“You could call it that, but I know you to be a more educated man than that, seeker of answers. To find the truth of it you must accept the forest for what it is; you are safe here, but you will never know that until you trust in those around you. Close your eyes and focus on the forest. It will aid you in your search. There is no need for stones here.”
“What do you know about focussing?” The man smiled and winked.
“Here is not the place to answer your question. The answer will find you if it so desires. For now, trust is all that is needed. The wild creatures of the forest trust in it, and are repaid in kind. They are safe here, and you will be safe if you put your trust in us, and them.” Still unsure, Keldron looked around him. Everywhere there were signs of contentment. It was as he would have expected the ideal forest to be. It was not that it was perfect. Here and there, mud marred the emerald green of the lush, broad bladed grass. There were the signs of the occasional weed growing. It was as if nature had been let loose in the way it was intended, rather than shaped to adapt to mans' needs. It was not picture perfect like the lake. This lack of perfection in an ideal place relaxed Keldron somewhat, and as he relaxed, he felt an overwhelming sense of something from all around him. He looked around suspiciously and it disappeared, hovering tentatively just out of reach. Nothing had changed from before, though the sun had moved considerably.
“You felt it.” Stated the guide, a look of triumph in his dark eyes.
“The briefest of touches, yet you felt it all the same.”
“Felt what, exactly?” replied Keldron, frowning. As no reply was forthcoming, he answered for the man.
“This is one of those questions to which the answer is going to find me? So be it.” The guide looked even more triumphant.
“You trust on my word, that is even better. Trust me now, let yourself relax, for you are safe.”
Keldron knew the man was right, and he sat back, relaxing, enjoying the sight for what it was, the pure harmony of nature. As before, the sensation hit him. But this time he was prepared for it. He knew it was not malevolent, and he wrapped himself in the feeling. It was one of absolute peace, of utter contentment. He could suddenly see clearer, as if fog had been lifted from before his eyes. Not only were the creatures of the forest content, they all shared in and contributed to this feeling. It was a self-generating feeling, and with every second he could feel himself contributing to the sensation. He felt a touch of guilt that he had not trusted before. For that pang he received a feeling of assurance that it was not his fault. Keldron looked over at his two friends. They smiled back to him.
“What happened to you, Kel?” Asked Raoul, before sipping from a leather-bound flask of Orit.
“Our friend here said you would join us, but you have been in a trance for over half a day.” Keldron smiled ruefully, stretching as he bathed in the luxury of absolute peace. He realised he had not even thought about his two friends until now.
“I did not trust. After the lake episode, I have found it hard to let my guard down. It was that fact that held me back.”
“You were almost with us for a second.” Observed Belyn, who now took a pull at the flask.
“The feeling startled me, and I lost it.”
“Wouldn't be the first time” Coughed Raoul, who continued in to a splutter of coughs mixed with laughs, quickly joined by Belyn. Offering the flask to Keldron, Belyn put his analytical face on.
“So what do we have here? Our tight lipped friend here won't tell us a thing, and we have this unfathomable feeling of glorious peace within us, that seems to come from everywhere and nowhere at the same time.” Keldron swallowed and looked around them.
“If I were not so caught up in this odd reality, I would swear on my fathers grave that this forest is alive, or at least has a consciousness of some sort.” Noting the near stumble from their guide that all but the most trained observer would have missed, Keldron knew he had hit pretty close to the mark Obviously the people they were visiting had underestimated their guests. Keldron immediately berated himself for even thinking such a thing; they were lucky to have been allowed this far in at all, let alone get answers to any of the questions he had to ask. To have such a self-superior attitude was certainly not becoming to any one, much less to a member of the guild of Law. Still, it presented an interesting viewpoint.
“Note how all the creatures are not afraid of us. They look like they have nothing to fear. I think that if any were to attack them, they would find themselves in extreme danger. Who or whatever conveys this sense of peace to us all would surely treat such an attack with the utmost hostility.”
