Chapter 3

A lone man walked through the trees, arms wrapped around his body in a futile attempt to ward off the bone seeping cold. The first rays of light from the rising sun seemed to be absorbed into his black hair as small sticky patches of red marked the path behind him.

It had been four days since he woke once more into this world, with no knowledge of where he was or clothes for him to wear. Four long days since he was pulled out of that vision and thrust into this world eighty years sooner than planned.

After lying on the ground for about an hour, he had decided to get up and simply start to walk. After all, eventually he will have to reach a road right? Or at least that is what he had though four days ago. Unfortunately the only signs of civilization he had found was a pile of bones and a few rags littering the ground around them.

He had done his best to take advantage of the rags, torn and bloody as they were, and had managed to knot them together into a very patchy looking cloak. Sadly, it didn't do much for warmth. Not wanting to stay around in case whatever made the pile came back, Knotai continued walking.

Between the biting cold making him unsure of waking the next day and the fear of another vision, Knotai had refused to sleep and pushed his body as far as he could, step after step, in search of civilization.

Knotai was positive that the lack of sleep was putting a lot more stress on his mind than he had thought. After all, there is no way that what he was seeing could be real. Could there? He rubbed his eyes and blinked a couple times before looking ahead of him again.

Sure enough, there was a human kneeling in the middle of a still smoking, battle wrecked clearing with his hand cradling a little sprout of a flower that seemed to be growing and moving with his fingers. I mean sure he knew what druids were and that they could control plants but to do so in the remnants of a battle field? And one that looked to be a couple hours old at most? If Knotai wasn't imagining it, then this human must simply be mad. There was no other explanation for it.

After a moment of disbelief, he tore his gaze away from the man and looked over the field again. It looked like this place had been the site of a minor skirmish recently. Whoever the sides were and who won was impossible to say, but there were bodies left behind, and on those bodies were clothes and weapons. Knotai sized up the bodies for a moment before moving to the one who seemed closest to his own size and stripping it of its leather armor and a small belt knife.

He looked up once more in search of a way to try and clean off the blood before putting them on when his gaze locked onto a pair of silver eyes staring straight into his own from three feet away.

With a shout of alarm, Knotai tried to jump back and felt his foot catch on the body he was just working. The world spun in a dizzying spiral for a moment before he found himself laying back on the ground with his feet pointing up towards the druid, propped on the fallen body.

A soft voice, with a deep baritone, that seems out of place when compared to the form it is released from rumbles through the clearing. "Well now, that just can't be comfortable for you. Let's do something about it."

Before Knotai can react, the druid's fingertips brush across the bloody strips of flesh that Knotai's soles had been reduced to. A soft moan escapes his lips before he can reign it as he feels pain that he wasn't even aware of anymore ease away, leaving a soothing, if slightly chilly, feeling behind.

With wide eyes, he bent his leg and tilted his foot towards his gaze and stared in awe and slight disbelief as all he found was unblemished, healthy skin.

He raised his head, word of thanks on his lips, before he noticed that the druid had already moved on. In fact, he was starting to walk out of the clearing with a familiar ball of black feathers resting on his shoulder.

Knotai quickly scrambled to his feet and mindless of the dirt, blood, and his own modesty, he shucked the ragged robe off of his shoulders and squeezed into the leather armor before rushing after the druid.

After a couple minutes of following behind him, Knotai decided that it was up to him to break the silence. "So, thank you for that back there."

The druid tilted his head forward slightly in acknowledgement. In that brief movement, Knotai noticed that the little raven that had been following him ever since he woke up here was making soft sounds in the druid's ear. And even stranger, the druid seemed to be listening to it as if he could understand it.

Shaking his head slightly, Knotai decided to mark it up to a hallucination brought on by his lack of sleep before attempting to start up a conversation again. "My name is Knotai, and I was wondering if you might know where we are."

A silver eye gleams in the light as the druid looks back over his shoulder at him. "Hmm, yes. Your friend here has informed me much about you. And I do believe where we are is of less importance to you than where we are heading." The druid looked forward again and continued moving forward as he spoke. "My name is Sotirios and I shall be leading you towards Senaria. But until we get there, let me tell you about the changes that have been wrought in the lands since you last walked them, ancient one."

A look of confusion settled on Knotai's features as he followed along and listened to the druid.

