The Sage Seed Chronicles: The Unraveling (17 page)

Lazin nodded. His eyes remained on hers as he
took the list. Then he glanced down and read the paper, ticking off
the items under his breath. “Chit, come help gather these items for
the lad. A brown furry face peered over the edge of the
counter.

The sleek animal sinuously moved to the
shelves awaiting instructions. Erin hadn’t seen an ottol before but
her mother had described the fascinating animal to her. It’s head
was the size of her hand with the whole body the length of her arm.
It had big liquid brown eyes, a short nose and a long muscular tail
that it balanced on. She wished she had Tempo with her to get his
impressions. Lazin started reading the list out loud. He got some
of the things out from drawers and bins as Chit reached for things
on the shelves above the counter. Soon all were assembled into
bundles. Erin handed over the marks Lor had given her. Lazin,
reached out and touched Erin’s arm. “You have never met an ottol
before. He is a great companion to me and he has a keen sense of
smell. We do alright as a team. Say hello to Lor. I will try to see
him before you go.” Erin nodded her goodbyes to both of them and
left.

As Erin took the supplies back to the wagon,
she was thinking about Lazin and the messages he had given her. He
was a sage that had been warned. He had a clever companion who had
a good nose and would be alert for the scent of the poison. She
hoped that would be enough. As she approached the wagon she saw
Tempo. He was standing with his front paws on the side of the wagon
looking out. She opened her mind to him and felt the alert. She
took two running steps and the ground began to shake. She hadn’t
made it to the wagon and she started to stagger. She sat down hard
still holding most of the packages and watched the awnings sway and
some displays collapse. Voices were raised in a cacophony of panic.
The ground stilled and she was on her feet running the few steps
remaining to the wagon. Erin threw in the bundles and slipped her
hand under Tempo’s body to place him on her shoulder. She ran by
Lor and he waved her on, “Go see to the animals, lad!”

The horses of the caravan started calming as
soon as they saw her. They had been through this before with her.
It was the animals of Osily that were causing the most danger right
now. She placed Tempo on the fence post and slid into the corral.
Working her way through the herd of restive beasts to the ones that
had their ears back and were showing the whites of their eyes she
mentally and verbally reassured. As had happened in Morraton the
animals started to quiet. She continued to speak to them mentally
reassuring them and telling them that there would be after shocks.
They needed to stay as calm as possible or they would be hurt. When
each animal understood she climbed out of the paddock, scooped up
Tempo and was off toward the caravan.

Lor had his goods secured. Erin put Tempo
down in his booth to guard and ran off to help. Speaking to the
little skunk as she ran off. “Stay low. If you feel another one get
under the wagon. Be safe.” “Keir, please keep an eye out for
trouble.” She began helping the merchants as well as some of the
people in the crowd. Because the booths had been set up more things
had a chance to fall than they had during the early morning quake
at Morraton. As she worked from place to place in the confusion she
occasionally caught sight of Lor working in tandem with other
people. Finally she caught up with him as the commotion settled
down and realized he was standing talking to Lazin. Walking up to
the men, Erin lifted her hat a fraction in a cordial hello and
said, “Hello, Lazin, Lor. I left Tempo back at your wagon. If you
don’t need me anymore I will be there.” Lor nodded and waved her
on. She hurried back and found Tempo keeping a low profile behind
some taller glow stones. Erin picked him up and sat down on the
tailgate with the skunk on her lap. As she stroked him she spoke to
the little one and Keir about the things she had learned that
day.

Late afternoon was moving toward evening
when Lor returned. It was time to break camp and put in some hours
of travel before they stopped for dinner and rest. They were going
to be on the road for several days before being able to stop for
the next gather.

The caravan pulled out of Osily before
sunset. Erin and Tempo walked beside Lor’s wagon for several miles
while Tempo was hunting dinner and leaving his scent for any other
skunk that might be in the area. Erin admired the sheen of Keir’s
feathers as he flew overhead following the train. His chest
feathers had the rust and cream tones with an overlay of darks
stripes. When he was catching the thermals, as he was now, those
breast and belly feathers glowed. He had decided to roost in the
shadows of the eaves, of Lor’s wagon during the nights while they
were traveling across the plains area in Pastarham.

