Things Unseen: (An epic fantasy adventure series) (The Caris Chronicles Book 1) (24 page)

As he neared the ridge, sounds of revelry reached him. Now he knew why there was only one sentinel, it sounded as if the rest of the lost ones were celebrating already.
You’re a bit premature,
thought Janen.

When he finally reached the shelter of the ridge, he lay down to rest. He realised he was panting and his legs had begun to cramp. The lost one couldn’t see Janen from his vantage on top of the ridge, and Janen took the opportunity to try to calm his nerves.

When his leg cramps had eased and his breathing had returned to normal, Janen began to make his way along the base of the ridge closer to the camp. He hadn’t gone far when he discovered a small crevice running through the ridge; it was wide enough for him to crawl through and deep enough to keep his head below the top. Nearing its end, he lay down and peered around the edge at the camp.

Kalen had been near enough to accurate. He thought there were a little over three score lost ones in the camp. They were indeed partying, shouting victoriously and swinging each other in circles.

He was too far away to be able to learn much more than Kalen had already told them. He scanned the camp. It surprised him that they had brought tents but pleased him as well, as it would help to conceal his advance. The tents were scattered around the perimeter of the camp and the lost ones ‘danced’ in the centre. The tents obscured Janen’s vision of what a lot of them were doing but he hoped it would work the other way as well. There didn’t seem to be any more lookouts. It didn’t appear they had learnt their lesson very well at all.

He cut straight across the small gap between the ridge and the camp, moving quickly to hide behind the northern tents. Once there, he worked his way around to a position where he could peer through the shelters, without, he hoped, being discovered. A pile of food lay in the centre of the camp, and it was this, he supposed, that had them all in such a good mood. It must’ve seemed like a lot to the starved people, but he didn’t think it would last their numbers very long without rationing. And rationing they were not, they were feasting.

A small group of about ten lost ones lay sleeping on the ground near the food
. They look half-dead
, thought Janen. He wondered how much of the food, that had probably been brought for them, would remain when they woke.

That is probably where the pendant is,
he thought. He didn’t think it likely these people were inclined to share or hand over their treasures to others.
Unless they have a hierarchy?
He watched them for a while, trying to ascertain whether they deferred to anyone in particular. There was none that he could tell, just a wild frenzy punctuated with squabbles.

Deciding he had learnt all he could, Janen mapped out the tents that were closest to the sleepers, he didn’t think they would be moving anytime soon. He wished they had collapsed closer to the main body of tents, but as it was, there were only a couple anywhere near them.

Stealing his resolve, Janen left the relative safety of the tents and dashed back to the ridge. He crawled through the small crevice to the other side, only then realising with a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach that he would have to make the return journey with his back to the sentinel.

When he finally reached Kalen and Syngar, he was exhausted. Kalen sat cross-legged in the shade of her horse, with her eyes closed, while Syngar paced back and forwards.

“It’s about time,” Syngar growled at him.

Kalen opened her eyes and greeted him with a contented smile. “I told him all would be well, but he was determined to worry.” She rose, making room for Janen in her horse’s shadow and went to get him some food and water. He accepted it gratefully, forcing himself to drink sparingly.

“Well, what news? Was your risk worth it?” asked Syngar.

Janen told them what he had discovered and they spent the remainder of the afternoon planning.

Caris wandered along a well-worn track enjoying the feel of solid earth under her feet. It was her fifth day among the elves, though she had been mostly unconscious for two of those, and this was her first day back on the ground. Rather than forcing Caris to walk down numerous narrow stairs, Amarin had enlisted the help of a couple of elves to rig up a rope and pulley system. The elves had fitted Caris with a harness, and strung a rope over a branch, which they then threaded through the harness and looped around one of the long poles down which she had earlier seen the children sliding.

Slipping off her branch, and beginning the slide down the long pole had been one of the most terrifying and exhilarating experiences of Caris’ life. All the fuss and trouble the elves had gone to for her was quite embarrassing, especially as she knew children ran and leapt onto the poles, sliding down them unaided and unsupervised, all the time. Nevertheless, Caris was glad of the security of the rope and harness and couldn’t imaging asking to not use it.

Her first destination on reaching the ground had been to visit Indira. She had been assured the elves were looking after her but it was good to see her with her own eyes. After giving her a thorough brush down, which was entirely unnecessary, as the elves had obviously been doing it regularly, Caris had set out with Jeniel in search of plants.

Caris’ eyes fell on a small plant with little green leaves and deep purple flowers. She wandered over to inspect it, calling out to Jeniel who walked not far away, “does this plant have any healing properties?”

“Indeed it does,” replied Jeniel as she joined her “This is hibidun; we crush the flowers and steep them in hot water. The tea is good for relieving pain. The petal remains are used to make poultices, which when cooled are used to bring down inflammation.”

“May I?” asked Caris.

“Of course, all the plants in Telvendor are available to those who would put them to good use.”

