The New Premir

 At the pond marketplace, Ayleah asked about the word.

The head sages of the Sanctuary seemed more concerned with the information they held and with keeping it from her than with the possibility something had happened on Telon's mission. She could tell though that whatever he had been doing was important and that they were just as worried as herself. In their lush valley they seemed content to wait for news, but Ayleah was from a place where the water beat life awake from the ragged cliffs. Action her birthright, she packed the necessary things and boarded a transport heading roughly east. Knowing little else except possibly a name (was it a person or a place?), she had stepped out from the transport onto a dusty lot flanked by large boulders. A wide gravel road led from the other end of the lot, and travelers of various types streamed to and from the long-distance transports. Merchants traded at stalls of various prestige and repair that lined the first part of the street. Farmers and woodsmen made their way to and from the port, arriving from or departing for some nearby city. A family with a full cart of luggage headed up the road and into the woods. There was an air of seediness that came from those living on the fringe between the wild township and the technology of the cities. It was a transition zone, and Ayleah stood to one side, suddenly unsure. She had some basic navigational tools from the Sanctuary, but direction and the word were not enough to go on. Now that she was out in the greater world she had no idea which path to take.

“Can I help you ma'am, you look as if you might be lost. Where do you seek to be?” The man was young, no more than five years her senior, and walked to her side of the square proudly dressed and with a commanding air.

Before Ayleah could respond, he extended his hand and continued. “I'm sure I can be of service, Miss-”

“-Ayleah” she said, regaining her composure under the assault. “And who might I have the pleasure of meeting? Are you the Gate-Attendant for this township?”

His face showed an inscrutable look and then he responded “I am in fact the new Premir of this township, and I have just arrived to assume office. The name is Jaern Bartlett, of the Falls Lineage, and the pleasure is all mine Ayleah.” he straightened as he said this, then gave a nod of a bow. Ayleah, desperate for some sort of direction anyway, and admittedly a little impressed, followed Jaern back to his companions.

They were all fitted for traveling, with light rugged packs similar to her own, but with signs they carried more than just navigational tools. A larger man with a casual air about him, a tall thinner person who could have been taken as a scholar if his dress was different, and a wiry younger woman with brown skin and eyes that knew more than they told. Jaern picked up his (significantly smaller) pack of belongings and introduced the others. “Ayleah, meet Leb, Sutton, and Niisi.” he said, indicating them in turn, “They have been my good friends for many years, and I am deeply grateful-” his gaze met the tall Sutton's for an instant, “-for their companionship and assistance on this venture.”

“Pleased to meet you all.” Ayleah said, acknowledging the companions. “I'm also on a venture of sorts, and I would be grateful for some companions here. I'm new to these lands and not yet sure where I need to go. If there's a larger market square in this township, I may be able to find answers to some of my questions.”

The group said that was where they were heading anyway, and joined sparse traffic leading away from the long-distance port. Jaern took the front of the group next to Ayleah. “I give you my word to help you in any way I can. Certainly as Premir, I will be able to grant you whatever you need. What is this venture of yours may I ask?”

Ayleah glanced at his bright eyes and eager gait. “Only a fact-finding mission for some scholars. I've been studying at the Meadow Sanctuary and decided to study the upland forests as a final project. I'll be spending a few cycles in the mountains and then I'll go back and do a write-up on the comparative energies. I'm very excited to study up there in the mountains, but my transport dropped me off here, and I don't think this is where I was supposed to go.”

“Why do you think that?”

“Well, I realized on the way here that I had accidentally written the down wrong transport date. I was supposed to leave yesterday! I know this transport brought me east, but not all the way to the mountains it seems. What township is this anyway?”

“Norton Brook, though this road accesses a few different wild towns. The one I will be assuming leadership of is centered around a lovely reservoir lake, I believe it gets its name from the lake's water source.”

“Do townships here often elect outside leaders? I notice you and your friends are new to the area.” Ayleah asked, curious. Jaern's traveling companions gave each other a glance.

“Well...no, not usually.” Jaern said, bolstering as he went on, “But there was a regional notice that they were looking for assistance, and when one has the feeling of destiny like I do...plus, I am a born leader- royal blood and all -I'm sure they're going to take to me right away. Don't get me wrong, I'm not some 'city boy' coming in to show these folks how to run a town. I'm born and bred in the wilds, the son of a proud and respected family in the hills. I just want to give them a figurehead to rally around; someone to stoke their confidence and allow them the space to create the order they so desire.”

