Despite the detrimental effects of the void, energy found ways to overcome it. Order coalesced, finding ways to create structure and stability from energy’s inherent power. From the incomprehensible intensity present, matter came into existence, bound together with Light. With sufficient impetus and cohesion, persistence became the rule, and entropy began its inexorable war of attrition.

Chapter 2

Trynneia found herself pondering Ditan’s situation as she buried herself under the covers of her bed, losing the battle to will herself to sleep. Her mother snored across the room, so she tossed and turned to find a position of comfort and quiet.

After the conversation she’d had with her mother, Trynneia felt her initial optimism dashed. She knew Ditan couldn’t just try to go it alone, learning to become a shaman. He had little enough experience with the natural world - it wasn’t in his upbringing. At the same time, she feared he could hurt himself without proper instruction in the powers he’d begun to explore. That thought led her to Driver.

The shaman lived outside the town proper, working closely with the farmers. Inner town workings meant little to him, and then there was that whole Skytouched issue. She had no doubt Ditan knew nothing of the experienced shaman’s existence. But her mother was acquainted with Driver, so perhaps that could be her way to introduce herself and Ditan.

Would he be willing to try though? Those last few moments she’d spent with him after his disclosure filled her with concern. He’d entrusted her with his closest secret, ashamed to reveal it to his own parents. She’d not so much told her own mother, but it was entirely possible Rendrys suspected something along that line of thought, given Trynneia’s newfound interest in the shaman. She didn’t want Ditan to feel that she’d betrayed his trust.

Trynneia resolved to broach the subject carefully with him, at a time and place to remove suspicion. A lightning bug floated outside her window, landing briefly. She smiled at it and took it as an omen. It slowly pulsed yellow-green, then flickered away. Yes, definitely a good omen, she thought to herself. Satisfied that she’d reached a decent conclusion, she managed to fall asleep at last.

Ditan sought her out early the next day, coming down to her home. She was still waking up when she heard the knock at the door, and realized her mother was already gone. Trynneia pulled on her robe, but when she looked out the window she saw nothing. The door knocked again, so she cracked it and saw the goblin looking back over his shoulder.

“Hey Tryn, ‘morning. Sorry to wake ya,” he offered by way of apology. He had a basket of small breakfast sweet rolls with him and her stomach immediately grumbled at the aroma.

“It’s fine, Ditan, I was just waking up anyway. What brought you here this morning?” She realized how high the sun was, and her runes flared. “Oh Light, I’m late for school aren’t I?” Trynneia panicked. “I was up late last night thinking. Hold on. Come in!”

“Tryn…” She retreated to the bedroom, shutting the door behind her, rather abruptly cutting off whatever Ditan had been about to say. Trynneia put on her favorite trousers and tunic, as well as a snug corset-like vest. She’d never been quite a conventional girl.

The goblin had climbed up into one of the chairs at the table, and was snacking on one of the sweet rolls. “These really are quite good, Tryn. Come have one. I snagged several at a nice discount on my way here.”

“Do I need to ask how many were of the five-finger variety?”

Ditan cast her a sidelong glance. “You know goblins only have four fingers, right?” He wiggled his hand to demonstrate. “Aaand...two of them. You know me too well.”

Trynneia sighed. “Light knows it.” She sat down across from him, and he tossed a roll over before biting into a new one. “We’re late for school, aren’t we?”

“Ayup. Wasn’t too keen on goin’ anyhow,” he said sullenly. “I think it might be a good day for a stroll. Don’t want to be cooped up in that classroom with Miss Jessmyn glaring at us the whole time for being late.”

“Well, she’ll glare today or she’ll glare tomorrow,” Trynneia pointed out. “Don’t see why it matters.”

Ditan looked at her, the worry in his eyes palpable. “It matters to me.”

“Oh, well, we can go for a walk then. Hold on.” She went back into her room and grabbed her boots and a piece of paper. “Gonna leave a note for my mom so she knows I skipped school and at least won’t worry about that if she hears about it.

