The Astralaceaes

Chapter 23: Cold Snap

The wind rocked Haledon and sent him stumbling. As his feet shuffled through the snow, he threw out his arms, catching himself before he toppled. The instinctual reaction gave him his balance at a moment's notice but sacrificed the little heat he had generated in his core. Haledon's body began to vibrate again as he pulled his arms back in to protect his chest, but the cold had already won.

Through his chattering teeth and stiff limbs, Haledon knew he should have already succumbed to the exposure. But Sparrow's alterations to the Shaman Tree's dream of the desert made it impossible to leave, even in the most deadly situations. So he would have to suffer the bitter chill of the barren terrain until his test was completed.

It had been a day since Sparrow departed, leaving Haledon to prove his knowledge. As the sun rose on the second day, he watched as another beautiful dawn painted the sky before his eyes. But like the morning before, he stood at the center of an endless, icy expanse.

"O-o-okay." He stuttered through quivering lips. "O-obser-observe."

Tucking his hands into his armpits, he spun and looked at the horizon. First, looking to the south, he noticed a snowy hill that formed the slightest bump against the horizon. Just as he looked, a gust kicked up snow between him and the distant feature, making it hard to judge how far away it rested.

He adjusted his gaze to the west, where he noticed a cloud on the horizon from where he had come. Though its amorphous shape had changed, the cloud rested against the same place it had the day before. Haledon stared at it momentarily, wondering if he should backtrack the day to investigate.

As he thought, he looked to the north and the empty expanse that went as far as the eye could see. There was nothing there but the ice and wind, chilling Haledon and pushing him to the East.

Haledon stared in the direction of the rising sun, the path he had been following for the last day. With a final look around, he believed any route would provide him with a solution. But the feeling of something tugging at his chest finally swayed him to move. Like the leaves of a flower twisting to catch the sun, he felt his body pull towards the east.

He started to march slowly and instinctually forward again, his body aching with each step. And as he travelled, the once howling winds began to die down. With only the occasional gust breezing past him, he found himself in periods of relief from the frozen daggers. Haledon took the moments of calm to reach his hand and feel his numb face. Noticing something hard against the edge of his ear, he broke an icy fragment off the hood of his parka.

"W-whoa." He looked at it, inspecting the icicle as he walked. Like a sprout from the soil, the ice had grown from his ecosystem.

Haledon wasn't sure how long he had observed the piece of ice, thinking about the heat from his body melting the snow and the wind freezing it again. But when he looked up to see the sun resting around the midmorning mark, he would spend the rest of his time watching the world around him.

"Observe and interact." He recited to himself as he marched, again attentive to his goal. "Design from Nature's experience. Work with—not against—Nature's design."

With a flourish of his hands, he practiced tracing the Druidic runes before himself. But a blast of frigid air caused him to quickly retreat. He pulled his chilled fingers back to his body and tucked his chin and mouth into the parka.

"Catch and store energy." Haledon continued after the wind subsided. As he spoke, his breath condensed into a cloud around him. "Capture energy in perennial systems. Generate a surplus—"

Haledon looked up to the sun and thought about what Sparrow had taught.

"Earth is under constant barrage by solar energy—and this can be converted into life at a cellular level through flora—plants, specifically, through chlorophyll in leaves allowing photosynthesis. The galaxy is abundant in energy sources, not just light...learn them—master them. Catch energy and generate a surplus."