“… Of course magic is real.”
“Now I got you Nestrem, if magic was real then everyone in Calamera would be using it and since they aren’t, using magic that is, then it can’t be real.”
“Why must you continue to confuse the use of something against the existence of something? The people of Calamera don’t use magic simply because they don’t want to… a preordained result, if you will, solidified by their lack of believing in it.”
“Wait a minute, the belief in something doesn’t actually make something true.”
______ was fairly exasperated with this conversation and decided that it was high-time to make a point of his own. “Furthermore, I’ve noticed in people that the more convinced they become in something false, the more irrationally they behave.
He felt rather proud of that point.
“Oh… I see”. Nestrem said in a wily voice. “Just for the fun of it all, why don’t you tell me something that you believe in about yourself… which is also… something that you can’t possibly prove to anyone else yet, even though you know it to be true.”
“What could I possibly say..??.. What haven’t you already figured out..??”
Nestrem started coughing and did just that for at least three minutes… Finally, after an uncomfortably amount of time…he said, “What is your Reason.”
“My reason?”
“Of course,” Nestrem looked at the forest and whether or not it was subliminal, he seemed to be focused on one particular spot within them.
And then he threw in as almost an after-thought, “Anything”… Nestrem asked, “There are an infinite number of scenarios… the only limitation is your own mind. Pick something that happens in everyday life that you don’t fully understand and tell me about it.”
Another twist…just what __________ needed since he didn’t expect to answer the first question right anyway. What is his reason and example it by asking a question about anything to Nestrem… if that wasn’t vague enough then he didn’t know what could be even more ambiguous. _______ reflected for a few minutes on the most unanswerable question that he could think of. He tried and checked every angle toward any answers for each question by blocking them all logically... looking for the unanswerable question, and then it came to him. He walked over to the closest tree and for the first time in his life, truly looked at it. _________ looked at a particular leaf for a moment, picked it off the tree, walked back toward Nestrem and sat down again. He looked intimately at the leaf for a minute or two and then held it out in front of him not unlike a badge of honor. Feeling supremely clever he asked, “What color is this leaf?”
The answer from Nestrem was not only unsatisfactory
“What kind of answer is that?” _______ yelled!
“The right one. Now, hold on…” Nestrem said as _______ started to rise with a pugnacious look on his face. “As I have said, it is the right answer, but… you didn’t ask the right question in the first place which has lead to your confusion.”
“So tell me… what should I have asked about?” ________ was still irritated, but natural curiosity made him hold his tongue in check, at least for the moment.
“You should have asked me what color actually is instead of assuming that you already knew the answer.” Nestrem leaned back on the ground and, looking skyward, softly said, “The question is usually more important than the answer.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” That doesn’t make any sense at all.” By now ________ was completely confused…yet sure of one thing. His curiosity toward an answer was paramount over his anger or hubris. At this moment he just wanted plausible answers to the questions even if it was Nestrem (and not from _______ himself) who provided those answers. Nestrem, sensing _______’s hesitation to talk, saved the day by saying, “Of course it made sense and if you will listen, I will explain why.”
“It makes sense if you look at it in the proper light, no pun intended there. You want me to say to you that the leaf is green and at that point, you will ask me how I know that it is green. Am I right so far?”
______ had no choice but to nod his head in agreement.
Nestrem continued, “Next you would argue that you and I see colors differently and simply call them by the same names, right?”
Again ________ nodded.
“What I am telling you is that there is a definite, proven answer as to whether something is green or not, red or not, or blue or not… but do you know how to prove that any color that you are seeing is actually correct?”
“No I don’t, but I do know green or red or blue when I see it.”
“Do you? Are you so sure that you are right that you will risk your life on it?”
That question completely baffled ______. Betting his life on this question, or anything else for that matter, was beyond his disposition and highly inappropriate on such a mundane matter. Yet he felt that there was a meaning behind the question, if not a threat, although not from Nestrem himself. It almost felt like a warning… cautious advice from a friend.
“I guess maybe I’m not. I thought I was sure about the color of things, but you make a decent point.” Desperate to salvage anything ______ tried this angle. “But if all colors have a proven description, how could you and I, or anyone else for that matter possibly perceive them differently from one another?”
Nestrem smiled openly at the question, something he rarely did as far as ________ could tell in their brief time together, and after a moments thought said, “That… my young friend… is the second question. Funny, you move from thought to thought without bothering to answer the current one first. But to summarize, you’re first question was, or should have been, what is color… followed by the question of whether or not we all perceive things in the same way… which in turn should lead to a third one. Enough of this topic for now… let me ask you a question.”
“Okay, but don’t laugh at my answer.” By now _______ was feeling a bit inadequate for this conversation but he still wanted it to continue. Then he realized that he had Icya to help him. “Icya, please come and help me here if it isn’t too much trouble.”
Apparently it was too much trouble though since she didn’t respond to him. Nestrem had settled back against the ground again and sat there watching ______ with an almost amused expression on his face. Once again, ______ called out to Icya, “Icya, I could really use some help here. Won’t you help me?”
“Not this time I won’t,” came her response, and for the first time her voice wasn’t ringing through his head but from an outside source. “Here… in this particular realm… you are on your own,” she said. And then, miraculously, she walked out of the forest, strode over to them, and sat down beside Nestrem.
