Chapter 5: Last Day at Thornsrest
Soon after they woke the next morning, Lyara knocked on their door, and upon entering, presented them both with two tunics, two sets of leggings, and two cloaks, as well as an additional night shift each to augment the ones they already wore. She also gave them travel packs to carry the items. Kessa saw David brush his hand over the neckline of the blue travel tunic Lyara had given him, his appreciation for the fine craftsmanship clear in his expression. They declined her kind offer of travel boots, since the tennis shoes they'd been wearing at their redwoods campsite were still in good condition. She informed they would be departing for Saltswreath, the Nisse city with the university, the next day.
After thanking her, David took advantage of her presence to ask something that had been on his mind. "Caelen said we're the only Off-worlders he's met. He also mentioned that most humans know to avoid the cages where Kessa got bit. Are there native humans who live here?" "Indeed there are" answered Lyara. "The vast majority of your kind did not come to Gaiathorn via the portal, but are descendants of humans that arrived through a rift that existed long ago. I will be happy to tell you more later, but I sadly do not have time now. Perhaps we could speak of it at some point during our journey?" They agreed. Soon after, they were called to breakfast.
Kessa enjoyed the food as much as David had his first breakfast with the Nisse. She mentioned that some bacon would go well with the porridge, and David thought for a moment. "I'm pretty sure they're vegetarian. Except for some cheese, I haven't seen anything animal-based. I'm not even sure the cheese came from real milk. It's kind of nutty...it could be plant based too." Kessa pondered. "Well...being vegetarian would fit. They’re really kind. And like over-the-top generous. Faelina lending you her books, and I saw you look at the hand stitching on the tunics. That kind of thing can't be cheap and they just...gave them to us." "Yeah" said David. "I don't think they'd ever want to hurt anything. It would make sense if they don't eat animals."
After the food had taken the edge off their hunger, David leaned close to Kessa, and spoke to her in a low voice. “I didn’t want to ask last night, since you were still so tired but…how are you feeling? Mentally I mean. With everything that was going on before....well, before. Is…whatever happened…us being here I mean…is it making things worse?” Kessa thought for a moment. “I guess it should be. I mean, zapped into some strange world, not knowing what we have to do to get back. But…it isn’t. It’s kinda like when we first showed up in the forest, and saw the two moons. I should be scared, but I’m not, or at least, not as much. Maybe there’s something about this world, some kind of current, that influences us, makes things seem more stable."
“I kind of felt that too, especially after Caelen showed up. And right after we got to the camp. Maybe it's his people. It’s like when the Nisse are around, everything is just…easier. Or maybe they're more in touch with...this world or...whatever makes us not as scared as we should be. Things feel...I dunno...less demanding." Kessa thought of something, then smiled, a sense of strange relief washing over her. “Less demanding is right” she said. “Whatever else we’re in for, I’m not going to have to take the Calc 201 final, let alone sit through another one of Professor Smith’s droning lectures on currency manipulation!” David smiled too. “Well, that’s one way to look at it. No homework for a while, I guess.”
As they finished their meal, Caelen approached to change Kessa's bandage. When he was finished, he suggested Kessa walk around the grounds for a while to stretch her muscles and see how her body reacted to exertion, and told them that he and Lyara would be gathering herbs just past the nearest bend in the stream. They followed his instructions. David, still concerned about her, stayed with Kessa, both of them wandering slowly, observing the campers going about their morning activities. It was a bright, warm day, and they enjoyed the sun and the autumn colors of the trees until it was nearly time for lunch. "Looks like you're about back to normal" David said. Kessa agreed.
When the tables were being set, the camp steward asked them to inform Caelen and Lyara that the midday meal was ready, since most of the Nisse were busy wrangling children. David realized he was feeling fidgety, but mindful of what he'd been told about the necessity of following Caelen's directions, he ventured to ask the healer if he could go help some of the teens collect wood, adding "yesterday you said to rest, but I feel a lot better today." Caelen assessed him silently for a moment. "Yes, but be gentle, and don't over-exert yourself. Kessa needs to stay close, however." David promised, and Kessa smiled at the healer's concern, as well as his perception. He'd realized she was still a little tired. “I’ll use the time to pack my things. It'll be good for David to run off a little energy so he doesn't keep me up looking at amazing Nisse botanical illustrations tonight." Everyone smiled.
A bit later, after they'd finished another amazing meal, Kessa was in the guest cabin. As she tucked a nightshift into her pack, she was startled by a piercing scream that ripped through the gentle hum of the camp's afternoon activities. At first she flinched at the volume, but then concern flashed through her. That was the scream of a child in pain, something she'd heard one or two times while lifeguarding when a child had slipped on the wet cement and broken a bone or twisted an ankle. Her lifeguard training compelled her to move.
