Adult-FanFiction.org : Books

Tears of the Phoenix	By : serialcabbit78 Category: S through Z > Valdemar Series Views: 1397 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do NOT own ANY of the rights to the Valdemar Series, those all belong to Mercedes Lackey, who has given me the inspiration. I make no profit from this or any writing.

Chapter List
- 1
- 2
- 3
“Do not be ashamed of your tears, I’m sure he knows how much you miss him.” Though Luna was small, her embrace was warm and sure. “Don’t ever feel like you shouldn’t cry. He’s still very much a part of you.”

A soft breeze stirred in the clearing and a swirl of leaves brushed against them. Luna felt the presence come back, and she continued to hold Stefen as he wept. She had never really known love in her short life, well save for the feeling she had when she was in the forest. She loved the animals that came to her, but she knew that this man’s love was different. She Saw the powerful bond between him and the spirit watching over them.
“Oh stop it; I doubt you came here to cry. I would love it if you would play for me. It’s been ages since I’ve heard some good music.” Luna could hear a gentle laugh in the voice, and she could hear pure and simple love. She smiled when Stefen pulled away and she reached up to wipe his tears away.
Stefen got up and went into the station, and gathered up his gittern and his cloak.   He heard Luna happily chattering away, and the sounds of someone building a fire.   He could also hear Vanyel’s voice telling her how to put together a stew that wouldn’t take all that long to cook.   She seemed a bit skeptical about using the rations Stefen had brought, and he was about to hurry out to tell her it was just fine.
“He won’t mind, and I think he’d be rather glad to not have to eat his own cooking. Mind you, he’s not that bad at it, Heralds and Bards have to learn how to do for themselves.”   Vanyel shimmered like a mist on snow, and the setting sun cast a reddish glow through the clearing. “You’re not afraid of me, are you?”

“I never have been; I always sensed that you were good and kind. I’m sure the bandits, raiders and general bad guys would think differently, assuming any lived to tell the tale.” Luna glanced up from cutting up the dried meat and smiled. “Then again, anyone wanting to cause harm deserves what they get.”

She threw the meat into the kettle and checked the vegetables and water before putting it over the fire she’d built. She prowled the edge of the clearing in the dying sunlight, finding a few savory herbs growing there and plucked a few leaves to add to the meal. She dropped them into the kettle and went into the station to fetch the basket she’d seen. She winked at Stefen and nodded to his instrument.
“I’m going to see if there are any berries for breakfast.   I know where there is a patch of some rather sweet ones.” With that, Luna skipped outside of the clearing.

“Please tell me she’s not trying to give us time alone.” Stefen chuckled as he sat near the fire, and started to tune his instrument. “She seems to be overly aware of things, but at the same time not all there.”

“It’s her gifts, ashke. Imagine it’s like listening to about five full Bards playing their hearts out at the same time, each one playing on a different emotion. She’s been that way as long as I’ve watched her. I’ll be glad when we can get her out of here. ‘Fandis seems to think she’ll be Chosen soon.” Vanyel seemed to just float in mid air, as if he was reclining on a bed. He listened as Stefen warmed up and began to play. They both seemed to watch the area of woods Luna had gone off into, listening for any sign of trouble. As the moon rose, they saw her come back, carrying the basket in her arms. She had a soft smile on her face.

She set the basket inside the door and came back to sit by the fire. She listened as Stefen played and sang, a dreamy expression crossing her face. She closed her eyes and listened for a few bars, then began to hum along.   She took a spoon she’d been using to stir the stew with and stirred it, testing to see if the veggies were getting tender. She was absorbed in the task at hand that she missed Stefen fumbling a few notes then gasping.

Luna turned, and for a moment she could have sworn she was seeing double. To one side, faintly transparent was a beautiful white horse, and stepping confidently towards her another. This one, a mare, wore silver and blue tack. Stefen reached and plucked the spoon from her hand as she stood and went to the saddled Companion.

: Oh bless the stars in the sky. I’ve found you at last, my sweet Moonbeam. I’m Surya and I choose you! : Luna trembled as she reached her hand out to pet the Companion’s nose, tears streaming down her cheeks. : Sweet Luna, You’re never going to be alone again. Thank the Havens Vanyel kept you alive. :

Vanyel and Stefen both looked on with shock. Vanyel had known the girl would be chosen, but he had no idea of when.   He could only watch the ‘now’ to protect, and never saw the near future.   He’d had no notion that the Companion was near.

