Wind Rider

by Teddy Jacobs

  We stood.

  Erik smiled once more. There then, are our three. We wish you swift success in your quest.

  There was a long pause, and I thought that was it, that there would be no one else in our party. But then someone stood. He was tall, broad shouldered, bigger than anyone else in the room. There was something strange about him. Not just his height, but his features — they seemed rougher, somehow. I opened my third eye. I could barely look at the man now — his aura was so bright, and pure yellow, like a flame, like a sun. There was some pride there, but mostly strength, and intelligence, and good will.

  Elias met my gaze as I turned away. He is part giant, I think. I have never seen a real giant, but I think they must look like him, only around twice as big. Look at his aura!

  Woltan looked at me too. We need him. He is incredibly strong.

  I thought nothing back. I just looked at the man’s face. And found the man smiling back at me, and I couldn’t help it — I smiled too.

  My name is Hans Arboris, and I do not belong here among you folk. When I was but a baby, you adopted me. No one approved of my parent’s union when they were alive; not the tree folk, nor the tree giants; but you took me in after they were killed, and this has been a good home to me. I have felt love here, and my heart which should have been a cauldron of hate and malice towards the dark lord has grown up to be good and pure. I thank you all for this. I seek vengeance, but it is not only personal — my strength is needed. I would help this group meet their friends, and help them defend themselves against the dark lord.

  Erik nodded. I feared Hans would want to go. He is strong and good of heart. If he goes his absence will be missed. Please stand to approve his parting.

  The tree people stood as one around their adopted son, who towered above them, even stooped as he was to not hit the ceiling.

  Let the visitors stand if they will have him in their party.

  We stood again. Our party had almost doubled in number. But perhaps we had more than doubled in strength. Having four more people who could fight and were nearly invisible filled me with a sense of hope, something I had lost out on the trail under the storm clouds the dark lord had sent to harass us.

  Anyone have anymore surprises?

  There was a short pause.

  Then we will quickly provision these men and women with food and weapons, and give them of our clothes. And then we will say farewell.

  I stood up. There is something I must do.

  Everyone turned to stare at me.

  Elias was looking at me quizzically. Anders, what are you playing at?

  VI

  The voice in my head grew clearer, deep and guttural, and damp like the earth, but also fertile and strong and somehow feminine. Anders Tomason, come to my gate. I must give you what is only mine to give.

  I nodded, but the others only looked more confused. Take me to the gate of the tree mother. She calls me.

  Later I would realize that the tree folk were shocked. Later I would know that only one person a year was granted such privileges, and that the tree folk had no idea how to respond to such a request. But now it was Ulrike who stood up and smiled at me.

  I will take him, father. Listen, all, for the Tree Mother calls him now as we sit here staring, and grows impatient with us.

  The tree rumbled briefly. Erik nodded. Take him, then, daughter. And we will meet again at the base of the tree when he comes out again. If she lets him out.

  I looked at Ulrike as she led me out.

  She smiled back at me. He’s only joking. I think.

  People parted as we passed, and I heard low murmurs of thought, leakage from the people around me. He’s so young. He’s not one of us. I hope he will be all right. Mother can be harsh with her enemies but she is just.

  Soon it was just the two of us. The murmur of unshielded thought faded to nothing as the thoughts of the mother tree grew stronger and louder, deep in tone and rich in their tonality; they were velvety, and stroked me. I could almost understand her, and there were moments where I did, and in these moments I heard her calling: Anders, I await you. I have something for you, that only I can give you.

  My skin started to buzz with the energy of the tree, as we approached a patch of the trunk about the size of a man, lighter in color, and covered with sap. Without thinking about it, I closed my eyes, unafraid of falling now. Below me the tree glowed under my feet, to my side was Ulrike, and in front of me the trunk glowed green. There, outlined in front of me, was a door, and there were runes on it, in a darker green. I reached out and traced them and felt the energy of the tree buzz through my fingers as the tree covered my hand with sticky sap. But my fingers kept moving. Then I was walking forward, opening my mind to the mother tree as my body entered into the sap and the wood opened up around me. My body was being covered from head to toe with warm wood, and I stopped moving. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t breathe either. Still I did not panic.

