by Moose Tyler
Telsa released Timber’s face. “Yeah, she might be two. Her paw pads are still a bit soft.” She touched her belly and closed her eyes. Their breathing fell in sync. “Oh, no.” She opened her eyes and stood up. Timber rolled on her stomach. “Give her a stick.”
Amaria extended the meat. Timber’s ears flicked back, and she growled.
Telsa shook her head. “Too soon, Ree. She’s just tolerating you.”
Amaria tossed the treat on the ground. “I feed you. Remember that.”
“It’s not about feeding her, though that’s why she’s taken shelter in our barn. Easy meal. She’s killed at least two messenger birds, possibly three.”
Amaria grimaced. “Bad cat,” she said before looking at Telsa. “Do you know whose?”
She shook her head. “Honestly, I think it’s just divine intervention she hasn’t killed more.” She walked to the bench and sat down.
Amaria sat next to her. “Wanje told me to train her, and now the Great Mother must intervene to keep her from killing messenger birds?”
Timber walked to the bench and sat down by Telsa. Telsa stroked the top of her head before shewing her away. “Go on.”
Timber scurried away but circled back and lay down.
Telsa looked at Amaria. “That’s just something to say when things are hard to explain or difficult to understand. She hasn’t killed anything more than a messenger bird because of the incantations.”
All paths marked on the scrolls and areas south of the Beltline had been blessed by the ancestors. Citizens were guaranteed, for the most part, safe passage while in those areas and along those routes.
“Didn’t you think it odd that she came this far south?”
Amaria thought about it. “Why did she?”
“Because Wanje blessed her, under the condition she not harm a citizen.”
“When did she bless her?”
“I’m assuming the heartbeat she saw her.”
Amaria thought about when Wanje had seen Timber. It was at the base of Mesha Cliff. “But, Timber was below the Beltline when she saw her.”
Telsa shrugged. “Maybe it was you.”
Amaria laughed. “Sure. I’ve been working with this cat for moons. You have it eating out of your hand and laying by your feet in two heartbeats. It’s truly impressive, Telsa. I hope I can train her to eat from my hand.”
“Cats are easy. Not as easy as wolves, especially if it’s pen bred,” Telsa shifted her position on the bench, “but what I did wasn’t training. It was connecting. There’s a difference.”
Amaria glanced at Timber. She looked like a rug on the ground. “What’s the difference?”
“Try to keep up, little brain.” Telsa smiled before continuing. “Any citizen can train animals. Horses, wolves, cats, messenger birds, even the boars and tree rats can be taught to do basic behaviors. You can teach this cat to eat from a pail and stay close by. You can even get it to eat from your hand, if you have the patience, but no matter how well-trained the animal, they can’t be controlled, not entirely. Most are dangerous to citizens, some even dangerous to us.”
“Controlled?”
“Wanje said you told her that you felt like you were controlling Timber.”
Amaria nodded. “I did. It was weird.”
“That’s connecting, which is different than training.”
“So, if I can connect with Timber, I can control her?”
“It’s more like channeling, but yes.”
“So, you can control a horse, if you can connect with it.”
“Yes.”
“Bears?”
Telsa nodded. “Simple enough.”
“You can make bears do what you made Timber just do?”
“Essentially, but bears need many moons of practice to keep the connection. Making the connection isn’t the hard part. It’s keeping it that’s draining.”
“You can control bears?”
Telsa rolled her eyes. “Yes, bears. Why do you think the incantations work on them? Isn’t that proof enough, or must I conjure you one from the Reserve?”
“Yes, please. Conjure me a bear.”
“For Genesis, maybe.”
“What a gift for the hearth!” Amaria thought for a few heartbeats. “So, why don’t bears plow the fields instead of horses?”
“It’s too hard to keep the connection. You’d have to get a cub. Even then, it’s risky.”
“Why?”
Telsa shrugged. “Something in their brains maybe.”
“So, you can control brains?”
Telsa laughed. “Sort of.”
“What about people brains?”
Telsa stopped laughing and shook her head. “I asked, but Wanje says no sage is powerful enough, but if I’m being honest, Sister, I don’t believe her.”
Amaria gulped. “If you can control bear brains it’s possible to control people brains.”
“People brains work different than bears. Wanje says it’s our free will, but then I’ve also seen her take water from one cup and put it in another.”
Amaria shrugged. “I see maids do that.”
Telsa rolled her eyes. “With her mind, Ree. I was struggling with my lesson, and she just walked over and said, It’s easy. Just like this, and the water rose of out of the glass and poured into the other. She looked at me. Now, you try.”
Amaria was impressed with Telsa’s impersonation of Wanje. It was spot-on.
“Animal brains are easier to connect to than the elements,” she said. “Simply draining to try.”
“You’re trying to connect with the elements?”
Telsa nodded. “Trying to.”
“How do you even do that? I’m still not sure what you mean by connect with animals and brains. Now you’re telling me you can control fire?”
“I can’t control any of the elements. It’s a problem because to move one I must move the others. I just sit there and stare at the water or dirt or sky or fire pit all day, but nothing happens. No matter what they try.” She pulled back her robe’s sleeve, exposing a circle burn on her forearm.
