by M S C Barnes
Everyone stood in silence, waiting. After a few moments, when nothing more happened, Greg and Lily brought the others forward.
Aelfric called Seb to stand beside him. “Well,” he smiled, “that didn’t quite go as planned. I was hoping you could contain the golem Seb, but it seems Zach had other ideas.”
Zach was now standing in the deep snow, in socked feet, and moaning.
“Was that really necessary? A simple brush off would have done. You enjoyed that didn’t you?” He rounded on Trudy and The Caretaker who, Seb noticed, were grinning. “My feet are freezing,” Zach continued. “I’ll get frostbite now. You could have just brushed them off —”
“Shut up Zach,” Scarlet laughed. “It’s your own fault.”
“How do you work that out?” Zach fumed.
“You should have waited to be told what to do, not just jumped in feet first.” She sniggered at her own joke. “Literally!” Seb couldn’t help smiling. Scarlet was right; Zach was hot-headed and rarely thought things through before acting. It had caused them a few issues lately which was why Trudy was so fed up and now seemed to be finding Zach’s sock-footed predicament so funny. She actually started chuckling.
Zach, frowning, bent down as his staff, which had been half-buried in the snow several feet away, turned into a snake and slithered through the white powder, returning to him. Though this was another phenomenon of these staffs Seb had seen before, he still found it hard to accept and disregard and he watched in awe as, the instant Zach closed his hand around the body of the snake, it once more became a simple, rigid length of wood.
“We haven’t got long,” Aelfric called them all back to the task at hand. Seb turned and looked at the frozen golem. The cylinder around it was beginning to thaw, the Dryad trails becoming once more apparent and softening and he saw the slightest distortion of the bindings as the golem regained the ability to move. “Scarlet, when Seb lights the golem you will see markings, as Lily explained,” Aelfric said. “You must relay what you see to Seb, through Alice. Neither of you,” he looked from Scarlet to Alice, “must speak aloud.” They both nodded. “Right, Seb, when you hear the word or words, you must repeat them once out loud and, if there is more than one word, then you must say them again, but in reverse order. Quickly now.”
Seb, felling butterflies dance in his stomach, lifted his hand, captured the light and shone it towards the golem. He remembered Lily saying the markings would be on its forehead and so directed the light to that part of the now clearly moving head. He saw nothing and began to worry that he had failed. He glanced up at Aelfric who was concentrating on the golem, apparently unperturbed. And then he heard Scarlet speak.
“Okay, I can see them.”
Relieved he hadn’t failed after all, Seb wondered what it was Scarlet could see. All he saw between the Dryad meshing was white, crystalline snow. And then he heard Alice speaking in his head. The words came in a rush.
“Oh icey, weaker in you.”
“What?” he said out loud, thinking he had misheard.
“Oh icey, weaker in you,” Alice repeated in his head. “That’s what Scarlet is saying.”
“Are you sure?” Seb looked at Alice then turned to Scarlet. “Are you sure?”
“That’s what I can see.” She sounded defensive.
“Just say the words, Seb,” Aelfric prompted him.
Seb shrugged. “Oh icey, weaker in you,” he said and Scarlet groaned.
“No, Seb! It’s ‘O—”
“Not out loud!” Lily, barely able to talk through chattering teeth, interrupted Scarlet.
Looking embarrassed, Scarlet glanced nervously at the golem; it had managed to free an arm and its head twisted toward her.
“Seb, say it exactly as Alice relayed it,” Aelfric urged him.
Seb’s heart was pounding now and fear of another failure muddled his thoughts. “O, icey, weaker in you. That’s what I hear.”
“No Seb! That’s not what I’m saying.” Scarlet turned to Alice. “Alice, are you saying it right?”
Alice looked mortified. “I can’t say it wrong. What you relay is exactly what I pass on... I have no choice.”
Dierne nodded. “We do not interpret, we repeat.”
The golem was close to freeing its second arm and began lifting a leg.
“Should Lily try Aelfric?” Greg stepped closer to Lily who was gazing up at the head of the golem.
