Night Navigator
69th Ymiden 719
CHAPTER FOUR
Continues from here
Continues from here
Ashling had failed to find her patient Nathon after he had run away from her in a park, at night. Instead, she had run into two of Fensalir’s very few criminals. After having fled all the way back to the park she had climbed up in a tree to hide there. Now, she sat there and listened to the sounds of the evildoers as they stumbled around in the park.
A loud clanking sound and an outburst of swearing told her that one thug had run into one of the tankards of beer she had Nathon had brought with them to the park when they first came there. She had left those behind when she had gone to search for Nathon. Now, it seemed like the thug had spilt the beer and then slipped in it. He was enraged and didn’t care to be silent anymore. He shouted about killing her, just wait, they would soon find her!
When he was done with the swearing and threats it became very silent. The rustling if the wind in the foliage of trees and bushes was almost the only sound in the park.
“Niall? You found her?” Ashling recognized the gruff voice. It was the same thug again, the one with the beer accident and the swearing.
His colleague didn’t say anything. In an annoyed tone, the thug barked at the other man to answer. “Where are you? Niall?”
There was no answer this time either. The man stopped shouting but she could hear that he was muttering to himself under his breath. Every slow step took him nearer to the tree where she was hiding. Ashling feared that it would only be a question of time before he put two and two together and saw that it made four. It was an easy tree to climb. It was probably the most popular climbing tree in the whole park. An average child could climb it. Even though Ashling hadn’t practiced she hadn’t found it too hard. The approaching man was bound to have a closer look at it.
The thug never reached the tree though. A tall shape stepped out from the shrubbery and into his path ... a pair of big red eyes glowed at him ... and with a high and terrified scream, the thug turned around and began to run in the other direction. It was meaningless. The shape with the red eyes ran way faster and swooped down on the thug like a hunting owl on a rat. Brief, fast and effective use of violence followed. The thug lay on the ground, immovable. The shaped turned around and gazed at the climbing tree with its red eyes.
“Nathon?”
No need to ask? Well. As far as she knew there was only one person with that kind of eyes. At least she hoped so. It hadn’t occurred to her that there could be more people with owl traits. But, after the recent events, she didn’t feel like it was safe to assume anything whatsoever. She wasn’t going to come down until she was absolutely sure of who he was.
“Don’t sit there like an owl in a tree,” said the stormtouched in a smug tone. “Jump down!” He held his arms up like he expected her to take the plunge and trust him to catch her.
It was Nathon. The Ydalir had come to her rescue ... almost, as it was a stormsick Ydalir off duty. Ashling didn’t jump down though. Instead, she climbed down at slow pace, her body feeling unsteady after the wild running she had done. Her thoughts were a chaos of confusion, relief and unanswered questions. The terror of being chased by people who intended to murder her lingered in her body as well as her mind.
“You ran away,” she managed when she stood on the ground again.
“You ran away,” said the stormtouched simultaneously.
Ashling didn’t agree with him. He was the one who had run away first. But, she wasn’t in shape for a heated argument about who had run away first from whom. Also, he had saved her. It seemed petty to scold him right now. Ashling only wanted to calm down and deal with the unexpected situation. That done, she would get her patient to a safe place where it would be possible to examine him. In favour of achieving these goals she let his comments slide ... for now.
“Thanks,” she said instead. “They were breaking into a house when I came around a corner and saw them. Then ... ” She shook her head, unable to continue. “But, how come you were here just in time?”
“I was here all the time. It was all your own fault for running away like a dumb hen,” the owl-man informed her without a trace of compassion. “You don’t seem to think much, do you? But, I’m back to work already. I got them! We’ll tie them up, then go and report. I could carry one of them, but you can’t so we’ll just leave them here and let others fetch them.”