“What’s she gonna do, have you pray to your Light god for forgiveness?” Ditan shot back.

“It’s not like that, and that was low even for you, Ditan.”

“Sorry,” he apologized. “Maybe I should pray to the Light god for forgiveness.”

“Ditan!”

“Ugh, let’s go, I don’t know what’s come over me this morning.”

“Me neither,” she said while she scribbled out her note. “There, let’s go.”

They walked towards the same clearing and pond as yesterday. Well, she walked while consciously increasing her pace. Since the goblin was just over half her height, he soon trotted to keep up.

“You’re impossible Tryn,” he spat, visibly sweating from exertion. After a few minutes at that pace he breathed heavily but gave no further complaint. Trynneia cracked a grin as he managed to remain by her side.

When they reached their destination, Trynneia sat on the ground, looking at the reeds. She wondered what uses the reeds had, and thought of asking her mother. There also was an interesting chirping sound...Concentrate, Tryn! She chided herself. Ditan sat down next to her.

“Why are we here, Tryn?” Ditan asked after his breathing slowed down. Trynneia tried to organize her thoughts. She hadn’t quite had a plan for what to say, and now she dithered. Ask about his abilities, or bring up the shaman? Ask how he felt about it all? Ask if he had told his parents?

“Well since you-” he began after waiting patiently for a few moments.

“I was thinking that-” she said at the same time. “Sorry,” she chuckled. The silence fell between them once more.

“You first, Tryn.” Ditan plucked at some grass, placing one blade between his teeth and tossing the rest into the breeze. Those blades tumbled slowly towards the reeds before being lost in the underbrush.

“I was talking with my mom last nigh…” LIGHT! Without even meaning to, she felt like she’d already put her foot in her mouth. Ditan went rigid, a pleading look in his eyes.

“Tell me you didn’t tell her about...what happened?” He looked deflated already, and Trynneia’s runes became a muted pale yellow, almost invisible on her skin.

“No! No, of course not. But, I did ask about a shaman,” she glanced at him hopefully, trying to gauge his response.

“Shaman? What shaman?” he asked, surprised. Trynneia offered a weak chuckle.

“I kinda thought you wouldn’t know about him,” she explained. “The village has a shaman, but he stays out amongst the farms. He, uh...promotes favorable conditions for the crops. You really don’t get out much, do you?”

“Hrmph, don’t know why I didn’t know that,” he muttered, gnawing on the blade of grass.

Trynneia briefly explained what she’d discussed with her mother the night before, leaving out the Skytouched part. She still felt there was more to that than she understood, and wanted to know more before bringing it up. Ditan seemed interested, but still looked unsure.

“I do want to know how to control these abilities better,” he admitted. “Listening to the elements and understanding them are very different.”

“Quite difficult too, I’d imagine,” Trynneia mused. “What else have you learned to do? Could you show me?” She was curious for pure curiosity’s sake, but also wanted to evaluate his reluctance. For all her mother’s talk of the Light, witnessing Ditan’s abilities was a miracle she had seen and felt, while the Light was just belief shrouded by myth at this point.

Ditan vacillated, his fear in conflict with his need to show off. It was something he could do that she couldn’t. She might be able to outwalk him, but in this he was (relatively) superior. He closed his eyes and furrowed his brow. The wind stopped again as he reached his hand out toward the reeds and the nearby pond.

Trynneia’s glowing yellow eyes followed his gesture, then widened as a geyser of water shot forth, drenching them both. She ducked to become a smaller target too late. Ditan howled with laughter.

“That’ll teach ya for outrunning me!” he guffawed, clearly enjoying himself.

She tackled him, tickling him all over. With her much longer arms and relative strength he could not evade her. “You imp!” Trynneia giggled playfully. Ditan fought to get free.

