The prisoner was left in the custody of Captain Swartzkopf and his men. James and Celeste returned to the site of Oakleaf Gilderwood’s home and Celeste led him to a comfortable enclosure embedded deep within a dense growth of trees. Several bunks were constructed, or rather grown from the surrounding roots and branches, lined the informal walls with vegetation. Wooden tables and chairs, adorned with clay bowls, plates and jars, stood on the earth floor. The accommodation was Spartan, but sufficient for eight individuals. Two young women dressed in red robes stirred pots over a metal wood stove and bade the pair to sit at the table where a remarkable soup was served. As soon as he smelt the aromas James realized that it had been many hours since he had eaten and he was starving. The warm multi-layered flavors of the vegetables and herbs present in the dish were immensely satisfying, perhaps even healing in their nature. James recognized some of the ingredients but by no means all. He ate three helpings and soon after felt a wave of exhaustion wash over him, as the full breadth of the day’s events filled his memories and awareness. One of the Sisters, Candide, recognized his state of mind and encouraged him to lay and rest in the cot closest to the door. She produced a large comforter, filled with be down and feathers, and encouraged him to rest. He lay on the remarkably comfortable mat filled with bats of cotton and watched and listened to the Sisters formulate their plans for the next day. In no time he was asleep.
Despite being the first to fall asleep, James was last to awaken in the morning. Gently shaking him, Celeste informed James that it was now time to get up as Captain Swartzkoph and his men were approaching, with the prisoner. Quickly arising, James followed Celeste out to the clearing to where Oakleaf Gilderwood was receiving the party.
“As you commanded Sire, we present the prisoner.” stated the Captain, his stained and battle damaged uniform replaced by an identical but immaculate version of the original. It was clear in his tone that the pitiful creature he had produced for the audience with the Wizard Lord was in his mind subhuman, or worse. The man was dirty, bound and appeared to have slept very little since James had last seen him.
“Cut his bindings Captain Swartzkoph!” ordered Oakleaf. “I will vouch for this man’s character and I will permit no further abuse of him. This man is fully human, and completely free of the taint of Chaos. Of that, I can assure all of you here.”
“But Sire!” stuttered the Captain.
“But nothing!” responded the Wizard. “This man has returned to the world of humanity and deserves our respect,” and then he turned to face the prisoner, addressing him as Captain Swartzkoph removed the ropes which bound his wrists. “What is your name, son?”
Incredulous, the young man replied, “Arthur Timberlane, Sir Gilderwood, ” and then added with some hesitation, “of the Stalsburg Timberlanes, if you please.” Arthur completed his response by bowing his head as if ashamed of his predicament.
“Welcome back to the realm of humanity, Master Timberlane,” encouraged Oakleaf. “How was it that you came to enter our valley in such loathsome company? Surely your father did not raise you towards producing such a fate for yourself.”
“Most certainly not Sire,” replied the man, now somewhat more sure of himself. ”I was to carry on in my father’s footsteps, and manage the handgun factory owned by our family these many years, but one morning last spring I awoke to find an inexplicable growth emanating from my chest. I know as well as any Empire citizen that the taint of Chaos would be the death of me and so I endeavored to conceal the ghastly change in my condition from all, in particular from my fair wife and the mother of my children, Esmerelda. This ruse was successful for some months but as it grew larger, she became suspicious. Upon discovery she threw me out and called the local Witch Hunter. I fled to the north, abandoning all that I had been. A group of fellows with taints worse than my own took me in, and clothed me and when the army of the north passed by we were absorbed into the ranks. If I had had an alternative, Sir Gilderwood, I would have grasped the chance, but death by Inquisition was all that was available for me sir. At least I was fed and welcomed into the ranks.”
“Death would have been a superior choice,” commented Captain Swartzkoph dryly.
“Perhaps,” responded the son of Timberlanes.
“I can give you back your life son,” explained Oakleaf Gilderwood in carefully chosen words. “I will return you to Stalsburg and vouch for your health and humanity to your family. But first, I need your cooperation in a matter of some importance to me.”
