Ronte walked down the stairs a little earlier than usual. Barely a ray of the first sun shone through the horizon, the purple, orange, accompanied by the grey tint of the clouds made for a peaceful view. He grabbed a mug, boiled some water, and poured the strongest tea they had. The first sip was the most comforting, the hot water heated his body on its way down. Ronte felt happy, everything around him seemed like an omen of an excellent day. Until he saw the note on the counter, barely at the edge. As he crumpled the note up his mood soured, he hid it in his pocket and left for his workshop.
He lit the fire with a spark snap of his fingers and he threw it inside without looking at it again. He contemplated the flames timidly biting the paper, then the voracious appetite when they swallowed it whole. There was little comfort in watching the cruel words consumed, yet it was enough to put the problem aside for the well-being of his family. After that he cracked a smile and dedicated himself to his work, however, the words kept knocking at the back of his mind.
Eri woke up with crusts on her eyes, this was not the first time it happened and wouldn't be the last. A new book would always condemn her to stay up all night as if the pages whispered sweet nothings. This one was particularly interesting due to its mystical and occult nature. She had gained the book by less than licit methods. For her, doing something that wasn't morally correct was hard to swallow, but the allure of the book was too much to ignore. In the end, she broke into the old wizard's tower. There, before her, all she could see were books. The adrenaline of being in a place where she shouldn’t be tunneled her vision. She did not notice the chandelier, nor the beautiful wooden fittings, the only thing that her eyes could see in the darkness was the collection of books closest to the door, in particular this purple leather book. As soon as she touched it an electric chill ran through her spine, more than cold, it felt like a spark. It was strange enough that it made her run out but not without it still clutched between her arms.
The leather cover felt soft against her hands, the edged letters demonstrated common runes. She felt drawn to open it in the comfort of a safe place, where she could get immersed into its mysteries. Being from a town known for its rune craftsmanship she felt like it was meant for her. Rune magic was a pretty common practice in Xiotam and especially in the town of Niflhem, where Eri and her family lived, but rune circles were something that was mentioned little in old literature. Having that book in her hands felt like possessing a secret that everyone wants but no one knows it exists. When she began to read she understood little, when she fell asleep she understood even less, and even so, she felt, somehow, while she dreamt about it she became more powerful.
When morning came, she opened the book once more but quickly closed it, controlling her impulse to stay locked in her room. Eri was always careful. She had broken some rules to get the book, nonetheless, she was not going to risk everything trying out rune circles she knew nothing about. Instead, she went out to the forest to gather herbs and plants for her herbology remedies. On her way down the stairs, she found Jarek, her annoying little brother. As usual, he began to follow her everywhere, so she went back to the barn where Jakul, the orange giant, used to spend his days helping around the farm. Pawned Jarek to the giant before leaving for the forest. A shout from her mother, Punali, stopped the girl in her tracks.
─It’s time for breakfast!─ The mother called out from the kitchen.
─Did you cook or was it, dad?─ Asked the girl timidly.
─I made your favorite!─ Said Punali while still holding the spatula.
In response to those words, her stomach felt queasy.
─I’m not hungry, I’ll be back soon.─ She ran off before any more complaints could be heard.
The ginsapo forest was muddy as always, but her supply of sap was running low. She pulled up her skirt and walked slowly, looking for the best tree. She found one that was not spilling too much sap, as she knew that if too much was exposed to the air it became bitter and harder to work with. Eri climbed the tree all the way to the foliage, where the red razor-sharp leaves could harm her, took out her small carving knife, and cut a small incision in between the bark. With her wineskin, she collected as much sap as possible, perilously conserving her balance. A miscalculation in the weight of the full wineskin through her off balance and one of her legs lost grip. She grabbed the closest branch but caught a bunch of the leaves and pricked her hand, even so, she kept her grip. Carefully recovering her balance before letting go landing deep in the mud. The edge of her skirt covered with heavy muck. She felt grateful for being skinny enough not to get buried any further in, for that would have been an awful problem to get out of. Her bloody hand dripped down to the mud, she cringed at the sight of the thin cuts, quickly healed it with what she had with her, and forgot about it, even though the pain became her companion for the rest of the day.
She collected more plants and herbs before heading home, it was harder to do with a bandaged hand but she made due. When she got to the Northern edge of the compound the beats of her heart became stronger. The wizard’s tower was visible from there, just over the ridge to the ocean. Getting the book hadn’t subsided her need to explore it, however, her conscience won the struggle this time. She headed home, took her tachil full of stuff in her arms, and entered the house.
─Don’t even think about entering with those muddy feet! Your father just cleaned the house.─ Punali said with severity. ─What happened to your skirt? Forget it, get out and wash it before coming in.
─Mum, the herbs I got need to be treated so they don’t spoil!
─Well, then you should hurry. Honestly, I don’t understand why you insist on wearing skirts when you are such a tomboy.
Eri went to the barn, took off her clothes, and placed them under the water crystal shower. She had spent so much time under the cold water that it was amazing she hadn’t gotten used to the freezing feeling. Eri did not think much of her body, she could notice that it had developed a bit over the years, but did not represent anything to her, in spite of that, she did feel somewhat proud of her muscles, wounds, and scars. In her eyes, they were a badge of honor for doing things by herself, these made her stand out from the delicate girls at school. Eri was getting dressed when Jakul came in, he quickly covered his eyes, even though there was nothing to see, and clumsily gave his back.