“This..is...undignified!” he tried to shout between his gasps of laughter as they both became so covered with muddy dirt they definitely couldn’t head to school for the day. Trynneia broke her onslaught by throwing a small clump of dirt at his chest.

“Serves me right, I suppose,” she acknowledged, her sense of humor very much intact.

“So, what do we do now? Ditan asked, brushing off dirt.

“Well, I think your pranks could be even more creative if we go meet the shaman.”

Ditan’s expression relaxed, and Trynneia almost saw a hint of excitement in those eyes. “I like the way you think, Tryn.”

Once they decided they’d go find the shaman, Trynneia had to acknowledge she didn’t actually know where he’d be. Farms surrounded their central town in a huge radius that went for miles, and he could be at any of them. This put a crimp in their plans, but since they’d skipped school anyway they decided to make the most of it.

“The first place to start I guess is with mom,” Trynneia suggested. “She’s spent time with him and would know best. She’ll be at the chapel.”

Ditan started to get cold feet. “That’s cutting kinda close to the bank. I don’t want my parents to know I skipped school,” he said, concerned.

“You’re in trouble either way, and besides, you’re skipping school to find a specialized teacher. Just gotta sell them the right angle on the wrong thing, or something. If you tell them it’s free and better, they can’t possibly get mad at you.”

He rubbed his chin, considering. “Yeah, maybe you’ve got something there. But no word about this shaman business to them, okay?”

“Won’t hear it from me,” she acknowledged, pretending to seal her lips shut with her fingers. “Dumb is as dumb does.”

“That makes no sense, Tryn.”

“That’s why I have you,” she retorted with mock sweetness.

The Chapel of Light occupied a small bit of land at the southern edge of the village, to better be exposed to sunlight throughout the year. Rendrys and Trynneia lived in a home further south, so as the two friends traveled to the village they popped in quickly to grab one more bit of the sweet rolls they both enjoyed.

“You never talk about the Light much,” Ditan ventured as they walked. “Kinda odd, seein’s how your mom’s the village priestess of Light and all. I’ve always kinda wondered how you put up with being in Miss Jessmyn’s classes about it.”

“That’s my mom’s province, and it’s just my heritage, I guess. Miss Jessmyn’s smart, but it sounds like she just repeats my mom’s preachings without understanding it.” Trynneia looked away, watching a fox chase some small critter through a nearby field. Her runes shimmered dull yellow in amusement. Ditan elbowed her hip.

“Sorry, I got distracted,” she explained. “I guess I’m supposed to feel it but I don’t know how. I’m honestly kinda jealous the elements speak to you,” she said, lowering her voice. “You’ve got a gift, and I feel like I’m defective.”

“Well if it’s coming to you, it’ll arrive when it means to, I guess. For me, once I really paid attention, I became aware that I’d heard it talking to me my whole life. When I actually listened, things changed.”

“I just wish it would happen sooner,” Trynneia’s disillusionment quite evident in her voice. “It’s one thing to hear my mother preach a doctrine I don’t believe in, but know that when the power comes, it will make all the sense in the world. Somehow.”

Their conversation ended, and they made the rest of the trip in silence. The Chapel came into view, a relatively simple arrangement of tall evergreen trees whose lower twenty feet had their branches trimmed down with care. Branches and vines bound the upper branches of each tree to the ones adjacent. A courtyard between them all existed for gatherings and worship of the Light. On the east and west sides the trees were spaced such that gaps existed in alignment with either the first or second sun’s rising and setting according to season. To the south, a large gap in the treeline existed to facilitate ease of gathering.

A small structure existed across the lane from this gap, officially the furthest south building contained within the village boundary. This diminutive building served as a rectory, for the Priest or Priestess of Light to meet with villagers, as they provided comfort, succor, and advice to those in need.

Even from the distance, Rendrys saw them and waved, clad in a nondescript white hoodless robe. Her runes glowed an unmistakable metallic gold, visible to anyone. The Priestess of Light signaled her availability to all. At her side stood a goblin. Ditan groaned.