It seemed meaningless to even attempt to speak back so she didn’t. He was right that she wasn’t strong enough to carry one of the thugs. It still irked her that he seemed to imply that she was weak as well as dumb. But ... she was all for reporting the two thugs and getting them taken care of by others. Tired, she waited while Nathon tied the two knocked out men with leather straps from their own equipment. She couldn’t see well enough to be able to help out. Then they left the park. For a moment, Ashling feared that they would have to walk all the way to the Ydalir’s main hold in the Juniper Hills district. Nathon did, however, go to the local Ydalir House. Duty, work and his childhood playground ... he had a few memories in that injured head after all. She hoped it was a good sign.
The reporting was a weird affair. It was light in the house and so, Nathon refused to enter. Ashling had to go in alone. She explained the situation as best she could. The Ydalir on duty received her report with the stoic calm of people who have heard too many weird stories to feel amazed by yet another of those tales. Then the went outdoors to speak with Nathon. The stormtouched told them that he had been in a park with Ashling. He had been drinking his beer. Then she had run away for no reason. She had drawn attention from a couple of Fenmoor boys. When she had come running back he had stepped in and stopped them from doing any harm. They were in the park now, waiting to be fetched. By the way one of them had beaver teeth and Nathon had scratched his knuckles on them. His version of the story was a bit special. But, Ashling saw no reason to prolong the reporting by trying to make it more accurate. She wanted it over and done with. Let Nathon say what he wanted to say. In the best case, they would do as he wished and let him come back to work as Ydalir ranger at once. Then she would get rid of him ...
Orders were orders though. The rangers they spoke with didn’t have the authority to make any new decisions. They weren’t going to allow Nathon to join them here and now. They weren’t going to take over the responsibility their superiors had put on the healer, Ashling. No, no and no. They looked at the bandage around Nathon’s head and his unusual eyes and told him to continue to get rest and medical care. Ashling could see that it upset the owl-man a great deal. She found it best to say that she needed to examine her patient at once. He could have gained new injuries.
Nathon objected and said he was fine but the Ydalir didn’t care what he said. They were all for letting the healer do her job. Ashling asked for and was granted a small room where she could work without being disturbed. Had he owl-man had the option to refuse it was probable that he would have done so. Ashling wouldn’t have been able to persuade him to enter the house. The Ydalir were helpful though. They only had to ask him once if he felt scared of going in. The stormtouched glared at them and went in, holding his hands over his eyes. After a bit of awkward leading him to the small side room, Ashling was relieved to shut the door behind them.
They needed to speak about the topic both of them had omitted in their reports to the Ydalir. The mysterious power she had channelled while she held the Stormlight Amulet had been a strange thing. She knew it had hit the stormtouched. Still, he hadn’t said a word about it. Ashling took it he might want to pretend that nothing had happened to him, as it had seemed to be a shock.
She would have to ask him about it though. It was probable that it would be tricky and unpleasant but it was necessary. Nathon kept hiding his hands behind his palms. He told her to put out the damned light. If he had known this light torture would be her answer to being rescued he wouldn’t have saved her!
“I have my orders and am responsible for your medical treatment. I must check you up a bit and I have a few questions I want answers to, about what happened in the park tonight.”
“I’m all right and nothing happened. Can you now put out the blasted...”
“Light,” said Ashling. “Is necessary and ...”
She saw it now. Her patient looked different. Not by much, but a tan had replaced the blue-green skin colour of the stormtouched people. His new look was not the same as before the transformation to stormtouched though. He seemed ... browner. His hair and beard were still feathers. The way he held his hands over his eyes indicated that they too remained an owl-trait. That was also where she found the only visible injuries. Several knuckles were bleeding a bit. The stormtouched sat still as a statue during the examination.
“Your skin colour has changed,” she said.
“What?”
“You’re ... I mean, you aren’t average stormtouched blue-green anymore. There's a tinge of brown now ... you look ... quite ... bronzed, with a light touch of green.”
The stormtouched sighed. “I don’t care. You know that I can’t see any colours. Not anymore. And I'm not going to look at myself in a mirror. Can we stop this fussing now?”
“I need to know what happened in the park. Before you ran away.”
