Hidden people, gather now;
Fight the demons, fight your doubt.
Gearman’s strength shall then endow,
When Guild’s defender casts them out.
“Synod gathers, tell them lies:
Efforts gathered in your pride
Lost beneath the granite face.
Painted Lord, stand by her side;
Repentance is the Temple’s grace.”
She paused and gave the others a pointed look.
Pelai, still sitting in for Guardian Tipa’thia of Mendhi, sat forward, her tattooed brow pinching in a frown. “Synod gathers, tell them lies? And a verse about a Painted Lord? If the synod referred to is the same one that means the Convocation of Gods and Man . . . then does that mean something will happen at the Convocation to set this all off? Or . . . well, it could refer to the Mendhi Temple of the Painted Warriors. Our most formal gatherings are called synods.”
“I don’t know,” Saleria stated, shrugging. “There are four more verses to go.”
“The part about Gearmen makes me think of what we’ve discussed of Mekhanan engineers,” Alonnen mused. “And it’s very clear that the demons are involved somehow . . . which does not make me happy.”
“Nor I,” Sir Vedell stated. “Arbra has borne the brunt of far too many normal attacks by the Mekhanans. I do not like the idea of throwing demons into the mix.”
“What are the rest of the verses?” Guardian Sheren, the eldest female in the group, demanded. “Can we please get back to that? Go on, Guardian Saleria. We’re listening. Or we should be.”
“Brave the dangers once again:
Quarrels lost to time’s own pace
Set aside in danger’s face.
Save your state; go make your choice
When Dragon bows unto the Voice.”
“Dragon?” Ilaiea interjected. She was hushed by five of the fifteen Guardians attending this meeting. Saleria squared her shoulders and kept reading doggedly.
“Sybaritic good shall reign:
Island city, all alone
Set your leader on his throne
Virtue’s knowledge gives the most,
Aiding sanctions by the Host.”
“That is definitely Senod-Gra,” Keleseth, Guardian of that city, muttered. She gestured for Saleria to continue before anyone could hush her, too.
“Faith shall now be mended whole:
Soothing songs kept beasts at bay
But sorrow’s song led King astray.
Demon’s songs shall bring out worse
Until the Harper ends your curse.”
Saleria paused, but no one interrupted, so she gave the final lines.
“Save the world is Guardians’ goal:
Groom’s mistake and bride’s setback
Aids the foe in its attack.
Save the day is Jinx’s task,
Hidden in the royal Masque.
“. . . And that’s it. All eight verses,” she concluded. “Eight Guardians, eight verses. Lines speaking about demons more than once, and how it’s the task of the Guardians of the world to save it.”
“Well, the first verse has already happened,” Guardian Kerric asserted before anyone else could speak. “The serpent was the mage—technically mages—who tried to steal the power of my Fountain. First the mage who also tried to take over Sheren’s and Rydan’s Guardianships, Xenos or something, then that fellow Torven, who betrayed the trust expected of my Maintenance staff. And the Painted Lady in question is my own beloved, Myal . . . so there’s the link to the other verses from the Synod Gone prophecy, the romantic aspects of it as it were.”
“And I can definitely confirm the second verse is about my Guardianship,” Saleria added. “I am the Keeper of the Grove, I am being helped by Witch Aradin Teral, there is a wave of magic that needs to be calmed . . . whatever role we are to play in all of this, part of it comes from the Grove calming down.”
Mother Naima chuckled. “Guardian Serina would no doubt say that’s a sign her project to calm the world’s aether for the reinstigation of the old Portals is coming true . . . since that’s what she wants you to do anyway. Calm the magics of your Fountain, and you should be able to recreate the old Portals across the length and breadth of Katan. If I’ve followed her lectures on the subject aright.”
Aradin abandoned his project, hurrying over to her side. “—Excuse me for interrupting,” he called out, moving into the mirror’s viewing range. “But from what Guardian Saleria, my Guide, and I have been able to figure out, it’s going to take a few years to get the energies of the Grove quelled to that level of stability. Portal magics are nothing to muck around with. A Gate, you can push through a small patch of the aether, but a Portal requires far more stability.