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| Catahya > Noveller & Dikter > Noveller > The Pirates of Amoda IV |
| The Pirates of Amoda IV |
| Skriven av Lunja den 29 november 2005 [Utskriftsversion] |
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Three other days passed without the two youngsters returning. Misha was starting to loose her patience. Three new days of hard lecturing with old Lebelle. She had now given up on Misha’s abilities with the element of Spirit as Misha still could not do even the simple task, as she put it. Instead they had moved on to Fire. They were once again out by the big oak. Someone had spread out a big circle of sand a bit further away from the old tree. Lebelle told Misha to get inside the circle. Then she put a piece of wood in front of her. “To create fire out in the wilderness is not always as easy as you think. You might get unlucky with the weather and burning something that is soaking wet is impossible.” Madam Lebelle said. “Your life might depend on the heat for one night. This session you are going to set the pieces of wood on fire. To manage that you must once again focus. Gather your energy and picture it in your hands or eyes then move it to the wood. Ready?” Misha nodded and then focused on her next task. She closed her eyes and tried to locate her energy, she tried to feel it inside. She stood quiet for nearly three hours and surprisingly Madam Lebelle had not spoken once. She peeked a bit just to make sure she was alive, unfortunately Misha thought, she was. She had sat down under the oak with a coup of steaming tea. “What are you stopping for? That wood is not going to lit itself. Go on.” Lebelle snapped with her arms crossed. “Come on, focus. Do it right for once.” Misha felt how she got warm, she felt anger stirring up inside. But there was nothing she could do about Lebelle, she was an Elder. She forced her anger away and closed her eyes again with dogged teeth. She could not find anything inside. “You are not focusing Misha.” Said Lebelle annoyed. “I do not wish to spend another whole day looking at your failing attempts.” Misha felt so useless. Lebelle’s voice echoed inside her head and she lost her temper again. Just as she was going to scream the most awful words to the old woman she felt the warmness inside, felt it moving. She grabbed it, somehow and pushed it towards her hands. When she opened her eyes she could almost see it. She felt the warmness gather in her pawns. Slowly she raised her hands so that the pawns faced the pieces of wood on the sandy ground. She pushed with all her power towards it and saw a small thin line of bright light moving forth. As it hit the target there was a small hiss and a smell of burnt wood in the air before it started to glow. At first just the glow was tiny, about the size of a needle fingernail and slightly orange. Misha concentrated and pushed even harder. Small drips of sweat was forming o her forehead as the wood started to smoulder. “That is it!” Said Lebelle emotionless. “Keep it coming, do not let go yet.” Her hands were shaking as she gave a last hard push. Then she dropped the warmness and the thin line disappeared. She sat down on the ground gasping after breath. Her head pounded wildly and she let out small disappointed noise. She was waiting for Lebelle’s snappy annotation, but it never came. Instead she said; “Good work young one.” That was it. Misha looked confused at her. But then she saw the pieces of wood, there was a small flame, but it was strong and clearly growing. Misha smiled a bit. “You can take the rest of the morning off. Go and rest a bit, then I will see you again in the afternoon.” “Thank you Madam Lebelle.” Misha replied cheerful. She could almost forget about her headache. But after an hour nap, she was almost certain her head was going to explode. She went over to see Belaia the herbalist. When Misha stepped into her tent, the strong smell of smoked sage hit her like a wall. Belaia was kneeling behind a low table and her left hand moved frenetic over a piece of paper. A bunch of different mushrooms laid in front of her but Misha merely recognized half of them, something she intended to change as soon as she was given the chance. Belaia was deeply concentrated on the piece of paper and just nodded at Misha and made an arm gesture telling her to sit down. The heavy scent filled the entire tent and Misha had to struggle to pull a breath. After what seemed like ages, Belaia finally put down her quill and sprinkled sand over the paper. “There, I am finished at last. I have been working for days with this you see. Some of the folks have gotten strange cramps after eating some of the mushrooms found in the woods. It is important that I find a cure.” Misha had indeed heard about the sickness that seemed to strike more people after every day that passed. However Misha had not the interest nor was she in the mood for a new lecture. “I’m sorry that I had to disturb you, Great Herbalist, but I have been tormented by an awful headache all morning and I was wondering if you could help me.” She said as humble as she could at this state. “A headache, you say…” Belaia mumbled and started to search her well-organized shelves and boxes. “Hmm... well then you will need some heather, mint leaves and camomile.” She continued and fetched the different herbs as she spoke. She put all the herbs in a small jar. “Boil these with milk and then drink it. If the headache has not passed when night comes then drink some more.” She said and gave the little jar to Misha. “Thank you.” Misha replied and turned to leave. “By the way…” Belaia said just as Misha was going to pull aside the tent fold. Misha stopped tired and faced Belaia again. “I need to get a few more mushroom samples and investigate the soil they grow in. but I have far too much work that has to be done. I was wondering if you could get some for me, when you get time.” “…Yes, absolutely. I will get them for you.” She replied after holding back a grunt. “Good. I have written down the names