Wizard of the Wood

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4

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Late couldn’t describe the hour. The sun’s light was in that peculiar place in the sky where it seemed endless, yet ready to set at the same time. One shadow could tip the balance and draw the curtain of stars across the sky.

It was here in the tease of twilight where Essie finally dismissed Rylir from his studies. They had been studying herbs and plants for many hours, finding the best ways for Rylir to retain the information and the uses for the different plants Essie had collected. The miniature man sat on Essie’s desk, drilling the herbs over and over until he had a better handle on the information.

Feeling mentally spent, Rylir was relieved when Essie said they would resume studies later. He sighed and leaned back against the desk, letting his spine relax into the wood used to construct the immense piece of furniture his roommate constructed for herself from the trunks of trees. The hard wood was a welcome relief to keeping, as Essie said, perfect posture to aid learning.

Essie rolled her fingers and muttered the same incantation to make the flower box levitate and place itself back onto the shelf where it belonged. She wanted to accomplish more that day, specifically continuing her incantation creation, but the day was still well spent. She had, after all, helped Rylir retain essential information which would help him take care of himself once he decided to leave.

She shifted in her seat to turn toward the fire to begin dinner preparations when she noticed Rylir’s expression and how at ease he seemed. Essie stared at him for a moment, marveling at the small man as he relaxed. How could he simply lean back and exist without direction or purpose? He should be proud of the work he completed this day, yes; however, he still had many things to learn.

Something sent a pang through her chest.

Envy?

Confusion?

Desire to be able to live a purposeless existence, even if it were just for a few moments? She sighed and rolled her eyes before standing and tapping one finger on the desk by Rylir’s body. The vibrations disrupted his relaxing and he looked into her eyes, waiting for her to say something.

“You really don’t have to look so relieved that we’ve ended our educational lessons for the day. Is it really so stressful to converse and learn with me?” she asked. Rylir, looking mildly guilty, shook his head and pushed himself upright.

“No, I… sorry. I didn’t mean it like that,” he apologized. “It’s just… it’s nice to take a moment… you know?”

The words of her mentor, Kaven Ardox, crept into her mind. She could practically hear her mentor’s voice through Rylir as he moved his lips.

*“You can rest, Essie,” said Kaven as he leaned back against the base of a tree, closing his eyes as the tension melted from his body before Essie’s eyes. She couldn’t sit against any of the trees to emulate her mentor because the trees were too small while Kaven was just the right size. Rigid back and straight as a board, Essie shook her head politely.

“I cannot,” Essie replied quietly. “I… don’t know how…”

“You know how to calm your mind. I taught you how to do that,” stated Kaven, folding his arms and opening his eyes to look her in the eye. “You can take a moment for yourself, Essie. There can be joy in taking a moment for yourself.”

“Isn’t that selfish? If I am not making potions, there will be no stockpile in the instance of an emergency. What if we need to heal someone or wash away illness and are not prepared? If I am not tending to the garden, learning the names of the plants there, then it will become overgrown. I need to…”

“Essleeahsayray, the worlds around us do not rely on your spinning mind to continue their dance in the sky. Breathe. Take a moment. You can do anything you set your mind to,” reassured Kaven. “Trust me, and take a moment.”*

Essie had to physically shake her head from her temporary trance. She turned her head away and redirected her focus to what she would prepare for their shared meal.

“I… suppose you are correct in this instance,” stated Essie quietly.

Essie’s response was, in a word, baffling for Rylir. The giantess wasn’t usually one to roll over or fail to have the final word in a matter, but Rylir wasn’t going to question it now. Instead, he laid back against the desk and listened as Essie muttered various incantations to summon her knives and cutting boards as she prepared their dinner.

He listened to the methodical, rhythmic cutting sounds of the blades against the hardened wood. Though he couldn’t do much to help Essie, he could get the spoons and bowls using some of the pulleys he and Essie constructed. These contraptions were something Rylir was particularly proud of.

While Essie had a mind for remembering facts and long, drawn out names for even the smallest flower, he could build and visualize how something was supposed to fit together. Many times during the harvest months when work was good, he would help the farmers and those who worked the land lift and move large barrels and crates of crops. He was lauded for it, though it wasn’t enough for him to keep his position as a laborer, so he would move on.

Rylir felt a sudden pang in his chest as he remembered the contraptions he built at home. Devices with levers and pulleys were all around the house and in the barns. Wheels that would turn and grind wheat when the stream was dry.

It felt like so long ago.

He let himself wonder just for a moment what state his inventions were in back at home. Rusted? Falling apart? Infested with those spores?... Rylir’s body shuddered as he remembered the thick green dust looming in the air, carried on the morning fog.

Yes… that was a very long time ago… At least, it felt like it.

“Rylir, are you conscious? Or have you passed out from mental exhaustion?” Essie’s voice, clear as a morning bell, snapped Rylir out of his trance. Evidently, that moment where Rylir let his mind wander lasted longer than he thought. He pushed himself upright and looked to his left to see Essie staring at him, her ice shard like eyes peering over her shoulder as she methodically stirred the contents of a pot which rested over the open flames.

“Yes, sorry. I was just thinking about something,” he replied. “I’ll get the utensils.”

“No need. I can handle it,” Essie stated as, with a flick of her wrist, bypassed Rylir’s contraptions and made the spoons and bowls for the both of them lift into the air and float onto the desk. Rylir felt his shoulders slump, which Essie noticed as she arcanely lifted the pot to the table to dip out their meal portions.

“Is there something troubling you that you would like to disclose?” she asked. Rylir couldn’t help but turn his gaze away from hers.

There was something wrong, but it felt foolish if he thought about it too long.

“Well?” he sighed at Essie’s prompt and looked back up at her.

“It’s just… I wish I could do more; you know?”

“You could begin by memorizing the uses of those plants and herbs. Studying potion creation and the medicinal uses of herbs would serve you better than attempting to lift and carry a spoon as tall and as heavy as you,” Essie stated plainly.

“But that’s what I’m good at – constructing devices to lift and carry things so I don’t have to. When you use your spells, I feel completely useless. It’s like I can’t do anything on my own, if that makes any sense,” said Rylir, hearing a hint of defeat in his voice. Essie paused for a moment and nodded slowly to herself.

“Your size does unfortunately limit what you are physically capable of in this environment,” sighed Essie. “But nothing can truly be done about it, so there is no sense in pitying oneself or dwelling on unalterable facts.” Rylir rolled his eyes and shook his head.

“I just… could you let me do some of these things on my own? So, I don’t feel so useless?” asked Rylir. His eyes pleaded with Essie as she stared down at him like a statue, unmoving and stoic. It seemed like she was taking measure of his soul, trying to decipher if this was a matter she should push back on. With a sigh, she nodded a few more times in acknowledgement.

“Very well. If it distresses you so much, I will allow you to struggle on the condition you do not neglect your studies in favor of architecture and construction; even though it is much faster for me to complete the task arcanely with my spells,” said Essie. “Mentally prepare yourself though. We have to leave at sun’s first light to harvest some horsetails and juniper, and I doubt you will want to walk there on your own.”

Rylir nodded, agreeing to her terms, before the two of them sat down to share their evening meal.

It was a small victory, but Rylir was thrilled all the same. Essie had picked up on how he was feeling and, rather than strongarming him and insisting that her way was the only way like she would have done when they first met, she listened.

One small step in the right directions.

Was there anything else he could get her to budge on?