall and her hands were empty. A gentle smile spread across her face and she nodded once in reply.

"You've only been given a little training with it," he tried, knowing it was his last argument, and a weak one at that.

"I have faith that this is the right path, Father. I don't think that I was brought on this quest just because of the scepter. I think the gods have more for me to do yet."

He knew that most adults would tell her that she was sounding silly, but he knew better. There had been cases in the past of the gods choosing someone, and teaching them whatever they needed to know. The gods would be at their weakest for a while, but he supposed that would not have to stop them.

"Of course. When will you go?" he asked.

"Some of the townsfolk have offered to supply me with some basic gear, including a little bit of armor. They said they'd need a couple of days."

"I will bless you before I leave," he offered.

"I would like that, Father. For tonight, let's both get some well deserved rest--in mattresses, nonetheless!" She smiled a happy and confident smile. He liked seeing it on her face. He nodded and they both headed to their rooms.

Author's Note:

The crowd slowly drifted away. Some lingered a while, asking more questions, but it had grown late and eventually they all went home again. Jetha turned in first, when the crowd was more than half gone. Niza, however, had moved off to talk with some men and women at one side of the room. They broke up their conversation as the last few people were starting to leave, and Niza came back to join Marus as the innkeeper moved in to clean up the last couple of tables.

"I think they have more hope now, Father," she said with a smile. "They've been afraid to hope. Fortunately, the Elar hadn't been here long before the demon was destroyed. When his spell broke, there was quite a bit of confusion before they took back the town. Those people were telling me that it's the same in other towns. Some are beginning to fight back. There are more Elar to the south of here though. I guess they left larger groups of units in the more pivotal towns. There's one, larger town where there was one hundred Elar left behind with a demon. The people here worry that if they are not defeated they will still come back to this village and try to reclaim it."

Her eyes were on the floor as she spoke, as if she was making up her mind while the words made their way past her lips. Her hand was on her hip, where her sword usually hung as of late. Her fingers flexed as if looking for the hilt.

"Violence is not the path to peace, Niza," he said gently, though he already suspected where this was going.

"No, Father," she said, meeting his eyes. "But it is too soon yet for peace. First we have to get beyond being at war with them."

"You're only one person," he tried again. A part of him knew it was pointless, her path had been chosen for her. Another part of him still saw her as the young girl who'd come to him broken, needing his guidance and protection.

"If not me, then who, Father?" she said. "If there is a demon there, my sword can hurt it."

It took a little bit before some of the townsfolk came over, but eventually they did. One by one, they came over and asked questions. They asked if the gods were angry, and he assured them that the gods loved them, and watched over them, and had even helped bring an end to the Elar invasion by defeating the demons that led them.

"The Elar were tricked, just like some of you might have been. There was a demon leading them that told convincing lies. But he has been defeated. The gods can help win the war in the rest of the world, and they can help heal the sick and help your crops grow again."

Suddenly there was a woman holding a young girl, only a few years old. The mother explained that the girl had been injured when the Elar first came, and that her wound was not healing.

The next thing he knew, he was healing it, giving them a demonstration that the gods were still there to look out for them. The wound went away, and the child laughed and the mother sobbed gratefully.

Then there were other sick and hurt being brought in. The innkeeper warned the people to give the strangers room, but Marus told them to come. Everyone he healed smiled. It seemed so long since he had seen joyful smiles. For so long it had seemed that healing had been a grim task, and he thought of Ullden, who he had healed several times. Each time Ullden had given him a grim smile, knowing he would be wounded yet again. He wondered if maybe Ullden had known all along what the final outcome would be.

He tended to the little town as best he could. After a while, the little inn room was packed as tightly as it could be. Marus found himself standing on a chair, giving his own little sermon to the town. Some of them came with books clutched tight to their chest--books they had secreted away from the Elar.

"You have the books," he finished. "Read them a little tonight, and maybe a little every day. Teach them to your children. Tomorrow I have been asked to pray for those who are no longer here. I would ask those of you who wish to attend to gather after breakfast. For tonight, go home and rest and sleep well. Go, and walk with grace and health and wisdom and strength, for the Gods walk with you."