Chapter 7

"There is someone new in the valley, it is time to get up," came the voice in my head. "Thank you Samantha." I could feel the energy that was in the valley, the villagers were anxious, some were fearful, and others were cautious. The newcomer feels very confident, purposeful, and in search of something or someone. Who is this person? I suppose I will find out soon enough.

"Aleatha, I want you and the others to continue to go through those journals, and see if you can match the clues to the different maps. Maybe you can find what each of the crystals is pointing at, or why they are glowing. I know that they must point out something, I would like to know what or at least a guess as to what it might be."

With that there is a knock at the front door. There are two boys at the door, they have been running, both are out of breath. Finally one catches his breath long enough to tell me that Meelos wants me to come to the village right away, there is a stranger waiting on the path into the village. No one knows his name or where he came from; he hasn’t said anything and just seems to be waiting for something. I send them back to the village to tell Meelos and the others I will be there right away. How very odd that right when I plan to start travelling again that someone comes into this valley searching for something, or maybe looking for me. What an interesting thought.

"Samantha, will you join me in meeting this stranger?"

"Yes, I will. I’m surprised that you haven’t recognized who it is yet."

"There is still a lot that I don’t remember, that includes people. This person doesn’t give much up in way of identity, either. I feel like I should be able to tell who it is, I can tell one person from the next with the villagers, yet this person's identity eludes me." Most of the villagers have not seen Samantha even though they have all heard about her. It’s a toss-up on who they are afraid of most, the stranger or Samantha. Needless to say, the villagers are hoping that I will leave soon so that they can get back to their normal lives, yet they don’t understand that what was normal will never return, their lives will be richer now than they ever have been. That is something that they will have to discover on their own.

Now that we have reached the village, I can see for myself the incredible uproar that Samantha and the stranger has caused. I will have to find a way to calm everyone. First things first though, to see who this stranger is and what he wants. There they all are, over by the entrance to the village. "Meelos, has the stranger said anything? Has he indicated what it is he wants?"

"Only that he is looking for The Oracle," says Meelos. "I am glad that you are here. We have invited him to come in to the square but he hasn’t moved or said anything else. He carries weapons that have not been seen by us before, that is what has most of us afraid."

"Well let’s see what, if anything, he will say to me." As I turn to look at him, I realize that it is his ancestor that had served me before, yet I still cannot tell who he is. "I am the one that you seek. Tell me, who are you?"

The stranger dismounts from his horse, and both he and his horse give a deep bow. "I am called Quaine. My ancestor was to guard you at all times, yet he failed. Upon his death he set all future children in search and into service for you. Now that you are again amongst the living, I am honor bound to serve you and protect you, if you will have me. My ancestor and all that have followed him have not served you as best that they could. They could not find you and he did not protect you as he was sworn to do. Please forgive him and those that followed him and allow me to make up for their inability to do their job. I wish to make retribution for the past."

"Quaine, please stand. Your ancestor did the best that he could; he could not have done anything against the sisters that captured me. No one could find me, the sisters had hidden me well, and it seems moved me often. So, yes, you and your ancestors are forgiven. I welcome your service to me. I will be travelling soon, and I will need someone like you to come with me. Now then, please come up to my house."

"If it is alright with you and the elders I would prefer to stay in this village for a few days. I believe that I can help them to learn the black-smithing that has been forgotten and not needed until now."

"I have no problem with that. I will need you to look over the maps that I have before we leave though. Meelos, Trina, Cyril do any of you have any objections to Quaine staying in the village for a few days?"

The three of them talk it over, of course Cyril has to voice an objection or two, they manage to overcome his objections. "We welcome you to our village. You may stay with the blacksmith."

On our way into the village Quaine asks, "My lady, where is your horse?"

"I don’t have one yet. I will let you pick out a good one for me."

"You have a horse already, you always do."

"Well, if I always have one, then it hasn’t shown itself to me yet. It will be here when I need it. Just like everyone and everything else that I have needed. I want you to make sure that we have everything that is needed for a long journey. That includes anyone that might be needed."

"As you wish, my lady." When we reach the blacksmiths shop there is a beautiful horse standing at the front of the shop. "I believe your horse is here. I will make sure that it will be ready for a long journey."

"Thank you Quaine." This horse wasn’t here when we came through the village a little bit ago. It seems as I need things, or people, they show up. "I must get back up to my house. There are maps that need to be gone over, and journals that need to be deciphered."

"I have a question for you," queries Samantha, "do you implicitly trust everyone? Do you think that there is no possibility that someone might try to harm you or lie to you?"

"I trust that what they say they will do will get done. I also watch to make sure that they do it and not do what they shouldn’t do or that they aren’t lying. I don’t put it past anyone to lie, I just hope that they don’t." There is another addition to my house; it looks like it’s a stable. Now that I have a horse it needs a place to live when we are home.

As we enter the house Aleatha looks very excited. "I think we have solved the first puzzle for the map of this valley. I think that it refers to a champion for you, that you will find him in the first village outside this valley. The crystal you left on the map is glowing very bright."

"You are right about there being a champion for me, he is the stranger that came to the valley this morning. He is now staying in the village. Isn’t this crystal on a chain? Perhaps I should be wearing it. Have any of the other crystals changed intensity?"

"Yes the crystal has a chain and can be worn as a necklace. I hadn’t noticed if any of the other crystals have changed. Since the sisters had these riddles and puzzles, how did they not figure out what the answers were?"

"I think that the puzzles were written by me to help me remember what was hidden or whom I was to meet in these different places. Since they were written by me to jog my memory the sisters didn’t have the key knowledge to solve them. Hopefully I will be able to solve them."

"One of the sisters even wrote that they all tried to figure out which crystal would lead them to this champion. They would put the crystals one by one either in your hand, on you or near you, yet none of them would glow or hum. I didn’t understand what they meant by hum, I didn’t think it could, until this morning when this crystal for the valley started to hum."

"Now that is very interesting. You have all done a good job. Let’s see if we can find out what the rest of them mean, or at least what the next one is."

Back in the study I pick up the crystal to put it on. Not only is it humming, a rather nice calming hum, it is also pleasantly warm. We have a lot of work ahead of us in deciphering the puzzles and what it was that the sisters were after from me. There is the ever-increasing feeling of threat from outside the valley. Should I go towards the threat or go towards what I have hidden from the sisters? Could they be in the same direction? What will each crystal tell me? I still have the feeling I should remember something that is just beyond my grasp.