After finding Rennish asleep in a stall, Ed spent the rest of the day alone. He was still a bit furious at him and nothing he needed to say to Ed was going to change that anger. He left and came home to do the errands Ed had asked for and then promptly got drunk. How had he even paid for it? Ed could only imagine he traded songs for food and drink. Does he even really need to eat or drink? These were all questions Ed had not even considered before.
Golliad said it was good for him to experience humanity again and have some time away to recharge his divine powers but he was going to have much tighter restrictions from now on. Divine magic followed directions and Rennish was going to need clear limitations.
Ed ate a light dinner by himself in the room at the Inn. he told Oscar and Lily that he wasn't feeling good and needed to rest before an early departure in the morning. The room Ed was staying in was modest but had a decent bed, a small chest with a writing desk, and a table large enough for two people to eat.
Ed put his bag on the floor and started to take out the contents. Ed needed to open the present from Juniper and he had felt a note in the coin purse earlier when he checked it. He needed to see which god it was from and why. Ed was hoping not Golliad since they had just talked and that probably meant something bad.
First Ed pulled the large brown paper present from my bag. He undid the bow and laid the paper out. Inside the paper were a few things. Laying on the top was a bag of tea with a small paper tag, "Something to drink on the road." Below that was another picture drawn and signed by Jorgen of what must have been me standing by the forge. When had he done this? "Thank you for the work, Stop by whenever you can and I will try to keep you working in broken stuff!"
And the last item was the one that was the reason the parcel was so big. In the same blue cloth as the drapes and table cloth and so many other things that Juniper made everything from. Ed ran his hand across it and knew this was bulk cloth from the sacks you got mass supplies in but the fact she had used some of this on him touched him. It was the same color as the sky.
"Dear Erust," it read. "Whenever you need to find your way back look for the drapes that match your coat. May this keep you warm, May this keep you dry, May this remind you of us and be a thank you for your time here at the house. During this season of Miracles, you were our miracle."
The jacket was perfect and lined with a softened burlap inside. The paper inside had more doodles from the twins and Jorgen. Ed folded them all up. Put the paper softly inside a side pocket and hung his jacket over the edge of the bed.
Lastly, he pulled the note from his coins and looked at it. It wasn't from who he thought and the contents surprised him.
"Dearest E. Please head to the capital when you can. I heard you are learning about your new existence. I know you already feel the pull to go that way. Head to the chapel and wait in the rows. You will find the pull when you get there. And stop in the balcony and say hi when you get there. Y"
When did she get so informal with me? Am I friends with the divines now? Ed shook his head to clear the thoughts from his head. He knew that was his plan anyway but how much was Ysennia putting it there and how much was he actually coming up with the same idea. The idea of them playing with his head kind of annoyed and bothered Ed.
And with that Ed decided to sleep. he could feel Rennish around town somewhere. There were other spirits around also. About five or six from the feel of it. They were roughly in the same place. Ed Was sure they are probably sitting in a bar right now talking about how horrible humans are. Oh well, that's none of his concern right now. He stripped off his shirt and laid in bed, opened the window to let in the cool evening breeze, and fell asleep... Ed almost missed the smell of the barn back the Jorgens family farm for a while. Maybe he would make it back there eventually.
In the morning Ed woke up to the sounds of hammering nearby. The sun was just coming over the edge and Rennish was in the chair slumped over the table very real again. he would ask him later why he wasn't see through and he would simply tell me that he needs no sleep as a spirit but he also has no dreams that way. And Ed couldn't blame him for that. When he thought about it he probably did want to dream after so many years awake. He hadn't been human in so long it was probably almost all new again. And at least this time he did NOT smell of barn and stable.
Rennish promptly packed up my bag, made a final sweep of the room, and then went back to spirit form. Ed gathered up his satchel, made sure he had his notes from Jorgen and his family and closed the window, and made the bed. Ed then walked downstairs and said goodbye to Oscar and his wife. They had made a small bag of scraps and leftovers for Ed and Rennish. It was sandwiches and what looked like some sort of meat stock in a mead bottle. Ed thanked them both and told them he would see them again later. He had no idea if he would be able to keep that promise but he was going to try.
And at Plims the supplies were all set up and waiting for him. He had gotten a carriage with two animals called Lloras. They look like an Alpaca and Llama mixed together. Llama size and alpaca temperament. One was chocolate brown and one was a dingy white. For some reason Rennish was insistent we name the white one Phobos and the dark one Phoebe. Ed couldn't argue because he couldn't think of better names. Whenever Ed had rented animals before he had always named his pack animals A and B. It kept him from getting attached and in Deaver where he was raised he always borrowed one so he never got to keep them long enough to have a name.
