After a week on the road I was approaching the town of Belger. The town was much smaller than Jaipers, its trade focused almost solely on salts brought south from the small mining town of Finnow. Belger was the closest town to Finnow on the river and shamelessly benefitted from it. I had only been in Belger once before and that had been many, many months ago in early winter. This comforted me knowing it was unlikely anyone would know or remember me after all this time. Keeping my obscurity gave me no small comfort. It was also true, I realised, that they would also remember me passing through. Not many strangers would or could pass completely unnoticed through small towns; I knew that much of village life. If anyone was looking for me, as Reeve Comlin of Jaipers believed, then I would need to make myself seem as small and as unrecognizable as possible.
But not right now though; the majestic lake before me drew my immediate attention. I had been watching the lake grow in size as I grew closer to Belger. It was a massive lake and I could barely make out the shoreline on the other side. All morning I had been thinking about jumping into that cool water and washing off the dust of the road. As the edge of the lake grew closer, I found myself running toward it in eager anticipation. I only stopped by the edge of the rocky shore in order to drop my backpack, sit on it, and unlace my black boots and tear them off, thankful that I had stopped hiding them under wraps and the gain in time I now enjoyed. Two quick steps and a jump and I was splashing into the water, then wading out deeper until I could lie back with just my head and shoulders floating clear.
The coolness of the water flushed the heat of the noon day from my skin and invigorated me. I whooped in glee before ducking my head under the surface and scrubbing my scalp and hair. Breathless, I stood and tore my clinging clothes off my body and tossed them over to the shore before diving back into the lake and swimming briefly underwater out to the deeper and cooler waters before surfacing with a cry of joy. I rolled over on my back and floated for a time; legs and arms spread and gazed serenely up at the passing wispy clouds high above me.
With a thought, I reached out with my powers to take in the nature in the lake. I gently touched the life that swam everywhere I sensed. The lake absolutely teemed with life: fish, insects, and plants swam, lived, and thrived. It was such a rich segment of nature while compared to that of the land and I was amazed at the diversity and complexity of the life that surrounded me. I could sense both the fragility of it and the strength. It was a careful balance, and I found that sensing that harmony provided me with extreme satisfaction. I smiled, closed my eyes and revelled in the feeling of harmony. Balance was not what nature was about. It was about this harmony. All life depended on other life and the sustenance the air, water and soil provided. A profound sense of belonging and peace filled me, quickly followed with a joy that filled my heart almost to bursting. My awareness grew, and then with a shock, I realised the life in the lake was growing increasingly aware of me.
It was the fish I noticed which were the more interested in my presence. What small intelligence they possessed became focused on me and the sensation was frightening, to say the least. One moment the fish were all milling about searching for food and trying to survive and then all that no longer mattered. Now nothing mattered but me. As one, they all turned and swam eagerly toward me. At first I I felt fear but then I sensed that it was their curiosity that drove them toward me and not a wish to do me harm. Just as I started to relax and think not too much about it one of the fish closest to me started brushing up against my body. The slimy feel of a fish rubbing up against you is a disturbing feeling, and I rubbed at where the fish had brushed me. I started treading water and almost panicked at that moment as first another and then many fish started bumping into me harder and harder. As others joined in the surrounding water boiled and I felt myself sinking deeper into the water until I had my head tilted back to keep my mouth and nose clear to breathe. They were starting to impede my swimming, making it impossible to move my arms and legs and stay above water.
"Stop it!" I gargled against the water splashing into my mouth.
I could sense that huge numbers of more fish were swimming eagerly toward me and I struggled to figure out how to stop them. At that moment, a particularly large trout drove into my stomach, bending me over and forcing my face into the water and then I was submerged. Panic threatened to win over reason. I was under the water, unable to swim the surface and the fish were pressed up against me and blocking my attempts to do anything. The water churned with silver darting shapes. I thrashed and only barely managed to keep sane by focusing in on my senses that told me that they weren't trying to kill me – they were merely completely focused on me. That doesn't help me any though, does it? I thought as I struggled to win my way back to the surface. I tried to step on the fish and use them as a ladder but that did nothing. I am going to drown here unless I stop this. I had only been underwater for mere moments but I felt my lungs already starting to burn. Help!