: No worries, Faithful Guardian.   I knew you were getting anxious for her. : Surya’s bright voice sounded not only to Vanyel, but in the minds of Luna and Stefen as well. : She is young, but she’s wise beyond her years, as you well know. :
Luna hugged the Companion, letting her hands roam over the head and neck of the beautiful creature. She was sobbing into the Surya’s mane, but these were tears of happiness. Stefen checked the stew, pulling it off the fire to cool a touch before he served it out.   He picked up his gittern again, and began to play a happy and light melody. It was a melody he’d been playing with for a while, and began to whisper words to it.    He’d barely met this girl, this child and he felt as if she needed him.   He understood how lonely she had been, the fears she felt.

Vanyel smiled warmly, he knew all too well the deep and beautiful feeling of being Chosen. He’d been half crazed with grief and pain when Yfandis reached out to him, and the light she’d cast was barely enough to keep him alive. It wasn’t until his Aunt Savil had taken him to her friends the Tayledras that he’d been able to recover. Thankfully, Luna’s traumas were small compared to most of the girls in her village.   He knew there were things happening there, and that it was a constant dimness there that he could not entirely determine was just malice or magic.

Stefen handed Luna a bowl of stew; smiling warmly as she looked up at him with red and puffy eyes. She took the bowl, and slowly began to eat, seeming to be somewhere far away. Stefen knew the look well. It was one he got well used to when Vanyel was alive. She was in a conversation with her companion. Surya nuzzled Luna gently then stepped back from the girl’s side, and Stefen had an idea.

“My gentle lady, if you’ll follow me, I can help you get more comfortable. We’ll let Luna eat for now and I’ll help you teach her.” Stefen reached for the reins, smiling when Surya allowed him to lead her over to the small stable area.   He unsaddled her and gave her a thorough grooming, brushing the last bit of dust from her coat. She nuzzled him softly in thanks and went to lay down by Luna. He fixed a bowl for himself, and sat to eat listening to Luna chatter away to her new friend. After she finished eating, she started to braid Surya’s mane, giggling at something said between them.

“I don’t know when I started to roam the forest; I just know I was barely walking. In a way, I can’t say I’m sorry they’re gone, Surya. I really can’t. They never even tried to protect me, and in a way, the only being that ever seemed to care was, well I now know his name is Vanyel.” She chuckled and moved to lay against the Companion. “He loves his children, but he didn’t feel very fatherly in life, and in death… well if it wasn’t for him, I’d probably be dead.”

: He sensed potential in you, Gifts that you exhibited early. He saw them in you, so in a way he felt he HAD to make sure you thrived. Luna, you’re going to be a Herald. What sort of guardian do you think would let a child with your Gifts die, even though your own flesh and blood seemed hell bent on doing just that? : Surya stated empathically. : Though when you get to Haven, I think it would be best if you don’t mention you have Seen Vanyel. It would only unsettle some. With Treven, Jisa and Stefen, they will understand, but well…:

“Others may think I’m crazy?” Luna snorted indelicately. “Not like I don’t already get that. The whole village thought I should have been driven out.   They did just that when I was seven! If it wasn’t for the Spirit, I would have froze to death that winter.”

Stefen watched Luna speaking to Surya, and he guessed she either wasn’t comfortable using Mindspeech in front of others, or wasn’t exactly sure how to yet. He guessed it was possible she was making her side of the conversation apparent, so Stefen wouldn’t feel left out.
“Luna, if you wish to speak to Surya as she’s speaking to you, it will not bother me. You will remember that I do work around King Treven, Co-Consort and Monarch’s Own Herald Jisa, who both use Mindspeech with their companions, as did Vanyel.” Stefen smiled into the fire light and picked his gittern back up, idly drifting through a few melodies. He seemed happy to just be here, and the sense of urgency he felt coming here was gone. It had vanished when Surya appeared.   He felt eyes on him and he looked up into Surya’s eyes.

: She’s going to need a mentor when she gets back, you know. I know you are not a Herald, Singer, but you will be more familiar with her story. You’ve already accepted her as a friend and for that I thank you. I can’t see others making her be an outcast, and to tell you a secret, she’s got a touch of the Bardic Gift, but I think you figured that out when she picked up on your melodies within a few bars of each. : Surya spoke into Stefen’s mind. : Oh, stop acting so shocked, you damn well know we can Speak to whomever we choose. Yfandis spoke to you in the last weeks you spent with Vanyel, and yes, we know all about that. :

Luna chuckled, making it clear she could hear what Surya was saying to Stefen. “Well, I would think, given the stories, it was more a matter of need than choice, Surya. I’m sure it shocked Stef then too.” Luna pointed out logically. “I will be honest; the spirit here wasn’t the only one guiding me. There was this huge wolf animal that would stay near when it was winter. Especially that winter I was left out here. He did tell me that Vanyel called out to him and came to help.   He would bring me food as well, but I’m a bit fuzzy on his name, it was something like a wolf’s cry. He told me stories about how the forest became haunted.”
Luna looked more like the frightened child then. Her wide eyes reflected the firelight as tears streamed down her cheeks. Stef couldn’t imagine the fear and loneliness this child had felt in her life. He at least had someone living to tend for him, and more to the point human. All Luna had was a Kyree and the spirits of Vanyel and Yfandis. He’d known that Aroon had made sure to keep a few scouts around here to help keep things calmer, but he didn’t know if they’d stayed this long. He didn’t know why they would try to help one small human child, no matter her potential.
: There was need for Aroon to keep scouts here. There were many who escaped when Vanyel took out Leareth and his mages. : Surya sighed. : There were even more who did not come through the pass. There were reasons, big ones, to keep this child alive. :

