The Flowers of the Lindall Tree - Part one
30 days of Fantasy Prompts 24 & 25, Thalenra Short Story. Kaela has to get her essay finished, but Arvon has other plans for her evening.
Written for Prompt 24 & 25 of the 30 Days of Fantasy challenge, hosted by Luna Asli Kolcu. Come through the door.
The Pools of Calleshan and their importance in the history of Mental Recovery Assignment 2(b) submission for Spirit Wielder Advancement Study trip Kaela fr‘Kaenia, fifth-year Adept, Spirit WielderWhy is Calleshan the place of Spirit Wielders? Simply put the veil is at its thickest there. The boundary that lies between the Spiritual and Real almost has form that stays, rather than the ever-shifting state it holds elsewhere, as Mindscapes form and fade.
When Calleshan was first freed from the Thaumic faults that still plague Galythien, all that was known was to stay in Calleshan was to feel renewed and at peace. The waters that passed through refreshed in unexpected ways. Healers gathered there, investigating the mystery of it. The first to research the infusions that would eventually lead to the bountiful Thaum-fields, learnt much from that water.
It was Rethira Sundon who first discovered that the Boundary itself held value around those pools, to those who could learn to travel through it. She was the first to see that what Recovery was to the body, the Boundary could be to the mind; for it was in the light of the waters of Calleshan, that the damage from Mentalia - thought irreversible even with the removal of those weaves - could be fully seen by a Spirit Wielder, and a path to recovery found. Indeed, illnesses of the mind could be helped through those pools. A significant step forward in Thaymian health, when they still struggle to cure diseases of the body.
Sundon held her discover close to her chest initially, for fear of the accusation of being a mentalist herself. Those she helped during that time kept her secret; both out of gratitude, and due to their own shame for having succumbed to the weaves. It was not until the son of a High Practitioner was found to have fallen foul of a mentalist was the discovery revealed.
While the case of Gereck Rundall is an exception for several reasons, there are two, (aside from the obvious impact on the importance of Spirit Wielders), that are important for our purposes. The first of which is that it was revealed at all. Before him any knowledge of the Mentalists was treated as rumour and hearsay, as they made sure their victims would not speak of it - if they were in any state to know it had occurred in the first place. With Rundall, however, who which their attack upon is believed to have been vengeance against his father, Thaumaturge Exemplar Rundall, they instead left him conscious of what had been done, but with no means to communicate it. For the second, we must first understand the events that followed the discovery of the boy’s condition.
Young Gereck, no more that eight at the time, was found wandering the Circle plaza outside the Hall on a cold Cindralis morning, the day before Thaumaturge Exemplar was due to begin the annual doctrine sealing. The boy was asked why he was there, but all he could speak was nonsense. He is reported as having spoken of fruit in the sky, and fish climbing trees, all while tears streamed down his face. When written communication was tried, the words he produced bore no meaning, and when a Thaumic-link was tried by his father, the boy could not respond, and instead insulted his father with words no child that age should know, before collapsing and falling unconscious for over day.
We are told that young Gereck woke several times, distraught at his inability to communicate, and that the Thaumaturge Exemplar was relentless in trying to find help for his son. It was on witnessing the desperation of the two, that a former patient of Rethira Sundon came forward with her knowledge, telling Exemplar Rundall to take his son to the pools of Calleshan.
On ar-
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A clatter of small stones pelted the window, causing Kaela to drop her pen. She groaned. She’d finally got into the flow enough to get this down, and it was due in two days; she couldn’t stop now. She looked towards the source of the distraction and could see through the glass, the last rays of the sun disappearing. Another clatter followed then as pebbles bounced off the pane, these ones were bigger.
Before they could throw one large enough to break it, Kaela threw the window open, subtly preparing some water threads to douse the culprit with. She let them disperse when she recognised the tall, skinny figure, with light-brown hair, standing on the lawn outside the dormitory, several small pebbles floating around him. Instead she greeted the grin on his face with a frown.
“Your timing is terrible Arvon. I am in the middle of my advancement essay.”
His grin turned into a conciliatory smile, but didn’t disappear. “You’ve plenty of time left for that, and this can’t wait.” He cocked his head. “That is, if you still want to see it with me, of course.”
Kaela’s frown disappeared, as her face brightened for a moment, before shifting to suspicion. “It’s actually happening this time? Last time, we spent two hours getting rained on, for no blooms to appear.”
“You didn’t seem to mind at the time.” Arvon said, turning a little red. “But yes, I’m sure. I’ve been watching the tree closely for weeks now. All the tips have darkened this time. If we go now, we’ll be there just as the buds are ready.”
Kaela looked back at her desk, covered in books and memory crystals, her incomplete essay right in the middle of it all, and looked back at Arvon. Spending a few hours outside, did feel much more appealing than writing right now. She had been at this for hours. And there wouldn’t be another chance to see the Lindall tree in bloom.
Arvon had shown her a memory crystal a year ago, of the last time the Lindall tree had flowered a century or so ago, each bloom a different hue. He had spoken to her often of it since then, and it had greatly eased her longing for the streets of Gethia, where nature was never far from sight. The garden of Arvon’s home was small compared to what she had grown up with, but the passion he’d shown for it since he first shared it with her, had much to do with the friendship that had grown between them over these past three years. Kaela wasn’t going to turn her back on that now.
She glanced at the timepiece on the wall; it was well past ten now. The dorm’s main door would be locked, and she wouldn’t be getting back in before morning. Kaela quickly pushed her essay and several of the papers into a bag. “Catch this,” she called out, as she threw the bag out of the window. She went over the window ledge, and lowered herself down with practiced ease, while a muffled ‘ow’ and a bit of cursing could be heard below her.
“I did say to catch it,” Arvon was rubbing his head, when she reached the bottom. He didn’t look as cheerful as before.
“I wasn’t expecting to get hit with an archive. Why are you bringing these?”
“In case it is another failed viewing.” Arvon looked a little hurt at that, and Kaela tried to soften her words. “I don’t mean I don’t believe you, but you were sure last time as well. And I meant it when I said I was in the middle of the essay. I’ve been struggling with it all day.” She held her hand out for her bag, as she asked, “do you think you could help me with it? After, I mean?”
Arvon pulled the bag on to his shoulder, and in place of it offered his hand to Kaela. “Gladly,” he said, with a slight smile, his eyes on hers, questioning. “I’ve a carriage waiting at the back wall.”
Kaela answered his question, with a smile of her own and took the offered hand, as they quickly made their way through the now dark grounds of Velcirra Academy, with only starlight to light their way.
To be continued.
Thanks for Reading! The next part might be out today, but much more likely it will be nearer the end of the week.
The first half of this is probably too long, but that was what this was meant to be about, given it is what I thought of from the prompts. I just couldn’t figure out how to do it in any form except an essay, until the idea to do something on Kaela and Arvon came to me. I’ve been trying to figure out how Arvon met and married a Gethian, when Thaymia has the history it does. So now we get to find out, for how ever many parts it takes. I may or may not include the remainder of the essay among them.
