Hungry Heart - Book #4 - Ch. 22 (Patreon)

Chapter One / Chapter Two / Chapter Three / Chapter Four / Chapter Five / Chapter Six / Chapter Seven / Chapter Eight / Chapter Nine / Chapter Ten / Chapter Eleven / Chapter Twelve / Chapter Thirteen / Chapter Fourteen / Chapter Fifteen / Chapter Sixteen / Chapter Seventeen / Chapter Eighteen / Chapter Nineteen / Chapter Twenty / Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two – The Way Back

They stood on the bank, looking puzzled at the sight in front of them. The river, as they knew it, must have changed within a matter of hours, because ice stretched along the bank and as far as they could see as they looked over the glacial expanse in front of them. The ice seemed thin and it was cracked in places, so they could spot the water flowing underneath.

“Does it feel to you like it has gotten colder?” Toru asked his brother. He himself wasn’t able to tell the difference, so he had to resort to Lakan and his knowledge of the weather in these parts.

Lakan shook his head, just as mesmerized as he was by the sight stretching everywhere their eyes could see. “Although this river no longer carried fish in its waters until you arrived, it never froze in such a fashion.” He placed one foot on the crackling ice and then withdrew it quickly. “It appears that it doesn’t hold, so it should still be possible to get in.”

All eyes turned to Olivier. It was, after all, he who was the son of the moon and had that mysterious thread with him. Toru couldn’t say that he understood how things worked, but it was just what he knew.

Olivier nodded, as he realized why everyone was watching him. He moved to the edge and then jumped into the river.

That wasn’t quite right. Although he had visibly used his entire strength to go through the thin layer of ice, the frozen surface didn’t give underneath his feet. Even more, as he looked down and everyone else did the same, where he had touched the ice, the earlier flimsy layer thickened, getting the dense blue-whitish color of icecaps. Astonished as he had to be by this finding, Olivier began to move to and fro, and the effect followed him.

They all stared as the river solidified the longer Olivier was there. “Get out!” Toru shouted at him, realizing right away what was going on.

Olivier jumped back on the bank, taking Varg’s hand when offered. “Do you believe that magical book can tell us what’s going on?” he asked in a trembling voice.

“I will ask it,” Toru replied, “but first, how about we, the rest, try again?”

He didn’t wait for an answer and jumped on the now frozen-solid surface of the river and began running toward the thinner edge. It didn’t take long and the ice gave, making him sink into the cold water in a matter of moments.

The others followed him, and the same thing happened to them, one after the other crashing through the ice. Toru sank underneath the surface and looked around, using his arms and legs to move. Above him, the light of the day filtered through the ice sheet, gentle and benign. It had to be the same spot as the one through which they came, but, like before, there seemed to be no force to pull him to the other side of the world.

Lakan was swimming by his side and gestured at him, to show his dismay. They had all gone through the ice without shifting, so they were starting to feel the cold. They quickly emerged and climbed back on the bank.

To get warm, Toru changed into his tiger. Duril huddled against him, and Varg shook energetically, making droplets of icy water spread everywhere.

“Something is really stopping Olivier from leaving this place,” Varg spoke for everyone.

“And us,” Toru pointed out. “I mean, we can’t pass through whatever this magical border is, either.”

“Yes,” Varg said patiently, “but it appears to react more to Olivier’s presence.”

“It is just another thing we must figure out,” Duril proposed.

They had fought the forces of darkness and the biggest evil on the face of Eawirith. This magic shouldn’t be able to stop them, but Toru had to agree that he didn’t have the slightest idea about what they were supposed to do next, save for asking trees and magical books more questions.

It wasn’t just having Niverborg still severed from the world after they had endured so much throughout the decades. And it wasn’t Olivier’s fault that something that had to be bad by nature was working against him and didn’t want to let him leave this place and return to his rightful home.

Toru had to admit to himself that it amazed him how the young wolf succeeded in hiding his pain so well. When he had been younger, a lot younger, he had felt, in turn, sad and enraged at being treated so unjustly by an uncaring world. Still, that had only made him choose an adventurer’s path, not wanting to become attached to one place, as long as no one wanted him enough.

Olivier was in a direr situation, because he couldn’t even travel the world to find his destiny. He remained cooped up in this place, and the other wolves even made it harder for him by not wanting to have anything to do with him.

“We should go back,” Lakan suggested. “Since our plan failed, we need to see what other things the book has to tell us. Having the son of the moon with us failed to open the path we hoped so that you can go back.”

Toru couldn’t agree more. That book better have some answers, he thought, as he turned on his feet.

