"And' mid this tumult Kubla heard from far

Ancestral voices prophesying war!"

- Samuel Taylor Coleridge, "Limbo"

*****

Soundtrack of the chapter: Unite the Stars by Leonidas

Media: Beautiful THoS movie poster by RosyKun

*****

Chapter Twenty-One: Tidings from Afar

Eli couldn't stop the whimper of pain escaping his lips as he tried to stand. Jasper grabbed his arm as he stumbled, his diseased left leg buckling under him.

Jasper pursed his lips. "That does not look good."

"Well thank you for the information, captain obvious," he managed to ground out between gritted teeth. "It seems that I don't know."

The other boy released his hold on Eli's arm and he fell forward, tasting the cold, asphalt floor.

Cady, who was standing next to his wheelchair, screeched.

"Jasper! What was that for?" Shooting toward his side, she looked up at Jasper, her flaming hair falling backwards in loose curls. Her eyes gleamed with a ferocity that challenged even the sun.

He had his arms folded, so tight the elaborate sleeves of his robes were pulled taut.

"Master Sanguinis, I was only trying to help. If you don't appreciate my help, I think you can get out of my chambers."

Jasper's words shot through his heart, skewing a deep hole in it. He started to retaliate, but Cady shushed him by closing a hand over his mouth.

"You know he doesn't mean it," said she. "It is the pain talking."

Another jolt of pain speared his leg. The searing pain wrenched his mouth open, rendering his mind into numb mush as a scream tore its way out of his throat.

Without a word, Jasper knelt down next to him. With a deft flick of his hand, a drawn rune hovered in the air before it sank down onto the blackened skin on Eli's leg. The rune crept outwards, flimsy strands of brilliant blue stretching the entire length of the skin and knitting the disease in so it wouldn't continue wreaking damage.

Eli felt the sizzling pain in his foot drop a notch. Cady helped him sit up. With his head cleared, he nodded an apology to Jasper.

"Don't mention it," Jasper grunted and hoisted Eli into his wheelchair, slowly and carefully, so he wouldn't bump his foot against anything.

Cady went over to Jasper's side. Her fingers threaded themselves through the mounds of messy herbs Jasper had piled up on the table. If it was down to Eli, he would had catalogued and organized them.

"I heard that the Grand Stellium is coming, is that true?"

Eli jerked his head toward Cady, answering her question. "Yes, Amueh the wise reaches the Hall this evening."

"And he brings his little apprentice along with him, so I've heard," Jasper threw in. "That kid is lot of trouble."

"He's not a kid, he's a Stellium," Eli corrected Jasper. "Daeguar is known for making the worst mistakes known in Esvanira, but he has a heart of gold."

Jasper shrugged an I-don't-really-care type of shrug and continued pounding the herbs in the mortar.

"Why is he here? As far as I know, a Stellium doesn't come willingly from Star Isle unless there is something serious going on."

"This is serious," Eli said. "An attack on a Hall breaks every single rule in the Celestial law."

Jasper coughed. "And I supposed a massacre on the Hall of Shadows isn't serious?"

He pulled a face. He hated it when people remind him of his Hall's misgivings.

"That was before. Grandfather realized his mistake and swore and oath never to act in impulse anymore."

Cady must have sensed the awkward tension building up in between him and Jasper, for she threw in another topic.

"Guys, Jo told me the Beltane Ball has been canceled."

Jasper snorted at the mention of the Beltane Ball. "Good thing too, that Ball is nothing but a circus of people in funny dresses."

Eli wanted to reach out and slap Jasper across the face, but he knew better than to give in to his temper. Jasper held Eli's life in his hands, and he feared for that slender strand of life. The Master Physician had been insulting everything about the Hall, from the High Priest to even the food. His remark on the Beltane Ball was considered the ultimate insult to anyone of the Hall higher rankings, for it marked the beginning of summer and the beginning of good harvest. Rituals were performed to protect the cattle, crops, people, and to encourage growth. Special were kindled, and their flames, smoke and ashes were scattered all over the Hall for their protective powers.

He shook his head, ignoring a look of utter horror from Jasper. "Grandfather objected the cancelation. It shall run as normal."

Deciding that Jasper's face of contempt wasn't attractive, he turned to look at Cady who had a silly smile plastered on her face: the kind that most girls were caught daydreaming about something unknown to the other sex.

"What is the Beltane Ball like?"

