The Pole Shift

Son, The Lord Vet

The people returned to Son and were dismayed. Toorak lay slumped at the boy's feet. In Son's fingers the bloodied crystal was held, he stood and announced:

"Here you see Toorak! Our Saviour!" There was confused wailing, knees were fallen upon and the question was asked, dead?

"Yes." Spoke Son slowly. He let meaning cover the people, then spoke again. "The Sun and Moon delivered him, The Lord Vet, and he has righted us, corrected our ways. He has shown us kind customs, habits to obey that has led to health and moments of happiness. Once we ate limpets off rocks." There came nodding, the agreement was accompanied by the people's tears. Son continued:

"Who will carry The Lord Vet to the first smiling boat?" There was a clamour to be included, the one hundred and fifty people, the entire population, carried Toorak to the first boat based on a depiction in a child's book. They piled the boat with driftwood and set it aflame and watched as currents took Toorak home. A soft voice spoke as the flaming boat fell into the seas:

"Are you the Lord Vet now?" Son turned to see a girl slightly younger than himself. He had expected challenge, but not from a face he had admired many times. She was a girl clean of face, who lived in one of the survival bunkers on the other side of the island. They had locked gaze several times. A gaze that Son had taken to his sleep often. Now, he faltered and answered in a less confident way.

"Yes I hold Crystal Ear. I know when to plant the corn. I have quests." The girl only saw the lack of confidence and smiled slowly because of it, she said:

"We shall see, Lord Vet." Chestnut hair abruptly tumbled as she turned away.

Eyes watched Son. The moment was seminal. Yet Son watched the young teenage girl return to the crowd, he swallowed unsurely and he could see doubt flutter across many faces, some men edged forward and teenagers watched in dare. Son felt alone yet he knew they would allow him to be tested before a challenge came. He said:

"The Witch Woman took the hounds. Killed the first Lord Vet in battle! With the hounds we can heard the sheep that have become a tribe answerable only to themselves." Son looked for the girl but couldn't spy her. "Find the hounds, search the islands in the Smiling Face boats!" There was sudden expansive agreement. Son had recalled their first legend and the possibility of regaining loss surged among the people. Shouts arose as Son paced to the Lord Vet's home, turning once in hope of spying the girl.

++

The sun was in a certain position on the horizon when it rose and set. A year had nearly passed since the encounter with the Wizard. Son had inserted the crystal but rarely asked questions. His ear lobe had calloused over yet the adolescent knew much without asking. He did not want to sit on Flat Head Rock and have questions asked of him that he did not know the answer to. He asked Prophet very little, thinking of Toorak and thinking it had ruined him.

 He watched the people, letting his own thoughts control his actions. He was Lord Vet, and his people were what mattered. Yet for all his strength he remembered the Wizard and felt fear and temptation. Often, he found strength in the thought of the girl that lived in the survival bunkers. It was rare they had conversation, but on the day before his agreement with the Wizard they met by chance.

"Why live in the earth with no windows to the sky?" Son questioned.

"My fathers are from there, we are the Earth. What are you?"

"Son! Named by Toorak!" The girl frowned then changed tack.

"You are my age, how can you be my Lord?"

"I hold Crystal Ear, Crystal Ear lives in the sky." Son thought he sounded silly but maintained his expression.

"I am of the Earth, not the Sky." The girl spoke seriously and Son suddenly found a way to impress:

"Tomorrow I travel deep into the Earth, to meet an Earth Wizard that gives presents to his followers. Dare you trail?" The girl weighed the statement in her serious way. She locked eyes, and would have out stared Son if he had no blinked. The small triumph gave her the confidence to nod slowly and say:

"I'll come, Lord Vet."