by Beca Lewis
In Erda, trees were everywhere. I thought it probably looked like the eastern part of the United States in the Earth Realm before man started cutting down trees.
Erda was a land of forests. I suppose that like most people, buried within my thinking was the awareness that trees provide life. But in Earth, not everyone acknowledged that fact and instead many people did their best to eliminate trees and nature as much as possible. I don’t think they dislike nature as much as they love making money from her resources.
Maybe that was the difference Aki mentioned in the story about the two dimensions. Perhaps the people of Erda never lost their connection to nature and trees which supplied everything needed for the planet to thrive, and the people of the Earth Realm lost theirs, or it was never accepted in the same way as they did in Erda. I thought there was probably more than that, but I was sure that I was on the right track.
On the day I learned about Shatterskin, the sun was warm as it wound its way through the tree canopy and pooled at our feet, melting away some of my homesickness. Overhead I heard birds singing. Many of them the same as the ones I knew, and a few I had never seen before. I could hear Lady drumming away further in the forest, but I knew if I called her she would be at my side in an instant.
Zeid and I were sitting on a stone bench in the center of the grove while Beru and Ruta were standing at the tree line. I knew something was up. The tension in the air was heavy and oppressive.
As Professor Link said the word “Shatterskin” that tension erupted all around me. It was as if the word itself had shattered the peace in the grove. Everything, including the bench, moved into a state of readiness.
“What the ziffer,” I said. “What happened? What’s a Shatterskin?”
Zeid turned to me and whispered, “Best not to keep saying that word. We avoid it as much as possible.”
“That’s true,” Link said. “It likes to hear its name, so now that you have heard it let’s not mention the name again in this lesson. It also has an army of minions we call the Shrieks.”
“Shrieks? Like the ones I heard while we were coming here?”
When Link nodded, I felt sick inside. The sound had been so loud I could barely think, and everyone had run faster than I thought possible. They were afraid of him, or it, or them. These people, capable of magic of all kinds, were terrified of a sound.
*******
Link and Zeid left me hanging after that. I think all my teachers like to fill me up with worry and fear and see how I deal with it, because they did it all the time. They gave me bits of pieces of knowledge and then left me with it to let my imagination run wild.
The rest of that day I kept thinking about the shrieking we had heard, and how everyone had felt the fear. Everyone ran from it, not just me. I tried filling in what I knew with what it could be, but nothing came to me. All I managed to conjure up was more terror that I was going to re-encounter it.
I asked myself if I could face it. Could I confront an unknown entity that wanted to hurt my friends and me, and not run away? Could I stand and fight? Of course, that was what Niko, Link, and Aki were training me to do.
I was not the same girl that came to Erda weeks before. The body I acquired in Erda had started to become familiar, and it was hard to remember the little girl I had been in the Earth dimension.
I was still afraid, but no longer fearful, which I was hoping was a distinction that would work in my favor.
The day Link told me about Shatterskin, Aki’s class was the last one of the day, and I knew it was going to be different again. The teapot and teacups were on the table. Aki was already seated and waiting for me.
“Are you ready to hear more of the story, Hannah?”
“More of the story? Meaning still not the whole story?” I asked.
Aki inclined her head and closed her eyes, a movement I had seen her make before but could never duplicate myself. When she opened them her eyes were no longer pale blue, but almost black.
“Part of. For a reason. Sit.”
I sat. Aki poured tea, took a sip, and waited for me to take a sip. More aware than I had been in our first storytelling session, I felt the tea flow through me, opening spaces as it traveled. Aki waited, and when she knew I was ready, she began again, “Once upon a time…”
Sixteen
Aki continued, “As the two brothers traveled through the galaxies in the silver serpent, they decided on the planet we call Earth. Its real name is Gaia. It was perfect for their purpose. To make their experiment work, they had to agree on some rules. They decided on two parallel dimensions. Up until that time, Gaia’s dimensions had developed almost exactly alike. Nature was in charge, and she knew the exact thing to do to bring each dimension into a state of optimum health.
“There were no creatures on the planet Gaia that weren’t born of nature’s careful planning. Each entity had its place. They knew what their purpose was and joyfully lived it. Harmony reined. Yes, there were storms and earthquakes. Icebergs slid across continents destroying ecosystems while building other ones. Some of the creatures yielded their life form to build up the riches of the world. Every aspect of both dimensions was in perfect balance.
“What we call death was not seen that way to the creatures of the Gaia. Although none of nature spoke of energy in words that we might use today, even the tiniest microorganism knew it was a part of the One power or force that was the life of the planet. If one creature gave their life force to another, it didn’t matter. They knew that they would rise again, in a different form perhaps, but they understood that life continues.
“They freely gave and freely received. It was heaven as we might think of it today. Harmony was all that they knew.