When the words left her mouth, she blushed, her cheeks turning a fiery shade so intense they could combat with her curls. Eli found himself staring at her with more fervency that he would allow himself to have. He gave himself a mental slap and fiddled with this thumbs.

"It's like any other ball, but with more singing and merrymaking. Food and ale pours freely from the barrels we have imported from the Hall of All."

Jasper propped up a leg on the chair, waving his knife in the air. Eli wheeled aside, just in case Jasper tried to use him as target practice.

"If there is ale, you can count me in. But don't expect me to dance, ladies and gentlemen."

No one invited you. A smug voice said in Eli's head, annoyed that his remark wasn't able to be expressed in public.

Much to his surprise, Jasper suddenly jerked his head toward him, eyes blazing. For a brief second, he thought the Master Physician had read his mind, and his breath hitched. But Jasper's vision burned right through Eli, and was trained on the closed door of the healing chambers.

The doors creaked open and a timid face covered with freckles peeked in.

"Master Sanguinis?" the little Oracle said shyly, trying her best to cover her body with the wooden door. "The High Priest asked for your presence to receive the Stellium guests, as well as Miss Gates and Master Silverbird."

"So soon?" Eli ejaculated. "I thought they said evening."

The little girl shook her head so vigorously, her carrot braids were a whirling blur.

"You haven't been notified, Your Honor? The Stelliums had sent word about their early arrival days ago."

Days ago. He was still out cold days ago. A stinging pain shot up his right fist and he looked down. He had just slammed an angry fist on the handles of his wheelchair.

Cady was at his side in less than a second.

"Eli, are you alright?"

"Apart from pain, yes," he grunted. "I'll be fine."

Eli flicked his gaze to Jasper and back to the door. Jasper had picked up motion and sound from the corridor even before Eli sensed anything. The other boy must have realized that Eli was observing him, and he returned the favor. Eli took a good long look at him, taking in his long lashes and hair as black as the night. His eyes betrayed no emotions, and he knew Jasper was hiding something. His words and cruel ways of mocking every situation in the world was a flaw that Oracles can see through almost at once.

What are you hiding, Jasper Silverbird? What is it that you couldn't tell a fellow Oracle?

Jasper's heightened awareness of the surroundings and his abilities with healing flipped a switch inside Eli's head, a switch that was uncompleted and frayed at the ends, leading to nothing but more questions. The way Cady looked at Jasper was a far cry from how she looked at him. Cady treated Eli with compassion and love, but her love to him was wood to a flame whereas hers to Jasper was oil on fire, sending out sprays of wild ashes and sparks.

And those sparks disgusted him.

He couldn't bear Jasper to be near Cady. He felt an angry spasm in his heart every time Jasper talked to Cady, and every moment when she laughed at his jokes or chased him around the chamber.

Eli looked down at his robes, seeing through the fabric as though it was looking through a clear lake. His long, skinny legs rippled underneath the cloth, and one of them bore the long tell-tale scars of his sufferings and burdens, reminding him that he could never run like a normal boy, or even walk like a normal person.

He could never chase Cady around, or even swim with her at the hottest of the Esvaniran afternoons.

The feelings ran amok in his mind, smashing the last barriers that Raphine Sanguinis had warned him about love and attachment.

Is this jealousy? If so, jealousy hurts.

"Oi, Eli," Cady's loud voice interrupted his train of thoughts. "I'm going to take you to the main Hall now, unless you want to sit here and stare at the walls?"

"I was preparing myself," he grumbled and gently pushed away Cady's hands when they came to rest on the handles. "It's okay, I can get there myself."

"You sure?" The dubious note in her voice rang so hard in Eli's head, it echoed around, ricocheting so hard, the walls of his mind stung.

A drawl scraped its way from the back of the room, sounding somewhat like a cat yowling . Jasper did a lazy stretched and rubbed his eyes. "Let's get this over with. I want to see this so-called marvelous Stellium for myself."

Cady held the door open for Eli as he wheeled out as fast as his arms could make it. Jasper slung the Gilded Tarot over his belt, whistling merrily.

Eli focused on the distance before him, each turn of his chair took him closer to the Great Stellium, someone whom he held great reverence for ever since birth. He was the Stellium who immersed himself so deep within history, tossing out facts and secrets of vexation which would anger many, so much that some of the High Priest and Priestesses abhor his very presence.

