76. Life and Everything in Between (Patreon)

I stretched, working out the kinks from the night before. My skin and hair were sticky with sweat and my mouth fuzzy, like I’d spent the night drinking. A bath was in order.

Soap. I’d somehow forgotten to buy soap when I was last in Voorhei. I’d have to remedy that. Or make it myself. The process wasn’t hard--I’d just need to make lye first.

Who was I kidding? Making my own soap would’ve been fine weeks ago when my only concern was surviving, but there was too much to do now. I had three new spells to practice--Camouflage, Scentless Hunter, and Grace. Not to mention building proficiency with the other spells and skills I was practicing.

I’d been wanting to build a kiln for a while now, but the poor project suffered from my inattention. Magic and learning to fight were just too damn enticing for my fantasy-loving ways. One day, I promised myself. One day when things settled down.

I like hunting and magic best, Yuki said.

We’re of one mind then, I said.

Literally.

Literally.

We spoke at the same time and laughed at the shared joke.

So what do you want to work on today? I asked, smiling.

Grace, Yuki said without hesitation. The other spells are straightforward. All they’ll take to improve are practice and observation. Grace is more challenging, because we can only sense mana through you.

“All right, we can do that. We haven’t given up--”

--on the idea of taming a blynx.

“It’ll be tricky. According to Tegen, the Blink spell is line of sight, so even the smallest gap in an enclosure could lead to the animal’s escape.”

We could blind it, Yuki said, and then they hesitated. No, that would be cruel, wouldn’t it? Blinding should be a last resort.

“It’s an interesting idea,” I said, feeling proud of how far the uekisheie had come. “What about blocking the optic nerve instead of cutting it? Could you do that and then unblock it after the blynx was tamed?”

We would need to experiment to find out, but we’d rather not do it on you. Let’’s go hunting later.

“Sure, we need to restock the refrigerator anyway.”

But first, Grace. And we’d like to join consciousnesses later to experience more memories.

“Sounds good,” I said. “Let me just clean up first.”

###

The next tenday passed in a blur. We practiced our mixed martial arts, combining magical and physical attacks. We also explored the biology of the small mammals around the glen. Cutting the optic nerve turned out to be easy. Interrupting sight without causing permanent damage was harder.

What most stood out about this period, though, were the times we spent reliving my memories. It was embarrassing and weird and mortifying, but completely not at the same time.

Like, there was this time when Helen and I were visiting Los Angeles, and we made a special visit to Little Tokyo for ramen, which was delicious by the way--the soup so rich and full of umami and the noodles had the perfect bite. Anyway, we walked through the area in a food-induced haze afterward and stumbled across a shop that sold green wigs and the striped bikini and boots that Lum wore in Urusei Yatsura.

Helen, the minx, knew that I was a fan of the manga and bought both, and well, we had a lovely evening at the hotel. Several, in fact. And I cringed at Yuki watching us go at it, but they were just so delighted by the love flowing between Helen and I that it was strangely wholesome.

And then there was the memory of the time I caught a nasty stomach flu and spent the night with my face pressed against the side of the toilet bowl. At one point, I heaved so hard, I lost control of my bowels and ended up soiling my pants. It really was coming out both ends.

This was before Helen and the kids, so I had to drag myself into the shower and clean up on my own, nearly out of my mind dizzy. Yet, all Yuki wondered about was the human body’s remarkable ability to projectile vomit.

It wasn’t all sex and scat. There were softer, gentler moments and boring ones too; everything else a life fully lived encapsulates. Mine, Helen’s, and the kids. Yuki watched Alex and Daniel grow up. Watched me struggle with the challenges of figuring out how to be a dad. Changing diapers; the terrible twos; the camping trips; the tween years. Oh my gods, the drama of the tween years! Both kids thankfully settled down in high school. They took after their mom that way. Then there was Alex’s coming out, and Daniel’s fixation with masks, which turned into him dual majoring in fine arts and anthropology. I was so proud of my kids. They’d weathered growing up so much better than I did.

Then, of course, there was Helen’s passing. I talked to Yuki about it before, but this time, they were right there with me by her side, holding her hand, talking about not much at all, while Alex and Daniel sat on the other side of the hospital bed, holding her hand too.

Well, Helen knew she was loved. Fiercely, vehemently loved. The cancer took away so much, but never that.

And then the despair afterward and the long road to--I never could find a name for what came after. Not normalcy, surely. Life, I suppose. It was all just life. Life and everything in between.

Yuki hungered for it all and didn’t discriminate between the moments. Each and every one was precious. And I had to agree.

###

We were in the Hunter’s Lodge. Tomorrow was the start of another hunt, but before then, I needed to give the Healing Water rune to the lodge.