_______ had no idea what to believe at this moment so he settled simply on shock. There was no way that she could be sitting here, in the flesh, in front of him since she lived magically within the glasses. And where was Iurdit? If she was here shouldn’t he be here as well?
Icya broke the silence first by saying, “Iurdit won’t be meeting us here if that is what you think _______. He never leaves the forest for some reason but I, occasionally, like to come out into the sunshine of this beautiful land once in a while since the rest of Calamera is forbidden to me.” That woke ___________ up.
“Wait a minute… are you trying to tell me that Iurdit is a real person who never leaves that forest” _______ said pointing west, “and you also live in there as a real or living person?” [Break]… advance the story from here:
“Why would you be banned from Calamera...??.
“And what thing is that ______?” She asked.
He was completely lost for an answer to that question! Nestrem came to his rescue at that point and… after standing up, looking directly at _______ said, “I never got to ask my question to you. May I ask it now?”
“Of course, but I doubt my answer will be of much help” he conceded.
“On the contrary… your answer will be vital to someone, there is no doubt of that. Think carefully before you answer because once you do, you can’t change it.”
That sounded ominous so _______ stood up, looked Nestrem in the eyes and was determined not to rush for an answer. He would think the question through, from every angle, and if it took three years to answer, so be it. He would not rush into anything and instead, reflect on the matter.
“What’s the question?”
“Simply this…” replied Nestrem, “…What time is it?”
After consideration, _______ mumbled, “I’ll let you know at some point in the future.”
“A fitting answer for sure, but how do you know that you will be speaking to me from the future?” Nestrem asked him. “How can you promise that we will ever speak again, let alone in a future event instead of a revision of a past moment? Can’t both be possible?”
“I suppose so, I’m certainly not going to “say no” or argue against anything anymore. But, wouldn’t that would mean that Time can change.”
“No, actually Time can’t change so this is one example of something that you should say no to. Changing Time would probably be the end of this universe. Every single instant of this universe’ existence that has already happened is locked away and can never be altered. Nor can the future be accurately predicted since it is the passing between one current moment to the next which shapes the future. Those moments, for a lack of a better term, haven’t happened yet and there are just too many variables involved in any given moment to accurately predict it, let alone shape any of them. With that said, we can still have a revision of a past moment regardless of how contradictory that may sound.”
______ got up and walked away from Nestrem and Icya so that he could think this through. What Nestrem just said was completely impossible by his own admission, yet still claims that he can do it. Time can’t change, that was what he said. But he can change or “revise” past moments assumedly anytime he wanted to. It made no sense.
He walked over to the wagon that carried his and Nestrem’s supplies and took out a water skin, and after a long drink from it, put it back and walked up to the horse pulling the cart.
He looked the horse in the eyes and, knowing that it was foolish, asked her, “Do you believe any of that nonsense? Do you honestly believe that magic is all around us waiting to be used and that Time, which is unchangeable, can be changed?”
The horse didn’t answer. _________ had discovered long ago that they never do.
Regardless of that, _______ felt that it never hurt to ask anyway.
“Were you actually expecting an answer?” _______ spun around quickly and found Icya leaning against the back of the wagon watching him.
“How do you move around so quietly… even when you’re actually here?” he asked, somewhat loudly and exasperated?
“It’s a trick. Honestly though, did you expect the horse to answer you?” she asked.
“Of course not, but it never hurts to ask does it?”
“Oh, that’s so cute…” she laughed, and _______ was astonished to watch Icya doing a little dance, almost like a victory dance. Normally she was very serious and never laughed or even relaxed. It was at the exact moment when _______ realized that he should reassess his opinion of her that she changed her disposition.
She stopped laughing and dancing, her face becoming serious again. Looking directly into his eyes she said, “Yes, as a matter of fact the horse did answer you, and yes, you completely missed the answer and yes, you missed it because of your lack of belief that she could answer you! Some people, and by that I mean humans only, tend to be a bit arrogant. Humans want to assume that they are the only intelligent lifeform capable of communication between different species and simply because of that arrogance, they ignore the answer that was given to them. What she told you was that you should quit questioning these things that we all are telling you to be true and focus more on learning about them.”
“How did she say all of that to me? She never even made a sound!”
“Sound, as you put it, is one of the worst ways to convey thoughts.” Then she came close and lightly touched his cheek, “So young and with so much to learn…” Icya said and smiled, “…but don’t worry because I will always help you along the way.”
______ looked back at the horse, “I’m sorry that I didn’t listen to you,” and amazingly, he thought he saw a response from the horse. She seemed to tilt her head a bit toward him and whinnied.
“It’s a start” Icya murmured. “Now, what’s troubling you so much?”
“Everything…” _______ exclaimed as his temper started to rise, “You should never be able to live in the glasses and once I accepted that I find out that you and Iurdit are also living people here in this forest! Nestrem says that Time can’t change but then claims that he can do just that… magic is real but never used, and somehow the forest in front of us, your home, can keep other people from reaching this meadow, even if it has to kill them, yet we can walk throughout it with impunity! I’m sorry, but if all of this makes sense to you then I might guess that you are not seeing things as they truly are!”
That was probably stronger and louder than _______ intended it to be, but his nerves were stretched to the limit at this moment and yelling was his best outlet for his emotions.
“Walk with me for a moment or two _______ and please just listen.” And without another word Icya started walking directly into the forest about one hundred yards away. _________ still wasn’t sure that the forest was safe so he hesitated until Icya stopped, looked back at him and said, “Don’t worry, I won’t let anything hurt you.”