Maybe he could ask him about the Great War, and about the quote which someone had torn out of the library book. Amueh was kind, he would understand.

The Feorhs waiting outside the hall bowed when they saw them approaching. One placed a ghostly paw on the polished metal doors and pushed it open.

The silent screech of the door parted Eli's vision, giving him the view of a tall and slender figure dressed in dark blue robes. The light fabric of the robes flailed lightly even without the telltale whispers of the wind, the numerous runes sewn on the hem glittering like powdered diamonds.

Next to the cloaked person, was a shorter version of him. He too, was wearing similar robes, except his was without runic print.

Amueh the Wise stepped up to Eli and folded down his cowl, revealing a Stellium with a sharp, angular face. His skin was as black as the night sky, dotted with thousands silver flecks which blinked like eyes. His mouth was lined, creased with time and parched with age. His eyes held troves of knowledge and experience, sophistication and comprehension of the world and its mystery flowed out of those silver windows, a wild tide impossible to hold back.

Eli could feel the awe and respect radiating from Cady, even Jasper. The other boy gave the Stellium a little bow, acceptable even if it was awkward.

"You must be Elijah Sanguinis."

The Stellium's deep, sonorous voice echoed in his mind. Eli didn't flinch. He knew that the Grand Stelliums were able to express their words in the form of thoughts and emotions.

"Yes, Lord Amueh."

The Stellium turned his head to survey Cady and Jasper, his long and sleek silver hair hardly seemed to move. It cascaded down to his waist where a little metal clasp secured it at the end.

"And these must be the companions you spoke so highly of."

Raphine Sanguinis, who was standing at the front of the hall the whole time, took several steps forward.

"Indeed, your Lordship. This is Cadence Gates, she was the one who notified Master Silverbird of the attack on the Hall. Without her help, we could all be dead from the Mandrake."

"Cadence Gates," the Stellium rolled Cady's name around in his tongue, as if tasting it. "A raw, beautiful name, just like the star she was name after."

"I've heard so much about you," Cady said. She was standing very stiffly, her back snapped straight and her fingers locked together—a trait she never realized she did when she was nervous.

Amueh's eyes glinted, if it was in amusement, he did not show.

"Really, young Oracle?" Amueh said. "You did?"

The way Amueh said 'Oracle', it was deliberate and slow, as if he was relishing the word.

Cady's fingers tightened, so much her hands turned a choking shade of white.

"Yes, especially your work about Esvanira's Greatest Wars."

The Stellium angled his head so he could shoot his grandfather a meaningful look before it flitted back to Cady.

"Unusual for the young ones to be interested in the works of an old man," said he. "That book was one of my greatest and most detailed researches. I hope it served your purpose well."

He swept across to Jasper. Standing a good head taller than Jasper, he towered over him. Jasper recoiled by taking a step backward before he caught himself and steeled his stance.

"You're Master Silverbird," Amueh said. "A pleasure."

"The pleasure is all mine, my Lord," Jasper said. "You grace us with your presence."

Jasper's words held not an iota of sarcasm, but rather reverence. Of course, everyone was inferior to the great Stellium of Star Isle, he who had lived long enough to see his grandfather as a warbling child.

The Stellium placed a hand on Jasper's brow. It must be icy cold, just like the universe, for Jasper flinched. "I sense a great gift in you, a gift of medicine and its wonders."

He then waved a hand at the slighter figure next to him who lifted his hood and stared at everyone out of his young, silver eyes. The Stellium was indeed, in his early years, probably around eighteen or nineteen. His hair was thicker and glossier compared to his elder's, his were spun silk, and the other weaving thread. His cheeks were held high and carved deep, his dark skin shimmering like a lake under the afternoon sun.

All Stelliums were beautiful, especially their young ones.

"This is Daeguar, my apprentice in the Library of All. He came with me to observe the remains of the attack."

The Stellium—Daeguar, bowed at once, his arms parting gracefully at his sides.

Amueh swung back to Raphine, who stood silently, observing the Stellium.

"The Hall reeks of Mandrake, something that cannot be obtained in these lands. Whomever who did this, must have travelled far and risked much. You have brought this upon yourself, Master Sanguinis."

Raphine looked as if someone had choked him.

"Excuse me, my Lord. I didn't bring this upon myself. You and I know very well what really happened during the Great War."

