Harlan spoke to a doctor under a veil, he stressed the importance of nobody finding out what he was planning and was told that he should come back later at night, a doctor who knew better about eyes would be there ready to talk.
Harlan gave him a handful of gold coins as hush money, the man refused at first, and then finally relented to make Harlan feel safer about the whole thing, though they did end up back in his spending account since staff were not supposed to take bribes.
The last class, as always, was magical creatures.
Today they would be visiting one of the very few places that actually domesticated magical creatures.
In their lower forms even the most progressive people would agree that they were still animals.
Wargs were just particularly clever wolves, Skolls were less clear, they had intelligence and could be reasoned with, but at that same age range a Hati was nothing but a beast driven by an instinct to harm others.
A Fenrir was just as capable of being a beast or a person as any man, from what conversations have been had with them it is clear that they are driven by their own choices and not by their instincts.
They were at a large military base looking area, yet instead of men running drills it was birds, cats, dogs, all normal animals at the time.
The process of having a magical creature that listened to someone almost always required that they were raised properly as an animal with respect so the bond would continue until they became more than normal animals.
The ones being raised here were smaller dogs that evolved more quickly, the birds were hummingbirds and finches, and the cats were normal farm cats, tabbies and calicos and so on.
There were two people in front of the gate, an elderly woman, and a bird that stood just as tall as her with lightning sometimes crackling between its feathers.
His feathers were a bright blue with a white pattern like lichtenberg figures on his wings.
His head had a crest that extended from the back, the ridgid feathers turned softer as they grew, giving them an almost cape-like appearance.
The bird spoke first.
“Evening, it has been some time since we last had visitors here.”
“I’ve not taught classes in some time as well, few would be able to bring children here like I can.”
“Fair, fair, terrible thing that happened. I cannot blame those who wish for time alone. Perhaps I will take a long flight when Gertrude passes away.”
“I don’t think I will be leaving you for some time, old bird.”
“As your mother said before you.”
He rubbed faces with the woman, Harlan could feel sorrow from both parties.
“I am very sorry. I should’ve introduced myself. I am Gertrude Herdmaster. Not the most original name I know, but at the time the first king had more important things to deal with than the name of an upstart with a loyal companion.”
“And I am that companion. My name is Blue, after my feathers. She was never good at names either. I was born a Bluejay, when I fell from my nest a little girl happened to pick me up, this would’ve been roughly 700 years ago.”
Many were taken aback, their skepticism clear on their faces.
“It may seem unbelievable, but I am the perfect example of why animals must be culled at certain ages. We never grow old, we just change, shedding forms and going on. Though I’ve been like this for over 400 years now. I might be the endpoint of my species, I might be the only one of my species. I am a great beast of calamity, my power shakes mountains and shatters the skies. If I was just raised in the wild I might turn that against you folks.”
Harlan was the first to raise his hand for a question.
“I somewhat expected that you of all people would be all for not culling populations. I am sure it gets lonely being the only one of you.”
“I have a hard time relating to my wild brethren, until they are 30 or older it is like talking to a child still, they fly off the handle and risk hurting people. I am perfectly fine with humans as companions, I even have my own pets.”
A kitten sauntered near the bird as if on schedule.
“You shouldn’t be out here, Mittens, one of these days I’ll find a way to keep you inside.”
The kitten crawled rubbed against its owner and its hairs stood on end.
“But enough distractions, you came here to see what it looks like when magical animals are trained.”
They left the small hill in the center of the training area and followed behind the bird and the woman.
Harlan noticed the only people training the animals were all women, some looked as young as 10 while others were well into their 70s.
But more than that, he noticed the resemblance they all shared.
He raised his hand again, everyone else was still just looking around them.
“My, you are a curious little one, what question this time?”
He could tell that he was happy to answer the question.
“Is everyone here a Herdmaster? And why only the woman?”
“Yes to the first, bloodline ability lets them form bonds more easily with animals, don’t ask me how. For the second the family was cursed by Fae some 300 years ago, so the women only give birth to women. Even after 700 years, I can still see her in them.”
They moved past the walled area and outside into an open field with a large number of fenced in courses.
In the distance Harlan could see white capped mountains, yet no towns, no villages, they were far from civilization.
The whole of 50 miles of land was under the ownership of the Herdmaster family, they were nobles in name but they had no one to tax, so their income came from their animals.
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They covered the distance between where they were to where they wanted to be with Sepul’s help.
They watched as birds with blue feathers that crackled with energy flew with cones of air in front of them and the clouds overhead moved with them.
After the woman training them blew a whistle they came to their perches.
Now that they were in front of the group they could see the birds looked more or less like smaller versions of their forefather.
They stood roughly 3 feet tall, their feathers weren’t as vibrant, they had a shorter crest than him as well.
A few of them started chirping back and forth before getting a little jolt from Blue.
“It is rude to gossip like that when around people. Just because you can hide it doesn’t make it any better.”
“Sorry, mother.”
“There is always time to learn, I’m not mad at you. But enough of that. These are my children, not by blood since I have no one else to mate with, but I have helped to raise them just as Jennifer did for me. They are currently 33 years of age and have passed what I consider the form when they become real people, they are not animals anymore and I will not take insults against them lightly.”
“May I take over?”
The tallest of them asked.
She was albino, in the wild she had been abandoned by her mother, though she wasn’t upset about this, for animals it just made sense.
