The Father of Withering

Chapter Five: Vengeance and Restitution

As they began their journey into the stagnant water, Relma had a thought. One that Estela would have considered ahead of time. But then, Relma could have been better at this than Ronald or Estela, was she? "Shouldn't we bring the poles Estela had me get? You know, to, um, check for places where things are too deep? I mean, we could fall into a bog."

Aunt Pan looked up in surprise. Then she shook her head before leading her in a circle around what looked like a walkable piece of ground. Kneeling down, she drew up a stone from the wet earth and dropped it into the earth. The stone sank like.... well, a stone in water. It was gone in a moment, and apparently, firm ground rippled. "Not at the moment. I can sense we're only going a little way in."

"What makes you so sure where it is?" asked Relma. She knew Aunt Pan was a legendary agent of Elranor, but the question couldn't hurt.

"Ranush is leading me," said Aunt Pan. "When you speak with spirits enough, you learn to know their minds. You see, spirits do not exist in one body; their being is dispersed throughout an area. He is all around us, and I can communicate with him.

"What you heard before at the pool was him shouting."

"Shouting?" asked Relma.

"Yes, spirits have to exert great effort to speak with the untrained," said Aunt Pan.

And so they walked onward. As they did, what passed for firm ground became soaked and ankle-deep in the water. Gradually, it got deeper until Relma was up to her thighs. She wished she were tall like Aunt Pan, but no such luck.

Her luck held out as soon flies began to gather around them. Relma hated it and tried to beat them off by killing them. It was all about threatening motions that didn't actually connect. Once, Relma nearly hit a fly and had to veer her hand off. After that the flies were relentless. Aunt Pan, as usual, just kept on walking while ignoring them.

Soon, they saw many red and white flowers growing in the water. And the flies stopped as they did. It was a welcome relief, and the air soon became sweet and cool, and Relma breathed in relief. Then, suddenly, Aunt Pan stopped and raised a hand. "Stop."

"What is it?" asked Relma, looking ahead.

She only saw a lake of white and red flowers budding before them. A sweet aroma was in the air, and there were no flies around them. The ground got firmer, too, as though the water was absorbed. But Aunt Pan's face was stern. "Ahead of us is one of the most dangerous creatures in the world."

"I don't see anything," said Relma.

"The flowers," said Aunt Pan.

"What about them?" asked Relma.

"They emit pollen that clouds the mind," said Aunt Pan. "As you walk among them, they enchant you. Strange, usually, they only grow in places where spirits are powerful."

"We spoke with Ranush, didn't we?" asked Relma.

"Yes," said Aunt Pan. "Spirits are everywhere. But in some places, certain kinds of spirits gain more power. Come, we'll go around."

"What would happen if we went in?" asked Relma.

"You might be enchanted," said Aunt Pan. "If you were alone, then the flowers would cover you up. Their thorns would tear you until you were nothing more than bones."

Relma shuddered. "Well, then... maybe we should do something about these?"

"And what would you suggest?" asked Aunt Pan. "Burn them? These flowers are not evil; they merely live by eating meat. One might as well kill all the wolves in the world because they eat sheep. Or dry up all the seas because men can drown within them.