Torl's Journey

Seala woke with a start, her heart was pounding and her light skin and clothes were drenched. Where was she? What had happened? She placed a small hand on her wet forehead and the memories came rushing in...

She had been watching the tall stranger, about whom the colors swirled. He was beautiful... Tall and lean, with bright red hair and freckles. She knew that it was dangerous to even think about the power. But something inside of her called out to him, this beautiful stranger who drew power so naturally. Seala had never before seen another Witch. Her power naturally called out to him and she let it. Then, he repulsed the naturals, so smoothly, that he even fooled her for a moment. Before she realized it, he had turned and headed back to town. She was once again alone and her power was flowing dangerously.

My gosh, how stupid, she thought as the mental fog slowly began to clear away. There were no other witches. Mala, the one who had raised her, said that they were all dead. He had told her that she would be, too, if anyone suspected that she had the cursed power.

Seala remembered that when the red haired man turned and headed back to town, she had quickly shut down and began to run. What a fool she had been. Before she had gone ten parses, she could feel the Snooper on her. It was the Master Hunter. Seala knew her smell.

Panic set in and she ran faster. She ran and ran, but the Snooper just kept getting closer. And then she was caught. A snare appeared out of nowhere and people with it. They hit her with a Confuser, and the next thing she knew, she was standing in a crowd of Hunters, facing the Vid-maker.

Her memories and terror intact, she next remembered her sudden anger, red anger like she had never felt before. The Master Hunter will wish she had never messed with me, she remembered thinking. What gives her the right to treat me this way? Hunt me down and treat me like an animal?

Seala then started to gather the powers, black and brown, hate and earth power. The power was almost at a peak and still she had not seen the Master Hunter. Soon she would have to let it out. It would be shameful to hurt these people, when the Master Hunter was the one who wished to hurt her. Seala wished with all her heart that the Master Hunter would show up soon.

Then he had come... Out of nowhere, the stranger was in her mind. He told her to concentrate on safety. “Use white... then shut down... complete shutdown...” That’s what he said. He said he would find her, and then he was gone. Seala was confused for a moment, and then she did what he said. That was it...

Now where was she? She looked around. What happened to the Hunters? Seala looked around again and noted that it was early morning. It had been the late evening when she was in the Hunter’s den. Had she really escaped? Or was this just a trick? She could find out easily, but if she were really free, using the power would end that. And what of the stranger? He said he would find her. Oh, she wished Mala were here, he would know what to do. Mala always knew what to do...

Her senses intact, Seala started to get up but found that she was too weak. She had experienced this before, when she shielded Mala’s farm from the security sensors before the Hunters came.

She was now in a small cave, with no visible exit. There was a hole in its roof large enough to see the lunar rise. It was beautiful, all blues and greens, creeping across the gray sky.

Seala remembered other lunar rises, at Mala’s farm. They were always a blend of pinks and oranges or yellows and reds. Mala loved them and would sit with her and tell her stories about her Mother while the lunar rise ignited the horizon. Mala said that Lia, Seala’s Mother, had been like the lunar rise, always bright and always full of color. Seala thought that Mala must have loved her Mother immensely, but she got the impression that Lia didn’t return his feelings.

There was always something sad in the big man yet he wore an immensely satisfied look on his face when he spoke of Lia. He told of how this tall, beautiful woman had come here in the Spring of No Water. He spoke of how she could look at the sky with her Sapphire blue eyes and make it cry sweet tears for the seeds. And when the light periods were too long in the late year, Mala said she would sing softly to the plants and make them healthy again.

He said that Lia could make the cold season short and the grow season long just by saying so. Seala loved these stories. They made her feel as if she was special, instead of the odd child who must always be careful to not let anyone know that she was different. Mala had taught her that even before the Hunters came. It was as if he knew that they would come. But now, after all his work, Seala had forgotten. She had forgotten his warnings and the Hunters had caught her. She looked about the cave again...

In the corner she saw a small spring and suddenly she was thirsty. Seala struggled to crawl, and after what seemed like forever, she reached the spring. There she dropped her whole face into the water and drank deeply.

With the satisfaction of water needs met, her body reminded her that she had not yet eaten her lunch. She looked around for a long time before she realized that her Pro-pack was still on her belt. Unsteadily, she fumbled open the pack. There, she thought, I’ll have a hot meal in just a fraction of a second. When her meal was rehydrated, Seala warmed her hands by the energy left in her food pack. She had nearly gobbled it all down when she remembered where she was and that there might not be any more food for a long time.