Caris bent down and using the small curved knife, Amarin had gifted her, she filled a small leather pouch with flowers. She was still amazed by the beautiful leather bag Jeniel had given her. It was full of separate compartments and pouches with drawstring tops. Along with the bag had come an offer to help Caris fill it and to teach her all Jeniel could of plant lore while Caris stayed with them.

Caris and Jeniel resumed their wandering. Jeniel had told Caris that rather than leading her directly to where she knew plants grew, she wanted to give Caris some practice in using her instincts and senses to find plants. The plants Caris discovered would also speak of where her natural abilities in healing lay most strongly.

Caris had argued that she knew nothing of healing; Jeniel had smiled enigmatically, merely answering, “Nevertheless.”

So now, Caris wandered happily through the trees indulging her desire to learn more of plants. Every now and then she felt guilty about Crispin still lying mostly unconscious in his room. He had revived a couple of times yesterday and eaten some soup that Caris had spooned into his mouth. She was finally agreeing with Colden that Crispin would mend, but she still didn’t feel entirely right about leaving him. She had sat with him for almost the entire day before, but today Jeniel had coaxed her out. Caris knew that Crispin was in good hands, so she resolved to learn as much as she could while staying with the elves.

Caris noticed that Jeniel was watching her closely. Surmising there was a plant of interest in the area and that Jeniel was waiting to see if Caris would see it, she brought her thoughts back to the present and searched the ground around her. Close by, under a bush, were some peculiar looking mushrooms; she moved towards them and Jeniel followed her, smiling.

“These are?” Caris asked.

“When prepared properly, these can be used as a paste to congeal blood. If taken orally they can bring on sleep; a little more, and they slow the heart; too much, and they cause death. They are rare and used even more rarely. I will teach you the proper preparation and dosages, but Caris you must always take care with these.”

“Thank you.”

They spent the rest of the morning meandering through the immense trees discussing plants and the differences and similarities of each other’s homes and people. At lunch, they sat in the sun by a small quickly flowing creek and snacked on plants and fruit Jeniel had collected during the morning.

Caris loved the forest. Its majestic trees were a continual source of amazement to her, but equally attractive was the amount of sunlight they allowed through and the gaps between branches that showed the blue sky above. The forest floor teemed with different plants and scurrying animals, as well as the occasional quillet. Caris had even seen a small herd of eppet in the distance.

The greatest wonder of the forest, for Caris, was that while the trees were so large, they were spread apart, and while there was a bountiful amount of plants, most were only knee high, so for the first time in weeks, Caris was able to look into the distance. She could not see the horizon as she had been accustomed to all her life and her view was not uninterrupted, but she could see three times as far as she could shoot an arrow.

As they continued their meanderings in the afternoon a feeling of freedom and joy slowly grew within Caris, until finally having to express her happiness, she dropped her herb satchel and reaching her arms out to her sides spun in circles.

Jeniel, observing her, began to sing. She laid down her small bundle of plants and, raising her arms above her head, began to dance a beautiful twining dance around Caris and among the trees. Her voice was rich and beautiful, and as she sang, birds added their voices to her happy melody. She sang of the wonder of spring and trees and healing, the abundance of the forest, and the blessings of family, friends, and life.

Caris spun and spun and spun in wild abandon, and as she spun, she felt profoundly relieved she was no longer alone with Crispin, bearing the mother load of the responsibility for his survival. Travelling with The Singer had done most of the work of relieving Caris’ anxiety, being with the elves and stopping her exhausting travel was now completing the job. As she continued spinning she began to laugh, she laughed until she was exhausted while Jeniel sang and danced around her. Finally, Caris collapsed contented on the ground and Jeniel joined her for a drink of water.

“You must think me crazy,” Caris said when she had regained her breath.

“Only slightly,” Jeniel smiled in response. “The beauty of the trees on a fine day often causes me to laugh for no reason as well, though possibly not as exuberantly as you.”

They rested for a while, lying on their backs watching the birds flying amongst the treetops and above them through the sky. Eventually, Jeniel broke the peace “We should start heading back. We will eat with all the elves tonight and as you are the guest of honour we shouldn’t arrive too late.”

Her words filled Caris with alarm. “No! I’m not a guest of honour! You should wait for Crispin to wake. He is a guest of honour!”

All of a sudden, Caris was back at her sister Dilna’s wedding trying to hide in the background while Dilna shone. All the young women and girls looked radiant in their festive dresses and blonde curls. Caris wore a pretty festive dress too, but felt ridiculous in it as it clashed with her long dark hair and dull green eyes. She had not minded the weddings of her two eldest sister’s as much but it seemed the older she got the less she felt she had any right to dress in pretty clothes and especially not to be in the lime light.

Her friends’ weddings had not been as bad as she had been able to stay to the back, but as Dilna’s sister, there were expectations for her to participate and everyone’s eyes were often on her. People had done nothing to hide their embarrassment or resentment at her being in the forefront.

