The Fallen Ascending 01 -- Rebirth
The Spirit of the Snake

The first afternoon’s walk was actually rather quiet and uneventful for us. Dino and Jess walked huddled together some ways behind Crystal and me, whispering about gods know what. Crystal herself was silent; watching everything and everyone. I suppose she was being careful not to say or do anything that might put a further strain on the fact that I was pretending to be a nobody.

As the sun was finally starting to get low over the horizon, and the sky was starting to take on shades of brilliant oranges and red, I finally held up my hands and stopped. “Dino, how far up the road this way do we need to go? Is there some place we’re trying to get to tonight before we stop for the evening? Some place where people normally camp out this way?”

“I dunno,” he answered with a shrug. “I’ve never been out this way much. I just know the others were going this way, and that they were entering the forest to check out a graveyard a few days to the northwest of town.”

“Wait a moment!” I exclaimed. “I thought you knew the way? Didn’t you listen to them talk and look at their map? What were they planning on doing?”

“Yes, I listened!” Dino said in a huff. “They were leaving after breakfast, and going to walk all day up the north road before camping at a crossroads which turned off westward and led into the forest. We left a lot later in the day than they did, so we’re not going to be close to where they camped at, so I guess we’ll just have to replace some spot suitable for ourselves. After that, they were going to walk that westward road for about a day and then head off the road and go northwest into the trees and look for the graveyard.

“It’s supposed to be out there somewhere,” Dino said, starting to sound a little peevish. “They talked about some trails or creeks or something which could help them replace it, but I don’t remember ALL the details. Weren’t you going to track them for us? Or hunt the graveyard? Aren’t you a hunter and tracker?”

All I could do is sigh and try not to walk over and smack him. “I can hunt and track, but it’s nice to have an idea where to start from! I could spend a month checking all along the south road, and I’d never pick up their trail, no matter how good I was, now would I? What do you think I brought you along for, anyway?”

“Why for my ability with magic, of course,” he said without a pause. “And so I could talk Jess into joining us and we’d have a healer in case the others had gotten injured somehow, too. Was there some other reason?” He asked confused.

“No. No, you’re right,” I told him while shaking my head from side to side. “The only way I’d ever replace you useful is through your magic. Heaven forbid someone might want to rely on your brains for anything. EVER!”

Disgusted, I stopped and tossed my pack and the tent off to the ground. “We’ll camp here for the night. Crystal, if you don’t mind, would you set up the tent I have? I’m going to go do some scouting. Or tracking. Or hunting. Or at least something that might be a little god damn useful!” I yelled the last part as I was storming off. A little Dino I can handle. A whole day’s worth of Dino, though? It just wears me down! Men are almost never born with magic in this world, and he was the first male besides myself whom I’d ever met with even the slightest ability to do magic. To think that there was even the smallest thing alike about us was actually rather embarrassing and upsetting. What a putz!

Stomping off the road and into the forest, I walked for a good fifteen minutes muttering to myself before I finally stopped and simply flopped down on my ass. Taking a deep breath to calm myself, I reached out and pulled the energy of the nearby earth towards me. The wizards in the city might notice the flows of mana altering if I used too much of them, but I wasn’t worried about Dino noticing anything. I doubt he could hardly even feel the flows, much less have a strong enough grasp on them to tell when they were moving or being pulled upon.

Feeling the energy flowing through the earth, I extended my awareness through it and used it to feel my surroundings. Several small forest animals were within close walking distance, so I altered the earth to suddenly grow spikes and impale a few that were nearby. I wasn’t certain exactly what I’d killed as the magic simply allowed me to notice basically “small four-legged creature about the size of a rabbit”, so that’s what I killed. If it somehow ended up being a group of farmer’s dogs that were out hunting, I’d simply walk away and pretend that nothing had happened. Even a skilled hunter doesn’t always return with game, so the others shouldn’t think anything odd about me coming back empty handed.

Getting back up and walking towards my kills, I took the time to expand my mind further along the flows of earth. There were a few groups of what appeared to be humans making camp not too far from us, a little way further up the road. I could feel the warmth of where they were making campfires and noticed their footsteps back and forth as they went about their evening business. A little further focus and exploration with magic allowed me to feel several bands of compressed earth that I recognized easily enough – it was the weight of a full merchant’s wagon pressing down upon the wheels and into the ground. Apparently we’d camped not too far from where a merchant had set up his own camp, a little further up the road.

