As always, the characters in this story are derived from Hilari Bell's Goblin Wood, and are not mine.
Chapter 17
The Priest:
The morning following, Agna tidied up his brewer's bench while a pot of water for tea simmered away by the fire. His motions were routine, as he brewed himself a tisane daily for the arthritis in his hands. Years of turning pages, working with fiddly brews and writing runes had taken its toll on his body. In Itola, the progression of aging had slowed, but he'd been there a considerable amount of time. Behind him, the hedgewitch known as Makenna slept peacefully. Her Knight, called Tobin, had ventured outside to the barn to tend to their ram. When Agna heard the water bubbling, he fetched the hanging pot, and threw in the loose leaves of a healing mixture. His movements seemed to stir the hedgewitch from her slumber slightly, she groaned something angrily and turned over. Agna smiled. To have visitors was a rare and special thing, as he lived alone most of the year save the few times when he ventured to visit the centaur villages to the south and west for supplies. Even more rare were meeting those who had come from the Old Realm. He was certain that he had as many questions for them as they had for him.
Allowing the tisane to cool, he stepped outside to assist the knight with his stead.
The snow outside crunched under feet. His footsteps and robe left a trail that overlapped those of the knight the short distance to the barn. Inside, the air felt considerably warmer. It smelled of straw and dirt and dried herbs that hung from the rafters, all comforting and familiar. The knight's formidable form stood on the far side of the barn where he gave the ram a good brushing. The preist went into an adjoining room for some supplies before joining him. Tobin peered at him over his shoulder.
"Is Makenna still asleep?" He asked. Agna nodded, noting the way he said her name fondly. How a knight and a hedgewitch had become such close acquaintances was another story of which he was curious, these two were an odd pair indeed.
"Let her wake herself up, sleep will help with the healing. Let me help you, young fellow." Agna said, his last words spoken to the ram. Tobin remained watchful of Agna as he had knelt down and began drawing on the ram's hooves.
"Most everything is taken care of. All that's left is too adjust his harness before we leave and pack the supplies. What are you doing?" Tobin said, eyeing his movements.
"With winter setting in, you would do well to take precautions with his hooves. These runes will keep them warm, but I fear the wax and lime will wear away after a day or two on the road." Agna said. Tobin's eyes grew wide.
"You can set runes like this? Wait just a minute, Makenna will want to see this." Tobin said, turning to leave.
"Aye, that she will, but I'll not be pestered while I work. Let her sleep for a while longer. Why don't you go prepare her breakfast instead?" He asked. Tobin turned back, but unable to protest, nodded curtly.
"Oh, and I'll want to look at your map afterward, mayhap I can point out a shorter route to your city." He called after him. Tobin waved his hand at him without looking back.
The priest watched as he left. The ram shifted a bit anxious with the knight gone, but Agna whispered a reassurance to the creature, who seemed to calm. When his work was complete, he stood and stretched, then made way back to the cottage.
The Hedgewitch:
Makenna woke to an empty cot. It was strange being alone in an unfamiliar place. For just a moment it alarmed her, at least until Tobin reentered the cottage, covered in snow, his face slightly blistered pink from the cold but smiling. That smile was for her, she realized. She regarded his features, much as she remembered them, and found herself wondering at the feelings inside her, the things that she might have never entertained before, all to do with him. Unsettled, she got up, a bit too quickly, and teetered back against the cot. Tobin stepped forward to help her.
"I'm alright, knight." She said, flustered. He backed off, but kept a wary eye on her as he set about preparing their breakfast.
"Agna is stocking our bags with supplies and seeing to the ram. He's said he wants to review Zvonmir's map with us after, says there may be a quicker route back to the city." He said.
Her interest piqued, Makenna wrapped the blankets around herself and walked over to the table. Tobin noticed and fetched her cloak, which she accepted gratefully. For a moment their hands touched. Both flushed and uncertain, they looked away. Agna pushed through the door with a whirl of wind and flurries, providing an easy diversion. He went to his brewer's bench and poured a cup from the kettle.
"You're up? I've made some tea. Drink it." Agna said, offering it to her. Makenna's nose wrinkled when she smelled it.
"It's not for smelling, hedgewitch, it's for drinking." Agna said, tart. She gave him a sharp look. Resolved to spite him, she drank it all in one gulp, trying to look triumphant. However, instead she clenched her jaw afterward against the bitter taste. His eyes twinkled, amused.
"He says the ram's hooves should last longer in the ice now. Set runes on them with wax and lime." Tobin said. Makenna's eyes grew wide.
"He what?" She asked, in awe.
