“Oh…” I said stupidly as quiet filled the air for a few seconds. “Well, thank you for that. She’s Telli’s mom? Well, she did a great job with your granddaughter. She is a kind and loving child.”
“Yes, she is. Her half brother is far less kind and loving from what I hear, having been raised by the man who I just arrested. But I have a feeling the child's path will change, now that he will likely be staying with his mother, rather than returning to Varidian.” I looked at him in confusion for a minute as I put the puzzle together.
“Wait, you’re Tim’s grandfather? Oh, that explains a lot.”
“What does it explain Wizard?” He asked the slightest hint of accusation in his voice.
“It, well it explains everything. And this? This is my fault.” I said as I sat back down on the rock fully awake. “You see, I had intended to report Tim’el’ek’s father as abusive. The boy told me stories while we were in Cutters Hollow that were borderline abusive behavior, and a couple that were downright over that line by human standards. It is probably worse given your people's high standards for such things.
“I met with the council last night and into the early morning, and I didn’t bring up the boys suffering once with them. Perhaps had they been notified, they could have intervened and stopped this from happening. I am sorry for my inaction Spellwarden. I failed your grandson, and by doing so have caused harm to your daughter.”
“If there is one thing I have learned in my years as a “magic law-man” around here, it is that the victim, no matter their lack of preparedness or wise precaution, is never at fault for the actions of the criminal.” He patted my back and pulled me to my feet after springing like a deer to his own. “Now, go home and get some sleep, and thank you for telling me about his father. Further investigation will be required on that front.”
Not wanting to know what types of ‘investigation’ the man was going to put to his former son-in-law, Ailsa and I were leaving the Spellwardens daughter in his capable hands when the urge to say one last thing struck me. It as overwhelming, I had to say something, but I had no idea what to say.
I stood there, back turned to him for a full minute before I the first word entered my mind. I don’t know where the words I spoke next came from, but it almost felt like something came over me. Just like I felt when my hand reached for that doorknob before this entire adventure started back in Kingdoms of Ashe.
Maybe it was the elven Gods who borrowed my tongue, or the almighty himself speaking through me, or maybe I just had a bad case of the shakes and wanted to sound sage one last time before bed, I don’t know.
I looked the Spellwarden square in the eyes, having never met this man before and said “You are needed on the council. It does not matter what others think of you, they need you. Duty calls.” And just like that the urge disappeared, and I, even more tired than before, walked on home to the cottage, on the other side of the vale. Ailsa snoozing softly on my shoulders.
Chapter 10: The Foundations of Winters Quarters
“In one small moment... a great and marvelous work begun.” - 1st Nephi, 14:27
Lo’sar City, Lo’sar Forrest Under The Home-trees. Frega, 29th, 2987 AoR
The next morning was a bit of a blur. Tol’geth fetched us just before dawn, and unlike most mornings I found myself still exhausted and groggy. As I walked out of the little cottage, Ailsa on my shoulders sleeping soundly, I found the procession of elves I had been expecting the day before in a line through the center of the clearing, waiting there.
As I walked past them to get to where I could see Tol’geth looming over everyone, I found the entire council, save Elmer Keeb’larch was there. I waved as I passed by, still groggy and barely coherent.
“If this is how everyone else feels in the morning, then I’d hate me too,” I said as I took a spot directly behind Tol’geth. I groaned, leaning forward I rested my forehead on Tol’geth’s back, waiting for whatever one else was waiting for. “Morning Tol’geth,” I said, my eyes closed as I leaned against him, my voice muffled by the metal chain shirt he wore over his leather and cotton traveling cloths.
“Good morning Wizard. Though, it seems the night did not exactly agree with you.” The man chuckled slightly at my misery. The burly man turned slightly, picked up Ailsa off my shoulders and placed her in an open empty satchel that seemed almost designed for the purpose. The thing was basically a hammock, and I don’t think I've ever been more envious of another creature in my entire life.
“If you wish to postpone, I am sure we can speak to the council.” Said Salina whose place in the procession was directly behind me. The shock of her presence and the fact that I hadn’t noticed her yet didn’t affect me in the slightest.
“Noooooooooo.” I groaned my response. “This needs to happen now. The first caravans of people will be arriving any day now.” I groaned again, though this time more silently as my head pulsed with a growing headache.
“Very well,” Salina said indulgently, and I felt her hands begin to gently rub my shoulders infused with healing magic of a kind I was unfamiliar with. It would have been awkward, but I was too tired to care. Slowly my grogginess eased, and the aches and pains in my joints all but disappeared.
“Well, I feel nearly normal,” I said perking up and standing straight. “Thank you.” I turned and bowed slightly, a gesture she returned with a smile. “I feel almost new.”
“You are very welcome, friend Rayid.”
“What are we waiting for exactly?” I asked as politely as I could.
“Well, for that, actually.” I looked where Salina pointed and saw two elves carrying a large crystal the size of a small boulder slung on a wooden beam they each braced against their shoulders. “You know you have a remarkable penchant for asking questions exactly when their answers are about to be provided.”
“Actually, I'm still confused. What is that exactly?”