"Master Caelen!" a female voice rang out.
By the time she got to the door of the guest cabin, she saw Caelen walking swiftly across the clearing. Kessa followed. On the other side of the clearing, she could see a woman rushing toward him carrying a small girl, about half the size of Faelina, who was clutching her wrist and crying. When the mother reached the healer, the little girl turned in her arms, hiding her face in her mother's tunic. Her mother spoke to her gently. "It's ok, Sylvie. Do you remember that time last winter, when mummy got sick?" The child nodded. "This is Master Caelen, he was the one who made me feel better, so I could take you to the midwinter festival. He isn't going to hurt you; show him your arm, it's ok."
The child, encouraged, turned and shyly held her small arm toward him. The wrist was bent at a slightly odd angle, and Kessa could see the pain in the young Nisse's eyes. Caelen studied the arm silently for a moment, his expression calm and practiced, before lifting his eyes to meet the child’s. "How did this happen, little one? Did a sneaky dragon get you, or did a tree throw a tantrum?” The child smiled, then her small brows kit and she used her good hand to point to another child, a boy somewhat larger than her, clinging to her mother’s skirts.
"It's Faryn's fault, he was making a rock fly around the cabin, and he got distracted and dropped it." The mother looked at her other child, concern and frustration in her eyes, though little anger. "Faryn, you know you aren't supposed to be practicing levitation unless a grown one is there." The child looked at the ground. "I know, I'm sorry, Sylvie." She pouted.
"Well", said Caelen "floating rocks can be even more grumpy than trees, sometimes. Let's see if I can make you feel better." He pulled out his pendant and placed his hand on the child's arm, just above the injury, and gently uttered an incantation. Kessa watched as a silver light traced the edge of the pendant, then jumped to the child's wrist. With a tiny clicking sound, the misalignment corrected itself and the swelling disappeared. The girl smiled. "All better!"
"That was INCREDIBLE" Kessa almost shouted. The world’s quiet had seemed to ease the weight of everything she had feared—being torn from her home, cast into the unknown—but it did nothing to temper the rush of wonder and surprise that surged through her seeing magic for the first time. But then the healer turned toward her. As his eyes met hers, the gentle steadiness that seemed to surround him reasserted itself, grounding her even as the magic still shimmered in the air.
Before she had any more time to think about it, Sylvie's big brother turned to his mother, and with a child's impetuosity said "mommy, she's talking too loud!" Kessa felt her face flush and she put her hand to her mouth, chagrined by the young one's childish honesty. Though she hadn’t been among them long, she had shared breakfast and lunch and spent the morning wandering the grounds, observing their activities. Only now did it fully register—she should have noticed earlier how quiet they were. Not a single raised voice, even among the youngest children, except when calling for help, as the mother had done for her child.
The mother turned to Kessa and mouthed, “I’m sorry.” Then, taking the boy by the hand, she said, “Yes, but she’s a newcomer, and we have to be patient with people who don’t know the rules yet. Remember when Uncle Cerion came to visit and you stood too close? Remember how patient he was with you?”
"Yeah" answered the boy, then, looking toward Kessa, said "Sorry, ma'am." "And" added the mother "since you like moving things around with your wand, you can use it to help the steward's assistants put all the lunch dishes away. No hands allowed." The child groaned, then asked "once I'm done, can I go play with Auren?" The mother smiled, smoothing his hair. “Yes, you can. But no rushing, we don't need any more accidents. I'll get my wand too, so I can help if anything is too heavy."
After thanking Caelen, who instructed her to make sure the girl rested for the rest of the day, the mother turned and led her son away, her little girl still in her arms. As they walked away, Kessa caught the thread of the small girl's voice, chattering to her brother about how he better behave or he'd be doing dishes t'morrow too. Caelen, who had turned to watch the mother and her child retreat, looked at her again. Aware of her embarrassment, he reassured her.
"That mother was right. Our people exercise patience with those who do not know our ways. You have had no instruction as yet, and there is no need for shame." "Thank you. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be that loud. I don't like sudden loud noises either. It was just...seeing that...I've never seen someone magic away a broken bone before. Where we come from, a break like that would take like six weeks to heal." She looked down at her feet, still reproaching herself for her inattention, unaware that Caelen’s eyes were fixed on her, as if intent on gauging her reaction to what he was about to say next.
"Here, we prefer fewer broken bones lingering about. Though I can sympathize with your dislike of noise. Had I allowed her to continue to scream, she would have set off any wolves that might be nearby, and they'd howl all night. These pointed ears pick up everything!"
