Chapter 12

By Erik Brown

As he walked through the field, the tall grass divided around him. Skabar the weasel lead him through the amber waves of weeds, as chirping crickets dove out of the way.

"This sure is a nice place."

"Yes, the lands in these hills are sacred to many."

"It's so serene. I mean, I come from Kabe town, but this land is so peaceful."

"That is why I meditate in these fields." Skabar said with a hint of a warning of not to do it again.

"Sorry about disturbing you."

The weasel gave only a 'pshaw', to the apology.

They walked further, passing huge monolithic stones. Upon those rocks were intricate carvings. Rei stopped to admire the design.

"Don't stop, that is not for your eyes to see."

Rei turned slowly, as a smear of red paint near a bottom, un-carved corner, had caught his eye. "Why?"

"Those images are not for your eyes."

"Why not? Doesn't make much sense? Who put them there?"

"My ancestor carved those symbols. The clan of Merita! That is a ward for evil spirits."

"Oh."

"You see, it is not for the eyes of an infidel, such as yourself, to gaze upon the carvings."

He turned away, and continued following Skabar. But soon curiosity began to hungrily gnaw at him, and he couldn't help but query of Skabar about the clan of Merita.

"Skabar?"

"Yes?"

"Will you tell me where the clan of Merita is?"

"No."

"Oh." He was prepared to leave it at that, Rei didn't really want to provoke the powerful weasel.

"I cannot tell you… for they have scattered to the corners of the seven corners of the North World."

"Seven corners?"

"A Merita tale. When Seprucen divided the world."

"Seprucen? Is that like a god?"

"No. It is the Creator. The Measure Maker of the Heavens and the planets. He saw that there was evil and corruption in the world, and so divided it into five pieces. But it is ancient legends, more ancient than the world itself.

"But the Merita people were the worse of the world. We fell fully from grace, and Seprucen frowned upon our wicked ways. We kept the teachings of Seprucen to ourselves, and lived in greed and cruelty. Now we only lip serve a faithless religion. I have searched my whole life for grace, and someday I hope to find it. Even if that means that I must disavow the teachings of Merita, if I am to hear Seprucen more clearly. Sometimes it is merely tradition upon tradition. We do the same movements and chants, that after awhile it becomes seemingly meaningless. But enough talk of religion, we are nearly to my abode."

Skabar pointed at what looked like a large pile of earth covered with green plants. Rei was a bit perplexed; "I don't see anything but bushes and trees."

"It is among the plants, I have carefully built the surrounding wall after many long years. The house beyond the wall has been there for generations. The wall and the foliage were my wife's idea."

"I see the bricks now, they have been carefully covered up."

"Yes."

They stepped through a seeming gate of sorts, and Rei found himself in a marvelous place. Plants from foreign lands had been planted within the walls. Great blooms of every hue were everywhere. Small statues dotted the grounds, in between small rows of vegetables. He looked around, and saw that a well was not far off, and there was also a shack of sorts further back.

The house itself was built of mud bricks, and covered with pasty white spackle. It was not very large either, and it seemed to only consist of three or so rooms. Possibly only containing a main room, a bedroom, and a small kitchen.

"Is there a cellar at all?"

"I am still building one. I am also just about ready to build another room, as I hope to be needing one." With a grunt, Skabar plunged his sword into the ground, and left it there. He raised his hand to his head, and whispered to it.

"Hmm? Another room?"

"Nothing."

"What is that?" Rei pointed at a flat piece of earth. It looked as if the ground had been salted, as nothing grew there. Lines seemed to have been drawn in the ground, and brightly colored stones surrounded the piece of ground.

"That is where I pray and meditate."

"I thought you meditate in the fields?"

"Only on days like this one. When nature brims with life as it does today. Other days I kneel on the dry earth."

A woman's call split the air. "Skabar! Are you back yet?"

"Yes Lily, I have come back. I've brought something as well."

"A gift for me?" Skabar's wife, Lily, burst through the front door of the house, she was smiling. For a weasel she was utterly beautiful. Her body was finely crafted; everything about her was perfect, well, for a weasel. She was covered in fine, glossy white fur, and a thick and well kempt tail hung behind her. Wearing a pair of loose pants, and a tight shirt with an abstract foreign design.

