Waking up knowing the daylight is appearing I open my eyes and realize for the fourth time this is all really happening. I really miss Maria and my old life. I try to Scry Maria but nothing happens. So I just let my mind wander thinking about how we would be preparing to visit Italy today. Rome was a bucket list place to visit for me. The Colosseum and the Pantheon and many other places were so interesting and rich in history.
I look over and sit up and see Kritin also sitting up apparently waiting for me. He grunts, points to the door, and walks out. I get ready and head down to the same seat I sat in last night. I was served the same food as last night, just smaller portions. Eating my food in the quiet, I realize I am excited to see what today brings. We head outside and back to the eagle covered central building. I only see a few Murichi about. They must not be morning people.
I am led to the chair I sat in at the round table last night and sit and wait. My knife is still on the table and again better safe than sorry I leave it alone until told otherwise. While waiting, multiple Murichi pass by but ignore me.
After about thirty minutes Krissa walks in with another Murichi following her. They are slightly taller than Krissa but have jet black fur. I stand and Krissa is already speaking to me before she reaches the table. “Tom this is Mesech and she is the only other Murichi here that speaks Universal.” “Good morning Mesech it’s nice to meet you” “Nice to meet Tom.” It’s rough and unsure but I understood her clearly. Krissa speaks up “When I was young The Old Wanderer stayed here for a while and while he was here he taught me and a few others Universal and told us to teach it to whoever would listen. Mesech wanted to learn thinking it would help with magic since it is the gods language and since gods created magic at least from what the stories say. Anyway magic is cast using Universal like your scry you used last night.” “Kritin?” I ask. “Yes, we assumed you were magical, based on surviving alone in The Great Forest then your quick healing and being able to land a blow on a Murichi which most humans cannot do. The real reason you are here is our curiosity.” “Could you explain magic more?” Krissa nods then whispers to Mesech in the Murichi language. Like I could understand it anyway. After about a minute of quiet conversation it almost sounded like a whispered argument Krissa looks to me “Tom, magic is rare. Around one in twenty beings of all types have magic. And most of those only have very basic magic abilities.” “All beings as in monsters and animals?” “Yes, even trees but you need to speak Universal to use real magic. It is because of this you humans have the most mages since almost all of you speak Universal. Other races have made tests to see who among them can use magic. And since most animals, monsters, and plants can’t speak Universal. Their magic, while mostly useless, will enhance their growth and make them tougher depending on how much magic they have.” “Do you know how much magic I have?” “No and we can not check here either but you are not a basic mage if you know scry”
Mesech spoke up “Scry is..very…hard. Needs…big magic.” She sets and unrolls a paper-like item on the round table near me. To me it looks like a picture of a round archery target. A solid center with nine circles circling it each one larger than the last. Mesech points to the very center “Most mages” She then points at the fifth circle “scry” Well Magar did say I would be powerful for a human but I was still just a human in a world where three hundred foot tall trees could walk.
A few questions arise in my mind but before I could ask them Krissa interrupts my thoughts. “What are your plans Tom?” “Well simply put I want to go home.” Krissa stands up and points to the western part of The Great Forest on the map, “In two days traders from Murichitani our capital will arrive here.” Her finger slides to Eagle’s Watch, “After one day of resting and trading here some of us will accompany them to Paradise.” Her clawed finger slides north then east to the center of the forest where a settlement along the massive river sits.“Paradise?” “A human explorer named it. Something like a little light in the darkness is Paradise. It is a little less than a two day walk to Paradise. From Paradise we go north since that is the way the water flows. Once we are out of The Great Forest we go our separate ways.”
“Why couldn’t I just walk south east to?” I point at the map at a small city next to three mountains just south of The Great Forest. Krissa Sighs, “The Great Forest is dangerous everywhere but to our south it is by far the most dangerous. The northern half of the Great Forest is controlled by the Elves and is much safer so the only dangerous part of our journey would be from here to paradise but we have walked that trail for generations. You also would not be alone.” “Thank you for explaining.” I sighed and thought about what to do while trying not to think about elves being here in this world. The human capital would most likely be my best bet to learn how to go home judging by what I’ve learned so far about human mages.
