Scarlet and the Keepers of Light

by Brandon Charles West

  “I don’t think it works that way—with the light, I mean. I kinda feel it inside, and then I send it out.”

  “Ha. The light comes from inside you. No wonder it is so difficult.” With a broad, dramatic gesture, Jud-Byr put his hands up in the air and then let them fall to his sides. “Well, nature’s magic is different. You have to learn to speak to nature. To ask it to do as you wish. You must develop a relationship with it.”

  Scarlet thought for a moment about trying to explain what Xavier and Dakota had told her about the For Tol Don and all magic coming from inside her, but thought better of it. She could figure that part out later. “You mean . . . actually talk to it?”

  “Yes, talk to it,” Jud-Byr responded, a little incredulous.

  “Okay, how do I do that?”

  “You have to learn its language. Let me show you,” Jud-Byr said, walking over to a scraggly tree that was little more than a bush. He bent slowly down, looking very much like an old man as he gingerly placed his knees in the dirt. Leaning close to the tree, he began to whisper, his voice too soft for Scarlet to distinguish the words. He turned his palms upward, still whispering to the tree, and slowly, by mere slivers of inches, the tree began to grow. The dry ground cracked as the tree’s roots thickened, its growth beginning to accelerate. Suddenly it rose several feet above Scarlet and Jud-Byr, green foliage budding from its once spindly limbs.

  When the tree had finally settled, Jud-Byr turned to Scarlet.

  “Do you see? I asked the tree to grow—to sprout new leaves and roots—and it did. It did this for me because it sees me as a friend, as a guardian, and so it trusts me.” Jud-Byr smiled at Scarlet, as if he had said the simplest, most basic thing in the world. First you put one leg in your pants, then the other.

  “What language does nature speak?” Scarlet asked, and then flushed. She knew the question was naive.

  “It doesn’t matter what words you choose.” Jud-Byr seemed frustrated. “You don’t understand. It’s not what you say—it’s how you say it.”

  Scarlet felt confused. She knew that Jud-Byr was getting frustrated with her. For some reason—perhaps it was just the difference in teaching styles—when Xavier had begun her training, even though she still felt disbelief, it had been easy. It had made sense. Here with Jud-Byr, she understood neither what he was explaining nor what he wanted her to do.

  “Come here, girl,” he said, taking her hand and leading her over to a half-dead bush. “You see this bush?”

  “Yes, of course.”

  “It is old for a bush. It is dying. Ready to return to the earth. But you could ask it to stay a little longer, if you needed to. . . . If you wanted to.” Jud-Byr motioned to the bush and gave Scarlet a nudge.

  Feeling incredibly silly, she obeyed, kneeling in front of the bush. She cleared her throat. “Um . . . Mr. Bush . . . if you could please . . . um . . . grow?”

  Jud-Byr shook his head. “Mister Bush. What are you saying, child? Mister Bush. It is not Mister Bush.”

  “I’m sorry. It’s just that I’ve never talked to a bush before. I don’t know what to say.”

  “Just sit quiet and think about it. It may come to you,” Jud-Byr said. “I’ll leave you here for a little while.”

  As good as his word, he walked off, leaving Scarlet kneeing by the bush alone. She sat quietly for a long time, unsure of what to say or do. After a while she reached out and felt the bush’s twigs and leaves. They were hard and brittle.

  “I bet you could do with a bit of water,” she said absently. One of the leaves came off in her hand. “Oh, I’m sorry.” Scarlet looked at the limb where the leaf had come off. A small bud was forming.

  Did I do that? As if in answer, several more buds formed on empty branches.

  “Are you dying? Like Jud-Byr said?” Scarlet of course received no answer, but she did feel like she might be on the right track. There was a feeling she was getting from the bush—a connection. “Could you grow a little bit,” she asked timidly, “before you fade away?”

  Very slowly, almost imperceptibly at first, the bush began to rise a little higher into the air, its limbs spreading a little wider.

  Scarlet squealed with delight.

  “Thank you,” she said to the bush, no longer feeling quite so silly.

