Chasing Sparks

Chapter 24.2

Wren smiled and sat down on a tree stump next to the Chief. Even though the Chief was sitting, he was still a huge presence and Wren felt more than a little intimidated. However, he briefly forgot the Chief as he noticed the huge double bladed axe propped up against a pole, directly behind the giant man.

The beautiful hawkwing design left no doubt as to what he was looking at. An artifact from history and arguably the greatest weapon in the land. Hawkwing. It had the same dull sheen as his ring, but the edge looked as keen as the day it was forged.

The chief noticed Wren staring at Hawkwing. “Ahh, I see you’ve heard of Hawkwing,” he said.

Wren nodded.

“One of the problems of carrying such a legendary weapon is that it often upstages its owner,” the Chief said.

Wren couldn’t keep the expression of surprise off his face. Humility from a Barbarian, how very unexpected.

The chief noticed Wren’s surprise and simply said, “We are not always brutal killing machines,” before adding with a smile, “just most of the time.”

Wren liked the Chief immediately.

“Your friend, Quizi,” the Chief continued, “Has been quite open about your reasons for being here. I, however, have been silent in response.”

Wren could see the frustration in Quizi’s eyes reinforcing the Chief’s last statement.

“So let me put this right now,” the Chief said, “in return for the three ogre heads you have brought us.”

Ogres heads again, Wren thought. A valuable currency in this land to be sure. A gift that just keeps on giving.

The chief thought quietly for a moment before saying, “I understand you are looking for Cavers living in the eastern mountains. If you follow the mountains round from here and then go southwards, you will arrive at a small narrow pass. It doesn’t look like much but it will actually take you to the other side. I have seen and traveled this pass, this much I can say is true. The next part is based on hearsay. And as you have already discovered, stories are open to exaggeration and the level of exaggeration tends to grow with each telling.”

The chief smiled. “When Lind tells your story this time next year, the ogre you fought will be over ten feet tall and your stick will have shrunk to the size of your forearm. But importantly, the underlying truth will still be there. You cannot dispute there was a strange outlander, an ogre and a stick.”

Wren nodded and added, “And maybe the strange outlander was not as courageous as Lind proclaimed. In fact, maybe he was extremely scared and genuinely running away as the ogres approached.”

Quizi frowned at him.

The Chief looked at Wren and said, “But he came back. It’s what people do that matters, not what they nearly do.”

Wren nodded. “Thank you,” he said. He really did like the Barbarian Chief.

The chief acknowledged the comment before returning to his own story.

“The story I wish to share, tells of a mighty warrior who got lost in the narrow mountain pass I mentioned. While on this path he stumbled upon a river of hot burning rock. Around this burning river, there were said to live lots of Cavers. No names were mentioned in the story, certainly no-”

“-Finnun,” Quizi put in.

“Yes, Finnun, but the story did tell of a network of inhabited tunnels around this burning river,” the Chief continued

Looking first at Quizi and then at Wren, the Chief said, “I cannot say if this is what you seek, but I know of no other stories of people living in Caves in the mountains.”

“Thank you,” said Wren. “We will leave for this pass in the morning.”

The Chief looked a little embarrassed.

The look was completely out of character on the huge confident warrior.

Quizi noticed the look too and understood what it meant. She said, “Chief, we are very grateful for your help. Is there anything we can do to help you?”

The Chief relaxed and smiled at Quizi. “There is one thing you could do. A member of my clan has been taken ill with a strange fever. Perhaps, Wren could take a look at him,” the Chief clearly not as skeptical as others around the fire about Wren’s healing powers.

Wren naturally agreed, and the three of them left the fireside and headed towards a non-descript hut, separated from the rest of the main camp. Other than that, the hut was no different from all the others in the village. It was made of stone and mud and an animal skin hung over the entrance. The Chief pushed past the skin and entered.

As he went in behind, Wren immediately recognised the smell. It was the smell of sickness and disease. And the source was obvious, there was only one person in the small hut. A child. He was laid out in the middle of the room on an animal skin stretched taught above the ground, as a kind of makeshift bed. The boy coughed violently, as the three visitors entered.

“This,” the Chief said, “Is my son. He is dying of some sickness we have never seen before.” He looked at Wren. “Can you help him?”

“I do not know but I will try,” Wren said.

He walked over to the boy in the bed. He was young and should have been full of energy but he looked tired and frail. It would not be long before he died. Wren placed his hand on the boy’s chest and just left his hand there, listening to his breathing. He then channelled a small amount of Celestial energy into the child’s chest and tried to follow where it went. It headed straight for his lungs. Wren repeated the experiment again and again. It was definitely the boy’s lungs that were the problem.

Wren then gradually emptied the spark’s Celestial energy into the boy. The lungs gobbled up the energy healing themselves.

The Chief’s son sat up looking a lot better than he had a few minutes ago. He even had a smile on his face. But Wren pushed him back down on the bed and turned to Chief. “I have healed his body for now but the disease is still within him. I can continue to heal him and he will live but once the healing stops he will die. My skill enables me to heal damaged tissue but I cannot cure the disease. This requires a level of skill beyond my affinity.”

The Chief nodded his understanding.

“However,” Wren said. “I grew up in the Gardens. Sick people were regularly brought to us for healing from across the land. There are no people more skilled in the herbal remedies than the Gardeners.”

The Chief looked at him. The son looked too. “What are you saying?” the Chief said.

“I would say from what I have seen just now, that,” and Wren turned to the son, “you are suffering from swamp rot. It is a disease that affects the breathing. The cure is quite simple but requires shell moss. If I had enough of the moss, I should be able to brew a tea that would drive the disease from your body.”

“Where can we find this shell moss?” the Chief asked.

“Most likely, near the swamp where your son contracted the sickness,” Wren replied.

It was a lesson drummed into Wren and all Gardeners. If you wanted to find a cure to a disease, the best place to start looking was the source of the disease. You could be pretty sure that wherever a disease arose, nature would provide the cure nearby, if you were skilled enough to find it.

“But there are no swamps near here,” the Chief said

Wren looked confused. Swamp fever without a swamp was highly unlikely.

“Talk to Neels,” the boy suddenly put in. “I cannot remember where we went but Neels knows.”