The presence I had felt time and again over the past few weeks returned and I sensed the surrounding fish react to it. Many of the fish broke away and swam from me and my arms and legs were able to move a little less obstructed but still not enough to let me make my way to the surface and the air I now truly needed. The presence seemed disappointed in me and that made me angry. I focused and with a start I realised that I was the one calling out to the fish. I was doing two things: I was sensing the fish, and I was calling them to me. I could almost visualise my power reaching out like the tendrils of a vine and pulling the fish to my side. My heart was pounding in my chest and my lungs burned for air. I tried to ignore the pain and struggled mentally to control what I was doing. It wasn't difficult. I just need to focus. And with that thought I knew what to do. I severed my call but maintained my awareness, and as I did the fish surrounding me quickly darted away and started searching once more for food as if nothing had happened. I stroked for the surface and the glimmer of sunlight above me and as I burst through, I gasped in huge breaths of air.
I treaded water for a time and enjoyed the ability to breathe unimpeded. "That was stupid, Will Arbor," I said out loud. "You're lucky you didn't just drown yourself."
The presence was gone and the surrounding harmony continued as if nothing had happened. I was tired now, and I swam for shore and scrambled over the rocks and onto the sunlit grass. I flopped onto my back and waited for the bright sun to dry me off. I dozed for a moment and woke feeling much stronger. I propped myself up on my elbows and looked down at my body and laughed to see myself covered in stuck on fish scales that glinted in the sun.
"Will you look at that," I said to myself and started laughing.
I jumped back into the lake and scrubbed the scales off my skin and out of my hair until I was reasonably sure and hopeful I had removed them all. I waded ashore and dried myself in the afternoon sun. I looked about and recognised that my location beside the lake was an ideal place to camp for the night. Belger will still be there on the morrow. My near drowning and the twist of hunger in my belly convinced me to stay put and relax my journey for a bit.
I rose and scrubbed the sweat out of my clothes and laid them out on rocks to dry. I pulled out another set of clothes from my backpack and soon I was feeling clean and refreshed and rather peaceful. I looked out over the lake and felt a strong desire to have fish for dinner and laughed at the irony. Justice? I thought and laughed out loud. I was tempted to call a fish and thought about it but as soon as the idea entered my mind my laughter was cut off and I was overcome by a repulsive horror that staggered me to my knees. I pushed aside the thought, and the horror vanished as quickly as it had arrived. What in world was that? Sweat beaded my brow, and I wiped it away.
I got up and sat on a nearby rock and leaned forward, elbows hanging on my knees and head drooped, to calm myself. Okay, that was weird. No using powers that way. For the past week I had been experimenting with my abilities. Sensing nature and trying to draw strength from the land and trees. It was becoming much easi
er but until now I had assumed that it was my power to use as I willed. There were limits, it seemed. Limits I had best start learning. I almost drowned out in that lake and now I almost made myself throw up. The need to get my hands on the Draoi Manuscript was all too real and fresh now on my mind.
"Soon," I said out loud. "For now a meal of fish - fairly caught! - and a quiet night. Okay?" I wasn't sure who I was speaking to but receiving no answer I turned my attention to my camp and my stomach. I stood and was grateful I felt whole and hale.