As quickly as she had eaten, she stopped and checked her Pro- pack. Just one meal left and what remained of this one. Seala hoped that the stranger would not take too long to keep his promise and come to get her.

Then suddenly, horror overcame Seala. What if he had lied? Or worse, what if they had caught him? What if he never came? She tried again to stand and found that she was not yet strong enough to do much more than that. Well, Mala had taught her to be patient. She sat back down and forced herself to recharge and remember the happy times....

And there had been happy times, a long time ago... Seala remembered Mala, the big, brown man who had raised her. He had seemed so very tall when she was small. She remembered him telling her that she grew like Malta Weed and that she would soon be bigger than he was. She would laugh and tell him that no one was that big. Then he would pick her up, hug her and take her with him to the fields. She was sure she could touch the sky when Mala held her up.

When they got to the gardens he would set her down on the slope and tell her not to go anywhere. He would go into the field and plow or plant or weed or something. And just when she would start to play some game or be deep in some day dream, he would suddenly pop up with some plant he wanted her to taste.

Sometimes they were sweet enough to make her smile. And sometimes they were sour or bitter and made her face twist up in some funny shape. Mala would start laughing and tell her that she looked like a Wooly. She would laugh, too, and he would tussle her dark curly hair then tell her the name of the plant and how it grew.

“How much water does this one take, do you suppose?“, he would ask. Seala would make some wild guess and Mala would laugh again. “Water is the most valuable thing on this stinking planet,” he would say, “and you don’t even know how much it takes to grow a weed! You’re just like Lia”, he would ramble on, “Think you can just make the sky cry for you... And you probably can...” That always made her feel special because they both knew that she could.

But the happy times were almost always disturbed by the doubts. Why was Lia not around to help her? Mala said that one morning Lia had said, “It’s time for me to go Mala. Please take care of Seala for me. Tell her that I love her, but that it isn’t safe for me to stay.”

That’s all Mala would ever say. If he knew more, he never told Seala. After a while, Seala quit asking. Seala’s mind raced...Was Lia a Witch? She must have been if she could make the sky cry for Mala. What else could she do? Mala said that she could do anything that she chose to do. What does that mean? Could she make the Hunters go away? If she could, why didn’t she? Could she make people happy? She made Mala happy, but that was different. Could she make people see the beautiful colors? Make them understand that you could use them to make life easier? If she really could do anything, why wasn’t it safe for her to stay and teach Seala how to do things?

The only happy memories Seala could think of were tied to Mala. And thoughts of him always brought either thoughts of Lia or of the Land Grabbers who killed Mala.

No happy times now, Seala thought. In the last year, since Mala had been killed, Seala had to stay away from Mala’s farm. She had worked for several other farmers for a little food and a bed to sleep in. No one had asked too many questions because there were a lot of homeless people now that the Land Grabbers had arrived.

The Land Grabbers came just after the Hunters. What was it Mala had called them? Beuocraps. Seala thought that was it. He said that they came to collect taxis or something like that. Seala never really understood except that they showed up with their Tanglers, Confusers, stun guns and flamers every time the crops were harvested. They came and took part of the crops as taxis. Mala and the other farmers called them thieves. The Beuocraps had Flying ships and guns that shot streams of light.

The farmers were no match for them with Tanglers and Confusers. In the beginning some did fight, but they were killed or taken to the Prison Mines. Seala smiled to herself as she recalled how proud Mala had been of her when she sent the blue and brown energies to confuse the Beuocraps Flying ships. He said that the Confusers couldn’t fool or stop them but his little Seala sure could. And that had made her swell up with pride.

Then the Master Hunter came and Mala wouldn’t let her use the colors anymore. He said that Master Hunters had things that would tell them if she used the colors. And if they knew she did, they would come and get her. “Better to pay the damn taxis.“, he had said. So she quit. But they still came and killed him and now they had caught her.

Only the stranger’s interference had saved her. Only he had been strong enough to defeat them... But if he did beat them, where was he? Seala calculated... it had been one full day and he still was not here.

Would he really come? ... Seala could tell when people were gaming and the stranger was true speaking when he said he would find her. He would come....If he could... If he didn’t come by the end of tomorrow, she would figure out what to do. Mala had taught her to use her mind.

Seala ate the remainder of her lunch, drank some water from the spring, and settled down to sleep...