“So what’s the best and fastest way for me to get to.” I point at Eldrin. “From Paradise you take a ferry to Port Glimo in the north then take a ship west then south along the coast down to Shasti. Once in Shasti you go through Caponia then you arrive in Eldrin, the largest city in all of Magarnia. I may be old but my knowledge outside of The Great Forest is not great. I would guess sixty days if everything went smoothly.”
Sixty days away from Maria who would think I was dead the entire time. Our son was due in around 70 days. Emotions start to appear. “Are you well Tom?” “Yea sixty days away is a long time that’s all.” “Well Tom, the next two days you will stay with Mesech and she will show you around and teach you things while you help her learn Universal. I have a settlement to run and an apprentice to teach to replace me.” “Thanks for everything Krissa” She nods then walks out leaving me alone with Mesech who said, “You help… guard to paradise.” Then she starts walking out as well.
As I started following Mesech I figured she meant that my job was a guard during our journey. We took a tour of the village and the only place I hadn’t really seen yet was the opposite side of the entrance area along the lake. On the way to the back of the settlement we pass the pens and I see around one hundred chickens and about twelve cows. There’s also a stable that has animals but is completely enclosed. Mesech pointed at the stables and said, “Raptors.” The back part of the settlement looked like it was for fishing and training.
We sat down on some benches overlooking a flat training area and watched some trainees. Mesech did her best to explain their training. Basically from a young age they all practice agility training to help their survival. Things like running away, quietly observing, climbing trees quickly, general evasion, and things of that nature. Once they matured they were taught to fight mainly with claws but also with one weapon that they could choose. As she was explaining this Kritin walked up and handed my knife to me and walked off.
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Something I noticed was the lack of affection shown to anyone so I had to ask. Mesech, “do the Murichi have.. life mates?” She was confused for a moment then understood, “No.” She paused and I could tell she was trying to find the right universal words. “No love. During harvest we..” she starts making hand gestures clearly understood by me. “Mate?” I reply “Yes” She nods. “We all take care of the young.” I wondered if she meant no attraction or urges instead of love. Living without love just sounded so sad to me. I wanted to ask more questions but didn’t want to be rude or invade her private life before I could formulate a good question Mesech broke the silence by jumping up, “Your turn.” as she looks at me and points to the trainees. “No harm, only evade.
As I got up and started walking toward the trainees the instructor motioned for four to fight me. I didn’t know their lifespan or maturity but they seemed to be in their early to mid teens. So they weren’t trained to fight yet assuming what Mesech had told me was accurate. So for hours I dodged, evaded, and ran around. This was the first time I noticed just how much I had improved physically.
What started out as four trainees thinking it would be simple to hit me turned into the entire class of thirty or so trainees chasing me all around the training yard. I could tell they were trying to get me but they were also having fun. I felt stronger and faster than any human on earth but I doubt I stood a chance against someone like Kritin or even a well trained Murichi. Magar’s words enter my mind once again. “Strong for a human.”
By the time the instructor ended the session I had been scratched or cut well over one hundred times and my clothes were pretty much shredded. The trainees seemed exhausted and I was feeling some fatigue. Overall very fun to be tested and visibly seeing improvements I could tell would be very addictive. By the end of the three hour session between them tiring out and my improvements they almost never touched me. “You…big improve.” Mesech says more upbeat in her feminine deep voice. She handed me some more clothes and she was baring her teeth, I think smiling. “Thanks, I actually felt the improvements.” “Yes, you learn very fast. We go back to..” she points to the inn i stayed in the night before “the inn?” she just nods.
