The Land: Forging (Chaos Seeds Book 2)

CHAPTER 5

Richter walked outside and looked out over his village. His people moved about with purpose and with smiles on their faces. He was witnessing the beginning of something special, he realized. Building this village was a cause worth devoting his new life to.

Apparently none of the events in the chamber of the Great Seal had registered on the people outside. He looked farther out over the surrounding land to see the translucent mists. When they disappeared later, it might cause a bit of an uproar. He decided to make an announcement before people panicked. Cupping his hands to his mouth, he shouted.

“Everyone! Everyone! Please give me your attention.” His familiar shuffled a bit on his shoulders at his shout.

A few people heard him, who then nudged others to give their attention. After a minute, everyone within sight had stopped what they were doing and were looking up at him. “Again, I am so happy to see all of you again! We are already transforming this place. It is no longer the blank slate that we saw when we got off the ships! It has become fields for food, hearths for warmth, and roofs for shelter. It is becoming a home!” There were cheers from all around.

“I want to spend more time with each and every one of you, but first I wanted to tell you a few things. First, the mists ringing the town will dissipate through the night. They will be back tomorrow morning, but for now, no one should go out past the moat ringing the town. For that reason, we will be withdrawing the logs that serve as our bridge across the moat. We will also be shutting the gate until the protective enchantment is back in place.”

Richter made eye contact with one of the men who was serving as a guard in the village, “Gather all of the other guards, and make sure no one is beyond the walls. I see that everyone working the fields looks to have come back in for the night, but I want to know without a doubt. Please do that now. I want the gates closed in twenty minutes.” The man gave a salute and ran off.

Turning his head to address the crowd again Richter said, “The next announcement concerns what many of you seem to be pointing at. This is my new familiar. She is a psi dragonling. She won’t hurt anyone, but you will be seeing her around so please don’t be alarmed.”

He thought at her quickly, *You won’t hurt anyone, right?* She just gave an uninterested sniff. Taking that as affirmation, Richter continued.

“Finally, I’m sure you have all seen our friends the Wood Sprites throughout the village. Some of you may have been here earlier, but I’ll repeat for those of you who were not. Tonight we will be planting a Seed Core. It will grow a magical tree that will greatly benefit us. The Hearth Mother has done us the great favor of placing a blessing upon the Seed that will let it grow much quicker than otherwise possible. We are truly lucky to have such good friends!” Richter looked up at the darkening sky. The color was not just due to the setting sun, but also because it was heavy with storm clouds. Richter gave a laugh, “All are welcome to attend the ceremony if you’re willing to brave a little rain.”

The people laughed good-naturedly along with him. A sympathy laugh, Richter thought, but I’ll take it. Richter raised his hand to signal that he was done speaking. The people dispersed and he walked down the slope that led from the tunnel to the village below. One of the sprites met him at the bottom. The green clad warrior stared at Richter’s familiar before speaking.

“The Hearth Mother is at the lake in the hills north of the village. She asks that you join her. She says that there is no rush, but to please come before sunset.”

“Please tell her I’ll be there soon.” He would have gone straight there, but a stream of air into his ear reminded him of his responsibilities.

He turned his head to look at the dragonling, “Don’t go getting fresh.” His familiar didn’t deign to reply. A quick question to a passing villager pointed him in the direction of the makeshift store houses for their food. He walked up to the small series of sheds. He was about to open the first door when his familiar jumped off his shoulders with a shriek. She glided through the air and landed on a deer that a hunter was dressing with a broad-bladed knife. The man stumbled back with a startled cry and raised his dagger. The dragonling hissed at the man, then turned back to the deer. She stuck her face into the bloody haunch, and then began tearing off bloody chunks and swallowing them whole.

Richter took in the scene and recognized it for what it truly was, a calamity in the making. There would be no bloodshed right now because he was here to intervene. In the future, however, that was not necessarily a sure thing. He needed to deal with this now. Better to establish boundaries early. He walked up to the dragonling, and said, “Stop.”

His familiar ignored him. He repeated himself only louder but had the same result. Having had enough, he reached out and yanked the deer to the ground. *STOP!*

The dragonling grabbed hold of the wooden frame that the deer had been hanging from. She twisted her sinuous neck to stare at Richter. She let loose a harsh hiss and bared her fangs at him.

Richter didn’t move. He just looked into his familiar’s eyes and waited for whatever would happen. He knew two things. One, in every pack there was an alpha. Two, that alpha was him. They stared at each other for long minutes, the dragonling’s back arched as she hissed at him intermittently. After a time, she stopped baring her teeth, though her wings remained flared.

*Mine,* she thought at him defiantly projecting an image of the deer carcass

He had a feeling that a well-reasoned argument would not convince his familiar. Instead, he thought of the image of her sitting on his shoulders, and communicated the thought, *Family*. Then he thought of looking at all of the people who had listened to his announcement. He projected *family* again, but with less intensity. Then he thought of the hunter and repeated *family* at the same level. Finally, he projected the image of the deer carcass back to her, *Ours.*

The dragonling kept her eyes lidded, but relaxed her stance and loosened her neck from full extension. She turned to look at the hunter who was still standing nearby, looking confused at Richter and the psi dragonling. Not surprising seeing as how the man could not hear the silent communication between the two of them. She looked back at Richter and thought, *Hungry!* The thought had much less animosity in it, though.

