Confounding person! Maybe she should have gone anyway, but at that point she’d been convinced that he’d follow and scrutinize her every movement. Still, she now blamed herself for giving up, especially since her fears were now being confirmed. Before she could bring herself to ask Faver what was going on, Aron and Rinna had appeared, followed by Nathley. A brief discussion between Rinna and Faver in hushed tones made it clear that two people had died that morning, both from the tent where Acker had been sitting with Hin and his children. Apparently, Acker had noted the first one’s passing earlier when he’d come and fetched Faver; there were already people digging a grave for that by the time the second passed away just before Faver returned. Rinna went hastily off to see to further arrangements. From what she gathered of some chatter to one side between Aron and Nathley, the people normally would wait at least a full day or more before having a burial; Nathley was lamenting that the camp was going to forgo the usual traditions and timing, Aron was reminding her how the circumstances required expediency.
Emri felt devastated. She’d been so determined to do everything she could so that this camp wouldn’t lose any more of their people, and yet… she’d failed. She wasn’t merely disappointed in herself, either – she knew that there would be many in the camp who’d be greatly saddened by the losses, and she felt sad for them, too. She began to cry, even though she tried not to. This whole time, Remal had been sitting in his cot on the other side of the tent, glowering. She thought he must be saddened as well, but more and more she thought he only looked incredibly angry. He appeared to be in such a supremely dark mood that offhand she couldn’t think of anything to compare it to that seemed to fit the expression so well as that of the darkest thundercloud on the point of breaking.
Rinna having left, Faver’s attention had turned to noticing that Remal and Emri had both been sitting awake and listening the entire time. He seemed to not feel any announcement was needed at that point, but went and put a hand firmly on Remal’s shoulder. As for Aron and Nathley, they saw that Emri had started crying, and sat down each on either side of her. Nathley hugged her, and Aron took one of her hands in his and patted it. Touched at how they would make a point of comforting her when they surely had more reason to be sad themselves, and feeling bad about knowing that part of her sadness was disappointment at herself, Emri only cried more. She put an arm around Nathley as best she could, and gave Aron a nod.
Meanwhile, she heard Faver speaking to Remal. Faver was saying that he had previously thought those two would have died sooner, and others more besides. He declared it to be almost miraculous that they had lasted as long as they had. That they hadn’t all passed, left hope that some of them might still recover. Not that Faver was in any way making light of the deaths, but by his tone and manner it seemed that he was trying to calm Remal by assuring him that it was nobody’s fault. Did he think that Remal might start making threats again?
Angrily, Remal growled at Faver. “Even so, I still have a right to be upset, don’t I? I don’t have to like it, no matter how optimistic you may feel about the rest of them!” He waved vaguely in what seemed to be the general direction of all the tents that still contained sick people, swiped Faver’s hand off his shoulder, and snatched his shirt up from where it had been laying carelessly.
He shot Emri a look that she could only view as suspicious, or as though he thought she had no right to mourn the passing of people with whom she was barely acquainted. She countered by refusing to flinch, though she still had tears coming from her eyes. She was more glad than ever of the kind presence of the people nearest to her at that moment; that and Faver being close by as well made her feel somewhat protected, though Remal’s angry glaring still made her feel threatened. He only stared for a moment, however, then he looked away, tugged his shirt on over his head, and stalked out of the tent. For a moment, Emri feared that Faver might stop him leaving, but the Healer merely tutted and shook his head resignedly as the younger man left, then handed Emri a cloth to wipe her face on before taking Aron aside. She didn’t hear what they were talking about as they left the tent, but didn’t think it was anything she needed to hear about anyway.
Nathley sat and cried with Emri for a little while longer, while outside could be heard the sounds of the camp stirring into full activity. Soon enough, Faver returned and let Emri go with him while he went around and checked on his patients, having dispatched Nathley on some errand or other. All the work that needed to be done today couldn’t stop on account of the deaths, especially for everyone who was trying their best to prevent more of them. There would, however, be a short burial service of sorts later that morning for those who were closest to the deceased, and for any others who wished to attend who could reasonably stop their work for a short time.
The first to die that morning had been one of the Elder leaders, one who had been helping fetch water from the lake before falling ill; the other was one of the scouts who had been the first to explore all the way around the lake. Not the first to have reached it, though – Emri had gathered from what Nathley told her, that the first to have come across the lake had also spent a fair amount of time exploring this side of it before the camp arrived, had been one of the first to get sick, and one of those who had died of it before Emri joined them.
