Caleb's Journey
Chapter 24

Divine Inspiration

As the mid-afternoon sun shone down on the band of Lord Lestrade and company in the gulch, said person held the map up in wonderment, “This map ends in the gulch! It doesn’t give us the precise location of our target. We could be here for days, weeks even, before we replace the entrance to the giant’s prison.”

“

Aye milord,” said Sir Kyme, “so it would seem.”

Malakeal stretched out his slender hand and requested that Lord Lestrade give him the map. “I’ve studied many maps seeking out various individuals or ingredients for potions,” he said. What he didn’t say is that a great deal of his studies had been to hunt down rival mages and kill them for whatever magical items, potions, even gold that they possessed. Not only wasn’t it pertinent information, it spoke of a time he wished he could forget, but his words conjured up memories of the past. Had he not a strong desire to recover the artifact he would have not offered his assistance. As it turned out he had no better luck in locating the entrance to Graygrim’s prison than did Lord Lestrade.

“

Its location evades me,” he confessed and he passed the parchment to Caleb, who passed it to Seth, who passed it to Alari. She examined it thoroughly, but had as much success as the others. Erelong everyone who wanted a chance at replaceing a mark the others might have missed had their turn, all save for Candellah. She declined the opportunity and instead of taking the item, spoke thusly.

“

Instead of quibbling amongst ourselves or trusting in only our talents, I feel that we need to look elsewhere, inwards to our hearts and minds, through prayer. Let Uua guide us. I’ve felt her presence many times on this journey. Let’s collectively pray to her. She will hear the prayer and if we are blessed, she will guide us.”

“

A splendid idea,” Malachael said.

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We’ve got nothing to lose,” Sir Bix added.

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Nothing but more time,” Sir Welkin commented

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Let’s form a circle,” Candellah said, “then we will join our hands, bow our heads, and let our thoughts reach out to Uua.”

As they formed the circle, each of them spoke out in their minds to ask for guidance. To everyone’s surprise they felt a warmth radiate through their bodies. Seth opened his eyes first, then so did the others, each looking about to see if others felt the same effect. Soon they discovered that Candellah had kept her head bowed, and was now bathed in a blue light, and that she radiated the sensation that they were experiencing.

“

Incredible!” Sir Vintus shouted. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Nor had any of them seen the like of it. Not wanting to have the priestess disturbed, Lord Lestrade politely told Sir Vintus to keep quiet. All stayed silent and continued to hold hands as they saw the priestess convulse as the mystic energies coursed through her body. As she did so, Caleb, held her left hand, and Alari held the right, both of them clasping the hand firmly so as to keep her as stable as possible. Candellah twitched, not in pain though, because she had a serene smile on her face which said otherwise.

She remained in this trance for several moments before it released its hold on her. Unknowingly, she released the hands that gripped her and she nearly fainted, but Caleb caught her up in his strong arms before she fell to the ground. “Thank you for catching me,” she meekly uttered and grew more wearied. “Follow the water,” were her last words before she passed out from exhaustion.

Caleb gently laid her on the ground. Sir Sneed shouted for everyone to back up and give the woman room to breathe. This was out of character for him as well as out of place. No knight issued commands, except for the senior commander, Lord Lestrade. All others were to follow his lead. Said Lord gave a quick look of disapproval to Sir Sneed, not because of his display of compassion, but out of a sense of duty to keep things right in the social order.

The assembled group crept backwards. All moved out of courtesy for the injured party, but a nervous, even fearful curiosity pervaded amongst them. Every one of them felt taken aback by the sight as it was such a sight. None of them had ever witnessed such a spectacle of this nature, not even Malachael. Several moments passed while the woman slumbered and anyone muttered a word.

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She’s been touched by the Goddess,” Malachael speculated.

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So it appears,” said Caleb.

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Best not to move her,” added Alari. “Maybe we should put a damp cloth on her forehead?”

Everyone assented, and they formed a semi-circle a little ways away from her, to take counsel over her utterance, except for Caleb. Smitten and compassionate he stood watch over her as if she were the crown jewels of the king. For what is more precious than the life of another human being, so fragile, so finite in nature? Few, if any hold anything dearer than the life of one they treasure. Caleb saw her as a beautiful, rare gem, a flower though as well, that too strong a breeze might bend.

Meanwhile, as usual, Lord Lestrade had seized control of the conversation of the others. He paced back and forth, his polished armor shining in the sunlight. “Follow the water, what could she mean? Bix, let me have another look at that map.”

Sir Bix meekly handed over the map to his commander, “Here it is milord.”

“

Thanks Bix. Let’s see this area. According to the map there are two rivers that flow through this gulch. If we put Candellah on horseback and took one path, we’d have a fifty percent chance of taking the right course.”

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Milord,” Sir Anvar spoke, “Might it not be a more prudent course of action to wait a bit for the woman to recover and have her tell us what she meant by her statement.”

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There is wisdom in what you say, Sir Anvar, thank you.” Lord Lestrade, not wanting to lose face said. “I agree. Let’s give the lady some rest and then see where the matter stands.” Lord Lestrade didn’t like his knights speaking before him. He wanted his opinions to be their opinions, not the reverse. “We might as well eat while we wait,” he said, a feeble attempt at regaining control of matters. “It’s nigh lunchtime anyway.”

“

I prefer to travel or search on a full belly,” said Seth with a chuckle. “Let’s get a closer look at that map over a meal.”

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I’ll stay and watch over Candellah,” said Alari. “The rest of you enjoy your meals. I know Seth’s gut needs filling.”

Caleb took the chance to show his chivalrous nature to Lord Lestrade, “If it’s all the same to you, I’ll stay with the young maiden as well.”

The rest of the party went to their horses, opened their saddlebags and removed their simple foodstuffs; dried beef, pieces of cheese, and bits of fruit. It wasn’t a savory feast, but when travelling one has to have simple food for a journey of any lengthy duration. Everyone dined, talked, and gave the map more scrutiny while they waited for Candellah to revive.