Suddenly, Erin simultaneously heard Keir’s
alarm call and saw Tempo with his feet spread and his tail straight
in the air. She shouted to Lor and the people who could hear her on
the train. “QUAKE!” Lor heard her as did Alliz and Kennet. They
pulled back on the reins to stop the horses just as the earth
heaved. The violent ripples seemed to go on forever. Guild members
were trying to control their panicked horses and doing everything
they could to prevent their wagons from toppling over. Jostled,
shaken and terribly unnerved the humans fought to stay in control
of their teams. Confusion was everywhere. As soon as the earth
quieted Erin checked that Tempo was not in danger then ran for the
teams that were rearing and pulling hard on their traces. High
pitched whinnying was mixed with the cacophony of shouting. The
teams were struggling in their harnesses. There was immanent danger
of some of them bolting and injuring themselves in their panic.
Erin used her soothing voice as she grabbed at the horses minds,
reassuring and calming before she even got within range of their
hooves and teeth. Then as she made physical contact she ran her
hands over velvet muzzles so they could definitely get her scent
before reassuringly stroking quivering hides. As fast as she could
she moved from team to team.

Considering the violence of the shake there
was little damage. Only one wagon had an accident. The Tinkers
wagon, at the head of the caravan, had just pulled off of the
hardened road to make camp for the night. His vehicle was partly
onto uneven ground that had been softened slightly by the rain. He
broke a wheel and his wagon load shifted, spilling things onto the
ground.

Everyone had stopped. People were checking
their animals, wagons and their goods. There were some bruises but
for the most part everyone was fine. They worked together and were
able to right the wagon. He had been, luckily, carrying a few spare
wheels. The folks replaced the broken one and reloaded his wagon.
It was decided to move the camp to flat ground just ahead. If the
land was going to move that much there was little they could do
except be where it was firm and hope for the best.

Kennet came up and thumped Erin on the back.
“Lad, you are right handy to have around lately! A marvel to watch
with those beasts. Thank you, boy!”

The tinker, a robust red haired man shook her
hand so hard Erin thought Ree’s bracelet, above her elbow, was
going to rattle off. “When my wagon tipped, I was afraid my horses
were going to break their legs!” he thanked Erin. She graciously
accepted their thanks but told them about Tempo’s warning. She
didn’t want to bring any attention to the fact that she had other
companions. She did silently thank Keir. He was not offended by her
omission, understanding that she was trying to protect him.

Each wagon attached the leads of their horses
to their vehicle in case they needed to get to them quickly in the
night. The recent quakes were all anyone talked about around their
dinner campfires. It was no different for Erin, sitting near the
embers of Lor’s fire. She had been quietly watching Lor and Alliz
all evening and was sifting through bits and pieces of things she
had heard. Finally she spoke softly to them. “Do you two have any
knowledge about the quakes that have been happening?”

Alliz compressed her lips clearly uncertain
how to answer Erin’s direct question. Lor glanced at his half
sister then looked steadily at Erin. “I can only share what I
understand but that is limited.”

Lor paused in thought. “I have explained that
there are not many sages in our world.” Erin nodded. “There are
connections between each of us and our planet. The realm, as we
know it, is the way it is, because we are here.” Lor sighed and
started again. “I don’t understand it but there is an
interrelationship. It is like we are the weave that holds things
steady and together. Sages are part of the fabric of our planet. If
you took out all of the horizontal threads from a piece of fabric
would it hold together?” Erin instantly thought of her father at
his loom and shook her head.