"Ahh, yes. You can set runes on almost anything with the right methods. Is this news to you, hedgewitch?" He asked, tickled. Makenna felt herself turning red.
"Don't toy with me, preist." She warned. He relented.
"I wouldn't presume. Now, Tobin, fetch the centaur's map and I'll get mine." He said. As he spoke, he pulled a roll of parchment from a narrow shelf above his bench and laid it out on the table for them to inspect, placing stones at its corners to keep it weighed down.
Makenna joined them at the tableside and compared the maps. There were differences in the arrangement, but all the important waypoints were there. The centaur city, the mountains and lakes, the swamps between those and the eastern plains. Yet, St. Agna's map lacked the goblin city there, and the centaur map lacked details in the northern reaches near Agna's cottage.
"Ah, so there is the city...that is a wise position, easily defensible and surrounded by fertile land. Now, make note of the details in the north, Knight, it will be useful for you in the future." Agna said, using a piece of charcoal to draw out an outline of the city on his map. When he was done, he went to his brewer's bench called Makenna over to show her the tincture preparations. None too happy, but curious nonetheless, she joined him. He used distilled water with brewed cat's claw among other herbs and blended them well and siphoned it through a filter and then into a narrow-spouted bottle. The liquid inside was murky and brown with considerable particles still, but Makenna did not doubt for one second that it wasn't potent. His herb collection made her envious. As he worked, she couldn't help but be reminded of her first introductions to herb lore. His manner seemed more like a green witch than that of a priest.
"Remember, three drops on the affected area twice a day. It will take weeks to properly extract the herbs, so do so in advance of when the bottle runs dry." He said. Makenna took the bottle and nodded, silenced by her thoughts.
"Agna, I'm done copying your map." Tobin said. He was still pouring over the maps.
"Good, good. Now, one more thing. Do you see this mountain range here?" He asked, pointing south west of the cottage. Tobin nodded.
Agna explained all the ways the maps differed in their geography, showing where their journey might be shortened by short cuts through passes and forests that the centuar had marked as impenetrable. By her first guess, the journey back to the goblin city would take over a week, but by their new path it could take under a week, weather permitting. That it also avoided the better part of the centaur territory was not lost on her.
"We're to avoid the centaur, but what about the sorcerers?" She asked. This gave Agna pause.
"From what you said, their camp will have fallen to pieces after you took their headman out. It is not uncommon to encounter barbarians in the northern reaches where they war against one another, but as you get closer to the centaur territory it becomes rarer. The sorcerers, however, are a different matter." He added, sagely.
"Why is that? Are they planning an invasion?" Tobin asked.
"Unlikely. In the years that I've been here, I've never seen them organize such a group. This was likely the work of a zealot, perhaps someone banished from the barbarian tribes or someone newly arrived to Itola. It's possible that when the portal was opened, it affected more than just your kind." He offered.
Makenna considered this possibility. That his answers were vague disturbed her greatly, even with his reassurances of their safety. If it was her fault the sorcerers were there, she felt responsible.
With their return route planned and half the day gone, it was decided they would set out the morning following. The better part of the afternoon Makenna spent exchanging stories with Agna, mostly of the events precipitating her opening the portal to Otherworld. He grew silent and thoughtful as she spoke. It seemed to her that his arrival in Otherworld was as riddled with a mixture of conflicting feelings with regard to the Hierarchy as well as a similar amount of wonder. When she mentioned Master Lazur's book's, he perked a bit, expressing an interest in reading them. Makenna, having recalled most of the details, relayed what she could to him, but there was little time to transcribe the book in its entirety, and Agna seemed to look forward the idea of visiting his new human companions in the city to pursue it further. What questions she had about Otherworld and its strange mystic qualities would have to wait until then. For her part, Makenna had to admit that he was not at all what she might have expected. From what Tobin had relayed to her, his talents were formidable, and part of her wished she had been conscious when he had banished the wraith. Banishing such dark magic would take a practiced magic user, someone with an expertise and understanding of not only runes, but of the principles guiding the Bright Ones and the Dark Ones and the aether that bound the world, the very things that the Hierarchy kept secret. On top of this, his manner was not haughty or condescending like she had come to know the priests of the Hierarchy. Perhaps in his time, it had been different.
After Tobin updated the maps, and Agna and Makenna had their fill of story-telling, they set about preparing the evening's meal. Once they'd eaten, Agna brought them a small barrel, which was full of ale, which according to him was a traditional brew for priests, but Makenna had little recollection of such a drink in the priesthood. Content as they were, tucked in their blankets in the hidey-hole cottage while a snow squall blew at the shutters, they sipped on the ale and laughed as their problems melted away, if only for the night.