“Oh, well it's a mana crystal. One of the larger ones we have in Lo’sar. The colony has only three that are larger. This one was deemed of sufficient size for our needs today, and it has a full charge, whereas the others are still being filled in the mana chambers among the roots of the Home-trees.”
“I think there were enough context clues in there for me to grasp what you meant,” I said wryly smiling. “How rare are crystals of such size? Are they naturally formed, or do you grow them?” Salina took in a breath to answer me, but Terr’a’min’s voice came from the front calling her up to him.
“Excuse me Rayid, I must attend my brother.” Salina walked through the muddy grass up to the front of the line. She was wearing a traveling skirt that went to only to knee length with trousers and a green tunic and white shirt underneath to signify her connection to the High elves.
The fact that these elves tend to color code themselves into white for high elves, and green for green elves, really helps, I thought as I watched Salina nearly lose a rather dainty looking boot to one particularly deep rivulet of mud.
Wait, brother? Terr’a’min is her brother? Wait, there’s mud here? There’s never mud in this forest, I thought with confusion. I looked around the clearing and found that there was a large swath of green space that was no longer green having turned to mud with the morning dew that fell from trees overhead like rain. The water landed on that scorched earth, turning it to blackened and charcoal-colored mud. The mud ran through the green grass that surrounded it. Oh, that's on me. I winced.
“That's only one of the many reasons, fire magic is not permitted unsupervised, in the confines of Lo’sar forest.” Came a familiar lecturing voice. I turned around and found the Spellwarden, and his daughter Telli’mier. I bowed deeply.
“I have learned from that incident.” I pointed at the semicircle that spread out into a small puddle of mud and blackened earth. “See? Not nearly as much area was affected as last time. You have to admit, I'm getting better at this!”
“Yes, I admit that your penchant for destruction is at least more focused, and being pu
t to better causes.” Her disposition slipped slightly as she spoke the last, and I simply nodded. “Thank you, wizard, for your intervention. If you had not…”
I interrupted, putting a hand up to stop her. “No need for that. It was something anyone with the breadth and depth of my abilities, and the little wisdom I have at my disposal would have done.” Her expression went from a genuine yet sad smile to one of slight confusion and mischief.
“So, you’re saying you were too weak to do anything else, and not wise enough to find another solution?”
“Exactly! Now you’re getting it!” I said as I tapped the side of my nose with one finger, my staff in the other hand. “Also impatience, don’t forget about that.” She laughed, thanked me again, and continued on her way. When she joined the end of the procession next to a familiar ranger from my first day in the forest, I found I wasn’t entirely unhappy about that fact.
“I feel like I'm at an airport, waiting to board.” I mused to myself.
“What is an air port?” Tol’geth asked, saying it as two different words. “A portal?”
“My people don’t have spatial magic Tol’geth. You know that. We use flying machines. Airports are, well, ports for flying ships that fly through the air. Air, ports. Get it?” Tol’geth opened his mouth to protest but a runner appeared and summoned him forward to help Salina with something.
Alone now, without anyone nearby that I knew to talk too, and with thoughts of airports filling my mind, I began to sing a song that became very popular in my high school after the retired paratrooper that ran the ROTC program introduced it at a school assembly about equipment safety. The guy got reprimanded, but the JRTOC program found itself with sixteen new recruits because of it, one of my best friends among them.
At first, I just hummed the tune to the Battle Hymn of the Republic. But that was far from the song I had in mind. Slowly, the words came back to me, and I started and then finished all seven verses of the bloody, tragic, and hilarious song nicknamed Gory, Gory, what-a hell-of-a way to die. The first verse starting,
“He was just a rookie trooper and he surely shook with fright. He checked off his equipment and made sure his pack was tight. He had to sit and listen to those awful engines roar. You ain't gonna jump no more.”
The last ending in,
“There was blood upon the risers, there were brains upon the 'chute. Intestines were a-dangling from his paratrooper suit. He was a mess, they picked him up and poured him from his boots. And he ain't gonna jump no more.”
When I finished the last verse, I found that Tol’geth had returned, grinning from ear to ear. As I looked around me I found the elves were all scandalized, though those I knew had a good sense of humor hid smiles and smirks behind hands or turned backs.
“I am still amazed at how you can sing in a language so totally different than any other I have ever heard, and yet, we can understand every word as if you spoke it in elvish, and you were born to it,” Salina said as she came back to take her spot behind me.
“Well… I…” I floundered for a response but was rescued by the same voice that accused me.
“Don’t worry wizard Rayid, elves know that friends, even new ones, have secrets. And not all such things can be revealed.” She left unspoken, even by my analyze ability. “It must be one of those unique skills of your homeland, an innate ability of some kind, I am sure.” She winked at me smiling.
I cleared my throat. “Yes, perhaps. In truth, I don’t fully understand it myself.” Just as I said this she smiled, lifted a hand above her head, and poured out mana in a thin wisp of a line towards something at the head of the gathered travelers. A great light, white, green, and gold, washed over everyone as a rift was opened large enough for me to see from behind my mountainous barbarian friend.
“Why fly wizard, when you can walk,” Tol’geth said chuckling as the procession started forward into the rift.
