The Wittering Way

by Nat Burns

  I was worried somewhat about Lemon and Saffron. They were so fatigued that their pale skin appeared translucent in the day’s brightness. I was tempted to send them home but couldn’t send them back through the forest alone. I sighed, remembering earlier doubts about traveling companions.

  Capel and Memo seemed fine, even enthused about the adventure we were on. Memo had braided her ruddy hair into long braids and secured them with vine thread. They hung on either side of her head, making her large black eyes seem huge on her small face. She smiled at me and nodded encouragement.

  “I go ahead,” Tsisi said, buzzing about my head. “I take a lower route, away from the harshness of my Mother Wind.”

  I scowled at her impetuous buzzing but it did no good, she was gone as quickly as her words.

  “That is a good idea. We’ll have to tuck our fammies,” Memo mused. “The wind will surely snatch at them.”

  “We can use their buoyancy anyway,” I agreed. “Afton, will you tell the others that we will need their strength to get across?”

  He spun away just as Yewsy grabbed me and hugged me from behind. “Have you caught your breath,” she asked merrily.

  I turned and smiled at her. “I’m well, just wondering which blessings to leave.”

  Capel touched one of the ribbons adorning the bridge upright. “I think we should each leave something,” she murmured, her words almost snatched away by sister wind. She untied a bright blue ribbon from the strap of her pack and tied it to the closest bridge rope. It fluttered there with thousands of other Meab offerings to the Lares of safe travel. She lifted one arm and Walsh spun underneath. Capel giggled, which made the others laugh.

  “Lares, hearken to prayer,” Capel sang out as the others moved forward.

  “Lead us in safety, guide us in peace, and support us in our journey,” Lemon sang as he stepped forward and added a beautiful crimson stone to the pile of stones next to the upright. Maol wrapped once around his neck then she entered the front of his shirt.

  “Save us from every enemy and ambush, from robbers and wild beasts on our journey,” RoseIII sang. He draped a strand of pinecone scales over and under the rope, securing it. Byrne swept along the back of his neck and under his coat.

  “We ask a blessing upon the work of our hands and grant us grace, kindness, and mercy,” Yewsy whispered, offering two walnut halves. Brennen moved to lock himself around her waist as a type of belt.

  Memo took a leather bracelet from her wrist and affixed it to the rope. “Bestow upon us abundant kindness and return our Avapeony to us.” She took Higen into her hands and moved back.

  Talew and Saffron approached together. Saffron was humming the Lares into awareness as she placed an unpolished diamond atop the rock pile. “Help us reach our destination and return in joy,” she whispered.

  I hummed along with her to make sure the Lares saw our offerings as Talew bowed and laid a tiny secret bundle, wrapped and tied in cloth, against the rocks. He whispered words that were snatched away by the wind as he said them. Finner, his fammie, crept up the sleeve of his tunic, making a lump at Talew’s shoulder.

  “Hearken to the voice of our prayer, Guardians, for you hear the prayers of all. Guide us with your blessings, for the good of all,” I said.

  I pulled two acorn tops from my bag and filled them with a few drops of blessed energy oil. I placed them where the wooden panels of the bridge met the earth and stone. I knew we would step across them there and they would energize our path even as the Lares received the gift.

  We stood in silent blessing for another moment, Afton’s cloudy warmth pressing against my stomach under my tunic, and then RoseIII stepped onto the bridge. He held out one hand and Capel grasped it. Next Lemon and Saffron stepped onto the bridge, hands clasped.

  “Levitate and allow your fammies to help,” I reminded them all as I helped Talew guide the Neisi onto the boards. I looked at the rushing water far below. “Talew, Lemon, if it falls, don’t try to catch it. The Neisi live in the river and the fall won’t hurt it.”

  Talew nodded but held the Neisi’s arm even as he made the sign for levitation with his free hand.

  “Come, wits,” I said, taking the hands of Memo and of Yewsy. “Avapeony awaits.”

  We stepped onto the swaying bridge.