“No, Greg; Seb can do this.” Seb was, as always, stunned at how much faith Aelfric placed in him; he trusted Seb’s capabilities more than Seb himself did. “Seb, relax and listen to Scarlet’s voice through Alice, not Alice’s voice,” Aelfric said, lifting his hand and shining light towards the golem, once again creating a barrier, as the monstrous mound of snow ripped the Dryad trails away from its torso.
The Guardians were fidgeting and Dom mumbled to Aelfric, “Strange indeed; but it needs to be now, Aelfric.”
“Scarlet, try slowing it down,” Aelfric said to her and she nodded.
Alice’s voice immediately sounded in Seb’s mind. He concentrated and suddenly realised he could hear Scarlet’s voice beneath Alice’s — as though she were speaking in unison with him.
“The first bit is ‘O’,” she said, breaking it down for him to understand.
“O,” Seb said aloud, hand still raised.
“I,” Alice’s voice continued and Seb clearly heard Scarlet’s voice through it.
“I,” he said.
“See.” Alice smiled at Scarlet.
“See,” Seb, confused, said the word anyway.
“We,” he heard and repeated. Scarlet nodded enthusiastically. “Care.” The next word came and Seb said it aloud, just as the Dryad trails around the golem’s bottom half began fizzling away. The hulking snowman lifted a leg. Aiden gasped.
“In,” Scarlet’s voice, through Alice, shouted at Seb. “And ‘new’ is the last one.”
“In new,” Seb said and tried to remember it all from the beginning.
“Backwards now Seb,” Aelfric prompted, quietly.
“New, in, care, we, see, I, O...” Seb hoped he had got it right.
As he finished the last word, a spiral of green smoke lifted away from the golem’s forehead, like someone was peeling a sticker off it. The smoke drifted upwards and was dispersed by the wind. Instantly the mound of snow collapsed, crashing to the ground, falling between the remaining threads of the Dryad net which now disintegrated. When everything settled, all that was left was a high pile of snow with the toe of one of Zach’s shoes poking out of it.
An Assessment
Aelfric took them all back to The Pytt where the fire was still roaring. Zach whined on about his wet shoes, his wet socks, his wet trousers and then began to describe, in detail, precisely why his soaking wet boxer shorts were so uncomfortable.
Scarlet cut him short. “Why don’t you take them off then?”
“Don’t say that Scarlet,” Aiden mumbled. “You know he’ll...” As he spoke Zach began unbuttoning his trousers with a big grin on his face.
“No.” Scarlet grabbed him by the shoulders, twisted him round and pointed him towards the door. “Go and take them off. You should change.”
“What, and miss the review? No chance.” He plonked down onto a bench, then removing his socks, put his feet up on the plinth in front of him, twiddling his toes in front of the fire. “I’ll dry soon enough.”
“Then stop whinging.” Scarlet sat beside him as Trudy swept past and pushed Zach’s feet back onto the ground.
“This review’s gonna be fun.” He chuckled, placing his shoes up onto the plinth. “The wee-one’s not happy.” Trudy tutted and continued round to the other side of the fire to join The Caretaker, who was making hot drinks for everyone.
Seb, Alice by his side, took the seat next to Zach as Aelfric walked to the fire carrying Lily in his arms. He placed her on a cushion and Greg sat beside her, giving her a hug, rubbing her arms and shoulders, trying to help her warm up. She was visibly shaking and look
ed a sad sight with blue lips, and goosebumps causing the wiry hairs on her face to stand proud.
“Is she okay?” Aiden asked timidly.
“It’s the cold,” Greg said.
“She’ll be fine.” Aelfric smiled, kneeling beside her. He started rubbing his hands in the air, palms pointing inwards but not touching. As he rubbed them back and forth, an inch apart, a red glow appeared between them. He continued rubbing and the glow got bigger. Suddenly he pulled his hands apart. Suspended in the air between them was what looked like a small, glowing red patch of fur. He plucked it out of the air and handed it to Greg who placed it on the back of Lily’s neck.
Aelfric rubbed his hands again and, like a magician, he produced another red, glowing, furry patch which Greg took and placed over Lily’s hands.
“Those are pyrils,” Alice spoke silently to Seb. “Heat givers. Very few Custodians have the ability to summon them.”
