The Grove Hospes
Previously, Lepius
“Okay. Let’s head back-” then he couldn’t hold it anymore, and so he started chuckling, and Rosemary did too, and soon the room was bursting with it all. She smacked him on the shoulder. But she was covering up her giggles herself, and so he smacked her back, and only after a few more minutes passed did they compose themselves.
He opened the door.
The smile Karra gave him banished the Voice far away.
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Karra
Now
After they sat down across the table, she apologized for snacking on the herbs.
“I-It just smelled so good. I… um, left some for you?”
She gestured to the inch that was left. They stared at each other, then laughed, and said it was all right. Karra laughed with them.
It was easy to, for a simple reason.
They were prey, just like her.
Oh, yes, she was aware Rosemary had just flattened that Stalkerwolf like it was a bushel of grass. And she was impressed, but she wasn’t fooled. She wasn’t even sure if they were aware of it, but her elders had taught her to discern the mana of prey from predator, and these two in front of her… they reeked of animals that only just escaped a hunt.
It must've been something huge and terrifying, a hundred times scarier than Rosemary, in order to reduce her down to prey.
“Let me heal you. Where are the wounds?”
Lepius had yet to speak to her directly, so his voice was a stranger to her, and she almost pulled herself away. But then she laughed again. Was she really nervous around this beaming friend, this person who had taken her in and given her snacks? How silly. She thought she had sniffed something strange, but that was probably just her imagination.
So, she let him lean in. In his right hand now was a staff - green and knotted with roots.
“Y-yeah, here’s the wound. Thank you… I really don’t, um, deserve this… oh, and actually, there’s some more here, and here.”
She had taken many falls, and the branches she had pummeled though during her run were not kind to her. Wounds half-scabbed bled through the cuts in her dress here and there, and his eyes narrowed as they honed down onto them, and – hang on, did he say he was a healer?
Her voice was excited now, “You’re a healer?”
Lepius smiled even wider, “Yes. I can heal. I've never tested my ability on large wounds like… ” and then he stopped, as his eyes went far beyond her. His smile dropped. Rosemary took his hand, squeezed it, and then he cleared his throat and continued, “… well, yes. Small cuts and bruises shouldn't be a problem.”
“My father was a healer! Laird ‘Poppy’ Meadow! People called him Great Healer Laird! Did you know him?”
“Ah, no. I’m afraid I don't.”
Oh. She wilted. It was some folly of hers to want to know every little detail of the man she never knew but… “I wish I could know you”, her memories told the phantom of his image. “I bet you’d be an awesome father.”
Lepius placed his hand on her arm. Gentle.
It pulled her out of her daydreams – the hand was hard yet flexible, and she looked closer to see that it was made of bark. So, she wasn’t seeing things. There were some wordless sentences forming, for many species passed through the Noshad Plains, but never had she seen these ones, with their leaven hair and skin of bark.
She opened her mouth to ask them, but maybe it would've rude to nose in, so she closed it. And in her indecision, she missed something miraculous. When she came to, all her bruises had faded, the cuts had all scabbed and fallen off, and he had even cleared out an ache in her hipbone from a fall yesteryear.
Just... just like the stories of her father. She could not even vocalize the relief, so she tried it through her wide eyes, and something was brimming within them now. She looked up…
Then saw him, groaning on the floor.
Rosemary smacked him with the staff as she asked, “Can you stop trying to kill yourself?”
From most the stories she heard of her father, healing was a revered art. But what people often omitted was that it was only so for the recipient and the onlookers. Her mother wasn’t one to omit. And so she would hear about how Great Healer Laird, her wonderful father, would prepare a tall glass and drain it dry after every patient, before stumbling his way to bed. Maybe he would’ve even wriggled like Lepius did here, like a worm. And she couldn't help it. She laughed, again.
How many times was it, now?
