by T. K. Chapin
“You pesky humans know nothing of how to survive. You ignored my question on why you were not on a path,” The leader said angered.
“We are running from my family, the Durandel. They were to have me wed today…” Interrupting her before she could finish speaking, the leader spoke.
“The wedding of the Curo and Runic families… I know of it. That must mean you are the queen-to-be?” The creature laughed heartedly. “I am Lenzo, the keeper of the Ironwood Forest. My apologies for the roughness with you previously, had I known royalty was amongst us lowly druids, I would have been kinder.” Druids? I thought those were only in story books, Katlynn thought to herself. “Come stay with us for a meal before you continue on your journey to Elvark,” The creature said ushering them into the village of tents.
Chapter 5
The uniqueness of the village of druids intrigued Katlynn when she spotted one tending to a mound of dirt near the campfire they were led to. As she sat on the log, Katlynn kept her eyes fixated on the druid. He appeared to be saying some sort of prayer while holding a hand over the dirt.
The mound began to shake and the dirt lowered into the earth as a spout came up from it producing a small leafy plant. The druid noticed the spout and stopped the prayer, going to another patch of earth nearby; he created another mound of dirt.
“What’s he doing over there?” Katlynn asked Lenzo as he took a seat cross-legged on the ground. Fixating his eyes over to where Katlynn was pointing, Lenzo had a soft smile appear on his strange cow-like face.
“That’s a planter druid; they bring forth vegetation from the earth.” Lenzo pointed over to a patch of tall leafy plants that rose above the tents in height that sat towards the direction of a lake and said, “Those little sprouts will be like those in a week’s time, and be ready for harvesting.” Lenzo pointed to a group of druids that were heading into the woods and said, “Those druids are the protectors…”
“They kill stuff?” Amon asked. Lenzo did not look amused with Amon’s interjection.
“No, they are the forest protectors. They find animals and people that have passed onto the next life and concentrate them to the forest returning their souls to the Life Tree.” Lenzo set his gaze upon a group that were casting spells in the forest 50 or so yards away. “Those are the battle druids. They practice day and night for battle. While none of us here have eyes that have seen battle, we prepare for the day so if it may ever come, we will be ready.” Lenzo held out his hands and looked around the village. “Every druid here serves a purpose and has meaning to their life. It’s the way of the Druid.”
“That is amazing,” Katlynn said intrigued as she looked upon every druid working in unison with one another. “It’s almost like a utopian society of some sort here.”
Lenzo shook his head, “This society is not perfect, but it works much better than the human societies I have seen in Belstrom. Our tribe, The Leago, broke from the Benek at the turn of the century.”
“In A.K. 99?” Amon asked curiously.
“No, just after the turn, so B.K. 1,” Lenzo said. He stood up and greeted druids that brought over bowls of berries and leaves for them to eat. “Ke’ la,” Lenzo said firmly nodding as he took a bowl. Katlynn and Amon went over to the druids and took bowls for themselves.
“What happened to cause the break away from the Benek?” Amon asked as he sat back down with his bowl.
“The Benek leader, Malfos was sending battle druids out with the humans to kill and loot mystical beasts.”
“And you didn’t like that?” Amon asked curiously.
“It’s was not a matter of liking it or not, it’s a matter of what the purpose of the druids are. We all here believe that druids were put here by Omad to protect the forest and life, not to seek destruction and personal gain.” The village’s bonfire began to weaken and Lenzo noticed it, putting his bowl of berries and leaves down next to him, he ventured over to the village’s edge and broke off a chunk of a dead tree. Bringing the chunk back, he said a prayer over the chunk of wood and tossed it on the fire.
A druid came up to Lenzo and whispered in his ear. “Please excuse me,” Lenzo said stepping away from the fire and heading the direction towards the lake just outside of the village.
“I knew of druids, but did not know how civilized they were,” Amon said. Motioning a druid over to him, he asked pointing to his bowl, “What’s this leafy stuff in here?” The druid pointed over to the stocks of vegetation that Lenzo had pointed out earlier.
“They are Sheal leaves. They provide nutrients to strengthen your muscles, satisfy hunger and give you energy.”
“You can speak also?” Katlynn asked curiously.
“Yes. When Lenzo learned your language, he passed it onto all of us through the spirit bond of the forest we all share. I must return to my tasks now.” The druid bowed and stepped away.
“I kind of wished I grew up as a druid,” Katlynn laughed. “There’s such a sense of community here.” Amon nodded in agreement as they both continued to eat their meal.
Chapter 6
Finishing her bowl of berries and Sheal leaves, Katlynn took her bowl to wash it out in the lake just outside the village. Approaching the shoreline, she heard commotion on the other side of a large boulder. Wonder who that is? Katlynn moved closer to listen in.
“It’ll take how long?” Lenzo asked. The sound of someone falling against the ground startled Katlynn.
“The king’s guards have been scattered out in search of Katlynn for the majority of the day. These types of things take time to organize, but the worst case scenario is we cut them off before they make it to Elvark.” Someone with my father’s guard? Katlynn leaned in closer against the boulder to listen carefully.
