Edan’s whole body shuddered in a mix of panic and chills. “Stop.” he froze almost dropping Gaia. His body temperature dramatically lowered, and Gaia could see his skin turning whiter than usual.
“I’m sorry.” She snatched her hand away from the black oval, placed it on his shoulder and felt how uncomfortably rigid his body was. “What happened?”
“I… can’t balance you when you sit like that,” he lied, and she knew it since she’d seen him carry logs triple her size without stopping to take breaks. “Lean closer,” he said.
“Like this?” She moved until her cheek touched the back strands of his brown hair. The tickling sensation made Gaia feel warm and cold at the same time.
“Closer.”
Gaia leaned so close that her chin rested on his shoulder. His smell, the way his skin felt against her and the feeling of his hands on her legs was exhilarating. “Like this?” she asked dizzy by this sudden proximity.
“Yes,” he said and began his walk.
Edan hiked his way to the top and ran into Hunter. The teen shook his head in confusion at the sight of Gaia clinging to Edan. His eyes went from Gaia to Edan. “Having fun?”
“Ignore him,” said Edan as he made a small adjustment of his posture so Gaia wouldn’t slip. “What is it?” he asked.
Hunter circled on top of his shoulder “Donovan is having problems with the Marked One.”
“Where is he?” Edan asked and Hunter pointed left. “Appreciate it,” he added and then walked towards the First Tree.
Gaia swung her head over his shoulder as she watched Hunter walk away. “What happened?”
“Donovan needs help with something with the Marked One. I’ll be right back.” Gaia could tell Edan felt indecisive about letting her down, but once he did, Gaia sat on top of the First Tree’s roots. “Here Bobby, now she’s your problem,” he said and left to find Donovan. Gaia warmed hearing him say the name she gave the First Tree.
Gaia tried to stand up by clinging against the First Tree. She placed her hand on the trunk and pushed up when she noticed a side of the tree she’d never seen before. It had five carvings, each one on top of the other. Gaia moved her fingers through the carvings. The first one was a small growing plant, right underneath it was an apple, then an ant, a lotus flower, and finally a group of five rocks standing on top of each other in perfect balance. “What is this?”
“You’ve lived with the First Tree your entire life and never once saw them?” Willow teased Gaia. “Such incredible power of observation.”
“This side used to be against a wall.”
Shui arrived with a small wooden box and some bandages. “Edan said you needed these.” She gave the items to Veter and sat down next to Gaia. “Which one is your injured foot?”
“This one.” Gaia lifted her leg. Shui softly pulled it and rested the foot on her thighs. She pushed up the fabric from Gaia’s yoga pants and wielded water to clean the foot. “You like them? The five symbols?” she asked while applying some of the homemade medicines from within the wooden box.
“They’re beautiful.”
“Those are the Five Fables of Terra,” said Shui, taking one of the bandages from Veter. “They rule Terra and our way of living.” She rolled the bandage around Gaia’s foot and ankle keeping it steady.
“What are the Fables?” Gaia asked hoping for someone to tell them to her, but bracing for every possibility. Edan, who had returned with the Marked One, glared at both Gaia and the First Tree and rolled up his shirt’s sleeves. “I guess if you will be the queen of Terra you should learn them.”
“Yes!” shouted Priyam jumping happily while Gaia was still registering the fact that Edan agreed to let her know important information about Terra. “Fireball, get the fire started,” clapped Priyam.
Edan flinched at his nickname. “Fire for what?”
Priyam and Gaia stopped cold and exchanged glances. “For the bonfire, of course,” said Priyam.
Edan lifted his hand to feel the wind but thanks to their light markings and constant manipulation of the elements, the weather felt very comfortable even if it was still snowing outside the camp. “Are you cold?” he asked thinking it was due to the fact that humans tend to be more affected by the seasons.
“No, for the stories.”
“The Fables,” Willow corrected her.
“Same thing,” said Priyam.
Still puzzled over the need for the use of fire, Edan leaned closer to Gaia and Priyam. “Why do you need a fire for that?”