Her face lit up and her bright green eyes glowed. She folded her hands, and she eyed Rei with happy eyes.

Rei choked out, "A gift?"

Skabar plucked a flower nearby, and presented it to his wife. With a sweep of his hand he placed it in behind her ear, "For you." Then he bent forward and whispered something in her ear.

Lily took out the flower and hit Skabar with it. "You idiot, look at him!" She pointed at Rei, "He's so adorable?"

"Geh?" Skabar gulped.

"What's your name sweety?"

"Eh, Rei.

"Well, Rei, I'm Lily." She shook her head and said, "tsk, tsk", then she turned to Skabar and irately asked, "Did you get that soot all over his face? Get him cleaned up, and I'll cook some dinner." She grabbed Skabar by his snout, and deftly flipped him so that he was on his back. She hissed at him, "And clean him with water!"

Between closed teeth, he said to her with absolute submission, "Right away dear."

"Good." She let go of him, and looked up at Rei. In her sweetest voice she said to him, "We're going to have Gresa root soup. You'll love it! I swear."

Daintily she walked inside, and shut the door. Skabar sat up and rubbed his snout. Rei stood in a stupor, "What was that all about?"

"I'm not sure."

…

Skabar lead Rei around to the other side of the house. There were a couple trees that had grown up next to the wall there. Strung among them were lengths of rope. Skabar draped some sheets over the ropes, and told Rei to get inside.

"I will get some water from the well. Clean up with that. It will be very cold."

"Uh, right."

After a little bit Skabar came back with some water, and handed it to Rei from behind the sheets. He also handed him some clothes to wear. They were a bit large for him, but should work. "Lily shouldn't take too long to make the food. When you are done we will eat. We will be eating on the veranda, it is right over there."

"Yes, I saw it when you brought me over here." The veranda had had a table and some chairs set up, underneath a thin roof of dried grasses. Otherwise there were no walls save the back of the car.

"If you need anything else, don't ask me. I will be meditating, and I must not be disturbed."

He began to wash the soot off of the feathers on his face and hands. It was difficult taking the disguise off. He hoped that there wasn't anyway that they might have heard about him at all. They were certainly going to be surprised by the color of his feathers!

The water was ice cold, and it took him a little bit to get used to it. He wished that they might have had some soap, or even a mirror to check his progress. He scoured and he scrubbed until he was somewhat happy with the results. At least he could tell his hands were clean.

He put the loose clothes over his body. They were so loose, he was almost lost in them. The shirt lacked sleeves, and had key designs all over it, and was otherwise blue all over. The pants were large and ivory in color. He rolled up the cuffs at the bottom, and tried to make them less baggy. Finally notching the belt as tight as he could, he stepped out from behind the sheets.

Lily was standing over the table with a huge bowl of steaming soup. Rei was a bit shocked at how strong she was, as he doubted he could lift the mammoth kettle. Upon seeing Rei, she exclaimed with an excited voice, "Why, you have the nicest feathers I've ever seen!"

"Thanks."

"That idiot husband of mine was probably the one who got those nice feathers of yours dirty."

"No actually I did that."

"Hmm?"

Rei chuckled at the thought, "It was a disguise, I was trying to hide from someone."

Empathetically she put a hand to her mouth, "Oh no! Who would be after a nice bird like you?"

"Uh… I'd rather not say."

She took her hand away from her face, and used it to pick up a large wooden spoon, "Well that's okay darling. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

Rei smiled, she certainly was nice. "So when do we eat."

"We can eat any time now." She turned around and bellowed towards the other side of the house, where Skabar most likely was. "Skabar! Food!"

Rei shook, startled by her brashness. In a worried voice he asked her, "But isn't he meditating? Should we disturb him?"

Lily waved a hand at him, "Naw, he can do that another time."

A roaring voice came in reply, "Woman! I'm trying to concentrate!"

"Concentrate when we don't have company over!"