“There is something about our kind that the
planet needs to be stable. We are bonded together. If you count the
healer, who was killed thirty years ago, and that is not much time
to us or the planet, we have lost seven sages in a very short
amount of time. Our world,” and he patted the ground, “had fifteen.
When she died we had fourteen but that was still enough for a
strong bond. When you were born with the sage seed the connection
started, even though your skills were under developed. As you
matured we regained our fifteen special magnetic threads that were
adequate for that stable planet bond. We are now down to nine from
the potential optimum of sixteen, almost half strength. I don’t
know the tipping point but we are dangerously close or we wouldn’t
be getting all of this tectonic activity. Our world’s fabric is
unraveling.”

Erin’s eyes were big as she took all of that
in. “Then the earthquakes...?”

Lor nodded. “That special cohesion has been
greatly weakened.”

“What are we going to do?” she whispered. “I
don’t know but we must stop this! The danger is very real.”

Alliz spoke for the first time. “Lor is being
very honest with you. We don’t know any more than what he shared.
Most sages know, instinctively, that they are part of the weave of
our world but perhaps they don’t know it in the clarity that Lor
expressed. Yet there is a lot we don’t know. It wasn’t important
for us to understand everything. It is on a need-to-know-basis and
only the Great One has access to more information. It is part of
his job. But from the time of the settlement we have never been in
this dire situation.” she held out her hands, palms up, in a
shrugging gesture. “Now we are. I don’t know if the Great One has
all of the answers either. I sense that there are complexities here
that go very deep.”

The three sat a few moments and just
looked at each other. Erin was the first to move. She slapped the
ground a couple of times and Tempo came running out of the shadows.
After that sobering conversation the three called it a night. Each
companion, human or wild had a lot to think about. Erin lay with
Tempo curled at her side. “I wonder,” Tempo said as he lay his head
on Erin’s side and looked up at her, “if skunks are part of that
weave?” She stroked his head and back. “That is a good question,
little one. I’ll bet they are. I just don’t know quite how all of
this fits together.” As Cear rose in the sky it took awhile for
sleep to come. Nuit watched from atop of Lor’s wagon in the muted
amber moonlight.

The next morning everyone really checked over
their horses and equipment before they started out. Erin went by
each team and reassured them. ‘Aftershocks can happen but you must
remain as calm as possible or you can be hurt.’ Tempo made the
rounds, as people woke up, to see if anyone had shaken out a vesi
to contribute to his breakfast. Several of those that didn’t gave
him some nuts as a thank you for being such a great quake alert. He
pranced back to Lor’s wagon with a round belly.

The first part of the morning went smoothly.
Around lunch time the train came upon a large crack in the ground.
The prairie had ripped where one piece of ground had dropped while
another had lifted. It was a very sobering sight and they drove by
it in silence. Later in the afternoon, Erin and Tempo walked beside
the caravan. Erin was checking with the teams and reassuring them.
She knew there would be more quakes. Tempo was finding more things
to eat. There were enough vesi, worms, grubs and berries that he
was happy. After all, he was a growing skunk and preparing for his
winter insulating fat layer.

There were two small aftershocks during the
day but nothing to alarm the horses. Occasionally they saw other
splits in the land. Tempo was intrigued by them because they
exposed bugs and worms to the light of day. He had been digging in
one of those cracks when an aftershock hit. The ground shifted and
Tempo dropped from sight. Suddenly his little growl had an audible
higher pitch. Erin heard in her mind, ‘Caught! I’m stuck! Erin
help! I’m afraid the ground is going to close. I can’t get my
footing to get out!’

Erin looked around and ran for the slit in
the ground. She spotted part of a dirt covered nose and one little
paw that disappeared again. Tempo was trying with all of his might
to dig himself to the surface but the ground kept slipping away
beneath him. She flattened herself on the ground and reached as far
as she could. It wasn’t enough! She could hear the growl with some
squeals. Lor saw her on the ground and stopped the wagon. Jumping
off he ran to the torn ground. “Tempo fell in and the crack is
still moving. I can’t quite reach!” They heard a muffled high
pitched growl.

Lor got down and grabbed her ankles. “I have
you. Crawl forward! Does that allow you enough extra arm length?
Can you grab him?”