Wisdom stuffed the letter back in his pocket. “So how’re things in Lexington?”
“Never better!” His flowing bell sleeves flapped to the pace of his cheerful stride. Black – it was the color of choice, which Wisdom always saw him in: black shirt, black patched vest, black pants and black boots. It was surprising the thief did not wear color-matching pouches, which were a dark mahogany.
“This isn’t the normal crowd.” Wisdom eyed the line of unfamiliar faces.
“Well, according to yer message, ye need merchants to man the stands once it’s up and running. Ain’t want a thief gettin’ too carried away with, em…” he lowered his voice, “pickpocketing the customer.”
“In my town?”
Blackavar waved a hand. “What ye need is storytellers, someone who gets a buyer pulling out coins before they realize they’re doing it. Best in the land right here!”
“Should have brought Jasper. He was always good at that.”
The trees acted as a natural divider between town and clan. A ten minute hike brought them to the Eastern Clan’s border where the road began to widen. Woods continued to line the edge of the property as the road wrapped around to lead on to Western Clan territory. Blackavar marveled at the gated entrance and trimmed front yard. A stonewall contained a variety of flowering bushes that draped alongside the road.
Wisdom led the group through freshly painted green gates. On either side of the stone columns was the letter W engraved by Josephine’s grandfather. The prince remembered when it used to be the letter S, when the Schevolsky family owned the clan.
As they drew closer, the prince mentally sent word to Eclipse, a Simpleton who resided in the tower room. It took a few moments for the fuzzy-haired young-man to appear. No longer did he don his usual ragged clothing. At the prince’s persuasion, Eclipse had changed into a gray and brown belted tunic.
Me Prince? Eclipse let his thoughts be heard by all as he approached.
Blackavar seemed used to the mental interruption, having indulged in conversations solely through thought when Wisdom had stayed at the guild. A few others fidgeted nervously. Magic was simply not something they were accustomed to.
“Eclipse, I would like you to meet a very good friend of mine.” He gestured to the Master Thief. “This is Blackavar. He’s come from Lexington to sell in town, and has also brought some requested items for the clan. Would you mind bringing some of the things inside?”
With pleasure! The young man took a swift bow.
There was a strong link between the young man and the rest of the Simpletons. Their presence could be sensed every time Eclipse opened his thoughts to him.
“Is everything separated between merchant wares and household items?” The prince turned to Blackavar, who nodded. “We can go ahead and start bringing things in. As for the rest, there’s a stable on the other side of the mansion. Might be a good place for storage until the town renovations are complete.”
There were many large crates holding a variety of dishes, clothing, and other essentials. As the men pulled up wooden lids to reveal its contents, the prince mentally directed the Simpleton where each should be taken. A few smaller bins contained goods for market, so Wisdom led the way to the stable. A path wrapped around a new addition to the main building, which Wisdom referred to as The Gathering. It was a decent sized meeting room started by the Schevolskys, and was completed when Wisdom took over the clan. As he passed, he peered down a walkway through the opened double doors. A deep blue carpet led to a raised platform toward the back of the room. Lining either side of the long carpet were pews set at an angle. It made for a perfect spot to conduct meetings, so the prince had placed two high-backed chairs on either side of an engraved Redwood throne.
Or else I’ll look like I’m about to sit in judgement, Wisdom thought with a chuckle.
The stable was located just across from The Gathering. Although void of animals at the moment, the prince hoped to eventually obtain some once the town started attracting business. As he entered the structure, he mentally sent a message for Glory to come. Currently, she resided with Western Clan members until their home was fully furnished. Now, with the current imports at his doorstep, Wisdom was sure Glory would want a few things arranged to her liking.
There’s something else you might want to see, he thought to her. He was immediately overcome with her excitement as thoughts flooded in with questions regarding word from her father. Smiling inwardly, Wisdom made no promises and closed the mental link. He looked over the stalls to make sure they were empty. Besides some straw littering the floor, it seemed the perfect place for storing merchant wares.
An ear flick confirmed the faintest rustle somewhere along the back wall. Outside, he could hear Blackavar and Eclipse conversing about semi-precious items. Although he needed to be with them, something else drew his attention to the last stall. As he peered over inside, a figure shrank back in the corner.
“Can we start bringing things in?” he heard from behind.
“You know, why don’t we leave them at the door for now?” The prince rejoined his companions and pointed to the men lifting out bundles of dishes and clothing. “Let’s just do the main building first, then deal with merchant wares later.”
“Need some help?” the voice of Alexander floated from the roadside. Glory was already ten steps ahead of him as she entered the gates. She approached her fiancé with quick strides, her long dress swishing around her ankles.
“Did it come?” she asked eagerly, and nearly grabbed it from his hand when he pulled out the letter.
“There’s that,” he said. “Then there’s this.” He gestured to what the men had brought, then pointed inside the stable and lowered his voice. “I’ve a little issue to deal with first.”
“Trouble?” Alexander paused by Glory’s side.
“Nothing a Healer can’t handle,” Wisdom said. “You know the layout of the clan’s interior?”
“Pretty much,” Alexander said. “From the cleanup we did, I should be good.”
