Caleb's Journey
Chapter 31

The search continues

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Well, this is just great!” shouted Lord Lestrade. “We’ve lost half of our party, we have no giant, and we have no clue where to replace this accursed Xerax. Now we replace ourselves in a desolate wasteland with even less hope than before.”

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It’s when the hour seems darkest that the light shines through,” Candellah said in her most calming voice.

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I want to get to know a woman like that,” thought Caleb. He admired her always optimistic nature and the beauty of the fair-haired maiden intrigued him as well. Around her his words came out wrong and he fumbled to replace the best means to approach her. Without the courtly training of a knight he found himself ill-equipped in the language of love so he sought out the aid of his friend, Malachael

He explained that he had talked to Seth, who told him that he never understood the slow courting process of humans. It was too indirect and tedious. “I have advice for you. We tigans act quickly. If you like a woman and she likes you, ask her to be your wife. If she says no, replace another woman.” He gave Caleb a nudge and a growl. Good advice, if you are a tigan, I know. Elves are even slower than you humans. The wily tigan was eager to help his friend on this particular morning, more so than on others, because he wanted to provide a pleasant distraction to his friend in the face of such misery.

Seth told him that he had little to lose on the trip, little that is, except his life. He had a home, friends, and taking his own advice, had decided that when he returned he was going to ask his significant other to be his wife. It was time to settle down he told himself, maybe try his hand at being an innkeeper. With his glib tongue and sense of humor, he saw a steady stream of patrons flowing into his inn. A warm smile formed on his face at the thought of guests sitting around a warm fire and enjoying a glass or several glasses, perhaps, of ale.

Malacheal gave Caleb his best counsel, “Friend, I have an idea. My mind might be rusty on the whole romance area, but I still remember a thing or two about it. Compliment her on her looks. Take an active, true interest in what she has to say. It will make her feel valued and understood. Here’s what I suggest, circle your horse back and ride to the back of the line and tell her that you want to talk of spiritual matters. Lord Lestrade will understand and come to ride alongside me. Between you and me, I feel that he shares your attraction for her. Oh, he has his doubts about her connection to divinity, but he replaces her physical beauty, which I acknowledge, alluring. Try my suggestion, how wrong could I be? I’m celibate.”

Caleb broke ranks and did just as Malacheal suggested. To his pleasant surprise, Lord Lestrade gave way and lined up next to the monk. Caleb started by commenting on the most common of things, the weather, “Nice morning,” he said.

With an earnest voice she replied, “Every morning is nice, you have but to wake up and tell yourself so. It all starts in your head. The Goddess is kind enough to give us another day on this planet and we owe it to her to appreciate the gift. Many people counter this notion with the ills that they face during the day. To them I say it is one more day to move towards overcoming them.”

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What’s your trick?” The smitten young man asked, his mouth slightly agape, which Candellah assumed was due to her speech, but to Caleb it was the heart pendant that she wore and that on this day it shone more brightly in the daylight. To him she was beautiful, not like a statue, but a radiant woman to be respected for her mind as well as her body, which from the form it cut in her cloak, suggested a slim figure.

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I have no tricks besides faith. Love and harmony exist in abundance, you have but to look for them. Look for bad things and you will replace them as well. Whatever you want the world to be, you will form it into that shape. When I preach that is what I tell the gathered masses.”

Here Caleb saw his opening to display his flattery. “I would love to hear you preach some time.” Now he flashed a smile, “I bet there are great crowds to hear and see one such as you. Before I saw your powers, the ability to divine and heal, I had my doubts about Uua. She has not given any kind of physical appearance and white magic is rare, if not non-existent. I know not her purpose for you, but it must be great.”

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You are too kind Caleb. I’m flattered by your high opinion of me. I shall strive to be worthy of it. I also struggle with what the Goddess has planned for me. There are times when it is evident in that I need to speak out on her gift of life and love. However, on this quest I have felt her gifts, such as allowing me to grant the group bravery in battle. What transpired with the giant puzzled me. Maybe her son asked for the return, even though it was brief, of a giant. I try not to guess at the mind of divinity too much. Her actions are far beyond my comprehension.”

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White magic, that blessing of yours that I fail to understand. How do you do it?” I know dark magic pulls from the energies of Mithkre and causes him harm. My father told me about it when I was a child, some bedtime stories that involved evil wizards where I was always the hero who slew the wizard and got the girl.”

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Sweet story, well, that you are a hero, not the violence. I abhor violence and that’s what makes this quest, so difficult for me at times, to see all of the harm being done. I know it’s for the greater good of the world, which is what I tell myself. Now to answer your question, I have no idea why the magic works for me. I pray and good things happen.”

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Did you pray for brains and beauty,” the emboldened lad asked.

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No,” Candellah replied as her face colored ever so slightly.

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I thought maybe you had, because you have been blessed with both,” Caleb said in his most serene voice.

While Caleb worked at wooing, Sir Welkin’s attention lies elsewhere, even though he heard most of what the duo who rode behind him discussed. He had that unique ability to pay attention to his conversation with Sir Kyme, but also focuses on the dialogue behind him as well. “Good luck you lovesick lad,” he thought. “She is a beautiful prize. If I didn’t have a betrothed I might have outfoxed Lord Lestrade as well.”

He felt it necessary to voice his opinion on their future destination and hoped that the senior knight and the commander would approve. “Westward seems the best course of action to me Lord Lestrade. We know that the west has nothing for unless Xerax resides within our realm and I doubt that or someone would have found him by now and he would be more than the stuff of legend, he’d be a target of the Honor Guard.”

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Agreed,” said Lord Lestrade. “East it is and we’ll see what comes our way. We’ll have to be fast though, I sense that time is not on our side. Reason must give way to faith. If we’ve learned on thing from this adventure it’s the world that we know is vastly different to some of us who are less experienced. We now know of the existence of artifacts and my mind suggests that we haven’t seen the worst of it yet.”

Caleb looked at Candellah with his wide, kind eyes. “I certainly agree with your lordship, but we’ve also seen that hope comes in many forms. It’s also been said that we have to face the darkest trials to replace our way to the light.”

Candellah told the group that she had no visions or dreams and she apologized for it. Still, she said that she had good feelings about riding east. “It’s kind of like trying to replace water in the desert, but we have no hope besides this. Hopefully

, we’ll replace some kind of clue.