Then Lepius laughed too, called her ‘Karra’, and invited her into the tussle. Only after a second invitation from Rosemary did Karra, hesitant at first, poke Lepius with a trembling finger. When he tried to grab it, she pulled it away. And then he poked her back, and she did too, and soon she was smiling too wide for her muscles to hold.
This must be how calves feel when playing…
When the chaos subsided, she sat cross-legged and not across them from the table, but in between them, chatting away for as long as the sunstone radiated its heat. And even when the chatter dried up, it was never quiet. She would strain her ears as Lepius tapped his staff on the ground at a jerky beat, or as Rosemary hummed out a tune of her own making. They reminded her of Mother. It was a lilting melody, up and down in a slow tempo, and it would be no stranger within some ethereal forest or an elven symphony.
But soon, the sunstone sputtered and faded down. Soon, the last of its light would fade and leave them with just the fireflies to give them light.
Without the glare of the sunstone, her eyes began to droop. But before she could drift off, she thought of the Stalkerwolf.
“Rosemary, how did you… pulverize that great beast? There was only… like, a paste of it left. I wished I was watching, it must’ve been so cool.”
Rosemary then gave a laugh, but it was not quite as light as the one earlier. She twirled a leaf-braid in a finger. Then she sighed and brought her knees up to her body, avoiding Karra’s eyes as she spoke.
“I… used the branches of the grove, this big tree.”
It was almost a question, as she inflected the sentence upwards towards the end. Her voice was small.
Karra didn't catch it, “Really? Can I see?”
Rosemary shuffled her feet, and for the first time, she saw a frown on that face. Had she upset her? She reared back at the thought, hands rising up to placate her kind friend, and she felt like punching herself – was she about to lose one of the only friends she had, the one she had just made, the one who had just saved her?
Karra beat a quick retreat, “Well, it’s okay if you don’t want to, I mean, I just wanted to thank you and I’m sorry-”
Then Rosemary took in a deep breath and looked up with a strange face. She narrowed her eyes.
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“No. It is fine to ask, and I am sorry to act… strange.”
“Was it me? I’m sorry, again. We can just forget about it.”
Rosemary stood and held out a hand, “Come on, I’ll show you.”
As she led Karra and Lepius outside, her gait grew from a stride to skip, and the grove twitched as if sensing her energy. She brought them just beyond the entrance, where the thicket of trees that surrounded their grove melted into the larger forest. Karra’s eyes darted around the trunks.
Rosemary smiled, and there was a fierceness in her eyes.
“Watch and amaze yourself, my dears. This is… my nature mana.”
She breathed in, then out, and again. And as she did, Karra saw her mana, not as a prickling on her skin, but a physical thing, and it wrapped around Rosemary's body like the armor on human knights. It was like… fluid, like glowing amber. All throughout, Rosemary remained breathing, and longer she remained, the darker the color grew, as if concentrating down to its core essence.
Above her the grove twisted and… were her eyes fooling her, or was the huge tree bowing down to Rosemary?
Then, Rosemary extended an arm to her side. One of the larger branches midway up the tree extended in the exact same movement, and Karra’s jaw dropped at the sight. Magic. Big tree magic. Lepius next to her dropped the staff he held as he whispered her name.
Rosemary.
Her arm swept out, coming down low. So did the branch. There were a swathe of trees in its way, but what was she expecting – for nature to cancel out nature?
No, there was a predator here. And the trees were sitting duck.
The branch hurtled down, then up, uprooting and tossing away that swathe of trees like a bushel of grass, and Karra’s eyes could not track them as they landed in the forest far away. Another arm rose. Then another handful of trees vanished off the earth, with only the disturbed soil marking the spot where their roots once were.
It went on and on, until Rosemary achieved a circular clearing around the main tree. All within minutes. Lepius looked around at the destruction and turned again and again, scratching his eyes, while Karra only had them for the lady standing before them. She was breathing heavy, and one of her hands was massaging her temple.
Through the fireflies’ light, Karra could see that she had half a smile on, and that her shoulders were tensed as she stared at them.
