Dawning of a Seer

Lost Souls

Calla greedily ate the spicy bread and liquorice tea that the old woman had given her and for the moment did not care about the questions she wanted to ask. The old woman sat in a rocking chair watching her intently. Despite the obvious disrepair with gaps in the wooden slats and a hole in the roof made of some sort of animal skin, the hut had a homely feel.

Pots and pans lay in a stack near a small iron stove that was well stoked and jars filled with curious herbs and dead insects lined the shelves that ran across every wall. A small pile of blankets made for a bed in the far corner and there was row upon row of pots filled with soil sprouting new life on the floor near a window. There was little natural light from the grey gloom outside but several lamps hung from the ceiling on a hairy string that looked as if it would break at the slightest touch.

"Its taken a while to find you," the woman stated as if Calla should know what she meant. "Those naughty ogres are always getting in the way."

"Find me? You were sent to find me?"

"Well no, but I do feel sorry for all the lost souls here. Those that shouldn't be here anyway."

"Shouldn't be where?" Calla's mouth was full with the last piece of bread and coughed as a piece caught in her throat.

"In the shadow realm of course," chuckled the old woman.

Calla couldn't stop coughing now and the woman walked over and patted her hard on the back. "Drink some tea to wash it down before you choke to death, otherwise you will be stuck here," the woman scorned.

Calla regained her composure and struggled to believe what she'd been told. "Can you show me a way out?"

The old woman gave her a scornful look and her eyes nodded at the tin mug next to the empty plate. Calla did as she was told and sipped at the tea.

"Better?" The old woman asked.

Calla nodded politely. She was obviously not going to get anywhere unless she followed her instructions. "Can you help me?" Calla asked again forcing a smile.

"I'll do my best," the woman replied. "I've only just sent back another of your kind. A nymph with pink curls like cherry blossom."

"Blossom?" Calla had only seen creatures she had never believed to exist in this nightmare. "Are there others here too?"

"I sense there is, but my powers are limited and this hut is too small to cope with more than one soul at a time."

"You say, soul? Does that mean I'm not really here? Just my soul?"

"You're very curious aren't you," the woman exclaimed as if offended by the question. "Put it like this," the woman leant forward and her face wrinkled into a scowl. "If people didn't meddle in things they shouldn't, you wouldn't be here." The scornful expression was replaced by a warm smile and she sat back in the rocking chair setting it into motion.

...............................................

Luna was sat outside the Elder Tree upon Marrok's return. The sun was shining in a clear blue sky and as she listened to the birdsong she could have easily imagined herself back home in Wyvern. She thought of the apple tree she had carved into the bark of as a child and wondered if the apples upon its branches had yet ripened.

"How are you feeling?" Marrok asked as he sat beside her.

In a world of her own, she had not really noticed him until now and it took some time before his words reached her mind. "I'm fine, just a bit sore here and there."

"If you're recovered you'll be able to return tonight."

"I'll never be able to return will I," she mused thinking only of her true home.