Nathley met up with Faver and Emri at the service; it was somewhat removed from the camp, out away from the lake and near the hills, where the ground (although rocky) would be up above the elevation of the watery marsh around the lake. Acker was assigned to stay with the sick in Faver’s place, and Faver’s wife and child must have been busy as well; Emri didn’t have any idea how well they knew the deceased, but it appeared that only a small percentage of people from the camp were attending anyway. Many, if not all, of the Leaders that Emri had seen previously were in attendance, Rinna and Aron standing with them while one of the Elders spoke. She also saw Remal and Hin standing with a small group of people who had an air about them like most were either Scouts, Hunters, or both. Each and every one of them had at least some dirt on them like they had taken part in the digging, and away to one side could be seen places where there had been previous burials, the ground having been obviously disturbed and not yet settled back down on itself. Hin looked to be deeply moved, and Remal – while not exactly looking un-fearsome – had managed somehow to put a mournful expression onto his face. Emri turned away quickly, lest he notice her looking and start glowering furiously again. There were a number of other people also there that Emri hadn’t met yet, though some she was certain that she had seen in passing or who had been helping tend the sick.
Once the Elder finished speaking and those closest to the deceased had a chance to speak a little, some of the Leaders and most of the others headed back to the camp. The Elder Leaders and close family in attendance mostly stayed behind for now, looking on while those who had probably helped with the digging began to fill in the graves. Faver offered his arm for Emri to lean on while walking on the rocky ground, as he had on the way out to that spot. They walked quietly, except for Faver instructing Nathley to go fetch Remal back as soon as he was finished there. She therefore stayed back, and Aron fell in beside them, with many others nearby including Rinna with some other Leaders walking together.
Just as they neared the camp and all started to head for different parts of it, a crane called out loudly from the direction of the near part of the marsh. At the very least, most of the people there seemed convinced it was a crane, though someone commented that its call was a bit different from the ones they had heard already in that area, though similar in some respects.
“Maybe it’s a related species that isn’t as common as the others we’ve heard.” Aron commented.
“It certainly sounds like that could be the case.” Emri agreed, though hesitant to comment on it. She didn’t expect anyone else there to understand it, but she could recognize part of the sounds in the crane’s call as clearly being words from a language very different from what the people of the camp spoke. It wouldn’t translate directly even if she tried to, but essentially… it was a summons.
Upon returning, Faver checked in with Acker and then began preparing to go out hunting herbs. While the rest of the camp had started to move the majority of the tents and things off to a new location, Faver had Emri and Aron help him gather up some baskets and sacks to collect herbs in. Rinna went off on some other errand, but soon enough was back to join them before Nathley returned with Remal. Brylin appeared with them, and by the look of it she had made Remal wash up a bit, and she had taken the liberty of changing the bandage on his shoulder so Faver wouldn’t have to. With his hair all wet, Remal looked almost like a disheveled lion who’d been caught in the rain and was unhappy about it. He didn’t say a word, and avoided making eye contact with anyone, but nevertheless followed Faver’s instructions. Brylin brought Emri a basket with a long rope handle to go over the shoulder; she helped Emri with it and admonished her to be careful. Nathley wanted to go along with them, but Faver had some tasks that he ordered her to help Acker with instead, since there were still some preparations to be made for the tents with the sick people to be moved on the following day. Brylin offered to help with all of that, so she and Nathley wished them well as Faver and Emri set off, accompanied by Aron and Rinna, with Remal grumpily trailing behind.
Emri insisted they must venture farther into the marshes than before, to look for more of the fern with the bulb on its root (and not only because they were likely to find larger ones deeper into the marsh) and though Aron was hesitant, and Remal vehemently objected, Rinna and Faver were not too difficult to convince. However, although they overruled the other two on going into the marsh, they agreed with them that they should all go up in the hills first, and only venture into the marsh on the way back to camp from the hills. Emri couldn’t think of a very good excuse to give for why she might want to go into the marsh first, so she agreed, hoping that it wouldn’t be held against her to delay more than she already had.
Aron and Faver helped Emri keep her footing while navigating up the hillside. She was explaining to them what sort of places they should look for a plant related to the Firesparks, when Remal sharply interrupted.
“Someone should find you a walking stick, so you can manage better without needing help.” He sounded derisive, but he himself was once again using his spear as a walking staff, and carrying a basket in his other hand.
Emri shook her head. “I want to practice how to manage without.” How could she explain her reasons for preferring to carry as little as possible? In any case, she would rather have her hands free on the steeper areas, to grab at rocks and help pull herself up a slope. She glanced at Rinna, and was slightly gratified to see the woman doing just that.
Remal scoffed, however, saying: “Well, then do that.”