I rummaged through my backpack before remembering that my new pack had all those wonderful pockets on the outside and I had stored my fishing line and hook in a small tin in one of those same pockets. I retrieved it and dug up a few worms and found a sturdy branch on the ground. I tied the line to the end of the stick, attached the hook and baited it with a worm and laid myself down on a large boulder that hung out over the water. I dropped my hook into the shaded water where the reeds were and I was soon rewarded by a twitch on the line and I jerked the hook up. Fish on! I I pulled hard on the stick, set the hook, and with practiced ease and twitch of the stick, I lofted a shining trout clear of the water and onto the ground behind me. I raced over and scrabbled to grab hold of the flopping rather large trout. I yelled in joy as I grabbed hold of it and keeping my senses away from the fish I struck its head on a sharp boulder and killed it. I cleaned and gutted it in the water at the edge of the lake and tossed the entrails out into the lake for the other fish to enjoy. I then built a small, smokeless fire and spit roasted the fish over it.
The last few nights I finally tried making some of the camp cakes that Dempster, my friend and cook from The Woven Bail Inn in Jaipers, had taught me. It didn't take long and soon I was savouring my fish, tea, and fluffy pan cakes as I lay back and enjoyed the sounds coming off the lake, the occasionally mournful call of the loon sounding longingly over the water.
I spent the rest of the early evening exploring the use of my gift. I reached out to sense the nature around me and was pleasantly surprised to find that very little effort was required. However, the farther out I tried to sense, the less clear it became. I found that I could focus my attention on something specific and I could reach much further that way. I looked up and spotted a duck flying out over the lake and I kept it within the focus of my senses, following it well out over the lake. I found I could continue to sense it well beyond the reach of my vision, although it grew fainter and fainter with my senses, until I lost it altogether in the noise of the life that was everywhere. I thought of the Reeve in Jaipers then and tried to sense him but felt nothing in return. So there were limits, I realised, pleased with my efforts. Limits I needed to better understand.
Inspired I reached out to a robin I sensed hidden high in a nearby tree. It appeared the more complex the life the brighter it seemed to everything around it and to my senses. In Jaipers I had seen the bright myriad of colours that surrounded people. People had stood out like torches in the night: bright and loud and easily noticeable. The rats in the well - I shuddered as I recalled them and the sickness that had plagued Jaipers - were not so bright as people but I could easily see them back then, as opposed to insects and even the motes that had infected people.
The robin in the tree was a semi-bright flare of yellow and green. She stood out from the more muted yellow glow from the tree. All plants were a faded yellow in colour and almost uniform wherever I looked. I called to the bird and watched amazed at how quickly it responded to me and flew down to land on an outstretched finger. I held my hand up and stared in wonder at this wild bird that stood strongly grasping my finger with its talons. She trembled with fright and wanted to fly fast and away, but she had answered my call nonetheless, and amazingly she trusted me. She did not fear me but feared what she did not understand. My call had been irresistible to her, and I felt a small measure of guilt at coercing the poor bird. She cocked first one eye then the other to peer at me and I sensed her growing curiosity. I felt I had to give her some rational explanation for disturbing her and so I took a small piece of my cooked fish and offered it to the bird and watched amused as she eagerly devoured it. Her colours sparked with green.
I sensed all the emotions that went with her eating the morsel. First she felt curiosity at what I held, and then joy as she recognised it as food, and a spark of hunger followed. I sensed her joy at successfully capturing the food in her beak and the happiness of swallowing it. There was brief contentment quickly replaced with a strong desire for more of the same. All of this I sensed in an instant.
I could see a small amount of intelligence in the eyes of this bird. I felt that I could almost communicate with this bird if I wanted to but knew it would be extremely limited. Perhaps a simple request or direction, but nothing too complex and it would have to be in a way that the bird could understand. In comparison to the fish, the bird was much smarter, but it still wasn't a lot to work with. Her conscious thought was all about food and safety. Finding food and eating it while staying safe. They competed within her and let her take risks but always she fought the instincts. She led such a simple life, and I almost envied her.
