Elemental Awakening

Chapter Nineteen

Craftsmen and artists, retired military warriors, families with skills all joined the cactus-dragon claw tribe. The newly rebuilt clan was yet to be named for now the town of Saudade housed them. Cleo and Mazy walked through the people for the giant clan. Almost eighty thousand people were now members of the clan. The council was going through some growing pains of leadership and representation. The girls watched as a few warrior house members were breaking up a fight between former gold citizens and dragon clan members.

Cleo used her gift to vibrate the earth directly under the arguing people knocking them to their bottoms as they left the ad-hock guards firmly on their feet. “Thank you mistress, but you should not worry yourself with this, there are a lot more fights than just these two.” the taller of the warriors said.

Cleo shrugged and rumbled through the earth that it was no trouble since she was in the area anyway. The guards bowed and restrained the delinquents in the process. The twins walked further through the encampment that the clan created around the great library of Saludade. They watched children play and parents tending to the smaller ones. People were using the nearby river to wash clothing and gather cooking water. Animals milled around in their enclosures chewing their food. 

Mazy looked at her sister. “We should head to the workshop, and see the improvements so far.” Cleo nodded then turned up the nearest ails toward the massive building in the center of their camp. They were enjoying all the new technology that had been afforded to them because of the research in the library. Telipinue had seen great improvements in her new air force with advanced wing suits and help from Sui.

In a short while the twins entered the vast room that was dedicated to crafting and invention. They saw at the far end that Wendy, Edger, Telipinu and Lamasuli were all excitedly focused on one of the work benches. Cleo smiled when she heard Wendy enthusiastically yell. “It’s like a Steampunk laser gun!” Cleo was familiar with a lot of the genres that Wendy was interested in from the dreaming world.  

Mazy gained their attention “Tai-yueh-ta-ti” the four looked up and smiled at the girls. Cleo was unable to communicate in the library due to the volatile substances that the scientist monks were constantly working with.

“Tai-yueh-ta-ti.” Telipinue returned the greeting. “Come we have some very good tools for our defense.” she waved the girls over. 

Wendy bounced in exhilaration, she was almost back to her bubbly self from even before her entry to the waking world. Cleo smiled approvingly between the water mistress and her monk. She had no doubt that their blossoming relationship had her lively self emerging. “Cleo!” Wendy pulled the young woman’s elbow guiding her around the table. “Look this is what Edger was able to build with those crystals and chemicals you brought up from the earth!”

Cleo was examining the dimly glowing tube and nozzle assembly. It was vaguely shaped like a firearm or a gvn with a handle situated behind the tube and. Cleo used sign language to ask how it worked. Edger smiled and said. “Let me demonstrate. It is almost depleted so shouldn’t harm anything.`` The monk took the device and aimed the nozzle at a block of stone that Cleo had  deposited there just the day prior.

The machine made an electronic whirring noise followed by some loud clacks before a stream of light and energy erupted from the nozzle opening and scorching the stone block with a violent force, leaving a pockmark in the surface of the material. The blast that erupted forth quickie died back with a sputtering hiss announcing that the device was fully spent.

Cleo’s jaw dropped at the fantastic display and signed her amazement to the group. Wendy made the comment of “Steampunk fantasy!” in regards to the intricate invention and bits of past tech. “Oh but wait look at this one too!” she brought the girls attention to another invention, a detailed date and time device, and books that had references to their past world, she was delighted and amazed, seeing all this she could feel the connection to the dreaming world, her world. 

…

Days passed with the tribe claiming more lost items and outfits. The warriors were fitted with old tech armor and weapons. Lamasuli’s branch of the warrior house benefited the most from the weapons and heavy armor, as the air force was unable to fly with such heavy kit. The warriors trained diligently with each new item learning their weapons like extensions of their arms and getting as comfortable as a second skin in the armor. They wanted more time, but the tribe were already making plans to move to the chasm, a canyon that spans from the roof of the world all the way to the ice flow sea.

The chasm was the natural divide between the desserts of the Abysmal plane and the mist of the water wood. Cleo was looking at maps, paintings and descriptions of the waterwood, and she thought that it sounded much like her home in the dreaming world. In fact some of the descriptions called the water wood the misty jungle. She loved the paintings and drawings of the landscapes. Whoever created all of them was exceptionally skilled. One painting depicted a treehouse village with draping vines and moss camouflaging the roofs and bridges that connected the houses and platforms. One painting had an enormous hollowed out tree with vaulted ceilings and vibrantly stained glass windows illuminating historical scenes.