Ancient one? He couldn't know who he really was, could he? Knotai's eyes rested on the raven who's beak with still settled near Sotirios' ear and came to the conclusion that yes, he could indeed hold that knowledge now.

Sotirios tended the forest as he walked, while he talked softly to Knotai, taking care of whatever needed care without really thinking about it. His silver eyes caught a crooked limb on a climbing wild rose, forced into an awkward angle by the blossom covered limb of an apple tree, and he paused, still talking, to run his hand along the bend. Knotai was not sure if his eyes were playing tricks, or if thorns actually did bend out of the way so as not to prick those caring fingers. When the shape of the druid moved on, the limb ran straight and true, spreading blue petals among the white of apple blossoms. He bent to cup one hand around a tiny seed lying on a patch of pebbles, and when he straightened, a small shoot had roots through the rocks to good soil.

"All things must grow where they are, to cover the damage done," he explained over his shoulder, as if apologizing, "and bring beauty to the world, but Freyr will not mind if I give just a little help."

They traveled through the day with Sotirios caring for the plants around him as he walked, and talking with quite a few animals that seemed to be able to overcome their normal fears and walk right up to him. He had seen some deer, snakes, eagles, wolves, lizards, weasels, and even a bear. Sometimes these animals carried small items in their mouths and gave them to the druid before taking off again. Knotai had seen berries, bits of shed snake skin, black feathers from many different types of birds and numerous bits of plants that could be used in spellcasting.

As the sun finally started to set, Knotai noticed what looked to be a small cloud hovering over Sotirios' palm. He glanced up and noticed that in the past few hours, as he had struggled to keep awake, clouds had gathered above them and a fierce storm threatened to break.

"It would seem," Sotirios spoke from ahead, "That our travels for the day are coming to an end. Come, there is a shelter ahead that has been prepared for us. We should be able to make it just as the storm hits if we hurry."

Quickly stepping up the pace Sotirios turned to the north and strode deeper into the forest, away from the small trails they had been following. After a few minutes and as a few small drops of water began to land upon their skin, a large tree seemed to suddenly loom before them.

The tree was massive, spanning forty feet to the sides and disappearing above them into the canopy. The entire thing seemed to be covered in pine needles.

Knotai must have drifted off a moment as he starred at the tree because when he looked at Sotirios again, it was to find the druid already at the base of the tree, waiting for him.

Sotirios held back the boughs of the tree. "This is for us tonight," he announced. "Safety provided by the forest for all who respect nature."

They both ducked inside as the sky above them finally gave way.

It was dark inside. Knotai held the boughs aside so Sotirios could see by the little light remaining to set a few pieces of dried wood into a pyramid shape before a small spark of orange life bloomed from his palm and hungrily settled onto the wood. The storm raged above them, and they could see their breath in the cold air. The fire quickly spread across the logs provided, filling the interior of the tree's skirt with flickering light.

Knotai's breath caught in his throat as the shelter was illuminated. The truck of the tree split above their heads and each section rooted itself into the ground in a rough circle. The branches dipping all the way to the ground, leaving a hollow interior. The needles grew so thick that even in a good rain it remained dry inside. The smoke from the small fire curled up the center, near the trunk. There was dry wood and to the far side a stack of dry grass to be used for bedding.

He quickly shuffles closer to the fire, basking in the warmth for a few moments before hesitatingly turning towards the stacks of dry grass.

Before he could gather up the courage to make a bed for himself and once more face the vision that has been haunting him, a rustling of pine needles drew his attention. His fingers reflexively caressed the handle of the one the daggers that he had found earlier as six large wolves stepped through the branches and into the firelight, each carrying what looked to be a rabbit or two with their teeth.

Two of the rabbits were dropped at Sotirios' feet as the pack moved to circle comfortably by the fire before tearing into their own rabbit dinner. Sotirios picked up the rabbits and without a moment of hesitation pulled out a hunting and starting rendering the corpses into something edible for Knotai and himself.

"These trees are fire-resistant, as long as you are careful. And with the wolves here, nothing will bother us for the night." Sotirios spoke as he worked. "That being said, I believe it is time for a conversation that your friend is most insistent that we have. Or rather, your friend wishes for me to relay his words to you." The raven lifts off of his shoulder and flies up to perch on a knot of wood jutting out from the inside of the truck of the tree before giving a soft caw as if in agreement.

"My friend?" Knotai questioned with curious eyes latched upon the bird. "I don't even know him. He has simply followed me since I arrived and no matter what I try, I can't seem to be rid of him."