  My lungs filled slowly with sap. I stopped breathing, but remained somehow alive. My mind kept thinking. I could feel my heart pumping, and somehow my lungs got what they needed from the sap. This was deep magic, magic that moved inside me. There was no way to open my eyes, I could not move, but my inner eye was open. I opened my inner ears, looked out and listened.

  She was in front of me.

  She looked like a woman, old but strong and wise. Her back was straight but her hair was grey and long, reaching down to her feet. Her eyes were emerald green, and her teeth shining white. And she spoke to me then, and now I understood her.

  I called and you came, Anders Tomason.

  I couldn’t move a muscle. Still there was no pain. You called and I came, Tree Mother.

  Call me Helga..

  Why have you called me here?

  She smiled.

  You can change the world, Anders Tomason. You can hurt it or you can make it whole again. I see so much bloodshed. I hope you will come out of it whole and unscarred. That the world too will come out of it whole and unscarred. For this I give you several gifts. The first is the sap now filling your lungs — it will fill your body with plant energy and make the trees your friends, wherever you might go. The second is a living shield of my own wood, which you will carry on your back. The third is a breastplate of magical living hardwood, which I will affix to your chest. It will be light enough to wear underneath your clothes, and will absorb the energy of bruising blows, and deflect the energy of those who try to pierce it.

  I felt a tingling on my leg and then Carolina was there as well in front of me, between me and the tree mother.

  She was smiling. I did not know tree spirits to be so generous with their gifts. I assume there is a hidden price, as well.

  I knew that Anders carried a great blade, but I did not know there was such power as you within it.

  Carolina smiled again. Helga knows that flattery will get you everywhere with pixies. With tree spirits it does not work as well, unfortunately. Tell me, tree mother, what is the hidden price for these priceless gifts?

  The tree mother groaned and imprisoned within her I could feel the whole tree shake. I wish the deliverance of my peoples, both human and tree from the man called the dark lord.

  Carolina nodded. Is that all, tree mother?

  That is all. I ask only that Anders reaffirm a pledge already made. One made already in the heavens the day of his birth. And in return I give him those gifts, and send him and you on your way. Along with several of my strongest human children.

  Carolina looked at me then. If I were you, I would pledge. A tree mother’s gifts are priceless, and never have I seen a tree mother with such a true and good heart.

  I pledge to deliver all peoples, human and non-human, beast or plant, from the reign of the dark lord.

  Carolina smiled. Will that suffice?

  Helga the tree mother smiled. You have my three gifts and my blessing. I spit you back out into the world of men, tree-friend.

  I felt myself moving, and then I was ou
tside, in the air, the sap absorbing into my lungs, my mouth filling with air again. I coughed once and gasped, blinked in the sunlight. I looked down at my hands and saw the sword in my right and a light brown shield in my left. Something light and hard pressed against my chest. My sword went back in its scabbard.

  Around me I could feel every branch of the tree, the life in every leaf. Down on the forest floor the shrubs, the plants and the smaller trees raised their voices together in song. I could feel the life in every plant, the potential for growth in every seed. A tear welled up in my right eye and fell, hitting the branch below me. I looked down. There where my tear had fallen the dark bark turned green, and from it burst forth a new branch, and I reached out and touched it and heard the last words of the tree mother: Go forth now, Anders. Your group awaits you as the Dark Lord gathers his forces.

  I caressed the new branch one last time. Then I walked down the tree. A group of tree folk who had gathered to watch — perhaps to see if I emerged alive and whole — parted as I approached, and whispered together words that I could understand now. “Farewell, tree friend.”