***

Duril noticed how deep in thought Varg appeared to be. In all honesty, they were puzzled about how they would find the way to reestablish the natural order of things and have Niverborg return to its state of being a part of Eawirith, one people could travel back and forth to. Of course, it was essential for them, too, that the secret path that had brought them there opened again.

“What’s on your mind?” he asked directly, knowing that the wolfshifter wasn’t one to beat around the bush.

“All this talk about a mysterious thread got me thinking,” Varg explained. “I know that Olivier told us that he belongs to the moon in ways other wolves don’t, but I’m not sure he is the key to our return or to solving this astonishing puzzle.”

“Please, share your thoughts with me. I have to admit that I’m as flabbergasted as you are by it all.”

Varg took a moment to gather his thoughts. “When we traveled through The Quiet Woods to reach the well that brought us here, we got into a fight with that giant spider.”

“Yes, I recall.”

“It was all very strange. The Quiet Woods might be home to many creatures, but not something evil, at least, this is what I would like to think.”

“I agree with you. Since Shearah was freed from her lightning bug shape, the forest has remained in good hands.”

“And somehow, I believe that the spider that attacked us wasn’t evil, either. I know,” Varg hurried to add, “it doesn’t sound like something someone in their right mind would say.”

“I am still listening, as you can easily tell,” Duril commented with a smile.

“At the time, when it transformed into myriads of tiny spiders, I sensed danger and I rushed to help Toru. Then, just like that, they disappeared.”

“Yes, I do remember. It was, as you say, very strange. And we had that talk about spiders being messengers, as some myths teach us.”

Varg touched his right shoulder briefly. “A spider weaves its thread, and the world spins around it,” he said.

“What is that?” Duril asked. “It sounds like part of a tale.”

“Not exactly a tale, but something I heard a long time ago, while I was still a pup,” Varg confirmed.

“How does it go?”

Varg closed his eyes for another moment, as he appeared to search his memory for the correct words. “I will try to recall it, but I can’t vouch for its accurate resemblance to the words I heard. A spider weaves its thread, and the world spins around it. The creature has no notion of what it is that it does or why it must do it; but it sets itself to work at once on a new thread, without asking questions or seeking an explanation for anything. And so it goes with the great weave of life, which all beings pull upon in their turn. Now and then there are those who break off from the main line of threads, and spin out their own little ones—but these are rare, as they have to be extremely strong, since the weight of the whole web rests upon them.”

“That sounds interesting,” Duril said, now rightfully intrigued. “It sounds to me like a lesson of sorts.”

“Indeed,” Varg agreed with a thoughtful nod. “Strong beings make their own destiny.”

“Shearah the wind spirit warned us that we wouldn’t find our way back.” Duril looked over his shoulder at Toru, who appeared quite upset about the obstacles that seemed to be keeping them there. Later, they would talk and he’d be able to understand more about what went on inside his young heart.

“That didn’t stop us, and I believe it happened because we simply don’t trust what others tell us when we know the truth inside our hearts the most.”

“That Toru is strong enough to pull the thread of destiny in the direction he desires, even when all odds stack against us,” Duril completed what had to be going through Varg’s mind. “If you don’t mind my asking, where did you hear this thing about spiders that you just told me?”

“They were the words of a weary traveler, who had found a warm place by our fire on a winter’s night,” Varg explained. “Something of how he said them remain etched in my memory, or else I wouldn’t be able to recall those words now. The other pups were bored. They wanted a story, not to be lectured about the big truths of life.”

“Not you,” Duril said and returned the smile the wolfshifter gave him.

“Not me. And now I wonder about the mysterious thread and spiders.”

Duril pondered for a while. “We will have to ask the book about it, but I try not to get my hopes high. We must think of another plan in case there’s nothing else the book can teach us.”

“You are right about that, my friend. I understand Toru’s frustration all too well regarding such enemies that don’t come straight at you to fight.”

“I believe we should also ask Elpis for help,” Duril said, as that was where his thoughts were pulling him to. “The forest as a whole is part of her now, so all the wisdom of the trees must belong to her, as well.”

“That sounds like a solid plan in case we don’t find anything new from the book,” Varg agreed.

***

Toru flipped through the pages of the book and yelled at it for what seemed like quite a while, as the others clustered around him and watched, as anxious as he was about seeing at least one sign that the book was still listening. There appeared to be no such thing, because the pages remained silent, and no new letters appeared on their smooth surface.