Yuki’s tendrils wove through my hair, but they were one with the land and Camouflaged, so none of the people gathered noticed. An eclectic group sat in a circle around Inleio and me: Dwilla the Reeve, Sheedi the World Speaker, and a handful of villagers, including the miller whose name I’d forgotten.

It was Inglei, Yuki said. Inglei the Miller.

That’s right. I’d only met her once. After that, it was Billisha and Aluali who bought our corn meal from her.

Another handful of hunters were mixed in. Mumu was there, as was the older hunter who’d cast Nature’s Spring during the hunt two tendays ago. Ben was his name, short for Benseisoo.

They all watched as Inleio handed me a silver sphere in which to put the Healing Water rune. Ikfael had given her permission, so I had no qualms about sharing the spell. Once it was in the sphere, though, Inleio gave it to Dwilla instead of putting it somewhere safe for transport to Albei.

Dwilla closed her eyes and focused on the rune inside. After about ten minutes, she passed it to Sheedi on her left. When Sheedi was done twenty minutes later, she offered it to Mumu. And so it went, the sphere going from hand to hand, person to person, three times around the circle. The whole afternoon was spent in the lodge, as the people around me memorized the rune.

When I raised my eyebrows at him, Inleio coughed and looked away. “The spell doesn’t belong to the Hunter’s Lodge yet, so there is nothing wrong with sharing the spell with the people of Voorhei.”

“Ah huh. And once the Hunter’s Lodge approves the spell?” I asked.

“Then our rules will apply,” Inleio said, “and you will be handsomely rewarded for your contribution. I will make sure of it, on my honor.”

I didn’t mind spreading the spell as long as it was a fair trade. It’d only do good as far as I was concerned, and I trusted Inleio to keep his word. As for the lodge rules...well, I could already see how I could bend them to teach Billisha and Aluali if either of them turned out to have a talent for magic.

At my smile, Inleio shook his head in resignation. “If it’s you, then this lesson is probably not too early.” He paused to make sure I was paying attention. “Our rules exist to strengthen the lodge. The stronger the lodge, the more protection it provides the people. But when the rules no longer protect the people, when they protect the lodge at the expense of people, then we do what we must. A hunter is flexible. They know what they hunt and why. Without those two understandings, they become lost along the path to perfection. The lodge is a place of rest and support along the way. It is not the path itself. Does our Eight understand?”

“Oh, yes,” I said. “More than you know.”

Inleio nodded, relieved. “I believe you. I believe in you.”

That made me grin.

“But that does not mean that you can chew rocks. When we are finished here, you will show me your progress with your Bow and Spear Arts.”

“Yes, Lodge Master,” I said, my grin spreading.

###

That evening, Billisha and Aluali escorted me to the stream outside the village for a good scrubbing. They were so excited, just over the moon thrilled. Apparently, as denizens of the glen, the kids’ status went way up after the ceremony on the solstice. They now had a band of followers, mostly consisting of kids from other hunter families, but it was a good sign that Billisha and Aluali were fitting in.

One of Bihei’s chickens had stopped laying, so there was chicken and grits for dinner later that night. Bindesei’s ghost stopped by while we were eating, but he didn’t do anything except hover in the corner. He looked lost and lonely, so I just let him be. Afterward, he poked around the section of the lodge reserved for livestock.

Bihei worked at her loom, and the kids had baskets they were weaving. I was the only one without anything to do, so I sat in meditation with Yuki rifling through my memories in the background.

It was a quiet night, but tomorrow, we’d hunt.

###

The print in the muddy slope looked like it was left by a blynx. Or it could’ve been a regular lynx. While Tegen and Haol debated, Mumu climbed a tree for a better view of the surroundings, and I had my Spirit Eyes open searching for anything Camouflaged. I spotted Teila crouched hidden behind a red cedar, so I knew it was working. The debate inconclusive, we followed the trail south along the hillside and then cut west, up towards a higher elevation.

Near a large granite outcropping, the trail disappeared, which lent weight to the argument that it was a blynx. There was a limit to the range of a blynx’s blink though, and no matter how exhaustively we searched--how wide we made our circles--we found no further signs of the animal. It was a tense time, and the hunters took particular care to keep Teila and I protected.

We spent a good three hours circling around the outcropping. We even looked for gaps in the stone to make sure it hadn’t gone underground, but there was nothing. It was a mystery.

From the top of the outcropping, I asked Yuki to make sure it wasn’t Otwei playing tricks on us, but they reported that she was intent on tracking a herd of musk oxen further to our southwest, maybe a mile out. She wasn't thinking of us at all. Instead, a thread of worry ran through her belly. That's when I heard an eagle's cry, and a shadow the size of a small plane shot underneath me.

I dived from the outcropping, as hunters scattered for the trees. The world blurred as Yuki sped my qi through the patterns for Dog’s Agility. As I fell toward the ground, I heard a series of rifle shots; Haol casting arrows clad in Spiral Pierce. Mumu’s shots lagged only a moment behind.