Cleo signed to Edger asking who created these paintings. The monk read the signature on the bottom and was bewildered upon seeing the name. “Why my master, painted these! NinKasi.” Cleo asked to speak with him. “Of course Cleo, we can go ask him now.” Wendy frowned remembering him from the first day that they had arrived in Saludade.

NinKasi was an ancient old man, and was married to his work in the library. His love of books and desire to learn more kept him from requesting a marriage placement like his peers. Ninkasi wanted to have time to read every book in the building, and ventured out on many diplomatic and educational missions. His white hair was in contrast to his ebony skin, and left clear evidence to his advanced age. Cleo thought that he reminded her of some of the elders in her village in the dreaming world. Even some of the phrases that he used rung true to her first home. 

The old monk welcomed Edger and Cleo into his spartan office. He had a clear desk with a stack of about five books on the surface, a pile of cushions in one corner for guests and one sturdy framed chair for working at his desk. NinKasi bowed before Cleo greeting her “Mistress earth, how may I be of service to you today.” Cleo handed the man the painting then signed asking if he saw in person the scenes that it and the rest depicted.

The elder smiled. “Yes, I saw all of those places in my youth, and was very tempted to never return to this dusty tomb.” He gestured around him. Cleo smiled and asked if he would be traveling with the clan. “I think that that idea does indeed appeal to me.” He nodded in agreement.

Cleo surprised the man by wrapping her thin arms around his waist feeling some familial kinship. NinKasi smiled at Cleo after composing himself. “Thank you little one.” Cleo signed more questions about the jungle that captured his heart. The monk felt that it was better to just tell his tale in comfort and requested tea and dried fruits to be brought to his office as they sat on the cushions in the corner. The smell of candle wax and sage filled his office giving a comforting atmosphere for the young Elemental to relax in and listen to the monk’s story.

“I wanted to learn everything.” He started setting the scene. “The best way to learn is to adventure. I had just returned from Gold and decided that continuing my travels east after depositing my new book acquisition with the scribes was the best thing for me. It was the first year that I could request a bridal placement, but that didn’t interest me. Our system was still too similar to that of Gold, in that our marriages were only for political power and growth.” He adjusted himself in his repose remembering the details of the political history that most dissatisfied him. “Sadly that very system was our decline.” he sighed. “Oh but that is for another topic, I need to tell you about my journey through the People’s wood and the misty jungle. Oh yes the people’s wood. That is the part of the land that is directly north of the Gold road. Or as they call it east of the Cragg chasm ‘The people’s road’ and these people are marvelous. Their culture is quite unique and colorful. Much like the Cactus Paw and the Dragon Clan their women have a heavy hand in decisions, but they follow a king. Their women do not marry, and their children do not live with their fathers, instead the men live with their mothers and older sisters.”

NinKasi paused to read Cleo's sign. “Oh I did not know that there was a culture similar in the Dreaming world. You will have to sit with a scribe so that they may document this.” He sipped his tea and munched his fruit before continuing. “I was in a village in the peoples wood for several weeks before I found a guide that agreed to take me further north into the dense jungle. She was a beautiful woman named Malta that wanted me to father her next child, but I am from this culture and would like to be actively involved in my child’s upbringing. Once we established that she would not continue a relationship, and I would not simply leave once she had given birth, we remained platonic.”

The story began to grow and become more colorful, Cleo could tell that NinKasi was a talented storyteller. “We ventured into the dense foliage for several weeks. It was arduous except for the times that we found a muddy stream to walk. After a few muddy streams we stopped using them as paths as our feet would come back covered in leeches. The streams got wider eventually though so we built a bark canoe and followed it until we were filtered onto a river that was so wide that we could not see the other side without climbing a mangrove on the bank. The current of the river was  pulling us back toward the west, and I knew that we would be going over a fall in the Chasm if we continued to let the river decide our destination. We made it to the north bank of the river and continued to paddle up one of the tributary streams until we saw the scene that I painted in this picture.” Ninkasi indicated the treehouse village painting.

After pointing out all the people in the painting that Cleo hadn’t even noticed until he said that they were there he continued his story. “The misty jungle people welcomed Malta and myself readily, they thought that we were Elementals.” He laughed at the incredulity of it.  “They had been warned though that the next time their dream travelers arrived that they would be early. They eventually brought us to their cathedral. Oh you see this window here? It isn’t glass, the tree grows these crystals. And the people paint them each year celebrating their achievements for the year. They will paint a baby if more than half of the couples had children that year, or they will paint their harvest if they had grown enough to be able to subsist through more than two years. And they would paint great leaders or heroes that died each year. Malta and I stayed in the cathedral for a full year to witness the celebration. Our picture was painted there. You see this one is supposed to be me.”

