William of Archonia: Redemption

by Jarod Meyer

  Some of the carts were pulled by great beasts of burden. They were twice the size of any oxen and had thick armored hides that were marbled with a rainbow of colors. Other carts were powered by engines. It was rare to see, but people still created machines. It was rare because for the most part they were not needed. Most things could be done using the mind, if a person was practiced enough.

  She found Julia trying to reign in a group of children, struggling to guide them to the wayshrine and back, as she had been directed. The first day, one of the children had projected a giant spider, which chased Julia off. The next they had filled her shoes with porridge from the meal tent. Today it was a swarm of flies buzzing around her head. She was in tears once again. Angelica couldn’t suppress a snort as she watched her helpless cousin. After a few moments she approached the young boy she knew had instigated the situation, and grabbed him firmly by the arm.

  “Derek, would you like to walk alone behind the caravan today?” she asked him. The boy put his eyes to the ground and the flies disappeared into shimmering flecks of light.

  “Thank you. Now, if I see you torturing Lady Julia again you will all get baths tonight.”

  For Archonian children this was the worst of punishments. Most children here knew nothing of the mortal world. Their souls were collected before they had experienced anything of life. So, most of them were quick studies, and had already learned to project, fly, and keep themselves clean without bathing. With that threat looming, Angelica knew she could count on their best behavior.

  “I had it under control, Angie.”

  Angelica laughed and replied, “The fact that you think so makes me think you might need a Lady watching over you as well.”

  “Ladies watch over children, Angie. I am not a…” Julia replied with a huff, but stopped and seemed to finally understand, and made an angry, pouty face.

  They began the day’s march, watching the children play amongst the carts and people. They had what seemed to be limitless energy.

  “So, someone briefly mentioned what this wayshrine was going to be like, but they didn’t give much detail,” Angelica said casually.

  “It is the water shrine. It sits in the middle of a vast lake, and we have to swim to reach it,” Julia said.

  “Why not take a boat?”

  “Because that would defeat the purpose of the trial, Angie.”

  “Okay… how far do we have to swim?”

  “Uh…I think only like thirty miles.”

  Angelica felt her mouth fall open. “Only thirty miles? Jules, I don’t think I’ve ever swam further than a two hundred meter.”

  “Oh don’t worry about it so much. You never get tired here in Archonia so you should not have a problem.”

  “That’s easy for you to say, you grew up here, Julia. I just got here. My mind isn’t strong enough yet. I can’t do the things you do yet, I’m not ready!” Angelica responded.

  “Then I suppose you should not try the swim.”

  Angelica’s heart dropped. Had she come all this way for nothing?

  “You said the manner in which one reaches the shrine doesn’t matter, correct?” she asked.

  “No, as long as you’re in the water it really doesn’t matter. Some fly but they have to be really strong, I guess. There is high gravity around the lake. Some old Archonian priest made it that way so it was more difficult to reach for people who fly. The true test is getting there on your own through the water.”

  Angelica sighed heavily and resigned herself to trying the swim, but held little hope that she would succeed.

  Angelica turned away from Julia and spied a man she had helped on the second day of their journey. His name was Jonas, and was in charge of one of the tent carts. It was a large cart, the beasts pulling it larger than elephants. When securing the tents onto the back the beasts had jerked the cart and sent him sprawling from the top. He plummeted from the twenty foot drop and landed awkwardly, breaking his leg. Angelica set the bone, while another woman gave him a tonic for the pain. They asked everyone, hoping someone could mend his leg with energy, but nobody knew how. Jonas remained very calm through it all, and thanked Angelica.

  With Julia’s children back under control, she decided to see how his leg was doing.

  “Jonas. How is that leg?” she asked, the man coming into view as she walked around the cart.

  He was hobbling along on a makeshift crutch fashioned out of a stout tree branch. He had to continue on his pilgrimage, even with the broken leg.

  “Splendid! I have been medicating myself with hot mulled wine,” he laughed.

  Jonas was a tall man. He was rather thin, despite the strength he showcased regularly, reigning in the large beasts pulling his cart. His face was long, and his jaw strong, a splashing of freckles covering his cheeks. His nose was long and a tad crooked, and he had a penchant for blowing his nose regularly. Julia chastised Angelica for paying him so much attention while tending to his leg, referring to him as the “homely” or “unsightly” wagon hand. Angelica didn’t agree, however. She quickly discovered that Jonas had a warm, kind smile, and an even kinder heart.

  “Just don’t drink too much. You’re going to want to keep hydrated with water,” Angelica said, her medical training kicking in.

  “My lady, you do know that one can’t become dehydrated here, correct?” Jonas asked with a small laugh.

  Angelica felt a little embarrassed, but she was able to work her way out of it.

  “Your mind may make it so. Just don’t drink too much wine. Too much of a good thing can be bad,” she replied.

  “Too true, my good lady. As for my leg, it is nearly healed. I can feel it growing stronger every day.”

  Angelica spied the splint she had made from a wooden steak and tightly wound linen. It was in a raggedy condition from all the hiking, but it still looked tight and effective.