─Sorry Ms. I’ll come back later.─ Apologized the giant.
─Jakul, stop calling me Ms., you are more my brother than that little troll strolling around, call me Eri or sis.
─Yes Ms.─ Said the kind giant stumbling out of the barn.
The girl just grunted, after all, it had been years insisting to Jakul that he stopped calling her Ms. The whole family insisted that the giant stopped addressing them so formally, but unfortunately the little progress they had made, was quickly undone by recent events in town. She dismissed the frustration and got dressed in some spare clothes, ran into the house, and pulled out her bounty on the desk. Carefully she began cataloging her supplies, cutting the roots of some, putting others in water or special liquids to preserve them. She even prepared a couple to sundry and put the rest in their respective drawers.
─What are you doing?
She was startled by her father’s voice, she had become so entranced with her task that she hadn’t noticed him observing her work for a while.
─I am restocking my supplies to make more remedies. How long were you there?
─Long enough, but it’s just such a joy to watch you work.
Ronte took comfort in his family, the time that he had spent checking up on Jarek, working with Jakul, and doing chores next to Punali was time when no other thought could invade his mind. Now that he watched his daughter working, the note knocked one more time, nonetheless, the combined love he felt for all of them was enough to finally burn those horrible words from his mind once and for all.
─I hope your younger brother learns from you because Jakul has a hard time concentrating. Sometimes I worry that Jarek will become as energetic as our giant.
─Better energetic and kind like Jakul than destructive and ill-mannered like his classmates at school.
─Speaking about school, you can’t keep missing classes. Tomorrow I’ll walk you there.
─But, dad, I have a lot of work to do. I have a ton of orders for my remedies, even the doctor is asking for them now.─ Eri said maturely but with a very pouty face.
─No arguing, school is important and you will go until you graduate.─ Ronte decreed.
Suddenly Eri’s good mood got a downpour of memories where she had to deal with the constant harassment of her classmates. For a girl like her, it was hard going to school when she had a much better relation with grownups than she had with teens her own age, especially after she had fought with her best friend a couple of weeks ago. She decided to postpone making the remedies until the afternoon.
─What happened to your hand?
─Nothing
Eri quickly unbandaged her hand, took out her best ointment, and spread it over the paper-thin cuts. Then she stretched out her hand to show her father, one by one the cuts disappeared before his eyes. Eri knew that she would still have to be careful because even though it looked like a miracle, the injuries did take a while to fully regenerate.
─It's late and I haven’t had breakfast.─ She tried to worm her way out from talking more about school.
─You know that your mother cooked, right?─ Ronte felt his stomach knot up.
The girl pretended not to hear him, however, she had the exact same sensation in her stomach as she passed by him. She pretended to have breakfast while stashing it in a napkin, she didn’t want to hurt her mum’s feelings but she wasn’t in the mood to deal with a stomach ache, instead, she took a couple of pieces of bread and cheese quickly running upstairs.
Her room was small and cozy, mostly because of all her bookshelves. One could have confused it with a small-sized bookstore but her bed on the corner gave away that someone lived there. On her balcony, she had a hammock where she would spend the nights and days reading or thinking. The big window allowed a lot of light to cover the wooden fixtures and illuminate her carefully set up decorations. Once inside she laid on her bed, thinking about school, suddenly she had an idea “If they can’t find me they can’t take me to school.”.
She got a smaller tachil and packed it with all the supplies she would need to enter the tower again including some tinkering things just in case she could find something to keep her hands busy. Now it was only a matter of killing time until the first sun came down and her folks were occupied with the town’s duties. She read more of the book she had stolen from the tower, began to trace the rune circles with her finger making mental images of their shape and structures. Then she went around the farm taking care of her duties, feeding the animals, watering the orchard, and finished most of the remedies she had promised to deliver. Then she went outside to play with Jakul and Jarek. At that moment she almost forgot her plan about leaving home for a couple of days. But then at supper, Ronte made the mistake of reminding her of her obligations to school, only cementing her resolve to leave.
Before going out her parents asked her to take care of Jarek. Eri insisted that she still had a lot of work to do begging for Jakul to take care of him. The kind giant accepted, her parents mulled it over, then caved in. Now that she was free Eri got her things to sneak out with the dimmer light of the second sun. She knew that she wouldn’t have much time to get to the tower before nightfall, since she already had the route mapped out in her head she wasn’t too worried.
While playing with Jarek, Jakul caught a glimpse of the girl running into the forest, he decided not to keep it to himself. Jakul was kind, but not clever, besides, he trusted Eri’s intellect a lot more than he did his own.
When Eri got to the tower she moved a couple of bricks that were previously loosened, crawled inside, and covered her entrance before going up the stone stairs. Opened the main door with excitement. The place was covered in dust and cobwebs, everything was old and glowing with a mystic smell that any other person would have called musk but Eri found comforting. She grabbed a corner to leave her tachil, inhaled deeply, rolled up her sleeves, and with a flick of her wrist a gust of wind swept the dust off the furniture, eager to make that ancient wizard’s tower her own personal hideout. It was as if she was seeing everything for the first time, and in a way, it was.
Chapter 2: https://bit.ly/ErisPages2
Chapter 3: https://bit.ly/ErisPages3
If this post gets interactions I might start posting the whole chapters here also.