“Seriously? Fire, s’mores, stories?” she proclaimed. Everyone stared at her as if she was losing it. “I guess it’s a human thing then. We sit around a fire pit, eat delicious s’mores and tell stories.” Willow opened her mouth and Priyam lifted her hand to stop her. “Sorry, Fables.”
Willow moved her hands and a root came out making a small stool. “Sounds stupid,” she retorted as she sat down on the root.
“Thank you, boring person.”
“Terrian,” Willow corrected her for the second time.
“Ugh! I’m not eating s’mores,” Synthia whined from afar. “Do you know how many calories those things have?”
“Great! You two are out,” Priyam suggested, more than happy to brush off the annoying ones.
“What are smurffs?”
“S’mores: melted marshmallow with chocolate and graham crackers.”
“Where are you going to get that?” Willow asked.
“Please…I’m always prepared.”
Veter stood up and lifted his strong hand. “I’m in!” he said and hugged Shui next to him giving her no chance to refuse the activity.
“Me too, I could use some earthling comfort food,” said Donovan and Hunter followed. “Edan?”
Edan looked at the group, half in and only a few claiming to be out, but even so, they were all sitting or standing in a circle. “I guess,” he said mostly concentrating on Gaia’s happy expression. “Where do you want your fire?” he asked Priyam.
“Around there,” she said pointing to the middle area in front of them.
“Great…” Edan patted Priyam’s back and sat down between Willow and Synthia. “Ask Gaia to do it.”
Priyam swung on her heel and faced Gaia. “G! You heard the boss: ignite!”
“But I hurt my foot.” Gaia tried to find a way out.
“Good thing you don’t need your foot to wield fire,” said Edan with a big smile.
Damn you…Panicking, Gaia stared at everyone as they all stared at her. “Traitor,” she said glaring at Priyam, trying not to choke on her nerves. Gaia limped towards the center. Veter levitated a few pieces of cut wood and moved them to the middle. She leaned down and pointed her hands towards the dry wood. Don’t fail me now… Don’t fail me now… she prayed since this was the first time she was wielding fire in front of everyone.
“Sometime today,” Willow said.
Synthia giggled, “You are, like, so bad at this.” Edan glared at them both.
“You could try if you want to,” Gaia hissed and concentrated on her flame. Her hands turned on fire and it softly moved around the wood not making enough heat. Please… Please… she begged when a subtle current of wind blew between the wood and made the fire grow faster. “HA! You’re welcome.” She smiled victoriously at Synthia and Willow who both had their arms crossed and their lips twisted into a sour expression. Gaia sat down and, without letting them see her, she mouthed the words ‘Thank you’ to Veter, who happily moved the hand he used to wield the small current, back to his cigar.
“Welcome, welcome, welcome to the Fable tales of tonight!” said Priyam excited as she circled the fire until she reached her seat next to Gaia and Donovan. “Veter, if you will?”
“The first Fable is known as the Fable of the Vine. Donovan?” Veter pointed at him and sat between Shui and Hunter.
“The Vine Fable speaks about Terra’s first rule: Nature has its own will.” Donovan leaned closer to the fire. “Long ago, there was a man a
nd a tiger searching for a place to live. They walked for days and days until they arrived at a hill. At the top of the hill the man saw the perfect place to build his home. The only problem was, there was a vine tree already growing on that spot. Not respecting Nature’s will, the man cut the vine and built. But not the tiger, the tiger didn’t try to change Nature. He paid attention, he listened and he chose a warm cave that Nature itself provided for him. As time passed, the man’s house grew bigger and bigger, but so did the vine. Eventually, one night, the vine grew so dense underneath the house that the cement foundation broke and the house fell down, killing the man in his sleep.” Donovan lifted his hands in a carefree manner. “The teaching shows us that the tiger never tried to change Nature or to control it. He never obsessed over something that wasn’t happening or that would or wouldn’t happen. Instead, he used what Nature provided and lived free from worries trusting that Nature always had something else planned for him.” Donovan stood with flare and bowed to his audience.