  Book Twelve

  THE VIEW FROM the center of the long bridge was breathtaking. We could see all the way to Lake Feidlimed to the southwest and past the southern greens toward our own little forest hamlet to the east. I paused for a quick look only, for sister wind was devastating as she rocked the bridge and almost sent us tumbling. Levitation magic kept us secure, however, and we crossed without incident.

  At the end of the bridge, we turned back toward the riverbank so we could release the Neisi. Before we could reach the water, however, we were quickly surrounded by the local clan of Gobbyes. They appeared suddenly from the brush and boulders along the descent from the bridge. I immediately recognized the same cave Gobbye that I had encountered before. Lemon, Saffron and Capel squeaked and ran behind me. Surely their first sight of a Gobbye must have been frightening for them.

  “Ahh, you again,” I said, standing tall.

  “Yes, me again,” he responded then sighed in a deep, wheezing breath. “We require a token of good faith before we allow you to cross into Gobbye land.”

  “It’s but a short way across, a narrow stretch of your land,” RoseIII interjected. “Less than a leg to get to the other side and onto Brinc land.”

  I laid one hand on his arm to try to calm him. “Gobbye, there is no need for this. We mean no harm to you or your clan.”

  He scratched at his beard with one grimy hand. “There are many layers of harm,” he said quietly. “Give us the water sprite and you can pass.”

  I frowned. “The water sprite? Why do you want such a creature?”

  He moved to one side so he could see the Neisi better. “We like this one. It’s not like the others, full of mischief and self-importance. This one we can add to our clan as a pet for the atrebuds.

  I smiled. “No, you really don’t want this one,” I said. “It’s very much like the others and the magic keeping it under control will end soon. I don’t think you want to be here when that happens.”

  The Gobbye was angered and rushed toward me. RoseIII and Talew leapt to my defense but I waved them back. “Threaten as you will, there is no way I will give one creature to another to be enslaved. It goes against my ken as a wit.”

  “You can’t tell me what I can and cannot do,” he roared at me.

  “I can and I do. Choose another payment.” I folded my arms to show him I stood firm in my decision.

  The Gobbye moved close, so close I could smell his foul, onion-scented breath. “Perhaps we will keep you then.”

  Alarm jangled along my spine but I held fast. “I think not. Choose again.”

  “I know,” Lise, the Gobbye’s female, said as she moved forward. She leaned to one side, eyes fixed on my face, and chose a stone by feel alone. “Let’s mark her. Use blood as payment.”

  I tried to keep the alarm from my features as I studied her. The male Gobbye said no word of arrest this time, but I glanced at him expectantly.

  “Don’t you know who she is?” Capel said from her position behind Talew. She peeped around and glared at the Gobbye female. “She’s the daughter of DaisyFir Widdershin, Mother of the Widdershin join and of the Witta clan.”

  Lise sneered at Capel, who ducked back behind Talew. “I care not for titles, smooth face. But payment. Payment must be true and fast.”

  I backed away from Lise and held up my hands. “Choose another way. We have many treasures that we can use as payment.”

  “No.” The male Gobbye finally spoke but not in my defense. “Blood is a good honest payment. Blood it is.”

  The Gobbyes, men, women and children, rushed as one toward me. I felt my own little troupe rush toward my back. In my mind, my sense, I clearly saw the injuries that would result
from this encounter so I spread my arms wide and stirred magic deep within my core. It radiated out into my arms and the Gobbyes and Meab both recoiled from the energy.

  “Stop!” I cried out. “All of you.”

  I inhaled a deep breath then pushed up the left sleeve of my tunic. “Fine. Blood it will be.”

  I fixed the male Gobbye with a determined stare as I extended my arm to Lise. With my free hand, I made the finger gestures for the relief of pain, wishing that I had a good-sized sprig of rosemary to go along with it.