Before Aron and Faver could suggest otherwise, Emri waved them off and did her best to scrabble up the slope by Rinna. Rinna was a little faster at the moment, but Emri still managed to climb up. She thought she’d do better with more practice, but the important thing was that she could actually go uphill using her hands, somewhat better than she was at only using two feet and trying to keep her balance on the less-steep-but-still-uneven, shifting-gravel ground that covered much of the hillside. Aron looked amused, and then followed suit while Faver picked a longer path back and forth on a nearby area instead of going up the steep part. Remal had a look on his face that Emri really wasn’t sure how to interpret, but it seemed unpleasant in some way. He snorted and followed Faver. Rinna patted Emri encouragingly on the shoulder, then gave Aron a hand up as he finished climbing and joined them up the slope.
They started looking around for plants, but this area was adjacent to where Hin and Emri had been hunting herbs with Rinna on the previous day, and they didn’t find much of the one they’d collected before. So, they climbed farther up into the hills, and by the time that Faver and Remal caught up, Emri had managed to locate a plant that was indeed related to the minty-scented ‘Piedmont Firesparks’, near the foot of some high cliffs. Rinna, meanwhile, had been explaining to Aron what she recalled of how to identify the other one, and once Remal caught up, he started interrupting and correcting Rinna, causing Aron to look slightly bemused. Faver was greatly interested in the plant that Emri had found, and discussed it with her for a bit before summoning the others to get a look at it. After that, and after differentiating between what Aron and Rinna had found that was what they wanted, and some other similar plants that wouldn’t be as useful, they spent some time hunting around along the hillside at that height, heading northward until they reached the stream that Hin had scouted up along in that area before going back downhill. Hin wasn’t there to tell them about it, of course, but Remal had known he’d gone up around there, and commented to them all that he was unsurprised that Hin had dismissed the area as not being as good for crossing the stream as the place they’d crossed at farther downhill above the marshes.
Heading back down alongside the stream (except where the stream fell in a cascade and the ground was too steep to do anything but head away a bit and double back while descending) they reached the place where the scouts had crossed before, but instead of crossing it they then headed southward away from the stream, but down the slope at an angle to come to the lakeside and an area of mossy ground near the place where the marshes were narrowest between the lake and the hillside, the lake coming to meet the stream where it tumbled down the last bit of slope at the foot of the hills.
Abruptly, Remal shoved something at Emri, and she blinked a moment before realizing that he’d stopped short of hitting her with it. It was a long, stout branch that he must have picked up from under one of the tough, scrubby trees that appeared here and there up on the hillside among the boulders, the gravel, and the smaller plants.
“Take it.” He demanded gruffly. “Even if you don’t want it for walking, you should have something to check the ground in front of you if you still insist on going into the marsh.”
Being unable to think of any reason to refuse, Emri slowly opened her hand while she considered it, then grabbed the stick in one quick motion. She didn’t have to pull it away from Remal, however, since he promptly released it the instant that her hand closed around it.
“Thank you…” she said. A little uncertainly, she thought.
He grumbled something that may or may not have been an acknowledgement, and walked off.
Emri looked the stick over for a moment. It was stout enough that it could be used for a support, but not so stout as to be very heavy, nor that she’d have difficulty getting her hand around it. Moreover, she could see places where it clearly had recently been divested of whatever remained of smaller branches, whether they’d been attached when the stick was found, or if they’d broken off previously. Some places it looked like branches removed had been cut off easily, but other places appeared to have required a bit of whittling to cut them off cleanly without leaving bits sticking out that one could scratch oneself on, or catch on one’s clothing. Had he done that while walking along the hills, also looking for plants? Maybe it was no big thing for him, but to her it seemed like a thing that would require a fair amount of skill and practice.
While she was marveling that he would have done that for her, Aron approached and offered to walk with her. She didn’t want to refuse, so she walked with him into the marsh and helped him identify the ferny plant they were seeking, until they had found several between them. Meanwhile, the others had spread out, all walking slowly and cautiously since the marsh was full of places where the ground went soft and silty, which even where not too deep to walk in, sucked on one’s foot when a person moved to take further steps. Some places seemed to have gravel or larger rocks that must have fallen off the hills at some indeterminate time long past, but the larger ones were slimy and slippery, so that even if they weren’t smooth under the moss and the mush, they were still too slick to put a foot on. Occasionally, there were places with firmer ground, and as much as possible they tried to keep to those.