Moved almost to tears, Veter clapped. “Lovely job, mate. Lovely job.” He ate an entire s’more in one bite.
Gaia was so into the Fable that she never saw Edan getting up to grab a blanket and walk behind her. “It’s getting cold,” he said, covering Gaia with the blanket and then walked back to his seat. Gaia’s cheeks turned red and warm. She could see Priyam smirking out of the corner of her eye but chose to ignore her. She was too busy enjoying the soft fabric of the blanket.
“The second Fable is one of my personal favorites,” said Veter, unaware of Edan’s gesture towards Gaia. “The Fable of the Apple: Never take what you don’t need.” He blew into the fire: the flame grew taller making Gaia and Priyam excited; Edan glared at him and his childish actions. “Once upon a time, there was a man living in a cabin. He wasn’t rich, he wasn’t poor. He had everything he needed and nothing more. But life had other plans. The man got sick and he began to die. He was sad; he never had the courage to tell the blacksmith’s daughter his feelings and that was something he would always regret. He prayed to Nature and, as always, Nature answered. The next day the man was walking across the valley when he saw a big apple tree with golden fruit. Enchanted by its color, the man ate one of the fruits and, to his surprise, his illness was cured. The man realized that the apples had the properties to give life back to someone who was about to die. He knew the fruits could save many men, women and children from the plague, but he didn’t care. Wanting them for himself, the man took all the apples and locked them in his attic. Fueled by good luck and a new chance at life, the man went to the blacksmith’s house and proposed to the daughter. Joy filled his heart when she accepted… But once again, life,” Veter smacked his hand on the floor, “had other plans…and the man’s wife fell gravely ill. The man remembered the apples and went to his attic to get them only to find they were all rotten. He went back to the tree but since he had taken every one of them, the tree was now fruitless. That night, the man had to watch his wife die as a result of his greed.” Veter took Shui’s hand and place it between his. “Greed, it’s a very dangerous thing. It confuses people into claiming things that weren’t theirs to own in the first place.”
Intrigued by the story, Priyam looked over the crowd in order to find Synthia. “Where’s Synthia?” she asked Gaia who was on her third S’more.
“She left a while ago,” she said placing a fresh marshmallow on the fire. “Why?”
“I feel like she should hear this.”
Gaia laughed and turned her treat to the other side before it burnt. “You are horrible,” she said and offered her friend a piece of chocolate.
“Baby.” Veter let go of Shui’s hand. “Want to go next?”
“The third Fable is the Fable of the Ant,” said Shui. “It stands for our third rule: We are not one, but many.” She smiled softly but her eyes seemed a little sad, as if she remembered someone she loved and was no longer with her. “There was once a colony of ants who had a mantis for a neighbor. Each day the mantis made fun of the ants, for working together instead of apart. He prided himself on surviving alone, not relying on others to build up a home. Though the ants tried to show him their way of life, the selfishness of the mantis found it impossible to understand. One day, Nature made it rain for weeks; the water rose, the river near the colony overflowed and flooded everything in its path. The ants, working together as always, climbed one on top of the other. They joined their legs and pushed themselves up until they built a bridge made by hundreds of ants. The ant bridge swung until it hit a twig and they managed to save themselves, luck that the mantis didn’t have since it had no one to help it.” Shui took a small break and slid her hands through her straight blue hair. “We sometimes forget about others. We concentrate so much on our ways and on our thoughts and opinions that we don’t worry about the rest. Nature didn’t create us all to fight to be the best, to separate us from the rest and live just for our sake. It created us to enjoy all of this together. Not only Terrians or Humans but trees and animals and everything else. We are all part of this world just like the world is a part of us.”
Willow leaned closer to the fire. “The fourth Fable is the Fable of the Lotus.”
“What does that stand for?” asked Gaia.
Edan looked to the ground. “Not all good comes from light, not all bad comes from darkness,” he said in a low tone. His lack of usual overconfidence made Gaia feel like he didn’t believe in this one. She sensed he sounded the same way she did whenever someone told her she would become nature itself and defeat Azazel.