Satisfied, I released my call, and she stood on my finger for a moment longer, looking at me with both eyes with a quick twist of her head, before she leaped up and flew off across the lake and toward the setting sun. She fled, no longer remembering the reason but followed the demand of instinct, her small heart beating fast in fright. Instinctively, I reached out and calmed the bird and she slowed at once and spread her wings and turned back to shore and the nest she had built in the nearby tree. I followed her with my eyes and senses and felt her settle in for the night, eyes bright and alert for threats.
I knew then I had to explore this ability more.
The next day, I approached the town of Belger in the late morning. I had slept so peacefully the night before and had continued to sleep even after the sun rose well into the morning sky. By the time I had cleaned up my camp, the morning was fast fading. Belger appeared as I rounded a bend and walked up a small rise in the road. From my vantage point about a half mile out, the town was spread out in front of me and I was pleased that it remained the same as I had remembered it.
The town was nestled on both sides of the river beside the lake. Barges and warehouses littered the shoreline of the town. Boats worked out in the lake, fishing or simply enjoying the water. Belger was much smaller than Jaipers and boasted no walls and hence could not legally hold a garrison from the Baron of Turgany County. With no gates or guards I simply strode into town. I reached out with my senses and searched for signs of the sickness that had struck Jaipers and I was relieved to find it absent here. I hadn't realised until that moment, but part of me had been concerned that the sickness had escaped Jaipers to spread throughout the country. That didn't seem to be the case and my step felt lighter as I strode through the town. I was struck by how similar Belger was to Jaipers despite the smaller size. The buildings were constructed much the same, and the people looked and talked with the same manner of speech.
I soon found myself standing in the market over by the docks and browsed only with mild curiosity. I had all I required but you never know when something will catch your eye and so I wandered from stall to stall. I watched to see if anyone would remember me but I was ignored almost completely by the villagers. Only the merchants showed an interest but for nothing more than to make a trade or sell their wares. I was pleased and glad to find that once again the Reeve Comlin had been correct. He had predicted that none would truly notice me or remember me.
I was startled to see an armed and armoured man clink past me and recognised the minnow symbol for Finnow Mines on his breast. The minnow design was unmistakable, I carried a small bag of Life Salt from the mines in my backpack and it bore the same mark. No sooner had I spied the fellow then I noticed more of them milling about the market and streets. I chastised myself for not seeing them right away. I need to be smarter than that. I watched them for a time and saw they w
ere merely shopping like me. With Finnow so close they must frequent Belger. Finnow Mines must take an interest in the security of the town, I thought to myself.
At that moment, I spied a large outlet store for Finnow Mines standing proud at the main corner of the market nearest the docks. The quality of the store was unmistakable. Finnow Mines had money, and they hadn't squandered it on their store in Belger. Their artisan mark stood proudly on the sign outside the shop door and it flashed gold in the sun. Below the sign, in the shade of the verandah stood a guard, alert and eyeing the people who strolled by. Another guard strolled by and nodded to the guard at the door. He disappeared into the building attached to their store and I recognised it as a small barracks that housed probably a dozen guards. Finnow Mines was sparing no expense safe guarding their wares.
I couldn't help myself and made my way over to the store. I had to see inside a shop of this quality. The guard at the door surprised me as I approached by smoothly moving to block my path to the door with a raised arm. He took a long look at me, running his eyes down my frame and cocking an eyebrow as he did so. The slight was intentional, and I grew angry and was about to say something when I saw that the guard had stopped his appraisal and was looking pointedly at my boots. Both eyebrows shot up together this time, and he lowered his arm to let me through as he mumbled an apology.
I murmured quick thanks and stepped up through the door, past the guard, who was now looking at me strangely, and entered into the shop. At this point I was no longer certain about my actions and thought of simply walking away, but now I had gained access I was determined to at least enter and quickly look around and then leave. I was also now worried about my boots. The tanner in Jaipers had warned me about exposing them and now I had done just that with someone who clearly recognised them. Too late now, I thought and chastised myself.
Leaf and Branch (New Druids Series Vol 1 & 2) Page 33