Jeniel broke into her reverie with a laugh, “Don’t worry, we’re not going to put you on a dais or anything, everyone just wants to meet you, that’s all.”

Caris had grown a lot more confident during her time in the forests. She had been doing things she was good at, and learning more about her strengths in overcoming great difficulties. Away from her village and all the beautiful women with their blonde curly hair and blue eyes, she had begun to forget her own inferiority. Now she thought about the beautiful elves with their white blonde hair and startling green eyes and the shame she felt at her own ugliness filled her more strongly than it ever had before. Getting up, she rushed behind a tree and emptied her stomach.

“Caris, are you okay?” Jeniel asked, rushing to her side.

“I can’t be the guest of honour,” Caris sobbed.

Jeniel looked at her in confusion as Caris wiped her mouth clean on some leaves.

“You all seem so lovely; I can’t think why you would put me in such a humiliating position,” said Caris.

“What do you mean?”

Caris stared at Jeniel, looking for any hint that the elven woman was mocking her. Jeniel seemed sincere.

“Jeniel, you must know it will be embarrassing for everyone there, and especially so for me. I know I am ugly; I make no pretence to be anything special. You have all been very kind to me, but to attend a gathering where the expectation is that I will be the centre of attention? It will just be awkward for everyone. Please don’t ask me to do this; I don’t know why you would want too.”

Jeniel sat looking at Caris. Her mouth moved, but no words came out. Finally, she found some words. “Caris, you must believe me when I tell you we do not think you ugly. You are different to us, yes, but you are not the first human we have known. We have, in fact, known many and we are not so conceited that we can’t see the beauty in you.”

“I am not talking about humans in general, I am talking about me!”

“But why? Caris, you’re not ugly!”

Caris was in no mood to be patronised. “Maybe you don’t think so, but I see no need to put myself out for inspection by all your people.”

“They’ve all already seen you!”

Caris looked at Jeniel appalled, she had forgotten to be self-conscious as she walked about the tree branches watching and waving to the elves among the trees. However, in light of their current conversation and her feelings of low esteem, she felt terribly humiliated that the elves had been judging her over the last couple of days.

“All those who didn’t see you when the scouts brought you in, have made sure to get a glimpse of you since, and I assure you no one thinks you are ugly. You are human! That is exciting for us, for as I said ‘we don’t get visitors regularly’. Everybody wants to hear your stories, about where you come from, your journey with The Singer, any news you have of The King. And though the children might gawk at your round eyes and ears, they will not mean it unkindly.”

Caris stared off into the trees, absorbing Jeniel’s words.
Is it possible the elves have seen so few humans they are not able to tell whether one is particularly ugly
? Caris had heard the elves singing and merrymaking down below, the last couple of nights, and she had a great desire to join them.
I wasn’t nervous about joining them before, why did
I suddenly overreact so much?

“
I’m sorry Jeniel; I don’t know why I reacted so strongly to your words. I would like to come and spend time with the other elves of course, and share my stories. I am nervous about being the centre of attention, though. I don’t really want to be the ‘guest of honour’”.

“Don’t worry; there are too many elves who enjoy the lime light for the focus of attention to be on you much. I will stay with you the whole time; will that make you feel better?” Caris looked at her dubiously. She had seen quite a few elves now and though they were all beautiful, none was as breathtaking as Jeniel. Caris couldn’t imagine a worse person to have by her side. Caris decided there was nothing for it, but to push concerns about appearance to the back of her mind, just as she had always done before.

She liked Jeniel, and was glad for the growing friendship between them.

“You don’t need to babysit me constantly tonight, but perhaps you could keep an eye out for me?”

“Glad to, and I’ll get word to the trumpeters to cancel the fanfare for your entry.”

Caris gaped at Jeniel, aghast, and Jeniel burst into laughter.

“I was only joking,” she finally emitted between peals of mirth.

Caris sat back sipping a sweet warming drink watching elves dance around the fire. Her self-consciousness had evaporated quickly amidst the friendliness and laughter of the elves as they all helped themselves to scrumptious food.

She had been relieved to discover that not all the elves were gathered at her fire, in fact, there were many fires spread throughout the trees with large groups of elves gathered around them. The elves moved freely from fire to fire laughing and talking to friends and Caris discovered that Jeniel had been telling the truth about them liking the limelight. Caris didn’t think she had ever been so well entertained with stories and songs, ranging from hilarious to tragic.

From time to time, groups had formed around Caris, asking her questions and prompting her to tell them of her adventures. Caris was conscious she didn’t have the story telling skill of any of the elves but nevertheless they sat and listened attentively. One young man sat close by and listened to her telling the same stories repeatedly to different groups that formed about her. Initially he plied her with questions; at one point, he asked her if he could have her tale. Confused she had asked, “Have my tail?”