Now that the first term was finished, parties were allowed to leave the campus for overnight trips. Of course, there were conditions and rules to be followed. However, as the day's travel had shown, Thomas and his friends were far from being the only students enjoying their freedom. Still, they had left most of the other groups behind as they approached their planned objective
As Thomas and his party were entering the jagged hills at the feet of the copper pass, he felt a scream of pain lash at him from somewhere deeper in the hills, away from the river the group had come to explore. Stumbling from the echoes of that pain, Thomas staggering off towards the source.
Quickly catching Thomas's scale armored shoulder, Alex tried to steady him and pull him back to the dirt road they had been following. "Woah, there. Thomas, are you alright?" As she saw the grimace of pain on his face, she saw the answer. "Shit! What happened?"
"Can't you feel it?" Thomas ground out between his gritted teeth.
At her curse the rest of the party gathered around as Alex tried, unsuccessfully, to get Thomas to lie down. Thomas, meanwhile, was still attempting to find the source. Sara began to feel around Thomas' chest looking for a wound.
It was Karen who noticed the change in Thomas' eyes. "What's going on with your eyes?"
"You mean the color change thing?" asked Alex, "They do that sometimes."
"I know that, but this is different. They're flashing brown just before the pain hits, then slowly drain back to normal. Then the cycle repeats."
Alex watched the cycle complete twice before speaking. "I think this is a Shaman thing. He's been acting different ever since he took that trip with Mr. Ericson. He said he learned the 'true meaning' of being a shaman. This could be related to that." Releasing her grip on Thomas, she continued "We'll go with him. Watch his back at least." Getting a round of nods, Alex turned toward Karen. "Can you get a message back to the school?"
"I don't have the range to send that far. Sorry"
"I think I can." Said Elidin after changing out of his tiger form. "If I can find a bird or something. You go after Thomas, I'll catch up." With that Elidin sprinted off towards the river, which was upwind of the direction Thomas had lurched off towards.
Alex and the others easily matched Thomas' pace as he continued to stumble deeper into the woods. He was obviously in pain, yet he would not stop to rest. It was three hours later that Alex found the dead bear. It's hide had been removed, and a large hunk of meat had been removed from the flank.
"Hunters" remarked Alex, seeing several stabs and slashes that could only have come from swords.
"Killers." Corrected Elidin, who had caught up only a half hour after he left. "No true hunter would only have taken the hide and so little meat. Whoever did this didn't even field dress the carcass. This was a trophy kill."
"Could this have been what caused Thomas to act ... like this?" Karen asked, pointing to Thomas, who was leaning exhausted against a tree. Sara was attempting to get him to drink some water or eat something. To the relief of Alex, she succeeded, slightly.
"I don't think so," responded Alex. "True Shaman work, according to Thomas, involves being a buffer or conduit between the 'mortal layer' and the 'elemental layer'. Whatever those are. A dead bear wouldn't cross those boundaries, I don't think. But it does prove that we are not alone out here. We need to be careful."
As the sun set, Thomas began to recover his energy. While he would still flinch in pain, he began to acknowledge his surroundings. Soon he was engaging his party members in conversation as he continued to lead them deeper into the hills.
"We're getting close," he said around midnight. Fortunately, the waxing moon gave enough light to hold a steady pace.
Alex once again asked the same question she had been asking ever since this ordeal began, "Do you have any idea what is wrong?"
This time she received a useful answer. "I think so. Now that I'm able to tune out the pain, I can understand the spirit. It sounds like an elemental spirit has been trapped and cut off from its home. It's scared and in pain."
Alex turned to the Shaman. "And you think you can do something about it?"
"Maybe. Once we find the problem, I'll make that decision. According to some of the texts in the library, it's supposed to be very hard to trap an elemental spirit. The most common way is for there to be a disruption to the elemental lay-line. If that's the problem, I'll try to fix it."
