The Dying

Keysa walked through the forest as she did every morning, but this time she did not go for the same reason. Any other day she would be performing her duties, healing sick trees and plants, growing new ones, and caring for the forest and her clan. Her life was simple. She was Anih. But today was different. She was not walking through the forest to heal. She was leaving.

The young elf sat on a rotting log for a moment and looked around the forest. There were many fallen logs littering the forest floor and every day there was less she could do about it. Rotten branches covered in lichens and mushrooms and dead leaves helped create a soft carpet of decomposition beneath her feet. Sure, some death was necessary to bring new life. Death was part of the cycle. But there was just too much now, more than could be kept up with. The cycle was out of balance. She watched a foot long forest centipede crawl out from beneath her seat snatching up small insects for breakfast.

     She didn’t want to leave. She certainly didn’t want to go without explaining to her family but she had tried reasoning. That had not worked for her so far. She enjoyed being a healer in the Taurhin clan. She felt honored to be one of the Anih as was her mother and her mother before her. She enjoyed her life. As an Anih, a caregiver of the tribe, she had promised to care for the forest, for their home, and their tribe. She was the youngest in the circle of Anih, and the only one willing to speak her mind on what was needed to stop the decay. No one in the circle would listen to her though, including her mother. Everyone in the circle was capable of healing the ailing plants and animals of the forest or sprout new plants from seeds in a matter of days and even heal sick clan members. Yet not one of them was willing to stand with her in telling the council that more needed to be done.

     The slim features of her tiny face wrinkled up and her gray eyes filled with moisture. She dropped her face in her hands and sobbed. She didn’t know what she was doing and she knew her actions had been rash. She had been angry after her last altercation with the elders and stomped home where she had decided to leave. She had changed out of her flowing white robes and exchanged them for her soft leather forest garb. She had removed the decorative beads from her hair and tied it back into a braid. Then she grabbed her healing satchel and her cloak and left the village behind.

     She looked up again at the forest stretched out in front of her. She really had no idea how large their forest home was. She had never been outside the protection of the trees. She didn’t even know where to start looking for answers but she had to be strong, she had a mission. She had to save the forest or at least figure out how to do so. Only then, could she return and show the elders and the other Anih that she had been right. Her home was dying. She had to go.    

     Keysa stood and began walking again. She wanted to enjoy what beauty still surrounded her and take joy in the life that did remain in the forest. However, how could she with so much death, so much pain surrounding her? The trees of her forest home were slowly dying, rotting from the roots up. The lush grasses of the forest floor were turning brown and even the hardy chokkus lilies dotting the ground were shedding their petals. The stream that ran through her village had recently developed a green sludge on the surface and dead fish lay here and there on the bank. The small red berries on the shiso bush and other fruits were falling off before they even finished ripening. The gatherers of the tribe were going further and further to find food for their clan. Their pick of fresh forage was becoming thin.

She walked slowly away from her home, her round, gray eyes full of sadness. She walked with her head down twisting her long braid of copper hair in her hands as she went. The Anih of her clan had all been spending countless hours trying to save what plants and trees they could but it just never seemed to be enough any more. It was becoming more and more difficult to keep the great wood healthy. She had been an Anih for ten years now and had never seen the forest suffer like this. The great wood had been the home of the Taurhin clan for hundreds of years. Her history did not even tell of a time they had not cared for the forest that surrounded their village, and yet no one was doing anything about it.

Keysa brushed a branch out of her way and it broke off in her hand. Why could no one else see that this wasn’t just a bad season? She threw the broken branch in frustration. 

     She stopped to look back at her village, not far enough yet. She had to get far enough away that someone would not spot her and upset her plans. At least she didn’t have to worry about hunting parties or other Anih as everyone was in the village preparing for spring celebration.

     Voices still drifted to her small, pointed ears, and she could still see the vibrant banners and canopies strewn about the village for the springtime celebration. Children wove in and out of tree trunks with colorful streamers flying behind them. She could just make out Mijale and Haneila of the Elder Council sitting under their white canopy, inside the stone circle discussing whether they should begin saving the empress trees or jimsonweed plants first. When she had left, Dakanni had retreated to the Elder’s hut to walk the dream path with the Great Mother and ask her for help.