“Then one day the brothers arrived, and everything changed—because that was what the brothers wanted to do. Make change. Make chaos, and see what happened. They were playing a game called “be gods of a world.” They would play until one of the gods won. They didn’t care if it took thousands of years to play out. That would only be a drop in the bucket of their lifetimes.
“In each dimension, Earth and Erda, they placed life forms that had not developed as part of the natural system. They put these different life forms in equal numbers in each dimension. They gave them the same training, and the same supplies, and started their experiment.
“It wasn’t just humans as you know them, Hannah. There were cultures culled from planets they had visited in their thousands of years of travel through countless solar systems.
“Of course some were more suited to Gaia’s system than others, but for the most part they managed to survive. In each dimension, they evolved to match their surroundings.
“But because of the differences that the brothers put into place, they evolved differently.”
Aki paused and took a deep breath. So deep I could almost see it travel through her body as she allowed the muscles that had begun to tense up to relax. I could almost feel what was coming next. Erda and Earth were different in many ways. But why were they and how did that happen?
I forced myself to wait as she kept her eyes closed and breathed. When she started again, I could barely hear her. “They made rules. Rules of the game they wanted to play. Since none of the life forms they had brought to the planet had evolved out from the nature found on Gaia, one of the first rules was obvious. Survive.
“But in Erda, the rule was to survive in harmony with the life forms already present. Learn how to become part of that system. Thrive with the planet. Evolve to fit with it.
“In the Earth dimension, they didn’t impose that rule. The knowledge of the harmony of nature existed, but they didn’t instill it into the new inhabitants. It had to be learned. And the creatures had a choice. They could thrive with it or without it.
“Perhaps the brothers wanted to see if the beings they left in the two
dimensions on the planet Gaia would learn harmony with nature because it seemed evident that evolving with it and protecting it was the only way to thrive long term. For whatever reason, they left it up to the free will of the people in the Earth dimension and made it part of the way of life in the Erda dimension.
“There were many ramifications that were born from this one difference. Most of them you know, or will see for yourself, Hannah. However, the one that you are dealing with now is what the Earth dimension calls magic. In Earth, very few people accept magic as real. In Erda, everyone knows magic. Beyond that, and much more importantly, they understand where magic comes from. They know it’s real. They live with it daily. Every citizen of Erda uses magic to provide everything that they need.
“Some have more access than others because they want to have it. They become artists of magic. They practice. Just as someone might practice their innate skills in art, or sports, or music, or teaching, or farming and become masters of that art, there are creatures here that practice magic.
Aki stopped and let me sit, steeped in silence. The implications of what she was telling me answered so many questions. However, I had more.
“Go ahead, Hannah, ask that question that is burning to be spoken.”
“There must have been something else they did. Otherwise, why are there terrible things that people do in Earth? And not just in the Earth dimension either. Here in Erda, you are all afraid of the Shrieks. What else did the brothers do?”
“You’re right, Hannah. They did something else. They put duplicates of themselves in other dimensions. They wanted to know which brother would win, not just in the galactic game that they were playing, but within each dimension.
“One brother was given the desire to control and have all power. The other brother was instilled with the desire to build community and harmony with shared responsibility for the welfare of each other.
“The brothers were careful not to put their duplicates too close together in Erda, because in the Earth Realm the battle was settled almost instantly. They didn’t want a repeat of that in Erda.”
“It’s the Cain and Abel story isn’t it?”
Aki looked at me, her eyes slit so I could barely see them. “It is. They learned from it. In Erda, the Cain and Abel characters were placed far enough apart that Abel’s offspring were not aware of what Cain was doing until only a few centuries ago.
“You said Abel’s offspring. How could the original Cain and Abel still be alive?”
“Because in Erda, life continues for thousands of years. It’s still the original brothers. And the brother who is Cain in the Erda story has no desire to share his power with anyone, even his own offspring. So he never married and never had children.
“Instead, he builds creatures that serve him and his desire to rule the entire planet. He will do anything to win the game. Cain destroys. Of course, his name is not Cain. In Erda, his name is Abbadon, the destroyer.”
“And the creatures he built are the Shrieks?”
A single tear dropped down Aki’s perfect cheek. “The Shrieks serve the monster Abbadon built called Shatterskin. He and the Shrieks are the first ones you must defeat at the Riff.”
I was sure I didn’t correctly hear what she said, so I sat there waiting for the rest of the story. Maybe I would wake up, and all of this would be a dream. I would be home in Earth waiting for my brother Ben to wake up so we could play together with mom and dad.
There was no way I could face monsters like Shatterskin and his shrieking minions. Besides, I still didn’t know what they did other than scare the ziffer out of everyone.
“No, it’s not a dream, Hannah. And no, you won’t be waking up from it. Yes, there is more to this story, but that’s enough for now. I can tell you that you will have the ability to do this. Besides, you will be with people that can, and will, help. You aren’t alone, and you won’t be alone at the Riff.