Stef looked over at Luna, seeing that she’d drifted off into sleep, curled gently against Surya’s side. He took his cloak and wrapped it around her and banked the fire.   When he turned back, the look Surya gave him prompted him to curl up next to Luna and sleep there.

Vanyel and Yfandis stood to the side of the clearing, watching Stef and Luna settle in to sleep. The past ten years had taken a toll on Valdemar as a whole. Stef and the Bards were doing their best to make ordinary Heralds the heroes, to make the people believe their powers were enough to protect them. One small thing he could do and that was to hasten Luna’s choosing. He knew that Surya was coming, and it probably would have been in a year. He knew that had those bastards gone through with their plans, there would have been nothing left of Luna’s sanity or soul to choose had he not acted. He had sent dreams to Treven, Jisa and to Stef, knowing that the King would send him. He allowed the fire in the way station to snuff itself out, and shut the door. He watched the fire as the others slept.

: ‘Fandis, I feel so bad dragging him out here. I know it’s not easy at all for him, and had I seen a vision of ‘Lendel in the years after…: The trees around the clearing shivered a bit in the soft sigh of a breeze. : Though I didn’t see it until it was way too late that Stef is ‘Lendel. He was sent back to me and I was too afraid to see it. My father apparently saw it far better than I did. I know Moondance, Savil and Starwind did. I just wonder why they never told me. :

: Because, love, they didn’t want you to back slide into the habits you had when you first met Tylendel. They wanted you to see him for who he was in the present than what he was in the past. To do that, you had to learn it all on your own. : Yfandis spoke softly, sitting with her chosen, watching the living sleep. : To be honest, Starwind felt you should know, but was willing to let the wisdom of his younger lover over rule him. In a way, it was like when Stef convinced you that Trev and Jisa marrying was the right thing. :

: I have the feeling that Luna knows things she hasn’t spoken, there is absolutely no possible way she’d have known that Jisa is Stefen’s step-daughter, or that Jisa considered using my name to name one of her children. I do agree with her on the point that it’s a secret we do need to keep, at least for a few generations. Her naming a child Vanyel this soon will make people wonder if I was truly an Uncle, and I was that in name only. That was only because Randi saw me as a brother, and that we worked so closely together. : Vanyel sighed, and placed another stick in the fire. The night was slightly chilly and he didn’t want the two to get chilled.

: Like she’d let them get cold. Luna knows another secret, one she shared with Surya and that she won’t tell anyone, save for Jisa. Jisa does not know that Treven figured out your secret. He looked through the lines, even before they married. He could feel that she wasn’t a cousin, and she would have been if she was indeed Randale’s. They would have not life bonded if they were that closely related, that is certain. : Yfandis’s mind voice held a touch of smugness. : Trev figured it out by your reaction when they got married. Most of the servants thought maybe they called you to talk some sense into Trev, or to back Randale.   If Shavri was that intent on keeping that secret, she would not have had you summoned, not publicly like that. Then again, those last few years, she was not thinking clearly. The attack that Randale suffered that night was brought on completely by Shavri’s selfish distress. :

Vanyel thought back to that night, and he had to agree with Yfandis.   It was way too public an argument in the first place and she’d backed Treven, Jisa and himself all into a corner. He thought back to the way Treven treated him after that and realized the young man treated him with the same respect he gave Randale.

: It’s cute though, they both have their reasons for not telling each other, but it is a very wise and mature thing for Trev to continue allowing Jisa to think he doesn’t know. I have the feeling that this child Jisa is carrying now WILL look like me, in one way or another. : Vanyel listened on the wind, hearing something in the distance. Yfandis and Surya both heard it, and both were alert.

An extremely small child stumbled into the clearing. It could not have been more than three or four years old, the clothing it wore was burned and tattered, and it was bleeding from a few wounds. It caught sight of the spirit and opened its mouth to let out a wail that would have woke the dead. Luna sat bolt upright, nearly elbowing Stef in the stomach as she went. She flung the cloak aside and jumped up and had the child in her arms before she was fully awake.

“Oona, Oona.. bad men hurt ‘ouse. Bad men hurt mama and dada.” The tiny little tot clung to Luna and began sobbing. She closed her eyes and allowed herself to calm the child, even though she her heart was still racing.

