Brom knew something was wrong the minute he rode into the clearing that surrounded Finde’Lima’s cottage. There was a hole that took up much of the roof and moss grew on the aged wood. The front door hung on only one hinge. Where the other would have connected to the house a hole was cut away with what appeared to be claw marks. The steps leading to the front porch sagged in the middle, he thought that if he put any weight on the wood it snap like dry kindling.

Brom dismounted and tied Tor off onto a fence post that no longer served the purpose for which it was built. On the side of caution he withdrew Biko from its sheath and walked carefully towards the house. He made not a sound as he carefully dodged the debris that was scattered across the ground. He came to a stop next to the well; the rope looked wet from recent use. Brom walked around the side of the house and came to an abrupt stop when he saw the skeleton. It appeared it to be that of a man, for the frame was fairly large. Only remnants of the man’s clothes covered the bones.

Brom turned quickly when he heard a noise from inside the cottage. He slowly made his way back around to the front porch and carefully climbed the steps. The door fell off in his hand as he pulled it open. Laying it to the side, he entered the musty cottage.

It was in complete disarray. The table and chairs that had once stood in the tiny kitchen were over turned; two of the legs were broken. The only light in the cottage came from the whole in the roof, dust motes floated in the afternoon sun. The corners of the cottage were dark and he had to squint to see into the dark recesses. He thought he saw movement so he stepped out of the light. His leg bumped into the bed that Finde’Lima had once let him use when he was just a boy.

A body lay under the covers, “Finde?”He said as he pulled back the thin blanket. He jerked back when he was met with another skeleton. He realized quickly that it was too large to be Finde’Lima.

“Get away from her.”Brom jumped when a hoarse voice attacked him from one of the back corners, “I said get away from her. She is due to have a baby and needs her rest.”

“Finde?”

His suspicious were confirmed when his mentor stepped into the light.

“Of course it’s me you big oaf, who else would be here?”

It was Finde’Lima that stood before him, but she didn’t look like the Finde’Lima of his memories. The left half her face was covered by vicious scars that he knew could only have been caused by a graekull. Only a sunken depression remained where her eye should have been. Her long gray hair was all but gone. Thin greasy strings hung down into her face. Her clothes were nothing but rags that hung on her emaciated frame.

“Finde,” Brom had to clear his throat before continuing, “Finde, what happened here?”

She changed before his eyes, no longer was she the strong woman, but a frail walking skeleton, “They came, they came for her, but she’s not here, no she’s not here. We tricked them.”She ended with a crazed laugh.

“Whose not here?” he thought to humor this new Finde’Lima.

“The babe. She left, left for good. He took her, took her away.”She took Brom’s hand, “Come see her, she is great with child, any moment now the babe will come. Khort will be so proud of the babe.”

Brom’s heart stopped in his chest when Finde’Lima confirmed his fears that the skeleton outside had been Khort. He remembered the last time he’d seen his uncle’s best friend. They’d ridden into Finde’Lima’s clearing with his uncle. Vash’Te had been in a great deal of pain ready to give birth. He and Norden had not remained for his uncle had wanted to get home as quickly as possible.

“Finde’Lima, Vash’Te is dead.”

“No,” her head shook as she talked in a childish voice, “She lives, lives with Hemi. He took her.”

“Hemi took the babe?”

“Moraug wants her. He needs her, she has the key.” She ended the strange comment in a fit of coughing. Brom was concerned when he saw the blood on the cloth she’d held to her lips. Finde’Lima had to be at least a hundred years old, if not older.

“The graekulls are coming, do you hear the horns. Run Hemi, take her, leave.”

Brom was frustrated by Finde’Lima’s ravings. He thought he’d never get a straight answer out of her.

“Brom is that you.”His head snapped around as Finde’Lima looked at him with lucid eyes.

“Yes, it’s me Finde’Lima.”

“My how you’ve grown, you’re not a boy any longer.”

“It has been a long time. Finde, I’ve come about the light from the north.”

She paused a moment, her eyes glazed over in thought, “Yes, very odd that light.”

