head solidified immediately into a rough branch, reacting to the absence of his body warmth. The canopy of branches and the foliage above him shivered in anxious anticipation of the travels in store for him, chiming and clacking melodiously.
Closing his eyes, he began the trance inducing humming that brought him into synchronization with his tree. Shortly, he was carried, like a leaf caught in the rapidly moving water of a rushing river, into the surging energy of Promanthea. Together they traveled for some time, as Robyn liked to describe his communication with his tree. Although he remained in a state of stasis during the process, it felt as if he was traveling, and traveling at mind-boggling speeds. When he finally came to rest, although no words were spoken, he was full of the knowledge that he needed and he had the answers to the questions that he never even consciously asked.
Such was his relationship with his bond-mate. But, this time there was a subtle difference. Robyn was not sure exactly what that difference was, but he was certain that he sensed that something was being kept from him. Never before in all of his communications with Promanthea did he ever walk away with such a feeling. It was neither fearful nor joyful, but his bond-mate was keeping things from him, the awareness of which even Promanthea could not fully suppress.
Normally, Robyn returned to the physical world after merging in thought with his tree, relaxed, infinitely calmer than before the experience and prepared for whatever lay ahead. In this case, he was rather anxious even though there was no sense of foreboding or danger, simply one of mystery. Try as he might, Robyn could not merge with the flow of thoughts that generated this feeling. He was purposefully being excluded for the first time ever!
He sent to Promanthea barbs of protest, only to have them gently rebuffed without any sense of explanation, as his frustration mounted unbearably.
“Have I committed some grave misdeed that you should treat me so?” he finally and piteously said aloud, knowing full well that verbal communication would gain him nothing.
Robyn was immediately overwhelmed with the calm and comforting caress of Promanthea’s mind-touch, and he understood without further regret that yes, there was something uncommunicated, something so monumental and far beyond his understanding at this point that knowledge of it would only serve to prejudice the future. His tree felt similar remorse at the need to conceal anything from Robyn, yet he remained steadfast and determined, and Robyn resigned himself to that fact, relinquishing his feelings of hurt and abandonment in favor of his greater trust and respect for Promanthea. Yet, the nagging presentiment would not wholly disappear, and Robyn knew it had something to do with the calling.
“Aha! The boy!” he gasped. “You know more than you are telling me!” he said, but just as quickly as he formed the words around this thought, Promanthea retreated to an incommunicable state. The conversation was over.
Robyn knew that the task to which he was just recently called upon to lend his aid and knowledge was one of primary importance, and his role was a crucial one. With his strength and Promanthea’s, he began the preparations for his journey eastward to join Baladar and the others at the side of the boy.
Chapter Five
She turned abruptly, parrying his thrust. With the flat side of her broadsword, using all of her body weight, she slammed into the exposed portion of his arm above his gauntlet and knocked him off balance. Before he could recover, she grabbed the staff lying on the ground nearby and swept him off his feet with one circular motion. As he fell heavily to the hard, dry earth within the circle of combat, Filaree Par D’Avalain stood over him triumphantly with the staff across his throat.
“You fool!” she exclaimed gleefully. “You should never have come at me so quickly when you thought my back was
Closing his eyes, he began the trance inducing humming that brought him into synchronization with his tree. Shortly, he was carried, like a leaf caught in the rapidly moving water of a rushing river, into the surging energy of Promanthea. Together they traveled for some time, as Robyn liked to describe his communication with his tree. Although he remained in a state of stasis during the process, it felt as if he was traveling, and traveling at mind-boggling speeds. When he finally came to rest, although no words were spoken, he was full of the knowledge that he needed and he had the answers to the questions that he never even consciously asked.
Such was his relationship with his bond-mate. But, this time there was a subtle difference. Robyn was not sure exactly what that difference was, but he was certain that he sensed that something was being kept from him. Never before in all of his communications with Promanthea did he ever walk away with such a feeling. It was neither fearful nor joyful, but his bond-mate was keeping things from him, the awareness of which even Promanthea could not fully suppress.
Normally, Robyn returned to the physical world after merging in thought with his tree, relaxed, infinitely calmer than before the experience and prepared for whatever lay ahead. In this case, he was rather anxious even though there was no sense of foreboding or danger, simply one of mystery. Try as he might, Robyn could not merge with the flow of thoughts that generated this feeling. He was purposefully being excluded for the first time ever!
He sent to Promanthea barbs of protest, only to have them gently rebuffed without any sense of explanation, as his frustration mounted unbearably.
“Have I committed some grave misdeed that you should treat me so?” he finally and piteously said aloud, knowing full well that verbal communication would gain him nothing.
Robyn was immediately overwhelmed with the calm and comforting caress of Promanthea’s mind-touch, and he understood without further regret that yes, there was something uncommunicated, something so monumental and far beyond his understanding at this point that knowledge of it would only serve to prejudice the future. His tree felt similar remorse at the need to conceal anything from Robyn, yet he remained steadfast and determined, and Robyn resigned himself to that fact, relinquishing his feelings of hurt and abandonment in favor of his greater trust and respect for Promanthea. Yet, the nagging presentiment would not wholly disappear, and Robyn knew it had something to do with the calling.
“Aha! The boy!” he gasped. “You know more than you are telling me!” he said, but just as quickly as he formed the words around this thought, Promanthea retreated to an incommunicable state. The conversation was over.
Robyn knew that the task to which he was just recently called upon to lend his aid and knowledge was one of primary importance, and his role was a crucial one. With his strength and Promanthea’s, he began the preparations for his journey eastward to join Baladar and the others at the side of the boy.
Chapter Five
She turned abruptly, parrying his thrust. With the flat side of her broadsword, using all of her body weight, she slammed into the exposed portion of his arm above his gauntlet and knocked him off balance. Before he could recover, she grabbed the staff lying on the ground nearby and swept him off his feet with one circular motion. As he fell heavily to the hard, dry earth within the circle of combat, Filaree Par D’Avalain stood over him triumphantly with the staff across his throat.
“You fool!” she exclaimed gleefully. “You should never have come at me so quickly when you thought my back was
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