Amaria clutched her arm and examined it. “Great Mother, Telsa! What happened?”
“Bekos thought pain might open the gift, and don’t swear.”
“I’m sorry, but has Mother seen this?”
Telsa nodded. “Wanje was furious, but there was nothing to be done.”
“Why did she do that?”
“She said it was how she was taught.” Telsa took back her arm and pulled the sleeve over the burn. “Wanje hasn’t made me try to connect with fire since.”
Amaria didn’t know what to say. Bekos was a respected sage, but she felt wrath growing in her heart. “That’s not okay, Telsa. That looked pretty bad.”
She shrugged. “You suffered more on your quest through the Great Ravine.”
Amaria had been sent naked and defenseless into the Great Ravine. She’d suffered wounds far worse than a burn mark, but she was a warrior. There was always physical pain in her training.
She shook her head. “No, that’s different.”
“Is it? I felt wrath when you returned. It wasn’t just the physical wounds. The quest changed you. It’s the purpose I suppose, but I was angry for you.”
“I don’t think I’m that different.”
“You didn’t laugh as much, and you would stare into the trees with this look. It’s hard to explain. Maybe you laugh more now. I haven’t seen you in moons.”
Amaria thought about after she had returned from that quest. It took her a few heartbeats to relax and acclimate to routines and civilization. She had bad dreams and would wake in a puddle of sweat. Sakina would lay beside her on the floor and hug her. It was one of the few times she didn’t yell at Amaria for interrupting her sleep. She didn’t recall Sakina having nig
htmares when she had returned from her quest, but Amaria had always been a deep sleeper.
“You healed though, just as I will,” said Telsa. “There’ll always be the mark, but we’ll survive.”
“Are you okay, Telsa?”
“I’m bored and surrounded by a bunch of scrolls a thousand cycles old.”
“That’s all Wanje’s had me fetch since I started training.”
“She is the scroll – and Bekos, Euphora, and Anthea – they’re ancient. Most of their maids are, too. The younger ones are too scared to speak to me, and it smells like herbs and burnt hair. Always.”
Amaria laughed and hugged her.
“I’m not joking, Ree. Smell me.”
“I’m smelling.” She ended the embrace. “Looks like someone’s getting perfume water for Genesis.”
“Please, a big jar of it. I think you can get a discount at Scented Goddess on last cycle’s fragrance. I’m not choosy. Anything is better than burnt hair.”
“Yours smells like honeycomb.”
“I just washed it before I came. Unfortunately, the stench has burrowed into my robes.”
Amaria hugged her sister again. “I love you, Telsa. I miss you so much.”
“I love you, too, but we need to get back on task. Wanje asked me to show you how to connect with Timber, so that’s what we need to do.”
“I don’t know. I think it’s beastly you can control bears and stuff—”
“—Channel, not control.”
“Channel bears, but I’m not sure I can.”
“Have you ever sent a bird without clicking?”
“Sure, but what does that have to with anything?”
“Did it arrive where it was supposed to?”
When Amaria first started sending birds, she forgot to click before tossing it in the air, but the bird always went to the right pen, even personal ones like at Penelope’s or the box nailed to Ursula’s tree. She shrugged. “I guess.”
“Why do you think that is?”
“Smart birds?”
Telsa laughed. “Hardly. Messenger birds are some of the easiest to connect with. You don’t even have to think about it, but the big ones in the north?” She shook her head. “Not easy. Easier than fish though. Forget about fish.” She stood up. “What else do you have in that satchel?”
Amaria opened the bag. “Fruit, water pouch, fish, and meat sticks.”
“Give me the fruit.”
She handed Telsa the fruit, and she ate it. “Thank you. I was starving.”
Amaria laughed and stood up. “Want the fish?”
“No. Let’s give that to Timber.” She ate another piece of fruit and picked up a fish. She broke it in half and threw one piece away from the bench out in the clearing. Timber hustled after it. “Here,” she said, handing Amaria the other half. “First thing to know is, when connecting with an animal, it’s an emotional experience. Describe how you felt when you first saw her.”
Amaria thought about it. “I was surprised. She came out of nowhere and jumped on this bigger cat.”
“Bigger cat?”
Amaria nodded. “It attacked me when I was crossing the clearing.”
“What happened to it?”
“We fell into the Great Ravine, and it died. I had to deliver its meat to Sheila and the rest to Second Hands for the queen.”
“That explains it.”
“What does?”
“Why you made the connection. You were afraid.”
“I was not. I was surprised. There was risk, but I was not scared.”
Telsa looked at Amaria for a few heartbeats. “It’s okay to be scared, and sad, and angry, and happy. There’s great power in all our emotions. You prayed, didn’t you?”
Amaria couldn’t remember all the details of the encounter. She shrugged. “I guess.”
“She heard your prayer. She opened the gift for you, now you just have to figure out where She put it.”
Amaria nodded. She had no idea what she was looking for or where to search.
“Second thing to know,” said Telsa, “don’t break eye contact first. No matter how much she growls and resists.”