The prince nodded and turned to Glory. “You want to show these men where to put some of the things inside?”
Glory lifted an eyebrow as she glanced over the lot. “You’re letting me decide?”
Wisdom grinned. “I’ve requested some…accommodations a young lady would require.”
He had never seen anyone glow with as much pride as she did. He relished the moment a bit longer before quickly introducing the Master Thief to his future fiancée and Western Clan leader.
“Eclipse, would you mind taking the things I need inside while I tend to something out here? Anything you’re unsure of, just put in my bedroom. Glory, you and Alex start putting your things where you like. I’ll be in soon as I’m finished.”
“Something wrong with..?” Alexander inclined his head toward the stable.
“Temporary delay,” the prince said. “Get Eclipse to signal if you need me.” He tapped the side of his head.
Satisfied, everyone began hauling up belongings while Wisdom checked the stable again.
“Hello? You hurt?” When there came no answer, he peered over into the corner stall.
A boy, huddled against the wall, drew his knees up against his chest. The smell of blood drifted from a gash he tried to cover. But upon drawing his knees up tighter, the place on his leg became more apparent. Strands of dirty-blond hair fell over portions of his face. Most of it looked clumped together in a damp mesh of straw and dirt sticking out in various places. His clothing was stained, but contained no signs of other injuries.
Wisdom slowly opened the stall door to approach the youth. Ears lay back in a sign of submission as he knelt to make eye contact.
“Are you all right?” When he received no answer, he tried again. “It’s okay. You don’t need to be afraid of me.”
“I didn’t take it!” was the quick response. “I saw it in the window, but I didn’t take it!”
“You saw what in the window?”
“It w
as homemade, too. Just like my mother used to make. But I swear it wasn’t me!”
Wisdom thought back to Josephine’s comment about his missing pie. When he called upon his sight-reading ability, the boy’s thoughts revealed a blurred version of a blond-haired boy swiping a dish from an opened window in town.
Peter Schevolsky, will you ever learn? Wisdom cracked a smile. “You thought I was after you for a pie? Where’d you get that cut from? Here, let me see.”
“I’m not afraid,” the boy said, but his voice lacked a persuasive tone. “I’m just….”
“Hiding from someone?”
“Yeah, I guess.”
While the boy slightly relaxed, the prince checked the wound. It was not deep.
“What’s your name?”
“Ashpin Agecroft.”
The prince nodded. “I’m Wisdom, Prince here at the Eastern Clan. I think I know who you saw in town.” His sight-reading picked up another image. From it, he saw Peter try to fight. “He did this to you, didn’t he?”
“All over a piece of a pie.” The boy grinned. “My mother taught me manners, though. I don’t start fights. I finish them. Would have won too if those others hadn’t been nearby.”
Wisdom laughed at the scene in the boy’s mind where Peter was knocked to the ground from a fist swing. When he called to his brothers for help, the fight ended with Ashpin fleeing.
He held a hand over the cut. “Trust me when I say you’re safe here. Just hold still a moment.”
He could feel earth stirring beneath the floorboards as he extended his free hand toward the opening of the stable to draw Nature’s energy. Just as he had done to open the new road for Alexander’s clan, so too was the same process to heal. Energy poured from his hand in a faint green glow to close the wound. When the prince removed his hand, not even a scar remained.
He could hear Glory and a few others returning to gather more goods. It was Glory’s voice who mentioned the dead grass outside, though Wisdom knew why. As he healed, Nature had surrendered her own growth to his call. The price of life for one resulted in the death of another. In that way, there was always a balance.
Ashpin stared at the place where the gash had once been, then lifted his gaze to the prince. There was thankfulness in those green eyes. But something else was there, something a mere boy would not normally know.
“You’ve come back.”
In the moment the words left the boy’s lips, the prince knew there was no need to explain his healing abilities. And yet explanations were needed for his kind’s absence in the human realms. There came a vision of his dying mother, and questioning echo as the boy kept thinking, Why weren’t you there for her?
*****
Shy let the wind currents carry his hawk form. He circled higher, cutting through spurts of clouds until he coud view the entire layout of Trully. Farmland spread from the north to where the start of woods surrounded town. Everything south of that was occupied by the clans.
How pathetic they look! A coming war between our kinds would just wipe everyone out. Lexington would have a far better chance than this!
At the thought of Lexington, a distant rumble of thunder turned his gaze north. The bordering Realm of Sapphire was but a day’s journey. Yet the sound he heard was a constant warning to what lay within the deepening rolls of cloud coverage spanning that realm. Both he and his brother had witnessed the power behind its creation. Both knew such a force should not be in existence. Now, as he descended in a lazy circle, he wondered if the storm could somehow play a part by distracting his kind in a likely attack.
Surely, Chronicles would sense the chaotic power coming from it. There’s no way to avoid it. Even humans are affected by its presence.
The chances of reasoning with his father were slim. He knew how self-centered his kind could be under their current leader, and recalled some of his training. The majority had prepared to invade human realms. Now he was here. Invading was the furthest thing from his mind. Instead, he tried to focus on the type of people his brother presided over.