“You know what happened. Magic. You hit me with it. It felt like a small tingle of lightning. Be happy that I didn’t report you for attacking a Ydalir. Just don’t do it again. That kind of tricks may work on others but it won’t work on me.”
Ashling wasn’t able to deny that it had been some kind of magic. The amulet had felt like it had come alive in her hand. It was when she had prayed to Myrkvior she had felt the strange power flow through her and hit the stormtouched. “I prayed to the great mother, Nathon. If there was magic involved it came from her or from an amulet I own. It didn’t come from me.”
No answer. His answer had confused her and his silence confused her too.
She held on to the bit of information that was possible to examine and get more details about. “A small tingle of lightning? What do you mean? Can you describe it? Did it hurt? Did you feel anything more? Your skin, for example, did you feel anything happen to it?”
“I’m not answering any more bloody questions as long as the light is on.”
“And if I put out the light, will you answer me then?”
“Yeah.” Deep sigh.
Ashling didn’t need the light anymore so she obliged. Soon the room was totally dark. The red eyes of the stormtouched gleamed at her but she couldn’t see his face anymore. She repeated the questions, feeling less sure of herself now.
The answer she got was disappointing. “It felt like I said. It was a tingle of som bloody lightning I didn’t want to get in my eyes! That’s all.”
Ashling was used to asking questions in a polite manner and get answers from patients who were cooperative. She was a healer, not a professional interrogator. After a few more failed attempts to make Nathon tell her more she realized that trying to squeeze out more information would be fruitless. She was also too tired to continue.
She decided to go and sleep instead.
They would see the next day if the change in the stormtouched’s appearance would be lasting or not. If so, that would only be the first step toward the potential discovery of a way to cure stormtouched. She thought of what the child of dusk had said when it had given her the amulet.
“So you can help them.”
It seemed to be a bit more complicated though. Even if it was possible, not all stormtouched wanted her help. That had been obvious tonight. She doubted that Nathon would consent to test to the “tingle of lightning" again.
Seething with irritation, Nathon escorted Ashling home. He navigated through the night like a soundless bird taking the fastest way between to places. The route they took was a mystery to her. She followed in his wake without comments and they continued to the cottage in silence.
A loud clanking sound and an outburst of swearing told her that one thug had run into one of the tankards of beer she had Nathon had brought with them to the park when they first came there. She had left those behind when she had gone to search for Nathon. Now, it seemed like the thug had spilt the beer and then slipped in it. He was enraged and didn’t care to be silent anymore. He shouted about killing her, just wait, they would soon find her!
When he was done with the swearing and threats it became very silent. The rustling if the wind in the foliage of trees and bushes was almost the only sound in the park.
“Niall? You found her?” Ashling recognized the gruff voice. It was the same thug again, the one with the beer accident and the swearing.
His colleague didn’t say anything. In an annoyed tone, the thug barked at the other man to answer. “Where are you? Niall?”
There was no answer this time either. The man stopped shouting but she could hear that he was muttering to himself under his breath. Every slow step took him nearer to the tree where she was hiding. Ashling feared that it would only be a question of time before he put two and two together and saw that it made four. It was an easy tree to climb. It was probably the most popular climbing tree in the whole park. An average child could climb it. Even though Ashling hadn’t practiced she hadn’t found it too hard. The approaching man was bound to have a closer look at it.
The thug never reached the tree though. A tall shape stepped out from the shrubbery and into his path ... a pair of big red eyes glowed at him ... and with a high and terrified scream, the thug turned around and began to run in the other direction. It was meaningless. The shape with the red eyes ran way faster and swooped down on the thug like a hunting owl on a rat. Brief, fast and effective use of violence followed. The thug lay on the ground, immovable. The shaped turned around and gazed at the climbing tree with its red eyes.
“Nathon?”
No need to ask? Well. As far as she knew there was only one person with that kind of eyes. At least she hoped so. It hadn’t occurred to her that there could be more people with owl traits. But, after the recent events, she didn’t feel like it was safe to assume anything whatsoever. She wasn’t going to come down until she was absolutely sure of who he was.