Then, Karra screamed, and forget those silly Stalkerwolves – there was a new alpha in the forest.
“That was so cool! You are… so cool! Can I- can I give you a hug?”
Rosemary blinked. Then she beamed, and her shoulders slumped as she ran forward to give them both a hug. They were all giggling as they returned to the grove. When they found their way back to their seats, Karra could not help but enthuse about all the crazy and mad things Rosemary could do with her grove, and both her friends laughed, not at her, but with her. It warmed her better than any bovine campfire.
Her daydreams just had a big upgrade.
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The sunstone was almost back to its dull white.
Yet they continued speaking, bouncing from one topic to the next. Somehow the conversation returned to her father, and she found herself talking at length about him, longer than she had to anyone else. Everything came bumbling out of her. She talked about the few drawings Mother kept of him, the little goatee he was so proud of, his nickname within the Clan – Leafy Laird, for his obsession with collecting herbs and making his poultices out of it.
“I-I just… you know, it would be nice to…”
“Have something of him, my darling?”
“Yeah, I guess, Rosemary.”
Lepius was quick to catch on the tone of her voice, and said, “I can try… help you feel better, Karra. Maybe my mana can help… add in some good memories of him? That way you can feel better?”
Rosemary elbowed him, “Hush, you. Not everyone needs saving, you know that?”
“I mean, I-”
“I don’t-”
They had started speaking at the same time. Lepius inclined his head.
“You go first, Karra.”
What a novelty this was, to talk first… how warm it got her inside. She said, “I mean… no, you go first. I want to hear what you have to say.”
“I was going to say I don’t… I don’t mean to come off like that, like some sort of white knight. I just thought that because healing is broad, maybe… maybe my mana would be able to help you feel better, if you really are hurt. Even if it isn’t physical. Maybe it could add in some memories, here and there, and make you feel better, even if they aren’t real.”
Her heart raced as she pondered his offer. Memories… but not mine. Would she be happy? She wouldn’t know, and neither did she know whether she wanted to violate those memories she already had. The daydreamy part of her shrugged and asked: “Why not?” The other part of her was indecisive. And so she was back where she started, not knowing anything for sure, and for a bovine, that was translated to: a risk you should not take.
But she did know something else. What she did know for sure was that today she made two friends, the first in a while.
And despite all their shared laughter, they didn’t understand her.
Not yet, for they had only met, and she was sure that even Lepius with his healing, and Rosemary with her grandiose magic… neither would be able to puzzle out her real father. It would only be the shadows from her memories. The Great Healer Laird… reduced to that… no, she would stop them before they tried, even her only friends.
Besides, Rosemary had just destroyed a section of the Carralan Forest in less than a minute.
Come on, Silly Karra.
If she couldn't find the motivation to be stronger now, between the two kindest people she knew, how would she find it elsewhere? Her jaw set.
She rose up to meet those forward-facing eyes.
“No, thank you. I’d like to deal with it myself.”
For a second Lepius couldn't tear his eyes off her, and she pushed down that instinct to squirm as all bovines did when a predator’s eyes focused on them. But there was no hunger in them. Instead, it was something glittering, and she had never seen that all for herself before, except within her mother’s.
Karra hoped it was something nice.
“Yes. Yes, that is true.”
There was a lingering silence, like he wanted to say more. But he did not.
Rosemary decided to throw herself lengthwise across their laps and continue humming, a smile playing on her face. With great temptation came great resistance – oh, who was she kidding? Tentatively at first, but boldly after an affirmative hum, she stroked the leaves in her hair. How green they were.
She drifted off to sleep, smiling.
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The Man with the Bow
A shrouded figure sat on a throne of ice and earth.
Far below the raised dais and the steps to reach it, a man kneeled. He knelt alone, and within the vast and empty chambers his singular presence was so loud he felt it announcing itself. And what a sorry announcement to grace the Lady with.
A broken bow lay at his feet.