That, of course, was too much. __________ didn’t really need her to protect him after-all and it was about time that he proved that! He believed that he had handled himself quite well throughout many fights in the past so he was perfectly capable of taking care of himself. He strode purposely toward her and then even more ardently past her toward the forest.
Icya watched him silently until he was about five yards away from the first trees and only then did she say something.
“Are you sure that you want to go into this particular forest with those emotions pulsating through your mind and veins?”
That stopped him, but only for a moment. _______ turned back and looked at her with defiance, “I can walk through this or any forest that I wish to because I am not going to hurt it in any way and there is certainly no way that it can hurt me.” He turned back around and continued walking toward the trees as if nothing could go wrong.
Nothing did, at least right at first. He walked up to the first trees even going so far as to touch their trunks about waist high. There were no lightening bolts that destroyed him, no holes in the ground that instantly swallowed him up, and no ferocious animals attacked him. On the down side though, he found that while looking into, or through, the trees, he could only see about twenty feet in any direction. After those precious few feet everything was black and, strangely, completely silent.
Undaunted, he walked another three steps into the forest before he heard something off to his left. Spinning quickly around and grabbing The Bow from his belt, he found nothing to shoot at, mostly because it was pitch black in this forest.
Behind him another rustling caught his attention and this time is was much closer to him than the first sound so he changed The Bow into Sword/Shield, dropped and rolled on the ground springing up after a few feet and ready to fight.
Nothing faced him again. Foolishness… he said to himself. Why would he suddenly be afraid of sounds? After a few deep breaths _______ put his weapons back onto the belt, stood up, and looked around. Even after everything that just happened to him, he was amazed again.
It didn’t bother him so much that he couldn’t see very far into the forest… but what scared him beyond belief was the fact that he couldn’t see anyway out of the forest anymore! He hadn’t walked even ten steps into this forest yet he had absolutely no idea how to get out of it. Everything, everywhere was pitch black and _______ felt that his eyes were completely useless in here. The thought panicked him.
Instantly, without even thinking, he drew The Sword/Shield again. He may be virtually blind but he wasn’t completely helpless afterall as long as he had the weapons.
A soft growl came from his right and he turned in that direction trying to see his opponent. He quickly discovered that mistake since he was hit from behind. Whatever hit him knocked him to the ground so hard that the breath whooshed out of his lungs and while he spent several seconds getting his breath back, The Sword/Shield was stolen.
Sight was impossible, sound was misleading, and now weaponless, ________ was ready to give up. What is the possible chance for survival he asked himself..??.. the answer scared him. Trying not to move too fast in case the action might arouse something else, _______ slowly twisted into a sitting position.
He couldn’t see a thing in any direction and the forest was starting to get cold. He knew that he was only fifteen steps away from leaving this forest, but what direction should he choose since everyplace looked the same? How was he going to recover his weapons, as he knew he must do? How could this “forest” do such a thing to him?
For the first time in his life, _______ admitted that he was scared. Fear was a foreign concept to ________... until today. He pondered that until a new sound came from behind him. His ears caught something walking up to him, two legged, unafraid, and carrying a torch which spilled out welcomed light in every direction.
“So how do you like my home?” asked Icya. Then she asked nobody in particular, “Isn’t it comforting to know that your house can’t be approached your without your expressed permission?”
“Icya…” _______ breathed with a sigh of relief, “…please get me out of here.”
“Why?” she asked.
“What do you mean why? I’ve almost been killed and I haven’t even gone twenty feet into this forest! I can’t see a thing and it is getting very cold in here. Can’t you feel it?”
“Of course I can’t ‘feel it’ since I’m part of the reason that you are feeling this way in the first place.” She replied.
Suddenly light flared in front of _______ eyes and in normal fashion, he threw himself to the ground and closed his eyes. Finally, when he felt confident enough to open his eyes again he realized that the light coalesced into a fire pit. Icya walked into the firelight, pulled up a log and sat down.
“You might as well come over and sit by the fire. Don’t worry, I’m not going to hurt you.” she said.
“How can you walk around in here and I can’t,” ________ asked her even as he moved closer to the fire for the warmth. “Why aren’t you as scared as I am of here?”
Nestrem strode into the firelight and said, “She has already told you that hasn’t she?” When _________ looked confused by the question, Icya rolled her eyes, and Nestrem sighed. After a few moments Nestrem asked _______, “Where is Icya’s home?”
“According to her, it’s within this forest,” replied _________.
“No… it is this forest.” Nestrem explained. “It’s my home too you know, and Iurdit’s, as well as other people that you haven’t met yet. It is the home for all of us who fight against the _________ since in here… we are completely protected. Would you like to meet Iurdit?”
“Naturally I would,” said _______. “Where is he?”
“About ten feet behind you,” said a new voice. _______ spun around and looked at Iurdit for the first time. He was tall, maybe even six feet eight inches high and powerfully muscular. He wore a short-sleeve shirt and belted leggings, yet he carried no weapons. His hair was blonde and thick, his eyes penetrating and green, and his stance was one of relaxed composure. ________ figured that Iurdit was not someone to mess with. [Break]… and expound on the story…
“It’s okay,” he said to _____________ “ I’m not going to hurt you either and you better start believing Icya when she says that too because she can.” _______ gasped feeling like Iurdit had read his mind. To try and cover this awkward moment ________ asked, “Why don’t you carry any weapons?”