Audible growls were her response. Rei asked her, "But aren't you a Merita weasel too?"

Smiling, she answered him, "Of course I am. Skabar told you about that, didn't he? Well today isn't any kind of holy day, what he's doing is something that he wants to do. Part of his own methods that he's trying."

"Right, he wants to hear Seprucen, right?"

"That's it?"

"Don't you… I mean no disrespect to you, but don't you honor that about him?"

She laughed, "Of course, that's why I fell in love with him. But right now we have you over. He can be reverent other days."

He thought about it, and then cautiously asked, "Does he get really mad at you sometimes?"

This only got him more laughter, "Of course! Everyone gets angry at each other all of the time. He just knows that I can lick him any day!" She raised her paws, and punched the air.

Skabar rounded the corner, with a look of anger on his face. He saw his wife punching the air, and he struggled to smile a little.

"Well I'm glad you finally showed up."

"Yah, yah."

"I think this is some of the best soup I've ever made."

Skabar spread out his hands, as he stepped onto the veranda, "Well you always make the best soups, there's no question there, honey."

"You know it!"

Rei chirped up, "Well I have to say Mrs. Tselent, it does smell delicious."

"Thank you dear, and please, call me Lily. Now everyone, sit down and I'll serve you some."

So Rei sat down across from Skabar, as Lily gave them both generous servings of her soup. Rei sniffed at the curious looking soup. It reminded him of his first day on the North World, when Chassy made him some soup. This was actually fresh and natural, though he hadn't queried Chassy as to whether her's had come from a can or not.

This soup was thin, and little floating bits of root floated in it. Sparse seasonings had also been added to the mix. It smelled divine, and Rei was quick to dip his spoon into it to have a taste. Certainly it was the best soup he had ever tasted in his life, better than any canned soup he had ever had. Well, there had been times long ago when his grandmother had made gumbo, and there was no competition for a grandmother's gumbo! No matter how distant the memories!

He began to quickly scoop the steaming soup into his open beak. Skabar stared at him, "Now there's no rush, is there?"

"Be quiet Skabar, he can eat it however he wants. We have plenty where that came from." Shrugging, Skabar turned back to his own food.

"You know, I bet that bread I was cooking is just about done."

Rei looked up from his soup, "Ooh, fresh bread."

She smiled at his exuberance as she pushed herself up from the table, "I'll be right back."

Skabar leaned over the table and said to Rei, "You'll probably have to dip the bread in the soup. She makes good soup, but her bread is usually much too hard."

"I have to say again, thanks so much for bringing me here. If you hadn't saved me from those thieves, I would have never had such great food."

The weasel grimaced, "Look, forget about it. Please."

This irked the bird a bit, "Okay."

Lily came back with a basket of bread. "Now let it cool down a bit, and then you can have some."

"Alright! The bread smells great too."

"Oh please, you're too much."

She sat down, and began to eat her own soup. They ate a while in silence, as Rei and Skabar were both content with their meals, and Lily was content with her hosting so far. She finished first, despite Rei's vicious method of eating his soup. She had only taken less than half a bowl anyway.

Standing up, she reached for the spoon in the pot, "Would you like some more boys?"

They held out waiting bowls to her, and simultaneously said, "Please." Then she took the bread, and broke a loaf in half for the two.

She folded her hands in her lap, and smiling asked Rei, "So where did you say you came from?"

In between awkward bites, for birds have only a beak to work with on eating even soup-filled bread, Rei replied, "Oh, I was born in Kabe Town, but I was on my way from Nogrias to Marburg."

"Now, why would a sweetie like you be going to Marburg."

He smiled at her, "Sorry, again I don't really want to go into that. But I have some people that I need to contact."

"Now Skabar here knows some people in Marburg!"

"Dear, I only know some contractors and glassmakers. Nothing fancy like Winter or Sieve."

Rei tried not to get uncomfortable about it, and instead continued, "Have both of you always lived in this area?"

Lily blushed, "Oh I have, I'm just a country girl. My family owned this land for generations. There used to be a farm not far from her. It's abandoned now. Many memories there."