When the group reached a major junction in the road, they hired a taxi cart from a row near the wayfinding building. The rest of the short trip to the town center passed mostly quietly, though when they were loading the cart Leb spoke to Ayleah as an aside:

“I'd take most he says with a good grain of salt. He's an impressive specimen, but Jaern's never really been this far from his home lands. I wish him well, I do, but I know I might end up having to carry him out of danger someday. Hopefully the people of the township let him down easily.”

Ayleah kept her voice low. “You don't think he's the natural leader he says he is?”

Leb looked at his friend, sitting down in one of cart's front seats. “One day he very well may be. But not yet. This outing will be the beginning of what he needs.”

Loom

 

For a stretch of time the only sound was the swishing of blades, scythe against grass. Tall stems and long leaves fell gently for their size, slowly revealing the terrain before the small explorers party. Visibility through the uncut field was not impossible, but the grass grew in such a tangle upon itself that all sight dimmed soon to a woody sort of vagueness. The plant matter naturally occurred in large mounds and made progress forward impossible without the aid of well-honed scythe wielders. Kaya herself did not cut, but carried vital supplies and oversaw the group's effort. The going had been steady but slow since they had left the pilgrim's track. Cleared roadways only led so far out or to specific places in the Sanctuary meadows. Smaller tracks connected disparate locations; narrow trails in a dense world of green.

Viewfinding from the city had located small leafy growths beginning to show themselves in a trackless section of the field. The potential for new trees and sanctuary groves was always interesting, and it had been Kaya's idea to lead a party out from the old pilgrim track that crossed the field to investigate the nature of these new sprouts. They were likely a welcome addition to the Sanctuary lands, but if the plants were of an invasive type removal and follow-up visits might be necessary. The scholars of the city-sanctuary carefully cultivated the energies of the meadows, and only allowed harmonious ones to proliferate. Kaya was always excited to lend a hand in the maintenance efforts of such a beautiful and peaceful place.

As the cutters swished in silence for a moment, her thoughts wandered to nowhere in particular. The sky above showed a blue only slightly dulled by cloud, fringed with tender tips of the tall grasses. They bent crazily across one another, waving gently as a sort of mindless hive-pattern. Their character seemed centered way up there, near the tapering top of the plant; more friends with the soaring sky than with the ways of those down here on the earth. Kaya felt the denseness of the field around them, and a claustrophobic realization of how enclosed they were by the grasses- these swaying simple entities- came upon her for a moment.

Then the feeling was gone, or momentarily mastered perhaps. She was glad of the company of the party around her and the work of the cutters in blazing a trail. It was a rough-hewn path through the towering green, narrow and curving, but it could be followed back, and seemed to be going in the right direction. The destruction of their passing was the lifeline to the open air. Kaya called for a halt and a location check. Compasses were consulted, and one of the cutters wound together a makeshift grass ladder on a tough weed stalk. After climbing up a good ways, he returned to confirm they were closing on the new leaf island. Indicating a direction, the party resumed forward, and before long they were once again in their work either trailblazing, navigating, or consulting research material. Once again a silence of concentration fell on the group.

Kaya gazed into the dim jungle to either side. It seemed that a pulse of life came from somewhere deep in that wilderness, so far inside that only a bare whisper made it to the artificial openings where mortal ears could hear. It called to her and at once her senses felt warned, as if saying to answer that call was to leave this world behind forever. The wild fascinated her nonetheless, and she became more lost in thought looking to the uncut sides on the trail than to where the party was headed.

As she forgot her place and time for a moment, a dark shape loomed out of the deep greenery in her field of view. In the gloom of the grass jungle, it almost seemed to Kaya a hallucination. Which had come first, the shadow in the jungle or the rapidity in her heartbeat? As they crept forward, it seemed to pass them slowly to the right, like a contemplative deadly beast stalking intruders in its land. Kaya realized what it was and quietly got the attention of Rune, the lead navigator of the crew. When she pointed at the ominous shape in the wilderness, he called to the cutters: “Heya! Halt and regoup! We've almost just run right past it!” to Kaya he said: “Thanks for pointing that out, I guess I wasn't on my spotting game today.”

