Firemoon Read Online Free Page B

and Katja and Serdra then had to leap into water up to the waist.
    “You two are crazy!” Raon said as they rowed away and they waded to shore.
    Katja would rather have skipped the sea salt but still found it a good way to freshen up after the immobility on board the ship.
    They walked onto dry land to be greeted by a wild, old forest that had grown over an ancient landslide. Serdra found a good tree for climbing and peeked above the treetops, so she could use a certain mountain as a landmark.
    The excitement that had bubbled within Katja during the journey took on a different life, now that she could actually move and their destination and all that came with it were near.
    Because spread around the world were certain places who were far away from normal traffic and entirely unremarkable, except that with the right codeword those places became the meeting place for all Redcloaks who heard it. On the rare occasions that her people came together news was exchanged, young ones introduced and long-term plans made for the struggle against the darkness harrying this world.
    This springs’ events had certainly been newsworthy to the few who knew of them and would probably require certain changes. Serdra had therefore sent out a message and here, in this half-forgotten forest, the meeting would take place.
    It was time for Katja to get to know the family a bit. The visit to the Shades would come afterwards.
    She hopped lightly in place while Serdra climbed back down. She was excited to head on, even if only to release her nervous energy somehow.
    Serdra watched her and it suddenly occurred to Katja that perhaps her silence for the last few days was her version of tension before this meeting.
    “Is there something in my face?” Katja asked and smirked.
    “Stress,” Serdra said, and headed into the forest. Katja ran after her.
    “Not stress! Just excitement!”
    She caught up with Serdra and they walked side-by-side through wild, difficult foliage.
    “What about you?” she asked somewhat more seriously. “What goes through the mind of an old warhorse at such a reunion? Are you excited to meet... kinfolk?”
    “It is always useful to meet one of our people,” the woman replied and looked straight ahead. “We usually work fairly independently but it is still good to coordinate with others about who should guard which territories and hear how thing go in other parts of the world.”
    “So upon graduation I must travel according to the wishes of the old timers?”
    “There are no penalties for defying the will of the elders,” Serdra said. “We need everyone, even malcontents. But the elders...” Serdra looked skywards and was silent for a few moments. “They have experienced centuries of battle and learned from those who experienced the centuries before them. They have overview over the eternal conflict itself.”
    Serdra looked at her and Katja saw that she was to pay heed to her mentor’s next words.
    “Keep in mind Katja, that to the older ones the Silent War, this secret conflict we have waged since the fall of Jukiala, is merely a chapter. I have experienced nothing else but perhaps one day I will, if I live long enough. The framework changes over the ages but the core always remains the same.”
    “I... understand,” Katja said, though she didn’t really trust herself to process all of this.
    “You must be able to think independently, but do still mind the words of the elders before you go against their instructions.”
    Katja kept quiet as they clambered over several dead trees and the silence stretched. She couldn’t think of anything to add and began to think Serdra had finished.
    “I am joining those ranks, Katja,” she then said and stroked her white and brown hair.
    A Redcloak’s only sign of ageing was the white colour that began to come into the hair after the first century. Serdra had said her own hair would probably turn completely white after about twenty years.
    “Gradually, yes,” Katja