of the mushrooms on this paper, it is rather ordinary mushrooms so I suppose you will not have any problems finding them.” Misha swallowed. “Of course not. But I would like to learn a bit more… about the… different kinds of mushrooms and herbs in our woods…Maybe I could borrow a book from you?” Asked Misha carefully. “Sure.” Belaia said with a little smile. She went over to her table and picked up her notes and took out a book from its shelf. “You have to keep the mushrooms in different pouches, and remember to bring a bit of the soil to.” Belaia said and gave Misha the things. “Okay. I will bring them back as soon as I can.” Said Misha before she left the tent. She felt a great relief to get out into fresh air, and she drew several deep breaths before heading back to her own tent. She stopped by the food tent and got herself some hot milk but did not mix it with the herbs before she got to the tent. There she sat down on a pillow and drank from the bottle. It tasted bitter and she regretted not bringing some honey as well. The headache did not pass at once but she still opened the book she got and started to read. After an hour or so she had read through most of the mushrooms, at least those she was supposed to bring Belaia. She memorized the list and then she went over to the food tent again. To her great surprise Estra stood over one of the heavy cauldrons, stirring with a wooden ladle. She replaced her surprised face with a smile and went over there. “So what is cooking today?” Misha asked the old lady. “Ah, Misha! Sweet girl, how glad I am to se you. How are you?” She replied with a wide smile. “Hello Estra, I am all fine. I did not know you had started to work in the kitchen.” “Oh well I have not really either, I am just helping out a bit, numerous of the cocks have gotten sick you see. Some strange flu going maybe. Anyway enough of this now. How are your studies going? I hope you are not being careless.” “It is all going well and I am trying my hardest.” “Young girl, Madam Lebelle, the Elder is looking for you. She says you have forgotten about your lesson.” One of the younger cocks suddenly shouted. Misha gave Estra a weak smile and quickly bid her farewell. As she hurried out of the tent, she saw Lebelle by the oak. It was indeed time for more training. She grunted and ran over there. Lebelle stood up as she saw Misha. “What took you so long young one?” She asked with a slightly sharp tone. Misha knew Lebelle could not have waited too long but did not speak of it, it was better not to argue. “I am sorry Madam Lebelle, I did not mean to be disrespectful.” She said instead. “Well, let us not waste more time. We will continue with the Fire. This time you need to light it properly. Get in the ring with you.” Misha did as she was told and once again Lebelle put a piece of wood in front of her. “Concentrate. Gather your energy in your hands and move it to the wood.” Lebelle said. Misha closed her eyes and tried to feel the warmness again. It took her quite a while to find it, but this time it seemed easier to move it to her hands. She felt how her pawns were burning from the heat, but it did not hurt. She opened her eyes and saw it, there actually were small flames on her hands, not just a bright light like before. She gasped and stared with big eyes on them. “Do not panic, the fire will not hurt you. Go on, light the wood.” Said Lebelle calm. Her words did not mean much but the calm voice made Misha feel a bit safer. She closed her eyes again and drew a breath. With closed eyes she tried to move the flames from her hands. It did not work. She put her hands together and gathered more warmth from inside, she felt her hands getting warmer and warmer. When she then opened her eyes she held a burning globe between them, about the size of an orange. She focused; slowly she let the whole globe and all the energy over to her left hand. Then she pulled the hand backwards and threw the globe as hard as she could against the wooden piece in front of her. The burning globe swished through the air and hit it with a small but remarkable hot explosion. Within a few seconds the wood was turning into ash. Misha breathed loudly as she watched amazed and proud. It seemed like Lebelle was a bit surprised herself for she did not say anything before a few minutes had passed. “If you were supposed to blow it up, I would have told you so.” She said annoyed. Misha looked at her disappointed. She could not believe that she had really said that. It seemed like Lebelle caught the message and she softened her voice a bit. “You only have to light the next piece. Try not to blow it up.” She said then and put a new piece beside the ashes of the old one. Misha straitened up a bit and closed her eyes again. This time she found the warmness almost at once, she only had to think of Lebelle and it stirred. She grabbed it and forced it to her hands again, but in smaller doses. Then she pictured the wooden piece in front of her and moved the heat. It worked perfectly. She opened her eyes and watched as one steady and big flame licked the surface of the wood and left black marks on it. “Much better.” Lebelle said. “Now try to put it out. Recall the energy, let it fill you.” Misha looked doubtful at the flame but still tried to bring it back. The flame started to shrink at first and Misha focused harder, her muscles were tense. She tried harder and felt how her muscles started to cramp, her legs shake. She fell on the ground with a cry and lost the grip of the flame. She sat and rubbed her aching muscles while the flame kept feasting on the wood, irritatingly steady. “I can see you are tired. Rest a bit and get something to eat. Then we will continue.” Lebelle said. “Yes Madam Lebelle.” Misha replied dogged and got up from the ground. She turned and headed to the bathing tent to wash up. She managed to get some more food from the cooks. She ate delighted and went to her tent. She lay down and grabbed the book about herbs. She found a chapter about a very rare sort of weed which had been found