  “You broke your tibia. A break like that could take a good month or longer to heal,” she said.

  “Perhaps in the mortal world, my lady. But here, my mind is making faster progress than my body would.”

  Angelica shook her head and continued to walk. She spun, her smile turning to a grimace as someone shrieked. She ran, moving along the line of pilgrims, trying to see what was going on. She stumbled through a group of people, coming upon an unpleasant sight. A woman lay on the ground, her face twisted in agony. Angelica could see serious burns covering her arms and hands. The massing group of pilgrims turned and looked at her.

  Her medical training kicked in and she set to work. This was not going to be pleasant.

  “What is your name?” Angelica asked, the woman’s eyes flooding with tears.

  Then she turned and whispered to someone nearby. “Bring me iced water as much as you can.” Then towards another girl, “I need fresh linen cloths, bring as many as you can carry.”

  Why won’t they send someone back to the city for a healer? she wondered.

  “I have salve,” a woman shouted over the crowd. Angelica nodded in approval, shaken from her thoughts, and the woman scurried off.

  “What is your name?” Angelica asked again.

  “T-t-trisha,” she managed to say.

  “Okay, Trisha everything is going to be okay. Can you tell me what happened?”

  “She was put in charge of one of those machines,” a man said, pointing to one of the carts that had an exposed combustion engine on the back.

  Angelica put two and two together. She must have touched the engine while it was running.

  “Okay someone needs to explain to everyone that these engines can be hot.”

  Someone brought half a wooden barrel filled with ice water.

  Angelica helped Trisha up and said, “Okay we need to stop the

  burn.” She forced the woman’s arms into the ice bath, holding her as she cringed and shook in pain.

  “We need to soak your arms for a couple of minutes. This will stop the burn from further damaging the cells. By the time Angelica was satisfied
that she had soaked long enough the women with the bandages and salve had returned. However, before they could wrap the wounds the dead flesh would have to be removed. Angelica hadn’t debrided a burn wound since nursing school.

  “Give me a clean cloth, please.”

  The girl did so with a smile. The smile quickly faded to horror when Angelica began scrubbing the burnt flesh off of Trisha’s arms. Her screams and wails were so loud halted the whole of the caravan. It took four women to hold her down, and all Angelica could do was say she was sorry. It was not her fault that nobody had thought to bring a healer.

  “Why haven’t we sent someone back for a healer?” Angelica whispered angrily to one of the women holding Trisha down.

  “We cannot. Once the pilgrimage is started, we cannot go back, or have any contact with the city until we have prayed at the shrine,” the woman responded shakily.

  Angelic growled and resumed her work. It seemed an eternity before she was finally able to apply the salve and then wrap her arms. Trisha had calmed down, whether from relief or shock Angelica didn’t know. The mass of people standing around them gave her fearful looks. They clearly didn’t understand burns, and she realized that it must have looked like she was torturing the poor woman.

  Angelic got out of the way as people helped Trisha off the ground. A few of them thanked her, but the majority avoided her. Soon the caravan was underway again. Some of Trisha’s friends made a stretcher from wood and fabric and were carrying her along. They were forbidden from placing her on the carts.

  That night Angelica didn’t join in any of the celebrations, but instead found a nice quiet spot in the open field. She looked out over the sea of grass and found some small measure of peace in the quiet. The thick, white stalks looked so much like wheat as they swayed in the evening breeze. When she sat down the grass reached above her head, and created a little room for her to lose herself in. She sprawled out, the soft blades cushioning her like a feather bed. She drifted off into her trance, her mind seeking rest and renewal for the day to come. She continued to hear the woman screaming and writhing in agony while in the trance, and found she could not escape it. It seemed only when the screams had died down that she finally came around. She looked up to find the sun already blazing in the sky.

  * * *

  The next week proved to be no easier. It seemed a new ailment befell someone new each day. It grew so bad that they allowed her to forego her laundry duties in exchange for her healing skills. She had already re-wrapped Trisha’s arms twice, and now she was caring for a child who had been bitten by another child’s projections. Jonas’ leg was nearly healed, but at least three people had succumbed to heat exhaustion. Angelica began to wonder if this really was heaven, or just another life she would have to suffer through like everyone else.

  On the fortieth day of their journey they crested a hill, and she saw the lake. To say it was large would be an understatement. Julia had not exaggerated. Angelica shielded her eyes and spotted a little spec of land far out in the middle of the water.

  That must be the wayshrine.

  The water of the lake was a greenish blue, and broken by small, lively waves. The coastline was smooth, making it look almost unnatural, but the trees and the brush dotting its periphery gave it a beauty Angelica would never forget. The trees where exotic looking palms with an array of peculiar looking fruits dangling from the branches. The terrain was pulverized sand so fine that it felt as though you were walking on cotton. It was white and made the whole place look very tropical.

