The sound of the wind blowing around the peak and through the nearby trees as well as the whisper of activity from the rest of the settlement blended with the sweet sound of the small spring fountain that bubbled in the corner of the building's small atrium garden. Mureln sat on one of the benches quietly, watching Emil pace and Emaris leaning on the opposite wall with an impatient glower. "When is this Alysha suppose to get here?! There be things we could be doin'!"
"Trying to find a pleasure house in Sanctuary is hardly a necessity, Emil." The gypsy snorted at his brother-in-arm's words. "I am sure she will show up when she is free," Mureln stated calmly. "Be patient, Emil."
"It has been hours! An' this time, I ain't be exaggeratin'!" Jabbing a finger towards the sky, the wiry gypsy complained, "It be nearly high sun. We soon need t' be getting th' midday meal! B'fore--"
"--you starve," the bard finished for him with mock sympathy, Emil merely smirked as Emaris grinned at Mureln. "Poor things." Heaving a put upon sigh, the master bard pushed himself to his feet. "Fine, fine. I'll go see if I can find--" His words broke off when there was a tall woman standing in the archway that led into the home, her Guardian mark a metallic, gentle rose red. "Unsvet Alysha?" he asked, putting out an arm to block Emil from rushing to her in his typical reaction to beautiful women.
Alysha smiled warmly at the three, extending a slender, dark brown hand to Mureln, her light hazel eyes flicking over each man. "Master Bard, gypsies," she greeted, her slight accent as alluring as her dark-hued beauty. "I was beginning to wonder how long your first lesson would take."
The three men traded bewildered looks. "First lesson?" Mureln asked, utterly confused.
"When you were going to come looking for me." Alysha motioned for the three to sit on the wide bench, gracefully sweeping her long, deep red skirt and settling on the edge of the fountain. She traced lazy circles in the water. "The lesson was one of taking action." Regarding them steadily, she pointed out, "Bards and gyspies both are notorious for sitting back and observing, taking action only when absolutely necessary." When she fixed her gaze on Emil and Emaris, both looked down like little boys caught in a lie. "It is an admirable quality to possess. It is more difficult to educate about the wisdom of patience. But as future Guardians of Time, sitting back cannot be your sole action."
Mureln frowned slightly. "Forgive me, Unsvet Alysha, but that goes against--"
"Everything you had been taught as a bard. I know." Unapologetic, Alysha said, "However, there is a difference between being a Guardian and being a bard or any of the others who rely predominantly on observation or keeping a neutral stance. We Guardians are meant to ensure that the world remains in balance. We cannot remain neutral. We have chosen the side of the Timeless One."
Emaris scowled, speaking in sharp gestures. Emil nodded to his words and added, "Yeah! We ain't always neutral. Gypsies do stuff!"
"Not without necessity pushing you to it, Adept Emil," Alysha replied, unruffled. "That is why you constantly retreat to your dice games and pleasure women. You need not face the choices you would face otherwise." Both men flushed at the flat statement, but unable to argue with it. She considered. "Perhaps I should redefine neutrality for you. It is not inaction. It is taking action for the purpose of keeping the great balance in balance. Sometimes you may be forced to inaction as much as forced to action. Both can bring heartache."
"You speak as one who knows from experience," Mureln observed.
"It is something every Guardian has experienced." Alysha rose gracefully. "More so for those of us who prefer not to interfere. Your first lesson was to stop waiting and take action to seek me out." She glanced over her shoulder with a knowing smile to Emil. "Not stop waiting and go do something else."
"I can tell I'm gonna be hatin' these lessons," Emil grumped. "Too obscure."
"You are going to hate more that few here will believe you do not notice or comprehend the obscure, Gypsy," Alysha said, waving for them to follow her inside. "Your second lesson is one of consequences." The three men traded worried looks, then stopped short to stare agape at the sight before them.