only a few times on different places around the world. It had about six straight leaves but one was bent with some redness. It was called the Reaper’s tongue. It was very deadly; you got sick just by touching it. No worries, she thought since the last time someone saw it was centuries ago. Back then, the book said, some travellers had found it growing on the inside of a well in a village they passed. The whole village was wiped out. She made a grim face and put the book away. It was time for more studies. She went over to the oak again where Madam Lebelle was waiting. “Right, there you are.” She said short. “We will continue to study the element of Fire. This time I want to see you start a fire and extinguish it.” Misha nodded and got inside the circle of sand. Lebelle had already replaced the blackened pieces of wood with a new freshly cut one. Misha focused on the wood and closed her eyes, keeping the picture in her head. She found the warm energy inside at once and grabbed it with her mind, forced it to gather in her hands. She continued by moving the heath to the wood, she saw with her inner eye how it burst into flames. When she opened her eyes she saw the same sight, the wood with large and steady flames. “Now take it back.” Lebelle said bored. Misha kept her eyes open this time and felt the heath thought she was standing nearly five meters away. She felt it and forced it to come closer, forced it to obey her. The flames whipped in the air first, stubborn to give in. But Misha fought even more stubbornly and after a few minutes the flames gave in and became smaller and smaller until they disappeared and left behind the blackened wood. “Good.” Said Lebelle. “Now you have got some basic knowledge of Fire. We will move on to the element of Air.” Lebelle said and got up from beneath the oak where she sat. “We need to get on higher grounds for this though.” “Why are we moving so fast?” Misha asked. “I am just trying to give you all the basic knowledge, since the two young ones have yet not returned. When they do we will go deeper.” “How long does the first task normally take?” “It depends on the person. The longest anyone have been gone must be about a week.” Misha swallowed. A week was an awful lot of time with plenty of room for trouble. She wondered what her friends were doing and wished by the spirits that they were not hurt. She and Lebelle walked through the encampment together, to the tall outpost, originally a tall tree. Lebelle greeted the guarding man who just climbed down from there to give them room. They climbed up and felt how the wind raised with the height. When they finally got to the top Misha had gotten bumps on her bare arms. “A bit chilly it is.” Said Lebelle and put on the coat she had brought. Misha closed her hands and turned away to face the view in order to remain calm. They must have been about twenty meters above the encampment. Still the trees were nearly ten meters higher. She leaned over the rail and looked down. She saw the small tents and the even smaller people running around down there. “Long way down.” She mumbled as she imagined what it would be like to throw the old woman down. The little plateau was round and about three metres around the thick and hollow trunk. The wooden floor creaked under their feet as Lebelle started talking. “Feel the wind for a while. Listen to it, let it speak to you. To control it you have to learn it’s languish.” She said. Misha who had faced the Elder as she spoke, now turned to the view again. You could almost believe that Misha had had enough and refused to participate in the session. But if you looked closer you would see that the young girl had closed her eyes this time and seemed to slumber. Misha felt the wind sway the outpost and started to copy its calming movements. Soon she began to understand it a bit. “That will have to do for today.” Lebelle interrupted. Misha opened her eyes and was surprised to see that it was already getting dark. Time had flown but still left it’s marks; Misha felt a deep hunger in her stomach and her nails were getting blue with cold. She moved stiffly towards the ladder. “This is a good exercise to do whenever you have time, more than this I am not going to teach you in the Wind element. Tomorrow we will continue with Water.” Lebelle said as they started the long climb down. Misha was too tired to eat; instead she went straight to her tent and fell asleep with her dirty clothes on. |
| Kommentarer (3) |
| #1 · varg · den 29 november 2005, 14:07 | |
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Bra skrivet kan utvecklas till en intressant berättelse om du fortsätter i den stilen :)
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| #2 · Rhianna · den 30 november 2005, 21:56 | |
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Innehållet är jättebra!!! Men tyvärr måste jag nog anmärka på grammatiken och stavningen... Jag är rädd att du har ganska många stavfel, och de stör en annars oerhört bra berättelse... Bland annat är det nog bra om du går in och ändrar på ett visst ord... cock... jag tror nog att du menar cook (kock)... att skriva cock istället för cook är ett ganska pinsamt fel då cock betyder kuk... sen så vill jag ochså anmärka på att man egentligen inte borde skriva "... Yes, absolutley....." Pröva istället med "... Yes, of course..." sen finns det förstås en massa fler stavfel, men jag tror nog att du hittar dem på egen hand... Om man bortser från stavfelen osv. så tycker jag än en gång att din berättelse är helt underbar... =) (Ps. min lillasyrra som är skitpetig med böcker m.m. tycker ochså att den är jättebra...) |
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| #3 · Lunja · den 5 december 2005, 20:03 | |
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hahah joo erhem....se det misstaget upptäckte jag faktiskt och jag ändrade det (iaf i de senare versionerna...) ganska pinsamt japp :) TAck för alla dina råd ska läsa igenom alla delarna och redigera tänkte jag!!=) |
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