Keysa kicked at a rotten stump in anger and then stomped her feet in the soft earth as tears filled her eyes, first from the pain she had inflicted on her own foot and then from anger at her people. She looked around to make sure no one had seen her small tantrum. All they ever did was talk. Why was no one doing anything? Oh sure, they healed and healed, but that was only a temporary solution, the trees just kept dying. There was definitely something wrong with the forest, as if something was eating away at the very life of the great wood but no one would listen to her. The elders had even ordered a halt on all new tree growth for fear that those too would only become diseased.

Behind her, she could still see the flowing robes of her kin as they performed duties, gathered about the stone circle listening to the Elders, or practiced dances for the spring celebration. The bright colors of their clothes stood out in contrast to the dying forest around them. The spring celebration, what was there to celebrate?

The talking should have ended long ago. When spring had come, she could tell the forest wasn’t recovering from the harsh winter as fast as it should have and the other Anih could feel it too. Something should have been done then. Now they had to do something quickly or they would not have a home to live in anymore. The entire circle of Anih was barely keeping the forest from rotting away now. The death was spreading too fast.

     She paused in front of a rotting elm. Termites and wood bores feasted on the rotting tree. So many insects covered the trunk the bark seemed to move as if alive. She placed her small hands on the bark. The insects paid her no attention as she shuddered from the pain she could feel from the tree. She closed her eyes and concentrated on the rot at the core of the giant tree but it was too much. There was nothing she could do for this tree by herself. She tugged at her long braid in frustration and twisted the loose ends in her fingers. They had to find the reason for the suffering, healing the sickness in the forest was becoming a losing battle. The trees were sad, animals were dying, and she couldn’t stand by and wait for the council.

 After her morning meal, she had gone to their hut in the trees and dressed in her soft, green leather traveling clothes. She removed the decorative beads woven into her hair and pulled it back into a braid. With her herb satchel filled and her cloak fluttering out behind her, she had left the village determined to locate the source of the suffering. 

Keysa left the rotting elm and continued walking away from the village. She was well aware that the forest was no place for anyone to be alone. There were many hazards in the form of predatory animals, carnivorous plants or even goblin raiding parties. Any number of things could catch her off guard, but there was no choice for her she had to have answers. She would not really be alone. 

     There was something she had to do before her journey began. It was time for her calling. She was one hundred and ten years of age now. She had been an adult and an Anih for ten years, and her abilities had matured. Recently she had begun to hear the animals calling to her. Not directly, she wasn’t able to speak with the wildlife, but inside, she could feel a need to find the lifelong companion of the Anih. She was ready to find her familiar. Her animal companion would be bonded to her. They would share their feelings, their needs, and protect one another. It was like having a best friend with you all the time. As they spent more and more time together, the bond would grow stronger and other skills would develop between them. The animal she called would even live well beyond its normal life expectancy because of the bond. Her mother’s owl was over one hundred and twenty-five years old. She needed to call her familiar to her today. She would need what help she could get.

Behind her she could no longer see the village or hear the discussions going on there and up ahead she could see a clearing in the wood. It was small but would have to do. She was running out of time before someone realized she was gone.

Her slender frame easily wove in and out of the tight copse of saplings surrounding the clearing. As she passed each trunk she marked each with a charcoal symbol. She entered the clearing and quickly went about clearing the ground of leaves and twigs, then began to trace a circle in the dirt about six feet across and then a smaller circle inside of that. She drew eight wavy lines radiating out from the inner circle to the outer one and carefully drew symbols inside the sections this created. Inside the smaller circle she piled some small twigs and leaves together and sparked them to life with her flint, then broke some dried bark pieces over the fire to encourage the flame. From the herb supplies in her pack she added lemon grass and sandalwood to the fire. The thick scents filled the air around her and she breathed them in heavily. Finally she took a drink from her water skin and knelt in front of the fire.

     The young elf closed her eyes and started to chant softly in a tongue no longer spoken by anyone but the Anih. Over and over in her mind she spoke to the earth, and called out to the animals for help. “Lafae lafae, chanai honi. Kilrana ka ti.” She asked the Great Mother to send her a friend and companion that would be bonded to her for life. Each time she started her chant anew one of the symbols she had drawn began to glow. She rocked back and forth with her arms spread wide, breathing in the fumes of the herbs on the fire, still chanting. “Lafae lafae, chanai honi. Kilrana ka ti.” As the last symbol began to glow her eyelids fluttered and her eyes rolled backward into her head. Her breathing began to labor, and then all went black.