Vanyel watched Luna, using at least two if not three of the gifts she possessed to calm the child. She had as many gifts has he’d had, but no mage gift. He should know; he’d shown her a few ways to center herself and shield in dreams.   They were mere basics, and he was only able to do that much because her dreams were easy to enter. Had he been living, he’d have had her on her way to Haven before she turned three. He turned his attention to Luna and the little one in her arms.

“Cody, tell me what happened. What did they do to your house and parents?” All trace of dreaminess that hung around Luna was gone. She was totally and completely in the here and now. In that moment, she wasn’t the child Luna any more. She was indeed Herald-Trainee Luna.

“The bad men, they are mad. They are mad ‘cuz you left. Luna, they hurt all of us.” Cody buried his face in Luna’s shoulder and cried.

The clearing was suddenly filled with a brightness that seemed to come from everywhere at once; and from nowhere at all. Luna could Feel the scorching rage the Sorrows was Notorious for. A wild, angered equine shriek filled the air as the light condensed into a ball and shot off in the direction from where Cody had come. Stefen gasped, his eyes were wide, and Luna was given the impression he’d seen evidence of this rage before.

“I take it he does not like when innocents are harmed?” Luna asked, knowing the answer.

“No, Luna, it’s not that. I’m not sure, ask Surya.” Stefen’s voice sounded calm, belying the fear in his eyes.

: Surya, what is going on? I’ve never even felt him this angry in all my life. I’ve watched him take out bandits, nothing ever felt like this. : Luna asked Surya, trying to keep her mindvoice calm.

: Dark Magic, very dark. Black and bloody. It’s the same magic he gave his life to end. He’s angry, yes, but none of you have anything to fear. : Surya said, rage lacing her voice as well.

“Let me get Cody cleaned up. I want to make sure these injuries are taken care of and that he doesn’t have something worse.” She took an indelicate sniff. “Well, nothing worse than a case of thunder pants.”

Stefen went over to his packs and found a clean towel and began to tear it into a diaper shaped cloth. He wet another rag and helped Luna tend to the child. At first, he was sure the poor thing couldn’t have been more than four but he realized that the baby was only a year or so old.

“Luna, do the people in your village allow small toddlers to just wander through these woods, as if they’re only a nursery? Please tell me that you and this little one are the exceptions!”   Stefen was aghast. “I mean, anything could harm a child in the woods, not just these woods.”

“Most of the kids don’t dare enter these woods. They are told stories that the cursed spirit will kill them, and if that don’t work, they fall back on the tales about the Hawkbrothers. I’ve always doubted that the Brothers would leave their lands to carry off naughty children, and well as you can see, the curse of the Sorrows only applies to those who are up to no good.” Luna shrugged. “Cody here will be two in a couple moons, and most of the people except his mother really avoid him. I think his father would rather something carry him off.”

“Luna, why would parents not care about their children? What is going on here that is so warped that your parents, and this little one’s are… I don’t understand it.” Stefen picked up Cody and held him to his shoulder, gently rocking him. “I grew up without parents, but Vanyel’s parents, they accepted me as their own son, especially after they moved to Haven. Vanyel’s father for years did not accept Van’s choice of bed fellows, but after a while, he softened to the fact. When he met me, when I helped Van’s mom settle in at court, I became as much an Ashkevron as Van was. We never said vows, but they treated me if I was just another one married into the family.”

“It has to do with the bad men. I don’t remember a time that they were not in this village. Some of us young ones have found that all history from the time Randale took the throne had been erased. It was as if our village NEVER existed. Some felt it had to do with Vanyel’s Curse, but the elders, they knew better.” Luna’s eyes were wide; tears sparkled as they slid down her cheeks. “The history of our village was starting to be eradicated before Vanyel ever set foot in Crookback Pass to take out Master Dark.”

“You mean, some of the Dark Servants made it into the forest ahead of that battle, that they set up camp in your village,” Stefen gasped. “That makes you one of the most important trainees in recent history.”

: That is why he sent those dreams. He knew something was coming, he just didn’t know how or when. I saw you leave and had myself fitted out in my tack to follow you. I knew you would lead her to me. I tried to stay about half a day behind you, which is not easy because my easiest paces would leave most horses in the dust. : Surya sounded proud of herself. : Then again, it’s not every day a young companion gets to meet legends. :

“Please, do not ever let me hear that phrase again. I grew quite weary of all the hero worship when I was alive, and the only one I’m likely to accept it from is my ashke.” An exasperated voice chuckled into the clearing. Surya tossed her head and made a very equine sounding laugh. “Well, it’s safe enough, why don’t you two settle down with the baby and try to sleep more. Protect them, Ashke…”
- 1
- 2
- 3
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Tears of the Phoenix