“What would you like me to carry that I don’t already possess _______?”
“I don’t know… maybe a sword, possibly throwing stakes, and definitely a shield. A bow is a good thing too. A dagger or two isn’t bad either but you carry nothing! Are you so strong that you don’t need weapons in the first place?”
“Yes… I am.” Iurdit replied. ________ didn’t believe him but he also didn’t argue the point. Instead he asked Icya a question.
“Icya, can you lighten up this forest and make it warmer? Are you in control of exactly what I see and feel?
“That is very good, for the most part __________. I easily determine what you can see throughout this forest but no… I have nothing to do with how you feel. That is your responsibility after all. Regardless, I protect this forest by controlling the senses of the people who come in here and obviously Iurdit is the muscle behind things.”
________ looked quickly at Iurdit, “That’s why you never leave this forest isn’t it? You don’t leave it because without you… it is vulnerable.”
“Yes.”
That was all Iurdit said and ________ was getting the impression that he didn’t voluntarily~ talk much.
“Then would you please…” _______ spoke to Icya, …”lighten up on me and let me see again? Let me be warm again, since I’m obviously no threat to you.”
“Oh yes… there you are _________,” and brought reality back into focus. “But remember this, you could very well be the worst threat that I will ever face. But… a little bit more light and warmth shouldn’t hurt anything.”
And suddenly the fire exploded heat. Not flames mind you, but heat enough that __________ was instantly warm no matter where he was around this fire pit. That fulfilled the physical need, but ________ was more grateful for the fact he could see again…
…up and to a point that is. Looking into the forest gained him the same amount of information, which was nothing… but the sky glowed with a uniform yellowish light which, although helped him see, left him no clue as to the sun’s location or a sense of direction. Best of all was the fact that _______ could now see the edge of the forest (discovering that it was only nine feet away to his right) which gave him a confirmed exit from this accursed forest.
Icya looked at him, and Iurdit stood up and walked behind her. Nestrem simply sat there looking into the flames of their campfire.
Icya got up and walked over to _________, grabbed his hand, pulled him up and started walking toward the fire. ________ didn’t have a problem with that until she, with ______ in tow, walked past it and led him away from the safety of the fire pit.
“No…” he said.
“No… what?? _______,” she asked.
“This is the first time since entering this forest that I can actually see the sky. It is also the first time I can see a way out, and I’m not going to mess that up by going anywhere except out of here if you don’t start telling me the truth!”
Icya let go of his hand with an obvious and physical response, namely by the fact that the back of his hand hit his nose so hard that it started to bleed.
Nestrem laughed and Iurdit turned his back to them so that he couldn’t watch the impending battle. ________ found a piece of cloth to stop the bleeding in one of the packs on a supply horse while Icya just stood there glaring at him. After ________ got the bleeding under control he confronted Icya again, and this time… he was angry.
“What the hell was that about?” he shouted.
“Why don’t you trust me?” she countered.
“I can’t believe that you just said that, I don’t trust you..??.. of course I do! What I can’t possibly understand is why I should trust you or anyone else around here. You are living in a forest and telling me to join with you to defeat or overthrow someone or something that I have never even heard of before. Tell me, would you trust you if our situations were reversed?” ________ looked back at her trying to be impressive but she easily held her ground as far as determination is concerned. Then she said to him, “I simply wanted to show you my house.”
“You have a house? Wait a minute, you must have a house in this forest if you live here and so must Iurdit.” You actually live in here?”
She took a moment to answer and more often than not her looks at _________ were looks of pity. “Yes, please come and see my house… and then yours.”
[End Chapter]
Feeling confident now with regards to his safety _______ gladly followed Icya, Nestrem, and Iurdit toward her house. He was, though, dreading the moment that put them beyond the firelight and effectively blinding him again. After walking about five minutes and often glancing back through the trees at the receding fire, _______ began to notice a subtle difference concerning the lighting among the trees. It seemed to _______ that as he walked farther away from the fire, the surrounding forest was slowly lightening up. A few minutes later he was sure of it and frequently swung his head around trying to study the potential problems all around him. Soon it seemed like his head was spinning around in a circle separate from the rest of his body. Nestrem was able to hold his gaze for a few moments once, but all Nestrem did was smile, and then winked at him. He was sure that Nestrem was amused by his child-like fascination toward the forest, but he offered nothing as far as a verbal explanation to what was happening.
The forest, he was beginning to realize, was absolutely beautiful. These were not trees that sprang from the ground in a sporadic fashion like in any other forest throughout the world. In this forest the trees seemed to be intentionally and perfectly spaced between one another. The grasses, plants, and loam bedding the ground between the trees all had the perfect coloring to compliment each other and there was a smooth transition of colors throughout the entire forest. _______ felt much better now that he could see further than forty feet in any direction and for the warmth, but he really wished that he could see the sun. He still had no idea which direction that they were walking and now that the fire was out of sight, he had no way of finding the one exit from this forest that he knew about.
Icya stopped walking and while turning around said, “If you don’t quit gaping and spinning around _______, I’m going to slap you.
“How did you know that I was doing that since you were walking in front of me and never looked back?” _______ countered.
“Because you silly boy, I know you… what do you think the glasses are for?” And with that comment Iurdit started laughing and _______ wished that he could disappear.
