The Legend of Tephra

The ancient village of Drumlin is one of peace and wisdom. The people have not known bloodshed in ages, so when their deity, The Always, sends a prophecy of division and discord through a wise old woman, no one can believe it. Is it possible fighting could start among them? After all, the closest outside settlement is Barchan Mountain, and the people of Drumlin have not been in contact with them for generations.Tephra is a young shepherdess who lives in Drumlin Hills. She is considered a favorite of The Always. Graceful and beautiful, she dances and sings in the village ceremonies and even soothes the flock with her singing. One day, she must traverse a treacherous mountain trail to save a lost lamb. The trail takes her close to Barchan Mountain-and suddenly the events of the prophecy are set in motion.Tephra's unwilling participation in these events sets in motion the drawing apart of her people. Old fears and superstitions threaten the peace of her village, and she is forced to make some extremely difficult decisions. Her choices challenge the way the Drumlins have lived for centuries. Can a young shepherdess, a favorite of The Always, bring new wisdom to the people of her village? Or will their refusal to change lead to their downfall?

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The Legend of TephraBy Carolin J.V. MilneriUniverseCopyright © 2015 Carolin J.V. MilnerAll rights reserved.ISBN: 978-1-4917-2815-4CHAPTER 1As soon as the snow melted on the eastern slopes of the Drumlin Hills, the sheep of the village would be taken to graze on the new spring grasses. Tephra, a young shepherdess, awoke on the morning of the First Grazing with a sense of heightened anticipation. She quickly dressed in the typical spring attire of a young village maid — a simple long-sleeved, knee length, light woolen shift. After arranging her long, light-auburn hair into two braids, as was the custom for young maidens, she joined her family in the cooking yard outside their dwelling. There she breakfasted on dried peaches and millet cakes.Her mother, Caldera, greeted her with a smile. "You are impatient to be out on the hills again it seems.""It has been a long winter, Mother. It will be good to be out in the sun with the sheep.""Yes, but even in the early spring sun you must guard your skin. Did you use the esolis butter?" she asked. She was referring to a special ointment prepared by Hevel the Healer. It had been developed by one of Hevel's predecessors several generations ago, and was used as a cure for burns and as protection against the midday rays of the sun for the fair skin of many of the Drumlins."Yes, Mother, and I will have my shawl," she said, and with a loving smile, touched her mother's cheek."Your father is already at the sheep pens, clearing them for the shearing. Be sure to take him an extra flask of water."She walked over to where her young sister, Breccia, was sitting with their brother, Sedi. Grinning, she gave him a playful tap on his head, and bent to kiss Breccia on her cheek. After picking up her shawl, her shepherd's staff, and two sheepskin flasks of water, she made her way to the sheep pen. There she found Tarn, her father, just as her mother had said."Good morning, Father! Mother has sent extra water for you.""She takes good care of me. See that you learn well from her the ways of a good mate," Tarn said sternly, and then turned to her with a reassuring smile. "I have no worries that you will be a good mate, for you have a tender heart.""Like Mother?" Tephra asked, smiling fondly at her father."Yes. The Always has shown favor to me in such a mate." Tarn paused a moment, as if to say more, but simply gave her a pat on the shoulder, and turned back to his work saying, "Tell Elos to hasten back here after you relieve him on the hills. He took the sheep out early so I could start on the shearing pens."She looked around for her cousin, Esker, who tended the flock with her. After a few minutes Tephra saw no sign of her cousin and assumed she was probably going to be late as usual. Esker was a good shepherdess and a good friend, and Tephra enjoyed working with her, but her habitual tardiness was trying at times. Tephra opened the gate and walked toward the pasture and her sheep. She smiled as she recalled the short conversation she'd just had with her father. He rarely talked to his children in words. He showed how much he cared for them through his attitude and gestures. By a touch, a smile, or a nod, he had a way of communicating his pride in his mate and his children.Tephra walked past the work shed of the village toolmakers on her way to the pasture. One of them called out to her teasingly, "Sing for us, Tephra. Waste not your songs on the sheep!"Tephra often sang gentle, soothing melodies to her lambs, and entertained her young sister and the other small children of the village with playful tunes. She also loved to sing the old songs of the village and the poem-songs from the ancient writings that told of The Always, and how he had led her people to the Drumlin Hills."Yes, Tephra, a song, a song!" cried another villager. A bit timidly at first, she began one of her songs as she continued to walk to the pasture. After the first two lines, her voice became clear and strong as she sang.The kindness of the Always fills the hills of Drumlin, while His wisdom guides our ways. His glory is on the mountain peak where he guides us night and day.As she neared the hills where the earth-tillers were busy tending their crops, she heard a familiar voice call out, "What is the cause of your joyful song this early morning?"Tephra shrugged her shoulders, smiled, and continued her song as Graben came to walk beside her.Oh sing all of Drumlin, play on your strings. Give thanks for the harvest, the grain and the lambs. We are His people, O sing, Drumlin, sing!"Whatever the cause, I am grateful. Your voice is most pleasant," Graben said.Tephra felt the warmth of a blush on her face and responded to Graben's compliment with only a smile and a slight bow of her head. The previous spring, during the annual Festival