“How do you do that?” Seb, asked, fascinated and knelt beside Aelfric.
“I just ask, Seb.” He continued rubbing his hands in the air.
Copying Aelfric’s movements, Seb rubbed his hands. Back when his journey to becoming a Custodian began, he had learned that he could seek the assistance of flamers — little glowing orbs that provided light — just by asking, so now he said, “Pyrils please,” and then felt immensely stupid when nothing happened. Zach guffawed with laughter as Seb sat back down beside him.
“There will be a reason you couldn’t do it, Seb,” Aelfric said, making one more pyril appear which Greg took and wrapped around Lily’s scrawny ankles.
Dom, who had been hovering over by a bank of bookshelves, now walked across and called for Aiden to sit with him. He was holding a huge book, leather-bound and worn, its cover chafed and scarred. Aiden joined him eagerly and the two began leafing through it, Dom obviously searching for something in particular. They spoke in hushed voices and all Seb caught was the word ‘spell’.
Aelfric stood. “Better?” he asked Lily, who nodded gratefully, giving a yellow-toothed grin.
“Greg said she always struggled with the cold but now she is so aged it’s far worse,” Nat, joining Seb, whispered.
“She should eat more then; put some fat on her bones. Then she wouldn’t get so cold,” Zach said, rather too loudly and Greg shot him a small frown. Scarlet kicked him. “What?” he protested. “It’s true. She’s so skinny. No wonder she gets cold.” Scarlet kicked him again.
“You know why that is!” she hissed at him. He looked blankly at her. “The Passage?” He shrugged and pushed his socks closer to the fire. “Still needs to eat more.”
“That’s enough Zach,” Trudy called over.
They all knew why Lily was so aged and emaciated. On each solstice and equinox, an event called the Passage of the Elders occurred. Only Custodians could watch that event without their bodies suffering any harmful effects. Lily, fascinated by fairies and wishing to meet the fairy elder, had chosen to watch on three occasions. As a result she had suffered the superficial ravages of old age. Although her athletic and mental capabilities remained, the non-essential physical attributes of her body had been wrecked. She still had the abilities and stamina of a young woman but her looks had been eroded and her fat reserves, never plentiful to start with, had been, literally, decimated; one tenth on each occasion, had been destroyed. Cold weather, previously her weakness, was now her enemy, and it was one of the reasons that, irrespective of the weather, the fire in The Pytt was always kept burning.
Seb felt sorry for her. They all loved this atrophied and wizened-looking woman. With a light-hearted, mischievous sense of humour, she was like an aged sprite and that, twinned with a kind but firm disposition, drew them all to her. To see her in such a state because they had been out in the cold for so long made him feel guilty.
“I’m sorry I got the words wrong,” he blurted suddenly.
Aelfric looked around, surprised. “You got the words right Seb,” he said.
“Not at first,” Seb mumbled.
“That was never expected,” he said.
“But if I had, we’d have been back here sooner and Lily wouldn’t be...” his voice trailed off.
Aelfric smiled. “There are a million ‘ifs’ in any event. To dwell on them is a waste of your time. Only note what did happen, Seb. And what did happen was that you got the words right.”
“On the subject of what did happen, Aelfric, may Trudy and I have a quick meeting with Zach?” The Caretaker said, handing out mugs to all but Zach.
Zach dropped his chin. “No hot chocolate for me then?” he moaned.
“Trudy, Morgan,” Aelfric looked at The Caretaker who, dressed as always in a blue hoodie, now pulled down the hood, “your frustration is understandable. But the lesson from Zach’s action today is not specific to his being a Guardian. So, unless you are adamant you wish to tutor him in isolation —”
“Spare me please,” Zach faked a pleading tone.
“Your flippancy does not help.” Aelfric glanced down at him and the sudden seriousness in his eyes chastened Zach, who hung his head. Satisfied, Aelfric continued. “I believe the whole group will benefit from this review.” He turned, “And I believe Dom may have some essential information for us all too?”
Dom glanced up from the book, a look of mild concern on his face, and nodded.
Trudy stepped towards Zach. “You will sit with me!”