There wasn’t anything that I’d really say felt dangerous, or unusual, within my range of magic – definitely not anything that screamed “DANGER: Bandits, demons, or worse!” to me – and there wasn’t any sign of a lost graveyard in the nearby forest. Getting to the site where I’d targeted the small game, I found several dead possums stuck to the ground with earthen spikes driven through their bodies. Not a creature that I’d normally replace myself willing to eat, and nothing worth trying to harvest or skin.

Shrugging to myself, I didn’t even bother to cover or bury the corpses. Nature has a way of taking care of things like that on its own. The scavengers and vultures can simply call their feast a gift from me to them this time.

Getting back to the camp, one tent was already up and standing, and Crystal was helping Jess to set up the second. The tents were nice full-sized, four-person tents, and stood tall enough that a person could stand inside them without much difficulty. The design was basic, with two poles at the front and back that slanted and made an inverted “V” where they met, and then a solid rod laid on top of one to span the distance to the top of the other. A large piece of canvas draped across that center bar and was then stretched out on either side and pinned to the ground. There wasn’t any actual flap to the front or rear of the tent, but the canvas was long enough that it drooped down to the ground on either end.

Dino was off to the side, piling up rocked around a small campfire, and there was a small stack of branches piled not far away. “Catch anything for supper?” He asked when he saw me coming from the forest.

“Not this time,” I told him. “There’s a merchant who’s camping not too far up the north road from us, but I didn’t bother him or his men. They were busy setting up their own camp, so I didn’t figure they needed any distractions from me. I did replace a few possums close to here, but they’re not worth killing. I don’t think anyone wants to eat them, and the skin isn’t really useful for anything.”

“And just how the heck was you going to kill something out there anyway?” Dino asked. “You don’t even have a bow or anything. Do you think you can just ugly them to death or something?”

“Nope.” Maybe it was a good thing I hadn’t brought anything back! How the heck would I explain them being all full of holes! I hadn’t thought of that, at all. “I was just going to sneak up on something and bash it on the head with my staff. That works sometimes for me, and if I have more time, I can always set a snare and try and catch something. I just didn’t think it was necessary this time since we brought enough food to last us, anyway.”

Dino just grunted and snorted. I guess he’s still upset with me for stomping off and leaving him to set up the camp. “And I’m curious; why aren’t you the one over there setting up the tent with Crystal? Seems to me that you’d let Jess be the one to build the fire and do the cooking.”

“Oh, I’m going to let her do the cooking,” Dino said simply. “But neither of the girls have any way to make a fire, so I took it upon myself to gather the wood and light one for us. It’s not hard to make even the dampest wood burn, with just a little spark of magic.”

“Yeah,” Jess nodded, “that’s why he’s called Mageflame. He’s good at making fires and such with his magic. Besides, Crystal was the one who knew how to set up the tents – Magey and me didn’t have a clue what to do with them. I helped Crystal set up yours first, and now we’re finishing up with the other. I’ll get over there and start with supper soon.”

“Is there any reason to keep watch tonight?” Crystal asked. “Or did you manage to scout enough to determine if the area is safe enough around here that we don’t need to bother tonight?”

“I think we’ll be fine tonight. Except for the merchant, there’s no sign of any bandits or anything that resembles trouble. We’re still on the main road, and not that far from the city. The town watch probably patrols out this far, so I doubt there’s anything to worry over tonight.”

“Well good,” Crystal replied. “You and I will share one tent, Michael; Dino and Jess will share the other one.”

“I figured you girls would be staying in a tent together, and us guys in the other,” I told her confused.

“Nope.” Crystal shook her head from side to side. “Jess and Dino both have magic, and they’ll probably stay up longer than us idiots meditating or reading their books, or whatever they do. There’s no need for them to wake us when they finally turn in later.”

“I don’t really mind,” Jess spoke up suddenly. “We’ve been friends for a while now, and I trust Mageflame. I don’t mind sharing a tent with him if you two childhood friends want to share one of your own and catch up with old times.”

Crystal just nodded slightly and winked towards me. Instantly, I realized that this was something that the two girls had decided on earlier sometime; probably when Dino was out gathering the firewood. Dino was a man with magic and that made him quite desirable in some circles. Jess wasn’t a girl with a whole lot of wealth or status going for her, so she was using this as a chance to try and get closer to him. Poor boy’s being hunted, and probably doesn’t have a single clue about it!

“It’s fine with me,” I said with a smirk and a wink to Jess. “Crystal and I can use the time to catch up some, and since you don’t mind, I certainly don’t mind. That is unless Dino would prefer to share the tent with another guy, instead of a drop dead beauty such as Jess, that is. Do you prefer guys, Dino?”