  Lise took my arm in one hand and her unwashed smell wafted to me. I gagged but managed to get my disgust under control. I watched as she turned the stone in her hand, no doubt seeking the sharpest side, but looked away when I felt the edge against the skin of my inner forearm. I set my teeth together as the edge dug in. I refused to wince and kept my features neutral as I looked at the male Gobbye. I watched as his eyes took on a respectful cast.

  “Lise,” he said quietly. “Enough.”

  The Gobbye woman mercifully took the sharp edge away, but reached down and gathered a handful of dirt and tiny gravel, which she proceeded to rub into the wound. The pain then was unbearable and it was all I could do not to scream. Instead, I lowered my eyes as tears sprouted in them, pretending to examine the wound. It was a narrow, ragged gash, no longer than the length of my hand. It was layered with sandy soil, and I jerked the arm from her so I could shake off the loose pebbles.

  “You belong to us, now,” Lise said jeeringly.

  I blinked my eyes and turned to the male. “Will you allow us peaceful passage?” I asked.

  He inclined his head and the entire group seemed to melt silently into the landscape.

  “Talew, you and RoseIII let the Neisi loose,” I said, wrapping my arm in a scarf I pulled from my bag. “Go downriver some, toward the falls. He’ll get back to his tribe faster that way.”

  “Do you want me to heal that?” Yewsy said, staying my hand as I wrapped the scarf. “I know it must hurt.”

  “It’s fine,” I said, tucking the cloth in neatly. “Let’s get moving before they come back.”

  “I think they’re done,” Saffron said, laying one hand over my bandaged wound. I felt the healing energy seep through, making the wound throb. “They got what they wanted.”

  I nodded and sighed. “Yes. I just hope we won’t encounter them on the way back.”

  Yewsy looked over my shoulder and I turned to see Talew and RoseIII returning.

  “Did it awaken on its own?” I asked.

  “No. I had to work a revival,” RoseIII said.

  I nodded and we moved west. “Good. But let’s put some distance between us and the river, just in case.”

  Book Thirteen

  IF LORE ABOUT Brinc history was true, the land inhabited by the Brinc clan had deteriorated rapidly during the past century. Sorrow filled my heart when I spied the lanes filled with dirty, downtrodden Lutis who had been enslaved to provide Brinc with the metal ores required to construct their machines. Lutis were short, stocky earth sprites with dark heavy beards and wide, square feet shod in black boots. They had a very proud kingdom in the village of Earste in the Hites, so obviously they had been bound by very strong magic to be enslaved here. Or by very strong threats.

  For Luti or Brinc, it was a horrible way to live. Obviously, the Meab people of Brinc lived quite differently, by very different principles, than my more forest-based clan.

  Opening a hole in the new magical barrier the Morri had constructed against the Brinc was an arduous endeavor. It had eaten most of our afternoon, forcing yet another night on cold ground. This time beneath the diamond-like lights of the Brinc border instead of the usual stars in the sky.

  A disgruntled, sleepy group of wit had greeted the dawn sun. Now we stood just past the small opening we’d created by combining our working skill the night before and stared at the destruction of the Meab way of life.

  “Tsisi never came back,” Capel said, her voice petulant.

  “Janas are wind sprites. They are not dependable, you know that,” I responded absently.

  I was trying to decide the best way to approach the citadel, which was located in the center of the village. There was a wide, hard-surfaced lane that began a short distance away from us, but walking along it would leave us too exposed. I wasn’t sure what Signe’s men would do to us, but after seeing my parents’ brutal murder, I was taking no chances. I consulted with Afton and he agreed that we had to be covert and find a way in without being seen. I looked right and left. Lanes stretched in both directions, with many small, seemingly deserted homes lining both sides of the lanes. Strange belts or cords strung each of the homes together then stretched off until they went out of my sight.

  The surroundings were so very different from what I was familiar with. There were no plants, no Mother Trees at all, just periodic stacks of fallen wood at the end of each house-crowded lane. Tears framed my eyes as I surveyed the inhospitable landscape.

  “This is not happening,” RoseIII spoke my own thoughts mournfully. “Please tell me they don’t really live this way.”