I guess what Salina said about being a master of spatial magic was true. I thought impressed by the display. As the line moved on, I watched many go through the portal until eventually, Tol’geth stepped through with no hesitation. I stood there for a few seconds, watching the rippling energy before a firm feminine hand pushed me, and I stumbled through.
-----
When I arrived, I emptied my stomach all over Tol’geth’s back. Someone pushed me out of the way as they came through. Tol’geth turned, unperturbed by the fountain of vomit that now covered chain shirt and leathers, and guided me to one side.
Once clear of the portal, I dry heaved and after a few minutes, my stomach settled. As I stood and wiped my mouth of whatever was left there, Salina walked through and the portal disappeared. When she saw me she put a hand to her mouth. “I forgot to take into account human sensitivity to jarring movement in the spell. I am sorry Rayid.” I nodded and waved her on.
As she left to join the rest of the group I glanced up at Tol’geth “You now, there’s an awful lot of ‘forgetting’ about human needs and sensitivities that these elves seem to be doing.” Tol’geth grunted in acknowledgment and chuckled slightly. “How did you not hurl chunks?” I asked accusingly.
“Didn’t eat breakfast.” He said as he handed me a link of jerky. “Best to eat soon after, I’ve found.” We walked back to the group as I gnawed on the beef stick.
Someone had produced a small table and had already placed a map of the surrounding hills and flat land on it, along with a basin of water. I looked at the map, and then at the surroundings to orient myself. Lo’sar was to our east, a small range of mountains that straddled a large familiar river was to the north, with a small human town at the base of the eastern bank just under the mountain ranges shadow. “Do you care to tell us the specifics of what you envisioned Rayid?”
“Sure,” I said as I pulled up the log that I had taken notes in on my personal HUD interface. I had a number of items listed there, from sewer needs to winter runoff, and some hand-drawn sketches that Ailsa had shown me how to create using the journal Lisander had gifted me with, while we had been in the small cottage before the last of yesterdays ‘incidence.’
“The greatest need is going to be keeping the place dry with all of the traffic. I’ve noticed that humans tend to live much more closely together then you elves do, and we tend to move around in the same patterns repeatedly throughout the day doing chores and tasks that are highly repetitive.”
“Why?” Asked a young elf from the back of the group. “What's the purpose of that?”
“Good question” I pointed at him “Whatever your name is…”
“Its Der’il’min, I’m one of the builder apprentices.”
“Der’il, right”
“Um, no…” I waved away his correction.
“A good example of a repetitive action that people need to do on a regular daily basis, fetching water. Most elves have enough ability with water magic to just magic up some water whenever you want, most humans? We don’t. We have to dig a large hole in the ground called a well, and then get water from that.”
“That's unsanitary.” Der’il’min grimaced.
“Well yeah, that's one of the things I was going to get to later. It's on the list.” I pointed at my screen, that I realized no one else could see. I turned to Ailsa, who buzzed her wings and pointed to a button labeled “transparency” at the bottom of the screen I had missed. “Oh, right. Here.” I hit the button and everyone saw what I was looking at.
“Rayid? What language is this?” Salina asked after a few seconds of silence.
I facepalmed “Crap, I wrote this in English. Ailsa? Any help?” She shook her head.
“You’re going to have to just translate it.” Ailsa buzzed her wings in my ear, annoyed. “There are few limits to what the mystical, magical journal Lisander gave you can do with the information you put into it. Yet, somehow, a day after being given this wonderful gift, you found them.” Snickers rippled through the group of assembled elves.
“It's just translating” I suggested. “G
oogle Translate can do that,” I complained.
“Google doesn’t exist here, outside your island home. Remember? Besides, even Google Translate can’t translate things from a language its never encountered before. Meathead.”
Oh, it's going to be like that, is it? I thought as I breathed a deep sigh. “Alright, alright, let me start at the beginning. First, and I'll explain why later, I need gravel.” The group of elves were quiet for a few seconds before a hand was raised in question. “Yes, you, Darryl.”
“Um, first, that's not my name. Second, whats gravel?”
This is going to be a long meeting, I thought before I bent down and searched for a second on the ground, picked up a small rock, and stood back up raising it so everyone could see the stone. “Gravel, tiny rocks, pebbles really, that can be used in building roads after we place larger stones, to provide an even walkway that wouldn’t be easily washed away with rain. Like this.” I said waving the rock around slightly.
“We use gravel to prevent the streets from being turned into muddy bogs that small children can get stuck in.” A few of the elves snickered, but quickly went quiet when I looked at them.
“Why not just use magic to stop that from happening like we do by encouraging grass to grow, and by putting in walking stones?” One of the other elves asked.
“Name?” I asked
“Sig’man’sel” the young female elf with long brown hair said. She was standing behind Salina and was dressed similarly. “I am Ambassador Salina’s personal assistant while she is among us here at Lo’sar.”
“Good question Sig’man.”
“Please don’t call me that Wizard Rayid.” She asked, blushing slightly.
“Do you not all shorten your names for the purposes of not taking forever in conversation?” A few of them shook their heads.
“Really?” I asked myself. “Okay. Can we work on a first-name basis then? Is that allowed?”
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