Due to Edan’s silence, Willow jumped in. “This Fable is about a powerful young man from the parliament and a boy who fell from the dark mountains,” she said. “Many years ago, there was a young man that came from a very well-known family. He was one of the strongest earth wielders in history, and he soon grew to become one of the youngest politicians in the parliament of Terra. His ideas were incredible but his methods were far too radical. The parliament grew scared of him and the young man was asked to leave his post. Infuriated, his strengths became his weakness and his bright ideas turned dark. As for the boy-”
Edan placed his hand on her leg and Willow flinched. “Let’s stop here,” he said and removed his hand.
“What? Why?” Gaia asked too preoccupied with the story to notice Willow placing her hand on Edan’s knee. “What happened to the boy?”
“You don’t need to know,” he said.
“Yes, I do,” she cried, hating to be left hanging in the middle of a story or sentence. “You said you would tell me the Fables,” she reminded him, hoping he would agree to let her know. But that didn’t happen.
“We already told you what it stands for,” he said, and with a movement of his wrist, he put the fire down. “Let’s go.”
“You can go, I’m not leaving,” she said and crossed her arms. “I haven’t even heard about the fifth one.”
Edan pulled her up by the arm. “The Fable of the Five Brothers: Balance is true Nature’s freedom,” he said and softly pushed her towards her bungalow. “Now go to bed. You look tired.”
Chapter 14
Animal Talk
WEEKDAYS, WEEKENDS, DAYS AND HOURS, they were all blurry to her now. Within a month of their arrival to the camp, time stood still. Life was measured in daylight and darkness, in classes and meals, training and sleep.
Becoming more accustomed to the Terrian’s time schedule and forced by Edan to exercise, Gaia started waking earlier.
She took a small top, her leggings and a pastel pink sweater that hung lower than her hips.
“Morning, loser,” Priyam opened her arms and Gaia smiled.
Ever since they were little, Priyam used to open her arms like that to invite Gaia to lay down with her in the bed. “Morning, Priy.” Gaia walked towards Priyam and laid down next to her.
“Going to take a jog? I don’t envy you… at all.”
“Trust me, I hate it too,” Gaia yawned. “But my cardio is terrible and apparently I need it
to improve my wielding.”
“How’s the foot?”
Gaia rotated her foot a few times. “Like new.”
“G…” Priyam sat down looking at Gaia in the eyes. “I know you’re finding yourself in here and I couldn’t be happier for you but… how are you handling everything? The pressure and the death threats and all those crazy things?”
“I’m surprisingly fine.” Gaia rolled onto her back and stared at the ceiling. “Sometimes I do feel strange, like I’m trying to fill the shoes of a greater version of me than I can reach. I guess it took us so long to find a family, I’m just scared to let them down.”
“Twelve years and you haven’t let me down.” Priyam took hold of her hand, “And if you do, you know… screw everything up, I’ll always be here.”
“Thank you. How are you coping? You ok?” Gaia asked.
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Because this is different, this is huge. This is not just another adventure to the Shire or Wonderland or any of your movies. We could die. This is scary, Priy.”
“I know it is. And I’m terrified. But what else am I going to do?” Priyam smiled at Gaia. “Like you said, we have a family now.”
Gaia hugged Priyam, knowing what she meant. If Priyam had been the reincarnation of Nature and she needed to go, Gaia was sure she would have followed her also. After a few minutes of chatting, Priyam fell back asleep, like she did every morning. Gaia slid off the bed, covered Priyam with a blanket and left to train.
Luckily for her and her sore muscles, Edan was gone for the entire day with Synthia. He’d been trying to find a way to counter the tracking on her curse.
After jogging for half an hour, she took a detour. She jogged down the hill when she heard a loud grunt. A bear? A dark beast? She looked around to see if someone was near her in case she needed to backup, but there was no one in sight. Curiosity got the best of her. She ignored all self-preservation instincts, jogged backwards and saw it, the source of the noise, a figure near the cliff.
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