Tundra

Twin ribbons billowed overhead, as though the sky was a dome of glass blown into all every shade of blue imaginable. The auroras were permanent affixtures in the heavens now, shining through the day and night, rippling like the grey sea of grasses that covered the tundra below. We had landed somewhere out on the plain, where the distant shapes of mammoths could be discerned plodding east towards the dim glow that preceded the rising sun. To match the celestial lights, the lights of spells also flapped like banners around us, warding away harm in myriad shades of purple.

‘So,’ I began, gathering my thoughts. ‘What happened?’ I turned to Aais, who was somewhat recovered after having had a jet of salt water turned on him by Hackley.

‘Menaus and his school attacked me as soon as I went below,’ he said, sounding hurt. ‘They wanted to turn me into one of them so that I would be able to tell them about you.’

‘So they’re aware of us?’ I surmised. ‘What do they know?’

‘It’s hard to tell.’

‘They’re not all talking to each other, I know that much,’ Eiron interjected, swinging his axe lazily in one hand. He had been denied the opportunity to use it earlier, and was obviously feeling ill-done by. ‘There are still quite a few Seafarers who haven’t eaten the fungus.’

‘Why not?’ asked Hackley, in her whimsical way. ‘That seems strange.’

‘It could just be contrariness,’ the Seafarer went on to say. ‘As a people, we’re not good at being told what to do.’ He gave his axe another hefty, demonstrative whirl.

‘Still, that could be useful,’ I concluded, catching Eiron’s eye the moment he looked away from his weapon. ‘Did you happen to see who they were?’

‘I recognised some of the bands,’ he told me, ‘but as much as I hate to say it, a few disgruntled Seafarers aren’t going to win this for us.’ He turned back to me, axe hanging still. ‘Did you have any success with your people?’

Hackley butted in before I could euphemise. ‘Quite the reverse, actually,’ she said cheerfully.

Eiron’s face fell. ‘Oh.’

‘There is one thing avenue we haven’t explored,’ Aais reminded us, a timid finger poised in the air.

I spun back around. ‘What’s that?’

‘There is an elder here,’ he said, with ponderous reverence, his huge eyes glazed. ‘On dry land, there is a big one. Well, underneath it, anyway.’

‘So we can communicate with them?’ I asked.

‘Maybe.’ There was uncertainty in Aais’ voice. ‘I’ve heard of it being done, but not easily and never by drylanders.’

‘How do we know it won’t just eat us?’ said Eiron, more pragmatically. ‘That’s what almost happened last time.’

‘That’s not what happened,’ Aais objected, folding his arms in indignation. ‘However, if it decides to do that, then that will be the right thing to do. It is not our place to question the elders.’

‘Maybe not for you, but I’m not getting eaten.’

‘I’m also against that,’ Hackley supplied.

‘Added to which,’ I said, ‘we don’t know how to communicate with it. I think there’s something in the library on great beasts and their habits, so we might be able to build from there if we can get that book. This being said, I have another suggestion. It’s a dangerous plan, but I think it can work.’

‘What is it?’ Hackley was the first to ask.

‘Reshrin mentioned there were more powerful druids in the spirit world,’ I explained, ‘and my own magic has confirmed it. My belief is that we need them. We need spirit allies, otherwise there is a whole world of which we are not aware.’

‘So how do we find these druids?’ Eiron sounded doubtful, as usual. He had recommenced swinging his axe in a frustrated manner.

‘We need to see the spirit world,’ I told him. ‘We –I– need to eat some of the fungus.’

Outraged, Eiron threw his axe into the ground, where it stuck, the handle pointing upwards at an angle. ‘But you’ll be possessed!’

‘I will set up an exorcism in advance,’ I advised him. ‘It should be fine.’

‘Should be?’ the Seafarer repeated, incredulously.

‘Can I ask you something about this?’ Hackley inserted herself into the conversation again, unperturbed.

‘Of course,’ I said, bemused.

My Apprentice beckoned me closer, away from prying eyes. ‘It’s a theory question, not something these two would be interested in,’ she informed me. We didn’t have to move very far to get out of hearing distance of the others– the cruel tundra wind did its best to fill our ears and steal our words away.

‘When you say your own magic confirmed this,’ Hackley asked, ‘that would be Blackmouth magic, wouldn’t it?’

‘Yes.’

‘So this is what a demon wants you to do. You saw how difficult it was for us to exorcise Reshrin. Why would this be any different?’

‘I’m fairly sure how much of a hold the spirits have over you depends on how long you’ve been possessed,’ I said, my eyes fixed hard on Hackley’s soft amber ones. ‘If it’s quick, it should be fine. It is a concern, though, you’re right, which is why I want to test if it works.’

‘I don’t like this,’ she sighed, ‘but fine.’