Amueh held his hand. "Master Sanguinis, the Walkers do not see from your point of view. You burnt their homeland to the ground, and that remains a solid fact."

"Are you suggesting that there might still be Walkers? I assure you, they were all—"

"My point exactly, your honor," the Stellium interjected. "Mandrakes only grow around the Hall of Shadows. Walkers are not weak, they are survivors. The chances of survivors are very high and I believe it was revenge that led them to attack the Hall."

An icy hand closed itself around Eli's throat, constricting it.

Walkers, they might not be extinct after all.

He didn't know whether to feel happy or frightened. All his life, he was taught to detest the Walkers at all costs. They were unforgiving creatures, bound to the spawn of darkness and their beliefs opposed those of the Spirits. But if what Lord Amueh said was true, the Hall of Spirits was in imminent danger.

The Stellium walked toward Cady and Jasper, appraising them again.

"The bane of Mandrakes is called the blood flower. It counteracts the negative energy released by the Mandrakes and if burned and the Hall consecrated with its fumes, the Hall will be protected from any future attacks."

"Where can we find such flowers?" Raphine's voice rumbled from the back.

He lifted a finger and jabbed where the sun set behind the mountains.

Eli followed the finger's trajectory and the truth dawned on him.

The Stellium wanted them to pay a visit to the Hall of Shadows.

"Blood flowers are of shadow descent, and they only grow around the Hall of Shadows. You must send someone adept and well-versed in herbs to retrieve those flowers, for it is the twin of Mandrakes, potent in different ways."

"I'll go," Eli volunteered. "I know what blood flowers look like."

Raphine thundered out at once, latching a firm hand on his shoulder, the trait of an over-protective parent portraying itself. "You're not going anywhere."

"Grandfather, you can trust me on this. I know my herbs well."

"You can't even walk an inch on those legs of yours. How are you going to cover the distance between the Halls?"

Raphine's words hit a sore spot. Eli gritted his teeth, reeling in a frustrated scream.

Useless. He chided himself. You're utterly useless.

"Your Honor," a new musical voice piped up, shyly. "I believe Master Silverbird is quite capable physically for this mission."

The worried creases around Raphine's eyes softened at Daeguar's words.

"The Stellium is right. You are in no condition for travelling. I will send Master Silverbird to retrieve the blood flowers."

Jasper cleared his throat. "Master Sanguinis, it would be an honor to be chosen, but I request a helping hand. Travelling alone and harvesting such poisonous plants is very dangerous."

Raphine didn't look up. His voice shook with fatigue as he spoke. "Who would you like to take on this quest?"

Eli knew the answer before it even left Jasper's mouth.

"Cadence Gates."

"What?!" Cady screeched in surprise. "Jasper, I don't want to go."

"Cadence, this is an order. You will leave with Master Silverbird at sunrise tomorrow," Raphine said, sterner than usual.

Jasper bowed while Cady remained rooted at the spot, flabbergasted.

"I have some private words to share with the High Priest." Amueh nodded at them. "Good luck and be careful when you head out."

Eli started to wheel himself up, but a strong pair of hands close around the handles and pushed him out, with more force than necessary, almost causing him to topple out.

"What is your problem, Silverbird?" Eli said angrily.

Jasper shook his head, his eyes drills. "Nothing."

Eli reached behind him and grabbed Jasper by his sleeve, yanking him forward. Caught off guard, Jasper pitched forward. He caught himself by the wall, but his face was now inches from Eli's.

"Listen here, I don't know what you're planning taking Cady with you. But if you dare harm a single hair on her head, I will kill you."

The smug look on Jasper's face was infuriating.

"You can try," he said before he straightened back up and wheeled Eli back to the Healing chambers, this time with care.

Eli secretly stole a look at Cady. Her face was paler than usual, and the faint pink tinge on her cheeks was gone.

His heart went out to her. He didn't know what Jasper had in mind. Cady knew literally close to nothing about herbs and plants. However, Eli vowed that he would try everything in his power to persuade his grandfather to take Cady off the mission.

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A/N

Ahh you guys have so many amazing theories it makes me scared! But still, bring it on! *wears armor* 

And now, Cady and Jasper are setting out in search for Blood Flowers, the Hall's only hope against any future Mandrake attack! 

Stellium Amueh and Daeguar are important figures in future chapters, so don't forget them! ;) Who's excited for the journey? I know I am!

Coco puffs,

Stef