“Do you know what could have caused such a thing?”

“What did you feel when it passed through you?”

“I felt my connection severed in a instant, what could be so powerful?”

“Only a god could hold that much power.”

“It was Moraug then?”

“No, Moraug’s powers are too weak to cause such a rift. No, this was an elemental god, and an angry one at that.”

“I don’t understand, the elemental gods were killed a thousand years ago when Moraug betrayed them.”

“Their physical forms are gone, but their spirits still roam this earth.”

“I don’t understand-”

“Did you see Khort; he’s out side with Hemi waiting on the babe.” Brom hung his head in frustration, as quickly as that she was gone again, back to the past.

“I saw him.”

“We had to do it, we had to hide her, or Moraug would have found her.”

“Yes, I know Hemi took her.”

“No,” She said in the childish voice again, “We hid her from the Ghai.”

Brom was confused by her words until she moved a pile of rags from the floor revealing a tiny circle that had been burnt into the wood. A Kil’laren circle.

“Khort didn’t want to but Vash’Te made him. It’s the only way to hide her, she’s very special. Gray eyes, gray eyes, gray as the steel of your blade.”She said in a sing-song voice.

Why would Finde’Lima perform the Kil’laren on a babe, the ritual was reserved for only those that committed the worst sins. It was a frightening experience to witness, and from what he’d heard very painful.

“He doesn’t want to, but it’s the only way. We have to collect the ingredients, come lets us get them.”

Brom stood dumb founded as Finde’Lima left the cottage with bucket in hand. He stayed where he was trying to make sense of everything. So far he’d gathered that Vash’Te had delivered a baby girl and for some reason, Khort and Vash’Te hid her from Moraug with the Kil’laren. Hemi, he vaguely remembered Khort’s bakari slave, had fled the forest with the babe. And apparently Moraug’s graekulls had attacked the cottage.

It was night before Finde’Lima returned with a bucket of dirt. He watched her as she performed the Kil’laren around an empty circle. It was heart breaking to see the once strong woman reduced to this pitiful creature. He sat on the only stool that remained intact waiting for her to finish with the mock ritual. He felt sleep drawing him, his eyelids heavy from lack of sleep. He’d ridden hard once he was able to leave Bac’Ku. He’d been delayed by Gavin’s fight with the Dueninian soldiers. It wasn’t uncommon for the recruits on both sides to get into a scuffle, but his cousin had been seriously injured and Brom had to mete out the punishment the Dueninians deserved. The whole mess had cost him a week delay.

Brom was dozing when Finde’Lima suddenly turned on him; her hand griped his arm with surprising force. There was a wild look in her remaining eye, “She is hurting. The pain is unbearable.”Her voice choked on the last word, “He is hurting her, make him stop hurting her.”

“Who-“

“Anger, do you feel his anger? He wants to help her, but she won’t allow him control. He found her, but she doesn’t know what to do.”

Finde’Lima’s ravings confused Brom even more and his head ached from her riddles.

“Why do they hurt her? She is angry, so angry. She wants to die from the anger.”Finde’Lima said the words through clenched teeth.

“She has a very old spirit, a thousand years he has waited.”

“He? Who do you speak of?”He asked curiously

She leveled her eyes on Brom. “It is in you to help her.” She pushed her gnarled finger into his chest just above his heart. It is in your blood that you can see her, her bony hand moved over his eyes.

“What are you saying?”

“Your mother she had the sight gifted to us by Orla, and through you it continues.”

“Yes it was a difficult birth; you were so big for such a tiny frame.”

“She needs help, someone must help her. She is so lost and cannot find her way. There is no way out of the valley.

“Who needs help, Finde’Lima?”

“Can you see her?”She asked instead of answering. She placed her hand on Brom’s arm. He a felt shiver run through him as a vision appeared before his eyes of a girl. She was surrounded on all sides by water; her small hillock was close to being taken over by the raging maelstrom that blew around her. She was screaming into the wind, but her words were ripped from her mouth by gale winds. The image was gone the instant Finde’Lima removed her hand.