“No, I don’t!” Dino exclaimed in vehement denial. “I’d much prefer to stay in a tent with a girl over you, any day of the week. It’ll be my honor to share the tent with the Lady Jess.”

“Well fine! It’s a done deal then,” I said while giving Jess a hidden thumbs-up. Much to my amusement, she blushed, glanced to make certain Dino couldn’t see her, and then returned it. Laughing lightly, I went over and picked up one of the sticks near the campfire and then sat down and relaxed against a tree. Pulling out my knife, I started whittling on it with no real purpose in mind as to what to make. Sometimes, I simply let the wood flow and carve and turn into whatever it seems to want to become without forcing it.

Jess started cooking once the tent was up, and Dino sat down near her and chatted and flirted lightly. In its own way, it was kind of amusing – he thought he was flirting and winning her over, and Jess was the one leading him on. He was going to chase her until she caught him if he wasn’t careful!

Crystal came over and sat down beside me, eventually laying down and resting her head gently on my lap. From time to time, I’d stop my carving and gently stroke her hair a few times while I inspected my work, but overall we were quiet. By the time I’d finished my carving, the moon was high up in the sky and Jess and Dino were nowhere to be found.

“That’s… That’s breathtaking,” Crystal whispered breathlessly while staring large-eyed at the stick I’d been carving on. I hadn’t started it with any intention of trying to make it into anything except an exercise for passing the time, but once I’d gotten started I just couldn’t stop.

For whatever reason, this stick had seemed to want to become a snake to me; and not a snake like any others. Its scales weren’t the normal pattern one would see on a natural snake. This carving had scales of various flower petals – rose petals, violet petals, tulip petals lined it from top to bottom. The eyes were dandelion puffs and the fangs were small greenbrier thorns. Looking at it, I wouldn’t say it was my best work – it couldn’t compare to Le’Nara’s staff or De’Nara’s sword – but it did turn out rather nicely in the end.

“Do you like it?” I asked her.

“I do.” Crystal couldn’t seem to take her eyes off it, and with amusement I waved it back and forth just to watch her follow it as if she was mesmerized by it.

“Then do you want it?” I asked her casually.

“I wouldn’t dare, My Lord!” She sat up straight and shook her head vehemently from side to side. “I’m not worthy! That’s much too precious for someone like me!”

“Oh. That’s a shame.” Faking a deep sigh, I slumped my shoulders. “Then I guess it’ll just go in the fire. It’s not like I was going to keep it.”

Drawing back my hand, I pretended to get ready to toss it on the fire, but Crystal pounced across the short distance between us and grabbed it tightly in both hands while knocking me for a loop. “Don’t you dare! It’s too precious to just burn!”

Trying not to laugh, I got up and brushed myself off while she clutched it tightly to her chest, guarding it against me. “Then if you’re going to save it from the fire, I guess it’s yours,” I told her simply.

“Hold it up for a moment,” I ordered her.

“You’re not going to take it and burn it, are you?” She asked me suspiciously.

“Nope. It’s yours now. You saved it. I just want to make a final finishing touch or two to it.” Glancing around, Dino and Jess wasn’t anywhere in sight, so I figured they’d both went to bed already.

Warily, Crystal slowly held up the carving so I could see it once again. As carefully as she was holding it, I didn’t dare to actually try and take it back once more, so I gently pushed some earth magic into it to strengthen it so it wouldn’t break so easily. It wasn’t anywhere as strong as the weapons I’d made, but it would probably be as hard as a good quality steel.

Satisfied that it was now sturdy enough to be something suitable for Crystal to keep, I then pulled in some of the raw magic of Chaos and channeled it throughout the carving to color it. The rose petals I colored red, white, or yellow. The violets were violet, of course, and the tulip petals I made a set of lovely shades of oranges, pinks, purples, or yellows. The eyes I colored a pure white, to highlight the dandelion puffs, and the fangs I colored a deep green. Finally nodding to myself at the finished work, I had to admit that it was something that turned out rather lovely.

“Since you saved it, you name it,” I told Crystal as she simply stared at it wordlessly.

Not wanting to intrude on the moment any further – and not wanting to give her another chance to turn down the gift – I eased around past her and into the tent. I’d missed supper, but that won’t kill me. For tonight, I’ll just feast on the memory of Crystal’s expression. Hard to believe that someone would be so moved by something as simple as a carving made from a stick found lying around in the forest.