“Your being too rough on the boy,” Nestrem firmly told Icya and Iurdit. “If you want him to learn then don’t make him afraid of the process of learning.”
Icya’s shoulders dropped and Iurdit, for a minute, looked ashamed which finally confirmed to _______ who the actual boss was.
Iurdit spoke first but he only said, “I’m sorry _______.” Icya, on the other hand, had plenty to say.
“I am not going to let this boy grow slowly Nestrem,” she began. “None of us, especially you, has the time to coddle him against what is approaching us… hoping that at the exact moment he will boil over!”
Nestrem bowed his head, almost in admittance of an acknowledged problem, yet said nothing. Instead he walked over to _______ and put an arm around his shoulder, “You should never rush too swiftly into anything Icya, and I mean that even with respect to our young friend here since you have no way of predicting the outcome if things are not allowed to progress along their natural course.”
“Wait a minute,” _______ exclaimed. Normally he wouldn’t intrude on a conversation like this one, but since he was the focus of this conversation he felt that he had a right to voice his thoughts now and again. Icya and Nestrem politely stopped talking and looked at him, waiting for him to ask his question. Finally, _______ raised enough courage to ask the questions that he had been wanting to ask since the first moment his life had changed into this quagmire.
“Where do my feelings fit into these plans that you are all making? What will happen if I simply choose not to stay here? What possible say do I have in any of this?
Nestrem snorted and Icya made a casual shift in stance showing that she was ready to catch him if he fled, or stop him if he did something stupid. Then… both of them promptly ignored him.
She continued, “He needs to know certain things very quickly if you want him to survive Nestrem, so he must know everything very soon whether he likes it or not.”
“I understand that, Icya,” Nestrem breathed. “But I know better than even you that things must happen in their own time. To rush things is to invite uncertainty.” he finished.
Trying once again to get a word in edge-wise, _______ interrupted them again. “Since you both are obviously talking me, don’t I have a say in this?”
“No!!!” was the universal response with Iurdit’s voice being the loudest.
“Why not?” _______ was livid. “I don’t even know what you all are doing but you expect me to follow blindly behind you, I don’t know what you expect from me and whether or not I will do it in the first place! I have no idea even if I want to associate with any of you in the future since, at this moment, all I want to do is to get out of this forest and go home! I have, or had, a pretty good life until Villosa uprooted me and set me upon this path! I never asked for this…” he looked at each one of them in the eyes and was surprised to find complete sincerity, if not, actual compassion embodied within every person that he looked at, so he softened his speech up a bit and continued, “…and I’m not sorry for believing in your ideals. But, if you are telling me that I don’t have any say concerning my own life, and that I can’t join in the conversations, then I’m going home right here and now.” _______ thought about things for a moment which raised two new questions, things that he had neglected to think about before.
“Exactly how am I going to do ~whatever~ and why am I necessary to you all?”
Nobody said anything… they just stood there looking at him. “Why doesn’t somebody answer me?” _______yelled!
Nestrem finally answered him, “You are here simply because we need you and as for your other complaint, no… we don’t really care if you like it or not.”
________ could not believe what he had just heard. Nestrem just told him that he was nearly irrelevant and inconsequentia
“I will not take one step further until I know exactly what I am supposed to do… and if I decide not to do something, then the rest of you will just have to live with that.”
“Good enough,” Nestrem said. “What exactly is it that you want to know?”
“Who are you… all of you? Why do you always stay in this forest? Is that expected from me too? What are we fighting against? In fact, why are fighting them in the first place and are they stronger than us? How can I possibly be of any help to the rest of you since you seem so invincible in the first place?”
“Nice questions… to answer them I will respond with this.”
Nestrem thought for a moment before he spoke again. When he did, his tone of voice betrayed no malice but there was a very hard edge to it.
“Because you are one of us, because you are who you are. It is not in your nature to idly ignore injustices. It is not in your nature to be dominated, and believe me… domination is the goal of our enemy. We are fighting for our freedom, our justice, as well as our very lives including the lives of millions of other Calamerans. None of us here, including you, will let the lives of the Calamerans be bought so cheaply! I will fight against those who want to conquer us until the end-of-days if I must! What you will end up doing will be by your own choice eventually, but I won’t let the Calamerans down and neither will you, I think. I promise you that neither Icya nor Iurdit will ever turn their backs on the Calamerans and those are only the first two that you have met who live in this forest and protects Calamera. Through you, Icya and Iurdit can actually have a physical presence outside of this forest since they themselves can never leave it, and do not underestimate the importance of that since they are two of the finest warriors in the world. Through you, a fighting team of three was created where there was no one before.
“Are you telling me that Icya and Iurdit have been using me?” _______ asked.
Nestrem answered with, “Didn’t you think that you were using them when the glasses worked? Didn’t they come and save you?
“It’s not the same thing,” _______ said. “I was given a power, namely through Icya and Iurdit mind you, but a power to use and control as I felt necessary. They are part of that power so they must respond whenever I ask them to.”
Nestrem actually laughed for a moment, and then he said, “Respond yes, perform as you ask, no. Do you think that Icya and Iurdit will always react just because you want them to, and that they will always react the way you want them to?”
“Of course,” _______replied
_______ looked over at the two of them standing there in living flesh instead of the occupants of the glasses. Now that they had actually manifested into real people, _______ wasn’t sure of anything anymore.