Richter relaxed his stare as well and put a smile onto his face. He extended his arm and projected, *Trust me.* She gathered herself and gave a small jump. She left the wooden post and clambered up onto his shoulders. He addressed the hunter.

“I’m sorry about that. I know it must have been startling to have her jump out at you like that. She is going to live here, though. Apparently she prefers fresh meat, a fact I learned at exactly the same time as you. I have told her it was wrong that she almost attacked you.”

“You told her, my Lord?” The hunter still hadn’t completely calmed his stance, not that Richter could blame him.

“Yes,” Richter said. “We are able to communicate without words. Mind to mind. The point is, she is my familiar, and she is here to stay. I doubt this is the last time that she will greet you or the other hunters looking for a morsel. If she comes around, I would appreciate it if you would cut off a large piece of meat and set it aside for her.”

The man looked at the other hunters who indicated with small gestures and head shakes that they would not be the ones to feed Richter’s vicious little friend. After a long sigh, the man walked forward towards the deer, but his gaze never left the dragonling. Even when he started cutting the meat, he kept looking back and forth. This was why he almost cut one of his fingers off. He was able to avoid disaster though, and he quickly removed a two-pound piece of meat. That was as far as he was willing to go. It was clear to Richter that he had no intention of getting any closer.

“Place it on the rock please,” Richter said, indicating a low to the ground piece of stone. The man complied and then walked several yards away. Richter turned his head to look at the dragonling. He sent several more thoughts. One was of his mother feeding him, *Family*. Then a second of Richter and the dragonling in the Great Seal chamber, *Family*. Last, an image of what was happening right now, Richter, the hunters and her, *family*. After that he said, “Go eat love.”

She flew from his shoulders and settled onto the meat. In no time at all, she was attacking it again and eating with abandon. Richter looked at the hunters. “I have to go. I have no idea how much she will need to eat. It would probably be a good idea, that if it looks like she is still hungry, just to give her more meat.” The hunters nodded vigorously. Richter didn’t really want to leave her so early, but he needed to go see Hisako. Despite the small battle of wills he had just won, he realized she was a wild creature. He couldn’t watch over her all of the time hoping she didn’t fly away. He decided to put faith in their soul bond.

*Come find me when you are done.* She didn’t give an indication that she had heard. He decided not to push the issue. He realized that he was lucky to have survived even one instance of getting between a hungry woman and her meal. He wasn’t stupid enough to try it a second time.

He started walking toward the lake in the hills above the village. The sun had just fallen behind the trees. No rain had fallen yet, but the first peals of thunder could be heard in the distance. Walking through the village, he couldn’t help but feel pleased at the gentle industry taking place around him. All of these people, human and nonhuman, were working together to create a meaningful home. He felt lucky to be a part of it.

It didn’t take long to reach the foot of the hill. The hilltop was several dozen yards in elevation above the village. It was an easy climb if approached by the slope that was about ten yards across, the base of the slope being within the walls of the village. There was no other way to easily ascend. To the left of the slope was a steep escarpment that quickly became a sheer cliff. The lake above drained down the cliff forming a small waterfall. The waterfall in turn made a small river that joined another minor river that came from the base of the cliff. The resulting larger river flowed west into the forest.

Hisako, Yoshi, and the other sprites were waiting at the top of the hill, speaking softly. Mostly talking softly, Richter corrected himself. It brought a faint smile to his face to see Sion’s beleaguered expression as Daniella continued to express her latest opinion of his Companion’s faults. Richter looked past the sprites out over the meadow he now stood in. It was the first time he had ever come up here, he realized. It was a beautiful sight.

The grassy field was more than a mile long, probably closer to between two or three. The southern boundary of the meadow curved outward slightly, the edge defined by the sharp drop off of the cliff. Along the edge, several rows of tall trees grew. They acted like a screen, blocking visualization of much of what was past the drop off. The northern and eastern borders were sharp cliffs of white stone. Grey lines traced through the rock and it sparkled slightly. Randolphus had told him the stone was called marbled quartz. It was the same stone that the Mist Workers had been collecting from the nearby quarry. It was apparently extremely strong. That coupled with its attractive appearance, made the quartz a highly sought after building material, at least according to his new chamberlain. The western edge of the meadow was a stand of tall trees that perched above another drop-off. The only easy entrance was the slope Richter had just walked up.

The western end of the hilltop was dominated by a lake. It was easily a quarter of a mile across. A waterfall came from the northern cliff face falling into the lake. A phosphorescent green algae hugged the lake bed, making it glow slightly in the fading light. The undulation of the glowing plants gave the appearance of slow movement beneath the surface of the water. The southern edge of the lake drained down the escarpment creating the second waterfall that fell to the level of the village. The entire rest of the meadow was a riot of color. Countless flowers and vibrant plants dotted the grassy surface, and even in the fading light it was beautiful.

“Thank you for coming, Richter,” Hisako said. “This is an amazing place. Some of the herbs and plants that are numerous in this meadow are actually quite rare.”

“Sion had mentioned that,” Richter replied.

“I asked you up here because this is the perfect spot for planting the Seed Core. The land is obviously fertile, and the tree would be protected by the landscape. We will do the ceremony in the northeast corner if you have no objections.”

“I don’t, and thank you again Hisako. This means a great deal to me. When should we start?”

“The storm is almost here and night has almost fallen. In a few hours the conditions should be perfect.”

“Which is just enough time of us to get some training in,” Yoshi said with a sly grin. He held up a length of wood and waggled it slightly.

Richter’s face did not have a grin on it.