Zach’s face cracked into the most charming smile. “Why oh frowning one, don’t worry, of course I will,” he said, as though Trudy had begged him, rather than ordered him. She raised her eyes to the roof and The Caretaker hid a small smile.
When everyone was settled, Trudy staring into the fire, spoke quietly.
“You do not always know best,” she said, her purple-black eyes reflecting the leaping flames. “You do not always have to act.” She turned to Zach who was smirking. “As a Guardian, your role is to assess, as much as it is to act.”
The smirk got bigger. “I did assess. I assessed that it was a teeny-tiny snowman.” Zach leant towards her until their noses were only inches apart.
“And were you right?” Trudy wasn’t put off, but she spoke through gritted teeth, only just keeping a lid on her temper.
“At the time, yes.” Zach became defiant. “It was a teeny-tiny snowman. How was I to know you weren’t supposed to break a golem? That was one leeetle bit of information that Aiden ... and Dom ...” he glanced at the two, “didn’t bother to tell us before we stepped through the door. Not,” he turned back to Trudy, “my fault. If you think I am going to be embarrassed or sorry for what I did, then I’m not. I assessed what I saw, and what I saw was a teeny-tiny, squish-able snowman!”
Seb cringed. After most new encounters for his group, there would be a session like this, where all got to air their views. Aelfric stressed, time and again, that they were to speak as equals. Zach, who possessed an unshakeable self-belief and limitless confidence, had easily adapted to this egalitarian playing field. He was opinionated, forthright and unabashed.
Watching Trudy purse her lips Seb waited for the tirade. Obviously reading his sister’s growing anger, Greg stepped in.
“Zach, three months ago, you took part in the labyrinth task,” he said. Zach turned his head slowly towards Greg, a small frown replacing the smirk on his face. “And, working remarkably well as a team with Aiden and Seb, you achieved partial success.” The frown deepened. “At the time I told you that in order to achieve complete success you would have to learn to think of all the possible consequences of everything you do rather than just focus on a given task.”
Now Zach exploded. Seb was shocked. His friend stood and, turning his back on the fire, ranted at the siblings.
“The labyrinth was a cheat! We were never asked to get the marble back out. And this is a nonsense because, if I am not given the right information, how am I supposed to think of possible consequences? It was a minute mound of moving snow and my assessment was that I could easily
squish it.”
Scarlet gasped and the whole gathering sat in stunned silence, other, Seb noticed, than Aelfric, who was smiling slightly.
The labyrinth task was always a sore point for Zach. Their class had been set a challenge, to get a marble through a run of passageways with one-way-doors, into the centre of a table-top labyrinth. Their team had been the only ones to achieve the task. However, having got the marble to the centre, they realised, because they had used a one-way-door to get it there, they couldn’t get it back out and home again. Zach had been adamant that this was never a requirement made of them and so refused to accept they had failed. But the truth was, there was no point in succeeding in a task that ultimately left them trapped. The lesson Greg had been trying to teach them was to think things through first — to plan for the unforeseen. He had been trying to re-enforce this lesson ever since, but Zach still denied there was an issue.
Seb wondered why Aelfric found Zach’s outburst amusing. Trudy herself was on the verge of shouting. Taking a deep breath, she somehow managed to control her temper.
“Zach, I acknowledge you were not given all the information that Dom and Aiden had, which would have warned you about the danger of destroying the boundaries of the golem, but often we do not have all the information. There was one part of your assessment that you neglected,” she sighed. “Did you not note that neither myself, or The Caretaker, had moved to physically stop the golem? Did you not see that Aelfric was controlling its movement by putting a barrier in place? None of us moved towards it. That was the key bit of your assessment that should have told you not to strike. That and my instruction for you to stand back.”
Zach’s expression was one of incredulity; he opened his mouth to speak, then seemed to think better of it and closed his mouth again, plonking back down onto the seat, as though defeated.
Trudy seemed unsatisfied.
“Zach, you should not have acted and you need to confirm that you understand and have learnt the lesson.” She stood up and planted herself in front of Zach.
He grunted. “My assessment was just different to yours. Doesn’t make it wrong.”