The room had three narrow cots, only one occupied. The young man laying on the cot was nearly skeletal, his breath a shallow rasp, staring sightlessly. Alysha rested her hand on the man's brow, leaning down to kiss his sunken cheek briefly. "This is what all of us risk, whether we are reticent or brazen or something in between, regardless of our experience."
Mureln moved closer, his eyes searching the comatose man's face, feeling himself go cold. "He is not a Guardian," he murmured.
"Nikkan was an Adept, much as you three are," Alysha explained quietly. "And he had great promise. Many of us who train Adepts and Guardians looked forward to the day he would have been called to the Kings and Queens to be tested for his right to bear the colors of the Timeless One." Brushing her fingers over his hair, she said sadly, "We expected him to be the first new Dusvet in nearly two centuries."
Emil and Emaris remained back as far from the man as politely possible, unable to conceal their horror and revulsion at the sight. "Why do ye let 'im suffer like this?" Emil finally asked. "It would be a mercy if ye let 'im die. Or even help 'im along to spare 'im."
"It is not our way to give up hope that he might find his way back to himself," Alysha replied simply. "Because those who become lost in this manner..." She stopped herself and shook her head. "Though I expect he will finally pass by the end of the sevenday." She sighed softly. "Nikkan had come to Sanctuary a bold man. He would challenge and argue. Fight the good fight, as you might say. But as he trained in the art of manipulating time, and he understood how his choices and actions could affect things, he became less bold, more cautious."
Gazing sadly down at the man, Alysha continued. "He was on patrol with two others when what appeared to be a normal bear confronted them. Guardians will try to avoid harming non-temporal creatures if they can, but they will defend themselves or others if necessary. Nikkan hesitated, trying to scry the impact of harming this bear before he would move to attack it. It was then a temporal shifter we call a wraith emerged."
As Emaris spoke in gestures, Emil relayed, "What be a wraith?"
"For now, it is enough to say that they are keenly intelligent and ruthlessly savage temporal shifters that enjoy the kill of a hunt. The Guardian engaged with the bear and the bear died... horribly. The other Guardian managed to contain the wraith and sent it back out of our time stream."
"And Nikkan?" Mureln prompted gently as he sat on the cot on the other side of the young man, putting his hand on the emaciated man's.
"Because he was scrying, the horror of what he saw and the shock of his part in what happened, he... retreated and never returned to us." Alysha looked at the three men with a grave expression. "Do not think this only happens to young or inexperienced Adepts or Guardians. Even the most seasoned of our numbers can end their days this way. Lost in the ether, never to be reborn."
Emil and Emaris traded worried looks. "We, uh, get yer point." Both men stood near the atrium exit, eager to leave the dismal scene. The moment Alysha rose and walked towards them, they eagerly preceded her down the hall. Mureln, however, did not move, staring down at Nikkan.
"Adept Mureln," Alysha called. "Come. There is nothing more that can be done for Nikkan. You have many more things to learn today."
Mureln looked up at Alysha, his sea green gaze intense. "You speak to us about consequences of action and inaction. Nikkan should not be trapped by his own failure." He reached for his mandolin, bringing it around. "I believe I can help with that."
Opening her mouth to argue, Alysha's eyes widened when Emaris grabbed one arm, Emil covering her mouth to silence her. "Let 'im go. Never does no good tryin' t'argue wi' a master bard when he got his mind set on somethin'." Alysha's eyes narrowed thoughtfully before she finally nodded slightly. Both gypsies removed their hands from the Unsvet, all three turning to watch.
With deft skill, Mureln moved his fingers over the strings to draw out an eerie, spine-chilling melody, his voice joining his instrument in a discomfiting duet. When the music shifted into a third modulation, Nikkan gasped, jerking spasmodically as he reached out blindly. Mureln stopped playing, reaching out to catch the man's hand reassuringly, the three at the door rushing to the other side of the bed. "It is okay, Nikkan. You are fine now."
