by Matt Taylor
“So once we are inside the city gates then, we won’t need to hide because he doesn’t have any say as to what goes on there!” Samara exclaimed.
“Not unless he has sent an army to take it over already, ” Geode said, stepping into the conversation. “But don’t you worry, Gelendor is a strong city, it is ancient and beautiful, and it will take more than just a big army to take it over.” Geode said, his voice radiating confidence. “The Nature mages that reside there are some of the most powerful in all of Evendreil, you will be able to meet some true masters after we arrive.”
“Are you not a master, Geode?” Sylas asked.
“I consider myself well learned, yes. A master, maybe. But I still have much to learn.”
They continued to walk, not saying much more throughout the day due to the fatigue that was wearing on them from their hasty and long journey.
They walked over rolling hills of grass and trees until they came upon a section that had all burned to the ground. The pine trees and leafy trees that had once covered the hills had been reduced to black logs. Instead of the green and golden grass they had walked through all morning, weeds, charred ground, dust, and ash took its place. It was a shame, Sylas admired how beautiful the rolling hills were, and this section had its beauty taken away by the fire.
“Do you think that this was the work of some of Maelos’s Fire mages?” He asked, directing his question to no one in particular.
“I don’t think so.” Geode responded, “This looks to have been burned down naturally. Look at the ground right over there, see the lines that spread throughout the dirt and burnt grass?”
Sylas looked over at where Geode was pointing. White lines snaked along the earth in jagged, branching formations, all leading to one large mangled divot in the dirt.
“That’s where a lightning bolt came down and struck the earth. Most likely, it caused some grass to catch on fire, and it spread to the surrounding trees.”
Sylas continued to look at the jagged lines along the ground, now seeing how similar in shape they were to a lightning bolt that you would see in the sky during any stormy night.
They continued walking and eventually reached the edge of burnt ground at the base of a large hill. After climbing the hill, the outer city walls of Gelendor finally came into view as they peered across the valley below them.
“There it is, we made it!” Torren exclaimed happily. “It’s about time!”
“Don’t celebrate just yet, we still need to make sure that there isn’t an ambush waiting for us just outside the city walls, and we still have to cross that valley to get to the city. But yes, we are very close to completing this short portion of our journey.” Uthren said, dropping his pack to the ground.
There was that word Sylas hated hearing so much, “short…”
“We will camp here tonight, I don’t think we’ll make a fire, however, as we don’t want to chance anyone finding us while we are so close to the city. Rest for a moment, get your tents ready, and we’ll go over the plan for tomorrow morning.”
Sylas, Torren, and Samara walked a short distance to a nice flat piece of ground and began setting up their tents. They were getting quite proficient at setting them up quickly now, Torren and Sylas knowing exactly which direction and how much distance was permitted between their tents and Samaras. After setting up their tents and eating what little rations they had left in their packs, all three of them walked over to where Uthren and Geode had set up their tents.
They were sitting together, discussing plans for the morning to ensure their safe arrival into Gelendor. Seeing them approach, Uthren asked that they each sit down so they could go over the plan.
They sat down, completing the circle of bodies atop the green hill of grass. The wind blew gently around them as the sun continued to dive closer and closer towards the horizon. There were still several hours until the sun completely set according to Sylas’s judgment.
“Alright, listen up.” Uthren continued. “Before we approach the city, we’ll need to be sure that we can get close enough to cast a group teleport into the city without being seen, as well as making sure we have a good point of entry chosen within the city so that we don’t appear inside someone’s house or in the middle of a building somewhere. There may or may not be anyone waiting to ambush us as we approach the city. Surely Maelos has some idea as to the direction that we are heading, so we can’t rule it out as a possibility. Geode and I were thinking that we would speak to at least two different animals, one to survey the sky, and the other to survey the ground. Once they return and report, we can then cautiously make our approach. Upon getting close enough to the city to use our group teleport spell, we can then send in another animal to scout out a good place to target that teleport within the city. Once it has shown us a suitable place, we’ll perform the spell and hope that we don’t get caught as it’s a great offense to enter the city without using the front gate. Whether we are caught or not, we’ll seek out queen Nydria and relate to her the events that have transpired. Hopefully, she will then lend us her aid.”
“Does anyone have any questions or concerns with this plan?” Geode asked.
The group sat silently for a moment before Sylas asked, “Is it still alright if I try and speak with one of the animals for the scouting mission?”
Geode thought for a moment before nodding. “We will send yours on the ground, and I will take both the air and within the walls mission. I believe in you Sylas. It’s not easy to get a creature to obey you, and when they do to be able to follow your instructions very well. But you have shown great promise, and I believe you can do it.”
Sylas mentally pumped his fists in victory and then calmly replied, “Thank you, I won’t let you down.”