“Maybe, answered Belyn, “But that would be a normal mans' actions, and not whatever this consciousness for lack of a better word would do, I bet.”
He gazed around cautiously at the vegetation and the occasional animal, even at their guide who was a good twenty paces ahead of them. Quietly he added,
“Let us keep these thoughts to ourselves for now, and not speak of it again until we get to wherever we are going. If this forest is alive, we certainly do not know if it is sentient, and we would probably help ourselves more if we believe in what we are seeing for now.”
“It is the absence of man that has created this sense of peace.” Added Raoul.
“I could sit here forever and not want another thing, but I believe that we have been brought here to witness the old Law in it's simplest form, uncorrupted by mans' baser nature. Here all creatures live by the basic principles. They do not know malice, yet those that hunt are allowed to. This is how it is supposed to be. This is why we were brought here, to witness the Law, as it should be. It is a lesson for man to learn, we just have to find a way to teach it.” Everything Raoul said made sense to Keldron. The knowledge they would take with them from this place would be that there was such a place where peace and tranquillity existed, and one of the answers to his questions was that nobody who could live near this would ever be responsible for the atrocities committed across the land.
As soon as Keldron realised this, the view before him went suddenly dark. For a moment it remained so. It was not the dark of night, or the darkness one experienced when in a cellar with no candle; this was a dark that was simply the absence of everything tangible. Keldron could see nothing, feel nothing. And for that moment he was utterly alone. He felt warmth from one side of his face and turned to it. As his eyesight gradually focussed, he realised that it was a small fire burning. With fear of what had happened before guiding his actions, he rolled and pulled his arms free. Instead of the ropes that had previously bound him, he found nothing. He was atop some sort of soft camp bed. The yellow straw was fresh and smelled of the gorgeous summer they had had. The blanket was as soft as newborn lambs' fleece. He did not want to get up. But he knew that he must, for the answers that had come unbidden required elaboration, and he knew that where he now was, he would be able to get them. Keldron looked around for his friends, but found only Belyn. His hairy red friend was serene in sleep; the complete opposite to when he was awake, but Keldron wouldn't do without him now. Shaking him gently, Keldron realised he was starving. He could not remember how long it had been since they last focussed into the room in Belyn's warehouse.
“What? Where are we?” asked Belyn, absently scratching his beard and looking around at the tent they were in. The dark material looked oppressive despite the cheery little fire, dancing oblivious to its' potential audience. They were clearly not barred from going out, as Belyn demonstrated by jumping up and almost bounding through the gap on the far side. Keldron followed warily. With what had happened to him still in the back of his mind, he was loath to trust to anything. He knew that what he had experienced was crucial but he did not know how he came to be here. Keldron noticed that the wagon was near their tent, but the horses were missing.
“These people certainly choose their spots, Kel. Look.”
Keldron took in the sight around their tent. They were in a natural hollow that led up to cliffs at t
he far side. All around the majestic trees formed a natural barrier. In the deep of the hollow were smaller normal sized trees, no less majestic than the rest of the forest. Amongst these smaller trees were more of the tents. They were various hues of green, almost complementing the forest around them. In the hollow there was no breeze, and wisps of wood smoke made their way upwards in thin, almost transparent columns to join the Gods in the evening sky. It was almost an alien environment to Keldron, but the idyllic setting made him feel at home. They were on the eastward slope of the hollow, which must have stretched for half a league from rim to rim. Below them they could see several larger fires, which Keldron assumed, were cook fires of sorts.
“You go see if you can find Raoul,” said Belyn. “I am going to check over the wagon. See if you can find the horses as well, I paid a lot for them.”
“Belyn, can you not think of other things than money in a place like this?” Keldron replied.
Belyn snorted. “We may have seen whatever, and experienced such feelings as would make most men weep, but for us to get anywhere, we need horses. I bought good horses and do not intend to lose them.”