 

 

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She thought she heard growling as she became conscious of the world around her once again. She slowly opened her eyes and turned her blurry gaze to the west, the sun was almost gone. How long had she been out? Her fire only smoldered now and no scent of herbs drifted from it any longer.

Something furry pressed up against her thigh. She quickly rolled and sprang to a crouch drawing her small bone knife. A small caracal stood a dozen feet in front of her. The forest cat was small, she guessed about four feet long, not counting the tail. Its fur was reddish-brown and it had black tufts on the end of its long pointed ears. The long tapering tail was about a third of the cat’s body length, and now it swished slowly back and forth.

The cat calmly moved to a comfortable sitting position as if it was waiting for her to do something. Keysa stayed in her crouched position ready to move in case the cat became aggressive. What would this caracal want from her? If it had been hungry it would have already torn the flesh from her body. Besides the cat’s eyes showed no aggression. The golden eyes of the cat reminded her of the eyes of a child waiting for a treat. Was it just curious? Why was it just sitting there looking at her, waiting for her to make a move? 

A thought hit her suddenly. Was this cat her familiar? Was this the animal the Great Mother had sent to aid her, to be bonded to her?

Keysa pushed a few stray wisps of hair back out of her face. She had a strange feeling of apprehension wash through her, a need like that of acceptance. Why would she feel like…the cat? She was picking the feeling up from the cat. It was a strange sensation having the feelings of another creature mixing in with your own.

She put her knife away and walked slowly toward the animal reaching toward it with her hand. She hoped she was right about this being her familiar, or she could be in a lot of trouble. The caracal raised its head to her hand and a low grumbling noise issued from it. Now she felt contentment from the cat colliding with her own feelings of relief. It hadn’t been growling at her before, it was purring. A wide smile cut across Keysa’s features. She had performed her calling. She had brought her familiar to her. This would take some time to get used to. It was difficult to sort out the cat’s feelings from her own even though the cat only had basic needs. She closed her eyes to think and found herself looking at…herself. She was seeing what the cat was seeing. Her eyes popped back open suddenly and she swayed from the dizziness of using the cat’s vision. “We’ll have to practice that one some more.” The cat just stared up at her as she spoke to it.

Now she had to figure out what the next step in her journey was going to be. She ran her fingers through the caracal’s fur as she thought. She remembered from one of her lessons about the life-giving properties of water.  The stream that ran through their village branched off the river farther to the north and west.  Water gave life; the river provided that life to the great wood. All living things needed water and if something were wrong with the river it could affect the entire forest. But the river was long, running the length of the forest and more. She would need to find the river’s source, but how far was that?

Keysa stood suddenly. Now she remembered. The river only started as a trickle from the mountains. It was in the great river valley to the north that it became the great river that it was. But where exactly was the valley? She had never been there. Should she just travel north and follow the river? It seemed there were a lot of things to think about as she traveled. She hadn’t really put much thought into before she had decided to leave. 

She turned to her new companion. The caracal lay there waiting for her.

“Ok then, let’s…” She stopped mid-sentence, she hadn’t even thought about a name for her familiar. Would it tell her what its name was? No, she could only perceive feeling and images from the cat.

“Kiska.” She blurted out the name suddenly. “How do you like that?” The cat stood and walked to her side rubbing against her thigh. She reached down and scratched the cat’s ears.

“Kiska it is then. I suppose we should get going.”

They would have to leave immediately and travel all night. She should be able to reach the river by morning if she didn’t rest too often and travel to the valley following the river. She couldn’t have a search party finding her. They would take her back to the village and then she would have accomplished nothing.

She turned back to look in the direction of her village. She was sorry she hadn’t been able to tell her brother what she was up to. He would have been against it from the beginning and she had already been gone long enough that he was probably already starting to worry. She doubted Kalin would try and look for her alone. He was too levelheaded, too obedient for that. He would wait until he was given permission. 

Feeling good about her new-formed plan she turned and started out to the north. Her journey for answers had started. She would soon show the rest what could be accomplished with a little action.