The Finding Read Free Page B

creature you sure make a quiet entrance!” he continued in his cheerful, melodic voice, olive eyes twinkling brightly.
    This time the dragon Raejaaxorix gave a full smile, revealing a line of white daggers. He loosened his stiff gait and answered, “I hear you’ve found an infant, Aydehn, probably Nesnan, maybe even Resai or full-blooded elf, but it can’t possibly be what you claim it to be.”
    “Ah,” replied Aydehn with a grin and a shake of his finger, “you never change Jaax, always straight to business and never time for too much small talk.”
    “I just can’t justify wasted time.” Jaax gave the old elfin man a tired smirk.
    “Ha-ha! Right you are! Come, you must tell us news from the outside world, we’re dying to hear anything, and you must have something to eat, yes?”
    Jaax allowed himself to be led away by the small crowd of interested people that had gathered. He didn’t mind their stares and whispers. In fact, he was glad for the company and couldn’t blame these people for enjoying a chance to be hospitable. The discovery of this child could mean good news for them too, and perhaps the years of living their lives in secret might finally come to an end.
    Following a meal of roasted deer and a detailed discussion of the state of Oescienne and its surrounding lands, the elves took Jaax to where they’d found the infant. The group climbed deep into the boulder-strewn hills, skirting around a jagged hillock and up a granite-laced canyon. The narrow gullies, crowded trees, and giant slabs of stone made movement through this forest cumbersome. If Jaax had been an old dragon, moving across this terrain would have proven difficult, but his lean frame and powerful build aided him much as he followed the people of Crie deeper into the hills. Instinctively, he peered around every corner, smelling the air carefully, a habit he’d developed as a result of his elusive lifestyle.
    When the entire party finally crested the steep rise, Jaax paused and gazed in wonder at the great tree spreading its thick canopy from one side of the expansive hilltop to the other. It was an ancient oak, magnificent and gnarled, its several knobby limbs twisting and grasping for the sky. The giant tree was hollow as a shell but strongly attached to the ground due to several knotty roots plunging deep into the heart of the earth. The heartwood of the oak had been burned out in a firestorm ages ago and now all that was left was an empty area large enough to accommodate him and the drove of elves.
    “Do you know this tree, Raejaax?” asked Aydehn quietly. His tone was more serious now, his face turning grave as he clasped his hands together in anticipation.
    “Yes, yes I do,” Jaax answered in similar tones as he focused his silver-green eyes on the full beauty of the tree. “It’s Ethoes’ first oak, the Sacred Oak. I knew it was located in this part of Oescienne, but I wasn’t aware it was so near Crie.”
    “Aye,” answered the Resai man in an anxious whisper, his eyes wide with feeling, “this is why our ancestors came to rest here when they fled the east. They knew this was Ethoes’ Oak, and the oak of all trees! The most sacred! They found themselves quite blessed when they happened upon it, and they knew then that the Goddess would keep them safe here. It has become a sacred place to us, and it is here that we give thanks to the Goddess.”
    Jaax looked around inside of the hollow tree, ignoring the silent and inquisitive stares pouring over him. There was a charred pit in the center for a fire, perhaps to be lit on the Solstice and the Equinox. He sniffed at the air again, this time trying hard to detect any aroma that might reveal the secret to this place. It smelled of old smoke, dust and ancient forest, but nothing unusual or even unique drifted on the air, not even the smallest trace of magic.
    “There was no mother?” Jaax asked suddenly, turning his keen eyes on the group that had accompanied him.
    Aydehn