"Not I. I was a wanderer for many years before I met Lily."

"Will you tell Rei the story dear?"

"Wha? No, I'd rather not."

"It's a very interesting story." She turned to Rei, "Ask him to tell you."

"Will you tell me?"

Skabar winced, "I suppose I could. It's not that interesting though."

Lily scolded her reluctant spouse, "Tell it. Loosen up a bit, you always get this way when we have company."

"Fine, fine."

Rei set down the piece of bread he was about to eat, as he waited for Skabar to clear his throat. He began, "Right. Well as I said I was prone to wander in my youth. From the time I could walk, I was going places, and getting into things, and generally doing what I shouldn't have been doing. Even when I was older, I still did those sorts of things. Only the cookie's I had been trying to steal, was giving way to more adult concerns."

"I was about eighteen, when I first set out. It wasn't until ten years later that I finally settled down. In that time I met interesting creatures, and some not so interesting. I met traitors, and I rubbed elbows with patriots. Treated kindly by the generous and charitable, scorned by those filled with blind prejudice. I slept on the road, and I shared tables with storytellers. Once I even sparred with a master of combat, high atop cliffs, amid a great waterfall.

"Making my way from the frozen plains of the north, down to the searing sands of the southern deserts. I've seen absolute beauty, and I've seen stomach-churning hideousness. And I still made the mistake of poking my nose into matters that didn't concern me. It was in the north that I met the clan of Shuer. Shuer is one of the tribes of Merita, whom were split apart, to wander the world for all time.

"I was surprised to find some who were like me, and who might treat me kindly. I was mistaken, and they captured me, and were prepared to kill me. Thankfully I was sparred, as one of the elders of the clan took pity on me. He was able to release me, and off I went, hoping to rid myself of that accursed people. But fate had another plan.

"Pinned to me was a note, stating that the Shuer people were going to war with the Muerisa clan in the south. I was young, and at the time I had a taste for vengeance. Hastening my pace, it was not long before I was in the south, among the Muerisa clan. Unlike the Shuers, the Muerisa's saw me as related. They soon took me in, and that's where I met Lily. She was the Chief-Father's daughter, and we fell in love."

Skabar looked down at his half finished meal. Lily took his hand, "It's all right, and I'll tell the rest if you don't want to."

He looked at her "Yes, if you don't mind I'm going to meditate."

"You go right ahead, you've been very polite to our guest."

Skabar left, and Lily took over at telling the story, "Now Rei, you're probably wondering what happened next. After all, two clans who were ancestrally warriors were soon coming to blows. If it hadn't been for Skabar we would have been rushed, and the Mueria's would be no more."

"Was it fought around here?" He noticed some sadness in her face as he asked.

She nodded, "Yes, it was not far from here. There are still ruins of burnt out buildings. It was a gruesome battle, and there were many casualties on both sides."

"Had this sort of thing happened before?"

"No. Long ago we had beaten our own swords in to farm equipment. We wanted to start bringing about life, and to stop destroying it. A generation went by, and our children were forgetting of war and murder. Then one day, on a stormy night, Skabar came to us. He was worn out and tired. We freely gave him care, and I was by his side until he was ready to give us the news. The Shuer's were indeed ready to attack us, and we were scared out of our minds."

Rei interrupted her, "But, why?"

She casually smiled at him, "They had learned of our disavowing of Merita traditions. They were coming to rectify us. Knowing us to be weak, having broken down our weapons, we were fools, and we were ready to be slaughtered."

Brushing a tear away, she continued, "Skabar not only brought himself, but he was also able to persuade some mercenaries to aid us. With them on our side we were able to defend ourselves. But it was to no avail." She stopped, and cried out.

He tried to stand up to consol her, but she gestured to sit down. Wiping away the tears with her napkin, she said, "It's alright, I've just forgotten how sad this story can be.

"All of us were killed. Even Unar the Shadow Blade was killed, and my sisters were laid out slain too." She sniffled, "There were only two left on the battlefield. The chiefs, Shuer and Mueria. Skabar saved me from my sister's fates, but even he was unable to save my father.

