pickings.”
They were all silent for a moment, before Lanah spoke to Stone.
“Your strength recovers fast. What are you planning to do when you’re well?” Her eyes bored into him, gently, if it were possible for something to be gently bored.
He thought for a few seconds before replying. “I’m honestly not sure. I don’t think I have a plan. I’ve just been kind of wandering, taking each day as it comes.”
Lanah smiled, that warm and welcoming smile that he was starting to notice more and more, before looking up to the Shaman.
Wrynn stood for a moment, lost in his ponderings, before turning to him, his face serious.
“You have potential, my young hero. To master the Falcon’s Sight, let alone the Earth Tap, with so few summer’s under your belt… I’ve never seen the like.” He stopped, thinking hard again, before continuing with conviction.
“A shaman only has one apprentice. This is tradition. Lanah here is my young student.”
Stone glanced at the girl who nodded in confirmation.
“She shows a mastery of the healing arts. She is my bound apprentice and I will teach her everything I know in the realm of restoration.” He paused again, briefly. “She is seventeen summers now, I have been teaching her for ten.”
She looked at him, eyebrows questioning.
He smiled and continued.
“She takes up hardly any of my time these days, only needing a guiding nudge in a direction of study once in a while. So I offer you this chance, Stone, and you must take it seriously, because it breaks tradition and I won’t offer it again.”
Stone listened.
“I offer you the chance to be my student alongside Lanah. I will mentor you, teach you to the best of my abilities. In return, I am your master. You will respect my every word and question nothing. Of course, this all depends on the blessing of the Chief. Though, so far you’ve acquitted yourself pretty well in his eyes…” He glanced to the Chief’s daughter beside him. “So what do you say, Stone of the Wilds, Nagah-Slayer? Will you, Chief-willing, accept this compact?”
Stone’s eyes studied Wrynn’s face, then flicked to Lanah. She smiled.
“Yes. I think I will.”
Chapter Six:
He emerged from the hut, pushing aside the hide curtain that acted as a door and blinking as his eyes acclimatised to the bright sunlight . Stretching his arms, he relished the cool morning breeze on his skin after what had seemed an eternity spent in the hut. It had taken him another two days to regain his strength after he’d awoken, such was the severity of the infection from the snake-bite, but he’d risen this morning feeling strong and fresh and resolved to make himself useful, repay his debt to the village for looking after him.
He adjusted the leather jerkin and trousers that had been laid out for him, the material itchy and harsh next to his skin after weeks of wearing nought but a rag about his waist. His feet were bare – thankfully such was the custom in the village and he was happy with this arrangement. Looking about, he took in his first views of his home of the last week.
The village was larger than he had expected, the settlement consisting of perhaps thirty or forty wooden huts similar in style to that in which he’d been staying, clustered together along the banks of the river. At one end, a somewhat larger and more decorated building, painted hides stretched on frames outside, which he had been informed was Chief Farr’s abode. Towards the centre of the encampment, a large clearing, like a town square, with benches and a firepit. On the outskirts of the village, farmland, small fenced-off paddocks with goats, cattle and horses, small copses of trees and bushes where fruit grew.
It was mid-morning, the sun well into its daily climb, and the village was busy with folk, bustling hither and thither as they went about their daily activities; men were
They were all silent for a moment, before Lanah spoke to Stone.
“Your strength recovers fast. What are you planning to do when you’re well?” Her eyes bored into him, gently, if it were possible for something to be gently bored.
He thought for a few seconds before replying. “I’m honestly not sure. I don’t think I have a plan. I’ve just been kind of wandering, taking each day as it comes.”
Lanah smiled, that warm and welcoming smile that he was starting to notice more and more, before looking up to the Shaman.
Wrynn stood for a moment, lost in his ponderings, before turning to him, his face serious.
“You have potential, my young hero. To master the Falcon’s Sight, let alone the Earth Tap, with so few summer’s under your belt… I’ve never seen the like.” He stopped, thinking hard again, before continuing with conviction.
“A shaman only has one apprentice. This is tradition. Lanah here is my young student.”
Stone glanced at the girl who nodded in confirmation.
“She shows a mastery of the healing arts. She is my bound apprentice and I will teach her everything I know in the realm of restoration.” He paused again, briefly. “She is seventeen summers now, I have been teaching her for ten.”
She looked at him, eyebrows questioning.
He smiled and continued.
“She takes up hardly any of my time these days, only needing a guiding nudge in a direction of study once in a while. So I offer you this chance, Stone, and you must take it seriously, because it breaks tradition and I won’t offer it again.”
Stone listened.
“I offer you the chance to be my student alongside Lanah. I will mentor you, teach you to the best of my abilities. In return, I am your master. You will respect my every word and question nothing. Of course, this all depends on the blessing of the Chief. Though, so far you’ve acquitted yourself pretty well in his eyes…” He glanced to the Chief’s daughter beside him. “So what do you say, Stone of the Wilds, Nagah-Slayer? Will you, Chief-willing, accept this compact?”
Stone’s eyes studied Wrynn’s face, then flicked to Lanah. She smiled.
“Yes. I think I will.”
Chapter Six:
He emerged from the hut, pushing aside the hide curtain that acted as a door and blinking as his eyes acclimatised to the bright sunlight . Stretching his arms, he relished the cool morning breeze on his skin after what had seemed an eternity spent in the hut. It had taken him another two days to regain his strength after he’d awoken, such was the severity of the infection from the snake-bite, but he’d risen this morning feeling strong and fresh and resolved to make himself useful, repay his debt to the village for looking after him.
He adjusted the leather jerkin and trousers that had been laid out for him, the material itchy and harsh next to his skin after weeks of wearing nought but a rag about his waist. His feet were bare – thankfully such was the custom in the village and he was happy with this arrangement. Looking about, he took in his first views of his home of the last week.
The village was larger than he had expected, the settlement consisting of perhaps thirty or forty wooden huts similar in style to that in which he’d been staying, clustered together along the banks of the river. At one end, a somewhat larger and more decorated building, painted hides stretched on frames outside, which he had been informed was Chief Farr’s abode. Towards the centre of the encampment, a large clearing, like a town square, with benches and a firepit. On the outskirts of the village, farmland, small fenced-off paddocks with goats, cattle and horses, small copses of trees and bushes where fruit grew.
It was mid-morning, the sun well into its daily climb, and the village was busy with folk, bustling hither and thither as they went about their daily activities; men were
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