Nikkan's eyes, wide with horror, shook his head. "No!" he rasped in a voice long unused. "The Dulain! Must warn...!" He looked wildly between Mureln and Alysha. "I saw... I saw..." Shuddering with a painful spasm, Nikkan struggled vainly to speak. Before anyone could move, he reached out to grab Mureln's shoulders and pulled him down so their foreheads touched. Both cried out in pain and collapsed.
"Mureln!" Emil called as Emaris easily lifted the bard off Nikkan and sat the dazed and disoriented Vodani on the empty cot while Alysha touched Nikkan's throat. The Unsvet bowed her head, reaching out to close Nikkan's sightless eyes, grieving a moment for the split second of hope for recovery before going to Mureln's aid.
Prying the bard's eyelids open to gaze in his eyes, Alysha pressed her lips together. "Take him to the atrium. The fresh air will help him recover his senses. I must attend to Nikkan."
"Attend to Nikkan?" Emil asked as Emaris got his arm under Mureln and all but dragged him towards the atrium. "What do ye mean...?" His eyes widened as he watched Alysha hold her hands out over the former Adept's body. The air seemed to ripple around the dead body like a desert heat mirage. The body shriveled and collapsed into dust and bones, the bones disintegrating within moments after that.
Emil stared in silence before he looked at Alysha. "Ye are not a healer," he stated after several heartbeats. "Ye are a shepherd of Death's Gate. Th' one who sits by th' sick or dyin' when nothin' but waitin' ken be done fer 'em." Alysha did not respond, closing her eyes as she turned her face away. "Do ye ha' no one who sits with you?" When the Unsvet started to walk away, he grabbed her arm and pulled her into a tight embrace. She struggled briefly before she simply started sobbing quietly in grief.
After several minutes, Alysha finally pushed him away, wiping the tears from her eyes. "Thank you," she said after a time. "I must check on Mureln. I do not think he has come to harm, but..." She looked at the dust covered cot. Emil gestured for her to go ahead of him with flourish, drawing a weak smile from the woman.
Mureln sat with his head in his hands on the edge of the fountain. Emaris shrugged helplessly, standing aside so Alysha could take his place. "Nikkan tried to tell me something," Mureln said weakly. "But the images... the feelings... everything is so hard for me to grasp. Like trying to grab candle smoke from the air." He looked up at the woman, his eyes haunted. "What did Nikkan do to me?"
Alysha rested her hand against Mureln's brow briefly, sitting back once she was assured that Mureln was unharmed. "He did nothing to you. It is what he did with you, which was shared his memories. Given how long he had been lost to the conscious world, we can only thank the gods that he did not cast you into the maelstrom of the non-corporeal world."
"Ye want me t'fetch Taylin?" Emil asked worriedly, crouching down to stare at Mureln. "I don't be likin' that look in yer eyes."
"It is not a physical affliction a healer can mend," Alysha said regretfully. "And, unfortunately, I cannot recommend you attempting to share what you received from Nikkan until you have a much firmer hold on everything Nikkan imparted to you, else it could risk losing more into the non-corporeal world." She touched the water behind them. "Water is the Timeless one's element. It serves as a medium to share as well as buffer us from the memories of others."
Mureln held up a hand before Emil could argue, sitting up straighter. "I understand. The chaos is..." He shook his head, unable to find any words. "Nikkan's fear of not being able to get his warning to the Dulain is what drove him more than the warning itself, I think." He put his hand to the side of his face again. "No. I know."
"I will have the midday meal brought to us here and I will send for the Dulain so he is aware of... Nikkan's fate." Alysha pursed her lips as she rose. "Adept Mureln, what was that song you sang that brought Nikkan back to us? I have never heard its like."
Regretfully, Mureln could only shrug. "I wish I could tell you. I am not sure I know myself. I just knew... it would help him find his way back." Dropping his head into his hands again, he said, "I knew he needed to before..." He sighed as Emil put his hand on his shoulder consolingly.
"Do no' fret about it, Mureln. Least he were not still lost when 'e died. That be a blessing."
"Truer than you know," Alysha said before stepping outside.