  For a while she sat quietly, reverently, watching the bush grow. Then finally, unable to contain herself anymore, she ran off to find Jud-Byr.

  21

  Magic Seeds

  Scarlet spent the remainder of the day attempting to talk to any and every plant she saw, sometimes with great success, although often with none. Regardless of the outcome, she found the whole idea of communicating with nature so fascinating that she continued, undaunted by her numerous failures. Not until later on in the evening did she finally catch up with Jud-Byr. He was standing with her father and several dwarves, staring at a barren field that was by far the largest in the village.

  Scarlet approached the group apprehensively. She could

  hear a heated discussion about the state of the field. Some-

  thing was clearly wrong. The dwarves were obviously deeply concerned.

  Noticing Scarlet, Jud-Byr beckoned her closer. “This is a good lesson for you, child. Come here.”

  He waited until she’d come close before continuing. “You see this field?”

  “Yes,” she answered.

  “This field has produced most of all the food and medicine we depend on for our livelihood. But now it is barren. Even the earth is affected by the evil rising in the south. Now you may ask me why I don’t ask the crops to grow.”

  “I guess . . . yes, why don’t you?”

  “Because you can’t speak to what isn’t there. You create your light from within you, you said, but it is not so with nature. I cannot create the crops—I can only ask them to grow or move or spread. I can only ask the insects and the birds to carry seeds to fertile soil. I cannot create the seeds or the birds. Do you understand?”

  “Yes, I do. I’ve been trying what you told me. They listened,” Scarlet said excitedly. “Well—sometimes they did.”

  “I glad to hear that, child. You’ll have to show me later. Right now I must figure out what to do about this problem. I will talk to you later.”

  Scarlet nodded and was turning to walk away when something caught her eye; a figure was hobbling toward the village in the distance. From the way he was walking, he appeared to be hurt.

  “Who is that?” Scarlet asked, getting the adults’ attention.

  They all looked up at once, and seeing the figure, Scarlet’s father took off at a run toward it. “Bring blankets,” he shouted.

  Scarlet started to run after her father, but Jud-Byr held her back with a firm hand. Several dwarves ran after her father with blankets and water. Scarlet watched as he reached the figure, catching him as he collapsed. Her father lifted the figure in his arms and began carrying him back to the village.

  “We need a bed!” he shouted as he passed Scarlet.

  Scarlet gasped. It was Delfi. He looked horrible, as if he had been beaten, and was very thin. Delfi tried to whisper something to Scarlet as her father carried him past, but she could not make out what he was saying. Despite Jud-Byr’s attempts to hold her back, she rushed past him and followed her father into the hut.

  Scarlet’s father laid Delfi on a straw bed and began to look him over.

  “Can you tell me what happened?” he asked softly.

  Delfi blinked, as if he was dizzy, and opened his mouth to speak, but the words were so quiet that Scarlet’s father had to lean his ear against Delfi’s lips to understand him. He listened for a long time before rising again and telling Delfi to rest; then he walked over to Jud-Byr and pulled him aside. Although they too spoke in quiet tones, Scarlet could make out what they were saying.

  “He said he light-walked, like
Scarlet did,” her father whispered. “He saw her do it, and wanted to find us to help.”

  “What is this light-walk?” Jud-Byr asked, his eyes fixed on the wounded Tounder.

  “I’m not sure I completely understand it myself. Scarlet turned us into light, and then suddenly we were gone—transported here, just a short walk from your village.”

  “Fascinating. Truly. I’ve never heard of such magic. Troubling, though. Quite troubling,” Jud-Byr’s voice was grim.

  “Why?”

  “Well . . . I would guess the reason I never heard of this magic before is because it would take too much of oneself to use it. Your daughter is obviously special. This boy Tounder might have spent so much of his life’s energy, there will be no coming back.” Jud-Byr shook his head solemnly. “Why is he so scratched up?”

  “He said he crawled here from the place where he landed. He also said that he hit the ground hard. His wings look ripped,” Scarlet’s father admitted.

  “Only the other Tounder would be able to help him with his wings. They are part of the Tounder’s gift from the great oak,” Dakota said, joining the conversation.

