Only after the horses were saddled did Eira fully realize the separation that was about to happen. She ran and clung tightly to Ceres, streaming tears down her cheeks and shaking with silent sobs. Ceres held her in return and stroked her hair. 

Ceres pulled back and wiped the tears from Eira's face, putting on as confident a smile as she could. "My dear sweet girl, know that I love you always. Alden shall look after you, mind him well."

Waithe felt a twinge of the ominous. Ceres did not make a promise to her daughter that she would return.

Ceres turned to the giant already on horseback. "My dear Yorg, protect them. To you, I charge the safety of these two so very precious to me."

Yorg nodded with a grunt.

Waithe placed a hand on Alden's shoulder. This initially awkward young man had grown in confidence since they first met. Waithe felt he would be proud to have him as a son-in-law and said a silent prayer that he would have that opportunity.

He spoke of more immediate matters. "Go north to Myst, then turn east where the mountain passes are not so high. Less dangerous that way should be. If the weather be good, you may be back in your land of Woest within a week. Tell your father and mother..." He paused. "Tell them to be ready for what may come."

Alden grasped Waithe's free hand and looked directly into his eyes. "Protect her."

Waithe nodded but said no more. He would give his life if need be, but still could not promise Ceres' safety, and he knew Alden understood that as well. Ceres handed Eira to Waithe, then came to Alden with head bowed.

Alden took her hands into his. "Be strong, my dear Ceres. And know that I love you."

She pulled into an embrace, wrapping her arms around his neck as she nestled her head under his chin. "That I know, and I love you in return." She pulled back and gazed into his eyes. "That shall be my greatest advantage."

He pulled her lips to his for a deep prolonged kiss. Ceres melted into his arms.

Alden, having taken Eira with him on the saddle, glanced back and held her gaze one last time. Ceres wiped another tear from her cheek as they disappeared around a bend in the road.  Now only faint dust lingering in the still morning air marked their passage.

Waithe moved his horse beside her. "Ready, Daughter? Westward to the capital city Welde, I presume, where Scias would be?"

"Aye..." Ceres sighed, sounding not so sure, or perhaps lost in thought. Waithe raised an eyebrow. She shook herself back into the moment. "Aye, to Welde we go." She urged her horse on down the road.

He asked, "Something I have not yet fully understood, why you Ceres? I mean, why do Scias and Raste spend so much money and effort to acquire you? Surely they already have another Lady of the Order."

She shook her head. "That they have not. Those who value power over life have little need of a healer."

"Why then?"

"It must be that I am the last Tau. Or was so. Somehow they must have known of the mark, even when I did not understand it."

Waithe put a hand to his chin. "Reverend Quar. She may have known of it and conspired with them."

"If Raste is truly consumed by the Darkness, then only one reason do I know why he would wish to possess the last Tau. That is to do what Sorne failed to accomplish, to bring about the End Times."

Waithe's eyes widened as the realization took hold. After a moment he found his words. "But Scias and Quar would never agree to that."

"They may not know of his true motives. The Lord of the Northlands knew not of Sorne's intentions. Deceit is a way of the Darkness."

"Then Raste would surely try to corrupt you with it."

Ceres nodded. "That I count on, father. That is when he would be most vulnerable and I may take it from him."

"Well then, if we would go to the house of our enemy and face the Darkness within..." He grinned. "I say we first find a tavern in that village ahead for a pint of ale or two."

She grinned in return. "Aye, and tonight let us find an inn with soft beds and warm baths. Weary am I of sleeping on hard ground."

The village spread among towering trees of pine and fir, nestled alongside a creek beneath a rocky ridge. Tailings scattered down from openings carved into the rock above signified that mining was a mainstay of this community. The houses and buildings were arranged haphazardly among the trees and slopes, each constructed of logs and stacked rock, a common architecture in this region.

It was a quiet community, far too quiet for Waithe. Only a few people were about on the road ahead or above near the mines. Those that were moved almost as if in a trance and seemed to not notice the visitors entering the village.  A feeling of unease rose his gut. Ceres' expression turned somber and her body went rigid, she seemed to sense something wrong as well.

She spoke in a quiet tone, almost whispering. "The Darkness. It is here."

They stopped in the middle of the road just within the village. A man driving a team of burros pulling an ore cart passed them. Mindlessly going about his task, not one glance did he cast their way. Waithe dismounted as a woman crossed the road carrying a basket, her expression rigid like stone and her gait stiff. Waithe backed up a few steps to avoid colliding with her. 

Waithe turned to Ceres. "Did you see their eyes? The blackness of them..."

She nodded slowly. "Aye. If the End Times come, I fear this would be the fate of everyone in the Realm. I would try to free these people."

"Be that wise?"

"If I fail this, then I could not face Raste. But if I succeed, it shall weaken him further."

"How may I help, my dear Daughter?"

She smiled. "Stand with me, Father, as you always do."

Ceres dismounted and sat down cross-legged on the dusty road. Waithe stood behind her with a hand on her shoulder. He nodded to her. She closed her eyes as she extended her arms, palms up.

Thin black wisps began to rise from the ground, the houses, and even from the ridge-side among the mines. They lifted higher and began to swirl around themselves in elaborate dark dances. Gentle swirls transitioned to angry turbulent eddies as they grew darker, casting the village in flickering shadows. Ceres shuddered as she turned away spikes of Darkness that stabbed at her.

The villagers now noticed the visitors. Dark eyes and angry faces turned to them. From all directions, men, women, and children plodded slowly towards the one who would disturb the Darkness.  Many brandished tools as makeshift weapons.

Waithe drew his long-knife. "The people, they come against us."

Ceres pleaded, "Do not hurt them! It is by the Darkness they act."

Waithe drew his lips together and narrowed his eyes. "I shall do as I must."

A young boy in dirty clothes reached them first, raising a twisted wooden stick to strike. Waithe backhanded the boy across the side of his head and then shoved him, sending him rolling across the road. The eddies of Darkness merged into a boiling black cloud as Ceres sought to confine it. Slender black wisps began to lift from the people, partially enveloping each of them.

Waithe spun around, lifting his knife to the people who converged on them in a slow surge. "Ceres, the people! We have not much time!"

She shuddered, then cried out, "Lyr, come to me!"

The bright blue light of the Water Spirit snapped into existence above Ceres. Nearly at once, swirling columns of water lifted from the nearby creek and circled above her. As the Darkness stricken people neared, Ceres threw out her hands and launched the water at them. The force of it sent the people sprawling across the muddied road.

A tendril of the Darkness reached for the Spirit hovering above her. Ceres thrust up a clenched fist. She muttered, "Nay, you shall not." The tendril turned back to the black cloud.

Ceres spread her arms wide. More black wisps rose from the people as they laid in the road or struggled to stand. The wisps converged into the cloud. The cloud folded in on itself and compressed as Ceres slowly brought her hands closer together. With a final audible snap, the cloud disappeared. Waithe once again felt the warmth of the sun on his face.

Ceres produced a weak smile as the color drained from her face. Waithe caught her as she fell back in a faint. He jerked as he felt a hand on his shoulder. Gasping, Waithe locked eyes with a gray-bearded man who knelt beside him. But now the man's hazel eyes projected kindness, no longer were they darkened.