When Thadus finished the process of awkwardly washing himself as best as he could, he found that the vile beast had moved to graze between him and the fireplace. He walked downstream to avoid the monster it was.
As he got back onto the ground, he asked the winds to help him dry. While they blew away some of the moisture, he moved to the fireplace. The flames were burning quite a lot better now, and Linden had produced a woven mat. When he approached, they didn’t take their face away from removing the bones from the cooked fish, but they pointed at the mat.
“Lord Thadus would be unlikely to sit on the ground, especially when drenched, so I offer my humble solution to this conundrum. It is what I have used it for in different terrain.”
Thadus had no complaints. Many misgivings, but no complaints. He placed the wrapped up soap on a rock before he sat down to dry and warm up.
His boots had been propped up on sticks to dry. The two branches had been made into a single pole and that was laid next to Linden.
He sat cross-legged, finding that it was a shame he had no table with wine. At least then, he would have felt slightly more dignified. Instead, he watched as the mortal place each bone onto a small sheet of fabric. They removed them efficiently and meticulously. Eventually, they had cleaned up half and put it on their wooden plate.
“Here, Lord Thadus. It’s merely salted, so excuse the bland taste. But it will help you keep w—”
They paused as they looked up, handing him the plate. They stared at him before saying, “…How come Lord Thadus entered the water a human, but exited a nymph after he bathed?”
Thadus knitted his brow in bewilderment.
“You are covered in leaves,” they then explained. “And I believe I see a few flower buds too…”
Thadus looked at his shirt, and the now-multiplied vines had wrapped around his waist, his sleeves, his chest and his neck. He touched his head and realised the vine had even settled there. He was so accustomed to having vegetation all around him in Eden, he hadn’t quite noticed the difference in the vine while focused on removing the dirt from his body.
He coaxed the vine to raise its end and wrap around his finger so he could move it from his hair, worried it might get tangled in it. It slithered all around in his shirt and in his hair as it moved to take hold of him. He unwrapped it from his neck, then found the next end to have it unwrapped from his waist. It was less willing, trying to move down his leg, but he didn’t let it.
Looking up again, he saw Linden gave him a curious look. He simply explained, “It’s my earth spirit.”
“Oh.” Linden nodded and handed Thadus the plate with half the fish, not seeming surprised by such an explanation, although mortals should have been, usually.
It was Thadus’ turn to give the mortal a look, but Linden only urged him to take the plate, not acknowledging his look whatsoever.
Thadus had no will to attempt to make useless conversation, so he took it without a word. He put it aside as he coiled a thin vine in his palm and forced it to regress.
I told you not to be in a rush. Look at you now. How grotesque you’re to lay eyes upon.
He took the next vine and repeated the process.
As he coiled a third vine, he heard Linden speak: “Lord Sage spoke of those who can work with the plant spirits of the earth element. He told me that it was unlikely I would ever meet a caster who was attuned to life itself. To commune with plants is not an easy task. They may wither away, unlike the spirits of the wind and waters, unlike the mountains or even the fire given by the sun itself.”
Thadus paused. “Who is this tutor of yours? Your tutor speaks of things a mortal wouldn’t understand. “
“Who ever said Lord Sage was a mortal? My whole life, my father’s whole life, and surely my grandfather’s whole life, my dearest tutor of culture, was a Lord Spellcaster. His brother was one too, albeit this I only know by word. I have never met Lord Basil, as he opted to never leave the land of spellcasters.”
Thadus nearly ripped the vine in his hand apart from the shock.
It took him a moment to find his words, barely containing his outrage. “How dare you speak of such absurdity! Either your tutor was delusional, or you yourself are!”
“The decisions of one man do not dictate the knowledge of a whole people. Lord Sage left Empyrean willingly. That does not change that spellcaster choose to remain where you are born.” Linden broken off a piece of their half of the fish.
“Likewise, the decisions of one man do not dictate the outcome of a single state. Lord Sage taught me the importance of understanding humankind, and as such, when circumstances of my house changed, I left my home out of necessity, and one day I shall return to whence I came. Much like Lord Thadus chose to visit Rockforge, and will return to his home, I do this same thing too. Lord Sage likely had the same intention, only what he sought to achieve before returning had yet to be fulfilled before I last spoke with him, many years ago.”
They put the piece of the fish in their mouth.
“A spellcaster would never serve a mortal!” Thadus justifyingly protested.
He had never heard of such a scandal! And someone from Empyrean as well! That was hardly a region much lesser than Eden itself.