Keldron let it lie, and allowed his friend to go satisfy his sense of security; he had never felt as safe as he did right now. As he wandered down the slope, he saw groups of people whereas before he had seen nothing. He noticed they all had the same look about them as the man who had brought them here. They were dark of hair and face, but unlike the wary expression worn by those he had encountered, these people were clearly at ease. Many had hoods up, hence the reason Keldron had not been able to pick them out. They all wore the same type of clothing: subtle shades of green that almost blended them in with the trees they sat under and around. Some of the children smiled at him and waved, whilst the smaller ones peeked from behind their siblings for a look, darting out of sight when Keldron even hinted at turning their way. He realised that many if not all of the people had never seen anyone like him before. That in itself did not surprise him, as he had thought that it was only the men that came to trade in the forest. The sight of entire families living here was a shock, but not an unpleasant one. Off toward the cliffs there seemed to be a gathering of sorts. It was noticeably larger than any of the others, so leaving the smiling children behind, he made his way towards it. It was the logical place to start looking for Raoul.
As Keldron approached, it grew steadily colder as the dark grey rock of the cliffs loomed over him, blocking out what heat the day had left to give. He looked up in fascination as he neared the gathering of people, for even on the under hangs of the cliff, where nothing should be able to live, mossy areas gave ferns and birds a place to cohabit. Where the ledges were steady enough, small trees and bushes had even gained a foothold on the cliffs. At a greater distance, such beauty would never be noticed. If there was a way for life to exist anywhere in this forest, then it found a way. A twig snapped underfoot as Keldron walked amongst the fallen leaves on the mossy ground, bringing his attention back to the purpose of his walk down here.
The crowd of people were seated around a figure with his back to the fire. The figure appeared to be talking to them all. From his position down the slope Keldron judged this purely by the fact that he was presented with the distant view of lots of backs. As he neared the gathering, he could see that he was wrong about their whereabouts. From far off it had looked like they were sat at the base of the cliff with the fire behind them. Now he had walked a bit nearer he could see that they were sat at the entrance to a natural cave, and the figure speaking to them had the fire behind him in the entrance to the cave. The speaker's words echoed remarkably well. So well in fact that many of the people around him stopped to listen to what was being said. A few nodded thoughtfully whilst listening. The occasional old man or woman grumbled in agreement with what was being said. When the words were loud enough for Keldron to hear, he too stopped to listen. The talk was about the Old law and how it was corrupted, and what the speaker intended to do about it. Keldron sighed. “Another place, another audience,” he said quietly. He had found the second of his companions.
Keldron edged around the outskirts of the gathering until he found an easier path to the middle. The people were riveted by Raoul's speech, and though Keldron had heard it countless times before, he felt different about Raoul's views on the Old Law. It was like this had been the number of people he should have been speaking to, and not just his two friends. As he neared his friend he knew that Raoul was near the end of his talk. His vision of life under the Old Law was conservative to say the least, but the values inherent in it were what mattered. They were the core of his argument, and what he was emphasising now.
At the conclusion of Raoul's oratory the entire crowd let out a huge cheer, and the ground vibrated as they struck the ground with spears and fallen bits of wood. Talking amongst themselves, the majority of the crowd rose to disperse. Many remained seated, out of curiosity for another of the newcomers, or quite possibly because they just felt like it. It was a pleasant evening and the company of others was one thing obviously relished by these people. Keldron approached Raoul, who was talking to one of the men. Sensing Keldron's approach, the man turned and smiled. It was the same man who he had awoken to find as their would be captor, though he now knew that was not the case.
“So you have woken at last. May the blessings of wood home be upon you this fine evening.”
“And your people find safety in the hollow,” completed Keldron. He had always wondered what that line meant when he had been researching the merchants. It was obvious from what he had seen here that this was the hollow mentioned in the greeting.