The tree was slender, and a gentle yet hardy looking thing, rising almost meekly out of the field-grass. Kaya stepped forward around the path of the scythes and approached the trunk alone. The grasses here grew slightly finer and lower, giving way energetically to the presence of the tree. They parted softly as she walked closer, examining the young tree-trunk. It was maybe eleven feet in diameter, clothed in a light gray. The bark was slightly gnarled, giving the impression almost of a bonsai, or at least a tree much older than this one appeared. Its branches began in the upper reaches of the grass, were few, and had a delicate look about them, as if each one were precious. The tree had a duality of elegant fragility and earthen stability. One could tell it had weathered much and would weather much more before ever succumbing. It was a strong tree, and only slightly stunted by its condition out in the open field. Kaya put her hand on the trunk and smiled. The sages would be pleased to hear the Sanctuary had a new oak.

Mia II

 

The land was not a static scene; not simply a stage for her to explore. There were inhabitants already, though they seemed more pieces of the world-structure than a part of the whole as she was. At the first city she came to upon landing, Mia interacted with the citizens. She was curious about others with consciousness; she wanted to contrast her experiences with theirs, and learn more about the world. What she found was that these others were so self-absorbed and myopic that true communication could not be achieved. They concerned themselves almost entirely with petty worries. They remained in mindsets that imprisoned themselves in a place where those worries seemed worth the whole world. When she showed them the overarching magic of reality, they reacted oddly. They would become afraid or even angry, and shun what she had to tell or show them. Additionally they offered nothing in return for fear of losing what they had, even though Mia wanted nothing from them that they could lose.

Disappointed, she turned away from the cities and allowed her consciousness to slip only into the wild places where she could weave her magic in peace. She had been born to a beautiful world, full of life. The energy of potential bubbled and simmered everywhere, taking off into glorious forms as needed. Sometimes one form would supersede another, replacing its matter and maintaining a cycle of energy and nutrient rebirth. From the pool of generation she had stepped out into a broad and multitudinous reaction. It was going to be a wonderful place to play.

The water had been a sort of deep recycling center. Things from the land flowed down in water currents to join the deep, and she had risen from that deep store to manifest in the open air. She wondered if this wasn't her first time feeling the sun like this.

Mia wanted to test her influence on reality. There was no sense in seeking a purpose in life if one's actions have no effect at all. Some influence was clear; just by her presence the surrounding reality was forced to react. How far though could that reaction be taken? The animal-like residents of the city seemed to see each other easily enough, and also interact with wild creatures the same. They often had trouble perceiving her though, and would walk almost right through her if she wasn't paying enough attention. In some ways she seemed more capable though. For example, distance seemed to apply differently to her consciousness than with theirs'. The other beings seemed so caught up in their own perspective that they had to follow strange laws relating to their perception. This gulf of understanding was another factor in her shunning the cities. She could not well influence a world that could not understand the change.

There was something about this world that Mia wanted to change. She could not quite place what it was yet, but there was a fault to the world. It was like a giant majestic piece of machinery covered in moss and thick vines. There was a sense of nostalgia and beauty mixed peacefully in golden sunlight. It was a scene in which one wanted to sigh, knowing that all stories had come to a tranquil and satisfactory end. Not that the world was still- life buzzed about every corner and the inhabitants of the land often engaged in turmoil, but things seemed content as they were.

Contentment made Mia uneasy. She wanted a healthy tension, something to give that buzzing life a reason to think about itself in its striving. She wanted that majestic piece of machinery to shake off the moss and lichen, to break that suffocating growth and have it whir to life. If the world was a giant wheel, she wanted it to turn again. In seeking a how, she turned from the consciousness of the cities (in whom she had had initial hope of positive work) and found refuge in the deeper natural places. Low-lying wetland glens became her first workshop. She merged with the green growth to learn of its needs, and spoke with the salamanders and other mud dwellers to hear what they knew. She watched the turning of the days and nights, the passing of the weather, and how the inhabitants of the surface world coexisted. In her scheming elemental awareness a picture formed, and then the beginnings of a plan.