“Indeed Sire,” responded Arthur Timberlane. “If it be within my power to assist, I will help you.”
“I need to know the intentions of the Accursed One,” demanded Sir Gilderwood.
Fear rapidly became terror on the face of the young man. “He will roast me in hell for all eternity if I betray him to you Sire. His fury knows no bounds whatsoever. He is, I fear, the Devil incarnate. Perhaps it is better that you slay me now,” and the cowering young man glanced about those in the clearing, apparently examining faces to discover exactly who in this crowd might be capable of carrying out such an action.
“No one here is going to let you off that easily, son. You will muster the courage to assist us, as penance to your part in the assault on our beloved valley. And I will return you to your family in Stalsburg. It is a certainty that in times such as these, your presence there is required,” insisted the Wizard Lord, with such deep power in his voice he seemed impossible to resist. “And I will personally insure your safety against the threat of Gloamanthal. He will no longer hold power over you, so long as I live. But,” and he paused gravely for effect,” We must know your knowledge of his intentions.”
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“I understand,” responded the scared young man. “He has passed into the mountain Sire, but I have no knowledge of his intentions.”
“I feared as much, Master Timberlane,” replied Oakleaf, then added, “Who exactly did he pass into the mountain with?”
“Indeed, Sire,” explained Arthur, “He was accompanied by ten of his strongest, specially chosen warriors, and five others, Sire.”
“Others?” queried the Wizard Lord.
“Others sir,” replied Arthur gravely. “Dwarves they were, Sir Gilderwood. Black and evil. Chaos worshiping Dwarves! The foulest I have ever laid eyes upon in my life Sire. And they all passed into the mountain leaving not a trace behind them. I know nothing of their intentions, Sir Gilderwood, but I am certain that they mean to destroy all that is good in the world.”
“Thank you Arthur Timberlane. That is the knowledge I require from you. We must prepare to journey to Badendorff immediately! I will seek assistance in this matter at the Colleges of Wizardry. Celeste and James will accompany me. You also will join our party. We will pass through Stalsburg and return you to your family as I have promised. We must leave within the hour!” and with this Oakleaf Gilderwood dismissed the gathering and ventured into his quarters to gather the things required for the journey ahead. Celeste joined him to assist in the preparations.
James had little to do, and so spent the time observing the arrangements. Clearly, the Sisters and Oakleaf had a great deal of experience with preparing for traveling expeditions. Three Sisters, as yet not introduced to James, brought forth pack horses and filled their leather satchels with pots, pans, food, bundles of herbs and water jugs. Oakleaf Gilderwood added books, clay jars, more bundles of herbs and what appeared to be small metal instruments of some sort. Eventually a large bundle encased in a wooden crate was mounted on top of the packs of the largest and strongest pack horse. Oakleaf explained that inside, carefully wrapped was the large glass lens that the Wizard had used to summon James. James wondered exactly how it was that Sir Gilderwood intended to return James to his world without the lens, but it did not seem the time to bring up such a difficult subject.
The three departed with Oakleaf in the lead, Celeste leading the three horses, and James and Celeste walking side by side. As they were leaving Oakleaf instructed Celeste to explain thoroughly the gardens through which they passed as they descended back into the valley. This, Celeste did as Oakleaf strode alone at the head of the procession, apparently lost in his own thoughts.
