DRAUMRS - Dreamweavers - Book Two

29 - Blue Horizon

The small clearing on the invisible point of land had been the point of departure for Will's lifetime worth of spiritual growth that had been squeezed into only a few weeks. He had arrived here naïve and self-centered, a pretentious keener full of his too-easy accomplishments and his too-simple life plans. He could remember how much he had wished that he was just flying somewhere instead of humping out here with the old men.

Now, the little fire that they had built for tonight's tea pot seemed to him a lot like his once-fulfilling life. Made up of small sticks, with just enough flame to heat the pot, the cooking fire wasn't intended to heat cold steel into glowing red metal or to destroy ancient forests for man's stupid use of the land underneath. It was a fire with limited intent that provided exactly the needed amount of heat energy and a flickering dull light. Certainly, the purpose of heating water was noble, but deciding that this was all the fire you needed in your life meant that you were as insignificant as the battered pot now steaming prior to a boil.

To Will, the metaphor neatly summed up his life before the first dreamscape he had joined in this clearing. He had been happy enough simmering away on his little fire, but he always knew then that he was more than a teapot. He expected to go places, in a few years. Now, the challenge of a lifetime was thrust upon him with no time at all to prepare for it. The fire that they had stepped into was certainly hot enough to test his steel. He still wasn't sure that he knew the full strength of his mettle or if he could ever know, without going past the point of failure.

Water, Jack and Will squatted around the little fire for a while, perhaps pretending to be somewhere else: maybe mid-hunt or mid-portage, where you never actual set camp, just grabbed some tea and kept your ass off the wet ground. Complaining knees quickly caused them to break out the nylon camp chairs. Hunger had also been addressed by hauling out the Coleman stove a little earlier and putting on a pan-load of pea meal bacon and another pan of bannock. The tea, should the damn pot ever boil, was their agreed nod to different times gone by.

Both Will and Jack needed the wisdom Water could offer. The retiring Elder had fought in these battles before. He had fought as an ally alongside the Clan that they now faced as an enemy. He, unlike almost all others, had seen a war unfold before him with an artefact in-hand. That he would not travel with them into future battles made them both nervous and uncertain.

After a long period of silence, Water spoke quietly. "Seems like we should be somewhere a lot warmer and more comfortable at this time of year." He grimaced. "But, a little discomfort is worth gaining the protection of this land."

Jack had wondered about the merits of travelling three hours by truck and boat from the very-comfortable Beaucage compound, just to sit around in the dirt and in the dark. He and Will were only back a couple days and were still trying to sort out what they knew and what their next steps were. Will had indicated that he was leaving for school, unless there was some immediate reason not to. Water wanted to move on. This was their version of a Green Clan summit prior to the summons to the Halls that they knew was coming any day.

Jack was curious. "From all that we have heard about the Blues, do you think that they cannot penetrate this place?"

Water was never very definite with his answers. "Maybe, maybe not. We don't know what they have learned in the decades since they were among us. But, we would know if anyone else was here—awake or asleep. The trees are older than these upstarts and they will never quietly accept any but the Green Clan on this ground."

He looked from Jack to Will. "So, listen carefully for some pissed-off leaf shaking or maybe a dead branch landing beside your head." He now laughed out loud.

"Those would be good signs telling you to shut-up and bug out."

Jack and Will joined in the laugh at the thought of a tree beaning one of them with a branch to get attention, but it was slightly nervous laughing this time.