Emri noticed that as they’d started out, Faver and Rinna had each picked out a reed that would be a long, tough stalk not easily bent, and used those to probe the ground ahead of them from time to time. Remal used his spear, and appeared to have positioned himself mostly in the middle of where everyone else was spread out, and kept looking around at everyone as though to check how they were getting along. Faver and Rinna were now farther away, and part of the time Emri didn’t even see them anymore, since there were some reeds and other marsh-loving plants which grew in large bunches, taller than the majority of grasses and ferns around them.
Aron was cautious about them going as far into the marsh as they had already gone, but she’d kept pointing out more of the ferns they wanted every time she saw a good one farther in, using the walking stick to check the ground. Now, she thought it was a good time to let him ‘convince’ her not to go farther, but she asked him to go get a particularly large fern that she saw a little way off. She promised to wait there and walk back with him afterwards, and handed the walking stick to him to use, so he readily agreed, and set off.
Almost as soon as Aron had gotten far enough away that Emri thought she could speak quietly without being overheard, she caught a recognizable voice softly calling a greeting to her from close by. That is, she thought she recognized the voice, mostly, but it sounded a little different from what she was used to. It appeared to be coming from one of the iridescent dragonflies nearby, which alighted on a patch of tall grass within arm’s reach.
“Hello,” she greeted the being, but not in the language of the camp’s people. “Were you sent with a message, or have you come of your own volition?”
“Both.” Came the reply, in the same language. “I saw you appeared upset about the deaths. You’re not responsible for that.”
“But I-”
“You aren’t.” Emri couldn’t see any expression on a dragonfly, but the tone used was firmly insistent, and the shiny insect flicked its wings and hopped to a different part of the grass.
“Can’t I be upset about it anyway?” Emri retorted sulkily, and was reminded of how Remal had spoken to Faver earlier. She closed her mouth instead of saying more.
“Sure, you can be upset by it. Don’t put too much on yourself, though. And… don’t use magic for that.”
“I-”
“I can tell you did, though it wasn’t much. You know you have to refrain.”
“I just wish-”
“Even if you had the training to do it properly, you know why it’s forbidden to simply heal them all with magic. And-”
Emri had been about to speak again, but stopped. She sighed instead.
The dragonfly continued. “And you know it’s the same reason why your mentor couldn’t come here and heal them. Be grateful you are allowed to help at all, and don’t make me remind you again.”
Emri nodded. She understood, though she didn’t like it because she hated to see anyone suffer.
“I know.” The dragonfly said, as though it could read her mind. Emri didn’t think it literally could, but knowing who it really was, she expected it could get closer to mind-reading than anyone else – except maybe her mentor himself.
“So did you say that my mentor had a message for me as well?” Emri prompted.
“He asked me to remind you that you need to arrange to meet him soon. Don’t delay long, or you’ll have problems. Your treatment only lasts about half as long in these lands. Maybe less.”
“I remember.” Emri acknowledged resignedly.
“Good. Be sure to make arrangements accordingly, and use the signal we agreed on.”
“I will. I just… I need a couple of days to make sure there will be enough medicine to treat everyone in the camp. I want to stay close to them until then.”
The dragonfly made a sound remarkably similar to a ‘tsk’ with a muttered something about her taking after her mentor. Speaking up, it said: “All right, but don’t forget you can’t go as long as you used to. You remember how problematic it can be.” That last was clearly a statement, not a question.
Irritated, Emri spoke louder than before. “Oh, be off with you!” She waved dismissively at the dragonfly as if in a half-hearted effort to shoo it away. Not as though she had anything near the kind of power it would take to make this one do anything it didn’t expressly choose to, but only because she wanted to show how much she disliked talking about that.
A little amused chuckling sound came from the dragonfly, and picking itself up off the marsh grass it flitted about her for a moment, whispering a caution for Emri to be careful. Turning to follow it and pretend to swat at it (not really trying to hit the dragonfly) she noticed that Remal was closer than before, watching her.
“Goodbye,” she whispered. “Go.”
The dragonfly made a couple of swooping loops (just to tease her, she thought) and took off.
“You alright?” Remal called out from where he was, coming closer.
“Yes!” She replied, nodding. She wasn’t sure if he saw it clearly or if he heard her. She didn’t want to call out very loud, and she had promised Aron she’d stay there where he could find her again easily.
“Where’s Aron?” Remal demanded, when he was close enough to speak at a normal volume instead of shouting. Normal volume, but suspicious tone. “Did you lose the stick?” He kept coming closer. “Have you been bitten much? Where did Aron go? I thought he was with you.”