  Then I felt Ulrike’s hand on my shoulder. When I turned and stared at her, it was as if I were seeing her for the first time. She no longer looked transparent. I wondered at her green beauty. I stared at her for so long without blinking that her face turned red and she turned away. I stopped you so you could wave farewell and bless the tree-folk and their tree mother, not so you could stare at me, tree-friend.

  I stare at you because my eyes have been opened. Your beauty is blinding.

  Enough. Bless them and let us move onward.

  I nodded and the words bubbled up from my mouth before I had time to reflect on them, on what it all meant. To me it was just melodious sing-song, tree-folk speech, and I did not listen to the words. Later I would wish I had, for a blessing is always a blessing.

  I was transfixed by her beauty until she touched me once more on the shoulder. My shoulder tingled, but I stopped staring and I listened. She told me in tree-folk speech: “Later, if you want, we can talk. Now the sap speaks in you. Let us go down and meet the rest of our party, before they begin to worry.”

  Tree-sap or blood, I did not know what made it so hard for me to stop staring at her. But I touched my sword, and felt energy and a message rise up from Carolina. Get going, Anders!

  I walked then down behind Ulrike. The song of the tree that surrounded me and the running sap faded to a dull roar, and I felt my head clear a little bit. The bright plant life that surrounded my companions was blinding. But the plant energy was not just around my friends, it was in them — we had all been marked by the tree mother. As my eyes calmed, I tried to look only with my two outer eyes but it was no use. Everything was bright with aura and the inner eye would not close.

  My companions came forward to look at me and touch the shield that I carried still in my hand. Kara fashioned silently for me a kind of sling, so I could put it on my back. I had difficulty focusing my vision. Although Kara glowed when I looked at her she was nothing compared to Ulrike and her cousins, who glowed liked beacons. “It’s too much,” I said at last, and by the look of Elias and Woltan, I realized I must be speaking in Tree-tongue.

  Ulrike spoke to me then in the same language. “I will try to help calm your sap and your inner eye, Anders. But then you must focus on the tasks at hand, which are many.”

  I nodded.

  I wanted to grab her and pull her to me, to squeeze her in my arms. But she was grabbing my head, and pulling my head to her lips, and she kissed me, not on the lips, but on my forehead, in the very center, where my inner eye was blinding me. With my inner eye I saw her lips come to me, as she spoke a word: beruhigen. Then I saw no more — the eye was closed.

  I had difficulty letting her go, and the whole thing later was very embarrassing.

  Kara slapped me gently on the cheek. I looked at her and saw her as I had before the sap had run through me. I let Ulrike go, then, and she pushed away. The cousins were smiling at us, and everyone else looking confused or amused.

  I realized that Ulrike had not closed my inner eye but only calmed it. I could still see everyone’s auras, and the plant life that glowed all around me. I could see now and think more clearly, and I realized I could open the eye fully later, when needed. Perhaps later someone would teach me to open and close it at will.

  So it is with our people when they convene with the tree mother. Anders is the first male for many years, but I remember much of the same feeling when I was chosen, last year.

  I thought I could see Kara’s face soften a little, once she heard Ulrike’s thoughts, but she still seemed to scowl a little bit, although everyone else seemed to find it amusing.

  Elias especially seemed in good cheer. You’d best shield your thoughts for awhile, Anders. You’re likely to make one of those two women angry, otherwise. Remember strong emotions leak more.

  I did feel embarrassed then. I had forgotten to renew my orange sphere of protection. When I reimagined it, I saw a leaky dirty brown sphere, little larger than my head, with cracks in it, from which thoughts came out. I remade it larger, strong and brilliant orange, and doubled it on the inside. And then I remembered to make it receptive to friendly thoughts but not to intrusions.

  Elias smiled. Wow, Anders, the earth mother must have strengthened you a bit. I don’t think anyone could pound their way through that.