  “There is no way to get him to the Tounder, if the Mortada are searching the forest for you all.” Jud-Byr stroked his beard worriedly. “That is the least of his worries, though. Our fields are barren. We have no medicine to help any of his wounds, or any ingredients to make a tonic to bring up his strength.”

  “Oh, the poor boy,” Mr. Hopewell said. He rubbed his face in frustration. “I knew they were close, he and Scarlet. I meant to say something to Xavier, but . . .”

  “He will rest tonight. Maybe tomorrow we can think of something.”

  Scarlet sat by Delfi’s side, tears running down her face. She felt responsible. He had tried to find her, and if it weren’t for her stunt with the light, he would still be in Illuminora, safe and sound. Now Jud-Byr said he was going to die. She couldn’t let that happen. She just couldn’t. Her mind raced with ideas of how she could help. The only thing she kept coming back to, however, was traveling back to Illuminora and getting Xavier. There was one major problem with that idea. After she had light-walked the last time, she had passed out. If she passed out in the forest outside the great oak, she would be helpless, easy prey for the Mortada. Besides, who was to say that Xavier could even do anything? No one had ever traveled the way she had before, and maybe even Xavier couldn’t do it without ending up like Delfi.

  Night fell, and everyone but Scarlet went to sleep. There was nothing to be done, and since Scarlet had insisted on staying with Delfi, they left her to watch over him. In the silence she kept running it over and over in her mind, trying to focus on some plan to help Delfi that didn’t involve light-walking. The idea came to her slowly, like something seen through a fog. Then it became clear. She got up and tiptoed to where her father slept. She slid his bag from underneath his bed, careful not to wake him. Reaching inside, she slipped the green satin bag Xavier had given her from the pack. Walking past the sleeping dwarves, she made her way out of the hut and to the barren field.

  She couldn’t be sure that this was the right thing to do, but it felt right. She walked to the middle of the field, took a handful of the seeds from the bag, and tossed them out into the field. She repeated this process until only a handful remained, which she decided to save. Kneeling down in the field, Scarlet began to talk to the seeds, speaking as she sometimes did to her little sister after a bad dream.

  In reassuring tones, Scarlet encouraged the seeds to grow, pleaded with them for help. She told them about her friend, and the farmer dwarves who stood to suffer with a barren crop. Several hours passed in this way, Scarlet speaking to the seeds and then waiting. Nothing happened. She received no answer in the form of budding plants or fruits or vegetables. Her heart sank. She had failed Delfi, after he had risked everything just to come to her.

  With a heavy heart and tear-filled eyes, Scarlet went back to the hut and sat back down at Delfi’s side. She gathered his hand in hers, laid her head on his chest, and quickly drifted off to sleep.

  Scarlet woke with a start. Someone had screamed. Then she heard it again. Not screaming, but shouting. There were many shouts. She quickly made her way outside toward all the noise. Jud-Byr, Dakota, her father, and a large group of dwarves were all standing in front of the barren field, blocking Scarlet’s view of it. She rushed to the group and gasped when she caught sight of the field. It was filled with all manner of plants, some familiar, some incredibly strange.

  “How did this happen?” one of the dwarves exclaimed.

  Jud-Byr turned to Scarlet. “Perhaps our young guest might have an explanation. You are the For Tol Don. You have created this from inside you, like the light magic.” He smiled warmly at her.

  “No,” Scarlet said timidly. “Before I left, Xavier gave me a bag. . . . It seemed like the right thing to do.”

  “Indeed,” Jud-Byr said, with a deep laugh.

  “Are there the right ingredients to help Delfi here? Can you save him?” Scarlet asked, desperately.

  “I think you are the one who saved him,” Dakota said. “But yes, the right plants are here.” He gave her a wink as

  the dwarves set off at Jud-Byr’s command to collect the needed ingredients.

  ***

  Jud-Byr had administered the draught that gave Delfi back a good deal of his strength. He still wasn’t a hundred percent, and Dzakota had insisted that he remain in bed resting for another several days, but it was now certain that he would recover.