“I knew we couldn’t rely on magic,” he said with a huff. That only went to show that he was right to believe that mythical creatures and their tools of the trade did little to help, although they could do so much more.

“Duril has an idea,” Varg said while stepping forward. “We should try speaking to Elpis and seek her advice. After all, she is now the forest’s soul and might have insight to share.”

Lakan lifted his head and listened attentively. Toru wondered how his brother would feel about going to see his mother again and see her transformed into something else. All of it had to be so new for him, and to see his parent giving up on him so that she could tend to a higher purpose had to elicit certain conflicting emotions in his heart. Toru knew that if it were him, he would feel like that, but he couldn’t tell if his brother would fall prey to the same self-inflicted torture.

“I would like to see her again,” Lakan said out loud. “Even if she’s no longer the same person I have known for my entire life. And this situation, you being trapped with us here, concerns me, too. As much as I’d love to have you here until the world ends, I prefer to forget about my own selfishness and work with you until you find a way out of this.” He seemed to have noticed Toru’s stare, because he turned toward him. “I hope you weren’t thinking about leaving me behind while you went and talked to my mother.” He added a smile to let Toru know that he was joking.

“Then we should do just that,” Duril suggested. “If we leave now, we will reach the place where we left her before darkness falls.”

Olivier fidgeted in his place. “I feel like I only served to create an even more difficult situation for you than before. The river must be freezing because of me.”

“Don’t think too much into this magical thing,” Toru said and took the young wolf by the shoulders. “You see, all these creatures that have lived for millennia, along with magical books and whatnot, they tend to be not all up here.” He pointed at his temple and Olivier smiled and even snickered. That was more like it. He hated it when people, good people, didn’t like him for one reason or another. “Which means that whoever or whatever implicated you in making this part of the world to remain isolated from the rest of Eawirith just needs some convincing to let it go.” He couldn’t explain what that convincing involved, and he wasn’t going to struggle with it for now, but going to see Elpis and talking to her wouldn’t hurt. “We will get through this, and you will find a way to soar to the moon, too,” he added.

Olivier put a hand over his as it lay on his shoulder and offered him a grateful smile. There was little else Toru liked more than to help people and experience their gratitude. Maybe he still loved food more. Maybe. He didn’t know for sure.

***

“Was the path to the soul of the forest this long?” Varg expressed his astonishment as they seemed to walk and walk without a sign that they would soon reach their destination.

Duril looked around, and he appeared to be just as confused as the wolshifter was. “In all honesty, I’ve been expecting to reach our destination for what seems like hours now.”

The dark was setting in, and Varg stopped for a moment to stare at the path ahead. There was something very strange about it all if he could took his time to understand what that inkling at the back of his head was trying to tell him. The sun had gone down, and the air was cold, but it wasn’t the coldest thing he’d ever felt in his life until now. The snow underfoot was thick as damp clay, and it was hard work trying to walk through it. It had been like this for some time, which might have counted toward why they appeared to advance so slowly.

There were drifts in some places, and here and there patches of bare ground showed through where the wind had blown it away. That also was strange in itself. Since he had set foot in Niverborg, Varg had believed that everything there was destined to be covered by a thick blanket of snow. Ahead of them, the trail they had followed for some time climbed upward. A low but steady wind blew from the west, stirring up the snow on the ground so that it swirled around their legs like a slow tide.

He looked back and saw that the others had stopped for a moment and were looking back as well. The sky was clear, but the stars were out, and he could see them glimmering overhead. The moon was up, and shone gently over them. Varg felt a sudden pang of nostalgia, and thoughts of his lost brethren came to mind unbidden.

He shook his head and turned to look forward again. They were about halfway up the slope. The terrain was getting steeper, and it felt as though they needed to climb it until they could see what lay on top of it.

Ahead, a dark shape moved into view atop the rise ahead. Could it be the old tree Elpis had curled within so that she could become the soul of the forest instead of the old one destroyed by Drahlung?

They all stopped at the sight in front of them. An enormous spruce spread its branches wide across the top of the hill, and it cast a shadow far wider than itself in all directions. As he watched closer, something else caught his eye. There was a faint glow coming from the inside the trunk.

“I think Elpis is glowing,” Toru commented out loud, breaking the eerie feeling that appeared to have fallen over them with the descent of the night. “I think that means that she’s home.”

Varg agreed. They had finally reached their destination although it had taken them plenty of time to get there. Maybe that was also something they could ask Elpis, or maybe they could just stick with what was important and find out what the mysterious thread was about.