How was she supposed to answer any of that, with him stringing questions together like they were beads. She picked just one question to begin with. “Aron is just over that way, he’s coming back. I-”
Remal was almost within arm’s reach, and indeed, started reaching out like he would grab her arm. She waved dismissively at him like she had with the dragonfly.
“Come with me, we’ll get you back to shore.”
“No, I told Aron I’d wait for him here!” she started to step backwards away from him, but found the ground wasn’t steady there at all, so she wavered, trying to keep her balance.
“Stop!” Remal rushed forward and grabbed her arm as she had it sticking out for balance. At first, it put her more off-balance, but he pulled in a way that actually helped after all. “What did you do with the stick?” He asked, in a scolding tone.
“Loaned it to Aron, of course!” Emri pointed with her free arm. Fortunately, Aron was almost there. She had seen him on his way back only a moment ago, but Remal hadn’t seemed to see him there and Aron disappeared behind some tall reeds briefly – but now seemed to have heard them talking and hurried the rest of the way back.
“I’m here!” Aron declared, triumphantly holding up the plant Emri had asked him to get, and interrupting before Remal could say more. He seemed to be trying to catch his breath, but also in a hurry to say something more so Remal wouldn’t argue with Emri. “Let’s go.” He put the plant in the basket Remal had dropped, picked it up and handed it to him (whereupon Remal let go of Emri’s arm to take it), then Aron handed Emri the walking stick and took hold of her other arm. “The others are probably heading back by now, too.”
Remal grunted acknowledgement (though he scowled at Aron) and followed them out of the marsh.
He shot Emri a look that she could only view as suspicious, or as though he thought she had no right to mourn the passing of people with whom she was barely acquainted. She countered by refusing to flinch, though she still had tears coming from her eyes. She was more glad than ever of the kind presence of the people nearest to her at that moment; that and Faver being close by as well made her feel somewhat protected, though Remal’s angry glaring still made her feel threatened. He only stared for a moment, however, then he looked away, tugged his shirt on over his head, and stalked out of the tent. For a moment, Emri feared that Faver might stop him leaving, but the Healer merely tutted and shook his head resignedly as the younger man left, then handed Emri a cloth to wipe her face on before taking Aron aside. She didn’t hear what they were talking about as they left the tent, but didn’t think it was anything she needed to hear about anyway.
Nathley sat and cried with Emri for a little while longer, while outside could be heard the sounds of the camp stirring into full activity. Soon enough, Faver returned and let Emri go with him while he went around and checked on his patients, having dispatched Nathley on some errand or other. All the work that needed to be done today couldn’t stop on account of the deaths, especially for everyone who was trying their best to prevent more of them. There would, however, be a short burial service of sorts later that morning for those who were closest to the deceased, and for any others who wished to attend who could reasonably stop their work for a short time.
The first to die that morning had been one of the Elder leaders, one who had been helping fetch water from the lake before falling ill; the other was one of the scouts who had been the first to explore all the way around the lake. Not the first to have reached it, though – Emri had gathered from what Nathley told her, that the first to have come across the lake had also spent a fair amount of time exploring this side of it before the camp arrived, had been one of the first to get sick, and one of those who had died of it before Emri joined them.
Nathley met up with Faver and Emri at the service; it was somewhat removed from the camp, out away from the lake and near the hills, where the ground (although rocky) would be up above the elevation of the watery marsh around the lake. Acker was assigned to stay with the sick in Faver’s place, and Faver’s wife and child must have been busy as well; Emri didn’t have any idea how well they knew the deceased, but it appeared that only a small percentage of people from the camp were attending anyway. Many, if not all, of the Leaders that Emri had seen previously were in attendance, Rinna and Aron standing with them while one of the Elders spoke. She also saw Remal and Hin standing with a small group of people who had an air about them like most were either Scouts, Hunters, or both. Each and every one of them had at least some dirt on them like they had taken part in the digging, and away to one side could be seen places where there had been previous burials, the ground having been obviously disturbed and not yet settled back down on itself. Hin looked to be deeply moved, and Remal – while not exactly looking un-fearsome – had managed somehow to put a mournful expression onto his face. Emri turned away quickly, lest he notice her looking and start glowering furiously again. There were a number of other people also there that Emri hadn’t met yet, though some she was certain that she had seen in passing or who had been helping tend the sick.
Once the Elder finished speaking and those closest to the deceased had a chance to speak a little, some of the Leaders and most of the others headed back to the camp. The Elder Leaders and close family in attendance mostly stayed behind for now, looking on while those who had probably helped with the digging began to fill in the graves. Faver offered his arm for Emri to lean on while walking on the rocky ground, as he had on the way out to that spot. They walked quietly, except for Faver instructing Nathley to go fetch Remal back as soon as he was finished there. She therefore stayed back, and Aron fell in beside them, with many others nearby including Rinna with some other Leaders walking together.