“You have the sight; you can protect her if you can find her.”She turned away but turned back, “You must find her.” Brom had many questions, but before he could ask; Finde’Lima turned away, “I am tired.” He watched as she found a spot in the corner and covered up with a thread bare blanket. Brom was left sitting in the dark confused by everything that had happened today.

“Sterling.”She said in a quiet voice, “The babe was named Sterling.”

“Finde, she is a girl, she cannot possibly be bound toa Ghai.”

His answer was the quiet snoring of his mentor. Brom decided that there wasn’t much more he could do tonight; he’d question Finde’Lima some more in morning. He sat about the task removing Tor’s saddle and bedding the horse down for the night. He decided to sleep outside in case any of the night creatures thought Tor a delicious meal.

He fell asleep with questions raging in his mind.

The morning sun and Tor’s neighing woke Brom from his sleep. It felt as if he had just fallen asleep, his eyes burned and his body ached from the cold ground.

He stood and stretched the aches from his body. It had been twenty years sense had last stepped foot in this forest and it still felt the same as when he was a boy. The smells, the sounds, they were all the same.

Then he turned and the reality of what had happened to his mentor came rushing back to the forefront. So much death at the hands of Moraug, so many lives destroyed.

His thoughts strayed to the girl Finde’Lima had spoke of last night. Khort’s daughter had survived the attack, and now she was out there somewhere, hurt. He took a sip of cold water from the well and mounted the steps into the darkened cottage.

“Finde?”

When she did not stir he stooped down next to make shift bed, “Finde?” he said again and pulled back the thread bare cover only to find it empty. Brom hung his head when he realized that she was gone. “Where have you gotten off to?”He said to the silent room.

He walked back outside and studied the clearing, but there was no sign of where she had gone, no tracks lead from the cottage. His first reaction was concern for her safety, but after living alone for twenty years he figured she could take care of herself.

While he waited for Finde’Lima to return he found a rusted shovel and dug graves for both Khort and Vash’Te. Using a blanket from the cottage he carefully wrapped Khort’s remains and placed them in the grave. He repeated the steps with Vash’Te and then recited the funeral rights for the fallen warrior. Brom’s father had died when Brom was just a baby and his aunt and uncle had assumed the duties of raising their nephew, but it was Khort who had been more of a father to Brom than the King. Khort, who had been the horse-master at the time, taught Brom how to ride, how to fight, and had suggested that he visit Finde’Lima when he bonded early with Valhrick.

It was this clearing when he’d last seen Khort alive. Norden had ridden with Khort and Vash’Te to bring Brom back to Bac’Ku, he’d been livid when he’d discovered where his nephew had been. Both Khort and Maeve had lied to their King when they told him that Brom was visiting relatives along the coast at their ancestral home. Brom had looked over his shoulder just as Khort disappeared into the cabin with Vash’Te; Khort had waved goodbye right at the last second. He remembered a deep sense of loss as the door closed as if he knew it was last time he’d see his friend again.

He felt that same whole again as he shoveled the last bit of dirt onto the grave. If it had not been for Khort, Brom knew his childhood would have been unbearable under the King’s iron fist. Khort had promised Brom he’d protect him after Norden’s temper exploded and he’d nearly beaten Brom into a stupor. Khort had kept his word and had protected Brom from the king’s temper. There was no way for Brom to pay Khort back for all he had done for him as a boy, but then Brom thought of Khort’s child, a daughter Finde’Lima had said, she’d escaped the attack with Hemi, but now it seems that she was in trouble. Brom looked down at the grave and realized he always had a feeling of resentment towards Khort for not returning to Bac’Ku and leaving him at the mercy of Norden. He’d felt abandoned by Khort, but now knew that he would not be man he was today if Khort had been there to fight all his battles for him. A sense of closure passed through him as he looked down at the fresh graves, “I promise you this old friend, no matter what I will find your daughter, and will all my power I’ll protect her from those that would harm her. Nothing will keep me from this, I swear to Orla she will be protected.”Brom stabbed the shovel into the dirt and left the graves, a feeling of wholeness filled the empty spot that had resided in his heart.