“Take another sip of tea so you can sleep tonight, and tomorrow you’ll be going into the village for a meeting of your team.”
I had too many questions and fears to question what Aki wanted me to do. I took another sip of tea.
It was the last thing I remembered that day.
Seventeen
It was a bit weird that we hadn’t been to the village before. Dalry was so close I could see it when we trained outside the walls. We practiced outside every day no matter what kind of weather, so sometimes the town would be hidden from view by the thick fog that often surrounded the castle. Other days it would be sparkling from the sun glinting off some of the rooftops.
I yearned to visit. I had asked about the village more than once, but I had been ignored. Being ignored was the typical response for most of the things I wondered about. People would pretend they hadn’t heard me, or look directly at me and then turn away. It was something I had come to expect.
However, ever since I learned that we would be going to the village, the anticipation was making me crazy. The meeting with Aki had faded into the background. I had a feeling that Aki had somehow dulled my memory so that I could function. Although a vague sense of dread remained, the excitement of seeing the village I had wanted to visit since the first time that I saw it took over. The problem was it felt as if everyone was dragging their feet. They were walking slower than the proverbial turtle. By everyone, I meant Zeid, Suzanne, Ruta, and Beru.
For the last few weeks, I had rarely seen Ruta or Suzanne. However, Beru was my daily companion, and I had grown to treasure the time with her. She looked tiny and sweet, almost like the elves I used to think I saw playing in the forest back home in Earth. However, she was as tough as steel if crossed. Although I had questioned Beru countless times about her people—who were they, where did they come from—those were questions she always ignored. Sometimes she answered, “You’ll see,” but mostly it was silence. After weeks of bugging her all the time, I finally shut up and accepted what she was giving to me: kindness, companionship, and guidance. She was my faithful guide around the castle, and now she guided us to the village.
I couldn’t believe we walked. I half expected to fly or be picked up by that bubble that had brought us to the Castle. Or ride something. Not that I had seen anything to ride.
“First, young lady,” Suzanne said. “It’s not necessary to ride to the village. Second, people need to see you as someone they like. They walk. You walk. Third, you need all the exercise you can get.”
At least she hadn’t called me “little one.” The fact that even when Earl showed up, he had stopped calling me that gave me some hope that perhaps something about me made them think I was growing up. I did feel much stronger and faster after all these weeks of training. My magic skills still sucked though. Or, as Professor Link kept pointing out, “It’s not your magic skills that suck Hannah. It’s your use of them.”
Yeah right.
“Don’t worry, Hannah. You will have lots of real-time practice soon,” Beru said.
Was that supposed to encourage me? Make me feel better? I looked at Beru, and she smiled. I guess it was.
The village was further away than I thought, especially walking as slowly as we were. It was a pretty road, lined with trees, and paved much like the roads at home that were out in the country. We had walked about a mile before the fact that it was paved finally struck me. Paved? Paved with what?
Did paved roads and castles go together? Until then I hadn’t thought about it. We had power of some kind, there were indoor bathrooms, all the comforts of home, but since I hadn’t seen cars or planes, I had not thought about what year it was. Was it the same year as in the Earth dimension?
“The answer is yes, Hannah,” Beru said. “Although here our time is not counted the same way, and our technology is more hidden than yours. And no, we decided not to use trains, cars, or planes. We have other means of transportation.
I was ready to ask more questions, but we had just crested a small hill, and the village lay before us. It looked like my picture of a quiet English village untouched by time. It was my picture only because I have never actually been to England let alone seen a quiet English village.
Suzanne led us to a building that looked like a cross between houses I knew and a hobbit house. A wooden sign that said “The Tavern” hung above the door, squeaking in the wind. There was no one on the streets. I had a suspicion it was because of us. Were they afraid or respectful, I wondered?
“Both,” Beru answered and pushed open the door. It was not at all what I was expecting. I thought we would be entering a dark little space, but instead, the door opened into a spacious and well-lit room with booths around the outside and tables in the middle. Once again, I had no idea how there could be light everywhere. There weren’t lamps or light switches. It was like the Castle. Was it electricity? How were they doing that?
Everyone looked up as we entered, and all the happy chattering stopped. In the silence, Suzanne led us to one of the larger round tables set for nine. Being stared at is not my favorite thing, but at least no one bowed. And if they had weapons, they were well hidden.
Suzanne waved us towards the table and directed us each to a seat. There were two empty seats beside Suzanne and me. The door opened again, and Aki and Niko walked in.
We all stood as they walked to the table and I whispered to Beru, “How come they didn’t walk with us?”
She nodded at the door and said, “They chose to come with them.”
Standing in the doorway were two beings. I whispered to Beru, “Are those dwarfs without beards?”