“If there are no other questions or concerns, then I believe we should have a short training session, Geode with Sylas, and myself with both Samara and Torren. We should then retire to bed shortly after as we would like to leave early in the morning for the city. We want to be in a position to teleport just after the sun has risen high enough in the air to make the teleport not as noticeable when the pillar of Light comes down, and we want plenty of day remaining to find and talk to Nydria and figure out what to do next.”
Uthren waited a moment for any last remarks, then stood and motioned for Samara and Torren to follow him. Sylas stayed with Geode, eager to begin his lesson.
“Are you ready for your lesson in speaking with animals?” Geode said, already knowing what the response would be.
“Yes, master Geode. Please teach me,” Sylas responded.
“Very well, the first thing that you need to know about speaking with plants or animals is how to first get them to listen. With plants, it’s not so hard; they are bored sitting all day and night where they have been planted. With small critters who are busy looking for food, a mate, or a hundred other things, it gets a bit more tricky. I like to coax them in with something that will be worth their time to come and see.”
Geode reached into his pocket and pulled out some dried nuts. “Both plants and animals are much more trusting of one that can speak with them, but just because you speak with them doesn’t mean that they will immediately have full confidence that you are not going to harm them. You need to be calm, collected, and still as you call out to them, or they won’t trust you enough to approach.”
Geode placed the nuts on the ground in front of him and then made the symbol of Nature and opened his second mind. After the green glow appeared around his hands and in his eyes, Geode again picked up the nuts from the ground and placed them into his now extended hand.
“After opening your second mind, focus on all of the living things around you. You can even include yourself in this search. Focus on the life energy of the grass, the trees, the bugs beneath the ground, and everything that contains the spark of life within them. Extend your reach outward, noticing all of the living things and taking note of their demeanor and activities. Once you have found the creature that you wou
ld like to try and speak to, narrow your focus down from all the things around you, to pinpoint that one creature. Once you have it in focus, address the creature with a friendly salutation. My preference is a polite, ‘hello there.’ If the creature you have addressed has enough interest, it should respond, and you can go from there. The language that it speaks will be naturally translated into something that you will be able to understand thanks to the power of the Nature Magick that you are channeling. The more focused you remain, the clearer you will sound to whatever you are talking to, and the clearer it will sound to you.”
Geode let out a breath of air and closed his eyes. After a few moments, he opened his eyes and looked around, a strange expression on his face.
“What’s wrong?” Sylas asked.
Geode didn’t reply but kept looking off into the distance, the same strange expression deepening on his face. Finally, he turned to Sylas and opened his mouth, but must have had a change of thought when he replied, “Never mind. Sorry to keep you waiting.”
Geode again closed his eyes, but the expression never left his face as he continued his search for a close-by creature to grab the attention of. About a minute later, he smiled and reopened his eyes, then turned his head towards Sylas’s left and gestured for him to look. Sylas slowly turned his head and saw a small chipmunk cautiously approaching them. It stopped moving upon seeing Sylas turn his head and sat back on its hind legs, ready to bolt the other way at any sign of oncoming danger. Geode reached his hand with the nuts in it towards the chipmunk, and Sylas noticed the green aura around his hands and in his eyes flare slightly. The chipmunk dropped to all fours and twitching its nose slowly approached. As it got closer to Sylas, the chipmunk ran swiftly past him before slowing his approach just before reaching Geode’s hand. It paused for a moment, then reached its front paws forward, grabbing a nut from his hand and stuffing it in its mouth. Geode continued to smile as the chipmunk proceeded to stuff fragments of nut into its cheeks until they doubled in size. The chipmunk then jumped into Geode’s hand and curled itself into a comfortable sitting position.
“That’s incredible!” Sylas whispered to Geode, trying not to disturb the chipmunk. “What did you say to him?”
“To her.” Geode corrected, “I told her that I had some leftover food that she could have and that I meant no harm. I also told her that you would not try to harm her, and she could trust us. Remember, animals only have a couple of simple goals in life, and making sure they have sufficient amounts of food is one of them, so coaxing them with food is usually not too difficult. Would you like to try?”
“Yes, please! What do I do?”
“Go ahead and open your second mind using the Nature symbol. After you have done so, extend your focus out amongst all of the living things around you, as I explained before. We will start there.” Geode said, reaching his other hand forward and stroking the top of the chipmunks head, which it seemed to enjoy.
Sylas made the symbol of Nature with his hands and moved his inner life from his stomach into his head and proceeded to open his second mind. He was always a bit nervous about having another incident with unwanted visions intruding, but thankfully no such luck this time. As he felt his soul leaving his body and his second point of view appeared, he proceeded to place his focus on the things that surrounded him. He was surprised to feel how many living things were just within an arms reach! The grass sat still, motionless, and felt careless to everything else that was surrounding it. Ants continued busily working, intent on finishing their endless list of tasks assigned to them by their queen.