  I could only shake my head, unable to formulate words of comfort.

  “Is this the way the Milesians live?” Memo mused aloud.

  “This is what the legends say. The Humans’ silver ships came from the sky to our Mother Earth. They used the wood to heat the metals they found here,” RoseIII replied.

  “How can we hide?” I asked, moving tentatively along the lane that stretched to our left. “There are no branches, no trunks, no vines.”

  Yewsy sighed loudly as she followed. “Maybe we should come back at night.”

  “But the lanterns...did you see the lights they have here? It makes it like day,” Capel said. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”

  “Let’s walk close to the homes, between them,” Saffron said shyly. “Maybe no one will notice us there.”

  We turned to look at Saffron, who in her golden blondeness seemed to radiate a glow in the morning sunlight. She smiled tremulously as her fammie whirled.

  “Good plan, Saff. It might just work,” I said.

  I strode forward and ducked down the side of the nearest cottage, Afton pressing closely to the back of my neck. The rest followed. Moments later, we carefully emerged onto the next parallel lane. We proceeded that way in silence, lane after lane, avoiding Brinc and Luti alike, edging ever closer to the huge citadel building. The white fortress loomed large above us now and I studied it, trying to decide the best way in.

  I saw a doorway set into the back left flank of the building. It was hidden by a large metal bin filled with what looked like rubbish.

  “Do you see that door,” I whispered to RoseIII. “There behind that metal?”

  “I do,” he responded quietly. “What if it’s locked?”

  “Just a chance we will have to take.”

  “There are no guards. Why would they leave the citadel unguarded?”

  “I don’t ken,” I said, searching the area with my eyes. “But you are right, I don’t see anyone.”

  “Do you think they have magic up?” He shifted position slightly so he could peer around the wall of the cottage that hid us.

  The sound penetrated from the left, along the lane leading from the side and toward the main entryway to the citadel. We all turned that way.

  “Dim!” I hissed. “Everyone dim.”

  A strange, metal-plated conveyance rolled toward us on steel-shod wheels. A group of Meab sat atop it, but they were as different from us as night is from day. They wore morning robes but their robes had been woven with metal so that they shimmered with every movement. The females wore their sad fammies as scarves around their necks or else configured by metal constraints into odd, asymmetrical hats. The men wore grim expressions as they pushed buttons on small square machines that they held in their hands.

  “I just adore tournament day,” one female trilled to the other as she tried to right the curls in her long, b
londe hair.

  “I think Jasper will be as victorious this year as last,” her companion answered. “Look how dedicated he is.”

  Her gaze incited mine to follow and led to one of the men whose attention was immersed in his machine.

  A new group of Lutis passed by, a small group of them, heavily laden with cloth bags. They didn’t see us as we were still dimmed and one almost trod on Capel, who squeaked and moved aside. One of the men from the carriage looked up and eyed the area where we stood suspiciously. Could he see us? Hear us over the noise of the carriage and passing Lutis? After a long moment of peering, he spoke into the lighted machine that he held in his hand as the carriage ambled away toward the citadel.

  “This doesn’t look good,” I muttered to Yewsy. “I think our presence here has been announced somehow.”

  “Announced?” Yewsy was watching the Lutis amble away.

  “Perhaps we should split,” Talew whispered, shaking his head. “Together we are too noticeable.”

  I nodded. “I think you may be right.”

  Thoughts gamboled inside my head, and I silently asked our foremothers for direction. My hand crept into my bag and rested on my mother’s grimoire. Peace filled me.

  “This is the plan,” I said, quietly and quickly. “Yewsy and I will go into the citadel to find Avapeony and bring her out. RoseIII, you and the others head back to the hedge and wait for us on the other side.

  “But—” Memo began but I raised my hand to silence her.

  “There will be too many of us. If there were more places to hide and we weren’t so exposed, it might be possible for all of us to go in. As it is, we will only draw attention to ourselves. This is the best way.”