Awakening, Quickening

Grebefal Castle Part 1

          Small red and brown birds fluttered in the branches of the massive fruit tree which stood beside the inn; Harmony had now been in Grebefal for two and a half weeks, and Kyir's little face had filled out and become chubby. Muse was getting more accustomed to taking "orders" from Harmony, although she still liked to send disrespectful mental images from time to time. Harmony had dressed in her best dress–the formal brown–and had swaddled Kyir tightly in a length of fabric after his breakfast, binding him to her chest, another trick Agatha had taught her.  

Granny Jak waited for them under the tree, thumping a short wooden cane on the trunk every now and then, to drive away the birds from the fruit. She immediately took note of Kyir asleep in his wrap, her old wrinkled face beaming as she saw his new blanket and shirt. Holding Muse's hand, she trotted off down the path and motioned for Harmony and Muse to follow. The path was hard to manage here, harder than Harmony had expected; it was lumpy and uneven, and between the clumps of grassy earth, Harmony spotted ancient worn bricks, too large to have been placed by hand. More of these huge bricks circled the roots of the fruit tree, and around the edges of the garden; it appeared these places were intentionally meant to stay open for growing things. As Granny, Muse, and Harmony walked past the inn and towards the castle, the castle appeared at first to float, and then recede from them; Harmony realized it was much larger than she had first thought, and much farther away–and surrounded by warm air currents, which gave it the illusion of flying.

            Nothing in Grebefal is how it seems, she thought. The buildings and roads are too old for the people living in it...it's an old fashioned village, yes, but strictly kept so, in spite of evidence of some kind of higher technology here. It's guarded by a mere handful of men...and yet it has a high, thick wall and strong gate for protection. But against what? Harmony had not seen anything out in the forest that had warranted such protective measures; for that matter, she had not seen any animal life of any kind, besides the fish in the stream. On top of it all, there were no mages in the town, in spite of a powerful undercurrent of mana which she felt coursing through the place. It was like the town had been fabricated, built for some other purpose, by other people, and then abandoned for some reason, empty buildings and sculpted gardens, left to the elements until the people of Grebefal had appeared, and settled down there. And none of that explained the enigma of the Lord himself. Grebe, Harmony thought. That's the name of a wild bird, symbolic of adaptability and serenity--from MY homeworld. Why does a resident Lord of this world, have a name from mine?

           After a short walk, Harmony, Muse, and Kyir arrived at the protecting wall of the large, tired-looking castle; it wasn't a large town, in spite of the immense size of all of the structures. Only a few of the massive houses stood between the town wall gate and the castle itself, looking oddly like they had been arranged beforehand, and then placed there by a giant unseen hand. As they passed through the protecting wall, they heard the sounds of the iron forge; it was apparent it was inside the wall itself–or at least, the entrance to it was. They heard hammers ringing on anvils, and steam and hot metallic odors blew upward from an open staircase set deep into the thick wall. Somewhere within, a reddish light glowed fiercely. They passed this by, and came out the other side of the wall into the sun again.

              Here, Granny left them. "Ye won't be needin' me naw. Th' castle's door is straight ahead. Jist follow th' path an ye can' git lost." She paused at Harmony and waved them farewell after giving Kyir's cheek a final gentle stroke of her browned finger. "ehh. Sweet lil young'n." 

                As they drew closer to the castle, the dust and dirt covering the path wore away, perhaps swept by the strong wind which seemed to circle the castle. Beneath the dust and grime of the path, a hard, shining, dark stone stood out, the same stone which appeared to have formed the castle; it was different from the hard, muddled grey color of the stone in the town. The structure of the castle itself was a simple one; a huge, single, circular tower, looking a bit like some sort of fat root vegetable set upside-down. Small slit-like windows pocked the squat lower half, which rose as smoothly from the ground, as if it had grown there. The walls narrowed, becoming an increasingly smaller circle, as it rose higher. At the top, it was smooth-walled with no more windows or other obstructions, finished by a tower top with a jagged wall. Above that wall sprung a single flagpole with a large green, tan, and dark brown banner, which flapped vigorously in the wind. The symbol on the banner stood out, easy to see; a trio of green leaves dancing on a curved, pale tan stripe, surrounded by brown. Harmony thought it looked like leaves in the wind.

              Wind–there certainly was a lot of it. The closer they came to the castle gate, the harder the wind blew, and the stones grew less and less dusty, more gleamingly polished. Neil Jaksson stood just inside the large iron gated-tunnel to the inside, his hair tostled. Apparently, he had been asked to bring them in. He looked as suspicious of them as ever, but smiled when Kyir let out a soft sneeze as the wind flapped a bit of fabric over his face. Neil cleared his throat awkwardly and then stated stiffly, "Th' Lord knows you're here. Come on in, I'm to bring you to speak to Master Jer. I think they want ter know what yer doin' in Grebefal, seen' as we don't get many Mages round here."
Muse grinned again at his awkwardness, her pointed ears lifting with her smile. "Have we done something wrong, my good sir?"
Her eyes glittered as she stared him down. Neil flushed a little, and looked away. "Well, ah, naw...no. Anyway, come on. Master Jer's awaitin'."