Cunning

Cunning Part 1

Brightcliff village had one good road pierced from the town limits right through to its heart and due to this was considered one of the more useful features of the town ranking above such wonders as the flower trap, the mousewheel and the local tavern. The latter only being most useful for the gossip it gathered in the opinion of Fawn, unofficial wise woman of the town and great lover of gossip. It was this well of gossip that had lead Fawn to the issue of the road incidentally as many of the traders who travelled their wagons into town complained of broken spokes on wheels, fragile goods shattered by humps in the road and trapped wheels that made travelling into the town itself a nuisance.

Now, Fawn was not one for stopping the spirits of the earth from having their fun especially not at the expense of a bunch of stuffy merchants who overcharge for their wears. However, the last shipment disrupted had included several jars of sweetberry jam that she had requested the last time the wagons had come by. Three broken jars of jam were enough to put her in a high temper and although she would never admit it Fawn knew herself to be of capricious temperament and this had been the final spark to her mental bonfire. So, with her walking stick in hand, a gnarled stump-like branch, she stamped her way down to the point where road met town limits, where the spirit lurked and where most of the stones had been overturned.

Once she had reached her chosen spot Fawn tightened her grip on her stick and thumped it against the road in an arythmic cacophony that would drive even the most patient of men and spirits to irritation. Given that this particualr spot also doubled as the spirits head she knew this was the best way to get its attention. After a few minutes of incessant tapping she felt the stones shift beneath her feet and grinned like the mad old woman she was. A head and torso that was shaped out of the rough stones of the road held in a simian shape rose before her. Where eyes might have been sparks of bright viridian light burned instead. It hunched down to bring it's eyes level with hers and stared.

Fawn set her feet and then stared right back at the big chunk of rock. It knew full well why she was there and neither she nor it where wasters of words. The only right way to resolve this was a contest of determination so they stared and waited for the other to flinch. They had played this game many times before but she wasn't certain if the spirit even remembered. Not many people thought of it as a spirit at all just as the road that its stones had been lined into and so a stone it was and this stone didn't have much memory or else it never would have tried her patience. Fawn was a wise woman and trained in the old ways that most dismissed as superstition. She had been trained staring down mountains and had once outlasted old Flattop, highest mountain in the east of the Iylad. This old road didn't stand a chance.

They stayed that way for most of the morning as the brisk morning air was banished by the rising of the sun. A few people came out to watch the display and the old road seemed to shrink on itself but Fawn was unrelenting in her gaze. The contest had begun and it wasn't her fault that the spirit was shy of crowds. Some might consider holding the challenge at this time of morning unsporting but Fawn was not one such person and as even more early morning commuters gathered to watch the spectacle she felt the old road waning. Just as the ache of standing in place for so long was starting to settle into her bones the spirit sank back into the road leaving the surface undisturbed as if it had never been there at all. A moment later the displaced stones hopped back into their spaces and the whole road tidied itself up.

A polite applause was raised by the crowd but Fawn ignored them in favour of bowing low to the road itself. It hurt her knotted back something fierce to do it but you didn't get to be a wise woman without showing respect in victory and grace in defeat. Only when the proper respects had been paid did she turn to face the crowd of onlookers. Most of them were young'uns, too young to remember the times before Fawn had settled in the town and taken its safety as her duty. A few were even laughing at her and she heard whispers of "the mad witch" on the wind. Bah to the lot of them. Even the Mayor of the town Grimwald...something, looked more condescending than grateful for her efforts. He crossed the distance between the crowd and her with a greasy smile on his face.