  It took them the remainder of the morning and into the afternoon to close the remaining distance. People rejoiced when they reached the water, the children running headlong into it, splashing each other and laughing. Everyone else moved to set up camp. Angelica stopped to watch the children playing in the water. It appeared to be relatively shallow where they were playing, the water only knee high. She saw their hair and their clothes weighted down by what must have been the intense gravity fashioned by the creators of the pilgrimage. Children threw handfuls of water and sand into the air only to watch it fall back heavily into the greenish spray of the lake water.

  She watched Julia cross the threshold of the gravitational field and stumble under the weight of her own body. Angelica chuckled nervously, realizing that if someone stronger and more experienced like Julia struggled so mightily, then she likely had no chance. The realization that she could not complete the journey to the island made her insides sink. With her heart pained by this prospect, Angelica decided to help the others set up camp.

  The fortieth night came upon them much as the last thirty nine had, with the exception of a gentle breeze and a cool spray from the nearby water. The fragrance of salt and palm trees took Angelica back to the Gulf of Mexico, where she had vacationed as a child.

  The camp became boisterous again, the merriment of her fellow pilgrims extending out over the emptiness of the lake. Angelica chose to seclude herself yet again. Julia had already gone to her tent to meditate, no doubt exhausted from the children. For once Angelica didn’t feel the need to worry about her. It was unusual, worrying about Julia, when she had been in this world longer and knew much more about it. In many ways, Julia was still the little girl she had known back on Earth.

  Angelica looked out into the brightly lit planets above and let her mind relax. Her linen clothing let in the refreshing breeze. It kissed her face and neck while gently moving her hair. They had yet to complete their journey, but she couldn’t help but feel as though she’d accomplished something already. She had made it this far without injury, unlike many of the others. But more importantly, she had been able to help those who were injured. If Creqouatl was truly a religion of enlightenment, then she hoped they would not look down on her for not completing the journey, but instead reward her personal discoveries.

  I have to try, she thought, fighting against the small voice in her head telling her that she couldn’t swim the lake.

  She roused herself from the grass and when she rose she found that her legs had stiffened. She did a little stretch, shaking and limbering up her legs to get the blood flowing. Then she walked right up to where the sand was being wetted by the gentle waves rolling in on the tide. She wondered briefly what force had been fabricated to create the illusion of a tide. That mattered less than the abrupt pull as her first leg crossed into the field. She gasped, her skin sagging from the force. She struggled to draw breath, the great weight like a heavy, lead vest.

  Angelica breathed deeply, steadying herself and took a few steps forward. It was a mighty struggle, but soon realized that although the majority of her body felt staggeringly heavy, her feet actually felt light in the water. In fact, she could move her toes normally. The water rose up to her knees and would remain that way for at least fifty yards, as she had seen earlier that day.

  The water felt soothing, her clothes barely weighing her down as she dropped to her knees, letting the wake splash against her chest. She could already feel the weight lifting away. She plunged headfirst into the water, completely submerging her body and releasing the remaining weight. She turned over onto her back and floated, lightly kicking. She could taste the salt, her eyes and a few scrapes she had accumulated stinging as well. But it wasn’t so bad she couldn’t ignore it. Plus, the water was refreshing, making her feel alive.

  Optimism swept over her as she paddled further out into the dark. Soon however, her muscles began to tire, and she brought her body upright to tread water. It was now too deep for her to touch the bottom.

  Angelica cried out in alarm as the gravity pushed her head down, forcing her to swallow a large gulp of salty water. She struggled to maintain her composure. She turned her body around, but panic was already taking hold. She couldn’t get her entire head above the water to breathe, no matter how hard she tried. The invisible force was pushing right up to the liquid’s surface, with seemingly no gap in between.

  Angelica did the only thing she could, she dove under. The pressure stop
ped pushing and she held her breath, forcing her mind to calm. Then she swam slowly back up to the surface on her back, and kicked until the water grew shallow once again. With her backside in the sand, she sat up, feeling the weight smash down on her once her head broke the surface. She fought against the weight, her head down, and back slumping. But she could breathe.

  She had been a strong swimmer on Earth, but she knew that what she did was stupid to swim at night, not knowing the limits of her body or the artificial gravity. She slapped the water in anger, and then crawled back to the beach where she sprawled out in the sand. She didn’t care that it clung to her wet skin.

  The next morning was a crisp, sunny morning, like seemingly every day in Archonia. The crowd was gathering around the beach, as pilgrims began preparing for the small ceremony before the swim.

  Angelica hoped it was less frightening than the passing ceremony, but she never did know what to expect in Archonia. She had donned her linens much the same as everyone else, though many now wore darker fabrics to afford more privacy once wet. Julia appeared from the crowd, grabbed and hugged her arm, surprising her.

  “Today is the day! Are you ready?” she asked

  “Jules, I can’t hope to make that swim. I can’t even see the island anymore.”

  It was true. Without the aid of elevation, it had been swallowed by the waves. Though considered a lake, it seemed more like a sea. Especially when considering the salt water and tropical setting.

  “You have to try, Angie. I can help you some of the way, if you need me too. I can swim really far.”

  “Julia, I am not going to risk your safety. There is no point. I have made the journey on the road, and I have learned so much about myself. It was a good experience…but it ends here.”