“Then they never protected me out of any kindness or friendship. I am, and always will be, a tool for walking around Calamera and fighting their fights whether I like it or not, not to mention that I will be the only one bleeding and hurting when things go bad for us. I am a means to an end yet never truly liked or accepted by those that I associate with. I am something strong and vital… but not interesting enough to be included in the everyday lives of those who would use me. None of the decisions are mine and I have no close friends anymore.”
“No, no, no…” exclaimed Icya springing into action _______. “Trust me just this once _______,” Icya begged walking over to him with open arms. She gently put her hand on his shoulder and said, “There will be plenty of time for you to make the decisions on your own… but, for now, will you please just listen to us and do what we say?”
As _______ looked into her eyes, he felt her sincerity. She only wanted to help him, _______ was sure of that… and it didn’t really cost him much to listen to her.
“Can I ask you a question Icya?” he asked.
“Of course you can.”
“What is it that I must learn? And why does it have to be so fast?”
Icya seemed to think long and hard on an answer, but _______ suspected subterfuge on her part. Finally she said, “That was two questions _______. Regardless, I will answer the second question first. You must learn how to use and control the magic very quickly because there is somebody else out there who is learning their magic for the sole purpose of killing you. There are people who want you dead and if you are not ready to protect yourself that’s exactly what you will be… dead, that is, with or without mine and Iurdit’s help. Your control over the weapons, each and every one of them, is vital.”
“Why would anybody want to kill me and I thought that I already knew how to use each weapon?” _______ asked in a confused voice.
“You have barely scratched the surface concerning each weapon’s ability and they want to kill you to make sure that you never learn how to use them properly,” admonished Icya. “I promise you that whatever is coming against you will know his weapons very well.” Icya looked down at ground and softly said, “These weapons must be a part of you and not just a tool that you use once in a while. Every decision must be based on the use, or not… of these weapons every single moment for the rest of your life. You need to be so attached to the weapons that you will change your life in order to maintain possession of them, you need to understand them so well that using them will not require conscious thought, and at times… you need to believe in them so much that you will do what is required of you whether you like it or not. Can you do that?”
_______ didn’t even hesitate, “Of course I can.”
“Then where are the weapons right now?” She asked.
_______ unconsciously looked down at his belt. He had completely forgotten that the weapons went flying from his hands and not attached to his belt. Laying on the ground somewhere back by the fire pit were the weapons and he never even looked for them once he had the firelight to see by. His own actions had defied his spoken commitment toward the weapons, hadn’t they? He suddenly felt very foolish.
“Don’t worry about it,” Iurdit said. “I was the one making the noises that you heard and I was the one who hit you from behind knocking the weapons away from you. But I also am the one who picked the weapons up and brought them along with us.” Iurdit reached into one of his pockets, pulled out the weapons, and handed them back to _______. After only a moments’ hesitation, _______ grabbed them and put them back where they belonged.
Nestrem spoke up, “Bear in mind _______ that only within this forest can the weapons be separated from the belt. Throughout the rest of Calamera you couldn’t separate them from each other no matter how hard you tried. That’s another special thing about them.”
That bit of information made ________ feel much better but did not assuage his guilt toward losing them in the first place. Nestrem, though, continued speaking,
“Don’t you find it a bit strange that you have never dropped any of the weapons even once? Were you so familiar with the use of a sword and shield or a bow and arrow previously in your life that once you held these particular weapons, you had any real chance of using them proficiently?”
Truth be known, _______ had never once held any of the four in his hands before he met Villosa so there was no way to explain his skill with them… even though he knew he could pull out The Bow at this very moment and shoot an arrow through any leaf that he wanted to as long as he could see it.
With that known, he had no reasonable answer to give to Nestrem and not only that; he started wondering if Icya was responsible for his newly improved sight. He had always before thought that the glasses were the reason for his incredible vision but now he wondered if the glasses were only a symbolic gesture so that Icya could perform her magic anonymously.
The object of our thoughts will be the object of our vision if we can actually look at the thing that we are currently thinking about. In this case, _______ was thinking about Icya so he unthinkingly stared at her.
She watched him looking at her for about thirty seconds; then she smiled at him and promptly walked away.
“Well…” Nestrem repeated. “Could you use any of the weapons before?”
“No I couldn’t, and I have no answer for why I can now either. I mean, I know that they are magical weapons but that doesn’t mean that I know how magic works or what these weapons have been infused with. The only thing that I do know is that I can use these weapons, and I am wondering why that is.”
“That, _______, are the best words that you have spoken tonight. You eloquently stated your point followed by the question of why anything is as it is. Isn’t the only logical conclusion then is that the weapons themselves are enhancing your lack of skill with them?”
“Of course, I knew that a long time ago, but now I am beginning to wonder if the Creators made these tools not only for me to use, but also as a way that they can function in the real world and, these tools, with the weapons being one of them, are nothing more than an object used to mask the real intent or purpose of a living person or persons who made the object in the first place. In other words, Icya and Iurdit made the glasses and then they both infused it with their magic… which would mean that every single tool has a separate Creator who are alive and providing the magic for the tool itself.
“Do you see what I mean Icya,” Nestrem said to her. “Everything in its proper time, just like our friend here figured out the secret of the Creators all on his own and in about two hours.” He turned to _______ and said, “You are exactly right. Each Creator has a living magician maintaining their special gifts to you, those tools… each based upon the individual magician’s specialty. There is also a harmony between us which led us to the decision, about 1000 years ago, that only one person can control the power of the tools at any one time, and only if it is deemed necessary.”