Again the man smiled, bowing lower than Keldron had witnessed many important men bowing to the Duke of Eskenberg. “May I present you with my name, seeker of answers. I am Lothan Arrowward, protector of my people. You are welcome to the heart of the forest, both by my people, and the forest itself. It recognises you as people of great importance.”
“Ahh, so the forest is sentient?” Keldron enquired.
Lothan shook his head. “Not actively, but it recognises those with empathy towards it, else you would never have got this far.”
Keldron looked back behind him. He could not see the entrance to this place. “How far did we come?” Passing him a plate of hot food, Lothan beckoned Raoul and Keldron to sit. Keldron found a perch on a large log near the entrance to the cave.
“You travelled nearly a week under our supervision.”
Keldron coughed involuntarily. He had thought two days at most. “And we were under another of these enchantments?”
Lothan chewed thoughtfully on some type of bread before answering. “It is best to see it as an enchantment, but it was different to the Lake. The Lake is an enchantment of evil, designed we think by someone a long time ago to draw the unwary to their deaths. It is a source of great power, but nobody knows how to use it. The second enchantment is the counterpart of the first. It is an enchantment of good. It shows you images of the forest as it sees itself. You would have witnessed many images as they actually are, for it is a wondrous place here in the heart. You should feel honoured to have seen it.”
Keldron peered at the food on his plate. It looked as good as it tasted, chunks of meat seasoned subtly with herbs, and accompanied by a plethora of vegetables; he had not eaten something as tasty since before he had left the order. “It was wonderful, truly it was. But although I learnt many things about myself and about my beliefs in you as a people, I do not see why we had to be lured into another enchantment. Was not the first enough to prove to you that our intentions were not hostile?” Lothan kept quiet, preferring to eat his food than answer.
“I think the answer to that is another of those answers he is not willing to give.” interjected Raoul. “How would you know?”
Raoul grinned. “I have been awake and talking to these people for hours, my brother. Do you think you were the only one with such questions on your mind? It seems that Lothan here is not the only one t
o keep tight-lipped. Those answers may be seeking us, but I have a feeling we will have to wait until they find us and not the reverse.”
“Well I know one thing about these people,” Keldron answered around a mouthful of the delicious stew.
“Oh? What's that?”
“They did not impale all of those people at Midsummer. I cannot say for the Night of Spears twenty odd years ago, but this repetition was not their fault.”
“How do you know this to be true? I mean, I'm not doubting you for a second, but you usually demand proof.”
Lothan leaned forward from his seat, so that he could speak quietly to the two of them. “That was the answer that led you to come here. That much I can tell you. It was much the same for the Law wizard.
Raoul stopped eating and sat there gazing thoughtfully into the darkening sky. “Yes, I suppose it was. One minute I was riding the wagon alongside you two, and then I started to think about the true meaning of the Law, peace above all. Once I realised that the only fundamental that mattered was that, I woke up here, in one of the tents alongside Keldron and Belyn.” Raoul paused. “Where is Belyn?”
“He went to find the horses and check the wagon,” answered Keldron, pointing off in the direction that he had walked from. “I am sure he will join us in his own time.” As Keldron looked for any sign of their friend, his eyes swept around the hollow. Now that darkness was falling, the hollow lit up with the light of a hundred tiny fires, each combining to provide a steady yellow glow that seemed to originate from all points, and not just the fires. This truly was a place of wonder. He almost felt that if they didn't want rain, that something would prevent it from hitting the ground.
As they finished their meal, Belyn came wandering up with two women. He was grinning broadly. “My friends, may I have the pleasure of introducing two acquaintances? Keldron Vass and Raoul Za, please say hello to Yerdu Forestberry and Joleen Autumngold.” Nodding greetings, the two women sat down, both brushing back their hoods. Yerdu was like the rest of the women, dark of complexion and most striking. What turned Keldron's head was Joleen. She did not have the dark hair like the rest of them, but instead, golden curls cascaded down around her shoulders.
The Focus Stone (The Tome of Law Book 1) Page 16