Duril moved forward, along with Lakan. Together, they placed their hands on the dark bark, and leaned toward it. Varg and the others waited while the forest’s son and their friend who could talk to the trees conducted their quiet conversation.

“She wants you and Olivier to come near,” Duril explained. “She says that she can only offer her advice to those directly involved.”

Varg didn’t hesitate. However, Olivier seemed intimidated by the whole thing, so Varg found himself forced to grab his hand and pull him along. They put one hand each on the trunk, imitating what they had seen Duril and Lakan do just earlier.

At first, it appeared that nothing was happening. Varg threw Duril a questioning look, and in turn, the healer just made an appeasing gesture that meant that he had to be patient. And then, he heard it, a soft voice coming from inside.

I had to stall you so that you would reach me when the moon was up in the sky. Forgive me for having you tread through the heavy snow for a while.

No harm done. Varg was surprised to realize that the words had come out of him without having him open his mouth to utter them. That in itself was magical, and he felt, at the same time, in awe and a bit out of balance.

I already know that you’ve been asking the trees in this forest about your way out, and since I could do nothing to call for you here, I waited patiently. I am happy to see that you brought the dark wolf with you.

Varg understood that Elpis meant Olivier. He waited patiently.

You are the one with the thread, Varg, but you cannot open the path by yourself. Ask the dark wolf to place his hand over yours, and I will send you on your way, each of you to follow your destiny again.

Wait,Varg intervened, using again his mind voice, will we be able to get back here? Toru doesn’t wish to lose his brother again, as you might guess.

Niverborg will be returned to the world once you do what I tell you. I know that you have questions. All I can tell you is that a good soul wove a small thread through your shoulder before you came here. And now, that thread will pull you back.

What about Olivier? Will he be all right? Varg asked, concerned for his younger companion.

His mother will be pleased to see him. And no, dark wolf, she’s no longer mad at you. But she couldn’t call you back to her on her own and needed my help.

Varg knew that there had to be a story there, but it was one that maybe they would all learn about at a different time. I believe we are ready,he said.

His right shoulder jerked forward of its own accord. He was about to ask what was going on, and then he saw Olivier being pulled upward by an invisible force. Varg looked up and saw a beam of the moon reaching for the young wolf, like a warm embrace.

After that, he saw or understood nothing else. He fell into the bark and heard his friends’ astonished cries.

They all fell through, as if through soft molasses.

***

They stumbled over each other and hit the ground with a loud thud. Varg pushed himself up and looked around in surprise. They were back at The Quiet Woods by the looks of things, and they were even in the same spot, as the well of no return glimmered not two feet away from them.

“Well,” he said, “what do you know? It seems like the well of no return needs to be given a different name.”

Laughter followed his remark, and Claw caught him in a bear hug. “Puppy, we’re back!” the bearshifter shouted in delight.

When they had embarked on that path, knowing that they risked never coming back to this place again, Claw had brushed off their concerns about his possible future regrets, but it seemed that the bear was quite adept at hiding his true feelings, because now he sounded both ecstatic and relieved.

Knowing that the bearshifter would have followed them even if it meant that a part of his heart would be left in anguish in the aftermath only made his heart fill with fondness even more. He hugged Claw tightly and held him in his arms until he heard him protesting.

“It all worked, but it was so fast,” Toru said. “I didn’t realize that we would be pulled through the well again, just like that. I didn’t have the time to tell my brother goodbye.”

“I believe that we should be able to travel to Niverborg again,” Duril said. “We know now that it is true, because that is what Elpis said. And seeing how she kept her end of the bargain, we cannot say that she would lie to us for any reason.”

“What do you think that the thing with Olivier was all about?” Toru asked. “We didn’t get to tell him goodbye, either.”

Duril shook his head in mirth. “Olivier wasn’t exactly truthful with us. He fell from his mother’s arms and chose to play with the other wolves in Niverborg as a child. As he grew up, his longing for home only increased, and now that he couldn’t find a mate, he wished he could go back to his real family.”

“Besides the moon being his mother, what other family does he have up there?” Toru pointed at the clear sky above them.

“From what Elpis told me and your brother, in the short time that we had to talk to her, his siblings are all the stars in the sky.”

“Now I wish we had had the chance to know him better,” Toru said with a deep sigh. “Just as I said. It all happened so very fast.”

“Let’s count our blessings,” Varg suggested. “We are all back at The Quiet Woods, Claw can see his home forest and friends again, and we know for a fact that Niverborg not only exists, but it is also ruled by your brother. We will travel there again someday and see everyone.”

