Chasing Sparks

Chapter 3.2

"The affinities are hereditary," Master Dirs began, "Passed on from parent to child, generation after generation. They might occasionally skip a generation, but if someone is born with an affinity, it can be traced back to someone in their family. They don't just appear out of nothing. Everything has a cause, including the affinities."

Wren nodded again. He was aware of Maser Dirs teachings on cause and effect, but no-one had ever spoken to him directly about the affinities. People always seemed to steer clear of this topic around him, which wasn't surprising given his unique lacking.

"The origin of the affinities," Master Dirs continued, "Can be traced back to the Celestials. Whatever happened to the Celestials is anyone's guess, but before they left, some chose to pass on a fragment of their power to the people of Faria. Certain Celestials favoured certain races and the affinities got passed on along racial lines to the point today, where certain affinities have become almost exclusively associated with certain races. It won't have escaped your notice that most dryad affines are Foresters. Krills, on the other hand, tend to have elemental affinities like fire and ice."

Master Dirs paused for a moment before smiling at Wren, "But there are exceptions, as I'm sure you are aware." His tone changing to one of nostalgia, "I still remember the day, a tall Krill woman-"

"All Krill seem tall to me," he added, chuckling to himself.

"-wandered into the Gardens. She was very determined and judging by the look on her face, you would have thought her on a mission of the utmost importance. She just walked into the Gardens and demanded to speak with me."

Wren smiled, recognising the traits he knew well in his mother.

"When she did eventually get the chance to speak to me, her words were short and to the point. I can remember them exactly to this day. 'You are an annoyingly difficult man to speak to but I forgive you this flaw as you will teach me the way of nature'. I swear those were her exact words. You wouldn't believe it."

Wren could believe it. It sounded just like his mother.

"Well," continued Master Dirs, "You could imagine my reaction. It is not often I'm spoken to in such a way, but before I could reply, she started to make all the plants, bushes and flowers in my garden shake violently. And again I can remember exactly what she said 'I do not know why I have this curious affinity but all I can do with it at the moment is make the stupid things shake. Teach me how to control this power.' How could I resist, besides the plants were begging me to stop the shaking."

"'All I can do is make the stupid things shake'," Master Dirs repeated quietly to himself. "Hardly something you would expect to hear from someone who would later become a dryad master."

"Anyway, to continue, I naturally asked her how a Krill like her had come to have this affinity. Her answer was somewhat vague but I do remember her saying her father, your grandfather, had an ice affinity. A much more Krill type affinity, but she did say there were rumours of a forest hermit on her mother's side. I suspect your mother knew more about this than she let on, but if she did she never shared it with me. And well to be honest it was none of my business."

"Anyway, to my point, a Krill woman born to an ice affine must have grown up wondering why she couldn't freeze things like her father. However, there was a good reason for this. It was simply that she had inherited a more powerful affinity from someone else in her family, most likely this forest hermit she mentioned. So it is possible for someone born to parents of one affinity, to inherit a different affinity, if a stronger one exists in their family history."

Bringing his focus clearly back to Wren now, Dirs said, "So Wren, there is no guarantee that the son of a Gardener would automatically inherit the dryad affinity."

Wren's interest was genuinely piqued now. He didn't want to interrupt Master Dirs but couldn't help himself. "Are you saying you think I have a different affinity? Maybe from my father?"

Nobody had ever said anything to him about his father. His mother had been pregnant with him when she arrived at the Gardens and as far as Wren knew, no-one knew anything about his father.

Master Dirs sat quietly for a while, before eventually starting to say, "Wren I-"

Before changing his mind and saying, "I do not know if you have a Celestial affinity, Wren, but I do know this. You should stop looking at what you don't have. You do not have the dryad affinity. The leaf will never smile for you. That is not your path."

Master Dirs felt he may have been overly blunt with the last part but it had needed saying. He then softened his voice a little, "But you do have a path Wren. And to walk it you need to fully abandon what it is not."

Wren sat quietly for a few seconds before looking at Master Dirs and saying, "Thank you. I will think on it."

He then watched Master Dirs get up before standing up slowly himself and stretching his legs.

"I'd love another bite of that mango?" Wren said, smiling.

Master Dirs looked confused, "What mango?"

"The one you saw me eating earlier," Wren said, genuinely beginning to wonder if old age was finally catching up with Master Dirs. "The one with two big bite marks in it."

Master Dirs continued to look confused.

At which point Wren caught a glimpse of the branch above his head. There was a big mango with a bright yellow flash down the side, showing no trace of having ever been picked, hanging from its stem. It hung there as juicy and ripe as ever, with not a bite mark in sight.

Wren's grin widened as he looked from the Mango to Master Dirs.

Master Dirs just spread his arms in a gesture of mock innocence.

Still smiling, Wren picked up his bucket and started making his way home, secure in the knowledge Master Dirs was the best.

Master Dirs watched him go. As he did, he wondered if he should have said more. He nearly had. He had his suspicions about why Wren hadn't developed the dryad affinity but he was a firm believer in people discovering things for themselves. Life was a journey after all.

Walking home, Wren's thoughts naturally turned to what Master Dirs had said and it was somewhat inevitable that the next time he put the bucket down he was standing next to his mother's memorial stone.

The stone was just a plain rock with a plaque fastened in the centre that simply read 'In memory of Mirion who gave her life so many others could live.'

Wren gently sprinkled a little of the water from the pail onto the flowers growing next to the stone.

Wren didn't know much about the details around his mother's death, but he did know she had died of the wasting sickness, along with countless others around a decade ago. The saddest thing about her death was that it was Wren's mother who had finally discovered the cure for the disease. But, sadly, not fast enough to save herself. Her symptoms were too severe and the parasite, for that was the cause, had already spread to her heart, where it eventually killed her.

Her death was a shock to all in the Gardens, since she had been one of the strongest affines in the camp. She also had a special talent for finding cures in nature to all kinds of illnesses.

The nature of the dryad affinity was a curious thing in that regard. It could coax dying plants and trees back to life but it could not do the same with animals and people. The affinity was specific only in its application to plant life. That said, it could be used to enhance the natural properties of plants and herbs to help people. So, although it could not be used to directly heal people, people and animals benefited greatly from the amplified healing properties of the medicinal plants applied by Gardeners. This meant some Gardeners gained reputations as great healers, with Wren's mother chief among them.

To say Wren was proud of his mother would be an understatement. She was his inspiration. He just wished he could do something meaningful with his life. Something to make her proud. But as he instinctively glanced at the leaves next to her stone, he knew the truth of Master Dirs words. The leaf would never smile for him.