“Well, we all think it is necessary right now… and you’re the one that we have chosen to master all of the tools.” Sensing _______ confusion, Nestrem continued, “Icya and Iurdit only rule the glasses. Someone else rules the belt, or cloak, or ring, and so on. You have yet to meet these people but you will if you decide to, for lack of a better phrase, join us.”
“He hasn’t joined us yet, and I don’t think he will.” Icya responded to Nestrem in a cold tone of voice.
“In fact, he has given every indication that he won’t join us, can’t you see that?
He doesn’t seem that interested in the first place, not too mention his lack of manners by not being a good enough guest to work his way quickly into my house and then spoiling me with lavish praise over its beauty.”
_______ was hurt by those words, he wasn’t trying to ignore Icya’s house. He was more concerned, at the moment, with trying to find a way out of this forest so his attention was not focused on her house and instead trying to figure out exactly what was going on here and if he stood any real chance of changing the situation. Her comments though, reminded him of his manners…
“I’m sorry Icya, I’m just a little overwhelmed right now and I did not mean to ignore my responsibiliti
She smiled back. “It’s okay this time, _______. But make sure that it never happens again, okay?”
_______ laughed, “I promise.”
For a few more moments though, _______ just looked around the forest and he was grateful that the rest of them allowed him to so. The canopy of the leaves provided enough sunlight and warmth for the forest to be comfortable and the colors were intensified. Instead of just seeing green and brown (even as beautiful as they are) _______ could now see orange and red, blue and yellow, and purple and pink hues everywhere. He was amazed by the beauty of this forest. No mortal person could ever create something as beautiful as this forest, so there must be larger forces handling things on a planetary scale. Once _______ realized that, he felt completely inadequate. What possible difference would his actions make? The people here that he has met combined for more power than he has ever seen in his lifetime, and he was just told that his friends here are only a small fraction of the total number of people living within this forest all with one magical power or another. _______ offered nothing since he didn’t have any magic, he was only using it. As he thought about this Icya started walking again and the rest followed closely behind her.
_______ let them walk about fifty yards away from him before his will collapsed. He suddenly found himself running up to them and, after a few seconds to get his breath back, asked Icya,
“So what purpose do I serve here? I have no magical talent like the rest of you and I don’t even begin to know what you are trying to do. Why do I even need to be here in the first place?”
She quickly turned around and looked at him. “Why?” She looked stunned. How could he possibly not know why he is important? She quickly looked back into his eyes and found her answer. “You don’t know… do you?”
“Icya, I still can’t even see the sky let alone some obscure vision of how you all think that things should happen. Will you at least let me see the sky for a few minutes?”
“No… that would only cloud your vision,” she automatically replied.
“Tell me something,” she suddenly asked him, “Why is seeing the sky so important?”
“So I can tell what direction that I am heading and so that I can tell time,” _______ replied. “And now, since I can’t see the sky, I have no idea of what is really happening outside of this forest let alone my confusion of what is happening inside of it.”
“The sky is going to tell you that,” she asked incredulously! “Now… this is only a guess mind you… but I’m betting that next you are going to tell me that fondling a goat’s entrails will help you predict your fortune,” she laughed. “Anyway, not being able to see the sky is important for you because, as you just said, you would use it to find your direction. At this moment you must learn to find your direction from a different source and by that I am referring to the rest of us.” Then she hesitated, taking a deep breath.
“As for time, there really isn’t such a thing as you know it in the first place and while you are in this forest time stops, in a certain way, so its passage has no meaning for you anyway.”
“You realize that I didn’t understand a thing that you just said, don’t you?
“Yes, I do, but thank you for admitting it?
“Then exactly what did you…” ______ started, but Icya interrupted him stopping and pressing a finger to her lips. She turned and looked around at the forest and _______ instinctively fell to the ground and listened for trouble. He sensed none, and after a few minutes, asked here what it was that they were looking for. She didn’t answer him and instead kept looking throughout the forest.
Finally, she sighed rather dramatically and turned to _______.
“Well?” She asked him.
“Well what?
“You are absolutely impossible. What do you think about my house?”
“What house,” he asked. “Were standing in the middle of the forest.”
“Actually, you are looking at my front door at this very moment,” and _______ realized that he had been looking at a particular tree. _______ couldn’t explain how he knew, but while he stood back up he was absolutely convinced that the tree was actually the front door to her house. With that thought in mind he looked up and down, then left and right, realizing that he was looking at the outline of a house. He quickly saw the outline of an enormous house formed and framed by the trees and leaves themselves. The trunks and branches made the frame of the house and the leaves constructed the roof and overhangs, windows were recognizable by a lack of either wood or leaves and the tree that he was originally looking at… now looked exactly like a door.
“Icya, this is unbelievably wonderful!” he exclaimed with awe clearly written into his and resonating from his voice.
“Can you actually see my house?” she asked. “This is important _______. If you can really see it, then tell me what words are written on this wall just shy of the roof?”
_______ looked up and with one glance from left to right saw the words that she was referring to. It was incredible. Branches were twisted together and around one another across the entire length of the house, but when _______ started looking at the makeup of the branches pattern instead of the branches themselves, he saw letters formed in the overall canopy of them.