Just as they neared the camp and all started to head for different parts of it, a crane called out loudly from the direction of the near part of the marsh. At the very least, most of the people there seemed convinced it was a crane, though someone commented that its call was a bit different from the ones they had heard already in that area, though similar in some respects.
“Maybe it’s a related species that isn’t as common as the others we’ve heard.” Aron commented.
“It certainly sounds like that could be the case.” Emri agreed, though hesitant to comment on it. She didn’t expect anyone else there to understand it, but she could recognize part of the sounds in the crane’s call as clearly being words from a language very different from what the people of the camp spoke. It wouldn’t translate directly even if she tried to, but essentially… it was a summons.
Upon returning, Faver checked in with Acker and then began preparing to go out hunting herbs. While the rest of the camp had started to move the majority of the tents and things off to a new location, Faver had Emri and Aron help him gather up some baskets and sacks to collect herbs in. Rinna went off on some other errand, but soon enough was back to join them before Nathley returned with Remal. Brylin appeared with them, and by the look of it she had made Remal wash up a bit, and she had taken the liberty of changing the bandage on his shoulder so Faver wouldn’t have to. With his hair all wet, Remal looked almost like a disheveled lion who’d been caught in the rain and was unhappy about it. He didn’t say a word, and avoided making eye contact with anyone, but nevertheless followed Faver’s instructions. Brylin brought Emri a basket with a long rope handle to go over the shoulder; she helped Emri with it and admonished her to be careful. Nathley wanted to go along with them, but Faver had some tasks that he ordered her to help Acker with instead, since there were still some preparations to be made for the tents with the sick people to be moved on the following day. Brylin offered to help with all of that, so she and Nathley wished them well as Faver and Emri set off, accompanied by Aron and Rinna, with Remal grumpily trailing behind.
Emri insisted they must venture farther into the marshes than before, to look for more of the fern with the bulb on its root (and not only because they were likely to find larger ones deeper into the marsh) and though Aron was hesitant, and Remal vehemently objected, Rinna and Faver were not too difficult to convince. However, although they overruled the other two on going into the marsh, they agreed with them that they should all go up in the hills first, and only venture into the marsh on the way back to camp from the hills. Emri couldn’t think of a very good excuse to give for why she might want to go into the marsh first, so she agreed, hoping that it wouldn’t be held against her to delay more than she already had.
Aron and Faver helped Emri keep her footing while navigating up the hillside. She was explaining to them what sort of places they should look for a plant related to the Firesparks, when Remal sharply interrupted.
“Someone should find you a walking stick, so you can manage better without needing help.” He sounded derisive, but he himself was once again using his spear as a walking staff, and carrying a basket in his other hand.
Emri shook her head. “I want to practice how to manage without.” How could she explain her reasons for preferring to carry as little as possible? In any case, she would rather have her hands free on the steeper areas, to grab at rocks and help pull herself up a slope. She glanced at Rinna, and was slightly gratified to see the woman doing just that.
Remal scoffed, however, saying: “Well, then do that.”
Before Aron and Faver could suggest otherwise, Emri waved them off and did her best to scrabble up the slope by Rinna. Rinna was a little faster at the moment, but Emri still managed to climb up. She thought she’d do better with more practice, but the important thing was that she could actually go uphill using her hands, somewhat better than she was at only using two feet and trying to keep her balance on the less-steep-but-still-uneven, shifting-gravel ground that covered much of the hillside. Aron looked amused, and then followed suit while Faver picked a longer path back and forth on a nearby area instead of going up the steep part. Remal had a look on his face that Emri really wasn’t sure how to interpret, but it seemed unpleasant in some way. He snorted and followed Faver. Rinna patted Emri encouragingly on the shoulder, then gave Aron a hand up as he finished climbing and joined them up the slope.
They started looking around for plants, but this area was adjacent to where Hin and Emri had been hunting herbs with Rinna on the previous day, and they didn’t find much of the one they’d collected before. So, they climbed farther up into the hills, and by the time that Faver and Remal caught up, Emri had managed to locate a plant that was indeed related to the minty-scented ‘Piedmont Firesparks’, near the foot of some high cliffs. Rinna, meanwhile, had been explaining to Aron what she recalled of how to identify the other one, and once Remal caught up, he started interrupting and correcting Rinna, causing Aron to look slightly bemused. Faver was greatly interested in the plant that Emri had found, and discussed it with her for a bit before summoning the others to get a look at it. After that, and after differentiating between what Aron and Rinna had found that was what they wanted, and some other similar plants that wouldn’t be as useful, they spent some time hunting around along the hillside at that height, heading northward until they reached the stream that Hin had scouted up along in that area before going back downhill. Hin wasn’t there to tell them about it, of course, but Remal had known he’d gone up around there, and commented to them all that he was unsurprised that Hin had dismissed the area as not being as good for crossing the stream as the place they’d crossed at farther downhill above the marshes.