The lunatic took their time replying, eating more of their fish, before they spoke. “He served my family. This is the truth. Lord Sage was my tutor, and before me, he briefly tutored my father, and before him, he tutored my esteemed grandfather. He also acted as his advisor, and advised my great-grandmother as well, if I do not misremember. He may have been her tutor as well, but this matter I can’t fully remember whether it was the case. However, Lord Thadus should not mistake Lord Sage for a servant — this he was not. He offered assistance, and he taught us for generations. He was a necessary addition to my family’s trade, and my family gracefully accepted his assistance once the previous advisor left this world for another.”
“Nonsense! Absolute nonsensical absurdities! All of it!”
Linden chuckled softly. “Lord Thadus, did you not call me some variety of ‘wielder’? How come this is so surprising? Did you not yourself already suggest I seek out the Tower of Babel, too? Is it truly so strange that a caster would be a tutor for someone such as my humble self?”
Thadus froze.
That was indeed true.
Linden was not just any mortal. They could wield weaponry with character. This was not a common skill.
“So… your family’s trade is… relic wielding?” he asked doubtfully.
“That it is not. However, I am not the first to,” Linden seemed to seek how to finish their sentence for a moment before they said, “connect with the character of items. I heard from my exalted grandfather that my great-grandmother was quite well-versed in this, too.”
Thadus furrowed his brow.
Linden picked up his plate and offered it to him again. “Eat up before it gets cold, Lord Thadus. I learnt as a child that one’s greatest enemy when cold and wet is not eating food and drinking fluids. This is something that can become the demise of even the hardiest warrior used to the cold north, because one will feel the chill more when one is hungry.”
They stood up and took Thadus’ hand and brought it to hold the plate with gentle determination.
Thadus reluctantly let the vine be and tool the plate.
“Lord Thadus, eat this, so I need not worry for your health. Much like Lord Thadus, although I know other things, I have been educated, so on this matter, do not doubt me as I say that to keep warm, you need more than just the fire. As for myself, I shall wash your coat now.”
Before Thadus had time to voice his thought, Linden added, “I need to take Courage and go hunt for something more substantial. I had intended to do this whilst travelling, but as this will not be the case, I better take my leave within in a reasonable time so I can catch a wild goat or deer, and be able to return in time to cook.”
The fire crackled as Linden tossed the bones into it. They then moved to the stream once more. The monstrosity snorted. When Thadus looked in its direction it trotted over to Linden and buffed their back. Linden smiled and nuzzled its face. What they said he couldn’t tell. He also didn’t care.
He looked away to eat the fish.
It was indeed rather bland.
Still not as much so as the “elevated” inn he had seen in Rockforge, however. He’d give the mortal that amount of unspoken praise.
Linden returned some time later with the coat, having pulled a thin rope through the sleeves. They tied one end of the rope to the nearby tree trunk, and then tied the other end to the pole they made, and, this way, they hung the coat to dry.
The wind sprite, which had played among the leaves of the aspen tree, found this curious and danced over, whirling leaves on the ground, and began to tug on it with glee.
But one thing had crossed Thadus’ mind — a matter he knew because at least this was true between spellcasters and mortals, at least this could not be bent without being a bandit — once he had calmed down.
“You can’t hunt without a permit,” he said. “Poachers are condemned everywhere.”
Linden gave Thadus a smile. “Naturally I know this. And naturally, I have long since obtained a permit. Not a single person will have anything to say about it, even if I were to get every wild goat in the Rockforge vicinity. Or anywhere else, for that matter.”
Thadus narrowed his eyes. Even he couldn’t do that. If he requested the house in First Eden to arrange one for him, he would still be limited to a selection of locations in the United Territories. Who did this mortal think they were? A god?
Linden, after seeming lost in thought for a moment, quietly added, “Except in the Confederation. They would have much to say and I dare not hunt there… Not at this time, at the very least.”
Thadus vaguely got the impression that there was something he ought to say, but what he was supposed to express escaped him.
All he could think was that it was natural that someone wouldn’t have a perfectly universal permit. Although something did not quite make sense…
He watched as Linden saddled their bestial mount. They then walked over to him and put their indigo cloak over him. “Stay warm, Sir Caster. We have many days ahead of us before we reach Noharbour.”
They left him by the fire once more, mounted their horse and galloped away, carrying no visible weapon. What was the mortal going to hunt with? The pipe turned javelin again?
— Was that wise; to speak of Cedar’s advisor in this manner?
— It’s fine, my lady. The spellcaster is prickly but of good character. Let him be.
— Never mind that! Humble One, hunt! What will you use? What will you use? A javelin? A dagger? Axe?
— Child, a hunter with a steed may be best off with a bow and arrows, not an axe or dagger. Your ‘humble one’ is hunting goats, not trees or hares.
— Oh…
— …
— My lady, you are Dart’s elder. Please act with the dignity of an elder with a benevolent heart, not one who finds fault in children yet to learn better.
Author’s Note
The vine spirit finally has been formally introduce to Linden, I suppose.