The Last Rio Story - Part Two

The druid returned slowly to the sacred grove. The soft glow of the Moonwell and the warm strength of the Earth Mother served as his anchor in the Moonshae until he settled back into the bears body, now completely covered in snow. His ears told him that Thistle was prowling the grove on her final patrol before retiring for the night. Rio was amazed the old part wolf, part moor hound was still around but knew that her longevity was directly attributable to being Arial's familiar. Rio stretched out his awareness towards her invoking Speak to Animal as effortlessly as drawing breath.

"We're safe and secure this night old friend." The bear huffed. "Go and curl up inside where it's warm."

Thistle turned to regard him raising her nose slightly and sniffing the chill air. She turned to look at the doorway into the cliff but then padded over to sit near the Moonwell where she sat looking at the druid with bright clear eyes.

"This night I am with you my pack master." The moor hound snorted. "Mistress Arial and her mate are sleeping in the arms of Mother Earth. Her thoughts are quiet so I will share mine with you."

Rio lifted his head, shaking the snow off as he turned to gaze at the creature that his daughter had befriended back during her Rite of Passage. He felt that something about Thistle was different, that somehow she was more vibrant than usual, but for some reason he couldn't put his finger on, and wasn't really even aware of, the clarity of her thought and expressions didn't seem out of place.

Rio smiled. "And what thoughts would those be you old wolf?"

Thistle looked him straight in the eye. "Thoughts of life!"

Journey of a Thousand Lifetimes

It was a beautiful day as the mid-afternoon sun beat down on the fields surrounding Windrock Keep. Rio enjoyed working outdoors tremendously and loved the smell of the earth as he gathered a deep soil sample from the edge of one of the experimental gardens. He knew the detail with which Hardin, the Master Cropsman, would examine the samples he was collecting and was sure his father would be asked to make some alchemical tests as well.

This particular "garden" was actually quite large and had been dedicated since about the time Rio had been born 20 years earlier to the crossing of several types of grain in the hopes of developing a plant that would better withstand the cold allowing for a larger harvest later in the year. Rio wasn't sure how or why such a thing might be possible, but he knew there had been some success and he was determined to learn even if it meant lots of field work which he didn't mind anyway. Hardin was a fair man who himself had done field work, become a crop specialist, and then field master before being appointed the Lord's Master Cropsman and Rio knew he would be given the opportunity of following the same path.

He strained to turn the magical coring tool the last foot of the way into the ground and then stopped before releasing it to rub his aching shoulders. Rio had long since gotten over the novelty of the magical device which allowed long, narrow cylindrical samples of earth to be extracted without digging a huge hole. He also appreciated the magic that made them work through anything - dirt, rock or otherwise, and that they always worked to the depth of the core tool, but he didn't understand why they couldn't have been made such that they were as effortless to turn at the end as they were at the beginning instead of getting progressively harder the deeper they went. He studied the coring tool, little more than a thin cylinder itself with small handles at one end, and shook his head.

"I'll never understand magic." Rio said aloud. "At least the crops and the seasons follow a pattern."

He dug in his pocket for the cores release key and touching it to shaft, heard the odd "crack" of the spell completion, and pulled the tool slowly out of the ground, the sample collected.

Turning to collect his other sample and head back to the keep Rio saw a young woman standing at the edge of the forest about 40 feet away watching him. She was dressed in a long tan robe tied at her waist with soft brown leather boots beneath. Her long jet black hair was loosely braided and she wore a simple headband with two feathers hanging from one side. She smiled when their eyes met and Rio could not help but do the same. He figured her to be in her early 20's (a few years older than himself) and he had never seen her before.

"It's not magic you know, that drives the crops and the seasons, but a power beyond them." Her voice was soft and musical but there was something in her words that clicked in his mind. He did know this.

As she walked towards him his thoughts were filled with a recent memory of the smell of freshly tilled soil and a thought that he'd had at the time, quickly forgotten, that the earth itself smelled rich and alive.

"The animals, the plants, the seasons, even we ourselves follow the cycles and balance of this power."

Rio's mind again flashed with memories. Witnessing the births of foals at the stables with his mother standing watchfully by. Seeing the first tips of young seedlings emerging from the fields in the early spring. Feeling the first rays of the sun on his face on a warm summer morning. He nodded.

"Yes!" Rio said realizing suddenly that many of his own observations and ideas absolutely confirmed her statement. "There is something more here!" For a brief moment of clear insight and unexpected awareness his thoughts spun out of control and presented him with an unimaginable power and presence. It vanished when the woman smiled again.

"Who are you?" Rio asked.

"My name is Hannah. It is my task to weave my path such that it crosses that of others, and to set them firmly and knowingly on that path which they have already started to unknowingly follow. "

Rio heard the words but their meaning didn't sink in and for a moment he stood in place not knowing what to say.

"How come I've never seen you before? Are you from across Windrock?"

The woman laughed. "All these questions and you've not even told me your name."

"I'm sorry," Rio said realizing it to be true as he set down the two cores and wiped the dirt off his hands. "I'm Rio."

He extended his hand in greeting and Hannah shook it smartly with a firm grip. Her skin was soft and he found her suddenly alluring, full of mystery and unspoken excitement.

"Will you walk with me back to the keep?" He said hopefully.

"No," Hannah said, "I've only come to give you this." She handed him one of the feathers from her headband. "You'll know what to do with it when the time comes."

Rio looked at the long thin feather and admired the intricate and subtle coloration. He stroked it absently and raised the tip to his nose. It had a strange but pleasant odor.

"How can I find you later? I have to get these cores back to Master Hardin but I'd like to see you after dinner, to talk more about it."

"Well..." Hannah said with smiling eyes that made Rio just melt. "If you follow our mother's path Nara may allow our weaves to cross again. You might even learn to recognize me."

Hannah removed the other feather from her headband, stepped back and said with a slight bow, "Welcome Rio! Welcome to the Circle of Life."

With that she touched the feather to her forehead and vanished. In her place, for just a heartbeat was a magnificent Islemar Falcon hanging in the air between wing beats. Before he could even react it was arcing away from him in flight.

 

More to come...