Heading back down alongside the stream (except where the stream fell in a cascade and the ground was too steep to do anything but head away a bit and double back while descending) they reached the place where the scouts had crossed before, but instead of crossing it they then headed southward away from the stream, but down the slope at an angle to come to the lakeside and an area of mossy ground near the place where the marshes were narrowest between the lake and the hillside, the lake coming to meet the stream where it tumbled down the last bit of slope at the foot of the hills.
Abruptly, Remal shoved something at Emri, and she blinked a moment before realizing that he’d stopped short of hitting her with it. It was a long, stout branch that he must have picked up from under one of the tough, scrubby trees that appeared here and there up on the hillside among the boulders, the gravel, and the smaller plants.
“Take it.” He demanded gruffly. “Even if you don’t want it for walking, you should have something to check the ground in front of you if you still insist on going into the marsh.”
Being unable to think of any reason to refuse, Emri slowly opened her hand while she considered it, then grabbed the stick in one quick motion. She didn’t have to pull it away from Remal, however, since he promptly released it the instant that her hand closed around it.
“Thank you…” she said. A little uncertainly, she thought.
He grumbled something that may or may not have been an acknowledgement, and walked off.
Emri looked the stick over for a moment. It was stout enough that it could be used for a support, but not so stout as to be very heavy, nor that she’d have difficulty getting her hand around it. Moreover, she could see places where it clearly had recently been divested of whatever remained of smaller branches, whether they’d been attached when the stick was found, or if they’d broken off previously. Some places it looked like branches removed had been cut off easily, but other places appeared to have required a bit of whittling to cut them off cleanly without leaving bits sticking out that one could scratch oneself on, or catch on one’s clothing. Had he done that while walking along the hills, also looking for plants? Maybe it was no big thing for him, but to her it seemed like a thing that would require a fair amount of skill and practice.
While she was marveling that he would have done that for her, Aron approached and offered to walk with her. She didn’t want to refuse, so she walked with him into the marsh and helped him identify the ferny plant they were seeking, until they had found several between them. Meanwhile, the others had spread out, all walking slowly and cautiously since the marsh was full of places where the ground went soft and silty, which even where not too deep to walk in, sucked on one’s foot when a person moved to take further steps. Some places seemed to have gravel or larger rocks that must have fallen off the hills at some indeterminate time long past, but the larger ones were slimy and slippery, so that even if they weren’t smooth under the moss and the mush, they were still too slick to put a foot on. Occasionally, there were places with firmer ground, and as much as possible they tried to keep to those.
Emri noticed that as they’d started out, Faver and Rinna had each picked out a reed that would be a long, tough stalk not easily bent, and used those to probe the ground ahead of them from time to time. Remal used his spear, and appeared to have positioned himself mostly in the middle of where everyone else was spread out, and kept looking around at everyone as though to check how they were getting along. Faver and Rinna were now farther away, and part of the time Emri didn’t even see them anymore, since there were some reeds and other marsh-loving plants which grew in large bunches, taller than the majority of grasses and ferns around them.
Aron was cautious about them going as far into the marsh as they had already gone, but she’d kept pointing out more of the ferns they wanted every time she saw a good one farther in, using the walking stick to check the ground. Now, she thought it was a good time to let him ‘convince’ her not to go farther, but she asked him to go get a particularly large fern that she saw a little way off. She promised to wait there and walk back with him afterwards, and handed the walking stick to him to use, so he readily agreed, and set off.
Almost as soon as Aron had gotten far enough away that Emri thought she could speak quietly without being overheard, she caught a recognizable voice softly calling a greeting to her from close by. That is, she thought she recognized the voice, mostly, but it sounded a little different from what she was used to. It appeared to be coming from one of the iridescent dragonflies nearby, which alighted on a patch of tall grass within arm’s reach.
“Hello,” she greeted the being, but not in the language of the camp’s people. “Were you sent with a message, or have you come of your own volition?”
“Both.” Came the reply, in the same language. “I saw you appeared upset about the deaths. You’re not responsible for that.”