“So be it… Just be sure the king knows I tried,” Lenzo said.
At the sound of the conversation being over, Katlynn hurried over to the lake to rinse her bowl. Coming over the top the boulder, Lenzo said, “What are you doing here?”
“I was cleaning my bowl out in the lake, it was dirty from my meal,” Katlynn said as she continued washing trying not to show how betrayed she had felt.
“We have druids to tend to the cleaning,” Lenzo said with a grunt. He stared at Katlynn and she arose from the water’s edge.
Turning to him, Katlynn kept her breaths at a normal pace while her heart raced with fear. She could feel sweat form on her forehead as she attempted to not alert him of her knowledge. If he knows I heard, my love and I will surely be in danger. All that practice in the castle of concealing what was going on in her mind with her parents seemed to have paid off. Returning back to the village with Lenzo, Katlynn pulled Amon aside.
“We need to leave now,” Katlynn said with intensity. Amon knew not to question Katlynn in the matter and informed Lenzo they were to be on their way. As Katlynn and Amon were getting back onto their horse to leave, Lenzo approached them. Every step he took closer to them, Katlynn felt fear sink deeper into her chest as she gripped onto Amon’s gray robes.
“Hold out your hands, the both of you,” Lenzo said. As they put out their hands, Lenzo reached up into a low hanging tree branch and pulled down a handful of leaves. Dropping them into their hands, he swirled his fingers atop the piles of leaves in each of their hands. A soft green light twirled around the leaves raising them up and then the green light vanished and the leaves dropped back down into their hands. “These will mend you when you are hurt and are in need of healing, keep them safe.” Turning away from Katlynn and Amon, Lenzo went back into his village. Why would he be kind yet turn us over to the guards? Katlynn wondered.
Amon gave the horse a good kick in the side and they were off deeper into the woods heading towards Elvark. Once the druid camp was out of sight, Amon asked, “Why did we need to leave so quickly?”
“I heard Lenzo talking with one of my father’s guards. He was betraying us,” Katlynn said. “Is that why you didn’t tell him about Eken being our true destination? You were worried about something
like that happening?”
“Honestly… No. I just figured he didn’t need to know everything, just enough of a reason why we were getting through the Ironwood Forest, but I’m glad I didn’t divulge more now!” Amon said.
They rode through the forest as the sun began its descent in the west. Hours passed until Amon pulled on the reigns and changed the direction of the horse to head northward. “We will travel to Kol’Ork instead of Elvark. It’s on the northern side of the forest. Once there, we can make our way onto Elvark after a few days; we want the guards to be off our trail before we attempt to set foot in Elvark.” Laying her head against the back of his shoulder, Katlynn felt safe with Amon. The world was essentially hunting her down and she felt secure in the presence of her love.
**
Arriving in Kol’Ork shortly after night had fallen; they immediately found the town’s general store. Retrieving the extra potions from her pouch, Katlynn gave them to Amon. He took his Cure Poison Scroll and an extra black diamond from his pouch. Amon glanced at Katlynn’s mandolin for only a moment, but she caught his eyes.
“No, not the mandolin,” Katlynn said covering it with her hands as it sat on the horse’s side. Amon nodded and went into the general store to barter. Katlynn grabbed the gymer bread and waterskin from her pouch and sat down by nearby a tree. Breaking the loaf in half she set Amon’s piece aside for him while she ate hers. Looking back at the horse, she noticed a faint yellow glow coming from Amon’s pouch. Intrigued, she left her spot next to the tree and headed over to the horse. Loosening the pouch’s strings, Katlynn began to open it when suddenly Amon’s hand covered hers startling her. Turning, she looked at Amon.
“What is in there?” she asked.
“Just the supplies I picked up, along with something else you don’t need to concern yourself with.” Amon brushed her hand away from the pouch and held out his other hand to show her the gold he had got from bartering. “Turns out the shop owner is a devote Omad worshiper and when I told him I was part of the Freya Priesthood, he immediately showed me favor!”
“Nicely done love, it’s too bad we just sold stuff we barely had got… and what do you mean something I don’t need to concern myself with?” Katlynn asked blatantly ignoring his extremely good yield from bartering. Her eyes shifted from Amon over to the pouch.
“We didn’t plan on the delay with the druid either, love, that’s why we had to barter the stuff we barely had gotten… We would have made it to Elvark if we hadn’t needed to change direction. As far as my pouch goes, please just respect my privacy,” Amon said smiling trying to show her the gold in his hand. Katlynn reach for the pouch again and Amon grabbed her hand as he looked around with a look of paranoia.
“Why can I not see what it is? If we are to be together, we can’t keep things from each other,” Katlynn said walking away from the horse back to the tree. Amon followed quickly behind her after removing the pouch from the horse and placing it in his robe pocket.