The air went out of me when I hit the ground. My roll out of the fall was sloppy, and I went stumbling, running, diving for cover under a pine tree’s branches. It was all I could do to wave them out of the way, so that I didn’t poke my own eyes out.

I’d just gotten behind the trunk, when the tree swayed dangerously. A crack sounded above me, and the top of the tree fell to the ground. I looked up at the suddenly clear view of an eagle powerfully flapping its wings to rise up into the air.

Giant Eagle, animal, dusk

Talents: Big Boy, Talons Like Knives, Death from Above, Air Superiority

Nascent: ???, ???

“Teila?” Tegen yelled.

“Safe!”

“Eight?”

“Also safe,” I said.

“To me,” Tegen yelled. “At the oak. Quickly, while it rises.”

I ducked under the pine’s branches and ran towards the oak tree Tegen had taken shelter under. He already had his spells flowing, the smell of qi strongly upon him. It took only a moment to recognize Bear’s Strength, Collaut’s Hide, and Iron Heart. Then my eyes were on the sky again. I reached back to unsling my bow..

My arrow nocks now had notches, so that I could load them by feel. I no longer had to look down to check if the fletching would hit the stave or not.

The eagle circled around to scan the ground. Haol and Mumu shot again, the air cracking with the sound of their arrows. My own shots were anemic in comparison.

“Gods-be-damned pop gun,” I muttered. “My next spell’s going to be Pierce.”

Teila shot her arrows with just as much frustration. “Me too!”

The eagle was an acrobatic nightmare; yawing left and right, up and down. A barrel roll avoided a coordinated attack from the hunters, the arrows passing underneath his surprisingly agile body. Haol dived to avoid the eagle’s talons, the tree behind him buffeted by the eagle’s wings.

In the blink of an eye, Mumu dropped her bow and grabbed her spear to launch herself at the eagle’s back. Spiral Pierce broke through the feathers shielding his body. The spear stuck, but was whipped around when the eagle twisted, his beak slicing through the air to reach Mumu.

She let go and dropped to the ground. An arrow from Haol kept the eagle at bay long enough for her to roll away. With steps thumping, Tegen charged from under the oak tree. Like a locomotive building steam, he started slow but quickly built up steam.

Alarm flashed through the eagle’s eyes, and he took off with a leap, his wings flapping furiously to catch at the air. Blood streamed from where Mumu’s spear was still lodged.

The eagle kept low to the tree tops to limit his exposure to arrows, then winged away towards the escarpment to the west. He’d missed his meal and came away hurt instead. He was retreating.

Haol panted hard, but didn’t let go of his bow. “Running low,” he said between breaths, “on qi.”

Mumu scrambled to pick up her bow. Her breathing came fast too. “Same.”

They’d both been burning Dog’s Agility in addition to the multiple arrows fired with Spiral Pierce. I must’ve lost track of their arrows, because their quivers were mostly empty.

Tegen let go of his spells, the qi dissipating from his body like mist. “I have one more in me.”

The three of them gathered around the apprentices under the oak tree and scanned the sky. When the eagle didn’t show any signs of returning, we all breathed a sigh of relief.

“We withdraw.” Mumu said. She checked the sun. “We’ll find a safe place to recover and then head back.”

It was not quite five in the afternoon, so we easily had another four hours of light. Her decision meant that we’d finish the day’s hunt early, but as low on resources as we were--magical and material--I couldn’t blame her.

None of us were happy, but we were glad to come out of the encounter unscathed.

###

Our team’s hope was to go after the wounded eagle the next day, but Inleio had something else in mind. The Albei team had found signs of a band of adolescent musk ox bulls intruding on the local elk herd’s territory. That meant there were four different animal groups vying for territory to the south and west.

Well, one of those groups was the lightning bear, and he didn’t have to vy for anything. What he claimed as territory was his. It was the other three groups fighting for land: elk, musk oxen, and wolves.

The idea of wolves and elk competing was weird at first, but I quickly acclimated to it. The animals in this world had long since learned to color outside the lines.

Musk oxen were notoriously grumpy; often weighing seven hundred pounds or more. They normally preferred arctic habitat, where their thick fur coats kept them warm, but like I said, the animals in this world did what they pleased. They had abilities and mutations that invalidated the knowledge I’d brought with me from my previous life.

One new thing I learned was that musk oxen mutated easily under the influence of darklight and their mutations tended to vary widely, which is why this band of bulls was so worrisome. We had no knowledge of their capabilities. All we knew was that there were five or six, and the elk had managed to keep them at bay. They’d likely be powerful, but not too powerful; a threat now, with the potential to be a much larger threat later.

So, Inleio decided to devote the second day to hunting down the musk oxen. All six teams would be involved plus the team from Albei.