The trees swayed gently in the breeze, docile, but ever watchful for danger. They felt like the protectors of smaller plants and critters, ready to lend their aid to those that needed shelter or protection. A slew of other plants and animals crossed his mind to which he simply observed in passive awe as they continued their activities in peace. One such event was not too peaceful, however. Sylas winced slightly as his mind crossed upon that of some warrior ants ruthlessly taking over a small beetle. They bit the beetle and climbed over it with overwhelming numbers, suffocating it beneath their combined weight until it finally succumbed to its awful fate. The ants then proceeded to carry the beetle carcass triumphantly back to their home, an offering to their queen, no doubt. Some promotions are in order. Sylas thought to himself.
All of a sudden, a powerful, cold feeling swept over him. He didn’t have any words to describe how it felt, other than it felt like the exact opposite of the sun giving off heat on a warm day. Almost like if the moon were to produce its own coldness, and were radiating it down upon him as the sun would, but cold instead of heat. Sylas opened his eyes, startled at the strange feeling.
“You felt it too?” Geode asked, noting the expression on Sylas’s face.
Sylas turned and looked behind where he was sitting. The hill that they sat upon was thick with trees and foliage, and whatever it was, he felt seemed to be coming from the grove of trees in the distance.
He peered into the shadows of the trees, trying to see if anything was watching them, but ultimately saw nothing.
“I… felt something, but I have no idea what it was.”
“A cold feeling, correct? Like the sun turned to ice?” Geode asked.
His description matching almost exactly what he felt, Sylas nodded. Geode again peered into the woods behind where Sylas sat for several moments before turning his attention back to him.
“Very curious…” Geode whispered.
“Try focusing back on the chipmunk, I don’t believe that we are in any danger.”
“You know what that feeling means?” Sylas asked.
“I have a hunch, but I’m not sure. It would be quite extraordinary, to say the least… Yet again…” Geode shook his head, “never mind, let’s continue with your training.”
Sylas closed his eyes and again reached out to the living things around him. He strained momentarily back into the trees to see if he could find the strange cold feeling again, but it was now gone. He eventually gave up and returned his focus back to the chipmunk, extending his mind out towards Geode.
Focusing on the chipmunk in his hand, he felt his conscience brush against the chipmunks, to which the chipmunk reacted by raising its head up and looking straight at him.
“Alright, hold on for just a second now, Sylas. I assume you have reached your mind out to the chipmunk in my hand?”
“Yes, I think so.”
“Good, now so that you don’t scare her away, be sure to approach cautiously and welcoming. Agree with your second mind that you would like to communicate with the creature. The Magick of Nature will translate your message into something that she will be able to understand, as well as translating her thoughts back to you into something you will understand. I would start with a friendly greeting if I were you.
Sylas gently approached the chipmunk with his second mind again, and this time willed the words, “Good evening, Miss.”
The chipmunk again intently focused upon Sylas until he felt a string of words enter into his thoughts.
“What you want?”
Sylas was slightly stunned as he thought he heard a tone of annoyance in the translation. Trying to keep his demeanor kind and gentle, he continued, “How are those nuts? Are they nice and tasty?”
Sylas watched as the chipmunk scooped the remainder of the nuts out of Geode’s hand and stuffed them into her mouth before hearing the reply.
“Mine!”
“No, no, I don’t want to take them from you. I was just wondering if you liked them… which is kind of obvious, seeing as you have all of them in your mouth at the same time… I, umm…”
Sylas had never seen a confused look on a chipmunk before, but looking at the face that was staring back at him, he knew that the chipmunk had no idea where he was going with all of this.
Sensing the struggle between Sylas and the chipmunk, Geode reminded him that he needed to keep his queries simple and to the point and his questions and s
entences short and polite, otherwise, she would just lose interest.
He thought for a moment, then reached into his pocket and pulled out a small coin. Extending it outward and allowing the light from the now almost setting sun to glint across its reflective face, he asked, “Do you like shiny things?”
The chipmunk perked its ears up slightly and leaned forward in Geode’s hand, “Shiny?”
“Yes, shiny. I’ll give this to you if you want it.”
“I want shiny!”
“Okay, come over here and get it then. I won’t hurt you.”
Hesitating for a moment, the chipmunk turned to look at Geode for approval. Geode guessed what their conversation might be consisting of and gave a reassuring nod then lowered his hand to the ground. She slowly crawled out of his hand and made her way closer to Sylas. Keeping her weight on her back feet just in case the need for a quick getaway arose, she continued to crawl closer and closer.
“It’s alright, I mean you no harm,” Sylas said, slowly lowering his hand to the ground and rotating the coin back and forth with his fingers. “Come and get the shiny.”
She finally crossed the distance between them, and cautiously reached her front paws out to grab the coin. Finishing the exchange, Sylas moved his hand towards her paws slightly, allowing her to grab the coin and skitter backward a couple of feet. She admired the coin, a sense of awe clearly visible as she rotated the coin in her paws as Sylas had done, causing light to gently reflect off the metal surface and into her dark wide eyes.