“Of course.”
“Thank you. The 5 of us were all born as Bluejays just as our mother was, currently we are Stormjays. The training you have seen just now was us diverting storm clouds. Cities have little need for the rain, so we take those clouds and drive them towards farm land, or, during heavy rain that risks flooding those lands, we may take some of the clouds away to turn it to a wider but lighter rain. We are not military birds, though some might leave the flock for such a goal. After a period of time we might be released from our service and we take what we call a freedom flight where we see the world to expand our view. Some of us return as I intend to, some choose a life in the wilds. I will now be taking questions.”
Harlan held off on asking anything, instead he was looking at Blue sitting on a nearby bench with Gertrude.
Sepul was immortal as far as he knew, he expected that every champion was.
If, when, he became the person that The Mother wanted, would he be like that as well?
Would he sit on a bench with his great great great grandchildren who were now elderly and near the end of their lives?
He put away that thought and went over to them.
“You seem to be having some pain, is there anything I can help with?”
She noticed his rose pin.
“Have you learned anything about minor joint pains?”
“I believe I can help alleviate it somewhat at least.”
“No sense in turning you away, but you should be with the rest of your class.”
“I can always pick up a book, or I can talk to Sepul, the world is still gonna be there. I just have a hard time seeing someone else in pain like this and standing aside, I don’t want to do that anymore.”
He did what he could, her pain was better, but not gone.
Her bones and joints were simply weaker with age, he couldn’t fix it, just make it a little better.
She breathed a little more calmly, the little aches were gone, as long as she slowed down and saw a healer every now and then she could live like someone 20 years younger, yet it would not extend her life.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
“I did not expect to see that from your kind.”
Blue had simply watched until now.
“I wouldn’t either.”
“Now, what have you really come here for?”
“It would be something private, I barely know you.”
“Humans lie far more often than animals, besides, there isn’t anyone but family here for dozens of miles. Though finches are tattletails.”
Harlan could tell that the bird seemed to like him, so he sat on the bench with them and put up a veil.
He had gotten better at making ones that could barely be seen, people could in theory read his lips, but everyone else was still talking with the birds.
“I smell Calli on you. I hope this isn’t love advice.”
“No. Simply put, The Darkness has been grooming me to be her champion, as far as I know, that comes with immortality. You’ve seemed sad since we got here, I would rather not think about it, but if I accept her offer, it means watching everyone I know grow old while I live on.”
“Well, I’ve met champions in the past. You are right to believe them immortal. Until they are killed they live on, unaging, most make it to a few hundred years before a threat comes around that kills them, or they do something insane and are put down by the gods. You can’t be more than 13, right?”
“14, though I don’t actually know when I was born.”
“You are worried about things 70, 80 years in the future. I see the allure of despair over what will happen, but there isn’t anything you can do. You will live longer than most if you become a champion, but the other side is that whatever gift you are given might let you live when your life would be cut short. Live and make memories of how things are and hold them tightly. Otherwise living as long as me just becomes a curse. Go back to your class, learn what you can now in your carefree days.”
“I wouldn’t call them carefree, but thank you.”
“There is always a worse day ahead, just as there is always a better one. We can’t know what will happen in the future, so live in the present.”
Harlan returned to the rest of the class and Gerturde snuggled closer to her friend, she felt cold so often these days.
Eventually the class left, and they still sat there on that bench.
Gertrude yawned.
“Maybe we should go on a walk, I should’ve had somebody look at my joints sooner.”
“I kept telling you that we need to visit a doctor so you can be comfortable, and you kept saying you were too busy. Always another batch of animals to check up on, another granddaughter needed help with something.”
“Well, I’ll rest now, just a short nap, then a walk after dinner perhaps.”
He placed his wing over her like when she was a young girl hiding from her mother because she took cookies before dinner.
He felt her breathing was slightly better, Harlan had done more than just heal her joints.
He paid attention to her chest rise and fall, rise and fall, and then it fell one last time
The clouds overhead cleared with a flap of his wing and a ray of light landed on the pair, he sat there until she was cold, silent tears ran down his feathers,
90 years he had known her, he was there when she was born, now he was here at the end.
He thought back to his first owner, and later partner.
She had not passed away quietly in her sleep, she had died on a battlefield.
He never had the chance to really talk to her like he wanted to, she was taken suddenly.
It didn’t stop the hurt, but it dulled it to know it was coming.
He stood with dry eyes as her body was laid out on a dais as was tradition.
4 generations had gathered to give their goodbyes, requests for gates went out so the rest of the family could pay their respects.
Toddlers looked on with confusion as their mothers and grandmothers cried, they did not understand why great grandma wasn’t going to wake up.
When everyone went to sleep he left a note, written with letters burned into paper by his shocks.
He would be back after a few weeks or months, then he would pick a new partner, and to feed mittens until he returned.
He never said to the boy, yet one of the things that kept sadness at bay even when he knew he would never have a mate unless he raised one from a chick, an idea he found morally dubious, was the constant companionship from his family.
They came and went, but each of them was a dear friend and an anchor to the world, something to keep him alongside humanity instead of living out his days sitting on a mountaintop and hunting as needed.
Had his first partner not asked for him to watch over her daughter at least, he would’ve just left them all behind, he thought what a dull and pitiful life that would’ve been.