“We eat, then I teach “light” after.” She said light in perfect Universal. It was like I could see her glow but I don’t think she actually did. Back at the inn we shared a meal of fish, cheese, and a hard cracker thing. Mesech was curious about me and my background so I gave her the same story I shared with Krissa but added that I built homes and hunted on occasion. I had only really been hunting twice but camping and fishing were favorite hobbies of mine and I didn’t really know how to explain that.
After our meal we headed outside again. There was just under five hours of daylight left. It still weirded me out that I just knew that. I remember being a kid and playing outside all day then guessing its four twenty and it being like four thirty three and being proud but this I just knew. We headed toward the market. It looked like items were being traded for items. Asking Mesech about it she roughly explained that currencies were used in most places but it wasn’t needed here since they never got any visitors. “Home.” She pointed to a balcony on the second level of the multi-story buildings along the wall near the marketplace. The grace and agility of the Murichi was a sight to see. I watched as Mesech nimbly climbed the net it was as if she weighed nothing and didn’t really even touch the net. Me on the other hand. The creaking and groaning everything was making me worried but I arrived on the balcony. The balcony was only about ten feet by six feet and simple yet solidly built. The railing was a masterpiece of engraving and craftsmanship. Like everything here it was a reddish wood but completely engraved and built into it were chairs that fold out. The engraving was everything from the giant eagle doing many actions like grabbing a fish or sitting stoically. There were also engraving of the Murichi doing many activities, even mating. Mesech noticed my interest in them and said, “I enjoy.” Realizing what she meant. “Wait, you did these?” She nodded yes. “What about?” I pointed to the central building. Thinking for a second she said, “Small.”
We talked a bit more about her hobby then I started explaining a lot about Universal. It wasn’t English but it followed most of the same rules, well the rules that make sense. There were no words like colonel to explain.
We eased into talking about magic. She pulled out the target looking scroll again. “Bigger magic, bigger spells. More casting spell more better it become.” She held up her hand ““Light” Think light, say it focus always on spell.” A small ball of light like a miniature white star was in her palm. I sat down on one of the fold out chairs and stared at my left palm. Imagining the light I just saw her make appear in my palm I said, “Light.” It appeared just like I imagined, just a bit smaller.
All of a sudden Mesech’s clawed hand was flying toward my face. The day’s training paid off because I evaded with ease. “No light” she said “oh so that’s what you meant by focus on it.” not keeping a spell in focus instantly kills the spell. After a few more casts of light and trying to keep focused while dodging I figured that was the real challenge of magic. Surprisingly tired, I followed Mesech into her home. It was much like the room at the inn, just about twice as large with a bit of living area. We talked a bit more about magic. There’s support, healing, and combat magic. A few spells have no category. She also explained that the Murichi don’t really like magic so most don’t try to learn it.
I asked about her family and she explained that everyone is family and they all help raise each other. The newborns stay with the mother until before the next harvest starts. So basically from what I gathered everyone sleeps with everyone and the ones that get pregnant skip a harvest to care for their young before the young are put into a community home for kids. All this baby talk of course made me think of Maria.
“Scry Maria.” For the first time in over twenty four hours my thoughts are solely on Maria. Another single image of her standing in our living room with anger written on her face apparently pacing. On the couch sat a sad looking Lisa. Poor Lisa is dealing with my distraught pregnant wife while also having kids of her own and her own marriage crisis. Seeing a loved one in pain and not only not being able to help but also being the catalyst for the pain was a lot to bear and the image faded.
“Who Maria?” “She is my wife or uh life mate.” “Is she well? You saw pain?” “She thinks I am dead so she feels great loss.” I tried to explain in a way Mesech and understand even if love or close bonds don’t exist to her and I think she understood. It seemed like she wanted to ask something but never did.
I laid down in the padded hammock. Mesech explained my exhaustion was mostly caused by magic fatigue or using much of my magic. The day’s training and using magic exhausted me greatly so I went to sleep quickly.