of the Fifth Moon, Graben was granted beginning courtship rights by Tephra's father. Tarn had been pleased to grant these rights to Graben, as he was of one of the largest and most prosperous Drumlin clans — the clan of earth-tillers. With a chaperon following a few paces behind, Graben and Tephra were allowed to walk together in the village after sunset. At the Harvest Festival in early autumn, Graben had asked for the Rite of Formal Courtship, announcing that he was preparing for the time when he would be ready to enter into the betrothal rites with Tephra. For the past year, Graben made the prescribed calls to her dwelling and brought gifts to her family, as was the custom of the courtship rites."Tephra, I see you have no food with you for the mid-day meal," Graben said. "My cousins have a fine strawberry crop this season. It would be no trouble to bring a meal with some fresh strawberries, bread, and cheese to you on the hillside.""That would be very pleasant," Tephra said with a polite smile, "but you must bring enough berries to share with Esker as well, for she is bringing the bread and dried meat for our meal today." With a playful grin, she added, "She is very fond of strawberries, you know.""It seems I rarely speak to you alone. Your cousin Esker or your friend Olivine is always with you. Will you choose a chaperon and walk with me along the lake tonight?" Graben stepped so quickly in front of Tephra that she stumbled in her effort to avoid colliding with him. He reached out to steady her, and kept his hand on her arm as he said, "Before now it would have been unseemly for you to reveal your happiness that I had asked to court you. But surely you are aware that the entire village whispers their certainty that we will be mated before summer. It would not be unseemly now, and it would please me to hear you say how delighted you are.""It is an honor to be chosen by you, Graben," Tephra replied quietly, not meeting his gaze, but looking at his hand on her arm instead. Yes, she had heard the rumors of the villagers.With his free hand, Graben reached for Tephra's, and his voice became serious and low. "Remember Tephra? Remember when we were children — playing games, teasing each other, acting out our childish ideas of grown-up roles, even the Mating Ritual? You once told me I would forever be your chosen friend, and you hoped one day we would be `mated for true.' I thought you foolish, for I was only eight and you, not yet six years. I desire that you might say those words to me again. I will not think you foolish now."As they resumed walking toward the pasture, Tephra thought about what Graben was asking of her. There were many times when he had declared his pleasure that her father granted courtship. Now he expected a similar response from her, and she knew that it would not be improper for her to say what he wanted to hear when they were alone. Still, she could not and would not say what she did not truly feel. Both of their clans had long expected they would mate one day, and Tephra simply accepted it. They would be mated whether or not she said what Graben wanted to hear. It was the Drumlin way.Graben had been her friend for as long as she could remember, and she was fond of him. Her family knew him well, as he was often at her dwelling visiting with her older brother, Sedi. She, too, fondly recalled their childhood games, but now there were no more games to play.Tephra stopped suddenly, looked off in the direction of Nunatak Peak, and said, "You brought great honor to my clan when you asked my father for courtship rights. But even if you had not, Graben, you would forever be my friend, and I, yours."Esker caught their attention by calling out to them. Tephra gave Graben a weak smile and waved at the young shepherdess skipping toward them. When Esker arrived, Graben repeated his offer of fresh strawberries to add to their midday meal."We will wait for you under the white oak tree near the shallow spring. The grasses there are soft," Esker responded excitedly.In the customary gesture of parting, Graben bowed his head to each maiden and returned to his garden. Tephra walked quickly over to where her cousin, Elos, was watching the sheep, gave him the message from her father, and then turned to Esker."Esker," she began in a tone that was half-teasing, half-scolding, "you have been apprenticed to me for four years now. You know how to spot the bitter weeds and the dill grass, and how to lead the flock to sweeter pastures. You have learned the ways of the shepherdess well, except for one thing — you are always late! That is not a good model for young Creta." Last spring Creta, Esker's younger sister, had joined Tephra and Esker each afternoon as a part-time apprentice. After the upcoming Festival, she would join the two older girls for the entire day, in preparation for the time when Tephra would be mated and Esker and Creta would assume care of the sheep. Tephra loved the gentle animals she shepherded and was concerned about Esker's dedication to the task."I was playing with the baby, drawing funny pictures of animals to make him laugh and — Oh! Mother said to tell you Creta may not be able to come after the midday meal, she has to watch the baby because mother ... oh, I forget! But Tephra, I will try harder. You will have no concerns about your dear lambs when you are mated to Graben. Ah, Graben! How favored you are!" Esker rambled.Esker was right. Tephra was gifted with a high, clear singing voice and grace in all her movements. With those gifts, along with her long-lashed hazel eyes, light auburn hair that sparkled with honey-colored highlights, and her rapidly developing curves, Tephra was considered one of the fairest maidens in the village. Everyone knew she would be highly desired as a mate, favored as she was by The Always.When the sun was at its highest point in the sky, the two maidens made their way to the place Esker had suggested. The sheep lapped water from the spring before turning to graze on the soft grasses and wildflowers on a nearby hill. After handing Tephra the cloth packet that held the food