Something swirled far above him, and he shivered at just the hint of it. Even concealed, it still seeped its way down the steps, down to him, and he could hear a howl ridden with mana. And it was not the good kind. At the eye of the storm came a cold voice to rival the throne.
“So. Let me summarize. You lost Harlequin and Regal. You failed to kill all the dryads. And you return, my gift to you ruined. Tell me, are you some glutton for punishment?”
“A-ah, no, your Highness-”
His vocal cords froze. As in, they became ice.
“Did I tell you I was done? No. So I will finish. You have failed. Absolutely and amazingly. If I had a sense of humor, I would laugh. But instead, I have a sense of punishment.”
She paused, as if to test him. It was no use, he could not speak anyways.
“So, I have a new mission. Kill all of the dryads, no matter how far they scatter, even if they end up in another dimension, you will kill them all.”
Her finger twitched after he didn't verbalize an answer after ten seconds, and the ice melted. He took a gasp of air and wasted no time.
“Yes, your Highness. It shall be done.”
And what she said next shattered him, “Calara.”
“… yes, your Highness?”
“That is the name of your daughter, yes? And Ynes, your wife.”
There was a coldness creeping everywhere, and he was sure it wasn’t the ice. “Y – yes, well, that is -”
“You were clever to keep them hidden. But silly to send them money. Where do you think it goes through?”
He had no response.
“If you even sit down to rest before your mission is accomplished, then… sweet Calara and Ynes might find an accident befalling them, even in the quiet village of Fallowbrooks.”
Everything was done perfectly. The mouse, caught in the trap. For a second, he looked down at the broken bow, and thought of that old saying of his father: the man before the bow.
No, Father. This man is the bow.
“Happy hunting, my dear.”
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Karra
It was a wonderful morning.
It was made better by waking up in a tangle of bodies with her new friends. Outside, flowers bloomed to receive them. Little by little she blinked away the morning fog, and she did pout at having to leave, but her mother was enough incentive. She must’ve been worried sick.
A few stretches, then she was up. She threw on her dress, looking down and admiring how Rosemary had sewn it back together, with an extra layer of grass underneath for padding. Not a single stich out of place, nor a speck of blood.
Her angel had even added pockets. If Karra could be more in love, it would’ve been dangerous.
She had already packed, not that there was much to bring back home. Rosemary had filled a satchel with freshwater, fruits, a branch of thyme (with a cheeky bite out of it), and what she called ‘lots of hugs and kisses’.
Karra decided that every for satchel onwards, that would be a requirement.
“Thank you. Again. I’ve made some amazing new friends, and I can’t wait to tell my mother.”
Then Lepius gave her a hug, which she returned, and Rosemary sent him away defeated with loud kisses on the forehead and knuckles of her hands. Her face was glowing red. This is not a bad color on me if it feels so.
“Be safe, be well. Do you have the needle and water?”
“All prepared.”
Before their parting Rosemary had taught her how to use the trick, and it was the same one she had seen sometimes in the tents of important bovines. Wherever the sharp end of the needle pointed was north. It was easy after that.
To the north awaited her mother, and how stressed she must be.
As she trotted off, she waved, and her friends waved back. She was about to cross the periphery when she remembered something and said, “Hey! When I return, I might bring my mother! When I tell her about it, I want to have a name to all this.”
Rosemary glanced up at Lepius, who was also looking up – at the curling trunk, at the many branches and their shocking green leaves, then at the water flowing down the waterslide looping around the trunk, wide enough for four. They looked at each other and smiled. She was many steps away, but the moment they did, it was as if they were never parted.
“Huh. The Extremely Handsome Dryad’s-”
Rosemary elbowed him before he could finish, and they whispered. He mulled it over, perhaps to taste the syllables on his tongue. And he nodded.
Together, they said, “Grove Hospes!”
Karra let out a cheer and a final wave before she went into the forest.
I will return one day. The Grove Hospes, huh?