He sat in silence as Adrina continued to recount her woes. She said her own process of rebirth was almost complete and she would soon be a worthy servant of the goddess. Tom decided that the process had little to recommend it. Adrina had lost much of her sparkle. There was little to remind him of the dynamic young woman who had caused such a scene at dinner on the night of his arrival.
Then she managed to recapture some of her old zest.
'Sky Warrior.'
She leant over and tweaked his ear.
'When I was in the marshes I met a man.'
'Are you saying you were a naughty girl?'
'No. I'm not talking about that.'
She smacked his wrist playfully.
'He's an old man and he doesn't excite me. But he does have a lot of interesting things to say. I think you should meet him.'
'What was he doing in the marshes?'
'He's a fugitive. He was once a senior member of the Duideth but he got thrown out after one of their silly arguments ... something about the Great Poof's radiance and the transmigration of soul lights.'
'That's not something I know much about,' Tom laughed.
'But you do know about eclipses. Aaroen says the Duideth are getting ready for one.'
'Who's Aaroen?'
'The priest I was telling you about.'
'Aaroen what?'
'He doesn't have any other names. He's famous and famous people get called by only one name ... like Balduur or Morgon or Sky Warrior.'
Tom took the remark as a compliment. 'Perhaps I should meet the distinguished gentleman.'
'You should. He thinks the Duideth have got it wrong.'
'Got what wrong?'
'The eclipse ... they're planning a big ceremony at which the Grand Master will call upon the Great Poof to banish Lady Moon from the sky.'
Tom recalled that the Mother Goddess was believed to shine her life-giving radiance from the moon.
'The Duideth think there's going to be an eclipse of the moon and Aaroen thinks they've got it wrong?' Tom asked.
'That's right. Just think what it will mean if those silly old fools have made a mistake. They'll look so stupid if nothing happens.'
Tom pondered the point.
'The trouble is,' Adrina continued, 'Aaroen's not sure they've got it wrong. He wonders if you could help. His emissary will be at the brewery at midday. I think you should go and meet him.'
***
Tom arrived at the brewery and found Thunder leaning over one of the huge wooden fermenting vats, sniffing the contents. The little man gave a nod and asked what he was doing there.