The Language Of The Trees/ An Evalyce Novel [#NaNoWriMo16]

Chapter 3: The Constable's Conundrum

Talboa Forest, Northern Argoth, 10000 ft above the Aeryth Ocean, Year of the Owl's Hunt, 1726 CE

I arrived home for my holiday early morning of a crisp clear day. Snow had fallen recently, making the trek to Ari's home a bit more strenuous than normal. I enjoyed the sharp, clean scent of snow, laced with evergreen as I made my way through the forest. As I neared Ari's home, the scent of woodsmoke joined that of pine and snow. Rounding the last bend in the path, I was greeted with the welcome sight of the sprawling treehouse, smoke drifting from the chimney port. I was also greeted by a cinnamon chokka tethered to a post.

As I neared the house, a fierce, shrill scream pierced the air. The chokka responded with a deeper scream of its own as Merc flew down from his perch high amongst the trees. The soot eagle landed on the ground before me and stalked over to butt his head against my leg. I smiled, bending down to scratch Merc behind the head. He grumbled softly in contentment.

"Mai?" Ari's voice queried from beyond the threshold of the now open door. A moment later Ari himself appeared in the doorway. His face was drawn into serious lines. Behind Ari I could just make out the shadowed form of the Constable, which explained the presence of the tethered chokka in the yard.

"Do come and join us, Mai. Leave your bags by the door here. We can tend them later. Constable Arnitsson here has a conundrum he needs help with. We've been waiting for you." Ari bustled back inside, trusting I would follow, which I did. Depositing my bags, I joined the Constable at the small dining table, as Ari poured me a mug of hot cider. Taking the mug, I drank in the heavenly scent of apple, pear, and spices, and wondered why the two men had been waiting for me.

I knew Ari assisted the Constable from time to time, with cases that needed a certain touch to them. Why they would have been waiting for me I couldn't fathom.

"Why don't you fill Mai in." Ari gestured the Constable forward and trundled off up the stairs. I turned a questioning gaze to the Constable.

"Fill me in on what?"

"Well, Miss Mai, Miss d'Marinsson has been having a bit o'worry over her husband. He's taken to haring off every other month or so, sometimes for a day, sometimes for several. He refuses to say why. Grown quite skittish he has. Paranoid. He manages to shake off those as tries to follow him. I thought to see if Master Ari could track him to ground for us."

I laughed. If any could track his quarry to ground, be it human or animal, it was Ari.

"I'm afraid I'm not familiar with Miss d'Marinsson."

"Saa. She and her husband moved here a little over two years ago, but keep to themselves for the most part. They live on the outskirts of town."

"Why, Constable, that hardly seems something you and your men would be handling."

The Constable shifted his weight and coughed faintly. "No, Miss Mai. It was his wife as came to us for help. Normally we would leave off. It's none o'our business. Thing is, his disappearances have coincided with the disappearances of others. Several young adults, all from outlying homes, all with a penchant for running off from time to time. Whereas Mr Marinsson returns, the others do not. We've yet to find any of them, nor any clues as to what happened to them. No coin trail, no sightings, nothing. It's as if they just vanished."

"That is a distinct possibility, Constable, if a mage is involved in the disappearances," Ari said as he came back to the table carrying a box full of assorted odds and ends.

"There's been no word of a rogue Technomancer, so it would have to be a Kanlon trained mage," the Constable replied.

Ari's mouth tightened, the briefest flash of irritation flickering across his face. He had little love for the 'undisciplined' Kanlon magi. Unlike the Technomancers, whose affiliation was to Argoth, and specifically, the Argosian military, the Kanlon was an entity unto itself and played by different rules of conduct. No, they didn't openly go around abducting people for nefarious purposes, but a rogue mage was far more likely than a rogue Technomancer.