That stopped him from talking for a minute since he just realized something. When he first entered this forest he could see only the trees. He couldn’t see either the branches or the canopy of the forest floor. Now though, he could see the forest floor and that is why he can see the branches too. That thought brought a shy smile to his face since he now understood that, although he can see the branches for the trees, he still didn’t see the trees for the forest very well.
He looked at Icya and said, “Welcome and Warning.”
She laughed and clapped her hands. “Very, very good _______, that was extremely fast. It took everyone else about forty minutes of staring before they could read the words.” Next she looked sternly at Nestrem and said, “Now do you see that I should stay quiet and let him learn at his own pace?”
Nestrem laughed.
Somewhat surprisingly to _______, Iurdit spoke. Normally _______ believed that Iurdit had forgotten how to speak since he did it so little… but not this time.
“I still can’t see it,” Iurdit said almost to himself though everyone heard him. Then he looked directly at _______ defensively, “I’ve tried you know. I have stood on this exact spot for hours at a time and I still can’t see her house, yet you did it in about ten minutes.”
Icya stepped in at that point. “My poor Iurdit, she said lightheartedly
“I know,” he replied. “But I can’t understand why I am the only one excluded from your house which is why I am determined to find it. If I figure out a way to see your house then maybe I will also understand why you won’t let me see it in the first place.”
“But Iurdit, you can come into my house anytime you want to and you know that. It’s just that you must have somebody else show you the way and stay inside of here with you until you go home. That’s not really so bad is it?”
“Not really,” he admitted, “But why does that restriction only apply to me, and better yet, does _______ need a guide anymore to come to your house?” Iurdit’s voice was almost breaking from the weight of emotions he threw into it.
“Oh no, _______ can come over any time he wants to since he will always be able to see my house.” Icya was trying to keep her voice neutral, _______ could tell that, but he also thought he heard some traces of irritation and helplessness mixed in as well.
Iurdit glanced over at _______ and at that moment, _______ wished more than anything that he was about a thousand miles from this spot. Iurdit, though, said nothing to him and did not threaten him in any way and instead looked back at Icya with a pleading look in his eyes.
“Please…” and Iurdit took a step toward her but Icya took a step backward.
“No!” was all she said and Iurdit gave up.
Nestrem jumped in at that point. “Must we continue to stand on your front porch Icya or… after berating _______ for not getting here fast enough… are you going to force us to stay here on the doorstep until nightfall?”
She looked over at him, “You’re right Nestrem. Let’s go inside and refresh ourselves, _______ dear, open the front door.”
He spun quickly around and looked at her. “What did you say?” He asked.
“You heard me, and you certainly understood four simple words, but I will repeat them for you now.” She paused for dramatic effect, too much so thought _______, and she said, “Open the front door.”
“Why do you constantly do that to me Icya, why do you always go out of your way to make me feel foolish?”
“Because I simply want to help you down the pathway to never feeling foolish again,” she answered. I am trying to teach you three things: that you must always analyze you’re current situation, you must always listen to your surroundings so that nothing ever needs repeating to you, and you must instantly know how to respond through knowledge and practice. Now open the door please.”
Determined now, _______ walked up to the tree that was the front door and looked closely at it. He couldn’t find any distinguishing marks on it and its color was an overall brown. Desperately, he looked around the door and its frame for any clue on how to open it, and then he saw the latch on the door. It was located about eye level on the right side of the door and it looked like a small square of lighter colored bark. Pleased with himself, he raised his index finger to the spot and pushed on it.
Suddenly a shock wave shot through _______ body strong enough to make him believe that he was on fire and threw him about ten feet from the tree.
The next thing that he remembered was being picked up off the ground.
_______ staggered to his feet and after a few deep breaths asked, “What just happened?”
Icya, of course, was the one who answered him although she wasn’t very comforting. “Did you honestly think that you could enter my house so easily? That I am such an easy prey? You, _______, had better quickly learn just exactly what you are in the middle of. I must say that I was impressed that you found the doorknob so quickly, but didn’t you suspect that I would also have that doorknob protected?” She pointed to a small spot about knee high on the left side of the tree and _______ instantly saw the other latch. That latch that should have been unlocked first which would allow the front door to be safely opened.
_______ quickly pointed out her inconsistency, “I have been almost begging you to tell me ‘what I’m in for’ and you have never answered me. How can I find out what I am in-the-middle-
“That is your job _______,” she said, and then added… “Open the door please.”
_______ first walked over to the latch located on the left, about knee high, and released it. Nothing happened, but was that a good sign or not? It didn’t actually matter since _______ was going to open try to open the door again. _______ walked back to the exact spot that he was standing in before and looked to his up to his right and didn’t find the other latch, or doorknob, if you want to call it that.
He panicked. He felt his blood pressure rising, and then he took a deep breath.
He started looking around the door again. If the doorknob was here once, then it must still be here he reasoned. The only answer was that releasing the first latch caused the doorknob move to a new location on the door. _______ scanned the door from top to bottom again, and there it was, located just above his ankle on the left hand side of the tree. He couldn’t completely explain how he knew that that spot was the key, but he never doubted that he was right. Bending down, _______ pushed on the doorknob again not really knowing what to expect, purposely walked into the face of uncertainty.
He instinctively looked around the room. The walls were painted white in such a way that he did not believe possible. No matter how much (or how little) sunlight coupled with the candle-light that hit these walls at any given moment, the effect is always beautiful. [Major Description of the Room Needed Here]…