“Eye contact. Got it.”
She slapped Amaria’s leg. “Take a firm stance.”
Amaria widened her stance. “Like this?”
“Good enough. Now, look at her.”
Amaria looked at Timber. She was lying in the clearing licking her paw.
“Get her attention.” Telsa made a loud tisk sound. Timber’s ears flicked forward and she looked up. “Hold up the fish.”
Amaria held it up. Timber’s haunches raised slightly, and she growled low.
“Close your eyes. Feel the rumble of her growl in your feet?”
“You said to keep eye contact.”
“Shhh,” she smacked Amaria playfully on the head. “Close your eyes.”
Amaria closed her eyes and concentrated for a few heartbeats, but she couldn’t feel the growl. She only heard it.
“Focus on your feet, not Timber. Feel the earth on your toes. Feel the earth beneath the cat.”
Amaria opened one eye and looked at Telsa.
“Close your eye.”
She closed it.
“Dig your toes into the dirt. Lean forward and breathe deep. Focus on your toes.”
Amaria did as she was instructed. She sat still and concentrated on her breathing the way she did after a difficult workout and sometimes before praying. For a heartbeat, she thought she felt a vibration touch the tip of her toe.
She opened her eyes and looked at Telsa. “I felt it.”
Telsa turned Amaria’s head towards Timber. “You’re celebrating too soon. Do it again.”
She closed her eyes and focused. A few heartbeats passed, and she felt the sensation again.
“Think of something that happened today,” said Telsa. “Not like you shot bows and tended the hearth but an emotion you felt.”
Amaria thought of the burn on Telsa’s arm and the wrath she felt when she saw it. A new flame sparked as she thought about it again.
“There it is,” said Telsa. “Hold it.”
Amaria focused on the vibration and her wrath. The tingle spread from the tips of her toes to the tops of her feet like melted wax cooling.
“Now, in your mind say Great Mother bless this bond. Let my breath be her breath, my blood be her blood. Let us be one. All in Her name.”
Amaria said the words in her head.
“Keep repeating it.”
She recited the phrase four times, growing tired towards the end. She felt the vibration slide off the tops of her feet and cling to the edge of her toes before disappearing. She opened her eyes, out of breath.
Telsa nodded. “It’s draining. Eat a meat stick and try again.”
Timber stopped growling while Amaria ate. When done, she widened her stance. “Okay,” she said.
Telsa looked at Timber for a few heartbeats. The growl resumed. Amaria focused on her feet. The sensation was faint, but she felt it. She inhaled and exhaled as she chanted the words in her mind. She thought about her wrath again, but her mind shifted to Wanje and the wrath Amaria felt for being cast aside. The vibration in her feet flared and surged into her legs. She felt Timber’s growl intensify.
“She’s moving closer,” Telsa whispered. “Stay focused.”
Amaria continued the chant, her shins tingling.
“Offer it to her.”
Amaria extended the fish. The growling got loud in her ear, and she felt Timber yank it out of her hand. She opened her eyes, and saw the cat trotting back to the clearing, the vibration in Amaria’s shins slipping to her toes. She felt a tear slide down her cheek. She wiped it off and turned away.
“It’s okay,” Telsa said. “You don’t have to hide
. There’s a lot of healing power in tears. Wanje collects hers, but I have no idea what she does with them.”
Another tear slid down Amaria’s cheek, and she wiped it away. “I don’t know why I’m crying.”
“It’s overwhelming to be blessed by the Great Mother’s gift. It’s powerful and scary and hard to understand but exciting and joyful, all in the same heartbeat. It’s only natural to cry.”
“Maybe for a sage.”
“Which is why few warriors can open this gift. With practice, you won’t be as drained or overwhelmed. The longer you make the connection, the stronger it gets. Look at the queen’s wolves. They are loyal to the bond and will die protecting her.”
The queen had two wolves, but she kept them away from council meetings because they barked and growled at anyone who approached the throne. Amaria had read about it in Tribe Talk.
“Also, different emotions are easier to conjure than others, until you have more practice. Try again, only this time open your eyes and keep contact when you make the connection.”
Amaria took another fish from the satchel and tried again. She recited the words in her head. Great Mother bless this bond. Let my breath be her breath, my blood be her blood. Let us be one. All in Her name. Her wrath flared. She was one of the best students training to take the shield, and she wasn’t being put to her fullest potential. Instead she was fetching scrolls and carrying berries for the healers. After a few heartbeats, she felt the tingle. Timber growled and rolled twice. Amaria chanted in her mind and kept her eyes locked on her target. The cat’s ears flicked back and forth as she scooted closer.
“That’s it,” Telsa whispered.
Amaria felt herself getting tired, but she focused on the words and the wrath. Timber moved as close as she had ever been before, craned her neck, and took the fish. Amaria let go.
“Don’t break it,” snapped Telsa.
She focused and Timber growled. The vibration shot up through Amaria’s shins and into her stomach. She lost her breath but regained control as the cat settled down at her feet. The burning disappeared, but Timber didn’t scamper away.
“Well done,” said Telsa.