“If it were as simple as showing you, I would, but it’s much more complicated than that,” Amon said conflicted. He looked around the town of Kol’Ork and saw people everywhere. “I promise my love, I shall you reveal everything in due time.” Kissing her hands, his confliction turned to happiness as he smiled looking up at Katlynn. She was not sure what to make of her love keeping secrets, but chose not to insist on the matter.
“Gymer bread?” Katlynn asked handing him his section of the loaf.
“Thank you darling,” Amon said taking a bite of his bread before grabbing the waterskin and guzzling a drink down. Glancing up at the night sky as the moons began revealing themselves behind the Great Unknown, Amon said, “Our new life together started today… We are like the two moons, by each other’s sides forever.”
“You are ridiculous sometimes…” Katlynn laughed. Noticing Amon look down in embarrassment from her laughter, she added, “But I love you anyways!” Amon raised his head and leaned over to kiss her.
After they finished eating, they made their way over to the Kol’Ork Inn and paid for a room with a portion of the gold they had made from bartering. Glancing out the window at the moons, Katlynn looked over her shoulder at Amon holding her in his arms and smiled.
Chapter 7
Awakening the next day, Katlynn slipped out of bed and over to her mandolin that sat on the table in their room. About to strum it, she glanced over at her sleeping love Amon. I better go outside so I don’t wake him. Venturing out of the room, she made her way out into the town and found a grassy meadow with a tree that provided shade from the warmth of the early morning sun.
Sitting down, she crossed her legs and attempted to strum a few strings that resulted in a rather un-pleasant sound coming from the mandolin. I have no idea how to play this. Katlynn closed her eyes and recalled her brother Nejik when he used to play for her when they were children. She could see his hands in the vision and she traced his movements. The sounds were a bit better, but not as well as she had hoped.
Suddenly she was interrupted by laughter. Opening her eyes, she saw a blond haired boy standing in front of her laughing as he held his stomach. “I am but practicing! Give me some distance, little boy!” She said, annoyed as she shifted to turn herself away from the rude young man.
“Let me show you how to play a real song,” He said sitting down in front of her. She looked up and noticed his hand had a Runic inscription on it; it was the one for water.
“You’re a rune user?” She asked. Glancing down at his own hand, he smiled and nodded as he lifted it up to show her.
“Yep, that’s why I have this…” He said suppressing more laughter. Katlynn found his constant laughter rather annoying and unbecoming.
“Is everything a joke to you?” she asked sharply.
“Not everything, but asking if I’m a rune user when I clearly have a Runic marking on my hand is rather stupid.”
“I see. Well I don’t want your help and I don’t want to know you. Goodbye.” Katlynn turned away from the boy more-so and started to strum more strings. The young boy got the hint and got up to leave.
“If you decide you want to learn to play, I help my father over in the Armory in the mornings.” He walked away and left Katlynn alone. She ignored his comment and continued to attempt songs as the morning progressed and Amon slept.
**
A few hours later, Amon joined Katlynn outside by the tree. As he approached he began to clap without hearing even a single note played. “You can’t clap without hearing me play,” Katlynn laughed.
“Well you are out here trying and that in itself deserves recognition,” Amon said, offering a hand to help her up off the grass. Taking him up on the offer, Katlynn grabbed his hand and stood up but not without Amon using the opportunity to pull her into him close and kiss her gently. Pulling back from their kiss, Katlynn looked Amon in the eyes.
“The fire in my heart burns for you like I have never felt in my life. Every part of my body wants all of you,” Katlynn said blushing.
“And all of me wants all of you, my love,” Amon said brushing the strand of hair from her bun that fell into her eyes. Glancing north, Katlynn’s sight fell upon a plume of smoke coming up from the Fireblade Mountains.
“What’s that?” Katlynn asked Amon pointing to the mountains. “I have seen the Fireblade Mountains in my teachings, but I hadn’t seen plumes of smoke before.”
“That’s part of the awakening cycle.”
“The awakening cycle?” Katlynn asked.
“Yeah, they didn’t teach you that in your learnings in the castle? It’s a rather important part of the kingdom of Belstrom. Those Fireblade Mountains are called that because a dragon is birthed through the volcano every hundred to two hundred years.”
“A dragon? I thought those haven’t been around in centuries,” Katlynn said. Amon put his hand on Katlynn’s shoulder.
“I thought you knew…” Amon said with a bit of a nervous twinge in his voice. He looked back up at the Fireblade Mou
ntains and shook his head. “They haven’t been around for a long time because of the peace treaty that exists between the Curo and Rune. The king and queen of Belstrom go up once a year on the dawn of the egg and cast a spell that combines both schools of magic to keep the birthing stone from producing a new egg for at least another year.”
“By not marrying Nikolas, does that mean…?” Katlynn asked with her eyes widened as fear set into her chest.
“Not necessarily, your parents are still alive…” Amon said.
“But what about after they die?” Katlynn asked.
“We will have to see…” Amon said. “It’s very likely that the Curo and Rune can remain in peace and still perform the ritual spell, there’s nothing I’ve read that said it has to be a king and queen.”
“Like us?” Katlynn asked.