“These gardens have existed for three hundred years and are the grandest in the Empire,” explained Celeste. “Sir Gilderwood founded them in 3475 after four years of journeying throughout the Empire in search of a site with which to grow all the healing plants of the Earth. Oakleaf was one of the original students of Tochet when he founded the Emerald College in Badendorf in 3451. Sir Gilderwood chose the slopes of the mighty Grey Mountains!” and she spread her arms wide towards the snow covered peaks which framed the west side of the valley. “And it was in the town of Kroppenblen that he first met the Sisters of Theodor, my beloved order. Our order had been all but destroyed in the terrible comet strike of 2000, in the cursed city of Dresenheim. Here, in this valley and on the slopes above it, Oakleaf Gilderwood envisaged that all climatic zones of our world could be recreated, and the Sisters pledged their assistance in creating his marvel. Colder climate plants could be grown on the higher slopes, warmer on the valley floor. Tropical plants also grow here and she cast her gaze below the group as they proceeded down the wide trail. For these Sir Gilderwood employs all manner of ingenious methods to warm and accelerate the growth of the heat loving plants. Master James, it is said that 10,000 different plants grow in these gardens. Our monastery is entirely devoted to their cultivation and preparation.”
“Ten thousand species sounds an impossibly high number,” commented James, realizing that he had never imagined such gardens could possibly exist. To James, farms were usually composed of just one or at most a handful of crops. A wheat field or a corn field or a dairy farm, usually managed with a minimum of workers and large machines. The gardens which surrounded James for as far as he could see teemed with workers, mostly women dressed in red robes. The variety of plant sizes and shapes was remarkable. Some plants had as little as one square meter of space, others grew in raised beds of up to ten meters in length, but everywhere the variety was endless.
“Indeed the enterprise does seem impossible at times Sir James. Master Gilderwood has journeyed throughout the globe for more than three hundred years, gathering knowledge, seeds, tubers, spores and cuttings of the world’s healing plants. From the jungles of Espirito to the Islands of Lasqueti. From the Hinterlands of Patagonia to the bleak and dangerous Southern Wastes, and everywhere in between. It is said that he has even gathered plants from other worlds, perhaps even yours, Sir James. And that is not all. Boat loads of soils have been carted here in the cases of where the plants would grow only in their native soils! He is the greatest of all of the Empire Emerald Wizards! Sir James, it is said that Tochet himself consults Oakleaf Gilderwood in matters of healing, although surely this must be an exaggeration.”
James now took notice that while most of the plants grew in a gray loam, some were surrounded by pale sandy soils, some by red earth, and others with ochre coloured fine clay. The intensity of the project overwhelmed James.
“The successes of the Emerald Gardens are so complete that the birds themselves take up residence here and nowhere else on our continent. Rare, even in their Patagonian homeland, Blue Flamewings inhabit our valley nesting and feeding in the Vossle trees imported by Sir Gilderwood. Spark Sparrows are as common throughout our gardens much as they are in far Nippon, but they exist only here in the Empire, because of our hundreds of varieties of bamboo. There are many such examples, but even though I have spent my entire life tending these gardens, I have knowledge of only a small part of them. He alone, knows all,” she commented, gesturing towards the inward looking Gilderwood.
James reeled when he considered the immensity of it all. To him, a farm was a wheat field, or a sheep pasture. Nothing like this existed in his world to James’s knowledge. But soon the Gardens of Taubra were left far behind and the unlikely foursome set off towards the west, along a poorly tended dirt road. To James the locals seemed completely aware of who Oakleaf Gilderwood was, since for the most part, they kept a respectful distance.
“They all know who he is”, explained Celeste, as they walked together, several paces behind the brooding Wizard. “They are fully aware that he is capable of healing their sick, or correcting their deformations and injuries.”
“Then why do they not approach?” asked James as he suddenly revisited the memory of the beautiful Sister Bernadette returning to life from her battle injuries.
“They know he has more important business to attend to than to cure their maladies,” responded Celeste, then added, “But most of all, they fear his wrath. He can be a terror at times, when he is distracted by unanswered questions. “This battle vexes our Lord. The Hordes of Chaos never avoid combat. For Gloamanthal to do so indicates the gravest of situations is upon us.”
A look of terrible concern swept over Celeste’s beautiful face. James could think of nothing else to do but reach for her hand to comfort the Sister. She calmly slapped it away, but for the briefest moment James thought he detected a whisper of pleasure in Celeste’s expression, before she scowled at him.