for their midday meal, Esker carefully spread a large cloth on the grass beneath the tree, and then began climbing the tree."Esker," Tephra laughed, "what are you doing up in the tree?""Watching for Graben," Esker answered matter-of-factly.Tephra smiled, shook her head, and teased gently, "You are a young maiden, and still you climb trees like a child." As she sat cross-legged on the soft grasses, she picked some of the nearby wildflowers and day-dreamed about the up-coming Ceremonial Dance for the annual Festival of the Fifth Moon. She, along with three other maidens, had performed the dance for two years, but this year a slight variation in the steps had been added to the routine. As she hummed and mentally danced through the recently learned movements, she unbound her braids and then began re-braiding them, weaving flowers into her long tresses.After a few moments, Esker called down from her perch in the tree, "A man approaches. From the size of him, it is Graben." Tephra looked up as Esker easily made her way down and hopped from a low limb to stand in front of Tephra. She stood staring at Tephra with her hands on her hips and a puzzled look on her face. "Tephra!" Esker exclaimed, "You've loosened your braids!" A young maiden's hair, and even a mated woman's, was always kept braided and bound according to a long-honored custom. The only time their hair was allowed to hang freely was in the company of their family, but never outside their own dwelling, except at specific times of ceremony."Oh! I only loosened it to weave in the flowers. Help me finish braiding it before Graben sees. He is so very strict about such things." With haste, the two maidens plaited Tephra's hair.As Graben approached he nodded to Tephra and Esker, but did not offer a greeting or a smile. Tephra noted the hard set of his jaw and wondered if he had caught a glimpse of her hair flowing about her shoulders. He seated himself next to Tephra and placed his own contribution to their meal on the cloth; then taking the small loaf of bread, broke it into three pieces, performing the ritual that began every meal. The breaking and sharing of bread in this way honored the alliance of all the clans of Drumlin. The three leisurely consumed their meal as they talked of ordinary things — the sheep, the vegetable crops, the next market day, and then, the up-coming Golith Huntsman Trials.This fierce competition among the young men of Drumlin Hills was in honor of Golith, who — according to the folk tales and legends of the people of Drumlin — was the greatest of all huntsmen. Golith could run as fast as a deer. Using a slingshot or bow and arrow, he could hit the head of a squirrel or rabbit so that no meat was bruised. With his spear, he could hit whatever target he chose."Sedi will be handing the Arrowhead over to me this year," Graben boasted. Tephra's brother, Sedi, had won the trials last year and now held possession of the Crystal Arrowhead. Legend held that the arrowhead was carved by the great Golith himself — carved from a large crystal found in a cave beneath Nunatak Peak."Are you so sure you will win?" teased Esker. "It is said that Noll has improved much in his skills with the bow and the spear over last spring, when his scores were almost as high as yours.""Humpf! That is to be seen!" Graben answered, crossing his arms and tilting his head to one side. "And what about my skills with the axe? My knife throwing is always accurate, and I can out-run him too!""Ah! Perhaps you are Golith returned to us after these many, many lifetimes," Tephra said giggling."Tease me, if it pleases you, my lovely one, and Golith I will be to you," Graben proclaimed confidently."Hah!" exclaimed Esker, "and what of Tor? He has greatly improved his spear fishing. How many fish have you speared? Easy to hit a still target, but....""Esker, careful you do not provoke Graben," Tephra warned with a teasing smile. "He won't bring you more of his tasty strawberries and then you will have to buy them at market."Esker stood, mockingly bowed toward Graben, and said in an impudent tone, "For your strawberries, I will be silent!""You will bow to me in tribute when I am holding the Crystal Arrowhead," he declared. Tephra noticed that although he was smiling, his tone was quite serious.Esker shrugged and said, "We shall see. For now I must take care of the meal cloth and see to the sheep."Tephra picked up their water flasks and went to the spring to refill them, for the day had turned warm and they would be moving the sheep deeper into the pasture. When she turned around, she saw Graben was leaning lazily against the tree. He was grinning broadly; his gaze locked on her."What amuses you, Graben?" she asked, taken aback by his intent stare."Not amused, but pleased that soon you will be betrothed to me. I am the envy of every male in the village, you know." With a satisfied smile he continued, "I was remembering the first time I saw you in a ritual dance and watched the way you moved in perfect time to the music of the strummers. I knew then you were the mate for me."Tephra realized Graben would not be saying those things to her if Esker was nearby, and that he had lingered until she left. Not knowing how to respond, she changed the subject. "My father has told me you are helping him repair the fences at the sheep pen. That is very good of you, Graben. It is very diffi cultfor him since Sedi...."Graben nodded in understanding, and Tephra did not need to say more. Her older brother, Sedi, who was one of Graben's closest friends, was still recovering from severe injuries received last autumn. When trying to rescue a pregnant ewe that had fallen into a steep, rocky ravine, he himself had fallen, badly breaking his leg. A stubborn fever set in, and the village healer began to doubt Sedi would ever walk again without the aid of a walking stick. (Continues...)Excerpted from The Legend of Tephra by Carolin J.V. Milner. Copyright © 2015 Carolin J.V. Milner. Excerpted by permission of iUniverse. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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