the surface and gulped in a large amount of clean air. The coughing started immediately, and then she seemed to go between deep breaths and coughing from the pain in her lungs.
By the time she felt that she had coughed up the whole river, her other senses came into play and she felt bubbles against her legs and water dripping from above. She looked up and let out a little scream as she saw a squid suspended, turning and thrashing only a few feet from her head. She kicked out and hit something solid beneath her and swam as fast as she could away from the bulk above her.
Kajn had seen Vanor rise towards the surface and had followed a moment later, but was not expecting the kick in the side of the head as he approached her. Stars swam before his eyes and he could only half raise himself to the surface. Disorientated as he was, he saw
Vanor fleeing towards the bank and with pain in his head started to follow. He had lost his sword in the last dive but the shore seemed a better option until the world stopped spinning.
On hands and knees he reached the shore and collapsed. The Old Man was still chanting as Kajn felt his body slowly sink into sleep.
He was aware of a strange building in front of him and he saw Vanor waiting outside. As he moved easily to her side she reached over and took his hand. He felt warmth from that touch and looking down noticed that her hands were glowing with white fire. Her touch was soft and when he looked at her eyes they glowed with a fiery essence that penetrated his soul and he followed her to the top of the steps. They moved between the arches and he was bewildered by twelve beings of light that walked up to Vanor. She placed his hand into the largest being’s hand and stood aside as they led him down more steps to the altar. As he looked at Vanor he felt compelled to lie down. The warmth of the beings’ light on his head hummed through his body and Kajn saw the world turn white.
Kajn awoke with Vanor leaning over him touching his forehead. He could still feel the residual warmth from her hand and mumbled, “You’re beautiful,” as he stared at her eyes. She blushed and pulled her hand away from him and moved towards the Old Man who was inspecting the squid now lying askew on the shore. “Is it dead?” she asked as she came closer.
“Yes, more than dead I’m afraid as now he cannot tell us anything” he assured her as he stopped her reaching out to it. “This animal has been conjured from a demon dimension but we will need to search the records to find out why and for what purpose. I am also unsure if it has a sending capability upon death and why it was sent here.”
Lost in thought and staring blankly at the dusty ancient scrolls, Kajn was trying hard to concentrate on his task at hand and had been very quiet since the episode in the river. He had not had the chance to talk to Vanor yet about the healing temple and what significance it held for her. He was afraid to broach the subject in case she had no idea what he was talking about. He still felt a slight flowing feeling in his head and had never felt more alive.
He even saw colours that were brighter somehow than before and felt warm and at ease with the world.
He was pondering these different sensations when he realised he had been staring at a picture of a squid-like creature. When he finally realised what he had been looking at he called out to the Old Man, “I think I’ve found it!”
The Old Man studied the disproportional hand-drawn figure and the associated text and frowned. “This creature has been summoned by a Mora demon, which has a distinctive red jewel at its third eye by the way, to help the Ninja in his quest for the assassination of a strong warrior or warriors. It seems to have been summoned with three other creatures of Wind, Fire and Earth as the squid was the Water element. Oh dear, once one has been killed the other three become stronger and so on until the last has the power of the other three. Kajn, do you still have that tooth from the werewolf?”
Kajn looked perplexed for a moment and then reached into his coin pouch and replied, “You mean this?” The Old Man gingerly took the tooth and mumbled, “Perfect. Umm, I’ll see you both tomorrow,” as he waved them off and vanished in a puff of shimmery lights. Vanor and Kajn looked at each other and both shrugged in unison. Kajn replaced the musty old volumes of books and with his back to Vanor asked, “Do you mind explaining what you did at the river?”
Vanor blushed and replied quietly, “You know I’m a healer of sorts and they took you to where they could heal you. Well I sort of did, but it was they not me who healed you. It’s the first time I have taken someone to the temple. Normally I go by myself.”
Kajn gently took her hand, looked in her eyes and asked, “Who are they, Vanor? Should I be worried that you may be controlled by someone or some other force that you have no control over?”
Vanor stood back and shook her hand out of Kajn’s. “Are you saying I’m possessed?” Her eyes flared angrily. “They help me heal. I don’t know how or why, but it is a gift they give me, not a controlling influence. How could you be so cruel as to think that?”
Storming out of the library she slammed the door so hard that the heavy oak door vibrated for a moment.
Hurrying away, Vanor did not notice the looks of the passing courtiers who veered around her to go in any direction but the one she was going. She entered her room, quickly shutting the door so no one could see the tears that had now begun to flow. She leant against the door, “I knew he wouldn’t understand,” she quietly murmured. Lying down on her bunk and feeling very tired and depressed she drifted off to sleep.
The white clouds in her dream shifted and moved and she relaxed. She moved her mind very slightly and gently floated in this relaxing place. Her arm where one wolf had bitten her, but only lightly, seemed to ache. Wondering what that would mean, she tried to touch the wound on the back of her upper arm. Even in her glowing state there was a dark patch that was in the shape of a deep incisor wound. Wondering but not worrying she moved forward to the temple.
Unusually there was no one there. The platform of the temple was empty and this made her feel even more uneasy and alone. She wandered about the steps for a while and decided to investigate. At the back of the temple she found a garden that was exhilarating.
A fountain formed a framework of streams and waterfalls and the water tinkled and splashed musically. It seemed to divide the garden and each section had different flowers or herbs of various shades. Vanor walked beside one stream that was bordered by large willow trees, and carefully trod on hopping stones that were laid out. The flowers were perfect in every way, and reaching down to caress one perfect red rose, she noticed that the flower vibrated with light and coursed through her fingers. Attuning her mind, she realised that the whole garden was quietly humming in a choir-like voice with different species of flowers, trees and herbs vibrating slightly differently to the next.
She paused and sat cross-legged listening to the beauty that she had never known existed. It played with her emotions and she found that she had laughed and cried to the harmony of the voices. Finally the sounds became a mumble of love and she looked up to find one of the glowing beings standing before her.
He looked concerned and when he started to speak it was with such a rich deep timbre that seemed to compel her to listen.
“The wound cannot be healed by us until the blood of the one you love disperses the evil.”
She looked up confused, as she didn’t think the wound was even that deep, never mind life threatening.
“You mean this on my arm? But I don’t understand, how could something that shallow really hurt me?” Vanor replied.
“It is tainted with evil to stop your work before it has begun.” “Your time here has been longer than you think, as a week