The cart was loaded and ready to go shortly after they fed and setup both animals. Both of the Lloras were strapped to a small wagon big enough for two men to lay down in. A cover was strapped to the side in case you needed shelter from the rain or a covered place at night. There were supplies of bottled food and some prepared water. Rennish had insisted they buy something of the town in bulk to convince people they were traveling traders and so they had purchased two cases of the mead the town was known for and two boxes of the first vegetables to come in from the freak harvest. It had cost several silver but Ed hoped to have root vegetables so early this year might get a premium price.
Rennish also ordered some traveling clothes. When Ed got to the capital he needed to buy real clothes of some kind. Not these drab brown things he was wearing constantly. Ed tucked the blue coat in with the clothes they purchased and put the chest back under the bench upfront. And with a small signature, the purchase was complete. Ed now owned more 'stuff' than he had ever owned in his life previously. Ed nodded his thanks to the store hands and drove the carriage out of the gate heading towards the capital. A map had been the most costly purchase, mostly because it had minor magic in it. It would detect broken roads, changes in road directions, and new towns as long as it was within a few thousand yards of them. Ed had given a whole gold and everything he'd made at Jorgens as the price for it.
And as they left town Ed could feel Rennish squirming. He was on edge, the farther they got from town the more you could feel him squirming. It was time to ask now.
"Okay, what has you so upset?" Ed said to him so that the spirits couldn't hear it. They were alone on the road anyway so no one would hear me talking to myself.
And like a flood Rennish told Ed all about his day. About running from place to place. About women pregnant by surprise, the harvest, miracles that Ed knew about and then stopped and took a breath. "And you've got a price on your head! Aren't you proud! So important someone already wants you knocked off!"
The carriage veered slightly off-road while Ed tried to regain his composure. "What the heck Rennish... That's like way more important that you made it sound!"
"Oh, you were mad. And I know to just let it go. Besides," he said looking at Ed with a half-hearted sincerity. "You can handle it!"
Rennish spilled out the whole seedy plan. The people in the tavern. The price they were paid and the fact that they weren't obligated to actually harm him but they may just for fun. Ed panicked a little. What do you do in this condition? They were both already out mid-day so that worked in their favor. They would need to travel main roads and the map wouldn't track anyone who wanted to cause them harm. Ed put as much effort as he could into thinking of a devious plan, that was one skill he had learned for himself.
The best plan he could come up with was bribery and sneaking around. And that's what he did. Ed called out to the spirits of the woods until one curious wood nymph came out to greet them. He stopped the carriage and put the Lloras on the side of the road near a stream to drink. They were only 3 hours out of town and needed to have a little break and Ed decided it was time he could use breakfast.
"Don't be shy, I'm Ed. And that is Rennish. I need to ask you a favor." He said sitting on the side of the road against the wheel of the cart, drinking the broth, and nibbling at the sandwich from the inn.
The Nymph had a body that looked like a child's. They had large brown eyes and hair like moss and a body that looked bark-covered most of it. It kneeled down and sat on the ground across from me. "What do you need, strange creature who sees the spirits in the woods? We have heard your cries and know you have favor with the gods. Linist looks after you and Golliad collects information for you. What could you need from us?"
That was unsettling, knowing that the spirits of the world knew so much about him but he knew so little about them. "We want you to leave." It said matter of factly.
"You attract attention from spirits and humans alike. Your power attracts things that feed off the divine and the people who know about it are attracted to you too. We will help you travel but only because of your time in the woods and roads endangers all of the animal's plants and spirits in the wilds. You have not harmed us and we have been assured by Linist that you are good for the spirits of the woods and plants."
Ed sat there nibbling the sandwich and thought as hard as he could. Why is Linist helping me? What did I do there? Okay, the next course of action.
"Well if you can help me by telling me where people are or helping disguise me that would be great so I can travel easily from place to place. I just want to make it across and go see Ysennia in the capital."
It nodded in acceptance. The blunt answer had been enough to convince it Ed wasn't lying to it.
"Done, we can help you travel without the others seeing you and will help you avoid others between towns. I am Cai-pel. Call me, I will stay near you and help as I can when you are outside of towns. The elder of my kind thinks I will be best to help you."