  VII

  Ulrike’s sisters came to say goodbye, and her Aunt was there to bid farewell to her cousins, loading the twins and Ulrike and me with provisions for the next few days journey. Cullen, Woltan, Elias, and Kara had all been outfitted as well.

  Erik was there to hug his daughter, and his nephews. Then he hugged Hans Arboris, and gave him a great staff of living wood, at least six feet long, that the Tree Mother herself had made for him. Hans started to weep, and he reached out and hugged the trunk of the tree mother and her branches shuddered. I heard a great groan that hurt me deep inside.

  Then, at last, we were walking, and Hans Arboris led us. The mossy road felt soft under my feet, and I could feel the energy in the moss underneath. It was growing increasingly dark, but the rain was gone, as if either nature or the dark lord had decided to storm elsewhere. I walked in the back with Woltan and Kara. In front of us walked Elias and the smith, in front of them Ulrike with her twin cousins on either side, following Hans.

  Woltan whispered then. “We can all see the plants, can’t we? Even the moss on the road beneath us lights the way.”

  I nodded. “It blinded and deafened me at first. I expect Hans and Ulrike have similar gifts.”

  The smith spoke then. “I am surely the least magical here, sire. But I can see the path as if it was painted with fireflies. Like this we can walk all night.”

  Woltan shook his head. “All night, no. But until we reach the mountains, yes. There we should find shelter in a cave, and rest a while. Our slumber was short and sweet under the protection of the tree mother, but we need more sleep if we are not to become stumbling bumblers in the two days walk ahead.”

  Kara shook her head. “I am still a little lost here. Perhaps when we reach the mountains all will come clear to me. But I worry for the people you have left behind, Woltan. What if the dark lord attacks while we lie taking a nap on this mountain?”

  “We lose time sleeping,” said Woltan. “Or we lose time with accidents and stupid mistakes. There is no other way, except wizardry, and we will go that way only if we are forced to choose it.”

  We heard Elias’s thoughts then. I feel rested. The tree mother’s food has filled us up with energy, and the hours we rested there is equivalent to days of sleep outside her protection.

  Ulrike agreed. I do not know much of your world, but I know that after sleeping in the shelter of the mother tree we can go days without sleep. And the food we ate will not only protect and hide us, but also nourish our minds and bodies more than ordinary plant or animal food.

  “In that case, let
us walk until we can walk no more,” said Woltan finally. “And then rest and set watch.”

  It was dark now. We walked quietly and the moss seemed to come up to meet our feet, the branches of trees seemed to sway away from our faces as we passed. Never had I felt so in tune with nature. I could smell and see the plants around me in the night, could taste the dirt in which they grew. I could feel where the soil was acidic, where it was alkaline — the ground itself was like some alchemist’s experimental laboratory, like I’d read about with my tutor. If I reached out with my mind I could hear the sing-song of the grass, the whispers of the shrubs, the low rumble of conversations of the trees.

  I tried pushing my mind out as far as I could, to see how far I could feel. My feet kept walking methodically but my mind exploded: a blinding flash of green life energy and brown earth, a deafening symphony of living plant music that filled my head to bursting. I tried to relax and float in the middle of all of it, and the sound and the light calmed.

  But I could still see and hear all of it.

  I smiled and kept walking. I found I could keep walking and look where I was going and still see and hear everything. It was intoxicating. Then all of the sudden, I stopped.

  Something was very wrong in the forest.

  Kara was sniffing the wind. I could smell nothing, but my plant friends were in panic. They were being trampled, and there were torches. I could feel the fire, feel the feet upon me, but could not tell what they were.

  We had all stopped now, in a circle, but it was Kara who gave the alarm, speaking and thinking it at the same time. Keiler! And soldiers!

  There was a moment of panic in which we didn’t know whether to fight or flee. Woltan blasted into our minds then. Remember our invisibility. Press against the trees and wait for them to pass. If they are small in number, we shall ambush them.