"They circled round and round, they were twins you know, and they knew exactly how the other thought. But my father, Mueria, was filled with bitter rage at the death of his family, and the destruction of his lands. He slew Shuer with a plow that had been left in the ground, but Shuer was able to stab him in the neck. We burned Shuer's body, and we buried Mueria in the fields.

"Time may forget my clan, but I will not."

Dumb struck by the sorrowful tale, and filled with sadness by the tale, he sat there, unsure as to what he should do. Lily saw the hurt in Rei's eyes.

"I'm sorry dear, I didn't mean to make you sad. Skabar always tells it that he saved the day, and that he rescued me. Sometimes I go out to the place where they buried my mother and my sisters. They are happy now, I am sure."

She stood up, "I'm sorry I didn't make anything for desert. I hadn't planned on having company."

He was a bit shook up by the abrupt change in conversation, but he was somewhat glad she changed the subject. "Oh that's alright. You've been more than kind Lily. I can help you clean up, at least."

Lily watched as he struggled to life the mammoth soup pot off of the table. Deftly she took it form him, and carried it off the veranda, and towards the well. "Maybe you should get the dishes, Rei."

"Yeah, maybe." He scooped up the bowls, and laid the spoons on the top bowl. Balancing the ceramics in his hands, he leapt off the veranda, and brought the bowls to Lily, who was bringing up well water. She pointed to a large basin, and he set the bowls in there.

As she scrubbed the dishes, he thought about parts of the story the Tselent's had told him, and he asked, "Now Mrs. Tselent, you had said that you fell in love with Skabar for the methods of, uh, meditation he was using. But he said that you two fell in love when you met for the first time."

She shrugged, "Well, you know, there's more to love than physical attraction and infatuation. He loved me at first for my looks, but I ventured into his feelings and we found we were right for each other."

He thought about him and Chassy, and about their days together. He worried a bit whether it was only blind infatuation, and he was filled with a want to finish his mission, and return to her. "I suppose you're right," then he yawned.

Lily turned to him, "Oh you must be exhausted. After I'm finished here, I'll help you set up your bed. You should be able to sleep out on the veranda, it'll be a warm night tonight."

…

"I'm sorry Lily, I don't know what I was thinking!"

She walked up to him and rubbed the side of his face, "I know dear, but you did think that, but I do know that you feel ashamed about it."

"Still, I won't do it, I am not taking him to Marburg." He turned around, and crossed his arms.

Rubbing up against him, she put her arms under his, and moved her hands across his chest. He shook as she did so, "You know that if you don't just agree to do this, that I will have to make you take him."

He growled, "Yes, I know."

"All you have to do is help him get to Marburg and then on his way home again. Then if you can't help him get what he needs, you can come back."

Growling he stammered, "I-I don't…"

Lily 'shushed' him, and then said, "Honey, he's one of the sweetest birds I've ever met. Do it for me, please."

With narrowed eyes, he just growled.

She stood on her tippy toes, and whispered in his ear, "Don't, and you'll be sleeping on the couch for a long time."

His body convulsed, and his eyes got wide. "W-wha… What?"

"You heard right." Like lightning, she had him pinned to the ground, twisting his arm in an uncomfortable position, "And if you want, you can start tonight."

…

Rei sat under the veranda, staring up through the cracks at the starry night above. He sighed as he stretched out on the straw bed he laid on. So majestic, he just couldn't get enough of the vastness of the North World nights. The moon let down it's light, and illuminated the garden. It was so beautiful; he wished he could share the moment with Chassy.

He heard the door behind him open, as Skabar trudged out with bedding and some blankets.

For a second Rei thought it was for him, "Oh, this bed is comfortable enough."

Skabar growled at him, as he laid out the bedding. "Naw, I've come to keep you company."

Rei mentally scratched his head, and hesitantly said, "Okay."

"Yah, there might be those two that chased you."

"Oh."

He laid down, and turned over. Rei continued to look at the heavens. Without looking over, he asked the weasel, "Nice night."

All he got in reply was a throaty growl. Rei decided it might be better to just go to sleep.