“But I-”
“You aren’t.” Emri couldn’t see any expression on a dragonfly, but the tone used was firmly insistent, and the shiny insect flicked its wings and hopped to a different part of the grass.
“Can’t I be upset about it anyway?” Emri retorted sulkily, and was reminded of how Remal had spoken to Faver earlier. She closed her mouth instead of saying more.
“Sure, you can be upset by it. Don’t put too much on yourself, though. And… don’t use magic for that.”
“I-”
“I can tell you did, though it wasn’t much. You know you have to refrain.”
“I just wish-”
“Even if you had the training to do it properly, you know why it’s forbidden to simply heal them all with magic. And-”
Emri had been about to speak again, but stopped. She sighed instead.
The dragonfly continued. “And you know it’s the same reason why your mentor couldn’t come here and heal them. Be grateful you are allowed to help at all, and don’t make me remind you again.”
Emri nodded. She understood, though she didn’t like it because she hated to see anyone suffer.
“I know.” The dragonfly said, as though it could read her mind. Emri didn’t think it literally could, but knowing who it really was, she expected it could get closer to mind-reading than anyone else – except maybe her mentor himself.
“So did you say that my mentor had a message for me as well?” Emri prompted.
“He asked me to remind you that you need to arrange to meet him soon. Don’t delay long, or you’ll have problems. Your treatment only lasts about half as long in these lands. Maybe less.”
“I remember.” Emri acknowledged resignedly.
“Good. Be sure to make arrangements accordingly, and use the signal we agreed on.”
“I will. I just… I need a couple of days to make sure there will be enough medicine to treat everyone in the camp. I want to stay close to them until then.”
The dragonfly made a sound remarkably similar to a ‘tsk’ with a muttered something about her taking after her mentor. Speaking up, it said: “All right, but don’t forget you can’t go as long as you used to. You remember how problematic it can be.” That last was clearly a statement, not a question.
Irritated, Emri spoke louder than before. “Oh, be off with you!” She waved dismissively at the dragonfly as if in a half-hearted effort to shoo it away. Not as though she had anything near the kind of power it would take to make this one do anything it didn’t expressly choose to, but only because she wanted to show how much she disliked talking about that.
A little amused chuckling sound came from the dragonfly, and picking itself up off the marsh grass it flitted about her for a moment, whispering a caution for Emri to be careful. Turning to follow it and pretend to swat at it (not really trying to hit the dragonfly) she noticed that Remal was closer than before, watching her.
“Goodbye,” she whispered. “Go.”
The dragonfly made a couple of swooping loops (just to tease her, she thought) and took off.
“You alright?” Remal called out from where he was, coming closer.
“Yes!” She replied, nodding. She wasn’t sure if he saw it clearly or if he heard her. She didn’t want to call out very loud, and she had promised Aron she’d stay there where he could find her again easily.
“Where’s Aron?” Remal demanded, when he was close enough to speak at a normal volume instead of shouting. Normal volume, but suspicious tone. “Did you lose the stick?” He kept coming closer. “Have you been bitten much? Where did Aron go? I thought he was with you.”
How was she supposed to answer any of that, with him stringing questions together like they were beads. She picked just one question to begin with. “Aron is just over that way, he’s coming back. I-”
Remal was almost within arm’s reach, and indeed, started reaching out like he would grab her arm. She waved dismissively at him like she had with the dragonfly.
“Come with me, we’ll get you back to shore.”
“No, I told Aron I’d wait for him here!” she started to step backwards away from him, but found the ground wasn’t steady there at all, so she wavered, trying to keep her balance.
“Stop!” Remal rushed forward and grabbed her arm as she had it sticking out for balance. At first, it put her more off-balance, but he pulled in a way that actually helped after all. “What did you do with the stick?” He asked, in a scolding tone.
“Loaned it to Aron, of course!” Emri pointed with her free arm. Fortunately, Aron was almost there. She had seen him on his way back only a moment ago, but Remal hadn’t seemed to see him there and Aron disappeared behind some tall reeds briefly – but now seemed to have heard them talking and hurried the rest of the way back.
“I’m here!” Aron declared, triumphantly holding up the plant Emri had asked him to get, and interrupting before Remal could say more. He seemed to be trying to catch his breath, but also in a hurry to say something more so Remal wouldn’t argue with Emri. “Let’s go.” He put the plant in the basket Remal had dropped, picked it up and handed it to him (whereupon Remal let go of Emri’s arm to take it), then Aron handed Emri the walking stick and took hold of her other arm. “The others are probably heading back by now, too.”
Remal grunted acknowledgement (though he scowled at Aron) and followed them out of the marsh.