“Don’t sit there like an owl in a tree,” said the stormtouched in a smug tone. “Jump down!” He held his arms up like he expected her to take the plunge and trust him to catch her.
It was Nathon. The Ydalir had come to her rescue ... almost, as it was a stormsick Ydalir off duty. Ashling didn’t jump down though. Instead, she climbed down at slow pace, her body feeling unsteady after the wild running she had done. Her thoughts were a chaos of confusion, relief and unanswered questions. The terror of being chased by people who intended to murder her lingered in her body as well as her mind.
“You ran away,” she managed when she stood on the ground again.
“You ran away,” said the stormtouched simultaneously.
Ashling didn’t agree with him. He was the one who had run away first. But, she wasn’t in shape for a heated argument about who had run away first from whom. Also, he had saved her. It seemed petty to scold him right now. Ashling only wanted to calm down and deal with the unexpected situation. That done, she would get her patient to a safe place where it would be possible to examine him. In favour of achieving these goals she let his comments slide ... for now.
“Thanks,” she said instead. “They were breaking into a house when I came around a corner and saw them. Then ... ” She shook her head, unable to continue. “But, how come you were here just in time?”
“I was here all the time. It was all your own fault for running away like a dumb hen,” the owl-man informed her without a trace of compassion. “You don’t seem to think much, do you? But, I’m back to work already. I got them! We’ll tie them up, then go and report. I could carry one of them, but you can’t so we’ll just leave them here and let others fetch them.”
It seemed meaningless to even attempt to speak back so she didn’t. He was right that she wasn’t strong enough to carry one of the thugs. It still irked her that he seemed to imply that she was weak as well as dumb. But ... she was all for reporting the two thugs and getting them taken care of by others. Tired, she waited while Nathon tied the two knocked out men with leather straps from their own equipment. She couldn’t see well enough to be able to help out. Then they left the park. For a moment, Ashling feared that they would have to walk all the way to the Ydalir’s main hold in the Juniper Hills district. Nathon did, however, go to the local Ydalir House. Duty, work and his childhood playground ... he had a few memories in that injured head after all. She hoped it was a good sign.
The reporting was a weird affair. It was light in the house and so, Nathon refused to enter. Ashling had to go in alone. She explained the situation as best she could. The Ydalir on duty received her report with the stoic calm of people who have heard too many weird stories to feel amazed by yet another of those tales. Then the went outdoors to speak with Nathon. The stormtouched told them that he had been in a park with Ashling. He had been drinking his beer. Then she had run away for no reason. She had drawn attention from a couple of Fenmoor boys. When she had come running back he had stepped in and stopped them from doing any harm. They were in the park now, waiting to be fetched. By the way one of them had beaver teeth and Nathon had scratched his knuckles on them. His version of the story was a bit special. But, Ashling saw no reason to prolong the reporting by trying to make it more accurate. She wanted it over and done with. Let Nathon say what he wanted to say. In the best case, they would do as he wished and let him come back to work as Ydalir ranger at once. Then she would get rid of him ...
Orders were orders though. The rangers they spoke with didn’t have the authority to make any new decisions. They weren’t going to allow Nathon to join them here and now. They weren’t going to take over the responsibility their superiors had put on the healer, Ashling. No, no and no. They looked at the bandage around Nathon’s head and his unusual eyes and told him to continue to get rest and medical care. Ashling could see that it upset the owl-man a great deal. She found it best to say that she needed to examine her patient at once. He could have gained new injuries.
Nathon objected and said he was fine but the Ydalir didn’t care what he said. They were all for letting the healer do her job. Ashling asked for and was granted a small room where she could work without being disturbed. Had he owl-man had the option to refuse it was probable that he would have done so. Ashling wouldn’t have been able to persuade him to enter the house. The Ydalir were helpful though. They only had to ask him once if he felt scared of going in. The stormtouched glared at them and went in, holding his hands over his eyes. After a bit of awkward leading him to the small side room, Ashling was relieved to shut the door behind them.