That seemed to offer the young tiger just the right reason to smile in contentment. “I do have a brother,” Toru said with pride in his voice. “And he is very clever and can read old texts. Unlike me. And he also rules over all that snow! I can barely wait to tell Willow and Beast all about it. Also, I want to have a bit of that leafy salad Willow makes.”

It appeared that it took Toru very little to get over being sad at having been pulled from his brother’s side so quickly. After all, he was so generous as to recall of all his great deeds in Niverborg, which most probably, Beast and Willow equally wanted to hear all about.

That didn’t matter. The rest of them would make sure that their friends at The Quiet Woods heard about their adventures.

And the fact that they still didn’t know how to find Nelsikkar didn’t matter that much. After all, Toru had earned a brother in the process, and that was one thing that mattered above all.

***

“I can’t believe my weary eyes!” Beast exclaimed and rolled toward them like a boulder. He smashed into Claw so hard that he managed to make the huge bear topple over.

Duril smiled at the display of affection between the two friends.

“I sniffed you from a mile away, and then I told Willow,” Beast continued, “I think I’m sensing Claw near. At which he told me that I should go back to sleep because it is clear that I ate too much and now I’m having dreams. But nothing fools my nose,” he added and tapped against his face to make it clear that he was so proud of his senses.

Duril nodded in agreement, as did the rest of them.

“So, how are things with you? What did you find out from your travels?”

“We discovered Niverborg,” Varg explained.

Duril didn’t wait to hear the rest, counting on the wolfshifter to give them all a good recounting of what they had been up to since leaving The Quiet Woods. His immediate interest was to find Shearah and thank her for the gift of being able to talk to the spirits of the wind.

Everywhere he looked, the forest seemed to have changed very little since they left. One question he wanted to ask Shearah was how long they had been gone, because the last days already seemed so far away, as far away as Niverborg.

The matter of being nowhere close to finding an answer regarding Nelsikkar and its whereabouts was also on his mind. He knew that Varg had to be thinking about it, too, by how scrutinizing the looks he was throwing Toru appeared to be. The good thing was, the young tiger didn’t let regrets wrap around his great heart easily. There would be a time when they would talk about what path to follow, and whether going to see the hermit was the only option they had to find Toru’s home.

He knew that he had to be getting near. Leaves caressed his face, rustling in the night wind. Duril breathed deeply of the fresh air, filling his lungs with the smell of earth and grass.

He took another step forward, and a cool breeze brushed his cheek.

The ground beneath his feet felt firm, but he could sense the softness of the grasses. The trees were tall and straight with long thin branches that swept across the sky like fingers of fire. They looked as though they had been carved from marble by skilled hands; their smooth trunks and gnarled roots caught the moonlight with startling clarity. A gentle breeze blew past him again, ruffling his hair, making him shiver, but not unpleasantly.

“You have returned,” he heard her saying, and then saw her emerging from behind one of the tall trees.

“Yes. It was quite the adventure,” he said with a smile. “Toru found out he had a brother. Lakan is his name, and he is the ruler of Niverborg.”

“So the place still exists. Was your trip pleasant or marred by dangers?”

He took a place by her side on a fallen trunk. “The correct answer would be both. Niverborg was severed from the world from the moment Toru’s and Lakan’s father went to find a bride for himself and wage war against Hekastfet.”

He began telling her everything, and Shearah listened in silence, her big luminous eyes filling with concern and awe, as he took her through their trials and tribulations while stranded in that part of the world.

“Those shards that are now in Toru’s shoulder,” he began, wanting to get to the thing that was chewing through his heart like ants through wood, “will it always be easy for him to dominate them and prevent them from taking over his soul? When it was just the one, I didn’t dwell so much on it. But what happened in Niverborg makes me believe that there must be other shards like them all over the world.”

Shearah nodded and appeared thoughtful. “You are not wrong, Duril. Toru will have to confront great dangers, still. And ridding the world of such powerful evil is not something that can be achieved in a day, regardless of how great a hero he is.”

“I think just the same. I want to know how I can be of help. He’s worried about going to see the hermit, not for himself, but for the rest of us. It pains me to ask this, but do you believe that we might be more a hindrance to him instead of the help he needs?”

Now, she gave him a hard look. “Toru needs his friends. Don’t you ever doubt that, Duril. Even this burden you are talking of, is nothing but what makes him the hero he is. He wants this burden. And he will have to see the hermit, yes. Ah, he is looking for you. Rest for now, my valiant adventurers,” she said with a smile as she waved at Toru who was walking toward them. “There is no one more deserving than you in the entire world.”

TBC

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