Hello all, Elements be! Hard to believe it’s been two weeks since I was here last, I hope the situations in your corner of the world are improving. Or that you are managing it as best you can 🙂. Let’s head back to Huphaea now, continue the adventure and forget about restrictions and pandemics for a bit. Ready?
We left off with the Bluebird troupe making their way toward Cragbend, and Elahna discovering she was in the company of Elves! They wanted to take her to an Orderly, and she wasn’t so sure about that…
I spent the rest of the ride to Cragbend observing my new companions and surroundings. The Bluebird troupe numbered twenty and included four musicians, a bard (Fife), three singers (including Poet), two storytellers, a puppeteer, three players (Raga), and six children. They were not family per se, though some were related. My desire to know begged to ask a thousand questions, but I restrained them to whatever the topic at hand was.
Fife returned with a loose linen shirt in bright kelly green and gray leggings obviously made of a plant fiber, but as durable as doeskin. I was thrilled to discard my hot, waterproof hikers for soft but sturdy leather sandals adorned with colored metal rivets and hoops.
Winter to summer, boots to sandals all in one day?—if you know me, you know I was in heaven!
After the wardrobe change, I found it much easier to unwind. Just feeling like I was part of, instead of an outsider, even if it was only temporary, quelled my anxiety for a time. Raga explained that when we arrived at the Cleft Barrel, the troupe would see to the horses, arrange the wagons, and erect the sleeping pavilions first, before going in.
“I’d be happy to help wherever I can.”
“My thanks. We’ll work you in. Ah, there’s the town, there in the valley. Another erdur or so til we arrive.”
“Did you say ‘erdur’? Do you mean hour?”
“Oww-horr. What is that to you?”
The way he rolled the word ‘hour’ made me laugh and then stop, afraid of being rude, but he was laughing as well.
“It’s a unit of time, a larger unit. It’s made up of sixty smaller units.” Would he even know what sixty was?
“Yes, I think an erdur would be like an oww-horr.”
We continued our discussion about time, and even numbers, which thankfully we did share, but not the names of them. With the help of Tango, who was learning his numbers too, Raga and I established that decca equaled ten, so I could go from there in a Latin-esque fashion. Phew.
The caravan left the forest behind during that exchange and we traveled through long, sedate hills of farmsteads.
Well off to the left, a long arm of the forest curled around and ended in a massive stand of trees. Those trees stood tens of feet above any others; they reminded me of the faux cellphone tower trees along the highways. But I was pretty sure these were not artificial. Smoke trails puffed from the stand in three dark ribbons.
“Is that forest on fire?” I pointed, getting a bit nervous.
“What? Oh, no. That’s Rosewood, the Arborea Seat. See how the trees are so much larger? The Arborea scion has tree magic, and their Seat shows their capabilities. It’s one of my favorite Seats to visit in all of Huphaea. Wait til you see it!” Raga’s enthusiasm was palpable, and Tango started clapping again. Poet joined us on the bench.
“I’ll be glad to get out of this wagon, for sure.” she said. “I agree. Rosewood is spectacular. They say the building was built long ago like any other, but Arboreans have infused the wood and the trees with so much of their vitae over the generations that the two are indistinguishable. They live IN the trees. And it’s always changing. It’s never the same as when we were here last.”
“What do you mean by vitae? I mean, I know a word like that, but what does it mean here?”
My heart started beating a bit faster- portals, elves and now magic tree houses?
“Vitae is the energy that flows through Huphaea, and in the Elemental Families, it gives them their abilities. Well, and us Madrigals, too.”
“And the dragons and the other First Ones.” Raga added.
I know my face fell—he did just say dragons. Both Poet and Raga laughed, and Tango joined in. “Dragons? Like how big? Dragons?” I stammered.
Fife reined back at all the noise, reaching for Tango as he drew alongside. “What’s all the crac about back here? Are they havin’ a go at you, fla?” Tango stood on the saddle swell, encircled in one of Fife’s huge arms, grinning like he owned the world.
“They just said there are dragons here. Is that true?”
“Ha Ha! Of course it is! We don’t generally see them up close, unless you go seek one out, and you’d better have a consarned good reason to do that. But there’re plenty here. You don’t have dragons, I’m guessing?” His amusement was only a bit less restrained than the other two.
“Only in books. They’re a really popular subject. A lot of people think it would be cool to have one.”
“Have one? Oh, fla, you don’t HAVE a dragon. Dragons have Riders, they are about the only ones the Great Ones allow around them. You can seek them for a piece of knowledge, if you’re desperate, or for the Scholar’s Final Telling, but they are best left to themselves. They find us when the Balance needs us.”
“Oh. I see.” I had to let that sink in. Dragons.
Yeah, dragons! You can imagine my mind was pretty much on overload at this point. I just sat back and watched the landscape pass for a while. Cragbend was visible up ahead and I still had a night to get through. What else would I encounter in this day?
I’ll leave off here for now, before we make it into Cragbend. That will be next time. See you then!~
What would you be thinking now if you were in Elahna’s place? Drop a comment below for Eleanorah, let us know!~
If you’d like exclusive snips from Eleanorah’s story, subscribe to Collata, The Collection of Huphaea newsletter. The current issue will have an introduction to the Known Trees of Huphaea. Don’t miss it! Become a Nightingale!~
*Photo credits to pxhere, Unsplash, and Canva.
Copyright © 2020 Eleanorah Starr and Quill & Orb Press, All Rights Reserved
The Sun, a Book, and a Dog 