NinKasi pointed at the largest window in the cathedral gallery. “We spent the year exchanging knowledge. I taught them how to archive their teachings and they taught me how to waterproof my clothing and paper. We created a library in the tree next to the cathedral. It had begun to grow hollow upon my arrival. The tribe told me that each time a great teacher comes to the misty jungle one of the trees will hollow itself out knowing that it will be needed to house something great. The trees know and cherish the people, and the people sing to the trees. The cathedral tree would sway and tremble in response to the songs of its people. They would sing sad songs for the death of their leaders and tribe members, and the tree would drop flower petals that covered the body and helped the dead be absorbed into the tree's root system. The memories of the tribe were stored in the tree. Reverent songs would cause the tree to cast lights and shadows that would depict the scene they were calling forth. They were more accurate than my paintings, and so visceral and temporary, that at times I could not believe what I was witnessing.” NinKasi looked troubled for the first time during his telling.

For a time they sat in silence, it truly felt as though NinKasi had just remembered something troubling that he needed to mull over. Eventually he turned to his guest. “We should continue this story another time Mistress Earth. I am feeling a touch fatigued now.” Cleo nodded understanding. She knew that he would not tell her, but he acted the same way that Wendy would when recalling a troubling memory that had been suppressed. She signed her gratitude and met back up with her sister in the workshop.

Sui and Pearspine had joined the others in their tinkering. Cleo noticed the flirtatious advances that Telepinu was making towards the Air Elemental. Sui seemed to be completely oblivious. Cleo smiled to herself knowing that another couple would soon be pairing off. Sui was focused on the improved wing-suits, he currently had one on and was stretching and flexing testing the range of motion.

“This is ideal, as it improves my ability to use updrafts and control bursts of air under the flaps.” a small draft lifted the Air Elemental effortlessly leaving him to drift safely back down to the floor. 

Cleo clapped at the show announcing her arrival. She signed her amusement and impression of the updated technologie. Then asked who came up with the brilliant idea. Mazy answered “David drew it out based on something he saw in the Dreaming world.”

Wendy added. “It used to be called base jumping. People would put on these suits then jump off of a cliff and glide down to earth.” Cleo gestured that she wanted to try it on next. Wendy stopped her. “Edger would have to make one to fit you. They are adjustable, but it is limited, and you are still small.” Cleo nodded disappointed, but understanding nonetheless.

Cleo hoped that it wouldn’t take too long to construct the suit, she knew that the library was already making preparations to seal the books in the vault rooms with the precious artifacts in preparation for everyone’s departure from Saludade. Again much like the exodus from the Cactus Paw basin there were some that wished to stay behind in hopes that they would be able to shelter in one of the vaults during any attack. 

Everyone hoped to one day be able to return to their homes after they found a way to defeat the beast in the dessert. Cleo may seem like the type of person that is happy to drift through life and go with the flow, but deeply she is a planner, she watches. Because of her easy going nature she is able to see trends that no one else pays attention too. She knew that an attack would happen soon, because every time she pulled a mineral to the surface for the researchers she could feel tunneling and burrowing. She could feel the very earth turning away in revulsion from an invasion.

By her estimates they would be under the library within the week. She had already informed the council and their preparations quickened in earnest. The boat wagons and tents were already packed and a few groups were heading toward the bridge town of Crossing already. Cleo signed to the group in the workshop that if they didn’t have time to make her a wing-suit that it wasn’t a big deal. She knew that finishing production on the last of the weapons for Pearspine’s light infantry would take a lot of work. Edger nodded in confirmation. “Once you bring up the last of the minerals and crystals for the oscillators we will be ready to move the rest of production on to the road.”

Cleo nodded. And left the workshop with Mazy ready to pull the last of the needed minerals to the surface. As she delved into the rich vein of minerals she could feel hollow pockets around her goal. She shuddered knowing what was sheltering in those pockets. She paused in bringing her quarry to the surface to collapse as many of the pockets as she could destroying the nests of insects building their attack force. She knew that if she hadn’t been focused on her daily task that she wouldn’t have even noticed that the threat was so close.

Mazy ran to let the others know that the invasion was closer than earlier estimated. The warriors readied themselves for the inevitable, and the monks scrambled to secure everything that they could without the very much needed help of the earth elemental to close the vaults. As Cleo collapsed the last pocket of contagion under the surface of the town she heard the unmistakable hum of the cloud of the swarm. She could only hope that they had been weakened enough from her efforts that this wouldn’t be as bad as the annihilation of Gold.