"Well, according to him, you two have known each other for hundreds of years. And speaking of getting rid of him, he would like me to make sure that you stop trying to kill him for food." The druid's voice sounds amused at the thought of him being unable to catch the tricky bird for a moment before returning to normal. "From what I understand, you lose most of your memories upon each rebirth, retaining only basic information and vague impressions about certain things. And it is one of those things that I wish to discuss with you before we retire for the night."

Knotai's eyes slide out of focus for a few minutes as he tries to pull up a memory from before he had that vision. After a few minutes of trying, he is forced to give it up as a failure before his eyes lock once more upon the druid, this time hungry for any knowledge the druid may possess about his situation.

Sotirios used Knotai's distraction to full effect and by the time Knotai's eyes rest upon him again, the rabbits are set over the fire to begin cooking.

He locks his eyes upon Knotai as his expression turns into one of a teacher about to lecture a student. "I understand that you have an issue with magic. That every time you attempt to do a high level spell with it, it backfires spectacularly. And because of that, you have become fearful of using any magic. As a matter of fact, your friend there fears that you view yourself as a failure because of it. Is this correct?"

A sudden wave of shame washes over Knotai as brief flashes play through his head.

A blizzard encompassing a large portion of a continent.

Flicker.

A Demon horde pouring through a portal that was created by his own hand.

Flicker.

Magic running wild on a battlefield, extinguishing every life force it comes into contact with.

Flicker. Flicker. Flicker.

Hundreds of memories of magic going wild and wrecking destruction across the land flash through his mind as the guilt threatens to drown him.

He lets his gaze sink into the hypnotic pattern of the flames as the memories crash over him. His mind not even offering a token of resistance to stay afloat.

He could hear the screams of those dead by his magic and the accusations that were thrown at him as blackness began to spread across the edges of his vision.

"KRAA!"

Knotai jerked back to the present moment at the sound, his gaze reflexively looking at the source before a small, thankful smile spread across his lips. "Yes, it would seem that is indeed correct."

"Well then, the fact that you do remember this and the obvious bond that seems to exist between your friend and yourself makes this much easier." Sotirios spoke softly, as if to not destroy the moment created by the small raven as he rescued his friend from the nightmares of his own mind. "I have been informed of who you serve and as such have come up with a theory that I wish for you to think over. What if those disasters weren't really disasters and were instead what was fated to happen and your magic was simply fate's will? What if one of the consequences of those spells was the death of one who would've torn the tapestry of fate asunder? What if you don't lack control over your magic at all?"

A moment of silence settled around them broken only by the crackling of the flames before Sotirios spoke again. "I have met people before who have no capability to use magic of their own. This does not make them failures. After all, not everyone can be great at the same thing. A businessman would not know how to build a house. Nor would a soldier be expected to cook a royal feast. And you, my strange friend, have no capacity for magic in your body. It should be impossible for you to use magic which means that any magic that you cast is allowed by the one you serve."

Knotai's eyes were wide as he starred incredulously at the druid as his mind struggling to come to terms with all that he had just learned. He couldn't use magic? Did that mean that those disasters weren't his fault? Could it possibly be that he wasn't a failure?

For the first time since he woke in this world a calm sense of confidence settled into his mind as he chose, if only for this moment, to believe that he wouldn't fail his Mistress. That he could be Her champion.

They spent the rest of the night in silence as they ate and then retired for the night.

It was the tickling feeling on his neck that woke him the next morning. His hand reached up to swat the offending item away before his eyes shot open wide. He quickly sat up and looked down to see a large mass of black feathers pooling around his waist. He looked around and saw that he was alone, no wolves, no fire pit, no druid. Was last night just a dream? He looked back down and took a moment to inspect the feathered mass. To his surprise it was a cloak, made of black feathers and resting on the ground was a small piece of paper with only a couple lines of writing on it.

Remember what I said.

Head east for half a day and you shall reach Senaria.

Safe travels my friend.

His lips twitched upwards into a small smile as he realized that yes, last night really did happen.

He quickly gathered his things and stepped out into the morning sun, fully rested and ready to begin his life here anew.

With a quick glance at the raven, he strode forward and disappeared from sight heading east. He had many things to think on and many of his beliefs had been stood on their head. It would take time to sort them all out but for now at least, he held hope that he would succeed.