They needed to speak about the topic both of them had omitted in their reports to the Ydalir. The mysterious power she had channelled while she held the Stormlight Amulet had been a strange thing. She knew it had hit the stormtouched. Still, he hadn’t said a word about it. Ashling took it he might want to pretend that nothing had happened to him, as it had seemed to be a shock.
She would have to ask him about it though. It was probable that it would be tricky and unpleasant but it was necessary. Nathon kept hiding his hands behind his palms. He told her to put out the damned light. If he had known this light torture would be her answer to being rescued he wouldn’t have saved her!
“I have my orders and am responsible for your medical treatment. I must check you up a bit and I have a few questions I want answers to, about what happened in the park tonight.”
“I’m all right and nothing happened. Can you now put out the blasted...”
“Light,” said Ashling. “Is necessary and ...”
She saw it now. Her patient looked different. Not by much, but a tan had replaced the blue-green skin colour of the stormtouched people. His new look was not the same as before the transformation to stormtouched though. He seemed ... browner. His hair and beard were still feathers. The way he held his hands over his eyes indicated that they too remained an owl-trait. That was also where she found the only visible injuries. Several knuckles were bleeding a bit. The stormtouched sat still as a statue during the examination.
“Your skin colour has changed,” she said.
“What?”
“You’re ... I mean, you aren’t average stormtouched blue-green anymore. There's a tinge of brown now ... you look ... quite ... bronzed, with a light touch of green.”
The stormtouched sighed. “I don’t care. You know that I can’t see any colours. Not anymore. And I'm not going to look at myself in a mirror. Can we stop this fussing now?”
“I need to know what happened in the park. Before you ran away.”
“You know what happened. Magic. You hit me with it. It felt like a small tingle of lightning. Be happy that I didn’t report you for attacking a Ydalir. Just don’t do it again. That kind of tricks may work on others but it won’t work on me.”
Ashling wasn’t able to deny that it had been some kind of magic. The amulet had felt like it had come alive in her hand. It was when she had prayed to Myrkvior she had felt the strange power flow through her and hit the stormtouched. “I prayed to the great mother, Nathon. If there was magic involved it came from her or from an amulet I own. It didn’t come from me.”
No answer. His answer had confused her and his silence confused her too.
She held on to the bit of information that was possible to examine and get more details about. “A small tingle of lightning? What do you mean? Can you describe it? Did it hurt? Did you feel anything more? Your skin, for example, did you feel anything happen to it?”
“I’m not answering any more bloody questions as long as the light is on.”
“And if I put out the light, will you answer me then?”
“Yeah.” Deep sigh.
Ashling didn’t need the light anymore so she obliged. Soon the room was totally dark. The red eyes of the stormtouched gleamed at her but she couldn’t see his face anymore. She repeated the questions, feeling less sure of herself now.
The answer she got was disappointing. “It felt like I said. It was a tingle of som bloody lightning I didn’t want to get in my eyes! That’s all.”
Ashling was used to asking questions in a polite manner and get answers from patients who were cooperative. She was a healer, not a professional interrogator. After a few more failed attempts to make Nathon tell her more she realized that trying to squeeze out more information would be fruitless. She was also too tired to continue.
She decided to go and sleep instead.
They would see the next day if the change in the stormtouched’s appearance would be lasting or not. If so, that would only be the first step toward the potential discovery of a way to cure stormtouched. She thought of what the child of dusk had said when it had given her the amulet.
“So you can help them.”
It seemed to be a bit more complicated though. Even if it was possible, not all stormtouched wanted her help. That had been obvious tonight. She doubted that Nathon would consent to test to the “tingle of lightning" again.
Seething with irritation, Nathon escorted Ashling home. He navigated through the night like a soundless bird taking the fastest way between to places. The route they took was a mystery to her. She followed in his wake without comments and they continued to the cottage in silence.