Ed thanked Cai-pel profusely and promised he would help it if it ever needed. It hurt Ed to know that he was known all over the place now. There was nowhere to hide anymore except where other things could help, and in this instance, they had no choice but to accept that help.
The group of brigands from Cunstead decided, in the end, to try and rob them just 2 days outside of town. They heard from their friend at the warehouse that Ed had purchased the map. The plan was to rob and kill Ed and sell off the map. When the shop hand sold it to ed he did so at a great loss. His plan was to resell it at a great profit-making him more money in the long run.
And the group tried to catch Ed using enchanted tools. Their spotters would see Ed using magic eye spells or familiars for those that had that kind of magic.
And as soon as they would get near Ed and Rennish would either drive off the roads or the forest would use its magic to conceal them. Sometimes they would simply disappear. Ed did his best to try and push his powers out to make them blend into the forest. Rennish and showed him small tricks like blending light around them. He showed Ed ways to also make them less obvious to detect by others in the woods.
Over many nights they heard wolves howling and rustling around the dark just out of reach of the tree line that sheltered them. Rennish would play tunes and melodies for the tree's when he could during the day as a thank you for their help. Birds and other spirits would come to steal glances of them when they could. Their eyes would be visible from between tree branches and under shrubs occasionally.
They lit no fires and ate only what they brought with them as a way to make the job of the forest easier. Sometimes they ate other things they could find like nuts berries and fruits. Cai-pel would occasionally bring bread made of moss and grains like barley and rye. And before they knew it they were coming into sight of the capital. About 3 miles from town Ed stopped the carriage. Rennish and Ed got down and tied up the Lloras and called out to Cai-pel.
The little spirit came to them behind a small shrub alone in the fields, before they opened from the forest. They stood in the clearing and looked at each other before they got closer to the stone walls of the outer capital. "You have finally made it," it said to them both. "Do you plan to stay long?"
Ed sat and looked at the walls. It was a hard trip trying to outrun those who were there to take their life. "I don't really know what we are doing to do inside yet. I haven't heard from the other divines. If we need you on our trips can I call you again?"
"Of course, you respected my home and lived up to the reputation of the gods. You are welcome in my woods and the woods will protect you. The plains will blow its breeze for you and the storms will clean the roads you walk on as long as you continue to respect the life of the forest." It smiled and sat down.
"And those men following you will wander around the woods for a while longer before they make it into town. When we feel them give up the will to harm you we will release them. Only a few more nights of being attacked by wolves and getting lost should rid them of any further ideas of harm."
Ed thought about them having to make camp and hide from the spirits and animals. How far was Cai-pel going to harass them? Was he directly affecting them? Were the trees working against them to hide the sun and hamper their way? Just how much power did the spirits of the forest have really? It was a terrifying thing to imagine that all the plants and animals could unite and kill anyone if they wanted.
Ed bowed down a little in respect of this little spirit. He turned out to be very helpful and it was good knowing that going forward they would be able to wander the forest without fear of it fighting back. "Thank you for all you have done and I look forward to seeing you again. Is there anything I can get for you or the forest?"
"Oh, a bag of fish fertilizer for the flowers around my village would be welcome. We can't go to market in daylight and have to wait for a human to forget one before we can spirit it way. Like the spirits of the fields that look for spare socks to steal and unwind the cotton threads to use for their own clothes." He smiled suddenly looking excited. "We will take any tribute you bring us and will gladly pay back your kindness in like." It did its own small bow, or it might have been a curtsy. Ed wasn't entirely sure if Cai was the female or male or if it had even had those designations.
Ed thanked it profusely and said a prayer to Linist in thanks for her protection here. Ed drove them into town and had Rennish stay invisible. It made it easier to pay one entry tax instead of two. And as they came upon the capital Ed was amazed by its large Gray Blue granite walls. They were made centuries ago before the humans and other species separated. Everything was made large and wide to accommodate all species and creations. As they got close Ed could see the walls had an aura, they were infused with some kind of divine magic. Ed got excited about finding Ysennia and seeing what happened next.
Ed got into town and paid the tax to store the animals and cart before he got directions to a good travelers inn near the center of the town. The outer walls of the town was called Or'Ganel. The name going back to its ancient ties. The middle cities were called Mi'Ganel and the center of the capital was Ganel. The time to explore was coming but Ed needed to find the chapel first. And that was the first stop tomorrow after a good night's rest and a hot meal.