  “I can’t believe you came after us,” Scarlet said.

  “I’ve been stuck in Illuminora all my life,” Delfi said groggily. “Besides, I couldn’t let you go off on this adventure alone.”

  “But I’m not alone, silly,” Scarlet teased.

  “Well, you were the only one who knows light magic. What if you had questions or needed to practice?” Delfi said. He looked a little embarrassed.

  Scarlet was going to tease him about needing the practice, but decided it would hurt his feelings. “What did Jud-Byr say about your wings?” she asked.

  Scarlet could see a flash of anguish in Delfi’s eyes, though he quickly recovered, pasting on a warm smile. “They’re going to fall off,” he admitted. “Too damaged. Besides, not much they could do outside Illuminora anyway.”

  “Oh, Delfi, I’m so sorry,” Scarlet exclaimed, tears running down her cheeks.

  “Don’t cry,” Delfi pleaded. “I’ll be okay. Besides, I’m going with you, and it would have been odd to have a giant Tounder walking around drawing attention, wouldn’t it? Now I can fit in.”

  “Because I don’t stick out traveling around with a giant German shepherd?” Scarlet elbowed him.

  “Well, you got a point there,” Delfi said, joining in her laughter.

  It took Delfi several days before he was fully up and able to stroll with Scarlet through the fields and meadows. Occasionally Scarlet would show Delfi how she was learning to talk to nature, a skill she was rapidly becoming more proficient in, and try to teach him how she did it. Delfi, however, proved to be completely incapable of this sort of magic, and after a while Scarlet stopped trying. They would also engage each other in silly duels, vying to conjure up the most ridiculous animal out of light and then setting the glowing creatures scampering about the meadow.

  Scarlet found Delfi’s presence a great comfort, and it did wonders to ease her sadness at having left her mother and sister. It was also nice just to have someone her age around, someone she could share her feelings with without feeling childish, as she always did around Dakota and her father. Although she was sure they didn’t mean to make her feel that way, and probably didn’t even realize that they did, it was difficult, considering she was supposed to be some great savior, to act childish around them. She worried that they might be disappointed somehow.

  Dakota and Scarlet’s father
, with the help of Jud-Byr, were planning the next phase of their adventure, and Scarlet was happy for the moment to stay out of the decision making. She didn’t know anything about Satorium anyway, and she didn’t feel that any insight she might possess would be particularly helpful.

  She had practiced light-walking a few times, for very short distances, and found that if she didn’t travel far, only a few hundred feet at most, she could do so without much ill effect. Delfi, after his near-death experience, watched apprehensively as she practiced; he’d apparently lost all interest in trying it again.

  ***

  They had been guests in the dwarven village a whole week when at last Dakota and Scarlet’s father called Scarlet and Delfi into the hut to announce that they would be setting off the following morning. Although the feeling wasn’t quite as strong as it had been when they left Illuminora, Scarlet felt a twinge of sadness at the thought of leaving another happy and comfortable place. The dwarves, like the Tounder, had been gracious and kind, and Scarlet had enjoyed her time in their village very much.

  The next stop on their journey was to the Western Mountains, where they were going to seek help from the spirits of the phoenixes. Scarlet felt a wave of excitement that helped to push away the twinge of sadness. Phoenixes, Scarlet knew from reading, were magical birds that died in a burst of flames and were reborn from their own ashes. That they were real, and that she was going to see them . . . well, it was almost unbelievable. If she was to be honest with herself, however, it wasn’t really any more unbelievable than most things that had happened to her over the past few months.

  The next morning they said their good-byes. To the old dwarf’s obvious surprise, Scarlet gave Jud-Byr a long, tight hug.

  “You take good care of yourself, young lady,” Jud-Byr said in his most grandfatherly tone, giving her a pat on the head. He turned to Delfi. “You—you owe me a life debt,” he announced seriously.

  Delfi lowered his head, nervous and a little scared of what Jud-Byr was about to ask of him. The dwarf had saved his life, but he didn’t want to leave Scarlet.