She laughed, grateful for his use of humor to smooth over her unintentional breach of their customs. She glanced at his ears, noticing a small tattoo, a silver line of stars and crescent moons, hugging the outer curve of one of them. "I suppose they would. Sometimes I wonder if mine are secretly pointed, they pick up so much. I don't have any ink like that though. Your tattoo is really beautiful. Or is it a tattoo? It wouldn't surprise me if it was something your people are born with." She was so interested in the delicate precision of the silver marks, she didn't notice that when she laughed, his posture had relaxed ever so slightly.
"We are not born with celestial shapes on our bodies; these marks have been artificially applied. It seemed an appropriate way to celebrate my completion of healer training, and I enjoy the symbolism: the stars that guide us, also guiding my ear to the calls of my patients."
"I like that, it's a beautiful sentiment." Caelen smiled. Kessa was curious about something else. "David mentioned the pendant you wear. When you healed that little girl it lit up. Does it contribute to your magic?" "My talisman" he said. "Indeed it does. All healers of my people wear a similar object. It is much like a crystal one might use to focus the sunlight, enabling a fire to be started from the rays. It assists me to focus and direct the energies of my craft."
He held it out to show her, and she saw that it was a flat disk that appeared to be carved of a light gray stone. It was adorned with two large central gems as well as six smaller gems evenly placed around the outer rim, with an inscription in unfamiliar characters carved in an arc between the outer edge and the center. "The central gems indicate levels one and two of my profession, the others indicate the additional levels I have obtained. The text roughly translates to "embrace truth, be pure of intention, honor consent", which reflects the oath healers take upon completion of our training" he explained.
Kessa, who had leaned in to look, was amazed, not only with the craftsmanship of the object, but with the knowledge she had just been shown a real life amulet or sigil-stone, objects she had only before encountered in video games or the pages of her favorite fantasy novels. It was the worn equivalent of a sorcerer's staff, and she was impressed as much by its use as by its beauty. Caelen tucked it back under his clothing and, after reminding her to keep her activity level low, which he stressed included both physical and mental exertion, returned to where he had been gathering herbs with Lyara.
That night, as they prepared for the evening meal, Kessa and David sat somewhat away from the rest of the travelers. Every individual in this camp was courteous and kind, but they still felt like strangers and didn't want to insert themselves into what were clearly close family groups. The camp steward visited briefly, to remind them they would be departing for Saltswreath early the next day, and asked them to inform him if there was anything they needed for the journey. They thanked him and he moved to the next table. Not long after, Caelen approached them to check Kessa's bite again.
This time, after unrolling the linen, he folded it and put it to one side. "All is well. There is no lingering infection. The wound has closed, it no longer requires a covering." He paused for a moment, glancing back at the table where Lyara was seated, Faelina on her knee. "Would you allow me to join you for the meal? Faelina's interest in herbs bodes well for the future of my profession, but I find her questions as relentless as the spring rains: welcomed for what they bring, but wearying to endure nonstop."
"Uh, sure." Kessa still felt a touch of unease around someone who held such evident command over nature—or at the very least, over the body. However, remembering how he had used humor to ease the fears of one of his youngest patients -not to mention his irreverent joke afterward about the shape of his people's ears- eased her trepidation somewhat. Perhaps sensing the remaining nervousness, Caelen kept the topics of conversation light. Without even noticing how he'd done it, Kessa and David found he had drawn them deep into conversation about Nisse foods, the differences between them and human cuisine, and what their favorites were.
Shortly before the group broke up to head to bed, Caelen's tone turned a bit more serious. "I feel you should be strong enough to walk the trail beside us tomorrow, but you must promise that you will inform me, or Lyara, if you feel weak, or have any other symptoms. I have several draughts I can prepare to restore your strength, or, if necessary, myself or my protégée can carry you on our backs as we would one of our young ones. Your weight is negligible to us."
Kessa thought for a second. "I don't really like the idea of being carried like a child." David shot her a look, and she, understanding his meaning, continued "but I promise I'll keep you updated about how I'm feeling." Caelen smiled, responded with a knowing look and a gentle "see that you do", and, wishing them peaceful sleep, retired to his family's cabin.
As they walked to the guest cabin, David nudged Kessa. “You better keep that promise. I forgot to tell you that Caelen examined me right after they got us here. He didn't even touch me, but I could tell he was aware of everything I was feeling. Emotionally, not just physically. He's going to know if you're bluffing."
“Figures" said Kessa. "Built-in lie detector. Must be a healer’s trick—makes sure nobody gets away with saying they’re fine when they’re not." David chuckled. “Exactly. And you won’t win that argument. The camp host warned me he gets… persistent if you ignore his instructions. Personally, I’m not eager to find out what persistent looks like. Especially when it comes with supernatural powers!"
"Me neither!" said Kessa.
Comments