Seeing Alex eyes soften with worry, Thomas stopped. Placing his hands on her shoulders he pressed his forehead against her helmeted one. "I'm sorry. I know you're worried. But this is part of being a Shaman. I can't just ignore this, just like you couldn't ignore an attack by necromancers." Lowering his voice even further, he said "Thank you for coming with me, instead of trying to take me back to the school. This needs to be done quickly, and I may be the only one who can do it. But this feels like a strong spirit, so I may need your help to keep it off me while I try to fix the problem."
"What do you mean? I thought you said that elemental spirits can't directly interfere with the mortal layer?"
"Let's just say, that there apparently are quite a few exceptions to that general rule."
Close to dawn, Thomas allowed an extended break, enough for everyone to get a short sleep. As Thomas took over the watch from Elidin, the elf spoke. "I'm going to try to send an update to the school. The bird I sent earlier should have made it there already, but I think updating the school about our location and situation would be smart. I'll add in the bit about the bear, just in case."
"Sounds good to me," replied Thomas. "I'm sure I'll be getting an earful when we get back. So, showing that we were being reasonable won't hurt."
"By the way, why did you suddenly decide to stop? I thought you were going to drive on until we reached your destination,"
"To quote Mr. Ericson, 'A warrior who drives himself to exhaustion before battle will be taking an eternal sleep before the battle ends.'. Tomorrow will likely be one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. If the problem is related to a lay-line, I'll have to try to mend it. All the books I've read suggest that it is exhausting work, and there is no set easy way to do so. Every break is unique, and every Shaman has their own way of working. Without anyone to mentor me, it will undoubtedly be even more difficult. Add in the fact that this is not exactly the safest stretch of woods, and I think having everyone rested is a good idea."
Elidin had been nodding along with each of Thomas' points, until he reached his last. "Do you think that there will be fighting?"
"I'm not going to guess one way or the other. But I think being prepared is a good thing."
Giving another nod of agreement, Elidin quietly got up and left to find a bird suitable for carrying his message.
Long after the sun had risen, the party once again set off. The path they took led to a saddle formed by three hills that looked like a small mountain where the top had been scooped off, leaving three hills standing like a crown. An hour or so later a herd of deer charged past them fleeing from the heights.
"We're getting close," Thomas informed his friends. "Let's go slow from here."
As they crept over the crest, the found a clearing ringed by trees. The clearing itself was scraped down to the bedrock. Surrounding the clearing were dozens of trees that had been uprooted and flung about, indirectly making a haphazard fence. In the center of the space was a loose pile of large stones.
"That's it. The stones are where the pain is originating from." Thomas said as his companions stayed concealed behind the broken foliage. Just then, a few deer entered the clearing to eat some of the scraggly grass that remained. As they entered, the pile of stones began to shake. Moments later, they had assembled themselves into an eight-foot-tall approximation of a humanoid. The stone elemental charged across the clearing at the deer, who immediately fled. As Thomas and his friends looked on, the Elemental returned to its previous position and broke back down into its component rocks.
Alex turned to Thomas. Her eyes were wide in disbelief. "That's what you are trying to fix? A hulking pile of rocks?"
"Not exactly. The elemental isn't the problem, just a symptom. The pain stayed still while the deer were being chased off." Thomas paused in thought for a long while. "Okay, here's the plan. It doesn't look like the elemental has any ranged attacks, and doesn't want anyone near that spot its guarding. So, I'm going to move off to the left. I want Alex, Karen, and Elidin to space themselves along the right edge of the clearing. When I give the signal, Alex, I want you to enter the clearing. When the elemental charges you, retreat beyond the border. Elidin, you'll be next. Just enter and retreat. Don't attack it, just try to keep him focused on you and at the edge of the clearing. While you're doing that, I'll try to reach the center, and try to find the problem."
"What if the elemental attacks you?" asked Alex, with concern in her voice.
"I'll run," was Thomas reply. "but I'm hoping that it won't come to that. If there is a spirit trapped in that elemental, and it hasn't lost itself to the pain, it should recognize me as a Shaman and let me help."
"Should. I hate that word," muttered Alex under her breath.
Thomas gave a snort of laughter. "I'm not too fond of it myself, especially since it seems to figure so prominently in plans involving my studies and safety."