Farmers… Shy let out a sigh that ended in a hawkish whistle. But what of the rest? He scoped out the three clans directly behind Wisdom’s location.
The Western Clan was a large structure that backed up to a wooded area. It would have remained hidden had his brother not opened the road for travel. Although Shy had not seen the inside of the place, his brother’s thoughts had once confirmed a weapons room – or at least contained enough weapons to display around the room.
Shy skimmed the trees until he reached the Mystic Clan. No better than farmers, Mystic homes were mere stone huts. A large tent toward the back of the yard signaled its leader’s location. There were no other buildings he could make out through the surrounding trees, although he had caught wind of a possible building project in the near future. A few inhabitants wandered throughout the yard, but were of no interest other than overhearing conversations.
The hawk moved on to the last clan.
There’s not even enough people here to stand up against one of my kind! What are they going to do when an entire race arrives?
Frustrated, Shy searched for the remaining clan of Simpletons. He doubted they would be any different as he spotted a clearing nestled within a grove of pine and oak trees. A short dive landed him at its edge, where vines of crimped leaves spiraled up a few trunks. Here and there the forest floor rose in a collection of roots and moss-covered mounds of soil taller than humans. Knee-high grass rustled from scurrying animals. All around, birds called to one another in the traditional manner of territorial songs. Where sunlight scattered along the ground, crimson clover sprang in clusters of contrasting red and green.
This can’t be it; there’s no one here. Yet when he lifted back into flight and hovered overhead, there were no other indications of another clan.
The Healer landed amidst a few clusters of crimson clover sprouting along a trodden path. After returning to his true form, he began following the path to see where it led. The moss-covered mounds were intriguing, as there were quite many situated within the clearing. Certainly, the path was being used, but by who?
“Need something?”
The startling voice of another caught Shy off guard. He whipped around, a throaty growl warning the intruder not to venture any closer. Ears flattened as he looked the stranger over. It unnerved him that the other person stood so close, as though he had emerged from the two mounds of mossy covered bramble Shy stood between.
A piercing gaze of forest green swept over the Healer. Tarnished red hair spastically stuck up in odd directions with the ends fading in a warm honey color. His skin also took on a mottled look with dark patches of pigment around the cheek and neck. Where his long shirt sleeves did not cover, the same could be seen along the hands.
Shy flicked an ear forward. He had seen this person during his brother’s demonstration and recalled the name of the Simpleton leader.
“Master Mididus?” and the man nodded. Shy glanced around the clearing, searching for others. Finding none, he fixed his gaze back upon the lone figure and crossed his arms. “You know, I am a being of supreme power. I could have killed you for creeping out like that!”
“We are well aware of your abilities,” the Simpleton spoke in a slow, calculated response, as though he was testing each word before it was allowed to pass his lips.
“We?” Shy glanced around the area and spread his arms for emphasis. “Who’s ‘we?’”
He blinked. Ears twitched to tune in sounds of movement as he turned about.
The man was gone.
“What the…?” Opening his mind to sight-read, Shy sought to pin-point the leader’s location. What he heard instead was not one, but multiple transactions of thought processing around him. The clearing seemed full of people he could not see, with the thoughts getting louder by the minute.
With hands over his ears, Shy thrust up a mental barrier to block all communication. It had little effect, though, as echoes of thought still
lingered. The rapid patterns of quick talk left the Healer in a daze. Feeling light-headed, he reached out to support a possible collapse.
A hand quickly grasped his shoulders and guided him to a sitting position next to one of the mounds. Shaking his head to clear it, Shy tried to register what his body sensed.
It took Master Wisdom by surprise as well, the Simpleton’s thoughts came to him.
Shy instantly recoiled. “How did you get in my head?! I’m second under my father’s mental strength! No one can penetrate my thoughts!”
This is our way of speaking, the thought came again, and he recognized it as Mididus. Let me show you how.
As though a curtain had been lifted from the area, Shy could see the clan. What he presumed as mounds of moss and bramble, were actually the structures of various homes jutting from the earth. Even people were present. They carried on as though nothing was out of place, and walked the paths Shy had done to reach their present destinations.
It took a moment for Shy to grasp everything: the mental chat, the projected coverings. This was not magic. It was not even illusion. In truth, he did not even know what to call it. All he knew was that they were strong. Carefully, he reopened his mind to catch drifts of current conversations. Their thoughts were swift, nearly impossible to follow. He concentrated, letting his mind get used to the strands of multiple thought patterns. Finally, he sat back.
I get it… His own thought added to the fray of processing chat, temporarily stalling current conversation. He then felt the pull of thought seeking his location. They comforted him, tried to explain with mental images and feelings.
Shy glanced to Mididus, who sat patiently beside him.
“It’s like you’ve covered the area with a blanket using your mind,” the Healer said. “One person alone couldn’t do this. It takes an entire clan.”
The Simpleton nodded. Now you understand what we do. Before Master Wisdom arrived, the clans only knew us as Simpletons. They thought we were mute, among other rumors. Now, that has all changed. We’ve gained respect.
“Respect well received,” Shy admitted, getting to his feet. With mental abilities this strong, he began to wonder if these were the type of people needed to stop a coming attack from his kind.
Healer Page 3
